Mens Bible Studies

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. My name is Mike Abendroth and I�m trying not to guffaw or laugh or anything like that.

Steve and I are just having a pre -radio show laugh. A pre -radio show show.

Steve, I think it�s been a couple months now that you�ve been sick and haven�t been on. I�ve had to have guests host.

What�s going on? I don�t know. It�s been very, very, very sad. My son -in -law is a fireman and a nurse, and he says that there�s a lot of end -of -season flu going around.

I�m telling you what, man. I was on two rounds of antibiotics, and there were a couple times during probably about six weeks

I was sick where I did not want to go to sleep because I knew going to sleep meant

I was going to be watering for my eyes, my nose was going to be running, and I was going to be coughing like there was no tomorrow.

And I�m going, it�s pretty bad when you�re just like, the last thing I want to do is lay down. I think that�s why

I had my own room at the hotel when we went to the Shepherds� Conference. Trust me, that was a good move.

I had my own room too. Unfortunately, I was confined to it. I think it was two years ago or three where I had that seven -week bronchial deal.

It was bad. I mean, like you said, the death rattle. I had that. I would listen to myself breathe sometimes, and I�m going, �Dude, it sounds like I�m dying.�

Steve, what was that lady�s name who sang �

She�s Got Betty Davis Eyes � and it was kind of this gravelly voice? Davis something, or not Davis, no, no.

Betty Davis Eyes is, I know her name, she�s�

Kim Carnes. Yeah, that is. I can�t believe you knew that. Come on. Kim Carnes, yeah. Yes. I so appreciate that.

I think she did special music that day three of the Shepherds� Conference. She since got saved. Wow. Any thoughts about the

Shepherds� Conference? I know it�s a little late, but that�s all right. Yeah, it was very abbreviated for me. I made the first two sessions, then

I was done. So I�m kind of another one online, but I mean, most of the time I was just coughing and trying to figure out what to do.

You know, do I go see the doctor, and how do I go see a doctor, because I�m in another state. And so, let�s see,

Shepherds� Conference, I mean, I got to talk to a few people, had a little bit of fun, saw a little bit of what they did, you know, differently.

And as always, I�m always impressed by the volunteers from the church and, you know, the overall setup.

And this year, I�ll tell you, one of the best thing for me is normally when I go there, the line for B, C, I don�t know why they always put

B�s and C�s together, is usually like from here to, well, from there to Baldwin Park.

But this year it was like three people, and I�m going, nice. I know when I went up to the

A�s, I think I was like, there was like maybe two folks in front of me.

That was about it. Yeah, it was really good. They said, �Are you Patrick ?� I said, �No, I�m not.� But I�d like to be.

Steve, I got something from our mailbag the other day that I thought I would address with you. Here�s the email.

�I have an idea for future shows.� So there�s plurals. Well, there�s hope then, you know, future shows.

�I lead a men�s study weekly.� I guess that�s a Bible study, a weekly Bible study.

This is W -E -E -K. Yeah, not W -E -A -K. I lead a men�s study weekly.

We have no muscles whatsoever. With about 10 guys. It is discussion format, it is a discussion format, and I always feel underprepared.

�Can you guys offer any tips on how us uneducated laymen can be better prepared ?�

So if I can rephrase that with English that might be a little bit better than texting English. I teach a

Bible study, and I want to teach them with biblical fidelity and accuracy, and I need some help.

I always feel underprepared. Let�s first address the underprepared part. I regularly feel underprepared when

I�m going to teach a preach. Well, I think now I could be totally making this up, and sometimes

I do that kind of thing. But I seem to remember reading Spurgeon saying, �In essence, this is my own vague cloudy memory of what

I imagine� Spurgeon once said, �that my best preparation doesn�t come close to what it should be.�

And, you know, it�s like, �Lord, I know I should have.� And I think this way all the time. �Lord, I know I should have done more.�

However much I�ve done, if I spent 80 or 90 hours preparing a message, I�d still think before I got up there, �I wish

I�d done more.� Because you can�t possibly do enough to be prepared, you know, you�re not going to be perfectly prepared.

That said, you know, I think there are things that you can do, and maybe you want to address this first before, but I�ll talk about some of the things that I think you can do besides the obvious.

Peter Van Doren Charles Spurgeon�s typical study habits, because he taught so many times throughout the week, so he would prepare

Tuesday night for Wednesday�s message, or if he was going to speak at the college on Thursday, he�d prepare that Wednesday night. Well, he would retire to his study 8 p .m.

on Saturday and then come up with the message. So maybe he should have studied more.

Maybe that�s why he felt unprepared. Just a fountain of knowledge. But I always think, you know,

Sunday morning, I mean, if people just kind of knew what was going on, you know, inside of you, and I�m like,

I�m not nervous once I get up there. I�m nervous before I ever get up there, because I�m like, �Dude, I know

I should have done more. I know I should have done more, and Lord, forgive me, but help me. Help me to be bold in spite of my lack of preparedness.�

I mean, I feel like I know enough, obviously, to get up there about the passage, otherwise

I wouldn�t do it. I�d go to something I knew, but I always feel like I wish

I�d done more. But to just get practical for a minute, what

I try to do as I�m thinking about a passage, and if this is what you�re doing during a men�s study, is looking at a particular passage.

It�s one thing to understand the passage, and I say this all the time, it�s another thing to understand how it preaches.

And part of understanding how it preaches or how it teaches is understanding what the implications of the text are.

And so, you know, well, what is this, how is this going to impact the men there?

But I think you can first just apply the text to your own life and just kind of think about, you know, the weaknesses it shows you in your own life and your own habits and things like that.

And then those are things that other guys are going to be dealing with, too. So, I think that�s, you know, that�s an application, but I think application is part of what a men�s study is about.

So, I think that�s all, you know, good grist for the mill. Pete Steve, maybe we could think even a little bit more in an overview fashion.

If you attend a church, here would be my advice, if you attend a church where there�s good expository preaching on Sunday morning, where there�s a healthy diet of verse by verse, you can tell, verse by verse preaching, you can tell the pastor�s studied authorial intent, high view of God, high view of Christ, high view of the

Word. I think then if you�re going to do a men�s study, you know, pick the Jerry Bridges� Trusting God book, and it�s got the little study questions guide that you can use as a supplement where some of the stuff is already done for you.

And I�ll talk more about that in a second. But if you�re at a church where there�s not a healthy diet of exposition coming from the pulpit, then

I think maybe you do your own, right? You do your own verse by verse study. So let�s talk about the first one, my first suggestion.

Are there other books, Steve, that you think men would be helped by going through that maybe some of the work�s already done?

You know, it�s not wrong to study pursuit of godliness or something by � who did that?

� Jerry Bridges. Right. Yeah, Jerry Bridges again. I mean, knowing God, I mean, there are, you know, the

Attributes of God by Pink. I mean, there are a number of things that you can do, and you know, as you go through that,

I think it�s wise, well, this is just a real practical thing. I think it�s wise if you�re going to be leading a study to kind of take your time while you�re reading through, underline things, and write them down as you are going through the chapter so that when you get done, you don�t have to go, okay, now what do

I do? And then you can kind of come up with questions. This is what I did when I did a men�s study in my home here a while ago, and I�m wanting to do it again.

But I would prepare that kind of way. I would have questions. I would have a series of 15, 20 questions from the chapter that we read.

This was kind of a deep book, but because I was like, okay, if these things make me think � and not that I�m the end -all and be -all, but I mean

I know something � if they make me think, if they make me kind of take a deep breath and pause and look at it, well, then it might have that impact on other men, too.

And so, if nothing else, it would be a good discussion point. These questions that I�m formulating in my mind as I�m reading this would be a good place for us to talk about.

Steve, discussing Jerry Bridges, did you hear the Q &A at the Shepherds Conference where John talked about Jerry because he had recently died?

And John said, �Jerry told me personally and privately kind of � he didn�t say off the record, but he told me he said, �The only books on NAV Press that I read are my own.�

And I immediately thought of the old moniker that we used,

NAV Depressed, because so many of them were the psychological integration type thing.

But I really appreciated the works of Jerry Bridges. And you know, I never have read the

Respectable Sins, but I think I�m going to have to read that. In his honor. In his honor. Sure.

Because I think I�m probably good at some of those respectable ones. They�re easy. They�re easy to get at.

Steve, I have a Christianity Today in front of me, and it�s fascinating. I know you�d probably � I�ve already enrolled, so maybe you can tell me about why you enrolled.

I�ve enrolled. It�s called the Harvester Island Wilderness Workshop, September 2016 on the coast of Kodiak, Alaska.

Lucy Shaw and Jean Murray Walker are speaking along with Leslie Leland Fields. And these are classes in nonfiction poetry, playwriting, and the artful life.

Oh, I signed up, but I thought it was going to be about lumberjacking, because it�s a wilderness workshop.

And I thought, �Well, I�m just going to go out there and wear some plaid shirts and cut down trees.� Whale watching, wildlife viewing, mountain and beach hiking, gourmet and fresh seafood meals.

I�m a whale watcher, and I don�t care. That�s disappointing. I know. Well, if you don�t want that one,

I guess you can go to Scott McKnight�s The Christian Life in the Apostle Paul, July 22nd.

It�s a spiritual retreat. And you can visit leslielandfields .com if you like.

Is there ever going to be a stevecooley .com? If there is, it�s going to be somebody else.

Some other Steve. Some other Steve Cooley. I mean, there�s a great jazz musician.

I think he�s in Memphis or someplace like that. Steve Cooley. Really? Yes. And then there�s the former district attorney of Los Angeles County, Steve Cooley.

So if any one of those, if there�s a famous Steve Cooley out there who would like to have a stevecooley .com, you should feel free.

Otherwise, if I ever have my own webpage, it�s probably going to be lociento .com. Steve, the other day

I just said to myself, �I�m giving up on Christianity today. It�s so bad.� Well, that looks great.

I mean, she�s smiling, and certainly a person of faith.

Well, one never knows what you could do here with this magazine.

But I think if they don�t send it to me anymore, I won�t. It�s kind of like, you know, People Magazine for the wider evangelical world.

That�s good. Now, let�s talk a little bit about that study again, Steve, and feeling inadequate.

Paul said how many times who is adequate for these things, and when you think you�re adequate for gospel ministry, whether it�s leading a men�s study or preaching, then that�s probably when you�re in big trouble.

How does a person in ministry, just general ministry, maybe not even teaching, work through the process mentally and spiritually to say, �I think the

Lord can use me. I do feel inadequate. I�m wrestling with those things, but I would like to serve.�

Well, I mean, I think it�s difficult. I mean, even at the, you know, deacon level, you know, remember when you became a deacon at Grace Community Church and you�re just like �

Nobody clapped. Yeah. Well, and you�re just like, �Me ?� You know, and you reread those qualifications and you just think, �Oh, boy,

I don�t know.� Because it�s like we were just listening to the preacher there from Southern Seminary.

Herschel York. Yes. And, you know, he was talking about his dad and how his dad expressed pride in him, and then he just said, �But, you know, one thing my dad doesn�t know, he doesn�t know my secret sins.

He doesn�t know the things that, you know, nobody knows, basically.� And I�m like, �That�s how, I think that�s how you feel when you first get the call, you know, to be a deacon.

And I think the idea of being an elder or a pastor, I mean, I still get intimidated when

I think, �Man, elder at Grace Community Church I feel adequate.�

But even that, that scares me when I begin to think that, �Oh, I�m that way.� And then I go through the motions without the ministry of the

Holy Spirit, or at least try to. How about this? �Lord, I think I�m adequate.

Help me to be adequate, right God�s people need that job done, and then we say to ourselves, �All right,

I�m going to have to pray about this.� Pete Yeah, because if you have that attitude, who's adequate for these things, then the second thing that comes to you is,

I need the Lord. I need the Holy Spirit to assist me. You know, I can't do this by myself.

I need the illumination of the Spirit. I need his undergirding of me.

You know, I need him to be there when I'm preaching or teaching. If I try to do this on my own, you know, it's going to be a bomb.

I mean, I'm a bomb anyway, but I know if I'm just like trying to do it myself, forget about it.

It's not happening. Steve, I was reading through 2 Corinthians the other day, two Corinthians I was reading, and after Trump said that,

I did the video saying, yeah, you might all laugh at that, and it's probably, you know, the UK way of saying it, but when's the last time you evangelical read 2

Corinthians? You know, there's so many good things in there. Paul is defending himself against these false apostles, these uber apostles.

And then Paul, he's forced not to brag, but he's forced to defend himself by commending himself.

And how do we work through that? How do we say, you know, if I boast, if I must boast,

I will boast of the things that show my weakness. It's the humble brag. It's the humble brag.

Well, I know because you're joking. You don't think Paul was really humble bragging. No. Is there ever a time for a

New Testament, maybe Christian pastor, or I guess that's the only kind of pastor there is, for them to say, you know, these are my credentials, these are my qualifications?

Well, I think, you know, I can't imagine of a time other than when maybe you're candidating, but you have to just, at some points, maybe say, by the grace of God, I am who

I am, and this is who I am, you know, for better or worse. You know, do I have strengths? I think so.

Do I have weaknesses? I know so, you know. So, I don't know.

Other than candidating, it doesn't really, I mean, like, if you're under attack at a local church, maybe they're trying to get rid of you.

I think it's, if no one else at the church will stand up for you, then I think you're probably going to have to leave anyway, right?

So. Pete Steve, I like it in 2 Corinthians 11, where Paul does say some things.

He says, but whatever anyone else dares to boast of, I'm speaking as a fool. I also dare to boast of that.

And then here comes his boasting, even though he says, I'm talking like a madman.

You know, I shouldn't be doing this. Far greater labors, far more imprisonments, countless beatings, often near death.

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews, forty lashes less one. Three times

I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. And he goes on and on and on.

Who is weak and I am not weak? Who is made to fall and I am not indignant? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

That's an interesting way to go about it, where you want to defend yourself and then you tell people the ways you've suffered for the

Lord. Pete Well, it's pretty hard to say, well, that doesn't matter. That doesn't matter,

Paul. I don't care about that. You know? Jared Alright, we're listening today, or you are listening today to No Compromise Radio.

Pete Or we are listening. Jared Yeah, I'm listening to you. Yeah. Sometimes, you know, if I would interview someone, James White or Phil Johnson or someone,

I just felt like I was listening to their podcast and forgot that I had to ask them a question. You ask

James White one question, he talks for 24 minutes. That's the show. It makes my job really easy.

Pete Super easy. Jared Uh -huh. You just wind him up and then off he goes. Pete Thanks for listening to the dividing line today. Jared We have a mini version of the dividing line today.

Speaking of which, podcast, speaking about podcasts, which ones do you listen to?

If I could get into your little iPod, iPhone, which podcast would you regularly listen to?

Pete Well, I mean, I listen to mostly, I'd have to say RC and then I listen to MacArthur.

But I mean, I don't listen to, first of all, I don't ever listen to my iPod.

I just don't. I don't know why that is. Jared I think iPods are done, aren't they, with iPhones now? Pete Yeah, I mean, there are times where I think, you know, maybe

I should do that. But then again, for the last four or five months,

I haven't even been to the gym because I haven't been sick. I've been hurt or whatever. So yeah, well, plus, you know,

I tell you this all the time, and I don't think you really believe me. I cannot multitask. I was listening to James White.

I told you I was his thing the other day. And I can only listen to, I'm probably getting about 35 or 40 % of what he's saying, because I'm trying to do something else at the same time.

I cannot multitask. I just can't do it. So when you say what, if I listen to a podcast, that means

I'm doing nothing else. Jared But why do they call you Steve Alt -Tab

Cooley? Why is that kind of? Pete I've never heard that nickname before.

Well, that just means I have multiple things open on my computer. It doesn't mean that I'm actually multitasking.

Jared How about Whitehorse Inn? Do you listen to Whitehorse Inn? Pete No. I haven't listened in years. Jared How about Crisis Center?

Pete Nope. Jared How about Wretched Radio? Pete No, because I'd have to Jared Log in.

Pete Yeah, I'd have to pay for it. Jared I think you get the one that day. Pete Okay, the one that day. Jared I think so, yeah, for free.

Pete Yeah. I mean, like I said, I just don't, because it's all I can do. If I'm listening to something,

I can't do anything else. Jared If Phil Johnson had a daily podcast, would you listen? Pete If it was a half an hour, 45 minutes, yeah, because I'm not ashamed to say

I think he's probably about the guy that I think, if I disagree with Phil, I usually have to think

I must be wrong. So. Jared All right.

Well, that's good to know. How about preachers? Are there any old preachers?

Do you listen to Martin Lloyd -Jones or anything like that? Pete I have listened to Martin Lloyd -Jones. I mean, it's funny with him because you really have to, again,

I don't think he's somebody that you can listen to lightly. I think you just have to kind of shut everything off and listen because there are times you can listen to him and you go, that's really kind of dull.

And then as you listen, you go, wait a minute, that's not dull.

That is like as sharp as it gets because it's like you have to get into his mindset.

You have to like get into what he's doing. And then he's very illuminating. Jared There are a lot of podcasts, even secular podcasts that are highly rated that look interesting to me and I download them.

But Steve, I just never have time to listen because I'm listening to a college lecture, seminary lecture,

S. Lewis Johnson or something like that on the bicycle. I'm just trying to listen to those things. And maybe the last 20 minutes on the way home,

I have to put Pandora on or Spotify or something to kind of crank up the volume to get home.

But other than that, it's hard to listen to a lot of these podcasts when I'm trying to do other things. Steve Right. Yeah, I just can't.

I mean, I had a big, you know, like back in the day when I was driving 62 miles into Los Angeles when

I was on the Sheriff's Department for a time. In that case, yeah, you know, podcasts would be great.

You know, I could probably listen to three or four a day, you know, just on the drive because those were long, long drives.

Jared Steve, I got back from Los Angeles and thought, you know, I like going to the Shepherd's Conference, but I don't really think

I want to live in Los Angeles, especially in light of the traffic. I guess you'll get to listen to a lot of radio.

I did turn on KKLA or KROK and kind of remember KNX 1070.

Those things I remember. Steve It's a great place to live if you don't have to go anywhere. Jared If you have a lot of money, you don't have to go anywhere.

If you've got a question for us, you can write us info at NoCompromiseRadio .com. We read almost every one of them unless you are a crazy person.

We had a crazy person at the church a while ago. The sign said, wider than snow.

It was a sermon about Hebrews 1, 3, Jesus purifying our sins. And since it didn't snow, a lady showed up and said to everyone leaving the building that I was a false prophet.

Jared Bonkers. If you want to order the book, Sexual Fidelity, No Compromise, and you want to type in a promo code, $5 off for a promo code,

Heno. It's true. It's Heno -rific. Mike Abendroth, Steve Cooley, thanks for listening.

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

The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.