Is this true about Hyles (First Baptist Church) compromising?

[Pastor Matt]

Has any one seen this first hand? I've also heard from second hand information that they were using NIV on the screen.

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On Sunday evening, I received a text from a pastor with a picture that showed a long haired hippie teaching in the pulpit of FBC Hammond.

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Then I received multiple calls from preachers about how they were told that the NIV was used on slides, and indecency in some of the slides.

https://www.oldpathsjournal.com/post/fbc-hammond-hyles-anderson-college-accept-compromise?fbclid=IwAR0IMJJhsCvcRW_WEib8IN5h4QftlPyxYVivruABzjqWANUw645Rjn4r7uQ

[Rebecca]

I have no idea what's going on at First Baptist since I'm not a member nor do I care about that church and college in any way. However, just out of curiosity I clicked the link and was surprised to see that a "long-haired hippie" apparently includes hair that's covering the ears and not neatly trimmed and combed! I've met quite a few long-haired hippies (I live in an area frequented by surfer dude and back-to-nature hippy types), and the photo provided doesn't match that description. Messy hair, yes. Long-haired hippy, no. 

First Baptist invited the Creation Evidence Expo group to speak at their church about creation. From their website I found the speaker in the photograph, David LItty https://www.creationevidenceexpo.org/presenters (scroll down a bit to find him, his hair is a bit shorter in the bio photo). He's not a pastor, his bio doesn't say what denomination he attends, so I assume non-denominational. If they have speakers from this group in, unless told to use KJV only, then they're going to use whatever version they have already prepared in their presentation. Clearly, that's what happened here. Go to the home page of the Creation Evidence Expo and scroll to the bottom, this group has speaking engagements in a LOT of Baptist churches. This group aims to present creation as biblical, I would have to listen and watch their presentation to truly know if what they are teaching is biblical or not. 

Did First Baptist compromise on allowing a non-Baptist Christian group to speak from the pulpit on a Sunday? Apparently so if they've been against that in the past. But does this mean that First Baptist is on the track to start preaching from other versions, the pastor and deacons grow their hair long, and stop wearing suits? Who knows. However, if this was a church I loved and cared for, talking to the pastor of First Baptist would be my first step rather than immediately running to write an article condemning them for something I wasn't there to witness firsthand. Going by Allen Domelle's article, he and other pastors have been phoning each other and talking together about this. How many have talked to the pastor of First Baptist about their concerns? I think another article containing an interview with the pastor of First Baptist would be a good idea. 

 

[BrotherTony]

Well, I can tell you now that this isn't going to be a popular opinion here, but, here goes anyhow. Let me preface the statement with this. I love and use the KJV in my preaching, teaching, and writing, and it's my Bible of choice because I believe it to be the preserved Word of God. Still, I'm not so rigid that I try to destroy other translations, and in doing so, the Christian standing of others. I won't try to limit and tell the Holy Spirit what he can and cannot use. Philippians 1:15-18 leads me to believe that if the statements about the MV's trying to destroy the Sovereignty and Lordship of Christ, Christ is still being preached. Paul was happy that even though some were preaching Christ with ulterior motives Christ was still being preached. 

Now, onto the task at hand. I see nothing wrong with the young man's hair except that it's unkempt. Who in the world determines what is long and what isn't? I see no Biblical layout for what is long and what isn't. And, if we go back through the church fathers we find that many of them had long hair. The hypocrisy of some of these preachers, teachers, and laymen in trying to impose their OPINIONS as the Word of God really angers me. I grew up in the IFB movement and saw the hypocrisy, and when I questioned these pastors and teachers on these subjects, I was labeled as a heretic, unsaved, and many other things. They never answered the questions asked but tried to change the subject much as the Scribes and Pharisees of old did. 

Is there anywhere in the Scripture that tells us to try to alienate, destroy, and otherwise other brothers and sisters as heretics or untrustworthy just because they are not Baptist? No, there isn't. There is a lot of great Scriptural teaching out there that doesn't come from the Baptist realm. It's a shame that some pastors, teachers, and laypeople are so militant that they try to negate Biblical teachings from others. 

I was going to apologize for the "rant," but, I don't believe there is a reason to do so. Why in the world would we care what FBCH does...it's their church. Yes, the do influence others, but, again, I see no reason to diss them. There's nothing wrong with what they did. There's no proof that any of this was unscriptural, and people like Allen Domelle, David Cloud, et al, are nothing but pharisaical malcontents that try to set themselves up on a pedastile to be worshipped by the blind. They have some good information at times, so I don't block them, but, I surely do take a lot of what they say with a grain of salt.   

 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by BrotherTony

[Matthew Perkins]

Pastor Wilkerson admitted that he did not vet them properly before inviting them to speak and publicly apologized last night, taking full responsibility. What happened last Sunday is not at all a reflection of where the church stands on the issues in question. The church is still boldly King James Only and the staff men aren't even allowed to have beards, let alone long hair.

[Napsterdad]

1 hour ago, Matthew Perkins said:

Pastor Wilkerson admitted that he did not vet them properly before inviting them to speak and publicly apologized last night, taking full responsibility. What happened last Sunday is not at all a reflection of where the church stands on the issues in question. The church is still boldly King James Only and the staff men aren't even allowed to have beards, let alone long hair.

Welcome, Matthew, and good feedback. Still the points brought out by Rebecca and Tony are quite relevant. Prior to firing off a denigrating article about a situation evidently only analyzed at the surface level seems to serve no other purpose than to stoke the authors self-righteousness. I have not been able to access this article from the link Pastor Matt posted above. Seems they have removed it. If true, that speaks volumes.

While I am KJVO I must also agree with Tony on the other versions. My wife likes to use the analogy: If you were stranded on a desert island and all you had was an NIV and Lays potato chips would you abstain from both because the one is not KJV and the other is not healthy food?

I know a lot of godly, saved, Christians who use other versions of the Bible. We were once in an IFB KJVO church where my oldest daughter was not accepted in the prevalent cliques of teenage girls. She was hurt, with few friends in that church. We sent her to "In The Gap" ministries where she served with other teens of various denominations, standards, and definitely not KJVO. They accepted her for who she was, loved on her and she developed a lot of solid godly friendships there that exist to this day (over ten years later). That experience strengthened a dying faith, and my daughter is now rock solid, and still KJVO.

We have to remember that when we were first saved we didn't all instantaneously get transformed into perfect Christians; and none of us are to this day. We are all at different points in our walk and no two walks are the same. I was saved and baptized while using a NASB Bible. Does that make me less of a Christian than someone who was saved while using a KJV? Because of that though it was difficult for me to change to a KJVO position. Would that not be the same for those who were saved using a NIV? ESV? Some other? I would have to think that for most, that Bible with which they were saved is a hard Bible to shelve. 

Appearances and Bibles don't make a Christian, God does; and He is doing His perfect work in each and every one of us in the way He deems best. He has the long-suffering, mercy and grace to overlook our shortcomings, should we not try to emulate that with others? 

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Napsterdad

[Pastor Matt]

The 'Long Haired Hippie' comment was a bit of an exaggeration. When I read this article, the first thing I thought was that the guy who wrote this finally found what he was looking for to criticize. It came off as someone with an ax to grind.

I agree that it really doesn't bother me what this church does or does not do. This was posted for discussion purposes. 

[HappyChristian]

Sadly, most creation ministries are non-KJV. Nor are the most of them local-church based. These would be reasons we wouldn't host one. I do purchase materials from them, but we are careful  as to what we do purchase. 

We have a gentleman in our church who is an avid studier of all things Genesis. He has begun teaching one Sunday night a month. He does a stellar job. Really brings things out and makes it interestingly informative. 

BTW, his hair is a bit more than "over the ears" and quite sloppy looking (although not long-haired hippy...I know from hippies, having grown up in the hippy generation. lol). Whether or not we like it, appearance does tell a story - and the point the author made about the fact that this particular church wants the kids from other churches to come to their college is quite accurate, IMO, and makes pointing things like this out viable. While it is not "our" church, were we to be shopping for colleges for our kids this would be a sticking point (although there are many reasons that we wouldn't consider this college besides this lol).

[Pastor Matt]

8 hours ago, Matthew Perkins said:

Pastor Wilkerson admitted that he did not vet them properly before inviting them to speak and publicly apologized last night, taking full responsibility. What happened last Sunday is not at all a reflection of where the church stands on the issues in question. The church is still boldly King James Only and the staff men aren't even allowed to have beards, let alone long hair.

Welcome to OB. I'm not questioning the truth in your post. As someone who knows Pastor Wilkerson, I would be interested in reading/listening to what he had to say. Is Pastor Wilkerson's statement publicly available?

[R Sauter]

On 11/15/2023 at 2:04 PM, Pastor Matt said:

Has any one seen this first hand? I've also heard from second hand information that they were using NIV on the screen.

https://www.oldpathsjournal.com/post/fbc-hammond-hyles-anderson-college-accept-compromise?fbclid=IwAR0IMJJhsCvcRW_WEib8IN5h4QftlPyxYVivruABzjqWANUw645Rjn4r7uQ

You have got to be kidding me! All the Independent Baptists get in an uproar about someone with long hair and an NIV in the pulpit of FBCH but no one says anything about all of the sexual predators that have come out of that place!

You really need to get your priorities in order!

[BrotherTony]

5 hours ago, R Sauter said:

You have got to be kidding me! All the Independent Baptists get in an uproar about someone with long hair and an NIV in the pulpit of FBCH but no one says anything about all of the sexual predators that have come out of that place!

You really need to get your priorities in order!

Welcome, Ray! I wondered when you'd find your way here! 

At any rate, Brother, people get all up in arms over a lot of things they shouldn't and excuse much larger things that should be addressed.