Erin Benzinger Interview

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 ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and it is snowing outside. There�s probably about one foot of wintry, heavy snow, so I always think to myself, Luther looks at the snow and it gives you a good picture of justification.

Snow on the dung pile. We are far from practically perfect, but we have the imputed righteousness of Christ Jesus cloaked over us, and we look perfect in Christ. So today on No Compromise Radio, before we get to our special guest, I do want to do something that I normally don�t do, but I think I�m going to do it today just because of all the medicine I�m taking.

I�m going to be speaking at the Church of the Cross in California, Pine Grove, California, February 1st through 3rd, 2013, and it�s called Biblical Discernment Conference. I like the title. I didn�t make it up, but I like it.

Church of the Cross, their subline of the church is �Truth Still Matters. I like that. Expository preaching ministry there. I�m going to talk about mysticism. I�m going to talk about the gospel, evangelical, metrosexuality, biblical manhood, womanhood of February 1st through 3rd.

And so if you�d like to go and register, it�s free. We�d love to have you. Church at the Cross, np .org. Well today we have a special guest. Erin Benziger is on the line. She is the writer and blogger and editor and author of DoNotBeSurprised .com.

Erin, welcome to No Compromise Radio. Thanks for having me, Mike. I�m glad to be here. Well, Erin, I love your blog, and maybe the thing I like about it the most is on the back you say �Favorite Ministries and then after �Grace to You it says �Bethlehem Bible Church and No Compromise Radio.

Is that alphabetical?

Um, no, no. I think you just come in right underneath there.

Oh, I am so happy for that. Tell us a little bit about the blog, DoNotBeSurprised .com. How you started, what your goal is. I try to look at your blog almost every day, and so I want the listeners to be able to do the same thing.

Well, thank you. That�s encouraging to know that someone�s reading it. Yeah, DoNotBeSurprised .com, I started it a little over three years ago. I guess we�re going on four years here in the spring. Really, I guess I just started it when God just kind of opened my eyes as to everything that was going on in the churches that was deceiving people.

You know, for years I had been a false convert myself, and so I just kind of assumed if someone says they�re a Christian, then they�re a Christian. You don�t question it, and when I actually got saved, when God finally opened my eyes, you know, I just, the floodgates just opened and I started seeing all the deception in the church, and I thought, �People need to know about this stuff.

And there�s so many different websites and so many articles written. I really started it as a means of kind of gathering what I felt to be the most important information and sharing that with the people I knew.

I probably, for a very long time, only had, I don�t know, five to ten readers, and most of them were people I knew, which was fine with me. It was just a way to disseminate information, but, you know, God really ran with it, I guess, and, you know, now I just kind of use it as a means of exposing air, but then also I think it�s really important, and I strive to also include encouragement on there, you know, and good, solid teaching from solid, trusted men, whether, you know, dead or alive, just to kind of point people in the right direction.

It�s really easy to get caught up in the bad and forget to, you know, look at the glories of Christ and the truth that we find in the Bible, so I try to find that balance, and.

Hopefully it�s working. Well, Erin, if someone were to say to you that you were only a discernment blogger and somehow castigate you for that, I would say that would be wrong, because you�ve got all kinds of�you�ve got songs, and you�ve got quotes from J .C. Ryle that speak positively of our Lord, sermons from John MacArthur and other things, and so I think it�s a good mix of this is sound doctrine, and this is stuff that you should stay away from.

Yeah, and that�s�like I said, that�s really. What I�m trying to do is find that balance and point people not just to the air, but point them to the truth.

Women Need Both Sound Doctrine and Discernment

Well, one of the things I like on DoNotBeSurprised .com is what you entitled �This and That. I think you do that on Fridays, and so for me, I�m a pastor, I�m busy, you know, world-renowned radio host and all, right, Erin?

Right. I don�t have that much time, and so you collect a lot of things, both positive for the cause of Christ and some of the things that we should watch out for, and then I can just get it all under one quick perusal, so I especially like �This and That and I�m probably not the only one, am I, who likes that?

Yeah, I don�t think you are. That really went over well. I didn�t really plan for it to be a weekly thing when I started it, and it caught on, and it is a good way to just gather. You can�t cover everything in a week.

There�s just too much going on, whether it�s, you know, world news or church news, and so it�s just an easy way for me to collect things that I wasn�t able to cover throughout the week, and then, like you say, it�s kind of a one-stop shop for people to find all of those resources.

Now, Erin, I was just reading earlier today 2 John, and it says this as John writes to the elect lady and her children. Interesting to be called the elect lady. He said, �And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments.

This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. And that�s what the apostle John says to the lady. And then he gives a reason. �For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh.

Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. And so, Erin, what I would argue, and I know you would as well, that ladies need to know about biblical truth, both positively and then negatively, people that are out there deceiving others.

What do you tell people who say, you know, I don�t want any of this, you�re a lady kind of in a man�s world with discernment issues. How do you respond?

Yeah, and that�s a good question, and I�ve gotten a lot of that over the past couple of years. You know, like you said, it is, it�s just as important for women to be aware of both good and bad doctrine and the things that are going on in the Church.

I think women are more easily led astray. I may take some flak for that statement, because certainly men are led astray as well, but women tend to be led by their emotions more than men, and so I think it�s easier to grasp onto something that might make you feel good and then not look at it from a truly biblical perspective, and that can be very dangerous.

Like I said, I was a false convert myself for many years, so I have experience in that, and so it�s really important for women, just as much as men, to dig into the Word, to study, you know, the tried and true men of God who have given us resources over the years, and to expose yourself to that truth so that when something comes along that�s not quite right, you�re going to get a red flag in your head.

You know, we can�t always be relying on the men necessarily to do that, and we�re responsible for our own faith and our own walk, and, you know, we need to be mindful of the deception that�s out there, and I really think that women are a prime target.

So it�s just really�that�s just one of my passions, to just stay in the Word and just really encourage women to, you know, just study for themselves. It�s so easy to be reliant on something else. It�s real easy.

Women want to go to these little fluffy Bible studies and, you know, they�re just depending on this little book that they�re reading, and they need to open up the Bible for themselves and see what it says for themselves and test what that teacher is saying against the Word of God, because the Word of God is our measuring stick, not our favorite author or our favorite speaker.

Just because she tells a good story doesn�t necessarily mean she�s right.

Yes, but it felt so good as she was telling it. We�re talking to Aaron Benzinger today, DoNotBeSurprised .com. Aaron, ladies had to be good Bereans as well. When Paul was commending those at Berea, he wasn�t just commending the men.

I think of ladies who are single. They need to be good Bereans. Women who are married to unbelievers. Even women who are married to believers who maybe are immature, are new converts, and ladies who go to churches where compromise is tolerated and they need privately to understand what�s right and what�s wrong.

And so we want ladies like you and a lot of the listeners to understand what is teaching that accords with sound doctrine, as Titus says. What would you say to ladies who read only books written by women?

Of course, there are good books written by women, but don�t you think there�s kind of a,. �Well, we�re women. We only read books by women. There�s nothing wrong with it, but what if it�s only books by women?

Tell me what you think about that.

Yeah, I think if you�re only reading books by women, I think you�re erring. Like you said, there are good women authors out there. Me, personally, I actually don�t read a lot of women authors. I have nothing against them.

I just prefer, I guess, the male authors. But God has given us so many godly men, and it�s men who are called to shepherd the churches. Women are not called as pastors, and so that�s an added feature, an added talent.

That�s probably not the best word, but that men have that they bring to their teaching as well. I think if we�re only relying on these books written by women, they�re bringing just that female perspective to issues, and we�re not going to get a whole compromising understanding of what they�re trying to teach, because they�re coming at it with whatever agenda they are bringing to the text.

I guess I�m thinking of some specific women authors as I�m talking, but often they have an underlying issue that they�re trying to address, and then we�re getting kind of a skewed view of the biblical teaching.

So I would just really encourage women. I know it�s maybe more welcoming to pick up a book by a woman author. She thinks like you, she talks like you, or writes the way you think, and so it�s very natural to pick that up and read it, and you can resonate with it.

But like I said, God has just given the church so many great male authors as well to dig into some of the men who are alive today. John MacArthur has marvelous books and commentaries, some of your books, Mike.

I just finished reading your latest book, and that was a fantastic resource. And then some of these men who are long dead. Like you say, I put up quotes by J .C. Ryle, Charles Spurgeon. These are the men that I turn to when I�m studying through scripture, and you won�t be disappointed.

Maybe they don�t write quite as flowery as you would like as a woman, but there�s nothing wrong with that straightforward writing that just really opens up the scriptures to you. And I think that�s really important.

So I would say do not just simply rely on women authors. You know, broaden that spectrum, but make sure that you�re choosing from a pool of sound, you know, biblically sound teachers as well. Because when you open up that pool, we have a lot of bad male authors as well that we want to stay away from.

Aaron, I�ll never forget when I had the desire to read Christian books. I needed someone to tell me this person is trustworthy. Watch out for that person. And so my pastor at the time, John MacArthur, was really good in that regard.

Read this book by J .C. Ryle. We only have so much time in our lives now as adults to read, and so I want to make sure I pick the good books to read and not just whoever one of these big publishers is promoting.

And so I think you give good counsel for some of the ladies to read books. By men as well as women, Ephesians 4, God gives gifts to the local church, and many of those gifts are pastor teachers, and those would be male.

And so dead or alive, God has given a gift to the church. I say read one classic book or older book for every newer book you read, and that would give you a good perspective on the issues. Aaron, I�d like to know if you are going to be part of the Weekend of Fashion, the first fashion week for the Christian community in February 8th and 9th for 2013.

Are you going to be part of that?

No, you know, I saw a headline about that. That�s interesting that you mentioned that. No, I�ve not been invited to be a part of that. So I don�t know who I have to call about that, but I�m going to find out.

Well, maybe I could send you some of the NOCO Press credentials, and you could be in that regard. Oh, that would be great. Okay. Aaron, tell us, you�re also writing for another website. Tell us a little bit about that so people can read more of your information.

Yeah, a lot of what I write actually originates on christianresearchnetwork .org. It�s a sister website to Uprising Ministries, which is run by Pastor Ken Silva. So I�m the associate editor there. So a lot of times you may see a little note over on my blog that the article originally appeared at CRN, and I don�t post everything both places.

So if your listeners are interested, definitely check out christianresearchnetwork .org as well. There�s a lot of good resources there. It�s not just me writing. We have a group of contributors and a lot of links to various websites, you know, good articles, whether it�s news articles or devotionals, things like that.

So it�s kind of, again, it�s kind of another one-stop shop to find various resources.

Contending for the Faith and Answering Criticism

Aaron, if someone were to say to you, and I bet you they say it all the time because I get it as well, you know, you come across as so unloving. The site�s unloving. You�re unloving. I guess if we don�t know how to critique something, we just throw that out.

And, of course, on the other side, I�m sure you�d like to be more loving, and I�d like to be more loving. But when somebody just broad brushes you as unloving, what�s your response?

First, I probably laugh if I�m not facing them, you know, if it�s just via email, because it is quite common, actually. But, you know, we�re called to test the spirits. We�re called to be good Bereans, as we�ve already said.

So if it�s unloving, then to test what I suppose a Christian is saying against the Word of God, then that person also would have to take issue with multiple people in the scriptures. You know, take it up with the Apostle Paul, take it up with Jesus.

You know, this is something that we�re called to do as Christians, and no one is above critique in that aspect. And anyone who is teaching the Word of God, I would hope would be open to hearing if somebody thinks that they are in error, you know, would be open to hearing an argument from scripture for that.

So, you know, it�s not unloving to do something that we are called as Christians to do. I mean, that�s very clear in the book of Jude, you know, to contend for the faith delivered once for all to the saints.

So, you know, I really would just respond with something like that, you know, take it up with God, because we�re really just, you know, trying to do what we�ve been called to do.

Now, when people email you, are most of the emails positive, or do you get a lot of negative emails? What�s the mix?

Probably get more negative emails. I think when people like something, they don�t always tell you. I don�t know. God always seems to send an encouraging email at just the right time, but not God. He�s not sending me emails, but you know what I mean.

We were going to have to cut the interview short. I�m sorry.

Yeah, God sends me emails, too. What do you know? But I definitely get a lot of interesting comments and emails. I guess I would probably call them interesting rather than negative, necessarily. But, you know, I see those as a challenge as well, and as a way to grow, and just how you respond to that person, and taking them back to the Scripture to respond to them.

So, it�s an interesting field to be in. It�s probably not for the faint of heart, as I�m sure you�ve learned.

Well, we just send all the negative emails to Pastor Steve, so I get all the encouraged ones. That�s right. Can I start doing that, too? Yeah, sure. Tuesday night. Erin, let�s talk about the general theme of women�s ministries in local churches.

Now, I know that there are good women ministries at churches. There are here at Bethlehem Bible Church. Why do you think the women�s ministries focus a lot on the practical, and they get away from the doctrinal issues?

And I know doctrine is involved in practice, but I think you know what I�m after. If you were going to recommend a women�s ministry for people, or how to start one, what kind of mix would you have for how-to, and then doctrine, or indicative, imperative?

What�s the flavor there? Because I think many women are in ministries that are too heavily oriented towards how-tos and practical.

Women’s Ministries Should Be Built on Doctrine

Yeah, I think that�s a really good point. I notice a disturbing trend in women�s ministries. It�s one of the things that I look at when I�m looking at a church website, to see is this a church maybe I would like to attend or visit, or just to learn more about the church.

And often you see the Bible studies offered are Beth Moore, things along those lines. And it�s disheartening that we�re kind of content to allow women to have such a shallow study of the word, and not to mention the errors that may be mixed in with that.

I don�t know if it�s just a tendency to think that women can�t handle the doctrine. They don�t need to know all that deep stuff. They just need to know how to work it out in daily life. I�m not sure how that mindset can be justified.

Because if you don�t have a correct doctrine, then you can�t practically and accurately live out your Christian walk. It has to start with a correct doctrine. So, I mean, a women�s ministry that builds on a foundation of correct doctrine would be an amazing asset to any church.

And I think it�s sadly lacking in most churches, from what I�ve witnessed anyway. There are a lot of studies out there that are available that can build that foundation. I�m thinking of a couple in particular.

But from there, I think women, instead of going to these books that are about topical things, and I�m not saying that topical study is a bad thing, but just open up the Word, get a Bible study that digs into a book of the Bible, and study through that.

And I don�t understand why women�s ministries can appear to be averse to that. I just don�t understand. Because once you just open up the Bible and start studying through Scripture, it�s going to fall into place how you practically work that out in your life, because that�s in the Scripture as well, right alongside of the doctrine.

We don�t need to separate the two, and if we do, then we�re not going to get either one right.

Well, Erin, as I look at Titus chapter 2, of course we�re both for practical application. Older women to teach younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-control, pure, working at home, kind, submissive to their own husbands, etc.

We�re after that, but Titus 1 starts off with this amazing inter-Trinitarian promise of God the Son going to rescue the elect, and so I think practical is fine as long as it�s not divorced from the doctrinal hinges of who we are in Christ, and I know you agree with that as well.

Absolutely. I know what makes you mad. Let me read this. We had a Union Theological Seminary 2010 Sprunt Lectures, and they had a feminist speaker there, Margaret Miles. She suggested that the symbol of God�s love, the cross, is violent, and she wanted to replace that with a nursing mother because that was more loving.

Comments?

I�m not sure you�d want my comments on that.

Well, we want it always biblical, always provocative, always in that order. I mean, when we go away from the cross and from the Bible, then we just get into this kind of stuff. Exactly. I don�t think I�ve ever said this on NOCO Radio, but I�m going to say it now.

It�s just yucky.

There you go. That�s a good word for it. I mean, that�s just ridiculous. I can�t even understand what would make someone suggest that.

She said in societies in which violence is rampant on the street and in the media, the nursing virgin can perhaps communicate God�s love to people in a way that a violent image, the image of a one more sacrificial victim, cannot.

So, we are very glad that you stand for the truth in this Union Seminary, one of the 11 seminaries in the PCUSA or USA Church. We�ll just avoid that. I know you write a lot about the Alpha program. We�ve got about 50 seconds left.

Tell us where we can read some of your Alpha critique.

You can find Alpha resources on DoNotBeSurprised .com. There�s actually a tab at the top that contains all of my links to what I�ve written about Alpha. Most of my recent articles are housed at ChristianResearchNetwork .org, discussing the ecumenical aspects of Alpha as well as the mysticism that is kind of underlying the foundation there of the Alpha course.

We�ve been talking to Erin Benziger today. By the way, you�re our first lady guest on No Compromise Radio. I�m honored. That�s pretty good. DoNotBeSurprised .com. Erin, we appreciate your ministry and your love for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thanks for being on NOCO Radio. Thanks for having me, Mike. 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.