Sword of the Lord or Sword of Shelton Smith?

I read a few days ago that those who are not against Jesus are actually with Him.

I read in another place that there is to be no schism in the body.

I am an IFB who attends the SOTL conferences and gets the paper. I must say, I struggle with balance every day. I am having to stay on my knees to have the wisdom on how much to separate myself, my family and my ministry away from certain things.

At the same time, I am equally tempted to separate myself from the separatist who makes me feel like I should separate all the time. O, wretched man that I am!

 

One comment and then I'll move on.
Where in scripture does it say or can it be inferred that the KJV is the only viable English translation?

I have meet Shelton Smith, while he is was still with the BBF, he seems to have gone off the indy-fundy ranch, with his extreme view of what he considers "biblical" seperation.

 

go2church raises a valid question that is probably suitable for another thread ... should secondary separatists separate from KJVOnlyists who blatantly add to Scripture their own beliefs? It would be fun to see some fundies dance around that subject.

 

Oh....good, we don't have to be separated. That's good, now I can tear all those verses out of my Bible....right?

 

Yes... and I have done so in the past.

 

Secondary seperation is one issue that has dogged the IFB for years upon years. Saying you no longer want to fellowship with someone that denies the divinity of Jesus is one thing, breaking fellowship because you use a different bible version or have a different perspective on the return of Jesus Christ is another all together!

I have no doubt that there is only one correct interpertation of the Bible, I'm not just so confident that we always know what that is. Shelton Smith and others of his ilk, seemingly have everything figured out, no doubt about anything, just ask them.

Unity does not mean we must also have conformity. We don't have all the answers, but we have what we need, God made sure of that! Why is it necessary to torch everyone that has a different opinion about something that is really a non-essential? It is hardly helpful and does great harm to the body of Christ.

 

And Shiloh, again this is not the forum for the fight you're trying to pick.
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It seems I can't write anything about you being critical of what I write. If you don't agree with me why don't you treat me like you do everybody else? I.m not trying to pick a fight. I have been very mild mannered lately.

 

AH yes GotoChurch but one man's non-essentials is another man's hobbie horse that they just can't stop riding.


I think KJVOism was brought about to cast doubt and fear into the minds of IFB church members. I mean alot of people were leaving and some still are leaving some IFB churches over secondary seperation issues. So one sure fire way to make them stay is to use the BIBLE ITSELF to continue to lord over people who don't know any better. Taking advantage of their lack of Bible training or what have you. I mean unless you went to bible college or somekind of training you would never know about translations and manuscripts. So pastors take advantange of their own people's ignorance. I would not want to stand before the Lord at the judgment as a pastor and have to answer for that.

 

I think some IFB hav seperated from the other seperated KJVO people. I think for some the pressure to keep their BV opinions to themselves is pretty tense. Also, I get around IFB churches as missionary. I get tickled when guys who are not KJVO declare they are totally against that position yet in the next breath they will still say something like "Now I 'm not giving up my KJV though". You also get funny looks if you talk like your to familar with the NASB or whatever.

I've been in missions conferences with missionaries who are already on the field and they sit and almost whisper to me about how they think it is nuts what is going on with the KJV here in the states because it doesn't amount to a hill of beans in other countries that speak japaneese or whatever.