The Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International Is Alive and Well

I am thankful that the FBF has changed its name. I love the terms Fundamental and Fundamentalist; but over the years these good and strong words have lost their original meanings. Foundations Baptist Fellowship is good. I can converge with that!

[Jim Welch]

I am thankful that the FBF has changed its name. I love the terms Fundamental and Fundamentalist; but over the years these good and strong words have lost their original meanings. Foundations Baptist Fellowship is good. I can converge with that!

https://converge.org/

(I mean, it’s right in their name…….) =)

I see no real benefit to joining the FBFI:

• It supports Chaplains, but so does the GARBC, which is a fellowship of local churches, not individuals.
• It has a magazine, but so does the GARBC.
• I don’t know what “mission” the FBFI has, but the GARBC is forging ahead on many fronts, including church planting, church building, chaplaincy, teaching, etc. John Greening’s recent book Strong Church is very helpful. RBP has the best teaching material out there. I could go on. The FBFI has … a magazine.
• The FBFI has a blog. Ok …
• The FBFI stands for a Baptist separatist position. Yes, it made that very clear in Frontline issue last year. It would be more accurate to say that the FBFI stands for a very narrow and particular flavor of Baptist separatism …

All in all, I see absolutely no reason to join the FBFI. Many younger men feel the same. I don’t wish the FBFI ill. I just don’t really care one way or the other. The organization is like a rotary telephone. Quaint. Interesting. Full of historical significance. Irrelevant to my life.

I very much prefer the GARBC’s flavor of fundamentalism, and it’s ministries. I’m not sure the Frontline editors realize the tremendous damage they did with Bro. Unruh’s article last year.

“Beer with pizza”, “Music Battles” - while some may not consider these “real” issues, these issues and others like them are symptoms of deeper battles and divisions within broader “conservative Christianity”. No amount of “nuanced” discussion will change that.

Tyler’s comparison of the GARBC with the FBFI is worth noting. I remember the FBF of 30 years ago and today’s version is not as vibrant as it was then. It’s also is pretty much unchanged in its operation with a self-appointed leadership that composes resolutions and then assumes that its members will accept those edicts. Young (and not so young) fundamentalists want to have an active voice in whatever fellowship they’re involved in, want more than the military chaplaincy for outreach, and see the advantage of a fellowship of churches over that of individuals.

In time FRONTLINE magazine will be totally digital making the dissemination of past and future articles available everywhere. The magazine deals with many important subjects, worship and lifestyle issues notwithstanding. One article should not discredit the magazine. I’m thankful for the GARBC in many respects. The FBFI, being a fellowship of individuals, does not function as an association of churches—apples and oranges. I don’t mind if someone does not wish to join or identify with the FBFI. The tone and sarcasm, however, I could do without. Nevertheless, the board of the FBFI desires to make some much needed improvements and positive changes. We hope to attract some younger pastors who will join us in our mission to proclaim and defend the historic, biblical, Baptist fundamentals. Hopefully, we can agree on that.

Bro. Harding:

I didn’t intend to be sarcastic. I was just being blunt. My apologies - I could have tap-danced a bit, but the post just would have been longer.

Bottom line - the FBFI has never made any real case for why I should join it, or why it should even exist. The GARBC does things. What does the FBFI actually do, beyond sponsoring Chaplains? I’m asking honestly. I just don’t know:

1. What the organization’s purpose is
2. What it seeks to accomplish
3. What metrics it uses to assess whether it actually meets it’s goals
4. Or, what it even has accomplished

It’s just … a magazine, a blog and an organization which issues resolutions every once and a while. Either I’m just rude, or you have a PR problem. I’m a younger fundamentalist who has no idea why your organization exists, or what it actually does - beyond hold regional fellowship meetings. If you want honesty - there it is.

Sell us on your organization.

I can think of one good reason to join the FBF (I believe I am a part of the FBF by subscribing to Frontline, perhaps I am mistaken) is this: Marc Minnick’s articles. Whatever Dr. Minnick writes about, he tackles with great Biblical depth and balance. Yes, the $15 a year that I invest in the FBF is worth every penny just to read what Dr. Minnick writes. If you have not read Dr. Minnick, I can recommend him to you. He will challenge you to be more like Jesus and inform your head and heart.

I’ll suggest a start; FBFI lies somewhere between an academic journal and “Sword of the Lord”, whereby a particular brand of fundamentalism is supported—that brand of fundamentalism encompassing what I’d call theologically fundamental positions (five fundamentals, etc..) and a good portion of cultural fundamentalism issues like music, wine, and the like. FBFI documents can, like SOTL or theological journals out of BJU or Maranatha, give a good indication of the bent of a church beyond the church constitution.

And where on the spectrum between, say, the “Baptist Theological Journal” from Maranatha and SOTL? I won’t say completely, but if FBFI actually chooses to define convergent and things like that, they move in the right direction. :^)

And does it serve a good purpose? One cannot utterly discard such a society without jettisoning the “Baptist Theological Journal” as well and for the same reasons. I’d say that whether its purpose is good or not has a lot to do, again, with its distance from SOTL.

Bert said:

”FBFI documents can, ………….. give a good indication of the bent of a church beyond the church constitution. “

I agree wholeheartedly except that the FBFI is a fellowship of individuals and not churches. There is no such thing as an FBFI church. I remember wanting to find one for a friend aand finding that they have no list of churches.

[Ron Bean]

Bert said:

”FBFI documents can, ………….. give a good indication of the bent of a church beyond the church constitution. “

I agree wholeheartedly except that the FBFI is a fellowship of individuals and not churches. There is no such thing as an FBFI church. I remember wanting to find one for a friend aand finding that they have no list of churches.

The trick is that if the current or former pastor is an FBFI man, you’re likely to see some materials in the foyer or church library. Hence “can” and not “will”.

Tyler,

Brother Perry’s analysis has merit. Thank you. Also, I detected no sarcasm in your posts. I can handle blunt. Again, I am not bothered if someone chooses not to identify with the FBFI. I have been on the board for many years. I have enjoyed the fellowship and comradery at the meetings and the fellowships. Our mission is one of proclaiming and defending—a coalition of pastors, teachers, and churchmen bound together by a common mission and core values. We are not endeavoring to be an organization of churches or supplant the centrality and priority of the churches. I would love to see young men such as yourself et. al. be a part of our meetings, fellowships, publications, etc. We need good men who are excellent writers, critical thinkers, ardent defenders of the once-for-all-delivered faith. Young, well-educated men such as Pastor Mark Brock and Professor Mark Ward recently participated in our two-day annual winter board meeting. They contributed much to our discussions and decision making.

Don Johnson has been a good ambassador, and invited me to go to the NW Regional Fellowship next month. I can’t make it, but I plan on going to one relatively soon. I’ll just make sure I go under an assumed name. :)