Martin Luther Hyles asked me if I would post an account I wrote about one of my experiences with Longview Baptist Temple. So, here goes...

The reason I took a job in Texas was to help me reach LeTourneau University, in Longview, Texas. When I was laid off work from my job as a Laser Technician with IMO Varo in Garland, Texas, on January 14, 1994, I saw it as the opportune time for me to make my move to Longview. My apartment lease in Garland would expire on February 28, I had $2400 in savings, $1000 in debt and I needed about $800 a month for living expenses, not counting moving expenses. My medical insurance would add another expense of $150 a month, now that my employer wasn't covering it, plus the expense of my prescription for Paxil. I was eligible for up to 25 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits from New Mexico (Texas would have been better, but I hadn't worked long enough in Texas to claim benefits from Texas), and I had a final paycheck coming on January 21. It seemed reasonable for me to expect that I could move to Longview now, get a job and be prepared to begin school in the Fall. It looked like my move to Garland from Albuquerque in September 1993 had worked out exceptionally well.

I found an apartment complex near LeTourneau University, but I got conflicting answers from the Ben, the landlord of Country Place Apartments, and his wife. His wife said that they had no vacancies, but Ben assured me that they would have room for me. When it came time for me to move from Garland to Longview, I didn't know if I would have a place to stay or not. I decided to take a chance on these people because, when I walked into the office, I saw hanging on the wall some pictures of Dr. Jack Hyles. Ben and his wife were members of Longview Baptist Temple, a fundamental, Independent Baptist church. I had spent most of my life in similar churches, though a strong division had arisen between the denomination and me only a short time before I moved to Texas. Despite the division, I was attracted to the familiar in this town that was otherwise new and unfamiliar to me.

My Mom flew to Dallas from Albuquerque and helped me move to Longview. When we arrived in Longview, Ben showed me a 2-bedroom apartment. He said that his wife hadn't believed I was coming, so she had rented out the 1-bedroom apartment that he had planned for me to rent. Ben said that he would charge me the same rent as for a 1-bedroom apartment, but I had to agree to take a roommate as soon as one came available. I agreed, so I moved into my new apartment in Longview, Texas, on February 23, 1994. It didn't have a refrigerator, so I was limited on the food I could buy. My Mom did the work of three men helping me move. We were glad when the maintenance man at Country Place Apartments helped us move into my apartment. The maintenance man, Paul, lived upstairs from my apartment. He and his family were members at Longview Baptist Temple, but they had moved to Longview from Arkansas.

Ben introduced me to my roommate, Eric, on February 25. Erik was also a member of Longview Baptist Temple. He said he had just moved to Longview, possibly from Arkansas, under the guidance of his pastor back home, and he arrived at LBT with a letter from his pastor. They were trying to help him overcome his past, and his interest in the occult. He enrolled in Texas Baptist College, the unaccredited college operated by Longview Baptist Temple.

Erik and I argued a lot. I had written a book, Blood, the Bible and Fundamentalism (http://members.aol.com/pooua/Bloodbook.html), in which I showed that the doctrine of blood taught in many fundamentalist churches is in error. When Erik could not refute my arguments, he calmly stated that he trusts the direction and advice of his preachers and teachers, and they oppose what I say. I've long hated this line of argument, because it is possible (though very, very difficult) to get fundamentalist preachers and teachers in private to admit that they are in error, but they will not admit that they are in error in public. Even after they admit that they are in error, they continue teaching their doctrines to people, and claim that anyone opposing them is an agent of Satan. They point to the converts they have and claim that if fundamentalism were in error, they wouldn't be leading large numbers of people to a faith in Jesus Christ. Erik asked his teacher in his Old Testament class about the things I said about Christ's blood, and had seen the look of terror on his teacher's face when Erik told him what I believed. Erik told me not to talk to him about the Blood Doctrine after that.

Despite Erik's faith in his preachers and teachers, he still studied witchcraft. I had a lengthy discussion with him when I found him reading a New Age book on Astral Projection the day after he told me not to talk to him about Christ's blood. He said that he wanted to find if there were a way to send a psychic kiss to his wife, who he had left back in his home state. I suggested that he ask his Old Testament teacher what he thinks about that book on Astral Projection. Erik smiled sheepishly and said that he already knew what his teacher would say. Erik was especially interested in vampires, though he said that he had put that interest behind him.

My move to Longview had taken most of the money I had in savings. By March 15, my finances were near their limit. I had been given a job for 2 weeks on a trial basis at Electronic Service Center, but they decided not to hire me. I had to pay $150 to turn on the electricity and $70 deposit for the apartment. I bought light fixtures, because the apartment lacked them. I had $700 in taxes coming due. Erik had agreed to pay 1/3 of the rent and 1/3 of the electricity, but he had not contributed so much as a dime. He ate and drank my food and orange juice, played on my computer and used my eating utensils. He bought me a gallon of milk. Ironically, he buys groceries for a pair of converts from his church. He said he earned $50 a day as a waiter in a steak place. He was completely unsympathetic with my financial problems. He even fell asleep as I tried to discuss my financial situation with him. I was beginning to have trouble concentrating, perhaps because of the Paxil, which tended to make me a little confused and sleepy. I was beginning to feel dizzy and nauseated, probably from allergies.

In order for me to collect unemployment insurance, I had to be looking for work in the same career field as my employer who had paid my insurance benefits. In my case, that meant that I had to apply for work as a computer, electronic or laser technician. There were no laser technician jobs in East Texas. In fact, there were few skilled labor jobs in East Texas. Electronic Service Center only paid $5 an hour for their electronic technicians, they told me. Most people--and Erik was one of them--don't consider a person to be honest if he is collecting unemployment benefits, as they believe that people should take a job at a fast food joint before collecting. If I had done that, I would have been liable for the unemployment benefits paid me (which was nothing at that point), and, besides, fast food pay could only pay half of my living expenses.

Some Jehovah's Witnesses made their rounds in Country Place Apartments about that time. They competed with the members of Longview Baptist Temple for converts in the apartment complex. When they confronted me, I was able to debate them. As I argued with them in the hall, other people began to watch, including my roommate and Paul's family. Paul's 11 year-old daughter, Rachel, came over next to me and began arguing with the JWs, too.I didn't look at her or listen to what she was saying, but I could hear her next to me. I didn't notice anyone else joining in the debate, which was just as well for me.

That night, as I was reading a book (A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court), Rachel and her older sister, Melissa, knocked on my apartment door. I was surprised, because I had only just met them, and hadn't ever talked with Rachel. They asked if they could use my computer and printer to print some signs for their mother. I led them to my computer and got it set up for them, then went back to reading my book while they played on my computer. I left my apartment's front door open while they were inside, and closed it when they left.

On Monday, March 21, as I was walking across the apartment complex, I saw some of the residents sitting outside at a table. I had a big bag of chocolate chips with me, so I offered some to the people sitting at the table. Only Melissa accepted my offer. As we were talking, I asked where Rachel was. Melissa said, in a flippant, sing-song voice, "In the hospital." I wondered what that meant, so I asked, expecting her to say that Rachel was a volunteer worker or maybe visiting friends. Melissa said her sister had attempted suicide and was in the hospital. I never saw Melissa show any sign of sorrow or discomfort, not then nor later. I was later informed that Melissa has psychiatric problems. But, when I realized that she wasn't joking about her sister, I drove straight to the hospital, where I spent 2 hours with the family. It was heartbreaking to see Rachel in that condition.

(continued)

It was Tuesday before Rachel awoke. She had no memory of Sunday, or of her suicide note. The last thing I did before leaving her side on Tuesday was to hold her hand. At one point, she squeezed my fingers. I thought she might even have smiled at me. I promised I would see her, again, but her Dad met me before I could, and told me that it would be best if I not visit, anymore. I had a bad feeling about that. He said that the doctors were not allowing Rachel to have any more visitors, but I knew that other people were visiting.

Erik told me that Rachel might have attempted suicide because her family was having so much trouble. Her Dad had a violent temper--which I already knew, as Paul had told me that much when he helped me move into my apartment. Paul said not to take it personally, but to beware of it, because he tended to lose control of himself. The family had financial struggles. The breaking point for Rachel was supposed to have been when she prepared a plate of spaghetti for her Dad, and he threw it on the floor. I had heard him yelling and a lot of noises coming from their apartment, so I could believe this gossip. Even so, this did not explain why people were beginning to behave strangely towards me. I knew that some of them were upset that I had renounced fundamentalism and had begun attending Orthodox Reformed Presbyterian (OPC) churches.

Erik said that Pastor Gray, the pastor at Longview Baptist Temple, did not like Erik living in an apartment with me, because he was afraid that my beliefs about Christ's blood might corrupt Erik's mind. Pastor Gray encouraged Erik to move out. Erik wasn't making life any easier for me, except that he was gone for long periods of time. He took a jar of my peanut butter, and gloated about making $100 to $200 a day reselling tires from the junkyard with Randal, one of the other men from the apartment complex. I had $170 remaining, no job and no income. I still wasn't getting money from my unemployment insurance.

There were 3 little girls in the apartment complex who used to play with me. Now, they avoided me. The oldest looked at me with fear and ran when she saw me. Why? The youngest said that they weren't allowed at my apartment, anymore. I had always been kind to these people. I had never hurt anyone. Besides, Christians are supposed to be compassionate on the needy, and I was definitely in financial trouble. When I mentioned to Ben the things that were happening to me, he said that the police would be arriving within 72 hours, suggesting that they would take care of everything. He said this was in connection with abuse that Rachel had been receiving for a long time.

Jerry, a carpenter for the apartments (not a member of LBT, but a regular visitor to the church) had been a bit more friendly towards me than other people, even asking for my advice and suggesting that maybe I could get a job helping people fix their electronic appliances. On Wednesday, he seemed uptight every time I got near him. I had been chasing one of the teenage boys, when Jerry told me, in a stern voice, to go away. He warned me that I would go to jail if I touched the boy. That was my limit. I went from playful to outraged in about 3 seconds. When I got done yelling at Jerry, there were no children anywhere in the yard. Jerry told me to go back to my apartment. I dared Jerry to make me go. Jerry then asked me to go back to my apartment, saying that there was too much stuff going on, and we needed to settle down and take things slowly.

About 2030 (8:30 P.M.), that Wednesday night, March 23, I was sitting at my computer when I heard a terrific explosion outside. I rushed to the sliding glass doors, which faced across the courtyard of the apartment complex. I saw someone over in "A" Building, on the other side of the courtyard, look out their window at me. A few seconds later, a man walked around the side of "A" complex. He was carrying something long, straight and shiny in one hand. As he reached the hallway in "A" Building, he carefully peered around the corner and down the hall. He jumped back, then peered back around the corner. He moved quickly in front of the hall and raised the object in his hand up to his eye and held it straight out, like a rifle. Suddenly, he turned and ran quickly away, towards my left.

I grabbed a broomstick that secured my sliding glass door, and ran outside, looking for that man. I went to Jerry's apartment, because he was one of the few people in the complex who had a telephone, and told his wife to call the police. I learned that the man I had seen was the brother of a woman in one of the apartments in "A" Building. They had gotten into an argument, and he had pulled out a rifle and she had pulled out a handgun. During the argument, the man with the rifle accidentally shot a hole into their apartment's ceiling, and then ran away. Jerry and I went over to the woman's apartment, and Jerry hugged the woman's two boys. After I was done scouting the complex, I went back to my apartment. I found my roommate sitting cross-legged on the floor of his darkened bedroom with his loaded shotgun across his lap. After I explained what I had found, he unloaded his gun and put it away.

About 2300 (11 P.M.), as I was again sitting at my computer, my roommate returned to our apartment from wherever he had been. He looked unusual, a bit shaken. He gently asked me to sit next to him because he needed to explain some things to me. First, he said, people around the complex were going to start treating me much better. Second, there had been a conspiracy to punish me for Rachel's suicide attempt.

Erik, Jerry and several other people had been meeting ever since Rachel's suicide attempt. They were all members or regular visitors at Longview Baptist Temple. Jerry had suggested that the only reason a young girl like Rachel would attempt suicide is if she had been sexually molested. Jerry also said that the only new person around the apartments, the only person that no one really knew very well was me. Every time the group had a meeting, Jerry insisted that I had sexually molested Rachel. He said that I had once claimed to come from Albuquerque, then I mentioned that I had actually lived in Garland. "What's in Garland?" Jerry asked. Jerry suggested that I tried to hide having lived in Garland. He had managed to pursued the group that I was guilty, and they decided to teach me a lesson. They were going to ambush me and beat me to near-death. My roommate, Erik, had offered his support, claiming that he had seen things that convinced him that I was guilty. He pointed out that I had no social life, that I never went anywhere, had never had a girlfriend, but I was always talking about women.

Only Vicky objected, according to most of the people who had been in the group. Vicky was another member at LBT, but she came from Louisiana; most of the others in the group came from Arkansas. Most of the other people were White, but Vicky (and maybe some other people I didn't know in the group) was Black. Vicky said that it isn't right to punish someone when they don't really know if he is guilty. She could not convince the others to abandon the conspiracy, but she delayed them a few days.

Erik spoke with Ben after the shooting incident. Due to some miscommunication, Erik understood Ben (a Filipino with a strong accent and a strange mindset) to say that police would be arriving within a half-hour to arrest the guilty person, and it wasn't the person they thought it was. The guilty person was someone who had been convicted previously of child molesting. Erik reported this to some members of the group. Jerry was immediately seized with panic. When someone asked what the problem was, Jerry could not answer. Jerry's wife then volunteered that Jerry had been convicted of molesting their own daughter, who was about 5 years old when I knew them. Erik then returned to our apartment and told me what had happened.

I told Erik that he needed to tell the other people in the group what he had told me. He was afraid to tell, but I said that he must. If he wouldn't tell, I would. I stopped arguing with him and went to the door of the apartment, but Erik interrupted me and said he would go. A few minutes later, I heard a woman who I thought was Jerry's wife crying loudly and yelling, "Oh, God, no!" I could hear other people yelling.

After several minutes, I got up enough nerve to go to Jerry's apartment. There were several people, inside and outside his apartment. They calmly stepped aside for me. Jerry's front door had been broken in, and I saw him lying on the ground. His face was swollen about twice its normal size, and his eyes were swollen until they were almost hidden. He was a mess from the beating the group had given him. He asked me to call the police. One fat woman had a black toe. She said that she thought she had broken her toe while kicking Jerry in the gonads. Her husband's fists were huge, swollen nearly twice their normal size from punching Jerry in the face. The other people who were standing around all quietly left. Many of them moved out of the apartment complex soon after that night.

I was invited up to Paul's apartment, where I was informed by some of the members of the conspiracy that the beating they gave Jerry was the same they had intended to give to me a few days earlier, if Vicky hadn't delayed them. Everyone in the room agreed that Vicky was the reason the group had not attacked me, and that Jerry was the leader trying to get me beaten. I didn't even know who Vicky was, as I had never met her. For that matter, I didn't know most of the members of the conspiracy. I asked why they had settled on me, when I had not even had any contact with Rachel. Paul interjected that I had allowed his daughters to use my computer. He asked me why I thought that Rachel had attempted suicide, but I said that I would rather not say.

(continued)

About 0100 (1 A.M.), the police made yet another trip to our apartment complex. A fugitive from Shreveport. Louisiana, had been spotted in one of the apartments. The police went in to arrest him, but he had escaped out an apartment window and ran into the woods. He left behind his green backpack. At least 3 police cars drove around the area looking for him for an hour. I returned to my apartment to find Erik again sitting in his room with his loaded shotgun. He said he was going to sleep with it.

Most of the members of the conspiracy moved out of the apartments soon after beating Jerry. I was told that there was an arrest warrant for the fat woman and her husband, but that Pastor Gray of Longview Baptist Temple had offered to pay the legal expenses of the people who had beaten Jerry. Pastor Gray applauded the beating, though he felt that I should not have escaped suspicion. I was told by members of his church that Pastor Gray kept warning his people that I was dangerous and held dangerous beliefs. The fat woman and her husband escaped to Arkansas, and I heard no more about them. Other people who knew of the accusations against me remained in the apartment complex for a few months. Although I don't know of any other attempts by them to attack me on this matter, some of them demanded that I have absolutely no contact with their children. Others later became friends of mine, and we spent a lot of leisure time together.

I wrote a letter to Pastor Gray, refuting what I had heard of him. Somehow, Jerry learned the contents of the letter that I mailed to Pastor Gray, which I then heard Jerry angrily shouting to people in the apartment complex. That was after Jerry got out of the hospital, of course. Jerry always denied that he had tried to lead the mob to attack me. However, most of the other members involved in the conspiracy, except for Ben, insisted that Jerry had tried very hard to convince the group to attack me immediately. I was also told that before Rachel's suicide attempt, Jerry had frequently watched pornographic movies with Rachel and Melissa at his apartment. Jerry moved back into Country Place Apartments and lived in front of my apartment for a few years, despite my protests to Ben about allowing Jerry to return. Ben said that Jerry had to have heart surgery as a result of the beating, and that Jerry was an old man in ill health, so Ben thought it was OK to keep Jerry. I made a visit to Ben's apartments several years after I moved out, and Jerry was still working for Ben at that time.

Erik moved out of my apartment on Sunday, March 27, as he had said he would. Pastor Gray, in his letter of reply to me said that he had wanted Erik to move only because of my beliefs concerning Christ's blood. Erik never paid me anything other than that gallon of milk. He made a secret deal with Ben to work off his rent (I thought he was just being nice by helping around the complex), then left me with the debts. He lived with some Latinos over in Tropicana Apartments, across the street, for a while, and he lived with Randal and Paula for a while before they kicked him out (after he had broken their sliding glass door and their front door). He avoided me most of that time, so I don't know exactly when he finally left the premises.

I met Vicky, and thanked her several times for defending me. She got married soon after that, and they moved into a house. Her sons were attending Longview Baptist School, another school operated by Longview Baptist Temple. I visited the family several times over the next few years. She told me about many of the things that Jerry's and Paul's families had been doing before I arrived in the apartments, and some of what had happened when the lynch mob had met and discussed me.

Ben, in his nervous, excited manner, made me an offer of a fixed $200 a month rent, which I accepted. I knew I would be facing a lot of financial trouble in the near future, and I felt an odd assurance that accepting Ben's offer was the right thing to do. There were times when I could not pay in cash, but he allowed me to work off my rent by doing odd jobs around the property. Ben was an irrational optimist, besides an opportunist looking for cheap labor and quick profits, and he always tried to get things to work out, often to comical or absurd effect.

Rachel came home for a visit on March 28. After spending some time in the custody of child protective services, she was gradually allowed to spend more time in the apartments during the month of April. She returned to as normal a life as poor people in East Texas can have. Paul's family moved to Arkansas several months, maybe a year or two later. I never heard any explanation from Rachel as to the reason she had attempted suicide, and I don't know the real reason she did. I was told that Rachel cannot remember what happened.

One Terrible Night (http://members.aol.com/kpublish/Autobiography/TerribleNight.html)

Ben Tenouyan, the owner of the two apartment complexes, certainly was a weird fellow. Can't really blame LBT for that. He was a petty sort of fellow that took every opportunity he could to take advantage of the less fortunate folks who lived in his dangerous drug infested apartments because they could afford nothing better. I still have dealings with his family regarding garbage collection at the apartments. They pay their bills, but they are ruthless in their pursuit of cheap rates, discounts, and free extra services.

Richard, your experience at the apartments was bizarre. Longview was listed as one of the most dangerous cities in Texas based on per capita violent crime rates last year. A healthy overall economy supports significant drug trafficking in East Texas' disproportionately large disadvantaged minority community.

I find it interesting how many people in the complex are regular attenders at LBT. This is due to the bus outreach of LBT. But to think that this is a positive result of conversion is to be misled. The behavior that Richard described is not the behavior of Christians. Child molestation leading to a suicide attempt, gangland vigilantism, threats, home gun battles, refusal to pay one's share of rent, and the dark shadow of Bob Gray's remote influence even over the lives of these bedraggled people demonstrates a group of people that are non-Christian and whose afflilation to a church does not represent a true Christian church.

The truth as to why these people attend LBT is two fold. First, they receive giveaways and occasional hand outs from LBT. It is not a regular handout. LBT practices random reinforcement similar to classical Pavlovian conditioning used on animals. It is also similar to the random reinforcement in gambling that produces the regular behavior of compulsive gambling. Gray has found a way to mazimize control with minimal expenditure of resources.

It is here noteworthy to mention that Richard NEVER attended LBT, yet his doctrinal stands were called into question and Bob Gray tried to control people that he associated with to get them to stay away from him. I find it to be bizarre that Bob Gray tries to get his tentacles around people that don't even go to his church. But it is standard operating procedure for this narcissitic sociopath.

Richards initial naivete put him in grave danger on the southside of Longview. In some measure his danger was exacerbated by the actions of Bob Gray. I hope readers of the forum will pause and consider carefully the story Pooua has recounted. He has no axe to grind. It speaks for itself.

MLH

I remember the reason we moved to Longview was due to my father going to a Soul Winning Clinic. He moved us to TX after that so he could go to the college and become a preacher. He even admits now that it was a bad decision made on impulse, as opposed to sitting down and thinking what would be best for the family.

After I left the church, I went through a time when I did not speak to my parents for 2 years and after that it was maybe once every few months. I hated them for putting me through that lifestyle. My dad asks me occasionally why I acted like I liked it in my younger years of going to LCA, and I told him it was because that was what I knew. It was how I had been raised, I knew no other way. Once we left, I saw the light.

People get mad at those who say bad things about LBT/LCA/TBC, etc. I think that there was a lot of pyschological and mental abuse during my time there. People do have a right to state our opinions. I think that if you enjoy those kinds of rules and regs, I applaud you. I, however, was a child and it made me very insecure and naive to the world and to having a mind of my own. My father says for me to get over it and move on. I think that I have gotten to that point, but it is also good to air your feelings. That is the best therapy you can ever receive. I now just feel sorry for those who have been damaged because it takes a long time to get over the hurt, pain and confusion. That is something that you could only understand if you went there as an adolescent. I know that my father did not feel that way. I believe that is why they try to mold the young ones. As I said, everyone has a right to their opinion, and you know what they say about opinions.

After I left the church, I went through a time when I did not speak to my parents for 2 years and after that it was maybe once every few months. I hated them for putting me through that lifestyle. My dad asks me occasionally why I acted like I liked it in my younger years of going to LCA, and I told him it was because that was what I knew. It was how I had been raised, I knew no other way. Once we left, I saw the light.

I am curious as to if you still have family there? Did you leave as an adult, or did your whole family see the light?

I left in my tennage years, and shortly after (maybe 1 year) my parents left as well. I never really cared what was going on until about a year ago. I heard some gossip and found James website. It was pretty interesting to hear the same things I had felt so long ago.

I spoke to him one time to let him know he was doing a great job. We had a great conversation and I am sad he doesn't have the website anymore.