Keep sharing good news without ads.
No description available
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. We have a little theme here, and the theme is always biblical, always provocative, always in that order. That's what I'm really after. If you push me, will you get me to confess that I do compromise?
Well, of course the answer is no. Just kidding. Of course I compromise. I just don't like it when I do. That's why we regularly, if not in every show, try to direct your attention to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God who cloaked Himself with humanity.
Man sinned, by man sin entered the world, and by a man, the man, that man, the righteous man, Jesus Christ, sin has been dealt with. So, I want to push you to the man who never compromised. Can you imagine all the times in Jesus in front of Caiaphas, in front of Herod, in front of Pilate, in front of the scribes, in front of the Pharisees, in front of the Sadducees, in front of the lawyers, in front of His own men?
He could have compromised, but he never did. I think I'm going to stop and just let that sink in. Since it's a cold, wintry day here, I'm drinking some coffee, Keurig coffee, but it's Starbucks Keurig.
We don't have Pete's Keurig, otherwise Dave and Barbara would probably already have sent me some in the mail. But I am drinking this out of my new Harvest House cup because I am a Harvest House author.
And in 2014, the new book, Things That Go Bump in the Church, is coming out. And I wrote that with Byron Yawn and Clint Archer, and different topics that new Christians, someone new to your church, is going to think is scary.
Things that go bump in the night, things that go bump in the church, scary doctrines for new Christians. Ooh, hell. Ooh, unconditional election. Ooh, church discipline. So they sent me a Harvest House mug.
Who else is on Harvest House? What else do they? I know Boo Yawn's on Harvest House, Byron. Kay Arthur, she's Harvest House. So I just sat there during Christmas time, drinking Pete's coffee out of my Harvest House mug, thinking, I bet you Kay Arthur's doing the exact same thing.
There you have it. I wonder if I'll ever have an Erdman's mug. I'll have a Crossway mug. Zondervan mug. The big Z. The big, let's see, who else? Moody, Name You Can Trust mug. NAV Press mug. I don't think I'm ever going to get any of those.
From the day late and dollar short topic, I want to talk about Louis Giglio and Passion Church and that whole issue. Now, of course, do I think the world always votes wrongly? Yeah, that's not that hard to see.
You just look at Matthew chapter 27, verses 15 and following, and Jesus Barabbas is offered and Jesus the Messiah is offered. Some of the earlier manuscripts or some early, some manuscripts have Jesus Barabbas and Jesus Nazareth.
The other manuscripts show Barabbas and Jesus, not Nazareth, but Messiah. And so the world gets to pick. And who do they pick? Well, the world always picks wrongly. And so that's why we need the grace of God, of course.
And so the way the world is stacked up against Christians and the way the world is pro-homosexual these days, of course, something bad's bound to happen. But I don't think it should surprise us. I think it can be unjust.
And now the watershed issue is homosexuality. And if you ever have come out and said that you think it is a sin, albeit a forgivable sin, then you're ostracized. And so that's exactly what's happened.
Louis Giglio preached in the past. Sadly, he hadn't preached anything in the future, currently, about homosexuality. And they outed him for that old sermon. Technology isn't that wonderful. And he's out.
And so I wanted to talk about it a little bit. This in real time isn't that long after it. Actually, in real time, this is still before the inauguration. I read today that President Obama, I think, has eight people going to talk about him at that time.
You should also do one of those studies on how many times the president says, I and me and mine when he talks to people. But this isn't a political show, although if it was up to Steve, maybe it would be.
I have to tell you that the Tuesday Guy emails are increasing. And so lots of talk about Tuesday Guy. I think we're going to have to start a brand. And I'd like a percentage of that because then maybe I'll send a mug.
We need a Tuesday Guy mug. All right. I bet you Carl Truman would not drink out of a Tuesday Guy mug. But I bet you Jeff Waddington would. Well, now Waddington's a big shot in Alliance, so I have to be nicer to him.
At least he doesn't practice intinction. So what am I talking about? Lou Giglio. So January 8th, Giglio gets asked to pray or give a benediction at President Obama's inauguration on January 21st. Well, they found an old sermon and he withdrew.
Why he withdrew or who made him or was it him? Was it the White House? Was it joint? Some people are asking me questions about that. I don't really think that's the issue. The issue at hand is how can you be a pastor today, in today's day and age, and not have addressed homosexuality in the last 15 to 20 years?
How can this be a backburner issue for the evangelical, let alone the evangelical pastor, who pastors thousands of people in a town that has a pretty large homosexual contingency? I do not think pastors should stand up and rail against homosexuals every single week.
I actually don't think they should rail against homosexuals, period. I think they should plead with them and exhort them to repent from their forgivable sin, because Christ's atonement is greater than every sin, including sexual sin, including fornication, adultery, bestiality, homosexuality, any sexual sin.
God has declared and God has invented and God has ordained that sex is to be enjoyed, man and a woman, under the covenant of marriage. He designed it. He designed us. Therefore, he can tell us what to do.
And of course, I do believe, even though you're going to think I'm crazy for believing this, I believe that mental illness, quote, end quote, is directly related to, well, I have to be careful. I'm on the radio now, aren't I, is directly related to, how am I going to say this?
I don't have a script here. Where are the people that write these legal things for me? I just think a large degree of sexual sin contributes to a large degree lots of people's mental problems, because you're meant to be with a person for life.
And so if you're with one person, then the next, then the next, and then you find out your last boyfriend is dating your current buddy and all these other things, your mind plays all kinds of issues. There are sins, sexual sins, that do wreak consequences.
And so whether it's venereal disease or it's mental illness or it's something else, there are consequences to going against God's ordained behavior. Now, see, why didn't I say it like that the first time?
If I was Carl Truman or Jeff Waddington, I would have said it eloquently. But there are consequences to behavior. So whether it's directly related to mental illness or not, we probably won't know. But I particularly think it is.
So Giglio writes to his Passion City church what happened and why he did these things. And so to me, the main tragedy is not that the world acted like the world. The tragedy is we have men and women who don't want to talk about homosexuality because they don't want to get thrown into the, I don't know who those crazy people, the West kind of somebody Baptist, fundamentalist, West Side, West Gate, West Borough, maybe West Borough, is that it?
I don't know. So the whole picketing ministry and all that these people, these crazy people have. Well, I still want people to know that if you are sinning against God who made you and who will judge you, you have a Savior in Christ Jesus who bears all kinds of sins, including sexual sins.
And that the hope when you look to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, repenting, that you can be washed, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 says, sanctified, that is, set apart, justified. All of Christ's perfect righteousness, including his perfect attitude toward ladies with this thought life and everything else, credited to your account.
Jesus bears your sins, including sex sins. And so there's hope. And so what am I going to do? Not tell people that there's hope? That is malpractice. Of course, that's worse than malpractice. It's sin.
So if somebody's enslaved to sin and I don't tell them that there is forgiveness to be found, then that's spiritual malpractice. And if the doctor knew there was cancer in the body and didn't tell anybody, shame on him.
I'm not talking about using Galatians 5 and Revelation and 1 Timothy chapter 1 and 1 Corinthians chapter 6 and Romans chapter 1 as clubs to bludgeon people. I think the homosexual who is enslaved to their sin, I think they realize there are issues with their lives and problems with their lives, and it's not all what it's cracked up to be in Hollywood and in the press.
And so I want to offer them relief and forgiveness and through the vehicle of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, if you live in Utah, I hope you talk about Mormonism. If you live in New England, I hope you talk about Catholicism.
It is wrong for a pastor in the middle of this battle that comes to your door to just back off. And I don't think it's acting like men. I don't think it's standing firm. I don't think it's being strong.
I don't think it's being on the alert. I don't think it's that at all. I think it's the opposite. I think it's cowardly. I think it's politically correct, maybe, but the spin is the wrong spin for the pastor to take.
Dear PCC family, though I was invited by the President of the United States to pray at his upcoming inauguration, after conversations between our team and the White House, I'm no longer serving in that role.
I sent the following statement to the White House today. I'm honored to be invited by the President to give the benediction, by the way, I would be, at the upcoming inaugural on January 21st, though the President and I do not agree on every issue.
We have fashioned a friendship around common goals and ideals, most notably ending slavery in all its forms. Well, I don't know what the forms are. I know slavery is bad and wicked, and kidnapping even is talked about in 1 Timothy 1 as a sin.
Slavery to what? Slavery to sin? Romans, excuse me, John chapter 8, I'd be against that. Slavery to the world system? I'd be against that. Slavery to some arcane, archaic ideas found in the Bible? I wouldn't be after that.
Slavery overseas, sex slavery overseas in Europe or in the United States? I'd be against that. Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15 to 20 years ago, it is likely that my participation and prayer I would offer will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration.
Well, since when did we ever do things based on how people are going to respond? We do the right thing, and if there's fallout, there's fallout. Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past 15 years.
See, that's the bad news. That's the bad news. Whether the administration knew that this was in his past and they did it anyway because they wanted to stand up to some homophobe, or whether they didn't vet him well enough, that doesn't really matter.
To me, it's the pastor's response that matters, and it hasn't been in the range of my priorities in the past 15 years. That's the problem. The world, like it or not, has it in its priorities, and the world is asking for, you know, people are asking for answers.
Are you born this way? Can you be forgiven? Can you change? Is this a sin? What about the hermeneutical trajectories? Is this akin to Rosetta Parks and the bus seat? There's a lot of things that are coming up.
Don't we know that, living here in Massachusetts, the first state to legalize gay marriage? So, he said, instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus. Of course, we make much of Jesus, but this is just like Rick Warren talk.
Making much of Jesus. We make much of Jesus. First of all, it's not a biblical concept. I guess you could say we've determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ. Yes, that crucified one that's still hanging on that cross.
See him right there? See that foolishness? See that thing that's not so pretty that the world thinks is just total foolishness? The crucified, substitutionary atonement, a penal substitution, a wrath on the Son of God.
See all that over there? Yeah, they don't like that so much. I don't mean to say Jesus is on the cross, but when you're preaching substitutionary atonement, you're talking about a Savior who's crucified.
It doesn't make sense to the world. Jews want signs, and the Greeks or the Gentiles, they want some kind of philosophy, right? They think it's foolishness. They want wisdom. Well, calling people to ultimate significance.
Is that really what the gospel is? I want to call you to ultimate significance. That is just, that is emergent, modern day, spin, mumbo jumbo, calling you to ultimate significance. Like persecution? How about let's go to the New Testament church?
I know there are martyrs today, probably more martyrs today than there were then. Somehow if you think about the New Testament ones, it's better. Stephen, I'm calling you to ultimate significance. What?
It just doesn't, it's not even, first of all, it's not true. Second of all, it's not biblical. And third, I don't know what it really means. I've been to two theological institutions, actually three, and I don't know what this is.
I've learned historical theology, systematic theology, practical theology, and the list goes on, hermeneutics, Greek, Hebrew. Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance. Do we call adulterers to ultimate significance?
You just need ultimate significance. Now, this is a Tim Keller kind of rephrasing, idolatry kind of thing. I don't go for that at all. We call people to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. If making much of Jesus is talking about substitution and atonement, well then that's fine.
He's talking to the church here. He doesn't have to use words that the church doesn't understand. He says, Well, when the fight comes to you, what do you do? What does Calvin say about dogs that don't bark when an intruder comes?
He calls them cowardly. Thus, I respectfully withdraw my acceptance of the president's invitation. I will continue to pray regularly for the president and urge the nation to do so. I will certainly pray for him on inauguration day.
Of course, our nation is deeply divided and hurting, and more than ever we need God's grace and mercy in our time of need. And you know what? There's no grace and no mercy for the practicing homosexual, practicing adulterer, practicing fornicator, practicing covetous, practicing greedy, practicing idolater, without repentance, without labeling sin, sin, and labeling Savior as the only exclusive sufficient representative who became a substitute and was raised from the dead.
The issue of homosexuality, which a particular message of mine some 20 years ago addressed, he's afraid of that. He needs to say, which I still believe today, although I would articulate in kinder terms, or something.
I don't care if he would have said that. We're not mad. These homosexuals aren't our enemies. They need the gospel. And so good news deals with sin, right? Sin, substitution. It's one of the most difficult our nation will navigate.
However, individual rights and freedom, collective right to hold differing views on any subject is critical balance we as a people must recover and preserve. And that's where he stops right there. He should have said, but as a Bible-teaching pastor, as a minister of the good news of Jesus Christ, as someone in the line of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, Samuel, Jesus, Peter, Paul, James, John, Stephen.
In line of those men in the Bible, I have a message. And the message the world doesn't like, but it's a liberating message. It's a God-glorifying message. It's the message of the Bible, and I still believe it.
As a pastor, he goes on to say, my mission is to love people. And how do you love people, by the way? You tell them the truth. That's what you do. You tell them the truth. This is to the church. He can't even tell the right thing to his own church, let alone the media.
And lead them well, okay, while lifting up the name of Jesus above anything else. Okay, then I wish he would have done it. I'm confident that anyone who knows me or has listened to me, the multitude of messages I've given in the last decade would most likely conclude that I'm not easily characterized as being opposed to people, any people.
In other words, I'm not a homophobe. All right, well, just because someone says that you have an undue fear of homosexuals because you tell them that this is not righteous, well, it's compromising is what it is.
I'm constantly seeking to understand where all people are coming from and how to best serve them as I point them to Jesus. In all things, the most helpful thing I can do is to invite each of us to wrestle with Scripture and its implication for our lives.
How about call people to Christ, belief in Him? God's words trump all opinions, including mine, and in the end, I believe God's words lead to life. Now, tell me what they are. My greatest desire is that we not be distracted from the things we're focused on.
Because, see, we want to be what we're for, not what we're against. That is just—truth is, by definition, antithetical. There's propositional truth. Are you against sin, Louis? Are you against Satan? Are you against false teaching?
Are you against false doctrine? Are you against things that enslave people and damn them? Are you against those things? We want to be known for what we're for. Seeing our people in the city come to know Jesus and speaking up for the last and the least throughout the world.
Honored to be your pastor. Listen to what Tozer said. Now, tell me the difference, no compromise style. We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish goodwill between Christ and the world.
We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, or the world of sports, or modern entertainment. Or might I add, the White House or the media. We are not diplomats, but prophets.
And our message is not a compromise, but an ultimatum. Where's the ultimatum? While society doesn't want to address this issue today, I, Louis Giglio, know that it must be addressed because this is what the Bible teaches about all sin, including homosexuality, and what the Bible teaches about the exclusive saving nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why didn't he say something like that? Why didn't he? How can I know that and I'm a nobody? Louis, I'd like to know why you said this was so distant in the past. Do you still believe it today? The Bible says, if the world hates you, know that it hated me before it hated you.
I'm not after people preaching against homosexuality every Sunday. I am after people not saying, I'm here to point you to ultimate significance. I don't even know what that means. I don't think you should say that one time.
No wonder the Heidelberg Catechism has it right, guilt, grace, gratitude. And so without the guilt, who needs the grace? And there'll be no gratitude. Our nation is divided. Yeah, well, that's true. What else does, what else do I want to hear?
Al Mohler said, a fair-minded reading of the statement of Giglio's statement indicates that Pastor Giglio has strengthened the faith of the people of Israel. He has strategically avoided any confrontation with the issue of homosexuality for at least 15 years.
The issue has not been in the range of my priorities. He said, given the Bible's insistence that sexual morality is inseparable from our ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus, this must have been a difficult strategy, Mohler says of Giglio.
It's also a strategy that is very attractive to those who do not want to be castigated as intolerant or homophobic. As this controversy makes abundantly clear, it is a failed strategy. It's a failed strategy.
Now, Louis seems like a fine guy, but I think all the people and all the fame and all the influence, I think it must play with your mind. Maybe it would have played with my mind, but, you know, we have negative 10 people here at the church and we have negative, you know, five people listening to the show.
So don't have to worry about that. Well, my name is Mike Ebendroth. This is No Compromise Radio. You might think it's a dated topic, but I think what we need to be prepared for as people who are in the news, in society, for us to stand up and talk to people about the saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ and how He saves sinners out of every stripe and brand and kind and type, all kinds of sin.
He is a greater Savior than our sin. And I'm not going to celebrate unrighteousness. I won't celebrate sin. I'll celebrate the Savior from that kind of sin.
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 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.