Bible Minded Cities

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.

Bible-Minded Cities and the Barna Report

Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth. If you say Abendroth, that�s fine. I get junk mail, and it has occasionally a butchering of my last name, and I think the most extreme butchering was Michael Hafferhoff.

I live near a city called Worcester, not in England, although that�s a nice place there. Worcester is a blue-collar type of city, quite a few colleges around it. It is about 80 klicks from Boston, it�s about 50 miles from Boston, and there�s a lot of little cities around it.

The church here is in a city of about 6 ,000, and I�m two towns over in another city that�s about 5 ,000, 6 ,000 people. I saw on the Barna group, and I don�t acknowledge everything that the Barna group does as factual, but I find it fascinating�fascinating, not factual.

I mean, I don�t think they�re trying to lie, I�m saying that their theological perspective is different than mine, that�s all, that�s all I�m saying. We�re friends, we�re trying to be nice now on the radio.

And I like the Barna group�s stuff because it makes good radio, so in my life I have Bible teaching. For instance, if you only know me through No Compromise Radio, you probably only know a little bit about me.

There�s that chapstick. I preach Hebrews verse by verse on Sunday morning, teach a marriage and parenting class on Sunday nights, do men�s discipleship either on Sundays or on Wednesday nights, do five radio shows a week�well, technically four because one�s rerun of a sermon, speak at some conferences, write some books, do some Twittering, some Facebooking through Hootsuite.

So there�s a lot of different�I guess there�s a TV show, No Compromise TV show. I don�t just blast people, that�s my point. When people say it�s a discernment industry, discernment, I don�t think so, but you can do whatever you�d like, it�s a free country.

And if you�re in Australia, welcome to 2016 Bible-Minded Cities. It just strikes me as an odd title, but it captured my attention. 2016 Bible-Minded Cities, now there�s only been about, you know, a month or so to mind your Bible, but we still have this out.

This is quoting Barna, �As the 2016 presidential primaries� there�s a presidential primary this year? �get underway and the election gets into full swing, questions about candidates� religious identity and biblical views are up for debate, with a host of divisive religiously charged social issues� Islam, same-sex marriage, abortion.

Sparking controversy, Barna decided to explore Bible engagement in cities across the United States. The annual Bible-Minded Cities report, based on the interviews with 65 ,000 adults over a 10-year period, shows how people in the nation�s 100 largest media markets view and use the Bible.

So what they do is they partner with American Bible Society and then they rank different cities on how they engage with the Bible. How do I know what a Bible engagement is? They say they look both at the action and attitude of people when it comes to Christian scriptures.

I hope they mean both Old Testament and New Testament. If you�d like to purchase a copy of the Faith Profile, you can click here. What kind of city do you live in? Is it a Bible-Minded city? Where do you think you fall?

Maybe you�re out in the boondocks someplace, so what city is closest to you? Where in the United States do you think there�s a lot of Bible-Minded people? By the way, that�s interesting. Are you Bible-Minded?

Mind meld? To be able to get mind meld, to get the Bible information, we have to study it on our own. You have to do a good study to show yourself approved. Workers who need not be ashamed. Oh, that�s Owanna, isn�t it?

That is Owanna. When I first met a kid in Owanna in the neighborhood, Nebraska, I was a Cub Scout and a Weebelow and I never made it to Boy Scouts. There was a kid in the neighborhood, he had Bible patches and a Bible kind of rip-off Cub Scout uniform.

He asked me to go to Owanna. What do you do there? Bible stuff? No, thank you. If you were whittling knives, then I might do it. Or if you were trying to make a fire. You know what we did? One of the coolest things when I was a Weebelow.

You took a Folgers coffee can, the larger one, and the top had already been cut up, you know, with your can opener. And then there was a plastic liner there that you would seal things. So you take that plastic thing off and throw it away.

And you would get a can opener, you know that kind of can opener that, it�s not a bottle opener that you take the lid off of a bottle, a soda bottle, but it was the kind that comes to a V, it comes to a point, and then you could open up tins of Hi-C or Hawaiian Punch or V8 juice and you have to put a bigger hole in the one side and then a smaller hole in the other.

It could be both the same size, but you needed a little venting. And you would put a lot of vents at the top of that coffee can all around. And then you would flip it upside down, so now the bottom is now at the top, the top side.

And you could put hamburger patties on the top, they�d fit perfectly on there, right? A king-size patty. And you would have a little fire underneath, you start a little fire, put that coffee deal on, there�s some, you know, venting in there, and you could make your own hamburger out in the middle of the woods.

Do they do that at Oana? Nope? Okay. Didn�t want to show up. Back to studying the Bible, Bible-minded cities. Of course, if you know anything about the United States, you�re going to say the South is the most Bible-minded region.

As a matter of fact, that�s what our studies with Barna show, our meaning, American Bible Society. All of the top 10 cities located above or below the Mason-Dixon line. You are correct for $100 below the Mason-Dixon line.

When my wife and I and brother and sister and mom tried out for Family Feud, good answer, good answer. I felt so dumb, felt like a fool. With typical Hollywood-ese, they said, you know, you won these two rounds, and we�ll call you.

Okay. I�m still waiting. Where do you think are the least Bible-minded cities? Well, that�s right. Right here in New England, in the Northeast, East Coast. Least Bible-minded cities. Where does your city rank?

All right. I have the sheet right here. America�s most Bible-minded cities, there�s the drum roll. Number one, Chattanooga. Number two, Birmingham. Number three, Roanoke-Lynchburg. Number four, Shreveport.

Number five, the Tri-Cities, Tennessee. So, we�ve got Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee. Number six, Charlotte. Number seven, Little Rock-slash-Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Number eight, still in Tennessee, Knoxville.

Number nine, Greenville-slash-Spartanburg-slash-Anderson, South Carolina-slash Asheville, North Carolina. They must all be close. I�ve never been there. Number ten, Lexington, Kentucky. And, when you look at the top twenty, you�ve got a lot of Mississippis, Georgias, Alabamas, Tennessees.

When you look in the twenties to the thirties, some West Virginias, some North Carolinas, some Missouris, Texas. When you look in the thirties to forties, you have things like Ohio, Kansas City. One�s a city, one�s a state, of course.

New England and the Need for Gospel Truth

And now we move into ninety to one hundred. Most Bible-minded cities in the South, and now the least Bible-minded, going from number ninety to one hundred, one hundred being the worst Bible-minded city, the least Bible-minded city.

Ninety, New York City. Ninety-one, Salt Lake City. Hmm. I know. Number ninety-two, Phoenix. Now, why would Phoenix be so, I mean, I would imagine lots of people would move to Phoenix, and they would try to get out of the New England area, let�s say, and they want to be able to, like James White, ride his bike year-round.

That�s maybe my guess. So, it would seem like there would be older people, but maybe they�re, I don�t know, just one that strikes me oddly. We have number ninety-three. Here we go for New England. Hotfed slash New Haven.

Remember what�s in New Haven? Yale. Fascinating. No bastion of evangelicalism anymore, but it used to be. Ninety-four, San Fran. Ninety-five, Las Vegas. Ninety-six, Buffalo. Ninety-seven, here�s the weirdest one of all, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Maybe most of the people there are just in college. And then Providence, Rhode Island. Number ninety-nine. That was ninety-eight. Ninety-nine, Boston. And number one hundred, Albany slash Schenectady slash Troy.

And they got ratings of twelve, eleven, and ten percent, respectively. I remember it was 1999, and I was picking up John MacArthur from the airport. Boston Logan Airport. And picked up John, and we were in traffic.

He was going to come here to preach at the church on a Wednesday night thing. There was an ETS meeting north of Boston. He came in for those meetings, and I thought, well, why don�t we have him come here and preach?

And he and I were talking in the car. And for one of the only times in my life I wasn�t bugged about the traffic in Boston because I could just sit there and talk to John. Well, there�s a few interesting things we talked about.

But one was New England, and how cold it is, and how dire we are for gospel truth. Eighty percent of the people here in New England would say they�re Roman Catholic, even though I�m sure it�s a small percentage.

One quarter of those are fairly religious. I had a contractor come to my house the other day to get some work done. Kind of growing out of the house. It�s a 1970s house with no closet space, and we need a larger house.

And I thought, hey, maybe you could help us with an add-on. It costs as much as a new house to add a room on. Are you kidding me? So, not going to work. Forget that. My new house is going to be the Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins� house stuck in the side of the Greek bed or something.

He told me that he goes to Mass every day. And he meant it. He�s 63. That�s fascinating. Well, back on point here. And I think to MacArthur I was kind of complaining. And I was singing the blues. St. Louis blues.

And John just looked at me. I mean, that�s exactly what I needed. I�d come from Los Angeles, and I�d been out here a couple years, and pretty much had no idea of the culture. Just teaching the Bible every week.

I remember the old Sundays. It was 8 o�clock elder prayer meeting slash prayer slash whack the pastor. 9 o�clock I taught Sunday school. 10 o�clock was service. 6 o�clock at night was another service.

Man, I was wiped. I was so tired I couldn�t even watch the Ken Burns Civil War special Sunday night. Hashtag Sabbath. I wonder if the Sabbath keepers watched the New England game last week. Just saying.

MacArthur looked at me and he said, �Mike, I think the gospel is powerful enough to save people in New England. Don�t you Romans 1 .16. �For I am not ashamed of the gospel of God. Well, here it says Christ.

�For it is the power of God. I conflated those words. �For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also for the Greek. That, as we say in evangelical parlance, a good word.

That was good for me to know. And whether you�re in Burma, whether you�re in China, whether you�re in Eastern Europe, New England, or in your own neighborhood, the gospel is powerful enough to save. Paul was confident in the gospel.

He uses a lie to tease there in Romans 1 .16, stressing the positive by stating the negative. �If you�re not ashamed, what are you I�m positive. I�m confident. I know for certain. I know for the fact that the gospel is powerful.

And so the triune God uses the Word of God, proclaimed by frail vessels in evangelism, our proclamation from the pulpit on a Sunday, or both, and then powerfully regenerates. And then you think of the cascade of different things that happen.

And I�m not talking about an order. We�re not talking about an order here of salvation. But everything from justification, forgiveness, imputation of righteousness, redemption, reconciliation, propitiation.

I think I said earlier regeneration. It�s an amazing thing, isn�t it? It�s an amazing thing. Reconcile to God. Used to be an enemy and now a friend. And you can have people who are dry to the gospel, parched, cold, antagonistic, hateful.

And when God effectually calls them through the preaching of the gospel, they�re going to be changed. They cannot stop God. I always find it fascinating where people are like, �Well, you know, you can resist grace.

You can resist the general call all you want. And I might pick something besides irresistible grace for the �I� in tulip. But the effectual call, tulip, looks like a mint julep. The effectual call, you cannot stop.

It�s the creator of the universe. You say, �Well, I�ve got my vaunted free will that can stop God. I mean, are you listening to yourself? Do you hear what you�re saying? You can�t stop God from doing anything.

And the gospel is powerful. And when I look at the Bible-minded cities, where is that? I had the Bible-minded city stuff right here, and then somehow it disappeared. Here it goes. When God... This is like Acts...

Let me see if I can find it here. I�m going to say Acts 18 stuff. There�s many people in the city. There�s some... Here�s what I know. I think it�s... I�m not omniscient or anything like that, but my guess is, there�s a slight chance I could be wrong with the second comings today.

But my guess is, there are quite a few people... Let�s just talk about America, since this is America�s most Bible-minded cities. Let�s just talk about these top, bottom-rung cities. New York, Salt Lake, Phoenix, Hartford, San Fran, Vegas, Buffalo, Cedar Rapids, Providence, Boston, Albany.

My guess is there are unregenerate elect people in those cities. Isn�t that the hope of evangelism? Well, there are other hopes. God answers prayer. God�s sovereign. God�s powerful. God saves through the preaching of His Word.

Right? Romans 10. But isn�t it good to know that every one of those unregenerate elect people will come to faith? Every single one of them. There�s not an E on their head, elect, to talk about it like Spurgeon did.

But you just preach away knowing that there�s some elect people out there. I don�t know who they are until they say, �I believe, and then I know. But until then, you just preach to everyone. And you think about how God is at war with them, and at the cost of His own Son, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into the grace in which we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

That�s what happened. That�s a benefit of justification, Romans 5. So what do you do if you live in a Bible-minded city or a Bible-unminded city? Lose your mind. Man, this is bad coffee. Did I mention that?

Jeff and Jill sent me the Honoma. I�m drinking out of it. I don�t think that�s what makes the coffee bad. It is actually some Kehrig plain-label French roast with some stevia and a nasty creamer. Could there be a more horrific concoction?

Like I said, I picked up the Nespresso machine for Espresso, because I�m boycotting Starbucks, pretty much. Not technically, but... Oh, yeah, I told this story last time and never finished it. I had 11 stars on my gold card, and they said, �If you don�t use a few more stars to keep your gold card going, you lose all those stars.

And at 11, I lost them, and now I�m back down to zero. It�s called bad business. That�s what that�s called. It�s mouimal. We�ve got the Gospel, and you just preach it to everyone, anybody who will listen.

And when I start talking about the Bible with people, and they want to hear more, or they don�t seem to put up a fuss, I just give more. And when they say, �I don�t want to hear about that. No, thank you.

I believe in something else. Be quiet. Shut up. When I talked to the Muslim from Bangladesh in Rome, I started talking about the prophet. I said, �Who�s your prophet And he said, �Muhammad. And I said, �Well, there�s a greater prophet Moses said, �than himself.

And I said, �He�s a greater prophet than Muhammad, and his name is Jesus. The guy didn�t like that. He got mad at me. �Well, then what are you going to do �You run. No, it was civil. It was a civil conversation.

But until they start having that antagonism, I just try to tell them as much as I can about who Jesus is. Can you imagine? When we were still without strength, in due time, Christ died for the ungodly.

That�s the amazing message of Christianity. Not Christ died for good people. Christ died for the moral people. Christ died for the righteous people. He dies for ungodly people. He dies for self-righteous people.

He dies for unrighteous people. He, Christ, the Messiah, didn�t have to die for anyone. But he did. Scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet perhaps for a good man, someone would even dare to die.

But God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And that�s good news. That�s good news for everyone who listens. And maybe you�re listening today and you�re in a Bible-minded city.

Great. Preach the gospel to your unsafe friends. Maybe you�re in an un-minded Bible city or an un-bibled minded city or an un-bibled un-minded un-city drinking the un-Cola. Remember those commercials with the un-Cola?

Seven up the un-Cola? I don�t remember ever reading online. It�d probably be a good Drudge Report story. How Sprite took over and dominated 7-Up. How did that happen? I mean, 7-Up was the deal when you were growing up.

If you wanted some soda, but your parents wouldn�t let you have any caffeine, you got what? Well, you didn�t get Mellow Yellow. Maybe you got Orange Crush. I think Dr. Pepper has a little caffeine. You didn�t get Coke.

I mean, we were poor, so we got Shasta. It has to be Shasta. That was our tagline. I don�t think they had plain label. My mom would drink Tab, Fresca, and Diet-Rite. Diet-Rite-Cola. Everybody likes it because it tastes so good.

But how did 7-Up lose it? I don�t know how they lost it, but Sprite definitely took over. That�s one for the ages right there. Same thing with a wine punch and your little tin openers. If you are in any city, in Australia, New Zealand, we have some listeners there, Japan, let�s think about Japan.

How do you change that city? For me, as the pastor here at Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston outside of Worcester, not that far from Boston, I have no option. You�re required to be faithful. You�re not required to save anyone.

Isn�t that good news? You don�t have to save anyone because you can�t anyway. Stewards are to be found faithful, 1 Corinthians 4. So you just preach away. Lord, give me an opportunity to talk about your Son today to someone.

If you�re the pastor or Bible teacher or Sunday school teacher, I�m just going to teach the Bible today. That�s why I�m not going to do anything but teach the Bible, because it�s the power of God for salvation to all who believe.

My name is Mike Ebendroth. This is No Compromise Radio. You can always write us, info at nocompromiseradio .com. If you want to pick up the new book, Sexual Fidelity, No Compromise, you can go to nocompromiseradio .com.

Or if you want the Kindle version, you can go to Amazon. And if you�ve got questions about shows in the future, or comments, we�d love to hear those as well and try to accommodate when possible. Nocompromiseradio .com.

No Compromise Radio, with Pastor Mike Ebendroth, 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 10 .15 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.

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