It’s been awhile since I’ve solicited questions from readers. Here’s your opportunity to ask me anything, and I mean anything. Whether you are a Christian, Muslim, young earth creationist, atheist, agnostic, anti-theist, humanist, Evangelical, Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB), Catholic, Orthodox, Charismatic, Mormon, mainline Christian, pagan, complementarian, trad wife, chronic pain sufferer, Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Progressive, socialist, communist, MAGA, Christian Nationalist, White Nationalist, or a Bud Light drinker, this is your opportunity to ask me a question. Whatever labels you wear, ask away.
No question is out of bounds. I am even waiving the comment rules for this exercise. I plan to also clear the moderation/banned list so these miscreants, I mean fellow biped, have an opportunity to ask questions too. This is a limited time offer.
If you have sent me a question in the past that I have not answered, please submit it again. I’ll do my best to answer it.
Please leave your questions in the comment section below, email me your question, or leave it in a voice mail or text at 567-210-1145.
I look forward to receiving your thoughtful comments and answering them.
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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
I started blogging in 2007 — almost twenty years ago. Since then, I have engaged countless Evangelicals in discussions, debates, arguments, and intellectual fist fights over their beliefs and my disagreements with them. On occasion, genuine progress is made, but more often than not, my interlocutors refuse to budge, regardless of my argumentation and evidence. This should not be surprising. No one is argued into faith or persuaded by evidence alone. Think of your own past salvation experience. Did you catch the operative word: experience? You see, religious conversions are fundamentally emotional experiences. People rarely, if ever, profess faith in Jesus because someone shared with them the five points of Calvinism or the transcendental arguments for the existence of God. I know it took years for me to admit that my deconversion had an emotional component. Not the primary motivator, but certainly a factor. I didn’t want the motivation for my loss of faith to be dismissed as nothing more than me being emotional. Eventually, I came to understand that our emotions are never far from our decision-making. That said, I desire to the best of my ability to use sound reasoning skills to make decisions about what to do or believe.
Instead of trying to argue people out of faith in Jesus, I try to challenge their sincerely held beliefs. I know if I can poke a hole in one of their cherished dogmas, they might be willing to ask themselves what else they are possibly wrong about. The first chink in my Evangelical armor came when I determined the Bible was not inerrant and infallible. I asked myself, “If I am wrong about the nature and history of the Bible,” what else I am wrong about?” As I learned, virtually every theological belief I had as an Evangelical pastor was intellectually lacking or not as theologically certain as my pastors and professors led me to believe. Did these men of God lie to me? Probably not. Like me, they were products of the religious environment and culture they grew up in. You can only teach and preach what you think you know, and that was likely the case for these men.
Sadly, many Evangelicals I interact with will not be moved off their Fundamentalist beliefs. They know in whom they have believed; they know what they know, end of discussion. Unfortunately, few of them seem to understand what they don’t know.
Have you ever had an Evangelical tell you, “We are just going to have to agree to disagree?” I have, more times than I can count. This is their way ending conversations; a dodge as they prepare to claim victory while actually suffering defeat.
Last week, a local Evangelical man in his thirties posted a meme that said, “Jesus is King” on a few Facebook groups I follow. I typically ignore religious voyeurism, but on this post, I decided to click the laughing emoji; my passive-aggressive way of saying your comment is bullshit.
As you might have guessed, I infuriated the poster. How dare I attack him and criticize his beliefs. He got all this from a laughing emoji? Amazing discernment, right? I took a few moments to explain the difference to him between respecting people and respecting beliefs. He ignored me. I generally respect people regardless of their religious and political beliefs. I do make exceptions for Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Franklin Graham, James Dobson, and others of their vile, disgusting ilk. Outside of these degenerates, I generally respect other people. I do not, however, respect their beliefs. If you drag your beliefs into the public square or try to evangelize me for your cause, I am going to push back.
I don’t let people off the hook with the “We are going to have to agree to disagree” cop-out. Beliefs matter. Beliefs have consequences. The beliefs of others can negatively affect my life and the lives of those I love. So, no, I am not going to treat your beliefs with undeserved respect. And when you tell me, “We are going to have to agree to disagree, ” I will take that as you admitting defeat. Running to the house of faith is what people do when they lack evidence and argumentation for their beliefs. I won’t follow them into their “safe space,” but I will be waiting for them when they return to the battlefield.
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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
For those of us who drank deeply from the Evangelical well, we heard a lot of talk about Heaven — the place saved Evangelicals go after they die. Preacher after preacher, including myself when I entered the ministry in the 1970s, said that this life was preparation to meet God. We were told to focus on the important stuff: going to church, reading the Bible, praying, tithing, witnessing. These practices were meant to draw us closer to Jesus in preparation for the day we when draw our last breath and enter the pearly gates to meet Jesus face to face.
According to Revelation 21:1-5 says:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them and be their God; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Evangelicals will interpret these verses various ways, but the gist is that there is coming a day when every Christian, either through death or rapture, will be carried away to Heaven. This will be a glorious day, no more tears; no more death; no more mourning, crying, and pain. God himself says, “I am making ALL things new.” Most Evangelicals think God will make a new Heaven and a new earth. The former earth and universe will either be destroyed or renovated by fire. Christians will live in the New Jerusalem. No darkness, no night. Jesus is the light of the city. Sounds like an awesome place, right? No more pain really appeals to me, but then I think about the other things that go with an eternity in Heaven, and I quickly say, ‘No thanks, Jesus.” Bruce, aren’t you willing to “believe” if it means no more pain? No.
I have come to understand that we believe what we believe. We don’t choose our beliefs, as if, through libertarian free will, we “choose” whether to believe in Jesus. This is patently untrue, even if it “seems” differently to us. If you really believe we choose our beliefs, I ask you right now, Christians, to CHOOSE to be an atheist. Come on, you can do it! Come to the dark side. The weather is nice, the beer is cheap, and the company is awesome. Couldn’t choose? Why is that? We only believe that which convinces us. We evaluate evidence, and somewhere along the line we become convinced of one or more propositions, and we believe. I will believe in Jesus Christ the day I become convinced that the Christian gospel and the central claims of Christianity are true.
Two other questions remain for me:
Who will live in Heaven with us?
What will we do in Heaven for thirty trillion years?
According to Evangelicals, ONLY born-again people will live in Heaven after death. No Jews. No Muslims. No Buddhists. And certainly no agnostics, atheists, humanists, or pagans. Only Evangelicals need apply. This means that born again Jeffrey Dahmer — a serial killer who ate his victims — will be in Heaven, but moral, ethical atheists will be in Hell. That’s some fucked up thinking, is it not? Worse, think about spending eternity with the likes of fine Christians such as Revival Fires, Jaisen, John, James, Steve, and Dr. David Tee. Can you imagine them being your neighbors for eternity? I wonder of there will be suicide in Heave? 🙂
However long eternity is, human beings will live on in either Heaven or Hell (actually the eternal Kingdom of God and the Lake of Fire). What will Evangelicals do for eternity in Heaven? Some Evangelicals believe that eternity will be spent in community in a new Heaven and Earth. Everything will be perfect. I have heard some fantastical sermons about Heaven over the years, most without Scriptural warrant. According to this view of Heaven, life will be one long party, maybe like Mardi Gras without the beads, boobs, and booze. Or maybe Jesus will tell Evangelicals, “Hey that stuff is okay! Let’s party, brothers and sisters.”
Another dominate view of Heaven is the idea that eternity will be one never-ending praise and worship service. Evangelicals will spend eternity like Baptist Catholics, kneeling, standing, kneeling, standing . . . and singing. Lots and lots of singing. Can you imagine listening to masturbatory praise songs ad nauseam for millions of years. Kill me now. 🙂
How do preachers sell this nonsense to congregants? They convince themselves that an eternity of worshipping a narcissistic deity is the price one must pay for Jesus saving them from their sins.Ugh, no thanks. I might be convinced of the party Heaven if we can move Revival Fires, Jaisen, John, James, Steve, and Dr. David Tee outside the city gates, never to be seen again. Or maybe they could be tasked with cleaning the sewers in Heaven. These giants of the faith have a lot of expertise in “shit,” so it shouldn’t be too hard to teach them to clean up in the next life what they refuse to clean up in this life.
The Evangelical Heaven doesn’t appeal to many of us. One life is sufficient, and we plan to live life to its fullest. Only one life, ‘twill soon be past, and then you are dead. Harsh? Sure, but nonetheless true. If you have evidence to the contrary, please leave it in the comment section.
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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
I have been blogging for almost 20 years — 12 years with this iteration. And just when I think I have seen everything, . .
What follows are several emails I received from Terri Beaudry’s email address. I say “her” email address because I am supposed to know that multiple people use the identical email address.
Without commentary, here’s the emails I recently received from Terry’s email address.
Terri’s email address: I’m actually Louise, a close relative who lives in same house. “Eaton” is Terri’s maiden name. I use her email. But I’ve read alot of your stuff, including the “Why?” section. Terri’s super busy, not sure if she’ll have time to write back or respond. I’ll let her know.
Terri’s email address: Louise here. I just read the blog now. I let her know what you said. She said to tell you that the reason she emailed lots is because the comment section was blocked half the time.
Terri’s email address: I was the one you were addressing that blog to, not Terri. As I was the one who sent a comment by email.
If you think that if someone disagrees with you agreeably, in a kind way with good intention, that they are not allowed to express their thoughts without you becoming rude or strangely defensive, then your statement that says, “I am interested in what you have to say” is bogus.
And if you don’t publicly clear it up in your blog so as not to give your readers/commenters a false idea, you are using an underhanded form of censorship and being very unfair and dishonest.
Please do not send me any more links.
Bruce: I responded to you as if you are Terri. She used multiple names when commenting, so I assumed your email was just another name change. So, what I said was addressed to Terri.
I asked her not to email me. It’s simple as that.
Bruce Gerencser
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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
I recently received yet another email from Terri Beaudry. My response follows.
We over here cannot comment in comment section, because box does not appear. Hence, this email.
The only thing I can tell you is that the problem is on your end. Flush your cache. This fixes most problems. You might also try different browsers to see if your browser is the problem. If you are running security software or plugins, they can cause problems too.
You can also subscribe to receive my writing via email, as hundreds of people do.
I believe you understood that I didn’t want you to email me again. I sent you no less than four emails that asked you to stop emailing me. Yet, here we are again. I suspect you are one of those Evangelical Christians who believes that what you have to say is all that matters. All praise be to Jesus, right? I am an instrument for his using. *sigh*
The recent blog about deconstruction, which states that evangelicals all say that only the destination matters, and that they tell you that you will go to heaven if you believe the right things, isn’t fully true.
This is going to come off as appealing to authority, but I’m the one with the expertise when it comes to Evangelicalism in general, and the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church movement specifically. Terri, if you have statistical evidence for your claim, please provide it. If not, your limited anecdotal experiences mean little in this discussion. I’m not saying I doubt your experiences. What I am saying is that those limited experiences have given you a warped understanding of Evangelicalism.
Here’s the facts: ALL Evangelical sects and churches put a premium on believing the right things. You can verify this by going to the websites of the major Evangelical denominations and independent churches and reading their official doctrinal statements. You will quickly learn that beliefs matter and they are that which will be used to measure whether you are a Christian,
Perhaps in the circles you ran with, that was so. But IFB and Baptist are a very small part of Christianity as a whole on this planet.
You have no idea what circles I ran in, do you? This information is readily available on this site.
Yes, I started my ministry career as an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) preacher. What you seem to not know is that I left the IFB church movement twenty years before I left Christianity. I not only pastored IFB churches, I also worked for Sovereign Grace Baptist, Christian Union, Southern Baptist, and nondenominational churches too. Further, I preached for IFB, GARBC, Southern Baptist, Freewill Baptist, Sovereign Grace Baptist, Assembly of God, Charismatic, and non-denominational churches. And finally, you might want to read the post But Our Church is DIFFERENT! From 2002-2008. our family attended about 125 churches.
The above evidence should be sufficient for you to withdraw your unfounded claim that I was always an IFB preacher. I wasn’t. End of discussion.
And IFB is definitely not mainstream, it’s seen as almost like a cult.
*sigh* What you meant to say is that IFB churches are different from your flavor of Christianity so that makes them a cult. Go read the doctrinal statements of the major IFB institutions. Compare those statements to those of non-IFB Evangelical sects. I think you will find mostly agreement on the core doctrines of Christianity.
There are millions of IFB congregants. Thousands of IFB churches dot the American landscape and worldwide. Add Southern Baptists, who are indistinguishable belief-wise from the IFB church movement, and you end up with a group that is the second largest denomination in the United States. In the 1970s and 1980s, many of the largest churches in the U.S. were IFB congregations.
You may not like what IFB churches believe and practice, but that does not mean they are not mainstream. Again, do some research. Compare IFB beliefs and practices with non-IFB Evangelical churches. You will largely find agreement, except for denominational peculiarities and cultural differences.
Your use of the word cult is downright silly. ALL religions are cults, as any dictionary will tell you. I suspect you are using “cult” in a colloquial sense: IFB churches have beliefs and practices I disagree with, so they must be a cult.
Does the IFB church movement have patriarchal, authoritarian tendencies? Sure, but so do many non-IFB Evangelical sects. You seem to want to single out IFB churches due to negative experiences you have had with them. Evangelicalism as a whole is the problem, yet you seem to want to focus on the IFB church movement while giving the broader Evangelical church a pass.
I’m not saying all the congregants in it are bad people, or that all the pastors within are insincere. But I’ve noticed that alot of people within these churches tend to be less compassionate and more snobbish and judgmental (despising tax collectors and sinners that Jesus would have ate with) than other denominations I’ve been in.
Define “less compassionate” and “more compassionate.” How do you determine these seemingly arbitrary measurements? Maybe you meant to say that ALL churches have people who are less compassionate than other people. This is a human problem, not an IFB one. I met plenty of thoughtful, caring people in IFB churches.
You need to study IFB doctrines — especially separation, both personal and ecclesiastical — and visit a lot of IFB churches to see if your biases prevent you from seeing IFB congregations as groups of fellow Christians who sincerely believe that they are right — just like you do. And as far as caring about people, IFB churches are at the forefront of trying to evangelize the world for Jesus. They “care,” but may do caring differently from your church. Please explain to me how you determine a metric such as “caring” and “not caring.” Or, are you, once again, using your subjective experiences as some sort of objective standard for beliefs and practices?
More “religion” and less relationship with Jesus through the Holy Ghost. More head knowledge than heart.
You don’t know this. In fact, you can’t know this. Again, what metrics are you using to come to this conclusion? Do you really want to say that many IFB church members are unsaved? How did you determine they have “more head knowledge than heart”?
I’m not putting anyone down, it’s just an honest, objective observation.
I’m sure you believe this . . . but you ARE putting down IFB churches, as anyone who reads this article will easily conclude.
Your comments may be honest; meaning you believe these things to be true based on subjective experiences, but objective you are not. How could you be since all you have is a superficial understanding of the IFB church movement?
You yourself wrote in a post that it was typical for ministers in IFB churches to hound male congregants who left by calling them “faggots. That would be unthinkable in normal churches. It actually borders on crazy and is definitely abusive.
I wrote no such thing. I never would since it is factually untrue. The IFB is certainly homophobic, but so is much of Christendom.
What is a “normal” church, Terri? Who decides what is normal? By what standard do we decide what’s normal?
Religion in general is abusive. The differences between sects is a matter of degree. Are IFB churches patriarchal and authoritarian? Yep, but this is hardly an IFB problem. Plenty of the same going on in non-IFB churches
Certainly not what Jesus would do.
You have no idea what Jesus would do. Consider, all we have are handed down contradictory Bible stories written by unknown authors that detail what Jesus would do. Are you “doing what Jesus would do”?
You seem to want to keep the gate, the arbiter of who walks through the Christian gate and who doesn’t. All I see, Terri, is anecdotes and subjective experiences. And that’s fine for you, but when you use these things to judge millions of devoted Christians, you have stopped being objective.
Your experience includes only a small cross-section of the Church at large. ( the Body of Christ). Again, not a put-down, just a factual observation.
I am laughing as I read this. I believe what I wrote above will clearly burn this straw man to a crisp. As you now know, I wasn’t always an IFB preacher. You also know, I actually had a broad church experience. So much for this being a “factual” observation. I am sure you meant to say “opinion” instead.
Thank you for telling me that the church at large is “the body of Christ.” Shucky darn, I didn’t know that. I am not sure why you think you need to “educate” me.
For the record, I wouldn’t recommend anyone attend an IFB church. But, I also wouldn’t recommend attending an Evangelical church either. (Please see Are Evangelicals Fundamentalists?) I am a secularist, a humanist, and an atheist, so my advice is to sleep in on Sundays, eat brunch, drink beer, and enjoy watching football or spending time with your family. This seems better than sitting on hard pews listening to droning preachers, and having to pay for the privilege of being bored.
I wish you well, Terri.
Saved by Reason,
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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
I recently received the following email from a reader named Richard. I don’t remember corresponding with Richard before, but he says we have, so I will take his word for it.
What follows is my response.
The challenge you offered in your last blog posting may have been offered tongue-in-cheek, but could have been a serious request on your part: “On April 1, 2026, at 4:20 PM, God is calling every Christian who promised to pray for me to gather together in the Ney Park for a time of worship and prayer. Perhaps, my former best friend, Pastor Keith Troyer, will come and lead this testimony to God’s love, forgive- ness, and healing. Maybe all my former colleagues in the ministry who said they would pray for me will be in attendance too. Throw in Dr. David Tee, John, Revival Fries and other “praying Christians,” why, these mighty prayer warriors will surely deliver me from my afflictions; and if they do, I promise to serve Jesus the remaining days of my life. I will even record a YouTube video testimony of my healing. Total healing, not just my hemorrhoids.”
Whether my challenge was tongue-in-cheek remains to be seen. 🙂 Surely, if thousands of Evangelicals show up in Ney, Ohio at 4:20 PM on April 1, 2026, I will take that as a sure sign from God of his existence. Here’s the Christian God’s chance to make not only a deep, lasting impression on me, but also my family, friends, and readers of this blog.
I’m confident that the Ney Park will be empty on April 1, outside of a few children and adults playing sports — weather permitting. If I am able, I will go down to the park at the appointed time to see if anyone shows up.
We have corresponded before but not real recently. I am 73 years old Bruce, so I have about five years on you chronologically. Neither one of us has all that many years remaining on this sojourn here on this planet. I am one of those individuals who prays for you from time to time, however, I will not be making the journey to Ney, Ohio on April Fools Day of this year.
God wants to see the sincerity of your faith; your willingness to go to the ends of the earth — Ney, Ohio, population 356, — to save the one sheep that was lost. Alas, you and your fellow believers will remain home and pray, leaving me in your sin and degradation.
Imagine what would happen if your God actually healed me from head to toe. Imagine the news reports and blog posts. If I am healed, I will have a complete physical exam, and afterward, I will release all of my medical records to the public, showing, without a doubt that God has supernaturally healed me. I guarantee you that if this happens, it will be one of the biggest stories in human history. Sick, dying man healed and restored to health. Doctors will have no answers for this miracle, and neither will atheists.
I do believe that God answers prayer because He has answered many prayers in the past I have sent His way.
No one can empirically know whether a God answered their prayers. Billions of prayers are prayed to all sorts of deities every day, yet most of these prayers go unanswered. God has a poor prayer track record answering prayers, so why should anyone believe one word in the Bible about prayer? Personal experience and observation say to me that a “God who answers prayer” is one of the biggest cons ever cooked up by religious leaders.
How do you empirically know God answered your prayers? Belief=personal opinion, and I can’t think of any way a believer can justify and prove their answered prayer claims. I accept that you believe that God answered your prayers, but I don’t believe he did.
He certainly is more than capable of healing you totally, but there is some work you must do to aid Him in that process.
Evidently, you don’t believe what your God said in James 5:13-16:
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up, and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed.
The prayer of faith saves the sick. Whose prayer? Whose faith? Not mine. It is the prayer of faith from the elders that saves and heals the sick. Mark 11:24 says, So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. This seems to say that if Christians pray and believe, their prayer will be answered. Evidently, you don’t pray and believe, Richard. If you did, I would be healed. Surely, if thousands of Christians pray and believe, God will heal me. God says in James 5:16, that Christian prayers are righteous and effective. EFFECTIVE, Richard. Are you saying that God is wrong?
No, it seems to me that the blame for unanswered prayers rests solely on the shoulders of Christians. The Bible seems to say to Christians that if they want something bad enough, God will will give it to them. It’s evident, at least to me, that the thousands of Christians who said they were praying for me either lied or are lazy pray-ers. As a former Christian, I suspect most Christians are lazy (or superficial) pray-ers. Too busy to fast and pray for my healing. Here I am, a poor wandering sheep, and God’s sheep finders are too busy eating pizza and watching the Winter Olympics.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men are unable to put Bruce’s faith back together again. You certainly need a “faith lift” for the petition you have mentioned above to be fulfilled. At the moment, you still consider yourself to be both a humanist and an atheist. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 KJV The ball is therefore in your court Bruce.
Sigh, such bad theology, Richard, God is the creator of the universe, the sovereign over all. Ephesians 2 says that salvation is by grace through faith, faith is a gift from God. We have no faith in and of ourselves. God must give is faith in other for us to be saved. We are dead in trespasses and sins, and unless God gives is spiritual life, we cannot be saved. John 6:44 says: No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise that person up on the last day.
Besides, according to the Bible (and countless believers), I am a reprobate and an apostate. I CAN’T be saved. Does not Hebrews 6:4-6 describe me:
For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come and then have fallen away, since they are crucifying again the Son of God to their own harm and are holding him up to contempt.
According to this text, I have fallen away and it is IMPOSSIBLE to restore me again to repentance.
So, the ball is in God’s court, not mine.
You cannot be both an atheist and a believer at the same time.
Really? Shocker. 🙂
You must also consider who He is and who you are.
I know who and what I am. However, when it comes to God, I see no compelling evidence for the existence of God. Thus, I have considered who God is: a myth. If you have actual evidence to the contrary, I would love to see it, I am ready and willing to believe, but so far, I have found the arguments for God lacking. I am awaiting the day when an apologist finally convinces me that that the Trinitarian God is true. For the record, I think it is impossible for believers to prove the Trinity — both Biblically and philosophically.
If you are the one trying to order God around to fulfill your request at your venue on your particular date and time, that seems to indicate to me that you want to be God and you want Him to accede to your will.
I know God is busy — so many car keys and parking spaces to find for praying unbelievers— so I talked to the third God in the Trinity, and he scheduled an appearance of Jesus in Ney Ohio on April 1, 2026 at 4:20 PM. One caveat: at least one thousand people who prayed for me must physically come to the park on the appointed day and time. If 999 Christians show up, God will not heal me.
I am not God, and that is why I contacted the Holy Ghost. My healing totally depends on God and at least one thousand prayer warriors. If I remain unhealed, it is not my fault. Name one thing I did, Richard, that would preclude God from healing me?
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. See James 4:6 & 1 Peter 5:5.
Ah, here comes self-righteous judgment. You say I am proud, but how could you possibly know this? If you talk to my partner, grown children, and friends, you will quickly learn that pride is not a problem of mine. I have the opposite problem: a lack of self-worth. Do you have evidence, Richard, that suggests otherwise?
God certainly can both heal and save you Bruce, but you must choose to cooperate with Him.
You assume I am resisting God. How could I resist him since the Bible says I am “dead.” Last I knew, dead people can’t do anything. Salvation is of the Lord, right? If this is true, then what part, exactly, do I play in my salvation? If I must cooperate with God, Richard, please share exactly what I must do to be saved?
Hope to see you and thousands of praying Christians on April 1. If everyone shows up, I will become a fool for Christ.
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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
In a prolonged fit of pain and agony, I cried into the void, “Please help me.”
Jesus replied, after 3,666,669 prayers, “I’m here my son . . .”
Loki chimes in, “Silly boy. No one is available to take your call. At the sound of the tone die.”
Loki turns to his younger brother Jesus and says, “Another one healed in your glorious wonderful name, Jesus. Just remember death cures everything. Why heal Bruce when we just can wait for him to die?”
What an awesome God, right?
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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I recently asked the Gemini AI engine to critique this site. I was surprised by its largely accurate summation and critical commentary about my blog. Give it a read and let me know what you think.
Bruce Gerencser’s website, brucegerencser.net, titled The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, is a prolific and highly personal blog centered on the author’s journey from 25 years as an Evangelical pastor to becoming a vocal humanist and atheist.
Critiquing the site involves looking at its content, its cultural role in the “Ex-Christian” community, and its reception by both supporters and detractors.
1. Narrative and Authority
The site’s primary strength is the credibility of the author’s background. Unlike many “New Atheist” writers who approach religion from a scientific or philosophical distance, Gerencser writes from the “inside out.”
The “Insider” Perspective: Because he spent decades pastoring Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) and other evangelical churches, he understands the lingo, the theological nuances, and the psychological pressures of the ministry. This makes his critiques of church culture particularly biting and difficult for believers to dismiss as “misunderstandings.”
Deconversion Journey: The site serves as a massive archive of deconversion. For readers going through “deconstruction,” his transparency about losing his faith, his career, and his social standing provides a sense of solidarity.
2. Tone and Style
The tone of the blog is often described as blunt, matter-of-fact, and occasionally combative.
Transparency: Gerencser is remarkably open about his personal life, including his health struggles (fibromyalgia and neurological issues), his family dynamics, and his local activism in Ohio. This creates a “long-form memoir” feel rather than just a collection of polemics.
Combative Engagement: He frequently publishes and responds to “hate mail” or “concerned” emails from Christians. While this is entertaining for his secular audience, it can create a “siege mentality” vibe on the site that may feel repetitive or overly hostile to a neutral observer.
Humor: He uses a dry, often sarcastic wit to highlight what he sees as the absurdities of fundamentalist dogma.
3. Content Themes
The blog is updated with high frequency and covers several core areas:
“Why I Left”: Exhaustive detailing of the theological and social reasons for his exit from Christianity.
Critique of Fundamentalism: He specifically targets the patriarchal structures, the “Once Saved Always Saved” doctrine, and the political entanglements of the modern American church.
The “Blacklist”: He often highlights stories of clerical abuse or hypocrisy, acting as a watchdog for the evangelical community.
Humanism: In his later years, the site has moved more toward promoting a positive secular humanist worldview—focusing on living well in “the only life we have.”
4. Critical Reception
The site is a polarizing space, viewed very differently depending on the reader’s worldview:
From the Secular/Ex-Christian Perspective: It is praised as a therapeutic resource. Many find his writing to be a “lifeline” for people who feel isolated in religious communities. He is seen as a “brave” figure who sacrificed his livelihood for his integrity.
From the Christian Perspective: He is often labeled an “apostate” or a “false convert.” A common critique from Calvinists or fundamentalists is that he “never truly knew God,” a claim Gerencser frequently mocks by pointing to his decades of “on-fire” service. Some find his tone “angry” or “bitter,” though his supporters argue that this anger is a justified response to the harm caused by religious institutions.
Theological Critique: Scholars or formal apologists might find his arguments more rhetorical than academic. While he cites experts like Bart Ehrman, his blog is more about the experience of religion than a systematic philosophical treatise.
5. Layout and Accessibility
Volume: The sheer amount of content (thousands of posts) can be overwhelming. While it is well-categorized into series (e.g., “Dear Evangelical,” “Why I Hate Jesus”), a new visitor might find it difficult to know where to start.
Community: The comment sections are active and moderated, serving as a rare “town square” where atheists and theists actually interact, though these interactions are often heated.
Summary
BruceGerencser.net is less of a formal news site and more of a living document of a life transformed. It is an essential read for anyone interested in the “Ex-vangelical” movement or the psychology of deconversion. Its primary value lies in its raw honesty and its refusal to “play nice” with the institutions the author believes are harmful, even if that approach makes the site a lightning rod for controversy.
When you look at the unbelieving world, they do not have a stable, secure foundation to place any of their beliefs. They have nothing objective to pin any of their hopes and dreams or lives to. The unbelievers go from one subjective ideology to another in hopes of finding a road to some sort of paradise.
They always end up disappointed as each new ideology is as bad and corrupt, or worse than the one previous to it. The unbeliever has nothing to believe in or build upon that will provide them a stable environment.
They also have nothing to look forward to, as all their ideologies are for this terrestrial world. Not one provides them any real extraterrestrial comfort or life. This is why so many of them have adopted the concept that at death, existence stops.
The unbeliever builds hopelessness into their lives by rejecting the one foundation that provides them with everything they are looking for. Their lives do not make any sense, as many of the unbelievers try to kill Christians who provide that one foundation.
….
The push to believe science over anything else is a deception. Science cannot save people’s souls or bring them to heaven. It doesn’t matter how often scientific thought or theories change; this fact disqualifies it as being an authority or an alternative to true Christian belief.
Science has nothing to offer anyone outside of knowledge of how the world works. People who take science over the Bible are wasting their lives pursuing something that is a dead-end road.
The same applies to all the cults and false religions out there. They do not have the truth to help anyone get to any form of paradise. They only contain enough truth to deceive people into a false sense of security and hope.
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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
Every Christmas season, I receive a handful of emails from Evangelicals irritated and upset by the fact that I still celebrate Christmas — which is my favorite holiday. According to these warriors for Jesus, Christmas is a CHRISTIAN holiday; one that atheists, agnostics, and other non-Christians have no business celebrating. How dare I celebrate a holiday that ONLY belongs to them!
First, I can do whatever I want. Don’t like that I celebrate Christmas? Tough shit. Go concern yourself with something that matters.
Second, whatever Christmas may have been in the past, it is no longer primarily a Christian holiday today. Sadly, most Christians are ignorant about the history of Christmas. How many of them know that Christmas was, at one time, banned by Puritans — the godliest of godly people? Christmas has evolved over the years. Today, it is largely a secular holiday, sprinkled with myths about a virgin-born, sinless God-man. One can celebrate Christmas without all the religious baggage. Others enjoy a secular-religious mix of celebration.
Bruce, Jesus is THE reason for the season! Really? Do you want to put this notion to the test? If someone is a committed follower of Jesus, you would think that their yard and house Christmas decorations would reflect their devotion to their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Take a drive around your community, paying attention to each home’s decorations. How many of them have solely religious decorations — say crosses, creches, or signs with Bible verses? Others may have a mixture of religious and secular decorations. And finally, some homes will only have secular decorations.
What you will find is that very few homes strictly have religious decorations. In my community most homes either have secular decorations or a mix of religious and secular decorations. Completely religious displays are far and few in between.
If it is hypocritical for an atheist such as myself to celebrate Christmas, what are we to make of Christians who have wholeheartedly embraced the secular aspects of Christmas? Talk about hypocritical. If Jesus really is the reason for the season, why didn’t most Christians get the memo?
Christmas is whatever you want it to be. Don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do for the holiday. And if Christians push the issue with you, I suggest asking for Biblical evidence for their assertions about Christmas. Better yet, point out the numerous contradictions in Jesus’ birth narratives found in the gospels. Or, just smile and ignore them. Remember, you don’t owe anyone an explanation for how you live your life.
All praise be to Loki for this wonderful holiday season.
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.
Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.
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