Church Services, Preachers

Yelling Down People In The Audience

223 Comments

So much for people who were hoping the “tone” would change at FBC Hammond now that John Wilkerson is their new pastor. Apparently he’s on board with this kind of perverse “preaching” continuing or else is powerless to actually stop it.

Update 1: I apologize for my hasty comment about John Wilkerson. I misunderstood the date he will start at the church and believed he had already taken his position there. Apparently he will not be starting his role until the 17th of February.

It will be interesting to see whether or not these types of incidents continue under John’s leadership. We will be watching.

223 thoughts on “Yelling Down People In The Audience”

  2. Larry Smith caused FAR more disruption and harm than the guy who was talking and the “love” comment makes me want to puke.

    1. Apparently you can be as nasty as you want to someone as long as you end with “love you.”

      1. That comment was disgusting and the fact that he ended with “God Bless you”, shows what an arrogant pig he must be.

        1. HAAAYYYYY-MAN!! No. It was HEY! 😯

          DISGUSTING. If the “talker” is enrolled at HAC, I hope and pray he withdrew the next day.

      2. Right! Oh and dont forget that only the preacher can speak to someone that way, but let us not DARE say anything slightly critical about the MAN of GOD (so called)
        This ‘preacher’ is demonic and Satanic.

  3. Well that guy is no different than Schaap, though Schaap and Hyles would act like jerks to people.

    Larry Brown on the other hand at pastors school would just act like Don Rickles and make fun of people talking and say they’re on the way to hell with Paul Crouch and DC Talk. True story!!

  4. Just listen to all the “Amens, That’s right, Com’ons & nervous laughing” from the ‘Audience’ at FBH. Tells me that nothing has changed since the Schaap scandal. Still the blinded, self-righteous, legalistic Pharisees they have always been, and will continue to be. Don’t expect anything good to come from FBH, except a show to the world of what IFBxdom really is. Thank God in His wisdom, He allows the poison to surface for all to see. May Christendom have the “eyes to see, and the ears to hear” and the godly wisdom to turn from IFBx’s loveless, Christless gospel.

  5. This is a perfect example of what is wrong with the way church is being done. This Omnipotent Pulpit -v- the passive pew. Preaching is nothing more that a sanctimonious lecture series. Lectures have their place but when it’s all lecture then it becomes nothing less than indoctrination and propaganda.

    Yell, scream, shout, cry, emote, or light up your butt and fly around the sanctuary… all it is is preachertainment. It is about the guy in the pulpit being the grand pooh-bah, the HMoFoWAIC, the Big Cheese, the smartest guy in the room and everyone had better give him their undivided attention.

    Tyrany begins in the church. Once tyrany is accepted in the pulpit it will not be long until it’s accepted in the culture at large.

    I would hate to think that I was in a church where god is so small, and the Holy Spirit so impotent that a side conversation was able to quench his ability to work in people’s hearts. I would hate to think that I even claimed to worship such an undeserving, weak, frail and inept god. 😥

    2. Any speaker needs ways to deal with interruptions and distractions. As a former teacher, I’ve been there.

      But this approach is not a useful one. It just diminishes the speaker in the minds of the hearers. And he makes at least one enemy every time he uses this tactic.

      1. Apparently not the minds and hearers of FBH! They seemed to encourage the speaker, maybe that’s one more reason why he kept going back to the talker. He felt empowered to do so.

      2. I guess the question in my mind is: is one guy whispering to his friend really THAT big of a distraction?

        1. As cycnical stated, LS was there to boost FBH’s giving/offerings cuz that’s what his message contained. So, when some young whipper-snapper distracted the potential ‘givers’ around him from the message, it made LS see red and he let’em have it from the pulpit. THAT was the real distraction!

  6. Well, listen to what Smith was saying prior to the talking incident…about some guy & a cheese factory going broke(Money & Power is their idols) Yada,yada, yada….one illustration after another, very little scripture, and usually taken out of context. It is their ‘god’ that is so small and impotent.

  7. I hope “Dr.” Smith can appear on TBN, I’m sure the Crouches would love him!!

  9. This is the face of pure hate. This is the type of “preaching” the powers-that-be at FBC think their sheeple need during this time of having no pastor. The main theme has been to ream the people out…as if it is THEIR fault their pastor couldn’t keep it in his pants. As if it was THEIR fault their pastor got them head over heels in debt. As if it was THEIR fault the church has a black eye in the community, in the fraternity, all over the world. The tenor of most services in the absence of a pastor has been, “You people need to get over it and get your act together.” Giving had been down in the church, so this “Larry Smith, evangelist” was asked to speak TWICE on tithing, to scare the people into opening their pocketbooks back up and get the cash flowing again. Yes, the face of hate….really does a lot to inspire, bless, and encourage, eh?

    1. “We wasted and mismanaged the money you gave us before, so now you need to give us more. If you don’t, God will curse you.” 👿

  12. His website is full of personal boasts about what he has given financially. The funny thing is, his “ministry” is helping churches by preaching about faith promise. The NT principal is to give cheerfully and “unto the Lord”. Not sure how bragging openly makes you qualified to teach others to give biblically. Just e-mailed this joker to tell him what an embarrASSment he is.

      1. He did respond, which I was not expecting seeing that his website has obviously not been maintained in years. He didn’t address the issues I told him were alarming. It was a traditional “Irish blessing”. “May the lord bless you and keep you and make his face to shine…..”etc.

        2. We know from his video that when this guy says it, “God bless you” means “F— you,” so responding with “May the Lord bless you and keep you …” was in character for him.

  13. Went to the great FBH youtube and watched the message in its entirety. I thought maybe that could be out of context (even though I couldn’t see how) well… I learned while he was in Arkansas he saw, thousands then he corrected himself 10,000 or more people saved. I love humble servants.

  14. At about 0:33 – “I hope to God you aren’t in my…”
    What the heck is he saying at the end of that statement? Drizzle list? Lead system?

    1. at 0:33 is: “I hope to God you aren’t a Hyles-Anderson student.” Reminds me of stories from my mom who went to college there. Woe to the college student sitting in the mezzanine who whispered or fell asleep. The mezzanine was on eye level with all the staff members who sat on stage…and discipline would descend.

    2. You’ve got to admit that sermon video was very cleverly faked. Indistinguishable from the real thing.

  16. Hey, I just noticed, that pulpit is made out of fullahshittem wood. It has that nice brown stained patina and gives everything being said behind it that nice hollow sound.

  17. I’m not a violent man (and I know he’s old) but I’d just like to bust his chops. What an arrogant slimeball. 👿

  18. The video made me physically sick.

    1) Using the “sacred desk” as a tool for cutting down a guy who couldn’t defend himself.
    2) The repeated jabs after the initial unjustified result.
    3) The sarcastic, self-satisfied smile.
    4) Worst of all, the shouts and amens that egged him on.

    Somehow, when I saw this man, I did not see Jesus, the One he claims to represent.

  19. Dear Larry,

    Hey! You are a pompous, arrogant, condescending ass.

    Love you! 🙂

  20. Wow, that was really cruel and unnecessary. The sharpness of his tone scared me. This preacher is bound by I Cor. 13, yet he totally disregarded the entire message of the passage. What a very, very mean man I just watched (sorry I have those images in my mind now). Why do people pay to be abused like this? This is NOT Christ-like. Dear God, please have mercy! I’m unclear if this is their permanent pastor. Surely not. Dear God, please no!

    1. “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1 NIV

      Is that verse edited from “Dr.” Smith’s Bible?

    2. Even in the last fundie church I attended, I don’t see the pastor ever doing this. There were lots of times the youth would start cutting up, like youth tend to do when the sermon gets BORING…the pastor wouldn’t yell, he’d simply say, “I know who your mom and dad are. I’ll be talking to them later,” and then keep going. But publicly humiliate someone because you’re “preaching the word of God?” Never.

  21. This is an e mail I sent to Larry Smith

    Bro Smith

    I recently viewed a video of you preaching at First Baptist Church in Hammond, IN. In the video you rebuked a young man for talking while you were preaching.

    Your rebuke to that young man was out of line.

    First, raising your voice to the young man was humiliating. Perhaps the young man was being rude by talking during the preaching but embarrassing him publicly was cruel and hurtful.

    Second, you told the young man that he needed to get right with God during the invitation. If you feel the need to publicly humiliate someone over simply talking during the preaching then maybe the invitation was for you.

    Third, you told the young man that you hope people talk during his preaching if he becomes a preacher. You should instead hope that if the young man becomes a preacher he will be used of God to show His love to a dark world.

    Fourth, you told the young man that “you reap what you sow.” Bro. Smith, if you sow hostility to others you will reap hostility back.

    Fifth, you told the young man “I love you” but your actions were unloving and self-serving.

    I hope you sought out the young man and apologized for your damaging comments. If not, then I hope that pastors who have invited you to preach will rescind their invitations to you for fear that you may deeply hurt someone in their congregation.

    I myself am a preacher. When I see someone talking or not paying attention to my preaching I first ask myself “Am I not being compelling enough to keep their attention?”

    I urge you to reconsider your actions.

    1. Sir, what is interesting to me is not interesting to someone else. Likewise, what is interesting to someone else is not interesting to me.

      Worry about God’s opinion of your sermon, not mine. If you have a big enough crowd you will not have everyone’s attention. That’s the nature of public speaking. Some people are there only because they have to be there.

      1. Thanks for the kind words. Yes he replied but I think it was an automated message. It said “May the Lord bless and keep you” with a message giving instructions on how to unsubscribe to his newsletter which I never subscribed to in the first place.

        I know that the chances of him changing are probably slim but I find it harder and harder to keep silent.

        1. In the IFB we were often told that in order to be loyal and to preserve the testimony of the church, we had to stay silent. But while there is a time to be silent, there is also a time to speak, and God can guide us as to when we must speak up.

          I was reminded of a song I love: “Born for This” sung by Mandisa.

          The chorus is as follows:

          Sometimes you gotta go, uninvited
          Sometimes you gotta speak when you don’t have the floor
          Sometimes you gotta move, when everybody else says you should stay
          No way, no, not today!!!!

        2. Very well put Pastor’s Wife. We need to be brave enough to speak out against injustice and the leaders of fundamentalism need to be brave enough to listen.

  22. There was nobody talking because this is simply a technique used by preachers to get people to snap to and pay attention. Call down an imaginary talker/sleeper/note-passer and you get amens and people straighten up thinking they’ll be called down. I’m thinking of one evangelist who came through my old church who would go off at least once about some sister who was giving him dirty looks. I knew the people of that church well and I sincerely doubt anyone was doing that. It’s a trick of the trade.

    I was told by someone that attended HAC years ago that he was sitting in the mezzanine and Jack Hyles called down someone from the pulpit in the mezzanine, I think for sleeping. The problem was no one in the mezzanine was sleeping.

  23. Funny little thing about the internet that the older generation may not be grasping is that your “bad days”, lapses in better judgment, unflattering behavior, temper tantrums, can be put on youtube and go world wide, viral. If you are addressing any size audience, it would be prudent to conduct yourself as though a million people are watching- you just never know.

  24. Dr. Smith? Dr. Smith?? Where have I heard that name before. Dr. Sm… That’s it!! Dr. Smith was the self-absorbed weazel on the show “Lost in Space.” Dang! the resemblance is uncanny!

    “Danger Will Robinson, Danger! Avoid this church and its preaching at all cost! Danger! Danger!”

  25. HEY!!!! I’m talking about Cheeses up here. Do you see the 4 tips of my pocket square? They signify my life;
    1- I have a sharp, pointy tongue.
    2 – I have a sharp, pointy head.
    3 – I have a sharp, piercing glare.
    And
    4 – I am a prick.
    Love you…

  26. Bob Jones III used to yell at students from the chapel pulpit quite often for various “infractions” during chapel. “Infractions” ranged from talking to coughing during cold and flu season (yes you read that right, coughing.) to sleeping.

    One particular incident stands out in my memory. Dr. Bob III was preaching. He stopped preaching, pointed to the green-section where I was seated. III bellowed from the pulpit, WAKE UP!
    The offending student didn’t awaken. Next III points to the student sitting next to the sleeper and bellows, “Hit that lazy student next to you.” The student tapped the sleeper on the leg and the sleeping student awoke.
    Bob III spent the remainder of that chapel service berating the poor student who had fallen asleep. At the end of Chapel, III told the student to meet III on the platform after Chapel—Again the III said this from the pulpit in front of everyone. Chapel seats were assigned. Bob III didn’t have to do this. The student would have given a demerit slip to report to the Dean’s office and the discipline committee for sleeping in chapel.
    After chapel the student “met” Dr. Bob III as ordered after chapel. Bob III asked why the student was sleeping. The student was a town student with a family depending upon him. The student was working full-time 12 hour night shift and was going to Bob Jones University full-time. The student was very tired 11am rolled around and apologized to Dr. Bob III for falling asleep.
    That apology didn’t satisfy old Bob III.
    Bob Jones III told the student was too focused on *making money* than on hearing the Word of God preached. Bob Jones III further upbraided the student by telling the student “needed to get their priorities right.” 😯
    The student did get their priorities right. Withdrew from BJU and enrolled in University of South Carolina at Spartanburg. Now he has a regionally accredited degree.

    2. I remember Dr. Bob Jr. or Dr. Bob III (or maybe even both) yelling about someone sleeping and telling the person next to them to wake them up because the yelling didn’t wake them. It was such an uncomfortable thing to observe. Praise God for the follow-up!

      My husband-to-be never got called out in chapel thankfully, but he did fall asleep a lot in classes. He was a dorm student and working 2 or 3 jobs off campus to work his way through school as a Bible major. His parents were Christian school teachers and could offer him nothing financially.

      For BJU to not recognize and respect the sacrifice people make to attend there is sad — and definitely not reflective of a heart of compassion.

      1. I was there 90-94. Chapel wake-ups from the pulpit happened maybe twice in a semester. Jr. could only see about the front 5-6 rows. I have always found 3rd to be a warm-hearted guy. I worked nightwatch, got seated in the back with the Public Safety crew–was a difficult place to stay awake, especially after several nights in a row and during winter time after about 20 minutes when 4,000 bodies had warmed the place up drastically. Couldn’t stand Dr. Bob Wood’s forced alliteration, but 3rd’s preaching was well-interpreted and relevant. I’m pleasantly surprised at some changes being made under Stephen’s leadership. We were even asked recently to be interviewed for the BJU magazine. “I thought we were blacklisted because of our mission organization.” “Well, things are changing.” was the reply. I think one contribution may have been BJU finding itself defending the “liberal” side of the Bible version controversy.

    3. Dear Cathy:

      Sr., Jr. and Triplestix all have much for which to answer.

      Christian Socialist

    4. Dr. Mullinex always used to yell at us PCCers for coughing. Like no one’s going to get sick in a college environment. We shared desks, bathrooms, trays, eating utensils, etc.

      1. Maybe he was yelling at them for not taking the drug he was named for. Oh, wait, that’s Mucinex.

        1. Cathy, I want you to meet me on the chapel platform after services. You! That’s right…I’m talking to that one. Thump her in the ear, will ya? Wake her up. God help us…

    5. Hmmm, that’s one of the same tactics used by such tyrants as Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Castro, just to name a few. Totally devalue and eviscerate the subject and thus intimidate all others present, systematically stripping away the very essence of their souls. My Bible states “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is Liberty” (IICor 3:17b), seems to be missing from the Fundieland bible.

  29. Dear ‘Preacher’:

    ‘Since you asked, I was just telling the guy beside me that when you end the business class and start expounding the text, I’ll resume listening.’

    Christian Socialist

    ‘And by the way, Sir, I suggest that for the future, you not raise your voice to me … No, I won’t tell you what will happen if you don’t; but I guarantee that you won’t like it. Return to your text Sir. Do it now.’

  30. Darrell,

    While I agree that this behavior is appalling, I think you’ve jumped the gun a little on blasting Mr. Wilkerson. He doesn’t start until Feb. 17th.

    1. Ah! I see I confused the dates, my apologies.

      Well then perhaps this video can serve to him as an example of the kinds of things he’s going to need to start addressing. We’ll see if there are any real changes at FBC Hammond after that.

      1. Haha no worries….it happens. 🙂

        Yes, I am definitely in the “wait and see” (and hope and pray, even though I’m not even Baptist anymore).

  31. Yes, indeed.

    In the IFB church I came out of, the preacher was expounding on something I disagreed with. I shook my head no — to be brought up short by a “Quit that!” from the pulpit. The pastor was looking at me.

    I nearly walked out of the church right then and there. Sometimes I wish I had done so.

    I do not even remember exactly what he said I disagreed with, now. It was likely a political comment, or some plug against science. He, like other IFB preachers would sometimes use Scripture references out of context. But I honestly do not remember the point now.

    What I *do* remember is being humiliated. And it eventually helped make it a lot easier to stop going to that church.

    If someone were to point out that I am still bitter about something that happened years ago, I would point out that I do not think of it very often. But it was a cut that, even when healed, still aches now and again. It is a warning not to ever go back.

  33. I know John Wilkerson. This is not his style. His style would also be one as to practice compassion with those who would act in this way. They would probably be reprimanded privately and not speak again for a good time. John is one of the humblest, compassionate people I know and exactly what FBCHammond needs at this time.

  34. Larry Smith meme: I don’t usually yell down people in the audience who talk while I preach, but when I do I make sure to brutally embarrass them

  35. That would have about the time that I, the talker, would have pulled my 9MM and “yeah I was talker muther fooker! what about it?” and dared him to do something about it. 😛

  36. If I were John Wilkerson that man would be in my office as soon as I got there for me to tell him that he was fired. Honestly, the only one outta that whole bunch I would keep would bro lapina. Stupid!!!

  37. Really. Is this all this site is about is roasting preachers?

    Holy cows!

    Can any good come from this? Aren’t any of you smart enough to be quaking in your boots? ❗

    1. The good I hope comes from this is that some helpless, nameless “nobody” who sat in the pews will hear that the way he was treated was WRONG and that God is loving and kind and gracious not harsh and vindictive. I hope that because we are willing to call sin, sin, that perhaps someone who has turned their back on Christianity will be open to reconsidering the true Gospel, not the warped, performance-based, mean-spirited legalism that is demonstrated in the video clip above.

      I’d rather be quaking in my boots if I allowed a leader to browbeat his flock or if I failed to point out that a minister was failing to show the patience and gentleness and meekness that Scripture says are the fruit of the Spirit.

    2. Quaking in your boots doesn’t seem to be the smart thing to do in any circumstance. I suppose if we were making fun of God it’d be the appropriate thing to do, but I still don’t see it as a sign of intelligence.

    3. So basically, StuMarksez equates criticism of a “pastor” who is clearly shown to be violating the 1 Tim 3 requirements to hold that office to be the same as criticizing God himself?

      And *I* should be afraid? 😯

    4. I fear God alone not man. I am a pastor myself and I preach against this legalistic crap. Men like him think they are God. That’s the problem with the IFB movement. I am so thankful I went SBC

    5. “Is this all this site is about is roasting preachers?”

      Well Stu, I prefer to braise preachers. Too much fat content for just roasting.

  38. I’m looking forward to the change that will inevitably take place since John Wilkerson is their pastor. I worked with him at a summer camp and worked multiple summers with his 3 younger brothers. The youngest attended PCC for a few years. Their father was a huge mountain of a man and the sons, although tall, turned out to be pretty lanky boys. These are as fine and humble brothers as you could hope to find. John and Linda lost their 17 yr. old son to a tragic car accident a few years ago. His personality and leadership will be almost a 180 from the previous leadership. I, too, will be looking on….expecting some good things.

  39. I vaguely remember Jack Hyles teaching in Church Ed and telling the young men there that if there was any kind of disruption that seemed to be distracting a portion of the audience the thing to do is to call attention to it and then everyone would look at it and then return their attention to the front. It was a “teaching tool” or a manipulation. I wonder if there even WAS a talker (probably was) but this guy was just trying to establish for everyone the pecking order there. There is so much manipulation that goes on, and you have to figure this is just one part of it all.

  40. I just watched the video, made me want to puke. I cringe as I recall past times when I would have been impressed, back before I had any discernment or grasp of my true identity in Christ. How sad for those in the congregation who were egging him on, they have no life, confined to this one source of entertainment. As for the preacher, what a pathetic loveless creature.

  42. I think I would have gotten up and left. I’m glad that I am no longer affiliated with preachers or churches like this, and I went to Bible college.

  43. I was a member of the church Larry Smith pastored. I went to the Christian school, too. In every classroom there was a framed picture of Larry Smith. When he came into our classrooms, we would immediately stand up then yell, “That’s my preacher!” And like the “groupies” of Jack Hyles, we would sing, ” We love you preacher, O yes we do. We don’t love anyone as much as you. And when you’re not with us, we’re blue. O preacher we love you.” I kid you not!! Oh, and before you ask….. Yes, I’m pretty screwed up, but at least I’m not a fundie anymore.

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