American Baptist Churches and GARBC Baptist Churches

[billiefan2000 (billiefan2000)]

I know much about the SBC but what do the American Baptist Churches and GARBC Baptist Churches preach and teach and what are their eschatology beliefs

[abbie519 (abbie519)]

To answer your question regarding ABC and GARBC; to the first-ABC - this is considered to be a mainline denomination today and is quite liberal in its teachings and affiliations. As for its eschatology beliefs I am not that familiar with them. Concerning GARBC - what I have to say is based only on our family's experience with this type of church. Having grown up in a Baptist tradition - conservative and based in good expository preaching we were part of that same church when it was taken over by a pastor from the GARBC background. At the time of the pastoral search,the church was still hurting from a "coup" to drive out the pastor of 20+ yrs by a group of people who decided it was their duty to infiltrate and take matters into their own hands. It was a very hurtful situation and I was preparing to enter college at the time. When the first candidate came to the church I was not there to hear him but he was well liked and the church called him. It is my understanding that in the search process the committee had interviewed this man and had asked him if he was of the GARBC background to which he assured them he was not. However shortly after he came it was obvious that he was entirely different than he had presented himself and also perhaps the church was still hurting so much they could not read the signs. At any rate he began bringing in all types of beliefs that were not necessarily unbiblical but extremely legalistic - lots of sermons based on his personal beliefs regarding the culture of the day, how to dress, etc.. In general he was a very controlling individual who did not trust anyone but himself. He was very tied in with the Jack Hyles movement of the 70's and if anyone is familiar with that you know what I mean. It has since been exposed for what it is but it comes from a very narrow and legalistic viewpoint, control based in fear and very little love or grace. The emphasis was on getting as many people saved as possible even though it was obvious some of them did not even understand. The church grew fast and many of the people were so new to faith that they worshipped the pastor and did not grow in their faith. Older and wiser Christians became concerned about what was going on but the pastor had so much control he set up a very divisive situation. There was always infighting and distrust among the people and my husbad and I were married during this time and began attending this church where we were both members prior to his coming. We became involved with youthwork and loved it. Our group was a good one but we were constantly being called in and criticized by the pastor for things such as our appearance or dress or hairlength, etc.. Eventually he hired someone from the Hyles College to take over the youth and thereby got rid of us. During this time I suffered my first of what was to be 3 miscarriages and this pastor told me I had sin in my life and that is why this happened. I was devastated about it and became very depressed not wanting to even go to church at all. During my 2nd pregnancy I was put on bedrest and no one from the church even called. I lost so much weight and was so depressed and that pregnancy turned out to be another miscarriage followed by an ectopic pregnancy which was a twin and the subsequent loss of my tube. Our chances for parenthood looked dim at best and there was absolutely no support system at this church. It was by this time very divided and the teens of the church were very hurt over our being pushed out. The GARBC was at that time into a movement of church based schools where the student basically taught himself in a small cubicle with the assistance of a proctor. It was not at all good and I have seen first hand the results of such education. As for the church, the pastor was finally voted out but not without a lot of conflict and damage to people and when he left he divided the church by telling all his supporters to leave the church which they did and to this day the church has never ever come back to be a healthy church. In closing I can only say that this type of Baptist church has a lack of teaching though it claims to be the "only truly Biblical way". It is very narrow, controlling and shame-based. I would never advise anyone to get involved with this group as the love of the Saviour and the Gospel message are overshadowed by legalism and narrow minded interpretation and teaching.

[billiefan2000 (billiefan2000)]

thanks for the info.

[in_recovery (in_recovery)]

To abbie519 my heart goes out to you and my prayers too. I understand your pain because I have been through something very similar. God will never fail you, but people who try to get in the way of God's will can really do some harm. I know that He will deal with those responsible and that true justice will be served.

Your faith has been through a test here(as has mine) and it is very hard to pick up the pieces and go on. Yet, we have a new insight as to the abuse of man given power. There are many many people out there like you and I who have been hurt severely (I, at one point wanted to end my life) yet I now see that God has a plan and maybe what we went through can be used to help others somehow.

I hope you don't give up on the Lord. What happened to you in that Church was nothing more than the cruelty of people. Jesus went through alot of suffering at the hands of the pharesees and there was no sin in Him. Justice is His and I have seen Him take people like that down time and time again. I felt no joy seeing those things but I felt in awe of His power and justice. Let it go if you can. Trust God and pray for those who are confused. Believe me, there are many people like us and I sincerely beleive that we can offer support to those Christians who have been through pain and rejection from legalistic hypocrits.

There are other Churches out there and I hope you will carefully seek out a new one. You may just find others who have been through experiences like your own who will offer you the emotional support that you need. Just be careful and lean on God for guidence. He has not left you and even though you must have felt very alone at times, He saw what you went through and will take care of everything in his own time and own way. In ten years time you may look back at what happened to you and understand why. But I do know for a fact that if you can come through this experience with your faith intact, it will make you stronger and you will be a great comfort to the many casualties of legalism and narrow minded idiots.

Remember this, that GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD that He gave his Son to save it! He LOVED THE WORLD! That is what the Bible says! He still loves you too. That will never change and has never changed. You are a special person in the Lords eyes. We are all human, all imperfect, and we all need to lean on Him and not our own understanding.