FBFI Annual Fellowship: Review from My View, Part 1

Dear Guests of IDOTG:

Today I was in attendance at the FBFI Annual Fellowship. I’d like to share a few general comments this evening. In my next report I will address the closing event, which was the Q & A Symposium. Details below.

Twitterites: Officials reported there was an infestation of Twitterites at the Fellowship. USA Today reports that MS Word has not yet developed an effective repellant to neutralize these infestations. One must, therefore, exercise extreme caution when in close proximity to even a single Twitterish.

The image to the right is a specimen of what etymologists have identified as the Twitterish Evangelicus strain of Twitterites.

I was told that Twitterites were on the look-out for me at the Fellowship. They might even Twit if I met with certain personalities, but would seek no personal interviews if I were spotted in a meeting. That is good because Park Rangers forbid the feeding of beeswax to Twitterites.

Stealth mode was my personal choice of protection. To protect other key FBFI delegates from any potentially unflattering Twitterings I told them in advance that if they addressed me openly they must refer to me as “Fritz.” I did not wear a name badge to protect myself and others from attracting any unwanted and/or unflattering Twitterite invasion.

All day I did not personally see any Twitterites. They must have been in the balcony or burrowed into the fabric of a pew. In any event I am grateful that I escaped un-Twittered and therefore did not have to visit my local pharmacy for an antibiotic salve.


ReKindling: I was able to rekindle friendships with various persons I had not seen in months to many years. During a break I met Pastor Mike Harding just outside the north doors. The last time he saw me was in 1989. I greeted him and I could tell he did not remember me on sight. We have spoken on the phone and in e-mails many times over the past two years, but no personal meetings. So, I introduced myself we shook hands and enjoyed about 10 minutes of cordial discussion on various topics, personal and doctrinal.

Other long time friends I was able to greet included: Dr. Dave Pennington, Dr. Ron Allen, Dr. Wayne VanGelderen, Jr., Dr. Milton Jones, Brother Charlie Hatchet (Camp Joy) and more.


Armed Forces Chaplains: The morning session with Joe Willis, U.S. Army Chaplain, was a powerful message to me personally. Dr. Stephen Jones was unable to attend due to his having a bad case of the flu. So, the session with Joe Willis was extended to fill both sessions. In addition to Joe speaking on the ministry of and need for more chaplains two additional chaplains gave personal testimonies. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I was fighting back tears when these two men gave their testimonies of service unto the Lord for our country on behalf of our fighting forces. You will just have to get the audio to hear these heart-wrenching testimonies. Many of the sessions are being uploaded at SermonAudio.com.

At time of this writing General Sessions #6 & #7 are not yet uploaded. After this morning I will never look at the chaplaincy corp. the same way as I did before. I will extend the call from the chaplains to you pastors to have a chaplain at your church to preach. You may have a young man called to preach and through exposure to one of the chaplains the Lord may call him to the chaplaincy corp.

Tomorrow, possibly as late as Monday I will post my commentary and reaction to the Q & A Symposium on the subject: Let’s Discuss “Conservative” Evangelicalism.

This evening I read some on line commentary of the symposium. A vital element from the symposium was either overlooked or buried. I will note and discuss a select number of comments from the symposium’s panel. In my report I will also share with you and address the apparent oversight in other reports.

Kind regards,


LM