Comments on: Only Giving to Charities They Agree With 100%

By: Abby

Abby — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 01:03:08 +0000

But the Bible doesn’t say that. Anywhere. One can hope that that is what God meant when He said He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy, but we really don’t know.

By: Darrell

Darrell — Sat, 29 May 2010 00:53:55 +0000

According to fundamentalist theology, aborted babies go immediately to heaven so salvation isn’t really an issue with them.

By: Abby

Abby — Sat, 29 May 2010 00:50:11 +0000

I really like this blog; it isn’t some atheist tirade on see-how-hypocritical-religious-people-are-religion-is-so-bad, but rather it gives an honest look on things that we would do well to work on. I am personally shocked at the notion of refusing to work alongside Catholics in preventing abortions–if someone needed CPR and only you and a Catholic were around to give it to him, wouldn’t you let the Catholic help you save a human life (2-person CPR works better) instead of thinking, “He only wants to make this person Catholic too!”? While I do not agree with every aspect of Catholic theology, I have met plenty of God-fearing Catholics who trusted Jesus above all and who I am convinced are saved and on their way to heaven. And I have met fellow Baptists who I worry may not have their priorities in order. All that said, doesn’t it bother the fundies that they are refusing to help save the life of a baby who has not yet accepted salvation?

By: Reader Mo

Reader Mo — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:45:50 +0000

i know personally of fundies who will not get involved with crisis pregnancy centers because of the Catholic thing. Nor will they stand next to Catholics at abortion protests. I have heard one say that the only reason that Catholics are pro-life is because they want to breed more Catholic babies so that they can grow up to be Catholic tithers and fill the Vatican treasuries with more wealth. (this was not said in private conversation- it was said from the pulpit)

not that i’m an example. my heart still hardens at the sight of somebody begging, Lord, have mercy. i should see Jesus in them. but enough about me.

great post as always!

By: Joel Shaffer

Joel Shaffer — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:34:13 +0000

Great conversation about Fundamentalists and helping the poor. 20 years ago I began helping an inner-city fundy church plant and basically learned what not to do in ministry. We were getting lots of men saying the sinners prayer who were falling in and out of homelessness, but their lives weren’t changing. So my roomate and I started to take homeless men into our house and disciple them in a holistic way (Bible studies, employment assistance, financial budgeting, etc….) which eventually led to the development of a homeless shelter. When the church that I grew up in got wind of this, I immediately got labeled with the Scarlet SG standing for Social Gospel. I was classified as a Neo-Evangelical that had gone the way of compromise. It was interesting that out of the 21 men that benefited from the homeless shelter during my two years as its supervisor, eleven graduated into self-sufficiency with full-time employment and secure housing. Several men trusted Christ for their salvation and to this day, continue to serve Christ in their church. In comparison, when I was doing street evangelism, several made dramatic professions to Christ, but every single one of them fell away because their â€œconversionâ€ wasnâ€™t the real thing.

I am still involved doing urban ministry although now our organization reaches out to high-risk inner-city teens and young adults. Here is our website. http://www.utmgr.org/

I’ve often wondered, shouldn’t those who believe in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Scriptures be most passionate about obeying what the Bible says about helping the poor, the widow, the orphan, etc….?

I guess its alot easier to be passionate about the King James Version……….

By: Darrell

Darrell — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:14:14 +0000

@Eric

Prior to 1963 (when prayer stopped in public schools!) people wore hats. After that they quit wearing them.

Do you really need more proof than that?

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 00:09:36 +0000

I know of one fundy college that stopped allowing their students to help in a nearby rescue mission due to the rescue mission accepting help from “neo-evangelical” organizations. And this was within the last few years.

Darrell,

Not that I’m doubting you, but do you have proof of this, “If only men’s hats would make a comeback, we’d be sure to see revival in this land.”?

By: JimE

JimE — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 20:07:52 +0000

I’m a ex-fundy with 45 years on the inside.
The logic I have heard over the years sums up as “You can show love through money, but the greatest love is to share Christ. If your money is limited, give the Gospel. If you have money, give to organizations that give the Gospel. Just as God uses the clouds bring the rain, God uses the un-Godly to give money to the poor. The purpose of the Godly is to give the Gospel to all. Stay focused on the Gospel.”

By: Stan

Stan — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:50:46 +0000

Maybe I’m over generalizing but I think for a long time Fundamentalists were enamored with numbers (see how many souls we can win this week and then send the tallies to the Sword of the Lord) instead of truly ministering to people. Soup kitchens and pregnancy centers sort of evoked ‘compromise’ and there’s nothing worse in Fundamental circles than to be called a compromiser. A church took great pride in how many foreign missionaries it supported all the while neglecting the needs in its own back yard. However, I do believe that’s starting to change (from what I’ve seen), as more and more Fundamental churches are starting to minister locally, not only with the Gospel, but also with meeting physical needs.

By: Jordan M. Poss

Jordan M. Poss — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:09:13 +0000

“mean, give the homeless man a Gospel tract, invite him to evangelistic meetings, and move on. . .”

I’ve had a number of discussions about Fundamentalism versus Catholicism along these lines lately. The fundy way of thinking seems to be that conversion will cure all ills, and so missionaries and average fundy churchgoers put massive effort into distributing literature and trying to get people to attend services. (I know there are exceptions; I’m talking about the broadest underlying mentality possible.) Catholics and a lot of other denominations (including a lot of Methodists I know), on the other hand, do practical work to cure social ills and by their example of charity and sacrifice make people desire Christianity without preaching a sermon. And it’s the fundies who talk incessantly about “walking the walk.”