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Fred discusses the ministry of Grace to You and then launches into a conversation about perpetual reruns.
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, a ministry. My name is Mike Abendroth, and I have some very, very, very good news today. Do you like my modifiers? It�s one after another after another. And here�s the good news today.
While I was tempted, very tempted, to have a rerun today, I thought I would rerun my interview with Fred Butler. Fred, welcome to No Compromise Radio. This isn�t a rerun, but you�re back. This is my second time I�ve had you on.
I must like you somehow.
I know what has gotten into you, that you like me like this.
Fred. Well, I know the large cheese platter that you sent. I think that helped grease the skids.
And you like that sausage, too, that I added to that. That�s that special lion meat sausage.
Oh, yes. I liked the lion meat when I was a kid. We called summer sausage Tarzan meat. And so that�s a way to get a child to eat summer sausage and a variety of those cheap.
Sausages. My mother never had a call on anything. I just liked sausage. So I was happy to get the sausage.
We�re talking to Fred Butler today. Fred, tell us a little bit about what you do at Grace To You so our listeners who missed the first interview can understand who you are and the ministry the Lord�s given you.
Yes. Well, I have the wonderful privilege of overseeing our volunteer ministry here at Grace To You. And we have about 150 so volunteers, most of them, they have retired. And they want to put together the monthly offers we offer through Grace To You.
So you get a little, �Hey, do you want a free book from John MacArthur �We�d love to send this to you. And they, people respond. We process it and I print out the labels and organize the mailing.
And these dear saints come in on Tuesdays and Thursdays, package up the materials, match all the letters and all the names, and send it to our donors. And I get to oversee them and they get to serve and let me preach at them every once in a while.
It�s a good time. Fred, now if memory serves me, in the old days it used to be 1 -800 -55-GRACE. If people want to call and get put on that mailing list, receive MacArthur�s CDs and books.
It�s the same exact number. Your memory is very good, I�m glad to hear that.
Fred, tell us a little bit about this ministry. You�ve got MacArthur and let�s say the new book �Parables. I don�t know what it is, probably $18, $19 list. And if you ask for the book, it�s sent for free.
How does that all work? I know John is very generous and gracious and wants to get the Bible and books about the Bible in people�s hands, but how can you send out so many books and stay afloat? Yeah, that�s a good question.
I�m kind of wondering that ourselves. You know, I think years ago, grace to you, at one time, back in the late 80s, early 90s, this was way before my time, way before, combined, significant debt. And John is just sort of like, �Look, we�re totally doing this wrong.
We shouldn�t be, we shouldn�t be trying to get money from people, from our resources. Look, God�s given us this ministry, let�s send this stuff out for free. If God blesses it, He�ll bless it, and we�ll be able to stay afloat.
And we went with that model, and we�ve been with it ever since. I think they changed that right before I went behind the years, and they�ve been that way ever since. God�s given us this blessing. I want to teach God�s Word.
We want to get it out to people. We trust in the Lord to just help us out, and God�s raised up faithful folks over the years who support us. They obviously gel with our ministry here, because they appreciate what John does, and the stands he takes, and the things that he does, and want to take a stand.
Even in Christian circles, in red-state evangelicalism, there are issues that John has addressed. I�m sure you�re familiar, and he takes the hits. I think the people who really appreciate that, and they�re going to recognize that, they�re going to support it.
So God�s been very faithful to provide for us. John would give everything away here at our ministry if he could, like to feed my babies. I think God honors that. People who can�t afford a book, a copy of it.
We always want to maintain that mindset, and that reason for why we do what we do.
Well, my problem is when they ask for an autographed copy, you�re the guy that signs John�s name. Now, is that really true? No, I have a stamp.
It�s a little ink thing. It�s a special kind of ink that they use. It�s got John MacArthur�s signature on it. I just put that in there. Some India ink or something. And if you were to lick your finger, like I know you would probably do, and you would touch it to make sure that it�s really on there, it would smear.
So you would think, �Oh, well, John signed it.
I do. Now, in all seriousness, you�re at Grace To You probably even now. When John�s around Grace To You and swings by and talks to some of those dear senior saints, tell us how John treats them. And we�re used to listening to John or reading his books and Gospel According to Jesus, Ashamed of the Gospel, Reckless Faith, Strange Fire.
You think he�s some kind of polemical guy only. But give us the back side of the backdrop of this, the other side of John.
You know, John�s a very gracious, sweet guy. And I think you�re right. I think most people see him as this harsh, you know, very cold, analytical preacher who goes after charismatics or whatever it is.
But he�s not like that. He�s a very generous, loves the people he serves. If he just so happens to be a volunteer day and there�s people in my room, you know, where they congregate, he�ll stop in and say, �Hi.
And now many of them know him. They babysat his kids. There have been volunteers that are now home with the Lord that knew him and called him Johnny to his face. And there�s not a lot of I mean, you don�t call John Johnny to his face, but there were a few that would do that.
And you know, he loves them and knows them. I think there was even one gal who might have even babysat him when he was a kid. I mean, you know, it�s that kind of connectedness. But, you know, that spills out into other areas of his life.
And I think when you were here probably a long time ago now, you remember hearing some of those stories, too. I think there�s like one famous story about him, something, this is one of these apocryphal stories I hear here at Grace Church.
He got injured at a football game, and I think he had finally talked his mother into coming and seeing him play. And, of course, he gets his leg broken, you know. So he was at the emergency room, and everybody�s there kind of crowded around in the emergency room.
And so while they�re waiting for all to kind of come in, what�s the prognosis, what�s going to happen, you know, there were some biker guys that come in, and their buddy had been injured in a car accident or something on the freeway there in L .A.
And like he�s prone to that on his motorcycle and everything, �Hey, you guys are from out of town. You�re not from around here. If you want to, here�s the keys to my house. In the bathroom in the back, and, you know, the only thing is I want you�re going to be here for a while, so don�t worry about, you know, imposing on us.
And, you know, how many past Sons of Anarchy guys, you know, that come in with these tattoos and these biker guys, he�s going to open up his house to them and, you know, give them some ministry there, and, you know, did any of them get saved from that?
I don�t know. But, you know, it�s that kind of example that you like and appreciate from John, and you hear from him and just see that played out in his ministry. He�s not this one viewing him, and I�ve really appreciated learning from that over the years.
Talking to Fred Butler today on No Compromise Radio, a friend of the ministry and a personal friend as well. Fred, I have in front of me research points to mental health risks associated with meatless diet by Ray Boyd.
Now, one of the things I know about you is, you know, you love some steak tartare. Sausage. Yeah, say sausage. I know. Now, talk to us in light of, even when I think of Colossians Chapter 2, there are people that want to submit to regulations do not handle, do not taste, do not touch referring to the things that all perish as they are used according to the human precepts and teachings.
These have an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, severity, but they are of no value in stopping the adulgence of the flesh. When you think about meat and vegetarians and maybe Christians trying to be more spiritual by not eating meat, what goes through your mind?
Well, I just sort of shake my head, and I'm like, well, that's too bad that you think that, but I'm going to enjoy this nice prime rib that I've cooked up in the oven. Now, you know, there is this movement that has seeped into the evangelical church, and it's funny that we're talking right now during the Christmas season.
I know this episode probably won't air until April next year or so. Oh, you are really funny. You're so fired. You're fired. Well, but right now, you usually hear all of these articles that come from, sadly, from evangelicals where they're like going after people for eating too much or eating rich foods or whatever, anything like that, and like, look, I'm, you know, am I a little chubby?
Yes. Do I tell people that you need to eat poorly? Well, no, of course not, but you, there is no, what really bothers me, I can tell you I can get animated about this, and I'll probably start rambling all over the place, but it just really is bothersome that people try to assign some kind of spiritual value to health and eating healthy for progressivism that's kind of invaded the church during the 20th century, where if you're not at the optimal of health, well, then somehow you're not spiritual, and that's not to say that we're irresponsible, we eat bad stuff, and we smoke all the time and drink, and, you know, you've got this liberty that you can abuse, but at the same time, you cannot impose upon people this notion that there's some kind of a culture to God, willing to eat vegan times, a food, a colonic is like an invigorating enema or something like that, and I don't want to be too faithful here, but I was just like, why do you feel like you need to do that?
That kind of scares me a little bit, that you think that somehow your body has got to be so spiritual that you've got to subject, and I think it lasted for like maybe six months with him, because this diet had him eating all kinds of horrible concoctions that looked like really gray sludge, I mean, that's the only way you can kind of describe it, it's all mixed together in a blender.
Look, God's given us these wonderful things to eat, enjoy them in moderation as you do, you do it every Christmas, and they get on to you about what you're eating. Don't you eat that fattening rib, because it's going to be bad for you, eat the fattening rib, because I happen to like the fattening rib, and I just don't want to drink.
Wheat germ oil.
Wheat germ oil juice,. Fred, the other time of the year that the food Pharisees come out, that would be during Lent, especially now, you notice a lot of Gospel Coalition articles written about that.
Well, yeah, that's kind of weird, somehow all these Catholic things are faith journey.
You just used a word that you are not allowed to use on No Compromise Radio. Faith journey. You know, I think, Fred, I think this is occurring these days because, in my opinion, it's easier than mortification of your flesh or denying yourself.
Let's say you ponder, okay, how can I love the Lord today? Well, I can either sacrifice some things for my wife and try to serve her, or I just watch what I eat. I mean, I know which one's easier and which one's harder.
Usually, for most people, they'll say it's harder for me to sacrifice some things for my wife because we're, yeah, I know what you mean. I would say, if you're going to be like that, I would be a lot more like, hey, why don't you?
If my wife hears this, she's going to hold me to this, but, you know, or from the internet or from gaming, hey, honey, let's go for a walk. I'll help you in the garden, you know, digging these roots up that you wanted to get rid of, or whatever it might be, and spending some quality time, or even more so, with your kids.
You know, honey, I will watch all five of our children by myself, and you can go with your girlfriends and enjoy your tea day down at that little tea place and talk and talk about homeschooling or whatever you want to talk about.
You know, there you have some genuine sacrifice.
Now, Fred, in all the years we've known each other, why haven't you invited me for tea time at that little tea place?
Well, because you're always up in Santa Cruz. If you were, we would do that. I would be all over that. That would be kind of fun. We'll have to try that. Yeah, no hats or anything. I don't want to do that.
And you have to wear something frilly, I'm sure.
Well, you know how I like maybe tie-dye or something like that. Fred, I was listening to someone a while ago, and they said, along these food lines, while the palate of Americans has become very, very regulated, thought about, controlled, planned, calculated, at the exact same time that has been happening, their sexual palate now has no boundaries.
So, you watch what you eat, but you don't care who you sleep with. How do you explain that?
Yeah, well, that just shows you the brokenness of the way people think and their psychology to where... Well, I mean, both of those things definitely have to do with your personal pleasure, our own selfish desires, and what we pursue.
I would imagine a person who's going to have, and I think it's the Dan Phillips who coined the term, this glandolatrous, I like the way he said that, you know, the worship of your glands as it were, you're going to pursue sex, you're also going to pursue, thinking that somehow you're sophisticated because you've got to pursue this, you know, pursuit of wonderful, kind of, in some fashions, and it's panders to our flesh, and it's like one of them is more, you're going to eat good stuff, whoever you, it's definitely a messed up way.
What bugs me about that is how we have this society now of, you know, sexual things and everything is like somehow in this mindset and you're degrading women or whatever, but then at the same time, they're teaching us in school, like, you need to introduce kids, you know, have any sexual hang-ups or what, they won't get pregnant, the more education, the better is kind of the mindset, but they're just creating another generation of people who really are going to be degrading women and abusing their bodies because that's what you're teaching them in school, you know what I mean?
So true, Fred, we don't have tons of time left. Tell our listeners about your blog. When I type in my URL line, H, first, usually Hulu comes up, and then Huffington Post, but if I type in H-I-P, then Hip and Thigh comes up.
What's the actual? It's like joint pain medication, and Body by Jake.
Uh-huh, yeah, Geritol and stuff. Is it hipandthighatwordpress .com or something? Yes.
I started that a long time ago, back in 2005, for the purposes of just sort of having a theological outlet. Everybody was going to Blogger at the time, it used to be a blogger, Blogspot, in fact, the old version is at Blogspot, and you can go look at it and see how crude it looks, but I wanted to just address goofy videos online, issues that I wanted to write, psychology, the age of the earth, and creationism, and things like that, and revisionism, and kids got in the way, a lot of the new, and I've gone back, honestly, I don't have a whole lot of history, obscure blog on the World Wide Web, we're way off the dirt road, down the main superhighway there, in Arkansas somewhere, but the people who come there, and I get notes every other week or so, you know, because I have my Gmail account, my five-pointer at Gmail if people want to shoot me, and they all say, hey, look, I was struggling with this issue in our church, and you happened to write a blog about this, and I read that, even though it's one guy, and guys were using this, and stuff, you know, all kinds of different subjects, you'd be surprised, I think I had a friend of my mother say, hey, have you ever read this book, The Harbinger, and I'm like, well, no, so she had questions about it that I couldn't answer, so I went and checked it out of the library, read it, wrote a couple reviews, and I've had a lot of people who come around, and like, hey, I saw that you reviewed that, that was really good, I needed a review like that, because I've never read this book, and I've just heard about it, and people want to do this Bible study at church, and no, I don't want to do the Bible study at church, so that makes me feel good, and I'm having some kind of, even though it might be small, you know, at least I have the opportunity to get some of my consumption, you know what I mean?
I'll be the judge of that. Yeah, there you go, and hopefully, and thankfully, you've got like, you know, very sophisticated taste, so you like that kind of stuff.
Well, in all honesty, I like your humor, and I like your wit, and especially you're likable when you retweet something I do.
Your stuff is, you just throw these softballs, and I'm like, oh, I've got to make a comment. I was making comments with the Charisma News online, and then they blocked me, because I would retweet their tweets, you know, when they were talking about how there were going to be, you know, portals, and I was like, what?
You've got to be kidding me. Well, Fred, time goes by so fast. That is 24 and a half minutes, and of course, reruns, it seems like they go faster. So thank you for being on No Compromise Radio today. Fred Butler, he resides out in western Arkansas, that is probably Santa Clarita area, and hip and thigh, you can type in.
You can also, if you want to call for books, John MacArthur Books, 1 -855-GRACE, and who knows? Fred might answer. Thanks, Fred.
All right, see you later. No Compromise Radio, with Pastor Mike Abendroth, is a production of Bethlehem Bible Church in West Boylston. Bethlehem Bible Church is a Bible-teaching church, firmly committed to unleashing the life-transforming power of God's Word through verse-by-verse exposition of the sacred text.
Please come and join us. Our service times are Sunday morning at 1015, and in the evening at 6. We're right on Route 110 in West Boylston. You can check us out online at bbchurch .org, or by phone at 508 -835 -3400.
The thoughts and opinions expressed on No Compromise Radio do not necessarily reflect those of WVNE, its staff or management.