Over the years, I heard countless sermons, both during church services and at pastor’s conferences. I have also spent extensive time talking shop with my fellow colleagues in the ministry. Needless to say, I have heard some interesting, outlandish, and, at times, insane statements on all sorts of subjects. What follows are a few of the things I heard. I give them to you as I remember them. Some of the quotes are forty-plus years old, so they may not be verbatim. Unless otherwise noted, quotes are from Sunday sermons.
The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:1, Arm Yourselves! (The speaker pushed his suit coat back and pulled out a revolver. The crowd went wild.) — Jack Wood, Baptist evangelist, said at a preacher’s conference in Rossville, Georgia
Go to Hell for all I care. No, I don’t mean that. Yes, I do. Go to Hell for all I care — Tom Malone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Pontiac, Michigan
Don’t let the door hit you on the way out! (Said to a man who got up to leave during the sermon.) — Tom Malone, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, Pontiac, Michigan
Who cares about the hole in the ozone layer? That just means there will be a bigger hole for Jesus to come through when he returns to earth again. — Bruce Gerencser, pastor of Somerset Baptist Church, Somerset, Ohio
Speaking of Matthew 5:28. But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart, When a good looking woman comes your way, it’s not the first look that’s a sin; it’s the second one. So just make sure the first look is a long one. — Unnamed Baptist evangelist to a group of preachers, including fifteen-year-old Bruce Gerencser, at Trinity Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio
Girl, when you climb into the backseat with a boy, I hope the only face you see is mine. — Baptist Evangelist Don Hardman (who came out of the pulpit, stood right in front of a teen girl, pointed his finger, and said the aforementioned quote), said during a revival meeting at Somerset Baptist Church, Somerset, Ohio
No girl has ever gotten pregnant without holding hands with a boy first. — Bruce Gerencser, pastor of Somerset Baptist Church, Somerset, Ohio
I have checked the tithing records, and it has come to my attention that there are some church employees who are not tithing. Either you will start tithing or I will have your tithe taken out of your check. — James Dennis, Newark Baptist Temple, Heath, Ohio
I don’t know, I have never, never lost. — Jack Hyles, First Baptist Church, Hammond, Indiana (answering someone who asked Hyles how he responded when he lost), said at a Sword of the Lord conference held at the Newark Baptist Temple, Heath, Ohio
Years ago, some men were drilling a deep hole towards the center of the earth. Suddenly, they heard what sounded like voices and screams. The men got a microphone and lowered it into the hole, and sure enough they heard people screaming. Hell is real! — Bill Beard, pastor of Lighthouse Memorial Church, Millersport, Ohio
If the King James Bible was good enough for the Apostle Paul, it is good enough for me. — Unnamed preacher at a Sword of the Lord conference held at the Newark Baptist Temple, Heath, Ohio
God doesn’t use quitters! — Tom Malone, Emmanuel Baptist Church, Pontiac, Michigan
The government is coming to take our guns. It’s the duty of every Christian to own guns so they can defend themselves. — John Williams, Baptist evangelist, said at a revival held at Somerset Baptist Church, Somerset, Ohio
There was a man whom God called to be a preacher. Instead of obeying God, the man instead took a secular job, married, and he and his wife had several children. One day, his wife and children were killed in an automobile accident. At the funeral home, God said to the man, now will you serve me? The man began weeping, and said to God, yes, I will serve you. I ask you, what will God have to take away from you for you to serve him? — Greg Carpenter, preacher
Divorce is always a sin. — Keith Troyer, Fallsburg Baptist Church, Fallsburg, Ohio
Your girlfriend’s skirt is too short and it is immodest. (This judgment was said to me, not my girlfriend. I replied, don’t look. Were her skirts too short? Not from my vantage point.) — Chuck Cofty, Sierra Vista Baptist Church, Sierra Vista, Arizona
What’s your favorite quote from your days as an Evangelical Christian? Please share them in the comment section.
About Bruce Gerencser
Bruce Gerencser, 60, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 39 years. He and his wife have six grown children and eleven 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. For more information about Bruce, please read the About page.
Bruce is a local photography business owner, operating Defiance County Photo out of his home. If you live in Northwest Ohio and would like to hire Bruce, please email him.
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1)’In the soul of every man there is a god-shaped vaccuum’
2) ‘He has big plans for the church, as yet, there have been no additions to it, but there have been some very blessed reductions’ – said by woman whose job had moved her away from the town where that church was. A new authoritarian pastor was making sweeping changes and offending decent members who were voting with their feet.
3) Witness all the time and everywhere, to everyone, they may get run over by a bus tonight and go to hell (and subtext, and that would be your fault). It was always a bus for some reason…
1. We are the true church – we hold to TULIP and true doctrine, discipline, and distribution – the 3 D’s- the hallmark of a true church.
2. Church services can’t start on the quarter hour.
3. “prepare your hearts for the Lord’s Table’.
4. The heart is desparately wicked – who can know it?…. always brought a guilt trip.
5. The fields are white unto harvest…..
6. A woman preaching is like a dog standing on its hindlegs – unnatural.
seems fair. you quoted yourself
“We have a better gospel than the Apostle Paul!” Preacher who said this preached it to our camp meeting and somehow, not too many people picked up on this idiocy. (Idiocy if the Bible is supposed to be what is followed.)
The world is full of books but the only one worth reading is the Bible. All the rest are a waste of your time.
With all the good insights, and positive teachings that actually can be found in Scripture, why is it that these preachers can never seem to preach or focus from the word of God as it’s expressed in, for instance, Micah 6:8…
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,[a]
and to walk humbly with your God?
Instead of something like it is the duty of every person to own a gun. Not me folks. I would shoot myself in the foot. 🙂
I heard the following, paraphrased as they were uttered over 25 years ago:
Rock music is the beat of sexual intercourse which is why young people shouldn’t listen to it as it will tempt them to premarital sex.
You must witness often to the same person because each lost person is like a robot with many buttons on it. You don’t know which button is the correct one to bring them to salvation, and the more you push the motr likely you are to find the correct one.
(In my fundamentalist Christian school handbook) We want girls to be the way God made them – feminine! (Followed by a whole litany of rules about skirt length, sleeves, at what events slacks but never jeans are allowed, etc. On the 1st day of school was a demonstration by female teachers to girls about acceptable ways to sit, how to check that your skirt and top don’t ride up if you lift your arms, how to bend over to pick up something, etc., all designed not to show any skin.)
When I was 12 years old, a 7 year old boy in our community died from head injuries after he had fallen from his horse. Our pastor told our congregation that someone from our church had been there that same day to invite his parents to church and they had refused. Then he basically said God took their son for this reason. It terrified me back then of course… but now it makes me furious.
I remember a good number of these “Preechers” especially Jack Wood!
They all made a lot of noise, pounded their pulpits, and waved around their King James Bibles genuinely thinking they were “somebody for doing so!
I can fully appreciate how a preacher from this crowd could walk away from the ministry and away from “Christianity” as they knew it!
I walked away from all this nonsense about 17 years ago but instead of walking away from God (because God wouldn’t let me!), I discovered genuine, biblical Christianity and those who are faithful to sound doctrine and teaching! I now teach and preach this truth (using my King James Bible nonetheless) and by God’s Grace, will do so until he calls me home!
I’m sorry your faith was counterfeit! I pray that true saving faith finds you one day!
Really, Ray? You read all of one post and you conclude I had a “counterfeit” faith? Evidently, Proverbs 18:13 is not in your Bible: “It’s stupid and embarrassing to give an answer before you listen.”
Now, STFU and move along. When you want to truly understand my story, let me know.
Dear Ray,
Wow, we’ve never heard that one before. I don’t think your issues are with us. Go find the real counterfeit Christians and take up that nonsense with them.
So Ray,
You will teach and preach the truth from the King James bible. So do you preach that God (through Samuel) said to Saul that he should exterminate the Amalekites for what they did to Israel approx. 400 years beforehand. He was told to kill not only the combatants but defenseless women, little children and babies. This was a command by Yahweh for Saul to commit mass murder of civilians. What responsibility did the little children and babies have for what happened approx. 400 years earlier?
Your holy book was written by bloodthirsty, barbaric and very ignorant savages, not by any god except the god of barbarism. It’s you who need to find kindness and compassion and give up your ‘bloody’ book that is full of this ancient, barbaric nonsense.
I am Evangelist Chuck Cofty’s granddaughter. I feel sorry for you because you truly don’t understand truth. Your insults about other Pastors are foolish. Not only are you speaking against men of God, you are leading others astray. That is an extremely foolish thing to do because the Word of God is clear that you will be judged accordingly. You will one day face your King and will have to answer for your words. You have no hope or true freedom without Jesus Christ, and your bitterness towards those in ministry is quite clear. I truly feel sorry for the way you have chosen to live–someday you will realize your error, hopefully it won’t be too late.
sniffle you hurt my feelings.
Interesting that you attack the messenger instead of engaging with his message.
Your grandfather said and did the things I’ve mentioned on this blog. Maybe, just maybe, your focus ought to be on how his words and actions harmed others. If anyone needs to “repent,” he does.
Kate, there are no “men of God.” There are only men who purport to speak for gods. Why would a god need human representatives?
As for your silly argumentum ad baculum, I have taken the liberty of cancelling Judgement Day and replacing it with a potluck supper. Please bring a dessert of your choice and your own lawnchair. 😀
Have you actually read this book that you call the Word of God right through? Do you believe that the Jesus of Luke ch.6 who commanded his disciples to be compassionate (kind) live their heavenly father who is compassionate (kind) to the ungrateful and the wicked would command the slaughter of little children and babies because god is alleged to have told Saul to use his armies to do (1 Samuel ch 15)? So tell me how can the book called the bible, part of which was written by barbaric savages who created god in their own likeness, be the Word of God? If God loves his enemies then how can he command them to commit mass murder of little children and babies? Isn’t the bible riddled with error?
More American yada- yada from those preacher- creatures. Describing the idiocy of such Southern fried pastors won’t lead anyone astray. It’s simply information to file away for when it’s needed. Bitter is one of those favorites of controlling churches who want to silence doubters. I’ve been to my share of churches where the pastor or church workers say that God killed, or was going to kill someone for thinking of leaving the church, or not being happy with that church in some way. Yes, they do crow with glee when tragedy ensues. ” Now will you come back,” or ” Are you going to obey now ?” Playing on people’s fears or superstitions.