The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
Wayne Bean, bus pastor at Ada Baptist Temple in Ada, Oklahoma, has been charged with three counts of lewd molestation. Astoundingly, Bean was accused of similar crimes in 2005 — giving a teen girl “daddy” kisses — and not charged.
[It] hurt like scared for the kids,”Ada resident Bryan White said.
That’s how White felt after learning a member of the Ada Baptist Temple was charged with lewd molestation.
Ada Police say Wayne Bean inappropriately touched four girls while working as the bus minister.
Detective Brian Engel says he began investigating in May after an 11 year old girl refused to get on the bus.
“She started crying and the mother talked to her about why she didn’t want to get on the bus,” Engel said,”she disclosed to her mother that an individual from the church that rides the bus had been inappropriately touching her.”
Engel says the child’s mother contacted another mom, who’s 7 year old daughter also rode the bus he says, that girl also said she was touched by Bean.
“During my investigation I found out that there was a 13 year old that had also disclosed that this man had been inappropriately kissing her on the lips, when she got on and off the bus,” Engel said.
“It is actually disgusting and shameful that it actually happened with somebody that you actually trust,” White said.
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He tells us Bean was investigated in 2005 for inappropriate acts with an 11 year old girl who says it started on the bus.
“He stated that [when] he met her, she was riding the church bus and they ended up developing a relationship and he would take her places in his own vehicle, and that in the interview he stated he would give her daddy kisses,” Engel said.
No charges were filed in the 2005 case.
Engel also says he found pornographic videos on Bean’s computer showing older men having sex with women were portrayed to be very young.
Bean has since been released from jail on a $250,000 bond, he’s due back in court in February.
“We just need to pray for our community because obviously we need it,” White said.
Ada Baptist Temple — an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church — calls itself “The Friendliest Church in Town.” Their website also says the church’s services are “the most exciting services in town.” The church describes itself this way (link no longer active):
Ada Baptist Temple is an old-fashioned, independent, Baptist Church that takes a strong stand for the Word of God and against sin. Fundamental in her doctrinal stand and premillenial in her interpretation.
We believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, incest, fornication, adultery and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.
They left out child molestation and allowing accused child molesters to continue work with children.
Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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.
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As a little girl and as a lady, I have worn skirts and dresses full-time my entire life. I started doing it because my parents taught me to do so, and because it was expected of me by my pastors and church families. I was always told the reasonings for it, but I never truly grasped the importance of this principle until recent years.
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There are many different reasons why I believe (based on the Bible) that God would have me wear skirts instead of pants.
1. God Wants There To Be A Distinction Between The Sexes.
Deuteronomy 22:5 The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.
This verse describes a very specific principle of how God thinks about the way men and women should dress. Notice that it doesn’t just say that men shouldn’t dress like women, or that women shouldn’t dress like men; it puts the two in direct contrast with each other.
In 1 Corinthians 11:14-15, it says: Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
This shows that God has a different idea for how men should wear their hair, and how women should wear their hair. We’ve just seen two different passages, one from the Old Testament, one from the New Testament, that portray an attitude of God, how He wants men and women to have a different outward appearance. God does not want men to look like women, and He doesn’t want women to look like men. Have you ever looked at someone from behind and not been totally sure whether you were seeing a male or female? Often, the people you’re viewing are even more confused about their gender than you are (or at least, they appear to be). I’m not saying that every girl who wears pants is necessarily trying to be a cross dresser, but she is definitely coming a lot closer to it than if she were wearing a skirt.
2. Wearing Skirts Easily Adorns A Woman In Modesty.
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Ladies, I’m going to be very blunt here: Have you ever seen what you look like from behind in a pair of pants? I have. I see it everyday, and there are very few of you who can get away with it without outlining every curve of your backside. I’m not just talking about loose women of the world, I’m talking about Christian women who want to please God. Maybe it doesn’t look quite as bad when you’re standing still, but as soon as you move or bend at all, that pair of pants becomes extremely revealing of your shape and form. I truly have no desire to be insulting in any way, but it seems like you really just don’t know what you look like, so I am simply trying to be informative while being as honest and straightforward as possible. However, I’m not the one you should be most concerned with; guys are seeing it too.
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Yes, men are responsible for the things they allow their own minds to dwell upon, but do you really want to be the image that prompts them into such fantasies? Some men will have corrupt thoughts no matter how you dress, but they don’t need you to clothe yourself in a way that leaves very little to the imagination. In addition to those types of men, there are also many Christian men out there who are trying to live a life pleasing to God with purity of thoughts and actions, but the way females dress around them –whether it be in tight jeans, a low-cut blouse, or even a short skirt– make it extremely difficult for them to do so. God created men with visually stimulated minds, and we, as Christian women, need to be aware of this. We are responsible for our part in preventing lust of the heart just as much as men are.
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3. A Lady Wearing A Skirt Is Easily Identified As A Christian.
Not only does a woman in a modest skirt or dress look feminine, lady-like, and beautiful, but she often makes it quite obvious that she’s a Christian. Yes, I have gotten some pretty funny looks from people who’ve seen me going about my life in a skirt (especially when in a group of multiple ladies wearing skirts), but to be quite honest, I love that. I love that I have a way of so boldly proclaiming that I’m a follower of Christ, without even saying a word. Of course, this is only one area in which a woman can outwardly display her faith in God, but I’ve found it to be one of the most recognizable, simply because so few women do it anymore. There was a time not too long ago in our country when it was against dress regulations for a girl to wear pants in a public school. We’ve come a long way since then! But this means that Christian women have more opportunity than ever to display their separation to Christ.
Warning! This video may be disturbing to some people. I have sat in many such services. Today, I have a hard time watching videos such as this.
This is the one hundred and sixty-second installment in The Sounds of Fundamentalism series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a video clip that shows the crazy, cantankerous, or contradictory side of Evangelical Christianity, please send me an email with the name or link to the video. Please do not leave suggestions in the comment section. Let’s have some fun!
Today’s Sound of Fundamentalism is a video clip from a service at Middle Tennessee Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, pastored by Tony Hutson. Hutson is the son of the late Curtis Hutson, editor of the Sword of the Lord. — an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist periodical started by John R. Rice.
This is the one hundred and sixty-first installment in The Sounds of Fundamentalism series. This is a series that I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a video clip that shows the crazy, cantankerous, or contradictory side of Evangelical Christianity, please send me an email with the name or link to the video. Please do not leave suggestions in the comment section. Let’s have some fun!
I have posted several previous stories about the ongoing sexual abuse scandal at Rushville Baptist Temple in Rushvillle, Indiana. You can read those stories here and here. Last Thursday, the Rush County prosecutor filed additional charges against Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) pastor Garry Evans, alleging that he molested a six-year old.
The Rushville Republican reports:
The Rush County Prosecutor’s Office filed more charges Thursday against Garry Evans, the Pastor of the Rushville Baptist Temple Church. The new charges stem from allegations from a new alleged victim, identified in Court filings as a six-year-old. The new charges include Child Molesting, a Level 4 Felony, and Child Solicitation, a Level 5 Felony.
Evans previously was charged with Child Molesting, Child Solicitation, and Sexual Battery involving five alleged victims. Evans posted the $20,000 bond soon after it was set by the Judge. Along with the new charges, the Prosecutor filed a motion to increase Evans’ original bond. Rush County Prosecutor Phil Caviness explained that the fact that these charges bring the number of alleged victims to six justifies a higher bond than the standard Level 4 Felony case, and added that his office was seeking Evans to be monitored by the Rush County Community Corrections Program if he is released on bond. “We feel that given the charges, GPS monitoring and protective orders for all of the alleged victims and their families are important conditions of bond in this case,” Caviness said.
Court documents indicate that these new alleged incidents occurred sometime between the Fall of 2016 and Summer, 2017, but were disclosed after the first charges were filed against Evans. Trial for these charges currently is scheduled to begin on Feb. 20, 2018.
After these latest charges were filed, Evans attempted to commit suicide.
ABC-6 reports:
Because of the new charges, Evans was ordered to be placed on GPS monitoring as a condition of his bond and he surrendered himself to community corrections that evening.
Emergency crews were called to Evan’s home on 5th Street around 5:30 p.m. Friday for a report of an attempted suicide. When they arrived they found Evans unresponsive inside the home. He was resuscitated at the scene and rushed to Rush Memorial Hospital before being airlifted to IU Methodist Hospital.
His condition is unknown at this time.
Evans next court date on the previous charges was scheduled for November 28.
An Indiana pastor appears to still be the leader of his church despite the child molestation and solicitation charges he faces and his attempt to take his own life after additional charges came down on Friday.
Garry Evans is listed as pastor on the sign in front of Rushville Baptist Temple Church, and now people living doors away want to know why no one from the church is speaking out.
“It’s wrong. Pure evil. There’s evil in that church,” said Tim Guck, who lives next door.
The man the church says leads their worship has led the Rushville Police Department down a frightening path of child molestation allegations.
In October, 14 counts were filed against him, and another two filed on Friday when authorities say a 6-year-old came forward with child molesation claims. But neighbors of the church building said Evans continued to preach after the charges in October, when he got out on bail.
“The church is saying they back him, and they don’t believe children,” said Carrie Simmeron, who lives down the block.
After Friday’s charges, Evans tried to take his own life at his Rushville home. He had to be flown to IU Health Methodist Hospital.
24-Hour News 8 reached out to the hospital multiple times for information on Evans’ condition but did not hear back on Friday or Saturday.
“I don’t understand it. I don’t get the whole ordeal. I don’t know what’s going on,” said Guck.
Police said there are six victims between the ages of 3 and 7, and that the abuse happened within the last few years inside his churches’ walls.
These allegations stopped the Simmermon family from trying out the church a few doors down from their home.
“Especially since I have little ones,” said Carrie Simmermon. “I wouldn’t want to take that chance.”
Police couldn’t charge Evans in connection with other victims who claimed abuse from 30 years ago.
“That’s why I say it needs to be shut down as a common nuisance, because I believe they’re all in on it. I mean why would they have his name up there?” said Guck.
Garry Evans, pastor of Rushville Baptist Temple in Rushville, Indiana, stands accused of molesting several church children. I previously reported this story here.
RTV-6 reports:
A 72-year-old pastor in Rush County is accused of molesting multiple young children in his congregation.
Garry Evans, Pastor of the Rushville Baptist Temple was arrested Wednesday evening during a traffic stop.
According to court documents, the investigation began after a 3-year-old child who attends the church told her mother that Evans had taken her into his office to give her candy then “pulled his pants down” and made her touch his genitals.
Shortly after the investigation began another mother came forward saying her 7-year-old and 5-year-old claimed they had also been touched by the pastor. Both girls told investigators that “The Pastor” gives the kids candy when they go into his office alone, and touches them or makes them touch him. The youngest girl told investigators that it started happening after she started kindergarten in August.
And another mother with two young girls at the church also came forward with a similar story.
Rushville Police Chief Craig Tucker said a woman also came forward and said she had been molested by Evans decades ago, in a different community. That woman helped police pursue the new cases, but it is unclear if charges can be sought in hers.
Evans is charged with three counts of child molestation, four counts of sexual battery and five counts of child solicitation. He is currently being held without bond at the Rush County Jail.
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Update
A November 3, 2017 WISHTV-8 report states:
A Rushville pastor last month arrested and charged with child molestation on Friday faced additional criminal charges.
Rush County Prosecutor Phil Caviness said he filed a motion Friday to amend the charging information. He filed two more charges — child molestation and child solicitation — after another victim who is 6 years old came forward.
The pastor, Garry Evans, 72, now faces a total of 14 charges, the prosecutor said. One alleged victim was a 3-year-old. He had previously been accused of molesting three girls ages 3 to 7.
On Friday morning, a Rush County judge also ordered the pastor to be put on a GPS device to keep track of his whereabouts, the prosecutor said.
Rushville Baptist Temple, an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church in Rushville, Indiana (pastored by Garry Evans, according to the church’s sign), is under investigation in light of child sexual abuse allegations being levied against either the pastor or someone else in the church. No one has been named at this time.
Neighbors are responding after learning about allegations of child sexual abuse at a church in Rushville.
Police executed a search warrant last week at Rushville Baptist Temple Church at 1335 North Spencer Street as part of their investigation.
Police said they are looking into allegations of child molestation and began looking into the church several weeks ago after a woman told them her young daughter was a victim.
During the course of their investigation, police said another woman came forward and said the same thing happened to her as a young girl nearly 30 years ago.
The allegations are disturbing to hear for longtime residents who live in a Rushville neighborhood near North Spencer Street and West 16th Street.
“It’s sad. It’s very sad,” said one neighbor, who didn’t want to be identified on camera. “As a grandparent, it worries me.”
The neighbor described Rushville as a small town where everybody knows everybody.
“It’s mind-blowing to think that you should be able to send your children to church, and they should be safe,” she said.
Police executed a search warrant last Friday at the church. Police have not said what detectives were able to find but made it clear this is still an ongoing investigation.
As of Friday evening, no one had been arrested or charged in connection to the allegations.
“It’s scary, I mean it just gets more scary every day hearing these types of stories,” said Nichole Wooldridge, a neighbor.
Wooldridge lives down the street from the church and moved into the neighborhood about five years ago.
“I mean that’s just got to be devastating to anybody, you know, whether you’re related to the victim, you’re the victim, whatever. It is that’s just devastating,” she said.
The Rushville Police Department and the Rush County Prosecutor’s Office are urging anyone with information about this case to come forward and give them a call at 765-932-3907.
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The Rushville Republican reports:
According to RPD Chief of Police Craig Tucker, the warrant was the result of an investigation following allegations of a child molestation and sexual misconduct with a minor which occurred at the church. Tucker added that all parties named in this investigation are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
During the investigation, a second individual came forward and alleged she too had been victimized, nearly three decade ago in a similar manner.
According to a press release received by Rushville Republican, the RPD is diligently investigating the allegations and officers are actively seeking any information from the public related to the matter.
According to Chief Tucker, investigative efforts within the church and the congregation have stalled as they have elected not to actively participate in the investigation. Investigators and the Rush County Prosecutors Office are urging anyone with any knowledge of the allegations or similar incidents to please come forward. The RPD can be contacted at (765) 932-3907.
Today, The Kokomo Perspective released another episode in their ongoing coverage of the Temple Baptist Church sex scandal. Devin Zimmerman writes:
A lawsuit filed by a local woman claims she was sexually abused by a member of Temple Baptist Church and that she was placed under the care of this individual by the church’s pastor even after his tendencies were made known to the church leadership.
The Howard County resident, going as Jane Doe, leveled a civil suit against Temple Baptist Church, Pastor Mike Holloway, and Donald Croddy and his wife, Elfriede, seeking damages for alleged child abuse she endured at the age of 5.
Doe claims Holloway, as the pastor of Temple Baptist Church, suggested she stay with Croddy on the weekends in the early ‘90s, during which time she allegedly was sexually assaulted by Croddy. The plaintiff in the case claims the living situation was suggested even after the pastor knew about Croddy sexually abusing his own daughter.
he suit hit Howard County Superior Court 2 last week, and in it the suit cites Croddy’s alleged abuse of his adoptive daughter, named D.P. in the suit, as a catalyst for the claim.
According to the suit, Croddy began molesting his daughter in or around 1977. Then, in 1989, the Indiana Department of Public Welfare investigated a molestation accusation concerning Croddy, during which time he was investigated and he “admitted to the allegations and stated that he had fondled his daughter approximately 10 years ago, but nothing has occurred since.” Even though the abuse was substantiated, criminal charges weren’t brought against Croddy.
Then in 1991, ahead of her wedding, D.P. told her fiancée of her abuse, which resulted in a confrontation between the fiancée and Croddy. The suit claims that “at the invitation of Holloway, D.P., her fiancée and Croddy met to discuss the issue and Holloway was advised by D.P. of the molestation by Croddy, which Croddy admitted to.”
In her suit, Doe claims to have begun attending Temple Baptist Church via its bus ministry, where church agents drove a bus throughout the community to pick up children and adults to transport them to the church. The suit claims “children were often enticed to get on the bus with candy.”
While attending Temple Baptist Church, Doe claims to have been coerced into attending the church’s school, Temple Christian School, and also participating in as many church and school events as possible. But due to Doe’s circumstances, attendance was difficult.
Because of this difficulty, the suit claims that in 1992 Holloway and Croddy visited with Doe and her family, at which time Holloway suggested the young girl begin to spend weekends at Croddy’s home so she could attend more church and school events.
It’s during this period Doe claims to have been sexually abused by Croddy.
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As part of the suit, Doe claims Temple Baptist Church is “vicariously liable … for any and all negligence that may be attributable to the Defendant, Mike Holloway.” Croddy’s wife, Elfriede, also is named in the suit, where it claims she had “knowledge of Donald Croddy’s pedophilia and failed to take actions to protect” Doe.
In response to the suit, Temple Baptist Church’s leadership issued the following statement:
“We believe it is inappropriate for either party to comment specifically on pending litigation. However, Temple Baptist Church plans a vigorous defense of these misguided claims. As always, we remain committed to our faith and the Bible-based principles that guide us every day. As such, we sympathize with all those involved and continue to pray that the truth will prevail.”
If following the “Biblical” standard is so important, why don’t IFB preachers and congregants dress like this? Surely, dressing as Jesus did would be best, right?
Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) preachers are fond of saying, when confronted over their cultic, authoritarian, legalistic codes of conduct, that they are not legalists; that legalism is adding works to salvation. In this post, I intend to use a recent article by Bob Gray, Sr. to demonstrate that IFB preachers such as Gray are indeed legalists despite their protestations.
The first time I heard the argument that “legalism is adding works to salvation” was in the 1980s in a sermon preached by IFB luminary James Dennis, the now-retired pastor of the Newark Baptist Temple in Heath, Ohio. The Baptist Temple (as it is commonly called), as is the case with most IFB churches, had a long list of rules (standards) church members were expected to explicitly keep. Anyone who was in leadership or worked in any of the church’s ministries was required to sign statement saying that they would obey and practice the church’s standards. Women, of course, were not permitted to wear pants, and men were not allowed to have long hair or facial hair. There were other rules detailing what entertainments and social activities were forbidden. These standards were the Baptist Temple’s version of the unalterable laws of the Medes and Persians (Daniel 6:8). Refusing to sign the form meant you were not permitted to serve in the church and were branded as rebellious and unsubmissive to the will of James Dennis — I mean God.
When thoughtful people would object to the strict rules, they would often say that the church’s standards were legalistic. Pastor Dennis’ response was to remind them that legalism meant “adding works to salvation,” and neither he or the church was doing that! According to Pastor Dennis, the church’s standards were derived from the Bible and were simply a statement of how God expected Christians to live their lives.
Legalism is salvation by faith plus works! It is salvation plus baptism, plus church membership, plus keeping the law, plus communion, plus confession.
The Seventh Day Adventist doctrine, Church of Christ doctrine, Catholic doctrine, Armenian doctrine, Armstrong World-Wide Church of God doctrine, the Mormon doctrine, and the Jehovah (False) Witness doctrine are legalism.
Right off the bat Gray establishes with no justification other than what he has made up in his mind that legalism is “salvation by faith plus works! It is salvation plus baptism, plus church membership, plus keeping the law, plus communion, plus confession.” Thus, Seventh Day Adventists, the Churches of Christ, Roman Catholics, Armenians [sic], Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses all preach a legalistic, works-based false gospel.
Using his made-up definition of legalism, Gray then proceeds to share why he is most certainly NOT a legalist. Gray, the retired pastor of Longview Baptist Temple in Longview, Texas writes:
Legalism is not a godly mother who insists that her daughter dress modestly. Legalism is not parents enrolling their children in a Christian school that believes as they do about separation from the world. Legalism is not a dedicated aged godly dad who takes his son to the barbershop instead of a beauty shop every two weeks.
Legalism is not a faithful youth director who insists his teenagers dress appropriately. Legalism is not a hard-working pastor who insists that his Sunday school teachers not smoke, not drink alcohol, no tobacco use, no movies, they visit absentees, and go soul winning.
Legalism is not the careful godly educator who forbids his students to dance or listen to bad music. Legalism is not the man of God who cries aloud against mixed swimming, in essence, mixed nudity, against vampire lipstick promoting drugs, and young males with their Billy Idol bleached porky pine spiked chili bowl hair do!
Right has not changed and wrong has not changed just because you enter into a different century. Black is still black and white is still white. Good is still good and bad is still bad. Legalism is not the faithful man of God who cries aloud against sin.
Was Paul a legalist when he told men not to have long hair in I Corinthians chapter 11? Was Paul a legalist when he told the ladies not to have short hair in the same chapter? Sit still and read the rest of the article before you become mad!
Was Moses a legalist when he said, “Thou shalt not kill,” “Thou shalt not steal,” or when he said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery?” Was Paul a legalist when he said in I Timothy chapter 3 that the deacon should not be double tongued, or when he said a deacon should be the husband of one wife, or should be honest, or should be temperate?
Was Paul a legalist in I Timothy chapter 3 when he said the pastor should be sober, or the husband of one wife, or not greedy of filthy lucre? Was Titus a legalist if he obeyed the Apostle Paul in Titus chapter 2 when he told the aged men to be sober, grave, temperate, sound, loving, patient and the aged women to be holy and temperate? Was he a legalist when the told the young ladies to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, obedient to their husband, and the young men to be sober and of sound speech?
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As a result in our day, we find ourselves not fighting the vehicle of formalism; as Dr. John Rice boldly put at the top of his SWORD OF THE LORD paper in a banner. We find ourselves fighting INFORMALISM. The pendulum has swung to another extreme with the same cry against the rest of us who hold our feet to the fire on being separatist and are being called “legalist.”
It takes more than facial hair to make a man. Your flowery shirts and glass pulpits are not impressing the Holy Spirit at all. Your “worship teams” disguised as a singing group are not fooling anyone. , especially the Holy Spirit of God. Your colored lights to get the atmosphere you want is insulting to the Holy Spirit. When you decided to secretly follow Rick Warren you had to embrace the tactic of calling the rest of us “legalists.” You are substituting convenience for conviction.
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God’s people have a choice! You can be free inside of the walls or you can be enslaved outside the walls. It bothers me when I hear God’s people using liberty as a license to sin. Liberty is inside of the Laws of God and not outside of the Laws of God. Every commandment, rule, or standard of God has been given for one purpose and that is to build walls around his people especially the young people.
Liquor, dope, elicit sex, Hollywood, cigarettes, bad music, etc., enslaves and is addictive. God’s do’s and don’ts build walls of protection for his people!
If fundamentalism is not careful we will lose everything that is near and dear to us! Being a fundamentalist is more than believing salvation by grace, verbal inspiration, plenary inspiration, preserved inspiration, virgin birth, sinless life of Christ, security of the believer, and vicarious death of Christ. Being a fundamentalist also includes having some rules and standards to live by so we can be free.
Those rules are bricks in a mighty wall that has been built by our founding fathers so that we might have a place of freedom in this world of slavery. Rules and standards have never enslaved for the truth is they liberate for all that enslaves has been placed outside the wall.
We know cigarettes enslave so we put nicotine warnings on the outside of the packages so why shouldn’t God’s people put them outside the wall. The same is true of marijuana, liquor, and dope.
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I thank God every day for an old-fashioned wall building Mama, teachers, and preachers! Thank God for wall building schools, colleges, churches, Bible Conferences, and leaders who stand firm inside the walls. This is not legalism but rather it is liberty!
We need the walls to remain strong so that our young people can stay innocent and remain fearful of an enemy that lurks on the outside of the walls of protection where there is the bondage of compromise. Give me liberty inside of the walls.
The rules must be consistent between the pulpit, parent, and peer pressures. If all three are going in the same direction and provide the same consistency the odds are in favor of the follower being allowed to make right decisions! Liberty or legalism?
James Dennis, Bob Gray, Sr. and a cast of thousands would argue that keeping church standards doesn’t save anyone; that their standards are simply a statement of how Good Christians® should live their lives. However, in the real world, these legalistic standards are used to determine who is and isn’t a Real Christian®. Real Christians® will live according to church’s standard, uh I mean the teachings of the Bible. Real Christians® will want to willingly obey their pastor’s dictates. (It is always the pastor who determines what an IFB church’s standards will be. His words are law.) Real Christians® will live Christlike before the world, willingly dressing and behaving in ways that make them stand out.
When saved people refuse to obey, there is doubt cast upon their salvation. These doubts, of course, are rarely uttered aloud. Instead, they become fodder for gossip or Wednesday night prayer meeting. We visited one church where a mother stood before the church and detailed the “sinful” behavior of her adult son who just so happened to be in the service. He quietly bore her excoriation, yet I have no doubt that he wished she would shut the hell up. I felt embarrassed for the man. I have seen similar behavior in IFB prayer meetings where the “backslidden” ways of this or that church member were aired as “prayer requests.” What is implicit in these things is that the person mentioned has a “doubtful” salvation. Those truly saved, would live according to the church’s standards. That they don’t is a sure sign that something spiritually wrong with them; perhaps they aren’t even saved.
IFB preachers who deny that they are legalists will often say, it is up to God to save them on the inside and clean them up on the outside. While this statement sounds good, in the real world, new converts are expected, over time, to strictly obey church standards. If new Christians are reading the Bible, praying, and attending church every time the doors are open, it shouldn’t take a long time for the newly saved to see the “wisdom” of following their church’s code of conduct. A failure to do so means the person is backslidden, not right with God, worldly, or some other negative label. If change is not effected, pastors and their devoted rules-keepers will begin to wonder if so-and-so is r-e-a-l-l-y a Christian.
It is actually quite easy to “test” whether an IFB preacher is a legalist. Just ask him if a lesbian Christian can be a member, or if a Christian woman who recently had an abortion can join the church. Ask him if a woman who wears mini-skirts and low-cut blouses can be a part of their club, or if a man with hair down to the middle of his back can lead the congregation in prayer. Such questions will likely be answered in the negative, thus proving that IFB preachers really don’t leave it to God to clean up people on the outside. That’s their job, shaping them into the kind of Christians “God’ wants them to be. Offenders will be called into the principal’s, I mean’s pastor’s office and educated about how the pastor, uh I mean God, expects them to live. Make no mistake about it, the message is clear: You say you are a Christian, then LIVE like it, and living like means following the church standards established by Christ’s representative on earth, the pastor.
I hope that former IFB church members have some stories to share about legalism and church standards. If so, please share them in the comment section.
Note
I should mention that, according to the gospel preached by James and John, a case can be made for works being required for salvation. James said, faith without works is dead (has not life). I’m inclined to think that, according to some parts of the Bible, that there is a direct connection between how people live and what they believe. We reveal our character by how we live, not by what we say.
David Hyles is the son of the late Jack Hyles, pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana for many years. During his younger years, David Hyles was the youth pastor at First Baptist. While there, he sexually preyed on women, resulting in his father quietly, in the dead of night, shipping him off to pastor an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) Church that knew nothing of David’s philandering. As sexual predators are wont to do, David Hyles continued his whoring ways, leading to his expulsion from the church. If you are not familiar with the David and Jack Hyles story, please read:
In recent years, David Hyles has been showing up at IFB churches and events, acting as if what happened in the past is ancient history and no longer relevant. Praise Jesus! He has been forgiven! It’s time for people such as myself to move on and give the guy a break. Yes, he was a serial adulterer. Yes, he preyed on women. Yes, he was a despicable human being. But, “Brother Dave’ has played his “washed-by-the-blood, get-out-of-jail-free card. As far as he is concerned, his sin account has been settled and he is free to move forward in the fullness and wonder of God’s mercy and grace. Never mind the fact that Hyles has NEVER given a public accounting of his very public misconduct, and as far as I know he has not contacted nor made restitution to the countless people he has harmed. Doing so, of course, would require him to admit actions that still could be criminally prosecuted.
David Hyles was, as the following comment shows, in attendance at least one of the conference days. A Fighting Fundamental Forums commenter using the moniker Twisted posted a comment a friend of his made on Facebook:
While on a trip in North Carolina with one of our church men, we attended three evening services of the annual National Sword of the Lord Conference on Revival and Soul-Winning. One of the pleasures for me at the conference was to get to see Brother David Hyles, who has been a good friend and encouragement on Facebook. His dad, Jack Hyles, was my favorite preacher. Brother David’s wife, Brenda, took this photo. I thought she did a great job considering the subject matter.
After a period of waywardness, Brother Hyles (David) appears to have been on the right track again for some years now, and he has been trying to use his own restoration to encourage others who need the same. I count him as a friend! For any of you who might have a problem with that, I want to remind you that he is no longer out in a far country nor in the field feeding swine, but he is back at the Father’s house. Stay outside and pout if you want to, or you can come in and enjoy the Father’s celebration of restored fellowship!
Jack Hyles, David Hyles, Jim Krall, World’s Greatest Men
Sorry, but I want to puke. According to the aforementioned Facebook friend, it’s time for people to forgive Hyles and move one. First, I have no need to forgive David Hyles. He never did anything to me, so there is nothing for him to apologize for — not that there is any evidence that Hyles (like his father) has apologized to anyone. My goal is to hold a man who was considered one of the “greatest men on earth” accountable for his abuse of countless trusting Christian women. Until Hyles gives a public accounting of his past actions and makes appropriate restitution, I intend to continue to smack him over the head every time I hear of him sticking his bald pate out of the hole he crawled into.
