For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. <\/i><\/p>\n
\u2014II Timothy 4:3<\/i><\/p>\n
1413<\/b> Phenomenon Of 1970s<\/b><\/p>\n
For the first time in United States history, most major church denominations stopped growing and began to shrink\u2014except the conservative denominations! Census of churches reveal that conservative bodies invariably move to the top of any growth listings, while National Council (liberal) churches occupy lower positions. The RULE: the more ecumenical and liberal the denomination, the more membership losses it suffers. Examples of exceptional growths are the Southern Baptists (which saw a Baptist to the White House in 1977), the Assemblies of God, the Church of the Nazarene, and others. <\/p>\n
Five theological schools now rank ahead of the liberal Union Theological Seminary, which had held the no. 1 spot for most of its 140 years\u2014Dallas Theological, Fuller Theological, Gordon Conwell Theological, Asbury Theological, and Trinity Divinity Seminary. All these growing schools uphold the historical accuracy and inspiration of Scripture. The more rigidly conservative, the larger its growth! <\/p>\n
1414<\/b> One In Three \u201cBorn Again\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
One in three adult Americans say they\u2019ve been \u201cborn again,\u201d according to recent Gallup Poll. Half all Protestants polled, and 18% Roman Catholics, claimed conversion experience for close to 50 million total. Gallup listed literal interpretation to Scripture, belief that one must witness as marks of evangelical: four in ten nationwide (38%), 46% Protestants, 31% Catholics hold that view of Scripture, 47% nationally said they had asked others to believe in Christ. <\/p>\n
1415<\/b> Fastest Growing U. S. Churches<\/b><\/p>\n
The ten churches that Elmer L. Towns says are the fastest growing in America not only claim to be evangelical but rather boldly assert they are fundamentalist. To them the label is not an ecclesiastical smear-word but rather a badge of unswerving fidelity to a rigid, authoritarian, Bible-centered fellowship that emphasizes evangelism\u2014the recruitment of new members by almost any workable promotional technique. <\/p>\n
Christian Life<\/i> magazine annually lists the 100 largest Sunday Schools in America. Their characteristics:<\/p>\n
(1) STRONG DOCTRINAL COMMITMENT\u2014the Bible is central in both preaching and church life. <\/p>\n
(2) MASS MEDIA\u2014radio and TV outreach, newspaper, printing presses, etc. <\/p>\n
(3) SUNDAY SCHOOL BUSES\u2014the largest bus ministry uses over 100 SS buses. <\/p>\n
(4) PASTORAL LEADERSHIP\u2014the Pastor is the shepherd and should lead the flock, not vice versa. <\/p>\n
(5) PREACHING AUDITORIUM\u2014massive auditoriums, rather than sanctuaries, for old-fashioned preaching. <\/p>\n
(6) SUNDAY SCHOOL PROMOTION\u2014contests and advertising \u201cgimmicks.\u201d<\/p>\n
(7) THE BIG DAY\u2014a special homecoming to create enthusiasm through a big crowd. <\/p>\n
(8) CHURCH LOYALTY\u2014emphasis on the local church and its commitment: tithing, attendance in meetings, baptism, and volunteer work in the church. <\/p>\n
NOTE: Most of the large churches are Baptists and places emphasis on baptism. <\/p>\n
1416<\/b> Combating Baptist Liberals<\/b><\/p>\n
Georgia Baptist leaders in Atlanta have launched a new monthly magazine to combat the inroads of liberalism within the Southern Baptist Convention. According to the editor, William A. Powell, the main goal of the periodical will be to expose the liberal and non-Biblical teachings that are being taught in Baptist Sunday schools, colleges, and seminaries. <\/p>\n
\u2014Pastor\u2019s Manual<\/i><\/p>\n
1417<\/b> Criswell\u2019s Appeal<\/b><\/p>\n
Dr. W. A. Criswell, pastor of the 15,000-member First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, when he was President of the Southern Baptist Convention issued an appeal to the liberals in the denomination to leave the ranks of the Southern Baptists and to start their own denomination. <\/p>\n
Although the conservatives are by far the more numerous and vocal camp in the SBC, they can invoke no doctrinal discipline to block the liberals\u2019 inroad. <\/p>\n
\u2014Prairie Overcomer<\/i><\/p>\n
1418<\/b> Social Implications Of Gospel<\/b><\/p>\n
When the International Congress on World Evangelization met at Lausanne in 1974, it stressed the social implications of the gospel as well as man\u2019s personal need to trust Christ. <\/p>\n
In one of the major conference addresses, Sr. Michael Creen said, \u201cEvangelism is the church\u2019s first priority. But you cannot isolate the preaching of good news without destroying the good news itself. \u2026 The end of Acts 5 brings us almost to revival situation in Jerusalem \u2026 and then comes Acts 6 with a little matter of social justice and fellowship. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey could have so easily brushed it aside and said, \u2019Don\u2019t fuss about the widows. Let\u2019s get on with the preaching. That is what matters. \u2019 If they had done that, God\u2019s Spirit would have been grieved, the fellowship would have been ruined.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Bible Expositor<\/i><\/p>\n
1419<\/b> Inspiration Is Reaffirmed<\/b><\/p>\n
In the Urbana \u201976 convention\u2019s first major address, John W. Alexander, IVCF\u2019s U. S. president, laid the foundations for the program which followed. He emphasized his belief that the Bible \u201cis the infallible revelation of the infallible God\u2014which means that it is entirely trustworthy and reliable.\u201d He told the students, \u201cOur attitude toward the Scripture is desperately important.\u201d Alexander declared in his address that he believed in biblical inerrancy while admitting its problems, \u201cbut I refuse to set myself up as judge of Scripture and commence deciding which problems are biblical error.\u201d<\/p>\n
The convention\u2019s most prominent speaker, evangelist Billy Graham, faced the issue of Scripture on the second full day of the week. He made himself available to answer questions for an hour in the 17,000-seat Assembly Hall, and nearly half of the delegates showed up there despite dozens of competing meetings. Graham said he fully backed the Alexander statement. He was applauded when he held a Bible aloft and said, \u201cThis is the infallible Word of the Living God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Christianity Today<\/i><\/p>\n
1420<\/b> Evangelical Theological Society<\/b><\/p>\n
Since its founding in 1948, the ETS has made belief in inerrancy a basis of membership. Members are required annually to sign a statement confessing belief in the Bible \u201cas the Word of God written, and therefore inerrant in the original manuscripts.\u201d Some members, though, apparently differ on how inerrancy is to be understood. <\/p>\n
Lay theologian Richard Bube, a science-department chairman at Stanford University, returned his latest renewal applications unsigned. He accompanied it with request that the ETS reword the inerrancy statement. He suggested that it be made similar to Fuller Seminary\u2019s revised statement, in which scriptural infallibility is limited to matters of faith and practice and not applied, for example, to facts of science. <\/p>\n
After a two-hour closed meeting, the ETS officers decided against recommending any change. Therefore Bube is no longer a member. (He told Religious News Service later that he believes the Bible \u201cis inerrant when properly interpreted according to biblical criteria.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Christianity Today <\/i><\/p>\n
1421<\/b> Moody Bible Institute Dedicated<\/b><\/p>\n
When Dwight L. Moody was dedicating the first building of what later became the Moody Bible Institute, he gave the cornerstone a whack with the trowel, then made an invocation to this effect: \u201cLord, you know that what this old world needs more than anything else is thy Word. We pray that if the day ever comes when anything contrary to the Bible is taught here, you will wipe this school from the face of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2014Sunday School Times<\/i><\/p>\n
See also:<\/b> Liberal Theology ; II Tim. 1:13.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears. \u2014II Timothy 4:3 1413 Phenomenon Of 1970s For the first time in United States history, most major church denominations stopped growing and began to shrink\u2014except the conservative denominations! Census of … Continue reading “EVANGELICALS”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5031\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}