I Have Decided To Follow Jesus

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 Avendroth. Welcome to No Compromise Radio, a ministry.

Mike Avendroth here with Steve Cooley. Were we just talking about spam? Oh, yes. Spam. I love it.

What does spam actually mean? Do we know what spam means? It's an acronym, is it?

It's unwanted, unsolicited email. And you know, when you think about spam, it's unwanted, unsolicited, unidentifiable meat.

So that's, right? Is that it? Yeah, it comes in a can, of course. You never ate spam growing up?

Well, we did some. My dad really liked it. I think he ate it a lot in Korea. Here it says, irrelevant or inappropriate messages sent on the internet to a large number of recipients.

See, I don't know about that. Irrelevant, because it may be relevant, but it's not, you didn't ask for it. You know, you just,

I mean, we get spam at the church and sometimes it's relevant, but I'm just like, I'm not going to respond or do anything to this because I don't want to verify the fact that you've got a good email address.

And frankly, I want to know how you got this so that I can get myself off that other list or give that person, you know, kind of a peace of my mind.

Please don't do that. Spam is big in Hawaii. Did you know that? It's got all kinds of different flavors and stuff.

Well, because the cost of living is so high over there, they probably have to eat spam to get by. I mean, you know, we had a couple here that moved from BBC against the

Lord's will to Hawaii and, you know, got a teardown house for $500 ,000, teardown, you know?

Well, I would say who they are, but we don't mention their name anymore. Because we want to protect their identity.

The unuttered tetragrammaton. We love them. They're great. They were here not too long ago.

Steve, anything else going on new with you? You writing any books, speaking any schedules?

No. The only thing exciting in my life is just, you know, we're anticipating a new grandchild.

Number six. Yeah. It's hard to keep track of it. Seriously. In fact, you know, when I got a text, we were in Seattle and we're in this, what do you call them?

When a building's all made out of, like, copper and it blocks all the signals going in there. There's some kind of technical,

I just had it in my head here a minute ago, doesn't matter. Doma silence. Yeah. Kona silence.

So, there's a technical term for it anyway, so I, but we're inside this thing, but I do get this text and it's from my son -in -law and he says, you know, call

ASAP kind of thing. And I'm like, okay. When I finally talked to him, I said, by the way, you know, when my daughter's seven and a half months pregnant, please don't send me a text.

But that was the bad news or the good news. She's fine.

But it was something else that we were talking about. But anyway. What is that called when it's all copper and there's an impenetrable?

Steve Jr. was talking about it. There's a name, a person's name, and it has to do with the fact that nothing can get in or out and it's...

Daniel Boone. Not even close. Why was it when you and I were growing up?

I mean, the coonskin cap, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett. From the coonskin cap on the top of old

Dan. To the heel of his rawhide shoe. Yeah, that's it. The rippinest, roarinest, fightinest man.

The frontier. Frontier to this country ever knew. Maybe it's country. The country never knew. Yeah. Ever knew. Yeah.

I watched an episode. It was probably about six months ago. I think I was sick or something. Jess Parker.

Because I'm never looking around on the gospel channels and they had Daniel Boone on there.

Good moralism. And he saved George Washington, President George Washington, from being assassinated.

Well, Davy Crockett, he was king of the wild frontier. Killed a bear when he was only three.

Did you know that? Yeah, but I was... I mean, growing up, we watched Daniel Boone. My brother loved that show.

My brother's quite the outdoorsman. I'm the indoorsman of the family. Okay. All right. Well, last time we were looking at ladders,

Jacob's Ladder, and it was a song because we found some old song sheets here at Bethlehem Bible Church entitled

Preferred Songs. Okay. These are preferred songs. Now, if you go to the back, it says the story of preferred risk.

It says, alcohol is the worst single killer on our highways. Why should non -drinkers help pay for accidents of those who drink?

Why not offer insurance for non -drinkers only? Preferred Risk Mutual has grown from three employees to more than 1 ,000 employees and over 1 ,600 agents serving policyholders in most of the continental

United States. In addition to auto insurance, also provides insurance for homes and churches.

If you are a non -drinker, you belong with Preferred Risk Group. And so what they thought they would do is they would send out 29 songs in this trifle little brochure that churches, oh, no more than trifled, quadfold, that people could sing for non -drinkers.

Pete Oh, for the non -drinkers. So don't be a bibber. Tom What would it be with that Acts 2 kind of new wine song?

What would that mean? What would Fill My Cup, Lord be? Pete Well, with grape juice.

Tom I think it's actually in here. Here it is. Fill My Cup, Lord, like the woman at the well

I was seeking for things that could not satisfy. I thought that was Boone's Farm. Pete It was water, though.

The woman at the well. Tom Oh, and then I heard my Savior speaking, draw from my well that shall never run dry.

Pete See, it's water. Tom There are millions in this world who are craving the pleasure earthly things afford, but none can match the wondrous treasure that I find in Jesus Christ my

Lord. That part's true. Pete Yeah, it is true. Tom Okay, so my brother, if the things this world gave you, MB 2020, leave hungers that won't pass by.

My blessed Lord will come and save you if you kneel to him and humbly pray. Fill My Cup, Lord, I lift it up,

Lord. That's good for preferred insurance. I still can't believe an insurance company catering to churches with Welch's grape juice for communion designed by a

Methodist would buy such a thing. Pete Yeah, drinking.

Tom All right. Well, here's what I wanted to do. Tom I don't want to do that song. Pete No, you don't. Tom I wanted to do

I Have Decided to Follow Jesus. Pete And this is not the Amy Grant version.

This is a different song. Tom No, this is, what was that guy's name? What's that lady singer?

She's from Canada. And she's singing. Pete Anne Murray. Tom Anne Murray. What song did

Anne Murray sing? Pete Oh, Snowbird came to. Tom Oh, that is awful. To me, Anne Murray and Phoebe Snow, they were all like in the same category of some bad folk song.

Pete Yeah, I don't know if Phoebe Snow was quite. Tom I'm a poetry man. Pete Well, she also sang, didn't she?

I've Had a Long Streak of Bad Luck. I've Had a Long Streak. Tom Who was that? Anne or Phoebe? Pete Phoebe. Phoebe Snow, I think.

She had a few different songs. She wasn't. Tom Wasn't Phoebe named after that Bible character, Phoebe? Pete Probably.

Tom Roman 16. Pete Yeah, and then she, you know, didn't get saved. What do you do if your parents named you after a

Bible character and then you don't have anything to do with the Bible? Pete My parents did. They did name me after a

Bible character. Tom Me too. Pete Yeah. Michelangelo, right? They named me after, and I didn't really know it until I started reading the

Bible, you know? Tom Did they say Acts, you know, Book of Acts or Stephen? Pete No, that's not why they named me

Steve, you know? So, yeah. Tom Was it an angel, Stephen? Stephen No.

Tom Stephanos? Stephen No, no, no. Tom Stephen Victor? Stephen No, it was one of my dad's friends, so.

Tom Okay. Today, we'd like to talk about the gospel and then the response, and of course, when

I read a lyric like this, I have decided to follow Jesus, times one, times two, times three, no turning back, no turning back.

Before we talk about the sovereignty of God side, Steve, is there a side of human responsibility where you actually do decide to follow

Jesus? Would it be appropriate to say, I don't mean it's in total truth, but is it appropriate to say,

I believed, I repented, I decided? Steve It is appropriate to do that. I mean, I don't really like the

I decided thing because I think it gives me more credit than I deserve, but yes, I believed, you know, absolutely.

You are responsible to believe, are you not? Yes. Are you responsible to repent? Yes. So, yes, man is responsible.

I think I have decided is almost like, you know, I weighed the pros and cons and I have decided to follow

Jesus. Tom I'm the ultimate factor in this. Steve I'm the arbiter, you know.

Tom No, you'll see language in the Old Testament, choose this day who you'll serve. Steve Right. Tom Right? You'll see things like that.

I personally don't include the word decide either when I give a testimony or when

I give a call to salvation. Today is the day you need to decide because I would much rather hide behind a biblical word that's more often used in the

New Testament, believe. I mean, we don't see in the New Testament, you know, decide you this day whom you will serve.

You know, we don't choose you this day whom you will serve. We don't see that. Tom So, when

I say to myself, how did I get saved, Mike? I then say, well, that was that one day in 1989.

I decided things weren't going so well and I had to get things right with the Lord and it's I this,

I that. I think that's a bad way to go. Steve Do you refer to yourself in the second and third person when you're talking to yourself?

How did you get saved, Mike? Does that really… Tom Well, this is for radio. Steve Oh, okay. Tom And, you know, when

I tweet things with NoCo in the third person, it's me, but it's a radio show.

Steve It's a little Trumpian of you, you know, third person. Tom That's true. Bo Jackson, we do the same thing.

I don't blame Bo, you know, I mean, Bo knows a lot of things, so. Steve Maybe even

LeBron did that the other night too. Tom He probably did, yeah. Steve He said we a couple times. Tom Yeah. Steve Uh -huh.

Tom Well, I think there's no doubt LeBron doesn't win that game without some help, so.

Steve That's true. On average, I will use the words believe and repent.

I think in the old days I might say follow. Today I don't really say it too much. I would say, do you believe enough to follow?

That's a good way to think of modern saving faith in a modern term, because there's no difference really between the word believe in a false messiah and believe in the real messiah, except maybe

Acts 16 .31 where you believe unto the Lord Jesus. Tom I think I've said things like, what would stop you from believing today?

You know, things like that, you know, so. Steve Let's talk a little bit more about this man side, the response to the gospel.

What man is responsible to do, and of course, when God makes you alive, he bears you again.

You are able to respond. We understand that when we talk about salvation.

But here's man's side, which commonly is called conversion. How does it go about,

Steve, in some person's mind where they say, well, I don't believe, I don't believe, I don't believe, I don't believe, but I'm really going to decide to believe?

Left to themselves with a statement like that, that's more Kierkegaardian, isn't it? This kind of leap of blind faith, then, well, no,

I'm really going to now begin to trust in the messiah. In other words, this has to be a work of God, because how could people come up with their own faith in what?

I will believe this, now I won't. Tom Right. Or suddenly get enough information to sort of tip the scales, you know, in Jesus' favor.

That's just false. Steve How about if I use this analogy? I personally do not like steak that's cooked very much.

And what if I said to myself, today, we're going to go have steak. Mark Good say

Mike. Steve Yeah, I'd say Mike. That's right. We're going to go to the Capitol Grill, or we're going to go to Outback, or we're going to go to Ruth's Steakhouse, or some place that's nice.

I don't really think Outback's the nicest, but there are some evangelical speakers. Mark It's in my budget. There are some evangelical speakers that require

Outbacks for lunch. Mark Yes, I know who that person is. That same person that requires first -class accommodation.

Steve It's probably because he likes the grilled cheese sandwiches at Outback. Mark Actually, the other day,

I took my family to – there's a nice Dairy Queen in town here in West Boylston. Some of the church young teens work there.

It's clean, it's nice, and we went for some dipped cones or something, and they serve little pieces of toast with their fries or burgers or something.

It's kind of like a Texas Dairy Queen toast. Steve Oh, nice. Mark They looked good. I was jonesing for the carbos.

Anyway, what if I were to say I like rare steak. I don't want any other kind of steak, but I'm going to make myself today my own power, switch and I'm going to like it fully cooked all the way, well done, charred.

How could I make myself like a different kind of food or food differently prepared?

Steve Well, I don't know. It would be difficult, but you know, hey, given enough A1 steak, all things are possible.

A1 steak sauce. Mark I cannot believe for years I put ketchup on a nice steak in Nebraska. How did that work?

Steve You know, it's funny because I would always put ketchup on my hamburger and on my liver, but not on a steak, but A1 occasionally would cross my steak and now

I would, you know, never do that. Mark Now I just do salt. Steve Yeah. Mark Some butter and salt.

But if I cannot make myself like, I don't know what it is, red beets. Steve Brussels sprouts.

Mark Yeah. Even with beets, I don't like red beets at all. Steve I don't blame you. Mark But they're good for bicyclers and I begin to drink beet juice and I've hated, but I just guzzle it anyway.

I cannot make myself love beets. Brussels sprouts, those aren't too bad if they're cooked well.

Mark There are just some things in life I just can't. Steve I don't make them that often because it stinks up the whole house, but when you're actually eating them, it tastes pretty good.

Little olive oil or a little butter, a little, some bacon juice. Mark Some things I've really learned to like that I never thought

I would like, asparagus. My wife, the way my wife does it is absolutely wonderful. Steve But if I cannot make myself like a different food, how could

I make myself, to use the words of a Puritan writer, love what I used to hate and hate what

I used to love, or I'm hating, as an unbeliever, I'm hating God right now. I want to love him. That has to be a supernatural act of God.

Mark How do you make yourself hate sin and hate all the coarse jokes and all the things that you used to find so funny, now all of a sudden you not only don't laugh, you get sort of bugged by them.

Steve I would think for most people who aren't Christians, they would say to themselves, well, you know, if I get my girlfriend pregnant, well, you're going to have an abortion, right?

That's just the way of the world. That's just the way people talk. You can't get, you know, some kid in the way. We don't even have a commitment.

You know, we just want to sleep together. And then all of a sudden you go, no, but now I'm going to make my pragmatic self hate abortion and love protecting the life of this little defenseless baby boy or girl.

Mark It doesn't happen. Not on your own. And you're just not going to do it because you have a nature and your nature chooses what it wants and what it wants is sin.

Steve So while Steve and I heartily agree that man is responsible to believe and repent and that man, in fact, does repent and believe because God doesn't do that for him,

Satan doesn't do it, your wife doesn't do it for you. We affirm prior to that that God has to make people born again, and then that new nature begins to love what they used to hate and believe what they used to think was ridiculous.

Mark And then Mike believes. Steve Mike believes, 1 John 5.

You know, there was a time when Mike would read 1 John 5 verse 1, and Mike would say to himself, self, 1

John 5 verse 1, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.

In other words, if you'd like to know what comes first, regeneration or faith, regeneration, the work of God, monergistic work of God, and faith is certainly a gift of God, but it's something that the person must do.

God, in his word, teaches, and even if you want to go for logic, you have to have regeneration prior to faith.

That's what we teach. Pete It's a consistent testimony of scripture. Mark Now, there's a different way to look at things,

Steve. There's a logical way to look at it and a chronological way to look at it. Can you kind of walk through chronologically,

I mean, can you be regenerate and not a believer? I mean, is it like, you know, a three -step process, a four -second delay?

Would Mike have to be regenerate and then believe? So tell us the difference between the logic of thinking through this and then the chronological.

Steve Well, I mean, logically, well, let's start with the chronological because it's probably better that way. Chronologically, if God causes you to be born again, you know, he regenerates you, he brings you from spiritual death to spiritual life, can there be a period of time in which you don't believe?

And I think the answer is no, because once you've got those new desires, that new nature, all the things that you, you know, once thought were foolishness now become the very bread of life to you, you know, more important to you than anything else.

And you know, it's like, for the first time, you see things as they really are, and you don't then, you're no longer suppressing the truth and unrighteousness.

You want salvation. You want to believe in Jesus Christ because you have that new nature. So, is there a time during which you're regenerate and not a believer?

And I think the answer is no, you know, so I think those two are so, so close in proximity that it would be indiscernible.

Jared Steve, I agree. Logically, you've got to have regeneration preceding faith, right, because in the flesh there's no good thing, and no one can come up with their own faith.

They're dead in trespasses and sins. They need to be made alive. But the immediate instantaneous response probably can't even be measured within a millisecond is faith.

So logically, one precedes the other, and chronologically, they probably happen simultaneously.

So when I think to myself, Mike, how would you say? No, when

I look at 1 Peter chapter 1, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to His great mercy,

He has caused us to be born again to a living hope. What our listeners need to be reminded of is that the cause of your salvation is

God's mercy, grace, and love. He's the one that did that. Your faith doesn't cause you to be saved.

When you say, I've decided to follow Jesus, you're not letting God now save you. If you ever say, I've decided to follow

Jesus, I think you're already saved. And I just, you know, on a broader note, if I could just say what

I don't like about this song is there's just lots of, it's all about me. This is a song talking about me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, you know, and I, it's just very uncomfortable.

Trevor Burrus If you do talk that way, and sometimes the Psalms do, they say, Mike, Mike, Mike, Mike.

But even if David, you'll almost every time see the corner turned where David then will lift up his eyes to the hills to see whence his salvation, from whence his salvation comes.

He'll say, you know what? Now I see things from your perspective. Pete T. LePage You know, how does this not sound like boasting? Though none go with me,

I still will follow. Trevor Burrus I think Peter said that, didn't he? Can you imagine? I mean,

Peter wants to get warmed in the garden there. He left the garden and he's back in Jerusalem. He wants to be warmed and everything.

And that girl's like, wait a second, it's kind of dark and there's a fire and I think, is that the guy?

I think that's the guy who's with Jesus. Wait a second. She must have been thinking for a few minutes, pondering, hey, aren't you with the

Galilean? You're the guy with the Galilean, right? And then what's Peter say? He didn't say just no.

He's like, uh, I don't really know what you're talking about. It's so lame.

Pete T. LePage Yeah, he goes into full criminal denial, you know? I mean - Trevor Burrus And it shows you how weak we are because Peter just earlier,

I don't know how many minutes ago - Pete T. LePage He was singing this song. Trevor Burrus He was singing this song and he's cutting off Malchus's ear, aiming for his head.

Pete T. LePage Though none will cut off Malchus's ear, I will. You know? Trevor Burrus That's exactly right. So, on No Compromise Radio today, we're talking about regeneration and faith.

And we certainly affirm people have to - we're not hyper -Calvinists. You have to believe.

You have to repent. But there's two sides of the equation. There's God's sovereign working, and underneath that is man's responsibility.

Man needs help from God, though. He needs 100 % help from God, a complete change of nature because the fall is so pervasive.

The fall is so deadly, and so man has no ability to respond.

He needs to be made alive so he can respond. Pete T. LePage So, would you say it's fair to say we are hyper and we are

Calvinists, but we're not hyper -Calvinists? Trevor Burrus Today I feel hyper. I haven't eaten and I've had plenty of coffee.

And when I say help, I don't mean God helps those who help themselves. I mean, you know, at the right time,

God has his son die for the helpless, right? Kind of Romans 5 language, help meaning 100 % help.

Pete T. LePage Yeah. Trevor Burrus I don't mean throw out the life. Pete T. LePage Yeah, you did a nice job of, you know, pulling that one out of the fire.

I actually had somebody say to me yesterday on Facebook, well, you know, God helps those who help themselves. And so,

I said, well, that's not even close to what the Bible says. The Bible says quite the opposite, that while we were helpless -

Trevor Burrus Well, when I want to quote a pagan, Benjamin Franklin, God helps those who help themselves,

I say, Mike, why would you do that? Can you believe it? 1

Peter, though, he's caused us to be born again. Now, we've got only a few minutes left, Steve, but doesn't that fuel praise?

What if it was up to us alone to decide to follow Jesus? Who gets the credit?

Who gets the praise? And whom do we boast versus the other way around? Pete T. LePage Well, if you could say, Mike caused me to be born again, then -

I would sound like LeBron winning the championship. I did it myself. Pete T. LePage What elicits the most praise?

And isn't that, if you just read the Old Testament, if you just understand how God desires to be praised because it is right to praise him, then, you know, and then you look at salvation, you just think, well, what gives

God the most praise? I determined to follow Jesus or God caused me to be born again to a new hope, you know, to a living faith.

Which causes the most praise? And it's obvious. It's God goes first, and that's what the Bible teaches.

Pete T. LePage Praise Mike, from whom all blessings flow. How can I sing that when

I can't even sing? Friends, if you're a Christian, God made you a Christian, and then you responded with thank you, the belief of I trust you,

I believe of thank you, that kind of thing. Pete T. LePage And he doesn't wear you down with his infinite wooing.

He transforms you in an instant so that you believe. Trying to say this was an arranged marriage?

Mike Avendroth Yeah, from before the foundation of the world. Pete T. LePage Mike Avendroth, Steve Cooley, No Compromise Radio. We'll see you soon.