The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Bruce, You Got Things All Wrong

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Bruce Gerencser

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peanut gallery

Yesterday, I received the following email from a Christian man named Matt:

Funny, I was in prayer the other day begging God for something and telling him what a worm I was. He told me to stop groveling and act like His child, his beloved child. 

God never calls us to grovel at His feet. We go there to spend time with Him, to enjoy Him, to behold His beauty and majesty.

You got things all wrong, Bruce.

Matt also left a comment on the Why I Hate Jesus page:

I hate the wrong Jesus too. But the right Jesus is the one I follow. I don’t go to church due to the wrong Jesus being worshipped there. But I still follow the right Jesus. Bruce, you’ve let Satan and a bunch of goofs in church lead you into unbelief and hate. Be smarter than that and follow JESUS.

Sigh (please see Why I Use the Word “Sigh”).

Matt wants me to know:

  • I got “it” all wrong
  • I worshipped the wrong Jesus, Matt worships the right one
  • Matt follows the “right” Jesus, but doesn’t go to church
  • I have let Satan and “goofs” lead me into unbelief and hate
  • I need to be smarter than that and follow Jesus

Certainty breeds arrogance, and Matt is plumb full up with both. Here’s a guy who doesn’t go to church because he can’t find a church with “right” beliefs, yet he expects me to accept him as some sort of authority on Biblical truth. Not a chance.

Matt’s comment is all about him. Look at me, Bruce. I have the right beliefs. I worship the right Jesus. I am so pure that there’s no church good enough for me. Yet, he provides no evidence for his claims. His comment and email are long on bald assertions and short on actual evidence.

Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 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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Comments

10 responses to “Bruce, You Got Things All Wrong”

  1. Avatar
    Matt

    But even if what you said is true, I am proud, etc., I still have a relationship with God, and I still follow Jesus. That’s not going to end. I don’t go to church, but I do fellowship with other followers of Jesus, true followers. You can say what you wish, but right now I’m spending time with God, and I’ll do so every day until I die. And if I’m that proud, as you say, God will do His sanctifying work and humble me as He see fits. And when He does that, I’ll still follow Him. I’ll accept His discipline. If you want to be an atheist, be an atheist. I want to be God’s child, so I’m His child.

    I remember when I was a teen, I hated God too. I thought Christians were goofy idiots. But God showed me my sinfulness, and I repented and received Jesus. I now have a relationship with Him. I am being sanctified little by little as He does His work. I have been extremely hurt in the church, but I go on with God. I do not let human beings decide my fate. I choose God no matter what. I forgive my enemies, but I do not fellowship with them.

    Bruce, think about eternity. God wants you with Him forever, in heaven. Do not go to hell for anyone. You will read these words, and do not harden your heart when you do. I will pray for you.

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      I’m an atheist because there is no satisfactory evidence for the existence of the Christian deity. Sharing a anecdotal, subjective personal testimony ain’t going to cut it.

      There is no life after death;no Heaven; no Hell. Do you have any evidence to the contrary apart from quotations from a contradictory ancient religious text?

      Pray away, but it will do you no good. I’m confident that I’ve weighed Christianity in the balance and found it wanting.

      Life is too short to spend it worshiping mythical beings. The only God I worship is my wife. 🤣🤣 She is very real. She walks with me, talks with me, and tells me I am her own.

      Reply
    2. Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      “But even if what you said is true, I am proud, etc., I still have a relationship with God, and I still follow Jesus.” Are you sure? The Bible has an awful lot to say about “Pride.”

      The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate. (Proverbs 8:13)

      Reply
    3. Avatar
      Astreja

      Matt, if such a place as hell actually exists (although I very, very much doubt it), I’ve taken a vow to go there on purpose to care for everyone imprisoned there.

      Why? Because I can’t bear the thought of spending eternity trapped with an asshole god who would even think of putting a sentient being in a place of eternal torment. I think it’s safe to say that there is a close to 0.0 probability of me worshipping your imaginary fiend (and already a 1.0 probability of me committing the Unforgivable Sin with malice of forethought).

      Don’t imagine for one moment that -you- would be safe in heaven either, Matt. When dealing with a certifiably insane deity, and an infinite timeline, odds are that eventually every heaven-dweller would do or think something that would earn them a one-way trip to the basement.

      Reply
    4. clubschadenfreude

      well, Matt, every christian makes the same claims as yuo and gee, not one of you self-proclaimed TrueChristians(tm) can do what your bible has jesus promising. So it seems you are simply a fraud.

      It’s no surprise that you don’t go to a church. Christiansn like you are a dime a dozen, each sure that those other christians are wrong and only you are right. You have to play pretend some imaginary being agrees with your puny human hates and desires.

      Alas, christians also can’t agree on what this god considers a “sin”, so your pious prating fails again.

      No one needs your god or you Matt. Happily your sadistic little fantasies will never come true. And as for your claims of praying for Bruce, hmmm, I suspect he has had the same experience I’ve had with christians praying for me. Those prayers always fail, despite the many claims in the bible that all true believers will get their prayers answered with whatever asked for, no excuses or exceptions, and have them answered quickly. So, since your prayers fail, Matt, your god must think you a fraud too. Or it simply doesn’t exist.

      Reply
    5. Avatar
      Sage

      You know, I think the central problem here, Matt, is that you feel it is ok to judges others and then tell them they are wrong, and evil, and bound for hell, and ignorant and foolish not to believe as you do, but you know the right way and all they have to do is stop being vile and evil and disgusting and stupid and follow the rules god has revealed to,you.

      Do you see any problem with that?? Hint: it’s in your holy book. Subhint: a certain Jewish man, who’s life is highly detailed in your holy book, confronted this judgement/rules problem constantly.

      The central thing here, Matt, is these people you approach do not give a single fuck about your belief or religion or success following god, whether real or feigned. Speaking for myself, I would happily live life if I never encountered a Christian that felt a need to judge me AND have to ignorant audacity to express this judgement to me.

      I would rather you go believe what you believe with whatever group you like to commiserate with and leave me and others to just live our lives.

      Coexisting, and letting others live their life, is not that hard. Just stop…stop..trying to make others follow your rules. Your ilk want to control the person, the company, the school, the library, the government and every possible entity so people,are forced to believe like you.

      Just stop. Go read what your messiah you should do when people,reject your words, and put it into action.

      Damn, why is it so hard for people like you to understand?

      Reply
  2. Avatar
    Matilda

    Matt, a troll once told me that C S Lewis wrote that no True X-tian would ever deconvert. Therefore I – and Bruce and others – who were ardent x-tians for decades, had been the false kind. I said I was very familiar with the writings of CSL, having done a college dissertation on him years ago. Here is Screwtape advising Wormwood on how to derail a x-tian’s faith. He said to make him more and more nit-picky over small details of doctrine so that he moved further and further away from his fellow believers till he became a church of one person – as no one else had his purity of doctrine. (Said troll never responded to that comment.)

    Reply
    1. clubschadenfreude

      it’s been a very long time since I’ve read that from Screwtape and I had forgotten about it. Amazing how many of the more idiotic christians are indeed a church of one.

      Reply
  3. MJ LIsbeth

    The only god I worship is my cat. I mean, if the ancient Egyptians thought cats were gods, that’s good enough for me. (snark)

    Reply
  4. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    What if Matt thinks that through his daily Bible readings/devotions/prayers that he’s found the One True Jesus, and someone else doing the exact same thing believes they have found the One True Jesus, and those 2 Jesus’s are nothing alike? Whose Jesus is the One True Jesus? Asking for a friend.

    Reply

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