The Texas Baptist Crucible

A methodology for ministry is what we were taught at Texas Baptist College, but how does that methodology compare to what was actually practiced in the New Testament?

Why can't we just love people? Isn't that what it's all about? And why all this control? What's wrong with fun? And what is the truth anyway? All this and more in part 1 of my conversation with Curt Mathis.

The first episode of 2026 is here with a short interview with Jeremy Prince of J Baws jerky, some announcements about upcoming episodes, and some encouragement to buckle up for the ride ahead.

In part 2 we swap stories and stuff stockings with candy canes and/or coal. Help us to wrap the year 2025 up with a bow!

In part 1 Levi and I talk about what the holidays were like at LBT including some funny and odd practices and traditions and how you had to tread the holidays lightly so as not to trespass or transgress the plethora of ever-increasing taboos.

A celebration, an explanation, and a glimpse into the future.

A brief history of the bus ministry which will help explain why it was so important at LBT.

Taking a stand will often cost you something. And when Jason finally found a line he wasn't willing to cross when it came to the numbers game they were playing at LBT, he took a stand. And it cost him. All that and more in this edition of the Crucible podcast.

Some more thoughts on a couple of topics brought up in last Friday's episode "All About the Numbers" which was part 1 of a conversation with Jason and Susan Barnes.

Part 1 of a conversation with Jason Barnes and his wife, Susan Bertoti. They met at TBC in the mid 90s. Jason and Susan were instrumental in dragging me back into all of this.

More on LBT and race, including an actual sound clip of Bob Gray Sr. denouncing interracial marriage and my response to it.

The conversation with James Michael Sobolik-Williams brought up a lot of old memories for me, too, and I wanted to share them before giving my further evaluation of LBT and its views on race from a biblical perspective.

A candid conversation about race and racism at the Longview Baptist Temple, but also a story of God's grace and human resiliency in overcoming.

A word about this title Bob Gray Sr gave to himself--the Man of God. Along with other silly hypocrisies.

What it was like to grow up at LBT being a person of color in what was pretty much an old southern culture and mindset.

LBT took everything to the extreme. Even this niche Baptist teaching that originated in Tennessee in the mid 19th century. Are you in the bride, brother?

Part 3 of a great conversation I had with Levi. If you haven't heard the first two yet, go back and listen to them first. Then come back. Now. Ready for an hour of straight truth telling?

Another in this series in which I try to help the people who grew up at LBT to know where the church came from, how it got there and why it believed and behaved the way that it did, as well as trying to explain the church to someone who has never experienced anything like it before.

Just when you think you've reached the limits of absurdity...think again. From haircuts to dress codes to what is worldly and what isn't. We covered all that and more in this episode. And if you don't hear all the laughter, that's because the AI filtered a lot of it out.

Does the good shepherd break the legs of his sheep? Does the under shepherd have a right or responsibility to do so? Let's talk about this.

Part 1 of my conversation with Levi Robinson. Levi is a blast and it was great reconnecting with him. In part 1 he gives an overall summary of how he got there and how he eventually left, with a lot of fun rabbit trails along the way.

Nothing comes from nothing and therefore everything, every place, comes from some place before. Every effect has a cause. What caused LBT? What shaped it? More importantly, what were the influences that influenced and shaped a Bob Gray Sr.? I give you J. Frank Norris, the grandfather of modern Independent Baptist Fundamentalism.

Anthony Hamilton is our guest today, telling his story, that of growing up at LBT, the manipulation and control tactics he encountered along the way, and how he finally came to leave a few years ago. And how what he was told about life outside didn't actually match what he found when he got out there.

I sort of ramble, talk about the anti-intellectualism of LBT and why the numbers were so important, then make some announcements

Jonathan grew up at LBT and got out as soon as he graduated high school. His is a story of non-conformity, and how the staff at LCA had no idea how to handle that. Jonathan gives some fascinating and timely insight.