Luke Abendroth (Part 1)

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 is the new year. It is 2018, and our slogan, as always, is always biblical, always provocative, always in that order.

At least that�s our hope. And with the theme of No Compromise, in the old days, it was, �I never want to compromise.�

And that�s still true, but we�ve morphed the show to make it more biblical. How�s that? So now it�s Jesus never compromised, and we�d like to talk about Him, the one who never compromised.

�I always do what�s pleasing to the Father.� That�s what Jesus said. And then also, we�d like to talk about what

Jesus did on Calvary especially, because He there died on behalf of all the elect�s sins, and God�s justice and holiness and grace and mercy were not compromised.

Therefore, we don�t want to compromise. And we like to pass on that philosophy from one generation to the next.

So today, for the third year in a row, we have Noco Jr. in the studio. Luke, welcome to No Compromise Radio.

Thank you. Now, I forgot to tell you, you know, I told you put the headphones on and don�t do this, that, or the other, but, you know, this is a radio show, so when

I say something to you or you feel that kind of pregnant pause, then you can just run with it.

So what�s new in your life? What�s new in my life? Well, I have one more semester left at Master�s University, so I�m a senior, graduating with a business degree, an emphasis in marketing.

And I�m just finishing up school. Do you have four P�s of marketing? What is it? Product, place, price, positioning or something.

Promotion. Promotion. I don�t know. That was my freshman year class. Hey, that was five P�s. We should make a new book about that.

I think there�s more than four P�s. You did the four P�s back in the �80s. Oh, yeah. That was back with IBM business and stuff like that.

So sorry to interrupt. Selling batteries. So you�re a senior. One more semester to go.

Business degree at Master�s University. Do you take any Bible classes there? I�m done with all my

Bible classes. I did, the last Bible class I took, I think I took last fall.

So not this last, or last spring. So about almost a year ago, I took a Hebrews class, a class on the book of Hebrews.

But that�s the last Bible class I�ve taken. I don�t have any requirements left. And I did take a English literature class, an elective, last semester.

I just finished that up about a month ago on Luther, the life and work of Luther. So that was a good class.

It�s sort of biblical, some of the stuff, besides the, you know, some of the communion stuff or all that.

Well, I want to talk about Luther, but to just let our listeners know, Luke and I spent some time together in Germany and Switzerland this year for, or last year, rather, for the

Luther 500 anniversary. And Luke, people are always blasting

Luther, regularly blasting Luther for this, that, or the other. But in my experience, not many people have really read

Luther. I mean, they�ve read snippets of Luther, and he might say something very inflammatory or bombastic or caustic.

But to read Luther is different than to just quote some of the things that you either really like or don�t like.

What was it like to read a lot of Luther in that class? Yeah, I wouldn�t say I read a lot,

I didn�t read all of it, but it�s definitely different than the daily Luther insulter, or whatever that is.

Yeah, you can definitely tell, I mean, he�s a lot more pastoral in his writings and pointing people back to the cross and to the

Lord Jesus. So you�ll see that a lot more, like, in his Heidelberg disputation and all that kind of stuff.

Even, you know, the freedom of a Christian, all kinds of works, whether or not one should flee from a deadly plague, it�s pretty interesting.

He wrote on a really wide variety of subjects, and he had a lot of interests. I mean, if you look at the

Lutherverk or whatever, it�s, I mean, it�s massive, it will take up one of the bookshelves here in your office.

So it�s definitely, he definitely wrote a lot, but a lot of it was very pastoral and even practical issues.

I don�t think people realize just how sweet and pastoral he was and concerned with the layperson and their relationship with and love for the

Lord Jesus. Speaking of that, Luke, I, as you know, have been reading that book that has amassed many of his pastoral letters, and it has different segments.

So the first segment is when people have lost a loved one, he writes to them. When people have someone sick in their family, he writes to them.

They�ve just put them all together. And I too, Luke, was really, I was really encouraged.

He cared for the people. And there was one guy, he was kind of, I don�t know what they said, he was mentally ill or disturbed or something, but, you know, he said to the wife, �Don�t leave him alone and make sure you stay by his side.�

And, you know, I think the guy was kind of suicidal. I don�t mean Luther, but this other guy, and here�s how we work through it.

That�s a side that not many understand when it comes to Martin Luther. Right.

And they just think of basically the Jewish stuff, all the writings on the

Jews, on their Jews and their lies and all that stuff, and basically just forget the rest of what he did.

And, you know, Luther was basically a living illustration of his, you know, the doctrine that he stated, �Simul justus impeccator, simultaneously a sinner and righteous, or just and a sinful.�

So, yeah, he just, I mean, he demonstrates that with his life. So it was really true about him as well.

And so, you know, there�s all kinds of arguments about, you know, what he did and what he said about the

Jews. I�m sure you�ve talked about some of that on the show. And obviously some of those things were not right to say, but that doesn�t discredit the rest of what he wrote and said.

It�s amazing to me, Luke, when people want to blast Calvin for the Cervetus incident or Zwingli for,

I don�t know, his warlike stance, and then Luther, and we just kind of keep going down the list.

What if they recorded some of the things via DVD, CD, transcription, audio files, digital, things that I said when

I was younger? I think you�d be a lot worse. Probably. Now, talking about the

Master�s University, you know, we always said to you kids, you�ll love the Master�s College. In other words, you don�t really need to look anywhere else, you�ll love it there.

I wanted you to go to the school where John MacArthur was the president, they had a high view of God�s Word, high view of the exclusivity of Christ�s work, and they would have professors that would be born again and teach.

But I know you love to study the Word, and maybe you�ll be in ministry someday in terms of full -time. I know you�re already in ministry now, but as a church member,

Luke, what do you say to students who are thinking about, �Well, you know, I could either go to a liberal arts school here in Texas, or I can go out there to the

Master�s University. Why go to the Master�s University? It's farther, it costs more money, and since I�m not going to have a

Bible major anyway, can�t I get my liberal arts degree here in Texas and I�ll just take care of the

Bible stuff later ?� I mean, I�m not asking you to be dogmatic, but how would you work through that? Maybe you should,

I�d be a little, I�d see a little bit more clearly if you ask me in a month when I�m looking at my, or three months when

I�m looking at my student loan payments. Maybe that would change my advice.

That would. Well, here�s my point. As I�m listening to you talk about Luther now, and before the show and in the last several months we�ve talked a lot about the book of Hebrews as you took your

Hebrews class, you got a business degree at a reputable school, but then the campus life and Bible classes that you had to take or required to take and wanted to take, to me that�s just above and beyond kind of extra stuff that�s really great.

Yeah, totally. And I love Master�s. It�s been a great couple years there. I think I�m just ready to be done as I�m finishing up, as it should be.

But yeah, it�s been a great experience. I think all my, basically all my best friends that I have in life now are all from Master�s.

All the class that I�ve taken, I�ve learned so much about the Bible. I think that would be what I would say, you know, a lot of people say, �Well,

I want to get out into the world.� And you know, there could be people that are ready for that. But then at the same time,

I think that there�s wisdom in going to a school that will equip you where the rest of your life is going to be spent being in the world, having relationships with unbelievers at work or as Luther talked about, whatever vocation or calling you�re in, whatever station in life or with the responsibilities that you have as you fulfill those.

So I think, you know, there�s a lot to be said for that. And it�s provided me with a great foundation to move forward on.

And the other classes are not bad either. We have the number one accounting department in the state of California based on passing the

CPA. So there�s a lot of things like that where it�s a really prestigious school, even just from a secular perspective.

And you know, we always receive the highest accreditation from WASC, which is the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, all that stuff.

And you can kind of go on and on with those things. Well, you work in the admissions department too, don�t you? That�s right. So I�m not getting paid right now though, so I have less of a memory.

Well this is, maybe this is self -serving, but I love the story. When Luke and I first visited the

Master�s College at the time, I think it was during the Shepherd�s Conference or something. And some nice lady came out and welcomed us and here, hop in the golf cart and let�s tour the campus and everything.

And she was outgoing and kind. And I said to Luke afterwards, you know, you�d be good at that.

And first it was a mailroom job, I think you were supposed to get, and then it fell through or something and you got the admissions job.

And so I just spoke the words into existence. I named them and claimed them. And then tell our listeners the story about how you met someone who listens to No Compromise Radio.

That was an interesting, providential story. Oh, I think I had, I had, it was a little foggy in my mind, but I was given a tour and somebody, you know, said, �Oh, what�s your last name ?�

And they, I said, �Avondroth.� And they knew your show and loved it and stuff like that. So I remember the other time too, that you were in, we call it the lower cafeteria area and some lady, some girl that was a student there came up and recognized you and asked about some

Tim Keller thing, some, you know, city. Luke, you were a freshman and maybe a sophomore and we walked into Lower Calf, is that what we call it?

Isn�t it called, is it like Mustang something? Yeah, there�s some, The Trough, but it doesn�t even sound very kosher.

You know what? The Trough sounds like it should be in Nebraska someplace. Where are you going to go eat?

The Trough. She asked me about a

Tim Keller book and I thought that she was going to like Tim Keller�s writings and theology.

I mean, we�re not talking about the person, I�m sure he�s a fine, fine gentleman type of thing. That�s not the point, just critiquing objectively, does this match up with the

Bible, etc. But she wasn�t, she just wanted to know and I thought that was interesting.

Luke, while we�re on the topic, when I first thought of Master�s College, and I probably was naive,

I thought about it like the Master�s Seminary. You know, 99 % of the Master�s Seminary students like John MacArthur and would believe that type of theology and methodology that springs from it, springs forth from it.

Then you would tell me about people at Master�s College that don�t like John MacArthur�s theology. What�s the story with all that?

Yeah, there�s a few people, of course, sprinkled in. It is a liberal arts school, it does have a good reputation among Christian schools, so yeah, it was kind of funny.

I think some of the people, some of those people were just trying to be cool, so unfortunately I think they were doing the reverse of what would have been cool, but they were trying.

Do you think people are attracted to Tim Keller because it�s the cool thing, the hip thing, the young Christian deal?

What�s your take on that? I guess. I�m not much of a city guy, so, no, I�m just kidding. I like cities, but I mean,

I like visiting them. We were just in New York, but we didn�t stop at Redeemer Press. But yeah,

I just, I think people just even see, they don�t even know,

I think at least in the circles that I kind of run in or the people at Masters, they don�t even know what would be wrong.

So they read, whatever, the meaning of marriage, they read, they hear Keller on some clip on sanctification, from a reform perspective on YouTube, and they think it�s great, and they think it�s all this shocking new revelation.

One of the things I�ve thought before, though, is basically all the stuff he says that I think sounds pretty good is when he�s actually adhering to the confessions that he says he believes, and he didn�t even come up with the stuff.

So it�s like, oh yeah, and he�s using all these Walter Marshall quotes from Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, and then everyone�s like, wow, that�s such a good video.

I�m like, well, it�s not from him, it�s from, he�s getting it from all these outside sources. So I would rather just listen to the guys who adhere to those confessions pretty much all the time and who already have worked through those issues and don�t talk about the

Trinity like it�s a dance and have ballet people on stage watching each other and don�t believe in some kind, and don�t falter on other things and have some kind of weird

C .S. Lewis view of hell and all this other stuff, and can really say boldly, state the issues and say homosexuality is a sin and that the gospel is exclusive.

So I�m not saying he doesn�t believe those things, but you just kind of, I think people just don�t even know. So they read these good things and they hear these good things and then they just haven�t even encountered the other things, and so then they don�t know why.

And that�s almost why it�s almost more dangerous when someone has a lot of good stuff, you know, the forward to the whole

Christ is awesome, but then it�s like, you know, then the other stuff almost gets snuck in with the good things.

So if NoCo started teaching like one little wrong thing, it�s almost worse because one heresy because you got all this good stuff,

I mean, a little biased, but then it�s easier to kind of stomach it. Well, Luke, over the years, we,

I think, have had more people listen because they like the show than not like it. But at the beginning, we had a lot of people just listening because they didn�t like it and they�d like to call the radio station and they�d like to email and stuff like that.

And to be fair to Tim Keller, the good stuff that comes from No Compromise Radio, I�ve taken from other people too.

Right. No, of course. I know. And when I was listening to you go on and on, I thought probably what all the listeners are thinking.

The apple doesn�t fall too far from the tree. Well, hopefully some people at Masters don�t listen,

I�m going to get in some trouble. People are going to be giving me the look. As what�s up doc, the movie says,

I am you. I�m sure not many people will get that reference, but I know it�s true.

So talking today on No Compromise Radio to Luke Abendroth, my 21 -year -old son, of whom

I am very proud. I almost said I�m well pleased. Well pleased. That�s dumb. Luke, true story.

My beloved son. I had to stop for a second because I realized what I was thinking and I realized that was dumb to say, so I had to autocorrect.

I heard a guy, after his son got baptized, he stood up and said that out loud, my beloved son.

It was so stupid. So I retract what I just was about ready to say, but I am proud of you.

Tell me, Luke, at 21, now you�re going to graduate in May, where are you looking to work?

What do you want to do? Actually, since you�re my son, I could do this, and what do I care? I know some people out there who have jobs and businesses and things like that and they need to have an upstanding young man to work for them.

What do you want to do? Where do you want to do it? That�s a good question. I don�t really know exactly where I want to do it.

I�m probably going to try to stay in California. I think I have probably the most connections out there already, but probably something within sales, something like that.

I like people, I like having relationships with people, so something within that side of business, but I�m not exactly sure even what industry.

There�s a couple different opportunities I�m looking for now, but basically next semester will be the crunch time to try to find a job.

Ministry opportunities in the future, in terms of going to seminary and stuff like that. I have always said to you,

Luke, that I think sometimes the young men get out of master�s college or master�s university or another university like that and immediately go to seminary and they�re 25 and they graduate with an

MDiv and then out they go. I�m sure there are some folks that that works out fine for and maybe they want to get into youth ministry and other things, but I suggested to you that you go to school, get a business degree, work in the business world, have connections, meet people, get married, have a baby, have a miscarriage, you know, things that happen in life, and then it�ll make you appreciate seminary more and probably make you be able to minister to people in a better fashion.

Are you still thinking along those lines? What are your thoughts? I�m not asking you to tell me I was right, but just I�m thinking about people who are listening that could be helped by this conversation.

Yeah, I think you�re right. I think you are right. So, you might not be asking for that, but I�ll still tell you. I am you.

No, yeah, I think it�s wise just because I don�t, I mean, if I went to seminary right out of school, then

I basically would have been in within the Christian bubble that is so pervasive in Southern California for the last, you know, seven or eight years or whatever it was by the time

I graduated seminary and, you know, you just, I just think it�s like you said, it�s wise to go out and have life experience in the world and stuff and not that the, you know,

Paul said to Timothy, �Don�t let people despise you because of your youth ,� but if you can eliminate the despising because of the youth, it helps,

I guess. I�m not, obviously not disagreeing with Paul, but yeah, I just think from, you know, just from a practical perspective, you know, paying off loans, things like that become a lot harder when you don�t do that as well.

So, not that it doesn�t work out, but I think there is a lot of wisdom in that just having that maturity and a little bit more life under your belt.

Amen. Luke, tell me a little bit about the book of Hebrews as you�ve been studying that.

I know you haven�t been here at the church while I�ve been preaching through Hebrews except here during your holiday vacation time. You and the rest of the family and myself, we were in Germany and we stayed at an

Airbnb and it was in someone�s home and it was the upper level and it had a kitchen and everything else and I decided to, on the way back from Normandy, to stay one night at this, it was outside of Cologne and, you know, why get two hotel rooms and everything else?

And so we stayed with this family, a German -speaking family, and they could speak some English and we walked in. In English there was a sign, �I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.�

And they were a charismatic family and they loved the

Lord Jesus and were happy to know that we were in gospel ministry and they said, �Oh, next time you come, you know, we won�t charge you ,� etc.

It was very neat. We went outside to the back and they showed us the goats and the pigs and it was a cool, you know, divinely orchestrated moment.

Then the man who sometimes teaches the Bible, the man of the house, and actually in Germany they don�t call the husband husband, they call him my man, right?

This is the man of the house. Hermann. I don�t know if that�s what it is. No, my man.

It sounds like it. And so you and I were sitting there with the man of the dinner table because they said, �Oh, tomorrow morning come down and have breakfast with us.

We�re not going to give you breakfast. You come down and eat with us.� And so he said, �Who do you think wrote

Hebrews ?� And I thought this was pretty good, you know, it wasn�t some kind of crazy Pentecostal man. And what did you say?

Because then the punchline afterwards was really wonderful. Do you remember what you were talking about when he said, he asked me, �Who wrote

Hebrews ?� And I began to talk about it in Chapter 2 and wrote about this, that, or the other, and I know it wasn�t Mary or whatever.

And then you had been studying Hebrews, and you said, �Well, some people think it�s Paul because of�

Oh, man. That was a whole two semesters ago. No, I think it�s� Was it Acts? It was an

Acts message where Paul was preaching. Yeah, I think it�s Acts 11. There�s a lot of parallels between this sermon there and what the author is doing in the sermon in Hebrews, as Hebrews is the sermon.

So I think that was what it was. I think it�s Acts 11. I can�t remember exactly what it is. And then basically the biggest objection to that is,

I think it�s Galatians 2 where he says, man, I got to get the Bible out because I don�t know. That�s okay. I want to say it�s

Acts 13 when Paul was preaching, �Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham ,� verses 26 and following.

But there were some things that were similar in the book of Hebrews to Paul�s message, right? Yes. That was one of the things.

And what were you going to say from Galatians? Oh, well, he says, �For I did not receive it from any man nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ ,� in Galatians 1 .12.

And then in Hebrews, he talks about, I think it�s chapter 2, he talks about how he received it from others.

So basically people think maybe Paul preached the sermon of Hebrews and someone else transcribed it down.

But I don�t know, he�d have to, you know, call somebody else a little bit more scholarly than me. Well, here�s the neat part about the

Airbnb in Germany. The man asked me what I thought and I gave him my answer.

And then Luke chimed in at breakfast. And then the man said to us after Luke�s comments, �Now

I know you�re really Christians. I know you�re really a pastor�s family, because�

I think the one thing that we didn�t really know if they were going to be real Christians was because they gave us the Wi -Fi password.

I remember the Wi -Fi didn�t really work, you had to like go over down by the balcony thing or something. But then the Wi -Fi password was like, �I love

Jesus, LDS123 No, it didn�t stand for LDS, Latter -day

Saints. It stood for something else, some kind of German Liebe. Oh, maybe Love Daystar.

Yeah, I don�t know. Something Love Daystar. I don�t know.

But no, I�m serious. I�m not making that up. It was. It was LDS. So then mom and I were like, �Okay, they�re Mormons in Germany It was.

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