Musings of a Fundamentalist

       Christian Learning Centers of Greenville County (CLC) is a self proclaimed gospel ministry ministering to public school students through the Released Time program in Greenville SC area public schools. The CLC  mission statement  reads, "[CLC] exists...to encourage [children] to embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ". CLC's ministry verse, John 4:34, carries with it a clear missions meaning. The CLC calls us to "worship with us" on its fundraising page. Janice Butler Founder and CEO of CLC      CLC, however, is not what it seems. The CLC  leadership  and sponsoring churches are made up of everything from conservative evangelicals, to left leaning charismatics, to rank theological liberals. The Chairman of CLC board, Kevin Brady, attends Advent United Methodist Church. Board member, Richard Furman, attends First Presbyterian Church of Greenville. Board member, Gabe Vicks, attends Word of Life. Board member, Todd Hyneman, attends H...

 Whose side are you on? The side of holiness, or the side of Hollywood?  Many preachers who stand against Hollywood are called, "the folks who take the fun out of fundamentalism" and believers often run to the aid of Hollywood rather than the support of the preacher. But it's not just preachers who find themselves getting attacked when they take on Hollywood.  A layman may write a blog waxing eloquent about the blood of Christ, and at best receive a nice pat on the back, yet if that same layman hints at the idea that the Star Wars saga has objectionable eastern religion permeating the messages of the film, then that layman is vilified as an extremist fundamentalist who gives all other fundamentalists a bad reputation.  This layman may not even prohibit the films—only warn of the eastern mysticism.  Here are a few examples of men from different backgrounds at different stages in their life who dared to challenge Hollywood, and had New-Evangelical/New-Fundamentali...

Are you a Fundamentalist? Fundamentalism is a movement that holds to the preeminence of the preaching of the Word of God. Years ago a man who had been in the ministry for some years told me he was discontinuing the Sunday evening service at his church. He said that people were tired and that they needed fellowship. His change of focus flies in the face of God's revealed truth for it diminishes the importance of the preaching of the Word, and it denigrates the importance of the Lord's Day. Now years have passed since that brief exchange. It is evident that the conversation I had with a long-time pastor was not an action undertaken by one pastor, but one example of an attitude that was prevalent at that time. An attitude--even a philosophy of ministry--that was casting off or diminishing the value the New Testament places on the preaching of the Word. More recently, in just the past fe w months, a young woman asked my wife and I where we were headed one Sunday evening. I resp...

                                                           Getty There are enough similarities between CCM type worship and the Golden Calf worship of Bible times to warrant the shunning of CCM by the people of God. First lets define CCM, and what better way to inform others about CCM than to publish what a CCM advocate says about it. According to afm.org " Christian Music has been around in some form for almost 2000 years, since the time of Christ. But what exactly is Contemporary Christian Music? Before the early 1970's, Christian Music could be categorized as either Traditional Hymns, Southern Gospel or as Traditional Black Gospel styles. From the Peace Movement of the late 1960's came a time of Christian revival for young people across the country. This concurrent movement was known as the Jesus Movement. From the Jesus Movement, came ...

Hot Topic: What shall I wear? Virtually every woman has her clothing standards. From strippers to ladies in the garden club from migrant workers to movie stars--we will not wear some clothing items. They are simply beneath us. Some clothes are too ugly, too poorly-made, too masculine-looking, why, too inappropriate! We may break our own standard on some occasion or another, but we have our dignity and quickly re-establish ourselves in what we will not wear. And so, when the possibility of our having clothing standards that are too low is broached, there will be an indignant response. "I am a grown woman and you can mind your own business!" . Sadly, I remember when I had a similar heart response on a particular occasion when I was being challenged about my own clothing standards. You would think that we Christian women would be more open to shoring up possibly lost or otherwise lacking clothing standards.... than women who do not concern themselves with living for the L...

Are you a Fundamentalist? I contend that every Christian should be a Fundamentalist. But before delving into why Christians should be fundamentalists, a question should be answered. Should we actually use the term “Fundamentalist” anymore? After all, the term has been dirtied since it was first coined by Curtis Lee Laws early in the twentieth century. Some people lately have said that the term Fundamentalist is too damaged to keep because secular media has at times lumped in Christians with Islamic Fundamentalists. This, even though each is the antithesis of the other. Also the media often labels any group it does not seem to appreciate as a fundamentalist group. Doesn't the media's misuse of “Fundamentalist” ruin our label? Another consideration. Some have pointed out that there have been fundamentalists who have entered into open wickedness. These shamed ones had all the marks of fundamentalists. By all appearances they were doing the work of God. Then they committed sexual s...