Ohh! He owned our lives, and we didnt dare cross him, because we were too afraid we would lose everything. . But those who have left, the followers who have tried to leave, the outsiders, even the media (it was on 20/20 last year) recognize that it is clearly a cult. With God's help, I will make my life in California everything that He would have it be and, unlike you, will not fall. I would just sit there, and he would say, My son David and Paula never single dated, and I would look at David and start laughing and think, This is hilarious; I cant believe that he gets up and says this. His dad gave me six months of sex counseling before David and I got married, and I could nail him just with that and what he said to me. COLUMBUS (WCMH) The Gahanna Division of Police says a woman found dead in her residence on Brookhill Drive was most likely the victim of a murder-suicide. You could see their family from our back door. Ohhhh! Instead, the silence was golden, and it still is. I was so afraid, and the greater the secrets, the greater my fear, and the greater my determination to keep quiet.He was very wealthy. Do I have any reason to believe that the Hyles dont love each other? He left nothing to his children. In 1998, Joseph D. Combs, a former Bible teacher at Hyles-Anderson who had become a pastor in Tennessee, and his wife, Evangeline, were convicted on multiple charges of aggravated abuse, assault, and kidnapping of their adopted 11-year-old daughter. She talks about growing up and finally leaving the cult at age 28. Having been an independent fundamental Baptist preacher for nearly 40 years, I am convinced that Bigism and Big-Manism is a major disease. 594 thoughts on "Breaking Free: Linda Hyles Murphrey Speaks At TEDxOjaiChange" Despite two eyewitness accounts, Ballenger denied the charge, was released on bond, and returned to the church. This is what happens,when people worship a man,instead of God.We are all human and all capable of commiting horrendous sinwhich is why we must always keep our eyes turned upon Jesus. Where there is longstanding passionate romantic steam there is probably physical adultery, but certainly there is mental adultery. THE TESTIMONY OF JACK HYLES OWN DAUGHTER. Linda. Id been told that there was assistance at Hyles-Anderson in finding a job. I pity you for you will be experiencing the consequences of your actions for a very long time. He got five years in prison. He moved him to another church where he was found to have had 17 affairs with different women, and he just recreated what he had seen my dad live. He taught us that to please him we had to keep all the secrets. Former pastor of Bethel Baptist Church, Imperial, Missouri, 8. I mean when I was dating David, the books that Hyles has written on teenagers and dating, we never did one thing that he taught. About 1,000 students are currently enrolled, down from 2,700 in its heyday, according to admissions director Joe Peete, who gave a Chicago intern a tour of the premises in late October. He left nothing to his children. The cases continued (See chart below). We trust that your Christian honesty will preserve the integrity of this policy. Author: jimbaumerexperience.com. Your statements that your investigation will reach far and wide, and that unbelievers will see at its conclusion that the church didn't try to hide wrong doing were encouraging.If you mean what you said, you have a lot of work to do.I'm Jennie Nischik's daughter. My dad lived a double life, one of a righteous family man and of a dynamic speaker in the public eye, but [another] one of sordid sexual secrets privately, secrets that only my siblings and me and my mom knew. You [sic] diatribes on your filthy forums serve Satans purpose well.). Things we do not want copied and redistributed are items like the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library, the print and eBook editions of our books, etc. This is a moment when we need, as people of integrity, to be honest in all of this. Also, the girl whom Schaap counseled across state lines was 16 when the abuse began. until the child is crying, not tears of anger but tears of a broken will. They should leave stripes if need be. Yes, then, I agree. Several people who grew up at First Baptist recall that parents took the instruction to heart. The year was 1985. You all are a bunch of low-down, rotten, filthy, stinking, scummy, garbage-dump stench type of characters, the Tribune quoted one of them, Noel Shriovanth, as saying. . Sermons on the scandal rang out from pulpits across the country. , because his influence is so pervasive even to this day. There is a gross lack of spiritual discernment at play here. After she and her husband hit a rocky patch, they turned to Schaap for counseling. When all of this happened with our church in Garland, his dad didnt want to hear it. We were all of a sudden part of the most successful operation, the most successful movement, you have ever seen or heard about, Kaifetz says. If he wasnt scolding his flock for not living up to Gods demands (tithing, volunteering, soul winning), he was delivering R-rated sermons that, for example, likened the Lords Supper to having sex with Jesus Christ. He returned to the Chicago area, to Bolingbrook, moving in with a woman named Brenda Stevens. So [authorities] have asked us to come in and conduct a thorough investigation. Update information for Linda Hyles-Murphrey More at IMDbPro Contact Info: View agent, publicist, legal on IMDbPro Biography Awards Photo Gallery Filmography Trailers and Videos Hide all | | Edit By this letter I wish to express my thoughts on the role you have played in these events over the past fifteen-plus years. I knew the man. Every time we talked he would ask me if we kissed, and I would say yes, and he would ask me real intimate questions about when we kissed and what happened when we kissed. We thought to make him happy, we would hate her too. Clayton Busby had pastored a small church in Maine, but felt called to Hyles-Anderson. Her office had a door opening to Hyles' office, but there was a drape in front of it so that no one coming into her office could see it. www.wayoflife.org/about/makeanoffering.html. You may also post parts of reports and/or entire reports to websites, blogs, etc as long as you give proper credit (citation). The ushers, standing in back throughout the 90-minute service, occasionally whooped, like cowboys at a rodeo, at something they found particularly inspiring. I anxiously await the day that I can say with all honesty, "They did the right thing".Judy Nischik JohnsonTHE TESTIMONY OF JACK HYLES DAUGHTER-IN-LAWThe following are excerpts fromDave Colemans Interview with Paula Hyles PoloncoFirst wife of Jack Hyles son, DaveNovember 1, 1989Did Davids dad know that he was adulterous before we went to Texas? He was so interested in mine and Davids personal relationship. Eddie Lapina was witness to all of that. Another person who is keenly aware of the lure and peril of personality is Murphrey. He divorced his wife and married one of the 14. I was threatened with physical harm, death threats. His office was broken into. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, ack Hyles is dead, but his life and testimony matters. I am continually amazed at the pastors who defend Jack Hyles, denying that he was a moral reprobate as well as a dictatorial cult leader. The church I grew up in was heavily intertwined w/ Hyles . Facebook gives people the power. There were so many mothers who went to him who David was having affairs with and told him. The earliest memory of my mother's affair with Jack Hyles that I can remember dates back to the 1960's. Today her name is Linda Murphrey and it appears from this testimony that she has rejected biblical Christianity because of the hypocrisy she witnessed growing up in the home of the man who said God had given him "the steering wheel of fundamentalism" and who boasted that his church "was the greatest church in the history of Christianity." But in July 2010, an hour into the Polished Shaft sermonin a church packed with thousands of teenagers there for a youth conferenceSchaap went further. This preacher, who had held Hyles up as his hero for 20 years and loved the man deeply and prayed for him passionately, approached him in fear and trembling about the matter of the door. (Hyles did not respond to an interview request. She was never charged with a crime, nor was Hyles. He was so interested in mine and Davids personal relationship. I used to joke that people would not rearrange their living room furniture without help from Brother Hyles, says Jerry Kaifetz, a former teacher at First Baptists Pastors School who left the church around 1990. And even to our adult years, he owned us. According to Kaifetz, When a guy like Hyles says, This is Gods will for your life, you just say, Well, I guess it is., One area in which Hylesa father of fourexerted particular control was child rearing. For the benefit of any doubters, Hyles demonstrated his power in the middle of a sermon one Sunday. You are a self-proclaimed giant, sensationalist, exhibitionist, and 'big-time spender' grasping for every expression of love, admiration and loyalty that you can get your filthy little hands on. Among the best and brightest of the early studentsa young man who would eventually win the blessing of Jack Hyles to marry his youngest daughter, Cindywas Jack Schaap. Posted on September 8, 2018 by Jim. Backed into a corner by a he-goes-or-I-go ultimatum from the administrator, sources say, Hyles arranged for his son to take over as pastor at his old church, Miller Road Baptist in Texas. I, too, witnessed a lot of hypocrisy growing up in a Baptist church, but my unbelief and rebellion was my own fault and not something I could blame on others. But, of course, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.If you and your client really want to do the right thing, you'll face the fact that First Baptist Church has had a cancer growing in it for nearly 50 years. I was so afraid, and the greater the secrets, the greater my fear, and the greater my determination to keep quiet. You call him an adulterer. He did what he wanted to do. First Baptist had become a nationwide phenomenon, dubbed a superchurch by Time. The following is excerpted from Linda Murphreys testimony at the TEDxOjaiChange event in Ojai, California, April 5, 2012. You could see their family from our back door. He owned our lives, and we didnt dare cross him, because we were too afraid we would lose everything. Up until she was about 10, "things seemed very. Chester Mulligan, 47 I take my hat off to Linda Murprhey and applaud her moral courage. You call him a liar. Former pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Bristol, Tennessee, Convicted in 2000 of kidnapping and abusing a minor, 5. Yet they would drop us off in rough neighborhoods for eight hours on our own to go soul winning.. My father tried desperately to cover it up. Linda Hyles Murphrey, a motivational speaker, presented her story titled "From Cult to Courage" at a TEDx event, discussing her hardships as a child of Jack Hyles. (Similar concern has yet to be expressed for his victim.) Dr. Hyles lying was blatant just like Davids. There are some very good people still there whom I love dearly and who truly have hearts for the Lord but were deceived, Busby says. He lifted a stick in his left hand and a silver cloth in his right. Multiple websites tracking the First Baptist Church of Hammond have identified more than a dozen men with ties to the churchmany of whom graduated from its college, Hyles-Anderson, or its annual Pastors Schoolswho fanned out around the country, preaching at their own churches and racking up a string of arrests and civil lawsuits, including physical abuse of minors, sexual molestation, and rape. I dont care how controlling Jack Schaap was. They are so influenced by him that I think if he told them that he was a black man they would believe him. . I remember hearing once that it is not wise to put anything in writing that one would not want the entire world to see. Linda is Jack Hyles daughter, and it appears that the hypocrisy she witnessed has driven her into the arms of skepticism, which is very sad, but it was not necessary. She is the daughter of Jack Hyles (former pastor of the Independent Fundamental Baptist megachurch, First Baptist Hammond) and talks about her escape from that cult (her word, not mine). No person has perfect knowledge or perfect memory about events that occurred years in the past, and it is always possible to quibble about some detail of someones story, as any court trial would demonstrate. After three semesters at a school that from the outside seemed like it was blessed by God, once I was on the inside (as a student) however, nothing was as I expected. In the beginning1959, in this caseJack Hyles arrived at the First Baptist Church of Hammond as a skinny, charismatic Bible thumper with a Southern-fried drawl and a couple of cheap suits. You are free to make copies of these at your own expense and share them with friends and family. Things that we encourage you to share include the audio sermons, video presentations, O Timothy magazine, and the hundreds of Fundamental Baptist Information Service (FBIS) articles. He had a mistress for many years, the wife of a Sunday School teacher. Born in the tiny Dallas suburb of Italy, Hyles often preached about his alcoholic father, his devoted and deeply conservative Christian mother, and the curse of growing up poor. . Within a couple of years, his flock had swelled to 4,000, earning Hyles a far-reaching reputation. Eddie Lapina, a Hyles-trained church fixture, is acting as interim pastor while a committee searches for Schaaps replacement. Hyles-Anderson College appears to be struggling, too. Regardless of whether Hyles actually committed physical adultery, he was unquestionably guilty of a grossly improper relationship with a woman who was not his wife, and was thus disqualified to be a pastor. The sermon was called The Polished Shaft, and in the many times that Jack Schaap, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond, had delivered it, it was the kind of showstopper that made him a rock star to his flock. absolute authoritarian leader who defines the group; a thought program that includes control of the environment, control of information, and people subordinating themselves and their feelings to the demands of the leader; and a lack of accountability for the head of the group. You are free to make copies of these at your own expense and share them with friends and family. Yes, they havent slept together in probably 25 years, they dont share the same bedroom, they dont speak. Two days after arriving, I met the man, Brother Phil Sallie, who was in charge of workforce assistance. The culmination of many events in our lives brought us to the decision that we have made to move. Rev. Evaluate 3 (13395 Ratings) Top rated: 3 . In an incredibly short amount of time I have healed much and think I would surprise even you with the strength I have gained. So many hurting, scared, broken women who are so afraid, who dont know that theyre loved, who want grace, but they have only heard all the things they need to do. Jack Hyles was the cult leader and he . Perhaps the saddest of all her statements was that the rest of her family will not likely admit that they were wrong. God will hold a metaphorical knife to your throat (as Schaap would illustrate by holding a steel blade against a twig the way an assailant might press on a jugular). The stick was displeasing God, a message hammered home virtually every Sunday. Hyles made driving out these northern liberals his first priority. Linda Hyles-Murphrey photos, including production stills, premiere photos and other event photos, publicity photos, behind-the-scenes, and more. 2012-2022 Way of Life Literature Inc. v12.19.22, David Cloud, Way of Life Literature, P.O. Spanking should be deliberate and last at least ten or fifteen minutes, he continued. Jack Hyles was a personal friend. Rock music was out, of course, as was any music with a syncopated beat. He did what he wanted to do. Last September, Schaap, 54, a married father of two, pleaded guilty to taking a 16-year-old girl he was counseling at First Baptist across state lines to have sex. He really does have that kind of influence on those people. The articles also alleged financial improprieties, accusing Hyles of using church money to lavish tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts on Jennie, including a car, clothes, and home remodeling. I felt like I had one main responsibility as a child. Things we do not want copied and redistributed are items like the Fundamental Baptist Digital Library, the print and eBook editions of our books, etc. But not before a child he fathered with Stevens died under odd circumstances. Our primary goal with the FBIS is to provide material to assist preachers in the edification and protection of the churches. Hyles arranged for Jennie Nischik to work as a secretary in an adjoining office in the late 1960s, and she would not allow her husband to touch her by 1971. All we ask is that you give proper credit. You are also welcome to use excerpts from the articles. He taught us that to please him we had to keep all the secrets. I literally feared for my very life if I ever told what went on in our home, for fear that it would hurt his ministry. That reknown enabled Hyles to begin crisscrossing the country as the de facto leader of a loose coalition of Independent Fundamentalist Baptist churches. Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago. You exemplify everything in this life that I do not want for myself, my marriage or my children. While most of the lower level was filled, sections of the sweeping balcony were deserted. Kindly, Linda Hyles Murphrey is a liar on many counts! At Ballengers sentencing hearingdelayed three years by appeals, during which time he resumed working in the bus ministrytwo women testified that Ballenger also molested them when they were young. These are not sharable. Menu. Craig Sisson, 52 Nobody there ever drank Kool-Aid. look with favor on an unjust man. This is what happens to preachers who continue to associate with men like Hyles and their defenders. Later Hyles paid to have a room built for Vic over the garage, where he lived without being allowed any conjugal relationship with his wife. Oh, God, that hurts! he shrieked. His dads philosophy is if I didnt see it I dont believe it. When the long-serving pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond stepped down, Hyles got the call. His daughter, Linda Hyles Murphrey, recalls her mother and father arguing over his many affairs with church members. He also had a nasty, nasty temper. We thought to make him happy, we would hate her too. The influx of cash enabled First Baptist to buy large parcels of real estate around Hammondand enabled Hyles to buy loyalty. My dad pastored a church that evolved into a 50,000-member cult. AG. Hyles arranged for Jennie Nischik to work as a secretary in an adjoining office in the late 1960s, and she would not allow her husband to touch her by 1971. in graphic detail, recalls Tom Brennan, who attended the church for six years and is now an Independent Baptist pastor at Maplewood Bible Baptist Church in Chicago. #6. Many people have an attitude of, S. I went to him twice about things I had heard about Dave. He never had restrictions on his life. Way of Lifes content falls into two categories: sharable and non-sharable. The sister that Linda Murphrey mentions, is Jack Schaap's wife, Cindy. helped salvage what was left of my self-respect. Their offices each had a door opening to the hallway as well as the private door connecting the two rooms. You only know about him from a distance and years later. The pastor continued in this vein at some length, proving himself adept at building straw men, creating smoke screens, and straining at gnats. I grieve for them.. In an incredibly short amount of time I have healed much and think I would surprise even you with the strength I have gained. I went to him twice about things I had heard about Dave. A lot of discretionary income flowed through his hands, says a former church member. Linda is Jack Hyles daughter, and it appears that the hypocrisy she witnessed has driven her into the arms of skepticism, which is very sad, but it was not necessary. At this point, the sermons climax, Schaap would heave up a high-powered crossbow and fire an arrow into a red X painted on a fake rock a few feet from his pulpit. The wrath of Hyles and his supporters again rained down. With God's help, I will make my life in California everything that He would have it be and, unlike you, will not fall. My father tried desperately to cover it up. Terry was a deacon in the late 1980's when the deacon board rejected my family's appeal to them to -- finally -- deal with Jack Hyles and his decades-long affair with my mother. And it shall be done., Critics are skeptical. Log in to Reply. DeAnda, a trim 30-something who is spoken of as a candidate for the top job, made no references to sex. After Nischik went public with the dirty business, Hyles tried to blacken the mans reputation and turn attention away from his own deeds in a self-serving letter he mailed to 60,000 pastors. . The major points that these women who knew Jack Hyles agree on are these: that Hyles had a morally inappropriate relationship with a woman who was not his wife, that he lived a double life by deception, and that he was a cult leader who controlled his people as a lord and not as a godly shepherd. Filthy forums serve Satans purpose well. ) didnt dare cross him, because we were too afraid we hate... The sweeping balcony were deserted are free to make him happy, we would lose.. A sermon one Sunday into a 50,000-member cult make copies of these at your own and! 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