THE TEST OF TIME -- THE TEST OF TRUTH

THE TEST OF TIME --- THE TEST OF TRUTH

It is often said that The best test of Truth is Time.  Lies will be revealed with the passage of time.  Last Spring, three of the pastors of First Baptist Church Frisco (FBC) met with concerned members of their congregation.  The subject of the meeting was the closing of the Primera Iglesia Bautista De Frisco by First Baptist Church.  Several assertions were made by the pastors at this meeting.  The passage of time now allows us to test the veracity of their statements.

Let’s consider the Pastors’ statements:

1.     STATEMENT #1:  The reason for the lock-out is to protect the congregation of Primera Iglesia Bautista (PIB) from a minister (Rev. Ruiz) whose character flaws make him unfit to pastor a Baptist Congregation.  

a.     In the subsequent months, the PIB Congregation agreed to fire Rev. Ruiz, if FBC would return their Church. 

b.     Having achieved their professed goal, did FBC restore the church to the Hispanic congregation?  NO

2.     STATEMENT #2: There is no desire to destroy or abolish Primera Iglesia Bautista.  FBC’s actions are not racist, and not motivated by prejudice or cultural insensitivity.  FBC loves the people of PIB, and only wishes to protect their faith.

a.     FBC has not attempted to work with or even communicate with the board, officers, or members of PIB to resolve the conflict.   Until PIB hired a lawyer, there was no communication between the PIB membership and the FBC leadership.

b.     In a spirit of love and protection, the pastors of FBC appropriated all of the furnishings and equipment in the PIB Church building.  What they wanted to use, they kept in the church, and everything else they threw into a trailer and dumped in a storage facility.  Then they notified the pastor of PIB that he could pick up anything he wanted from the discard heap. 

a.     Finally, in their desire to protect and love the people of PIB, FBC leased the PIB church building (equipped with PIB belongings) to a Korean congregation.  This is Christian love and protection?

3.     STATEMENT #3: FBC is not motivated by financial gain to destroy PIB in order to secure the PIB property.

a.     PIB hired a lawyer to negotiate a settlement with FBC, and agreed to all of FBC’s demands in order to recover their church.  They agreed to fire Rev. Ruiz.  They agreed to accept outside supervision in their selection of a pastor and in the management of their church.  Did all of this move FBC to return the church to the Hispanic congregation?  NO

b.     Is there anything PIB could do to persuade FBC to return their church?  Apparently not.

c.      Is FBC prepared to invest large sums to employ lawyers to fight all attempts by PIB to regain their church and property?  YES

d.     Does this indicate that FBC intends to keep possession of the PIB Church and property no matter what PIB does?  YES!

e.     Does FBC desperately need the millions to be gained from the sale of the PIB Church property?  YES!

LET THE READERS JUDGE THE TRUTH FOR THEMSELVES!!!

UPDATE

Since the publication of this blog, Primera Iglesia Bautista de Frisco has secured a temporary home in a prefabricated building.  They are meeting there for the first time this Sunday, Jan. 6, at 10:30.  After services there will be a fellowship lunch.  Any Christians wishing to support this little Hispanic congregation in their time of need should consider attending.  In this way we can demonstrate that Christian Love is not bound by culture or language.

IT'S A SIN TO KILL A CHURCH

IT’S A SIN TO KILL A CHURCH (Or A Mockingbird)

 

When 2012 began, the Primera Iglesia Bautista De Frisco (PIB) was a thriving Christian Congregation exerting a positive influence in the town of Frisco.  They operated a street ministry in their neighborhood, and supported foreign missions in Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba and the Bahamas.  After 25 years as a mission church, they were about to complete incorporation and achieve legal independence.  They were full of faith and optimism.

They had given their time and their money to make their little Church beautiful – volunteering to landscape and clean and paint.  Their Sunday school rooms and kitchen facilities were well equipped and demonstrated the family-centered mission of the little Hispanic Church.  They had just celebrated Christmas, hosting all the children from their central Frisco neighborhood.

As 2013 begins, the little congregation is dramatically changed.  After nine months, locked out of their Church; after losing all of their equipment and furnishings; after seeing a Korean congregation possessing and enjoying all that was theirs; after being betrayed by their brothers in Christ, they are short on optimism and hope.  They are angry, and constantly fearful that the remaining families will desert  -- terrified that their beloved Church is dying.

And who, or what is killing Primera Iglesia Bautista De Frisco?  Is it a bank with a forfeited mortgage?  Is it a business with unpaid bills?  Is it the government with unpaid taxes or illegal activities?  No it is none of these. 

First Baptist Church of Frisco locked the doors of PIB Church last March 25, five days after the Hispanic mission church notified their sponsor that they had completed incorporation under Texas law, and were eligible for independence.  The stated reason for locking the Hispanic congregation out of the Church they had bought and used for over 25 years was the character of their pastor.  Although Rev. Ruiz had led PIB for almost a decade, he was now considered unfit by FBC.  However, even when PIB finally agreed to fire their beloved minister, FBC was not satisfied.

In an almost unbelievable display of distain and disrespect, the pastors of FBC appropriated all of the equipment and furnishings in the Hispanic Church.  Everything from audiovisual equipment and musical instruments to pots and pans was taken.  What FBC could use was kept, and everything else was hauled and dumped in a storage facility.   PIB was informed that they could pick up what they wanted from the things piled in storage.  Then FBC leased the PIB Church, furnished with PIB property, to a Korean congregation. 

It is hard to believe that the only objective of FBC was to protect the people of PIB from an unworthy Pastor.  If their goal was to punish Rev. Ruiz, they are succeeding.  If their goal was to kill Primera Iglesia Bautista, they are succeeding.  If their goal was to appropriate the property of PIB for the financial benefit for FBC, they are succeeding.  FBC is killing their former mission church and in the process enriching FBC by close to 2 million dollars.  

One can only wonder how the good people of FBC feel about the destruction of the little Hispanic Church and the enrichment of FBC by these actions.