Tim Conway is the pastor of Grace Community Church in San Antonio, Texas. In 1994, I became the co-pastor of Community Baptist Church in Elmendorf, Texas. Tim, along with two current elders at Grace Community, Craig Mussulman and John Sytsma, were members of Community Baptist while I was there. (Please see I Am a Publican and Heathen — Part One.) I spent countless hours with these men as their pastor and friend.
In November 2015, Conway preached a sermon titled The Futility of the Mind.
Conway stated:
Futile, vain, empty, pointless, to no avail. And right here in Ephesians chapter 4, futility of mind is the characterization of the Gentiles. That’s how you are no longer to be. Christian, we are to put away futility. No longer. You must no longer. Futility of mind is a picture of people using their mind in ways that are just a waste of time. They are a waste of effort. You want some examples? Brethren, I know this about all of us. We all want to be happy. That is what mankind is striving after. Mankind wants to feel good, and mankind strives after that. You want an example of futility of mind? Futility of mind is man who is forever and always trying to figure out how to be happy while he is an enemy of God. That, folks, is futility. That is vain. That is worthless.
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Or how about this: The futility that people walking around just spending their time; I was thinking about, some of you know about Bruce Gerencser, who was one of the co-elders down at Community Baptist Church when Ruby and I were down there, who apostatized and basically became an Atheist. What futility to spend your life trying to convince yourself there is no God. You see, these are the futile ways or futility that comes to nothing. Nothing at all.
Twenty years after I left church and six years after I deconverted, I was still on Conway’s mind. Talk about futility. 🙂
The relevant video starts at 25:39.
Whatever the reasons, my story remains a burr in the saddle of Conway and others who once considered me their colleague, pastor, or friend. Numerous prayers have been uttered on my behalf, yet God has not seen fit to save or kill me. I remain a red-flashing-light reminder of the fact that pastors — men who once preached the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ — can and do apostatize. And if men of God can lose their faith, well, anyone can.
(Please see Gone but Not Forgotten: Years Later San Antonio Calvinists Still Preaching Against Bruce Gerencser.)
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen 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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But, but Bruce, he’s not wearing a white shirt and a tie…does that still make his argument relevant??
Snark alert
Why would he wear a white shirt and tie, this is clearly a funeral for bruce’s no longer extant faith. No need to dress up too much. Personally I think the New Orleans style where everyone has a celebration with the jazz band blasting when the saints go marching in would have been more appropriate😂
😂😂
These folks do have a thing for you, Bruce!
You’re living rent-free in his head, Bruce. He could just keep preaching and ignore you, but it’s a scab he continues to pick at.
They fear you Bruce. After all, if one as devout as you could come to see a different perspective, it proves how shaky the fundie position truly is. If they do not denounce you, they risk losing more of their flock.
The futility of unanswered prayers and no miracles? Yes, the foundation is shaky. Bruce is proof of it.
Why do these pastors have no qualms about making real people into mere object lessons/illustrations for their sermons? I used to read the pentecostal website Charisma and the Christians writing the articles often would pen “open letters” to, e.g., Miley Cyrus or Kim Kardashian calling them out. As though they would ever even read the article. It’s like they found a loophole for the “Do not gossip” commandment. It’s not gossip if it’s in an ‘open letter’!
https://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?SourceID=cowetabaptist I am not sure if this person is the same person that was the pastor of the San Antonio area Baptist churches that you had the most conflict with while you were a pastor in that area. Do you know if this Pat Horner ever mentioned you negatively in a sermon as did Jose Maldonado and Tim Conway have done. At least a sermon that is available to listen to. Maybe he is just content to speak negatively about you without leaving a recording to be listened to.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4zwC32nKFY I hope you don’t mind my posting this. This is a video of Pat Horner giving his ” testimony” in front of the members of some church in Texas. He ended his “testimony” with remarking that he was looking for a place to continue his work. He is no longer a pastor of Coweta Baptist Church in Oklahoma. I’ve never heard any pastor use the word ” burden” so much in my life. He spent more time talking about his missionary work in India than he did about the church that was planted in Elmendorf Texas. It is about 27:30 or so in his “testimony” that Pat Horner mentions that he does not have a church or a ministry at the present time.
Wow ! So Pat Corner has finally left ministry as a vocation ? Say amen, somebody !! He sure is a very negative person. The congregants 👏👏👍are much better off without that moron. He should go sell cars, or work for the governor there, Abbott.👀