Bruce Picks Up a Stick, Takes Revival Fires to the Woodshed, and Gives Him a Theological Ass-Whipping

I finally found a picture of Revival Fires attending church 🙂

Revival Fire is a vile, disgusting Evangelical man who loves leaving nasty comments on this blog. Often, he is the first person to comment on a new post. Sometimes, I think he waits in front of his computer with his dick in hand, lustily waiting for my next post. I delete most of his filthy comments, but sometimes I use them to edify my congregation or show them the irrational thinking of Evangelical Christians.

I do want to respond to several of Revival Fires’ comments. As you will see, he may be a Christian, but his theology leaves a lot to be desired:

Tell me about your experience in the wilderness in the 40 year journey to Cannan? I’d love to hear about it. Unless you’re an Israelite Jew from 4,000 years ago that passage does not apply to you or anyone today.

There’s no evidence outside of the Bible for the alleged forty year journey of the Jews from Egypt to Canaan — the land of promise. And it is Canaan, and not Cannan.

According to Revival Fires, the Old Testament in general, and the first five books of the Bible in particular, no longer apply to Christians. Jesus would be surprised to hear this since he said:

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he began to speak and taught them, saying:

….

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:1,17-20)

Jesus sure thought the law of God was valid and in force — until Heaven and Earth pass away. Evidently, Revival Fires disagrees with Jesus.

Surely if you preached for 25 or 30 years you would have some kind of understanding of what I’m talking about. All of the Bible is God’s Word. But it’s written to different people at different times. Where the church is today-Acts 2. And ends at Revelation 4. After that the body of Christ is NO LONGER ON EARTH! (Rapture).

This paragraph tells us a lot about what Revival Fires believes, though it might not be readily evident to people without a theology education. Revival Fires is hyper-dispensationalist. Only certain books of the Bible apply today; namely from Acts 2 to Revelation, especially the writings of Paul. This helps us understand Revival Fires’ cheap grace view of salvation. In other words, Revival Fires is a Pauline Christian, and not a Christ follower.

In other words, Revival Fires believes most of the Bible no longer applies to him today.

I never believed such nonsense. I believed all of the Bible was still applicable today; that the law of God — rightly interpreted — was binding and in force. I rejected the eschatology of my IFB years, embracing amillennialism and posttribulationalism. No rapture in my belief system. I suspect Revival Fires has an IFB background, so his beliefs do not surprise me.

So how was the journey in the wilderness 4 millennial [sic] ago?

How is this relevant to the discussion at hand. Revival Fires wasn’t there either, so stop with the goal post moving. All we have is the Bible, and that’s what upsets Revival Fires. I know the Bible better than he does, and that irritates the Christianity right out of him.

Remember, Evangelicals can’t win when you hold them to what the Bible actually says. And truth be told, many Evangelicals rarely read the Bible and know very little about what it teaches outside of what they hear in church on Sundays.

Furthermore no it wasn’t just about gathering sticks. It was about disobeying God.

If the man had not picked up the sticks, would he have been executed? Of course not. So contrary to Revival Fires, the STICKS were THE issue. Does Revival Fires really want to stand on the horrible hermeneutic he is advancing: that all disobedience to God deserves death? If that’s the case, Revival Fires would have been killed by God years ago, as would most, if not all, Christians. The Bible says that Christians sin in thought, word, and deed; sins of commission and omission. Maybe this is why so many Evangelicals are perpetually fearful. They fear God killing them over the slightest misdeed — you know like picking up sticks on the Sabbath. In fact, I argue that this is actually the norm for God, a petty, malicious deity who demands absolute fealty and devotion to him. I suspect I speak for a lot of Evangelicals when I say I understand fearing God out of fear of punishment for petty “sins.” You know, that feeling that God is waiting around the corner to beat you over your next “sin.”

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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