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Disgraced IFB Preacher David Hyles Helping “Fallen” Pastors Get Back on Their Horses

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David Hyles, the son of the late Jack Hyles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana (once the largest church in the United States, sporting a Sunday attendance of almost 25,000), is back in the ministry again, helping “fallen” pastors return to the ministry. David Hyles, oft accused of sexual misconduct and criminal behavior, believes his past puts him in a unique place to “help” pastors who have “fallen.” Hyles, as of the date of this post, has never publicly atoned for his behavior. Hyles says God has forgiven him, and that’s all that matters. In his mind he doesn’t owe anyone an explanation for the lives he ruined, including his victims. God has wiped Hyles’ slate clean, and now it’s time for him to reclaim his rightful place among Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) royalty. I have no doubt that his brother-in-law, Jack Schaap, an IFB preacher who is currently serving a twelve-year federal prison sentence for his sexual misconduct with a church teen, feels the same way; that God has forgiven him; that he is still a God-called preacher; that his time in prison has made him a better man and a better Christian. This scenario is played out time after time in the IFB church movement. Once saved always saved, so David Hyles is a still a Christian, regardless of what he does. The calling of God is irrevocable, so David Hyles — a man chosen by God and Jack Hyles — is still a preacher, and he would be sinning against God to NOT be doing what God called him to do.

david hyles greatest men
Jack Hyles, David Hyles, Jim Krall, World’s Greatest Men

For readers who are not familiar with David Hyles (or Jack Hyles) I encourage you to read the following posts:

Several years ago, David Hyles briefly blogged at the site Fallen in Grace. My exposure of him in this blog forced Hyles to abandon his blogging efforts. Hyles and I play a game of whack-a-mole. He pops his head up and I smack it. I will continue to do so until Hyles publicly atones for his past and forever ends attempts to minister to trusting (albeit naive) people. Hyles has reconfigured the Fallen in Grace domain, and he is now using it to promote Fallen in Grace: A Ministry of Reconciliation (FIG) — his latest attempt at reinventing himself. According to the site’s About page, FIG’s purpose is to:

…provide tools, encouragement and helps to aid in restoration; both for those who have fallen and those who are involved in the ministry of restoration. We are all about obeying this command; to restore the fallen. This is not a place to argue or discuss people’s sins. It is a place to discover how to resolve the challenges that arise after someone has fallen into sin.

Let me be clear before I go any farther with this post, that when I talk about FIG I am actually talking about disgraced IFB preacher David Hyles. FIG is a ministry of one — David Hyles. Hyles says as much when he writes:

This is not theory. Many of those who are involved in this ministry have themselves experienced a fall in their background, so they do understand, firsthand, the challenges and difficulties of being restored.

Our story is my story, as well as the story of others like me. I am one who experienced falling and for many years struggled with being restored. I learned the right ways and the wrong ways for restoration through my own experiences. My goal is to share these experiences with others who have fallen and with those who are trying to restore others like myself.

FIG has big plans. Hyles lists the following goals and objectives for his “ministry”:

  • Establish national Fallen in Grace Restoration Ministries.
  • Present ‘How to Restore’ Pastor’s [sic]Training Seminars.
  • Inspire the many talented and gifted Fallen in Grace.
  • Provide help in private areas online to restore people’s lives.

Hyles, of course, knows the IFB church movement is rife with sexual and criminal misconduct by pastors, evangelists, missionaries, deacons, college professors, and the like. In Hyles’ mind, these men of God, regardless of what they have done, are still called of God, and once God has forgiven the “fallen,” it is time for them to get back on their horses, riding into battle against Satan, sin, liberalism, and all sundry “sins” IFB churches and pastors oppose.

Thoughtful readers might ask, surely Hyles doesn’t believe that there’s nothing a preacher can do that will disqualify him from the ministry? What about murder? Not even murder. You see, Hyles’ favorite Bible character is — you guessed it — King David. The Biblical David committed adultery and murder, yet he was greatly used by God. The Bible even calls David a man after God’s own heart. In Hyles’ mind, if King David can be restored, so can he and any of the countless other perverts, criminals, and philanderers who lost their ministries. In Hyles’ mind, no sin is unforgivable; no sin is beyond God’s grace; and no sucker is beyond the reach of an IFB preacher in need of cash. (It used to be that divorce disqualified a man from being an IFB preacher. Jack Hyles believed this, yet the divorced and remarried David Hyles must think otherwise.)

david hyles
1973. Miller Road Baptist Church was started by Jack Hyles. David Hyles would later become the pastor of Miller Road. Orchestrated by Jack, the church was never told about David’s sexual improprieties. David would, as pastor of Miller Road, be caught having sex with female church members.

While FIG does offer some free materials, most of what they offer requires payment. For example, the Biblical Restoration: A Practical Study costs $50. And for those completing the course — I shit you not — they can receive two college credits from Bob Gray, Sr’s unaccredited online college — Independent Baptist Online CollegeBob Gray, Sr. the retired pastor of Longview Baptist Temple, Longview, Texas and a graduate of Hyles-Anderson College, has long been trying to restore David Hyles to his rightful place in the IFB kingdom. Gray, Sr, a man who has spent his life bowed before the King of Kings, Lord Jack Hyles, sees restoring David Hyles as a way to rehabilitate the Hyles name.

In October 2018, FIG will be holding a Restoration Workshop at a place called the Red Barn, located in Middle, Georgia. Hyles does not list, for obvious reasons, the address for the Red Barn, nor does he provide a link to its website. Hyles has this to say about the workshop:

I wanted to send you a special invitation to participate in one of our two Fall Restoration Workshops held here at the Red Barn in middle Georgia. We would be delighted if you and your spouse could attend one of these workshops. I would love for you to learn more about our ministry but also to hear teaching on the philosophies behind restoration. This will be a comprehensive time of teaching these principles and also a great time of fellowship.

….

We are excited about these workshops and feel it is just the beginning of the training that we will do here at the Red Barn. I hope you will make plans to attend but let us know soon if you plan to attend.

FIG provides a page full of sermon-like articles for fallen preachers. Most of the articles require registration and membership. I assume there’s a cost involved for being a member. You can browse the list of articles here.

A previous iteration (August 2017, Wayback Machine) of the FIG site reveals that FIG primarily exists for the purpose of helping “fallen” (Greek for having sex with underage boys/girls, adultery, fornication and any of the other behaviors and crimes IFB preachers commit; remember, no behavior is so bad that God cannot forgive, and no behavior is so bad that a man called of God can’t be restored to the ministry) preachers regain their places in the ministry. Of course, by helping disgraced preachers, Hyles justifies and validates his own restoration. One need only read Hyles’ article on divorce to realize that FIG is all about the self-justification of his life. In essence, Hyles is saying, God has forgiven me, the slate’s been wiped clean, and you have no right to criticize or judge me. My bad behavior is in the past, buried by God in the depths of the sea to be remembered no more. Too bad Hyles’ victims can’t find that same mind-wiping, life-restoring grace. They live with the deep wounds and scars of their past, often unable to move forward, while David Hyles waltzes around the country screaming, I’M FORGIVEN! WOO HOO! Call 1-666-666-6666 now to book me for a meeting at your church! Let’s get this restoration train rolling!

Hyles has this to say about same-sex attraction, or what he calls: Individuals Coming Out of the Unnatural Lifestyle:

Paul was the first to admit that he was carnal. He confessed to the fact that he struggled with his flesh. Yet we know Paul was a man who lived a chaste life. Many of the people with whom we deal struggle with same sex attraction. Unfortunately many people have been misguided as to how to deal with this. Their objective is to change the attraction. However sexual attraction is not only a problem for those who have a same-sex attraction. All sexual attraction can be a problem. If a young man has a sexual attraction to his girlfriend he must learn how to deal with that, just as someone who has a sexual attraction to the same sex.

First, take into consideration that attraction is not the problem. The problem is that this world has sexualized attraction. An attraction is not a sin, but when that attraction is accompanied by sexual desires then we have a problem. Some men can see attractive woman while others see a sexual object. The difference is in the mind. So what is the solution?

Paul gives us the answer in Romans 12. The answer is that we must remove the sexual from sexual attraction. That is true whether it be an attraction to same-sex or the opposite sex. If the attraction is sexual then we must remove the sexual from the attraction. Unfortunately our minds have been inundated with sexuality. It is difficult for people to separate attraction from sexuality. Thus we have a society overwhelmed with sexual attractions. A man sees a beautiful woman and because he has a mind that has been consumed by sex he automatically has a sexual attraction towards her.

….

If one’s mind has been filled with sexual thoughts, they cannot change their minds. Their minds have been programmed. Unfortunately we are not the deprogrammers. Who is? The answer is found in the same passage. It is by the renewing of our minds. But the renewing of our minds comes after we surrender our bodies. So in other words we must make the decision to sacrifice the sexual part of the desire or attraction before the Holy Spirit can transform our minds and remove the sexual from the attraction. Can a man who thinks sexual thoughts every time he looks at a woman have his mind changed? The answer is yes. However he must first make the decision to sacrifice his body. In other words he does not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Then we are transformed not before surrender but after.

The next step is non conformity to the world. We often misunderstand this. Nonconformity means we do not respond to the attraction like the world does. We do not ogle the person with sexual thoughts. We do not make flirtatious or sexual remarks. Our response to the attraction is based upon the fact that we are no longer our own because we have given our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable. It also means we avoid the places and situations where our sexual attraction is fueled or fed. One who has given their body as a living sacrifice can go to the places, including on the internet where this world goes to feed their fleshly desires.

After this is when the renewing of the mind comes. When the mind is renewed then suddenly the sexual has been removed from the attraction. In other words we can see someone as being attractive without having sexual thoughts. It starts with surrender, then to non conformity and finally to transformation. We get it backwards. A man who has same-sex attraction does not have to have same-sex sexual attraction. In other words he may be attracted to other men as friends, but he is not attracted to them sexually. Those who have been involved in a same sex lifestyle must understand this concept. They must surrender their bodies first. They must say I sacrifice my sexual desires because I submit my body to the Spirit of God. In submitting their body they now refuse to be conformed to this sexual society in which we live. Then, and only then, the metamorphosis of their mind begins and they are transformed. Now they can be attracted without being sexually attracted. Now they can have friendships without sexual thoughts. This is where the transformation takes place.

….

Later in the article, Hyles has this to say about masturbation:

Let me be frank. Masturbation is absolutely a curse to this process. Masturbation is just as much fulfilling the lust of the flesh or the act itself. When you think the thought during that process it is the same as if you had acted it out. You cannot live that thought in your mind to the gratification of your flesh. Many men who once were adulterers commit adultery constantly in front of a computer screen. Many men once involved in same-sex activity commit the same sins in their mind and then with their bodies. You cannot allow your body to be gratified by those sexual impulses. You must give your body as a living sacrifice. You cannot masturbate and be a living sacrifice at the same time.

It’s clear from what I have shared in this post, that David Hyles is still very much an IFB preacher. Thus, it should come as no shock that FIG is operated as a ministry of Family Baptist Church in Columbia, Tennessee — an IFB congregation pastored by David Baker, a graduate of — you guessed it — Hyles-Anderson College. Not only is Baker a Hyles-Anderson graduate, so is Steve Wipf, Family Baptist’s assistant pastor.

Family Baptist Church is a King James-only Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church. Its doctrines are from stem to stern IFB, including its belief that the universe was created 6,022 years ago. The church’s pastor and his wife also seem to support patriarchal thinking when it comes to family; they have eleven children, two of whom are married.

The IFB church movement is quite incestuous, especially the followers of Jack Hyles.  Earlier, I made the connection of Bob Gray, Sr, Hyles-Anderson CollegeIndependent Baptist Online College (IBOC) with David Hyles. A similar connection can be made with David Baker. Baker is a graduate of Hyles Anderson and sports a candy stick “Dr” in front of his name, given to him by Texas Baptist College (now Texas Independent Baptist Seminary), another institution started by Bob Gray, Sr. and now operated by his son, Bog Gray II. Baker is a professor at Gray, Sr’s latest enterprise, IBOC. David Hyles’ FIG ministry is sponsored by Baker and Family Baptist. My oh my, what a cozy family that takes care of their own no matter what they have done! Ironically, though sponsored by Family Baptist, FIG is not mentioned anywhere on the church’s website.

The sheer amount of data available on the FIG website could provide me enough fodder for several weeks of blog posts if I were so inclined. Alas, I can only stand so much of this stuff before I want to pull the hair out of my hairless head. I appreciate and thank my friend Steve, a former student at Texas Baptist College and attendee at Longview Baptist Temple, for sussing out exactly what David Hyles was up to these day.

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Let me concluded this post with a David Hyles quote that should tell you all you need to know about the man, his beliefs, and his current “ministry” to “fallen” preachers. Speaking to preachers living with secret sins, he tells them to confess their transgressions to God and then:

Tonight go to sleep as though your whole past has been dropped. Die to the past. And in the morning wake up as a new man in a new morning. Don’t let the same one who went to bed get up. Let him go to sleep for good.

About Bruce Gerencser

Bruce Gerencser, 61, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 40 years. He and his wife have six grown children and twelve grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist. For more information about Bruce, please read the About page.

Bruce is a local photography business owner, operating Defiance County Photo out of his home. If you live in Northwest Ohio and would like to hire Bruce, please email him.

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17 Comments

  1. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    How do we know Paul led a chaste life? Because he said so?

    It seems hypocritical that preachers who ate so quick to condemn the “sins” of others, that will deem someone else unworthy to be a deacon or pastor because they or their wife were divorced, will make such a big show over how they need to be forgiven, slate erased, and let back at the helm of the ship again. (And I keep thinking the title to Hyles’ article should be “how to cure your boner”)

  2. Justine

    Those “fallen” clergy members who want people to “forgive and forget” remind me of those alcoholics and addicts who will say anything to keep their unexamined lives going.

  3. Avatar
    Dennis Watts

    I was a member of Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland, TX for fifteen years, part of which under the evil, child murderer, molester Dave Hyles. He learned how to screw (literally) women church members from his dad, who is currently burning in hell. I hope Dave meets him there soon and answers for his deeds. I despise him and he should hope I never run across him. Wouldn’t recognize him. He’s now a fat, bald useless waste of space. He f*cked one of my best freind’s wife IN THE CHURCH OFFICE! He even counseled my wife and I prior to our wedding. God Almighty I wish I would’ve known then what I know now. Miller Road was nothing less than a cult. It ruined me regarding organized religion. It is now an Hispanic church and hope the horrors we went through are now a bad memory. Justice would’ve been it burning to the ground. “How many ways will you and your family, friends go to hell?” was the weekly message topic. I’m so looking forward to the day I hear Dave and Karen (Stevens) Hyles are dead and rotting. She killed her biological child! Awful funeral. Evil people who will pay dearly.

  4. Avatar
    Lor

    I wonder how it happened, because we didn’t grow up in an IFB church (different denomination), but when we moved to Southeastern Michigan my parents enrolled us in a the school and attended the church of an IFB pastor that was a graduate of HAC.
    The name of the church/school is never mentioned in these scandal recaps, but one of our members was quite the celebrity. The “Anderson” in HAC attended that church that I was stuck in during my teen years and into my early 20s.
    We never really bought in to all of the nonsense. We were actually quite disgusted when Jack Hyles would visit. We were taken out of classes to wash walls because the king was coming. Then we had to suffer through chapel and evening services listening to that fool and others like him. I started to really hate church.
    I was in my early 20s when I broke free from that cult. My parents moved to northern Michigan and started to attend another church, not IFB.
    I took about a year off from church, though I still believed in God and the message that Jesus came to send to this world. Those males were nothing like Jesus. I believe they were everything that God himself despises, particularly in the area of pride. It’s likely that pride that led them to do all of the evil things that they’ve done.
    The sad thing for me is that HAC churches continue to exist, even knowing everything that has been revealed about the Hyles empire. And they continue to hurt people. I wish I could change that, but some people will never see the light.

    • Brian

      I relate to Lor’s feeling of progressively getting more and more sick and tired of church to the point of hating it. And I also relate to developing my own ‘flavour’ of faith to fit my needs at the time.And I too ‘broke free’ of the cult, though somewhat later (my cult was not HAC).
      Unlike Lor, I no longer believe in the Christian message, that Jesus died for me/us and was sent by God. I find it completely, utterly unreasonable. It comes as no surprise to me that cultic churches continue to thrive: Christianity is designed to harm and continues to do well at it all over the world. As Lor concludes, “And they continue to hurt people. I wish I could change that, but some people will never see the light.”
      Lor, I wonder if you might consider investing in change a bit further? Denounce the sick idea that people are born bad and need a magic man.
      When I finally said goodbye to it all, I felt such a great relief, a real surprising lightness of spirit and I realized that I had carried that weight the whole of my ‘saved’ sic life.

    • Avatar
      KOFF

      I grew up in the church/school you mentioned. From newborn on up to late teens when my immediate family moved away. I still have family attending the church, and my immediate family is still very involved with visiting and keeping in touch with the folks at the church. I myself, no longer believe, and try not to resent the fact that my parents ever became involved with that church. And now my brother is an IFB pastor as well.

  5. Avatar
    KOFF

    I grew up in the church/school you mentioned. From newborn on up to late teens when my immediate family moved away. I still have family attending the church, and my immediate family is still very involved with visiting and keeping in touch with the folks at the church. I myself, no longer believe, and try not to resent the fact that my parents ever became involved with that church. And now my brother is an IFB pastor as well.

  6. Avatar
    ND

    David is right; he is forgiven by the only one authorized to forgive permanently. However, he is no longer qualified to serve in a ministry leadership position and should serve his Church out of the public eye. He is no longer a good example and hurts the ministry in general when he is given undeserved and unqualified responsibilities.

    He is indeed forgiven by God (mankind has no control over that) but people cannot forget, so he should serve quietly and resolve that his leadership potential for ministry was sacrificed when he made the choices that disqualified him from such trustworthy ministry positions.

    Attacking his character only builds defenses in his favor, and God doesn’t need mankind’s help to correct anyone.

    • Bruce Gerencser

      What character? He has none. Until he comes clean about his past and makes amends to the teens and women he took advantage of, I will have nothing but contempt for the man. He has caused horrific pain and suffering, and I intend to hold him accountable until I draw my last breath.

      • Brian

        ” I intend to hold him accountable ”
        As would any person with decent self-respect but believers have agreed to abandon respect for self and others and that is why they can spout nonsense about being forgiven. The fact is, they have turned over their potential humanity to delusion and agreed to pass on their pain. People ought not to forget, ND, but work to attain common decency in life rather than abdicate and adopt false humility that is simply a cover for harm, harm to self and to others.

    • Bruce Gerencser

      I care only to the degree that I don’t appreciate Evangelicals refusing to let me tell my own story without attempting to parse it through their peculiar theology. It’s my life, my story. If you tell me you are a Christian, I accept that at face value. It’s your story. Who am I to suggest otherwise?

      From a theological perspective, I think once-saved-always-saved is a pernicious doctrine that fills churches with nominal Christians who have little interest in holiness. If I was still a Christian, I’d be preaching James’ works-based gospel. As an atheist, I believe the character of a man is shown by what he does, not what he says. (Matthew 25)

  7. Avatar
    Yulya Sevelova

    Davis Hyles is THAT David I’d read about on the F.F.F. blog, regarding forcing a child to eat their own vomit, and it caused a scandal of some sort, though the churchies going back and forth over David, didn’t seem bothered by this event. This is the same David who could have killed his second wife’s toddler son some years back, correct ? Clearly, he hates children. Why is he allowed near families at all ?

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