Blog on the Lillypad
Saturday, October 25, 2003
The Timeline of The Rise and Fall of the Hyles Dynasty
Ralph, the longsuffering Christian guy at work who listens to all my updates before I write them here, is totally confused by all the names and events that I throw at him. So I am giving my readers a timeline to help them get it straight:
In about 1972 or 1973, Jack Hyles founded Hyles-Anderson college, an unaccredited college designed to teach young men how to be "preacher boys." They spent hours each week soul winning, but they also attended classes,and most worked to put themselves through school. Percentage-wise, my guess is that Hyles-Anderson college has released more child sexual predators than any other college or university in America, ever. Most graduates are not perverts, but the astonishing account of how many of their male graduates are now in jail or have faced charges for sexual crimes against children is dumbfounding. Meanwhile, divorce is rampant among graduates, a testament to the fact that these poor deceived young people have no clue about the grace of God or the power of Jesus Christ. All they know is that they must work, work, work to do good and "stay right with God."
When he was not quite 20, Dave Hyles was given a prominent position in Youth Ministry at FBCH and eventually took it over. His rise to power occurred in 1973-1974 According to many people who left the movement, Dave was already engaging in sex, including sex with minors. He also regularly rebuked and insulted the people who tried to please him. I never went to a Youth Conference (week long meetings held in the summers), but I've heard tapes from them, and I've heard Dave telling kids that 15 minutes of prayer each day is nothing, the result of a carnal, fleshly heart. His sermons, which he preferred to call "Challenges" were nothing but harangue with humor thrown in now and then. Dave also married Paula P-------. Meanwhile, his sexual exploits continued, until pressure on Jack Hyles prompted him to recommend Dave for the pastorate down at Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland, Texas.
Dave left for Garland Texas with his wife, Paula, and their family. Paula was already suspecting him of infidelity, but she was a naive young woman who had been raised in the IFB movement. She had no idea how bad it was or what he was getting into. I don't know the year that Dave assumed the pastorate at Miller Road: sometime between 1979 and 1983.
Meanwhile, in Hammond, Vic Nischik had suffered the alienation of the affections of his wife (whose office at the church adjoined Jack Hyle's office by means of a door covered by a curtain) until they went to the edge of divorce. To keep his children, Nischik refused to give her a divorce and produced love letters between her and Jack Hyles to as a weapon to save himself from being forced by his wife and Hyles to accept divorce and leave the state. An incredibly tense truce lasted for years as Nischik slowly came out of the spell of bad doctrine, awe, and intimidation that had kept him captive. In about 1987 he made his claim before the deacon board and was ejected from the meeting. The children were grown by then, so when Jenny next threatened divorce he told her to do it. He wrote his memoir of the entire sad story, called WIZARD OF GOD: My Life with Jack Hyles, which was published in 1990.
Another member of the church who had spent several years in the PATHFINDERS ministry, working with mentally handicapped children, was also gradually coming out from under the spell. A lawyer by profession, Voyle Glover began to hear rumors of both Dave Hyles and Jack Hyles, the men to whom he believed his total allegiance was owed, He began to investigate the situation and the increasing scandals that he heard about. Glover took the situation from several angles: Biblical doctrine, which he re-examined independently of Hyles' spin on doctrine, and events. He made a case and offered proof and argument as only a lawyer came. The result was his book, FUNDAMENTAL SEDUCTION, published in 1990.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's a new series of scandals was brought to public attention as five different churches with ties to Hyles-Anderson and First Baptist Church had graduates or former members of those places charged with child molesting and/or sodomy. Included in the number was a deacon from First Baptist of Hammond itself, AV Ballenger, who was found guilty. Hyles bought Ballenger a new suit and had the congregation give him a standing ovation. Jack Schaap, now the current pastor at FBCH, publicly explained that the little girl hugged men too much. A Detroit television station investigated and created the 5-night series called PREYING FROM THE PULPIT, which--as far as I know---aired in June, 1993. If you look to the right of this screen, you will see links to the audio files of PREYING FROM THE PULPIT in MP3 format. Each file is 5-6 minutes long.
After several years working outside of church ministry, Dave Hyles claimed to have repented of his sins. He was accepted as a member on paid church staff at Pinellas Park Baptist Temple in Pinellas Park Florida in 1994.
In about April or May of 2001, after trying to get an investigative reporter in Florida to look into the situation, I realized that Dave Hyles represented a danger to his community. Part of this was realization was ignited by the report I read that Dave and Brenda's son Jack David had been killed because, according to Brenda, he had been in the back seat of the car, and he must have fallen out the door, and she backed over him and killed him. I simply did not believe this story, and I do not believe it now. I assembled a packet of documentation about Dave Hyles and mailed it to the Pinellas Park Police Department, and I called them. A few weeks later, I was told that Dave had inexplicably left Pinellas Park Baptist Temple. I learned that he had gone to Berean Baptist Church, pastored by Tom Neal, and had been accepted into membership. I assembled another packet of information and phoned the Orange Country Sheriff's department and mailed them the packet. The sheriff I spoke to was very keen to get Dave out of there, ad we spoke several times. I kept this matter quiet from the Fighting Fundamentalist Forum because I was afraid of reprisals.
At first, I had found Dave Hyles to be an annoying little oyk that ought to be punched out, and I had even prayed about punching him. But then I'd read that Dave Hyles had put a gun to his first wife's head, and I was also aware of the IFB propensity to like guns and object very little to violence against women. A great many IFB men: pastors, elders, and deacons, will speak with incredible vileness towards women, and their overall assessment of violence against women seems to blame it on the women for dressing immodestly or behaving in a brazen fashion. I realized that nobody would protect a woman from Dave Hyles or his slavish followers. So I bought a gun, and I lived in fear that somehow Dave would find out what I had done, or some of his worshipers would find out. A few weeks ago, I came forward with what I had done on the FFF. Most of the anger (and there was not all that much from the regular posters, though a few were quite surprised, and one or two commended my actions) has come from the Pinellas Park people, who apparently believe that their pastor had some sort of right to decide if I should go to the police or not regarding Dave. They think I should have gone to Everett Farris first. I think that's crap.
Ralph, the longsuffering Christian guy at work who listens to all my updates before I write them here, is totally confused by all the names and events that I throw at him. So I am giving my readers a timeline to help them get it straight:
 | Jack Hyles become pastor of First Baptist of Hammond in 1959. It was an American Baptist church at first, I believe. Over time, he broke down the many committees that made all the decisions about church operations, and he centralized power to himself. He also made the church Independent Baptist. He was always likeable and approachable, and he spent a lot of his time in the early years boosting and backing his young people. He pitched some of the church softball games, attended and/or ran functions for the youth, and won over his church by being a person who worked with everybody. Somewhere in there, Hyles tightened the ropes of legalism a little further to include rules against slacks on women and all kinds of other fine points that have nothing whatsoever to do with godliness. He also pushed "soulwinning" as the supreme Christian virtue. Soon, that would change to soulwinning being the only Christian virtue. |
 | The first Pastor's School took place in about 1964. (The last one was in 2000.) Pastor's School was the Mecca of IFB pastors and church workers, and that week was their Ramadan. As a diligent bus worker in my teens, I attended three or four Pastors Schools in the 1970's. It was by means of Pastors School (which ran for a week in March of each year) that Hyles kept First Baptist of Hammond (FBCH) central to the IFB movement, and he used Pastor's School to take the pulse on what was going on. |
 | A church member discovered a briefcase in dumpster behind the church at Miler Road Baptist church. It contained numerous photographs and pornography magazines. In the porn magazines were advertisements for group sex that featured Dave Hyles and Brenda Stevens, a member of the church. Some members tried to hush up the matter, but it was finally brought before the church. Around a dozen women came forward as having had affairs with Dave. Each one had been told that she was his one and only. Paula left Dave, more or less for good, taking the children with her. Dave and Brenda (whose first marriage also broke up), left for Illinois with her two children. This occurred in 1984/85. |
 | Brent Stevens, Brenda's youngest child from her first marriage, was discovered to have eight or nine bones in his body that had been broken at different times and never treated. He was removed from the family for child abuse and given medical treatment. Paul Ciolino was a detective who handled the case. Brent was briefly put into his father's custody in Texas, but was returned to Brenda and Dave later (against Ciolino's advice and in spite of his express warning that Brent's life was in danger). In November 1985, Brent was found dead in his crib at the age of 17 months. A bottle of actifed for which a prescription has been filled only the previous day, was found empty in the house. Ciolino was livid when Dave and Brenda had the body immediately embalmed, thus ending any chance of successful forensic work to determine cause of death. At the inquest for Brent, Brenda did not appear at all. Dave appeared and claimed the fifth amendment. Paul Ciolino refused to close the case and identified Dave Hyles as the prime suspect. |
 | In the year 2000, I began to be re-acquainted with this whole mess. I had become Presbyterian during my time at Bob Jones University. I suppose I was looking at my own history and wondering what had happened to this person and that person. I'd already learn years before that Dave Hyles had been caught in several scandals. On the advice of others, I read both WIZARD OF GOD and PREYING FROM THE PULPIT. I was amazed to learn that Dave Hyles was on a church staff and was speaking at church conferences. The more I investigated, the more I hit the towering wall of ignorance that has taken over so many IFB churches, including the KJVO nonsense. I also noticed as I tracked cases of scandal in the IFB movement that it is the KJVO churches that see the vast majority of the existing instances of sodomy and child molesting. The Joe Combs case added fuel to the fire of my anger. Joe COmbs is an IFB-KJVO preacher who forced his adopted daughter to have sex with him. His and his wife's abuse of her left hundreds of scars on her. First Baptist sent a squad of administrators to the trial to speak on behalf of Combs (who was a fomer Bible techer at Hyles-Anderson College). Several good people from First Baptist were pressured not to side against Combs, and one woman had at least one argument about her testimony that was going to be used by the prosecution against Combs. This gross corruption and appalling ignorance, I realized, was not going to go away. |
At first, I had found Dave Hyles to be an annoying little oyk that ought to be punched out, and I had even prayed about punching him. But then I'd read that Dave Hyles had put a gun to his first wife's head, and I was also aware of the IFB propensity to like guns and object very little to violence against women. A great many IFB men: pastors, elders, and deacons, will speak with incredible vileness towards women, and their overall assessment of violence against women seems to blame it on the women for dressing immodestly or behaving in a brazen fashion. I realized that nobody would protect a woman from Dave Hyles or his slavish followers. So I bought a gun, and I lived in fear that somehow Dave would find out what I had done, or some of his worshipers would find out. A few weeks ago, I came forward with what I had done on the FFF. Most of the anger (and there was not all that much from the regular posters, though a few were quite surprised, and one or two commended my actions) has come from the Pinellas Park people, who apparently believe that their pastor had some sort of right to decide if I should go to the police or not regarding Dave. They think I should have gone to Everett Farris first. I think that's crap.
Friday, October 24, 2003
 | Total Depravity
For the readers who are new to all of this: Total depravity means that man by nature has no inclination or power to be good. This doesn’t mean that we cannot do good; we can. We can intellectually realize that doing good profits us in the long term. Man has a conscience that will sting if he does anything to violate it. These shadowy forms of goodness are not the real thing, as genuine goodness clings to good no matter what it suffers as a consequence, and finds a true pleasure and fulfillment in goodness. People, on the other hand, do good because they think they ought to. We have to learn to do good and be drilled in it, then discipline ourselves to do it. This is because we are not good. But innately good creatures do good as naturally as we eat or sleep. |
Total depravity also means that we are capable of committing any sin. Again, our performance will be tempered and restrained by the very pride that condemns us. We often refrain from performing evil actions because self respect prevents us (We have an image of goodness that we try to live up to.), but the inclination is there. Take away the props of self respect; remove the sting of conscience, and we will do anything to justify ourselves, gain what we want, serve our own ends, accrue power, etc. This, of course, is why people sin in secret and why they whisper behind each other’s backs. Such actions reveal their recognition that what they are doing to get what they want is evil. Yet rather than not do it, they do it secretly, as though God is fooled.
So how total is total? Most people think that demons are the personification of evil. And demons are totally depraved. But so are human beings. In nature, we are no less sinful and wicked than demons, because total means total, and we are totally depraved. The difference is that demons have been entirely stripped from their first estate and lack the restraints of conscience and other appreciative sensibilities that we, by virtue of our bodies, emotions, and minds, still retain. Mankind still labors under an urgency to re-establish the link with God that was broken by sin (but as totally depraved creatures, they will always make it on their terms, no matter how slavishly they seem to devote themselves to reconciliation with God). Demons don't do that. Most human beings insist that they are still righteous, or can be righteous again, and so they work towards re-establishing their righteousness. And that's why religion has always been put to such perverted uses. Don't blame God. They're not His religions. Blame the creatures who invented those religions: human beings. Only one revelation (the true revelation) tells man that his estate is hopeless and he is fit only to receive mercy and be adopted back into righteousness by the gracious rescuing action of God Himself; and that revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Of course, I suppose that most of my readers disagree with the idea of being totally depraved, as most people consider man to be neutral in matters of right and wrong, and each choice that he makes indicates his progression up or down the proper path. However, the Biblical teaching is that of total depravity. I don’t mind if readers disagree with the Bible, for as long as we both know this, there’s room for discourse.
Most (if not all) of the IFB-KJVO people who post on the Fighting Fundamentalist Forums attend churches where the doctrine of Total Depravity is claimed in the church's doctrinal statement as a doctrinal truth. But many of them still don't know what it means, and many of them, when confronted with the idea of Total Depravity, deny that it's true.
What Total Depravity means in terms of church government and church leadership is that when we look for a man to have a blameless life (one of the requirements for an elder or pastor), we are looking for God working in him. We do not assume that people in and of themselves get better and better. The evidence of the grace of God in the life is good works, because consistent good works (love, joy, patience, peace, temperance, chastity, reverence, etc.) indicate the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ being demonstrated through the life of the person, overcoming his sin. It doesn't mean that the person himself has ceased being a sinner. Nor does it mean that he is by nature a better man than any other man. What the wise congregation looks for is the work of God in the person, not the person's work to impress God.
Thursday, October 23, 2003
 | Meeting of Minds
Well, rumor has it that browsing, Speed Racer, Stephan Peters, and BASSENCO have all been invited to pow-wow with each other in the near future. Speed Racer, has sent in his RSVP first thing to reserve a place, while browsing has optimistically called the event “a meeting of minds”. Concerning the prospective event, BASSENCO comments, “Such a convocation has not occurred since the last time the circus came to town.” And the inscrutable Stephan Peters has not yet replied. Further details will probably not be posted until after the event, unless of course, the secretive madisonmadness scoops me and broadcasts the details ahead of my schedule (or even broadcasts unfounded rumors in lieu of anything accurate). Time will tell. Watch this space! |
Wednesday, October 22, 2003
 | Stress and the Single Woman
Well, with all that's been going on with the Fighting Fundamentalist Forum (I'm writing this on Wednesday night, so they're all at prayer meeting right now.), and the continuing difficulties I'm having with my back and this early menopause thing, I've been pretty stressed. Today when I came in to work, I really did not want to engage in chit-chat. I was nice to everybody, but I was really praying that I'd be left alone. Jodi ("Joadster") is a woman I've worked with before, on a different contract. She's breezy, engaging, and a devoted mother to her 7-year old daughter. She and I ran out for 30 minutes to the sandwhich shop down the road. I told her that I was really glad to get away from it for a half hour and laugh with her. (She's got a sense of humor about everything.) Funny, how a half hour with a good-natured, witty and gentle person is such a boost. |
| Then we had a meeting that was supposed to last for one hour, but it went to two hours. One reason it went to two hours is that some of our people think very divergently and need to speak to more fully engage their thought processes. How I hate divergent thinking. So we sat and talked about every tiny, miniscule possibility in our documentation, and we kept taking votes on everything to put into or take out of our document template. Our team lead handled herself very well through this, not much helped when I frowned at her and pulled my own hair very fiercely as though I were in pain while all the talking was going round and round and driving me crazy. |  |
 | Don't Miss Pastor Hugh Jass
Content here at Blog on the Lillypad has been quite grim and heavy lately. So if you need a lighter look at Independent Baptist Fundamentalism, Click here to go to the web page of Hugh Jass, former pastor of the Church of the Open Road. |
 | Doctor Who Convention
Well, I am a little late getting ready for the Chicago TARDIS convention this year. My bad back has me concerned about how I will do on the 15-hour journey to Chicago (too scared to fly). But friends are encouraging me to go if I can. It's my only vacation, and I do love it. I catch up with people who read my online Doctor Who fiction, enjoy beers with fellow devotees, and put real life behind me for three or four days. My back is bad; money is tight; and conditions are not ideal, but I do want to go. I'll probably have to make it a two-day trip each way. And I'll probably have to bring the inversion table with me. But at this point I still plan to go. Last year, after over a year of not writing any new Doctor Who fiction, I was at the convention for one day and got the idea for Shadow of the Daleks, which has been one of my most successful stories (features Liz Shaw and UNIT). |
Tuesday, October 21, 2003
 | Status of fasting
Last week was the first week since I started fasting where I had trouble going 24 hours. I didn’t write it down, but I believe I failed on both of my two scheduled days to complete the fast. Yesterday I completed a 2:00 PM (Sunday) to 2:00 PM (Monday) fast. It’s been about ten weeks since I started the twice a week schedule of fasting, and my back has improved (though the improvement has plateau’d), and my allergies have improved (as long as I don’t binge after ending a fast). On the down side, menopause is still horrible. ( I keep forgetting it is only pre-menopause. Oh! Ten more years of this!) Today I noticed that my jeans are getting baggy. I figured I would lose a pound or two, but I have not been weighing myself. Not being able to exercise has cautioned me away from bathroom scales. And then they broke, from rust, I think. |
| Quotes from Jack Hyles
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Monday, October 20, 2003
 | Trailer Trash Barbie
Over on the FFF, When I told Pastor Marty Braemer that I wear jeans and drink beer, he said I was the inspiration for Trailer Trash Barbie. Here she is, somewhat cleaned up by PaintShop Pro. (I don't think I'm that blonde.) Yes, IFB preachers talk like this all the time. Ralph, the long suffering Christian guy who sits across the aisle from me at work, burst out laughing when I related Braemer's words to him. Imagine my surprise when he dug up a picture of "Trailer Trash Barbie." I did paint the t-shirt in under the halter and decided not to show her in her denim hot pants, but it's Trailer Trash Barbie, just the same. She comes with red cowboy boots, a cigarette, and a piglet that she carries under one arm. |
 | Thanks for the quote, Father Ted
Well, now that things are settling down onthe FFF, at least for a while, I had a chance to watch an episode of my favorite priest, Father Ted. For those of you who don't know, Father Ted was a comedy series on Irish TV about three dimwit priests who were given as remote a parish as possible. There's Father Jack, a lecher (no relation to any other lecherous Jack in the ministry) and boozer; Father Dougal who makes anvils look intelligent by comparison; and Father Ted Crilly, who does have some devout ideas but is constantly tempted by hopes of money and fame. I think it would be a good idea to pull out one of my favorite quotes from Father Ted |
 | Your Cast of CharactersOK, for the newbies to the blog, here is a short list of the cast of characters from the Fighting Fundamentalist Forums. First off, the narrator and author of this blog (which has been called BASS's Wicked Blog by my detractors, much to my delight)--me! In other frames of reference I go by jeriwho, but on the Fighting Fundamentalist Forum, I am known as BASSENCO Here are two terms you should know: |
IFB-KJVO: This stands for Independent Fundamental Baptist - King James Version Only. These guys believe that the King James Version of the Bible has equal or greater authority than the original manuscripts. It's an insult to stupid people to call them stupid. The IFB-KJVO sect of Fundamentalism tends to be the ultra-rule set: no slacks on women, no movies, no modern music, short hair on men, and soul winning as a means of "staying right with God". This Fundamentalist sub-culture has also produced the grossest sins in self-proclaimed Christianity I have ever seen: allegations of male bus workers sodomizing bus children, pastors molesting little girls, pastors commiting incest with their daughters, statutory rape, pornography, and---of course---rampant adultery, domestic abuse, and numerous allegations of fraud and hucksterism. Many of these perpetrators are supported and sheltered by the "100 percenters," who view investigation into wrongdoing and testimony against church workers as gossip.
Hundred percenters: When Jack Hyles was alive, he demanded 100 percent loyalty, and people in his church actually wore buttons proclaiming that they were hundred percenters. There are still preachers today who, for the sake of being a hundred percenter for Jack, refuse to consider the mountain of evidence about the scandal, corruption, and heartbreak that can be traced back to Jack's ministry.
| | Browsing
Next, that hero who has too often been called a villain, browsing. While taking a break from chasing ambulances (hee hee), browsing has spent his spare time taking up the cause of those who have been trampled under the heels of the IFB movement. And he has suffered for it. Yet he remains a good natured, eloquent, and gracious man who tries to reason with his opponents---for the most part. Every now and then he encourages me by slapping a deliberately obtuse hundred percenter upside the head with the facts. he is the author of the impressive and conclusive Fundamental Seduction. |
 | "Stephan Peters"
A man who would far rather make friends and work on building lives and relationships, this man has probably suffered more from Jack Hyles than any other man. Having written the explosive Wizard of God that was the first book to really rive open the dark inner sanctum of deceit, corruption, and sexual sin at First Baptist Church of Hammond, he spent years without being heard by most of the IFB community. After losing his wife to Hyles and charging him before the Christian church with alienating her affections towards her husband, he stubbornly refused to give ground before the FBCH machine. Usually very gentle and kind, "Stephan Peters" also refuses to accept the usual crap and drivel that gets spouted by those who want corruption covered or who try to make it go away. He's a balance of extreme gentleness and extreme toughness. |
 | Green Beret
Focused more on the deeds of the Douglass family, Green Beret is a relatively recent comer to the Fighting Fundamentalist Forums. Jack Hyles and Dave Hyles are viewed by most of us as the prime culprits in the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement (the KJV-only part of the group). However, Green Beret is focused on the Douglass family (a father and his sons), and GB has pulled out some strong allegations and challenges to them online regarding sexual sin and financial deception, which overall they refuse to answer clearly. They certainly don't produce the proof they claim will vindicate them, and they often resort to truly abominable poetry as a form of defense. |
 | Speed Racer
Less prolific than some of us, Speed Racer is one of the kings of the Socratic questioning method. When one of the hundred percenters posts something that is doctrinally horrendous (usually some brainchild idea of the late Jack Hyles), Speedy goes into questioning mode. He will occasionally give an assessment or conclusion, but he seems to find it more credible to have the dunce who declared the impossible to recognize the error and make necessary corrections. Of course, they seldom do this. I consider Speed Racer far more patient and subtle than I am, but browsing calls us a couple of book ends. |
 | Average Joe
Average Joe doesn't post a lot, and his posts tend to be short, abbreviated questions in the method used by Speed Racer or else direct questions to see what a person has to say over the current gross corruption in IFB-KJVO circles. If he has something to say, he will say it, but overall he posts fewer comments and keeps them pretty brief. However, he accomplishes a lot with a few words. I'm always glad to see him post. |
 | Coyote
Coyote spends at least 90% of his time on the Texas Baptist College Forum in the Fundamentalist Forums. He went to school there and has penned a hilarious 30-episode memoir of his experiences. Coyote doesn't venture often into the debates about Jack Hyles and Dave Hyles, but his memoirs are a compelling (and extremely entertaining) indictment of the IFB-KJVO mindset. Starting in November, I will be linking to each of his Tales from the Temple, so stay tuned to this blog for updates. |
 | Now from the other side of the trenches: The Douglass Family
According to Green Beret, the Douglass family is guilty of sexual sin and financial impropriety. He's posted a pretty articulate list of grievances under a screen name of "Summerfield Shuffle" in the Berean Baptist forum of the Fighting Fundamentalist Forums. The Douglasses have been online under a variety of screen names, mostly disputing and mocking or else excusing gross sin. Their screen names include WOW, SPORT, Rick Philips, Xman, Jeremy Peterson, Jeremiah. But in spite of saying they have evidence to disprove Green Beret's allegations, all they do is deny them, counter-accuse, and write really horrible, incredibly egocentric poetry that is so narcissistic that they lend Green Beret a lot of credibility. Go read their posts, especially the narcissistic poems. |
 | WOW
I used to be afraid of WOW, back before he posted much. Now I am amazed at his incredible ability to make himself look guilty even when nobody is talking to him. WOW is one of the Douglass clan, though I forget which one--not the father. His posts alternate between mocking people and freaking out. When I say freaking out, I mean freaking out from some type of fear, as far as I can determine. He has often come across to me as nervous and guilty, even when we are talking about hypothetical situations. Somebody will say something like, "What would you do if your pastor committed adultery?" and WOW will pipe right up with something like, "You'd better have proof of this!" I find it hard not to think he's guilty of something. Anyway, he seems to think he is. |
 | "Dan Peters"
Dan Peters came on several months ago to defend Dave Hyles and make fun of people who oppose Hyles. Now that madisonmadness has surfaced with a handful of knowledge about Dave; and now that Green Beret has also appeared to declare that Dave is ready to be caught, Dan Peters has cooked up a huge story about having to break ties with Dave and move away in order to hide. He has been quite elaborate in telling the forum in miniscule detail how carefully he is hiding from Dave. Some people think he is Dave, and they could be right. Frankly, I don't care any more. I created an award called "the FFF Net Award for Cluelessness" and nominated Dan to receive the award. The vote is not yet in, but at last count he seemed likely to get it. The prize is a small trophy with "DAN, NOBODY CARES" engraved across the bottom. |
 | BAPTIST
BAPTIST doesn't really deserve a slot here because he's really a teenage boy posing as an IFB-KJVO preacher. However, he has been able to fool the other IFB-KJVO preachers into thinking they are dealing with a peer, so perhaps he does get credit after all. He knows even less about doctrine than the real IFB-KJVO preachers but attacks arguments with gusto and unfailingly loses every time because he is so ignorant. BAPTIST's main claim to fame is that when he gets pinned to the wall he starts inventing new screen names to come in and join the fight. Of course, he gives himself away by having all of them claim to be impartial observers, and then they spout off about how great, wise, witty, and insightful BAPTIST is. He's sort of an IFB-KJVO only preacher in training, and he is learning the ropes of the trade: lie, flatter, excuse, masquerade, and quote Hyles. |
 | Pastor Marty Braemer
Marty, like so many of the IFB-KJVO guys, likes his titles, so he'll tell you right up front that he's Pastor Marty Braemer. He holds the record for inspecting the most evidence against Jack Hyles and consistently declaring he has not yet seen anything conclusive. Most of the other IFB-KJVO preachers won't check the huge pile of documentation against Jack. Marty has (or anyway, he claims that he has, and I do believe him) and still refuses to admit the grossness of the corruption. I asked him once if his eyes don't get itchy from all that wool pulled over them. Marty knows that I drink beer and wear jeans, so he has christened me "Trailer Lot Barbie". When I asked him, since he believes God keeps track of trifles like jeans and beer, what God would do to him for following a man who covered the gross corruption of a son who engaged in porn and adultery in the ministry, Marty fell silent. |
 | Dr Frank DoD
Frank also likes to get that "Dr." right out there. He'll tell you in no uncertain terms that he is NOT a hundred percenter. And it's a good thing he'll tell you, because otherwise you'd probably never figure it out. He has been accused of being an alternate screen name for Pastor Marty Braemer, but browsing tells me that no, they are two distinct people. Frank's claim to fame in my book is that he called this blog BASS's Wicked Blog, a title I like more and more. He also has the habit of asking me what he seems to think are tough questions, and then when I answer them, he has nothing more to say. |
 | Baldpate
This guy is Christian Farris, son of Everrett Farris, the pastor who took Dave Hyles on church staff after Dave's sordid history at Miller Road Baptist Church and after Dave was identified as the prime suspect in the death of Brent Stevens. Baldpate appeared when the fire hit the fan concerning Pinellas Park Baptist Temple. He relies on energy, complete loyalty to his pastor, and a thorough lack of knowledge of the Scripture. His major complaint against me appears to be that I did not take my concern to Farris before I went to the police. I have explained to him that (1) I was relying on the exact same witnesses Farris had already repeatedly rejected, so I had nothing new to say to Farris; and (2) Christians are not to seek pastoral approval to report suspected criminal activity to the police. I went to the police because I suspected a crime(s) was/were being committed. Of course, he doesn't accept this, but then, these unbiblical clowns tend to be hooked on the supremacy of pastoral authority. Eventually Baldpate disappeared and "Pate Bald" appeared. This happened after Baldpate posted a quite vicious verbal attack against me and signed his full name and church office, and I documented it. Don't know if the two events are related or not, but these Farris guys do like to change names to cover their history. It's a handy alternative to facing up to responsibility. |
 | Crossing sides: madisonmadness
madisonmadness (or MM for short) initially came on strong as an advocate of reform. But after a couple months of promises that were never fully realized, MM posted information designed to mislead about Green Beret and do him irreparable damage, and then MM sanctimoniously urged us to love one another more (I assume the rest of that would be, "lest you suffer this fate"). After browsing vouched for Green Beret, and Speed Racer and a regular named Bharris pointed out the inadequacies of MM's post, I voiced the opinion of many that MM has failed to deliver on previous promises to bring proof against Dave Hyles and has only tried to damage an innocent man who disagrees with MM's leniency with disobedient churches who refuse to examine the lives of new applicants to verify their professions of faith. MM pulled the offending post and came on soon after to announce another empty promise about future charges. I replied by calling him a huckster, and nobody else bothered. MM has lost all credibility but probably won't give up posting entirely. There were samurai like this: wild, full of hot air, and dangerous with a sword. You didn't especially want to face them as enemies, but you really didn't want them on your side, either. |
 | The Good Doctor
The Good Doctor is the son of the man who accepted Dave Hyles into fellowship at Pinellas Park Baptist Temple and brought him onto church staff, thus giving Dave a paid hiding place to continue to do damage. Others, including both Green Beret and Average Joe tried to warn the father and were dismissed as "disloyal". Now that everything has busted loose about Dave Hyles, I tried to keep quiet about the gross errors committed by this church. But when Jonathan glibly asserted that such an error would never happen again, I let him know in no uncertain terms that such error was entirely likely to come from that church. This launched a war of words in which I asserted that the leadership of PPBT needs to repent of their culpable negligence. |
We tried to talk it through, but my insistence that such gross error from church leadership must be dealt with biblically ultimately has kept us on opposite sides. Pinellas Park Baptist Church has changed its name (to Crosspointe, I believe), but not its policies or church leadership. There has been no confession and repentance, and the same "hundred percenter" who brought Dave Hyles onto church staff in clear disobedience to Scripture is still in charge in a church run on the unbiblical model of "sole eldership". The pastor remains free of being accountable to any peers.
Sunday, October 19, 2003
 | To My Brother on His Birthday
What better gift to give to you then hand your life to you again, or keep it, dear to me, as God's own sacred charge, until you're ready to receive it? What am I giving back to you but what you gave to me? When I speak, and other hear, it's you that taught me how to frame my words. When I forego my rough ways and cultivate others instead, it's because you cultivated me at first. You refined me, made me someone I could be, a person to whom I aspire, brother--so like you, yet also so much more myself than I had ever been except that you took charge of me. All of this came from you, all this mind, all this sense to see into the matters that beset us in our respective spheres, all of this I got from you. God makes no accidents; and nothing comes by chance. You were right where He put you when I was sinking down. Now, He can hardly hold me back from wanting to be the person He puts in place to hand you back your life. |
Who is the knight in the picture, brother? Is it you, coming out to gently cultivate a sorrow back to joy? Or me, charging out to say the exact right thing? Who can tell us apart when we act according to the compassion of God? Let us be frequently mistaken for the other, images stamped by divine compassion that found us in our sorrow and used us to help, hold, keep, give, secure the other. Time can only ripen all the good you did for me. May God implant in your heart and mind the good I do for you, and over years to come, cultivate your joy and spirit, hear all your prayers, forgive your sins, renew your mind, restore your soul, rebuild your home.
 | Another Liz Shaw story comingI'm about 6,000 words away from completing the next Liz Shaw Forensic Mystery, which is the ongoing, episodic account of the atheistic Liz Shaw, former companion to the Third Doctor, who leaves UNIT and the Doctor, takes care of a homeless girl, and begins to learn that God is real by means of seeing His abundant mercy in the midst of suffering. Liz herself exercises the power to raise a person from the dead (almost, but not quite literally), and she recognizes that somethng is operating through her, in spite of her. A Roman Catholic priest tells her that her attempts to prove or disprove God by rationalism can never work either way, but all of these events are His demonstration to her that He is real. Liz's quest is both hindered and helped when she is assaulted and suffers longterm, perhaps permanent, damage and must be cared for. |
This latest story may or may not intrigue readers. It is so grim and horrendous that I had trouble writing it and often regretted doing so. But it's a "transition" piece. Every third story in the series transitions to the next phase of Liz's growth in her search for God. And this one is loaded with changes. I hope to have it out some time this week. Here is the list of them
(1) The Fighting Dead Liz, Doctor, Anne, UNIT (4) Portrait of a Crow Liz and Anne (2) Faint Glimmerings of Light Liz, Doctor, Anne, UNIT (5) The Redemption Project Liz and Anne (3) The Dead Go Searching Liz, Doctor, Anne, UNIT (6) Angles of Light Liz and Anne
| | The Sin of Gossip vs. The Command to Establish a Valid Witness Against an Elder
A guy who goes by 'Dr. Frank DoD' recently posted on the FFF with this heading: "To Vic Marty BASS and ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I hate posts with headings like this. It always means that somebody who just cannot win a debate has finally come up with a brilliant comeback and is sure this is going to cinch the argument. Then I have to drag myself through the drivel. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I figure, if they couldn't frame a reply on the first ten tries, they've used up their quota of my time.(In case you don't know, I post on the Fighting Fundamentalist Forum as "BASSENCO," and am often called "BASS" by the others.) |
However, browsing had just given me his timely lecture on respecting everybody, so my conscience was still tender. So I dragged myself through Frank's post, which overall has little to do with me. It's a huge soliloquy about the church abuse he's seen (and, from what he's saying, it looks like he's never done anything about it, but maybe I'm wrong). It ends with this:
Abuse does happen and I beleive with all my heart God
will expose it in his time and does not need BASS's
wicked blog and others wicked websites. Truth will
come out and God is still in control. Many get just
what they deserve.
Well, first, I was so taken by the term, BASS's Wicked Blog that I toyed with renaming Blog on the Lillypad with that much catchier phrase. Then I decided against it. At least for now. This site shall remain Blog on the Lillypad, with "Lillypad" misspelled. However, I had to answer Frank's error with Scripture, so I did:
| So if nobody writes about it,how does it come out?Posted by BASSENCO on Oct-19-03 6:54am (In reply to: To Vic Marty BASS and ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!! posted by Dr Frank DoD on Oct-18-03 12:46pm) |
How do you think God will expose abuse if everybody who can gather and present documentation on it refuses to do so? Justice is arrived at in the Church by the accounts provided by witnesses, not by waiting for a miracle from God. In fact, we are commanded to keep a record.
Deu 17:6 At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be put to death; [but] at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
2Cr 13:1b In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.
1Ti 5:19 Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses.
So once you have two or three witnesses, you have a requirement to investigate a matter fully. We have FUNDAMENTAL SEDUCTION and WIZARD OF GOD and PREYING FROM THE PULPIT, [which, by the way, is on mp3, and you can listen to it by clicking on the "Preying from the Pulpit" links to the right of this blog---Ed] three witnesses that have formed an inescapable record against Jack Hyles and Dave Hyles and others who are caught up in that horrible arm of the IFB.
Furthermore, a pastor/elder is to be subject to documented reports. The church must take into account the secular measures that keep track of the lives of those in church office:
1Ti 3:7 Moreover he [an elder] must have a good report of ***them which are without;*** lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
So the church is required to look at documentation and witnesses about elders that exist outside the church. Nothing is secret about the lives of those who seek chuch office. What a man does outside the church has to satisfy the requirements of those who hold church office.
Furthermore, the church is commanded by Paul, ("I beseech you", an urgent entreaty given by one who wants the best for us, our advocate) to thoroughly know (to "mark"--skopeo, which allows for a record to be made so that the church body can know these things) both those who harm the church and those who help the church:
Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and ***offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned;*** and avoid them.
Rampant sinners who commit outrageous sins in God's name are, indeed to me "marked" so that the entire church body knows who they are and can put a safe distance between themselves and the culprits. No secrecy allowed! People who harm the church are to be made known to the entire chuch body so that individuals can keep themselves safe.
Phl 3:17 Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.
People in the church who serve the church well and are good examples are also to be "marked" so that believers can be guided to them.
All of this calls for a written record, documentation. We do not wait for a miracle from God. The church is charged with creating a record, documenting both abuses and service. The church is better served by laying down rules to create impartial, accurate documents and then keeping those records. It is also commanded to check documentation and reports that exist outside of the church to verify the lives of those who profess to be eligible for church office.
Documentation will keep the church pure and enable it to police itself. The secrecy and "total allegiance" nonsense of the Jack Hyles generation is what has so harmed the church and allowed corruption to flourish.
BASSENCO
What all of it amounts to, of course, is that I have just done another Bible study for these uneducated clowns who go around calling themselves "Doctor this" and "Preacher that," and their knowledge of the Scripture wouldn't fill a Krupps' coffee grinder if you put it all together. "All for nothing!" I tell myself. They only hate me more because I show how ignorant they are. I only hope that others are reading who need to see the Scripture applied.
