BBFI Web of

Compromise Continues

 

TABERNACLE BAPTIST CHURCH

POST OFFICE BOX 3100

 

In the August 2002 PBC I published an article that I had written entitled “Baptist Bible Fellowship in the Pit of Compromise.” Since that time I have seen no reason to soften that headline or the article that followed. The BBFI is still in the pit, and they are now trying to drag other Fellowships into the same quagmire of compromise.

The April 2003 PBC dealt quite extensively with the proposed merger between four different organized Fellowships. We cannot reprint all of the above two articles, but we would urge our readers to read them both again.

The BBFI was getting ready for the big national meeting that was upcoming in September 2002. There was a good bit of unrest because the meeting was going to be held at the Bethlehem Baptist Church, David R. Stokes, pastor, in Fairfax, VA.

The compromise of that church and pastor was being criticized by a number of the more conservative pastors. Pastor Stokes wrote a somewhat lengthy letter to try to calm the tempest. We published a copy of that letter August 2002 PBC. The letter in no way answered the accusations and questions that had been raised. Of course the broad-minded leaders of the BBFI went ahead with the planned meeting at Fairfax, in spite of questions that continued to be raised by some of the brethren.

You can get some idea of what kind of a Church this is by reading the following quote from the Washington Post, April 4, 2001. “Smooth Moves – and a Subtle Message. Christian rock throbs inside the small gymnasium off West Ox Road in Fairfax, just a few decibels louder than the clacking of wheels. The room is awash in T-shirts and baggy jeans and the pimply, pubescent faces so common among skateboarders.” This is the kind of truth destroying junk that is creeping into once sound churches all over America.

Below we are reprinting our analysis of David Stokes’ letter dated July 3, 2002, that we printed in the 2002 article.

 

 

Our Analysis of Pastor

Stokes’ Letter

 

The Bethlehem Baptist Church has abandoned traditional methods for contemporary methods. They are taking a gigantic step toward new-evangelicalism and liberalism. Here is what the pastor said: “Bethlehem Baptist Church has ‘transitioned’ from a very ‘traditional’ approach to methodology to one somewhat more contemporary.”

It has been rumored that Bethlehem Baptist Church might be planning to drop the name Baptist. Here is what he said: “We are not planning a name change. There has been no discussion whatsoever of this in the church  . . .  I have on occasion had casual conversations with young staff members or other pastor friends speculating on the value of such a move. (Emphasis ours.) But nothing has been initiated and nothing is planned. I will not say that it will NEVER happen, because that would be presumptuous and would ignore how the Lord might lead us.”

He further wrote, “I have no problem with churches that have determined not to use the term ‘Baptist’ in their name - as long as they remain true to sound doctrine and practice. And, if I were to start a church today - I probably would not use ‘Baptist’ in the name. (Emphasis ours) I would however be ‘Baptistic’ in polity and sound doctrine.” This certainly means that they have already abandoned true Baptist doctrine.

They have gone contemporary with their music, and they have four young women leading the worship service. Here is what the pastor said: “Our ‘style’ of music is probably more contemporary than some of our churches  . . .  Four young ladies are coordinating and leading the worship in our services.

Two of them are graduates of Baptist Bible College in Springfield. The other two are my daughters (Jenny and Debby-our youngest daughter, Brenda - helps as well). They work as a talented team  . . .  Sure it will be a BBF ‘first’ to have a team of young ladies leading worship.” This means that they have adopted the methods of the Charismatics, new-evangelicals, and liberals.

Bethlehem Baptist Church has abandoned the King James Version, and has adopted the apostate liberal corrupt Bibles. Here is what he said: “As to the issue of the King James Version - we voted as a church more than two years ago to remove the ‘King James Only’ clause from our church by-laws. I preach from several translations on a regular basis (include, NKJV, NASB, and NLT). Several translations as well are used throughout the Bethlehem Family of Ministries. Various translations are available in our church bookstore as well.” You can see that this Church once stood squarely on the KJV, but now they have accepted the liberal position.

Bethlehem Baptist Church has abandoned any dress code, and people can dress anyway they want. Here is what the pastor said: “With regard to dress and modesty issues, we enforce no rule on our folks. Some people come to our services ‘dressed up,’ others come ‘dressed down.’ ... So, apparel issues are really of no concern to us. Bring several suits or your blue-jeans - whatever. But most importantly bring a heart to hear from God. And, if the ladies want to wear slacks - that’s fine. Many of our ladies do - including my wife and daughters. I know this may be quite unlike other meetings……but this is how we are around Bethlehem. Make yourselves at home!” Please note that “whatever” is acceptable clothing and that could be almost anything, or almost nothing.

Two Southern Baptist preachers are scheduled to speak at BBFI meeting. Here is what the pastor said: “Finally, the issue of the speakers we have invited has been a point of contention to some. First, there is the matter of having Dr. Johnny Hunt, a Southern Baptist. Dr. Hunt is a powerful preacher of the Word and God is going to use Him mightily  . . .  Then there is the case of Dr. Jerry Falwell. I have invited him for SUNDAY night - the evening BEFORE the BBF meeting actually begins. He has been our guest at Bethlehem before. Two of my daughters are graduates of Liberty University.” Falwell led his Church into the Southern Baptist Convention. The BBFI is drifting in the same direction. (End of our quote from August 2002 PbC.)

You will note that Stokes says that they have no plans to drop the name Baptist. You can see how honest that statement was, in view of things that have happened since. The name that they now use is not Bethlehem Baptist Church, but they now have the name Fair Oaks Church on their web page and on their Church sign. In looking at their web page I cannot find the word Baptist anywhere. On the church directory of the BBFI it is listed as Fair Oaks Baptist Church. To the public of Fairfax, VA, it is Fair Oaks Church, but to the folks in the BBFI it is Fair Oaks Baptist Church. The pastor explained it in the following way according to what he wrote to the BBFI.

 

 

 

 

Stokes Writes to BBFI

 

From:

To: bbfi-preachers@yahoogroups.com

Subject:[BBFI-Preachers] Changes in Fairfax...

Date: Mon, 3 Feb 2003

 

Dear Praying Friends:

Last night we conducted a very special meeting at Bethlehem in Fairfax. The purpose was to discuss the proposal/recom-mendation I made last week (Sunday, January 26th), to change the name of our church.

I have submitted to the members of this local New Testament Church, in keeping with our tradition of Baptist polity, that we change the "legal" name (for certain legal purposes, and purposes of outside affiliation) to: FAIR OAKS BAPTIST CHURCH.

I have further recommended that we, for all practical and ministry purposes, change the ministry name as it is expressed and known in the community as simply: FAIR OAKS CHURCH. (End of quote from Stokes’ email.)

If he want to know the legal name, I would suppose that a non-member person would have to go to the court house to get the legal name Fair Oaks Baptist Church, while on the church sign and in their printed material it is Fair Oaks Church. You might expect such sly methods from politicians, crooked lawyers and shysters, but you would think that a church would be more open and honest. When you are on the down hill path of compromise, it is easy to find a reason to conceal the truth. Frankly, I would have a lot more respect for them if they would totally change the name to Fair Oaks Church for a legal description. Then they could stop trying to run under two flags.

This is what the different Fellowships are planning to merge with. The true Baptists that are in these organized Fellowships ought to be sick at their stomach in joining with any merger with people like this.

 

Fair Oaks Church and the

King James Bible

 

Here is what Stokes said about the King James Bible. “As to the issue of the King James Version - we voted as a church more than two years ago to remove the ‘King James Only’ clause from our church by-laws. I preach from several translations on a regular basis (include, NKJV, NASB, and NLT). Several translations as well are used throughout the Bethlehem Family of Ministries. Various translations are available in our church bookstore as well.” The above reflects the view of the present pastor of what used to be the Bethlehem Baptist Church.

 

Contrast this with the

Previous Pastor

 

Ben Sanders was the pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church for many years. His position on doctrine and practice was certainly much different than that of David R. Stokes, who has not only changed the name of this church but has changed the doctrine as well. This is just an example of the decline in doctrine and practice among fundamental Baptists in recent years. In March 1980, we published the following letter in the Plains Baptist Challenger, which clearly reveals what this Church once stood for.

 

Former Pastor’s Letter

 

(The following letter was sent by Pastor Ben Sanders, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Fairfax, Virginia to these men stating his concern for the preservation of the King James Version of the Bible: Dr. W.A. Criswell, Dr. Truman Dollar, Dr. Jerry Falwell, Dr. A. V. Henderson, Dr. Curtis Hutson, Dr. Tim F. LaHaye, Dr. Clyde Narramore, Dr. James D. Price, Dr. Edward E. Hindson, Dr. Robert L. Hughes.)

The purpose of this letter is to express my disappointment in your part in “. . . making the King James Version Even Better.” I am not an extremist on the King James Version. I accept it as a translation that God has chosen to bless and use.

Have you considered that no other translation can boast of any great accomplishments in the advancements of Christianity?

1. Our country was founded upon the King James Version. Every great document is derived from it. (Constitution, Bill of Rights, Mayflower Compact).

2. Every great preacher in the history of modern evangelical Christianity preached from it.

3. All meaningful missionary work has been done with the King James Version.

4. The vast majority of soul-winners use it.

5. To my knowledge, every Fundamental Baptist Church uses it almost exclusively.

Now we need to improve it. I’ll be the first to agree that we need to explain some words and what they mean. But, isn’t that the purpose of teaching and preaching? You have seven goals in changing the King James Version:

1. Using More Reverent Pronouns for God by Removing “thee,” “thou,” etc. - Who wants a Bible without these terms? Do we want the Bible to read like a novel? There is no translation that reads with the dignity of the King James Version.

2. Updating the Punctuation and Grammar - The example you give is Hebrews 4:1-2. Your correction in verse one does not do one thing to improve the meaning. Again, the purpose of a preacher is to explain the meaning of such verses.

3. Improving the Understanding of Verbs - Since when did these words become “impossible” to pronounce? We use the King James Version in all Sunday school classes and in our Christian school. No pronunciation problems have come up.

4. Capitalizing Pronouns for God - In 20 years of pastoring, I have never known this to be a problem with any Christian.

5. Preserving the True Meaning of Words - In the brochure, it states, . . to protect the truth of the King James Version . . This would indicate that the King James Version is failing and you men must rescue it. Supposing you left it alone and the King James Version fails to preserve truth. Where then would we find the Word of God? This would mean that even God couldn’t keep His promises. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word abideth forever!”

6. Adding Quotation Marks - Anyone with any education at all is able to recognize quotes in the Bible.

7. Protecting Theological Terms - You state “all theological words have to be kept unchanged . . .” If I can’t accept all of the King James Version, then how can I accept these terms.

I personally believe that you have committed a grave error. All you are doing is creating another issue for fundamentalists to deal with. Your motive and method is no different from “Good News for Modern Man,” “Living Bible,” etc. These “updated” versions are found only in liberal churches.

Would you answer this question for me? If the King James Version is not a valid and authoritative translation that God has used to preserve the Word of God, then where is the Word of God? Where can I obtain a copy?

The King James Version is a staunch defense against the trend of liberalism today. I don’t know of a liberal preacher today that admits that it’s God’s Word.

I write this with concern and Christian love. Many preachers are going to wonder just where you stand and what you believe.

I notice that just about every denomination from extreme liberalism to fundamentalism is represented in the brochure. I believe that this is a very subtle plan to remove something that keeps those denominations apart.

It seems that someone is looking for “common” grounds. How in the world can we “contend for the faith” if we don’t have God’s Word to tell us what it is!

The Word of God is under attack from every side.  The liberals explain it away. Reader’s Digest is trying to condense it.  Now others are trying to improve and update it!

Thank you for letting me unload this burden.

Ben Sanders, pastor

Bethlehem Baptist Church

P.O. Box 290

Fairfax, Virginia 22030

 

The meeting was a combination Vacation Bible School and Revival.  Mary worked in one of the tents with her puppets and I taught an Adult Bible Class and then preached a messge in the main auditorium.

I believe we had well over 1000 in attendance during the meeting. Bro. Sanders had built a good Soul Winning work which stood for the Book, Separation and the Local Baptist Church.