Hi I stumbled onto yalls podcast back in March and started listening to the episodes. I personally do not agree with all of your arguments or stances but I do appreciate your openness to your listeners. I grew up in small IFB churches all my life and quit honestly never heard of 80% of what you see wrong with IFB churches but I did as a young teen and now as a young adult see the other 20% and even a little higher of a percentage now say 35% of the issues.
I attended and graduated from a IFB bible college and it was their I learned a balanced approach to ministry. I was also aware of more problems while attending that college as well. I have since graduated and have been serving as a youth pastor for the past year under a very wise and seasoned bible preacher. It was at my church now I realize the importance of Bible preach and have seen where preachers just preach a verse and sometimes even out of context. I am still an IFB today and do not plan on changing! I am not and will not be a yes sir to any pastor or ministry, if I believe a church is not in accordance to the scripture then I will leave or not have anything to do with said church/pastor. I belong to a healthy bible preaching church and believe we are a different type of fundamentalist then you tend to talk about on your podcast! Since being a teenager I have been friends with atheist, people who believe you can lose your salvation and list goes on. I have always had the mindset that you do what’s best for you and if that’s believing there’s no God great, if you think you can lose your salvation knock yourself out and I will be as respectful of your decision as I can, but if you want to talk about what I believe and if it differs then ill talk but wont try and come across hateful. with all of that being said I hope you all give the same fair shake to the rest of us that are apart of an IFB church and not lump us up with the Abusers, Coverers, unbiblical approach preaching because that is not our church and was not my churches growing up. Remember the first letter means independent, I know yall like to saw everyone is part of a circle or camp but that is not true. The IFB have lost sight of the first letter but that is the difference, we are independent and not every church is the same. PS: I enjoy a good argument or discussion so thats a big reason I listen so really looking forward to the Kidd episodes!
Thank goodness I’m not the only one! Are there bad IFB churches out there? Absolutely, just as there are bad schools, workplaces, hospitals, etc. abuse can happen (& does) anywhere! But you can’t put a blanket statement out there that applies to all IFB churches, because they are (as the name states) Independent.
There are certain IFB churches & groups that I myself wouldn’t even associate with due to in-church hierarchy/politics, etc. Now, while I hate a blanket statement criticism, I do think it’s a good thing to listen to other’s criticism of the movement, because this can highlight any inherent flaws etc. in a system, as well as make you aware of things to watch out for in your own church. Debate is an excellent form of learning, & if you can confidently defend your beliefs when blanket criticisms are being thrown about, it only makes your faith that much stronger.
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