The Big Guy Upstairs

Treat God as Father, Not as a Casual Pal

Welcome to No Compromise Radio Ministry. It is Thursday in NoCoLand. NoCoLand, it's Thursday, September 12th, but this is actually recorded September 5th, 2024. Still have some residual COVID effects, even though I don't have COVID.

Did two tests and both were negative a few days apart and I had to send those results into the cancer hospital, so I'm allowed back on campus. I had to stop taking the leukemia drugs while I had COVID.

And since now I'm done with COVID and lived. I kept thinking, okay, I've just been diagnosed with COVID again, got leukemia. I think my numbers are better and this COVID round isn't as bad. But I remember in the hospital in that 16-day stint in 2021 with COVID pneumonia, the one doctor looked at me and said, if you don't get the vax when you get better, the COVID vax, the next time you get COVID, you're dead.

He said it twice. Well, I'm going to love you if you've been COVID vaxed or not. But I didn't get the COVID vax after that, never did. And I just kept thinking I'm so dead. So actually, it's probably a good thing to sit and contemplate your mortality and think about what's it going to be like and all that stuff.

But so far, we're still alive. I feel a little tired, but I started kind of a keto diet and I'm about seven days in. So I guess you get kind of keto flu as well. At the moment, probably having five grams of carbs or less.

I'll up that a little bit later after I achieve some weight loss goals. My typical way of losing weight is counting calories, sometimes counting carbs, sometimes drinking chicken broth. Bone broth's good if you're on carnivore.

That's a good thing to do. Anyway, so much for all those machinations. My name is Mike Havendroth, No Compromise Radio Ministry, back doing regular shows. In front of me, I have a book that I just kind of keep here in case I might...

Oh, you know what? Before I say that, there's a new series on American Gospel Television, AGTV, and I have done Law Gospel series, Assurance of Salvation series. What else have I done? Sanctification series called Sanctify.

And I think that's the only thing I've done, those three. And so this summer I recorded Cancer's Not Your Shepherd series. So of course the new book, Cancer's Not Your Shepherd is found in the Amazon store along with the updated more gospel-y Sexual Fidelity.

Both of those are found there. And you can get some other books on Amazon, discovering Romans, discovering Colossians, etc. Evangelical White Lies. I sound like a marketer. But anyway, they have a new series based on the first 16 chapters.

And so they're about 8 to 10 minutes per episode. And I think so far Brandon Kimber is releasing them for free. You don't have to have a subscription because there's a paywall on AGTV. You can always get a free week if you want to try that.

But anyway, the first three are out. Probably by the time this airs, the first four will be out. Mirroring the book, Cancer's Not Your Shepherd, a 31-day guide to suffering. So here it'll be a guide to suffering.

17 days, but we'll just call it a guide to suffer. So AGTV, just want to let you know, Cancer is not your shepherd. Back to the book in front of me. I wouldn't recommend getting this book, but it makes good no-co-fodder.

It's called The 77 Habits of Highly Ineffective Christians. Chris Fabry. I don't know anything about this guy. The puff on the front by Jerry Jenkins, the popular author. Fabry has done it again. Someone please stop him.

Oh, here it says, Chris Fabry is host of The Open Line, also author of Spiritually Correct Bedtime Stories and Away with the Manger. So witty, insightful. What else? Moody broadcasting. Six highly effective children he has, I guess.

So anyway, I saw one of the habits here. Habit 17 that made me want to do a show on this, which I don't think I've done a show. We've hit our 4 ,000th show. I don't think I've done a true 4 ,000 shows, because we have had some reruns, and of course Fridays now are reruns.

But 4 ,000 airing episodes. And so we have a radio station in Belize, in Wyoming, and Alaska. Those are the places where we have the shows. If you know some radio stations that want to play No Compromise Radio, all they have to do is write me, mike, at nocompromiseradio .com, and they can get my permission, and off they go.

Most of the radio stations, though, they want money. So I don't require money to have my shows paid. I'm going to blame it on COVID. Habit 17 in Fabry's book, Treat God Like a Pal. So if you'd like to be a highly ineffective Christian, treat God like a pal.

And maybe I can start this way before I read part of the book. God has revealed himself in Scripture, obviously. And there are many names that he's revealed himself as. And of course we're taught to pray certain ways by Jesus.

We can recognize God's names and actions that he's done. Jehovah-Jireh, God will provide. Alpha, Omega, First, Last.

Yahweh, Rapha, God the Healer.

There's all kinds of things like that. It's more than God. There's Yahweh, there's Lord God, there's Kurios. All kinds of different names for God. So this show necessarily isn't a show on names of God.

But I'm going to be driving to a point. So back to the book. Almighty, Omnipotent, the Great I Am, Awesome Lord. These are terms you must not use or think about if you are to maximize your ineffectivity.

Do not exalt God as Lord over all your life. Instead, you must bring him down to your own level. You must think of God as your heavenly pal. And almost in a screwtape-like way, we just have the opposite to teach a point.

And now he has some names of God that just think through this with me. The Good Lord. That one maybe is not as bad, but you hear some people say, oh, the Good Lord. The Man Upstairs. Obviously, that's a real dumb one.

My Big Buddy.

I've never heard anyone call God Big Buddy. With a capital B for Big and a capital B for Buddy.

My Big Buddy.

I mean, Buddy's what we call somebody. Lisa, I call people Buddy. My son I call Buddy. Sometimes not as a name, but just as a nickname. I call my grandson Buddy sometimes.

Hey, little Buddy.

Or I call people Pal or Buddy if I don't know their name and I'm supposed to. Hey, Pal. Here's another one that I've never heard. Mr. Jesus.

What in the world?

Here's what the author said. You must take the gospel song, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, to the extreme. This is if you want to be doing things the wrong way. When you're tempted to sin, do not picture God sitting on his throne, surrounded by worshiping angels and being too wonderful to describe.

Do not picture him in his blinding righteousness, or yourself filled with awe as you shrink from his presence. Picture him in a cardigan and jeans, putting his arm around you, saying, hey, that's okay, bud.

Don't sweat the little sins. I'll take care of it. By doing this, you will treat the sacrifice he made on the cross as something one business partner would do for another. Think of God as loving, doting grandfather, complete with rocking chair and beard.

Pray casually and without reverence, beginning your prayers with something like, hi, God, it's me. If you focus your mind on making the almighty, omnipotent master of the universe seem like any other person, you will be well on your way to a wonderfully ineffective life.

And then it says, introspection corner, how have you treated the big guy like a pal this week? Well, some good food to chew on here. Some cud to chew on. How many stomachs does a cow have? That's another show.

All right.

How to Address God in Prayer

A couple of things I'd like to say. Number one, when you pray, how do you start your prayers? Now, maybe you pray through the Psalms. Oh, Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. Matter of fact, Psalm 8, verse 1, there's Yahweh and Adonai.

Oh, Yahweh, our Adonai, how excellent is your name in all the earth. Oh, Yahweh, our Lord. And so, obviously, you can start prayers if you're praying through the Psalms. How could I say you shouldn't do that?

But I do want you to remember what Jesus, your Savior, my Savior, when he taught us to pray, he said what? Pray this way, our Father. And I think there's something to be said for that. And here's the point I want to make.

I know many people that seem to start every prayer with. I'm not saying it's wrong to do, but it seems wrong to always do, to start off your prayer to God with God, dear God. Sounds like an XTC song. But anyway, God.

Okay, is it a sin to say God? I'm not saying that. I'm just saying when you look at the Psalms, for instance, matter of fact, I'm just going to open my Bible up to the Psalms and just kind of in a random way, How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts.

If you said, O Lord of hosts, obviously I'm not going to say you're sinning. Psalm 83, O God. Why couldn't I have turned to a different passage? Psalm 85, Lord, all caps, Yahweh. Psalm 86, incline your ear, O Lord Yahweh.

Psalm 88, O Lord Yahweh, God of my salvation. A couple more. Psalm 90, the prayer of Moses, Lord Adonai, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Let's see. Psalm 95, O come, let us sing to Yahweh.

If you want to pray through the Psalms, great. If you want to say God, okay, I'm not going to say you can't do that. I'm just saying, maybe I could put it this way. I don't want you to forget about God being your father.

I don't want you to forget that you're his son. Matter of fact, if you're a lady who trusts in the Lord Jesus, the risen Savior, you're also a son. And you want to be a son in the sense that adopted sons, what do they get compared to the daughters?

You get everything and more. You get the double. Of course, you're a daughter in Christ. You're adopted. But we don't want to lose the idea of sonship. Okay, back on the point here. Father, son, father, daughter.

I don't want you to lose that. Of course, I don't want you to say the man upstairs and the big guy, big buddy, Mr. Jesus. But I know so many people that that's just their reflex. It's just to say only God.

Now, maybe you'll say to me, Mike, if you only say father, then what about the Psalms? If you want to pray through the Psalms, and we have God's inspired songs called Psalms that we can pray through. Well, I'm not going to argue with that.

I'm just saying that Jesus, the Lord, said in Matthew, okay, when you pray, pray like this. Pray in this manner. Here's a template to pray. And if you look at the fatherhood of God in the Old Testament, it's a little different than it is in the New Testament.

It's much more familiar in the New Testament, and it's much more rich in the New Testament. I believe it's J .F. Packard that said, if you understand God as father, the fatherhood of God, you understand who God is and how he deals with his people.

And so when you look at Matthew 6, verse 7, and when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. So God doesn't really care.

And so we got to talk a lot. We got to scream a lot. Think top of Mount Carmel, and they're trying to get, the prophets of Baal are trying to get God's attention, cutting themselves, yelling. Don't pray like that.

Don't be like them, Jesus said, verse 8. For your father knows what you need before you ask him, period. Pray then, since we don't want to heap up empty phrases, since we don't think we're going to be heard because we talk a lot, since we know our father knows what we need before we ask him, pray like this, our father in heaven.

That's how we should pray. Pray then like this. Now, of course, you're going to say to me right away, it doesn't say pray this. So we have to pray this every single time. I know. That's my point. I'm trying to reiterate over and over and over the fact that if you want to mix up your prayer life and say things about God, say and address God in different ways you can, but for people that always say God, I just want you to think through that.

You know what it's like, and I'm certainly guilty of this, we start talking to God before we even remember who we're talking to. I remember reading a book and it was like your first few seconds before you pray, just don't say anything, just think.

Think I'm talking to the God of the universe. And of course he's holy and transcendent and over and different and all these other things. But of course he's my father too. What do we have here in the Heidelberg Catechism?

That is, why has Christ commanded us to address God thus, our father? So Heidelberg Catechism question 120, regarding the father, our father. Here's the answer. That immediately, okay, that's interesting.

In the very beginning of our prayer, he might excite in us a childlike reverence for and confidence in God, which are the foundation of our prayer. Namely, that God is become our father in Christ. I didn't misread that.

And will much less deny us what we ask of him in true faith. Then our parents will refuse us earthly things.

I mean,.

Even though parents on earth aren't perfect, when they have a child that asks them for something, and that child needs that, food, help, medical attention. What are, what are the, what are the, even sentient father and of course a mother, what would they do?

And of course we know the heart of a father and a mother toward their children. And so we say, our father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come,.

Right?

You will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our debts. As we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.

Hmm.

Deliver us from the evil one,.

Satan.

So we asked the father to do that. Mike Ebenroth here, no compromise radio ministry, N C R or duplex radio D G R.

God,.

I come to you. Okay.

How about our father?

I just think that's better. So if you want to say God once in a while, fine. I've even been at some churches. It seems like the overall prayer is God. And I just thrown it out.

You know,.

I'm glad you don't say big guy,.

A big buddy.

I don't know why that takes, takes me off to the laughing thing. And even that casual prayer.

Hi God,.

It's me.

And you think that's a good thing to say?

Obviously,.

If you're a brand new Christian, you're immature Christian, you don't know what to say.

Hi God,.

It's me.

I mean,.

I,.

I sin often by my lack of prayers. And so would you rather have a brand new Christian, an immature Christian who does pray?

Hi God,.

It's me.

Or would you have, or have a radio host that knows better, that does sometimes doesn't pray like he should say our father. But one thing's for certain, avoid saying God or Lord or father over and over and over and over.

Now,.

And I just read the Lord's prayer, the disciples prayer that the Lord taught in Matthew six. It doesn't read like this. Let's try it again. But here's how I hear people pray. Not this exact way, but you'll get my point here.

Our father in heaven,.

Father,.

Hallowed be your name,.

Father,.

Your kingdom come father,.

Father,.

You will be done. Father on earth as it is in heaven,.

Father, father,.

Give us this day, our daily bread,.

Father, and father,.

Forgive us our debts.

Father,.

As we've also father forgiven our debtors,.

Father, and father,.

Deliver us not into temptation,.

Father,.

But deliver us from the evil one.

Father,.

You know what that is? First of all, you wouldn't talk to your heavenly father that way.

I mean, sorry,.

Your earthly father that way. So why would you talk to your heavenly father that way? If Luke said that Maddie, Gracie, Haley are now my grandchildren. If they're saying grandpa,.

By the way,.

I,.

I'm picking my name. My nickname is a grandpa. My name is Poppy.

And that's P-O-P-P-Y,.

Not I.

That'd be more feminine. And if they want to call me grandpa, fine. I did not want boompa. Although my kids all threatened me with that. My friend, I had lunch with he and his wife, Kim and I had lunch with them this summer, Chris and Maureen.

And I think he's called Peepa. Somebody else I know has called that too.

I mean,.

Whatever they call you,.

Okay,.

Fine.

I'll put up with it.

They're my grandchildren, but come on. I wanted to be known as Poppy. Come on.

Anyway,.

What happens is we don't think, and we're trying to fill airtime. And we say,.

Um,.

And I don't know what to say.

Um,.

And you know, and you know,.

Um,.

You know,.

Um, uh,.

You know,.

Um, uh,.

You know,.

Um, uh,.

God,.

God.

It's okay to just think. It's okay to have a pause. If your children speak to you and they have a pause in between sentences, you don't say this is a radio. We don't want any dead air. You don't do that.

You don't, you don't say something like this. Of course not. What is all this planet of the apes stuff? You go to Hulu or whatever I've got now. There's all this planet of the apes stuff everywhere you go.

I saw in Westroads movie theater, like all five of the old planet of the apes. All you just pay six bucks to get in and watch them all day. What a day that is. So my name is Mike Capen Droth, Snow Compromise Radio Ministry.

You dear Christian, because of the triune work of God, have God as father. No longer judge, but father, heavenly father. And you have Jesus as brother and you have the spirit of God dwelling in you. And you can come to God and you can say God, you could say father, but I would not use irreverent language like buddy, pal,.

Big guy,.

Man upstairs, Mr. Jesus, or anything like that. I think the default, if you're praying through the Psalms, whatever the Psalm says, it's wonderful. It's perfect. But if you're not doing that, I think Jesus's words are insightful because that helps you understand your relationship.

You realize that when you confess your sins, that he, while maybe disciplining you, is not going to kick you out of the family because you have a father and you have a relationship that's close and personal and intimate and wonderful.

And so then if you're also praying, every time someone says, would you pray, or just pause for a couple seconds, measure yourself, remember who you're praying to, and then open your mouth. And I think that will help you not just immediately say,.

Someone says,.

Please pray, dear God, God, and that's your only default. You don't have to have any default. If you have to have a default, and you want one, I think Father's probably the best. Dear Father, dear Father.

Isn't that wonderful that you have a father to pray to who's hallowed, whose name is hallowed? My name's Mike Gabendorf, No Compromise Radio Ministry. You can write me, mike at nocompromiseradio .com.