“TRIAL BY FIRE” – Table of Contents, Acknowledgements, and Prologue

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TRIAL BY FIRE
Satan’s Attack On Independent Baptists

( 384 page hardback book with a beautiful dust jacket-Go to SOLVECHURCHPROBLEMS.COM to order-An answer to the Emerging and cultural driven churches)

Table Of Contents

Acknowledgements 4 
Prologue 5 
Introduction: Why I Am In This Fight 7

  1. 1  Unity: A Word That Concerns Me 16

  2. 2  Satan’s Attack On Our Harmony 25

  3. 3  The Tolerance Of Intolerance 41

  4. 4  Satan’s Goal Is To Destroy 50

  5. 5  It’s Time To Grow Up! 55

  6. 6  Our Stand On Homosexuality 68

  7. 7  Restoring The Fallen 88

  8. 8  A Thirst For Sin 99

  9. 9  Collateral Damage 113

  10. 10  Churches In The Fire 118

  11. 11  This Can Work Together For Good! 127

  12. 12  Satan’s Use Of Rebel Adult Children 148

  13. 13  Dangers In Major Scandals 152

  14. 14  Satan’s Use Of Repentance 159

  15. 15  The Sinner’s Prayer 181

  16. 16  Accountability 188

  17. 17  True Independence 200

  18. 18  Church Services Attacked 206

  19. 19  Pastoral Authority Attacked 217

  20. 20  Our Heroes Attacked 235

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TRIAL BY FIRE
Satan’s Attack On Independent Baptists

  1. 21  Writing Wrongs 250

  2. 22  Why Isn’t It Working For You? 262

  3. 23  If Ministering Stops Being Fun 273

  4. 24  The Public Invitation Attacked 278

  5. 25  What Damaged The IFB Movement? 283

  6. 26  Independent Baptists Attacked 295

  7. 27  Millennialists 302

  8. 28  Satan’s Attack Using Calvanism 319

  9. 29  Architects, Accountants, and Attorneys 336

  10. 30  Fundamentalism Attacked 348

  11. 31  IFB Preaching Attacked 366

    Epilogue: “I Can” Makes A Great Man 379


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TRIAL BY FIRE
Satan’s Attack On Independent Baptists

Acknowledgements

This manuscript would not have become a
book if it were not for some dear people in my life. My
wife of 48 years has been so patient with the public
life that has been a reality to our family. My precious
children have become everything that parents would
every hope for them to be.

Additionally, if it were not for the hundreds of
hours of labor by Mrs. Marsha Parker there would be
no book. She provided the majority of the work behind
the scenes. Thank you for your tireless labor and
especially for your love of the cause of Christ.

I want to thank my mentors for their strength
and stability. You have not changed and I will forever
be grateful. I want to thank my LORD for my
salvation, His Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and the
pastors He sent into my world.

Bob Gray, Sr. 
Psalm 84:11 
September 1, 2013

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TRIAL BY FIRE
Satan’s Attack On Independent Baptists

Prologue

This book was written over a number of years
and as a result some information and happenings
were more relevant at that particular time. However, I
still believe that they are pertinent today. I read one
time that life is like a play being played over and over
again but with different actors. The relevance has not
changed.

This is not a novel. Each element of this book
is one that is a moving part on its own. Much of this
book was written at the beginning of a battle that has
grown larger in the past few years. It’s a battle that I
believe will never subside between Satan and the
servants of God, because Satan has a way of dulling
our spiritual senses. Please do not dispose of this
book or its thoughts in a flippant manner. PLEASE
give me a hearing!

Some have been, and are still too close to the
action and not yet strong enough to face the realities
of this struggle. They will not like this book. Others will
choose to just put their head in the sand again. My
father had a saying for that – “He who sticks his head
in the sand gets his rear kicked.” These also will not
like this book. I’m sure that I will be accused of
dividing the brethren and they too will not like this
book. However, until we learn from our past we will
have no future. These struggles are good for us not
bad. A “trial by fire” will purify any generation if they
are willing to enter into the fire with the Son of God.

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TRIAL BY FIRE
Satan’s Attack On Independent Baptists

I do not have an axe to grind. I stand where
we all have stood for hundreds of years and
unapologetically so. As of this writing, I am 68 years
old with 4 decades of ministry behind me. I have
given it my all, knowing full well the risks. I have
watched the same battles over and over again. Today
we are being sold a religious wooden nickel and I for
one refuse to accept it. The struggles are real and
Jesus is still the answer. 

This book is intended to
inform and to provide food for thought so that no one
is easily deceived by misinformation.

I know what it is like to go through the fire in
the ministry. I know what it is like to go through fire in
a national sense. I know what it is like to go through
the fire in a personal sense. My dear wife of 48 years
has gone through 38 surgeries. My children have paid
a price for being in the spotlight, but they have stood
tall in the saddle. The “trial by fire” has purified in
every respect. Do not fear the fire! 

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