Classic Friday: Tuesday Guy Pontificates

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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 I'm here with Steve Cooley today and his mute button is not pushed.

I'm here to bring the gravitas to the program today. Steve, the last three shows we recorded for Tuesday with Tuesday Guy.

By the way, your Twitter account is at Tuesday Guy, right? It is. Or is it at The Tuesday Guy? Um, yeah,

I think so. Type in Steve Cooley, Tuesday Guy, you'll get it. And anyway, somehow someone muted you, but you could be heard through my microphone, so since it was material par excellence, we just played it anyway, even though you were at a lower decibel level.

Does that make me like a ventriloquist because I was speaking through you? Kind of.

And you know me, Steve, because I just studied that ventriloquist and it's venter, which means belly in Latin, and then loci, which is speech.

They speak from their belly, belly speech. Learn something new every day. So Steve, tell us anything happening with you, the ministry, if someone were to come to Bethlehem Bible Church and they were to hear you teach your new

Sunday school, they would hear you talk about? The Man Christ Jesus by Bruce Weir. We're starting that this

Sunday. I think it's an excellent book and distill all the good stuff out of it and give it to me before I teach my

Christology class, would you? Okay. Yeah. Okay. Steve, I just was picking some random things for today because I think that makes a good show.

How about this? This is from the internet, shut door theology.

Now as in shut the door? Yeah. Yeah, seriously. If you didn't read anything below that, and I just said,

Steve, tell me about shut door theology. I hate it. You would say what? I hate it. Well, you know, if God presents a closed door, sometimes there's an open window.

Actually last night I was looking at cliches that Christian should avoid and that was actually on there.

Good. I, because I agree, you should absolutely avoid that cliche. Speaking of avoiding things, I also heard about a new

John Eldredge book, something about the lions, lions, the lion sleeps tonight, a whip away.

Who sang that song? By the way, the tokens, the tokens. Very nice. All right.

Well, here's what I didn't know. And I don't think you would know this either. Shut door theology was a belief held by Millerite group from 1844 to 1854 about that before or after they started the brewery.

Some of whom later formed into the Seventh -day Adventist church. It was held that as Miller had given the final call for salvation, all who did not accept his message were lost.

The door of salvation was shut, hence shut door theology. Wow. Now, I want to know if that's similar to Chick Hearn when he was broadcasting the

Laker games and the game would be over, magic throwing to Cooper, Cooper, Lou, Byron, Scott, somebody like that.

You know, James, big game, James did something and then he would say, the lights are out, the jello's jiggling, the refrigerator doors closed.

Is that what that means? A shut door theology? I don't think so. But, but, you know, Christians apply it this way.

If God closes the door, you know, then you need to find another opportunity. In other words, it's he closed this door for ministry.

So maybe there's another ministry opportunity for you. Well, maybe he closed the door and you need to be more persistent.

I like that. Steve, if you could give some general advice to our listeners today about end times dating, and I don't mean dating during the tribulation, that's so sad because I was hoping that's where you were going.

Wouldn't that be interesting? These are like eight rules for courting during the tribulation. First of all, what about if someone were to set a date, 1844, 1856, 1988?

I think it is without a doubt certain that they're wrong.

You know, pick a date. You're wrong. Thank you. Next, as soon as they say, as soon as they say,

I know when the Lord is going to return, I know when the world's going to end, whatever they say, okay, you're wrong. Well, that's a day we'll look forward to because life will go on just as always.

So, you know, Steve, I was thinking to myself, what other worldview besides the

Christian worldview could let us look into the future in the sense that there's going to be the return of Christ and there's going to be a lot of judgment.

And for us to just say, do you know what? It's going to be sad. There's a bittersweet taste in my mouth, but Lord Jesus come quickly.

We still want him to come back. Well, I don't know Islamic eschatology, but I know that there are plenty of people that are trying to usher in the end times according to Islamic eschatology.

So but that's a pretty ugly worldview.

Steve, last night, I was looking at some of the message Bible quotes online and Steve, when you go to websites like av1611 .org,

any guesses on what you might find there? Well, it sounds kind of like a Jehovah Witness site.

AV 1611, authorized version of 1611. In other words, that is the only translation worthy.

It was inspired. It was handed down through these men. Uh huh. That's right. In fact, even the original manuscripts pale in comparison to the authorized version.

And Steve, if there are people in the world, evangelicals who don't like the message more than we don't like it, it's the

AV 1611 people, they hate it. And so here's what I found, because we're going to have a message moment here in a second without, you know,

Benny, what's his name? Benny King. Oh yeah. Stand by me. Yeah. Who's the, who's the basketball player that played for the

Nets that could score like Mad Bernard King? Yes. He was good. Yes, he was. I liked him. Yeah. Well, he was also bad.

I mean, he was just one of those guys who could go on a tear, you know, like six games, 40 points in a row or whatever, and then, you know, put up a six point effort the next night.

Sleepy Floyd. Yeah. Another one. Same kind of thing. So anyway, they call it, that is the message

Bible, the AV 1611 people, they call it the mess. I, I think it was just a typo.

Maybe it was the, what's that kind of thing that the, the spell check, what's the, what's the, the device called on your computer that just anticipates what word you're going to type could have been a

Siri mistake. Maybe it's the new iOS eight or something. And it has all those words at the bottom of my, my pad, which

I think is actually pretty cool. Yeah. I'm trying not to use it too much. I just pick one of them. You know, when it's going to be a longer word,

I just pick the one that, Oh yeah, perfect. So that it makes you seem smarter. No just pick the longest word, the most difficult word, huh?

What word do I need to type? It starts with a T. If I want to type sophisticated, for example, Oh, then you don't have to type it in.

Yeah. You don't have to type. I got you. All right. First Corinthians chapter six. Uh, it, it, it tells us in the message, don't you realize that this is not the way to live unjust people who don't care about God will not be joining in his kingdom.

Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse, sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it.

Don't qualify as citizens as God's kingdom. So, so I know Steve at master seminary, you had to take a couple of years of Greek and maybe even a year and a half of Hebrew.

So, you know, maybe this is a special Aramaic derivative or something here.

Aramaic. Yeah, certainly Aramaic in the new Testament. That'd be highly.

Well, it was a special, I watched a PBS show and it said there was a possible manuscript.

It's very early, but the church didn't want to have exposed. Really? Yeah. The mess.

The mess is a good, uh, we have a messy moment for you. That's a very messy moment today on no compromise radio.

We have a variety of things to talk about before we get to our main subject, Steve, I was reading

Jay Gresham Machen and actually I'm reading the stone, uh, Stonehouse Ned Stonehouse biography of Machen.

And it's been really neat to read it, Steve, for lots of reasons. One is he liked to bicycle and I know you're a biker.

I like it. And so he loved to bicycle around the white mountains around Maine, uh, in Massachusetts.

And so that was fun. Did he have an aluminum frame or was that, well, it was a, it's a pre titanium, it was a special kind of Crow Molly titanium.

Nice. Anyway, Machen said in his book, what is faith? He said many persons hold up their hands in amazement at our assertion that Jesus was not a

Christian. So let's just stop there for a second. Jesus isn't a Christian. How does that work? I hate that kind of thinking.

I mean, you know, to be nice about it. I hate it. Um, yeah, well,

I mean, maybe this drives us some kind of like what some people I run into that are call themselves red letter

Christians or, you know, that Paul somehow invented Christianity. Is that what he's driving at?

Well, here's what he's going to say. Christians are going to be people who sin and are forgiven. And so they're followers of Christ because they receive his, his atoning satisfaction in their place.

Yeah. So now get this while we in turn regarded as the very height of blasphemy to say that he was a

Christian. Oh, I see. In that sense. Yeah. I know I'm with you. See, this is a trick. I'm setting you up.

Christianity to us as a way of getting rid of sin and therefore to say that Jesus was a Christian would be to deny his holiness.

So when Jesus taught his disciples to pray, forgive us our debts,

Jesus never for, he never prayed that prayer of forgiveness. Yeah, I go, I go for that. I knew you would.

It's kind of a tricky, I give you a little bit of information, but it wasn't quite enough. I feel like I've just been the victim of a sting.

But it is said, Machen said, do you mean to tell us that if a man lives a life like the life of Jesus, but rejects the doctrine of the redeeming work of Christ in his death and resurrection, he's not a

Christian Machen. The answer is very simple. Of course, if a man lives a life like the life of Jesus, all is well, such a man is indeed not a

Christian. He is a being who has never lost his high state of sonship with God. Yeah.

Impossible. The only one person could live a life like Jesus and that was Jesus.

So Steve, is it hypothetically true that if you could perfectly obey

God, you wouldn't have to pay for your sins? You wouldn't have any sins.

There you go. See? But since the fall is true and we have a federal representative, Adam, it is not a hypothetical question anymore.

It's a reality, right? That's right. Okay. All right. Steve, how about Sunday nights? I know you've been preaching some on Sunday nights.

What would the people hear if they came here on a Sunday night at six o 'clock? Well, I did a few, I've done a few messages about, did

God really say, you know, a series of things that I've worked up, but I'll be back in John again,

Gospel of John. All right. Good. Six o 'clock, West Boylston. And if you can't attend here, they can always get the feed, right?

The sermon feed. Always. They can always get that. Yeah. Okay. Christianity Today, I know it's your favorite magazine,

Steve. And you have in front of you as well, something from 9, 22, 14, that is

September 22nd. And it's by Sarah Ekhoff Zylstra.

If I mispronounced her name. Say that three times real fast. Uh huh. See, I didn't know whether to give the Z and S sound like they do in Deutsch or just a

Z sound like they do in German. Ekhoff. I mean, it really looks like Ekhoff.

Uh huh. And so it says one in four pastors have struggled with mental illness, finds life way, that's the

Southern Baptist deal, and focus on the family. And so let's talk a little bit about pastors and mental illness and, and research.

One in four, well, you know, if they meant in the congregation, but I think they're talking about actual pastors being depressed and, and that kind of thing.

One in four pastors have struggled with mental illness. Boy, I, I, you know, let me just put it this way.

I think it is entirely possible that one in four pastors have experienced times of depression, meaning spiritual depression or sadness as they struggle with things within the church to say that they are depressed, maybe to the point where they need medication or something like that indicates that there's, there's something wrong in my mind.

Well, Steve, do you think some of this talk about pastors and mental illness, and we've discussed this on the show quite a bit, what it is and what part do we believe and not and how to diagnose it, but probably with the

Ergen -Kanner issue with his son and then Rick Warren, it talks about that in the article as well, where you have a high profile person there's issues in the family, and it just brings it to light.

Well, if you mean, you know, people might be tempted to alter or expand their theological construct in order to adapt to family situations.

I think that's probably true. You know, we see that in other areas too, where people want to believe that a mere profession of faith gets someone into the kingdom of God.

Why? Because they have a relative who made a profession and then died. So there's no chance for repentance. And so they're hoping that profession is enough.

And I think in the same kind of way, sure, you know, like with Rick Warren's son, who killed himself, you know, and they're attributing that to depression.

I mean, it's hard to, it's hard to say Rick Warren, I mean, first of all, you have to have compassion for,

I mean, I just can't even imagine what they went through. But yeah, I think you want to find some kind of way to explain it, to kind of,

I don't want to say sweep it under the rug, but to kind of garb it in Christianity and Christianese, you know, to make it okay.

Well, Steve, when I think of mental illness, and let's start first with pastors, then we'll work into the congregation, there are ups and downs in life that pastors experience.

And that the congregants experience, right, there's just kind of daily ups and downs and joys and sorrows and sadnesses and happinesses and a variety of these things.

What I find interesting in ministry in general, lay people and those who are paid, there are the most high highs in ministry and the lowest lows in ministry.

That's right. I mean, when you think about, you know, I guess maybe Isaiah just had a lot of lows, but maybe

Jeremiah, you know, the weeping prophet, but when you just see someone respond to the gospel, and you're just exhilarated, and you think before my very eyes,

I've watched a miracle. It's a supernatural miracle. Someone is now transferred into the kingdom of light, and they used to be dead in trespasses and sins, and now they're alive to Christ.

I mean, I don't know what better feeling, subjective kind of joy could be had.

Is there anything better? I can't think of anything better than that. I mean, that is the best.

I mean, I, you know, you mentioned Isaiah. I would think that, you know, seeing into heaven and seeing the throne of God, I think that would be fairly exciting.

You know what, Steve? It's just me. Well, true. But that was after he was devastated. Probably later he thought, boy, that was really neat.

Yeah. At the time, though, it was... It was a little overwhelming. Uh -huh, yeah. And so there are great joys in ministry, and if you're not a pastor and you're a mom serving or a dad serving, you have experienced those great times of joy where people will say no to sin and yes to righteousness, and there are great joys in ministry.

I think the problem with being a pastor, though, Steve, is I don't just deal with my own sin and my own lack of obedience and my own stupidity and dopiness.

But then I also have to be involved with other people as well and try to help them.

So the problems are compounded. Yep. It's the multiplication of misery.

Yeah, I mean, because we have people come to us with various difficulties and issues, and, you know, we bear those burdens and try to shepherd them through and help them.

So yeah, you feel that too. And, you know, if there are any kind of church discipline, when those kind of issues come up,

I mean, those are weighty. Those are the kind of things that, you know, wake you up. You know, like I had a nightmare the other night that I was in the

Marines. Don't ask me why that was. Now, you were never in the Marines, right? I was in the Army. I was in the Army, yeah. Okay.

But I had been thinking, I think, earlier in the day of somebody that I knew on the Sheriff's Department, and he was in the

Marines, and he was in my dream, you know, and so, like, all of a sudden, I was a Marine. But, I mean, we can have those kind of dreams that wake us up, and, you know, they're kind of scary.

But I'll tell you what, if you're going through an issue with someone, a church discipline thing, that's the kind of thing that wakes you up in the middle of the night.

And I can just, you know, we have had those kind of things. And when they happen, it's not unusual for me to wake up in the middle of the night, and my first thought isn't terror or anything else.

It's sorrow and the need to pray for that person. So, you know, I don't know that many people can really identify with that.

Pete Steve, when I'm reading in the article, and it talks about a focus on the family psychologist, Jared Pringleton, and he says, the

Bible is filled with people who struggled with suicide or were majorly depressed or bipolar.

David was bipolar. Elijah probably was as well. They are not remembered for those things. They're remembered for their faith.

If someone were to come to you and they would say, Pastor Steve, I'm bipolar. I have depression.

I'm schizophrenic. And I'm a Christian. And could you help? I've already been to the other doctors.

Is there any help for me? Do I have any hope? Do I have to be this way the rest of my life? Is your first reaction?

And the reason why I'm asking it, Steve, is because when people come to you, the listener for help is the first response.

Go to your doctor. Go to someone else. I can help. Or I'm all leading to Romans, chapter 15, verse 14, that we are able to instruct one another and help and to comfort and to counsel.

And can we give the words of life to people and put our arm around their shoulder when appropriate and help?

And I've had situations like that and situations where I just say, listen, I mean,

I don't tell everybody this in every situation, but I'm going to tell you specifically if you need to call me at three o 'clock in the morning because there's something going on, you know, and you just can't deal with it, call me.

You know, and nobody's ever taken me up on that particular one. But yeah, you want to help people.

And, you know, the other thing I would not do is I would say, by the way, David was this and, you know,

Elijah was bipolar. And, you know, so you're in good company kind of thing. Don't worry about it. These prophets in the

Old Testament, they were loons too. No, I just don't,

I don't think that's the right thing to do, because like you said, you want to give people hope. You know, is the gospel sufficient?

Is the word of God sufficient or not? The answer is yes. You know, so no,

I'm not going to tell somebody to go get themselves on medication right away. But, you know, I will say this,

I will kind of, I'll step on a limb here. I would just say that if someone is suicidal, if they're doing this kind of thing or the other, or they've been on medication and they just can't seem to, you know, get their minds right or whatever,

I'm not going to tell them to stop taking their medication. I'm not going to say, you know what, stop immediately. And I know you wouldn't either.

So, I think in everything, it's just a matter of calmly, rationally explaining the Bible to people and letting them come to their own conclusions, letting them walk through it themselves, but keeping them focused on the cross, on Christ.

Steve, that's a great point because when someone would come in and they would say, I need help. I'm on all these medicines.

And the amazing thing is, Steve, they blunt the full force of the trauma that people feel emotionally, but they never get any better.

You know, I'm taking steroids now. I think it'll probably eventually help and I'll probably get better one day. You're looking pretty muscular.

Puffy. And, but with these kinds of things, let's say depression, you take medicine and, you know, you basically, according to the shrink or the psychiatrist, you'll just have to take it the rest of your life or change doses and all that.

So, when people say, could we meet and could we talk about it? I love to say, I'd love to meet with you.

You know, make sure you get a checkup, right? It could be thyroid or other things. Get an organic, you know, physical done.

I didn't say, did I say organic physical? Organic physical. Yeah. Physical. It has to be a doctor that gives, that eats only organic food.

It'd be with the message Bible, the green Bible and God of green hope. Romans 15, 13. And now let's sit down and talk about Christianity because lots of people who come in, they're not saved, right?

False professions. And maybe they're having some of these feelings in light of that, but if they are saved, isn't it still good advice to let's sit down and talk about who

Jesus is and how we understand the cross and how we see these difficulties in light of the cross.

If you're listening today and you have friends that need help, can you help me? Don't send them to your pastor right away.

Don't send them to the doctor right away. Open your Bible and sit down and begin to rehearse the doctrines that you hold so dearly.

And I was reading last night, Stephen Charnock's book about the cross of Christ. And it was all stuff I knew, Steve. I mean, he said it better than I could, but it was just the rehearsal of here's who

Jesus is and here's his condescending love for sinners. And that's a good place to start. I, you know, true confession time.

You know, I don't know if you've ever been depressed. I've had periods of depression for me.

This is before Christ. Periods of depression and really what those were, were times where I was just wallowing in my own problems.

24 -7 just focused on me, myself, and all the things I'd done wrong.

Well, here's the good news. As a Christian, everything that I've done wrong, which the Bible calls sin,

I can be forgiven of. You know, does that mean that I'm instantly going to forget them? No. And maybe I shouldn't because it's good to be warned about the things that I need to avoid.

But it's also true. It's liberating to think I'm a sinner. God loved me anyway.

Sent his son to live a perfect life in my place, to die for my sins. And then he raised him on the third day.

That's liberating. That's good news. It's not mediocre news. It's not an exhortation to continue to be depressed.

It's good news. Steve, if people are listening today and they suffer with some of these things, we're not saying throw your medicine out.

We're not saying you can't ever go back to the doctor, but we're saying there is the name of God called the

God of all hope. And we want to make sure you're focusing on the God of hope that may fill you with all joy and peace in believing.

That's what Matthew, excuse me, that's what Romans 15, 13 says. You can be filled with all hope. And what is more hopeful?

What is more joyful than to know that everything you've ever committed is forgiven and that heaven is assured for you?

Mike and Steve here on No Compromise Radio. You can write us at info at nocompromiseradio .com.

You can also sign up for the Israel trip and you can come here on Sunday night to hear Pastor Steve preach. No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston.

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