Bible Study Methods--Not

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.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. It has been some time since Esteban has been sitting here in the navigator seat.

I think the last time I was here, there was about six feet of snow out in the parking lot. Was that what, May 5th?

I guess, so it�s only been a couple weeks. I did not know,

Steve, that while we usually celebrate May 5th with salsa and corn chips, right?

Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo. 1818, 200 years ago, Karl Marx was born, and his influence is still around.

I thought you were going to talk about the ship the French were sending to Mexico full of mayo.

No. Cinco de Mayo. No, I was just thinking about the oppressed and the oppressors, and let�s just make everybody fall into that category.

You�re either oppressed or you�re oppressors. I think that�s kind of like introvert, extrovert. I feel like one of the oppressors.

I�m sorry, the Peter Tosh song just went through my mind, �Down

Presser Man.� I�m not familiar with, I mean, I know who Peter Tosh is, was,

I don�t know, is he still alive? No, he got murdered in his home. Did he? Yeah, he did. But when you listen to his son, he sounds just like him.

What�s his name, Hank? Hank. Hank Tosh.

No, I don�t think so. I�m guessing Andrew is something like that. Peter Andrew.

See? Oh, yeah. Biblical. Yeah. Uh -huh. There were stories that Bob Marley, on his deathbed, believed on the real

Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that�s true, don�t you? Yes. That would be great. Who was

I just, oh, well, it�s a family tragedy that I don�t want to talk about right now, but yeah,

I mean, I never rejoice when anybody dies, you know, that�s what I hate

I hate to see that when someone dies and then they�re, you know, social media these days, people have lost all restraint.

Everything that�s in their heart just comes out, and so I hate to see that when people celebrate anybody�s death.

I know. Well, what�s happened to me with social media, I have watched,

Steve, the last two weeks, people going aggro crazy. Seems like they�re taking, you know, they�re drinking

Diet Cokes and caffeine all day, you know, and just going crazy. So while I like to throw a little crazy bomb in there once in a while,

I have been restraining myself because everybody else is too crazy. They�re encroaching on my space.

Yeah, in a world of, you know, .50 caliber machine guns, you�re just an

AR -15, a semi -auto. So now I just don�t really, now it�s just like, I�ll just give a Machen quote, that�s it.

It�s no fun anymore if you can�t critique people. It�s really gotten bananas out there.

Although I did see Beth Moore�s daughter said that, you know, �See, the

Southern Baptist Convention�s view of women and men, i .e., complementarianism, has caused all this misogynistic

XYZ stuff.� Somebody just sent me a message before I left the house this morning about, you know, the whole

Paige Patterson situation and, you know, and asked me, you know, is this bad?

You know, how bad is it? And I�m like, well, it�s bad, right? I think Mueller wrote a great big piece on it.

It�s bad because it verifies or it, you know, gives credence to,

I won�t say it verifies, but it gives, lends credence to, you know, people like Beth Moore�s daughter who want to believe the worst about conservative

Southern Baptists, which, you know, looks bad on evangelicals, which ultimately looks bad on people who believe the

Bible. Steve, regarding that Paige Patterson issue, and for the listeners that don�t know,

Paige was I think for, I don�t know, 20, 30 years the president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Long time. And he was one of the key figures, if not the key figure, that helped

Mueller and the other men 30 years ago turn around the Southern Baptist Convention and get conservatives at places like Southwestern, Southeastern, and Southern.

Well, he said something 18 years ago, and I mean, you and I have talked about, all right, what do we do here?

And my life is actually easier because you�re a retired policeman. If something happens with some inappropriate action towards a child or towards a lady or something like that, then we have obligations to call the police, right?

If someone has been violated in some way, shape, or form, and the law has been broken, well, that�s our responsibility.

We can still minister to people, and we could still visit them in the prisons and do other things, but we have obligations, and I think while I�ve said dumb things 20 years ago and would hate to have them published around the world, thankfully

I haven�t said something like that because our job is clear. We need to have the law upheld, keep people safe, and then there are opportunities to minister to those behind the scenes.

Right. I mean, you know, because I�ve actually taken people to jail for spousal abuse and things like that, and California had a zero -tolerance law where basically it was one of the few situations where we had no option, which is fine with me.

I mean, in my mind, I have zero tolerance for it too. Now, there is a separate issue of divorce, but I don�t even want to go down that rabbit hole.

But suffice it to say that there�s forgiveness for anything in this life, but there are consequences for actions.

Temporal consequences, right, and I think Page got himself into trouble by saying, �Well, the

Lord could do this, that, or the other in this person�s life and in the marriage because of blah, blah, blah.�

Well, I would just say on the flip side, if a husband does something that�s illegal and hurts his wife or children, and we help her strengthen her resolve to call the cops, or we call them, well, the

Lord could work in the police, you know, in the jail too, right? So you can�t use that excuse.

Yeah, He�s not constrained by the walls of the jail or the prison. I know. I�m glad for that. Well, Steve, today on No Compromise Radio, I found an article that I thought would be fun to discuss, and Christianity Today, I know that�s one of your favorite particular pieces of information.

Yeah, actually, I was reading it last night, yeah. All right, and it says, �CT Pastors ,� and this is a little extra, right?

If you subscribe to Velo News, then when the Tour de France comes around, they give you like a little insert, extra stuff.

It was like a condiment, like a little, you know, extra spicy mustard pack that they just threw in there. And by the way, grab some of those mustard packs, because you put those in your saddlebag, and if you ever get cramps, there�s some vinegar and mustard, and it helps your cramps.

Pro tip. Pro tip. And this is �Wisdom and Tools for Your Calling ,� and it has a particular article in here, and it�s called �Ideas for Improving Bible Engagement in Your Church.�

Now, I�m interested in that. Yeah, well, here�s one tip, idea for improving your

Bible engagement in your church, teach the Bible. Uh -huh, yeah, bring the Bible. Yeah. Actually, when

I taught the high school group here a couple weeks ago, social media and how to be aware of what your heart does with it, etc.,

I said, �You know, it�s easier for me when I�m sitting and listening to a sermon, or the Bible being taught, if I have a real

Bible.� Because if I�ve got my tablet, I�ve got my phone, I�ve got something else, you know, they�ve got, you know,

Bibles on those things, but just push that button, and I can just check. Multitask. Uh -huh. I can check the weather.

What will the weather be on Monday? That�s important. Yeah, it�s really important. It�s way more important than whatever that guy is saying, right?

I know. So, J .R., well, it just depends, if they�re not preaching the Bible. By the way, this is the pro tip.

If you�re ever at a church, and you need to go there because you�re out of town or whatever, and you�re stuck, and you�re in the middle of it, and you�re in your front seat, can�t get out, and the guy�s up there preaching, or the gal, maybe that�s a gal up there preaching,

I wouldn�t sit there probably for the gal, but if I was listening to the guy, and he was just off on a tangent,

I usually just do things like open my Bible and just read Jeremiah or something. I might as well get something out of this, so I�ll just do it myself.

You don�t stand up and say to you, �Woe to you, Pharisees, hypocrites.� Well, sometimes when

I translate that from the original Targum, it doesn�t come out so well. Nobody else seems to know what

I�m saying. Hmm, had to throw down the Targum card.

How to Encourage a Deeper Experience of Scripture is the subtitle, and it�s written by J.

R. Briggs. Okay? Is that Billy Bob Joe Briggs?

I don�t know. There was a man named Briggs who came from Union Cemetery, though. He was problematic.

That was a long time ago. Well, we just skipped right to the section on page 19, ctpastors .com,

Spring 2018 edition. But you know, these things are transchronological. Oh, yeah. These principles.

Two centuries from now, these will be just as vital as they are today. These are seven practical ways to foster

Scripture engagement. So even that terminology �foster.� Is it like �adopt ?�

I think it�s �adopt.� Wasn�t there a comedian, Foster somebody? Foster Brooks. Foster Brooks. That�s what

I was thinking. That�s bad. All right. Now, some of these may be good. Some are bad.

We don�t know. As you know, I know Compromise Radioland. We don�t script these shows. Wait.

Wait. Well, what is this I�m looking at then, right? I am not sure. I think you�re one page behind.

Steve, dramatic pause. Insert smoker�s cough and laugh here.

Number one, this is for fostering Scripture engagement. Write out Scripture by hand.

Have people write out entire chapters or even books of the Bible. This can be painstaking, but it slows us down to savor each word.

Well, if I want to write out Scripture, I�d rather do it by hand than some other way. You know, what, by ear, by foot?

I don�t know. I�ve seen people that have no hands, and they write with their feet. I was watching somebody paint with their feet the other day, and I�m just like,

I can�t even do that with my hands. You know, I can�t even envision doing that, so it is amazing.

Right. Well, I thought I�d probably blast this article, and number four is going to be Lectio Divina, so we�ll get to the blasting part.

But if you do slow down when you read the Bible, however you incorporate that slowing down, don�t you think that�s helpful?

It�s always helpful, and you know, sometimes it�s just trying to�I mean, one of the things

I like to do is, you know, listen to it, read it. Why? Because even the different cadence will help me pick up things that I haven�t, you know, seen before,

I haven�t, you know, I haven�t focused on, you know, so all those things are really helpful to me. When I listen on Sunday morning to the public

Scripture reading, I usually know the passage, and sometimes I�ve, you know, read it before the service or whatever, but if I�m not the one reading and I�m just in the congregation, oftentimes

I�ll just close my eyes because I�ve read it many times, but now I want to hear it for those, and I know it�s not, you know, in the original language or anything, but still it�s that tonality, that cadence that I�m listening, and I just think that�s a good benefit.

What about people that only listen to their Bibles on, you know, they get in the car, they listen to half of Matthew on the way to work, but they never really open up their

Bibles. Would you give them a suggestion? Well, again, I think because we all learn in different ways and we remember in different ways, and some of the things, you know, like I can a lot of times just visualize where something is on a page, you know, and so all these things help us, you know, and so is one better than the other?

I don�t know. I think they�re all helpful, and I think we should engage in every means that we can.

Sometimes when I really want to help my thought process, I get the

ESV and the NAS, turn it to the same chapter, and then I just switch words in the verse.

So, all Scripture, and just go back and forth from ESV to NAS to see how they match up.

That just triggered my ADD. I watched that Adderall Netflix documentary, wow.

You know what, Steve? If we just had some, we could do more shows in a day. And simultaneously.

I know. I know, because let�s see if we didn�t have to sleep, and let�s just factor in some breaks, half hour a show.

We could get 48 shows done. We could get a year�s worth of Adderall shows done. And right now, I�d be interrupting you and go, �Wait, wait, wait,

I have another idea for a show.� No, no, my thought�s better. And so we just pause that one and go to another one, and we need like three or four recorders, and then, you know, editors galore.

Hey, well, speaking of which, why don�t we just write out the shows by hand? Oh. Uh -huh.

Chew over them. I know, that�s right. Number two, ask questions, even tough ones. Read a passage, then ask people to write out 10 to 15 questions about the passage on a piece of paper.

Why did the woman ask that of Jesus? What was running through Abraham�s mind when he was walking up the mountain to sacrifice

Isaac? You know what�s hard? Is coming up with 15 questions about a given passage. I know. Try it sometime.

That is brutal. I�m meeting with a couple for some marriage encouragement, marriage counseling.

They�re helping out. And you know, after you�ve been married, they are. They are. They are. Actually, I have some of the same problems they do, right?

And I said, �Well, you guys have been married for a long time, let�s say 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years, and, you know, you just, it is

God�s will for you to show thanks.� We talked about that in 1 Thessalonians 5, �Rejoice always.�

What�s the second part of that? Rejoice always something or other in everything, show thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

There�s something else. Oh, what is it? Rejoice always. And again,

I say rejoice. Can you find that for me? It�s 1

Thessalonians 5, 16 to 18. Yes, I can. Rejoice always. It says, �Rejoice always.

Pray without ceasing.� Oh, duh. Okay. Thank you. And then what does it say? Give thanks in all circumstances for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Okay, good. Anyway, I said, you know, instead of complaining or looking at the, you know, the negative side of things,

I�d like you to each write out 30 things that you�re thankful for with your spouse.

And it�s going to take you some time. Don�t wait until the last minute. And then I said, well, we�re going to look at that list when we come to meet again.

And I had each one kind of read the top five type of thing. It just takes a while to sit and think and ask questions and ponder and, you know,

I think that comes to thinking and the more thinking we can have with Scripture, the better.

Amen. All right. So far, so good. Three. Here�s where it goes south.

You know, here�s the thing. If you have a five -point sermon, but only the first two points are biblical, just land the plane.

Wouldn�t that be good advice? That�d be excellent advice. If you have a five -point sermon and only two of them are biblical, then you have a two -point sermon.

That�s exactly right. You know, while I�ve criticized Haddon Robinson for some of the things he has written,

God bless his soul, he�s fine now, he was right when he said in Leadership magazine, when they still had

Bible articles, �Most heresy that comes out of evangelical pulpits come in the form of application.�

You know, it�s just some kind of weird application. And points four and five, probably. Yeah, that�s right.

So here�s three. According to CT pastors, J .R.

Briggs. Put yourself in the story. He graduated from Union Seminary. Putting you back into Union.

I�m just like, you know, I�m thinking about, you know, some of the stories in Judges, and I�m like, where exactly do

I fit in there? How does that work? Mm -hmm. Well, you know, one time I imagined myself, speaking of Judges, I�m glad you brought that up,

I imagined myself as the jawbone. And...

I got whiplash. That�s right. And I just wanted to be a mighty instrument in the hand of a spirit -filled man.

Mm. That�s deep. That�s deep. That�s jack -handy deep.

You can be the jawbone. Be the jawbone. Be the jawbone.

Be the jawbone. Be the jawbone. Well, then, what would you be if you were the, you know, the bad, are you the bad hip in Jacob�s story?

Touched his hip, he�s got a limp. Ooh. Well. Put yourself in that story. Be the osteoporosis.

I don�t know what that is. Well, you know, all those kings, whatever that man was who was the king, and he cut their toes off, right?

And then they sat around the table, and then he cut his toes off. What if I was one of the toes?

The council of the toe -less. Okay, here it says, �Read a narrative passage of Scripture with a group of people.�

This is just a recipe for disaster. Uh -huh. Uh -huh. Then hold your breath for 10 minutes.

Divide the room into quarters and assign people different characters in the story you just read.

Ask them to imagine themselves in the story as if it were happening. Then read the story again and answer, have them answer the question.

So this is like a combination of �I said Jesus� and really bad theater.

Yeah, this would be, this would be Pictionary. Extremely bad theater. Muy mal.

I think for Steve and I, for 30 years we have joked about Bad Playhouse and Saturday Night Live with Aykroyd.

Quite bad. Exceedingly bad. Okay, tell our listeners, why is this bad to do, putting yourself in the story?

Because you're not there, right? I mean, we're supposed to, anytime we go to Scripture, we're supposed to get authorial intent.

What are the original writer intent? Not what we imagine we might have done in that situation, or, you know, what would we have experienced?

We're not there. You're just not there. So get yourself, you know, you should remove yourself from Scripture unless you're explicitly included.

Mm -hmm. Well, what happens is, I think we are so selfish. I know I am, and we just, you know, look through the world and through the lens of our own eyes, we try to put ourselves places that, you know, where were you when

Jesus was on the cross? Well, I mean, look, when I read a fictional book, right, what do

I do? I find myself so identifying with some of the characters that I, like, I become part of the book and I'm sad when it's over.

Why? Because my adventure is over, right? Well, again,

I'm not a character anywhere in the Bible. I'm just not there. I'm not Samson, I'm not Joshua, I'm not, you know,

Caleb, I'm not anybody. I'm just not there. Were you with Elijah when he was running from Jezebel?

No, and he should be thankful, because if he would have tried to help me, we both would have been… So what we end up doing is, if we say to ourselves instead of number three, put yourself in the story,

I think you could say, what can I learn from the story, right, what can I learn about God from the story, our sin, or how

God deals with His people, our redemptive historical theology or something? You can learn things, but I never just say to myself,

I'm gonna put myself in the story. If I read an epistle that's meant to be read to churches, then

I think, you know, that's being read to me now as the Spirit of God applies those words, and when it says you plural,

I'm included in that as the, you know, as people of God, but I don't go around.

I mean, think how many funny stories we could come up with if you just put yourself in the story. Okay, Mike, you be

Lazarus, okay, and I'm gonna call you out of the tomb now. Well, I'm just so sorry if I was

Lazarus, I could have made a lot of money on the circuit, on the TV heaven circuit. That would have been just a shame.

He'd probably get really rich. He's been to heaven and back, and he's seen little purple ponies and stuff, pink ponies, and see how that works.

It's trending on social media, Lazarus is back. Number four, if it couldn't get worse, practice

Lectio Divina. Now it says here that Lectio Divina is sacred reading.

It is a way to prayerfully read a passage of Scripture slowly and repetitively, inviting the

Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us through four movements, reading, pondering, meditating, praying, and living.

It's called Rome. Yeah, this is a pagan practice that Rome encourages.

Yes, but Steve, I want something more than just kind of prayers and bread and wine, juice, or water, right, for baptism.

Can you please just, could we just have a little something more? I like mazes. You know, down the street they have a corn rose and stuff, a hedge rose, and you have to walk through the maze.

I feel like it's, you know, Bastogne or something in 1944, I got hedge rose. This is, if I could say it this way, this is

Christianized transcendental meditation. You know, that's all this is.

This is Eastern mysticism masquerading as Christianity. When my kids used to go to a particular

Christian camp, I hate to mention the name, Mount Hermon, and they had a

Lectio Divina time, and then they had a maze walking and all that stuff. I just told them to go take a walk or go to the snack bar.

They're like, really, Dad? Yeah, just go down the snack bar. Go to the snack bar. You'll learn more at the snack bar than you were... It's going to be more edifying paying $2 for an ice cream sandwich.

Yeah, and make sure you get Dad one. Anyway, if you would like to study the scriptures, the main thing we can encourage you to do is just take time, open your

Bible, and read, right? Back to the old Martin Holt quote, have you read your Bible today? And you know, there are some days maybe you have to get up at 3 .30,

go to the airport or something happens, but just day in and day out, if you can establish a habit of reading the

Bible, I think that would help you. It would indeed. And if you have questions about the

Bible, well, you can go to your pastor. You can look at study Bibles. There are all kinds of resources, you know, when passages are difficult, but it is helpful to read, reread, and just try to learn on your own.

And if none of those suffice, you can go to the Purpose Driven Church Breakthrough 2018 conference with Rick Warren.

That'd be awesome. 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 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston.

You can check us out online at bbcchurch .org or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.