Hephzibah House documentary

Then there's this story from a Williams son:

That wasa little bit interesting. I did find this sequence a bit schizophrenic though...

Williams--"Jack Hyles was a sex perv... I believe Jack Hyle's is burning in hell right now... He was an evil evil man....."

A few seconds later...

"I'm having to learn how to show the love of Jesus without condemnation."

🤪

I do think that he mentioned a lot of things worthy of commendation regarding the authoritarian style IFBs, particularly at the end of the podcast where he mentioned their proclivity to give away the "I" in IFB out of fear of being ostracized by others in their own militant camp.

I also thought Williams was prone to hyperbole like when he said Billy Sunday was all about the money, or William Carey was a typical IFB regarding mental health.

What stood out to you?
 
That wasa little bit interesting. I did find this sequence a bit schizophrenic though...

Williams--"Jack Hyles was a sex perv... I believe Jack Hyle's is burning in hell right now... He was an evil evil man....."

A few seconds later...

"I'm having to learn how to show the love of Jesus without condemnation."

🤪

I do think that he mentioned a lot of things worthy of commendation regarding the authoritarian style IFBs, particularly at the end of the podcast where he mentioned their proclivity to give away the "I" in IFB out of fear of being ostracized by others in their own militant camp.

I also thought Williams was prone to hyperbole like when he said Billy Sunday was all about the money, or William Carey was a typical IFB regarding mental health.

What stood out to you?
Most references were to his dad but he seems to have very little good to say about his mom. I can only imagine .

He gives the timeline at the beginning but stresses at the end how new he is to being out of the IFB and admits he has much recovery yet.

Upon leaving the dad's compound, he tried to remain IFB. He used the term IFB light and realized he needed to make the break.

I know the feeling from years ago. Now I face a similar situation attending a small church hanging by a thread. What happens if it closes. There is a balanced (on the surface) IFB pastor nearby, but he has had some of the fringe elements in as guest speakers.
 
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Most references were to his dad but he seems to have very little good to say about his mom. I can only imagine .

He gives the timeline at the beginning but stresses at the end how new he is to being out of the IFB and admits he has much recovery yet.

Upon leaving the dad's compound, he tried to remain IFB. He used the term IFB light and realized he needed to make the break.

I know the feeling from years ago. Now I face a similar situation attending a small church hanging by a thread. What happens if it closes. There is a balanced (on the surface) IFB pastor nearby, but he has had some of the fringe elements in as guest speakers.

That is a very fair answer. His programming and reprogramming phase is early in the process, and all of the baggage of the extremism, like demonizing a perceived adversary, is still part and parcel of his thinking. I would also add that clearly whatever tendencies his dad had of extremism were only compounded by subscribing to the Gothard philosophy.

His point of reference for his criticisms are well-based when he speaks of an over emphasis on externals/legalism. The sad thing is that there are plenty of people who maintain a conservative view on cultural issues (dress standards/modesty, music, worship philosophy, etc) but do not resort to such self-righteous understandings of what constitutes Holiness and sanctification, but rather focus upon grace and a personal relationship with the Lord. I guess I can sum all that up by an old saying of a young fella that I personally met from this FFF years ago who attended Crown College. He said many of the folks that he has met from HAC get the "fruit ahead of the root", meaning that they focused upon a list of things to do rather than cultivating that intimate walk with the Lord.

Sorry to hear about your church situation. I too am a part of a small church that is struggling because of the pandemic so I feel your pain.
 
My wife and I left a teaching position in the early nineties. We floated around to Bible, Grace Brethren and BJU type churches. It has been a journey. About ten years ago I ran into the pastor form the IFBX church we left and decided to take the high road. I told him wedon't see each other much at all (removed by over 100 miles) but after all this time I didn't want any bad feelings between us. He said he didn't even remember the particulars just that it had something to do with my loyalty to him. I was left speechless after that comment. The conversation politely ended, and it's in God's hands now. I have done all I can do.

I sure wish Mr. Williams well. I know Ft. Wayne and the churches well enough that from a map and SBC directory I probably could figure out which church he attends. I may try to contact him.
Yes. he has a lot of healing ahead - far more than I had to go through.
 
My wife and I left a teaching position in the early nineties. We floated around to Bible, Grace Brethren and BJU type churches. It has been a journey. About ten years ago I ran into the pastor form the IFBX church we left and decided to take the high road. I told him wedon't see each other much at all (removed by over 100 miles) but after all this time I didn't want any bad feelings between us. He said he didn't even remember the particulars just that it had something to do with my loyalty to him. I was left speechless after that comment. The conversation politely ended, and it's in God's hands now. I have done all I can do.

I sure wish Mr. Williams well. I know Ft. Wayne and the churches well enough that from a map and SBC directory I probably could figure out which church he attends. I may try to contact him.
Yes. he has a lot of healing ahead - far more than I had to go through.

I grew up in a non-Christian household and came to know the Lord as a young adult via altar call at a non-denominational old country Church where the pastor preached in an old timey way. My encounter with fundamentalism came years later after I had been out of church for 9 years, at the Baptist Church that I've now been a member of the last 20 years.

The history of my church has roots in the granddaddy of IFB fundamentalism...J Frank Norris indirectly via Arlington Baptist college when our founding pastor started church in 1967. Since that time the pastors have been from BBF Springfield, Ruckman's PBI, and most recently a couple of HAC pastors (both of whom I have sat under).

I have always been somewhat of a free thinker and never fell into the mold of succumbing to peer pressure, but I did come close to falling for the legalistic mindset inherent to some hardcore IFB early on in my Christian growth. But it did not take long for me as I tried that version of Christianity out to realize that no matter how many standards that I kept that I would inevitably fail on a regular if not daily basis and that that life of self-righteousness was rooted in pride rather than humility and faith in Christ, coming to the realization of the need to be led by the Spirit rather than the flesh.

That was round-about long-winded way of saying that I am glad that I did not grow up under the regime of such extremism and do not know what it is like to have to be completely deprogrammed of that false version of Christianity.
 
That was round-about long-winded way of saying that I am glad that I did not grow up under the regime of such extremism and do not know what it is like to have to be completely deprogrammed of that false version of Christianity.

Like you, I came to Christ as a young adult and had no experience at all with extremism until then. My wife, on the other hand, grew up in it. It was relatively easy to take the girl out of the IFBX, but taking the IFBX out of the girl is another matter. I have seen how it adversely molded her thinking and interactions. It still is a struggle 10 years later.
 
Like you, I came to Christ as a young adult and had no experience at all with extremism until then. My wife, on the other hand, grew up in it. It was relatively easy to take the girl out of the IFBX, but taking the IFBX out of the girl is another matter. I have seen how it adversely molded her thinking and interactions. It still is a struggle 10 years later.

Living by rules is relatively easy (yet unfulfilling). I know that by experience. Living by faith can be more intricate and require more nuance. For instance, separation is often easy, but working patiently through hardships and differences takes effort, love, and grace.
 
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