I was just wondering if anyone will be attending this meeting. It starts today at Franklin Road Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, TN. There will be a host of wonderful speakers at the event including Kenny Baldwin (personal favorite), Dr. David Gibbs, Jr., Dr. Shelton Smith (my wonderful boss :D ) , Dr. Joe Arthur (an old-fashioned camp meeting preacher) among many others.
Wish I could be there! But we will have a great fellowship here in Japan next Tuesday, the Hokkaido Fundamental Pastors Fellowship, or HFPF. (We call it HuFfPuFf.) Our lineup includes Missionary Tokoro and Pastor Honbo. We'll have about 10 missionaries and national pastors in attendance. :type:
This fellowship is likely made up of the same group in Southwide Baptist Fellowship that seemed to try to take control of it a few years ago.
They may have left Southwide when they started this new group or some could possibly be in both fellowships.
Southwide was not KJV-only enough for some of them.
It is interesting that Shelton Smith refuses to accept ads for the Sword of the Lord for a book written by a fundamentalist Baptist.
This book provides compelling evidence that false claims are made in books that are advertized in the Sword, such as those written by Gail Riplinger.
I would love to see the Sword go back to a more balanced position on the issue such as they had in the time of Dr. Rice, but I am afraid that it is too late. I would love to get it again but I can't stomach the negative attitudes towards others of like faith and belief doctrinally, but not standards-wise or Bible-version wise. Even when Dr. Rice had a nit to pick with someone he did it in a gentlemanly manner, which is not the case with the current editor, IMHO.
That said, may the conference be a great blessing to all who attend and may God be glorified.
Wait a minute. Are you trying to say that Riplinger's books are advertised in the Sword or that they are not??? :confused: :confused:
For the record, the Sword does not advertise Riplinger's books. In fact, in the past year and a half (since I started taking it again) I've seen no ads for any KJV books. Furthermore, there have been no KJVO articles in the Sword in that time.
No, this is not an accurate assessment. What is your basis? How much do you really know about this group? Do you know the men, their philosophy and their reasons? Or, are you surmising from what you read? If you don't know and have no basis for a sound conclusion, then it is best to leave unsubstantiated spectulation unsaid because it tends to start rumors and spread falsehood.
I was at the business meeting of the Southwide Baptist Fellowship in 2003 when some of the ones now in the Nationwide Independent Baptist Fellowship attempted to take control of Southwide.
I heard their speeches.
I also know the ones that group nominated and backed for the moderator and other offices in Southwide.
One of their complaints concerning Southwide involved the KJV-only issue.
I did not suggest that it was the only reason for the new fellowship.
They also had other complaints or other reasons.
I noted that some of them may still be part of both fellowships.
I would love to attend this meeting. Dr. Arthur will be with for our Campmeeting in a couple of weeks. I've never heard him preach, but our pastor speaks very highly of him.
For what it's worth, The Sword of the Lord is right not to accept advertisement for books with which they disagree. I read a book recently by a "fundamental Baptist" that taught that it was unscriptural for blacks and whites to worship together. I would hope that the fact that he claims to be a fundamental Baptist would not be the only criteria for advertising his books.
The book for which the SWORD OF THE LORD would not accept an ad presented the same view of Bible translation as that held by John R. Rice.
It has been claimed that the present SWORD views are the same as the views when John R. Rice was the editor.
Why would the present editor disagree with a book that presents the same view that John R. Rice held?
Can you give us more information? I'm not familiar with the incident and the book you are talking about.
For myself, I've come to the view that Dr. Shelton Smith need not take the same position on everything that Dr. Rice took. While I wish that Fundamentalism in general followed Dr. Rice's position on Bible versions more closely, it must be realized that Dr. Smith is his own man.
While he was considering who to choose as his successor at the Sword, Dr. Rice once told me, "Johnny, I have come to realize that God doesn't ordain institutions. He ordains men." What Dr. Rice meant by this was that he knew he would find no one just like himself. The ideal successor would be somethat that walked with God like John R. Rice, not someone who had the same gifts and skills and positions that John R. Rice had.