Some Advice for Younger Fundamentalists

This is pointed to Mark Smith:

If I’ve learned anything in SharperIron over the last 5 years in reading The Fundamentals it’s this:

• Firstly: Thank you Aaron for publishing these!
• The FBFI fundamentalism is new-fundamentalism
• The ACCC (silly them … labeling Bauder a new-fundamentalist!) reinvented fundamentalism and left The Fundamentals

I gladly embrace every fundamental in The Fundamentals. The new-fundamentalists (the FBFI & ACCC) left the simplicity of them! Truth!!!

Jay, my men are working on the tech side of this meeting. We will do the best we can to make it available.

On a different comment, someone referred to the FBFI (and myself by implication) as a “New Fundamentalist”. I thought it was a compliment, so I was somewhat surprised. But then realized it wasn’t a compliment. Oh well !

Many of us cannot afford to attend the next meeting of the FBFI but would appreciate and be deeply grateful for access to the meeting and to hear first hand what the FBFI is saying. In a day when we can attend literally any conference like this via the internet, it seems a shame that the FBFI’s meetings remain restricted to those who can come to the meeting. I’m ignorant of the basics of technology but when the little church down the road has their sermons on sermonaudio.com or on their web site,I can’t see why the FBFI can’t do the same.

I have said this before but Sharperiron seems to have morphed into a slightly more docile version of Do right BJU or whatever that sight was called. The opprobrium and vitriol against groups like the FBFI seems over the top to me. I am not a member and probably never will be so what they do right or wrong doesn’t cause me to lose much sleep. When I first came to this sight there was a lot of discussion about improving Fundamentalism and I loved it. Bauder was contributing from time to time. There was a ton of healthy discussion back and forth. I don’t really see that now. It’s more like tribes attacking the other’s positions without a lot of meaningful discussion. How about a “fundamentalist discussion board worth saving”?

[Mike Harding]

Jay, my men are working on the tech side of this meeting. We will do the best we can to make it available.

On a different comment, someone referred to the FBFI (and myself by implication) as a “New Fundamentalist”. I thought it was a compliment, so I was somewhat surprised. But then realized it wasn’t a compliment. Oh well !

Glad to hear that—put simply, if indeed the group is intending to do things that ought to impact the church as a whole, doing so behind closed doors is an odd way of going about it.

And regarding new fundamentalism, I found the ACCC comment about that, and let’s just say they need to actually define their terms before throwing rhetorical bombs using that term. In that light, you are no more a new fundamentalist than I am a convergent. It also stands to reason that if one defines terms, one does not really need to throw accusations like “new fundamentalist” or “convergent” because the definition makes clear what is being referred to, and why that might be objectionable.

I still consider myself a fundamentalist and I remember the heydays of the 70’s and early 80’s when we needed venues like BJU for meetings like the World Congress of Fundamentalists, we were planting churches, sending out a lot of missionaries, building church buildings, and establishing Christian Day Schools. I watched us seem to lose our focus and started to ask what was happening. I’m now asking “what happened?” and some people intimate that I’m being critical, have a bad spirit, want to drink alcohol and sing charismatic music. I assure you that that’s not the case.

I recall being at a World Congress of Fundamentalists and being told that our battle was not over music or eschatology and that we were united in a battle for the truth of the Word of God and that we could have differences and still be united.

Many of us cannot afford to attend the next meeting of the FBFI but would appreciate and be deeply grateful for access to the meeting and to hear first hand what the FBFI is saying. In a day when we can attend literally any conference like this via the internet, it seems a shame that the FBFI’s meetings remain restricted to those who can come to the meeting. I’m ignorant of the basics of technology but when the little church down the road has their sermons on sermonaudio.com or on their web site,I can’t see why the FBFI can’t do the same.

Yeah. ALL of what he said.

[Ron Bean]

Many of us cannot afford to attend the next meeting of the FBFI but would appreciate and be deeply grateful for access to the meeting and to hear first hand what the FBFI is saying. In a day when we can attend literally any conference like this via the internet, it seems a shame that the FBFI’s meetings remain restricted to those who can come to the meeting. I’m ignorant of the basics of technology but when the little church down the road has their sermons on sermonaudio.com or on their web site,I can’t see why the FBFI can’t do the same.

The annual meeting audio is posted to Proclaim and Defend every year. You can find it here. Click “Show Filter”, select “FBFI Conferences” and click the Filter button.

In addition, most of our hosts post the audio on their sites as soon as it is available.

I find it rather odd that you want to make a “polite request” and at the same time cast a slur that either the FBFI is behind the times or is hiding something. That may fall within your definition of politeness, but I wonder if your request is really all that polite after all.

Don, I think it’s hasty to suggest Ron’s insinuating anything or casting any slur. The simple fact of the matter is that your organization exists as a theological forum and to call churches to repentance from compromise on what you consider fundamental doctrines. As such, if there is uncertainty about how to access your teaching, Ron would be entirely correct to say you’ve missed that goal. Moreover, he didn’t suggest that there was something untoward about this, but rather that something is amiss when he can find the sermons from the little country church, but not yours.

Now of course it appears that Ron (and I for that matter) were at least partially incorrect about this, thankfully, and I’ve looked at some of the documents (time fails for the recordings) as well. But please; let’s not assume malice when people are simply puzzled about why they can’t find what you’re saying readily.

Dear Don,

My comment was not meant to insult you or the FBFI or to damage your reputations. I’ll admit again that I’m not technologically savvy and didn’t know that there was access to the FBFI sermons from their meetings. I blame it on my laziness as I had grown used to simply going to a site and finding a prominent link to sermons. It may be that I’m the only one that didn’t know that I needed to go to the FBFI site and then to P and D and then search for sermons and for that I apologize.

for the last several years, our annual meetings have had dedicated web pages set up, usually by the hosts. I’ll make sure we have prominent links on our official sites.

Last year the main services in Watertown were also live streamed by Calvary Baptist, they may still be available on their site for viewing, I am not at a spot where I can easily check at the moment.

the FBFI is dependent on the tech savvy of its host churches. Most have gotten beyond the cassette tape era. But, web presence may be outside of their expertise.

[Don Johnson]

for the last several years, our annual meetings have had dedicated web pages set up, usually by the hosts. I’ll make sure we have prominent links on our official sites.

Last year the main services in Watertown were also live streamed by Calvary Baptist, they may still be available on their site for viewing, I am not at a spot where I can easily check at the moment.

…the FBFI is dependent on the tech savvy of its host churches.

Well, they have enough Web savvy for a website and blog. I offered to help them with Facebook & Twitter years ago, but never heard anything back on it. Can’t say I was surprised. The offer, by the way, has been withdrawn as of a few months ago. I’m sure someone who is still in the FBFI can help them.

it’s due to the decentralized nature of the organization. Nationally, it’s a fairly lean operation. So, they are doing well to have what they have.