So I was headed west down I-40 from a day trip to Raleigh (which I'll be posting about tomorrow) this afternoon and around Burlington, I started flicking through radio stations.
And as I was going across the AM dial just after 5 p.m. I happened to catch some pastor preaching with all due exuberance and conviction that Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama is "the Antichrist". This pastor also added that just as the Antichrist does not have "a single Christian ounce in his body" that Obama is going to Hell.
I checked the frequency. It was 880 AM. Which means it was a broadcast of WPIP, a radio ministry out of Berean Baptist Church in Winston-Salem.
Not that this really surprises me.
Apart from sporadic music, from sunrise to sunset WPIP's broadcasting is pretty much wall-to-wall a network of "good ol' boys" who like to preach variations on (1) the King James Version is the only Bible and any other translation is a work of Satan, (2) independent fundamentalist conservative Baptist churches are the only real churches (similar to the local "Church Of Christ In Name Only" that's been talked about here lately) and (3) Democrats and "liberals" are evil and are all Hell-bound sinners.
You can get a sense of what WPIP stands for just from its bumpers. WPIP's staff likes to call it the "conservative Christian radio voice". Berean Baptist's head pastor Ron Baity is often heard proclaiming that WPIP is "the way radio ought to be": apparently holding to the notion that to contend for the faith means aping Rush Limbaugh. And then sometimes I hear this station boast that it sticks to the "old paths".
Yeah, they're "old paths" all right: as old as Babylon.
Any Christians that obsess on the American flag, American military might, love of George W. Bush, hatred toward "liberals", and electing Republican candidates far more than they do with serving Christ in love and humility, are not Christians that God can possibly bless the work of. I'm hard-pressed to believe that these "Christians" worship anything but power.
And part of me has to wonder how many of these preachers have truly experienced the salvation that can only come with the grace of God. Think about it: How can so many professed "Christians" in America be free from sin if they can't even be free from the Republican Party?
But then, any "Christian radio station" that sincerely believes the world needs to listen to a cult leader like the late Lester Roloff is hard to take seriously, anyway.
According to WPIP's program log for Monday through Friday, this would make the program that I heard this afternoon that of Meadowview Baptist Church in Winston-Salem. I found the church's website. If this is indeed the same show that I heard this afternoon - although this being AM radio and how lax WPIP seems to be in maintaining its website, this is not a confirmed certainty - then its pastor Robert Hutchens is apparently the one who's already consigning Barack Obama to Hell.
If you're a longtime reader of this blog, then you know where I'm coming from. I don't call myself a "liberal" any more than I call myself a "conservative". I don't profess to being an active supporter of any political party. I'm just a guy trying to do what's right and what God would have me to do. So nobody can claim that I'm trying to pursue a "political agenda" by taking these supposedly "God-called pastors" to task for their un-Christlike motives and methods.
First of all, it's not this preacher's place to already condemn someone to Hell. As long as anyone... any person... has breath in his or her lungs, he or she is free to call upon God for forgiveness. In rashly stating that Obama deserves Hell, this minister is forgetting that he himself deserves Hell also, just as we all do.
And it's a much worse thing to practically be gloating about Obama or anyone else going to Hell. Especially if the basis of that condemnation is something so silly as a political dispute.
But what bothered me especially is that this preacher, whoever he is, is way too consumed with the patterns and politics of this world. Now, I do believe that we as Christians should be fully active wherever it is that God puts us, and that if they happen to live in America then this means living up to the stewardship that God has charged us with over this land. But that means taking our roles as citizens seriously... and that's not something that's possible by blindly following a political party! And these "men of God" are trying to goad us into doing just that, when they seek to rile up our emotions.
For someone who claims to be a "man of God", this kind of vitriol is symptomatic of an unregenerate mind. A mind that is yet carnal and has not been transformed like unto that of Christ.
It's a shame that these "conservative Christians" are scouring the gutter. As it is, they show nothing in their actions that could convince the lost of the existence of a real and loving God. Not when they focus more on this world than they do on Heaven.
And I think we can expect worse from some of them as the months progress.
Maybe if they would repent of their own arrogance, their prayers that America as a nation might repent could come true.
Will that happen? Could these people do that?
Let's put it this way: I have faith in God. I do not have faith in too many of my fellow Christians.
35 comments:
Yeah, they're "old paths" all right: as old as Babylon.
How can so many professed "Christians" in America be free from sin if they can't even be free from the Republican Party?
Double ownage!
Chris you taking on Johnny Robertson and Ron Baity at the same time? Haha youre the only one not calling himself a preacher and you're the only one I trust between them.
You won't convince independent Baptist like these people are. They're more hard hearted than the Church of Christ on Star News channel.
I am absolutely astonished at you, Chris. I am amazed that you would so quickly and unnecessarily accuse a Pastor (Pastor Baity) of being something and acting a certain way when you have never even sat down and spoken with him. What's more, you claim to be a Christian, yet see no problem with spewing hatred and misinformation about other Christians. That my friend is a terrible contradiction.
I have known Pastor Baity for a VERY long time...and the Pastor Baity you condemn and talk about is NOT the Pastor Baity of Berean Baptist Church!
I would however love to have you come to the church you have comdemned (Berean Baptist Church) any time. I would love to sit down and talk to you about the problems you have with the radio station (with whom I work) and have you show me FROM THE BIBLE where we are wrong. My name is Stephen, everyone knows me...so I will not be hard to find.
Since you seem "apt" to take a Pastor(s) "to task," one would think that you should be willing and able to defend you opinions and "beliefs" in person instead of hiding behind the obscurity of the internet.
I look forward to meeting you in person.
Chris, Stephen did not answer anything you brought up against WPIP and its church.
Stephen, Chris isnt anonymous. Heritage Foundation acclaimed his fight against No Child Left Behind. Fox News Channel had about him. Chris is more conservative than conservative Christian WPIP.
WPIP website shows 230,000 visits since 2000. Chris blog shows 3 times that since 2004. I think Chris reaches more for Christ than WPIP does.
Dont go to meet him Chris. Theyll ambush you because you dont worship Bush like they are.
I've learned more about God's love from this blog than I did from 20 years of belonging in a fundamentalist Baptist church. - Leah
I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are not like your Christ---Gandhi
Great Valvano story by the way, Chris--thanks for sharing. Keep up the great work you are doing.--Brian
The issue here Chris, is that you lied to the public by stating (as you portray it) that you heard the entire broadcast. You further portray yourself as looking at the website to find out who was preaching at that time (which puzzles me to no end - couldn't you have just picked up your cell phone and given us a call, fixed the problem, and saved yourself time with all that typing for this useless and unfactual blog?). You then resort to ad hominem attacks concerning the preacher you heard, the station itself, and WPIP's church (both pastor and the church's convictions). Then (as if all of the above were not enough) you portray yourself as being the only one that has been truthful and emotion free on this issue.
The truth of the matter, Chris, is that you have never once contacted any one of us WPIP staff, our church, my Pastor or the Pastor whom you claim to have heard on Thursday - whom you claim stated Obama was going to Hell. Yet if you would have actually listened to the whole broadcast, the preacher said absolutely NOTHING about Obama going to Hell because of his political party or anything like that! He said that if Obama did not accept Christ as his personal Saviour, he would go to Hell like everyone else who rejects Christ. How is that a wrong, a political, or even a hateful satement?
Furthermore, from what I have read in the Bible (in multiple versions), the correct thing to do in a case like this, is that the offended go to the person with whom he has a problem and get it fixed. Yet, you have refused to do this, that doesn't sound like you want to be very Biblical concerning Christian-to-Christian affairs now does it?
And concerning what isley said, We (at WPIP and at Berean Baptist Church) do not "worship Bush" nor have we EVER stated (or believed) that we agree with him 100%. Please, get your facts right before you make a statement...or a blog for that matter...based upon pure bias, personal opinions/agendas and hateful attitudes. And as far as the "ambushing" issue is concerned, no one in my church (to my knowledge) that even knows about this blog other than myself. So there would be no problem of that...just more rhetoric from people who do not know us personally.
Chris, I offer you the opportunity to do the Biblical, but more importantly, the Christ-like thing. Deal with the matter, in person, with the people involved.
- Stephen
All I know is what I heard.
And I have made a number of attempts over the years to contact WPIP and even Ron Baity (the last was perhaps six years ago) about some VERY un-Christlike and even direly irresponsible things that I have heard on your station and television broadcasts.
(Baity's warning about Y2K in 1999 was some of the worst fear-mongering that I have ever heard. As if Christ is not above a computer glitch!)
Nobody ever responded. Why should this time have been any different?
This minister should never have been talking about Obama to begin with. Once again, it is a matter of Christians being too obsessed with the things of this world.
No wonder so many are still lost! Why should those without Christ want Him at all, when they see His servants - the ones who claim to posses Him in their hearts - as being no different in their lust for power and influence as the rest of humanity?
See that quote by C.S. Lewis at the top of the page, Stephen. I'd suggest you meditate upon its meaning.
Chris,
I paid two visits to Berean Baptist years ago and decided it wasn't for me. The people at that church can't think anything but what Ron Baity programs them with. Pastors are instructed in the Bible to encourage and equip the ones they serve to go out and live and preach for Jesus Christ on their own. Baity doesn't do that he only wants to grow his own church not Jesus Christ's church.
Fundamentalist Christianity is spiritual inbreeding.
Chris you know 1st Corinthians because that's what you used to propose to Lisa with. Does our friend Stephen know what it means I wonder.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
- 1 Corinthians, 1
Stephen you are a clanging cymbal like everyone else lost in legalism. You are writing out of spite not love. Are you worshipping God to spite other people too? Your church hates Catholics and Pentecostals I've heard with my own ears while sitting in Berean's pews.
You could learn a lot from Chris Knight, Stephen. Chris is a free and real follower of Jesus Christ. He wants others to be free with Jesus as he is.
This Berean Baptist Church comes 'personally recommended' by David Cloud. The King James Only false teacher who does wayoflife.org. I run away from any church on his list so 'personally recommended' is avoided at all costs.
"All I know is what I heard." That is not true, Chris, and you know it. You heard only what you wanted to hear. I have the message on hand, I have checked it 3 times just to see if perhaps I was the one who heard it wrong...but it wasn't me in the fault. If it had been, I would have apologized.
The issue here, Chris, is that you still have not done what Christ commanded you to do! You said you have made "attempts" to contact us...why don't you do what the Bible says to do? GO TO THE PERSON AND FIX THE PROBLEM!
The people that claim to know and have "sat in the pews" of Berean have apparently been sleeping or dozing off when they "heard" pastor say that we "hate Catholics and Pentecostals." That, or they are deliberately lying, because that is a VERY untrue statement. If that were the case, we would not have a Spanish Sunday School Class dealing with mainly Catholics and a few Pentecostals. Again, misinformed and biased rhetoric.
We are "lost in legalism?" Obviously you have NO idea what that phrase even means, nor have you even talked to any of the people here at Berean to know what we really believe. Just more biased rhetoric and circular reasoning.
I am real confused as to why you avoided answering my plain and pointed question. Just in case you didn't see it, here it is again: Why shouldn't a Pastor stand up and say that if a person (politicians especially) does not accept Christ as Saviour, he will die and go to Hell? How is that wrong?
You know the real problem, Chris? The problem is really that you don't understand why we have convictions. You disagree with them for starters, then proceed to use ad hominem attacks because you know that you have no Biblical footing to stand on.
What is sad, is that when you have a chance to correct the problem, you simply choose to hide behind your chosen ignorance with the ideology that "ignorance is bliss." If you had the "mind of Christ," you would willingly correct the problem by going to them face-to-face, correcting the problem, and then forgiving them "seventy times seven."
Your constant rhetoric and circular reasoning of "I've tried before, so there's no reason to try again" does not show forth the life and attitude of a true Christian. Your intellect has been "challenged" in your mind, so instead of acting like an adult, you wish to act like a two-year-old when someone tells him he's wrong...throw a temper tantrum.
Grow up. If you so badly wish to correct the problem and show us that we are wrong...do it like the Christian you claim to be. The problem is that you think you could be wrong, and (apparently) you're not willing to accept that as a fact.
I have been willing to set aside "the pride of the IFBs," as many have claimed we have, and ask for a face-to-face talk the Biblical way (which really seems to shock you).
May God help you to do the right and Biblical thing concerning this matter.
- Stephen
Stephen,
"Just in case you didn't see it, here it is again: Why shouldn't a Pastor stand up and say that if a person (politicians especially) does not accept Christ as Saviour, he will die and go to Hell? How is that wrong?"
Because his motive in asking that question and stating this was totally and completely wrong!
By making this pointedly about Barack Obama (a candidate who I do not support, and will never vote for, and have expressed as much many times on this blog), this preacher broadcast to all the world that what really mattered most to him was not where a man stands before God, but that man's politics!
When was the last time that this preacher in question, or anyone else from your radio station, went on the air to say that George W. Bush is going to Hell if he doesn't get saved?
Well... when was it?
Or are there any preachers broadcasting on your station who could even conceive of doing such a thing? If there are none, then this demonstrates the problem.
Stephen, the lost of this world are TIRED of this! They look at us as Christians like this preacher, and too often they see us obsessed with worldly politics, and gaining power, and "winning elections"... and they can't see how we are any different from any other "religion" out there.
Why should they be convinced of the reality of Christ, when we carry on in this way?
We are called to be in this world, but not of this world. And when we harp on earthly politics and singling-out politicians that we do not like, we only demonstrate that we do not have the renewed mind of Christ at all. We show that we are not only still of this world, but that we desire to exercise control over this world, even.
Don't believe me? How many in your church fervently prayed for George W. Bush to win the Presidency? Or for Republicans to win in general, for that matter?
Ever think to pray and ask God for wisdom over your own affairs, rather than asking Him to sway events according to man's - including your own - limited and yes, pathetic understanding?
Perhaps that is part of the reason why this country is so messed-up: because God did let us rely on our own understanding. Just as He allowed Israel to fall under Roman domination, because it sought its own answers. Even while claiming to be pious and seeking after Him, as many of us in America claim today.
Don't tell me that you guys have actually bought into the con that you're supporting "the good guys".
Christ-like wisdom should have long ago taught you that there is no difference between the Republicans and the Democrats at all. Or any difference among any who are trying to gain power and control over their fellow man, for that matter. Power over others is not what we are called to seek as followers of Christ. It's not even supposed to concern us at all.
But having power and control over others, whether by politics or doctrine, is something that I've heard out of your radio station quite a lot in the past few days.
Yes, WPIP talks about reaching out to the lost. I know. I made a point to listen to it continuously over the past few days, even while I was working (I'm a freelance videographer). And for all the talk that I heard about being "saved", it was, with scarce exception, without the necessary quality of love and sincere concern for others.
To Ron Baity's credit, I did think that the sermon he gave that was broadcast on Friday afternoon was, for the most part, pretty good. And let's just leave it at that so far as additional commentary goes.
Being a Christian is not supposed to be "fire insurance". And it is not supposed to stop at the altar call or baptism or what have you. It's supposed to be a continuous, life-long process of change and growth. This is the best evidence of Christ within us. This new and real life that He gives us, is the true testimony that we show the world of His love and grace for us. It is not demonstrated by our zeal for doctrine or even scripture (as someone who posted above noted, if we have not love then it is all for nothing). And it is to be for His sake, not for our own at all.
So, Stephen, if you were to cast away your "conservative" label...
And if you were to cast away your "independent Baptist" status...
And if you were to cast away your political affiliation...
And if you were to cast away your insistence that the King James Bible is the only "real" Bible...
And if you were to cast away being able to claim that a mere man "is my covering"...
And if you were to cast away belonging to any one single church at all...
...What would you have that could show the lost of this world that you follow Christ?
Again, please think about it.
Watching people like Stephen take on Christopher Knight is like watching a squirrel take on a high speed freight train.
"Because his motive was completely and totally wrong!" So you know his motives? Yet you did not even listen to the whole message did you? The fact of telling someone they are going to Hell because they don't accept Christ is a necessary thing...regardless of political factors.
Romans 13 and American History would really help you gain an understanding of how Christianity and Poltics are SUPPOSED to mesh. That doesn't mean that they (politics) always follow the Scriptural application, but Romans 13 is a good blueprint.
Again, you resort to ad hominem attacks without having all of your facts straight. My church is NOT linked up with one particualr party! We have issued questionaires (sp?) asking EACH candidate of EVERY party about things that concern (or at least should concern) all Chistians. Believe it or not, we actually had some Republicans that did NOT get our vote! We had some Democrats that got our vote because of their SPIRITUAL standing on POLITICAL issues.
You have "heard" our radio station, yet again, you refuse to point out where we are wrong from the Bible!! Do I think that every preacher is correct on everything? Nope. Do I smack them down when I think they are wrong? Nope. Do I ask them about it when I see them? Yep, sure do! Why didn't you call this week when you "heard" all of our "problems"? Sounds a little hypocritical to me!
My "conservative" label comes from the world...not the Bible. I follow the Bible, thus the world calles me "conservative" on many issues (granted not all).
If I were to "cast away my independent Baptist" status, it would make no difference. I am an independent thinker. I hold no elder as my authority on my doctrine. That priviledge is based solely on the Bible - the same goes for my Pastor.
I have no distinct political "affiliation," so there is no reason for me to comment here. I vote based upon Biblical principlies...not political.
I am King James Only by conviction based upon the what I know of the character of God. You are not by preference. I don't think you understand this issue, so I will not waste any more of my time on this one other than the above written statement.
A mere man is not my covering. I am covered by the blood of Christ. I set no man upon a pedistal, the throne of my heart is no longer mine to give away. Having Christ is far better tha having "intellect." Think and meditate about that.
Your thinking on this one is not even Biblical...but that seems to be the most obvious feature you have to offer. Consistency is a well known character trait of God. Should we not model that?
People see my life and hear my speech, they hear me using Scripture all the time thus knowing that there is a difference. They know my beliefs based what I say and how I act toward them and others. They know that my actions are weighed out by Scripture...not my opinions.
To interpret your "if" questions...you want to have Christian morals and consistency, yet separate them from Christ. You will find that very difficult.
Again, why do you refuse to do the Christian thing and get this thing fixed in a Biblical way?
Stephen, Chris is asking questions that fundamentalists should have asked themselves long time ago. You should think about what he's telling you especially about love toward others.
Chris I can tell that you have read Stanley Hauerwas, correct?
Stephen, you have the way wrong interpretation of Romans 13. An unscriptural one, even.
Go read the Constitution again. In the case of America, government and its authority is derived from WE THE PEOPLE. It was NEVER supposed to be government established by consent of itself, for its own sake.
So if you want to know who we are subject to according to Romans 13, in the case of the American people... it is to ourselves. That's the stewardship God has given us. Though as that wise sage Benjamin Franklin noted, it is only our republica "if we can keep it."
By suggesting that we as American citizens are to be absolutely 100% subject to government, as a subject unto a king, you are violating scripture, and demonstrating a lack of understanding of American history.
The people of the United States are their own government. The Founding Fathers NEVER intended this to be a government with absolute authority over the people.
But that is what too many "conservative Christians" have come to not only believe in, they have also worked to perpetuate.
And in that regard, WPIP has committed treason against the American people.
It happened a little over two years ago. I didn't post the station's call letters at the time, but it was WPIP that broadcast this. One morning in late 2005, your station broadcast a Christian "legal moment". It was about the Kelo decision in the Supreme Court.
And do you know what message YOUR radio station, WPIP, sent out to its listeners?
That churches should "foster good relationships" with government officials, because in light of the Kelo decision government can now SEIZE CHURCH PROPERTY!
In other words, according the "Christian mindset" at WPIP, the American people should "behave themselves" lest they invite the wrath of corrupt government.
Let me put it another way, Stephen: your radio station DOES NOT WANT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE TO PROTEST AND FIGHT AGAINST ABUSIVE GOVERNMENT!
Are YOU going to defend the Kelo decision, Stephen?
By virtue of letting this go out on the air, WPIP was telling Christians that they should NOT take a stand against things that are wrong in this country, but should instead "shut up and take it".
I've been watching the John Adams miniseries on HBO. There's no way America could have even been founded, if there were Christians like that in charge at the time.
And to Jay: Yup, guilty as charged! :-) I discovered Stanley Hauerwas not long after I became a Christian and even got to meet him shortly after that (I've a signed copy of "Unleashing the Scripture" in my library :-) Hauerwas is beyond a doubt THE theologian of the modern era who made the biggest impact on my own Christian philosophy.
Fundamentalists worship their church and their pastor more than they worship Christ. Kudos Chris for holding their feet to the fire.
Chris about WPIP and Kelo that is not how Christians used to be in America. Christians ended slavery in the 1800s and these Christians want to bring it back. So here is an acrostic
Wimpy
People
In
Pulpits
Wouldn't it be funny if Hillary wins and Berean Baptist Church loses its sanctuary because of Kelo after it's station told Christians not to fight it?
"Wouldn't it be funny if Hillary wins and Berean Baptist Church loses its sanctuary because of Kelo after it's station told Christians not to fight it?"
It most certainly would not!
Kelo in many ways is a potentially WORSE decision by the Supreme Court than Roe v. Wade was... and I never thought that I would find myself saying anything like that. Why? Because in Roe the high court ruled that the unborn bab... 'scuse me the "fetus" is essentially reduced to property that can be disposed of at the whim of the mother.
The Kelo ruling takes that same principle and magnifies it to such a radical extreme that I never believed we would see this kind of thing happen in America. Accordingly, from a legal standpoint it's going to make defeating Roe that much harder to do.
If for no other reason, that is why Christians of all people should be among the most vocal in not just protesting Kelo but outright defying it if necessary. This is NOT a thing to be blindly supporting or just "rolling over" and letting it happen.
I will tell you truthfully though: it wouldn't surprise me if in the next few years we did see some very gross abuses of Kelo, including "punishing" churches that do not abide by the dictates of government. It already happened a few years ago with Indianapolis Baptist Temple. Who's to say it won't happen again?
But I can assure you, if that ever does happen, and if Berean Baptist or any other church around here were to be so unfairly targeted by this government, I damned well would rush to defend it, regardless of differences of belief we may have.
Dude, don't even joke about Kelo being used to take someone's property. Because in reality you're cheering on the exact same thing that the Nazis and the Soviets and the Chinese communists have done toward personal rights. And I don't find that funny one bit.
You shouldn't use swear words. It's sinful.
"You shouldn't use swear words. It's sinful."
Is it?
God never let someone go to Hell, just because they uttered a "swear word" and forgot to ask forgiveness for it. Not by itself, anyway.
Words are nothing without the thought behind them. It is the thought that matters, and which is of concern so far as sin goes.
Perhaps using the word as I did was a "sin against polite society". That does not however mean that it is a sin against God.
And since when did caring about polite society ever present a solution to human nature?
We make the all-too-common mistake of holding that words alone have power. When they do not. Otherwise the sons of Sceva would have been successful in casting away the demon, as depicted in the book of Acts. But Sceva's sons did not have the belief behind their words. And so the demon mocked them, even though they used the name of Christ.
I know that some will cite Matthew 15:11 as supposed proof that profanity is a sin. But in the context of Jesus's words, it is exceptionally clear that He is talking about the heart from which those words come. Not the words alone.
We focus too much on the sins that we see and hear with our senses, and put not nearly enough thought to the heart from which those sins originate. Jesus didn't go to the cross to "stop potty language", He did it so that the problem of the heart could be fixed.
So, did I "sin" by using the word "damned" in my previous comment? I thought I was making it emphatically clear that should any church in this area, including Berean, come under attack by the government in an attempt to seize its property, I would come to its defense. In spite of whatever differences we may have regarding some things. And I'm absolutely serious about that.
Does this sound like a thought of malice?
So no, "damned" like that is not so-called "profanity". Real profanity would be me saying "You damned fool!" to another person, because that wouldn't be nice at all however you look at it. In fact, saying something like that would have been a sin, no question, because it would have been something that came from a carnal nature rather than a nature like that of Christ.
Regular readers of this blog know already that I do use words like "damn" and "hell" in my writing. But that's it. I never use more harsh words beyond that on my own. If they are used it's only because they come in quoting another, and even then I'm very reluctant. It has to be a really special case for me to quote such a word here.
And even with those words that I do regularly use, it's never done very casually. Employing them too much would seem too shallow and petty. Better to use them sparingly.
So, if some church that I didn't agree with were to have its property marked for seizure just because of its beliefs, would I do whatever I could to rally to its cause?
Yer damned right I would.
We don't doubt that you would Chris.
You've fought for a lot including people you don't see eye to eye with. Why wouldn't you fight for other Christians too?
Stephen and everyone at Berean Baptist, Chris has done you a favor in giving you these thoughts. Instead of condemning him you should invite him to preach a sermon or give him free air time for an hour.
That's the worst web page of a radio station I've seen in my life. Their programming must be as bad as their site.
To the "anonymous" person above whose comment I just zapped:
That was one of the most disgusting things that I've ever read in my entire life and it is NOT going to be tolerated on this blog!
Chris, did you ever call them?
Actually, I did... twice! The first time there was no answer. The second time on the following day I was told that I would be "directed to Pastor Baity" and to please hold.
After being on hold for 45 minutes, much of which consisted of dial tone, I gave up.
That's odd...has it been a while since you called or recently? I also have called twice, told the secretary what the issue was and that I wanted to talk to someone about it...she directed my call ed where it needed to be.
Needless to say, I got everything fixed that I needed.
Perhaps you should take Stephen's advice and call them again??
Hey Chris, in your estimation who is the worst preacher in this area? I live in High Point just so you know.
"Hey Chris, in your estimation who is the worst preacher in this area?"
Well, I don't know about EVERY preacher in this area, but if you want to know which one I personally found to be the most reprehensible and vile...
Bobby Roberson of Gospel Light Baptist Church in Walkertown wins hands-down.
ANY minister who BRAGS about how he'll fire anyone who he catches using a Bible other than the King James Version, is NOT a minister of God and is in my estimation a self-centered cult leader.
I actually heard Roberson say that during a service that I attended there some years ago. And some have told me that Roberson has suggested doing things like *starving* children if the refuse to learn Bible verses. I never heard THAT personally, but more than enough independent sources have told me about it over the years that I tend to strongly believe it.
Bobby Roberson is the kind of preacher who loves to ask you if "Are you saved?" when he doesn't REALLY give a flying rat's butt about whether or not you have salvation at all. He's a preacher who's just more interested in whether or not you believe as HE believes. It's not the Kingdom of God that he's trying to build up as much as he wants to build "the Kingdom of Gospel Light Baptist".
You know what's the really ironic thing? Preachers like Roberson and Ron Baity, and David Cloud and many others, LOVE to preach hatred against the Catholic Church and the Pope... when in fact they are EXACTLY like what they preach the Pope is. Imagine a million little popes... and that is what too much of fundamentalism has become.
Obama might be on his way to hell right now, but shouldn't Christians be praying that he won't end up there, that he will be saved and be changed? Shouldn't we be praying for his change of heart and need for repentance before Jesus Christ? Or are men like Baity and other "Fundamentalist" the only ones worthy enough to receive salvation?
I left the "Fundamentalist" church several years ago. My former pastor mostly preach hatred toward the lost, he rarely ever went out there into the real, dying world and offered the gospel. It was easier to stand in a pulpit, feel really big, and rip on the lost while feeling all holy and righteous about himself. He would bring up "those fornicating women out there having babies" yet never address all those fornicating men with whom those women were fornicating.
The pseudo-fundamentalists of today are shameful and a blight in the church and are nothing like the original Fundamentalist forefathers of the early 20th century. They cause the world to hate and misunderstand Christianity. They don't understand that not all Christians act that way toward the lost. The early Fundamentalist forefeathers condemned evil while still loving the sinner and showing the compassion of the grace of God from His word, knowing that they too were of no less merit to receive God's grace than anyone else.
John 3:17 is often left off: "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." Today's "fundamentalist" church has degraded to preaching condemnation, the opposite of why Jesus Christ came. Jesus never gave ANYONE leave to condemn anyone but to preach the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ the King to all the world.
--Southern Soapbox
I have personally been involved with such a unChristian liar of a man. I worked for his church for a little over 4 months and during that time he controlled with a Iron fist. Rarely invoked the name of Christ (unless it benefited him) People should be aware of this man and the type of people he associates himself with. This man actually lied about me, told me not to talk to my parents because they didn't have an understanding like he did, and also said he would make all my decisions for me. That sounds like an occult to me and trust me...we had our words. Thank God for people on this website who see the truth of that. It took me a long time to recover from fundamenalism and I used to be one of their preachers...I am glad God showed me the way out of there.
JF
This guy and most of the people here are without a doubt the most spritually ignorant people that I have ever read. You have got to be kidding me on some of the comments made.
Chris, How dare you attack DR. Ronnie Baity?
Don't you know that this man has letters in front of (and/or behind) his name, and that makes him smarter than Almighty God?
Hmmmmph.
The unmitigated gall of some people.
Seriously,
I have witnessed first hand, face to face the seemingly psychotic-obsessive rantings of DR. Ronnie Baity. That guy is definitely a fruit loop in my opinion. I think he deserves to be Larry Flynt's A$$hole of the month...
At the least, IMHO, he needs a lithium drip more than his wife needs a real hair stylist.
And you can quote me on that.
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