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Category: Evangelicalism

1,500 Evangelical Preachers Stand and Applaud Colleague Accused of Sexual Misconduct

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michael brown

Michael Brown, a Messianic Jew and Christian apologist, stands accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with his secretary years ago and having an allegedly non-sexual “emotional” relationship with another woman. For those of us who frequently swim in the putrid waters of Evangelical sexual misconduct, claiming immoral, and even criminal behavior is “emotional” in nature is a common ploy used by accused preachers to skirt sexual misconduct allegations. More often than not, when the truth is revealed, we find out their behavior was, in fact, physical. Not that “emotional” affairs are okay, by the way. They, most certainly, are not.

In December 2024, The Roys Report reported:

“Erin” was one of millions of believers whose faith in God was so transformed by the Brownsville Revival of the mid-1990s that she accepted a secretarial job at the revival’s ministry school in Pensacola, Florida. But in 2002, the 21-year-old suddenly cleared her desk, quietly left the state, and has struggled with her faith ever since.

Erin told The Roys Report (TRR) she left because she felt trapped when revival leader and FIRE School of Ministry founder Michael Brown—a man she called “Dad”—would frequently cross physical boundaries. He’d hold her hand, kiss her on the lips, and slap her bottom, she said.

“He was supposed to be a spiritual father,” Erin said. “He was supposed to look after me.”

….

TRR keeps alleged victims of sexual harassment and clergy sexual abuse anonymous, so Erin is a pseudonym. However, we confirmed her identity with former FIRE staff Kris Bennett and former FIRE missionary Katherine Marialke.

…

Last month, as TRR began reaching out to Brown for comment on this story, Brown told board members for The Line of Fire about Erin’s allegations, board member Cindy Panepinto told TRR.

Panepinto said Brown also revealed an emotional connection he had with a second woman more than 20 years ago,

“There was no physical aspect of that, but it was a soul tie,” Panepinto said of the second woman. “It was something he repented of to his wife and they both took care of it with their spouses.”

Two weeks ago, The Line of Fire Board hired the law firm Mitchell, Stein, Carey, and Chapman to conduct a third-party investigation. Lee Stein is a former U.S. attorney and former Arizona assistant attorney general.

Line of Fire board member Jonathan Bernis said the ministry will make the firm’s final report public when the investigation is complete.

In a written statement to TRR, Brown said he’s in agreement with the investigation because he’s “shocked and horrified” by the accusations, some of which he said are “false statements” and “mischaracterizations.” Brown denied ever committing adultery and said all interactions with Erin were “nonsexual” but lacked judgment.

“(A)spects of my interaction with her, although totally non-sexual in every way, reflected a lack of judgment on my part,” Brown wrote. “(I)f it’s true that for 23 years she has carried this pain and I am responsible for it, I am beyond mortified and would plead forgiveness and the opportunity to bring healing and restoration.”

….

In 1999, at age 18, Erin attended the Brownsville Revival School of Ministry.

Then in 2000, John Kilpatrick, former pastor of Brownsville Assembly of God where the revival originated, clashed with Brown over the direction of the ministry and fired Brown from his position as president of the Brownsville school.

….

In response, Brown started the FIRE School of Ministry. It would remain in Pensacola until 2003, when Brown relocated it to North Carolina.  

Erin followed Brown to FIRE, which is about the time when she says Brownasked her to call him, “Dad.” Since her home life was difficult, she initially enjoyed his attention and the notes they’d write to each other.

….

Erin said she hadn’t been at FIRE even a year before Brown initiated physical touching. Once, she said Brown made a big deal of the handholding to other people while together in a vehicle. 

“He lifted it up in the truck . . . and he’s like, ‘You all know that I think of (Erin) as my daughter,’ and said, ‘That’s why we’re holding hands because she’s like a daughter to me,’” Erin said.

Then one day when they were alone in his office, she said he asked for a kiss on the lips. She didn’t want to do it, so she gave him a chaste peck. But she said kisses on the lips became a pattern of their goodbyes when they’d been alone.

“It was no longer (Brown) was asking for a kiss,” she said. “It was (Brown) leaning down to get a kiss. . . . I knew I couldn’t stop it or I felt I couldn’t stop it.”

Erin said Brown also began smacking her rear end with his hand, which made her uncomfortable.

….

A disturbing incident happened when Erin was housesitting for the Browns while they were away, she told TRR. The Browns told her she could sleep in their bedroom in their newly-built house, since the other bedrooms weren’t finished.  

Erin said she would often leave short encouraging notes in Brown’s Bible, desk drawers, or coat pocket, and sometimes he’d write a note for her in return. So, she opened the drawer of his nightstand to hide a note for him when his handwriting on a yellow legal pad caught her eye. But she said Brown’s words described an inappropriate situation Brown had with a married woman associated with the Brownsville school.

“The letter basically stated that they were having a talking relationship and how they would dream about having sexual relations with each other and what they wanted to do with each other, how she wanted to wrap her legs around him, how he played into it,” Erin said.

Previously, she said she assumed the interactions she’d had with Brown, which sometimes felt off, were what a healthy father-daughter relationship should be. But reading that note made her see the interactions in a new light.

….

Last November as Brown was involved in talks about a third-party investigation of International House of Prayer founder Mike Bickle, Londa Parker texted Brown. She wrote that Brown also should have been subjected to a third-party investigation for the “inappropriate” interactions with Erin.

Brown disagreed, texting back, “(T)he reason for a third-party investigation is because of charges of adultery or criminal behavior, obviously none of which apply to me, thank God.”

Parker wrote back, “I think my point is that isn’t Mike Bickle denying the accusations? The need for an investigation is to find out the truth.”

Brown told Parker the difference is that Erin had told a FIRE leader at the time that nothing sexual happened between them. Brown added: “And of course, I will keep our interaction private, as I know you will.” However, Parker instead shared the texts with TRR.

A couple months ago, Gladstone heard about the butt-smacking and kissing allegations and confronted Brown for the second time.

“I addressed him for never telling us, the four main leaders,” Gladstone told TRR. “He apologized for that, and then he assured me that all was well. He said that he took care of it, whatever it was that was going wrong in him.”

But Gladstone said he’s not satisfied with Brown’s response.

“I would never treat my daughter that way,” Gladstone said. “So, I say that as a dad. I say that as a reader of Scripture and as a leader that would require for me a long way away from ministry and complete transparency and a long road of healing.”

You may read the entire story here.

Keep in mind, Brown is known for his preaching against sexual sin. Yet, we still have another preacher allegedly not practicing what he preaches. Shocker, right?

Brown is an apostolic elder [a made-up title] at Mercy Culture Church in Forth Worth, Texas. Recently, Mercy Church held a conference where its pastor Landon Schott claimed the allegations against Brown were “gossip and slander.” Schott added:

The accuser of the brethren is going after men of God that have given their lives to build the kingdom.

In other words, Satan is going after men like Brown, who have given their lives to build God’s Kingdom.

Schott is evoking comedian Flip Wilson with the notion that the moral failures of Evangelical clerics are due to Satan, and not personal moral failings.

Video Link

Of course, there is no Devil, so the blame for Brown’s inappropriate behavior is his alone.

After evoking Evangelicalism’s number one excuse for sin — Satan — Schott said:

Dr. Brown, we honor you! We celebrate you! And this Presence Driven Church and community of pastors is behind you!

With that, the 1,500 or so pastors and attendees in attendance stood to their feet and cheered for Brown.

In a court of law, Brown is innocent until proven guilty, but since he has already admitted to inappropriate behavior, it seems to me that cheers and applause are not warranted. Alas, Brown is a celebrity preacher, and we know when it comes to Evangelical celebrities, they are rarely held to the same standard as the rest of us. Brown will likely hibernate for a while, waiting until Evangelicals find other disgraced preachers to cheer for. Evangelicals are quite forgiving when their idols “sin,” and that’s why men such as Brown will always find a church or ministry to call home.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Letter to the Editor: Is the GOP God’s Only Party?

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letter to the editor

Letter to the editor of the Defiance Crescent-News

Dear Editor,

Jesus summed up God’s laws by commanding Christians to love God and love their neighbor. Jesus had much to say about how to treat others, especially the poor — whom the Bible calls “the least of these.” Allegedly, Republicans are God’s Only Party, and President Donald Trump is Christian in Chief. Evangelical Christians hold numerous cabinet-level positions, and others hold lesser positions in the Trump Administration. Yet, a cursory review of President Trump’s first month in office reveals a Republican administration disconnected from the teachings of Christ in the gospels.

Sadly, many Evangelicals think they will one day be judged based on having the right beliefs; that what’s important to God is certain doctrines and social beliefs. However, the gospels reveal that God will judge everyone based on how they live, not what they believe. Matthew 25 makes clear that God will judge people, not on their beliefs, but on how they treated poor, marginalized people.

While I am no longer a Christian, I was a follower of Jesus for fifty years. I pastored Evangelical churches in three states for twenty-five years. If there’s one thing I learned, it is that how we treat other people matters to God; and, more importantly, how we love, care, and minister to the least of these reveals what matters to us.

With these things in mind, what do we make of the Trump administration’s treatment of undocumented immigrants, legal immigrants, non-Christians, people of color, transgender people, pregnant women, government employees, and poor people? Just today, Jesus-loving Republicans voted to cut $1 trillion from Medicaid, with cuts to Social Security and Medicaid to follow. Millions of Americans will lose medical insurance, child care, and food stamps. It is impossible to square these draconian, immoral cuts with the teachings of Jesus. Local Evangelicals send weekly letters to the editor preaching right doctrine and political affiliation. I have yet to read one letter in the Crescent News from Evangelicals preaching the importance of helping the least of these. I am grateful that a handful of local churches take seriously the teachings of Christ, providing food, utilities, rent, car repairs, and clothing to the poor. However, most churches are more concerned about political and theological fidelity than they are about a beaten, half-dead man along a dirt road. What we need are more Good Samaritans — Christian or not, Republican or Democrat — who love their neighbors as themselves.

Bruce Gerencser
Ney, Ohio

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Songs of Sacrilege: Miracle Man by Ozzy Osborne

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ozzy osborne miracle man

This is the latest installment in the Songs of Sacrilege series, which I would like readers to help me with. If you know of a song that is irreverent toward religion, makes fun of religion, pokes fun at sincerely held religious beliefs, or challenges the firmly held religious beliefs of others, please send me an email.

Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Miracle Man by Ozzy Osborne.

Video Link

Lyrics

I’m looking for a miracle man
That tells me no lies
I’m looking for a miracle man
Who’s not in disguise

I don’t know where he’ll come from
And I don’t know where he’s been
But it’s not our Jimmy Sinner
Because he’s so obscene

Miracle Man got busted
Miracle Man got busted

Today I saw a miracle man
On T.V. cryin’
Such a hypocritical man
Born again dyin’

He don’t know where he’s goin’
But we know just where he’s been
It was our little Jimmy Sinner
I saw on the screen

Miracle Man got busted
Miracle Man got busted
Miracle Man got busted

Miracle Man
Miracle Man

A devil with a crucifix
Brimstone and fire
He needs another carnal fix
To take him higher and higher

Now Jimmy he got busted
With his pants down
Repent ye wretched sinner
Self-righteous clown

Miracle Man got busted
Miracle Man got busted
Miracle Man got busted
Miracle Man got busted…

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

My Experiences with Pain Clinics and the Ongoing War Against Chronic Pain Sufferers

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suffering and pain

In the late 1990s, I started having problems with joint/muscle pain and fatigue. At first, I ignored my symptoms, thinking I was just overworked and tired. After months of pain and tiredness, I decided to see a doctor. The doctor I saw then is still my primary care physician today. It took a year or so to determine I had fibromyalgia. Over the years, I went through a lot of tests and treatments, along with taking more medications than I can count.

I took a variety of pain management drugs, both narcotics and non-narcotics. In 2004, I started taking narcotics such as Tramadol, Darvocet (which was later banned because it caused heart problems), and Hydrocodone. For years, I took both Tramadol and Hydrocodone — upwards to 80 Morphine equivalents a day. I also took a Benzodiazepine, Restoril, for muscle spasms and sleep. And then came the unholy war on opiates — a war my primary care doctor doesn’t support, but is forced to accede if he wants to keep his job and license.

First to go was Restoril. Why? According to so-called experts, taking benzodiazepines and opiates together could cause respiratory problems (typically only in drug abusers or patients lacking tolerance build-up), so I had to stop taking Restoril. From there I tried numerous sleep medications, without success. I finally started using Cyclobenzaprine at night — 20 milligrams. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Tough shit, so sorry, you are out of luck if it doesn’t.

Next to go was Tramadol. “Can’t take two narcotics,” the doctor sadly opined. After weeks of withdrawal hell, I stopped taking Tramadol. I was still taking 50 morphine equivalents of Hydrocodone a day. And then came the edict that my Hydrocodone dosage had to be cut. Last doctor’s visit it was cut to 40 and sometime later this year it will be cut to 30. I have no choice in the matter, and neither does my doctor. Keep in mind, my pain has only gotten worse during this time. Over the past fifteen years, I was diagnosed with degenerative spine disease, gastroparesis, and exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. I had numerous procedures, including experimental ones, and two major surgeries. While the surgeries helped address specific pains, my core pain problem remains. This is my cross to bear. Drugs help, but they are not a fix. Cannabis helps (which my doctor doesn’t know I take, because I know he is required to stop my narcotic pain medicine if he finds out I’m using cannabis), but its effects are short-term. Why many doctors refuse to prescribe cannabis is beyond reason. Worse, insurance companies refuse to cover cannabis, so chronic pain sufferers are forced to pay out of pocket for it. In Ohio, cannabis is prohibitively expensive, so I drive to Michigan — thirty minutes away — to get my “fix.”

Over the years, my doctor has referred me to four different pain clinics, without success. None of the clinics was narcotic- or cannabis-friendly; all were run by anesthesiologists who were more interested in performing procedures and giving steroid injections than they were in treating long-term, chronic pain. I found the pain clinics to largely be a waste of time. One doctor, who never looked me in the eyes, said there was nothing he could do for me. Another treated me like I was a drug-seeking addict, even though I have NEVER, not ONE time, abused my prescriptions.

The FDA has admitted that they erred in their directives on opioid use; that people with chronic pain were being unnecessarily harmed, often leading to suicide. Despite new directives, many doctors and pain clinics continue to be narcotics-adverse. I see no hope of it being better any time soon. I’ve concluded that limiting legal liability is more important to doctors — most of whom now work for large corporations — than treating people with chronic pain. I expect there to be an increase in illegal drug use and suicide by chronic pain sufferers. When pain has you screaming and banging your head on the wall, you will do almost anything to make it stop, and that includes killing yourself. Chronic pain sufferers don’t want to die, they just want the pain to stop. And if the pain can’t be stopped, we, at least, want everything possible done to make our suffering tolerable. And let me be clear, when chronic pain sufferers kill themselves, the blame almost always lies at the feet of callous, indifferent medical corporations and doctors.

I don’t need advice or treatment/drug suggestions. I’ve been going at this for twenty-five years. I know my stuff inside and out. I intimately know every inch of my body; what’s causing my pain, and how to lessen it. Well-meaning, but uninformed advice, while humored, is not helpful. From prescription drugs to supplements to alternative medicine treatments, it is likely I have tried them. This post is more about making readers aware of what I personally face and what chronic pain sufferers deal with, in general. If you are a chronic pain sufferer, you know what I am talking about. Twenty years ago, a primary care physician could prescribe narcotic pain medications without question. Today, they have not only their corporate overlords breathing down their necks, they have the FDA threatening to monitor their narcotic prescriptions. Pharmacies face similar scrutiny. Both federal and state regulations make it almost impossible to abuse narcotics via doctors’ prescriptions. Gone are the days of doctor shopping or filling prescriptions early. Narcotic users are now entered into a database accessible by doctors, pharmacies, and law enforcement. This makes it impossible to game the system, as was common years ago. I understand the need for some regulation, but these days the regulations are punitive, leading to needless pain and suffering. Chronic pain sufferers are literally being regulated to death.

Are you a chronic pain sufferer? Please share your experiences in the comment section.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Group Home Worker Dale Burbank Charged with Raping a Child

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dale burbank

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Dale Burbank, a worker at the Evangelical group home, Mustard Seed Ranch in Cookeville, Tennessee, stands accused of raping a child under his care.

WSMV-4 reports:

A 65-year-old man who works at Mustard Seed Ranch (MSR) in Putnam County was arrested on the property Friday for allegedly raping a child who was in short-term care there, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.

According to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO), on Feb. 20, the Department of Children’s Services notified the PCSO about a potential situation involving a child at MSR. The following day, investigators did a forensic interview, which gave them probable cause for a search warrant.

Around 8 p.m. the same day, PCSO investigators executed that search warrant at MSR on Kuykendall Road. There, they arrested 65-year-old Dale Burbank and charged him with statutory rape by an authority figure. Burbank used to live in Michigan, PCSO said. His bond is set at $70,000, and he has a court date on March 31, 2025.

In a statement released Saturday, Putnam County Sheriff Eddie Farris called the arrest a “bad, hopefully isolated incident that took place while a child was in a short-term care at this facility.”

“The Mustard Seed Ranch has been operating in our community since 2006,” Sheriff Farris said. “It is a highly respected Christian based Residential Licensed Child Care Agency, and it has helped many children in our community over the years.”

According to its website, MSR “is a community-supported, interdenominational Christian ministry designed to take children out of unsafe environments and into loving, nurturing homes.” They have three existing homes that are near capacity, the website said.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Missionary Jackie Shroyer Charged as Co-Author of Her Husband’s Murder

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jackie shroyer

The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.

Jackie Shroyer, an Evangelical missionary affiliated with the Vineyard Church, stands accused of being a co-author of her husband Beau’s murder. The Shroyers were members of Lakes Area Vineyard Church in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Detroit Lakes Online reports:

Former Detroit Lakes resident Jackie Shroyer has been formally charged as a “co-author” of the Oct. 25, 2024, murder of her husband, former Detroit Lakes police officer and missionary Beau Shroyer, which occurred while he and his family were serving as missionaries in the African nation of Angola.

According to a statement from Lakes Area Vineyard Church Lead Pastor Troy M. Easton, “I made the commitment that I would update you on any news regarding the investigation around Beau Shroyer’s death,” he posted on the church’s website Monday.

“It saddens me immensely to have to share with you that we were notified that Jackie has been formally charged as a co-author in the murder of her husband. As a result of formal charges, it is our understanding that she will remain in custody and be tried before a judge,” Easton wrote.

Several young Angolan men, all with criminal records of armed robbery and kidnapping, have also been accused in the case, according to the Angolan federal Criminal Investigation Service.

The court date for Jackie Shroyer has not yet been set, but will likely occur within the next six months, Easton added. “Beau and Jackie’s children will continue to be cared for by close family with support from both SIM and Lakes Area Vineyard Church,” he said.

….

In a story released Nov. 7, 2024, by the Angolan Press Agency, the CIS alleges that Beau Shroyer’s wife, Jackie Shroyer, 44, was the “mastermind” behind the murder, which allegedly occurred after Beau Shroyer was lured to a remote area by the suspects, who feigned engine failure, then murdered him while his wife was away from the scene.

The story implies that Jackie was only pretending to be distraught when police arrived at the scene, and that she failed to appear in Lubango “for ‘alleged’ health reasons” when the other suspects were presented.

The motive for the stabbing, according to the spokesperson for the national SIC, Superintendent of Criminal Investigation Manuel Halaiwa, was “strong suspicions of a romantic relationship” with the security guard who has been charged, and “a presumed intention of the wife not wanting to leave Angola when her husband’s mission had ended.”

….

Jackie Shroyer supposedly had $50,000 to pay for the murder; Halaiwa said the evidence includes the vehicle used to commit the crime, the murder weapon (a knife from the United States that Beau Shroyer had allegedly offered to the security guard) and 4.5 million kwanzas (about $5,000) that were seized.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for February 20, 2025

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hot takes

Where art thou, Democrats? Instead of sitting on the sidelines whimpering and whining about lost elections, how about standing up to Trump and fighting back?

Trump is no genius. His plan is simple: give tax cuts to the wealthy, punish those who oppose him, and wholesale cut spending to cripple the Federal government and give the appearance of finding money to pay for tax cuts.

Marco Rubio is the only Trump cabinet member fit to hold office. The rest of them have no business being around the levers of power.

Trump is not wrong about excessive government spending. He is, however, dead wrong about how to cut spending. A congress-mandated Department of Government Efficiency is a good idea; an autocratic DOGE operated by multibillionaire Elon Musk and his cronies is not.

All spending reductions must start with defense and security spending. Instead, Trump cuts insignificant spending while ignoring large ticket items such as defense and homeland security. It’s like cutting out Netflix to pay for your mortgage. It doesn’t work.

Trump is not wrong about our borders. He is, however, wrong about how to address the issue. Using ICE, the Border Patrol, and state/local law enforcement to terrorize undocumented immigrants is not the answer. We need immigrants for jobs Americans cannot or will not work.

ICE raided several restaurants not far from my home, deporting numerous gainfully employed Mexicans. I can’t wait to eat Mexican food made by Gringos. No more authentic Mexican food — Taco Bell for everyone.

Memo to Trump and his MAGA supporters: Ukraine did not start their war with Russia, Vladimir Putin did.

I hope the United States’ allies are paying attention. You can no longer count on America to stand with you when your adversaries threaten or attack you. Taiwan, for example, should not expect us to protect them if China invades them. All Trump cares about is making deals; deals that personally benefit him and his fellow oligarchs.

A democracy such as ours requires all citizens to agree to play according to the same rules. Once Trump ignores the law and lawful court orders and does what he wants without penalty, our democracy is gone.

Bonus: Elon Musk is the proverbial fox in the chicken house; the door of the coop swung wide open by Trump and his fellow Republicans. We shouldn’t be surprised by the bloodshed and slaughter that takes place as a result.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

What and Who is a True Christian?

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true christians
Cartoon by David Heyward

It is common to hear devout Evangelical Christians talk about “true Christians” or “true believers.” Most Americans claim to believe in God; particularly the Christian God. They may not regularly attend church or read the Bible, but millions of Americans say they believe in the Christian deity when asked. More than a few Evangelicals fall into this category. They occasionally attend church, throwing a few bucks in the offering plate when they do. Their Bibles largely go unread outside of opening them at their pastor’s direction during his sermons. Prayers are occasionally uttered, especially in times of trouble, but they rarely “pray without ceasing.” These nominal Christians make up the majority of Evangelical church memberships. Are they “true Christians?”

Typically, it is Christian apologists who differentiate between true and nominal Christians. It is important to them to divide fake Christians from real Christians. However, when asked to define the term “true Christian,” apologists rarely agree with each other over how the term is defined. Is it right beliefs alone that determine whether a person is a “true Christian?” Or is how a person lives their life the standard by which professing believers are judged? Or, perhaps, a “true Christian” is someone who has prayed the sinner’s prayer, putting his faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for salvation? Or maybe, just maybe, a true Christian believes the right things and lives the right way. Of course, what, exactly, are the right things that must be believed (orthodoxy) or practiced (orthopraxy) for one to be a “true Christian?” Who decides what beliefs must be believed to be a “true Christian?” What beliefs, if any, are optional? Who decides what constitutes the behavior of a “true Christian?”

I grew up in the Evangelical church, making a public profession of faith in Christ at age fifteen. For the next thirty-five years, I lived my life as one who was a committed follower of Jesus; one who followed the teachings of the Bible. I was, in every way, a “true Christian.” Those who knew me best believed I was a “true Christian,” yet, today, countless Evangelical apologists say otherwise; that I was a fraud, a deceiver, a follower of Satan; that I led thousands of people astray, damning their souls to a Christless eternity. Nothing in my lived life suggests that this narrative is true. Critics will search in vain to find people who knew me that would justify their opinions about my life. By all accounts, I was a devoted follower of Jesus. Sure, I sinned just like any other Christian, but the bent of my life was towards holiness. As one woman who knew me well said, “If Bruce is not a Christian, nobody is.”

Apologists use the “true Christian” label to differentiate themselves from the rest of Christians. Much like Calvinists who call themselves “elect” or “predestined,” “true Christians” want everyone to know that they are not like those fake Christians. Read their blogs and websites and you will find substantial verbiage devoted to rooting out from their midst those who are not “true Christians.” No two apologists say the same thing about who and what a “true Christian” really is. You would think God would deliver the same “true Christian” message to Evangelical pastors and churches, but he doesn’t. Christians can’t even agree on the basics: salvation, baptism, communion.

“True Christians” want to be viewed as special; people who believe the right things and live the right way. “True Christians” are God’s chosen ones, not like the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. However, while it is certainly true that unbelievers have different beliefs from “true Christians,” their lifestyles are often different from and superior to that of many “true Christians.” Revival Fires, John, James, Dr. David Tee, and others who claim to be “true Christians,” behave in ways that are contrary to the teachings of the Bible. While believing the right things is important to what makes one a “true Christian,” so is living by the teachings of Christ. In fact, I would argue that behavior is superior to belief. When Jesus summed up the law and the prophets, he said:

Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:36-40)

Love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself. That’s it. Jesus said nothing about right beliefs. Love God, love your neighbor. During the end stage of my ministerial career, I often reminded church members that if we didn’t love our neighbors, we didn’t love God. Such thinking is uncommon in Evangelical churches. What matters to most Evangelicals is right beliefs, and right interpretations of the Bible. How else do we explain how vicious and hateful many Evangelicals are? Oh, they have the right beliefs — proudly so — but their behavior suggests that they don’t love their neighbors as themselves. And if they don’t love their neighbors as themselves? They don’t love God. I didn’t say this, God did. 🙂

Don’t tell me that you are a “true Christian,” show me. I know all I need to know about Christian beliefs. If you want to convince me that Christianity is true, I suggest you show me by how you live your life. Talk is cheap. It is unlikely that I will ever be convinced that Christianity is true. Still, I might come to admire and appreciate the followers of Jesus if they dared, you know, to actually practice the teachings of Christ, starting with those found in the Sermon on the Mount.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

You’re Killing Me, One Step, Jump, and Bang at a Time

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fairview vs defiance basketball game january 20 2018 (10)

The old man struggles as he puts on his olive green winter coat. A recent steroid injection and two weeks of high-dose Prednisone lessened the arthritic pain in his right shoulder, but pain and debility remain. Eventually, the old man wrestles his coat into compliance, puts on his matching fedora, and heads for the front door.

The old man stops at the door, ensuring Petey, the Ferret — a year-old cat — doesn’t dash towards it. Petey thinks freedom awaits if he can just get out the door, but the old man knows cars, injury, and death await instead.

No ornery cat today. No hollering at Petey as he tests his “freedom.” The old man starts the car with his key fob. A heated seat and steering wheel await him as he drags his right leg and then his left into the driver’s compartment. The old man stopped driving four years ago, but his partner’s knee replacement forced him back into service. Short drives, such as this one, are fine, but longer drives, say to Fort Wayne or Toledo, challenge the old man’s cognitive and physical abilities.

The old man backs out on the road, puts the car in gear, and heads for the local high school for a basketball game. The old man loves high school basketball and to a lesser degree football. The local school district gives residents sixty-five and older a free pass to school events, so the only cost today will be the money the old man spends at the concession stand.

The local high school, five miles away, sits on U.S. Hwy 127. Other area schools took advantage of cheap money from the state of Ohio to build new buildings over the past two decades, but not the old man’s school district. The area is dominated by white Republican farmers, and the local school district’s attempt to pass a new building levy failed several times. Eventually, a maintenance levy was passed, covering building and property renovations and improvements. The old man appreciates having the lowest real estate taxes in rural northwest Ohio; however, he can’t help but wonder how wise it was to spend millions of dollars fixing up buildings when that money could have been used to replace a sixty-year-old facility with a state-of-the-art school plant.

The old man pulls into the school parking lot, seeing a handicapped parking spot next to the front door. “Awesome,” the old man says to himself. He has on more than one occasion had to park far from the front door, resulting in exhaustion by the time he enters the school. Walking short distances exhausts him too, but less exhaustion is always good, so the old man is hopeful that tonight is a “less pain” night.

The old man walks into the building, past the ticket taker (who knows he has a pass), 50/50 drawing, and athletic booster’s table, and into the gymnasium. He nods and smiles at fellow basketball fans, as he makes his way to half-court. The old man tries to always sit in the same place, two or three rows up from floor level. Navigating the stairs proves challenging, so the old man tries to sit as close to the hardcourt as possible.

As is his custom, the old man arrives at the game an hour before start time. Doing so allows him to take a deep breath and situate himself in the stands, making sure people aren’t sitting close enough to him to inflict pain. Arriving early is very much part of the old man’s DNA. Earlier this year, the varsity basketball coach, the old man’s neighbor, asked why he arrived so early to the games. The old man replied, “When my partner and I first married, we drove junk automobiles. Flat tires were common. So, when going somewhere, we always left early enough to change a tire if we had a flat. The habit stuck, so I tend to be early for e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g.”

Situated in his seat, the old man watches as the junior varsity game begins. An hour and a half later, he haltingly stands, removes his hat, and sings the Star Spangled Banner before the start of the varsity game.

The stands are packed. The old man took 20 mg of hydrocodone before he left home, and now he takes 20 mg more, hoping to lessen the pain he feels rising in his body from head to toe. Pain-free is never an option, but hopefully, narcotic pain meds will reduce the pain enough that the game becomes a pleasant distraction.

Not long after the start of the varsity game, the old man feels a sudden jolt to his whole body. His seat is on the aisle just in case he needs to suddenly use the bathroom or leave. Up and down the aisle run three elementary-aged children, jumping up on the seat above him, and then down to the aisle, causing the old man’s seat to bounce up and down, jolting his body with excruciating pain.

The old man doesn’t blame the kids. “Kids will be kids,” he tells himself. “If these were my grandchildren, they would be doing the same.” The old man, however, does blame parents. “Children should be taught not to jump/run in the stands; that the stands aren’t for play.”

By the time, the game ends in a three-point loss for the home team, the old man has been repeatedly abused by running, jumping, and laughing children. He haltingly stands, and once the aisle is clear, he makes his way to the floor. Leaving the gym, he retraces the steps back to his car. Ice had fallen since he arrived, covering the windshield. The old man starts the car turns on the defroster, and retrieves the ice scraper from the trunk. Once the windshield is ice-free, the old man returns home, stopping first at the post office to get the mail.

Coat off, shoes, off, hat off, clothes switched for sweat pants and a tee shirt, the old man walks to the living room and flops on the couch. His partner asks her typical questions: How was the game? Who won? How do you feel? Questions answered, the old man tells his partner about the running, jumping children, a story she has heard countless times before. She feels sorry for the love of her life, knowing that there is little she can do for him.

Several days later the old man recounts his week to his therapist, telling her, “Maybe I should have stayed home, but I am in pain whether I go to the game or not, so I might as well go. Pain is ever with me, and unless I want to be a recluse, I must force myself to get out of the house, knowing it is good for me.”

The old man knows he can’t keep people from killing him one step, one jump, and one bang at a time. No matter how carefully he manages his environment, those around him are unaware of his struggle with chronic, unrelenting pain. He looks like the typical grandpa, but unless those around him carefully read his face, they will never know how much pain he is in. This is his burden to bear, and if he wants to enjoy what life he has left, this is the price of admission he must pay.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Whatever Happened to Political Courage and Conviction?

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courage and conviction

As President Donald Trump, Co-President Elon Musk, and MAGA Republicans run roughshod over the government, causing chaos, heartache, and harm, there’s little being done in opposition by those who are in positions of power to fight back. Instead, Democratic politicians, corporate CEOs, and others once known for progressive values have abandoned past diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and other “woke” policies, revealing that they never really were committed to these things. All that matters to these turncoat politicians and executives is remaining in power, improving corporate profits, and increasing shareholder value. Who cares if people of color, working-class people and other marginalized people are hurt in the process. When my partner lost her job last year due to downsizing, I reminded her that, to the company, she was just a line entry on a spread sheet. It’s hard to come to terms with the fact that most workers are just a means to an end; that when choosing between profits and what’s best for employees, companies will almost always choose the bottom line.

What is DEI?

In the United States, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of all people, particularly groups who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination based on identity or disability. These three notions (diversity, equity, and inclusion) together represent “three closely linked values” which organizations seek to institutionalize through DEI frameworks. The concepts predate this terminology and other variations sometimes include terms such as belonging, justice, and accessibility. 

I, for the life of me, don’t understand why a politician or corporation wouldn’t, on principle, embrace DEI. Sure, much like you, I find some DEI policies to either be ineffective or nonsensical, but that doesn’t mean the core values represented by the DEI acronym should be done away with.

The same goes for the term “woke.” The MAGA proud-loud-and-stupid-as-a-brick-crowd are against all things “woke” even though most of them couldn’t define the word if their lives depended on it.

Elaine Richardson, a professor of literacy studies at Ohio State University, defines “woke” this way: “In simple terms, it just means being politically conscious and aware, like stay woke.” [The word woke] “comes out of the experience of Black people of knowing that you have to be conscious of the politics of race, class, gender, systemic racism, ways that society is stratified and not equal.”

Again, setting extremes such as “defund the police” aside, it seems, at least to me, that being woke is desirable in a progressive society; and that progress requires an alert, awake citizenry. While I certainly roll my eyes at some of the extremes found within DEI and woke groups, in the main I fully embrace the values expressed by these words. It is doubtful that one can be a humanist, socialist, and progressive without embracing DEI and woke values. I take that back. It is rationally impossible for someone to be a humanist, socialist, and progressive without, in general, embracing DEI and woke values. We can, must, and should argue, debate, and fight about specific DEI/woke positions, but abandoning a century of progress for the rabid libertarianism promoted by Trump and his fellow MAGA followers is not the path forward for the United States. Drunk on Christian nationalism, racism, jingoism, xenophobia, imperialism, militarism, and capitalism, Trump and his merry band of uber-rich libertarians will not rest until they bring on the collapse of federal/state governments and our society as a whole. The goal is to return the United States to a time before government regulations and progressive social programs. All that matters is unrestrained personal freedom for white Christians and record profits for American oligarchs. Once you buy into the lie that the United States is a white capitalistic Christian nation; a nation divinely chosen by the God of the Bible to rule and reign over all the earth (under Jesus, of course, though what Jesus wants and MAGA wants seems to be one and the same). Evangelicals and conservative Roman Catholics now control key positions within the Trump administration, and with an atheist president pretending to be Christian sitting in the White House, it’s clear that this true-to-life telling of George Orwell’s “1984” will continue unabated for at least the next two years. And here’s the thing: much of what Trump is doing is perfectly legal, the spoils of winning the 2024 presidential election. Democrats can scream all they want, but Trump won the election fair and square. We must now face the consequences of a woefully uneducated populous electing a man who is a pathological liar; a man who doesn’t care one bit about their lives; a contemptuous man who only cares about power and wealth. I can’t think of one thing Trump has done since 2015 that reflects compassion for others.

Trump’s recent comments about the Palestinian people reveals the kind of man he really is. Trump only sees a business opportunity, one that will make him look good at the expense of millions of Palestinian men, women, and children. In some ways, Trump is no different from other American presidents; men who used violence and bloodshed to advance personal and political agendas. Trump wants to use bulldozers to turn Gaza into a canvas upon which he and his fellow billionaires can paint a beautiful picture of real estate development — the Riviera of the Middle East. No thought is given to the Palestinian people; the poor, marginalized, and disadvantaged; people who have lost everything because of Israel’s genocidal war against them.

Here’s what Trump had to say  at a White House news conference with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as reported in Al Jazeera::

Today I’m delighted to welcome Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu back to the White House. It’s a wonderful feeling and a wonderful event. We had fantastic talks, and thank you very much, with your staff.

I want to say it’s an honour to have you with us. Over the past four years, the US and the Israeli alliance has been tested more than any time in history, but the bonds of friendship and affection between the American and Israeli people have endured for generations and they are absolutely unbreakable.

I’m confident that, under our leadership, the cherished alliance between our two countries will soon be stronger than ever. We had a great relationship. We had great victories together four years ago, not so many victories over the past four years, however. In my first term, prime minister and I forged a tremendously successful partnership that brought peace and stability to the Middle East like it hadn’t seen in decades.

Together, we defeated ISIS [ISIL], we ended the disastrous Iran nuclear deal, one of the worst deals ever made, and imposed the toughest ever sanctions on the Iranian regime. We starved Hamas and Iran’s other terrorist proxies, and we starved them like they had never seen before, resources and support disappeared for them.

I recognised Israel’s capital, opened the American embassy in Jerusalem and got it built. We got it built. It’s beautiful, all Jerusalem stone right from nearby and it was – it’s something that’s very special.

And recognised Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, something that they talked about for 70 years and they weren’t able to get it. And I got it. And with the historic Abraham Accords, something that was really an achievement that was, I think, going to become more and more important because we achieved the most significant Middle East peace agreements in half a century.

And I really believe that many countries will soon be joining this amazing peace and economic development transaction. It really is a big economic development transaction. I think we’re going to have a lot of people signing up very quickly. Unfortunately, for four years, nobody signed up. Nobody did anything for four years except in the negative.

Unfortunately, the weakness and incompetence of those past four years, the grave damage around the globe that was done, including in the Middle East, grave damage all over the globe. The horrors of October 7th would never have happened if I were president, the Ukraine and Russia disaster would never have happened if I were president.

Over the past 16 months, Israel has endured a sustained aggressive and murderous assault on every front, but they fought back bravely. You see that and you know that. What we have witnessed is an all-out attack on the very existence of a Jewish state in the Jewish homeland. The Israelis have stood strong and united in the face of an enemy that has kidnapped, tortured, raped and slaughtered innocent men, women, children and even little babies.

I want to salute the Israeli people for meeting this trial with courage and determination and unflinching resolve. They have been strong. In our meetings today, the prime minister and I focused on the future, discussing how we can work together to ensure Hamas is eliminated and ultimately restore peace to a very troubled region.

It’s been troubled, but what has happened in the last four years has not been good.

I also strongly believe that the Gaza Strip, which has been a symbol of death and destruction for so many decades and so bad for the people anywhere near it, and especially those who live there and frankly who’s been really very unlucky. It’s been very unlucky. It’s been an unlucky place for a long time.

Being in its presence just has not been good and it should not go through a process of rebuilding and occupation by the same people that have really stood there and fought for it and lived there and died there and lived a miserable existence there. Instead, we should go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts, and there are many of them that want to do this and build various domains that will ultimately be occupied by the 1.8 million Palestinians living in Gaza, ending the death and destruction and frankly bad luck.

This can be paid for by neighbouring countries of great wealth. It could be one, two, three, four, five, seven, eight, 12. It could be numerous sites, or it could be one large site. But the people will be able to live in comfort and peace and we’ll make sure something really spectacular is done.

They’re going to have peace. They’re not going to be shot at and killed and destroyed like this civilisation of wonderful people has had to endure. The only reason the Palestinians want to go back to Gaza is they have no alternative. It’s right now a demolition site. This is just a demolition site. Virtually every building is down.

They’re living under fallen concrete that’s very dangerous and very precarious. They instead can occupy all of a beautiful area with homes and safety and they can live out their lives in peace and harmony instead of having to go back and do it again.

The US will take over the Gaza Strip and we will do a job with it too. We’ll own it and be responsible for dismantling all of the dangerous unexploded bombs and other weapons on the site, level the site and get rid of the destroyed buildings, level it out. Create an economic development that will supply unlimited numbers of jobs and housing for the people of the area … do a real job, do something different.

Just can’t go back. If you go back, it’s going to end up the same way it has for 100 years. I’m hopeful that this ceasefire could be the beginning of a larger and more enduring peace that will end the bloodshed and killing once and for all. With the same goal in mind, my administration has been moving quickly to restore trust in the alliance and rebuild American strength throughout the region and we’ve really done that.

I ended the last administration’s de facto arms embargo on over $1bn, in military assistance for Israel. And I’m also pleased to announce that this afternoon, the United States withdrew from the anti-Semitic UN Human Rights Council and ended all of the support for the UN Relief and Works Agency, which funnelled money to Hamas, and which was very disloyal to humanity.

Trump’s bulldozer approach to Gaza is a common tactic used by the United States. Remember when the first Europeans landed on the shores of what is now the eastern United States? Who met them there? Indigenous people. This was their land; their home. Did we respect their geographical boundaries and property rights? Of course not, silly boy. We are a nation divinely chosen by God; a brightly lit city on a hill. We used proverbial bulldozers and destroyed countless indigenous cultures and communities. From sea to shining sea, our forefathers claimed land for their own that belonged to others, killing anyone who got in their way. Learning nothing over the past 400 years, the United States continues to use threats of economic strangulation, violence, and death to force countries to do what they want them to do. Trump has been in office all of three weeks, yet he has already threatened to invade Panama, turn Canada into an American state, appropriate Greenland, and attack Mexican drug cartels. From tariffs to military threats, Trump intends to get his way even if it means destroying our economy and killing scores of people.

Elections have consequences. What do we do now? We either fight back or give up. We are quickly learning that many corporations who promoted DEI values only did so because it made them look good or benefitted their bottom line. Now that Trump is in office, many companies are doing away with their DEI programs, embracing Trump’s racist bigotry. Gone are courage and conviction. Where are CEOs and political leaders willing to stand up to Trump, even if it costs them financially or politically? Is no one willing to stand up to Trump and the MAGA horde? Have we given up, convincing ourselves that there’s no hope? And maybe there’s not. Maybe Trump 2024 is the gasping breath of a dying republic. Does this mean we give up? I know I can’t, even though I have been quite depressed over the past three weeks, and I suspect Trump still has a lot more harm he intends to inflict on the American people. Do we just give in? If we can’t beat them, join them?

To my progressive readers, what do we do going forward? Is our political system broken beyond repair? Voting doesn’t seem to matter much these days. We routinely elect people who say all the right things when running for office, but once elected these very same people develop amnesia, serving not their constituents, but corporate overlords. I used to disparage people who didn’t vote, but I’m beginning to understand why they don’t. Vote, don’t vote, money buys elections. Rare is the politician who has courage and conviction. This past election, I watched both Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown and Representative Marcy Kaptur morph into quasi-Republican-sounding politicians hoping to win Republicans to their side. I found their mealy-mouth cowardice disgusting. Better to lose standing courageously on your convictions, than lying just to get elected.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 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.

Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.