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2000

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This is the 2000th post on SFL.

Can anything be left to say? Is there some point that hasn’t yet been made? Is there a topic that hasn’t explored for its meaning, explained for its wisdom, or exploited for its humor?

Hey, let’s find out…

132 thoughts on “2000”

      1. Perhaps Darrell will spring for a hounds tooth butt cushion trimmed in crimson and white!

      3. That’s not strong enough. Roll DAMN Tide!

        — The Cussin’ Catholic

        P.S. Love the idea of a houndstooth butt cushion. Would you believe it? Most folks here in NC don’t even get the significance of houndstooth. They think it’s just a check pattern. Of course, they’re ALL about that prissy-sissy baby-blue color IYKWIM.

  4. Congrats! What a heck of a journey for you. Kinda like forrest gump running coast to coast and collecting us on the way. Here is to 2000 more

  5. This post proves SFL is truly satanic. If you knew anything about numerology or hermeneutical gymnastics, you’d be well aware that 2,000 is not a biblical number. Jesus will reign for 1,000 years (the Millennium) and for God a day is like a thousand years. He also shows his love to a thousand generations. But 2,000? Clearly this is the work of man, distorting or adding to God’s perfect work. Darrell, clearly your conscience is seared and you are unregenerate and unrepentant in your assault of God’s chosen! But please, don’t stop :^)

    1. Ha! Numbers 35:5

      You shall measure, outside the town, for the east side two thousand cubits, for the south side two thousand cubits, for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, with the town in the middle; this shall belong to them as pasture land for their towns.

      1. Poor Alan, how dare you question my understanding of the Scriptures!!! You missed that this is all about a town built by human hands for the Levites. God gave them this specific dimension because it is to serve as a reminder that they are imperfect people serving in the presence of a holy God. This way their sin is always before them, like your sin should be.

        The scary thing is, that would preach, or at least someone would buy into it :^)

      3. Dear Alan C:

        Mark 5:13

        ‘…coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea’

        There! One little piggie for every postie! 😉 LOL!

        Blog on, Darrell! Blessings!

        Christian Socialist

  6. This blog has bee a source of healing for me. It has been interesting, challenging, sometimes painful, often very very funny. You have been a great blessing to many, Dar-El. May God bless *you* as much as you have blessed others

    1. And to all those who have contributed to the discussions/arguments/fights 🙂 may God bless you in the same way!!

  8. I haven’t crossed the Jordan yet, but as regards fundy-ism I have crossed the Rubicon. A long time ago.

    Thanks, Darrell, for all the time and effort you’ve put into SFL. It is indeed a ministry.

  9. Amen to the others’ comments! Keep on!

    The one suggestion I would make is: Broaden the scope just a bit. There are fundamentalist denominations and movements other than IFB churches that are similarly hurting folks.

    1. I can attest to that, Jay Croft. I can also attest to the real help I have gotten here. So much the abuse perpetrated by fundies is the same across movements, cults. I was never IFB but the abuse was much the same.
      Thank you so much Darrell and all the rest of you too who have put up with me and helped me here.

    2. HAY-men. HAY-men.. Seriously, I have been helped by this site. I was in IFB just long enough to recognize the similarities to the Pentecostal fundies that messed me over in the first place. There are a lot of good laughs here, and healing, too. I don’t know how one “broadens the scope” but I’m in favor of it. Thanks, Jay and Miriam.

      1. I am not sure what you are thanking me for 🙂 but you are welcome, anytime. Lol.

    3. Agreed. IFB is but one of the pimples on the face of the eternally adolescent religiosity here in the US. Many of the others are very much related to the IFB and we have touched on quite a few of them. But there are others out there.

      Perhaps in looking at the foibles of other, non-IFB entities we will find parallels in our own faith experiences to discuss.

      Last night I expressed some irritation with yet another example of police misconduct. There has been a lot of it. My wife flared irritation at me for “always trashing the police.”

      Mind you, our own son and daughter-in-law were mistreated by police because of a burnt-out light, and the police wanted them to get out of the car and submit to a search because of it! My son expressed his knowledge of the Constitution and said that if they had a warrant or could state probable cause he would be happy for them to search. But unless they were being arrested on a specific charge, he declined to get out or to allow them to search. It got a bit tense, but the officers decided to let them go with a warning ticket.

      Despite this episode that happened close to home, my wife wishes to defend the police and overlook the wrongs being done. She does that with IFB, too.

      I wouldn’t want to see SFL to become a place to trash anything and everything. But I see good in exploring different topics. Could fundamentalist teachings on “authority” (among other things) be contributing to the police misconduct that seems to be happening so much? Maybe.

      I know there are good people in the IFB. But the system is bad. The system is corrupt, the doctrine is flawed and accountability is nonexistent. The whole system seems to be getting worse and worse even as it is rising in political influence, and its effects are broadening. We need to similarly broaden our examination of it.

      Good suggestion, Jay.

      1. 5-0 is out of control. I mean, really out of control. The recent murders by police have finally gotten national attention, but it is pretty bad. I don’t think it is the fault of any one individual, but rather a systemic injustice, based on shared “best” (worst) practices.

        1. And unfortunately any desire to discuss recent issues with some law enforcement agencies is viewed as an attack against all law enforcement agencies.

    4. Yes there are. Such as the Catholic chuch that forces folks to spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars to get in (or back in) the good graces of the church via annulment.

      1. This post was in response to Jay Croft’s post where he mentiined expanding discussion to include other churches that are hurting folks.

        1. Thanks (to Miriam and others) for mentioning non-IFB spiritual abuse. It wasn’t until years later that I saw the manipulation and abuse involved in crowding altars with pre-teens crying their eyes out for their personal sins and frustrated desires to be filled with God’s spirit. It wasn’t until years later that I recognized the control issues involved in the caste system and the unholy arrogance with which our leaders viewed the entire rest of the Body of Christ.

        2. Ah, I see. I believe any system or person who wants to put their voice into someone’s head as the voice of God, or the voice of that person’s conscience is terribly abusive. It is a very serious thing to force your will so thoroughly on another person that they believe it is their own or God’s will.

  12. Two thousandth!

    Please send two thousand butt cushions.

      1. I don’t know, Lady Semp, Buddy screaming about ‘scouting for boys’ and ‘Adam and Steve’ has a pretty big butt.

  13. When we’ve been there two thousand posts
    Bright shining as the sun
    We’ve no less days to sing Darrell’s praise
    Than when we’d first begun.

        1. Didn’t you know that the hymnal was inspired and is only a step down from the good ol’ KJV itself? Why, making fun of a Hymn is mocking god himself. His fierce wrath shall be poured out upon us and his vengeance will we know.

        2. That is right, even putting words to the tune a hymn is usually sung to is blasphemous. Haymen?

        3. Hiddenexfundie: Oops. Sorry. Should I hunt up an umbrella? Fire extinguisher? Bug spray? Frog spear?

      2. Did you know the lyrics for Amazing Grace work with the tune for the theme song for Gilligan’s Island? Well now you do.

        IIRC I learned that factoid right here in the SFL comment section.

  15. Congratulations. Thank you for doing what you do.

    I do hope that if the time ever comes that Darrell would rather do something else instead of hanging around with this dysfunctional bunch that there would be someone here among our numbers who would be willing to take up the reigns and continue the good work.

  16. Thank you Darrell for your faithful service! You have helped this recovering IFBer more than you will ever know! Roll Tide!

  17. I declare today a day of double honor for Darrell. Make that DR. Darrell.
    Please bring a covered dish.

      1. Covered dish, potluck, pitch-in. Any other regionalisms, so everyone knows the deal?

        2. You are thinking of the ubiquitous green jello salad with mini marshmallows in it, Scorpio.

      2. Christians don’t believe in luck. It’s should be “pot faith.”

        (According to so many of the IFB churches out there…)

        1. All the churches I went to called them pot lucks but nobody was allowed to bring deviled eggs, they had to be angel eggs.

        3. Angels hatch from eggs?
          I didn’t know that.
          Makes sense. They’ve got wings with feathers.

        7. Ps. 91:4 He shall cover thee with his feathers and under his wings shalt thou trust. My grandfather used to say that he was kept safe on the battlefields of France during WW1 by feathers. These are angel feathers though, those feathers are just plain wrong and evil.

        8. God is a bird!

          Then there is Luke 13: 34″O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!

        9. This is often pointed out as one of the female images of God/Christ in the Bible– which is to say, one of the ones Fundies who stress “male leadership” would rather not think about.

        10. I actually have a relative that adheres to the belief that luck is when Satan helps you out. So… how do you know the difference between his and God’s help? Gotta love it…

        11. Sigh.

          Well, I am going to ask for prayers for an interview up in Indianapolis on Thursday. There is an Alternative School there looking for a math teacher, and they thought enough of my application to ask if I would be willing to relocate. Could I come for an interview at 9:30?

          A couple of members at my Episcopal church have been willing to help me get there for the interview. That was a blessing.

          The help was sorely needed. Part of the reading was about Jesus asleep in the boat, and the boat was taking on water. The disciples were scared, and they woke Jesus and asked if He cared about what was happening. I have felt that way myself.

          I hope I get this job. It looks like a good one on the face of it.

        12. I will be thinking of you Thursday rtg and really hope this is a good job, a good relocation and a good new start for your family.

    2. A doctorate for Darrell isn’t good enough. I think his horse deserves an honorary doctorate.
      And if he doesn’t have a horse, his cat or his dog or his parakeet.

    3. Men first through the line, then the helpmeets, bringing the children’s food to them at the tables, and only sitting during special speaking

      1. What’s this about waiting on kids hand and foot?
        Throw them a bone!
        And make sure they’re seen (in their Sunday best) and not heard.

        1. That’s why they are to stay seated at the tables – Our Pastor in His wisdom tried many variations on the buffet line, from children first to men first (strangely never ladies first) to find the least chaotic, and this is the one He decided on

  18. Wow, congrats on having the wherewithal to get this far.

    Can anything be left to say? As long as there are fundy churches there will be more new craziness, more people seeking guidance as they leave, and continued need for support for those that have already left. A continued light, a beacon of hope in the darkness of legalism. Perhaps its been said before about another church, another person, and another place but it needs to be said again to keep the fires of hope burning.

    1. I was going to write something similar, but you have it covered so well I’ll just say “Thanks, Darrell! As long as there is religion, there will be fundamentalists. As long as there are fundamentalists, you’ll never run out of material.”

    2. Fundystan being what it is, I don’t think Dar-El will run out of material any time soon…

  19. But the dispensationalists promised us that the lord would return before the 2000th post (or was that the year 2000?) I’m so confused. Are we now in the time of tribulation, and I missed the second coming?

    2. For most of those coming here the time of tribulation is ending and the kingdom of grace is starting.

  20. Thank you for this website, Darrell! I was in a very bad place, thanks to fundamentalism, until I stumbled across this site earlier this year. I still have my struggles, but I am in a much better place now. Keep up the good work!

  22. My only crticism is that there isn’t a ‘like’ button on each post. Otherwise, I very much enjoy this site.

  25. Can anything be left to say? Is there some point that hasn’t yet been made?

    Who cares? Flogging a dead horse is more fun than you’d think, and this horse isn’t even dead. It should be, though.

    2. Hahaha! I agree!! How many sermons did we have to sit through about the same topics? How many verses of “Just as I am” have been sung? KEEP SFL as it is! 🙂

  27. Dear Darrell and SFL Reader:

    So long as there are fundies, there must be stuff fundies like.

    Christian Socialist

        4. Dear the Admiral:

          I understand George, you and moron. The rest is an unknown quantity. Blessings!

          Christian Socialist

      3. the Admiral – I did not know that you are acquainted with my good friend, Buster.

    2. And blessings to you Christian Socialist and to you all. May SFL and Darrell live long and prosperous lives.

      the Admiral

  28. To mark the occasion, I commissioned a pearly white piano with a glass display case attachment on top to hold a KJV signed by all the MoG greats!

  31. I don’t think that the Great White Bible has ever been discussed.
    You know the one that is put on the coffee table just in case the MOG comes over to verify your compliance to church standards.

  32. Here we have a post of Prophetic Significance. Darrell’s P2K (as opposed to Y2K).

    No, the Lord is not coming back during the activity of this post. The LARD is coming! We are here to “chew the fat” and be happy!

    Nehemiah 8:10
    10 Then he said unto them, “Go your way, eat the fat and drink the sweet, and send portions unto those for whom nothing is prepared, for this day is holy unto our Lord; neither be ye sorry, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

    Deut 14:25-26
    …25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26 You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household.

  34. Maybe it would be simpler to write about the sane and honest ones. But congratulations on this impressive milestone! (Or should that be “millstone”?)

    1. Oh, I don’t know. The Scriptures command the rebuking of evil. If we don’t actively rebuke it, we allow it to prosper.

      Titus 1:10-16 says something about this:

      10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.”[c] 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.

  35. I’ve been away from IFB-dom for a long time, but it’s still good to know that I wasn’t the only one who disagreed and struggled. Not the only one who went through the fear of “someone” seeing me in my jeans or capris or finding out I don’t read the KJV.

  36. As long as the insane antics of the Fundies continues, there will be a place for this wonderful blog.

  37. Oooooh…. 2000 posts! And we all know that big, round numbers imply signs and omens. Wonder what’s coming next for SFL?

    Seriously, thanks for all the posts, Darrell. The laughs as well as the more serious observations.

  38. On the whole, this has been a helpful site, especially when noting the extremists like Phil Kidd and others that have been pointed out here. Until they reform their behavior, there will be material for Darrel.

    1. There’s a side of me that hopes they don’t. I enjoy the endless amusement.

    1. I’ve seen this before (on SFL, I think), but I can’t place it. Who ARE these people, and what are they doing??

      1. In keeping with the tradition of assigning strange terms to name a group — a “murder of crows,” anyone? — let’s call this a “fundy of MOG (men of gid)”. Or maybe an “asshattery of fundies”? Whatever you call this bunch, they are making fools of themselves.

  41. Great website, Darrell! I think, that as long as IFB “colleges” keep churning out ignorant, arrogant, and self-entitled young men to populate the ministry, that SFL will always have fresh material to work with.

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