Holy Toledo

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.

Opening the Show with Terry Flood

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, my name is Mike Abendroth and I'm your host. We have a live audience in studio today and a special guest, I don't even know this guy's last name.

Terry, who are you? Last name is Flood, like a lot of water.

Really? Genesis 6 to 9, I would say. I'm a direct descendant of Noah. And Terry, tell me a little bit about yourself.

Well, I'm from Toledo, Ohio area and saved about 20 years ago or so, married to a wife named Gwen. I have four children, ages 16 through 10.

They seem kind of loud today in the studio. Why is that? I'm not sure. They're usually reserved. And why are you here today? That would be a good thing for our listeners to know. I think it was through email.

Tell me the story. Yeah, I got introduced to you through Wretched Radio, filling in stuff with Todd Friel. Who's that? Todd Friel. A very little known man on a radio station somewhere.

And then you were just driving through the area and just decided you'd come by and interrupt me on the radio?

Exactly. We're on a big family trip, heading out to the East Coast, never been out here before, hit Washington, D .C., Plymouth, Mass, went up through Maine and back down here now. Northampton, Jonathan Edwards.

Exactly. Saw David Brannard's grave, a couple of Edwards statues.

All right. So basically you were acting like Roman Catholics with icons this whole last week or two. Okay, that's good. All right. Tell me this, Terry. Even this week, someone said that I was arrogant and that I was pompous and whatever they said.

And I just want to know, through you, firsthand experience, have you ever emailed Todd and said, Todd, we're going to be in the area? And he said, come on by, I'd like to just go out and have a coffee or you can be on the radio.

I want the people to know that I'm actually nice in person. That's the point.

It's not what you say, it's how you say it. No, actually very nice, yes, very much so.

The Message, God's Love, and God's Holiness

Well, since you know who Steve is and you're in Steve's seat today, I thought we'd start off the show with a message moment, although I can't find my glasses. There they are. A message moment. This is Psalm 1 and your son, John, who's sitting right by me, told me off air that your favorite Bible translation is the message.

And so this is just for you. Here's Psalm 1, how well God must like you. You don't hang out at Sin Saloon. You don't slink along Dead End Road and you don't go to smart mouth college. And so tell me, how does that make you feel?

What are the emotions that are coming out of you of the Ohioan you are? That makes me feel like God is love. That's right. Well I have a question for you, and this is a real question. God certainly is love, but is God only love?

That's the question.

That is not God's controlling attribute, I would say.

Okay, and if you had a controlling attribute that you would ascribe to God, it would be?

I would say it's holy, holy, holy, as the angels say.

Okay, good. I will. This is so far going so good, John. Proud of your dad so far? Yes. Okay. All right, tell me about your home church, Terry.

Home church is Lemoyne Baptist Church, a member of the SGBA, which is Sovereign Grace Baptist Association. Loosely, it's about six to eight churches in the Midwest, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan area.

Okay, well, I like Sovereign Grace, but I don't know about the Midwest because I'm from the Midwest, and that would be Nebraska. Okay. Breadbasket. Let's talk about Sovereign Grace for a minute. I think Sovereign Grace, it's a redundancy, but don't you think it's a blessed redundancy?

Grace by definition is sovereign. God bestows it upon whomever He wishes. And then to say Sovereign Grace, it's like a double emphasis.

Could be that way, sure. I think it's a necessary addition in these days, though, when people say God is grace, God is grace, and they live however they want to, versus God's sovereign grace, where He is the one who's in control, and you must come to Him not as the one choosing, but He is the one, and you have to submit yourself unto Him and His will.

Good. I think that would probably be a good book, don't you think? Maybe God is some sovereign king or something? Sounds like a catchy title. Throwing supremacy in there, maybe? Yeah, that's right. Well, S. Lewis Johnson is a famous theologian, or one of my favorite theologians, and he'd like to call it, Terry, distinguishing grace.

I think that'd be the same thing, a sovereign distinguishing grace. And so he chose Israel for no reason except for the fact he was pleased to do it, and he chooses the elect angels for the same reason, and can you imagine, he's chosen us for the exact same reason.

That's exactly right. And so he gives mercy to some, and he passes by others, and so this is the God with whom we have to do. We might not like it, but He's the only God.

Exactly, and when you look at Abraham in the Old Testament, why Abraham? Of all the men alive at that day and age, why Abraham? There was no reason for it.

Except God. Yeah, he was a worshiper of false gods, and God chose him anyway. Can you think of any other election in the Bible, sovereign election, someone who was elect? Ah.

Yes. What's that one passage where it's spoken of, except there were all these widows in the land, and then someone was only sent to that one particular widow?

Well, probably 2 Kings chapter 4 would be my imagination, at least it'd be my recall, and if it's not right, it just sounded good, didn't it? It should. There is a widow in 2 Kings chapter 4.

I think it's referenced in Luke chapter 4.

Sovereign Grace, the Cross, and True Salvation

All right. Sovereign grace everywhere you go. What else moves you? Tell me about Christ's redemptive work at the cross. I'm sure that's one of your favorite themes. Certainly.

It's just beyond my comprehension why God in His elect and sovereign grace would choose me after all the things I've done towards Him and against Him. That continues to boggle my mind.

When we realize that God has chosen us, does that put a damper, Terry, on our worship, or does that help our worship?

Oh, I think it definitely helps us. It removes all of our pride, arrogance, anything that we can have and hold to ourselves that we can say, I had something to do with this, I chose God, I figured this out on my own, I'm smarter than my neighbor who didn't figure it out.

To realize you had nothing to do with this at all, and instead of receiving nothing, you actually deserve something much worse, and to have Him turn around and then give you something you don't deserve is amazing.

That is absolutely amazing, and kids, don't you think your dad's kind of starting to preach a little bit here? Yeah. This is pretty good. I thought I was going to have to abort this show pretty fast, but I'm just continuing to go.

And so let's just keep going on No Compromise Radio. Terry Flood is in the studio with his family. I think they're all still here, aren't they? Susan, are you back there? Okay, good. Half are asleep now, but all right, let's talk a little.

It's kind of hot in here, but that's okay. We're on the air. We can't turn on the air conditioner. It's too loud. Terry, tell me your testimony. Now, I have to tell you ahead of time that we on No Compromise Radio, we don't like testifonies.

We don't like test-a-lies. Rats. We don't like a bunch of, this is what I let God do, and I didn't want to be a robot, and all this stuff. So let's just hear you give a testimony that's a God-glorifying testimony about—and I'll just show you my hand on how God saved you.

Okay.

Great. Born and raised in a Lutheran home. I was, too. There you go. All right. Never got confirmed or anything like that. We were C and E Christians, pretty much. That's Christmas and Easter. Went off to college to the University of Toledo to study chemical engineering.

I did, too. University of Nebraska, chemical engineering. All right. Freshman year, got involved with a group called Campus Christian Fellowship. Was convicted about a lot of things that they had there.

Actually then sought salvation on my own terms, not knowing, having a clear presentation of the gospel, and turned over a great new leaf. I stopped drinking, partying, cut my hair, threw out all of my heavy metal albums, stopped chasing girls, things like that, and lived a life of resolve to turn over this new leaf for over 10 years, until I got a series of Spurgeon sermons, a 10-volume set.

Started reading Resolve to read one sermon a week, and I did that faithfully through five volumes. Got halfway through that sermon set and came to the conclusion, I'm not even saved.

That is amazing. Sound like you had some stick-to-itiveness and some resolve, and if you're going to have to try to save yourself by your own bootstraps, you were making a good attempt at it.

Yeah, I sincerely believed I was born again and saved. After all, look at all the things that changed in my life, but I always had habitual sins in my life that I did not have freedom over, and of course it bothered me where it says that he will save the people from their sins, past, present, future, and the presence of them, the power of them, and I did not have that.

So Spurgeon probably has a special place in your heart, as God used him to show you what sovereign grace was. Oh, most definitely. And is. Still does today, yes. Now tell me about your wife's shirt. She's got a Spurgeon.

She's like Spurgeon. It's not Spurgeon as my homeboy, but what does that actually say?

It says every Christian is either an imposter or a missionary.

I like that. So anything else about your testimony that you can tell us that the listeners might be interested in?

That's the dramatic part there, I guess, but the best part, of course, is when true salvation does come. You have that release from the burden of your sins. You have a new life in Christ, a new life of fellowship with him, a genuineness, and a true standing before God.

Tell me about your pastor and how he preaches. How would you define his preaching?

Pastor Ron Schinkel from Des Moines is an expositor. He's been going through the book of Matthew now for many months. I think he's in Matthew 28 right now, finishing up the book of Matthew. All right.

I like that. And here's what we do.

If you were Steve, here's what I would do. I'd probably ask you for a pop song reference, but we won't do that. I'm going to just give you a quote, and then you just have to talk about it. You don't have to have alliteration or three points in a poem, but you do have to be eloquent because this is no compromise radio.

Of course. All right. This is Martin Lloyd-Jones. This is the great theme of Ephesians. It holds us face to face with God and what God is and what God has done. Ephesians emphasizes throughout the glory and the greatness of God.

God the eternal one, God the everlasting, God over all, and the indescribable glory of God. I'm supposed to comment on that. I agree 100%. Okay. Amen. Yeah. That's why we say amen sometimes. All right.

Spurgeon, Attention Deficit Disorder, and Self-Control

We're going to do part two. We're going to do part two. I have in my hand something called Barbed Arrows by Reverend C .H. Spurgeon. You know, all good theologians, they're just known by their first two letters.

I've heard of him. D .G. Hart, C .H. Spurgeon. M .L. Jones. That's right. I'm just going to randomly open it. You kids in the back, Elizabeth can be confirming that. I'm just going to randomly open, and then I'm going to just look right there, and I'm going to say the quote, and then your dad has to make a comment.

Charles Spurgeon.

I agree. Definitely. I don't even know what he's talking about, so if you do, you need to take over the line. Very good. That's excellent.

Okay. Let's see. What else? This is on my table here, on my desk. How should a Christian view A .D .D. or A .D .H .D.? What? Yeah. What? Now, that is very Steve-esque. Instead of Tuesday guy, you're Wednesday night.

There we go. Yeah, yeah. You're Wednesday night guy. Interestingly, Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, it's a big thing today, as you know, and people describe those who have this so-called affliction as always on the go, are driven by a motor.

John, are you driven by a motor? Nope. I can vouch for that. No. I'm not driven by a motor. All right, John, I'm going to ask you some questions. Do you talk excessively? I guess. Often blurts out answers before questions have been completed?

Yes. Difficulty waiting turns? Sometimes. Interrupts or intrudes on others, butts into the No Compromise studio without asking? Occasionally. Occasionally. What do you think about ADD and ADHD, Jerry?

I think it's an over-prescribed condition for children today. I think we've abandoned the rod 20, 30 years ago in public schools, and as a result, we have kids who cannot behave, will not behave, and the Bible says the rod will drive foolishness from the child, and that should be the prescription rather than drugs.

Well, I think that's excellent advice, and I didn't even know your position, but like I said, I can always edit this table here. Does the Bible speak well and highly of self-control? Yes, it does. It does.

Doesn't this relate to self-control? Sure. Kids can't control themselves, and we are to try to help them control themselves, even if they don't have the Spirit of God. You can still teach a child to have self-control.

And I just am reading a couple of Proverbs right now. Proverbs 10, 19, whoever restrains his lips is prudent. Right? So if you talk too much, we can apply biblical wisdom to the situation. Are we encouraged to control our minds and lives?

The answer is yes. Is there a value to listen before we speak? Definitely. Absolutely. And so, so far, so good. I like what I hear, and I'm just going to keep going. We've got ten minutes to go, kids, and if I keep going, that means I like what your dad's saying.

All right? So we're just going to keep going. I'm just going to pull something randomly out. One of my favorite theologians is B .B. Warfield, and notice it's the first two letters again. B .B. Warfield.

And his real name is? His real name is Benjamin Breckenridge Warfield. All right. So what would my name be, kids, if I was a famous theologian? I think it would be M .L. Abendroth. Why don't you just call me M .L. the rest of the show, okay?

Martin Lloyd. Martin Lloyd. M .L. So let's talk a little bit about the show's premise, No Compromise Radio. Do you know what the slogan is here? No Compromise. All right. I guess it's time to stop the show.

I think it's always biblical. Always provocative. Yep. But always in that order. Always in that order. See how fast we learn around here? Yes. This is amazing. Most people that visit me and want to be on the show bring some sort of gift or some sort of money or something, like a dozen donuts or something.

Did you bring anything, John? No. No. Okay. Why are you staring at me? All right. All right. B .B. Warfield commented, the chief dangers to Christianity do not come from the anti-Christian systems. Nobody fears that Christianity will be swallowed up by Buddhism.

It is corrupt forms of Christianity itself which menace from time to time the life of Christianity. Why make such minor points or difference between those who serve one Christ? Because a pure gospel is worth preserving.

Excellent. Well, I know that or I wouldn't have read it. Any thoughts about that or any comments about standing for the truth, contending for the faith, no compromise radio?

Well, I think what we saw on our trip out east here is a lot of that. You have all these churches who no doubt started out well, had great statements about the importance of faith, and over the years they drifted, had compromises come in, faults in the faith, and before you know it, the majority of the congregation ends up voting in heresy such as unification, Unitarianism, and a great downfall has occurred.

Terry, tell me about your trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts. And by the way, what city are you going to stay in tonight, just so the people can hear you pronounce it this way? Oh, it's Worcester. Oh, nice.

You're such a fast learner. You went down to Pilgrim's Church. Church, was that what it was called, or what happened there? Church of the Pilgrimage, correct. Tell me the story that you just told me a minute ago.

I thought that would be interesting.

Yeah, it's very interesting. You go to the town square down there in Plymouth, you'll see an edifice, a very large one, facing the bay itself, and they claim that they are the original church there. And they are.

They have the original church edifice and everything, the property there. Unfortunately, in 1801, there was unification, controversy arose, and the majority of that church ended up holding to Unitarianism, and the true faithful body had left.

And yards away, facing the other way on a corner, a caddy corner from them, is the new Church of the Pilgrimage. And if you walk inside, there's a plaque on the wall that says, they got the church, but we kept the faith.

That is amazing. When I talked to Steve Lawson, Steve said that the majority of the time in the church split, the bad people keep the building. That's what happened there, definitely. Yeah, so I'm wondering why, when we had our church split 12 years ago, why did I keep the building?

There's rare exceptions. That's right. Now, tell me a little bit about how, when you saw Steve Lawson, that you dismissed him as just a regular person, and now you regret that.

Oh, that's the embarrassing moment of my life, of course. About 10 years ago, he spoke in the Toledo, Ohio area, and Steve's not going to hear this, is he? No.

Well, I think he listens every day to No Compromise Radio before he has his devotions, but I'm not quite sure.

I wouldn't know. Okay, well, there he was in the book room, and he was signing books and things, and I had seen some of the other speakers at this conference that I held in higher regard than him, since I'd never heard of him, and I didn't know how he made it on this ticket.

But now I have great regret for that, seeing him speak at the 2009 Shepherds Conference, where he delivered an incredible message, and that's a regret of my life, not meeting him and talking with him.

Well, maybe I'll call him up and arrange it for you, since you just basically burst into my life, and so I guess I'll just continue the theme. I have a way of doing that.

Work, Wastewater, Aging, and Mortality

What do you do for work? As stated earlier, I went to school for chemical engineering. I got my degree in that, and I work at a wastewater treatment plant, of all things.

That's fancy for sewage. I was going to say, hmm, does he ever take you, John, to work? Yes. It's like a father-son workday. Yes. Yeah, how does it smell? Pretty good. Well, you could probably have some biblical thing and make a biblical deal out of it, and you could think of Philippians chapter 3, that our righteousness is like scubalon, it's like dung, our own works and stuff like that.

So you could redeem it by thinking biblically. Philippians 3, from now on, okay? Okay. Would you like to follow in your father's footsteps and work for a sewage plant? No. Wise young man. All right, let's give you another quote, and I won't tell you where this is from.

I might show you, but I won't tell you. How obscure is this author? Yeah, very obscure. The king of the universe could have decided that you were never to be born, or that you would be born in another country at another time, or to other parents.

Yet he chose your exact parents, the very strands of your DNA, the day of your birth, the color of your eyes, hair and skin, your sex, and everything else about you. He has even planned the day and cause of your death.

There is nothing about you that was not sovereignly decided upon by the triune God. Revel in that fact as you read the verses. Job 14, since his days are determined, the number of his months is with you, and his limits you have set so that he cannot pass.

How great is it that God knows everything about us and we can rest in him, even how we die? That is absolutely amazing.

That author had some keen insight into the scriptures there. His observational skills are right on as far as verses go. Well, he had good teachers.

Tell me, are you going to go to Greece with us? Probably. With the job that you have there at the water waste plant or whatever it's called, you probably make a lot of money and probably you could have all of your family and six of you go to Greece with us in April.

We'll contemplate that. Sure, we'll think about that. Yeah, okay. All right.

Aging, Death, and the Hope of Final Judgment

Any questions that you'd like to ask me since we've got about three minutes to go on No Compromise Radio? Three minutes to go. Yeah, if you had to ask me any question, I don't even care how personal it is, I might not answer it, but I'm here to serve you and your family.

Okay, you're 52 years old. Yes. You're an avid biker. Yes. You're juicing a lot. I'm juicing a lot, yes. Is that true still? You know what? This week I haven't. My wife is like, it's time to sell the juicer.

I'm just a few years behind you. Okay. Is it hard to accept the aging process or is it something we should act with grace upon?

I think I should probably turn up the volume on my headphones. I can't quite hear you. Okay. Actually, here's the good news about aging. I still feel young because I have young kids, but the receding hairline and the hair on the ears and in the nose and on the nose and all these other things, harder to get out of bed, it does make you consider your mortality.

Honestly, on all honesty, Terry, I've thought more about my own death and how I've got one life to live more than any other time in my life. When you're young and you're John's age and 14, it's hard to impress upon young people.

You could die today. But when you're older, it's not so hard to convince people because we have friends who have died and we'll have more friends. I see why people read the obituaries when they're older because of that very thing.

And so I think the glory of a young man certainly is his strength and the glory of an old man is his wisdom through his gray hair. And so I actually like it. I wish my body would function better, but I like the wisdom that comes along with it.

Very good. I hear some Iwana kids in the background. We've got about one minute to go. John, do you have any questions? Michael, do you have any questions? Gwen, do you have any questions? Do you think your husband's done a good job so far today?

Should I play this on the radio? We'll see how big the money is when it comes in. We'll see how big the check is. Elizabeth, so far so good? All right. All right. Well, we've been talking to Terry Flood today, and I'm glad I could think about your last name.

Do you know the Bible teaches that there's going to be one more flood? One more. Except it won't be water this time. It'll be fire. 2 Peter 3. Would you agree with that? Yes, it is. All right. Well, my name is Mike Abendroth.

I've been talking to Terry Flood today. This is No Compromise Radio. You can tune in via podcast. ITunes are on WVNE 760 every day at 3 .30. If you'd like to write Terry any kind of negative, he's arrogant, proud, sewage water treatment, anything like that, it's info at nocompromiseradio .com.

Thanks, Terry. Thank you.

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 bbchurch .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.