GARBC

For Baptist Fundamentalists, “dual affiliation” is a phrase that has been, historically, charged with tension. The term was significant in the events that led to the birth of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC), as well as the beginnings of the Minnesota Baptist Association (MBA) and the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International (FBFI). Over the years, these organizations have rarely intersected with one another in any formal manner, and for many a sense of suspicion has lingered.

Recently, the matter of dual-affiliation was raised in a new context when First Baptist Church in Marshall, Minnesota (where I serve as pastor) sought and obtained fellowship in GARBC associations while retaining its established fellowship in the MBA.

The resulting gathering

Prompted largely by the Marshall congregation’s actions, over 100 Baptists from Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin gathered September 19 at Fourth Baptist Church (Plymouth, MN) for a panel discussion. The event was billed as “The Future of Baptist Fundamentalism: A Thoughtful Conversation Between Baptist Brothers.”

This is becoming a tougher task each evening! So much to share; so little time for sharing!

Tonight’s liveblog will be legendarily short.

Go read the tweets on Dr. Bauder’s address on the New Jerusalem. I have rarely found myself enthralled

And many church members think this is a vacation?!

Tonight, I’m on overload, and I need sleep more than you need to hear what I have to say.

So here is a brief synopsis of Wednesday at GARBC 2009:

1) Dr. John Hartog III’s workshop on leadership was excellent. He rocketed through

Just a few paragraphs to wrap up day two at the GARBC Conference in Elyria.

Today was a first for me; it was my first time hearing “Rennie” Showers. Rennie is on staff with the Friends of Israel gospel ministry, and writes extensively for Israel, My Glory magazine. He has written several well-known books on dispensationalism, eschatology, and Christian advocacy for the geo-political state of Israel (commonly referred to as Christian Zionism). The notes he has presented are extensive, but as I mentioned in my twitter posts, he seems to be making broad and sweeping generalizations regarding Covenant Theology. When presenting their positions,

It’s late.

I’m weary.

It’s only Monday.

So with an entire week of dispenational dialogue on the way, here are a few brief highlights from day one of the GARBC Conference in Elyria, Ohio:

First, the conference is well attended. As I stated during

Updates ocurring live here…

Live blogging from the GARBC Annual Conference.
The conference theme this year is dispensationalism. More info here.