69 thoughts on “Fear and Gladness”

    1. That or did a little word rearrangement. Not enough to say something rude, but enough to make the church look illiterate.

  5. “You do you” …is what they were going for, I think.

    Also they spelled “INDAPENDENT” wrong

      1. sorry, it was a (bad) joke. I’ve seen IFB’ers misspell that word a lot, so seeing it spelled right is jarring.

  6. Dear SFL Reader …

    What I want to know is, what happened to that ‘because I hope in your word’ thing.

    As it stands, this seems to miss the point of Ps 119:74. Was this an oversight, or does someone intend that we should look at ‘him/her’ rather than hope in the Lord?

    Christian Socialist

  7. My experience in fundamentalism was little in the area of “love”…but a whole lot of FEAR.
    Fear other christians who didn’t have the whole of God’s truth as we did
    Fear the unbeliever lest they influence us
    Fear thinking outside of the religious box
    Fear your own thoughts when you actually begin to think outside of the religious box…etc. etc….
    Yeah…a whole lot of fear in fundamentalist christianity for sure.

    1. ShadowGalleryV,

      I totally hear you on the fear aspect of it all!
      Gggggrrrrrrr……
      Glad I’m not living that way any longer!

      Great point!
      ~~~Heart 😀

      1. Hi Heart, Sure glad I’m out of that too. The burden is enough to drive someone crazy!

    2. Fear of other people misjudging us
      Fear of destroying my testimony
      Fear of not being perfect
      Fear of not reading my Bible every day, praying every day, going to church every time the door was open, etc.
      Fear of not winning enough souls

      So much fear.

      Yet perfect love casts out fear. He who fears is nt made perfect in love.

      Yes, I was missing the love of God, His outrageous, amazing love for me, that loves me no matter what. Even if I wear jeans? Yes!!! Even if I don’t go to PM church service? Yes! Even if I sometimes lose my temper and yell at other drivers on the highway? Yes.

      Every time I think about that, I am amazed and grateful beyond words. I am so ready to “fear not.”

    3. The basis of IFB is fear and anxiety. Without it this movement would die.

      1. Agree! Most of my family are afraid of EVERYTHING. It’s almost funny if it wasn’t so pitiful. We encountered a sweet girl working in a store last weekend who was talking about how much she would like to get out and travel but she was scared to leave her little home town (my home town). My hubby asked me if I noticed her Fundy/Pentecostal hair and clothes. I just smiled and told him that I felt like I was talking to my teenaged self before I got out of my “home church”. It was kind of sad. 🙁

  8. “They that fear thee will be glad when they see me; because I have hoped in thy word.”

    —————————-Psalm 119: 74

    It looks like the church was paraphrasing Psalm 119: 74 and then asking people “Do you?” meaning you claim you are saved but are you happy to see another saved person?

    How many of you claim to be saved and are happy when I post God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit’ Word on SFL?

    If you are not happy to be reading God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit’ Word nor happy to have edifying fellowship with a true Christian, then you need to consider that maybe you are not saved.

    1. I thought these churches preached hellfire and damnation against anyone who paraphrases the Bible.

      They screwed it up by omitting the context. That little clause is pretty important: “because I have hoped in thy word.” THAT is why those who fear the Lord will be glad when they see this other believer.

      Those who fear the Lord will NOT be glad when they see someone who mangles God’s Word, uses it out of context, or uses it to boost himself and act all superior to others. And we are ESPECIALLY unhappy to keep running across a simpleton, wise in his own eyes, who keeps going on about how we all may not be saved since he doesn’t like our posts.

      Such arrogance.

      Our salvation is not dependent on our agreement with you, or our happiness to see your posts, or your happiness with our posts.

      Get over yourself.

      2. MSK, too bad you can’t hit “like” to a comment here like you can on Facebook! Well said! 😎

    2. God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit

      If you believe a trinitarian view of God (a derived and not a direct teaching of Scripture), then you are missing a comma and a conjunction when referring to the Godhead.

      1. No RobM, I have His name right because He is ONE God.

        How do you explain “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”? God is not three gods, God is ONE God with three distinct roles.

        1. I KNEW that using that name meant you didn’t understand the unique individualism of 3 persons the unified Godhead! If you aren’t a trinitarian believer (and I don’t think you have to be), those are 3 separate names for the 1 true God, and not ones you jam together as 1 name. This is no different than if you were to start using “Jehovah – Jireh, Nissi Rapha Shalom Sabaoth (etc)”. Distinct names don’t imply multiple gods.

        2. Also, if you don’t like separate and distinct names of God, you should take that up with the authors of scripture who gave us quite a few unique names for God, and possibly and possibly Mary & Joseph who gave us Yeshua.

        3. NotintheClique:

          He is One God in Three Divine Persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

          Like Rob, I have been wondering all along what you meant by “God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit.” The Bible never refers to the Triune God in this way.

          Just curious: Do you believe in the Trinity? I am not asking this to judge you or engage you in argument or anything like that. I am sincerely curious.

          Thanks,

          CGC

        4. I, like the others, have been wondering about the strange naming thing. I’m glad it finally came out–Unitarianism,Sabellianism,Monarchianism! Apparently, Dynamic Monarchianism–of the UPC variety possibly.

        5. I don’t think he believes in the trinity as taught by the Church. Admittedly it’s a derived teaching, but IDK why you would use the names God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit which are distinctly trinitarian “names”. It’s a bit confusing.

        6. NITC says “I have his name right” despite the fact that NOBODY ELSE ON THE PLANET, including the Author of the Bible, uses (or has ever used) that formulation. Too bad that God, when inspiring the writers, didn’t have NITC to consult, way back then. I’m sure the Bible would have been SO much better.

          Of course, it has become obvious that NITC is right, all the time, and that we are wrong. So there is that to consider.

        7. Although his use of 3 roles adds to the confusion. Traditional “homo-usia” teaching is 3 persons in 1 being of the same “substance/being”. I’d personally associate roles more with the forma Elohim/El Shaddai/various Jehovah names of God from mostly the Old Testament, all of which were encompassed without the teachings of Trinity. I think he’s probably as confused as we are to be fair.

  9. I wonder if perhaps they meant “Are you?”. That would make more sense. Maybe they ran out of room and/or appropriate letters?

    1. Perhaps. Perhaps they meant “Do you [fear the Lord]?”

      Maybe someone messed with the sign — or maybe they don’t have any dashes in their box of letters… as it stands, it does appear to be quite rude — I wonder if they realize what they said on their sign?

      1. I hope they haven’t a clue what they’ve written, though I have trouble imagining that everybody in that church is so unworldly that they all missed it.

  10. They that fear the Lord will be Glad……

    STOP right here!!

    The rest is irrelevant.

    If you disagree with this part you LACK UNDERSTANDING!!!

    Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

    1. I don’t know about that. I think the rest is not irrelevant. God gave it to us for a reason. I should bring joy to other believers through my hope in God’s word.

      That said, I agree: We who fear the Lord can be glad; we can have joy despite our circumstances, despite having to deal with various people.

    2. Also I’ve heard people use phrases like that as a club to batter those who are sad when, in reality, it’s OK to be sad; that’s part of being human. Even Jesus wept.

      We shouldn’t have to paste a fake smile on our face all the time in order to not be criticized for not being a good enough Christian.

      Yes, the Gospel will give us a deep and abiding joy, but that doesn’t mean that we will feel happy 100% of the time and it definitely doesn’t mean that we’re a failure if we’re not feeling happy.

    1. Yup. All the difference between…

      They that fear thee, Lord, will be glad when they see me. Do you?

      vs

      …glad when they see me ‘do’ you.

      2. “They that fear thee, Lord, will be glad when they see me. Do you?”

        It’s less obscene this way, but it doesn’t make sense. Do you what? And who is the “you”? The previous sentence would imply it’s the Lord (“thee”). Does the Lord see me? I assume so.

    2. PW – I totally agree. Why are many fundies so grammatically challenged? I would think that is a “poor testimony” to the world 😆

      1. Is it just as bad as you gouging the spec out of their eye while you have a beam in yours?

    3. What really matters is the only thing that matters: are you saved? If you are then you will be living your life for God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit. Do you love your enemies? Do you bless those that curse you? Do you take care of the beam in your eye or are you trying to gouge the spec out of other peoples eyes? Do you judge others for the same crimes you commit? Do you condemn others for false and blasphemous preaching and teaching while doing the same yourself? Do you condemn others for being poor role models while being a poor role model yourself?

      Are you saved and how are you living your life for God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit? THAT IS THE ONLY THING THAT MATTERS! Grammar and punctuation does not save you.

      1. Not in the Clique,

        For starters, should I call you “NITC” or “Poe”?

        In any event, I do not think that anyone here (including myself) ever insinuated that grammar, punctuation, etc has anything to do with salvation. Go back and read the post again if you must.

        I also do not believe that bathing, washing your clothes, wearing deodorant or practicing good oral hygiene has anything to do with salvation either…but I would hope that we would all agree that we should do those things regardless. If you choose not to, I promise not to question your salvation or committment to living in occordance with bibilical teachings…just please do so downwind from me.

        Bro Bluto

      2. But a basic knowledge of grammar could help keep one from making obscene comments on one’s church sign.

        1. Is the church’ grammatical errors more obscene than the comments most if not all of you post on SFL? When God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit looks at the heart of the person who did the board and knows what the real issue for the error is, and then when God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit looks at you alls heart and knows what the real issue of your blasphemy and profanity is, will God choose to overlook the beam in your eye while condemning the spec in the church’ eye?

        2. NITC,

          Do you even know the meaning of the words you use?

          Nobody is blaspheming here.

          Why don’t you run along and play? You don’t like us. Why do you hang around? You are silly, and you are seen as silly. You criticize us for posting on this site, but few people post more often than you do. Therefore, you are a hypocrite. You use bizarre language as a matter of course, and you seem unwilling or unable to answer when people ask you why you use it. You don’t really listen, and so you don’t really answer the questions we ask you. When challenged, you just spew a bunch of disconnected Bible verses, without any discernable theme. You do things that you accuse us of doing, seemingly oblivious to the irony of it all.

          Really, what’s your point?

        3. NITC – “you alls heart” [sic]? Misunderstanding the nature of the Godhead? (Food for thought – how does He hide things from his different personas? Reference Matthew 24:36…each member of the Godhead has His own name and, in certain cases, unique characteristics. To your way of thinking, you would incorrect in saying that God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit Word knows when Christ is returning.) I think I understand where you are coming from…you’re a big Hyles/Schaap syncophant, aren’t you?

        4. Not In The Clique,

          Your head must be a bloody mess, since you’ve been hitting it against the SFL wall all through the Duran/Darrell interview comments and this post, too!

          I fear Bro. Bluto is correct, you just might be a Hyles/Schaap syncophant. Michael Kreger’s observations about your comments are also, correct.

          If you insist on reading this site and commenting, don’t be surprised when other readers begin to refer to you as “Poe”, or label you something worse here than a Hyles/Schaap syncophant…a Troll!!!

          Don’t forget who the vast majority are that read SFL. They can tell the difference between an IFB Troll, and a brother/sister-in-Christ who is trying to be a help and blessing.

        5. “Is the church’ grammatical errors more obscene than the comments most if not all of you post on SFL?”

          Yes.

        6. @PW, I’m not 100% sure what you just said yes to. Especially when it comes to the question on that sign! 🙂

        7. He was asking if the church sign was more obscene than our comments. Since I don’t find our comments obscene in the least, I said, “Yes, that church sign is obscene the way it appears.”

          Now there may be some commenters who blaspheme but that’s a different word and a different meaning, and by no means do I consider those comments indicative of the general atmosphere of SFL, though it can be scary to people raised in the separated, homogeneous atmosphere of a typical IFB church.

  12. I actually think the saddest part of this sign is the “disclaimer” at the top, announcing that they are “INDEPENDENT MISSIONARY FUNDAMENTAL PREMILLENNIAL.”

    Because they’re better than other Baptist churches because of all that. 🙄

    1. Will those disclaimers I’m wondering is this a recent sign? I guess there are still outposts of that ol’ time religion. Just imagine the sermons…

      2. Oh, I have no doubt that’s it’s recent even with all that. Proclaiming some doctrinal preferences on your church sign is important, dontcha know?

  13. This is such bad grammar. First it’s in third person, then switches to first person. Then I think at the end they mean, “Do you fear the Lord?” (Or ‘thee’ Lord.) At least that’s the best I can do at interpreting it. Is this for real?

  14. These people are so KJV they are off the chain. No one uses the word “charity” any more (at least not in the way they mean it).

    I also was confused by “thee Lord.” Either someone things it is King Jamsey to spell “the” with an extra “e” or they are missing commas to set of the appositive.

    Or they are too cheap to spend $9.99 the Punctuation Extension Kit that comes with the church sign letters.

    1. *thinks

      *off

      Wow . . . George got a hold of that one like Jesus gets a hold of the heart of someone who just read a Chick Track.

      (That last spelling error was intentional.)

  15. “… when they see me do you …”?
    😯
    So this is an ad for a live sex show?

    2. BG, I feel like I failed recognizing & going for the “racy” humor in this post. Kudos to you!

  16. Sorry, I cannot take seriously the rantings of someone who uses the term God Jesus Christ Holy Spirit to refer to God (or to our Lord Jesus,oh heck I don’t know who NITC is talking about. Someone needs to take their meds, they appear delusional and I am not snarking. 🙁

    I love SFL, it is insightful and hilarious, and Darrell is a wonderful writer.

  17. Doing a Google search of the pastor’s name is also quite telling. The first result talked about a local pastor arrested on sex crimes. (Not this pastor). Google has a way of being quite ironic sometimes though.

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