FBFI

On April 6-7, the South Regional Fellowship of the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International met at The Wilds, a Christian camp in Brevard, North Carolina. One of the addresses was delivered by Pastor Dan Sweatt of Berean Baptist Church in Lilburn, North Carolina. Pastor Sweatt’s speech was entitled “Young and Restless.” At this writing it is available at SermonAudio.com. It is also featured on the Web site of Pastor Sweatt’s church.

The purpose of the speech is to encourage young men to remain in fundamentalism. Pastor Sweatt’s thesis is that fundamentalist leaders need to be the kind of people whom young men would want to be like. So far, so good.

Pastor Sweatt is aware that younger fundamentalists today are following people like MacArthur, Piper, Dever, Sproul, Mahaney, Mohler, and even Driscoll. The obvious question is, why do young men want to be like Piper et al, but they do not want to be like many of the fundamentalist leaders to whom they have been exposed? This is the question that Pastor Sweatt really needs to answer.

^{Note: The following resolutions were passed at the recent Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International National Conference, held June 10-12.}

Vigilance for Religious Liberty:
Resolution Concerning Muslim Favoritism

Whereas Baptists have tenaciously embraced the principle of separation of church and state;

the Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International

• Calls upon all federal and state agencies to promote religious freedom in America by not restricting the free exercise of religious beliefs and practices;
• Calls upon the government to cease providing favored status to the Muslim community and to exercise impartiality to all religious groups;
• Calls upon the Christian community to awaken to the aggressive advancement of the Muslim faith in America and to proclaim clearly the teachings of God’s Word and expose the errors of the Muslim faith, and to resist politically the religious partiality extended by governmental agencies to the Muslim community.

Balanced Biblical Discernment:
Resolution on Being Salt and Light

Whereas,

^{Note: The following resolutions were passed at the recent Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International National Conference, held June 10-12.}

Loyalty to God and His Word:
Resolution Affirming the Biblical View of Inspiration, Texts, and Translation

Whereas

• The Bible claims that it is plenarily and verbally inspired by the Holy Spirit in its original writings;
• The Bible claims that it will be preserved by God throughout the ages;
• The Bible claims that its Spirit indwelt readers will be illumined by the Holy Spirit as they read;
• The practice of translating the Scriptures into common languages was affirmed by the practice of Jesus Christ and the practice of the New Testament Church;
• The Bible makes no claim to the specific manner by which it would be preserved, or to further inspiration or perfection through any translators in any language;

The FBFI affirms the orthodox, historic, and most importantly biblical doctrine of inspiration, affirming everything the Bible claims for itself, and rejecting, as a violation of Revelation 22:18-19, any so-called doctrine, teaching, or position concerning inspiration, preservation, or translation that goes beyond the specific claims of scripture.

Great Commission Leadership:
Resolution Affirming the Legitimacy of the Sunday School

Whereas,

^{Note: The following resolutions were passed at the recent Fundamental Baptist Fellowship International National Conference, held June 12-14.}

Resolution 07-01: Concerning Fundamentalism and “Social” Ministries

The FBFI warns its members that history teaches us that many social programs have led to theological compromise or have ended up as all social and no Gospel. The singular purpose of the church is to glorify God through world wide evangelism and discipleship, and there is no social mandate for the organized church parallel to the gospel. Realizing that there is disagreement over the propriety of churches involving themselves in evangelistic outreach through social programs, and realizing that many Fundamentalist churches are reaching people for Christ through such programs, the FBFI encourages Christians and local churches to practice individual soul liberty and refrain from condemning each other unnecessarily over the application of these principles. We express our full confidence in the power of the gospel to transform individual lives and as society as a result.