Blog on the Lillypad
Friday, March 12, 2004
 | Letter from a Survivor
[edited to protect family identity] While searching for an old schoolmate I stumbled upon the news of Jack Hyles death. I am sitting here stunned because I don't know how to feel. Revenge isn't the correct word because I had no hand in it. Justice? Why justice for another when I'm in need of so much grace. Relief and pain I guess are my biggest emotions. |
I was 12 when ...we moved back to Garland, TX. I was in the middle of my sixth grade in 1981. My father enrolled my sister and me at Miller Road Baptist Church School.
...Jack Hyles' son, Dave (we never called him David), became the official pastor shortly thereafter. I enjoyed my school. For the first time, I enjoyed going to church. Oh, I had always been in church and never hated it, but I had....well...it was .....something that I looked forward to. Everything seemed to be going great. My parents were still struggling with issues, but we had the greatest pastor who was glad to give 'counseling' to my mom. Interestingly enough, my infant brother who was twelve years younger than me could not stand to be around Dave. My brother would break out into hysterical fits if Dave walked into the room. I wonder if my brother knew or sensed something.
I made it through the eight grade at the MRBC School. Things didn't turn out quite right, though. Something changed in the dynamics of my family. At the time I didn't have a clue. I was spending the night at my best friend's house on 'THAT' evening. We watched my friends father, a deacon at MRBC, leave the house very late one evening only to return even later. I too was SHOCKED when "Brother Dave" (I never call anyone by their titles anymore...especially not BROTHER or SISTER!) resigned. The church at large was not privy to the reasons. My mom was horrified thinking it was because of HER. I soon learned what had happened when my mom confided in her friend only to be shocked to learn that her friend was involved too. I learned later that my mom's pleas for help from Dave's father, Jack Hyles were met with deaf ears. Well, we kids had their own information network and.......we found out which one of us kids was the one who found the briefcase. Fortunately, from my recollection, the briefcase was locked and had to be opened by the father of the boy who found it.
My family fell apart after the Dave incident. My parents divorced, we moved, and many changes took place. To this day I cannot stand being 'preached' at. If you've ever sat through a 'Hyles' sermon, you've been preached at. For years, the bitterness and anger would never subside. At thirty-five, I thought I was over most of it, but I'm sitting here in tears over the memory of it knowing that I should forgive and be understanding but instead knowing that if I were ever in the presence of Dave Hyles I would have an overwhelming urge to deck the man. "You have MY permission to deck Dave."
I can not express to you how appreciative I am that you were instrumental in removing Dave Hyles from the communities in which he finds work in a church. If I can ever be of any help in this endeavor, please let me know.
You know, I have a Bible in which I have the signatures of many of God's great men. As it turns out, I also have the signatures of some men that God loves very much, but that should not be in the positions they are in. That Bible lays unused and packed away. If I ever get my Bible signed again, it would be by the Janitor or the Nursery workers. Mr. Stevens, Brenda's husband, was my eighth grade teacher. If you ever happen to communicate with him, please tell him thank you for all he did for us kids.. and tell him I love him.
Well, thank you for your time..and thank you for your blog.
[signature]
If you feel the need to reprint this, you might want to leave off the
surname....for my mom's sake.
oh, and "You have MY permission to deck Dave." :-)
 | My Reply
Thank you for your e-mail. I'm sorry for the loss and the grief that your family suffered. Even though God has allowed Dave to continue in his ways, I don't think it's because God looks askance at what you and others have suffered. Sometimes God wants events to build up and build up until an irrefutable account exists that shows that all of us need the grace of God for our sins to be forgiven. |
Baptist Fundamentalism is a sect that praises men and sets up so-called "heroes of the faith" who praise themselves and boast of their "soul winning" and church building as evidences of their righteousness. There has to be a witness
against them to constantly shed light on the truth: that we are all sinners and Christ is the only righteousness of man.
There is no other acceptance with God for man except through the merits of Christ, and so---I believe---deceivers like Jack and Dave Hyles and their machine form a continual witness that God is true, and every man a liar by contrast. The testimony of that strata of the IFB sect is that they are righteous by their works, able to impress God and each other; but the testmony of their actions is that God's Word is still true: God is righteous, and they are sinners.
That doesn't make it easy for the people who have directly suffered from the Hyles Dynasty. But there is still a graciousness of God to you to enable you to know God, get past Dave Hyles, even to get past your parents' divorce and your mother's foolish sin, and be a purposeful Christian who evidences that all that we have is in Christ.
You can forgive and yet still grieve over what happened to you and your family. Joseph told his brothers that they had intended to wrong him for evil, but God had intended it for Good. He let go of any grudge, but he still took plenty of precautions regarding his brothers, and God never blamed him for that.
I think all of us have to deal with the big wrongs in our lives over and over again by committng them into God's Hands frequently as we grow. After all, you were just a child. Your perspective on what happened surely changed as you grew, and perhaps several times you revisited the wrong done to you and saw it with new eyes. And each time, perhaps, you had to deal with the pain and loss all over again. That's normal for everybody.
Forgiveness is the act of committing the wrong done to us to God in the faith that God is working the evil of others in our lives for good. I guess that means that neither you nor I can deck Dave (smile), but we can see that---even as he has destroyed others---he has destroyed himself and turned himself into something horrible to contemplate. Your letter seemed very restrained regarding him, sad but not angry. Perhaps you have forgiven others more than you realize.
Thank you for writing, and God bless you.
Thursday, March 11, 2004
 | Most salient quote from a reviewer:
Ken Woodward of the New York Times mused that "The Passion" would assault the sensibilities of most Evangelicals. Reflecting on the self-centered complacency of the church, he quoted H. Richard Niebuhr, who described the modern mindset of Christianity very well: a tendency to believe that "A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross." |
Switch that over to many in the IFB category and you've got a religion of standards without morals that requires a conversion without repentance, preached by men without faith, from a Bible they don't study.
Tuesday, March 09, 2004
By Their Movie Reviews You Shall Know Them...
One Reviewer's Comments Strike a Chord
Graphically bloody 'Passion' unintentionally serves as a powerful condemnation of conceit in organized religion ...."The Passion of The Christ" serves as a powerful condemnation of any organized religion that aspires to governance or allows its clerics to preach contempt, espouse a "we're right, you're wrong" world view, and whip sheepish followers into a frenzy instead of encouraging people to think for themselves. --Rob Blackwelder, SPLICEDwire
Notice that the reviewer said this particular message is unintentional. It is. Mel Gibson is telling the story of the passion of Christ with conviction and and an undeterred determination that is both majestic and awful. He wasn't trying to be political or make a commentary on modern religion.
Nevertheless, in spite of protests about anti-Semitism, this movie depicts an evil religious oligarchy, not an evil race. And the warning is implicit in the story. Beware of men who are self-appointed, dictatorial guardians of what they declare is truth. The people who hold the truth in righteousness can afford to be tolerant and kind. But ignorant, fanatical, and disobedient religious leaders will be cruel, will resort to cruelty, and will ultimately indict themselves by suppressing the real truth, even if it means having to put God Himself to death.
Ultimately, such religious leaders are judged and destroyed by God. But in the meantime, they cause a lot of suffering. Christ Himself told us to watch---not for claims of righteousness, or vestments, or high office, or great majesty, but the real fruit of knowing God: Love, compassion, a concern for those who have no defender, an ability to let go of grudges, a strong desire to know God more and more.
More Comments/Reviews from Across the Spectrum
Comment most likely to make you wonder if this person actually watched the movie
"Mel Gibson shows once again that he's skilled at depicting violence. But you'd be hard pressed to find evidence of 'tolerance, love and forgiveness' that the producer-director-co-writer insists he's trying to communicate."
-- Gene Seymour, NEWSDAY
Most thoroughly analytical cinematic comments
"Powerful and heart-wrenching, gorgeous to look at, and fascinating to contemplate. All issues of religion aside, those components generally result in a film worth seeing."
-- Scott Weinberg, EFILMCRITIC.COM
Mr. Weinberg gets bonus points for this additional, incredibly insightful comment: "Movies don't make people hate; ignorance does."
Most extravagantly biased (against) comment
"Unrelentingly anti-Semitic, excessively grotesque and overly narrow in its scope"
-- Mac Verstandig, THE BADGER HERALD
Most theologically naive comment
"It's as if Gibson is measuring God's love by the amount of blood he shows on the screen."
-- Glenn Whipp, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
Most comprehensive review
"If this will be the most watched version of the Passion in history, then Gibson, through a passion of his own, has met an enormous responsibility head-on with a job well done."
-- Craig Roush, KINNOPIO'S MOVIE REVIEWS
Most ironic comment
"As a religious experience, The Passion of the Christ makes a damn fine movie."
Josh Bell, LAS VEGAS WEEKLY
Comment most revealing of a lack of classical education in the commentor (or most revealing of only a modern education)
"If you come seeking theological subtlety, let alone such modern inventions as psychological depth, you'll walk away battered and empty-handed."
-- Ty Burr, BOSTON GLOBE
Comments most clearly from an IFB Preacher
“There is no question The Passion is not true to the Bible. There is no question The Passion adds to the Word of God. There is no question The Passion perverts the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
--Terry Watkins, “The Poison in The Passion,” Dial-a-Truth-Missions
Biggest quibbles from positive reviewers Highest praise from positive reviewers Too much slow motion (just about unanimous criticism) Presence of Satan reinforces the context of what Christ was doing Satan intrudes too much into historical continuity Cinematography spectacular Flashbacks too brief Intensity of depiction of Christ's suffering The Lord falls so many times bearing His cross it becomes a repetitive distraction Use of original languages creates an authentic feel that surpasses typical syrupy, stilted religious epics Pilate more compassionate than Bible depicts --
Monday, March 08, 2004
You're not one of those KJV people are you?
At work today, my Christian boss made a comment about studying Psalm 22. He is an elder in his church and is helping to fill in during his pastor's lingering---and terminal---illness. Rick mentioned something regarding the verses pleading for God to save the speaker's life. And I said, "Oh yea, that's the verse that says something about saving 'my darling from the power of the dog," isn't it?"
He stared at me. "Save my precious life," he said.
I nodded. "Yeah, it's a mistranslation in the KJV," I told him. "It's closer to say precious life than 'darling'. But KJV renders it darling."
His jaw dropped. "You're not one of those KJV people are you?"
I hesitated, entirely for effect. "No," I said very slowly. "I don't think so."
But now he seemed alarmed. "Because we've got one at my church, and there's no talking to her. I believe in searching the Hebrew. You've got to really study."
I nodded. "Me too. I believe that."
First time I've ever been confused with KJV-Only!
At work today, my Christian boss made a comment about studying Psalm 22. He is an elder in his church and is helping to fill in during his pastor's lingering---and terminal---illness. Rick mentioned something regarding the verses pleading for God to save the speaker's life. And I said, "Oh yea, that's the verse that says something about saving 'my darling from the power of the dog," isn't it?"
He stared at me. "Save my precious life," he said.
I nodded. "Yeah, it's a mistranslation in the KJV," I told him. "It's closer to say precious life than 'darling'. But KJV renders it darling."
His jaw dropped. "You're not one of those KJV people are you?"
I hesitated, entirely for effect. "No," I said very slowly. "I don't think so."
But now he seemed alarmed. "Because we've got one at my church, and there's no talking to her. I believe in searching the Hebrew. You've got to really study."
I nodded. "Me too. I believe that."
First time I've ever been confused with KJV-Only!
| Just saw The Passion
That was a movie that hit hard in the very opening and was pretty unremitting all the way through. I thought it was accurate as far as a story can go. It is artistic expression, not an attempt to correct or clarify doctrine. I think its detractors among Christians should realize that. Mel Gibson tried to be as accurate as possible, but he was still making a movie and his goal was to achieve an impact. He's a responsible artist who uses the structure of the reality (taken from Scripture) to create a framework on which he hangs a cinematic image. So there are artistic interpretations, but nothing that is anti-Scripture or that departs from serving the truth of the Scripture. My one quibble was the raven that showed up. Given the strength of the film at that point, I thought the raven ruined the effect that had just been created. But I won't describe any more because I don't want to ruin it for people who have not yet seen it. |
In terms of the current controversy about anti-semitism, I was surprised at how graphically the film depicted that the Pharisees were behind the death of Christ. That is what the Bible also indicates. Most films about the crucifixion are a little more light handed about it and try to emphasize a mob rule mentality that condemned Christ once He got to Pilate. But the mob that called for His death had been bribed by the Pharisees. They were the movers behind His condemnation.
It was interesting to consider that the most significant struggle between God and sin occurred among a small religion in a small country that had been over run by a world power. The Pharisees are minor figures in the eyes of the cosmopolitan, war hardened Romans. It probably was impossible for any of the Romans to suppose that God, if He would come down to earth, would come to a place like Jerusalem. Any human being would expect that when God has serious business to transact with mankind, He would come to a significant place,and He would interact with world figures.
But instead He carried out the Redemption of man in Jerusalem. And when Christ was condemned to death, He was condemned by legalistic, petty, provincial men who clung to their power hold on a relatively small community. Only by proxy was Christ condemned by Caesar (and even then Pilate vowed he had nothing to do with it and washed his hands of the matter, quite literally). And the powerful Senators of Rome and those who formulated the laws for the whole world at that time never heard of what was happening.
No, a group of men who claimed to love the Law of God but had been rebuked by Him several times for their ignorance of that Law condemned Him to death. Their hatred of Him because He exposed their ignorance of God's Word and disobedience to it is clear in Scripture. He was a threat to their comfortable way of life, and Christ exposed their estrangement from God. They were religious leaders who didn't know their own religion. They loved their power and influence far more than they loved God. And they made people suffer under the weight of their petty rules. Sin was covered up by the Pharisees and denied. You see from the movie that great sins are committed by small people.
But the sheer doggedness of Christ to complete His work was strongly highlighted in the film. And Christ's faith is also strongly depicted. That was a subtle nuance that most other films about Christ miss. Usually He is depicted as strong in knowledge (and of course He was), but Christ also had to walk by faith. And this film does show Him acting (and enduring) in faith. His prayers for his enemies are sincere and real, and because it's a direct, forthright image, it's pretty stunning---especially to Christians.
But it was still grueling to watch. I'm one of those people who get detached from the violence pretty quickly. Once I had seen the scourging, I could watch the rest without being overwhelmed by the blood and did so more with an eye for what the film was saying than for the shock value of the brutality. The part that made me actually sob was the thief on the cross. It startled the people on either side of me because they had been crying and I'd been quiet until that moment.
This is really a film about the Passion of Christ, not about everything regarding our Savior. The resurrection gets only about 20 seconds at the end. The viewer is left with the strong image that He has conquered and is ready to go out and fulfill His office for us. But it's good to remember that this is a depiction about Christ's suffering, and---crucial as that is to comprehend--there is more to the work of Christ.
