About Me
March 15, 2007 by fundyreformed
My name is Bob Hayton. I was raised a conservative (KJV-Only, no pants on women, strict music, etc.) independent fundamental Baptist. I graduated from Fairhaven Baptist College in Chesterton, IN (BA Pastoral Theology, ‘01; MA Bible, ‘02), and married Carolyn (Barnard) from SD, whom I met & courted in college. We moved to the San Francisco area to teach in a church/school, as conservative as Fairhaven. There, God further convinced me of the need for careful Biblical exegesis and expository preaching. God used the influence of my younger brother Dave (who graduated from Northland Bible College, Dunbar, WI), various books and some circumstances to alter my thinking gradually concerning theology/religion.
We later moved to MN, where our reform came to a head. We ended up leaving independent Baptist fundamentalism altogether, and joining John Piper’s church (Bethlehem Baptist, Minneapolis) where we sensed both an embracing of the fundamentals of the faith/conservative theology and an emphasis on treasuring Christ. I currently have a supporting wife and 3 beautiful girls. I hope to get out of debt, fully acclimate to our radical reformation, pursue more education, & ultimately pastor a church for God’s glory.
My Story
For my complete story along with a critique of fundamentalism and defense of my positions, check out this post. It is lengthy but many have said it really blessed them and it has helped others who are struggling with similar problems relating to fundamentalism. I hope you’ll go check it out. (And if you are going to write me off as a compromising liberal, please make sure to read my letter first. Let it inform you as to my motives and thoughts behind my drastic changes.)
About My Family
Carolyn and I (Bob) are blessed to have come from families where virtually every immediate family member for two or three generations back profess Christ as Savior. More than that, both sets of our parents raised us in loving and thoroughly Christian homes.
Carolyn grew up in Yankton, SD where her family attends an IFB church faithfully. I grew up in the Detroit area, but spent my last year of high school in Zambia, Africa (where my parents have been IFB missionaries now for 11 years).
Carolyn’s sister Erin, and my sister Katie, both are attending Pensacola Christian College. Erin is actually graduated this year and Katie will be a senior [in the 2007/8 school year]. My brother, after graduating from Northland Bible College (Dunbar, WI) and marrying Katya (Voltchkova), a native of Moscow (they met at Northland), spent a year and a half at Bethlehem Baptist (our current church). Then he spent the next two years pastoring a church in Martin, ND. He now serves as a recruiter and trainer for People International, an interdenominational mission agency focusing on Central Asia, and Muslim/unreached people groups. He and his family [they have two children, Abigail Grace (4 this October), and Hudson George (2)] are based in Ohio [dates current as of June 2007].
Carolyn and I have been blessed with three darling daughters: Emily Grace (4), Megan Faith (2), and Amber Joy (1) [ages current as of June 2007 
]. We are expecting our 4th child in November 2007. We are truly blessed with healthy and happy children. We also recognize the responsibility to raise them for Christ.
Bob works at Boston Scientific, providing technical support to patients on home monitoring devices for defibrillators. We hope to enter full time ministry at some point in the future, after paying off bills and finding God’s direction.
Please feel free to view our family photo blog to learn more about our family.
More Info
Check out my KJV Only Debate blog.
Hello Bob.
You have an interesting blog, I shall bookmark.
Russ
Thanks, Russ.
I have noticed that Northland seems to be a leading bridge bringing more and more IFB toward Reformed Theology. Is that your observation too?
You have an interesting site. I will have to come back often.
R Brooks,
I know of several guys who went to Northland who are now solidly Reformed. But I had heard there was a reaction against 5 point Calvinism at Northland in the leadership there. That would have been 5 years ago or more, so I’m not really sure.
I am glad that places like Northland are increasing in their educational level which is enabling people to explore Reformed Theology with the intellectual freedom to embrace it (unlike the kind of fundamentalist school I went to).
Thanks for checking my site out.
Blessings in Christ,
Bob
Didasko,
Thanks too for stopping by. I hope to keep it up to date more in June, than I did in May.
I like what I have seen here. It is good to hear that I am not the only one that has struggled since leaving fundamentalism.
Mark,
People like you are why I started my site. Thanks for the feedback, glad I can help.
If there’s anything else I can do for you, let me know!
Wow! We have a LOT in common. I was also raised IFB. My father-in-law is an IFB pastor (so independent, he only has his family and one or two visitors in his church, which meets in their basement). I came to reformed theology after reading through the NT in one month with my wife. I suddenly saw that things were not matching with what I was being taught at BJU. Now my brother-in-law has done the same thing, but has been forced to attend a militantly anti-Calvinistic college (with about 20 students, what is it with small memberships???) Pray for him as he has to defend his beliefs hourly. So far he has 50 demerits, all because he holds a different theological position than the school.
Hi, Bob. You don’t know me, but we go to the same church. My wife and I used to attend the north campus, but we’ve been going downtown for the last couple of months. Just thought I’d drop a line and say that I enjoy reading your blog. Keep up the good work.
Blessings,
Lee
Enjoyed reading about your spiritual journey, Bob. I’m a Presbyterian pastor in small-town Minnesota. If it’s not too much trouble, could you e-mail me about your blogging experience. I’d like to start one and link it to our church’s website, but I don’t want to get in over my head either. Your thoughts?
I attend an IFB in Madison Alabama. While I disagree with most of what you have on your blog (for a number of reasons), I would concede that most IFB Christian folks truly dont have a clue about the righteousness of Christ and what it means. That is to say that most cannot disseminate/distinguish between righteousness of Christ and how a Christian should conduct themselves once they are saved. Along this line the lines(no pun intended) seemingly are blurred.
If you ever want to discuss on intelligent level your positions I would be glad to discuss via email.