Why did independent fundamentalist Baptists turn so heavily against the Word of God and become disciples of a false prophet so quickly? Because God did it.
Isaiah 15:13 Therefore the Lord said: " Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men,
14 Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work Among this people, A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, And the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden."
Because independent Baptist leaders had replaced Biblical holiness with man-made rules, God deprived them of wisdom. Working to bring independent fundamentalist Baptists closer to Him, God let their leaders become disciples of a wife-stealing enemy of Godly men.
Why did God do such a thing?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Why Did God Allow This to Happen?
The spread of Ruckmanism among independent Baptists churches contributed heavily to their downfall and lessened their soul-winning influence. Why did God allow this to happen?
Surprisingly, the results indicate that God did not merely "allow" this to happen. He did it deliberately. Independent fundamentalist Baptist churches continue to dominate the list of America's greatest mega-churches, but they are calling themselves "Community," "Bible," "Fellowship," "Neighborhood," and other names. Yet their statements of faith clearly show that they are independent fundamental Baptist churches.
So the question becomes "Why did God do this?" I can give three overlapping reasons. One is from the Bible, and two are only based on observation, but the simple answer is "Because it worked."
Surprisingly, the results indicate that God did not merely "allow" this to happen. He did it deliberately. Independent fundamentalist Baptist churches continue to dominate the list of America's greatest mega-churches, but they are calling themselves "Community," "Bible," "Fellowship," "Neighborhood," and other names. Yet their statements of faith clearly show that they are independent fundamental Baptist churches.
So the question becomes "Why did God do this?" I can give three overlapping reasons. One is from the Bible, and two are only based on observation, but the simple answer is "Because it worked."
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
When Man-Made Rules Prevail
After the largest independent Baptist church in the world turned Ruckmanite, attendance went into a two decades long plunge. No longer the world's largest Sunday School, it eventually reached the point that it wasn't even Indiana's largest Sunday School. While their other man-made rules hadn't actually violated specific Scriptures, Ruckmanism did.
And a series of sex scandals started striking other independent Baptist churches as well. Believing that obedience to their rules was proof of holiness, they had a tendency to trust anyone who obeyed those rules, no matter how ungodly the person was in other areas. Many of them then turned to Ruckmanism, but the amount of scandals in Ruckmanite churches continued to be higher than in other groups. Regarding themselves as superior due to their man-made rules, they isolated themselves from other Christians who tried to warn them of what was going on.
It was the Word of God, not the rules, that had made independent Baptists America's greatest soul-winning group. And when they rejected the Word of God and kept the rules, their massive decline began.
The current pastor of First Baptist is a Godly man who has moderated their Ruckmanite position, bringing the attendance up to about 15,000, and causing many Ruckmanite preachers to turn against him. Hopefully, he will continue on the path he is on.
And a series of sex scandals started striking other independent Baptist churches as well. Believing that obedience to their rules was proof of holiness, they had a tendency to trust anyone who obeyed those rules, no matter how ungodly the person was in other areas. Many of them then turned to Ruckmanism, but the amount of scandals in Ruckmanite churches continued to be higher than in other groups. Regarding themselves as superior due to their man-made rules, they isolated themselves from other Christians who tried to warn them of what was going on.
It was the Word of God, not the rules, that had made independent Baptists America's greatest soul-winning group. And when they rejected the Word of God and kept the rules, their massive decline began.
The current pastor of First Baptist is a Godly man who has moderated their Ruckmanite position, bringing the attendance up to about 15,000, and causing many Ruckmanite preachers to turn against him. Hopefully, he will continue on the path he is on.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Refusing to Face The Truth
During the 1960's and 1970's, Jack Hyles pastored the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, which was the world's largest Sunday School. I graduated from their college, and they were running 40,000 in Sunday School when I left.
His son David had an extremely large and successful youth ministry, but reports kept coming in of Dave's wide-spread immorality. Looking at David's strict obedience to the church's lengthy list of man-made rules, Jack didn't believe the charges. When he finally accepted that they were true, he tried to cover things up while he worked on getting David to repent. Finally, everything blew up in his face, and the scandal became public.
And then Jack preached one of the most important sermons in Christian history: "Logic Demands the King James Bible." A strict fundamentalist who had cracked under the strain of his son's wickedness, Jack rejected God's Word in favor of a man-made translation, but he did keep the man-made rules.
Did it work?
His son David had an extremely large and successful youth ministry, but reports kept coming in of Dave's wide-spread immorality. Looking at David's strict obedience to the church's lengthy list of man-made rules, Jack didn't believe the charges. When he finally accepted that they were true, he tried to cover things up while he worked on getting David to repent. Finally, everything blew up in his face, and the scandal became public.
And then Jack preached one of the most important sermons in Christian history: "Logic Demands the King James Bible." A strict fundamentalist who had cracked under the strain of his son's wickedness, Jack rejected God's Word in favor of a man-made translation, but he did keep the man-made rules.
Did it work?
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
What Does God Bless? His Word, or Our Rules?
Independent Baptists hit their heyday during the 1960's and 1970's. At one time, the largest church in 17 states was independent Baptist, and in another 17 states, the largest non-Catholic church was independent Baptist. They had a fast-growing number of Christian schools. Through their bus ministries they were reaching more new lost people than every other Christian church in the US combined. Meanwhile, the Southern Baptist Convention, representing over half of America's Baptists, declined steadily.
The independent Baptists offered two explanations for why God was blessing them more than the Convention: their loyalty to God's Word, and their obedience to man-made rules. And, to put it bluntly, they had the numbers to back up their claims.
Today, only one of those 17 independent Baptist churches is the largest in its state. Most of their schools have closed or merged, and their bus ministries have dropped heavily. Many of their churches have joined the Southern Baptist Convention, which has shown good growth since the "fundamentalist take-over," when Christians managed to oust most non-Christians from leadership.
What went wrong?
The independent Baptists offered two explanations for why God was blessing them more than the Convention: their loyalty to God's Word, and their obedience to man-made rules. And, to put it bluntly, they had the numbers to back up their claims.
Today, only one of those 17 independent Baptist churches is the largest in its state. Most of their schools have closed or merged, and their bus ministries have dropped heavily. Many of their churches have joined the Southern Baptist Convention, which has shown good growth since the "fundamentalist take-over," when Christians managed to oust most non-Christians from leadership.
What went wrong?
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Fearing God Without the Rules
What happens if a Christian fears the Lord, but rejects man-made rules? Many sincere Christians will insist that such a Christian cannot be used by God. Let's see what God says:
Ps 25:12 "Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses." This Christian doesn't need a list of man-made rules, because God Himself teaches him what he should do.
Ps 25:12 "Who is the man that fears the LORD? Him shall He teach in the way He chooses." This Christian doesn't need a list of man-made rules, because God Himself teaches him what he should do.
Monday, October 26, 2009
What the Fear of the Lord Does
Proverbs 16:6 tells us that by the fear of the Lord, one departs from evil. Proverbs 8:13 sheds more light on this: " The fear of the LORD is to hate evil;"
Some sincere Christians have lists of man-made rules that they follow. They believe these lists are necessary, because they won't know how to live holy lives without them. Furthermore, they believe that obeying these lists will keep them out of situations that will bring them into sin. Yet, these groups have as many scandals in their leadership as other groups. One such group, the Ruckmanites, have more scandals than most other Christian groups.
The fear of the Lord does for Christians what man-made rules fail to do. The lists don't make you hate evil (many people under the authority of those lists don't want to obey them, but their church makes them). The fear of the Lord, on the other hand, makes you hate evil and makes you depart from it.
Some sincere Christians have lists of man-made rules that they follow. They believe these lists are necessary, because they won't know how to live holy lives without them. Furthermore, they believe that obeying these lists will keep them out of situations that will bring them into sin. Yet, these groups have as many scandals in their leadership as other groups. One such group, the Ruckmanites, have more scandals than most other Christian groups.
The fear of the Lord does for Christians what man-made rules fail to do. The lists don't make you hate evil (many people under the authority of those lists don't want to obey them, but their church makes them). The fear of the Lord, on the other hand, makes you hate evil and makes you depart from it.
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