Mega Church IFB Pastor Fired

July 31, 2012 by 3 Comments

As much as I dislike a lot of what happens in the IFB movement, it is never joyful to hear of a pastor’s indiscretions. This is not something to be joyful over. There are people who are traumatically affected by this grave indecency. Mega Church Pastor Jack Schaap was fire due to a pending investigation regarding an alleged inappropriate relationship he had with a young lady of his church. I have written before about my experiences in the IFB movement and many have left comments on this blog about their experiences as well. Pastor Jack Schaap is the Son-in-law of church founder Jack Hyles of First Baptist Church of Hammond and Hyle-Anderson Bible College. His sexist views have long been criticized and rejected by the greater community.

I hesitated in blogging about this just yet, but given the fact that we came out of the IFB movement and have blogged about IFB issues, I felt it necessary to address it for my readers. I know many will rejoice that he was dismissed in hopes that he will be arrested. However, the story is still under investigation by the sheriff’s department, which leads me to assume it was a lady under age. While there are conversations going on in fundamental forums, may I remind us all that the whole story has not yet been released.

I ask for prayer for his wife and the family directly affected by this and as traumatic as this news is, I applaud the church leadership for releasing him from his position. In a spirit of grace, I pray he and his wife can work through this situation and whatever the justice system decides about the matter will be true justice for all involved. Sadly, he just may reap the many years of condemnation he has sown into the lives of others. May this tragic event nurture some real authentic grace in his soul.

Sisterlisa

Related Articles:

Law or Grace, for Jack Schaap?

Jack Schaap used Jack Hyles’ Approach to Church, could be communism

IFB Cult Survivors

Is the IFB a Cult?

Filed Under: Church Culture Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Jump Ship, It’s Sinking!

October 7, 2011 by 4 Comments

Of all the articles I have written on this blog, the ones that gained the most comments and highest hit count were my personal stories from the IFB, (Independent Fundamental Baptist). Comments came in from both sides, those who have been hurt and those who insist they’re the “best” churches in America. When I survey the content of the messages both these groups convey, it becomes painfully obvious that those hurting hearts are reaching out for answers and their ‘speaking out’ has a purpose. When you’re ministering to wounded people, they need to have their pain validated before you can even begin to ‘stand up for’ the groups who have hurt them.

It’s been interesting to see the battle going on about this highly controversial type of Christianity. When the wounded people speak up, the supporters of the IFB are all too quick to bark and bite at the very people who are already tore up. Yet I have more and more people asking me to write more about what we went through. The most difficult part about this is that we still live in the same small town as the IFB church we left. I still see those people at the stores, the restaurants, and at community events.

And they know about my blogs.

I’m not the only person who got hurt. My husband and all my children were hurt. Other people who left and still live in this town got hurt too. There’s a lot of wounded people in this community because of the things that went on there. Their stories are profound and mind boggling.

We’re accused of lying. Some of us have been accused of “backsliding”, “out of the will of God”, “on a slippery slope”, “on our way to hell”, and “heretics”. Oh the rumors have been flying around too. It’s been about 4 years and some folks still avoid us in public, others act like they don’t know who we are (even though we went there for 15 years), and some act super excited to see us with the last word as, “Call me, you know my number.”  Seriously? After being ignored for 4 years, *I’M* supposed to call you?

*shakes head*

Then we get hit by a storm last night. Our carport collapsed….and we get this… “goes to show ya who’s in charge doesn’t it?”

Are you serious?

Why do Christians seem to think that when a home of people who don’t go to your church suffers damage, it’s a curse and when it happens to your pastor it’s a “test of his great faith”?

Give me a break.

Some Christians are some of the most superstitious people in the world.

1 Timothy 1:4 “Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God.”

God is not waiting on the side lines of life waiting to strike you with lighting for not going to church or reading your bible.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the LORD. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” (NLT)

It’s high time that Christians teach the Gospel, which is GOOD NEWS. Not condemnation.

“Westboro will picket his funeral. He had a huge platform; gave God no glory & taught sin.” ~MarjieJPhelps in regards to Steve Jobs’ funeral.

Are you kidding me?

You see, that is the kind of Christianity that the media wants to direct attention to. But I’d venture to bet that MOST of today’s Christians do NOT agree with nor support the Westboro Baptist Church cult.

So why is there such a feeding frenzy on stories like that?

People obviously see different versions of Jesus, but why?

Titus 1:15 “Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted.”

It’s all in their head, folks.

Psalm 18:26 “with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.” {ESV}

But nonetheless, mean spirited people believe they are correct in what they do. The beautiful thing about God is that he doesn’t expect us to give them any attention.

We have the freedom to ignore them. But when the media keeps giving them attention, we need to speak up and let people know that folks like Westboro and the IFB are NOT representatives of the God in whom we believe in.

I am not intending to tell anyone to go against those people, just speak up louder about who God really is to you!

There’s always going to be church folk who hurt others, it’s because they’re fallible humans like the rest of us. But we don’t have to subject ourselves to their harsh condemnation. We are NOT obligated to lay down and allow abuse to take place. We CAN and SHOULD speak up. Don’t be afraid, you’re not alone!

Sometimes the most loving church is the one in the wilderness. Don’t be afraid to jump from a sinking ship. Walk by faith. He’s always with you.

Filed Under: Legalism Tagged With: , , , , ,

Those That Remain

April 18, 2011 by 10 Comments

Leaving a church that you have been deeply involved with for many years is incredibly difficult to do. Anyone who sees others leaving and thinks for a minute that leaving was “the easy way out” hasn’t a clue. It’s never easy to stand up for yourself and your family, especially when so many disagree with your choice. Leaving our former church was a very difficult process that was full of pain and sorrow. Yet we knew it was God who was leading us out.

I know some people don’t understand why God would lead a family away from a church, and at the time it was happening we didn’t know either. Over a decade before we left the church, my husband and I went through a separation. Those years were the most painful years of my life. Our testimony is public, we don’t hide what we went through. When we speak publicly it is the main part of our story. Without the reason for the separation, there wouldn’t be a testimony.

My husband was addicted to drugs and the lifestyle that went with it. His addiction caused him to have not only physical illness, but emotional as well. Using drugs warped his sense of reality and his behavior manifested all the inward illnesses of that addiction. When that behavior manifested, it caused harm to me and our daughters. Over a series of events and extended periods of his illness victimizing the girls and I, a decision needed to be made.

I could no longer hide the incredible plague that my family had been infected with. Those who didn’t know what we had been going through couldn’t understand why I was packing up my girls and leaving. They didn’t understand why we moved without telling my husband where we were going. I just knew I had to go. It was time we were able to find a safe place to heal.

People in our lives tried to offer advice, but they really had no idea of what all the details were and out of respect for the future I still hoped for, I refrained from telling everything. So many people wanted to know more, were frantic at my decisions, insisted they had the ‘right’ answers for us. Some rebuked us for leaving, others pushed for me to file for divorce. But none of these people knew my heart. None of them knew how deep of a history my husband and I had. No one could fathom the  hope I had that he could get help and turn himself around.

I had to leave by faith.

Leaving the church was very similar. Out of respect for the I hope I have for my former friends and their entire church, I remained silent about a lot of what happened. Out of respect for the innocent who have no idea what our departure entailed, I remain prayerful and quiet. They don’t need to know all that I know. If my knowledge could help someone in particular, I would tell only those who need to know. Some things are public knowledge and they can go to the public records and search on their own.

Many have left the same place I left. I have spoken to many of them. None of them have ever said leaving was easy. In fact, of those I spoke to, leaving was very difficult. Why would it be difficult to leave a place where a person is so deeply wounded?

Because we love those who wounded us.

For a while after leaving there was anger. Deep pain that could not be explained.

Healing takes time.

Each person needs time and the amount of time various in each person.

I know that our departure from that church hurt some who remained. I hate that it hurt them. I do not  like  the fact that our departure hurt others. But we couldn’t continue to be wounded over and over again.

I have received messages and comments about my recent articles about the IFB with their concerns about my story, that somehow I’m tarnishing the IFB movement as a whole. I am very sorry they view my story that way.

Allow me to clarify a few things.

I do not believe ALL IFB churches physically or sexually abuse people.

I do not believe ALL IFB churches cover up their crimes.

If there is a leader in an IFB church who is mentally or spiritually abusive I do not believe everyone in that church is.

What I will say is this:

I believe the IFB doctrine is abusive. I believe it to be unbiblical in a lot of ways. I believe it is spiritually abusive and when you put an abusive person in a leadership position behind that doctrine, it heightens the abuse.

Why did I stay in the IFB for nearly 15 years?

I was young, alone, a marriage on the rocks, and no where to go. I learned etiquette, boundaries, and how to work hard.

The women who embraced me, loved me, supported me, they became my sisters. Eventually my husband went into treatment and his life turned around. We had a triumphant reconciliation in our marriage. All glory to God. We both were faithfully involved in the church, our kids were in their school, and we both took their two year bible school. Our lives were heavily involved in and wrapped around the church.

So what happened?

Over the years we saw a progression of questionable things happening. Not only were we seeing continual and habitual problems with some of the leadership, but the schedule of the church programs were so busy that our lives outside the church almost ceased to exist. There was no time to be a family. Everything about the church had become our lives. Over the course of our last ten years there, we watched as hundreds of families quit attending that church, staff members abruptly leaving without notice, others leaving and moving out of state, and all with the same ‘hush hush’ treatment. We were told not to ask about those families and not to discuss their departure with anyone.

Then a teen girl was violated by a youth pastor.

At the time we were told he was fired and that the police were handling it.

The pastor held one meeting with the adults and all teens 7th grade and higher. Children were escorted to another building with an elderly couple.

We were told that this man had violated a girl. Her name was not mentioned, but we were told not to discuss it with anyone.

During the course of this meeting, with each statement the pastor made, another teen girl sat nearby and kept gasping and turning to her mom saying, “but mom!” with astonishment. Her mother kept hushing her. Again he would make another statement to which this girl again, gasped, “but MOM!!”, her mother hushed her again. Another statement was made and the girl again, and increasingly upset, gasped and insisted, “BUT MOM!!!” Her mother silenced her one last time and told her to remain quiet.

After that incident the trust among the people and the leader began to diminish. We were all on edge. Suspicion was high. The people, regardless of what the pastor said, continued to talk about it and stories flew through the church like wildfire.

The church had become spiritually ill.

We saw many families suffer from adultery, pornography, alcoholism, drug addiction, prescription drug abuse, homosexuality among the youth, promiscuity among girls, teen girls cutting, anorexia, bulimia, teen pregnancy, and a lot of bullying among the girls.

While we realize these things are not uncommon in the world today and even among churches, we could no longer remain in this environment.

It was no longer a “hospital of healing” for us. It had become a battle ground of infectious disease that was only getting worse.

We love the people and we pray for their healing, but we could no longer grow there. Our lives were shriveling and we were suffering from this illness.

Trying to hide and control this infection was only creating gangrene and we had to amputate ourselves from it.

My husband has had gangrene before. He almost lost his leg because of it. He had refused to go to the doctor after a motorcycle accident. Hiding an injury doesn’t bring healing. You can cover it, but it continues to fester and it spreads infection through the whole body. The injury needs to be exposed and treated by a doctor and his team of nurses.

When a church is infected, covering things don’t bring healing.

When my marriage was infected, hiding it was’t bringing healing.

Allowing ourselves to be humble, reach out for help, and see The Doctor is where healing begins.

When a pastor and his staff try to cover an injury, mask it with a few anti-biotics, and cover it with a bandage, isn’t going to bring healing.

Miss Jane Doe wasn’t the same person after all that. Her little life was sucked out of her as she tried to persevere and get through her remaining years in the school. She graduated and moved on. We didn’t see her again for a long time.

This last December the public records showed a Jane Doe had filed a civil suit against the pastor, that youth pastor, and the church.

It only took a few seconds to search his name to discover he only spent 3 days in jail before he left the state.

The infection hasn’t healed. The pain still haunts people. The wound is going to be exposed and even in that exposing, people are deeply wounded by many other ‘illnesses’ that are festering in that same place.

I love the people and I pray each of them can find healing.

The root causes has to be dug out from the source and I trust the lawyers and judge will handle part of that root system.

This story is not a pretty glittery telling.

This story is a tragedy.

But how can we find the Gospel in this story?

For our family the redemption of the Lord was when He took us out of there.

The church itself has a few more months before this story goes to court.

I pray for them, but we do not want to go back.

Our redemption story is in our own healing and in our future as we serve the Lord and embrace our community with grace and love. Our story is continually unfolding as we walk through this life in Christ. We walk with a limp. Sometimes our scars are seen. We can’t hide them, but we can reveal them to show the glory of the Lord. He is our Doctor and our Healer.

Jane Doe has scars, but she flies with wings as eagles, because she dwells under the shadow of the Almighty.

Is there a telling in the future for those responsible?

I hope so. I pray that those people can find redemption, but they will need to face justice first.

There’s mercy in humility. There’s redemption in brokenness. There’s grace in exposure.

And love never ends.

A hurting church is wounded and needs prayer. Would you please pray for all these that remained?

Filed Under: Healing, Spiritual Abuse Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Hiding the Pain of the Victims

April 17, 2011 by 2 Comments

For two years I have prayed that the movement I departed from would have their eyes opened to the freedom we have in Christ and begin to really love the least, the last, and the lost. Last week when 20/20 aired their segment on the abuses that have happened in the IFB movement, the responses from many in the IFB has confirmed yet again, that I will never go back.

They had an opportunity to rise up and offer words of healing to victims of abuse, and yet they chose to defend their name instead. They could have openly rebuked those arrogant abusive ‘pastors’ and they could be teaching the people how to vote them out. They could be reiterating the fact that they cooperate with the law enforcement agencies in the prosecution of sex offenders from their groups.

They did not.

There are some matters that can be handled ‘in-house’ such as stealing food from the food locker, when a staff member’s child gets in a battle on the playground with another child, or even when a deacon has trouble with drinking. But when men in the church molest and rape young girls, it’s time to go outside the church for help. When the pastor tries to convince parents not to call the police, not push for a trial, and keep the child silent, it’s time to go to the local law enforcement for help.

Many independent churches don’t have accountability above the pastor. Many churches have submitted for so long that any amount of questioning about how the pastors are dealing with these matters is met with control, hostility, and banishment from their churches.

This is not a biblical church.

The elders, bishops, and deacons in the churches in the bible do not lord over the people.

Jesus said “It shall NOT BE SO AMONG YOU.”

We are all equal.

Yes, even the women.

Just prior to the 20/20 episode there was a blog post by a prominent youth pastor among the IFB who shared a letter he got from a female student from an IFB college. There were many comments on the article. Some were quite harsh, most were outpouring of love and understanding, and several who stood in agreement with the girl. There were some comments that flat out said that the legalism in their movement is a major hindrance in the lives of the people. But my comment was deleted.

Here are some of the other comments he allowed to remain on his blog:

Private
Posted February 22, 2011 at 11:41 pm | Permalink
The young lady in the letter is sincerely asking Bro. Schmidt to help youth workers and parents, but what she may not realize is that, over the years, dozens of kids in his own youth group have turned their backs on God and have pointed their fingers at him saying the same thing, “Our parents and youth workers were not there for us.” Is it Bro. Schmidt’s fault? Did he not have the discernment or wisdom to help them with their struggles?
Maybe the heart issue that needs to be addressed is this propensity of young people to carry bitterness and point fingers. Young people watch dirty sitcoms because they enjoy them. They idolize pop culture heroes because they want to be like them. They listen to wild music because it feels good, and then they say, “If our parents and youth workers had done a better job, we would not be dealing with these issues.” Maybe as youth workers and parents we need to teach our young people to take responsibility for the bitterness and lack of forgiveness in their hearts. Maybe these are the vile, dirty sins of the heart that we are allowing to slip by unnoticed.
God is interested in the condition of our hearts, but every man is responsible for his own heart. I do not see in the Bible where teens and young adults are exempt from this responsibility.

Elsen
Posted February 23, 2011 at 4:32 am
I believe this letter goes very much to the heart of the problem in our fundamental movement. I would add, though, that although we parents have used this supposed “pursuit of excellence” from an external perspective as we raised our children and often had to face serious negative results, if the policy of our churches do not change the emphasis likewise I see 2 things that will be perpetuated: the children will remain in a conflict situation where they hear a church leadership rhetoric emphasizing what the Lord did not; and the PARENTS will continue to be ‘raised’ to promote the externals and not the internal relationship with the Lord Jesus.

Anonymous
Posted February 23, 2011 at 6:59 am
I agree that “Rules without Relationship breeds rebellion”. It is sad when parents miss the mark and think that their rules and consequences of breaking those rules are the end all. You have to have rules, but you have to have the right Relationship (with Christ)! Parents, we’re not being all we can if we don’t get this point!
But I’d like to say that too many teenagers are looking for excuses and too many people parents and youth workers are catoring to that! Teenagers, do you really think that you’re going to stand before God and blame your parents? If you’ve been taught the Bible, than you know right from wrong, the consequences of disobedience and the blessings of obedience! Great lessons all of us can learn from this!

Stephen Nissley
Posted February 23, 2011 at 8:39 am
I guess by the looks of things I pretty much stand alone here. I think this is a joke! Dad gets the blame for the girls rebellion. I have seen this happen many times in my 35 years of preaching but when it does there is something wrong at home. The home is NOT a “good” fundamental godly christian home. The home is a mess! The family is one way at church and another at home, in other words they are phonies! This kind of stuff sells books but all it really needs is strong preaching. My wife and I raised 8 kids in church. We have two full time preachers and one missionary. The rest are serving the Lord in Ind. Fund. KJV Baptist churches. There are many many many just like our family.

Chris
Posted February 23, 2011 at 10:13 am
I wanted to say thank you to the young girl who wrote this to Bro. Schmidt. It must have taken a lot of courage to share that not knowing the response that it would bring. Thank you for allowing God to use you to remind all of us what is important as parents. I’ve been married over 11 years with two young children at home, one with the Lord and one on the way. Every day I try to do what the Bible says I should do as a father, and every day I feel like I fall short. My earnest desire is that no matter who they become or what they do in life, that they will have a heart for God. When I mess up everything else, I always try to share my heart with my kids. I want them to see how much I depend on God and how much I need him in everything that I do. I hope that even though they may not know every Bible story and and may not be able to quote much scripture, that they will have a heart for God. If God has our children’s hearts; He can help with all the areas where we fall short. Thank you again for sharing; it has made a difference in my life and that of others. God bless!

Amanda Rene’e
Posted February 23, 2011 at 12:39 pm
I definitely understand where this younglady is coming from… My dad is an independent fundamental baptist preacher… And I attended Bible College. But I can remember my parents not having time for us because they were so busy as were we with ministry that I think we all lost sight of God’s first institution- FAMILY. I can actually recall setting up a “pastoral” appointment to tell my dad somthing… I was having trouble and needed his guidance and I set up an appointment. When he asked why I did that I replied that it was the only way I knew he would definitely talk to me… If it was on the church books. Needless to say none of my parents 6 children attend church regularly. I know of 4 at least that have very lil if anything to do with God. My brother said that my parents “religion” left a bad taste in his mouth. I guess I wish someone would have emphasized that christian teens have struggles and that sending a kid to camp is not a cure all for lacking parental guidance and love. I am not bitter I would like my testimony to inspire other parents out there to take the extra time…. My dad helped other families with their relationships while all of them in our family fell apart.

And here was my response, that was deleted:

“Dear Brother Schmidt,
I echo the writers words loud and clear. I am UTTERLY thankful that you have HEARD her soul in this and have shared this publicly.

I was in the IFB movement for almost 15 years and the rigid rules almost destroyed my family. We did everything the preacher said we should do to turn out good kids. He promised that his teachings would work every time. But time and time again we saw kids from good homes fly straight into the face of drugs, alcohol, jail, and various other torments. But it’s not just the rigid rules, it’s the hypocrisy of the leaders. (not all of them) but a good number of them who insist their way is the only right way. And when those leaders put their own families on the pedestal, and even their own daughters are highlighted as THE example and the other teens KNOW BETTER.

They see those kids with the pastors and deacons aren’t looking. So I wanted to share with you that it’s not just the rules. It’s the lies. The sweeping under the rug. The constant suspicions of “sin” in others. It’s all these things that take place in many churches, not just those of the IFB movement. It would really really help if pastors would say very clearly, they do NOT have all the answers, that’s why we walk by FAITH. I can’t tell you how many nights we spent crying, sobbing, with our teen daughters when we left the IFB churches. Our family was so crushed by everything, it piles up year after year. The weight of the Law crushes people. We can’t live up to the Law and we aren’t supposed to. Not the OT Law and certainly not the church’s made up laws. We need GRACE. Good old fashioned

RADICAL lavishing GRACE. We need to know that we will all fall at some time or another and that doing all these church activities and scripture memorization is NOT our foundation, our foundation and only Savior is Christ. Preaching at people about sin doesn’t free them from it. Christ does that. Preach grace, please preach grace. Guidelines and boundaries in life is great, it’s part of discipleship..but lets make sure not to allow those guidelines and rules deceive us into thinking we won’t fall.

And lets not be so blind to think that life is all roses and lolly pops. Building our lives around the church isn’t what gets us through life, it’s building our lives on the foundation that does that. Because as hard as we try to build our homes on the rock, the storm still comes and it’s the foundation that stands the firmest. All our brick and mortar, wood, hay and stubble crashes hard. Just like we see in Japan..the foundations of the homes are still there, but the homes aren’t. We are One with our Foundation, One with Christ our Lord. And one last thought..the ones who just may have it the hardest, are your Pastor’s Wives and daughters.”

My plea for help was deleted. He did not email me. I was hidden and swept under the rug. I am not surprised, but I am disappointed. I had tried reaching out to other IFB pastors for help before. This is the third time I got this kind of brush off.

When Jack Schaap first aired his public opinion from his pulpit on the episode of 20/20 he made sure everyone knew how he felt…he stated that his words were ‘the word of God’ and defended  his opinions as ‘standing where God stands’. He was quite sure of himself that what 20/20 showed about him was something to be proud of. But a couple days later the video clips of him stating these things were removed from YouTube as a complaint of a ‘copyright violation’. A copyright violation? For a 2 minute video clip of something he said from a pulpit with a 501c3 PUBLIC ministry? Why delete the video if it’s something he’s so proud of? Then a new series of videos were posted on YouTube with the very misleading title “Jack Schaap’s response to 20/20″ which is a 5 part series on “how great Jack’s ministry is”

Deleting and covering up.

Isn’t this exactly what 20/20 revealed was happening in the IFB movement?

Their responses prove that what 20/20 revealed is true.

“Be sure, your sin will find you out”

A real minister, when shown to be wrong, unkind, lacking compassion, would openly admit it, in humility and love, and seek public forgiveness.

A real minister of the Gospel of peace would offer condolences to the victims and their families.

You see, when tragedy strikes and children are abused, the answer isn’t the church. The answer isn’t the church program of getting donned in a suit and tie, or getting a floor length dress and nylons. The answer is not found in arrogantly shouting about how your low opinion of women is somehow God’s opinion of women. The answer is not found in degrading women with weight issues and making fun of their weaknesses.

The answer is Christ. The response of Christ’s people is love and humility.

Usually the reason someone deletes messages, videos, and comments is due to pride. It’s easier for them to delete, than it is to apologize and admit they are wrong. They think that by hiding what they did and trying to move on as if it never happened will work.

But the victims know better.

It’s easier for them to not address your pain, than it is to examine what the problem is and offer compassion.

It’s easier for them to delete videos, hide their own sin, and keep pointing out everyone else’s sins, than it is for them to humble themselves so Christ can lift them up.

Standing higher on their platforms and shouting louder about how they think their opinions are right is not the way of Christ.

Christ is humble. He came to serve, to love, to embrace the oppressed abused and worn. He came to wash feet. He came to lower himself to the lowest possible place.

I think it’s obvious what a real leader is.

Be wise before you submit yourself to abusive, arrogant, lofty, bull horn shouting bullies.

Find a place of grace where being transparent is welcomed and where the wounded are lifted up and the leaders are humbling themselves to ‘wash your feet’ and tend to your wounds.

I had hoped that someone with a high profile among the IFB, like Jack Schaap, might take this as an opportunity to address the many abuses happening in the IFB and BE A LEADER and stand up WITH these victims and proclaim that all IFB preachers (at least the ones who came from his college) would humble themselves and address this growing epidemic and make the necessary changes to be sure matters like these are dealt with swiftly by local law enforcement.

I have yet to see this happen. And I am free to never step foot in an IFB church ever again.

My salvation has nothing to do with which church I go to. It has everything to do with Christ my Lord. The Savior of all.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Related Article:

Help When Leaving a Cult

Filed Under: Grace, Legalism, Spiritual Abuse Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Is the IFB a Cult?

April 11, 2011 by 16 Comments

There are no doubt, many people in the IFB movement that are now questioning if the IFB is a cult, especially after 20/20 aired their story about 3 women who were molested and raped when they were teens in their IFB churches. The IFB is not the only denomination that has these crimes happening in their ranks. Regardless of whether or not they tell you they aren’t a denomination, they are. They have annual pastor’s conferences, they have specific leaders in their movement preach, they have annual marriage seminars and kids camps they all participate in. They also receive IFB missionaries as guests to present their vision for foreign missions and these IFB churches help support each other’s missionaries. If they weren’t a denomination they would reach out to other baptist churches, but they don’t. They only associate with other IFB churches.

church pastel by sisterlisa, on Pix-O-Sphere
free photo source Pix-O-Sphere

Yes, they claim to be autonomous, yet some of them won’t teach you how to vote a pastor out. If you try to go to another pastor in the IFB for help, you may find it very difficult for them to take you seriously. I tried to reach out to two well known IFB pastors and the CLA and they wouldn’t help. One refused to return my messages, the other sided with the pastor, and CLA continues to support and defend the church I contacted them about.

When we left the IFB, we didn’t want to cause an uproar so we chose to leave with a simple email to our friends that we were going in a different direction in ministry, that we know our ministry could not be supported through the IFB, because we were choosing a ministry not affiliated with them. My husband was rebuked for me sending the email and the pastor ‘told’ my husband not to talk to anyone from ‘his church’.

The pastor on 20/20 said they aren’t a network, but they are.  They don’t ALL connect officially, but they don’t disconnect officially either. My mom was a member of an IFB church in her town and her pastor knew who my former pastor was. He never indicated to me that there was a concern about me going there. Until we left. Then he spoke up. He didn’t say anything incriminating, but he did say he has concerns about the one I came out of and that he won’t associate with the pastor. He said has concerns with how the church is being led.

I had been to this man’s church many times when my mom attended there. He is a soft spoken pastor, I never heard him yell from his pulpit. But as my parents slowly started missing services and walk away quietly, they started noticing a difference in how they were treated by it’s members when they saw them at the stores.

Somehow, at some point in time, something is being taught to the people in churches like these. Something that puts the people into a fear and anger towards those who leave. What are they hiding?

There is an overall teaching that is spread through the camps that indicates that the ‘devil will get you if you leave’. There are stories told about people who suffered awful tragedies after leaving. There’s a story that I have heard taught to teens at a IFB church camp. A story of a man who was a Bible College student that decided to leave the ministry. He had a wife and two sons. One day the man was on top of his roof doing some electrical work. He needed someone to run a line under the lattice covered porch. He asked his little boy to do it for him as he stayed on the roof. This story goes on to reveal that the son crawled into a den of rattlesnakes and began screaming for his life. The dad jumped down grabbed his son out of there, screamed for his wife, jumped in the truck to leave and backed over his other son. Both sons died…because he left the ministry. This story was never confirmed as true. No name was ever given. No evidence at all. To assume it happened BECAUSE he left the ministry and state that as a fact is heresy.

Then we started hearing of pastor’s sons who were killed in car accidents, motorcycle injuries that almost took their lives, pastor’s and deacon’s daughters in car accidents, one deacon’s daughter was in a skiing accident that took her life. Odd how the man’s two sons died out of the ministry and all these were happening within the ministry. They teach scare tactics to keep your kids out of the public schools yet so many pastors and deacons are arrested and convicted of raping and molesting children in the ministry. These stories have all been confirmed as true through various newspapers and public speaking by the children’s parents…the pastors and their wives.

Life and tragedies happen both inside and outside of the churches.

When it happends outside their ministry they call it God’s discipline or punishment on you for leaving.

When it happens in their churches they call it a test to strengthen your faith and permitted by God to be a blessing and help you grow. Sometimes it’s said to be a warning of what could happen if you leave.

I have sat in on numerous leadership meetings and conferences. I was a student at a local 2 year mini bible college. I listened to their teaching for 15 years. I attended the annual ladies conference in Napa, Ca for many years. I have read many of their books, training manuals, and ordered teaching tapes from various IFB preachers, evangelists, and women speakers. All of them teach the same things. I am not speaking about ONE isolated church. I am speaking about the numerous churches and their leaders from all over the country. We have traveled to other IFB churches when on vacation. We have put our kids in their Sunday School classes. Sent our kids to camps and teen conferences from various IFB churches.

If not all IFB churches teach the same things, then I sure live in a state that has a BAD infestation of false IFB pastors and the rest of the country’s IFB pastors should be raising hell over it. oh but many of the evangelists and pastors who traveled from other states have come to my state and supported all these churches, speak at their events, and camps and teen conferences. So I guess it’s not isolated to California.

Is the IFB a cult? Is it a denomination?

You decide.

Just before I typed out this article one of it’s members came to my home to invite me for Easter service.

It’s been two years since we left.

This person knows why we left.

Don’t they EVER STOP???

If you’re from my former church, please don’t ask us to come back. We’re NOT going back. Besides, with all my public testimony coming out, I doubt your pastor would want me there.

The armed guards that block the exists during service is a bit creepy to me. No thanks.

SisterLisa

Related Articles:

IFB Cult Survivors

The Holy Cover Ups

Your Former Church Makes Headlines

Jump Ship, It’s Sinking!

 

Filed Under: Inquisition, Legalism Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

IFB Cult Survivors

April 9, 2011 by 48 Comments

I watched the 20/20 episode about the Independent Fundamental Baptist Cult with as open of a mind as I could get. After being within their movement for 15 years, I wanted to attempt to watch this segment without bias or anger from what I had been through. I watched with a careful and discerning eye and heart to see if there would be any hint of agenda to demonize the IFB unnecessarily. I wanted to make sure I wasn’t ‘seeing’ only what a revengeful spirit would want to see.

church by sisterlisa, on Pix-O-Sphere
free photo source Pix-O-Sphere

They mentioned the case of Lydia Schatz death, which I thought was interesting, because to my knowledge they didn’t belong to an IFB Church, although they did follow the same doctrines as the IFB. I live in the county the Schatz live in and have watched their story closely. I know of many IFB churches in California and have not found an IFB church in the city they were from. So the idea that they were involved in the IFB is a bit misguided and unfounded as any kind of fact. Our local media did break an update on the Schatz story just last night, which I thought was interesting timing given the 20/20 episode airing the same night.

Although I do not believe they were connected to any legitimate IFB church, the child ‘training’ book they used by Michael and Debbie Pearl is sold in the ‘church bookstore’ of many IFB churches, including the one I came out of. I can not comment on whether or not they still provide the book at the cult I came out of, but when I left 2 years ago, it was still being sold in their church book store, along with other books by the No Greater Joy Ministries.

Another part of the 20/20 segment that some might claim to have an agenda with is the portion about women being in a subordinate role in the family and church. They showed a clip of Jack Schaap from First Baptist Church of Hammond, preaching about overweight women in what I perceive as a derogatory manner and he arrogantly stated that it would be a “cold day in hell before I ever let a woman teach me theology”. Fabulous! Didn’t he know that hell froze over?

I have met Jack Schaap. As a matter of fact, my husband and I had lunch with him just over 2 years ago, prior to us leaving the cult. He came to Northern California to preach a “revival meeting’” our church had scheduled. At one time this revival schedule lasted 6 days long and over the years was reduced to a 2 day meeting. During his time here they scheduled for all the local Northern California pastors and other wives to come have lunch with him. They chose the ministry restaurant of a mission my husband and I were on staff with, as the location of the meeting. Due to our position in that mission and our deep involvement with the IFB church, we were invited to attend. What I am about to reveal to you is a short summary of what took place that day.

The room filled with several couples, all of which I knew personally. Their husbands had been taught by my former pastors for many years either in the same church or through the ‘Bible college’ my former pastor teaches at. My former pastor was involved with assisting other churches in Northern California with arranging for these men to become pastors in their locales.  For 15 years I saw and heard these men and their wives teach and preach at various conferences, camps, and meetings all over California. A pastor seated at his table saw Jack Schaap walk in and he said to him, “I feel like I’m in the presence of royalty”, as he shook Jack’s hand.

Red Flag

The assistant pastor of the church, who is the oldest son of the pastor, seated my husband and I at the head table with Jack Schaap and his preacher boys who came with him. I had heard of the skiing accident that took the life of a young lady in his youth group and I asked him how that event affected his church’s youth group. It was an interesting discussion, perhaps I’ll share about that another time. At the close of the lunch there was a question and answer time. Each pastor (and only the men) were allowed to write out anonymous questions for Jack Schaap to answer. My husband and I were seated just to Jack’s left with a full view of the looks on all their faces as he read each card aloud and answered them.

It was amazing to us to hear that all the questions had to do with specific tactics that my former pastor had taught them. Concerns such as, “I struggle with the idea of ‘full time ministry’ and making young people to go Bible College” and “What is the controversy about the KJV about on your church’s website?” There were many more and his answers were what hit us hard. Every answer he gave was an outright disagreement and rebuke of such teachings. Every thing my former pastor had taught these men, that they asked about anonymously, were refuted in this room before our very eyes. The look on the face of my (former) pastor was rather incredible. Flushed red skin, tight jaw, frozen still.

His covers had been stripped.

One of the things Jack Schaap stressed was that the KJV is NOT the “infallible word of God”. He made it clear that day, as well as on his church website back then, that what we have is an English TRANSLATION. He went on to prove this by asking everyone to open their KJV Bibles to a specific passage and to read aloud. Several of them had different words in the same verses.  (Yes, everyone had a Bible at this luncheon. You don’t go to lunch with the ‘royal pastor’ without a KJV Bible)

Jack Schaap preached two nights. One night he preached on pride, the other night he preached on humility. His messages shook me to the core. As much as I dislike a lot of what Jack preaches, God used him that week to open our eyes. I have no evidence of what I’m about to tell you, but by discernment I believe this whole week was planned to do exactly what I saw, as a rebuke to my pastor. It seemed like a set up sting, an intervention. My husband and I have assisted many families suffering from addictions with interventions.

This is exactly what we were seeing.

The very next church serivce after Jack left, my pastor preached about the KJV. He said emphatically with red fired face and shouting at the top of his lungs, “I don’t care what ANYONE says, the KJV *is* THE infallible Word of God!”

Jaw drop.

Is his pride that bad, that the evidence shown to him at the luncheon that day, had no affect on him whatsoever?

There was another situation that happened before we finally left, but I’ll save that for another post.

Many prominent couples left my church over the years.

Some of the left rather quietly, without a word to anyone.

After we left, I searched them out. I’ll share about that soon.

I felt the 20/20 episode was done rather well. After everything I experienced in my 15 years in the IFB, I testify that their stories are not rare at all. My experience should help shed some light on that. There is currently a civil suit filed against a former youth pastor from my old church, against the pastor, as well as against the church. I was a member of that church during the time that this Jane Doe was violated. It wasn’t until after we left that we began connecting the dots. I applaud this Jane Doe for getting a lawyer, now that she’s an adult and can be her own advocate now. Her pastor should have been her advocate.

Pastor Fail.

The man in question served only 3 days in jail and it never went to trial.

The pastor told the church “The police are handling it”.

Everyone believed the pastor. Surely the pastor would do the “right” thing.

Apparently not.

I grieve for Jane Doe.

I applaud Jane Doe.

I stand with Jane Doe.

Jocelyn Zichterman is correct when she stated on 20/20, “Victims are afraid to come forward.”

If you attend an IFB church and you are afraid for your pastor to even know that you are reading all the blog posts about this and watching 20/20 that is a red flag that you are in a cult. no one should be afraid of what their pastor thinks about these things.

A truthful person doesn’t hide such things.

A truthful pastor will openly condemn the abuse happening in the IFB movement.

A false pastor will duck, hide, and avoid questions. A false pastor will make all the victims seem like liars, like they’re exaggerating.

If you are a member of the church I left and want help leaving, I’m here for you. I know how scary this all is. There is support in leaving. If you don’t believe me and think you need to print out my article to show your pastor? It’s ok, it wouldn’t be the first time someone has done that. He’ll probably pat you on the back and tell you, “Thank you. I’ll handle it.” And the moment I get threats again or hate mail I’ll publish every single bit of it. I’m tired of being harassed for telling the truth.

I’m not alone.

I have a lawyer.

Don’t be deceived by the testimony of the “nice” IFB pastor who spoke on 20/20. There are not that many IFB colleges out there, but they are massive and they do teach the same tactics. I have sat in on many “teaching conferences’ and ‘meetings’ where the tactics were taught. I was ‘trained’ up by an IFB pastor to teach and run a ministry ‘just-like-he-does’. Exactly the same way he teaches it at Golden State Baptist College.

The IFB is not a part of a hierarchical structure of over seers. They are truly independent, yet inter-woven in fellowship. There are pockets of IFB cliques that oppose one another, and at the same time will not speak openly about one another either.

Silence is a plague among the IFB.

There are survivors. Some suffered from sexual, physical, and spiritual abuse. Some have suffered from threats, shunning, and bribery to keep the exodus as quiet as possible.

These are my personal experiences and knowledge received through 15 years within their movement. Growing up in Christian Fundamentalism can be a nightmare. Get your families out of there and find a grace filled assembly where you can walk by faith and have healing.

SisterLisa

Related Articles:

Finding Help When Leaving a Cult

When it’s your former church that hits the headlines

A Former IFB pastor interviews me

Jack Hyles’ Approach to Church, could be Communism

Hiding the Pain of the Victims, sometimes you need to get your help from outside the church.

Filed Under: Inquisition, Legalism Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Holy Cover Ups

April 8, 2011 by 5 Comments

I have always tried to make it a point to never bring up a specific denomination in my writings, and I tend to lean away from giving any additional ‘advertising’ to wacko cults who picket the world with hate signs, but sometimes justice is demanded and victims need to rise up together and speak up for the greater good.

We know that the Catholic Church has many heinous crimes of pedophiles of it’s own to deal with and I’m not going to get into targeting them, they have enough media covering that as it is. What I do want to go on record as saying is that stories like Tina Anderson’s needs to be listened to. As a Christian community, we can’t hide these stories or dismiss them as lies. As a certified counselor for victims of spiritual abuse and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder I can assure you that stories like hers are not rare, they’re just rare in getting the media’s attention.

Tonight on 20/20, Elizabeth Vargas presents her Yearlong Investigation Into The Independent Fundamental Baptist Church. You can view a snippit of tonight’s story where Tina Anderson speaks through tears about her abuse and the cover ups that followed.

It is of an absolutely broken and grieving heart that I say adamantly, that I am relieved this has been brought to light. I do not rejoice in evil..as a matter of fact I think the evil that was committed against Tina and many others like her needs to be brought to justice. I do not believe the victims are doing evil by speaking out. One should never victimize the victim further by attempting to say they are guilty of bitterness or an unforgiving heart.

I am firm in my belief about grace, but God is also just. I don’t believe he is an extremist by any means, but injustices done to the oppressed is always going to reap what it sows. I applaud Tina Anderson for speaking up. It takes GREAT COURAGE to do so!

I was deeply involved with th IFB movement for 15 years and I saw so many missing pieces over the years and many times people were hushed into silence with the accusation that anyone who speaks out is a gossip and should be rebuked. The tactics for “church discipline” are widely misused in the IFB movement. I WISH, I could say that stories like Tina’s are rare and isolated, but they aren’t.

My husband was asked to consider becoming a deacon just days before we left our former church. He declined the position and I am so thankful he did. We saw a series of events and lies snowballing and we just couldn’t continue to support their church.

Leaving was incredibly difficult because we knew that leaving would mean questions. The more people who questioned us the more we would have to explain and the more we knew that no one would believe us. We were right, no one believed us. We were called liars, trouble makers, and lies were spread around about us to discredit us so that others would shun us and be afraid to ask us any more questions.

But those who had left before us, did believe us.

I sought out many of the former members, who at one time were dear friends of mine. When I told them we had left, they finally told us their stories too. My husband sought out help from other local pastors and they also confirmed that they knew that the IFB is a cult. Although we lost the friends who decided to remain, we regained the friends who had left previously.

I began searching the Internet to see if anyone else had ever written about this movement and there were only a few small things mentioned. Over the last two years the collection of stories have increased by leaps and bounds.

The hardest part for me, in speaking out, is that I have a few friends in the blogosphere who attend IFB churches.

I am deeply sorry that these stories are difficult to read. I know the first reaction is denial and anger toward those who are speaking up about the IFB abuse. If it was an isolated case then you wouldn’t be seeing stories from all over the country that span back for decades. The next reaction might be to disconnect from me totally. Should anyone decide to do so I won’t hold it against you. But know this, now that you have heard of these incidents happening you owe it to yourself, your spouse, and your children to investigate further. Keep your eyes opened. Don’t allow your family to become victims.

For those who believe it’s time for you to leave the IFB movement, you have support. There are others who have also left and can offer friendship and encouragement to get out. If you have family members who have always been suspicious of the IFB churches, go to them for help first. They can be your advocate and help you leave. You might think I sound a bit alarming about needing help to leave, and that’s precisely the point. It’s always hard to leave. When we left, we were told by the pastor not to tell people why we left, not to contact any of our friends about it, cease all emails to them, no phone calls, etc. Our family was the first to be contacted so we could have support in leaving.

Many IFB pastors have said that these are isolated incidents, but it keeps happening in their movement. The same scenarios play out. The same way of covering up. The holey cover ups. They are full of holes. They misuse scripture to make you feel like you’re the one doing wrong, they try to justify their accusations against you as ‘discipline’ for your ‘rebellion’. Some IFB leaders have even used information you shared with them in counseling sessions as weaponry against you to keep you quiet.

So, for Tina Anderson and others like her, I stand with you.

I don’t want my blog to become an Anti-IFB resource, but over the next few days I will be sharing just a few more things about this then resume my regular style of writing.

Be safe. Help raise awareness. Offer support to those needing help to leave.

** An additional note: If you are an IFB Pastor you should be proclaiming loudly to your church about such matters and putting yourself and your staff in the hot seat of accountability so your church members know you aren’t hiding these kinds of stories. I don’t want to hear any rebukes from ANY of you for writing this article. If you will stand by these victims by boldly sending a message to all IFB Churches that you will NOT tolerate any kind of abuse or cover ups like this and you take a stand about these matters then I would applaud you. For anyone who tries to silence or belittle the victims, shame on you!

I realize that some from my former church may see this article one day and all I can say is that if you attempt to harm me for speaking up, you are best to leave me alone, but if you want help leaving the IFB Cult, I would be glad to assist you.

Recommended Resources:

Spiritual Abuse Awareness

Spiritual Abuse

IFB Watchdog

Ind. Fundamental Baptist Deception

Paradise Recovered

WellSpring Retreat Center

Cult Info

Filed Under: Legalism, Spiritual Abuse Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,