Tag Archives: GARBC

Choosing Sunday School Curriculum

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Churches today have many choices for their Sunday School curriculum. What considerations should influence a church’s choice of its curriculum resources? Professor Don Anderson of Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary in Ankeny, Iowa, believes that the key consideration is how well a curriculum helps teachers teach the Bible effectively and thoroughly. In the first article he examines three factors relating to curriculum development that bear upon effectiveness and thoroughness in Bible teaching. In the second article he presents an overview of Sunday School publishers.

The GARBC A Rich History and Heritage, Part 2

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A continuation of a literature review showing the historic position of the GARBC on primary and secondary ecclesiastical separation, personal separation standards, and an attitude of militancy regarding its historic convictions. Likewise Dr. Robert Ketcham wrote, “We received a letter which deplored what has been called the present ‘trend’ of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches. The ‘trend’ which is referred to has to do with what is called the ‘present policy’ of the GARBC in relation to the matter of separation.

The GARBC A Rich History and Heritage, Part 1

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The General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC) was founded in 1932 as an outgrowth from the ashes of the Baptist Bible Union. Early in its history the GARBC expressed its fundamentalist convictions of (1) opposition to modernism and compromise, (2) opposition to conventionism and denominational control, (3) the desire to raise a standard in these days for local churches committed to evangelism, missions, and solid Bible teaching and preaching, and (4) a commitment to practice principles of personal lifestyle separation standards.

Are Conservative Southern Baptists Fundamentalists?

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Any fundamentalist who has kept up with the conservative resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is glad for conservatives’ advances and rejoices with them in their success. There are several books and articles which have been written from various perspectives about what has happened within the SBC since 1979. Perhaps one of the most significant is The Baptist Reformation (The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention) by Jerry Sutton, written from the conservative point of view and published in 2000 by the SBC’s denominational publishing house, Broadman & Holman Publishers.

On Service Organizations

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But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Timothy 3:16). It appears to be a penchant of Western culture that whenever people see a task bigger than they can perform, they start a specialized society, club, institution, or agency to carry out the task. The impulse carries over into the Lord’s work. We have three organizations clearly authorized in Scripture: the family, the government, and the local church.

Divine Sovereignty and the GARBC

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WAIT! Don’t throw this article away (at least until you know the real topic about which I am writing)! I am NOT writing about the truth or falsity of Calvinism. Instead, I am writing this article as a response to those who criticize the GARBC for drifting away from its original Calvinistic belief in unconditional election and predestination. In this article, I will try to show that the GARBC never had an official position on election and predestination. The Basis of the Critics’ Charge: The primary reason why some believe that the GARBC originally held to Calvinism is that throughout GARBC history, statements have been made linking the GARBC with Baptist Confessions of faith which were Calvinistic.

Learning From the Closing of Des Moines University

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On Saturday, September 30, 1989, the alumni of Des Moines University held their last reunion. This might not seem so remarkable, but for the fact that the school closed in 1929. For the last sixty Years the alumni have faithfully commemorated their school. Since now they are all in advanced age, they determined that their sixtieth reunion would be their last. The beautiful shaded campus is long gone with barely a trace. All the old buildings but one have vanished, and you need to look closely to find the one shell that remains.

Shall We Go For Entertainment?

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Among pastors lately I hear a deep concern for the future of Fundamentalism and of the local church as we have known it. The old patterns do not seem to be working. The growth in numbers of churches in the General Association of Regular Baptists appears to have ended about five years ago, and we seem now to be in a period of negative growth. Of the churches, it is hard to know just what is happening among them, when a third of them do not send in annual reports, but nationwide the average local church seems to be numerically small.

A Prescription for Safe Counseling

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Pastoral indiscretion has reached epidemic proportions. The news media often headline today’s religious leaders who have fallen into sexual sin. However, the list is not limited to Swaggart and Bakker. The sad truth is that many, many pastors have become casualties in the war against the flesh. Dr. Paul Tassell, the national representative of the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches, has reported that in the last ten years he knows over 40 GARBC pastors who have become involved in sexual indiscretion.

Ecclesiastical Separation

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Nearly four centuries ago the Puritan William Perkins drew a useful distinction. He suggested that there is a working difference between error and heresy. He wrote that error of itself is no ground for breaking fellowship, that any doctrinal discrepancy between two Christians means that one or both are in error. The Bible does not on that account command them to separate from each other. Heresy is another matter; heresy is error, but error that strikes at the very roots of the faith, and heresy is always grounds for breaking fellowship.