If you’ve been on SFL for a while, you’ll remember that last year an anonymous attendee passed along his observations of the Sword of the Lord Conference. Well this year we’ve done one better with our very own SFL personality Don (who was accompanied on a few of the nights by another reader) attending each night single night and writing down what he saw and heard. Here are his notes from Day 1:

Where do I begin?

Back on June 28th Darrell posted A Doctor (or 14) In The House and it was suggested that we have a representative do a field repot. That put into motion a series of conversations and a mission sanctioned by SFIE.

A team was assigned and Operation Mothership was a go. The mission’s theme is reflected in the modified poem, The Charge of the SFL Brigade

Fundies to right of them,
Fundies to left of them,
MOgs in front of them
Volley’d & thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the two from SFL.

Due to work obligations only the evening services could be covered. Monday evening arrived and at 1800 we embarked on our mission. We began our recon in the Exhibit hall. Upon entry the first booth that greeted us was a Tie vendor. Selling ties. Not just novelty ties but top of the line neck ties. Continuing down that aisle we have a vendor with a table full of cd’s and dvd’s selling sermons of a Who’s Who of fundy heavy weights, Hyles, Roloff, Sightler, and a host of others.

We were asked if we wanted some good preaching. I came very close to saying, “Sure, where is any.” But our mission was recon only not confrontation. There was a vendor that had the History of the Bible. They actually mentioned the Bishops Bible, the Geneva Bible but the line ended abruptly at 1611 and the King James Bible. It was interesting that in this booth there was also a plaque of Martin Luther. (That ol Catholic) I guess he got props for breaking away from the Catholic Church.

There are several colleges represented here, PCC, West Coast, New England Baptist College, Midwestern Bible College, Shawnee Baptist College, Gethsemane Bible Institute, Commonwealth Baptist College, Berean Baptist College, Heartland Baptist Bible College, Landmark Baptist College, Baptist College of America, and Ambassador Baptist College. These are what are listed on the floor plan and I really did not take a complete inventory.

The pièce de résistance of the Exhibit hall was The Suit Man. Here in the middle of the hall was a tailor shop to outfit the M-O-g with a suit worthy of his position. Off to the “sanctuary” for preaching time.

Monday Preaching
Opens with hymn “Wonderful Grace of Jesus.”
Opening monologue:
• Raise the heat , people don’t stay as warm as they need to stay, turn up the heat in the pulpit
• Let the Lord do something special (I’m sure he will appreciate you allowing him to do that)
• This is the 400th year of the King James Bible (a-mens all around)
• This is a critical time in our history and we need to be watchmen.
Opening Prayer: by Dr. Rydell, just finished a 43 year pastorate, and he’s available to come preach.
Shelton Smith Leads off
The Text is John 4:1-6 (and out of that text he was able to preach on all these topics)
Pre-sermon:
– David and Goliath- the Battle is the Lord’s- David had the stones in the bag already ready
Preaching Time:
– Jacobs well
– (sic)

“…hope you found John Chapter 4. That is, IF you got a fully inspired Bible. If
your’s is not fully inspired then sit on it so nobody’ll know you got a bad Bible. If you got one that’s fully inspired, forever pereserved, and flawlessly perfect I want to read some out of it.”

(set the tone for the whole week)
– How to dig a well

*Sermon Title: There’s Still Water in the Well
– Senseless prejudices: (based on the scripture comparing Jesus baptizing more than John)
– To Judge someone is senseless, just because somebody may not be like we are (yep he said that)
– Immorality; how America is becoming more like Sodom and Gomorrah (+1 for hot button mention )
– Against “Happy Hour” ( +1 for Prohibition anti alcohol )
– How great it is that we don’t have to invent something anew every time we use it
– Keeping the well clean
– Commentary on worldly music ( +1 for music reference )
– False Christs
– False prophets
– False Preachers
– False Apostles
– False Teachers
– False Brethren
– Dispensationalism: Re: the Rapture ( +1 for Rapture reference )
– Heretical doctrines
– Three Point Calvinists ( +1 for anti Calvinist reference)
– Manning the wells
– Buying the ropes and buckets (because God needs you to get the water out of his well..)
– In order to get the water out of the well and give it to those starving for that water
– Give a commentary on the King James Bible ( +1 King James Bible reference )
– And talk about “Bad Bibles”
– A dig on CCM music ( another +1 for CCM reference )
– All the music this week will be, “Solid, Evangelistic, Soul-winning, music” (amens all around)
– Church is God’s idea. (I believe this was regarding how the local church is practiced. )
– A Dig on Campus Crusade for Christ dropping Christ from their name.
( http://www.ccci.org/about-us/donor-relations/our-new-name/press.htm )
– Finally gets back to the first text of the evening.
– Fire up the pulpit
– The Bible Well
– The Church well
– The Soul-winning well (whatever that is)
– props to “Dr” John and “Dr” Curtis for the work they did.
– He (Smith) didn’t have to build from scratch able to stand on the shoulders of these two.
– Patriotism ( +1 rounding out the sermon with patriotic reference)
– Keeping the well of your church clean
*Not bad for just six verses but the masters are yet to flex their preaching muscles.

Offering –announcements- special singing

Mike Allison batting in the number two spot
Hebrews 12:1-3
Opening Monologue:
– (96) were saved in a missions conference and Vacation Bible school ( a very successful ministry for sure sporting those types of numbers )
– (5) surrendered to full time service ( wonder if he brought them with him to visit The Suit Guy in the Exhit it hall?)
– Lyndon B. Johnson got saved
– as little girl named “Faith Booger” got saved. (he saw her name on the card and made a joke out of it.)
Preaching Time:
– Quoted much of General Douglas MacArthur’s address to the 1962 graduating class at West Point
– Patriotism again
– MacArthur used the mantra of Duty-Honor-Country
– Changed to Duty-Honor-The Saviour
Sermon Title: “Duty – Honor – The Saviour” ( KJV spelling to be sure )
– Martyr hystory (quoting some from the Foxes Book of Martyrs)

– Laurentius (aka Saint Lawrence) (uh oh does he know he is praising a Catholic?)
– Michael Sattler (Anabaptist) (uh oh a former catholic monk, but, but, the Baptists never came out of the
Catholic Church they were always Baptist?? How can this be? )
– Anabaptists (praising the Anabaptists)
– Wm Carey ( Uh oh Carey was a reformed Baptist, i.e. Calvinist; though no mention of this was made)
– David Livingstone
– EJ Cooper
– Christ is at the head of this long line of saints robed in white
– Being in Church to hear the word of God preached on Sunday Nights instead of being at home (+1 being in church )
– Church comes before sports
– God’s people are to be in the house of God ( every time the doors are open. Outward performance shows how right you are with God. )
– Faithfulness to the choir if you are in the choir (more performance sanctification.)
– Standards according to Titus 2 11-12 proof text (This is the proof test to end all proof test on how Christians are to live separate from the world and they should all look just like Independent Fundamental Baptists.)
– Separation ( means to look like a good Independent Fundamental Baptist)
– Wonder why more are not surrendering to Full time Christian service ( This means that there is a numbers gap in the IFB movement, They are losing numbers and the number of wide-eyed preparation KYH hair jelled preacher boys fawning over their spiritual hero and jockeying for the #1 position at the
head of the line is declining.)
– Full on assault of Calvinism ( The Sovereignty of God in relation to Election, and salvation is in direct conflict with the IFB, man made, soulwinning / church growth programs. This “fad” is cutting into the IFB numbers and they are running scared so they are in an “all out” assault against Calvinism. And anything that looks like the Sovereignty of God is labeled Calvinism)
*quote of the evening*
“Nobody ever became a Calvinist by reading the Bible.”
– Calvin became a Calvinist by reading after that Roman Catholic Augustine
– Calvin wanted to kill the Anabaptists, so how on earth can you carry his name?
– Internet shot/ quote: “I don’t understand how professing believers can get on the internet and run down every good ministry that stands for soul-winning and holiness. I thank God that if they are saved they are going to stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ and find that every word of their blog was kept, and they will give an answer to it.” (A shot at SFL?? Preachers would do well to remember everthing they said in the pulpit is also being preserved and the will give and answer as well. )
– more should surrender to full time service
– William Booth
(a mere two verses produced all of this)
Close the service with an altar Call
/end day one