Gogo Dancers for Jesus

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Have you experienced the body slam, courtesy drop, or praise dancing that were labelled as "spirit-filled" practices? Pastor Mike discusses an article in Charisma magazine by J. Lee Grady called 9 Bad Charismatic Habits We Need to Break.

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Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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No Compromise Radio is a program dedicated to the ongoing proclamation of Jesus Christ based on the theme in Galatians 2, verse 5, where the
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Apostle Paul said, "'But we did not yield in subjection to them "'for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel "'would remain with you.'"
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In short, if you like smooth, watered -down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you.
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By purpose, we are first biblical, but we can also be controversial. Stay tuned for the next 25 minutes as we're called by the divine trumpet to summon the troops for the honor and glory of her king.
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Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth.
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I'm glad to be on this radio station, WVNE 760. I think this is year four.
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I don't know if there's gonna be a year five. I guess that works both ways. They could probably say, hey, we don't want you on this station.
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And I could probably say, well, we don't want you on this station. It was a match made in Worcester.
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That's right. I'm trying to remember the address of that place. It's on James Street, I think. James. And where is
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Tom Krause? I need to have Tom Krause on. Tom Krause was on this station for a long time. And so I haven't heard from Tom.
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Tom gave me my big break into radio. Actually, I remember going to WVNE probably 12 years ago and a lady,
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Eleanor Hubbard, maybe, she interviewed me as the, I was the new pastor in town. And it was kind of community weekend stuff.
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So that was very nice of her. I probably stuttered and fumbled and stumbled and mumbled and bumbled.
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And then I remember going on the radio with Tom Krause. He interviewed me about my book and then my first book, my first book and my fifth book.
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And then filled in for him for about 10 shows and then was asked to maybe do the show.
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So that was four years ago. My how times have changed. So anyway,
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WVNE, Christian ministry. Love WVNE. I just need them to kick off the heretics at 430 people to people, the
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Bob George influenced people that deny parental forgiveness and who destroy
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Christian thinking. They need to get rid of them. So I get rid of them, that would be good.
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No, maybe they'll say, Mike, it's either you or them. So that would be an easy decision. Well, today on No Compromise Radio, I want to talk about a variety of things.
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First up on tap, Pat Robertson is in the news again. I don't know why
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I'm laughing, but he just needs to retire. And see, there's a time where you just have to shut the microphone off.
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I think it'll be a time in No Compromise Radio as well, where you just have to shut the microphone off. I mean, enough already.
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I could either A, run out of things to say, B, become unbiblical, C, act stupid.
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I mean, the list goes on. But when senility hits in or something along those lines and you just begin to say a bunch of really dumb things, thankfully, my elders, but my wife before that would say, honey,
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I love you, but it's just time to turn the microphone off. And so here he goes on a rant.
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There's a lady and she writes in, I've been trying to forgive my husband for cheating on me.
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We have gone to counseling, but I just can't seem to forgive, nor can I trust. How do you let go of the anger?
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How do you trust again? Well, then his co -host, according to this article here online, the co -host talked about forgiveness being difficult and one of the ultimate betrayals.
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Yet Pat had his own ideas. Here's the secret I'm quoting. Stop talking the cheating.
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I was trying to put in prepositions for him, but stop talking the cheating.
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He cheated on you. Well, he's a man. Does he provide a home for you to live in?
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Does he provide for you to eat? Does he provide clothes for you to wear?
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Is he nice to the children? Is he handsome? Pat Robertson said, recognize also, like it or not, males have a tendency to wander a little bit.
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Okay, I made the contraction. It says little bit, but I have to say, wander a little bit.
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What you want to do is to make a home so wonderful that he doesn't want to wander or to give in to salacious magazines or the internet filled with porn.
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Back in 2010, there was a woman, remember, who asked him about her husband's flirtatious ways.
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And he said, quote, not to hassle him about it. Oh man, and I won't make any more comments about talking about the beating part about the
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Muslim deal. So, I mean, can you say anything about that? I just say it's time to turn it off.
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And so I know the time's coming for me that they'll say the same thing, Mike, it's just over, turn it off.
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Hopefully that time hasn't come yet. But when you got a lot of money, I guess, and you're on TV, you can just say what you want.
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And that is the problem with speaking, isn't it? When you think of James and you say to yourself in the book of Proverbs, if you talk a lot, you're gonna stumble and we stumble in many ways.
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And so one of the good things about No Compromise Radio, I record these and if I think
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I stumble as I say it, then I can always not play it. When you do Wretched Radio live for two hours,
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I think we get a five second delay. So they can always buzz me, they can beat me, but that's about it.
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Okay, what I have here in front of me is something I was gonna do on Wretched, but they said Todd already did it.
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And so I can't do double duty there on Wretched Radio.
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Thanks by the way for letting me be on Wretched Radio again. Nine Bad Charismatic Habits We Need to Break by J.
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Lee Grady. Now, here's the fun part. Nine charismatic habits that are bad we need to break.
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And we, J. Lee Grady, he's an insider, he's a charismatic. He's a former editor of Charisma and the director of the
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Mordecai Project. It's better than the Haman Project. Mordecai Project.
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He's the author of 10 Lies the Church Tells Women. 10
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Lies Men Believe. Can't believe they're not the same. The Holy Spirit is Not for Sale.
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I like that. Fearless Daughters of the Bible. There you go, Be Like Mike. It's a new
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Bible study curriculum that's sweeping the nation. So on the front, it shows a bunch of people doing the dead fly all lined up by the altar.
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So I'm just gonna talk about these a little bit. And here is the point. Sometimes I talk and laugh and I need
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Pastor Steve here for Tuesday Guy on Saturdays who's on vacation for the Shabbat. When we think big picture, you've got cessationists and they believe that the sign gifts sovereignly given by the
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Holy Spirit, First Corinthians chapter 12, at salvation, have ceased because we have the canon now.
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Sign gifts were to point to the messenger and the message and to authenticate said message and messenger.
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In other words, when you read First Kings or you read Acts or you read Hebrews chapter two, or you read the
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New Testament, you'll see that these signs were given because they didn't have the word of God in its entirety.
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The canon was not complete. And so how do you know if this guy is telling you the biblical truth from God or just running his mouth?
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Well, he has signs that verify what he's doing. So you can authenticate the message and the messenger.
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And so once we got the canon, we didn't need those anymore. And the writer of Hebrews, even in chapter two, verse three and four talks about these signs in the past tense.
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And by the way, if God is unchanging, and he is third -class conditional, since God is unchanging, why did he not continue to do all these signs for the first 1800 years after the church fathers?
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In other words, why did it all start back up again around Azusa Street and other time periods when the
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Charismatics say it started again or the third wave? That wouldn't seem to make sense. So I can argue for the case of cessation a lot of ways.
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There's no reason why God has to do sign gifts anymore. My Charismatic friends tell me, show me a verse that says that all signs ceased.
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Well, tell me the reason why. You show me a verse that these New Testament gifts are ongoing.
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And so now we have Charismatics, or we can call them continuationists, where the
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Holy Spirit's sign gifts are still being sovereignly given. So we have cessationists, and we have
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Charismatics slash continuationists. And my point is, it's hard to be in the middle.
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You're either a cessationist or you're not. Oh, duh, that's not really insightful radio now, is it? Maybe it is.
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But once you let the Charismatic genie out of the bag, you can't control it.
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This is like Barney and, not Barney, Bullwinkle.
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Who's Bullwinkle? Who are those people in the Bullwinkle show? See, people try to call me, and then
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I'm on the radio and it messes me up. Pull a rabbit out of the hat, Rocky. Rocky and Bullwinkle show.
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See, I was thinking about Mr. Slate and other Flintstones people because I was thinking about the
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Cooks and Barneys Award with Barney Rubble, then Betty Rubble, then Bam Bam, Hoppy, and all those other people on the
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Flintstones. So here now we have J. Lee Grady trying to put the rabbit back into the hat.
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Or in this particular case, it's a rhino. Look, it's a rhino. Remember pulling those things out, Boris and Natasha. Number one.
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He does say, I realize this can be sensitive if you have one or more of these bad habits. Here's a finger in your eye.
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But please pray over this list before you blast me for being critical. Oh, okay, so you know what? I'm gonna use that same thing.
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Before you blast me of being critical of this critical list, but I'm not really not that critical of the list.
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I'm just saying at least somebody in the movement recognizes that this is bad, but how do you stop it?
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Especially when you put the priority of experience over Scripture.
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That's exactly what they end up doing. Well, okay, they could put experience on par with Scripture.
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Number one. The first bad charismatic habit we need to break. Where's Steve here when I need him? The body slam.
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There are times when people feel woozy or weak -kneed when the Holy Spirit touches them. I leave room for that.
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Okay, I just thought it's because I'm getting older and I'm on this MyFitnessPal diet when I stand up after I don't eat for a while.
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I get woozy. But can we please stop pushing people to the floor? Any minister who hits, shoves, or slaps people at the church altar is being extremely rude.
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I think that's a second degree. Steve, what do you call that?
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What do you call when you hit somebody you're not supposed to hit them? Assault.
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He's also relying on his own swagger to demonstrate he has the power to slay people in the
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Spirit. If you push someone to the floor, God had nothing to do with it. When I was younger, my mother would always tell me the story how she went up to get a special anointing and she was supposed to get slain in the
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Spirit at her liberal Lutheran church of all places. They tried to slay her and she didn't go over, so they tried to push her forehead, but she pushed back because she wasn't going to get bamboozled by this humanistic deal.
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So I just remember my mom pushing her forehead hard on the guy's hand. She didn't go over, so then what do they do?
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They just go to the next person, right? And then you can just kind of put your head back or whatever. That same pastor, when my father was dying of cancer, called the family up to the front of the church.
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I think dad was still in the hospital for special prayer. I'm happy for that. That was nice of them. And then they began to speak in tongues.
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And so the first time I ever heard tongues spoken, that I remember at least, the guy started doing this.
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Th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th, th.
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You'd think it was Holy Spirit driven. You went Peter out there at the end. I don't know what language that is.
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Not too much of a sign. What sign does that show? God doesn't have a really good creative mind?
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I don't know what it shows. Don't push me over. Number two. Second bad cares
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MediCab but we need a break according to Johnny Lee Swagger. Is that his name?
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J. Lee Grady. The courtesy drop. Hmm. I thought this was kind of the special thing in the red box when you return your videos.
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Many people fall while receiving prayer because they figure it's a spiritual thing to do. You may actually protect yourself from getting stepped on if you stay standing.
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It's perfectly fine to stay standing. So okay. Protect yourself.
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Kind of like the lady that was slain by the alleged spirit from Benny Hinn in Anaheim and she broke her hip and then died and they had to settle out of court.
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Like that one? Number three. The song that never ends.
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I mean I think some King James kind of fundamentalist Armenian altar call people could learn from this as well.
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Nine bad cares MediCab but we need a break. Number three. The song that never ends. I used to love the chorus let it rain until some churches drove this tune into the ground by playing it 159 times in a row.
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Well just as I am at least they didn't sing that. You've got to have your post -millennial vineyard.
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What's the vineyard music deal? Vineyard music. But it's very post meal stuff.
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Let it rain. Latter -day Restoration movement. Let it rain. Sounds like it's rain on me.
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Some Quadrophenia song. Number four. The amateur flag corp.
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First time I ever saw flags and banners in a church besides the missionary flags. I like that.
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I like to go in a church and they've got the Israeli flag and then they've got the Turkish flag and they've got
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South Africa flag. These are the places we send our missionary money or just a bunch of flags.
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I like flags in churches. That leads me to talk about having the
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American flag up on the stage and having it prominent. I don't want that.
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Why would I want that? What do I do if I've got some Palestinians in the congregation who are born -again or visitors and they think
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America through Israel's oppresses Palestinians. Born - again
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Palestinians. I mean see how that could happen? Actually I moved the flag when I was, after I was here for a couple years and then somebody wrote in the grace to you, you move my pastor, move the flag and basically call him and tell him to put it back.
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I'm patriotic. I don't know many people who are as patriotic as I am because I don't know many people.
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No, I'm patriotic and my son would probably like to serve in the military, United States military, and I'm not against the flag.
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But what does the flag have to do with worship? Actually has nothing to do with worship.
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So I think there is a flag in the back for the Iwanakor there, but I don't want it up on stage. I want it nowhere near the stage.
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I don't even want to call it a stage. I want to call it an altar. There's no altar, Hebrews 9 and 10. There's no stage to perform on.
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You can tell how churches began to change their worship style as their buildings changed from the
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Puritanical, that's a bad word, from the Puritan style meeting house in New England to buying theaters and changing them.
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But back here, back on point, the first time I ever saw the flag girls, probably 16 -year -old girls, form -fitting.
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None of them were overweight. They're all thin and they had flags and streamers at the church where John Wimber used to pastor, and he was at the vineyard in Anaheim.
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Signs and Wimbers, although he came out with wheelchair and oxygen and I thought, physician, heal yourself.
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But that's another story now, isn't it? I was confronted by an associate pastor afterwards, and I'll tell that story sometime.
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I don't think I've ever told that story on No Compromise Radio. I'm waiting for the, what do you call those, see I need Steve here again, what do you call that time to go by where you can't get sued until the time's already lapsed?
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I don't know. I can't think. I should be home now, but here
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I am recording these shows. Do you know the horror of you got five new shows to do every single week of your life?
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I mean, come on, what can you do? Amateur Flag Corps, Johnny Lee Swagger says, banners and flags became a hot worship trend in the 1980s, and pageantry can still be statute of limitations, effective when practiced and performed for an audience.
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But where did we get the idea that waving flags, sticks, or other sharp objects within two feet of people's faces was a smart idea?
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It's called, when Jesus and the Bible isn't enough. I mean, it's pretty simple, right? You sing about Jesus, or sing to the
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Father about Jesus, sing to Jesus, you pray on behalf of Jesus through the
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Mediator Jesus, you watch baptisms that celebrate the goodness of Jesus, you remember
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Jesus' Lord's Supper, you hear sermons preached about Jesus, you know, basic stuff.
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Call me church growth. Number five, the wannabe telethon offering. Maybe we should start one of these on No Compromise Radio.
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See, you know how hard it is? It's like a pressure cooker building up. I've been dying to just beg for money.
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I have all kinds of things I need. I have missions trips, I have equipment needs,
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I need a new desk. You should see this place.
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When people say, oh, can I see where you record No Compromise Radio, they walk in, you can just see their faces drop like, that's it.
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All right, number six, the sermon with seven endings. See, this is not just a charismatic church.
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Speaking of money, I wish I had a dollar for every time a preacher said, I'm starting to close.
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I don't mind long sermons, but you're flat -out lying if you tell an audience you're finishing when you actually still have a half hour to go.
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Unless you're Paul, and it's Philippians chapter 3, four chapters, remember, in Philippians chapter 3, finally, halfwayly.
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Number seven, the praise -a -go -go dancers. Now, there's something to be said. Now, in my mind right now, that's
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Rowan and Martin's laugh -in, go -go boots, yellow go -go boots, wore by Nancy Sinatra or something.
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That's what's in my mind right now. I love to dance in church. Well, yeah, if it's a dance in the church building, you're gonna have a swear dance or something, a hoedown on Friday night there when you're having your squirrel, squirrel boil in Kentucky.
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I've never been to a squirrel boil, but when I was in Kentucky driving around, when I was going to Southern Seminary, they had squirrel boils.
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And see, in New England, it's like pasta supper, a fish fry or something. You get people to come in, and then you feed them.
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The Methodist Church down the street does the same thing. But squirrel boils? Well, how about praise -a -go -go dancers?
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I love to dance in church, and it's normal in many of the ethnic congregations I visit. But I fear we've unleashed a monster, that is a go -go dancer, praise -a -thon monster, when we've encouraged amateur dance teams to hop around on stage in unitards in front of visitors.
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But if you have a professional dance team hopping around on stage in unitards, it's okay.
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It's not unspiritual to ask, will this look goofy? The answer is yes, it looks goofy.
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And don't quote to me David dancing and somehow try to inject that into New Testament worship.
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Number eight, the ear -shattering amp. My name is Mike Ebendroth, No Compromise Radio, info at No Compromise, with nine bad charismatic habits we need to break.
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J. Lee Grady, ear -shattering amp. He's right on when he says charismatic does not mean loud.
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That's true. Charismatic does not mean loud. And the other thing that I want to talk about in regards to the subject is this.
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There are many kinds of psalms, right? The inspired hymn book of the
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Bible. Well, there are other hymns, but we have 150 of them together. Some of them are joyful.
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Some of them are laments. Some of them are imprecatory psalms. There's a lot of different psalms, and just think about your life.
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Don't you suffer? Don't you have trials and pain? Isn't there a lament in your heart?
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I guess I could come across from a different vantage point. Do you always listen to upbeat music, or do you ever just think,
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I'm in the mood for some blues? I need Johnny Lee Hooker and listen to the blues.
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That's what I need right about now. I need to listen to Muddy Waters. I think you do, because there's the cycle, the oscillation of life.
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That's my new book, The Life's Oscillation. What are those little meters that do the oscillation meters?
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Those are the O -meters that are set in Scientology. Getting your engrams out with the
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E -meters. Number nine, the jump -start glossolalia.
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This is so perfect. This is perfect. And see, this is written from an insider. I will never apologize for the gift of tongues, says
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J. Lee Grady. And I believe it is a wonderful gift every Christian can have. Forget 1
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Corinthians 12. But someone got the idea that you could prime the pump by asking people to repeat certain phrases in order to uncork a prayer language.
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Asking someone to say, I tie my bowtie, I tie my bowtie, is not going to prompt a miracle.
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Quit manipulating the Holy Spirit. Well, bravo! I got my Botox. I got my Botox. I got my
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Botox. Let me try this one, because I need to... It's like when you start the motorcycle. You get on your Husqvarna, and you need to start it, or your
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Triumph, or your Indian motorcycle. Come on. I tie my bowtie, I tie my bowtie. See, I can't even say it.
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Isn't this supposed to be a tongue twister? Or is this supposed to be a jump -start glossolalia gift of tongues that every
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Christian can have? Good for J. Lee Grady. But my problem is, Mr.
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Grady, it's hard to say, stop, when your theology is based upon the
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Bible and experience, and then you say this experience isn't valid. And you have no way to say that.
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But we have a more sure word, 2 Peter chapter 1. And we have a more sure word than even standing there at the
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Mount of Transfiguration looking at the transfigured Jesus. So let's go back to the Bible, and I think we will find there the solid ground that everybody needs to stand on, without go -go dancing.
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No Compromise Radio, with Pastor Mike Abendroth, is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.
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Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible teaching church, firmly committed to unleashing the life -transforming power of God's Word through verse -by -verse exposition of the sacred text.
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Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015 and in the evening at 6. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston.
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You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.
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The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff, or management.