Tales From The Temple by James T. Spurgeon PAGE 1

The Texas Baptist Crucible
(The first three chapters)

Tales From the Temple

By

James T. Spurgeon

jspurgeon2@aol.com

A True Story

copyright 2005 James T. Spurgeon

Prologue

What you are about to read is real. Few of the names have been changed. Some of it may be hard to believe and most of it will seem strange to people who have never had any experience with right-wing fundamentalist Christianity. But I assure you that all of what you are about to read is authentic.

My name is James Spurgeon. I am the 35 year-old pastor of a conservative, evangelical Baptist congregation in the southern part of the United States. I am married with four children and live what most would call an ordinary Christian life. But my life has not always been what it is today. When I was still in high school my family got caught up in what is known as the Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) movement. The stories you are about to read describe my experiences within this movement and my eventual liberation, by God's grace, from it.

This book is not an indictment on the IFB movement as a whole, nor is it an indictment on the thousands of sincere, God-fearing Christians who people those churches. What I am about to describe took place in what is considered even by those within this movement as the right-wing of the movement - the extreme side.

I considered myself an independent fundamental Baptist from the time I was 17 years old until I left the movement at the age of 25. I am still conservative theologically and consider myself to be a little more conservative than the average evangelical of today. I'm still a Baptist and love the old-time Baptist doctrines of grace. But God has brought me a long way from where I was in the early days of my youth (I'm still young, you know).

Neither is this book a how-to manual on surviving IFB colleges and churches. Many of the things I did as a youth in Bible college were wrong. I should not have done them. I do not want anyone to think that I am endorsing rules-breaking or misconduct at any institution, Christian or otherwise. Many of the difficulties I had I brought upon myself. What I am giving you is a realistic portrayal of my conduct as well as that of those who were around me at the time - warts and all. The right and wrong of my actions I leave for you to judge. God has dealt with me over time. I am simply telling it how it happened.

I first began telling stories of my experiences within the IFB movement right after I left it. Many of these stories were received with incredulity and sometimes even skepticism. To those who have never experienced a right-wing IFB church, my stories seem a bit unreal. Nevertheless, when the occasion arose I would recount some of the amazing things that I went through as an IFB "preacher-boy" and doing this could keep people amazed and entertained for hours at a time.

Not long after I discovered the internet I began recounting some of these tales in written form and immediately began receiving requests for more. My purpose was multi- faceted. For one thing, I wanted to make a written record of my experience for posterity's sake, before the memories faded. For another, I thought maybe my stories and the fact that I survived might be an encouragement to others who had experienced similar things that God still loved them and that they could make it too. There was also the entertainment aspect of it. People were simply enthralled by my stories which I entitled Tales From the Temple.

When I first began posting these Tales to the internet I received a lot of positive feedback. There were many people out there who were hurting from bad experiences in