My separation from the ifb movement
JANUARY 1, 2020
I am a member of an independent Baptist church. In fact, all of my life, I've attended a Baptist church. I have a degree from an independent Baptist college. As of January 1, 2020, I officially state my separation from the IFB movement. I can no longer sit by and follow men who treat God's people poorly. Multiple pastors have refused to report abuse in their church, and some have even attacked the victims. And yet, these men are still being asked to speak at conferences and colleges. And the "big shots" in the movement say nothing publicly because they are afraid their "kingdom" is going to be hurt. Big name preachers who have Bible colleges and national youth conferences don't have the guts to name the names of the wolves in the IFB movement.
Bob Gray Sr- I spent nearly 4 years under his ministry in Texas. I admired him greatly. I was accepted by his college before I decided to attend elsewhere. I could not be more disappointed in him over the past decade. He yoked up with Greg & Tom Neal and spends his time bashing his son Bob II. How can you, as a father, attack your own son? So what, he does ministry work a little different than you do. He's your son! Be glad he loves God. And FYI, you would've done far worse to a retired pastor evangelist who had an online Bible college while you were chancellor at Texas Baptist College. You don't even belong to a local church. And every blog post you write has the name of Hyles mentioned multiple times. You worship Jack Hyles, and your sole purpose on this earth seems to be to continue his legacy.
Jeff Fugate- I attended Commonwealth Baptist College for 2 years and earned a Bible Degree. I like Pastor Fugate, but he seems so caught up in the work of the ministry, that people feel like collateral damage. While Greg & Tom Neal were bashing Cameron Giovanelli's victim, you had Greg & Tom preach chapel for Commonwealth. I'm sure it was only because they had students attending at the time, but seriously why? For the record, I spoke with Pastor Fugate recently, and I believe he is not associating with the Neal's now that Giovanelli has been convicted, but why won't you publicly rebuke the Neal's and apologize to Sarah Jackson that you had them in your college pulpit? And why did you have Bruce Goddard in the pulpit over the past few years? Have you read the reports of several victims who emphatically state that they reported their abuse to Bruce, yet he said NOTHING. Some of these people suffered for 30 years, and he has yet to apologize. Make a statement. Apologize to the victims that you associated with a man who didn't care about them.
And there are many other preachers that carry the IFB banner who are in it for themselves and their own kingdoms. Bill Reeves is a bully, crazy man who is leading a border-line cult in Nebraska. He belittles the children of God, and he attacks them personally if they leave his church. Yet, it's crickets from the big guys when it comes to Reeves. And don't get me started on John Hamblin. Has there ever been an evangelist who thinks more of himself than him? I doubt it. I've watched him preach the message, "The Kind of Preacher Jesus Would Still Go Hear Preach Today" several times in front of many national leaders of the IFB. And you guys sit on the platform and "a-men" a message which is a disgrace to the name of Jesus and a complete perversion of Scripture. You want to know why you sit there and approve of that? Because Hamblin is "carrying the mantle" of fundamentalism. Because that's all you care about. Do you think the people in your congregation who are suffering in sickness and struggling Spiritually are going to benefit from preaching like that? How is that going to help their depression? How is that going to encourage those who just lost a loved one? If you really cared about God's people, you wouldn't use their tithes and offerings to have a guy come in and feed them that garbage.
This movement has ignored the subject of pornography. I've battled with this since I was a teenager, but most preachers don't talk about it because they are struggling with it too. But they can't say anything because that would make the "man of God" look human. Meanwhile THOUSANDS OF MEN struggle in silence because it's all about the "man of God." The only Man of God was Jesus. Period!
There are men like Bob Gray II, Stacey Shiflett, and others who have taken a stand, and do you want to know why? It's because they have already quietly left the movement. They love God's people more than any man-made movement. They are quietly leaving, and I am thankful for it.
Today, I call on all church members, assistant pastors, local church evangelists, and others to publicly state your independence. It's time to get out of this mess. It's time to leave the movement. You can still hold to the fundamentals of the faith. You don't need conferences to attend. You don't need a "national leader" to look up to. We have the Holy Spirit to guide us. My allegiance is to the Lord and my local church, and that is it. I'm out!
