63 thoughts on “Odd Evangelism Endeavors”

  3. Was it really necessary to list the directions on the top and bottom of the page?

    Any chance Spring Branch Baptist Church has a website? Give me a few mintes and I will report back.

    1. They do have a website. A very slow loading one at that.

      However, it was very tame. No fundy craziness that I saw. No church covenant, no rants about the KJV, no proclamations about being the only church for 50 miles etc.

      1. Amazingly, that is from my home town. I don’t recall that church, but it’s been a few years since I’ve been down that way.

        I can almost guarantee that the letter writing thing is not something the pastor, deacons or Sunday school teachers would urge the parishioners to do. This sounds more like a “rapture ready” tactic.

        It does remind me of my grandmother’s sister… I’m not certain if that is a good thing or a bad thing. 😆 🙄 😐

  5. They couldn’t even stand outside and personally meet the people they’re condemning to hell? They just left a note? Jeez. Lazy.

  6. This is right down the road from me. Maybe I’ll visit sometime. If I wait a couple more weeks I can wear a sleeveless dress to the top of my knee with open-toe shoes.

    1. Oops. Google maps tells me it’s the other side of the county. An hour away. Nevermind, not worth the effort.

  8. Most children have a hard time reading cursive so they might miss the “God loves you” part. “Hell” and “burn” were both clearly in print however.

  9. The writer was apparently too rushed to proof-read the note:

    God’s wants you to be saved.
    Take God into you heart.
    You will pay for this forver too.
    All 3 miles stright to church

    1. Also:
      “Jesus, God’s Son died for your sins!”

      Without another comma after “Son,” this sentence is addressed to Jesus, not to the reader. God’s son died for Jesus’ sins. Hmmm.

        2. Not heretical if it’s addressed to someone who’s name is something like Jesus Gonzales, or Mendoza, or … :mrgreen:

        3. Oooo, hope she’s not taking Jesus’ name in vain! She’ll be punished “forver”!

      2. Hey now, maybe she was trying to reach out to the Hispanic community. You ever think of that, you big meanie?!!

        1. That’s exactly what I was getting at! Around here there are a lot of guys named Jesus! I did think it was kind of funny, though, when I went into a business and saw a guy wearing a name tag that said “I’m Jesus. May I help you?” :mrgreen:

  10. Let’s be careful that we not jump to conclusions and assume that such an “evangelism” tactic is endorsed by the leadership of that church. If you have been a Christian for any length of time, you well know that in every church you have a few “odd ducks”, some of whom truly mean well, but are young in their faith and spiritually immature (and perhaps – how do I say this nicely – “not all there”). But the church has to minister to those people too, as frustrating as that might sometimes be, and there’s no reason to think that the rest of the members of Spring Branch would be any less disappointed by this attempt at evangelism than we are.

    2. Clarification: some of those “odd ducks”, of course, do not have the holiest of intentions, are NOT young, and are NOT new to the faith. Those types have no excuse for such behavior.

      1. For a Friday Challenge, we should report about all of the “oddest ducks” we have ever met in our current or previous Fundy churches and the things they have said.

        The craziest thing I ever said/saw was a man who came to church on Sunday morning, just hours after personally delivering his fifth child in the bathroom of his home.

        He said that he generally doesn’t like blood, but there are two types of blood that he loves: The blood of a natural birth and the blood of the cross.

        *awkward smiles* “Gee… ah… that’s nice…”

  11. To me, the church website makes it look SBC rather than IFB. I think this piece of paper is seriously misguided, but I wouldn’t assume it reflects upon the church.

  12. People NEVER would have left something like that at my old church ( evangelical), it would have been seen as lacking in grace (go figure!). But what is interesting to me is that most anyone there would have endorsed all those statements as Objective Truth. So what separates fundamentalist beliefs and conservative evangelical beliefs is just what fundamentalists would claim I guess, the fundamentalist’s willingness to shout it out…

    1. Notice how John the Baptist and Jesus both differed in the style with which they approached people. John was much more extreme and bombastic. He was a great man and was used greatly by God. But now that Christ has come, lived, died, and risen, I’d rather imitate HIS style than John’s.

    2. Also, what are the fundies so willing to shout about? The Good News that we are loved and forgiven through Christ or the scary news that we are going to burn in hell forever with no water at all ever unless we repent?

      Fundies often seem to have a misplaced focus on God’s wrath more than His grace. They often pick and choose which sins to get upset about. (Notice how swearing is picked out as some especially horrific sin though Scriptures include lust, hatred, lying, and many other sins. There’s a good book out there called “Respectable Sins” that deals with our tendency to excuse certain sins.) And they simplify salvation to “get saved so you don’t have to burn” instead of “get saved and follow Christ the Lord.”

      1. “””Also, what are the fundies so willing to shout about? The Good News that we are loved and forgiven through Christ or the scary news that we are going to burn in hell forever with no water at all ever unless we repent?”””

        If you believe both of those beliefs are true, you should mention both of them. If you think criteria of salvation is something else, only then you can claim to be different than fundies in any substantive way.

  13. Either this was done by an individual or the church, I guarantee it was copied on the same church copier that is used by members to copy their home school material or copyrighted choir music.

    1. I Came Out…

      Your comment is so funny and SO true!!!

      ~~~Heart 😎 (…aka…church accompanist for ten years LOL)

  14. I see your John 3:16 and raise you Matthew 25:31-46. It is fascinating that for all talk about belief in the Bible (and admittedly there is a lot of it), the most detailed description of final judgment is all about social responsibility and nothing about beliefs.

    1. I thought maybe it was a jab at the service and maybe why they aren’t leaving a tip. 😯

  16. Ah, so taking God’s name in vain is the unpardonable sin.

    Good to know that. I hope it’s not too late.

    1. That is a particularly problematic part of the paper. It singles out only one of the ten commandments to assert judgment for its violation. Not exactly biblical, that.

    2. No. According to the loon who wrote it, you’re only punished “forver.” I’m guessing “forver” isn’t nearly as long as forever.

  17. I think that note reads like someone that is slightly mentally challenged and wants to communicate his or her concern and isn’t able to do so effectively. Obv it’s inappropriate in a kid ride (or anywhere), but I would bet it wasn’t meant to sound as malicious as it does.

    1. “Slightly mentally challenged”? Relative to what?

      Looks like typical public education product to me.

      For rural SC, that’s about what I’d expect of an impromptu “Hay, I don’t have a ‘track’ on me–guess I’ll just write one up myself!”

      Not being a snob–just calling a spade like I sees it.

    2. I thought maybe it was made by a kid attempting a little do-it-yourself soul-winning.

    3. Speaking of things that I bet weren’t meant to sound as malicious as they were…

  18. ‘Cause this is exactly how Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well… 🙄

  20. Gee, why do people think Christians are radical and crazy? I don’t know. It can’t be because some of them leave psychotic, obsessive-compulsive notes that just scream, “I NEED TO BE IN A MENTAL WARD!!!”

  21. Yes the note is, prima facie, pretty awful. It’s not unlikely that the note was written by someone with mental illness – in which case the person reverse respect and care, not ridicule. Let’s not be too quick to bandy around derogatory terms like “crazy”, that’s simply rude and obnoxious.

    It’s poke thing to poke fun at pastors etc. who we know full well are generally capable human beings, engaged in shameful tactics. It’s another to vilify an unknown / unidentified individual, who may have wider problems or concerns that require concern, as opposed to mockery.

    2. The note was written and left in a place for young children to find. I’m sorry, but I’ve known enough fundies that I don’t believe that mental illness is likely to play a part in this at all. It is horrible that this was left there, and the church should be contacted, so that they can either teach their members appropriate ways of showing ‘love’ to people outside of their church, or if there is somebody with a serious medical condition who needs help, give them the heads up so they can help them.

    3. Ordinarily I’d agree with you. But this was targeting children, and I can’t excuse any abuse of children (and yeah, this note was very definitely abusive, imo) because the abuser just so happened to also be mentally ill.

      As an adult, a person may be able to rationalize and understand a mentally ill person’s behavior, but children have no such lens through which to focus. And they will almost certainly take it to heart.

      BTDT and have plenty of scars to show for it.

    4. If I left something like this somewhere, I hope to God someone would tell me how crazy it was. We don’t know the condition of the person, but if something is crazy, it’s crazy. And, this is crazy. I don’t consider it rude when someone tells me I’m crazy (most of the time, I consider it a compliment 😉 ).

      When I was an uber-fundy and being a bit zealous, I did have people tell me that I was a bit radical, and looking back, I was. In fact, it’s embarrassing to remember how I was.

      Sometimes, someone needs to call things for what they are.

      And, this was crazy.

    5. And, furthermore 😉 …

      We don’t really need to be passively-aggressively talked down to. That’s a fundy tactic that most of us have been on the receiving end of.

      If you disagree, you disagree, but we don’t need a lecture. We’re all adults here.

  22. I’m thinking that this was an effort of a faithful Fundy who had not been faithful this particular week in his/her soul winning efforts!! Using this means of witnessing was his/her attempt, though weak and non-personal, including rather brass and ill-written, to make sure that his/her responsibility of weekly soul winning, required by the church legalistic rules, was met!

    You know… fear of losing any position in the church you may have because you didn’t tell a lost soul about Christ and then invite them to church! Oh the burden and pressure of being felt responsible for the eternal condition of every soul that crosses your path! It becomes a drudgery rather than a heart-felt concern that would be delivered in all sincerity!

    Fundamentalists spoil so, so many things! This note is unacceptable on all terms with the exception of the truths.

    ~~~Heart 😯

  23. I got one one these too! Now I’m curious which other ex-PCC-ers are in the area . . . I only know of a couple.

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