I restarted this blog in December 2014. Before that, I had several other blogs, such as Bruce Droppings (my all-time favorite), NW Ohio Skeptic, Restless Wanderings, Hungarian Luddite, and Fallen From Grace. I first started blogging in 2007. Because I was an Evangelical-pastor-turned-atheist who used his real name to write, my blogs attracted much attention from the get-go. In 2007, I was still a Christian — barely. I operated blogs such as Rethinking Church Life to flesh out my increasingly post-modern, emerging/emergent views.
Initially, I attracted a lot of Independent Fundamentalist Baptists (IFB) and Evangelicals who were anti-emergent church. As I blogged through the evolution of my beliefs and eventual deconversion, the comments and emails I received increased in volume and hostility — so much so that I would stop blogging. I thought then that if I just told my story and honestly and openly shared my beliefs, that people would, at the very least, understand and treat me as Christ commanded them to do in the gospels and Paul did in the Epistles. Boy, was I naive. Nasty, hateful comments and emails wore me down after a time, so I stopped blogging and deleted all of my writing. With the help of my therapist, I would eventually get back on the proverbial horse and start riding again.
Time and therapy helped me learn how to deal with unChristian Christians, so in December 2014, I decided to restart blogging. One last time, I told myself, and if I can’t make it work, I will give up. Here we are ten years later, I am still writing — 5,203 posts. Have I wanted to quit, at times? You bet. The reasons are mainly health-related these days, but I will have moments when I think I am done or that I don’t have anything more meaningful to say. When such low moments come, instead of quitting, I stop, taking time off to mentally regroup. And then I start writing again. I can’t promise that my health will not one day win this titanic struggle, but for now, I have enough strength and energy to keep pecking away on my laptop keyboard. I no longer make promises, but I will say that I hope to keep writing as long as physically possible.
Blog traffic numbers somewhat leveled off in 2023, but this site did, once again, surpass 1,000,000 page views. And for that I am grateful. 212,000 people came to this site for the first time in 2023 via Google, making up 95% of the searches. Social media plays a small part traffic-wise. 14,000 people came to this site via Facebook, 12,000 from Twitter, 3,200 from Reddit, and 2,500 from WordPress. Somewhat surprisingly, YouTube only generated 400 clicks. The most-read post on this site is the same as last year: The Scandalous Life of Jack Hyles and Why it Still Matters.
Over 45,000 comments have been left since 2014. I appreciate everyone who comments, even those who disagree with me. I am especially grateful for those of you who are frequent commenters. I find your comments encouraging, and they add measurably to the life of this blog.
Currently, only a handful of people are banned from commenting on this site. Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, is NOT banned from commenting, despite him saying otherwise. In 2023, I lost several commenters due to my trans-friendly posts. A handful of other readers exited stage right over my liberal political and social views. I learned long ago that I can’t please everyone. All I know to do is to be open, honest, and transparent in my writing. If that offends people, there’s not much I can do about it. I am who I am. 🙂
Currently, I am spending $125 a month to host this blog through Flywheel — a managed WordPress company — and pay for the various software and plugins I use on the site. Thanks to loyal readers who make monthly donations through Patreon or contributions through PayPal, site costs are covered with a little bit of money left over. With the leftover money, I was able to buy a brand-new Lear Jet! 🙂 Thank you for your continued financial support.
I still hope to complete my book and get my podcast up and running soon. Of course, I hoped in 2023 that the Cincinnati Bengals would make it to the playoffs. Sadly, life (and torn tendons in your team’s quarterback’s wrist) gets in the way of hope. No promises outside of “I will do what I can, Loki-willing.”
Have a blessed year.
Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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