I had to explain that yes, people do read this trash, and that I grew up in a church where people practiced this. The IFB church movement remains a dangerous, cultic group that causes untold heartache and psychological damage. Episode 49 is live! These are the people who want to completely abolish separation of church and state and freedom of religion and force everyone to live by their IFB standards. The librarian in charge of processing donations browsed through it and was horrified. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. And over a decade later, having only ever been with my partner and completely happy and boring, I wonder why I ever thought highly of Tim LaHaye. Though small in numbers, they are very zealous and have enough allies within mainstream evangelicalism and the Republican Party that they can do some real damage. Unwary congregants took such targeted preaching as a sign God was “speaking” to them. IFB takes the "I" in its title extremely seriously; they are nothing if not independent. Exposing the Dangerous Teachings and Traditions of the Independent Fundamental Baptist Denomination Please scroll down to find a list of articles for your convenience.

First, they are the base of the religious right. I used to work at a public library, and a prominent member of a local church (can't remember if it was IFB or not) donated a copy of To Train Up a Child with the hopes that it would be included in the collection. Seasoned evangelists developed a pool of sermons to preach from. It's so hard to talk to the family that still is there because of their preconceived beliefs that only fit their agenda. Unity? It's so bad that you can't even go out to eat at a restaurant that serves alcohol without them complaining and lamenting about how bad everything is. If they tried to legislate no glossolalia or pray Jesus into your heart as the mode of salvation or black people have the mark of Cain, they would lose all the political support they had. Thus it went, spring after spring, fall after fall, year in and year out. They are everything radical fundie Christians are stereotyped to be and then some. I controlled who preached from the pulpit. Coming from IFB as well, I completely agree. I grew up in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement, attended an IFB college, married an IFB pastor’s daughter, and pastored IFB churches for a decade. Christian denominations in the US are nothing if not contentious. They believe the earth was entirely depopulated except for Noah and his family following the global flood, so if Cain's descendants had black skin, they would have been wiped out in the flood. My wife’s father is a retired IFB pastor, and her extended family includes IFB pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and their wives. Your husband is abusing you? As hired guns, evangelists are expected to “help” the pastors they are preaching for. Overall, the US has been much more religious than it is now, and we've never become a theocracy. I came of age at Trinity Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio. Heretics would be anybody who disagreed with any aspect of IFB KJV-only doctrine. He'll tell you what to do. If they took power, at first it would just be the LGBT community but it would likely expand to all "heretics" eventually. Yet, they have the nerve to call liberals "snowflakes.". Evangelists were, in effect, traveling preachers who went from church to church preaching canned sermons. I always enjoy conversing with ex-IFBers because there is a specific mindset in the IFB churches that you don't find in other denominations. HuffPost is part of Verizon Media. The evangelist is a new and different voice, so people are more likely to pay attention. The church held several revivals, youth revival, and conferences a year. I was on another board talking about freedom of religion and somebody who is an IFB member said that "God's word is the truth, why shouldn't it be forced on you?" A few outside preachers would be brought in, sometimes alumni from our school, sometimes colleagues of our pastor faculty members, and occasionally a representative or representatives from Bob Jones University or Pensacola Christian College or Tennessee Temple. Copyright © 2020 The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser – Powered by Flywheel. It was another reminder of how profoundly screwed up some aspects of my upbringing had been. Typically, the churches I pastored had two revivals a year. I don’t doubt for a moment that these men believed that God was calling them to be evangelists.

What Tim LaHaye! I have been a member of an IFB church for many years. He and his wife have six grown children and twelve grandchildren. For is students, we got out of class, and a lot of kids got saved for the 48th time or rededicated their lives to Christ yet again. Sometimes, evangelists will sanctimoniously ask pastors, “Brother, is there anything I can pray for this week?” Such evangelists are trying to give the air of being directed by God in their preaching, but as sure as the sun comes up in the morning, those “prayer requests” would find their way into their sermons. Some great stuff there! The belief that African Americans have Cain's curse falls apart when you believe in a literal worldwide flood, which IFBs do. I grew up IFB and all of my family and extended family are still in it. Evangelist after evangelist quizzed me about the state of the churches I pastored, and sometime during the week, my answers would show up in their sermons.

And just as they got settled in, it was time for another revival! Most Christians will brush people like Steven Anderson and other IFB pastors and theology aside, claiming that it doesn't represent most Christians. No need to study, just throw in a few relevant illustrations and regurgitate what had been said before. The IFB church movement tends to slowly evolve and change. High-powered evangelists were brought in to preach these meetings. Take it to the pastor.

One-time donations can be made through PayPal.

Straining at gnats on one hand, while practicing, ignoring, or covering up blatant immoral acts on the other hand, is wicked no matter who is doing it, how big their church is, or how close their friendship happens to be. Polly’s IFB cousins are now in their forties and fifties. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren.

There is virtually no love or grace in the IFB.

Countless church members attended all eighteen services.