Tag Archives: Independent Fundamentalist Baptist

One Two Three, Repeat After Me, Salvation Bob Gray Style

Bob Gray, retired pastor of the Longview Baptist Temple in Longview Texas is a super-duper salvation-dealing machine. Gray is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) who subscribes to the Jack Hyles Easy Believism, Cheap Grace way of evangelizing lost-sinners.

I was taught this kind of evangelism while a student at Midwestern Baptist College, but I came to see that it was little more than a cheap gimmick that allows preachers like Gray to say, Look at how many people I won to Jesus. (Gray knows to the soul how many people he has won to Jesus) It promotes an empty Christianity that does a real disservice to people who take the commands and teachings of Christ seriously.

Recently Gray was in Albuquerque, New Mexico to do some preaching. While at a local Subway, Gray decided to do some soulwinning. Here is his account, which has since been pulled from his blog:

… Flew to Albuquerque, NM, and was picked up by Pastor Brent Lenetine who pastors the Gospel Light Baptist Church of Rio Rancho, NM. I will be joined by Evangelist Allen Domelee Sunday night and Monday. This is a great soul winning church! After resting for a while I went next door to the Motel to get a bite to eat at the Subway Restaurant. I sat at a table next to a man named Bill McDermit. We joked a little bit together and after a while I went over to his table and continued our conversation. He lives alone in a house trailer and was a devout Catholic. After a few moments I presented the Gospel to him and he took me by the hand and prayed to receive Christ as his personal Saviour. WOW! That old KJB is still preserved inspiration and is THE incorruptible seed that brings life to a dead soul! Don’t treat this issue of preserved inspiration lightly. He who sticks his head in the sand gets his behind kicked! Either the KJB is inspired or it is not! Which side of this issue are you on?

Let me summarize Gray’s testimony:

Gray is on the prowl for souls in Albuquerque.
Gray is hungry so he goes to Subway to eat.
He jokes around with elderly trailer living Catholic man next to him. The joking is a pretext for what comes next.
After a few moments, Gray shared the Jack Hyles IFB salvation plan to him.
The life-long Catholic saw the error of his way, took Gray’s hand and prayed the sinners prayer. Holding the hand is important, just like the salesman giving you the pen. Hold their hand…and you are more likely to close the deal.
In but a few moments this man went from a headed for hell Catholic to a, uh, let me think, oh, I know, a Catholic who prayed a prayer so the busybody preacher would let him finish his sub,
And don’t forget that Gray used the all-powerful King James Bible to win this man to Jesus. It has supernatural powers that perverted, Satanic, non-inspired versions do not have.

This is the bankrupt gospel preached in countless IFB churches.

I noticed today that Google lists this site third when searching for the Longview Baptist Temple. The church is first, Wikipedia second, and then The Way Forward. Sweet. Smile I love cozying my apostate atheist blog right up next to IFB church websites. That way it will be easier for them to know how to pray for me. Smile

World Missions and the IFB Church

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If you were raised in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist Church (IFB), you know how seriously they take world missions. IFB churches think their beliefs are the only truth and their practices are the only way to function as a church and live as a Christian. All other Christians sects are looked upon as “doubtful” and non-Christian sects are considered tools of Satan used to deceive the masses and lead them to a Christless hell.

Members of an IFB church hear missionary speakers quite often. Some churches have letters from the missionaries read from the pulpit, and most of them, somewhere in the church building, have a board where all the letters from the missionaries are posted.

In the IFB church, everything revolves around numbers. Attendance. Souls saved. People baptized. Offering size. How many preachers boys called into the ministry. How many men and single women called to the mission field. And…how many missionaries are supported by the church.

All of these numbers matter in the IFB church movement. Success is determined by the size of these numbers. I have often said, size matters, and what plays out in IFB churches is quite similar to men with their my dick is bigger obsession. Men with small dicks say nothing, as do pastors who pastor small churches and do not have the numbers the “successful” pastor’s have.

IFB churches like to support lots of missionaries. They may only give the missionary 25.00 a month, but, if they support fifty missionaries at 25,00 a month, they can brag at the next Preacher’s Meeting that they support FIFTY missionaries. Remember SIZE is everything!

Many churches have Missionary Conferences. These conferences are focused times when hotshot preachers come and preach about missions. Rarely do missionaries preach. They might give a report to the congregation or share their calling to ____________ country, but most preachers know, if you want to raise money for missions, NEVER allow the missionaries to preach.

Why? Many missionaries can’t preach a lick. They are often their own worst enemy. They may have a passion for winning souls but they often lack good communication skills. An IFB adage goes like this…preachers who can preach do, those who can’t go to the mission field.

So the hotshot preachers preach, and through their manipulative preaching and stories of lost people in need of IFB salvation, they make church people feel guilty over not giving enough money to the missions fund. If they are real good, they might successfully guilt a few church members into leaving the secular world and joining the preacher/missionary fraternity.

Countless young men and women, and quite a few older married couples, have abandoned all their hopes and dreams to chase after their “call” to be a missionary. Many of them NEVER make it to the field and quietly return home and fade back into the fabric of the IFB church.

They are failures. They weren’t willing to sell-out and follow Jesus. They are looked down on because they said God was calling them to the mission field and they didn’t follow through. Surely, there is something wrong with them, right?

Perhaps there is another scenario. Perhaps what really happened is that they were emotionally and mentally manipulated by a hotshot preacher who was an expert at getting people to think that his voice was the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Once a person says, God is calling me…it is almost impossible to undo what has been set in motion. The pastor brags about Bro, Mike being called to Canada. (yes, IFB churches send missionaries to Canada) The church is excited. Bro Mike, remember little Mickey? He is going to Canada to win the heathen Canucks to Jesus.

And so, off to Bible College Bro. Mike goes. He is trained in the IFB way of doing things. He graduates and starts on deputation. He travels from church to church BEGGING them to give him money so he can win heathen Canucks to Jesus.

He has a table display of items that show why the Canucks really, really need Jesus. Most likely he has a slide presentation or a multimedia presentation that he shows to churches in hopes of getting them to see that Canada is a vast wasteland with millions of people in need of the IFB gospel and Jesus.

If he is lucky, after his presentation, the church will commit to supporting him. If they don’t, he moves on to the next church. Maybe the next church will “see” the need and support him.

Prospective IFB missionaries will often spend years trying to get enough money together to get to the field. Many will never make it. Imagine the humiliation of having to go back to their home church and admit they aren’t going to the mission field.

Some of them will try to redeem themselves by coming up with a new calling. Instead of going to another country, they now think God is calling them to be a missionary in the U.S.

In this new scenario, they can work a secular job (tent making like the Apostle Paul) and still be a missionary. Their home church will kick a few bucks their way every months, and they will then be able to say they are still a missionary.

I have met countless missionaries who are missionaries to things like public schools, nursing homes, the streets of X major city, etc. Anything is better than being labeled a failure, a quitter.

Do you have a missions story to tell? Were you called at one time to be a missionary? Please share your story in the comment section.

Notes:

Let you doubt they actually send missionaries to Canada and the U.S. check here, here, and here.

My wife’s cousin’s husband, Jamie Overton was recently called to be a missionary to India. They are working through a Fundamentalist mission agency called, World View Ministries. Their sending church is my wife’s uncle’s church, the Newark Baptist Temple in Heath, Ohio.

The Victim Becomes a Victimizer

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Bruce, Ordination, 1983, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Buckeye Lake, Ohio

In the early 1960’s, my parents put their faith and trust in Jesus and our family joined the Scott Memorial Baptist Church in San Diego, California. Tim LaHaye was the pastor at the time. From this point forward, until I left the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement in the late 1980’s, I was immersed in IFB thinking, ideology, and practice.

When my parents moved us back to Ohio, we immediately found a “good” Bible preaching church to attend. Wherever we moved, and we moved a lot, my parents made sure we were going to an IFB or IFB-Like church.

I spent my teenage years attending Trinity Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio. I lived in Findlay for almost four years. This was the longest time I lived in one place, even though I lived in three houses over four years. I spent 1973-74 living apart from my parents, splitting time living between two families in the church. (Bob and Bonnie Bolander and Gladys Canterbury)

As we all know, our teenage years are very important. It is during our teenage years we begin to develop critical thinking skills and we begin to develop a worldview. Of course, my worldview had God, the Bible, and IFB thinking smack dab at the center of it.

Not long after my parents divorced, I made a profession of faith in Christ and was baptized. Shortly after that, I told the church I was called to be be a preacher. From this point forward, I immersed myself in the IFB way of life.

I was a true-blue believer. When my less-spiritual church friends were drinking, smoking pot, and having sex…it was the 1970’s…I was going to church every time the doors were open, attending all-night prayer meetings, running a bus route, going out on visitation, carrying my Bible to school, and witnessing to classmates.

In every way, I was the real deal. Keep in mind my parents stopped going to church after they divorced. I went to church on my own, often riding my bike or walking to church. I sincerely believed the IFB church was the way, truth, and life.

When I had to move away from Findlay in 1974, I continued to involve myself in IFB churches no matter where I lived. While I had moments where I strayed from my IFB beliefs, for the most part, I remained a loyal-son of the IFB church.

In the fall of 1976, I enrolled, for the purpose of studying for the ministry, at Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan. Midwestern was an unaccredited IFB Bible college started in the 1950’s by IFB megastar Tom Malone. It specialized in training men for the ministry.

Bruce preaching to full house at Somerset Baptist Church, Somerset, Ohio 1986

I met my wife while at Midwestern, and in 1979 we left Midwestern and I began working at an IFB church in Montpelier, Ohio. (affiliated with the GARBC) For the next ten years, I pastored IFB churches.

In the late 1980’s, I moved away from the IFB church, embracing Calvinism and expository preaching. For a time, I was a Fundamentalist Calvinist, quite conservative, but, bit by bit, my theology, and, most importantly, my treatment of the people I pastored, changed. When I left the ministry in 2003, I was a long-long way from my days in the IFB church movement.

Those of you who have read this blog for years know everything I have written so far. Perhaps you are wondering, Bruce…do you have Alzheimer’s? This is old news to us. Smile First, I want new readers to understand how and why I got to where I am today. Second, it is important for me to write what I have written above so what I write next makes sense. If readers don’t understand my past, the context of my life, they will certainly misjudge what I am about to write.

The title of this post is, A Victim and a Victimizer. It could just as easily be titled, Abused and an Abuser. I am sure you are familiar with the fact that a person who was abused as a child is more likely to abuse their own children. Why is this?

Humans, like all animals, do what they know. They tend to do what they have been taught, what has been modeled to them by parents, extended family, and people they have intimate contact with. (i.e. teachers, preachers)

We also know that a child almost always chooses the religion of his parents, family, and culture. I could no more have become a Catholic than the Pope could have become an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist. I became exactly what I was raised and trained to be.

I am sure many of you can relate to this. We look back on our lives in the IFB church and we are embarrassed and ashamed. I know I have a lot of guilt over my past. Yes, I now realize that I was a victim, but I also realize that I was, for many years, a victimizer. Sometimes, I find a bit of mental relief when I remind myself that I was only doing what every church, pastor, and college professor taught me to do…but the relief quickly passes as I remind myself that I mistreated people.

Bruce preaching at Somerset Baptist Church 1986

Like every IFB preacher who has travelled a similar path, I reached a place where I had to embrace my “sins.” No, I wasn’t a child abuser. No, I never slept with women in the church. No, I never stole money from the church. No, I don’t have any criminal acts in my closet. Should I find comfort in the fact that I wasn’t as bad as some IFB pastors and church leaders?

In many ways, I was a good pastor. I loved the people I pastored and I sincerely wanted to help them. I was there for them, no matter the circumstance. I married them and buried them. I wept with them and rejoiced with them. I loaned them money, clothed their children, and gave them food to eat. I took them to the doctor, grocery store, and the welfare office. In these kind of things…I was a good pastor.

But, there’s the rest of the story.

I also was an arrogant, filled with certainty, hellfire and brimstone IFB pastor. I ruled the church as if it was my kingdom. I also ruled the lives of the people I pastored. I did this through my preaching. I preached on sin, their sins. I used the Bible as a club. What I thought was God calling out their sin was really me gutting them and showing their humanity to everyone.

Through “hard” preaching and high-pressure altar calls, I manipulated people into getting right with God. You see, I am a pretty good public speaker. I learned my craft well. At the time, I thought the response to my preaching was God working and moving, but I now see that I emotionally manipulated people to get the response I wanted. (after I became a Calvinist and an expositional preacher, these tactics stopped)

As an IFB pastor, I was the CEO of the church. I controlled everything. Anyone raised In the IFB church has heard the phrase “pastoral authority” countless times. My word was the law and those who dared to challenge me usually ended up leaving the church. Where did I get the idea to be so controlling? It was what was modeled to me by every church and pastor I was ever a part of. Even when I was in college, Tom Malone ruled the church, Emmanuel Baptist Church and the college with a rod of iron. (after all this is what the Bible taught, I was told)

I wanted to be like Tom Malone. A great orator who pastored a large church. He was my idea of the ideal preacher. There was no doubt who controlled Emmanuel Baptist Church and Midwestern Baptist College. Cross Tom Malone and you were out on your ear.

Tom Malone is revered in IFB circles. (he died a few years ago) What a great man of God. Yes, and he was an autocratic control freak, who, in the name of God, always got what he wanted.

As a preacher boy trained in HIS college, I emulated him when I started pastoring churches. The victim became the victimizer. I became what I was raised to be.

Yes, I find a small bit of comfort in the fact that my family and I escaped the abusive, mind numbing clutches of the IFB church movement. I am grateful we were able to find and develop a more healthy form of Christianity. (though I never lost the tendency to need to be the CEO of the church) But..finding a more healthy form of Christianity, and now embracing atheism, does not erase the emotional and mental damage I did to people when I was an IFB pastor.

When I come across former church members I always tell them, I am sorry. It seems so hollow, doesn’t it? I robbed people of their ability to think critically and I used the Bible to control and dominate their lives. I manipulated them, albeit sincerely, in the name of God. I’m sorry, doesn’t cut it.

Most of the people who made me the IFB preacher I was, are either dead or still plying their trade in the IFB church movement. Most of my former IFB colleagues are still in the IFB church movement. With great certainty, they continue to pass on the bankrupt, abusive heritage of the IFB church movement.

Why was I able to get away from it? Good question, a question that I have asked myself many times. My counselor told me it is very rare for people who were immersed in Fundamentalist religion like I was, to break free from it. The same goes for leaving the ministry altogether. Rarely does a man in his fifties, a man who spent his entire adult life in the ministry, walk away. They have too much invested to walk away.

But, I did. Am I special? Of course not. I have met hundreds of people like me, This blog is read by people who grew up like I did. They may not have been a preacher, but they know what it is to have their lives ruined by the IFB church.

We are however, a fraternity of survivors and if we have one goal, it is to make sure that other people do not get caught up in the mind-killing and soul-killing IFB church. (and this could be said about Evangelicalism too) We are broken people and we bear the scars of our past. We can’t undo the past. All we can do is embrace the past and do everything we can to make sure other people do not follow in our steps.

As a father, I am so glad that the generational curse of the IFB church has been broken with my children. I am so grateful that none of my grandchildren will be raised in mind-numbing, soul-killing Fundamentalism. They are free, thank the gods, they are free.

As for me, I continue to see a counselor and work through the past. By understanding my past I hope to be able to help others in the present. I can’t undo the past. At best, this blog is my penance, and as I get the Leaving the Faith Project up and running, I hope that I can in the latter years of my life help those caught in the web of Fundamentalism. It is the least I can do…

If you have not read the ongoing series, The Fundy World Tales, I encourage you to do so. It will help give you some insight as to my past.

How IFB Pastor Bob Gray Excuses the Bad Behavior of Others

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This entry is part 17 of 17 in the seriesJack Hyles and Jack Schaap

bob_gray_longview Bob Gray is the former pastor of the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church, (IFB) the Longview Baptist Temple in Longview, Texas. He pastored the church for decades and then passed off the franchise to his son. Gray is a graduate of Hyles-Anderson College and is a noted conference speaker and disciple and defender of the late Jack Hyles.

I have always wondered how people like Gray can continue to defend Jack Hyles knowing what we now know about him. (see my series, Jack Hyles and Jack Schaap) Gray has to know that Hyles was an adulterer and a liar, but he still considers Hyles a Hero of the Faith, a man worthy of emulation. Why is this?

In a recent blog post, Gray revealed WHY he still considers Jack Hyles a Hero of the Faith, a man that most preachers are unworthy to even lick the dust off his sandals. He doesn’t mention Hyles or any other IFB preacher by name, but, it is clear that Gray is quite a forgiving person when it comes to the peccadilloes of the preacher fraternity.

Bob Gray believes in a principle he calls, averaging life. Let me explain this principle to you. We know, based on the Bible, that:

Moses was a murderer
Abraham was an adulterer
Lot committed incest with his daughters
Jacob was a liar and a thief
David was an adulterer and a murderer
Noah got drunk and perhaps committed a homosexual act
Solomon had hundreds of wives and concubines

Yet, the Bible says:

Moses was a prophet God knew face-to-face
Abraham was God’s friend
Lot was a righteous man
Jacob was a prince of God
David was a man after God’s heart
Noah was a preacher of righteousness
Solomon was the wisest man in the world

Rather than seeing how inconsistent it is to say that David, an adulterer and murderer, is a man after God’s own heart, Gray comes up with a novel way of reconciling this inconsistency. Gray writes:

How can all of these cases be true? What was God thinking? Maybe this is what God did. Could it be that He looked at each individual’s life and average out that life? Did God take one day and grade it? Did he then take the next day and grade it?

Did God, at the end of their lives, average out their days and then come to the conclusion that on an average Moses was a “servant,” David was a “…a man after mine own heart,” Noah was a “preacher of righteousness,”Lot had a “just” and “righteous soul,” and Solomon was a “wise” man?

God is not saying that Moses never did anything wrong. God is saying the average came out to be such that God called him “my servant.” God is saying the same thing about Abraham. God is saying that He averaged out Abraham’s life and his average was defined in the word “friend.”

God summarizes Moses’ life taking into account the bad days, good days, and high days giving him the average grade of “my servant.” God did the same with all of the above people mentioned…

…The professional baseball player who will lead his league in hitting will be the one with the highest average. The Valedictorian for the class of 2013 will be the one with the highest average. Isn’t this a wonderful thought? Think about it! God will not judge any of His people by bad days, or by high days; He will judge all of the days and give an average…

…Let us consider all of the good things people have done and average it ALL out. A pastor is never happy when someone leaves their church. However, I refuse to be a part of this crowd that says, “What have you done for me lately?” How about changing the motto to “What have you done for me formerly?” Averaging it out will cause you to keep a right spirit about those who forsake you and to keep a right spirit about those who are currently involved in your life…

In one blog post, Gray finally explains for me why he and many other IFB pastors continue to support and defend the legacy of men like Jack Hyles. According to Gray, one Aw-Shit should not cancel out five Atta-boys. In other words, since there is no sin God cannot or will not forgive, it is possible for an adulterous, lying, pastor or a pedophile pastor like the other Bob Gray in Jacksonville, Florida, to redeem themselves and restore the favor of God in their lives.

As an IFB pastor, Gray savages those who believe that rightness with God can be gained by good works. Countless people believe that as long as their good outweighs their bad, that all will be well between them and God.

Gray surely calls such thinking works salvation and thinks these kind of people are not Christians. Yet, once a person has prayed the sinners prayer, once they have followed the One-Two-Three, repeat after me, bastardized salvation plan of IFB preachers like Bob Gray, as long as their good outweighs their bad, we should view the person in a positive light.

While Gray will never say publicly for fear of being lynched…Look at all the good that Jack Schaap did. After all, he only sexually violated one teenage girl. On average, his good works far outweigh his bad, according to his averaging life principle, he surely must think that Schaap’s good outweighs the bad.

For Gray, it becomes quite easy to excuse and justify the bad things that IFB pastors do. Gray wants people to forgive and move on. He wants people to judge the fallen IFB pastors based on their total record, and not just on the few bad things they have done.

What Gray seems to not understand is that some bad behaviors (sins according to the Bible) should never be forgiven and the person committing the bad act (s) must NEVER be given a pass on their conduct.

It doesn’t matter how much good Jack Schaap did. He manipulated and violated a young girl and he deserves to rot in prison for what he did. I am sure Gray thinks that the lawsuit the girl filed against Schaap and the church is wrong. Look at all the good First Baptist of Hammond has done, Gray will say. Yes, they did a lot of good things. And they also enabled predatory preachers and stood by and did little to nothing while these preachers destroyed the lives of others. They should NOT be given a free pass, and if this suit results in the church being crippled, let it be a reminder to other churches that ignoring predatory and manipulative behavior by church leaders will be costly.

Gray probably thinks that God will give Schaap a second chance to redeem himself while in prison. Maybe he will start a ministry. Surely, Schaap deserves to be known for the good he has done rather than a moment of “weakness” where he manipulated and preyed on a girl he was counseling.

If you want to know why the IFB church movement has such a problem with abusive, dishonest, and predatory preachers, you need to look no further than Gray’s idea of averaging out a person’s life.

Some things in the grand scheme of life don’t matter. I am all for giving people a second chance. However, when it comes to things like murder, incest, child abuse, and pedophilia, it is one strike and you are out. No passing GO, no getting a second chance.

Lurking in the shadows of the IFB church movement are countless preachers who are saying Amen to Gray’’s idea of averaging out life. They promise God, I will be different this time, God. Really. I promise to leave kids alone. I promise to keep my fly zipped up. I promise not lie, cheat, and steal. Really…Lord.

And off they go…as a leopard that cannot change its spots…doing the very things they promised God they would never do again.

I am all for forgiveness and second chances. However, to suggest that we only judge a person’s life on average minimizes the bad that some people do.

Jack Hyles was an adulterer who routinely lied to people. He was a megalomaniac who mentally and emotionally damaged countless people. There can be no defense of his behaviors and until the Bob Gray and the IFB church movement understands this, they will continue to be a haven for preachers who use their power and authority to prey on others and harm them emotionally, mentally, and at times, physically.

Do you think my words are harsh? Good. Unlike Gray, I am not willing to give bad-behaving preachers a pass. I am not willing to give David, Noah, Lot, or Abraham a pass either. I look at these “great” men of faith and I ask myself, is this is the best Christianity has to offer? If these men are the “pillars” of the faith…dare any person be in a room alone with a man who calls himself a man of God?

Instead of coming up with a method for dismissing the bad things people do and remembering them for only the good they have done, we should see people as they are and we should never give them a pass when it comes to behaviors that savage and destroy people. These predators and abusers don’t deserve forgiveness nor do they deserve a do-over.

As the Bible says, to whom much is given, much is required. To give them a pass and only remember them for the good they have done is to violate their victims all over again. I, for one, am not willing to do this and I suspect most of the readers of this blog are willing to do so either.

But Bruce, Don’t Women CHOOSE to Stay in Fundamentalism?

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It’s not that simple.

We all tend to think it is just a matter of choice or an act of the will when we see people enmeshed in Fundamentalist religions or bizarre ideologies that we have no personal experience with.

Imagine being told as a child, a teenager, a young adult, and as a grown woman:

God expects you to follow the divine order he has ordained for women and the home.
God expects you to marry, bear children, and keep the home.
That you should not aspire to higher education since it would be wasted on you as a keeper of the home.
That you should keep silent in the church and let the men do the thinking.
That the only jobs in the church for you are singing in the choir, playing the piano, watching the nursery, serving the fellowship dinner or cleaning the church.
That you should totally submit to your husband since he is the God ordained authority in the home.
That before you make any decision you should consult your husband and bet his advice and approval

Imagine being told this year in and year out by your parents, Sunday School teacher, Youth Director, and pastor. Imagine being allowed to go off to college, but only because your parents want you to find a good Christian boy to marry. Imagine joining a horde of young women at college who all have one goal, snagging a man and getting an MRS degree.

Imagine being told that failure to obey God’s commands and failure to follow his divine order for the home will result in God’s judgment. Imagine a young woman lying in bed at night daring to dream of a life beyond the strictures of her parent’s Fundamentalist religion, only to have thoughts of her Preacher’s sermons about God killing people for being disobedient.

Living in such an environment causes teenage girls and women to lose any sense of self-esteem. They think, I am destined to be a maid, a baby hatchery, or slave. But, I want to be a doctor, a scientist, or dancer. But, I can’t because God, the pastor, the church, and my parents will be displeased with me.

You see, fear of God and those in authority over her is what keeps her from leaving. Her whole life everyone she trusts, respects, and looks up to has told her that God hates sin and those who do it. She fears not only disappointing her parents but disappointing God. No one wants God mad at them, right? Perhaps some of the women who were raised in the Fundamentalist church will share their experiences and reinforce what I have written here.

My counselor and I talked about this very thing today. This past Sunday was Mother’s Day and Polly got the annual guilt trip from her Mother, Please come to Church with me. It’s Mother’s Day.

Polly’s answer was a short, sweet NO! I told Dr. Deal that in many ways Polly is more anti-church/religion than I am. Why? Because her past experiences are very different from mine.

While I was the exalted pastor,revered by many, she was just the pastor’s wife. She was the religious version of the blockbuster Baseball trade where a team trades for an all-star players and throws in an no-name player to sweeten the deal. Polly was the no-name player.

She spent much of her adult life in a home and marriage that was dominated patriarchal thinking. She was forty-six years old before she wore her first pair of pants. She spent much or her married life serving others, rarely making a decision. Over time she lost her self-identity as it was swallowed up by her husband’s identity. (who then lost his self identity as it was swallowed up by the church)

So here we are in 2013. Polly is still quite conservative in many ways, but she has the freedom to be whoever and whatever she wants to be. She was promoted at work a few years ago, a promotion she earned, a promotion that was based on her work and not her husbands. She started taking classes at the local Community College and she graduated last year. Again, she did this in her own right. By her own hard word she earned a degree.

Polly now has the freedom to dress however she wants. She asks, as she puts on a top that shows a bit of cleavage, does is look OK? I think you can guess what my answer was. Smile She is free to watch what she wants on TV and read smutty novels if she chooses.

What she has is her own life. She has freedom. So, when her mother says, do you want to go to church with me, all Polly hears is, do you want to go back to the slavery and bondage of Fundamentalism? As Polly told me, HELL NO!

I have no doubt Polly had to a lot of fear to overcome. Even when a person stops believing, there is a hangover effect. How can there not be? When you have this kind of junk drilled into your head year after year for forty years, it is hard to shake.

Polly went to Midwestern Baptist College to get an MRS degree. She believed God called her to be a Pastor’s wife. Well, she got what she went looking for, and for many years we both played our respective parts in God’s divine plan.

But, now we are free and we have no intentions of going back…ever! Why we would we ever want to trade the freedom we now have for the bondage Fundamentalism offers? Fundamentalists try to use threats of judgment and hell to get us to repent but we are immune to such things.

You see, we learned, from the Bible no less, that perfect love casteth out all fear, and we have found perfect love, not in God, a Church or the Bible, but in each other. We have found a love for self, each other, and our family that is freer and sweeter than anything Fundamentalism could ever offer.

I hope readers, especially Fundamentalist female readers, will find encouragement from this post. I want them to know I understand their fear. I also want them to know that they can be free from the self-killing tentacles of Fundamentalism. My dear wife broke free and many of the former-Fundamentalist women who read this blog have done the same. Perhaps some of them will share their story.

Jack Schaap and First Baptist of Hammond Sued By Girl Schaap Victimized

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This entry is part 16 of 17 in the seriesJack Hyles and Jack Schaap

The Chicago Heights Patch reports:

A former megachurch preacher from Crete who carried on a sexual relationship with a teenage member of his congregation was sued in Will County court.

Jack Schaap, 55, sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in March after pleading guilty to a single count of transporting a minor with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, is in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago.

The lawsuit against Schaap was filed by the parents of the teen he had carried on with sexually in June and July. The lawsuit identifies the parents as “John Doe and Mary Doe,” and the teen as “Jane Doe.” The suit gives Jane Doe’s date of birth as June 27, 1995.

Schaap, the former pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond, in northwest Indiana, first met the girl when she was referred to him for behavior problems in April 2012 the suit said. The girl was a 16-year-old student at Hammond Baptist High School, and the administrator there informed Schaap she was troubled but had a “very tender heart” and was still “very teachable and moldable” and “willing to trust her leaders,” the suit said.

The girl continued her studies at Schaap’s offices and was required to undergo counseling with him “for her so-called problems,” the suit said. The suit accuses Schaap of “preying on the vulnerability of Jane Doe” during counseling sessions, and devising “means and methods to spend more time with” her, as well as “encouraging her to view him not just as her pastor, but also her friend, and eventually, as a love-interest.”

In June, the suit said, Schaap allegedly had his secretary, Jean McCollam, drive the teen to a forest preserve in Will County for an “intense counseling session,” during which he had sex with her. Schaap then took the teen from the forest preserve to his home in Crete, where he again had sex with her, the suit said.

Less than a month later, the teen, McCollam and her teenage daughter allegedly traveled to Michigan for a “girls’ time out.” But Schaap met them at the border and took Jane Doe to his Michigan cabin, the suit said, where they again had sex.

Schaap also “repeatedly” had sex with Jane Doe in his church office during a three-day youth conference, the suit said.

The lawsuit also names the First Baptist Church of Hammond as a defendant.

Besides having sex with the girl, Schaap gave her a card on her 17th birthday, the lawsuit said. Schaap allegedly wrote in the card:

“I can’t get you out of mind. I keep thinking about how much I enjoy talking with you, how great you look when you smile, and how much I like your laugh. I daydream about you off and on all day, replaying pieces of our conversation … laughing again about funny things you said or did. I’ve memorized your face and the way you look at me … it melts my heart every time I think about it. And I catch myself smiling when I imagine what will happen the next time we’re together. You must be really special, because I can’t remember the last time I felt so strongly about someone. Even though neither of us knows what the future holds, I know one thing for sure—you’re one of the best things that’s happened to me in a long time.”

Calls to the law firm representing the teen’s parents went unreturned. The spokesman for the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Eddie Wilson, also failed to return calls for comment.

No commentary from me. Since I have written a good bit on this story, I thought readers would want to know about the lawsuit. Personally, I hope the girl sues the ass off of Schaap and the church. Like with the Catholic Church, the only was to teach the IFB church movement a lesson is to imprison the abusers and perverts and financially penalize the churches for allowing a culture that is conducive to abuse and manipulation.

Domestic Violence in the IFB Church Movement

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First, let me give readers the definition for domestic violence. The National Domestic Violence Hotline defines domestic violence as:

Domestic violence can be defined as a pattern of behavior in any relationship that is used to gain or maintain power and control over an intimate partner.

Abuse is physical, sexual, emotional, economic or psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This includes any behaviors that frighten, intimidate, terrorize, manipulate, hurt, humiliate, blame, injure or wound someone.

Domestic violence can happen to anyone of any race, age, sexual orientation, religion or gender. It can happen to couples who are married, living together or who are dating. Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic backgrounds and education levels.

Does the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement have a domestic abuse problem? The short answer is Yes!

The IFB church movement is built on a foundation of emotional and mental manipulation and abuse. We see this in how parents discipline their children and how husbands lord over and control their wives. These behaviors are often modeled by IFB pastors, deacons, and church leaders, as they manipulate, control, and dominate church members.

I know IFB readers are howling, and, perhaps, even cursing, over what I have written here. How dare I suggest that the IFB church movement has an abuse problem. How dare I suggest IFB pastors and church leaders emotionally and mentally manipulate and control people. Child abuse? Domestic violence? Where do such things happen, says the IFB church member. I have never seen it.

And therein lies the problem. The abuse and violence is institutionalized to such a degree that it is considered normal. People are so used to seeing it that they never consider whether such behavior is appropriate.

IFB church members are used to having their “toes stepped on.” They are used to fire and brimstone, naming names, calling sin sin, sermons. They are used to aggressive behavior from their pastor. It seems quite normal to them.

Those of us who were raised in the IFB church movement understand this. It took us getting away from it to see how manipulate and abusive it was. The waiting rooms of mental health professionals are crowded with people whose mental wellness and self-esteem were ruined by Fundamentalist religion.

For those of us who spent decades in the IFB church, we know that the deep mental and emotional scars left by our time in the IFB church never go away. We learn to come to terms with our past and try to do the best we can going forward. We are marred, even broken, yet, somehow, we find a way to pick up and move forward.

This is why some of us speak so openly about the IFB church movement and its manipulative and abusive tendencies. We don’t want ANYONE to experience what we experienced. When we see someone gravitating towards Fundamentalism we try to warn them like we would warn a person who is driving towards a cliff. Stop! Turn around! But, many don’t…and they often pay a heavy emotional and mental price and some pay a heavy physical price.

Domestic violence in the IFB church movement is widespread. Unfortunately, it is often not seen as domestic violence by those who are in the IFB church movement. Instead, domestic violence is often seen as being true to the Bible or being a faithful follower of Jesus.

To understand domestic violence in the IFB church movement we must first understand the theological underpinnings of the violence. Domestic violence often happens because husbands (it is almost always husbands who perpetrate the domestic violence in the IFB church) want to be obedient to the Bible, Jesus, and the pastor’s dictates. Remember, in the IFB church, the voice of God sounds an awful lot like the voice of the Pastor.

Here is what many IFB pastors preach to their church members:

Christ is the head of the church and the pastor is God’s man in the church.
The Bible is an inerrant, inspired text that should be literally interpreted and explicitly obeyed.
The husband is the head of home.
The wife is to to submit to her husband.
The highest calling for a woman is to bear children and be a keeper of the home. Many IFB pastors discourage women from working outside the home and discourage women from getting a college education. (unless they go to college to get an MRS degree)
The husband is the authority, the disciplinarian, and the king of the home. God holds him, like he did Adam, responsible for everything that goes on in the home.
The Bible sanctions using violence when children disobey. To not spank or whip them means the parent is not willing to obey the teachings of the Pastor and the Bible. The rod of correction is meant to be used to drive the wickedness out of a child’s heart.

Now none of these things, in and of themselves, necessarily lead to domestic abuse. However, add to this the IFB church preoccupation with sin and their portrayal of God as a violent deity who will whip them if they disobey, you have a recipe for not only domestic abuse but also child abuse.

I have watched more than a few IFB church members and pastors beat the hell out their children with a belt, switch, or paddle. I remember hearing of one parent who picked up a 2×4 and beat his two teenage girls with it. Why? They deliberately disobeyed him by riding the church bus home instead of going home with him.

I have admitted my own violent, abusive methods of correcting my three oldest children. (fortunately I abandoned these practices with my three youngest children) My oldest sons routinely got thrashed for disobeying their mother or I. I corrected them this way because I thought that is what God wanted me to do. The books I read said this was the proper way to discipline children, and every big name preacher I heard preach said I was doing right by my kids when I whipped them.

Is it any surprise then…with Bible-sanctioned violence against children and a violent God who uses violence to chastise disobedient IFB church members, that violent behavior spills over into the relationship between the husband and his submissive wife?

I can’t say that I know of very many instances where a husband physically beat his wife. It happened, but not very often. I know of a few pastor’s wives who were physically abused by their pastor husband. The pastor was the man of God in the pulpit, but at home he was a violent, disciplinarian who ruled over his wife and children with a rod of iron.

Most of the abuse I saw was more of the mental and emotional type. If the woman wasn’t submissive enough or didn’t put out sexually, she would hear about it. If she dared to have ambition, want to work outside the home, or go to college, she would be put in her place and reminded of God’s divine order for the home.

I have often said, I don’t know how ANY woman stays in the IFB church. Well, I do know. Women are afraid. They fear disobeying God, their husband, and their pastor. They fear God will chastise them if they dare step outside the role God has ordained for them. And so they stay and suffer the abuse.

Again, theology plays a big part in this. Many IFB pastors think that there are no grounds for divorce or that there is only one ground for divorce, adultery. Having a husband that is abusive, especially if it is emotional or mental abuse, is not grounds for divorce.

Let me give an illustration of how this is perpetuated from the pulpit:

Years ago the church I was pastoring joined together with other IFB churches to hold a joint revival meeting. The speaker was Bill Rice III. (I am almost certain it was Bill Rice but it could have been Pete Rice) (associated with the Bill Rice Ranch) One night Bill Rice preached on the subject of marriage and divorce. Rice did not believe there were any grounds for divorce. He said that even if a husband was beating on his wife, the wife should stay in the marriage. Perhaps she would win her husband to Jesus by her willingness to stay in the marriage. (and intimated that saved husbands don’t beat their wives)

By the time of this meeting my views had already begun to change and I pulled our church out of the meetings. I was incensed that Rice was advocating a woman endure her husband beating on her, implying that God wanted her to do so.

As my wife and I moved beyond the IFB church movement, we had to relearn what it meant to have a healthy marital and family relationship. Ultimately, it took getting away from Christianity altogether for us to find wholeness.

I am not suggesting that every husband in the IFB church movement is abusive or that every father abuses his children when he disciplines them. I am suggesting that IFB theology encourages manipulation, violence and abuse, especially of the mental and emotional variety.

Personally, I don’t think the IFB church movement is good for anyone. The extreme Fundamentalism found in the movement is emotionally and mentally harmful and people are better off finding other Christians sects to be a part of; sects that don’t view women as being inferior and don’t see children as chattel. I am of the opinion that the best thing that can happen is the IFB church movement dies a quick death. (It is dying but it is dying slowly. I am all for smothering the movement in its bed)

Over the years, I have watched a number of women break free from domestic violence. They decided their own personal self-worth and happiness was more important than obedience to God, the Bible, the pastor, and their husband. Most often, gaining their freedom required them divorcing their husband.

Let me head off someone who might suggest that the reason there is domestic abuse and child abuse in the IFB church movement is because they misinterpret the Bible, I don’t think this is the case at all.

I think they are being consistent with their beliefs and they accept the Bible as written. After all, the Bible does command a father to beat his children with a rod. The Bible does command the wife to be submissive to her husband and to be a keeper of the home. And let’s face it, the Bible is a written record of the violence God pours out and will yet pour out on all those who do not worship or obey him.

The good news is, many Christians ignore or explain away vast parts of the Bible. They know beating kids is wrong. They know demanding a wife submit to her husband and only aspire to be a keeper of the home and having children is demeaning . They wisely reject such things.

Do you have a story to tell about domestic violence? What did you experience growing up in the IFB church? What went on in your IFB home when the doors were closed? Please share your thoughts in the comment section.

A Tale Of Two Saviours

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A Guest Post by Ian

A few years ago, a childhood friend died. Her name is unimportant, so I’ll refer to her as C. C was 35, so the death was quite unexpected. She had gone into the hospital just before the weekend for a medical procedure relating to her diabetes and died there. Just a routine medical procedure, and the result was the loss of a good person.

C and I lived across the street from each other and our families had attended the same church when we were little, as in 5 or 6 years old. C’s family moved to another part of the city when she was 8 or 9, and we had very infrequent contact which each other, our mothers were the ones who kept in touch.

The church we both attended was a GARB church. When C moved, her family attended a sister GARB church and that is where she kept her membership until she died. From all accounts, C was semi-active in her church and brought people to services on many occasions.

My family left the first church after my dad realized that the people weren’t truly wanting to live separated lives (he was correct) and we found ourselves in an IFB church for 5 or 6 years. After a falling out with this church over the same thing (again, he was correct), we moved to another IFB church that had Missionary Baptist roots. Over time, this church fell into the Sovereign Grace/Calvinistic line of belief.

While in the IFB and Calvinistic churches, I learned of a God who hated sinners. I also learned that I was pretty lucky to have either a) accepted Jesus, or b) been chosen by God. Either way, I was part of a select few that was truly saved. Everyone else out there worshipped false gods and didn’t truly understand salvation.

Fast forward to C’s death. I was in the middle of my deconversion. I knew I wasn’t a Christian anymore, I was still learning why and figuring out how to put it into words. A family friend called me one day and said that C had died. Even though I hadn’t seen her in years, I was heartbroken; she had been my best friend when at one time. I called her mom and found out when the funeral was.

I showed up at the funeral, which was held at C’s church. This was a church I had been to a few times when C and I were kids. Walking in was like being brought back in time, it was pretty unreal. When the service started, the singing was uplifting and the people were as happy as they could be. This was in stark contrast to the Calvinistic and IFB funerals I was used to attending. The people spoke about C and how she loved her church, lived her faith and showed it by being a good person. Again, quite a contrast to my people who showed their faith by looking down on sinners and calling everyone else evil.

When the pastor spoke, he told me of an unfamiliar person. He spoke of a God who actually care about people, this is why he sent his son to die. It was His concern for the entire world, not just a select few. He also spoke of a Savior who actually cared about us and was understanding when we failed. Overall, it was a positive sermon.

I could actually see why C stayed with that church and that message.

I know that you can get almost any belief out of the bible, then use select verses to support that belief. My people found verses about anger and hatred and used them to beat me up. C’s people found verses about love and compassion and kept people that way. (I’m guessing they didn’t teach too much from the Old Testament.)

My point is this, that day I was exposed to a different saviour. The same Jesus, but presented so differently as to be two separate people. I wonder if I had been exposed to the kinder, gentler saviour, would I have still deconverted?

Dear Reformers Unanimous, What Do You Have to Hide?

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This entry is part 2 of 2 in the seriesReformers Unanimous

As I mentioned in a recent post titled, Reformers Unanimous, Recovery Independent Baptist Style, I ordered a booklet from Reformers Unanimous that is touted as a tool for pastors to use in helping people with psychological problems. I received the booklet today.

The Diagnostic & Spiritual Manual,aka DSM ONE, is written by osteopathic doctor George Crabb. He practices internal medicine and addiction medicine in Naples, Florida, According to the back of the book, Crabb writes medical communications for Reformers Unanimous.

The Diagnostic & Spiritual Manual is 56 pages long and covers:

Philosophy of Psychiatry
Abnormal
Addiction
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
Bulimia Nervosa
Codependency
Depression
Guilt
Kleptomania
Multiple Personality Disorder/Dissociative Identity Disorder
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Personality
Pedophilia
Phobia
Shame
Tourette’s Disorder
Conclusion
Appendix A-Seven Biblical Things to Do on a Daily Basis
Appendix B-The Best Way to Study your Bible
Appendix C-Reformers Unanimous Ten Principles

The purpose of the booklet is to equip pastors to help people with psychological problems. Consider for a moment that Crabb and Reformers Unanimous thinks that by giving pastors a 56 page booklet that pastors will then be equipped to help people with psychological problems.

Not only is such thinking medical malpractice but it is also dangerous and irresponsible. No pastor, unless he is extensively trained, has any business “helping” people with psychological problems.

Crabb and Reformers Unanimous think that most psychological problems, like those mentioned above, are not physical problems and the root problem is disobedience to God and the Bible. If people would just submit to God and his Word their psychological problems would go away.

Over the next couple of weeks, I intend to review the Diagnostic & Spiritual Manual. I will have to do this differently than I normally do because the book states:

Any written or published critique, whether positive or negative, may not quote any portion of this book without written permission of the publisher to avoid any discrepancies in context.

In typical Fundamentalist Baptist fashion, Crabb and Reformers Unanimous attempt to stifle any criticism of their work. After all, they don’t want to be misunderstood, right? Smile

In recent years, I have done book reviews for several major publishers. Not one of them put conditions on my reviews. All they asked is that I read the book and review it.

What is it that Crabb and Reformers Unanimous doesn’t want people to know? Why are they afraid of having the text of the Diagnostic & Spiritual Manual being made available to the public? This reminds me of Pensacola Christian College not handing out student handbooks until AFTER the student is at the college. What is it that Fundamentalist Baptists are trying to hide? Are they ashamed of their beliefs? Surely, if their beliefs are straight from the mouth for God, there should be no problem with people like me quoting their materials. Wouldn’t allowing me to quote the text be better than me summarizing the text?

Stay tuned for my multipart review of the Diagnostic & Spiritual Manual.

Reformers Unanimous, Recovery Independent Baptist Style

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This entry is part 1 of 2 in the seriesReformers Unanimous

Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church members have addiction problems just like the rest of us. Hiding in plain sight at the local IFB church are addicts addicted to everything from prescription pills to crack. They dare not make their addiction known because in the IFB church everyone has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and has VICTORY in Jesus.

Over the years, I pastored countless people with drug and alcohol problems. Some hid it well, others not so much. My offer of help was always the same…claim the promises of God, trust that Jesus will give you victory, and stop taking drugs and/or drinking alcohol.

Did this approach work? For a few people, but for most their addiction was such that they needed professional help, help that no church is capable of providing. These members would either learn to hide their addiction better (which is what most did) or seek professional help. Those who sought out professional help invariably became involved with a 12-step program.

Most 12-step programs have a spiritual dimension that takes a “higher power” approach. IFB churches despise any notion of a “higher power.” According to IFB doctrine, there is one God, the IFB God. What could IFB churches do to keep their members from participating in 12-step programs?

Simple. Start your own program, a program that offers Jesus and the Bible as the ultimate recovery duo. A recovery ministry called Reformers Unanimous has become the preferred addiction recovery program for IFB churches. (and other churches who may not say they are IFB. I did a search of their chapters and they are overwhelmingly IFB churches)

Reformers Unanimous is the brain-child of the late Steven Curington:

Steve Curington grew up in a Christian home and graduated from North Love Christian School in 1984. After high school, Steve started a 10-year addiction to alcoholism and cocaine. After a serious car accident, Steve found complete sobriety through his relationship with Jesus Christ. After his recovery in 1996, Steve began Reformers Unanimous, a faith-based addiction ministry. What started as a humble, Friday night addiction class with four regular attendees in Rockford, Illinois, quickly exploded to a class of more than 300 people from the community.

As word spread, others began inquiring how to bring this program to their community. Soon, a national organization was launched; and shortly after that, the international arm was born. Today, there are more than 800 chapters throughout the nation and many more in twelve foreign countries.

What is the mission of Reformers Unanimous?

Reformers Unanimous Ministries- “We Help Anybody”
Reformers Unanimous Ministries exists to help anybody worldwide who wishes to experience a life of victory over difficulty. This victory is obtained and retained not through an experience of ongoing effort, but through a once in a lifetime decision to accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and a subsequent dedication to developing a dynamic love relationship with Him.

Reformers Unanimous Addictions Program- “We Help Addicted Adults Find Freedom”
Reformers Unanimous Addiction Program exists to help adults find freedom from addictive behavior. We accomplish this by assisting them in gaining and maintaining consistent communication with the Highest Power. This power is not a higher power chosen by them, but a Holy Power that has chosen them.   Usefulness in life is then attained with community service through good local churches.

Reformers Unanimous Kidz Club- “We Help Kids Grow God’s Way”
Reformers Unanimous Kidz Club exists to help kids comprehend a love for God that ignites a lifelong relationship with Him.   This relationship is their only chance for lasting victory through adulthood. This relationship is developed using a structured program that includes dynamic teaching, instructional games and exciting stories that encourage children to avoid the pitfalls of despair most find in their teenage years. .

Reformers Unanimous T-N-T Club- “We Help Teens Transition”
Reformers Unanimous Teens-N-Transition Club exists to help teens transition socially and spiritually from adolescent youth to young adult.   This transition assists in overcoming wrong perceptions that plant seeds of bitterness which germinate and then permeate into adult years. This transition is made utilizing the support of a structured program that includes training, mentorship, activity, education and entertainment.

Reformers Unanimous Institutional Program- “We Help Believers Behind Bars”
Reformers Unanimous Institutional Program exists to help believers in jails, prisons, and institutional treatment programs develop experiential freedom in the midst of confinement. We accomplish this by urging the believer toward personal intimacy with the one who cannot leave them or forsake them. We utilize proven resources that nurture their nature through personal discipleship, group counsel and individual burden bearing.

Reformers Unanimous Women’s School of Discipleship- “We Help Hurting Women”
Reformers Unanimous Women’s Schools of Discipleship exists to help hurting women that are non-functioning, abused or addicted experience true and lasting victory over their pain to gain the prosperity of an abundant life. We accomplish this through up to 8 months of intensive discipleship consisting of prayer, study, counsel, education and work place training. Enter as a wounded woman; leave a lovely lady.

Reformers Unanimous Men’s School of Discipleship- “We Help Men Who Hurt”
Reformers Unanimous Men’s Schools of Discipleship exists to help men who hurt. Whether they have pained or been pained, we assist them to a position of lasting victory over those pains to gain the prosperity of an abundant life. We accomplish this through up to 8 months of intensive discipleship consisting of prayer, study, counsel, education and work place training. Enter as a mean monster, leave a humble human being.

Reformers Unanimous Lay Leader Discipleship Ministries- “We Help Christians Overcome Apathy”
Reformers Unanimous Discipleship Ministries exists to help us overcome our apathy. Serving both God and man is a delight, not a duty. But it is our penchant for self righteousness that keeps us from true righteousness. Our Lay Leadership course challenges lay people every day to develop a provocative walk with God that is seldom and shortly disturbed by the world, its prince (the devil) or his stimulation of our flesh.

According to the Reformers Unanimous Mission Statement, they are a one-stop fix-all shop that offers the same fix for everyone….Jesus and obedience to the teachings Fundamentalist interpretations of the Bible. (Reformers Unanimous doctrinal statement)

The Reformers Unanimous program takes a three pronged approach:

We Talk To God: Prayer and Testimonies

First, we talk to God. We do that in two ways. First we talk to God in prayer. Each student is given an opportunity to share a need or request for God. We then talk to God in prayer over those requests. The requests are typed out and presented to the students to be prayed over through the week. We then talk to God in testimonies. Reformers Unanimous gives students an opportunity to share how God has changed their lives. Our visitors love to hear stories of recovery through God’s miraculous, saving grace. We hear of days, weeks, months, and years of victory and give awards for each.

We Talk To Each Other: Counsel Groups

Second, we talk to each other. Reformers Unanimous breaks into counsel groups to share each of our burdens or blessings. Each group is led by a counsel leader. If anyone needs personal counsel, it is made available. Students go over their completed challenges during this time and encourage each other in their road to recovery. Counsel groups are led by volunteer church members and graduate students. Training is available to help you prepare your church helpers to reach out to those to whom much is forgiven.

God Talks To Us: Preaching

Third, God talks to us. He does that, Lord willing, during the message. Reformers Unanimous doesn’t just listen to people talk about their problems. We teach what God says to do about it. We teach the Holy Bible. It is the only book God wrote, thus it is the only one we use. Each new camp director is trained in how to present the messages in convicting yet caring ways, which are intended to encourage the students toward program participation. A hearer that is a doer is always an overcomer.

Reformers Unanimous also has a medical advisory board, a home-personal recovery kit (79.00), and a residential treatment program. According to the Reformers Unanimous website, their residential treatment program has an 80% success rate and costs thousands of dollars less than non-Reformed Unanimous programs:

The Reformers Unanimous Residential Schools of Discipleship are an six-month intensive discipleship program for men and women with troubled lives. We provide a reconstructive learning atmosphere where the non-functioning person can be trained in a supportive environment of discipleship consisting of: study, mentoring, Bible education, and work place training.

Reformers Unanimous offers a book titled, DSM 1, Diagnostic and Spiritual Manual, to help with church members who have mental health problems. (DSM is a cutesy take-off from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders that mental health professionals use) Their website says:

Churches today, along with Reformers Unanimous (RU) chapters around the world, are filled with hurting people struggling with serious personal problems. Many church and RU leaders find they are unprepared to deal with these people that have very serious non-physical problems because the psychiatric world has proclaimed themselves to be the master of this domain. As a result, psychiatric terminology has invaded the church and their RU programs. Most Biblical counseling training provides little to no education regarding these terms and little to no training on what the Bible says about these non-physical problems. Dr. Crabb’s desire in writing this booklet is to help the Christian leader understand the practical implication of these terms and what the Bible says about these non- physical problems of life. Dr. Crabb takes the mystery out of these terms and clearly presents the Biblical viewpoint.

Most IFB pastors have no proper training in counseling. Don’t mistake a counseling class at a Bible College as proper training. It is not. So what, Dr. George Crabb and Reformers Unanimous do is give untrained pastors a short booklet-like manual that costs 5.00, and VIOLA! they are now qualified to help people with mental health problems.

Make no mistake about it, peel away the medical talk, the medical advisory board, and the rest of the secular facade, what is left is that Reformers Unanimous believes that Jesus and the Bible is the answer to EVERY problem.

While I am sure this is helpful for some people, especially those indoctrinated with IFB dogma, the Reformers Unanimous approach is simplistic and can result in catastrophic consequences. What happens when the addict finds out that Jesus is not the answer and that the Bible does not have all the answers?

Notes:

I have ordered a copy of the DSM 1 mentioned above. I will review it in an upcoming blog post.

Jonathan Nichols, the gay man I wrote several posts about, was referred to Reformers Unanimous to “cure” his same-sex attraction. The local church is was a part of, the Newark Baptist Temple, sponsors a Reformers Unanimous chapter.

First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana has a Reformers Unanimous chapter. Too bad Jack Schaap wasn’t in the program.

I know several people who have participated in Reformers Unanimous addiction groups. As of this date, they are not cured of their addiction. Of course, all the fault belongs to the addict since Jesus never fails the willing.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders is over 900 pages long. Jesus and the Bible sure do simplify things. Jesus saves sinners. You are a sinner. Get saved. Next patient please.

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We Talk To God: Prayer and Testimonies

We Talk To Each Other: Counsel Groups

God Talks To Us: Preaching

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