Man of God—Pastor Jack Hyles!
Thank God for Dr. Hyles (1926-2001)
I've created this web page as a personal tribute to one of my personal heroes, Pastor Jack Hyles. The song you are listening to was Dr. Hyles favorite song, "Blessed Assurance." One day while browsing the internet, I decided to type in Brother Hyles' name and see what came up. To my dismay, the top articles listed on the search engine were slanderous articles (a bunch of distorted garbage I might add), attacking one of the greatest men ever to influence America for righteousness and God. So I decided to create my own web page to pay tribute (from an honest perspective) to one of the greatest preachers and pastors America has ever been blessed with.
To those who knew Brother Hyles even remotely, they knew that Dr. Hyles was a friend to his friends. Brother Hyles gave away countless millions of dollars throughout his ministry to help others. Volumes upon volumes could be written revealing the greatness and generosity of this great man. To those who would criticize brother Hyles, they surely are barking up an empty tree. I love the occasion when Dr. Hyles was out of town on a speaking engagement. He had stopped in a restaurant for breakfast by himself. The waitress was rude and basically ignored him throughout his meal. When brother Hyles was finished, he left a $10 bill on the table as a tip.
The waitress came running as he was about to leave the restaurant. She said, "Mister, you left your money on the table." Brother Hyles cordially replied, "Don't they give tips here?" She said, "But I was rude and mean to you." He explained to her that he was a pastor and that he realized she was probably having a hard time. He said he understood that she was most likely a working mother, with a lot on her mind. She began to cry, and Dr. Hyles had the opportunity to win her to Christ. What a wonderful story.
On another occasion, several teenagers were throwing rocks at Dr. Hyles office window in back of the church. They had been asked to stop, but kept up their misbehavior. So one day Brother Hyles came out the back door of the church which a fist full of quarters. He shouts, "scramble guys," as he tosses several dollars worth of quarters into the air and then goes back into the church. You know what? Those rowdy teenagers never did throw any more rocks at the church. What a lesson for all of us to learn. Brother Hyles wasn't perfect, but he sure put most of us to shame when it came to serving Christ. Most people would have just called the police on those boys.
1926-2001
Dr. Hyles was a very ethical man. The First Baptist Church of Hammond had burned to the ground in the 1960's. The churches insurance company paid to rebuild a brand new building. Decades later, one of Brother Hyles' employees said he had figured out a way for the church to save a couple hundred thousand dollars a year by switching insurance companies. Brother Hyles said "no," explaining that the churches original insurance company had stood by the church decades ago when it had burned down, "now were going to stand by the insurance company." Dr. Hyles explained to the man that the insurance company had lost a lot of money due to the fire decades ago. He felt it was only fair and ethical that the church stick with the same insurance company to offset their losses. Wow!
How many people do you know today that think or care about others like that? I dare say hardly anyone. Brother Hyles cared about people very much. Unfortunately, as his ministry grew bigger and bigger, it was impossible for him to spend the quality time he wanted to spend with the tens of thousands of people in the church. Sadly, some people get upset and become disgruntled if they don't get enough attention. In Dr. Hyles latter years, he was greatly saddened that he couldn't help all the people that he wished he could help. So many hurting families, so many people in need, one man can only do so much. Oh how America needs more men of God like Brother Hyles!
To those who have read the criticisms of Dr. Jack Hyles, I surely hope that you are smarter than the average bear. In Dr. Hyles book, "The Science Of The Christian Life," he says that "it is often the most sincere people that become the most bitter" down the road. Why? Because they were sincere! They sincerely thought things would turn out a certain way if they did what they were supposed to do. Unfortunately, life is what happens to you while you're making big plans. Many of Brother Hyles biggest critics were very sincere at one time. They expected things to work out a certain way, but things usually don't work that way. So they became disgruntled and bitter.
Success in itself brings many woes and challenges. Many men were jealous of Brother Hyles. I like what Mrs. Hyles says in her book, "Life As Viewed From The Goldfish Bowl" (a great book indeed!). She says, "Men are 1% muscle, 1% chivalry, 1% intellect and 97% ego." I couldn't agree more. I think this is the simple truth behind a lot of the accusations hurly at Dr. Hyles...plain ole green envy. I thank God for Dr. Hyles and his entire family.
Brother Hyles did his very best to influence America for Christ. Unfortunately, many people don't realize (or don't care to realize) the great sacrifices he made. Dr. Hyles could have easily stayed at home with His family every weekend, barbequing and going fishing instead. He could have stayed home, spending all his time with his family and letting America go to hell. But thank God, he didn't (or I wouldn't be here typing this article). Of course, Dr. Hyles did spend quality time with all his family, but not near the amount of time he could have spent if he had just given up on America. Brother Hyles flew millions and millions of miles across America to reach people for Jesus Christ. Oh how America owes a debt of gratitude to this great man of God!
Many of the criticisms hurled against Brother Hyles had nothing to do with him whatsoever. It's amazing how people tried to blame Dr. Hyles for what other people did. Is that fair? No! Over the years, Brother Hyles had employed thousands upon thousands of people to work for the church, college, school, etc, etc, etc. Should it be surprising that a couple of them messed up? Not at all. Read the papers and you'll find that people are people. Look at any organization you want and you'll find less than perfect people. Hey, did you know that 4,000,000 people in America are behind bars? That's around 1 out of every 75 people. So why should it be surprising that any church would actually have a few less than perfect people? Dr. Hyles had some of the wisest and hardest working men any business could ever hope for.
The truth is that some people are just critics! They're slanderous individuals who dig and prod for anything (no matter how ridiculously irrelevant) to attack an innocent man. John 10:10 comes to mind where Jesus warns us about "the thief" who comes to "kill, steal and destroy." So, don't allow these unjust critics to distort the truth about Brother Hyles. With a church membership of well over 100,000 people, there's bound to be someone who is going to get in the papers for the wrong reason.
Brother Hyles was an honest and very financially responsible man. When his critics accused him otherwise, he proved his integrity by documenting his finances. How many corporate businesses can do that? Brother Hyles didn't believe in defending himself so much, but he'd fight to the finish to defend his family, church and friends. Through it all, Brother Hyles made it! He ran the straight and narrow path for the Lord, he ran a great race. Despite the few UNFOUNDED accusations, brother Hyles never quit, never slowed down, never compromised his convictions.
Only God alone knows the tens-of-millions of people who have been saved as a result of Dr. Jack Hyles' 55 faithful years of service to the Lord. He started pastoring a church in Texas at age 19 and never turned to look back. Through many pastorates, he eventually was led by God to pastor the First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana in 1959. There he taught his people to walk with God and reached Chicago for Christ through the the world's largest bus ministry and Sunday school. Dr. Hyles loved his people with an unfeigned love. He led his people for 42 years until his death in February of 2001.
As I mentioned before, I created this web page as a tribute to Dr. Jack Hyles, the world's greatest preacher. But even more than a preacher, Brother Hyles was a man's man, a friend of friends, a pastor of pastors, a business man of business men, a man who walked with God. Brother Hyles quite often spent Sunday afternoons sitting beside his mother's grave, walking with God and thinking about his people. Dr. Hyles refused to wear a robe or clergy outfit because he wanted the average Joe in the church to be able to relate with his pastor. Brother Hyles wore a business suit, clothing that any man in the church could wear. Brother Hyles often said, "There are no big shots in this church, only little shots."
On one occasion, one of the wealthier men in the church had bought Brother Hyles a brand new Mercedes car. Brother Hyles kindly thanked the man, but declined his offer because he didn't want to drive a car any better than what the average man in his church drove. What a great pastor (and friend)! How many ministers do you know who would turn down a Mercedes? Not many! It meant everything to Dr. Hyles that the average person off the street could relate to him (their pastor).
Brother Hyles was perhaps one of the most misunderstood men of the 20th century. Not misunderstood by those who knew him well, believe me...we all knew where he stood. Brother Hyles was misunderstood by those who didn't know him very well. At a distance, many people mistook Dr. Hyles stand against sin as hatred; on the contrary, Brother Hyles built a church with a heart; hundreds of ministries, all reaching out to the deaf, blind, poor, homeless, abandoned and distraught. Dr. Hyles' no-nonsense approach to getting things done sometimes caused people to mistake him for an unreasonable, cold-hearted man. On the contrary, Dr. Hyles had a heart of gold and was the most reasonable man I had ever met, he simply had a better way of looking at things than most of us did.
I once heard someone say they "had never met a successful man who was reasonable." There is much truth to this. The truth is that they are very reasonable men, we are the unreasonable ones - that is why they are successful and most people are not. Dr. Hyles had an immense determination in everything he set out to accomplish. He had "a drive," a drive that so many people lack. Brother Hyles made it a point to show the Christian world that multitudes of people could still be won to the Lord in the new millennium. He refused to compromise (move to the left), but was always willing to move to the right if he was in the wrong. To those who sat under Dr. Hyles preaching for any length of time, there is no comparison. Truly, God has blessed America with such a great man of God!
Thank you Brother Hyles!!!
David J. Stewart, webmaster of www.Jesus-is-Savior.com
A Nation Not Worthy Of Pastor Jack Hyles (a man's still deemed innocent until proven guilty)
