New Devotional Bibles

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry coming to you from Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. 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 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.'".

In short, if you like smooth, watered-down words to make you simply feel good, this show isn't for you. 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.

Here's our host, Pastor Mike Abendroth.

Social Distancing, Masks, and Getting Back on the Air

Welcome to No Compromise Radio ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and yes, it is Tuesday, but sadly, we're still social distancing, and that makes problems for radio shows when you have a co-host. But we have landlines, and we have the internet, and so today, it's Tuesday.

Pastor Steve Cooley, the Tuesday guy, welcome back to No Compromise Radio, your home. Thank you very much. We have to social. Well, it's okay if you are unloading masks and stuff like that from the Patriots plane.

You can get as close as you want for the photo ops.

Yeah. Now, there are, I noticed there are lots of exceptions, like, you know what I find funny is yesterday, they announced the guidelines for wearing them, and the guys who work in the, standing next to each other, so.

Well, I'm trying not to go out very much, but today, I went to pick up a prescription, and I went into the grocery store, slash, they have a pharmacy inside the store, and today, Steve, was my first day that I wore my N95 mask, and I put a hat on, and I didn't have sunglasses, although I thought of it if it wasn't raining, because I didn't want anybody to know who I was, because I think it's kind of, you know, dopey to wear masks around, until today, and then, I think, probably 40 of the shoppers had masks on, and none of the clerks, none of the cashiers, none of the stockers, none of the produce people, so it's an odd day, isn't it?

Well, I mean, if you had sunglasses on, that might have been sketchy.

I know. By the way, Steve, here's something you don't know, but if you were sitting, if you were sitting here next to me today, one foot away, breaking social distancing laws, you would recognize that on your headphones are brand new, upgraded, brand new, brand spanking new ear deals for your headphones.

Ear covers? Yeah. Wow.

Black plastic rubber stuff, whatever that is.

I think that's a new trend we could start. It's a no-co thing. So what we're gonna try to do, dear listener, is we're gonna try to record some shows today and play them on Tuesday, so we can keep having Steve around.

The last, I don't know, three months have been odd for me, especially because not only have we have the virus stuff, but the knee surgery, but I think we're kind of back in the saddle again, and so today, glad to have Pastor Steve Cooley, the Tuesday guy, back.

Steve, is there any kind of theological issues that are floating around your mind or anything you wanna start the show off with, or do you want me to start?

Longing for the Assembly of the Saints

Floating around in my mind, well, I mean, I just think, I've been thinking a lot about the assembling of the saints and to take things back to when, I mean, previously, we'd come in and preach the gospel to the inmates and et cetera, and so the day comes when we're saved and I'm working 16 hours scheduling quirk, and I just wanted to go to, the inmates are the inmates, and instead of being a roadblock, I was like, hey, today, folks were looking at me like, what is, I wanna hear something.

I need something good.

Well, it's interesting, Steve. Of course, there are objective truths about our legal standing before the Lord, but the subjective realities are additionally true, longing for things that you used to despise and put roadblocks over.

You know, we used to always say, Christians now love what they used to hate and hate what they used to love. Well, now you take down barriers where you used to put up roadblocks. Yep. That's right. That was pretty pithy.

Well, that's why we're here. Always pithy, always who knows what. Steve, I have a Christianity Today in front of me, April 2020, and it's fascinating because they have new devotional Bibles out, and it's on page 23 where there's a special advertising section, and you don't need to turn it to that page to understand some of these study Bibles, these new devotional Bibles, and so I just wanna tell you about a Bible and then you tell me what you think about it.

How's that for sure? Okay, that sounds good. All right. I'm not making any of this up. I'm gonna just read the little tiny paragraph and what it's called, and then we'll see the Cooley response. The Busy Mom's Bible, NIV, designed for moms on the go.

This women's devotional Bible helps you stay connected with God and gives you a moment to reflect on yourself. 52 one-minute thought starters let you dip into God's Word for a minute of refreshment. Each is followed by an option for a five-minute reflect and pray or 10-minute study.

Two times a year, wow.

I mean, dude. Hey, well, you're busy. Yeah, well, you know, right when you said the Busy Mom's devotional Bible, I'm just like, okay, show me a mom. Let's take a room full of moms. How many of you aren't that meme?

The Busy Moms, that's ridiculous. If you're homeschooled, don't work, whatever. You know, these are one self-image, and I'm like, the last Busy Mom or anything else, email exchange, I won't go into, but too many of our churches, you know, I think the Bible's better about yourself.

And of course, the fruit, you'll think to yourself, oh, I'm so glad now I'm acceptable to God in light of the work of Christ, and maybe there's feelings of feeling better then, but I thought, Steve, we might make a sequel to the Busy Moms Bible.

NIV, why don't we have the Busy Body Moms Bible, RSV. The Busy Body. Yeah, you know, when I was a kid, I don't think my mom ever said busy body, but she would say nosy. They're sure nosy.

I mean, as a young person, to people, ad nauseam talk, you know, and I'm just like, talk poorly about other people so you can feel better about yourself, you know?

That is so true. First Peter 4 .15, make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer or thief. I mean, those are pretty bad. They're really bad. Or evildoer, and then he adds, are a troublesome meddler, some translated busy body.

That's right. Well, let's talk just for a second, Steve, when we're dealing with this Busy Moms Bible. There are seasons to the life of a Christian and especially young mothers. And I commend their desire to have their Bible studies and their quiet times and their times of reflection as they're reading a lot of the Bible.

But I think there are probably times in the life of a young mom where she can't sit down like she would like to and read the Bible, but she probably prays while she's doing dishes and prays while she's changing the diaper and feeding the child and all that stuff.

I would hate to have godly young mothers beat themselves up because they couldn't get up an hour early and study James chapter two in the Greek. Do you know what I'm saying? Is that right thinking or am I off base?

No, I think that's right on. And so perfect for the busy body moms, whatever it is. To get their one minute in. No, I think you are right. And I think anytime we're trying to, and I don't mean we, but anytime somebody else is trying to do some new, it's not really helpful.

We have enough that we are guilty of. We don't need to invent new ways to be guilty, right?

Wow, that is so true. And you know what? I would just say to busy moms out there, you already have a Bible, right? Whatever the translation might be. You have a Bible and read your Bible. And for me, after I read my Bible in the morning and I'm not a busy mom, but I'm a busy person, but after I read the Bible in the morning when I'm getting ready and taking my vitamins and doing all these things that I have, my little routine, I just have the Bible on.

And regularly these days, Steve, I've been listening to the ESV Audible Bible, John 7, 8, 9, and 10 is what I try to listen to over and over and over to see kind of the themes and what's going on and how chapters tie together.

And I don't think anybody needs to have a particular kind of Bible besides a study Bible.

And does it have the missing verses there?

Yeah, well, yeah, actually the ESV, when it reads it, they do read the missing verses. Interesting. Yeah, 8, 7, 53 to 8, whatever, 10, or something like that. All right, we're talking to Pastor Steve today, the Tuesday guy on No Compromise Radio.

You can always still write us, info at nocompromiseradio .com and we're planning, I don't know if it'll happen or not, but we're planning to go to Israel, February 24th through March 4th, 2021. Maybe we'll get some cheap flights.

At least we'll plan. If you need more information, go ahead and write us and we'll send you the information. Steve, in the Christianity Today special advertising section April 2020, page 23, we not only have the Busy Moms Bible, but we also have the New Morning Mercies Bible.

So let me just read the little blurb and then you can respond. It's a daily gospel devotional, by the way. This devotional by best-selling author, Paul David Tripp, offers daily encouragement through 365 gospel-centered meditations, focused on encountering the living God, giving you the good news that you need to trust in God's goodness, rely on his grace, and live for his glory day in and day out.

New Morning Mercies, a gospel devotional. Morning by morning.

Is that a Cat Stevens song? No, although I just did. Cat Stevens was a little wild once in our hymnals.

It was right next to Joyful Joyful We Adore Unitarians.

People probably don't understand that one, so it doesn't sound as bad to me as the Busy Moms. I mean, again, when something, I think a thematic.

Well, Steve, I had never, I didn't even know that existed until I just read it to you today. I didn't know what I was getting myself into. I didn't even know it was Paul David Tripp. My guess is it's a theologically sound work.

Whatever kind of issues I have with Paul Tripp, it usually is not his theological understanding of who Jesus is and. It's his classes. No, or I thought you were gonna say mustache or something like that.

No, it's more like how the ministry is run and some other things and charging for things. But you know, my guess is they're thinking that our default is law, our conscience is basically giving us law only.

We kind of live in this pragmatic, how-to American world of individualism and get your to-do list done. And that it's good to remember the Lord Jesus. My particular style, though, would not be read that kind of devotional.

It would be to get my mind in the gospels and think about who Jesus is. I know Kim regularly in her morning devotions, she'll read through books, 365-day devotionals, kind of like Spurgeon's morning and evening, except I think she is reading the John Newton one now.

And to your point, Steve, it's not all just gospel stuff. It's a mixture, right? There's a variety of things between who God is and then our response to him. And so it's just not all gospel, gospel, gospel.

But this devotional might really be good. I don't know. Right. All right, let's do another one. Pastor Steve here today, No Compromise Radio. The Artesian Collection Bibles. N-I-V-N-R-S-V. Exquisite.

Pardon me? It must come with recipes. Yeah. Whenever I think of artesian, I'm thinking about artesian water, but we'll see what it says here. And it starts off with a pretty good description. Exquisite from the inside out.

The newest editions of the Artesian Collection Bible will delight you with gorgeous covers creating with a layered alcohol ink painting technique. Now available in both the NIV and NRSV, these journaling Bibles have thicker pages with lightly ruled wide margins for journaling, taking notes, or creating art.

Paint by numbers. I don't know. You know, I think journaling would be great. It's in your Bible. You know, once a night, you've got a quick little, I write it down so that I can look at it five years.

Well, Steve, I was very, I was very impressed and I don't mean, I mean, I was jolted. I guess that's a better word because I'm trying to think of artesian kind of words because this is talking about gorgeous and artesian and stuff.

I was jolted by Sinclair Ferguson when he described his interaction with a friend of his who liked to journal. And he was reading, I think, through the book of Ephesians. And he said, as you're reading Ephesians and journaling your thoughts about the book, if I, Sinclair, pick up your journal, what I learn more in the journal about who God is, the Lord Jesus Christ, are what I learn more about you and your inner workings.

Exactly. And if you do journal, I don't have any problem with that, but it's not necessarily the best idea to just talk about who you are. Is that your call waiting? Nope, this isn't me. Huh, that's weird.

Okay. By the way, I look, Steve, on the definition of artesian, a person skilled in applied art, a person or a company that makes high quality, distinctive products in small quantities, or pertaining to artesian, but pretty artesian beer.

Shit. So this, the new one, the new artesian collection Bible, it has, you know, probably thicker pages. So if you spill hops on it, it's okay. And then lastly, this one I can give a hearty thumbs up to, and I think it's the best thing that I've seen from Crossway and something I use every day, actually.

ESV scripture journals, great tools for taking notes during a sermon, recording prayers, or creatively engaging with a text. ESV scripture journals are made with thick journaling paper and have a blank page next to each page of scripture, perfect for personal Bible reading and reflection, available as individual volumes and complete sets.

Do you use those, Steve?

I guess non-journaling, you know, I mean the negative side. Yeah, I could see where that, you know, I've been studying through Isaiah, just kind of keeping in mind that I might need to, you know, preach one of these days.

Yeah, that's right.

Well, what I do, Steve, is I have the Hebrews ESV journal, and then in the morning, I just try to walk through the Greek of the passage I'm gonna preach. And then with the journal, that ESV journal that's talked about here, I have on the left side, the English, and on the right side, it's just blank.

And so I can write a lot more on that blank side than I would feel free to write in my Bible, because they're just ideas, right? I'm not doodling, I'm not doing artesian, creative, you know, drawings or anything, but I'm writing down thoughts.

Oh, here's a thought. Is this the main idea? What about this? Kind of an outline. And then I can circle things in words, like in Hebrews 12, the word discipline is used. So maybe in my real Bible, I might not circle all those, but on the study journal Bible, I can.

So I really like those products. And I said to Justin Taylor, I said, Justin, you and I might have some differences on methodological approaches and philosophy of things in life, but I said, that thing by Crossway, the ESV scripture journals, is the best thing you guys have done.

And he said to me, well, who would have thought, right, just the Bible on one side and a blank side on the other? It worked.

Well, I mean, there are a lot of problems with them. One is I occasionally lose them, but another one, months, is always the handiest thing. Yeah, maybe I'll get one of those.

Yeah, ESV scripture journals and New Morning Mercies, Busy Moms Bible, Artesian Collection Bibles. I guess you can get all these on Amazon since you can't go to the local store. I don't know how they pick stores to stay open and how they decide to close stores, Steve, but so far, when I drive by stores, most of them seem open, except I drove past JCPenney's the other day in the mall, and it seemed like no one was in the parking lot, but that was happening before COVID too.

Great time to be in retail. I mean, I don't wanna get economy and politics and all that will just strike me that O 'Connor's is called that either. I know that, you know, if I didn't, I'd probably be like everybody else and scrambling, trying to figure out where my toilet paper.

Well, I can attest to the fact there's still no toilet paper in the grocery store that I went to today, because I just thought I might as well wander over there just to see, and I would never imagine in America we would see these depleted shelves, but that's the way it works.

I don't know, Steve, whether to, on some days rather, I believe, well, you know what, this is overblown, look at the flu, look what it's done, look at these bell curves, what's happening, how many cases, we don't have as many people in ICU as they had predicted on this particular day in April 3rd, and then on the other side, we know of people at the church whose sister-in-laws have died and other things from this, and therefore I kind of alt tab between the two, but like you said, we're thankful that we know who's in charge, and we can now have a practical application of the doctrine of the sovereignty of God.

Well, I mean, I just look around there, and I don't mean hopeless, these people are useless or anything like that.

Amen, well, it's 24 minutes into the show, that means we have 30 seconds left. Pastor Steve is back on No Compromise Radio for Tuesdays, and I hope we'll be able to keep doing this, I guess, through April, and maybe through May, maybe through June, I don't know what's gonna happen in the fall, we probably have to redo all this again when the flu season is back, but we'll just see what happens.

Pastor Steve, thanks for being on the radio, I think they can get ahold of you, the Tuesday guy, at nocompromiseradio .com if they wanna email. If you can, let's stick around for another half hour, and we'll record another show.

Okay. No Compromise Radio, with Pastor Mike Abendroth, is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. 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.

Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015, and in the evening at six. We're right on route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org, or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.