Bible Baptist Publications

The Sick Southern Baptist System

13 Reasons to Get Out and Stay Out of the Southern Baptist Convention

Booklet, 35 pages

Suggested Donation: 75 cents each

This article might become the most misunderstood and controversial piece I’ve ever written, so I ask you to please read this first page very carefully. Put on your glasses, if necessary, and have a seat, if necessary, but don’t miss these first few paragraphs.

Ready? Okay, here we go. My observation through the years has been that Christians choose to group themselves into basically two classes: first class and second class. First class Christians believe that salvation is only the beginning of the Christian race and that one must run the race and strive lawfully in order to truly please and glorify God. Second class Christians believe that salvation is the only real thing that matters and that one can live pretty much as he chooses after being saved as long as he doesn’t do anything terribly evil like break the ten commandments or become a Sodomite. The first class believer strives daily to run his race for the glory of God. The second class believer thinks he finished the race when he got saved, so salvation is sort of a TROPHY for him. He might even be proud of it because it’s about the only spiritual achievement in his life. So everything centers around SALVATION, not SERVICE. It’s all summed up in a statement a Southern Baptist man once made to a friend of mine. Explaining why he attends a modernistic Southern Baptist church, the man said, “I go there for the salvation.” That means he isn’t interested in RUNNING THE RACE and living the ABUNDANT LIFE for Jesus. He’s going to sit on his SALVATION all the way to Heaven and be a TOTAL LOSER at the Judgment Seat of Christ. He’s a second class Christian, and that’s the way he likes it. That’s the way he’s been taught, and that’s the way he’s going to live.

Now get this, and get it real good. Here is the purpose for this article and for the series of messages I recently preached on this subject: Any church will likely have SOME second class Christians, but Southern Baptist churches are literally overflowing with such people, mainly because these are the kind of people that Southern Baptist churches produce. These are spiritual babies who will never grow into mature Christian soldiers for God. I am not saying that there are no mature Christians in Southern Baptist churches, but I am saying that most Southern Baptists are immature Christians because they are products of an unscriptural and unhealthy religious system. These people are not in an atmosphere of sound and solid Christian growth and service, so they will not become productive Christian soldiers until they leave the unhealthy Southern Baptist atmosphere.

If you plant an orange orchard in Tennessee, you’ll go broke, however, you can make a good living by planting one in south Florida. The issue is atmosphere. Most of your Southern Baptist friends and family members are spiritually broke because they are planted in the wrong atmosphere. It’s as simple as that. If they remain in that bad spiritual atmosphere, they’ll die spiritually in most cases.

“But my mother is a god-fearing woman, just as saved as you are!” That’s lovely and sweet, but it’s also irrelevant. “But, I was SAVED in a Southern Baptist church!” Well, glory to God, but that’s also totally irrelevant to the point I’m making. Perhaps you should read the first three paragraphs again. If you still want to argue, then throw this paper away. After all, if you can’t read through a single page without blowing your head gasket, it isn’t likely that your condition will improve as you read through the succeeding pages.

If you’ve polluted your mind with the “politically correct” philosophies of this world, then you’ve probably already reached the conclusion that James Melton is filled with “hate” instead of the “sweet spirit of Jesus.” If you’ve filled your mind with God’s word and adjusted your life accordingly, then you know very well that a true man of God often has to shoot straight and say unpleasant things. No doctor enjoys telling a patient that they have terminal cancer, but he’s not much of a doctor if he doesn’t tell them. If you’re the kind of person who would say, “Shoot straight, doctor. I can take it,” then you’ll benefit greatly from this bulletin. If you’re not that kind of person, then throw the paper away now. I don’t hate you, nor do I harbor bitterness toward you, but I honestly cannot help you. So, there’s no point in you reading any further.

I must confess that I have met some independent Baptists who seem to live for nothing more than pointing fingers and finding fault with others. Regular readers of this bulletin know that I am not such a person. Nor am I in anyone’s particular “camp.” I enjoy some Hyles, some Ruckman, some Spurgeon, some Larkin, some Scofield, some Knox, some Rice, some Kidd, some Leake, some Oliver Greene, and even some Stanley and Rogers on occasion, but I don’t “belong” or “fit” into anyone’s camp because I’m an independent Baptist, a REAL one.

I have never been a member of a Southern Baptist Church, but I’ve lived around Southern Baptists all of my 42 years in this world, and I’ve had correspondence with Southern Baptists consistently for over ten years, so I’ve had more than enough time to do a little “fruit inspecting,” as my Lord commanded me to do in Matthew 7:15-20. Am I a full time fruit inspector? No, I’m not. Do I enjoy fruit inspecting? No, not particularly, but, a first class Christian doesn’t focus on what he enjoys; he focuses on what is expedient. It is expedient that I keep my eyes open and avoid the bad apples when I shop, and it is expedient that I warn others to do the same.

Trouble is, the fruit baskets these days are overflowing with bad apples! Worms are crawling everywhere, and severe sickness is spreading and threatening everyone. I suppose the “politically correct” and “proper” thing for me to do is mind my own business and ignore the spreading sickness, but that Bible that I live by just won’t let me:

“If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?” (Pro. 24:11-12)

“Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.” (Ezk. 3:17-18)

“For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” (Acts 20:27)

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (II Tim. 4:2-4)

So, all I can say is that I am going to do as the Lord leads me, and you can do as the Lord leads you. We can agree to disagree, agree to agree, or disagree to agree, but I’m going to write about why I’m not a Southern Baptist.

The Denominational System is Unscriptural

The official web site of the Southern Baptist Convention says, “The term ‘Southern Baptist Convention’ refers to both the denomination and its annual meeting.” The site goes on to speak about its associations, state conventions and fellowships, but where in the Bible is such a religious structure found? If a denominational system is so good and needful, then why didn’t God think of it and establish it? Why didn’t Jesus say, “I will build my denomination . . .” in Matthew 16:18 instead of saying that He would build his church?

Denominationalism was introduced to Christianity, not by the Bible, but by men. Rather than follow the simple Bible pattern of respecting the autonomy and independence of separate local churches, men have traditionally given into the temptation to “become stronger and better” by linking churches together into associations, fellowships, hierarchies, and denominations. First, it was the Roman Catholics, then the Greek Orthodox Church, then all of the Reformation groups. Established in the mid 1800’s, the Southern Baptist Convention is just more of the same, at least in principle and philosophy.

One only has to read Genesis chapter 11 to see that God isn’t impressed with man’s good intentions of improving things by GETTING TOGETHER (Gen 11:1-9), but men just can’t resist the temptation to try it time and time again.

The justification is usually something like “We can be better and do more if we join together.” Then, after a while, the underlying thought becomes “We are superior because we have more people.” Any independent Baptist who has preached on the streets, knocked on some doors for Christ, or just handed out tracts knows this very well because he has encountered such people many times.

In the “About us” section of the above mentioned Southern Baptist web site, in the FIRST SENTENCE, the reader is told that the Southern Baptist Convention has “over 16 million members who worship in more than 42,000 churches in the United States.”

Why say that in the first sentence? Any advertising agency could tell you why immediately: the first sentence is one of the most important sentences because it makes the first impression. These people think that denomi-nationalism is a strength, so they think you’ll be impressed with their 16 million members in 42,000 churches. Evidently, they’ve forgotten that David was chastened of the Lord because he got hung up on numbers (II Sam. 24).

And make no mistake about it; denominationalism is about numbers. The Southern Baptists do not accomplish any more for God than the independents (in fact, they accomplish less), but they do feel better since they can claim sixteen million people. Unfortunately, the Bible is against every one of them.

In the book of Acts, there are various local churches established, but there are no denominations or associations. In his epistles, Paul addresses local assemblies, but no denominations or associations are mentioned. In Revelation 1:4, we read these words: “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne.” We do not read anything about denominations, conventions, or associations. Jesus then goes on to address letters to each of the seven churches independently in chapters two and three (Rev. 1:4, 11; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). The Bible simply does not support denominationalism. New Testament churches are independent, autonomous, assemblies of Christians, and nothing more. I realize that Southern Baptist churches are not usually as denominationally oriented as, say, the United Methodists or the Roman Catholics, but they are still part of a denomination (see their web site), so they are still unscriptural. Are the Southern Baptists in a CULT? No, of course not, but they are in a sick and unscriptural system.

Southern Baptists are Generally Led by a Worldly Spirit

All Christians are commanded to live holy, transformed, separated lives in Romans 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” This passage wasn’t written to independent Baptists and Pentecostals alone; it was written to all Christians, Southern Baptists included.

I once had a Southern Baptist man (in his late 30’s) ask me if I listened to contemporary Christian music. I told him that I didn’t care for it because it was just too worldly. His response: “What do you mean by WORLDLY?” This man, his wife, and their children attend the largest Southern Baptist church in his city, yet he didn’t know what it meant to be worldly.

Now, why didn’t he know what it meant? Obviously, his preacher hasn’t taught him. All of my members know what it means. My ten-year old daughter knows what it means! But this poor man was so weak spiritually that (1) he didn’t know what it meant , and (2) he didn’t see the obvious shame of not knowing! It was just pitiful.

As mentioned earlier, Jesus commanded us to know people by the fruits (Mat. 7:15-20). Have you ever considered the fruits of the Southern Baptist churches? Have you ever made a list of the Southern Baptist people that you know and then, in your mind, tagged each of them either “spiritual” or “worldly”? You ought to try it sometime.

Here’s an assignment for you. Drive by three Southern Baptist churches this week and take note of what the girls and women are wearing as they make their way through the parking lots and into the buildings. Are they holy women in modest apparel (I Pet. 3:5, Tim. 2:9), or are they worldly women in worldly apparel?

I drove by a large Southern Baptist youth department one Wednesday night and didn’t see a single young man dressed neatly nor a single young woman in a dress or skirt. I saw nothing but sloppy shirts and trousers and tight jeans. Is that spiritual, or is that worldly? You tell me.

One might argue, “Well, Bro. Melton, kids are going to be kids and dress like that while they’re young.” Mine don’t, and I know many other godly young people that don’t do it either, but they aren’t Southern Baptists.

I recently heard two Southern Baptists speaking on the radio about contemporary Christian music. One was a musician who actually played contemporary music. I was shocked (and not much shocks me these days!) to hear this man indicate to his friend and to thousands of listeners that modern contemporary Christian music (used in many Southern Baptist churches) is basically no different than Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus!

I bet I can think of some differences: (1) Handel was so spirit-filled when he wrote The Messiah that he said he didn’t know if he was in the body or out of the body; (2) every word to the Hallelujah Chorus was taken straight from a King James Bible; (3) Handel was quick to correct a British Lord who commented that The Messiah (Handel’s masterpiece) would make excellent “entertainment” for the people. The dear saint said that he wanted to HELP the people, not entertain them; (4) three thousand people attended the funeral of George Frideric Handel, and he is buried at Westminster Abbey near a statue of himself. The statue is holding a music score reading “I know my Redeemer liveth.”

Of the Southern Baptists that I know personally and see frequently, the following things are true: One is a known fornicator. At least two of them are involved in unscriptural marriages. Several of them spend hours each day listening to Country Western or Rock music. None of them distribute tracts. I’ve only known two of them to ever make any attempt to witness. I’ve never seen any of them reading a Bible. At least two of them use profanity regularly. Four of them rejoice in unclean humor. One is a Mason. Two are women who often dress like prostitutes, and at least four of them gamble.

I have lived around Southern Baptists all of my life, and I have tried to minister to them for the past twenty years. For the most part, I’ve reached one definite conclusion concerning these people: if it isn’t worldly, they aren’t interested. For every exception you can find where the shoe doesn’t fit, I can find at least fifty cases where it fits perfectly.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.” (I John 2:15-17)

Southern Baptists Generally Do Not Preach Against or Take Action Against Sins

Proverbs 8:13 says, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” A good companion verse would be Psalm 97:10: “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.”

I have started with these two verses because I believe they give us the reason why most preachers do not preach against sins: they don’t fear God enough, and they don’t hate sins enough.

Notice, I used the word “sins” in the heading above, not the singular word “sin.” Any preacher can “boldly” stand in his pulpit and yell “Sin is killing our churches! Sin is killing our families! Sin is killing our nation!”, but for every one hundred preachers who make such statements, you won’t find ten who will actually name the sins or take any significant action against them. This reminds me of the old story I once heard of a lady who returned home from church services and had her husband ask her about the topic of the preacher’s sermon. “He preached about sin,” she replied. The husband asked, “Well, what did he say about it?” “Oh,” said the wife, “he said it was wrong.”

That’s about the limit of most “preaching against sin” these days. Everyone is just terrified of offending somebody and losing a few members ($♥$♥$)—if you know what I mean.

I guess one of the most common excuses for not preaching against sins—naming the sins, that is, and making the sinners feel guilty as the devil—is a little philosophy that goes something like this: “Well, the Holy Spirit has to do his work in the hearts of his people. If I preach against their sins, then I have gotten ahead of God and tried to change them instead of letting God change them. I must wait on God to change their hearts and give them a genuine love for God and for godly living.”

That would be just “dandy” if it were in the Bible, but it isn’t. In the Bible, righteous people hate evil, and they oppose it with a passion. Let’s consider a few:

In Exodus chapter thirty-two we find Moses coming down mount Sinai to discover that God’s people had begun worshipping a golden calf. Did he side step the matter and pray for them to mature in the Lord? No, he destroyed the false god and had 3,000 men killed.

Leviticus 19:17 is a good one: “Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.” This modern crowd has it all backwards, thinking that one is being hateful when speaking out against sin. In the Bible it is just the opposite: you “hate” someone when you don’t rebuke them for their sin!

As pointed out in our previous section, Southern Baptists are a worldly bunch of Christians. Yet, this would not be the case if their preachers (“reverends,” “doctors,” etc.) were faithfully preaching against sins and taking action against sins in their churches. Would Southern Baptist men (deacons included) stand on the front steps of the church and smoke cigarettes if they knew the preacher were going to preach against it? I think not.

What did Joshua do when the sinful act of Achan came to a head? Being a holy man of God who understood his role as God’s representative, Joshua dealt with the sin, and he did so publicly, and this was the will of God (Jsh. 7).

Take the young people I mentioned earlier who stood outside the big church looking like heathen. Would they not make some changes in their lives if their preacher had been hammering away with Romans 12:1-2 and I Timothy 2:9?

Nathan was a fine preacher who knew the importance of preaching against sin. In the first thirteen verses of II Samuel chapter twelve, we find Nathan going straight to David the king and saying “thou art the man.” Was this an easy message to preach? I doubt it. Was it a needed message, and did God honor it? Yes, it was a very needed message, and God honored it by granting David repentance and continuing his blessings on David’s life. But such blessings could only come after the preacher had delivered his message, a negative message to a sinning saint.

Someone says, “Well, I think it’s best to just pray about such matters and let God work it out.” Well, you are wrong because that’s not what we are finding in God’s word. In the Bible, over and over again, we find God calling men to preach against sins and sinners.

Have you read I Kings chapter eighteen lately? Do you not recall God’s preacher standing up against the false prophets of Baal on mount Carmel? He didn’t ignore them and hope that God would work it out. He PREACHED AGAINST SIN! That same preacher (Elijah) shows up in chapter twenty-one and pronounces God’s judgment with one of the most negative messages any preacher has ever had to preach, and he speaks to the king of Israel when he says it: “Thus saith the LORD, In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick thy blood, even thine.” (I Kgs. 21:17-22) I doubt that Elijah enjoyed this task, but it was his duty. Too many Christians today are driven by desire and too few are driven by duty.

The average Southern Baptist church has over 380 members, yet we are not seeing 380 people attending the services of these churches. This means that most Southern Baptist churches have a significant number of “inactive members” who remain on the church roll even though they don’t attend services regularly. Excepting those who might be sick or unable to attend, why are the rest (millions of them) permitted to live in open rebellion against Hebrews 10:25 and I Corinthians 16:1-2? Would the Convention be able to boast a membership of 16.3 million people if they counted only the people who attend church services. Not on your life. In our local door-to-door visitation work, we meet Southern Baptists regularly who haven’t been to church in years. I’ve had them tell me, “I’m a member down at such and such Baptist church.” With that I ask, “Who is the Pastor down there anyway?” Many of them don’t even know. Yet, they will not be disciplined for their shameful living. Somebody doesn’t hate sin like they should, which means somebody doesn’t love God like they should.

Isaiah 58:1 is very clear. It says to “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” How can we show God’s people “their transgressions” if we don’t mention the transgressions by name? Isaiah isn’t being commanded to go around saying, “Folks, I want to say that sin quenches God’s Spirit! Sin causes God to withhold his blessings from us! Sin deceives us and wrecks our lives!” Any preacher can preach like that every Sunday and never upset anyone or get anyone under conviction. To show someone their transgressions is to point out the transgressions specifically by name so that everyone present, especially the transgressors, can clearly identify the sin.

For example: “Some of you moms and dads sitting here today are troubled by the kind of music your teens are listening to, but the Holy Spirit is just as troubled by the garbage YOU listen to! Don’t you preach to your kids about rock music when you have Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, and Johnny Cash in your own CD players! ‘Love not the world’ applies to ALL Christians, not just your teenagers!”

For example: “I’m giving some of you men one week to buy your wives and daughters some modest clothing. This place is to be a holy house, not a whore house. I can promise you that next Sunday will be your worst church service ever if I see then what I see today! I don’t want to embarrass anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings, so I’m giving you a week’s notice, but that’s all I’m giving.” In this modern “politically correct” world, that kind of talk is called “hate.” In the Bible, it’s just normal preaching.

Jeremiah also preached against sins. He didn’t speak in generalities. He got real specific and told the people what they should be doing and what they should not be doing (Jer. 25:2-7).

I remember visiting a large Southern Baptist church about ten years ago and having myself nearly vomit due to the horrible cigar breath of an older member who approached me, shook my hand, breathed heavily in my face and said, “We’re sssooooooo glaaaaadd to have you folks worshiiiip with us tonight!” After getting away from the man (far away!), I sat down and endured one of the deadest church services of my life with the preacher bringing a lovely Valentine’s Day message—the very LAST thing that crowd needed to hear.

Just recently I was told of an adulterous situation going on in a Southern Baptist church. I think it even concerned a deacon. The people of the church knew about this and were talking about it in the presence of non-church members, yet, so far as I know, nothing was ever done about it by the church leadership. I bet Moses would have done something about it, or Joshua, or Nehemiah!

In Matthew 15:3-9, we find Jesus preaching about sin and naming the sins. Then in the parable of the prodigal son, Jesus said, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7) Jesus said in Mark 2:17 that he had come to call “sinners to repentance.” Jesus demanded that sinners REPENT of their sins, yet, very few demand this today.

What did Peter do when he learned that Ananias and Sapphira had sinned by lying about their gift to the ministry? Peter knew that Satan was the father of lies and that Satan would be glorified if this sin went uncovered, so he uncovered it by confronting the deceivers and preaching against their sin (Acts 5:1-5). Did God judge Peter for this? No, God judged the sinners and continued to use and bless Peter. Sin must be preached against, and we must take action against it, but this clearly is not the standard in Southern Baptist churches.

What about the sinful Christian at Corinth who had been “immorally involved” (to put it nicely) with his father’s wife? Did Paul advise the Corinthian Christians to pray for the man in hopes that things might improve? No, he told them to “deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” (I Cor. 5:5) In other words, DEAL WITH IT, and deal with it NOW!

Every Christmas and Easter the Southern Baptist churches experience a sizable increase in attendance (and offerings) when their backslidden members drag back into church for a week or two. Yet, these people are seldom warned about their sin while the preacher preaches his traditional and expected holiday message. This continues year after year without correction in thousands of churches, and it will keep on continuing because Southern Baptist preachers, for the most part, do not preach against or take action against sins. While “showing the love of Jesus,” they quench the Holy Spirit and condone sin in their churches.

Southern Baptists Allow Members to Join Masonic Lodges

Masons claim that their “fraternity” is not a religion, but over and over again we find religious elements in their practices. They have temples, alters, Bibles, prayer, lamb skins, and one must believe in a Supreme Being before joining. In Grolier’s Encyclopedia, a Masonic member states: “If a person lives what the lodge teaches he won’t have any trouble getting into Heaven.” (Grolier, Vol. 5, “Freemasonry,” pg. 68) Another Masonic writer, Albert Pike (who was also an occultist), writes: “Every Masonic Lodge is a Temple of Religion; and its teachings are instruction in religion.” (Morals and Dogma, pg. 213) On page 68 of the Minnesota Proceedings, 1895, we read these interesting words: “He who approaches our alter in good faith and by the light which we bring him receives our teachings into a heart already prepared and lives a life in conformity with the principles which he here imbues, has come into an invaluable possession and need have no fear when the word shall come calling him into the hereafter but that he will be received as a living stone fit for a temple not made with hands.” (See I Peter 2:4-8)

Regardless of their claims, the Masons are clearly embedded in a mystical religious system of salvation through works. Any “God” will do in this religion, because the Lodge teaches that it isn’t God who saves one’s soul anyhow: it’s one’s good works. In fact, in nations where Christianity isn’t embraced, Masonic altars display the appropriate “Book of the Law” instead of the Bible. Freemasonry is definitely a religion, and a very BAD one at that.

High level Masons even know the true identity of their “god” (unlike the peons at the bottom of the pyramid). The following is from page 48 of Manly Hall’s Lost Keys of Freemasonry: “When the Mason learns that the key to the warrior on the block is the proper application of the dynamo of living power, he has learned the Mystery of the Craft. The seething energies of LUCIFER are in his hands.” That’s LUCIFER, as in Isaiah 14:12-15.

Every Mason has to go through an initiation ceremony which requires him to confess that he is in DARKNESS and that he desires to have LIGHT. Any man who is a Christian already has light, and he has no business denying this: “Then spake Jesus again unto them saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

For one to deny that he has light and then request light from another source is purely SATANIC. If you doubt it, just read the Bible: “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” (II Cor. 11:14) The name “Lucifer” means “light bearer,” and all Masons have embraced him instead of Jesus Christ (see our tract The Plain Truth about the Lodge.)

What does this have to do with the Southern Baptists? Well, according to a 1993 article in the Calvary Contender (June 1, 1993), of the 3.5 million Masons in the United States, 1.3 million are Southern Baptists. How about that? Eight percent of all Southern Baptists are Masons, and over one third of Masons are Southern Baptists.

What’s worse is the fact that fourteen percent of Southern Baptist preachers are Masons, as well as eighteen percent of their deacons. What are the chances of Southern Baptist members repenting of this sin when over 5,000 of their churches are led by lodge members? In spite of all this, the Southern Baptist Convention has not and will not take a firm stand against the Masons. After all, if 1.5 million Masonic members were to leave the Convention, they’d take their families and some friends with them, which means that three to five million people would leave. That just isn’t going to happen. The Southern Baptist Convention will keep its cowardly mouth shut and stay in bed with Lucifer’s Masons. Masons will remain in the Southern Baptist churches, and Bible-believing Christians will stay out of them.

Southern Baptist Churches Are Not Governed Scripturally

Faithful helpers are very needed in good working churches, so the office of deacon is an honorable office that we should not take lightly. However, the office of deacon is not a ruling office. In the Bible, the pastors who preach the word of God (also called bishops and elders) have rule over the churches (Tit. 1:4-13, I Tim. 3:1-7, 5:17, Heb. 13:7, 17, etc.). Deacons have no such authority. They are simply helpers in the ministry who must meet the qualifications of I Timothy 3:8-13.

In spite of this clear Bible truth, most Southern Baptist churches have “deacon boards” that have as much authority as the pastor, and oftentimes more authority. It is often hard to get anything done in such churches (especially anything new) because the “deacon board” prides itself in flexing its muscles and stopping or hindering most any spiritual work that the zealous believers of the church attempt to accomplish.

Although I have never been a member of the Southern Baptist church, I was once a member of an independent Baptist church that had some former Southern Baptist members who believed in doing things the way Southern Baptists taught them. I remember one case in particular when such a member complained because the pastor spent about thirty to forty dollars from the general fund to purchase some offering plates. The complaint wasn’t that the church didn’t need the offering plates. It was just that some members didn’t feel that the pastor had the right to purchase the plates without a church vote in a regular business meeting. No, I’m not kidding.

We have printed special tracts for churches on occasion, including Southern Baptist churches. I remember very well a Southern Baptist pastor who wanted us to print about thirty dollars worth of small tracts for his church, but he first had to get permission from “the men” at the church.

This slothful way of doing business (Rom. 12:11) is very common in Southern Baptist churches, and it’s unscriptural. I won’t even go into some of the stories I’ve been told about some of the stupid things that have happened in Southern Baptist churches due to weak and slothful church government. God ordained that the pastor should rule in the church, but this clearly is not the case in most Southern Baptist churches.

I recently read that the Southern Baptist Convention is thinking of changing their name because the word “Southern” might be offensive or at least inappropriate these days. The last I read about it was that they had appointed a “committee” to research the matter further. (Why doesn’t that surprise me?) Perhaps they can replace “Southern” with the word “SLOTHFUL”!

Southern Baptists Do Not Promote Spiritual Strength

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” (Eph. 6:10)

“Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” (I Cor. 16:13)

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

“And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” (II Tim. 2:1-4)

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Jsh. 1:9)

As the above verses declare, God expects His people, especially His MEN, to be STRONG Christian soldiers. No brand new Christian is expected to be a strong soldier right away, but he is expected to grow in the Lord (I Pet. 2:2).

Looking back over my Christian life of twenty-seven years (1979-2006), I have had the privilege of meeting, knowing, and being influenced by many strong soldiers for the Lord Jesus Christ, but over ninety-five percent of these men were independent Baptists. And that’s not because I never meet Southern Baptist men. I meet Southern Baptists regularly (both preachers and non-preachers), but very seldom does one inspire me as being strong in the Lord. Such men usually impress me as being handicapped by a spirit of weakness, and sometimes even an effeminate spirit. That’s not what I have needed for spiritual growth, that’s not what I’ve followed, and that’s not what I’ve recommended to others. A growing Christian needs a true SOLDIER to follow, not a weakling.

I was once told of a certain Southern Baptist preacher in our area who had expressed his desire to possibly pull his church out of the Convention. When encouraged to do so by another preacher, he complained that he wouldn’t have anyone with whom to “fellowship”. He was reminded that he could fellowship with Bro. Melton. That wasn’t good enough. Evidently, the notion of just having fellowship with God wasn’t good enough either. The man chose to stay in the Southern Baptist Convention. That is NOT being “strong in the Lord.”

There are thousands of grown Southern Baptist men teaching Sunday schools across America. Most of these men would nearly faint if they had to prepare their own lessons next week, straight from the Bible, instead of using the prescribed Sunday school literature. With new teachers this might be understandable, but some of these men have been saved twenty to forty years. Have they grown into mature Christian soldiers through the years? No, they are still little babies. Physically, they are strong men who can do all sorts of manly things, but, spiritually, they are still in diapers.

With the world becoming more feminized all the time, the church is one of the few institutions left that can produce strong men (even the military often fails). So, when a preacher becomes a wimp (Woman Influenced Male Person), what are the chances of the men in his church growing into strong Christian husbands, fathers, and soldiers for the Lord? Very slim, indeed.

I was once asked by a Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher about a certain Bible doctrine. After explaining it to him clearly with Scripture, he still couldn’t find the strength to teach it to his class. Instead, he gave them “all points of view and allowed them to decide.” How sweet and how WEAK. Within two years he joined up with the Campbellites, largely due to the influence of his sister. The man was in his fifties.

I know a Baptist preacher who prays 3.5 hours per day, but he isn’t a Southern Baptist. I know a preacher who has read his Bible through over 150 times, but he isn’t a Southern Baptist. I know another one whose church supports over 100 missionaries, and he reads every prayer letter every month, but he isn’t a Southern Baptist. I know a man (and his wife) who flew an airplane over the Vatican one Easter Sunday and dumped out some 20,000 Chick tracts. No, he wasn’t a Southern Baptist.

I am not poking fun at Southern Baptists because there is nothing funny about it. It’s a tragedy that has inflicted great damage to modern Christianity. Where are the Southern Baptist SOLDIERS of today? I’m not talking about those of the past; I’m talking about RIGHT NOW. Where are the Southern Baptist MEN who inspire the younger generation to put on the whole armor of God and march into battle? I’ve heard the young Southern Baptist preachers and their powerless sermons. They aren't men because they weren’t trained by men. Just tune into any three Southern Baptist radio broadcasts next Sunday morning and listen. You’ll hear words like “hell” replaced with “that awful place,” words like “sin” replaced with “shortcomings” and “failures,” and you’ll hear “preaching” replaced with “speaking.” You’ll hear a lot about “sharing” and the “love of God,” and you’ll hear very little about repentance and judgment. From Nashville on down, these people are WEAKLINGS. Most of them are second class Christians (by choice) because they’ve made weakness, not strength, the standard for their lives. They’ll work hard to increase their attendance and their offerings, but they’ll run like scalded dogs from every opportunity to increase their spiritual strength in the Lord. They are WEAK, they’ll remain weak, and you’ll be weak if you follow them. That’s my advice, based on nearly twenty-seven years of personal dealings with these people. I’m not judging their love for God or their sincerity. I’m just telling you (1) THEY ARE WEAK, (2) THEY WILL REMAIN WEAK, AND (3) YOU’LL BE WEAK IF YOU FOLLOW THEM. That’s my advice. You can take it or leave it.

Southern Baptists Refuse to Stand for the Authority of the King James Bible

I realize that there are many Southern Baptist churches that are King James Bible churches with good KJV pastors, but this is not the case with most Southern Baptist Churches, and the Convention itself does not take any official stand for the King James Bible.

The official statement of faith on the Southern Baptist Convention web site says the following about the Scriptures: “The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God's revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation. Exodus 24:4; Deuteronomy 4:1-2; 17:19; Joshua 8:34; Psalms 19:7-10; 119:11,89, 105,140; Isaiah 34:16; 40:8; Jeremiah 15:16; 36:1-32; Matthew 5:17-18; 22:29; Luke 21:33; 24:44-46; John 5:39; 16:13-15; 17:17; Acts 2:16; 17:11; Romans 15:4; 16:25-26; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; Hebrews 1:1-2; 4:12; 1 Peter 1:25; 2 Peter 1:19-21.”

Knowing full well that there are many Bible translations on the market, these people made no attempt at all to specify which one is the true word of God. In fact, I recall seeing at least four or five different translations quoted on the Convention’s web site. There are certainly some good KJV men in some Southern Baptist churches, but most Convention churches do not stand on the KJV, and they will not stand on it when given loads of evidence in its favor. Books by Hills, Fuller, Riplinger, Gipp, Ruckman, and others have been in print for many years, some over thirty years, yet the majority of Southern Baptists continue right on in their deliberate ignorance of the KJV issue.

There are over 150,000 copies of our King James tracts and booklets in print all over America. Many of these have been used in Southern Baptist churches, but usually not by the preachers. It is normally the preachers who intervene and stop the members from distributing the material.

I once heard a Southern Baptist preacher say some very foolish things while visiting his church, so I mailed him a copy of our Fighting Back booklet, which deals with the KJV issue. I never heard from him again. We’ve mailed the same booklet to many Southern Baptist preachers in our local area and have received the same result: nothing. Most of these people have not been trained to cherish truth, so they have no interest in it. Their interests lie mainly in building big churches, drawing a crowd, and taking up a good offering.

There was an older lady who sat in her car next to our print shop in Sharon, Tennessee, one Saturday morning while her husband got a hair cut at the barber shop. Being parked behind my Jeep, she noticed one of my bumper stickers promoting the KJV. As I walked out the door, the dear old saint commented on it and said, “I believe that too, BUT MY PREACHER . . .” Ah, yes, THE PREACHER! You know, the Southern Baptist churches might be in pretty good shape if it weren’t for THE PREACHERS!

Southern Baptist Churches Generally Do Not Seek to Publish God’s Word

Maybe you have an exception or two, but I can easily match each exception with at least forty churches that do not distribute tracts, do not preach on the streets, do not strongly encourage witnessing, and do not display Scripture or Scriptural statements on their church signs.

Church signs, that’s a good one. Just take a look at some of the Southern Baptist church signs:

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.

God loves you whether you like it or not.

You are a sinner, but God still loves you.

We don’t serve ice cream, but we have great Sundays.

Don’t make me come down there.

You’ll have to search long and hard to find a Southern Baptist church with SCRIPTURE printed on its reader board. Why is this? There are over 31,000 verses in the Bible, yet these people can’t seem to find one to put on their sign.

On your way to church next Sunday, drive through the parking lot of a Southern Baptist church and look at the bumper stickers: “My kid is an honor roll student at Darwin Elementary . . . ROCK 99.9 Radio . . . Bush/Cheny 2004 . . . Vote for Kerry . . . Go Bulldogs! . . . Get in, Shut up, and Hang on! . . . Rush is Right! . . . If you can read this, you are too close . . . Get off my bumper or I’ll . . . etc”

ANYTHING but the word of God! Isn’t that a strange thing to discover on a CHURCH parking lot? Don’t take my word for it; GO LOOK FOR YOURSELF! These people could choose anything they desire to stick on their automobiles, yet somehow they completely overlook God’s word.

Recently, a preacher friend of mine told me that a Southern Baptist church had called the police on him for street preaching to the general public near their church. The policemen were ashamed to even come to him, but they had to answer the call. The Southern Baptist complaint was that he and his people were making the Southern Baptist church “look bad.”

We’ve had many Southern Baptists drive by while we were street preaching and holding up our Scripture signs and not show any appreciation at all for the public declaration of God’s word. I haven’t kept record of it, but we’ve probably had better responses from the Charismatics than from the Southern Baptists.

In my forty-two years on this planet, I cannot recall ever being handed a gospel tract by a Southern Baptist or ever having one knock on my door, yet I’ve been surrounded by these people all of my life!

It is very common for Southern Baptist churches in our area to load their young people onto the church bus and drive to St. Louis or Jackson for a baseball game. I’ve never heard once of any of these trips including the distribution of gospel tracts, public witnessing, or public preaching.

A Southern Baptist preacher once visited the county jail where I was preaching. It was Christmas season, so he decided to come up to the jail and “minister” to the inmates. No, he didn’t come to preach. He came to distribute candy (or cookies). The next time I saw him was at the county fair. This time he was singing, not preaching or distributing tracts.

Every year our church goes to a local county fair and distributes well over 1,000 tracts. We have never seen a Southern Baptist there publishing (making public) the gospel in any way, shape, or form.

Every Christmas our church distributes either tracts or cassettes to the people attending the local Christmas parade. There are three large Southern Baptist churches in Martin, Tennessee (two of them sitting right on the parade route!), yet never have we known any of them to get the gospel to the hundreds of people gathered for the parade.

“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Mat. 7:20) Yes, we know them alright. We know that the majority of Southern Baptists will allow you to live a wasted life and then drop into Hell forever, never making a single attempt to give you the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Southern Baptist Missions Program is Unscriptural

Most independent Baptist churches know their missionaries personally and have had them in their churches on one or more occasions. These missionaries receive monthly support from the churches, and the churches receive monthly prayer letters from the missionaries. The prayer letters are usually posted for all to read on a designated bulletin board or wall in the church building. The relationship between the local church and the missionary is relatively close as it should be.

This is not the case in most Southern Baptist churches. One of my members was a faithful Southern Baptist for over twenty years in two churches. She couldn’t recall a single time when a missionary visited either of these churches to report on his work in the foreign field, and her pastors said very little about missions from the pulpit.

The average Southern Baptist church has no way of holding missionaries accountable. It has no “missions board” in the church where monthly prayer letters are posted, no missionaries visiting frequently to report to the church, and no way of contacting its missionaries.

This is because Southern Baptists support missionaries through the Cooperative Program, a central missions department of the Southern Baptist Convention. Much like a citizen pays his taxes to the Government, and the Government spends the money as it sees fit, the Cooperative Program receives missions money from Southern Baptist churches and then spends it as it chooses. So, there exists an unnecessary group of “middlemen” between the local churches and the missionaries.

According to the Convention’s web site, this money is used to “support missionaries, train pastors, missionaries, and other ministry leaders; provide relief for retired ministers and widows; and address social, moral, and ethical concerns relating to our faith and families.” (2/13/2006) Why is this centralized system better than that used in most independent Baptist churches? The Southern Baptist answer is found on their web site: “If ‘two are better than one’ (Ecc. 4:9), how much better are 16.3 million?”

Do you see the worldly logic in play? It’s all about NUMBERS—strength in NUMBERS. The passage from Ecclesiastes says nothing at all about missions, 16.3 million people, or hundreds of millions of dollars! The passage is dealing with INDIVIDUALS helping INDIVIDUALS. The maximum number of people mentioned in the passage are THREE, not millions: “a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”

The Bible does not support the “might makes right” philosophy of the Cooperative Program. Paul was a missionary who did his work on the foreign field and also visited and wrote to his churches. He also received money from these churches DIRECTLY. There was no need for a Cooperative Program to collect money for Paul because he collected it himself: “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” (I Cor. 16:2; also see II Cor. 9) The churches knew exactly where the money was going, and they knew that all of the money would get there.

When a Southern Baptist gives to the Cooperative Program, he does not know where the money is going. Although the giver might be a King James Bible believer, his gift might fall into the hands of a missionary who “corrects” the King James Bible regularly, or it might go to help “train” a young seminary student to have doubts about the King James Bible.

Some Southern Baptists will protest by saying, “Oh, but one can DESIGNATE his contributions and insure that his money goes for a specific cause.” If that were true, then there would be no point in even having the Cooperative Program, but it isn’t true. The following quote is taken from page 56 of David Cloud’s booklet Independent Baptists and Southern Baptists. It’s from a letter written by a former Southern Baptist pastor: “If you give designated funds to a particular missionary, that will make you feel better if you don’t ask any questions. I did ask, and here is the rest of the story. I called and talked with the Financial Manager in charge of disbursing the funds. I asked if I designated funds would the missionary get the money. He said the answer was technically yes, but honestly no. He explained this way. Each missionary is given a set amount of money. If any money is designated it is given to them but other money is taken away so they JUST get the amount that is set by the powers that be.” This, of course, means that the real extra money never gets into the missionary’s hands, and it might end up in the hands of someone that the giver would not desire to support. Yet, we are expected to believe that this is an improvement over the Biblical plan.

The argument that the Missions Boards organized by many independent Baptist churches are no different than the Cooperative Program is a false argument. Missions Boards (normally made up of independent Baptist preachers) encourage their missionaries to keep in close contact with their supporting churches, and all gifts go directly to the missionaries, including any extra gifts. Missions Boards take a heavy burden off of local churches by handling tax information, other miscellaneous paperwork, and by insuring that a given missionary is qualified for the ministry.

One final note before we move onward. As I was about the write this section, I received a phone call from one of our missionaries. He stated that he was back in America and working a regular job, trying to get some financial issues in order. He asked me to put his monthly support on hold for the time being. I told him that we would do so, but we would not cancel his support, under the condition that he stay in touch with at least one prayer letter per quarter. He agreed. I didn’t have to speak with the Missions Board about anything, nor did he. He is accountable to his supporting churches, so he reports to the churches. This is the Biblical pattern. This is not the Southern Baptist pattern.

There Is No Reproach in Being A Southern Baptist

Since the average Christian today doesn’t even know what the word “reproach” means, this point will fly like a rocket over the heads of many. The fact that the word occurs over eighty times in the Bible won’t matter.

It has always been the nature of God-fearing people to bear God’s reproach. Webster (1828) connects the word with such words as “shame” and “disgrace.” Simply put, to have a reproach as a Christian means to have people think you are shameful or disgraceful. The world view, of course, is, “Well, who would want THAT?” Unfortunately, this is also the view of most Southern Baptists.

Isaiah 53:3 speaks of the Lord Jesus and says, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.” Hebrews 13:12-13 says, “Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.”

Just as Moses bore Christ’s reproach when he forsook Egypt (Heb. 11:26), we too should forsake the ways of this world and walk in God’s ways. We too should be willing to have people look down their noses at us while thinking they are so much better.

It has been my experience to observe that the Southern Baptists are the ones looking down their noses at others instead of being the ones upon whom others are looking. The Southern Baptists clearly are not going unto Jesus without the camp and bearing his reproach. The Southern Baptist churches, for the most part, are competing with one another to see which one can be the most popular and draw the largest crowd. In many communities, the large Southern Baptist churches are little more than community gathering centers. No one feels any pressure for visiting one of these churches or for telling someone they are a member of one of these churches. In fact, one can often see a gleam of pride in one’s eyes when he (or she) says, “I’m a member of First Baptist Church.” To attend such a church is easy. There is no cross in it. “Everyone” either goes there or they know someone who goes there, so you’ll fit in just fine. No cross, no shame, no reproach. It’s a perfect place for a second class Christian who desires to live in a comfort zone.

Most anyone who succeeds in life will tell you that people perform best when under pressure. Being a mild fan of professional football, I’ll try to illustrate this with the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers. Late in the season the Steelers found themselves with a 7-5 record and a very thin chance of making the playoffs. At this point, they couldn’t afford to lose another game, not one. The pressure was on. Week by week, focusing on one game at a time, they began winning games, knowing the whole time that just one loss could ruin their playoff hopes. They won the rest of the season games and made the playoffs, yet they were the sixth seed in their conference, which means they barely made the playoffs and were the team most unlikely to make it to the Super Bowl. To get to the Super Bowl, they would have to win three staight games in three straight weeks away from home, and each team they played would have a better record than themselves. No one thought they could do it. The pressure was on more than ever. Did this cause them to perform worse or better? Far better! The greater the pressure became the greater their performance became. They beat Cincinatti; then they beat Indianapolis the next week (against the predictions of everyone--pressure). Finally, they traveled to Denver and beat the Broncos. This put the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Now, get this: for the Super Bowl, they chose to wear their “away” jerseys (the white jerseys that teams wear when not playing at home) because they had been wearing them all through the playoffs when under so much pressure. In other words, they wanted to keep the pressure on. They won the Super Bowl. They didn’t win it by getting comfortable and shunning pressure and reproach. They won it by feeding on the pressure and being motivated by it.

So it is with the Christian. I’ll wait for my comfort. I’ll wait until I get to heaven and receive it from the Lord rather than taking it for myself now. I always want to be identified with a church that keeps its community saturated with the word of God, a church that openly opposes sinful living and worldliness, a church that preaches on the public streets and knocks on doors regularly. I want to be identified with a church that lives not in the comfort zone, but rather in the combat zone. I am fighting the good fight, so I need to be a part of a fighting church. Most Southern Baptist churches are not fighting churches because they can’t handle the reproach. The very thing that they need—to keep them alert and on their toes for God—is the very thing they despise: a reproach. I’ve had one for over twenty years, and I don’t intend to trade it off by joing the Southern Comfort Convention.

More and More Southern Baptists are Compromising the Baptist Name

This is America, so anyone has the right to be called by any name they choose, but to remain Baptist while refusing to be called Baptist is nothing short of doing the Lord’s work deceitfully, a forbidden practice in the Bible (Jer. 48:10). Yet, more and more we are seeing Southern Baptist churches dropping the Baptist name in order to gain members. Yet, these churches are permitted to remain in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Richland Creek Community Church and North Wake Church, both of Wake Forest, North Carolina, are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, yet they avoid the Baptist name in order to pull larger crowds. One might argue that the Bible doesn’t command anyone to wear the Baptist name, which is true, but why not leave the Southern Baptist Convention all together if they have problems with the Baptist name? Answer: it’s all about numbers. There will be more numbers coming into the church if the Baptist name is avoided, and the church will feel better if it remains in the Southern Baptist Convention, which numbers over 42,000 churches.

A Google search on the Internet lists Richland Creek Community Church as “a Baptist church near Raleigh and Wake Forest,” yet the church’s web site only reads “a church located near Raleigh and Wake Forrest.”

The Southern Baptist Convention web site lists the North Wake Church as “North Wake Baptist Church,” yet the church’s own web site reads simply “North Wake Church.” The pastor of this church once told the The News & Observer (North Carolina) that “Today, people pick a church not because of its theology or because they were reared in a particular tradition. They pick a church where they feel comfortable. Instead of asking about doctrine, they ask: Is it friendly? Is the worship exciting? Are there programs for the kids?” In other words, the man is saying that churches ought to continually compromise their convictions in order to bring in the numbers. Thankfully, Paul had a different outlook (I Cor. 15:58).

To illustrate the weakness of the above statement, let’s break it down into sections and give the appropriate Scripture quotations:

(1) Today, people pick a church not because of its theology. . . (knowledge of God). “Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.” (Hosea 4:1)

(2) . . . or because they were reared in a particular tradition. “Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.” (II Ths. 2:15)

(3) They pick a church where they feel comfortable. “And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

(4) Instead of asking about doctrine, they ask: Is it friendly? “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine . . .” (II Tim. 4:3)

(5) Is the worship exciting? “. . . but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” (II Tim. 4:3)

(6) Are there programs for the kids? “And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” (Eph. 6:4; it is the primary responsibility of the parents, mainly the fathers, to see to it that children receive proper instruction in the home, rather than lay this burden at the feet of the church. I am not condemning Sunday schools, but for one to choose a church on the basis of “programs for the kids” is unscriptural. The nature of the “programs” is another issue altogether.)

Everything this pastor said was contrary to the word of God—100% of it. That’s how to build big churches these days: go against the Bible as often as possible. After all, the members of these churches are so weak spiritually that they’ll never know the difference. Of course, when confronted with such doctrinal issues, the Bible-believer is branded as being “mean-spirited” (no matter how gracefully and kindly he addresses the issue) while the Laodicean compromiser is held up as a great role model for “sharing the love of Christ.” Most of them have never paid any attention to John 14:23, and it wouldn’t change them if they did.

Another example of this cowardly deceit is Crosswinds Church of Elk Grove, California. The Southern Baptist Convention lists this church without even using the Baptist name. The Convention listing reads “Crosswinds Church, Elk Grove,” yet the Midwest Baptist Conference (midwestbap.org) lists this church as Crosswinds Community Church.

One can find the Southern Baptist Convention and Baptist associations all across America listing churches without Baptist names. Such names as Gracepoint Church, Dayspring Church, and numerous Community churches can be found on the Southern Baptist Convention web site, yet these churches avoid the Baptist name in their local communities. This is nothing less than outright deceit.

Not to be outdone by the flip/flop Laodicean churches, in January 1999, Baptist Book Stores, owned by the Southern Baptist Convention, changed its name to Lifeway Christian Stores. It is still owned by the Convention.

Now, please don’t misunderstand our point. This is America, and anyone can worship in anyway they choose, and they can wear any name they choose. However, Christians are supposed to be a HOLY and HONEST people! Playing decietful little games with church names is neither holy nor honest. If a church doesn’t like the Baptist name, then that church ought to leave the Southern BAPTIST Convention. If it doesn’t desire to leave, then the leadership in the Convention should force it to leave. If the Convention is going to tolerate churches dropping the Baptist name, then it should also drop the Baptist name.

They’re already thinking of dropping the word “Southern” from their name, so they might as well go ahead and drop “Baptist” also. Whatever they do, they should STOP LYING to people about who they are and what they believe.

After all, some of us real Baptists know a thing or two about Baptist history, and we’re not the least bit ashamed of the name. We know what the Roman Catholics did to our ancestors throughout Europe who refused to sprinkle babies and join the state church. We know who shed the first Baptist blood in America. We know who fought harder than anyone to win the Bill of Rights (without which, no one, would have religious freedom, yourself included). We know where Thomas Jefferson learned many of his democratic ideas, and we know who wrote My Country ‘Tis of Thee. Some of us weren’t raised up on Hollywood, Bill Gaither videos, and Upward Basketball, and we wouldn’t pay ten cents for every Crosswinds Community Chaotic Country Club Church in the country.

The Southern Baptist Schools Are Unscriptural and Often Modernistic or Liberal

Since 2002, we have published a tract titled Bible Schools: Unscriptural and Unnecessary. We’ll not reproduce that material here, but the reader might consider ordering a copy of the tract and reading it. The general point of the tract is that God ordained His church, not any school, to teach His word and train His ministers. Both Southern Baptists and independent Baptists have a consistent record of ignoring this clear Biblical principal because most all Baptist churches have pastors who were educated in “Bible colleges” and most all Baptist churches recommend that their young preachers attend such Bible colleges for their training. This is an unscriptural practice and has done great harm to Baptist churches everywhere.

However, the Southern Baptist schools are far more modernistic and liberal than the independent Baptist schools. A good example of apostasy in Southern Baptist seminaries is a work written in the 1970’s by a certain Noel Wesley Hollyfield, Jr. The work was titled A Sociological Analysis of the Degrees of ’Christian Orthodoxy’’ Among Selected Students in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The results of the analysis were published in a 1981 tract by E. L. Bynum. Hollyfield’s work (his Master of Divinity thesis) included a survey of the beliefs of Southern Baptist seminary students. The survey simply asked students at the Louisville, Kentucky, seminary to complete a questionnaire concerning their beliefs. To save space, we’ll use numerals 1-4 to designate the students surveyed:

(1) Diploma Students

(2) First Year Master of Divinity

(3) Final Year Master of Divinity

(4) Graduate Students

Some of the questions asked and the results were as follows:

I Know God really exists and I have no doubt about it.

1. 100%

2. 74%

3. 65%

4. 63%

Jesus is the Divine Son of God and I have no doubts about it.

1. 100%

2. 87%

3. 63%

4. 63%

I believe the miracles actually happened just as the Bible says they did.

1. 96%

2. 61%

3. 40%

4. 37%

The Devil Actually Exists . . . Completely true.

1. 96%

2. 66%

3. 42%

4. 37%

There is Life beyond Death . . . Completely true.

1. 100%

2. 89%

3. 67%

4. 53%

Jesus Was Born of A Virgin . . . Completely true.

1. 96%

2. 66%

3. 33%

4. 32%

If anyone doubts the accuracy of these figures, the tract can be ordered from Tabernacle Baptist Church, P.O. Box 3100, Lubbock, TX 79452. It can also be read on the Internet at www.tbaptist.com/aab/apostasyatsbts.htm.

The tract goes on to point out that only 53% of graduate students believed that Jesus will actually return to the earth one day, and only 59% believed that one has to believe in Jesus for salvation. That’s the fruit of a Southern Baptist seminary, and “by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Mat. 7:20)

One seminary student in Virginia has said, “The professors here, as well as many of the students, continually question the authenticity of the Bible. They close their minds to classical, traditional interpretation, under the guise of theology, but they do not realize that they are pulling away from the Lord." (www.wayoflife.org)

It is true that the Southern Baptist Convention has made some conservative moves in recent years, but this doesn’t change the fact that thousands of Southern Baptist pastors, missionaries, and leaders were trained by liberals and modernists, and those men are now in leadership rolls in Southern Baptist churches. Furthermore, one must bear in mind that conservative changes in the six major Southern Baptist seminaries (enrollment under 14,000) are relatively small when compared to the changes that need to be made in the many Southern Baptist colleges (over 50 colleges with an enrollment of over 113,000). These colleges are not producing firm, Bible-believing, men and women who will stand on the authority of the King James Bible and be holy soldiers of the Lord. I have heard preachers from these colleges, and I have met students from these colleges; they are not Christian soldiers who know how to stand firmly, practice Biblical separation, and fight the good fight of faith. Most of these people are turning out to be moderates, and some are outright liberals.

Our Children Deserve the Best We Can Provide Them, and Southern Baptist Religion is NOT the Best

I’ve had many Southern Baptists tell me through the years WHY they attend the churches that they attend. I cannot recall ever receiving a spiritual answer, not once. The most common answers are, “I was raised up in that church” or “I go there because so and so goes there.” Another fairly common answer is, “I go there for my kids—so they can be around lots of other kids.” The idea behind this is that Southern Baptist churches are usually larger (since they’re more worldly), therefore they have more children attending. This naturally draws people to the church, especially people who aren’t concerned with growing spiritually in the Lord. They join these large churches and then help to produce the spiritual babies that we’ve been commenting on in the preceding pages.

I am the father of five happy, healthy, clean-cut children. My wife, Angela, home-schools them because Darwin Elementary isn’t good enough. Lord willing, she’ll continue to home-school them because Junior High Jungle and Hell Hole High aren’t good enough either. We, the parents, are the God-appointed guardians of every aspect of their lives. Our duty is to train them up in the way they should go (Pro. 22:6), not in the popular way, the fun way, or the new and exciting way. The way they shoud go, God’s way, is the BEST way for them. We don’t teach Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, because that’s not the BEST way. We don’t do Halloween because that’s not the BEST way. We don’t blow their young and impressionable minds with Hollywood trash because that’s not the BEST way. As Christian parents, we are constantly asking ourselves the same question regarding our children: what is the BEST thing to do? Our answer is always determinded by WHAT GOD SAYS, not by anyone else’s words, actions, or thoughts.

Is it BEST for my children to attend a large Southern Baptist church where there are many other chidren? If so, then why is it best? Don’t forget to use Scripture when you send me the answer.

It clearly is not best for my children to be like most Southern Baptist children that I know, and it definitely isn’t best for them to grow up to be like the Southern Baptist adults that I know. Do I want my children to grow up playing and singing the worldly contemporary “Christian” music that is so common in Southern Baptist churches? I think not. Do I want my sons to grow up thinking they can go to church dressed like heathen? I think not. Do I want my daughters to grow up thinking they can ignore I Timothy 2:9 since most Southern Baptist girls and woman ignore it? I think not. Do I want my children growing up thinking that such Hollywood productions as Mel Gibson’s “Passion” are Christian movies, as many Southern Baptist pastors have taught their people? I think not. Do I want my children to grow up thinking that the Bible is hard to understand without special literature being provided for their Sunday school studies? I think not. Do I want them to grow up believing it is acceptable to attend church services without carrying their Bibles? I think not. Do I want my children to grow up without meeting missionaries and learning about their fields of service regularly? No, I certainly do not. It clearly is not BEST to train my children to be Southern Baptists, and I owe it to God and to them to give them NOTHING BUT THE BEST!

Why am I not a Southern Baptist? Five good reasons: Rachel, Nathan, Rizpah, Noah, and Jacob. It’ll bring me great joy one day to know in my heart that I gave my children THE BEST I could give them, and I trust it’ll give them great joy as well (Pro. 22:6).

Conclusion

It’s time for the Southern Baptists who are true Christians to start fearing and following God, rather than men. It’s time for serious Christians in the Convention to wake up and follow, not my advice, but the advice of one of their own former members, Charles Dunn. In closing his Internet article Why I Left the Southern Baptist Convention, Dunn says, “Southern Baptists, God asks for our obedience, not for continuation of our sentimental and sympathetic attachments to the past. Therefore, in obedience and loyalty to our Lord and the Scriptures, we must ‘come out from among them, and be separate’ from the SBC.” Amen to that! “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” (II Cor. 6:17)

If your’re tired of wasting your life in unscriptural churches, then show God you mean business by seriously praying and looking for a new and better church. The “Church Directory” at “biblebelievers.com” is a fine place to start. May the Holy Spirit be your Guide.

Why I’m Not a Southern Baptist

Letter Size Tract, Tri-fold

Suggested Donation: 8 cents each

With over 40,000 Southern Baptist churches sprinkled across America, it might seem odd to many that a Baptist preacher would publish a tract with such a title as this. Nevertheless, this tract is very needed across our land because very little is being said about the many dangers of the Southern Baptist churches. At the writing of this tract, I have been a Christian for 27 years, and I’ve been surrounded by Southern Baptists most of my Christian life. Though I’ve never been a Southern Baptist, I’ve personally witnessed to and ministered to many Southern Baptists through the years. Over the past 10 years, I’ve been an independent Baptist pastor, a public street preacher, and an author of over 120 tracts and booklets. I’ve had plenty of time and opportunities to meet and get familiar with the fruit of the Southern Baptist denomination, and Jesus said, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Mat. 7:20)

People often ask independent Baptists the question, “What’s the difference between Southern Baptists and independent Baptists?” Sometimes the question comes with a slightly different wording: “Why aren’t you a Southern Baptist?” In a nut shell, I’ll now answer that question and then refer the reader to more information later.

Denominations are Unscriptural

It was men who invented hierarchies, denominations, and conventions. Nowhere in the Bible do we read of local churches linking together in any such system. In the book of Acts, we read of various local churches, but never any denominations, conventions, or associations. The apostle Paul wrote letters to local churches, but never did he write to or from a denominational headquarters. The Lord Jesus addressed the seven churches of Asia (Rev. 2-3), yet He said nothing of a denomination, convention, or association.

Denominations are invented by men who place greater emphasis on drawing crowds and offerings than on obeying the word of God. This is obviously true with the Southern Baptists because the very first line in the “About Us” section on their web site informs the inquirer that the Southern Baptist Convention has “over 16 million members who worship in more than 42,000 churches in the United States.” (February, 2006) Denominationalism is about numbers, plain and simple. If you worship numbers, the Southern Baptist churches might suit you just fine. I worship the God of THE BIBLE Who isn’t impressed with human numbers (II Sam. 24, Psa. 20:7); therefore I’m not a Southern Baptist.

Southern Baptists are Easy on Sin

For every exception you can find to this rule, I can find at least 50 cases where the rule applies perfectly. The average Southern Baptist church has many members who either smoke, drink, listen to worldly music, view ungodly movies, gamble, fornicate, belong to Masonic lodges (1.3 million Southern Baptists belong to lodges), teach Santa Claus to their children, forsake coming together to worship, or commit a host of other sins that we have not space to mention. What does the average Southern Baptist pastor do about this? Nothing. Church discipline is unheard of in most Southern Baptist churches. Members are allowed to live in open sin, bringing continual shame to the holy name of Jesus Christ, yet nothing is done about it.

All through the Bible sin is aggressively opposed by righteous people (I Cor. 5:1-5, Lev. 19:17, Psa. 97:10, Jsh. 7, II Sam. 12, Exo. 32, etc.), and Jesus established some very clear principles for church discipline in Matthew 18:15-18. Then Paul commanded Timothy to “rebuke” those that sin in I Timothy 5:20. These clear Bible commands and principles are not upheld in most Southern Baptist churches. Consequently, the Holy Spirit is quenched (I Ths. 5:19), and the churches become lukewarm or dead (Rev. 3:1, 16). Do as you please, but I have no desire to poison my family with a lukewarm or dead church, regardless of its size.

Southern Baptist Churches Are Not Governed Scripturally

Our ministry has done printing work for Southern Baptist churches in the past. I remember one particular instance where a pastor had to get permission from “the men” before he could spend $30.00 to get 1,000 tracts for his church. Such conduct is just plain slothful, a violation of Romans 12:11. Churches need solid, strong, zealous and spiritual leadership, something that’s terribly lacking among most Southern Baptists.

The Southern Baptists Refuse to Stand on the King James Bible

It’s true that some Southern Baptist churches “use” the King James Bible, and some even stand strongly on it, but this is not so with most of the churches in the Convention, and it’s not in agreement with the official Southern Baptist position. The Southern Baptist statement of faith says nothing in favor of the King James Bible, nor does it say anything in opposition to the many perverted Bible translations flooding their thousands of churches.

Perhaps the Southern Baptists could have pleaded ignorance on this issue thirty or forty years ago, but not today. Many fine books have been published that expose the many attacks that modern translations make on the true word of God, and many Southern Baptist pastors and members have read these books. Yet, still the Convention refuses to take a stand. Since the Southern Baptists will not stand for the King James Bible, they do not deserve the support of those who do stand for it.

The Cooperative Program is An Unscriptural Missions Program

Unlike independent Baptists, Southern Baptists give to missions through the Cooperative Program, a centralized “middleman” who stands between the local churches and the missionaries on the field.

Much like a citizen pays taxes to the Government, and the Government spends the money as it pleases, Southern Baptists trust those leading the Cooperative Program to be faithful stewards with their missions offerings. The missionaries are not accountable to the local churches who pay their salary, and the churches do not receive monthly prayer letters or any other regular communication from the missionaries. The Cooperative Program uses its money in several ways, three of which are the training and support of missionaries and the training of pastors. The fact that a particular church or pastor might not approve of supporting a particular missionary or pastor trainee doesn’t matter because the one receiving the support is not accountable to the local church. In early America this was known as taxation without representation.

In the Bible, there was no centralized missions “program.” The apostles visited the churches, wrote to the churches, and they received all of the missions offerings because there were no “middlemen” around to get their hands on anything (See I Cor. 16:2 and II Cor. 9). Any serious Christian who has a true heart for missions will not support the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program.

Southern Baptist Schools Are Often Liberal or Modernistic

The seminaries and colleges supported by the Cooperative Program produce the preachers and missionaries of the Southern Baptist Convention, many of whom turn out to greatly compromise the word of God since they weren’t trained to strongly stand for it in school.

One of the most revealing studies on this subject was conducted in the 1970’s by a certain Noel Wesley Hollyfield, Jr. The work was titled A Sociological Analysis of the Degrees of ’Christian Orthodoxy’’ Among Selected Students in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The results of the analysis were published in a 1981 tract by E. L. Bynum. Hollyfield’s work included a survey of the beliefs of Southern Baptist seminary students. The survey simply asked students at the Louisville, Kentucky, seminary to complete a questionnaire concerning their beliefs. To save space, we’ll use numerals 1-4 to designate the students surveyed:

(1) Diploma Students

(2) First Year Master of Divinity

(3) Final Year Master of Divinity

(4) Graduate Students

The following are some of the results of that study:

I Know God really exists and I have no doubt about it.

1. 100%

2. 74%

3. 65%

4. 63%

Jesus is the Divine Son of God and I have no doubts about it.

1. 100%

2. 87%

3. 63%

4. 63%

I believe the miracles actually happened just as the Bible says they did.

1. 96%

2. 61%

3. 40%

4. 37%

The Devil Actually Exists . . . Completely true.

1. 96%

2. 66%

3. 42%

4. 37%

There is Life beyond Death . . . Completely true.

1. 100%

2. 89%

3. 67%

4. 53%

Jesus Born of A Virgin . . . Completely true.

1. 96%

2. 66%

3. 33%

4. 32%

If anyone doubts the accuracy of these figures, the tract can be ordered from Tabernacle Baptist Church, P.O. Box 3100, Lubbock, TX 79452. Many of these students are now Southern Baptist preachers in charge of leading thousands of Christians. If you don’t find that to be disturbing news, you have massive spiritual problems.

There are other good arguments against the Southern Baptist System. The worldly spirit that is so prevalent among their members, their inability to produce great spiritual leaders, and their lack of Christian reproach are just three that we have not space to cover. Our booklet The Sick Southern Baptist System covers thirteen sound arguments against these modernistic compromisers who are functioning against clear Bible doctrines and principles while rendering a terrible disgrace to our honorable Baptist heritage. We’ll send you the booklet free of charge if you’ll send us your word that you WILL read it all.

I have nothing personal against any Southern Baptist individual, and I do not doubt the salvation of most Southern Baptists, but, as a serious Christian and minister of the gospel, I have seen first hand the damage being done to people by this weak, compromising, cozy, crossless, religious system. I’ve waited for years to see someone do something other than “talk” about this problem, yet no one ever does. Meanwhile, the Southern Baptist people (many of whom are good people who just don’t know any better) are being led further astray from the plain paths of God’s holy word. It’s time for action, not talk. I’ve taken the course of action that I believe God wants me to take. You have every right to do the same.

Send comments to: service@biblebaptistpublications.org
Ministry mailing address:
Bible Baptist Church, P.O. Box 383, Martin, TN 38237

The tracts and booklets on this site are protected under copyright law and may not be duplicated in quantities over 50 without written permission. Quantities of 50 or less may be freely duplicated as long as no text is altered and the copyright line remains in place. Those interested in translating our publications into other languages must receive written permission in advance, regardless of the quantities involved.

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. . . because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. Hosea 4:1

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