Two Weeks and Counting . . .

On May 1, 2006, Strange BaptistFire was launched for the purpose of addressing the numerous lies and misrepresentations which came from the website called BaptistFire. BaptistFire has been used in the past to divide churches, oust ministers, and fuel anti-Reformed sentiment in the SBC. On May 11, 2006, BaptistFire suddenly disappeared less than two weeks of SBF having started. The response to SBF exceeded any of our expectations, and it appears that the folks of BaptistFire picked up on this. While no one really knows why or how BaptistFire disappeared (BaptistFire is notorious for anonymity), it looks like they are not coming back. I intentionally did not post anything immediately as I did not want to respond presumptuously to their disappearance. It could very well be that they do not want us to have access to their articles, comments, and resources which would be the target of our future posts (we still were able to grab a little info from caches, copied articles, and previous posts). Here we are on May 25, 2006, just two weeks since BaptistFire cleaned their slate. Regardless of what happens to BaptistFire, Strange BaptistFire does not plan on going away. Honestly, I have mixed feelings about their exit from the Internet. In one sense I am exceedingly relieved that they are gone so that they can no longer distort the truth and destroy churches; however, in another sense, I kind of wish they hung around a little bit so that a presentation of biblical truth and defense of the faith could be given in light of what they had said in the past. People who have been skeptical towards bloggers or critical of the influence of blogging should take note of what has happened in the past year. Just in the SBC, significant impact has been made in the SBC including the IMB, Lifeway, SBC polity, ecclesiology, and most recently the presidential nomination. To this list one must include BaptistFire, and while one cannot rejoice over their departure, one can certainly be relieved that these anonymous folks who refused to dialogue have abandoned their posts . . . and hopefully for good.