Since the news is buzzing with the news of the retirement of Pope Benedict XVI, I thought it might be a good time to revisit a sampling of the greatest hits of one of the greatest purveyors of anti-Catholic sentiment, Jack Chick.
Category Archives: Outreach
The “Mission Field”
A friend of mine snapped this picture in a fundy church he was visiting. I think it’s telling that the “mission field” is always seen as out there beyond the church walls. In here we are the holy, the blessed, the congregation of saints. By contrast, anybody who isn’t here in this place is our mission field. Stop and ponder that idea for a moment.
Outside these walls are sinners and reprobates no matter what they claim to profess. Be they ever so Christian, be they ever so holy, be they ever so kind and just and loving: they are not of us and therefore we must proselytize them tirelessly.
SFL Flashback: Witnessing to Presbyterians
In the “us vs. them” world of fundamentalism anyone who is not a fundamentalist is eyed with a great deal of suspicion of not being a true believer. Narrow is the way and few non-Baptists there be that find it.
This distrust and general ignorance about other Christian denominations leads to the interesting situation of fundamentalists spending their time preaching to the converted. It goes something like this…
Fundy: “Hello, we’re here from Saved, Sanctified, Separated, and Suit-Wearing Baptist Church and we just wanted to know if you go to church anywhere.”
Presbyterian: “Well, yes I’m an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church.”
F: “That’s great! So if you were to die today, where would you spend eternity?”
P: “I’d be with God for eternity.”
F “Are you sure about that? Belief in the Pope doesn’t save you, you know.”
P: “Uh…we don’t…”
F: “And what’s more you can know for sure that you are saved without worrying about losing it.”
P: “Well, being a Calvinist…”
F: “Oh, you’re a Calvinist! Well that doesn’t save you either!”
P: “I never said…”
F: “Have you ever asked Jesus to come into your heart?”
P: “That phrase has some serious theological issues there that…”
F: “Theology won’t get you into heaven either, my friend! Have you ever walked an aisle to a good old-fashioned altar?”
P: “We don’t really do that….”
This may continue until the Presbyterian in a fit of desperation invites the fundamentalist in to chat over a beer. All that remains is to watch the fundy shake the dust off his shoes and depart in search of someone easier to evangelize. Maybe they can find a Methodist…
Tract Smack Down
Watching the young ladies try to run in their long skirts is worth the price of admission on this one.
SFL Flashback: Teen Missions Trips
This post was originally featured on SFL on Mar 5, 2009
From the missions journal of John Q. Goodwin, youth group president of the Come Out From Among Them Baptist Church of Loco, Oklahoma.
Preface: I have decided to keep a journal of our summer missions trip to Mexico. Jim Elliot kept a journal so it seems like a good idea for me to keep one too. Perhaps it will be useful to other who are going on teen missions trips with their own (hopefully Independent Baptist) churches.
Day 1: We have arrived in Mexico and are all very excited by the presence of so many sinners around us that we can witness to. I suppose there were plenty of sinners back in Oklahoma too but these sinners speak Spanish which makes them a lot more interesting. Also, we have located a McDonalds so we will not starve while we are here. The people at our hotel speak English which makes it a lot easier when we need to order room service and such.
Day 2: Spent the day with the missionary passing out gospel tracts and street preaching. Brother Benjamin, our youth pastor gave a great message this morning on the supremacy of the King James Version text, although I’m not sure many of the people really understood. Even Carlos, our interpreter seemed a bit confused during the part about Koine Greek. I can only hope that God uses these messages to really impress upon the hearts of people the importance of using the right Bible.
Day 3: I believe God is calling me to marry this girl Maria Sanchez whom I met at a the local church service yesterday. I cannot talk to her because she does not speak any English but she seems very godly and is also very good looking which makes it even easier to know this is God’s choice for me. I will attempt to learn some Spanish so that I can ask if she believes in courtship.
Day 4: Another rousing sermon today by Brother Benjamin, this time on sin. His hard preaching about cable television, internet porn, and gluttony should have a lot of folks here under conviction. You could tell how much people were responding by the way they kept shrugging and saying “internet?” over and over again. They obviously had never heard about the dangers of the world web of wickedness preached so clearly. It’s a good thing that we were here to stand in the gap.
Day 5: Today we took a rest from our labors and went sight seeing and shopping for souvenirs. Then we had a picnic on the beach where we shared testimonies about how this time in Mexico has changed our lives. Also, God has revealed to me that marrying Maria is not His will for me after all. Since we are going home tomorrow, I consider that God has shut that door. Instead I am going to marry Chastity Winkler, a girl in my own youth group. I plan to have my father talk to to her father once we get home.
Day 6: We’re on the bus and in a few minutes we’ll be back in the United States. Missions work is very rewarding but tiring as well and my sunburn from the beach trip yesterday itches a lot. It’s been a great trip and we have a lot of pictures to show the church and we can report over seven-hundred decisions for Christ being made. It could have been more but nobody in our group actually speaks Spanish. The missionary we were visiting seemed really happy that we came, at least he smiled a lot as he waved goodbye to us. I can’t wait to go back next year.