Luke Abendroth Interview 2017 part 2

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.

Mr. Steve Cooley is not in the studio today in beautiful downtown Burbank, but Luke Abendroth is.

Speaking of Burbank, you were born in Burbank, California.

Welcome to No Compromise Radio.

That�s true.

I remember that.

Did you remember that?

Actually, when I consider God�s faithfulness, I was reading Hebrews this morning.

Jesus is a faithful and merciful high priest, quite opposite of some of the unfaithful

and unmerciful priests even found in 1 Samuel.

I was thinking to myself, �Wow, the Ebenezer and God�s been faithful thus far.

When Luke was born on let�s see if I can remember the date I have four children and a wife, so I have to

remember a lot of birthdays.

When he was born on September 23rd, 1996 is that

right?

That�s right.

Right on.

I got it right.

Are you an Aries or what?

Just kidding.

When you were born on that day, I think I had to teach a Bible study that night.

We�ve already been through one child born.

Haley was four.

We had a babysitter, and I was just going to have you were going to be born, and

I was going to go teach the class.

Mom would be in the hospital with you, go teach the Bible study, come back, and the Lord had different plans.

You were born.

You had like a negative 92 for the APGAR score.

I have no idea what that is.

APGAR.

I think it�s like eight is the best.

You can�t have a negative 92.

But if you�re blue or you�re not breathing or whatever, you don�t have these certain scores.

So you had a low APGAR, and they�re basically, �Here�s your son and then they whisk you off to the NICU, to the

NICU.

We didn�t know if you�re going to make it.

Then a couple days later, you�re still in the neonatal intensive care unit.

We had to drive home without the baby, and I�m sure some of our listeners had to do things like that and worse.

But the Lord had different plans, and you were healed through the doctor�s work, through good

providence, and I�m glad you�re here.

Welcome to the show.

I�m glad to be here.

This is show number six for Luke Avendroth.

What have you learned from the first five shows?

Anything?

I only remember the last one.

I think last year when you were on the show, we talked about Israel some.

Probably.

You had a desire to go to Israel for the master�s, now university, and you spent the summer there.

Any thoughts that come to your mind even a year later?

I�d love to go back.

I think it�s probably my favorite place in the world to visit.

We�ve been able to go some places with you and stuff.

But I love Israel.

It�s an awesome country, and I think it�s just cool.

It�s crazy that they�re there, that they exist, with all the stuff going on right now with the � well, right now in real time.

You got all the � UN passed that resolution about the settlers and stuff, so it�s interesting.

Luke, you said you�d like to go back.

You don�t need any tour guides or anything like that.

You just want to go back, and where do you stay, like at some kind of KOA or something or a youth hostel?

Yeah, you could say a youth hostel, or I have a buddy who grew up in Israel, and you can just there�s any

public property in Israel, it�s legal to camp on.

There�s no campsites or anything like that, so you can just sleep wherever you want.

Is it safe?

Yeah.

What does it take to have a gun permit in Israel, I wonder?

It�s pretty liberal, so I don�t know if you can get one.

I doubt it.

Yeah, right.

Military, though.

I remember going to certain sites, and where was David running from, Saul?

In Gedi?

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, and I remember going there, and you�d see little children going for a school trip, a field trip,

and you go to the Boston Aquarium, and they go to Gedi, and you�d always see an

armed guard with them.

Yeah, they all have guns, and they�re like these 16 -year -old girls or whatever.

Oh, yeah, in the army, yeah, machine guns.

I know.

So, Luke�s here.

He�s home for Christmastime, and then he�ll be back to the Master�s College.

Luke, last time we were talking about the whole Christ a little bit.

This time, what would you like to talk about?

Is there anything on your mind that you�re dying to talk about, or when I die, will you take over the show?

Are you like the NoCo Jr.?

I always call you NoCo Jr.

I have at least 15 or 20 years left, hopefully, so that after that, what will you do?

We�ll see when we get there.

Now, I will tell the listeners that when Luke walked in here to my study last week, he looked around at all the books,

and he thought, �One day, I�m going to get all these.

� That�s true.

That�s true.

Well, the nice thing is, though, now, is you have the development where you start off.

You like some kind of guy that you think is dopey now, and then you like him for 15 years, figure out he�s dopey, but I just

get to start where you left off, so it�s nice.

Luke and I have had serious talks about not just a father�s legacy.

That�s not the point, but you have men who are in ministry, and by the grace of God,

they have run their race with fidelity, not with perfection, but with fidelity.

Then their sons come along, and then they just fumble.

So, Luke, I do not want you to fumble.

I�ll try.

Well, yeah.

A virgin�s birth is not that important.

What do you think about that whole thing with Andy Stanley now?

You�re a young man at 20, and of course, a lot of young people are at that church.

What�s the draw?

From your perspective, Luke, why do a lot of people like that kind of Christianity where, �Hey, it�s the resurrection.

It�s not the virgin birth.

� I have no idea.

It doesn�t sound like Christianity.

I mean, Luke, what�s it?

Okay, so then how does Jesus, the sinless God, how does he enter the world?

Yeah, yeah.

How is he protected in the womb, right?

The spirit of God overshadowing.

And if Jesus comes back from the dead, why can he not be born a virgin?

Well, you think about, Luke, supernaturalism, and you�ve got the Machen book.

I don�t know.

I know I made you read it when you were an unbeliever.

Have you read the Machen book, �Christianity and Liberalism as a Believer ?

� No.

No.

It was funny.

Well, this part, maybe it�s not that funny.

Luke would take all my discipleship classes that I teach the other men, and I�d make them read �The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination� by Lorraine Bettner.

And he�s like, �Oh, I haven�t read that as a Christian.

� Or when you said, �Oh, I liked the Shepherd�s Conference even when I wasn�t a Christian.

� That�s true.

It was fun.

There�s a bunch of your friends, and all the seminary guys, too.

I always thought they were fun and liked to do funny stuff.

You know, Russell Honig.

He�s like kicking stuff off the ceiling, over the cars, the parking lot, scaring people as Janitors of Grace.

As a Calvinist, I want to have a lot of fun.

That�s right.

That�s exactly right.

And now, at the Shepherd�s Conference, I see you, but not that much because you�re serving as a

college student, helping out the Shepherd�s Conference.

And you�ve got one of those little earbud, you know, secret service deals because you�re Mike Mahoney�s

right -hand man, and you�re a big shot now.

Yeah, only for three days.

This is the last time.

Not really, just to go for.

Well, it makes me get a better seat so I don�t have to run with the rest of the crazy people.

Running to the front.

You lose your sanctification, you get the spots.

How does that work?

Do they tell you behind the scenes as a staff person, a helper, a volunteer?

Now, there�s going to be a lot of people running, like the people that live in New Mexico or Mississippi or something like that, Fred Butler�s

friends in Arkansas.

They�re all going to be running.

What do they tell you about the runners?

I don�t think they say much.

Yeah, they just kind of like shake their head.

Yeah.

SMH kind of thing.

So, now that Luke�s a big shot, I just go sit up with Mark Gwynne and Mark McArthur and stuff like that over there in

the Scott Artibana section.

I just walk in, saunter in.

I think you could do that anyways.

Well, technically, now that I�m adjunct faculty at the Master�s Seminary, I should be able to.

That�s right.

I had to fill out all the forms and stuff like that, prove I was a legalized resident and then

when I cast a check, there was money taken out of it for the Uncle Sam.

I like that.

Get some new shoes.

Info at NoCompromiseRadio .com if you�d like to email us.

Remember, we have a new email.

Luke doesn�t even know about this and this is true though.

Henno at NoCompromiseRadio .com if you�ve got a weird story out there that you�d like us to talk about.

Henno at NoCompromiseRadio .com.

We�re going to Germany and you can go with us and that is – what is it?

May 20th through 30th, 2017.

I also had a nice phone call from a man named Robert in Nashville and he was looking to

give some money to No Compromise Radio and I thought that was nice that he would call and try to track us down.

I don�t know if the donate buttons work or not, but there are listeners out there that help support the ministry.

I really appreciate it.

Luke, I always joke, we�re not asking for money.

We�re asking that you tell your friends about the show, but last year I switched it in 2016.

If you�re a millionaire, we�d like you to give.

I�ll add another thing.

If you�re a millionaire or you�d like to help out a poor college student, you can give too.

Just direct to my email.

PayPal.

Do you have a PayPal account?

Well Luke, we always like to say since we�d like to be biblical around here that we�d like you to if you�re a millionaire

to give according to your riches, not out of your riches.

So God is a great giver according to his riches, not out of.

If he gave out of, it might just be a dollar or two spiritually, but if he gives according to the

riches found in Christ Jesus, Ephesians 1, that�s a lot.

So if they�re a millionaire, we at least get one million.

Yeah, that�s right, according to.

All right, so Luke, are you going to Israel again or would you encourage

people to go back to Israel?

Oh, you know what?

Let me interrupt my own questions.

Tell our listeners a little bit about the Master�s University now that it�s a university.

I know you worked at admissions there.

What�s going on?

Would you encourage people to go, etc.?

I would, yeah.

So I�ve been – I�m a junior at Master�s.

I have three semesters left.

I�m a business major with an emphasis in management.

I might switch to something – some other emphasis in the next semester or so.

But yeah, it�s a really it�s a great school and I think a lot of people hear the Master�s and they know about Master�s Seminary and they know about John

MacArthur�s ministry.

John MacArthur is the president of the school.

And yeah, I mean, it�s a small school, about 1 ,200 students, but really just a great education.

And I think one of the things that, you know, that maybe Master�s is doing a better job of

now is really just advertising the quality of an education you get there.

So, you know, even for like our accounting program.

So for passing the CPA exam, the Certified Public Accounting Exam in California, Master�s is number one.

Number two is Stanford.

Number three is UCLA or USC or something like that.

So you really just – I mean, and that�s just our experience.

I mean, I don�t know if it�s true for our accounting department, but like you really just see the quality of education you get there.

Like that is – that is crazy.

The Master�s University and John MacArthur School is better at accounting than Stanford.

So, I mean, and maybe Stanford is not known for their accounting, but still.

So and they�re number two in California.

So Stanford is.

So it�s really – it�s really – the business program is great.

We have awesome professors.

And I mean, I�m kind of just on the business – I�m on the business side of things.

But one of the great things I love about the business department is we have professors in the business department that are way ahead of the rest

of the business department.

And they are they�re working at at working at master�s, they�re working like way below kind of their level of

education and experience.

Because – and the reason they do that is because they�re believers.

So you have people that have been like uber successful in the business world, just really done well for themselves and their

families.

And then they come to master�s and are willing to teach just because they�re believers and they want to help other believers out who can then,

you know, make money and give to the church and stuff like that.

So it�s really cool to see because, you know, you�re not going to have some guy that did really well in the business world working in the business department.

You�re not going to have any school – I guess any school, but these guys will because they�re believers.

Luke, I know John�s around the campus, John MacArthur, quite often.

Is it rare to see him from your perspective?

Or when you see him, do you ask him theological questions or what does he talk to you about and how nice is it that John�s just

around the campus?

You know what?

I love John MacArthur and his ministry and his faithfulness.

And, you know, you see him around campus sometimes or just through Grace Church people and stuff.

You see him and I think it�s really –.

I think it�s really cool to see him around.

I�ve asked him –.

I haven�t asked him too many theological questions, but I have asked him –.

I think I�ve asked him probably twice or three times or something like that.

But I think I really appreciate him and his ministry.

And he comes and preaches in chapel and all kinds of things like that.

So it�s definitely good to see him around campus.

And he – I think, you know, for a long time, I think he knows more now.

But I think the only thing he really would talk about if he knew that, you know, somehow you came up or somehow he found

out I was your son or something would be you ice skating on the pond at the end of the day.

And he was at the old house in Sterling, Massachusetts.

And he thought it was crazy that you�d be going out playing hockey with a bunch of church people.

So I think that he – I think he said that to me multiple times in my first couple of years at Massachusetts.

Oh, your dad.

He�s out there.

Yeah, I was like, yeah, he�s also been a pastor for a long time.

I had to excuse myself when John was speaking.

I told him ahead of time because I was his driver and taking him around here in Massachusetts in 1999.

And I said, John, I have to excuse myself.

We have ice time booked at this rink.

And it�s like 10 o�clock at night.

There�s a bunch of Master�s Seminary students in this hotel room, kind of sweet.

And so it was 10.

I tried to slip out.

I sat in the back.

And John just said, have fun playing hockey tonight for everybody.

So I think that�s what happened there.

What theological questions did you ask him?

What did I ask him?

Well, I�ve heard this one sermon he preached recently at Master�s a couple of times.

It was about just, you know, he did his whole – his ministry is marked by talking about like people that aren�t really believers.

You know, what the – he just talked about like people that aren�t really believers.

He talked about just these people that he�s you know, obviously Judas in the New Testament and people that he�s had relationships with in the past in college and

seminary that then later denied the faith.

And then he talked about Chuck Templeton and Billy Graham.

Chuck Templeton was a famous preacher who probably a better preacher than Billy Graham, more charismatic in the

good sense of the term.

I�m just kidding.

And we have well -informed listeners.

So they got that.

I know I like that.

And he was – there�s this preacher.

And he basically – I don�t know.

He basically what happened was he one day, I mean, I guess he just supposedly read like all of

Sartre in a day and he got on like in a week, read all these just, you know, bad

philosophers and then said, you know, I don�t believe in God and all this stuff.

And I forget what the name of his book that he wrote was, but it was basically like why I�m not why I, you know,

I don�t believe in God or whatever anymore.

And then he, you know, went on to be a famous journalist and did well.

And then when he was dying on his deathbed, I remember something he said.

He said, you know, I don�t believe in God.

I miss Jesus or something like that.

So I remember that was one of the examples he gave.

So anyways, the whole sermon was just about, you know, apostasy from the gospel.

And so I asked him.

I think I just asked him like do people do you think people know that they�re like they

know that they�re deceivers.

They know that they�re not believers.

And they�re just in it for whatever reason, the money, the look good, the fame, you know, all this stuff.

Or are they just totally deceived and then they are just like become apostate.

So I asked him that question.

And John said?

What would you do?

And he said basically, I think he basically just he basically said, you

know, on a more personal level, I think kind of pastorally, he said to me, you know, if you know that you are

playing the game, you know, and you�re a hypocrite and you�re doing all these things kind of for the wrong reasons, that�s when

that�s like I think he basically thinks it�s more of, you know, you kind of know the whole time or you have

you�re doing it for the wrong reasons.

You're in it for the money or whatever.

So it's not really like it's not people that are like really sincere about the gospel and then one day they just wake it's not like you're going to wake up

tomorrow and be like an apostate preacher.

Aaron Ross Powell.

Right.

Well, the power of these other philosophers is great and there have been times I picked up Nietzsche or somebody like that

or to say it correctly, Nietzsche and thought, you know what?

I don't want these men to influence me negatively.

I didn't think I'm going to lose my salvation or something but it's just like, yikes, these guys, they're powerful and so

just be careful when I read, right?

Think biblically when I read and Luke, let's talk a little bit more about Master's College, Master's

University.

When you first went two years ago to the college, now university, I gave you basically

two rules besides righteous living and don't make the Avendross look stupid and a

variety of those things.

I gave you two and one was no dating until you're ready to get married and then the other was you have to

go to Grace Church.

There are lots of churches locally and I'm sure some fine ones and some less than fine ones.

But I'd like you to go to Grace Church because I want you to hear MacArthur.

I want you to be on campus.

I want you to keep Fred Butler and Edwin Seidman in line, all that stuff.

So what do you think about those rules in retrospect and how do you process all that?

Aaron Ross Powell.

I think they've – both are good and I think I probably wouldn't end up at Grace Church anyways.

I appreciate the preaching there obviously and all that stuff.

So yeah, I think both have been good and I don't know.

I'll probably end up maybe getting a job near Master's and keep going to Grace Church for a while and stuff and

that's where you were for a long time and it's a good foundation and the way they just they just had a lot of experience

organizing a church and a lot of resources and opportunities to serve and stuff like that.

And then the dating thing, it's all right, whatever.

I'm just kidding.

Well, you know what?

You have the means now.

We'll talk about that off the show.

That's right.

Any kind of names that I think of girls you might be interested in, I'll keep the names off the air too.

Yeah, yeah.

Would that be good?

I think there's like 15 or so.

So you can tell.

Well, you know.

Whoever listens and contacts me, then I'll know.

That's God's sovereign way of telling me.

I actually think I probably did you a favor because the first year I said no dating.

And if you are trying to date people and do all the romance thing, I think girls get

that vibe.

But if you come across as like I'm not really interested in that, I'm not the guy who's after the girls, then it's almost in

a weird way.

You're probably more attractive because then they're going to try to win you over.

It's like Sean Connery.

What do you mean?

James Bond.

Sean Connery.

All right.

Tell me what you're reading now.

I saw an orange book in your hand.

I think it was my book.

Not that I wrote, but Ordinary by Michael Horton.

Give me the scoop there.

You got a lot of young people that you associate with at the Masters University and live radical lives, Platt kind of thing.

And now you've got Horton writes Ordinary.

And what's your perception and your take of young students and their attraction to

basically asceticism?

Yeah.

I think the Ordinary book's really good.

And he says in the book, it's not specifically polemical against a specific person, but

it is.

I'm just kidding.

No, it's not.

But he does talk about the radical stuff.

And that book by David Platt's really influential.

I've never read it, but I know about it.

I know who David Platt is, and I know the general premise and all that kind of stuff.

And I think the Bible does talk about live a quiet life, work with your hands.

Is that 2 Thessalonians or 1?

I think it's 2 Thessalonians.

This is.

The Veggie Tales, Thessalupians.

Fruit loops.

Chapter 3, is it?

Chapter 1, verse 2.

Yeah.

So anyways, just kind of that idea that even though, of course, God has worked, even in

creation, the Trinitarian work of creation and then redemption and the covenant of redemption and eternity past, and all these

just glorious ways that God delivers Egypt.

He parts the Red Sea, all the plagues, kills the firstborn of Egypt.

He's like saving Israel over and over and over again.

And just, you know, all this crazy stuff throughout the Old Testament.

And then in the New Testament, Jesus, the God -man, comes down to earth to save sinners, dies on the cross, and

comes back from the dead gloriously, and ascends into heaven, seated at the right hand of God.

All this stuff, of course, God works in glorious ways.

But then even just, and then even in the apostolic ministry, you see all this, all this stuff is happening.

They're speaking in tongues.

There's all this, you know, just this crazy stuff going on, healing people.

They just touch the robe, Peter, all this stuff.

But then now, he basically talks about how Michael Horton does, about how, you know, the baton's been handed off from,

even when you see it handed off from Paul to Timothy, you just see, here's, this is just, it's just, there's the ordinary means of

grace, like this is a very Reformed way of talking about it, just the faithfulness of, just to preach the gospel,

the written word, and then, you know, just within the church, just the fellowship of the church, and

just how that is God's way now of saving people.

It's not through, you know, revelations of Jesus walking down the road in West Boylston, you know, on the

sidewalk, and he stops you, and you're blind for a couple days, and then now you're the new Paul.

It's not like that.

It's God just using people like us, you know, ordinary people like you, Dad, or just, I mean,

you're just in New England, faithful for, I mean, I can say this because I'm your son, so you can't say it about yourself, but faithful

for 20 years, and just faithful to preach the text, verse by verse, and there's just sweet people here in New

England, a small church, but there's just sweet people, and there's the fellowship there, and there's just the men that have been trained up

in this church.

You know, I came in, I get to do the plug for my dad now on the show.

I come in to the discipleship class, and it's like a bunch of lay guys sitting here, probably, you know, what, 12,

13 lay guys all talking about Christ -centered preaching, about how to preach Christ in

every message without, while being faithful to the text, but without just adding on at the end, and, you know, just

like we're all sinners in this passage, and Jesus is the way to say it, but just how do we preach Christ and be faithful to the

text in every sermon?

And just like, you don't go to many churches, I don't think, and you hear the lay guys all talking about that, and then they're all going to get up and preach

this month.

So I just, I'm really just encouraged by even your faithfulness in that, just that the ordinary means of

just preaching the gospel in the local church, obviously, I'd probably disagree on some of the, you know, more Presbyterian

ideas, but it's just kind of sweet to see that, just the day -in, day -out faithfulness that just God, you can just

use the conversation that you have in passing with someone in a grocery store, and he's not necessarily going to, like, you know,

he's not going to, like, reveal himself on the street to somebody, so.

Second Thessalonians, Chapter 3, it was, Luke.

Okay.

Good comments there about ordinary.

Luke, I'm encouraged because for me personally, as a pastor, here's a little town of 5 ,000 people, we have a little church,

I'm thinking to myself, I'm getting older now, there's more time in my past than in my future for ministry, and I'm

thinking it was God's will for me to be here in central Massachusetts, and that's where he had me all along, you know, planned

all along, here's what I would do, teach to people week -in and week -out, it's just, you know, faithful, not fabulous, as

my wife would say, as your mom would say.

And then how about the listeners, though?

You're like, okay, you know, doing dishes and doing laundry, and, you know, housewife stuff, where you go just

day -in and day -out, how can you live a radical life?

Well, in one sense, it's really radical, where you're just in response to the promises of God, just faithful, day

-in, day -out.

Truck drivers, we have truck drivers who listen, postal, you know, carriers who listen, and you go,

okay, this is what God has for me, and I can live an ordinary life, but be the child of a king.

Yeah, and you know what?

With the Reformation coming up, the 500 -year anniversary of the Reformation, you guys should all come to Germany with us, but that's

something that was, you know, reclaimed, is the doctrine of, like, the vocation.

You know, there's a—God has sovereignly appointed each person to their positions in life, and

they're called to be faithful in those positions, and it's not like the higher calling or some ultimate priest, Roman

Catholic dude.

It's—everybody can be faithful and do things to the glory of God, so I think that's just been encouraging.

Mike Abendroth with my son Luke Abendroth here on No Compromise Radio.

If you'd like to get in touch with Luke or ask him questions about the Master's College, just write me, mike at

nocompromiseradio .com.

I'll forward them to Luke.

Again, he's in the admissions department and would answer any questions.

Maybe you've got a college—a potential college student, and you're wondering about the Master's College.

I'd be happy to forward those to Luke, and I'm sure he'd be happy to answer them.

In his ordinary way.

And you can always email him and ask for my PayPal account, too.

You better get one, man.

No Compromise Radio with Pastor Mike Abendroth is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West

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