Announcement

SFL Turns 4

138 Comments

This past weekend marked four years that SFL has been around. Four years has brought over 1,300 posts, 125,000 comments, and 5 million visits.

Thank you all for making SFL happen every day. I’m better for having had the chance to know you.

138 thoughts on “SFL Turns 4”

      4. Thank you! 🙂

        Beth D: Potentially. However, I plan to remove them first, then sit on the cushion and eat my cupcakes. That way, both my mouth and butt will be happy… 😉

      1. Thank you Big Gary!

        Although I greatly appreciate your attempt to teach me my mother tongue, I have to argue with you and say that the Swedish word for “seal” is actually “säl”… Good try though!! 😀

        1. Yup, I’m Swedish. (waves hi from ikea-land!)

          According to what I’ve read Silja is a Finnish version of the name Cecilia (my second name).
          It is also a cruiseferry brand. They actually have a seal as their logo, so maybe there is some relation between silja and seal that I am unaware of? 😉

        2. I once took a Silja ship from Stockholm to Helsinki. That’s probably where I got the idea that Silja = Seal.

        3. My maiden name “White” is Swedish. But I’m your typical upper Midwestern European mutt. (German, Swedish…etc.)

          Welcome! 😀

    1. Wow, Let’s see…I guess I’ve been here…in February it will be three years? Oy! *and I’ve not been voted off yet?

      In my mind I think of Darrell as a Bob Newhart character and we are all in group therapy. (come to think of it in the second Newhart there was a george and a Darrell no, wait they were Darryl.):shock:

      To all the folks who frequent SFL “Thanks for the Memories!” …and the therapy sessions. You will never know how much they have helped me along the way.
      Thank you Darrell, for sharing this with us.

      2. Newheart was my favorite show growing up in the 80s! “Hi, I’m Larry, and this is my brother Darrell and my other brother Darrell.” No offense to SFL’s Darrell lol. But the comedy on that show is something I don’t see in today’s TV.

        Happy Birthday SFL! 😀 I have been out of the IFB for almost a decade now. My hubby and I are finally ready to try church for the first time. We’re kinda thinking along the lines of a Non Denominational church. We shall see.

        2. Guess I’m older– I used to watch the show where Bob Newhart’s character was a pscychologist who did group therapy. Suzanne Pleshette played his wife. Her name always sounded like it should refer to a material for stuffed toy animals.

        4. Gary, SFL may have turned 4, but I turned the big 4-0 in September! I think even the music from the 70s and 80s is better than that technodisco crap of today.

    1. I second that!

      I think 1,300 posts is a lot more to show for one’s life than the typical fundie preacher’s 1,300 pounds. (Not that any managawd out there gained any of that weight eating cupcakes which we all know are for queers and those harlots from that Hellywood show Fornication and the City.)

  7. Happy 4th birthday to SFL! Thank you, Darrell, for making this a safe, funny, healing place for so many people. You do good work.

  9. Happy blog birthday!

    Are celebratory drinks in order? I’ll have some Welch’s. 😛

      1. Make sure they’re square, to distinguish them from the round itty-bitty bread the Catholics eat.

    2. Never shall I ever forget the time that my fundie-extreme mother who was once a Lutheran told me all about how much she loved the communion wine at the Lutheran church they attended when I was a kid because it “tasted like apricots.” This was around the same time that she also told me that it was a sin to be in the same building as someone who was drinking alcohol. I said, then why do you and dad go out to eat at restaurants that have bars? She said that was different. But she didn’t exactly say why.

      Oh the cognitive dissonance of growing up fundie!

  11. I raise a cup of coffee as a toast in your honor, sir. Well played!

    Could you make my cupcake carrot cake? I need more vegetables and fewer sweets.

  12. Happy Birthday, SFL!

    “Happy Birthday to you
    Only one will not do.
    Born again means salvation.
    How many have you?”

      1. We used to sing this at our church when someone had a birthday. After the traditional “Happy Birthday”, this would be the second verse. Only one birthday won’t do. You must be born again.

        1. I know, I’ve suffered through the “second verse” of Happy Birthday many times. Notwithstanding, the syntax of the last line is abysmal.

        2. I’m not sure if the syntax of the final line is incorrect in itself, though it sounds archaic.

          I think the issue is an unclear antecedent of the word “many”. Structurally it looks as if it should be “salvation” which doesn’t make sense. The song is asking how many BIRTHDAYS you have had, but that word is presented in singular form in the first line which makes the last line sound weird.

          *With a dramatic swish of her cape, Word Nerd makes a quick exit.*

    2. The version I have grown up with sounds like this:

      Happy Birthday to you
      Just one will not do
      Take Jesus as Saviour
      And then you’ll have two

      I added the u to the Saviour so I don;t get called a liberal by you guys 😀 . I don’t know that I ever heard about the spelling of the words plus we just sang it i never saw it written down.

  16. Happy Birthday to SFL! My brother told me about this site around 3 years ago right at the time where I was starting to wonder if the grass was greener on the other side. This site has been a tremendous source of support for me and my family as we left our IFB church in search of something better. We are SO happy in our new church, which is Reformed Baptist and I have to say that it was the people here, and some other people that God physically placed in our lives that kept us sane througout the transition. I don’t comment very often, but I visit this site daily. Keep on keeping on Darrell!

  17. I came here a little over two years ago looking to see if anyone felt the same about a “Ra-Ra We’re Number One” big fundie conference that I had always gone to. And, not only did I find that, but I found people who knew me in a very personal way, without ever meeting me at all.

    To thee all, I bestow all my beloved butt cushions, and say thanks.

    And, I blame every single one a ya for getting me hooked to this mess. 😉 :mrgreen:

  18. Wow! Four already?! I’m so glad I found this place a couple years ago…and right around the time I needed it most. Thanks Darrell for keeping this place going and for all the countless hours you’ve spent giving us stuff to read, think, and comment on.

  19. Happy 4th Birthday SFL. Thank you Darrell for your insights and humor for all things Fundy. 😀

  20. I would like to thank Les Dulunch for introducing me to SFL. I was trying to remember the first post I saw here. I think it was when Les sent me this link: http://www.stufffundieslike.com/2009/12/thrones/

    I then perused and skulked around until one day I posted and became addicted. I have met many kindred spirits, as well as a few non-kindred. Thanks to all of you for the conversations, arguments, witticisms, and general mayhem that often erupts.

  21. Wow, 125,000 comments, and less than 99,000 of them by me.

    Thank you for making and keeping up this blog, Darrell.

    A couple of years ago, I was looking for a graphic to illustrate the story of Elisha and the she-bears (I’ve forgotten why). A search engine brought me here, and that’s all she wrote. I haven’t been able to tear myself away since then. And the she-bear illustration is still terrific. 😎

    http://www.stufffundieslike.com/2010/06/bible-stories-elisha-and-the-she-bears/

  22. Thank you, Darrell!

    4 years of showing the funny and loony parts of fundamentalism.

    And also 4 years of informal online group therapy. Think of all the money you’ve saved us! 😉

  23. For yeers of a librale pantywaste selling his sole for filthy luchre. He says hes a blever but he makes fun of grate preechers and the KJB. If hes saved then hes lukewarm and makes me want to spew like it says in Revlations. Hes in for a suprise when the Rapture comes.

    1. Dr. Bro Phil
      I’m not sure what to make of your sexual innuendo laden reply. 😳 Your talk of panties, spewing and your friend Rapture surprising someone when she reaches a crescendo is uncharacteristic of your normal “wholie ‘riteing.” I’m shocked 😯 and dismayed 😥 Now, go git rite with gid!

    2. Amen, Dr. Armenik. I know this site is full of bitterness but you are so bold to preach the truth. If we look at the letters in Darrell’s name, we see that the last two letters are LL, which is Pagan Numerals for 50-50. Praise God that even though the wicked try to hide their ways, He always reveals the liberal compromisers and man of sin that shall be at the last days.

      1. And of course we shouldn’t miss that the number of the beast is found in the title and web address, cleverly hidden but from those who have born-again eyes to see with: Three Fs in immidiate succession (stuFFFundieslike)– F of course being the sixth letter of the alphabet. FFF=666. Right?! It’s really very logic! Now, what can that tell us about who is really behind this blog??

        1. Wow, the brilliance of your faux-logic literally gave me chills. How did I miss that??? How many times have I typed the fff of stufffundieslike with my RIGHT HAND, thereby taking the MARK OF THE BEAST!!?! 😯

          (Oh wait, I type the letter f with my left hand. I am still saved.)

        2. So where does that leave FightingFundamentalForums, also known as FFF, by the people who post there? 😆 😆 😆

    3. Phil, ond buddy!!! How ya bin, jerkwad? I have misd yur posts, loving the kjB and all things fundimental. You make me smil.

      1. Note: Those objects of wrath weren’t “created”

        The KJV says they were “fitted” for destruction, and I think I like that better.

        Hint: These “objects” fitted/prepared themselves!

        1. Wrong, the vessels of wrath were prepared specifically for distruction. The previous two verses are very specific in pointing that out. Let’s keep it in context shall we. 😉

        2. I’m precisely in context, had to chuckle when I read your comment. Listen, no potter ever created a vessel to simply destroy it! If that’s the calvinist god, I know I want nothing to do with Him! (for real context study/compare scripture w/scripture Heb 3:15 “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart” call me crazy but looks like God is giving folks choices, not creating them to destroy them! Don, you are actually attributing wickedness to our God, but I know you do it out of ignorance, and I simply have to pray that you can overcome this vile indoctrination you have been exposed to! 2 Pet 3:9 Shows us the heart of the REAL God! “…He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but EVERYONE to come to repentance” Friend this is the REAL God, the God of this Universe! 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says it better than I ever could about what God wants for men “This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants ALL men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Just for fun, look on down to v-5 How many men did you give yourself a ransom for Jesus? “…Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for ALL men.”

          What’s that rustling I hear? It must be someone looking through a White, Sproul, Piper, MacArthur book for an answer to the powerful word of God! Quite telling that they are looking in some man’s book!

        3. Like I have said before your reading comprehension skills are woefully lacking.
          Go back and Read Romans 9 beginning at verse 6 and read “in context” through ver 24 (what was originally referenced) or to the end of the Chapter. Again Greg, you make an assertion and then introduce evidence not pertaing to the issue at hand.
          You have made an accusation against me that is a blatent lie and I am publically asking for a retraction. You said, “Don, you are actually attributing wickedness to our God,”
          That is a lie and I take that very personally. I have proven in scripture that God is sovereign over his creation. If you would care to read the passage in context what did God say regarding Pharaoh?

          What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” 16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” 18 So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

          19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” 20 On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? 21 Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22 What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23 And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

          cf. Exodus 4:21, 7:3, 7:13, 10:20, 10:27, 11:10

          So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

          This has nothing to do with Calvinism and your hatred of it greg, this has to do with rightly understanding what God has revealed of himself to us through his word. Now in the context of the passage at hand show me where I have attributed wickedness to God!

        4. Let me say I’m delighted to see you actually quoted the whole passage, most calvinists are afraid of God’s word! But let me also say I don’t like the translation at all, is this the ESV? (The translation by calvinists for calvinists) I definitely don’t like it, so if you don’t mind, I would prefer the NIV, or KJV or most any good translation.

          To answer your question “where have you attributed wickedness to God” In your previous comment you said “the vessels of wrath were prepared specifically for destruction” To advance the conversation, I’m assuming that you believe these “vessels of wrath” are/were prepared by God, He being the potter in this passage? I’m also assuming that these “vessels of wrath” are people? If I’m wrong on either of these two assumptions, I will probably have to apologize! If I haven’t assumed wrongly, I stand by my statment, and will forever, because friend the God of the Bible “wants ALL men to be saved” 1 Tim 2:4 God does not create men to destroy them. If this is in fact, what you believe, then:

          1) You haven’t a clue about the loving, benevolent God of the Bible, and about His mercy and grace and Salvation!

          2) You have CLEARLY attributed wickedness to my God and Saviour!

          Hear from Paul you mixed-up fellow: 1 Timothy 1:15-16

          “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.”

          If I haven’t assumed wrongly, you and Calvin believe that Paul must be mistaken, God really doesn’t have UNLIMITED patience, it just gets to a point to where God’s had enough and starts destroying vessels/people.

          It occurs to me that if the ESV continues to evolve, it will be to the calvinist, what the “New World Translation” is to the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

        5. greg you are a dogmatic literalist when prooftexting something you want scripture to say but when it is somethat that challenges your dogma you refuse to read what is plainly written.
          Not only that but you go on to declare what is and isn’t good and righteous according to your view rather than what is plainly set forth in the passage before you.
          Now I agree that according to your man-centered/ free will doctrine that if God does not provide for universal and equal access to the Gospel to every living being in all time and space then for him to not save someone would cast him in a wicked light. But that is not the case with God. This is the greatest problem with universalism; it makes man a co-participant in the work of salvation. Also in order for man to even be able to choose good he must be delivered from his sin nature. One cannot act outside and contrary to their nature. Your reference to Paul is the very essence of that. You go too far in assuming that Paul had it in himself to choose God and Pauls own testimony clearly reveals that God struck Paul down and humbled him when he called him.

          You have set yourself up as the arbiter of what is wicked. Go back and read the passage in question what does it say greg? Esau was cursed from birth. Even if you hold to the foreknowledge of God as being God reacting to the soverign will of his creation then one would have to conclude that God was vindictive and petty in dealing with Esau. But if God formed Esau and actively directed events in Esau and Jacob’s lives according to his will then God is no longer vindictive and petty but rather Sovereign over his creation to bring about events in their lives according to God’s will. That’s the difference in a reactive/passive god and a Proactive God engaged in the lives of his creation.

          What does the passage say greg?

          What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
          You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.

          (oh btw your bias is showing, this is NASB not ESV)

          Again you dismiss the passage at hand and attempt to interject your pet prooftexts in an attempt to deflect and avoid addressing what is said in the passage at hand. If God is not “the potter” in this passage then where is he in this passage? It takes a monumental twisting of logic and wording in order to deny that God uses ones like Pharaoh according to his will and his purposes. greg in essence you are saying that there is some goodness in everyone, that there is some divine spark, some spiritual worth in everyone. Yet if God had done nothing regarding the satisfaction of his justice in regards to redemption… how many throughout history would have ever been saved? Without God’s grace and mercy who in all of history would have been able to bring about their own salvation? There is none good, no, not one. How then is one able to choose that which is good when it is completely and totally against one’s nature to do so.

          So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.

          But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

        6. Greg, you arminians (And that is what you are, don’t try and deny it by spouting some crap about only believing the bible) always use the same verses. 2 Tim 2:24 is a prime example. You would not know how to argue your way out of a wet paper bag. Yes, there are a few verses that seem to argue that God gives man a truly free will, but the overwhelming testimony of Scripture is that God is absolutely sovereign, even over the will of man.

        7. @ Bob –

          “Yes, there are a few verses that seem to argue that God gives man a truly free will, but the overwhelming testimony of Scripture is that God is absolutely sovereign, even over the will of man.”

          True, God is absolutely sovereign, however, He allows man to choose within that sovereignty.

        9. What’s the matter Bob M., the cat’s got your tongue? I must admit, I gave a perfect answer to your 7 point calvinism. Mark one up for biblicists.

        10. Don – God did for Paul what He does to every walking, breathing person on this Earth! He drew Paul to Himself Jn 12:32 God gave Paul LIGHT, just as He does for EVERYONE! Jn 1:7 (Everyone that is saved will have a unique story of how God DREW them to Himself)

          The passage does not say Esau was cursed from birth! And with that statement you demonstrate your total lack of understanding of this passage. “He who has ears let him hear” I will attempt to open the word of God up for you, and anyone else that is caught up in the foolishness of calvinism, or who has merely wondered about this passage. Please turn to Gen 25:23

          “The Lord said to her, ‘Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger” (of course this is God speaking to Rebekah, prior to the birth of her twins, Jacob and Esau)

          This passage is about NATIONS not individuals! And it has NOTHING to do with salvation, but everything to do with service, note v-12 “…the older will SERVE the younger”

          As far as the phrase “Jacob I loved Esau I hated” Turn over to Luke 14:26 Jesus said “If anyone comes to me and does not HATE his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life – he cannot be my disciple.”

          I remember teaching this passage to my little son many years ago. I read the passage, and then looked at him, and asked “Do you believe that Jesus REALLY wants you to HATE your entire family in order to serve Him? He had always been taught about the love of the Savior and the importance of family, so he shook his head no! So let me ask you Don, do you believe that Jesus wants you to HATE your family in order to serve Him? You seem to think that God cursed Esau from birth, so, I guess I have to assume that you think Jesus really means you have to hate your family to serve Him!

          Hate in the Scriptures seldom, if ever means hate as we have come to understand it in our culture. Hate in these instances would mean to “prefer over” or some have said to “like less” but I promise you Jesus does not want you to hate your family in order to serve Him, and God certainly never cursed/hated Esau either!

          Don, God Wills to show MERCY! That’s who He is and what He does!

          “It does not, therefore depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Absolutely! God WILLS to show MERCY! Our salvation certainly DEPENDS on God’s mercy, of course! But this passage is not about individual salvation, it is about NATIONS and SERVICE and God’s sovereign choices in these matters!

        11. The ESV is an excellent translation. While a lot of Calvinists like it, so do a lot of non-Calvinists. It’s not any more for, or against, Calvinism than the NIV or the KJV. It just says what the Bible says. No, I am not a Calvinist, and yes, I read the ESV. (As well as the NASB, the NIV, and the NLT. Occasionally I even read the KJV!) 😆

        12. @ Victoria
          Choose how? What is it one is choosing and how is it possible? Again, we can only act within our natures. As a sinner we cannot choose “the good” it is not possible. We may be able to make daily choices regarding relative “good” and relative “evil” but absolute good as found in Jesus Christ we cannot choose because we are bound by the sin nature. Spiritually (before we are redeemed/born again) we are dead to God and cannot do anything to relieve ourselves of his wrath. So what choice can one make regarding salvation? In the sin condition, which we all have been in, what choice can one make that God will recognize? Even the act of choosing is sin tainted and unacceptable to God.
          It is the ultimate indictiment against God to say that he does everything necessary for salvation except ______________. That is like dressing up a corpse, then propping it up next to the line of decision and saying, “Ok, it’s your choice to step over or not.”
          I believe we think too highly of ourselves and our influence on our creator. No, I don’t subscribe to “worm theology” but there is no comparison in God’s will -vs- man’s will. It is an absurdity to believe that the Almighty Creator reacts to the imperfect, sinful choices of his creation… rather than, God working out his perfect sovereign will and purposes in the daily lives and existence of his creation. (and no, I don’t have all the answers and I don’t have a good argument for “The Problem of Evil” and pain and suffering in this world. All I know is that God is sovereign in all things and he is Good. He is absolute good.)

        13. hey greg,
          What did God say of Esau/Edom? What was his command to the children of Israel regarding them? Esau was cursed and his lineage after him. They were not of the promise and they were the enemies of the Children of Israel. If Esau was not cursed and disfavored of God then what you are arguing is that Jacob the liar, the supplanter caused God to have to change his plans regarding the promise and covenant with Abraham. After all Jacob lied and stold the birthright and the blessing from the first born… oh that’s right God said that’s how it would be before they were even born. So yea, Esau was cursed from even before birth.
          I was wondering how long it was going to take you to play the “corporate” card. If what you are saying is true then if a nation is “Christian” all of it’s inhabitants are “Christian” by mere citizenship. This argument flies in the face of individual salvation and promotes corporate salvation… I know you are not making that argument greg.

        14. @ Don –

          Simple Don, I made a choice to accept or reject Jesus Christ as my Saviour, no one forced me.

        15. @Bonnie Jean, whoops, Victoria, whoops, Joan, whoops, sweet n low, whoops jasidy K…..whoever you are, no, cat does not have my tongue. Yes, we make significant and responsible decisions, but the impetus comes frmo God, not us. If you are the ultimate source, you have become greater than God and can trump God. You are not and cannot.

        16. Don – Appears that you are running on empty with your last comment!

          God said, Gen 25:23 “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger”

          It seems that you don’t like God’s plan. So the very time that God actually does make a sovereign decision, you have a problem with it! You continue to act as though God is speaking of individuals “if Esau was not cursed and disfavored of God” Won’t you please start agreeing with God here, and understand that these are two nations God is speaking about? God said “Two nations are in your womb” I get it, you don’t like it, but it is still a fact! Take it up with God!

          You said “then what you are arguing is Jacob caused God to have to change his plans…..” What?

          Don…..corporate card
          God…..two nations are in your womb

          And I’m playing a corporate card? Really? You really said that?

          I have read all my comments 7 times now (God’s lucky number 😀 ) and I still don’t see where I said anything about a Christian nation!!

          Don I have spoken to you alot over the last couple of years, this comment of yours is the most confusing, hard to follow mess I have ever seen. But I understand that when the powerful, wonderful Word of God is proclaimed against a man-made false philosphy it tends to gets folks off their game real quick. It reminds me of your buddy James White, put him in debate with KJVonly’s, and he appears brilliant, put him in a debate with anyone that knows their bible in a debate over calvinism, and he looks silly. I guess it helps when you are arguing the truth.

        17. What.ever Bob M. Why don’t you get rid of your anger problem and everybody owes me problem. Life is too short.

        18. “Yes, we make significant and responsible decisions, but the impetus comes frmo God, not us. If you are the ultimate source, you have become greater than God and can trump God. You are not and cannot.”

          @ Bob M.

          Impetus means – the force or energy with which a body moves.

          And don’t tell me God forced my salvation, however, when I look at you, you are a man most miserable.

          God gave me the right to choose, just as He gave Adam and just as He gave Lucifer.

          You may think you have left fundyland but you act just like them.

        23. Victoria – Some of your comments got me thinking.

          When God created Satan, He created Him in perfection! Ezk 28:12-13 says “…You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God..” God gave His perfect creation, perfect freedom! Wonder why God gave Satan freedom and all the angels freedom, and indeed even man freedom? I’ll tell you why, God wants and desires LOVE! If God had made us where we were not free, where we could not choose evil, then correspondingly we couldn’t choose to do good! If I’m unable to choose NOT to love God, then I can’t choose TO love God. If one cannot CHOOSE to be loyal, we become some kind of inanimate object or robot!

          What is the highest good or greatest commandment? It is to love God! In order to love God we MUST have a choice! God gave us a choice so that we could attain the highest good!

          Satan had the very same choice but blew it and chose wrongly because of pride.

        24. Thank you, Greg. The love God has for me, puts tears in my eyes and makes me love Him, so much the more. One will never understand, except He.

        25. Greg and victoria, a good pair. Victoria is well known at other forums for her many many nics and weird posting and then erasing all of her posts. Then she lies about not having 3 or 4 sock puppets. Greg, well, Greg is just Greg, the instigator.

        26. “I’ll tell you why, God wants and desires LOVE!”

          I am sooo happy I chose, LOVE!

          🙂

  25. Happy Birthday! 🙂

    Thank you Darrell and company for a place to learn, question, talk, think, and BE REAL!!!! This blog has been a major part of my transition from IFB and continued healing.

  27. And if you had a dollar for every visit you’d be filthy rich. lol But your reward is one that is waiting in Heaven.

  28. Congrats on four years! (That makes SFL a preschooler-oh what havoc we could wreak!) Lurked a long time be for I first posted. I’m not from a fundy background, but I can relate to some of this stuff from my school girl days.
    I have learned so much here, I think of SFL almost as my “church”.
    Keep up the good work, Darrell and everyone else
    🙂

    1. Ah, so you’re female! (Or does “School girl days” mean you’re a male who went through a school girls chasing phase when you were a kid?) 😆 😆

  29. Happy Birthday Stuff Fundies Like!

    (If this was a fundie blog, it would say 5,000,000 “souls saved” instead of 5,000,000 “visits.” Just sayin’.)

    1. you forgot the fundy game show multipliers – you have to consider how many were won by the people who visited and passed on the GOOD NEWS to others and include their estimated impact on your highly dubious totals.

      5,000,000 views could be 50,000,000 souls saved or more. Conservative estimate I would say.

      1. So, basically 15% of all Americans (and a smattering of Canadians) have been saved by Darrell’s ministry. It’s awesome that we can have even a small part of such a magnificent ministry and be in the presence of such a man of gawd. Now, come Brother Darrell, and share what God has laid on your heart.

  32. Congratulations on your fourth year! I’m not too sure how long I’ve been reading here, but some of the posts and comments have been very soothing and bring much-needed balm to my soul.

    I’m glad you’re here, and happy birthday!

    Shall we say “Go FOURTH and do good things!”? (maybe not.)

  33. Kudos, Darrell. This site helped me see that my experience with crazy fundamentalists wasn’t isolated. It seems that I’m not the only one who has seen their fundamentalist leaders fall into sexual deviancy, financial impropriety and being horrible people in general. The power of God revealed in the lives of people who are no better than the Catholic priests that they can’t wait to condemn. At least the Catholics pay damages to their victims unlike Fundamental Baptists(may they rot in Hell).

  35. Been reading the blog for well over two years. Stumbled across it through the Rev Drayton Parslow.

  36. After giving us 4 years of your life, I guess the best we can do, Darrell, is give you a piece of paper that has the word “Diploma” on it. Enjoy having something to wipe your butt.

  37. GLAD you are here! Keep up the good work. Your site is good therapy for a former IBFer like me! 😆

  41. Thanks for a much-needed look at the fundie world, one that isn’t mean or savage. 😀 :mrgreen: 😀

  42. Darrell, thank you so much for your wit, humor, truth in love and keeping us informed.
    I came across this site last spring when I was in the middle of a faith crisis and this site helped me through it. I never lost faith in God-
    just people who claimed to know him.
    I come back here from time to time to get my
    SFL fix and I’m always better for it…

  45. Happy 4th SFL! I first discovered this site when some of my friends were doing the “Fundy Preacher Bingo” during junior (?) year revival meetings in college. Thanks buddy, you know who you are! :)I started at that point and with the clip of the preacher-boy standing on the pews, I’ve been an avid reader ever since. This site really really helped me in stretching my mind, challenging what I believe, and giving me a good laugh. Thanks again Darrell!

  46. What a wonder this internet thing is. Definitely glad you found a way to use your talents in a therapeutic fashion. SFL’s presence is a unique one and I’m glad to have “met” you. Happy 4th! Oh, and congrats on the move.

  47. If you ever feel the desire to be beaten to death with a wet blanket, here is an article about why birthday celebrations are Satanic and Christians shouldn’t celebrate them. I guess the fact that this forum is celebrating a birthday proves how Satanically-Inspired it is… It proves also that there is only a tiny Remnant that is Truly Christian….

    http://rcg.org/articles/abcc.html

    I must confess I didn’t even get to the end without heaving up my guts.

    1. The first sentence is false. “Almost every culture and nation on Earth” does not celebrate personal birthdays. Birthday celebrations are not traditional in most Asian countries, although some Asians have recently adopted this “Western” custom. (Chinese people traditionally count themselves a year older on the Lunar New Year, so you could say every Chinese person has the same “birthday.” Chinese horoscopes identify people with birth years, not birth days.) In many Catholic countries, a person celebrates a “name day” (the feast days of the saints he/she is named for) instead of his/her own birth anniversary– although birthday celebrations have grown more popular in recent generations.

      Anyhow, the idea that birthday parties and Christmas celebrations, and for that matter, anything fun, are Satanic or Pagan rituals is the kind of thing that gives Christianity a bad name.

    2. If something is not in the Bible, such as a festival, or using a certain type of musical instrument in church etc, then it is obviously Satanic to the Fundymentalcases, and every Christian who practices these satanic rituals has been diceived by the Devil and therefore their salvation may be in doubt (simple Fundy Logic: A + B = C) In any case Fundy Christianty has practically NOTHING to celebrate this side of eternity.

  48. Happy Birthday, SFL!!!!!!
    This site is a lifesaver. I was doing an internet search about the 20/20 expose because we can’t watch it on internet here in Korea, and I wound up at this site. I have felt so much culture shock over here because the other Christians aren’t from the IFB background, and certainly not the HAC camp. Reading this blog and then starting to comment after a few months was one of the things that really helped me get sane enough to stay here another year. Thanks for that, SFL community, and thanks to Darrell for an awesome blog!

    1. FHACG, I’m curious about how you came to be living in Korea, and what you’re doing there (I assume you’re American, since you went to HAC). What’s the story?

      (If this is a more personal question than you want to answer on the Internet, just don’t respond.)

  49. You are doing a fine work here DD! I was introduced to this site by a friend and it has helped me better articulate concerns I had had for a long while and “put a finger on” other concerns that I wasn’t quite sure about.

    It has also been a while since a drive-by-sycophant proclaimed that SFL has “jumped the shark”!!!

    http://www.stufffundieslike.com/2011/06/branding/comment-page-1/#comment-74688

    http://www.stufffundieslike.com/2010/11/the-cla/comment-page-1/#comment-27550

    I love drive-by-fundies that dont turn out to be a poe, yet at the same time I pity their bondage. 😕

    1. Its also funny to go back to some of the older “anniversary” posts and see the dialogue from Darrell and some of the “regulars”!

      Like for the 2nd year anniversary: http://www.stufffundieslike.com/?p=4493

      Alot of us have changed alot since 2 years ago!

      Darrell are you any more libertarian???

      Don are you still recovering? can one every fully recover?

      On a serious note; fundamentalism is more than a quack “preacher” here or there or an “extreme” “church” here or there: the whole system is rotten. This is why SFL continues to catalogue the circus to this day! If SFL would have started in the era of Billy Sunday can you imagine the vast library of material? I guess you could go back further to when the purtians started forming the whole premellenial rapture narratives.

      1. I’ve been out of Fundamentalism ten years. I watched Darrell go through the stages of withdrawal just like we all do. Websites such as this are important because people realize they aren’t alone. They get together and talk. Most people at some point withdraw from websites like this at some point, probably because they have moved past it. Some of us stick around just because it’s the only place we can find people who understand what we went through.

        I don’t really know what it means to “recover” except that somehow it involves not feeling like it’s something that requires further recovery. At some point I think trying to force recovery becomes harmful because you’re cutting yourself off from who you are and you become uncentered.

        I’m not Fundamentalist and would be very surprised if I ever am one again. But I’m at peace with having been one.

        I suppose it’s like coming to terms with growing up in a holler. I’ve lived in large cities. I can drive in rush hour traffic and can parallel park in busy downtowns. I’m not shocked by seeing homeless people, street prostitutes, or crack dealers. I have friends from foreign nations and am not offended by people who don’t speak English. Learning to handle those things was “recovering” from having been a hillbilly, I suppose.

        But so was not caring what I sound like as long as I’m intelligible to others when I need to be. Not everything about my background had to be undone.

        1. I’ve been out of the IFB for ten years as well. Before that, we were in and out but we started questioning it before that. I’m so thankful we moved away from the church we were married in to the country where we couldn’t find a church. God used that time to get us to question what the IFB was all about.

          We tried one more church when we moved to VA and we both said it’s time to move on.

      2. I would never have been a “Fundamentalist” with a capital “F”, but I come to this site because so many of the things that come up resonate very strongly with me. Unfortunately the things that resonate are usually the negaitve aspects of Christianity, which are very much part of the Northern Irland Protestant Evangelical Christian Sub-culture that I grew up in. If you didn’t tick ALL the right boxes, your salvation might be a bit suspect. If you did anything that was not part of the Sub-culture then you *definitely* were *not* Saved. I realise now that my faith has been more influenced by that Sub-culture that by Scripture or by the spitit of God. Some of the particulars of my experience may be diferent from some of you folks but we have a lot in common.

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