Monday, October 19, 2020

The Rift Between Fundamentalism & Neo-Evangelicalism

Proverbs 22:28, “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.” Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.” Revelation 3:2, “Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.

I love those three passages of Scripture! When I read those Bible verses, I think of Christian Fundamentalism. God wants us to ask for the OLD PATHS. The Bible says not to remove the ancient landmarks, which our FATHERS HAVE SET. Jude 1:3, “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.By God's grace, I am earnestly contending for the faith. I may be rude in speech, calling pastors “stupid sometimes, but I am not ignorant of truth. 2nd Corinthians 11:6, But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things.

The Bible tells us to be WATCHFUL and to STREGTHEN the things that remain. That means to defend and uphold the infallibility and inspiration of the King James Bible. That means to uphold the free grace Gospel by which we are saved. That means to uphold the fundamental doctrines of the Word of God (e.g., Jesus' deity, the Godhead, Jesus' blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat in Heaven, Jesus' sinless life, Christ's bodily resurrection, Jesus' virgin birth, et cetera). Spirituality without theology is creeping into churches today by the hour! You won't hear pastors' Joel Osteen, Rick Warren or Steven Furtick expounding on these vital fundamental Bible doctrines!!! They're all preaching generic sermons, although captivating as they may be.

Before 2014, I was ignorant of the extent of the giant rift between the Fundamentalist camp in America, and the Neo-evangelical camp. After my unfortunate fallout with the pastors at Harvest Baptist Church, I began to look deeper into what Bob Jones University believed, to see why the pastors of Harvest had become so intolerant of me. By sheer coincidence, I dug out some old sermon tapes by Pastor Jack Hyles, and heard a positional sermon from 1994 titled: 'The Battle Of The Ages,' in which Dr. Hyles says Bob Jones University make light of Bible inspiration. That opened my eyes! They sure do make light of inspiration, which is why the Bob Jones' crowd use, sell and support umpteen corrupt Bible versions!

At one time 75 years ago, Bob Jones University (BJU) was the citadel of Fundamentalism in America. But after Dr. Bob Jones Sr. went to Heaven in 1968 things slowly began to deteriorate and change. In 1927 when Bob Jones College opened their doors, they used only the King James Bible (because that is what 99% of the churches used back then). As the years passed, and then decades, BJU rolled with the tide; and as the new Bible revisions flooded onto the market, BJU became indifferent to the threat of the Devil's never-ending rash of “new” and “improved” Bible versions. 

In their lame Statement of Faith (posted on their college website), BJU brags that they have never changed their position on the Bible. What they are really admitting is that as hundreds of new English Bible revisions have flooded onto the market, they haven't taken a stand for God against any of them! That's like a man bragging that he hasn't changed a thing on his house since he bought it 50 years ago, and it is in shambles—rotting wood all over the place, a roof caving in, a broken down fence, overgrown with weeds, broken windows and a missing front porch. That is Bob Jones University's spiritual condition today! They have nothing to brag about, let me tell you!!!

I love the folks at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. They won my heart and have had it since 2014, but because they are diehard Neo-evangelicals, they drove me out of their church as a Fundamentalist. That is what's at the root core of the matter, nothing else! Like the Apostle Paul, I told THE TRUTH, and they couldn't handle it. Galatians 4:16, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?Since I am not an apostle, the pastors at Harvest have no respect for my preaching, but I am telling THE TRUTH. It doesn't matter who I am, the truth is what matters. I know God is on my side, because I am telling THE TRUTH. Romans 3:4, “God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.”

In 2017, I literally begged to come back to Harvest, because I was in love with a woman there. I humbled myself to Pastor Marty Herron. I explained my broken and traumatic life. I explained that I am a graduate of Hyles-Anderson College, which he already knew. I offered to voluntarily do any job they had for me to do, to be a part of their ministry. I offered to clean toilets, literally. Pastor Herron threw me under the bus. He cruelly told me to, “Go elsewhere,” to find a church that agreed with my beliefs. Well, I couldn't find one. That's on him. What kind of pastor refuses to help a broken man, who has a humble and cooperative spirit, who is literally begging merely to come back to church; and if possible, to find a place to serve God voluntarily in the church? A bad pastor, that's what kind! He couldn't offer me a bus route to work on, because they have no bus ministry. In fact, he couldn't offer me any ministry to work in, because Harvest Baptist Church on Guam is barren! They only have their money-making schools—a stinking religious business!

Since 2014, after they drove me out for telling THE TRUTH, I have always wanted to return to Harvest, because they became my church family for the year I attended. It broke my heart to learn painfully that I had never meant anything to them at all. I felt like a spurned lover, and reasonably so. God will hold my blood to their account at Harvest, for the past 6 years I haven't had a church to attend. In eternity, Marty Herron, Gary Walton, and the other pastors of Harvest, and the church itself who are fully aware of the ongoing situation with me, will all be held liable by God, because they chose lies over THE TRUTH! Lordship Salvation is a lie of the Devil. The English Standard Version (ESV) and all other modern perversions (translated from the 1881 corrupt Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort Greek) are a lie of the Devil.

I have humbly offered to remove all my criticisms from the internet about Harvest (to the best of my ability), and let the matter rest with Harvest Baptist Church, in exchange for simply letting me come back to church. I admit that I am still in love with a woman there, and she is worth the world to me. I won't stop preaching against Bob Jones University, because the truth needs to be preached. BJU is the head of the dog, Harvest church is the tail. If Harvest church wants to continue to bear the same reproach as the ungodly reprobates at BJU, then so be it. I offered to make peace with Harvest, which offer still stands. 

They have ignored me all these years. If I lose out on the woman I want to marry because of telling THE TRUTH, then God will make it up to me. Pastor Jack Hyles wisely said that: “To lose something in the will of God is to find something better.” I am sad that I cannot get to know the woman I love, because of some stupid pastors that would rather follow a theological madman like Dr. Steve Pettit, who is recklessly steering Bob Jones University into an iceberg of Lordship Salvation, on the icy sea of the corrupt modern Bible revisions. 

I am just a lonely hurting dog! I admit I was surprised when Pastor Marty Herron told me that I couldn't come back to attend church. No man of God would be so unchristian. Harvest has a big sign in front that reads: “Helping People Develop A Heart For God.” I guess I don't qualify as a person. What Pastor Herron did was wrong and sinful. God will be his only Judge for setting his brother at nought (Romans 14:10). I know my bombastic website intimidates some people, but I really am the man behind the curtain in The Wizard Of Oz. I'm just a nice guy with a loud bark. I wish Harvest could see my heart, and know how much I want to love and be a part of their church, but they are playing the Neo-evangelical card, and I am a fighting Fundamentalist. Can't we all just get along?

I am attending a new small independent Baptist church on Guam, which I plan to keep going to with my family, but I sure wish I could also go to Harvest sometimes and become their friend. If the Bob Jones camp are willing to tolerate me, I am definitely willing to tolerate them. I did it for all of 2014 and was happy at Harvest, but they made an issue. THEY MADE AN ISSUE, not me! I was happy at Harvest, but they made a big fuss when I tried to be helpful. If they simply would have loved me and been patient with me, I know we could have worked things out.

Lord willing, I want to find a wife. There's a young woman at Harvest I want to marry, but she won't know if she wants to marry me unless she gets to know me, and that means I need to attend her church. But because I am a Fundamentalist, and they are Neo-evangelicals, I am being punished for it. Sometimes I hate doing the right thing, but it is the right thing! Galatians 6:9, And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.Sometimes we just have to trust the Lord, and wait, which is frustrating. God is good.

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