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Happy Thanksgiving from SFL

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I’m going to be taking a few days off from writing here (if I can actually stay away for that long) to spend some time with family and other projects.

Be good.  Play nice.  Enjoy.

144 thoughts on “Happy Thanksgiving from SFL”

        1. Someone’s gonna get a big bowl of cranberry sauce in the ear, but let’s make sure the angel’d eggs are safe first!

        1. Rob, my sister was a dorm sup at PCC, I’m sure she can still get some demerit forms and make it happen!

        2. You’ll be happy to know that she is a former fundy, too, and goes to a church that is SO not PCC-approved.

  7. Awww, do we have to be good and play nice? You’re no fun! Anyone want to join me in making trouble? 😈

    To Darrell and my fellow SFL readers and commentors: Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your time reveling in the fundy-approved non-sin of gluttony. πŸ˜‰

    2. And have some stuffing… hay-men… with some gravy… and not that thin gravy, no sir… that thick God-bless gravy… hay-men… Hello?… And give me some of that ham… praise God… and some pecan (pause to stare and encourage hay-mens)… PECAN pie…. good southern old-fashioned religion, KJV-1611, soul-winning PECAN pie, hello…. hay-men… and a good ol’ Coca-cola…. uh-huh.. you hear me… good ol’ God-ordained Coca-cola.. bless God… let me hear ya now!

      1. I’m a lunatic. I posted this last night and then read it and laughed like a fool at my own post.

        My mind isn’t well.

  9. Surprise, freaks! Have a Happy Crack-a-Lacking Thanksgiving! (Hope there’s some Madagascar fans out there).

  10. Ugh… Thanksgiving with fundy family who are all in love with their new Sammy-Allen style pastor, not my idea of a great day! All I can say is hurry up grad school! I’m ready to be 800+ miles from these kinds of holidays. πŸ˜•

  14. Thanksgiving with your family? Vacations are for liberals. Darrell, you should go the extra mile and sacrifice this time for the ministry to us ex-Fundies! 😐 Work for the night is coming!

    Happy Thanksgiving.

  15. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on SFL!

    Looking forward to football, good food and a tryptophan induced coma. :mrgreen:

    1. Happy Turkey-day to you and yours as well!
      This afternoon I’m sure I will be most thankful for elastic waistbands.

    2. Yes! I’m rooting for the turducken, idk how they make that, but I always want a peice even if I’m stuffed, and eating pie!

        1. Maybe I’ll try it sometime during the year, and pull it off next year. The Tur can only be improved w/ the ducken.

        2. I feel like I should’ve written a Thanksgiving Psalm about posting preacher screaming videos on youtube!

  17. Happy Thanksgiving! I drove down last night to my parent’s house with my two year old. It being Wednesday night and all, my parents weren’t home when we got into town. I asked my little girl what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to go to grandma and pa’s church. I relented and when we got here, the pastor had asked one of the PB’s to preach. Thank God he only preached for 15 minutes. He asked for every head to be bowed and every eye to be closed, no one looking around and there must have been 25 people hit the OFA. Anyway, pray for my two year old! She’s becoming a Fundy!

  18. Happy thanksgiving to you all.

    My holiday started this morning with a great discussion in which my husband’s dad told him how wrong he was for the new direction we’re taking the church. When hubby asked him to show him where he was wrong from the Bible, father-in-law said, “Well, you can prove anything you want from the Bible.”

    So, yeah, he never DID show us a single BIBLICAL reason why we’re so “wrong.” He did say that so many people leaving our church proved we were wrong. Hubby said, “That’s pragmatism.” Father-in-law: “So I’m pragmatic.” Hubby: “I’m trying to follow where God’s leading me.” Father -in-law: “That’s what you say.”

    Oh, yeah, and we got the “you must feel guilty because you’re being defensive.”

    Frankly, turkey just isn’t worth it.

    1. Ò€œWell, you can prove anything you want from the Bible.Ò€

      PW, doesnt the Bible say that unless you hate your father-in-law, you cant follow Jesus? I mean, since you can prove anything you want from the Bible… πŸ˜€

    3. Once you’ve discovered freedom in Christ, you can’t go back to Fundyland. Hang in there. It gets better.

      1. I say ditto to what Dan said. Hang in there, girl. I have family like that, too. You know, when I found Galatians 5:1, I wondered why I had never heard that preached in a fundy church/class/school/etc. It’s VAGUELY preached, but not in detail, because it rocks the whole foundation of fundy practices.

    4. I’m sorry, PW. As a fundy’s PK, I’ve been there and listened to that. Here’s to the fundies having their own “cloud” in heaven where they can believe they are the only ones up there so the rest of us can enjoy eternity in peace.

    6. Boo. Sorry to hear that. You’re right; turkey isn’t worth it. I’m sending you a virtual bowl of vegetarian pumpkin soup (my contribution to my family’s meat orgy of a menu this year). I hope you can decompress and put all the negativity behind you and enjoy Advent! *hug*

    7. @pastor’s wife-
      I think you know my sister! She was telling me the story of a friend of hers that sounds a lot like yours.

      Fundyland is a small world.

      1. That would be funny, but then I’m always being surprised at the inter-connectedness in fundamentalism. πŸ™‚

    8. Thanks for the encouragment! I wasn’t surprised that they didn’t agree with us, but I was suprised that they attacked my husband’s character, intentions, and integrity. It was incredibly mean-spirited. God used it in my life, though, to finally open my eyes to the bankruptcy of much that passes for “being biblical” in the IFB. My husband’s family were behaving NOTHING like Christ. I don’t need that anymore. My chains are gone.

      Natalie, you’re right – Gal. 5:1 IS powerful!!!

      Uptown Hippie, the vegetarian pumpkin soup sounds delicious! There’s no smiley licking his lips and saying, “Yum!”

      1. @pastor’s wife — I will always be amazed at how ugly IFB’s can be, and how they justfiy their ugliness. And, I’ve seen it hurt so many people. One thing that I’ve found is how not alone I am in being hurt.

        And, the sad thing is that I wonder how many of them are hurting too, and think that something is wrong with them, like they’re too whiny or not tough enough, etc. And are too scared to say anything.

        It’s a huge mind game.

        1. @Natalie, good point! And it is SO against the spirit of Christ and they don’t even see it.

          I like that you are thinking about the people still in the system and thinking of them with COMPASSION. Now THAT’S the heart of Jesus.

  20. Great Thanksgiving this year. Just got back. No uber-fundies at the table this year. In fact, absolutely no talk of religion at all outside of the prayer from my Dad which is tradition.

    Just goofing off and enjoying each other and me leaving and making mental notes that I MUST visit family more often than I do.

    Hope yours went well. I’m STILL stuffed.

  21. But, for the record, I caught myself singing the song, “Oh, It Is Wonderful To Be A Fundy”. I was packing up the food and was singing it low and my husband came into the kitchen and heard me and just started laughing.

    I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I’ve memorized the words to that song. I love it.

    1. That thing has been stuck in my mind for the past few weeks as well…Thank you Tony Mel *glares*…

      1. Is that who did it? I just assumed it was Darrell. I’ve been dying to know who the trio was. I commented that if they ever needed a second soprano… and a pianist, of course, I’m available.

        1. Tony Mel made the video based off of lyrics written by Pita. Also the trio said that you could sing with them, just don’t wear high heels because they’re a little short and don’t want to be “lorded over” by a woman πŸ˜‰

        2. Well, at 5’1″, I might be the same height, but even so, I’ll be at the piano (a woman’s proper place) hidden behind the sheet music to give glory to the menfolk.

        4. Okay, wait… I just got what you were saying. I just went to watch the video and saw the children’s choir bit.

          No worries, I’m still at the piano.

        7. Of COURSE, it’s white. Gleaming, perfect white! You just ignore Rob. He knows not of what he speaks! I am the utmost epitome of pureness and righteousness, not to mention humility! And, I work very hard to maintain that image, thankyouvermuch!

        8. I don’t know…lately I’ve been doubting the existence of the white piano….have I lost my ability to know what music is? πŸ™

        9. And, go to the post about ordinations and some of the posters have said it’s not there, but I see it. There’s a white piano in the background.

          And, if Jack Schaap has a white piano, then it’s annointed… by Jack Schaap.

        11. If you’re not really truly 1,000% sure beyond any shadow of a doubt that you really really really truly meant it 1,000% when you first saw the white piano, you need to get your sight right and rededicate your sight at the old-fashioned post where the white piano was first seen. If you were to go into a piano store tonight, would you be able to say with all your heart that you really truly meant it when you saw the white piano? If the piano store owner looked at you and said, Ò€œWhy should I let you in to see my pianos,Ò€ what you say? Every head bowed, every eye closed. If you feel the spirit of gid tugging at your heart, come down to the old-fashioned post to see the white piano. Everyone, together:

          Just as I am without one plea
          But that thy piano was made white for me
          And that thou bid’st me come to see
          O man of gid I come, I come!

        12. Great. Now I have “Just as I am” stuck in my head. It’s worse than a Lady Gaga song! 😯

  22. Wait, I take that back. There was no SERIOUS religion discussion, but my sister was flipping through TV channels and she stopped at TCT. Well, husband and I broke into our mock uber-fundie dialogue (which we are prone to do at a moment’s notice).

    Me: “Well, she’s obviously an unholy liberal, because she has dyed hair and it spikes a bit too much.”
    Husband: “And she has a headset with a mouth piece, yeah, she’s definitely a liberal”

    Later…

    Me (to my former fundy sister who’s laughing at us by now): “See, I’m okay forever more because I went to a Bible college… He (pointing to husband) went to one of those Hell-bound state universities…”
    Husband: (without missing a beat) “Yeah, where we took Satan worshipping classes and beat baby seals with puppies.”

    2. I could never get into the Satan worshiping or beating baby seals with puppies classes – they were always full.

      2. (tee hee)… From what he’s told me, Kitten Sacrifices 101 usually had room, mainly because of the lack of the blood queasy.

  24. Happy Thanksgiving all. Enjoy the time with your families. May I suggest a preaching competition between the young men of the family?

  26. My Turkey Day took place amidst a swirl of controversy at the local fundy church where I grew up (and where my parents still attend religiously). Good ol’ Tom Ferrell recently spent a week hounding the church into “repentance”; I attended one of the services and it was the classic fundy tactics. Guilt trips, coersion, dire warnings of being “left behind” if people didn’t get saved, etc. No mention of love for Christ and very little of the Gospel’s simple truth.

    As always, these shady evangelist tactics reaped great rewards especially in the youth group. About 20 kids “got saved”, and now anyone who questions Ferrell’s methods is looked on as questioning, in turn, the working of the Holy Spirit. OH BROTHER πŸ™„

    1. Hopefully, they didn’t get one of those slippery salvations. Sometimes that booger slips off so easily without warning and you have to get it put back on again… and again…. and again…. and….

      1. Yep, most of that same group of 20 will get re-saved next year when they go to hear Phil Kidd at the Blue-Ridge Camp meeting. And once you are either saved or re-saved you must get to work making sure that you are saved so you can justify yourself in the face of the next Pulpiteer’s Guilt Tsunami.

        1. That’s right. So, get out your Saved Checklist complete with things only REAL saved people do.

          And, if you miss one, then it’s back to the OFA for you!

        2. I forgot to mention…There was a marathon baptismal service to take care of all Ferrell’s “converts”. Lots of time praising DOCTOR Ferrell’s accomlishments…

        3. Ah, Baptized in the name of the Quartet:

          “I Baptize you in the name of Dr Farrell, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.”

          With that extra name in there that ought to gitem’ saved fo sho!

  27. As I read thru the comments today, I realize I don’t have it nearly as bad as many of you do. In fact of everyone in my family I guess I got the fundy gene, certainly when I was into it, I was the biggest fundy in the bunch, and I have made a fool of myself many times over. Oh how I wish I could get back some of my nasty comments to family and friends. I would pontificate on most anything from tatoos to piercings to relatives “living” arrangements to the biggie, “KJV onlyism” and what makes me so aggravated about that is, I didn’t know a thing about what I was talking about, just repeat what the MOG said, oh what a fool I was.

    Thanksgiving was wonderful. We have been celebrating it at my sister’s home for several years now. I was asked to say grace but I deferred to my Dad, now 84 and in good health, we held hands and stood in my sister’s spacious kitchen as my Dad prayed a beautiful prayer and thanked God for our bountiful blessings. You know even though Dad set in the pew and listened to the MOG rail about participating in Satan’s holiday “Halloween” he would go home and tell anyone that wanted to listen “My grandbabies ain’t worshipping the devil, they’re just out having fun” When the MOG would preach that “good” people were only drinking grape juice when the KJV said wine, and only the bad people were drinking real wine, he never bought it for a second, the bible says they drank wine, I believe they drank wine, I don’t care what Pastor says! My mother who is actually more “spiritual” than my father, thought it pretty curious when the MOG would try to deny the universal church of believers, Pastor was saying there was no such thing, only the “local” church, (haven’t heard that one talked about here,) but she never bought it, she knew that the folks in Africa that had accepted Christ as their Saviour were a part of the church and were our brothers and sisters. They both love the Pastor and just accept these shortcomings, I couldn’t, when he keeps on and on about the same topics, especially when he spouts off on matters that he has not the slightest idea of what he’s talking about, like bible translation, he’s Jack Chick all the way.

    You know I wonder how many folks in small towns like mine, just overlook the shortcomings of the MOG and put up with it, knowing how wrong he is, and because they have been attending for so long and have all of their friends there, they just let stuff slide.

    Tks for letting me ramble!

  28. Thanksgiving. Oh, Awkward Visits with Fundy Family. I have now been officially labeled the prodigal child, despite being the most stereotypically “good kid” in the family. πŸ™„ This year, we were back to “I refuse to acknowledge you are here or talk to you,” which got so bad that my brother had to repeat my questions to get the answers. What kind of religion tells you to shun your child? πŸ˜₯

    1. (((Naomi)))

      It’s what happens when pride and self-delusion (thinking “I’m mostly good and always right”) mixes with an ardent desire to obey certain Bible verses. Paul’s comment to treat an unrepentant brother like an unbeliever means to people like this to ignore a “loved one” standing in their presence. It’s extremely passive aggressive and cruel. Love, humility, compassion, and gentleness all cry out against the way you were treated, but to fundies, “holiness” trumps love, despite Romans 13:10 – “Love is the fulfillment of the law.” As long as they are “upholding truth” (in other words, defending some obscure and outdated tradition of man), they don’t care how unloving they are. I guess they think God doesn’t care either.

      I’m so sorry you had such an awkward and painful visit. I hope you have a community that accepts and encourages you. Remember Psalm 27:10: “Though my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will receive me.”

      Our brother-in-law ignores direct comments made to him by my husband, but chats amiably with my husband’s parents. He mostly ignores me. Not sure why. We left our Thanksgiving “celebration” early, discouraged by other relatives attacking our beliefs, actions, and character, and are now wondering the best way to respond. We MUST follow Christ no matter the cost, but aren’t sure how to translate this into dealing with people who should have loved us but instead made mean, vicious, condemnatory statements to us.

      It’s sad to want a Norman Rockwell Thanksgiving and not get it. I truly hope God comforts your heart and lets you know that He sees and knows your life and your choices. Someday, He will reward you. I live in expectation of a better feast — the marriage supper of the Lamb!!! Until then, watch a funny movie with friends, sing some upbeat praise songs, and pray for those who’ve despitefully used you. Pray that God replaces their heart of stone for a heart of flesh and that the fruit of the Spirit will grow in their lives (’cause they’re sure not demonstrating any!)

      1. Thanks! Hugs to you, too. This is definitely one of those communities. πŸ™‚ I know a lot of other people here have similar holiday experiences. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. Who does that? And for them, how sad must it be to have a life that doesn’t know love?

  29. Hey, guys, I’m going to the unholy beach this coming week, just for a couple days.

    Wait, forgive me… I’m going to the COAST. It’s okay if you’re going to the COAST.

    1. BTW, I call everyone “guys”. I dont’ know why. I’m southern. I should have said “ya’ll”.

        1. If I was still a single girl not married to a HOT police officer, such a life guard would be a temptation. But, Hot Fuzz comes home in uniform and I still get the vapors.

  30. I was blessed to spend Thanksgiving with the formerly fundy members of my family – we have all escaped except for my big brother. Being a fundy, he decided that he needed to be separated from the rest of the family because they were not separating themselves from me. The text for his sermon (delivered via email) was I Cor. 5:11. How convenient for him that it even says “with such an one no not to eat.” πŸ™„

    The cause of his upset? This spring I transitioned from male to female. After informing themselves, the rest of my family came to the conclusion that I was to be loved and accepted as I am. My brother says that all he needs to know is in the Bible, and the Bible says he has to separate from me until I stop rebelling against God.

    1. It’s frustrating and idiotic. At least it’s only the one, and better to be seperated than berated, if I can safely assume that would be the other option as is.

    2. Knowing me, I would have said, “Well, I have to be separated from you because you’re prideful, and until you repent of your Deadly Sin, I can’t associate with you.”

    3. @Faith,

      Are you serious?

      You “transitioned from male to female”?

      How do you reconcile this with scripture?

      1. If she thought it was necessary to “justify it based on Scripture” probably would be Matthew 19:12, but not everyone justifies everything they do with Scripture anymore than people justify filling their cars with gas in Scripture.

      2. I haven’t found anything in the teaching of Jesus that condemns me for the way I was born. By God’s grace I am now living truthfully instead of faking it.

      3. Faith, I’m so glad the rest of your family loves and accepts you! I’m sorry your brother doesn’t. I hope the pain he causes is minimal.

        Kudos to you for having the courage to live as who you are. It’s mind-numbingly frustrating that fundies tend to be so ignorant of the biology of sex and gender. Just because there was no genetics or hormone testing when the Bible was written doesn’t mean we can ignore it today. Thanks for being open here!

        1. Thanks!

          It’s not just simple uneducated ignorance, that’s relatively easy to solve. Fundies are willfully, even proudly ignorant about these things. They do not want to be exposed to any information that might cause them to re-evaluate their prejudices (which they call “convictions”). I’ve been completely unable to engage my brother in any kind of rational conversation about my transition. He simply will not consider any information outside himself and the Bible. I can live my life just fine without him, but I didn’t want it to be this way.

        1. Theo, What makes you so self righteous about something you obviously know nothing about. Have you ever met a trans gender person?
          Have you ever talked to someone who is physically one gender but emotionally and spiritually another? Anyway, just because you can’t love transgender people, Jesus can.In Christ there is no male or female, only people.

          Faith, I’m sorry you have to deal with people like your brother and Theo. Hang in there.

        2. Tragedy is being forced to live as someone you aren’t. Tragedy is finally coming to terms with yourself, being honest with the world around you, and then being attacked for it.

          Just because it didn’t happen to you doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

        3. Theo, lay off of Faith. She’s come here for acceptance, and acceptance is what she is going to get.

          You’re coming across as a bully, so knock it off.

        5. Theo, I think it’s a mistake to try to make the Bible say things that aren’t in there (like saying men’s hair touching the collar or going to the movies are sinful). Transsexualism is not mentioned at all in the Bible. The closest the Bible comes to mentioning transsexual people is the eunuchs. Eunuchs are not condemned in the New Testament or by the prophets. There is some negative stuff in the holiness code regarding eunuchs, genital deformities, and cross dressing – but I think we can agree that as Christians we live under Grace, not under the Law.

          What’s tragic is people who say they are Christians but don’t follow Christ’s example when it comes to loving others. Love does not say “You must continue to live in misery because it makes me uncomfortable to see you happy.”

        6. Well said, and I must tell you, Faith, you’re a better Christian than me, as I would have told Theo exactly what part of his anatomy he can put his judgments… ha ha.

        1. good q, but pride is fundy approved as is environmental pollution, soonly need to reconcile things fundies hate

        3. It def is that. I don’t recall Theo being this far in the grasp of fundies before, but was totally off base.

        4. I just get peeved off when someone tries to bully someone else, especially when they’re trying to share something personal.

  31. I’ve met and talked to transgendered people. As I may have mentioned before, I come from a big city.

    I don’t claim to understand gender identity issues, but I know enough not to judge people whose gender identity doesn’t fit into narrow categories.

    You are who you are, and it’s better to be your best possible self, instead of trying to be someone else.

    1. That was supposed to be in the thread on Faith’s family Thanksgiving. I don’t know how it ended up here.

      1. Well said, Gary.

        None of us has a right to judge anyone. How people live their lives is between them and God. When I’m faced with someone with a lifestyle I don’t understand, after growing up IFB and leaving it, I now think, “Well, as long as they’re happy.”

  33. Wout – I don’t propose to understand trans-gender issues, like alot of things on planet earth this is an issue I’m fairly ignorant about.

    The issue I have with your comment is trying to use scripture to support Faith’s decision to become a man (physically) I have seen many folks try to make this verse (Gal 3:28)say something it clearly doesn’t. Paul here is explaining about the law and the promise, how that the law was put in “charge” to lead us to Christ. v-27 “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” now the contested verse – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” This verse is about as far away from supporting people’s decision to have an operation to become male/female as it is to supporting Adolph Hitler’s decision to kill 6 million Jews.

    Faith’s decision is exactly that, her decision. I won’t judge her decision. But to try and use Gal 3:28 to support her decision is not a proper use of scripture. Faith says she is a christian, I believe her, now in Christ she is recognized as being neither male nor female,slave or free etc.

    Hey Wout I re-read your post and you actually said in Christ there is neither male nor female, so maybe your not trying to use those bible verses to “support” Faith’s decisiion. And let me finish by saying that I agree that God loves transgendered folks.

    1. Since we represent a large variety of interpretations of the Bible, I’m uncomfortable with language that sounds like the final word. “…it clearly doesn’t”? Eh, good people disagree; it’s not always so *clear*. I do appreciate hearing people discuss their interpretations; I just really like it when we recognize other people legitimately see things differently. Especially since, like Faith said, “Transsexualism is not mentioned at all in the Bible.”

      Also, Godwin’s Law. πŸ˜• If I were a transwoman who had chosen surgery as part of my treatment, I might find my honesty about my actual gender being compared to a holocaust a little, well, offensive? I understand you’re going for shock value, but it would make me more comfortable in the conversation (and probably other people, too) if we were all careful about the analogies that are being made.

      1. Naomi, You are right that good people disagree and I respect that, in fact just before posting my comment to Wout I re-read his comment and realized that I wouldn’t have had to post mine at all because he had actually not mis-quoted or mis-represented the verse in question. The reason that I did is because that verse in Galatians is often mis-used when these sorts of topics are brought up, and like it or not the bible is very clear here that it does not support Faith’s or anyone elses decision to have this type of surgery, and yes we can disagree about that. However 2nd Timothy 3:16 is still as valid today as when it was written.

        Yes I should have used a different analogy. Sorry, Faith.

        1. I’m not going to pound you on the Hitler analogy, that point’s been made and conceded. Apology accepted.

          There’s always Mt. 5:29-30 to consider. πŸ˜‰

        2. Oh, and when Paul wrote 2 Tim. 3:16, he was talking about the Septuagint.

          The more I learn about the history of the Bible, the less convinced I am of Fundamental #2.

    2. Faith – I responded earlier under “logic” where I sorta cast some doubt about your understanding of scripture, so I’m gonna be alittle bit forward here and suggest that you have no idea what you are talking about when you said that “when Paul wrote 2 Timothy 3:16 he was referring to the Septuagint” So hey everyone, get ready, Faith is going to blind us with her biblical brilliance! Enlighten us O Great One.

      Have you noted my decided, sarcastic turn, yea you struck a nerve. Don’t cast doubt and aspersions on the precious Word of God.

      I don’t tolerate foolish fundamentalists when it comes to twisting scripture to fit in with their agendas, nor will I tolerate it from you!

      You would do well to stay on topis you know something about, its obvious that your understanding of scripture is limited.

      So Faith how about it?

    1. I’m glad you got that figured out! πŸ˜†

      It really is not so much a decision as it is a confession of the truth, squeezed out by slow and painful torture.

      1. Faith, you’re very brave. Congratulations on your decision and I wish you a happy life with lots of love.

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