Friday Church News Notes
Volume 21, Issue 51 - December 18, 2020
The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, though this does not imply an endorsement.
Dave Hyles
TWO LAWSUITS FILED AGAINST DAVE HYLES (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - Two lawsuits have been filed this year against Dave Hyles, son of the late Jack Hyles (1926-2001), longtime pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. In February, Joy Ryder filed a civil suit accusing Dave Hyles of raping her in the 1970s when he was the youth pastor at First Baptist. He was appointed youth pastor in 1972 when he was 19 years old. Ryder said that “once her family accused David Hyles of sexual abuse, the church covered up his wrongdoings” (“Past Hammond Baptist pastor raped girl,” Northwest Indiana Times, Feb. 18, 2020). On December 3, Nanette Miles filed a class action lawsuit in federal court that alleges that she was sexually assaulted beginning at age 13, that at least 10 others “have credibly accused D. Hyles of using his position of power to sexually prey on them,” and that “First Baptist and the College staff members were aware of his reprehensible conduct for years and remained silent” (“Class Action Sex Abuse Case,” Ministry Watch, Dec. 7, 2020). In 1989, Dave Hyles’ first wife, Paula, testified publicly as follows: “Did David’s dad know that he was adulterous before we went to Texas [to pastor Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland]? The answer is definitely yes and there are a hundred people who know that. Why he lies about that I will never know. I went to him twice about things I had heard about Dave. ... His dad’s philosophy is if I didn’t see it I don’t believe it” (Paula Hyles Polonco’s audio interview with Dave Coleman, Nov. 1, 1989). Dave Hyles allegedly committed immorality with at least 19 women at Miller Road Baptist in Garland, Texas, broke apart homes and caused far-reaching damage. He was caught in 1984 when the janitor’s son found a briefcase containing photos of Dave’s wicked escapades. The problem was not limited to Dave Hyles or even to Jack Schaap, who followed Jack Hyles in the pastorate and is in prison for immoral relations with a minor girl. The immorality and the cover up of gross sins at First Baptist of Hammond and at Hyles-Anderson College and at many churches closely affiliated with these institutions has been widespread. It has been reported by major newspapers and television programs and has been a horrible testimony before the world. Christ’s holy name has been dragged through the mud. The name of fundamental Baptist churches has been blackened. The church should acknowledge its culpability and sin. Jack Hyles’ vast influence continues unabated and we see it as a spiritual blight. A preacher friend made the following comment when I asked him for suggestions for the title of my book about Hyles. “I wonder if you could title it along the lines of a disease, a contagion, or an epidemic. That may be an overstatement, but I don’t think so. Hyles’ philosophy has permeated ... Independent Baptist churches. I threw out his books in the 80’s when I started seeing what he was preaching and read his son’s book on youth ministry, BUT what I heard him preach in the 60’s and 70’s STILL messes with my mind.” Jack Hyles is dead, but his influence lives on. For our part, we renounce Hyles and his pomposity and self-promotion and biblical shallowness and circus promotionalism and unquestioning loyalty and quick prayerism and big numberism and great manism and coverup of sin in no uncertain terms! One can hide in the crowd in this life and take his “stand” with the weak-kneed majority, but no one can hide at the judgment seat of Christ.
SOUL WINNING AT FIRST BAPTIST UNDER DAVE HYLES (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from The History and Heritage of Fundamentalism and Fundamental Baptists: “In 1969, Jack Hyles’ son, Dave, a 16-year-old high school sophomore at the time, organized the Teenage Soul Winning program at First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. Dave’s sister, Cindy, who participated in that, said, “I won thousands of souls before I finished my teen years” (The Fundamental Man, p. 271). In six years, the teens reported 100,000 salvation decisions. Elmer Towns described an experience on a Saturday in 1974 with First Baptist’s youth soul winning led by Dave Hyles. More than 200 teens showed up, and Dave told them, “Last week we won over 1,000 souls to Jesus Christ; let’s do it again tonight.” Towns accompanied 31 young men on a bus to an inner city area in Chicago. The young men told him that they had 21 out the week before and had “won over 200 to the Lord.” That week they aimed for more than 300. “Joe stopped at the first home; nine played on the porch. ‘Hey, would you like to ride a bus to church tomorrow morning?’ He began talking about God. The kids didn’t know much about Him. Within minutes the group swelled to 15 curious Spanish kids. He talked about creation and the message of Calvary. ‘If you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven?’ Joe asked and pointed his finger at each one of the kids. All shook their heads negatively. ‘I want you to bow your heads right here and pray to receive Jesus Christ.’ He did not ask if they wanted to be saved, or if they were ready; he just told them to pray so they would go to heaven. ... Most of them repeated the simple prayer after him. ... As each boy jumps [back] on the bus, he reports how many had been won to the Lord. Twenty-six is the highest number; one is the smallest--total of 261 for the evening. All the guys cheer” (Towns, World’s Largest Sunday School, pp. 177, 179). In 1972, at age 19, Dave Hyles became the youth pastor at First Baptist. In 1976, Dave’s book Successful Church Youth Work was published by the Sword of the Lord. The back cover stated that between 1972 and 1976, the youth department had grown to an average of 2,500 in Sunday School, with a high of 5,000 on “a big day.” The book is described as “the successful formula of Dave Hyles” and was advertised by the Sword as “double success!” (the back cover of Let’s Baptize More Converts).
THE HYLES EFFECT: A SPREADING BLIGHT (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Hyles Effect: A Spreading Blight documents the life and ministry of Jack Hyles, who pastored First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, for 42 years, and Jack Schaap, who took over the pastorate of the church when his father-in-law died in 2001 until he went to prison in 2012 for having a sexual relationship with a minor and transporting her across state lines for that purpose. But the book is not merely about two men. It is a warning about a cultic model of ministry that has spread very far. Hyles set the pattern for errors that remain rampant. The book is a positive call to build biblical churches. A major motivation in writing it is to challenge young preachers not to be man followers and man pleasers, to walk in the fear of God rather than the fear of man, to be serious Bible students and Bereans, to be passionate for Christ and Truth, and to reject pragmatism: whether it be contemporary church growth pragmatism or emerging pragmatism or fundamental Baptist pragmatism. The book is a warning about Quick Prayerism, promotionalism, big numbers-ism, the abuse of pastoral authority, blind loyalty to man, cover-up and deception and rampant immorality, the neglect of church discipline, and unrepentant heresy. Chapter titles include the following: The Latest Saga, A Personal Testimony, It’s Not Enough to Criticize, A Word about Robert Sumner, Jack Hyles, Jack Schaap, Shooting the Wounded and Other Silly Arguments. 173 pages. Available in print and free eBook editions.
PROMINENT MEN WHO KNEW THEY WERE NOT “GREAT” (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - An advertisement for a W.B. Riley meeting in Owensboro, Kentucky, in April 1940, was emblazoned with the words, “Hear America’s Great Pulpit Statesman - 14 Great Days with Dr. W.B. Riley!” He liked that and had his photo taken standing beneath the banner. J. Frank Norris published an advertisement for First Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, that depicted him as a giant towering over the church sanctuary. The great man syndrome was carried on by John R. Rice’s Sword of the Lord and by Jack Hyles’ Pastor’s Schools. They promoted the greatest Sunday Schools, the greatest churches, the greatest preachers, the greatest heroes of the faith, the greatest bus captains. In contrast, when Gypsy Smith saw that the Peoples Temple in Boston had put up a sign advertising him as “the Greatest Evangelist in the World,” he made them take it down (Ed Reese, Rodney “Gypsy” Smith Evangelist). After D.L. Moody refused to meet a group of prominent women who supported his work, he told a fellow evangelist, “If I had shaken hands with those women, I wouldn’t have been half through before the devil would have made me believe that I was some great man, and from that time I would have to do as he bid” (Chapman, The Life and Work of Dwight Lyman Moody). Robert Ketcham said of his association of churches (GARBC), “[We are] sold out to the one proposition that Jesus Christ is the only One worthy of prominent mention, and that there are no ‘great men among us.’ We are all little men with a great God” (“Important Changes at Waterloo,” Baptist Bulletin, July 1938). Prominent Bible college dean, author, and Bible conference speaker William Blackstone concluded his letters with “I am but an errand boy for Jesus.” John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Peter didn’t refer to Paul as “the great Paul” but rather as “our beloved brother” (2 Pe. 3:15). God will not give his glory to others. Jesus taught His disciples to call themselves “unprofitable servants.” “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do” (Lu. 17:10). When the disciples clamored as to who would be greatest, Jesus reproved them (Mt. 18:1-4).
“KILLFIES” - SELFIE DEATHS (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In 2017, more than 250 people had died of “killfies” (selfie deaths), according to The Journal of Family Medicine in India. At least 40 more have died since then, according to “List of selfie-related injuries and deaths,” Wikipedia. In September 2018, 18-year-old Tomer Frankfurter of Israel fell 600 feet to his death while dangling off a ledge in Yosemite National Park. In October 2019, four wedding guests drowned after falling from a dam in India while taking a selfie. On December 14, 2020, 38-year-old Rosy Loomba fell 260 feet to her death after climbing over a safety barrier at the Boroka Lookout in Australia to take a selfie. Her husband and two sons witnessed the event. Selfies are dumb even when they aren’t dangerous.
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).
SOUL WINNING AT FIRST BAPTIST UNDER DAVE HYLES (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The following is excerpted from The History and Heritage of Fundamentalism and Fundamental Baptists: “In 1969, Jack Hyles’ son, Dave, a 16-year-old high school sophomore at the time, organized the Teenage Soul Winning program at First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana. Dave’s sister, Cindy, who participated in that, said, “I won thousands of souls before I finished my teen years” (The Fundamental Man, p. 271). In six years, the teens reported 100,000 salvation decisions. Elmer Towns described an experience on a Saturday in 1974 with First Baptist’s youth soul winning led by Dave Hyles. More than 200 teens showed up, and Dave told them, “Last week we won over 1,000 souls to Jesus Christ; let’s do it again tonight.” Towns accompanied 31 young men on a bus to an inner city area in Chicago. The young men told him that they had 21 out the week before and had “won over 200 to the Lord.” That week they aimed for more than 300. “Joe stopped at the first home; nine played on the porch. ‘Hey, would you like to ride a bus to church tomorrow morning?’ He began talking about God. The kids didn’t know much about Him. Within minutes the group swelled to 15 curious Spanish kids. He talked about creation and the message of Calvary. ‘If you were to die tonight, would you go to heaven?’ Joe asked and pointed his finger at each one of the kids. All shook their heads negatively. ‘I want you to bow your heads right here and pray to receive Jesus Christ.’ He did not ask if they wanted to be saved, or if they were ready; he just told them to pray so they would go to heaven. ... Most of them repeated the simple prayer after him. ... As each boy jumps [back] on the bus, he reports how many had been won to the Lord. Twenty-six is the highest number; one is the smallest--total of 261 for the evening. All the guys cheer” (Towns, World’s Largest Sunday School, pp. 177, 179). In 1972, at age 19, Dave Hyles became the youth pastor at First Baptist. In 1976, Dave’s book Successful Church Youth Work was published by the Sword of the Lord. The back cover stated that between 1972 and 1976, the youth department had grown to an average of 2,500 in Sunday School, with a high of 5,000 on “a big day.” The book is described as “the successful formula of Dave Hyles” and was advertised by the Sword as “double success!” (the back cover of Let’s Baptize More Converts).
THE HYLES EFFECT: A SPREADING BLIGHT (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - The Hyles Effect: A Spreading Blight documents the life and ministry of Jack Hyles, who pastored First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, for 42 years, and Jack Schaap, who took over the pastorate of the church when his father-in-law died in 2001 until he went to prison in 2012 for having a sexual relationship with a minor and transporting her across state lines for that purpose. But the book is not merely about two men. It is a warning about a cultic model of ministry that has spread very far. Hyles set the pattern for errors that remain rampant. The book is a positive call to build biblical churches. A major motivation in writing it is to challenge young preachers not to be man followers and man pleasers, to walk in the fear of God rather than the fear of man, to be serious Bible students and Bereans, to be passionate for Christ and Truth, and to reject pragmatism: whether it be contemporary church growth pragmatism or emerging pragmatism or fundamental Baptist pragmatism. The book is a warning about Quick Prayerism, promotionalism, big numbers-ism, the abuse of pastoral authority, blind loyalty to man, cover-up and deception and rampant immorality, the neglect of church discipline, and unrepentant heresy. Chapter titles include the following: The Latest Saga, A Personal Testimony, It’s Not Enough to Criticize, A Word about Robert Sumner, Jack Hyles, Jack Schaap, Shooting the Wounded and Other Silly Arguments. 173 pages. Available in print and free eBook editions.
PROMINENT MEN WHO KNEW THEY WERE NOT “GREAT” (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - An advertisement for a W.B. Riley meeting in Owensboro, Kentucky, in April 1940, was emblazoned with the words, “Hear America’s Great Pulpit Statesman - 14 Great Days with Dr. W.B. Riley!” He liked that and had his photo taken standing beneath the banner. J. Frank Norris published an advertisement for First Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, that depicted him as a giant towering over the church sanctuary. The great man syndrome was carried on by John R. Rice’s Sword of the Lord and by Jack Hyles’ Pastor’s Schools. They promoted the greatest Sunday Schools, the greatest churches, the greatest preachers, the greatest heroes of the faith, the greatest bus captains. In contrast, when Gypsy Smith saw that the Peoples Temple in Boston had put up a sign advertising him as “the Greatest Evangelist in the World,” he made them take it down (Ed Reese, Rodney “Gypsy” Smith Evangelist). After D.L. Moody refused to meet a group of prominent women who supported his work, he told a fellow evangelist, “If I had shaken hands with those women, I wouldn’t have been half through before the devil would have made me believe that I was some great man, and from that time I would have to do as he bid” (Chapman, The Life and Work of Dwight Lyman Moody). Robert Ketcham said of his association of churches (GARBC), “[We are] sold out to the one proposition that Jesus Christ is the only One worthy of prominent mention, and that there are no ‘great men among us.’ We are all little men with a great God” (“Important Changes at Waterloo,” Baptist Bulletin, July 1938). Prominent Bible college dean, author, and Bible conference speaker William Blackstone concluded his letters with “I am but an errand boy for Jesus.” John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Peter didn’t refer to Paul as “the great Paul” but rather as “our beloved brother” (2 Pe. 3:15). God will not give his glory to others. Jesus taught His disciples to call themselves “unprofitable servants.” “So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which was our duty to do” (Lu. 17:10). When the disciples clamored as to who would be greatest, Jesus reproved them (Mt. 18:1-4).
“KILLFIES” - SELFIE DEATHS (Friday Church News Notes, December 18, 2020, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143) - In 2017, more than 250 people had died of “killfies” (selfie deaths), according to The Journal of Family Medicine in India. At least 40 more have died since then, according to “List of selfie-related injuries and deaths,” Wikipedia. In September 2018, 18-year-old Tomer Frankfurter of Israel fell 600 feet to his death while dangling off a ledge in Yosemite National Park. In October 2019, four wedding guests drowned after falling from a dam in India while taking a selfie. On December 14, 2020, 38-year-old Rosy Loomba fell 260 feet to her death after climbing over a safety barrier at the Boroka Lookout in Australia to take a selfie. Her husband and two sons witnessed the event. Selfies are dumb even when they aren’t dangerous.
CONCLUSION: The Friday Church News Notes is designed for use in churches and is published by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Unless otherwise stated, the Notes are written by David Cloud. Of necessity we quote from a wide variety of sources, but this obviously does not imply an endorsement. We trust that our readers will not be discouraged. It is God’s will that we know the times (1 Ch. 12:32; Mat. 16:3) and that we be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. The News Notes remind us that the hour is very late, and we need to be ready for the Lord’s coming. Are you sure that you are born again? Are you living for Christ? “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Rom. 13:11-14).
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Distributed by Way of Life Literature., publisher of Bible Study Materials and reports for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Established in 1974, Way of Life Literature is a fundamental Baptist preaching and publishing ministry based in Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. Brother Cloud lives in South Asia where he has been a church planting missionary since 1979. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY (REPORTS AND FRIDAY NEWS) IS NOT DEVOTIONAL. IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR.
David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org
The Way of Life Literature preaching and publishing ministry is based at Bethel Baptist Church, London, Ontario, of which Wilbert Unger is the founding Pastor. A mail stop is maintained in Port Huron, Michigan.
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