WHAT IS INDEPENDENT BAPTIST?
WHAT IS INDEPENDENT BAPTIST?
Updated July 29, 2008 (first published April 29, 2008) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
From time to time people write to ask, “What exactly is an independent Baptist church?”
One reason I have never written an article on this subject is the fact that the Ind. Baptist movement is not homogenous. There is almost a bewildering variety of doctrine and practice among Ind. Baptist churches.
I have decided, though, to answer the question, plainly acknowledging that the answer will only be my own.
It is doubtless true that if you had 1,000 Ind. Baptist preachers write an answer to this question, you would get 1,000 different answers!
I would say first that the Ind. Baptist movement is large. There are thousands of Ind. Baptist churches. There are more in North America than anywhere else, but they are located throughout the world. Yet there is no way to know exactly how many Ind. Baptist churches exist, because they have no headquarters and no centralized statistics are kept. There are loose associations of Ind. Baptist churches, such as the Baptist Bible Fellowship International and various regional fellowships, and there are Ind. Baptist mission boards that some of the Ind. Baptist missionaries are associated with, and the churches that participate in those organizations could be counted to some degree if one were to go to the great effort that would be required to collect such statistics (though they don’t all keep statistics!). A significant percentage of Ind. Baptist churches, though, do not appear on the report of any association, fellowship, mission group, or other type of organization.
Regardless, the number of Ind. Baptist churches is pretty large. It was estimated at 10,000 in the 1970s, and the number has increased much since then. Some American cities have 50-100 and more Ind. Baptist churches.
At the root, the term independent Baptist simply describes churches that are Baptist in doctrine and independent in polity. An Ind. Baptist church is a Baptist church that is not affiliated with denominational structures such as the Southern Baptist Convention, the American Baptist Church, and the General Association of Regular Baptists.
For the most part Ind. Baptists are very committed to sound Baptist doctrine; they are separatistic; they are conservative in issues of dress and music; they are committed to the King James Bible; they are aggressively evangelistic and missions oriented (meaning church planting).
The Ind. Baptist churches doubtless make up the largest body of fundamentalist or separatist churches in the world.
The Ind. Baptist churches support thousands of missionaries, and they support them directly rather than through a denominational machine. The Ind. Baptist churches know their missionaries personally and each congregation chooses which ones to support, receives their missionary reports and prays for them. An article in the April 15, 1998, issue of the Baptist Bible Tribune entitled “Leading in Missions” notes that the number of Independent Baptist foreign missionaries exceeds the number of foreign missionaries of the Southern Baptist Convention. The report is based on research which appears in the 1998-2000 Mission Handbook (17th edition) combined with additional research done by the Baptist Bible Tribune. The combined research tallied the foreign missionaries that work with 16 agencies identifying themselves as Independent Baptist: Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI), Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE), Baptist Mid-Missions, Baptist International Missions Incorporated (BIMI), Central Missionary Clearinghouse, Baptist World Mission, World Baptist Fellowship, Evangelical Baptist Missions, Macedonia World Baptist Missions, Maranatha Baptist Missions, Independent Baptist Fellowship International, Baptist Faith Missions, International Baptist Missions, Baptist Missions to Forgotten Peoples, Baptist Evangelistic Missions Association (BEMA), and Fairfax Baptist Temple Missions. The total number of foreign missionaries associated with these agencies is 3,640. The total number of foreign missionaries with the Southern Baptist Convention was 3,482. In fact, the number of Independent Baptist foreign missionaries is actually much higher than the 3,640. There are Independent Baptist missions agencies not counted in this tally, and there are many strictly independent missionaries who work directly out of their home churches and who are not associated with any other agency. I personally know of dozens of such missionaries, and I would guess that there are 500 of them, if not more. Therefore, the total number of independent Baptist missionaries is at least 4,000.
Ind. Baptist churches operate many Bible schools, colleges, and seminaries. Most are small institutions, running from 25 to 200 students, but some, such as Crown College in Powell, Tennessee, and West Coast Baptist College in Lancaster, California, are fairly large.
Ind. Baptist churches frequently operate their own Bible institutes. Some pastors write their own materials, while others use published curriculums such as Bible Baptist Publications, Way of Life Literature, Crown Publications, and Landmark Baptist Publications.
Ind. Baptists typically avoid the public school system and train their children either through private church schools or home schools.
DIFFERENCES AMONG INDEPENDENT BAPTISTS
There are debates and differences among Ind. Baptists in such matters as music, dress standards, the Bible version-text issue, Calvinism, Baptist briderism, the practice of communion, alien immersion, repentance and evangelistic practices, church growth practices, and ecclesiastical separation; but there are no debates to speak of on theological liberalism, the infallibility of the Bible, female preachers, homosexuality, charismaticism, evolution, or abortion.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to the definition of Baptist itself, with a minority being Landmarkers or Baptist Briders and the majority rejecting that position. There are quite a few churches that are basically Ind. Baptist in doctrine and practice but don’t have “Baptist” in their name.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to the definition of the church, with some holding to a “universal church” position and others holding to a “local church” only position.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to election and “sovereign grace,” with a minority being various types of Calvinists while probably the vast majority rejects Calvinism entirely.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to the practice of communion; some are open (anyone can partake), some close (church members and invited friends can partake), some closed (only church members can partake).
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to evangelism, some being very quick to lead people in a sinner’s prayer, typically neglecting the issue of repentance, and counting people as converts who have “prayed the prayer” regardless of whether or not there is any real evidence of repentance. Others are much more careful in evangelism, taking more time to present the gospel and requiring and looking for a life-changing repentance.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to the definition of alien baptism, with some holding that only a “Baptist baptism” by their particular definition is authentic while others hold that any baptistic baptism is acceptable.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to pastoral authority, with some holding to a lordly dictatorial style, requiring “unquestioning loyalty” of the people, while others hold to a much more humble and scriptural approach.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to “standards” of living for church members and workers, with some holding a very strict and “old fashioned” doctrine of separation from the world--modest apparel, warnings against unwholesome television, movies and pop music, no drinking, smoking, gambling--and with others holding a very contemporary position with little concern for such things, and with every degree of position in between these two poles.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to the Bible version-text issue, with many holding to the King James Bible and the Greek Received Text and believing that this is an important issue, and with many others using the New King James Bible or the New American Standard Version or other modern versions and believing that the version-text issue is relatively unimportant.
There is variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to ecclesiastical separation, with most being purposefully separated from Roman Catholics, New Evangelicals, Charismatics, Contemporary Christian Music, and such, but with some moving toward a more tolerant New Evangelical outlook.
There is a variety among Ind. Baptists pertaining to the Church Growth movement (e.g., Rick Warren, Bill Hybels), with some being strictly opposed to it and others moving in that direction.
A GREAT CHANGE OCCURRING AMONG INDEPENDENT BAPTISTS
I need to point out that a great change is occurring among Ind. Baptist churches. I was converted in 1973 and joined an Ind. Baptist church at that time, so I have observed the movement for 35 years. I have preached in about 500 churches in 16 countries and I get continual feedback from Ind. Baptists by e-mail, and it is not the same movement today by any stretch of the imagination. From my perspective, the movement overall is losing its heart and soul, which is separation and a zeal for truth and holiness. That is what once set the Ind. Baptist movement apart from the Southern Baptists. I have often pointed out that it is one thing to believe the truth and it is entirely another thing to have a zeal for it and to be willing to fight for it and to separate from that which is contrary to it. That is the spirit described in Psalm 119:128: “Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way.” Not only did David esteem ALL of God’s Word to be right, he hated EVERY false way. That is the Acts 20:27/Jude 3 edition of Christianity! Having grown up in Southern Baptist churches that were worldly and lackadaisical about the truth, I was excited in the 1970s to find churches that had at least a semblance of biblical zeal. I am very sad to say that this is rapidly fading away from Ind. Baptists as a whole, though I thank God that there are still many Ind. Baptist churches that maintain it.
I sent this article to several preacher friends, and one replied with the following comment:
“As you well know, many Independent Baptist churches, are buckling to the carnal attitudes that are so prevalent in the world around us. One of our local Independent Baptist churches turned away from the King James Bible years ago, adopted CCM more recently, and now I understand they have changed their name. Another church, as I shared with you, has been propagating Lordship salvation and has become a recycling center where the same people are saved over and over again.
“In my younger years, most times you could associate the name Independent Baptist with a solid Bible believing church with good standards. Now, this is not the case in many locations.
“When in Kentucky a few years ago, we had difficulty finding any Independent Baptist churches in the area where we were staying. We went searching on Saturday and finally found a Southern Baptist Church that was having a work day. I asked if they knew where we could find an Independent Baptist church. They were very kind and gave us directions to the only one in the area. When we arrived at the church on Sunday, almost everyone was dressed like the world. I was shocked when the mixed adult Sunday School teacher was a woman. I was curious to see what we had gotten into, so we stayed. She had the Enoch of Genesis 4 and the Enoch of Genesis 5 being the same person. I sat there squirming as long as I could take it before I corrected her. I must say she was very gracious. By now, I was almost wishing we had gone to the Southern Baptist Church. During the Morning Worship Service, the Pastor was swaying to the praise and worship music. There was no praise team, only canned music. After a less than enlightening message, we finally snuck out during the final prayer.
“I believe your article is well done as you tackled a very difficult topic. If there is a Biblically solid Independent Baptist church in the area a believer lives in, he should pray for it daily and praise God for it.”
The bottom line is that Ind. Baptists are independent! Each gives account to its one head Jesus Christ. We have no desire to be independent of Him! Ind. Baptists fellowship with other likeminded churches but they are not yoked together in any organizational sense with other Ind. Baptists who might hold a different doctrine or practice. I quote from Dr. Thomas Strouse’s reply to the unpublished edition of this article: “Ultimately, we are NT Christians who believe the Bible (and hence Baptists), and who believe that our respective churches are autonomous. Autonomy is key since we need not give an answer for our doctrine or practice to anyone but the Lord.”
WHAT ABOUT ME?
Some might wonder where I personally fit in with the Independent Baptist churches. The answer is that I have been a member of Ind. Baptist churches since I was saved in 1973. The first church I joined was Bartow Bible Baptist Church, a storefront IB church in Bartow, Florida (now defunct). Ever since then I have been a member of an IB church.
At the same time, I am very much on the periphery of the IB church movement. I could not support probably 75% of the Ind. Baptist churches, and they probably would not support me. Most of them do not stand where I stand on a variety of issues I consider important. I have made these clear in my books and articles.
I don’t have to agree with most Ind. Baptists. As an Independent Baptist I have the liberty to fellowship with the 25% that I do agree with and ignore the rest!
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]
FIFTY YEARS OF ANGLICAN LIBERALISM
Updated August 7, 2003 (first published June 16, 2003) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -
The worldwide Anglican communion is composed of some 75 million Anglicans in 164 countries, including the “mother church,” the Church of England, and the Episcopal Church in America. It is permeated with theological modernism at every level. Consider some examples:
In 1953, Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple, in his book Nature and God, said, “...there is no such thing as revealed truth.”
In 1960, Episcopalian Bishop James Pike said the doctrine of the Trinity is “outdated, incomprehensible and nonessential” (The Christian Century, Dec. 21, 1960). (Billy Graham was a guest at Pike’s ordination on May 15, 1958 and praised the liberal bishop in glowing terms. Nine days later, Graham invited Pike to sit on the platform during his evangelistic crusade in San Francisco and had him lead in prayer. On Dec. 4, 1960, Graham spoke in Pike’s pulpit at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco.)
In 1961, Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey said, “... heaven is not a place for Christians only. ... I expect to see many present day atheists there” (London Daily Mail, Oct. 2, 1961). That same year, Bishop James Pike called the virgin birth of Christ a “primitive myth” and said that Joseph was probably Jesus’ real father (Redbook magazine, August 1961). He also said that Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, heaven, and hell are myths. (Billy Graham invited Ramsey to the platform during his 1975 crusade in Brazil and allowed him to speak to the crowd. Fundamental Evangelistic Association News & Views, May-June 1975)
In 1963, Episcopal theologian Paul van Buren started the God-is-dead movement with the publication of his book The Secular Meaning of the Gospel. That same year, Anglican Bishop John Robinson said in his book Honest to God, “The whole scheme of a supernatural being coming down from heaven to ‘save’ mankind from sin ... is frankly incredible to man ‘come of age.’”
In 1967, after heresy charges were brought against Bishop James Pike, the Episcopal Church in America adopted a resolution declaring that all heresy was out of date. That year, Canon Hugh Montifiore of Cambridge University’s main church said, “Jesus might have been a homosexual” (Christianity Today, Aug. 18, 1967). (Montifiore was the advisor for the Cambridge Billy Graham Television Crusade.)
In 1968, the Church of England’s Lambeth Conference voted that Anglican clergy are no longer required to agree to the denomination’s 39 articles of faith.
In 1976, John Spong was ordained as the bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Newark, New Jersey, even though he denied practically every doctrine of the Christian faith.
In 1977, Bishop Paul Moore of the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City ordained lesbian Ellen Barrett as a priest. Barrett told Time magazine that her lesbian love affairs gave her the “strength to serve God.”
In 1978, Anglican Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa said the Holy Spirit shined through Mahatma Gandhi, who is a Hindu (St. Alban’s Cathedral, Pretoria, South Africa, Nov. 23, 1978).
In 1980, Tutu said, “It may be that Jesus was an illegitimate son” (Cape Times, Oct. 24, 1980).
In 1982 Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie said he was an agnostic as to why Jesus suffered on the cross (Sunday Times Weekly Review, London, April 11, 1982). That same year, Episcopal Bishop John Spong, writing in the Christian Century (Jan. 6-13, 1982), condemned traditional evangelistic and missionary endeavors and said that biblical absolutism is “a vice.” (Billy Graham was one of the honored guests at Runcie’s ordination in March 1980, and Graham spoke highly of the liberal archbishop during his evangelistic crusades in England in 1984 and 1989.)
In 1984, David Jenkins, Anglican Bishop of Durham, described Christ’s resurrection as “a conjuring trick with bones” (“English Bishop Calls Christ’s Resurrection Conjuring Trick,” AP, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Oct. 28, 1984). Jenkins also said, “The Christian is not bound up with freak biology or corpses getting up and walking around” and “You don’t have to believe in the virgin birth.” (On July 9, 1984, three days after Jenkins was consecrated bishop, lightning struck his cathedral and caused extensive damage. A spokesman for the fire brigade said that though the roof was fully wired with lightning rods, none of them worked that morning; the smoke detectors in the ceiling did not go off, even though they were tested only a month before; and there was no thunder accompanying the lightning. EP News Service, Dec. 21, 1984).
In 1984, the Associated Press reported that only 20 of 31 Church of England bishops polled insisted that Christians must accept Jesus as both God and man.
In 1985, the Jesus Seminar was founded with the help of Episcopalians, including Marcus Borg of Oregon State University. The Seminar claims that Jesus spoke only about 20% of the things attributed to him in the New Testament and that the Jesus described in the Bible is largely a fiction. They claim he wasn’t born of a virgin, didn’t walk on the water, didn’t rise bodily from the dead, and had no intention of starting a new Christian religion. They also claim that there was no Jewish trial of Jesus before the crucifixion and the Jewish crowd did not participate in his condemnation.
When Edmond Lee Browning was elected “presiding bishop” of the Episcopal Church in September 1985, he “made it clear that he disagrees with the church’s official opposition to the ordination of practicing homosexuals” (Religious News Service, Sept. 11, 1985). He stated, “I would sincerely hope the Episcopal Church can say that there are no outcasts, but embrace all people and all cultures.” He was one of 20 bishops who signed a 1979 statement calling the church’s position on gays “a cruel denial of the sexual being of homosexual persons” and a “condemnatory judgment” that made them second-class citizens in the church.
In 1986, Anglican Bishop David Jenkins got a standing ovation from the general synod of the Church of England when he defended his doubts about the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Christ (Associated Press, July 7, 1986). Jenkins called the God of the Bible “a cultic idol” (Ecumenical Press Service, July 16-21, 1986).
In 1987, a panel of seven Episcopal bishops dismissed heresy charges against Bishop John Spong.
In 1988, Spong published his book Living in Sin: A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality. He said, “The time has surely come not just to tolerate, or even to accept, but to celebrate and welcome the presence among us of our gay and lesbian fellow human beings” (p. 199). That year Spong visited a Buddhist temple and said, “As the smell of incense filled the air, I knelt before three images of the Buddha, feeling that the smoke could carry my prayers heavenward. It was for me a holy moment for I was certain that I was kneeling on holy ground” (“A Dialogue in a Buddhist Temple,” John Spong, The Voice, Jan. 1989).
In January 1989, a committee composed of five Episcopal bishops unanimously dismissed a second set of heresy charges that had been brought against Bishop John Spong. Toward the end of that year, Spong ordained the first openly practicing homosexual to the Episcopal priesthood. The man, Robert Williams, was diagnosed with AIDS less than two years later.
According to Integrity, a pro-homosexual Episcopal group, at least 50 practicing homosexuals had been ordained to the priesthood by 1991.
In November 1991, John Spong conducted a seminar in Bangor, Pennsylvania, entitled “Exorcising Fundamentalism, Sexual Phobias and Other Demons.”
In 1993, a survey of nearly 20,000 Episcopalians showed that seventy percent believed “faithful Christians can be sexually active gays and lesbians” (Christian News, Nov. 1, 1993). Seventy-five percent approved of living with someone of the opposite sex without marriage.
In 1994, it was reported by the Sunday Times (July 31) in London that at least 100 Anglican priests are atheists who do not believe in “an external, supernatural God.”
In 1996, Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey lashed out at fundamentalists who place the Bible “above and beyond human inquiry” (Christian News, Dec. 9, 1996). That same year, the doctrinal commission of the Church of England said hell is not a place of fire and eternal torment. And Episcopal Bishop John Spong wrote in his paper that the image of God in the Bible is “no longer operative” (ENI, Dec. 6, 1996).
In 1997, a survey found that 31% of Anglican vicars in England do not believe in the virgin birth (Alliance Life, March 12, 1997). Actually that figure would probably have been much higher had the survey attempted to discover the number of vicars who believe in the virgin birth only in a figurative manner.
In his 1991 book Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism, Episcopal Bishop John Spong said the apostle Paul was “a self hating, repressed homosexual.” That year, Spong ordained another homosexual priest, Barry Stopfel. Lesbian Episcopal priest Carter Heyward delivered the ordination sermon. When Stopfel’s male “lover” was introduced, the audience applauded.
In 1998 Episcopalian Bishop John Spong said, “I would choose to loathe rather than to worship a deity who required the sacrifice of his son” (Christianity Today, June 15, 1998). That same year, retiring Episcopal Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning said, “It is time to move past using literalistic readings of the Bible to create prejudices against our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters” (Calvary Contender, May 1, 1998).
In 2002, Richard Harries, Anglican Bishop of Oxford, said Christians should pray to “God the Mother” (The Times, Nov. 3, 2002). That same year, retired Bishop Spong proposed a “new Christianity,” which must be able to “incorporate all of our reality. It must be able to allow God and Satan to come together in each of us. ... It must unite Christ with Antichrist, Jesus with Judas, male with female, heterosexual with homosexual” (World, July 8, 2002).
In April 2003, Episcopalian bishop Charles Bennison said that Jesus Christ was a sinner (Worthy News, April 14, 2003).
On June 7, 2003, the Diocese of New Hampshire elected the first openly homosexual bishop in the history of the Episcopal Church USA. The election was confirmed on August 5 by the General Convention meeting in Minneapolis. Thirteen years ago the newly elected bishop, V. Gene Robinson, broke his marriage vows when he left his wife and two young daughters and moved in with his male partner, Mark Andrew. In a speech in April 29, 2000, the day before a homosexual march in Washington, D.C., Robinson said: “... we are worthy to hold our heads high as gay folk — NOT because we’ve merely decided we are worthy, but because God has proclaimed it so. That we are loved beyond our wildest imagining by a God who made us the way we are and proclaimed it good. We proclaim today that we too read our Bibles, and through the voices of its many witnesses, we hear God’s voice — NOT saying ‘You are an abomination,’ but rather, ‘You are my beloved.’ We lay an equal claim to a savior who loves us as we are and who died to save us from our ‘manifold sins and wickedness,’ which does NOT include our being gay. And we come here today, laying claim to our full membership -- our FULL membership -- in the Body of Christ.”
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service, a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our goal in this particular aspect of our ministry is not devotional but is TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. TO SUBSCRIBE to the Fundamental Baptist Information Service, send an email to lists@wayoflife.org and put “subscribe FBIS” in the subject field. TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email to lists@wayoflife.org and put “unsubscribe FBIS” in the subject field. TO CHANGE ADDRESSES, simply unsubscribe the old one, then re-subscribe the new one. Or a more simple process is to go to the web site and sign up or change addresses there: http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6). Some of these articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 20th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://www.wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org (e-mail). We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but for those who are, OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org]