I've lived long enough in these last days to have seen a lot of things. In my short 36 years on this mud ball called planet Earth, I've learned that men are capable of just about anything. What's worse is that "Christians," or those who call themselves such, are capable of many of the same wicked sins as the lost world. Sadly, it seems that in these last days of apostasy before the coming of our Lord, it appears that "Christians" (notice the quotation marks) are not only sinful, but seem to be even more wicked than the world around them! For they practice sins so grevious, so wicked, and so ungodly it's hard to even believe they can do such things and still call themselves "Christians."
My wife and I have been married for five years, and during that time together we've seen so many Preachers, Pastors, and Evangelists fall into sin that it's unreal. We used to always say things like, "I just can't believe this is happening!" But we've personally seen so many turning from the truth to follow unrighteousness, that we now usually say things like, "Well, it figures!" or "Par for course!" or "I guess I saw that coming!"
What kind of sins are rampant in our day among preachers? Some of the biggest ones are as follows: Adultery, Sodomy, Pornography, Fornication, Gossip, Lies, Hypocrisy, and Pride.
And what's worse is when a preacher falls into these sins, he's not exposed, nor preached against. Instead, it's quietly swept under the rug by other ministers, and often times left undealth with!
Here's one prime example. A friend told us of a pastor who was caught red-handed with two whores in a bar. When his sin was exposed, he ran and hid in the bathroom. As the deacons talked with the two loose women and tried to tell them the man they were lusting after was an Independent Baptist Minister, they replied in disbelief, "But he told us he was a Texas Ranger!"
The worst part is this pastor resigned his church the next Sunday exclaiming, "I feel God is calling me somewhere else." And the issue of his adultery and infidelity to his wife was never brought up or dealt with. And worse still, his sin was covered up by other Baptist Ministers who were his friends, who took care of him thereafter. It's like he got away scot free with his sin!
Here's another example. I personally knew of an Independent Baptist Pastor who cheated on his wife and contacted a sexually transmitted disease, which he then passed along to his wife without her knowledge. Later the truth was found out through a routine medical examination. What happened to the man? He resigned his church, but took another one later on in a different city, making sure never to mention his infidelity.
And what about the Pastor who was caught sleeping with over 20 women in his congregation? How on earth can a man fill a pulpit and preach the word of God while he's engaging in sexual relations with over 20 women in the audience? I just don't understand such things! What's worse still is his father was a very popular, well-known preacher, and because of this, his sin was swept under the rug. It's now "verboten" (forbidden) to talk about it within the circles of that group. But it still happened! And it should be preached against!!!
But these sexual sins aren't the worst of it. Oh no, not by far! The worst part is the ungodly sin of PRIDE. (An interesting note is that in Job 41:34 Leviathan or Satan is called the King of those who are prideful!) Preachers who become high up in their denominational groups become puffed up with constant exaltation and these men form "clicks" which almost become "cults." They then use their fame and power to sway the thoughts of men and to gain praise for themselves and their group (just like the Pharisees of old). The focus then changes from JESUS to THEMSELVES.
My wife and I have seen this time and again. This form of man worship makes slaves out of the followers. (For example, there are acutally groups that wear buttons on their lapel that says "100% for their Pastor." What? If you are going to wear a button like that, why not make sure it reads, "100% for Jesus!")
To question the leader of the group is very much forbidden, as he is exalted almost to Papal infabillity. And when a person questions with meekness anything about the man, his doctrine, or his lifestyle, he's immediately branded a "heretic" and cast out of the group! His salvation is then called into question, and he's excommunicated from the group, his friends, and others. The most popular saying is, "He's gone out from us, because he was never one of us!"
The message is clear. You cannot be a follower of Christ unless you follow a certain Independent Baptist minister.
These things ought not so to be, and are the very things the Apostle Paul was against in his epistles! But, since very few Preachers read his writings now days, it's easy to see why these sins are so rampant! (My wife and I have even heard of preachers calling those who read the epistles of Paul, as "Hyper-dispensationalists" and "Pauline Obessionists!")
Instead of preaching against SIN and SINFUL men, modern day fundamentalism has turned towards preaching against those who actually find the courage to speak up and preach against the apostasy they see. It's almost as if they are teaching their congregations to remain quiet or else! And to hear a Preacher preach against another man instead of preaching against sin is almost common place in pulpits. This leads to DIVISION and constant battling and bitterness between different sects within the Independent Movement. (As one preacher told me, "The Independent Baptist movement is the only denomination that eats its young!"
All this has left my wife and I feeling "jadded" as we continue to see such sinfulness in the ranks of Independent Baptists, and how their sins are so easily covered up instead of exposed! And how they so often devour each other instead of reasoning with each other with the scriptures.
Now, I'm still an Independent Baptist, and I'll probably be one until the day I die. But I don't like to tell people I am. I usually just say, "I'm a born again BIBLE BELIEVER," and leave it at that. It's just so sad how much sin has entered into the Independent Baptist movement. And it's worse that unless you are part of their "group" you cannot even gain a hearing with them.
Thinking on this, a friend sent me a website to look up and read. It is:
I don't agree with all on this website or endorse what's written there. But it was interesting to read it and see how easily someone was put out with the Independent Baptist Movement. All I can say is, "I can indentify and understand why he's so put out with it!"
That doesn't mean I think it's good or bad to put out a website like his. But I do see some of the same sins this man illustrates, and the same conspiratorial cover-ups that he mentions.
I believe the greatest problem is the POLITICS in the Indpendent Baptist Movement, or more plainly said, "Following MEN instead of following GOD."
I believe we need to get back to the scriptures. And we need to make sure everything a man does, everything a man says, and everything a man believes is what the scripture teaches. For there are many men out there starting their own movements with doctrines that are foreign to the scriptures and sound Pauline teachings. (See what Paul said in Acts 20:28-35).
Just because a person is an Independent Baptist doesn't mean they are right. Did you know you can be an Independent Baptist and not even be saved? Yep, there are people like that. I met a Pastor a few years ago who was an Independent Baptist, and he told me his testimony. He went to an Independent Baptist church his entire life and even graduated from one of their Bible Schools, but he wasn't even saved! It was after he'd been pastoring for about 11 years that God showed him his lost and sinful condition. And he had to make a choice: Get saved, and tell everyone, or remain lost and keep quiet, but keep the esteem I have from other pastors and church members. (At the time his church was listed in a huge fundamentalist magazine as one of the fasted growing churches in that state).
He chose the first option, and got up on Sunday and told his congregation that he'd been faking his whole life, and he'd been pastoring as a lost man. But last night as he read the scriptures, God dealt with his heart and showed him he'd been trusting in his own righteousness instead of in Christ's and he gave up trusting in himself and trusted the blood atonement alone for salvation!
Care to guess what happened? Yep, that's right! It split the church! Many people left calling him a "novice." (But was he really? I mean he already had 11 years experience as a Pastor!) And all his other preacher buddies ridiculed him, preached against him, and called him names. He had to leave his church and then go start another one in a different state. But shouldn't people have been happy for him? I mean if he would have died before that day, HE WOULD HAVE GONE TO HELL!!!
Shouldn't people be glad he got born again? And, wouldn't you think something like that would have caused a REVIVAL?
Unfortunately, it didn't and it still doesn't today. (I've heard the same story from several other pastors, and even a missionary). And I believe the reason is that people don't want to think! They don't want to muse upon the truth that there just might be others out there in the same boat. Whether they be pastors, missionaries, evangelists, or just Sunday School workers or just your average church member. They too could be playing religion but be utterly lost!
Is it possible to be an Independent Baptist and still go to Hell? It sure is! Both myself and my wife were lost while in that denomination! We both were deceived and were trusting in our PRAYER instead of trusting in the PROPITATION of Jesus Christ. We were "religious" but "lost."
What's sad to me is to see Preachers who refuse to believe that this can happen. Call it wishful thinking, or maybe they are just deceived, but they want to think that you can't be an Independent Baptist and be an apostate, or you can't be an Independent Baptist and be lost.
But what saith the scriptures???
Mat 15:8-20 immediately come to mind:
"8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 10 And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. 12 Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? 13 But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. 14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. 15 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Declare unto us this parable. 16 And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding? 17 Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:
20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
20 These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.
Here Jesus is speaking, and he says it's easy to find people who give him "lip service" but their hearts are far from Him. He then continues to explain it to the disciples who appear to be "clueless" that just because you say something or brag that you are a follower of God doesn't mean you really are. And He sums it up nicely by saying that from the heart is where evil thoughts proceed. Then we see the list of sins; Sins that many Independent Baptists are guilty of!
The truth of the matter is that God said their'd be APOSTASY in the last days. (See 2 Thes. 2:2-3). It's obvious we are in those last days. And it's clear that no denomination is exempt from this apostasy. And if you are honest, and if you look around, you can't help but see it.
What should you do? Should you stop going to church, and forget about it? Or, should you maybe speak up and preach against the wickedness you see! I choose the second option. God's called me to preach the truth. I try to do so anyway I can, even through these blogs. I like to say my ministry is to stand for the three main Christian doctrines:
1. Salvation
2. Sanctification
3. Scriptures
And as I preach these, I constantly see Independent Baptists departing from these oh so precious doctrines. Many have left the blessed King James Bible for another translation. Many have decided to live worldly lifestyles instead of suffering for Jesus and preaching hard against sin. And many have adopted a modernistic BLOODLESS GOSPEL which leaves out the blood atonement. Usually their gospel presentation is only a METHOD started by a MAN, instead of simply taking a lost sinner through the scriptures and showing them their SIN, Their IMPENDING JUDGMENT, and God's SACRIFICIAL PAYMENT for their sins in their place.
Are you an Independent Baptist? If so, great! Now I'll leave you with the following question:
Are you following God and the Bible in all that you do, or are you following some popular or famous man within your movement and doing things "His Way." If so, why not rethink what you are doing, and make sure you are doing things God's way.
No comments:
Post a Comment