Looking for Hyles' converts

Hi Brutus,

I was talking to some other folks about this, and a man mentioned a neat story.

He said he was in some little town as a guest preacher several years back. Dr. Hyles was also a guest preacher either at the same time or a week or two earlier. This man went out knocking on some doors, and met a lady who said that a man had been visiting in town and had come to talk to her about Christ. She had believed on Christ as her saviour through that man, but she didn't remember his name. Through more discussion, they figured out it must have been Dr Hyles who talked with her.

 

Sorry--I was wrong. It's so hard not to comment on an interesting aside. Now, I know why it is so hard to break my coon dogs from chasing rabbits.

 

To jog this dead horse back into life, please allow me to offer a couple of observations and speculations.

1. When Jack Hyles was a young pastor, he was probably more active in the door-to-door type soul-winning that he advocated. Since his ministry grew from a small beginning, it is reasonable and likely that he did this. He had a couple of small churches in Texas including Miller Road Baptist Church in Garland with an attendance of less than 50 when he went there. It is very likely that he was very active in aggressive door-to-door soul-winning. Later, he was not apt to spend three or four hours per week doing door-to-door witnessing when he became a very busy national figure.
2. I have no reason or evidence to believe that Jack Hyles did not witness after becoming famous (some would prefer infamous ). Although I did not know Hyles personally, I have been with other prominent figures who routinely witnessed on the street, in restaurants, in elevators, etc.
3. If 1 & 2 are accurate, then the following are reasonable hypotheses of why we cannot find more Hyles converts:
a. Many of the early converts are dead or in nursing homes (Hyles died at 74 years old in 2001)
b. Many of the later converts are people who met Hyles in passing and may or may not remember who he was.
c. Let’s suppose 1,000 people (that’s almost 3 per day—a very high number) a year for 50 years (total 50,000) prayed with Hyles and said they believed in Christ:

25,000 (50%) were not genuinely saved or have backslidden—i.e. seed fell on stony ground or among thorns
5,000 (20% of remaining) are dead or in nursing homes
5,000 (20% of remaining) do not have Internet
2,500 (10% of remaining) do not remember his name or know who he was (Millions and millions of Americans have no idea who Jack Hyles was. It is esoteric knowledge for us since we move in our limited circles of Fundamental Christianity.)

That leaves 12,500 people that we are trying find on this board. What is the probability that 12,500 out of the millions of Internet users will be on this one particular board of 14,000 users? How active are the 14,000 users and how often do they check the board?

Let’s try a little experiment. The Cloister at Ephrata PA (German Seventh-Day Baptist—the only Baptist monastery in America) has probably over 100,000 visitors annually. The annual visitors to the Ephrata Cloister are double the hypothetical lifetime converts of Jack Hyles. This historical site is of great curiosity to people interested in Baptist history.

How many readers on this board have visited the Ephrata Cloister?

Since hundreds of thousands have visited Ephrata over the years and this is a Baptist board presumably with a high interest in Baptist history, we will posit forty to fifty responses.

It will be interesting to see how our reasoning and Internet survey methodology holds up. The proof is in the eating.

 

If anyone is seriously interested in finding Hyles’ personal coverts, then I suggest radio and newspaper ads in the following places:
Bogata, Texas
Marshall, Texas
Henderson, Texas
Garland, Texas
Hammond, Indianna

 

paid, I have heard that Jack Hyles pastored Southside Baptist Church (SBC) in Henderson, TX. I notice you list Henderson. Do you know if this is correct? That was years ago when I heard that. I graduated from HHS, but his presence in the town would have been before my time. Seems the story was that was his first pastorate, but my memory may be slipping (and the info may have been wrong to begin with).

 

So if Hyles only won five people to the Lord per week instead of 21, the odds of finding a Hyles' convert would be even less, eh?

 

BTW, I have met people who have been converted at a Billy Graham crusade.

 

Ive never even heard of the Ephrata Cloister.....

sounds interesting though.

 

How many? Paul, you move in Christian circles and know many, many Christian folks. Having lived in the South, I know many more people saved under the preaching of Oliver B. Greene than Billy Graham. This, of course, is not a scientific sampling since Oliver B. was from this area and Billy only came a few times.

However, this is somewhat off topic and probably deserves a thread of its own. What constitutes true conversion? IMHO, preaching that carries a strong condemnation against sin and a calling for repentance is more likely to win true converts than a mere positive sales appeal of this is too good to miss. A good salvation message holds forth the opposite facets of judgment of sin and hope in salvation--it is a balanced appeal.

 

Yes.

 

Yes, according to the following web site: http://www.swordofthelord.com/biographies/HylesJack.htm

 

</font>[/QUOTE]I am not certain that this was his first pastorate.

 

Paid,

You are correct. With the massive crusades of BG, I've only met a few.

So I understand your point.

 

Paid,
You made some interesting remarks about Oliver B. Greene and Billy Graham. My first pastorate was in down east NC. A small church of about 120.
This was about 1998. Alot of the folk were then in their late 60's early 70's. This was Roanoake Rapids, NC. There were several people in that church that were saved under the preaching of Oliver B. Greene. Folks in other area churches were also saved by his preaching. The thing about it was this. He had held a tent meetings there probably 40 years earlier and alot of people in that town would still get emotional when talking about those series of meetings. IMO that whole region of NC was still running on the fumes of those evangelistic campaigns that many years ago.
I think what I just described was a great testimony tho Bro. Greene's ministry.
Also, this doesn't prove anything it just goes along with your post. My mom's sister made a "decision" at a Billy Graham crusade. Her first husband shot himself, her second husband cheated on her with her best friend, her third husband treated her like a dog until he overdosed on some pills because he couldn't handle living after a stroke. Her son was a drug addict who is now 32 divorced with a son, living with his mother.
She made the decision in her 20's but hasn't ever been faithful in church her whole life. She has never looked to God through all her disappointments. Instead she has looked to the wine bottle and anti-depressants. Her life resembles nothing of a christian. Yet, my mother who is saved will always defend her sister's decision back in those early 20's. So, who knows.
Now some want to discuss easy believism and things like that.
Well, my dad has been a faithful follower of Christ for 32 years now. Here is how he got saved.
He was sitting in church and the pastor was preaching on Jn. 3:16. Dad said the preacher told the folk that if they were unsaved to just put their name in the place of "world" for that verse.
My dad said he repeated 3:16 placing his name in there. For God so loved "Henry that He gave His only begotten Son that if "Henry" would believe in Him he would not perish but have everlasting life. Dad said he just thought about that sitting there that day. He told me that his dad had never vocally told him that he loved him not ever in his life. So while he was sitting there repeating Jn.3:16 as I stated earlier he just simply came to the conclusion that nobody could love him like that. He got up walked down the aisle and gave his life to Christ. Just as simple as that.He has been saved and living for the Lord ever since.
IMHO I believe coming to Christ is very simple.
Both my aunt and my dad made decisions on a particular day. With one it was genuine with the other by the looks of it was not. I believe it all goes back to what it says in Rom. 10 "It is with the heart one confesses". It has to be. I love the fact that the thief on the cross passage is in the Bible. All that fellow could do is believe with his heart. He couldn't get baptized, He had no time to be followed up,etc... You get the picture. We don't know what kind of believer he would have been but we do know he must have believed with all his heart because what he believed in his heart was all he had. Jesus said he would meet him in paradise.

Concerning Jack Hyles, I don't really care how many folk he won to Christ. The fellow that started this post must have alot of time on his hands. I mean what is the point? How is that kind of book going to be edifying to anyone? It is like beating a dead horse. I mean who really cares? I mean cmon DR. K if you really have a PH.d then go write a book on some problem passage in the Bible or something. Make a worthwhile contribution with your skills to the body of Christ don't waste your time and effort on a fellow who is just going to be a blip on the radar screen of baptist history. Here I'll do your work for you. Jack Hyles: flamboyant, charismatic man. good pulpiteer for awhile, built a big church, got to reading his own headlines came under scrutiny for questionalble behavior with women. Some love him even today in a cultlike fashion, some think he was the worst thing that ever happened to fundamentalism. Now he is dead,end of story.
My only observation about the Hyles ministry and FBH is this : If everyone was truly saved that the church claims to have baptized then the ripple effect of such a movement of God would be gigantic. I'm not being fecicious saying this I'm telling you if through the years if just 25% of those converts led someonelse to Christ then "Chicagoland" would be considered the new bible belt. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the numbers on the claims of FBH.

 

Just got an e-mail from my source at FBC of Hammond. She told of an older man whose wife had prayed for him to be saved for 50 years. He was won to Christ by his son while in the hospital for surgery 3 years ago. He went forward for baptism this past Sunday. Say what you want, criticize Bro. Hyles, look for his converts, whatever. At any rate, folk still get saved in Hammond.

I posted early on in this thread when I thought the OP was a genuine request for information. Comments later by the originator of the thread makes it look like whoever is writing the book just wants to criticize.

Now that ya'll have spent a lot of time on the subject, go out and hand out a few tracts, visit a sinner, pray for someone you love to get saved, or come over to the "Missions/evangelism" forum, or something.

 

Peope have to Christ through the preaching of non-Christian pastors who were giving a sermon probably prepared by someone else at the denominational headquarters.

 

Amen John. Let's not be so critical pf someone who cannot defend himself. Too much of that anyway.

 

As of date, no one on this thread has come forward and admitted visiting Ephrata Cloister. Where are these folks? Using the same reasoning that we used for Jack Hyles, the Ephrata Cloister must not be getting any visitors. Well, so much for our scientific sampling techniques!

 

And I for one will rejoice when this happens, as I am sure you do. As Paul taught us, if the Gospel is preached even by someone trying to get him in trouble, he rejoiced.

 

As of date, no one on this thread has come forward and admitted visiting Ephrata Cloister. Where are these folks? Using the same reasoning that we used for Jack Hyles, the Ephrata Cloister must not be getting any visitors. Well, so much for our scientific sampling techniques! </font>[/QUOTE]I've enjoyed your whole string of logic here, Paidagogos. If the Ephrata Cloister is anywhere near Lansdale, PA, maybe I'll try to visit it when we visit our son at seminary.