Who created evolution? [This has to be the dumbest question ever asked by a young earth creationist.] This is a fair question as many people ask, including children, ‘Who created God?’ When you type that question into a browser’s search box, you get a myriad of websites providing the right answer.
No one created God as he always existed. That may blow some people’s minds but that is how it is. It is hard to imagine since we are finite beings and trying to grasp the eternal is a bit out of our scope and ability.
However, you do not get the same results when you type in the words who created evolution. What you get is website after website either giving the scientific explanation of how science works or explanations of how evolution works.
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Yet, when you scour their works, not one person who promotes the evolutionary theory ever speaks about where evolution came from. They do not even bother to make it a separate entity and said that as soon as life began on this planet, evolution took over.
But where did evolution come from? Many unbelieving scientists want to put God in a test tube and study him but that is mere arrogance talking. No one talks about putting evolution in a test tube and studying it.
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They are content with studying the supposed results of this process. They have no desire to do to evolution what they have stated they want to do with God. They are content to believe in a non-existent theory and process whether they know where it came from or not.
It is no surprise that evolutionists do not know where the process came from or if it is a created process or not. They do not even know where life came from.
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Many people put their faith in science, yet, science is failing them as the members of that research field have no clue about the origin of life. They still do not know the original environment that supposedly spawned life.
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How can unbelieving scientists know the origin of evolution when they do not know anything about our beginnings? This is the difference between Christians and unbelievers. We do not need science to tell us our origins, we already know.
God has told us about it in the Bible. The reason the unbeliever doesn’t know is that they reject the truth of the Bible. We get answers and peace of mind, and the unbelievers get questions with no answers and a myriad of ‘mysteries’. They do not get peace of mind.
The evolutionist or evolution supporter may mock Christians and call them all sorts of names, etc., but all they are left with is a void that they struggle to fill with absurd theories they cannot come close to verifying.
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We Christians have a God that has spared us this trouble and effort. He has told us exactly what took place and how he did it so we do not have o waste any time or money seeking out the answer to our origins.
We can focus on our lives and go about God’s business knowing our heritage, and having no distractions because the mystery of our origins was solved a long time ago. Evolution has no creator because it has never existed, even in micro form.
It is better to know that we were wanted than to have to go through life thinking we are the spawn of something that does not care about us. God knows us as the Psalmist has said but evolution doesn’t even have a mind so it can never care or get to know us.
Why go with science when it can never produce an answer to the question who created evolution? Or why did it ‘evolve’ us?
— Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, TheologyArcheology: A Site for the Glory of God, Who Created Evolution?, March 8, 2023
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.
In February 20222. Terry Compton, pastor of Faith Independent Missionary Baptist Church in Damascus, Virginia (no internet presence), was charged with 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with children; 12 counts of aggravated sexual battery; three counts of forcible sodomy, and three counts of object sexual penetration.
Terry Compton, 62, the current pastor of Faith Independent Missionary Baptist Church in Damascus, Virginia, was arrested and charged by the Washington County Sheriff’s Office.
Compton is charged with 12 counts of taking indecent liberties with children; 12 counts of aggravated sexual battery; three counts of forcible sodomy and three counts of object sexual penetration.
The abuse allegedly started in 1995 and continued for 26 years.
Officials said that although the initial charges are based on assaults on three minors, multiple victims have come forward.
“The case is in, really, its infancy – he just got arrested last week,” Washington County Commonwealth Attorney Joshua Cumbow told WJHL-TV “This is a big case.”
Compton is being held at the Southwest Virginia Regional Jail without bond.
Compton later pleaded guilty to sodomy of a helpless victim (one count), sodomy of a child less than 13 years old (one count), object sexual penetration of a child less than 13 years old (two counts), and aggravated sexual battery of a child less than 13 years old (12 counts). No plea was offered to Compton.
Compton was sentenced to four life sentences — 240 years. He will spend the rest of his natural life in prison.
A former pastor from Southwest Virginia was sentenced to four life sentences after he pleaded guilty to multiple child sex crimes.
A release from the office of Washington County Commonwealth’s Attorney Josh Cumbow states that Terry Frank Compton was sentenced in Washington County Circuit Court. Compton was sentenced to 240 years in addition to the four life sentences. The release states that no time was suspended.
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Cumbow’s office reported that Compton was not offered a plea agreement.
Compton was arrested in February 2022 after a months-long investigation by the Washington County Virginia Sheriff’s Office (WCSO). In a release issued by the WCSO at the time, Compton was identified as the pastor at a baptist church in Damascus.
He was initially charged with 30 felony counts, all against juveniles. The WCSO reported at the time that multiple victims had come forward, and detectives had determined that Compton had been abusing children for about 26 years.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
Two weeks ago, my interview with Tim Mills, The Harmonic Atheist, was published on YouTube. As of today, over 20,000 people have watched our interview.
With the interest in hearing my story have come scores of Evangelical Christians telling me that I am headed for Hell; that I never was a Christian; that I just needed to pray a simple prayer to Jesus and he would save me. Numerous zealots have weighed in on my story, certain that they know exactly what is “wrong” with me and what I must do to avoid being eternally tortured by their peculiar version of God. Several Calvinists weighed in, saying that it is evident I am a reprobate — one who is beyond the grace of God and cannot be saved. One man simply said, “Bruce is full of horseshit.”
Such is the nature of YouTube. Most content creators don’t moderate comments, so Evangelicals can and do bully and attack people who run afoul of their theology, beliefs, and practices. Tim did delete several comments that were over the top. I appreciate him doing so. On this site, I have strict commenting rules, which Evangelicals routinely ignore. If I had the same comment policy as YouTube, I would be overrun with abusive comments (as was the case years ago). There was a time when hateful comments really got under my skin and caused harm both to me and to the readers of this blog. Sometimes the hostile comments got so bad that I stopped blogging. Those days are long gone. I returned to blogging in December 2014. I made sure that I instituted strict policies governing Evangelicals. I also let Evangelicals know that if they sent me hateful emails I would publicly expose them for doing so. This has dramatically cut down the negative emails and comments I receive, but, as regular readers know, Evangelicals still feel led by the Holy Spirit to “share” with me what Hey-Zeus has laid upon their hearts.
I was raised in the Evangelical church, attended Bible college, and pastored churches for twenty-five years. I preached countless sermons about Hell. I fully understand what Evangelicals believe about Hell, the Lake of Fire, and eternal, everlasting punishment. And my critics KNOW that I know these things. Yet, over the past fifteen years, Evangelicals have told me I am headed for Hell more times than I can count. What do they hope to gain by telling me this? Or is the real issue that they find my story threatening; a reminder of the fact that if someone such as I can lose their faith anyone can? So they hurl hellfire and brimstone my way, hoping to quell their own questions and doubts. That’s why they rarely engage in meaningful discussions with me. Questions and pushback from someone who knows the Bible inside and out threatens their spiritual security, so they stand on the corner across the street from my house and chuck rocks.
Many Evangelicals try to discredit me by saying that I never was a Christian; that I was deceived; that I met a false Jesus. By doing this, they can, with a wave of their hand, ignore my story. The problem with this approach is that they have no evidence for their claim. Evangelicals cannot provide one church member or colleague of mine in the ministry who, at the time I was a pastor, believed I was a “false Christian.” Not one. They can, however, find numerous people who will tell them that I was a devoted follower of Jesus; that I took seriously God’s calling on my life. I wasn’t perfect, to be sure. I am sure my wife, Polly, and our six grown children could share plenty of stories about their husband and father being less than Christian. However, they would likely testify that the bent of my life was certainly toward holiness and love for God.
Many Evangelicals can’t square my story with their soteriology and interpretation of the Bible — especially Baptists — so they assuage their theological confusion by saying I never was a Christian. Instead of questioning their theology or trying to make my story fit their beliefs, they lazily decree that I was a false Christian.
I hate it when people say I never was a Christian. By doing this, Evangelicals discredit fifty of my six-six years of life on planet earth. They pretend that those years and how I lived my life don’t exist. When someone tells me their story I generally believe them. If I have doubt about some aspect of their story — say Evangelicals who say they were atheists before they got saved — I ask questions. I don’t automatically assume they are lying. When someone tells me they are a Christian, I believe them. It is their life, their story. Who I am to say that their experiences are invalid? I may think that some of their experiences won’t survive rational, skeptical examination, but unless they are directly interacting with me or trying to use their subjective experiences as evidence for the existence of God, I am inclined to accept their stories at face value. Life is too short for me to spend much time deconstructing the lives of others. I wish Evangelicals would take the same approach with me. Read my story, ask questions, and I will respond. Read my story and threaten me with Hell or discredit my life? I am likely to gut you like a fish.
The strangest approach comes from Evangelicals who think that prayer is some sort of magic spell; that if I would just sincerely pray a prayer they prescribe (which often contains heretical theology), Jesus would hear my prayer, save me from my sin, and give me a home in Heaven when I die. Every time an Evangelical takes this approach with me, I stop what I am doing and pray their prescribed prayer. I have done this countless times, yet I remain an atheist. Either prayer doesn’t work the way they think it does, or God is a myth. My money is on the latter.
As many Evangelicals-turned-atheists/agnostics have done, when I began having doubts about Christianity and the Bible, I pleaded with God to show me the truth. I begged him to show me a way to remain a Christian. One former friend and a colleague in the ministry told me that I needed to stop asking questions and just faith-it. A former church member told me that I needed to stop reading books. “Just read the Bible, Bruce,” she told me. Of course, I couldn’t do that. I had always been a voracious reader who was willing to change my beliefs if warranted. As congregants and pastor friends, they admired my intellectualism, but now they wanted me to return to an ignorant, child-like faith. My best friend, at the time, took a different approach with me. He wrote me a blistering email that said I was under the influence of Satan, unstable in all my ways. He made no attempt to pull me back from the abyss. Instead, he castigated me for ruining my family. None of these people, and others like them, were willing or able to honestly, openly, and without reservation, interact with me. Would their intervention have made a difference? No. I knew that their answers were no match for my questions. I was reading non-Evangelical scholars and theologians. I was also reading books by prominent unbelievers. I had spent twenty-five years reading books by Evangelical authors, so there was no need to re-read their books. Solomon said, “there is nothing new under the sun,” and that is especially true when it comes to Evangelical theology.
As my knowledge increased and the truth came into better focus, I once again asked God to step in and save me from myself. Alas, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords was silent, and he has remained silent until this very moment. I have concluded, then, that either God doesn’t give a shit about me or he doesn’t exist. All the evidence suggests to me that he doesn’t exist.
There’s nothing I can do to stop Evangelicals from doing what Evangelicals do. All I am saying in this post to Evangelicals is this: you might want to try a different approach with me (and atheists, in general). Threats of Hell fall on deaf ears. Suggesting that I was never a Christian only brings laughs and incredulity. And finally, asking me to pray shallow, often heretical prayers is making you look bad. How you frame the gospel in your prescribed prayers suggest that you really don’t understand the Christian gospel at all. Instead of asking me to pray a prayer, you might actually want to read your Bible and seriously study Christian soteriology. Maybe you are the one who isn’t saved. 🙂
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
You stopped by the Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser yesterday to share your “testimony,” to tell me how much you “love” me, to beg me to pray a prayer, and then to offer up a prayer of your own for the atheist Bruce Gerencser. In doing so, you disrespected me and showed no regard for me as a person. All you saw was a man in need of your brand of Christian salvation.
Suppose you went to your mother’s house and she told you, “Chad, please take your shoes off at the door and hang your coat in the closet.” Would you respect her wishes? Or would you leave your shoes on and throw your coat on the floor? I suspect, as a good son, you would do as she asked.
When you clicked on the link for the CONTACT page, you were presented with a page that told you what kind of emails I was interested in receiving. I specifically said to you, Chad:
If you are an Evangelical Christian, please read Dear Evangelical before sending me an email. If you have a pathological need to evangelize, spread the love of Jesus, or put a good word in for the man, the myth, the legend named Jesus, please don’t. The same goes for telling me your church/pastor/Jesus is awesome. I am also not interested in reading sermonettes, testimonials, Bible verses, or your deconstruction/psychological evaluation of my life. By all means, if you feel the need to set me straight, start your own blog.
You chose to ignore my requests. You came into my house, left your shoes on, and threw your coat on the floor, showing no regard for me as a person. I subscribe to the rule, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I have bowed my head at countless meals as Christians prayed to their deity. Not one time have I ever made a fuss about them praying to mythical beings. Why? I know it would be disrespectful if I did so.
You began your letter by saying that my story moved you to tears. You then feign syrupy, shallow Christian love for me. You wrote:
I’m a Christian and read your story and was moved to tears. I’m not here to condemn you but share my story with you want to hear it. If you dont feel free not to read past this point. But one thing I have to tell you; I dont know you and yet feel such love for you. My heart aches to hear the pain you endured in life. I truly understand pain; I wish I didn’t.
You say you are a Christian, and I accept your testimony at face value. Why could you have not done the same for me? Did you read any of my autobiographical material before deeming yourself sufficiently informed to weigh in on my life? You admit that you don’t know me, yet you say you have “such love for me.” You go on to say that your “heart aches to hear the pain I [have] endured in life.” Imagine if a stranger came up to you at Starbucks and said, ” I feel your pain. I can sense that you have endured much in your life. I want you to know that I love you.” I suspect you would quickly take three steps back, mumble “thanks” and quickly get the hell away from this woman. Why? She knows nothing about you. How could she possibly “love” you and understand what you have been through? She can’t.
Let me educate you about what former Evangelicals think about zealots using shallow, superficial “love” to evangelize them. They see right through you. They know that expressing “love” is an evangelism tool used to “connect” with and “hook” unwary marks. The same goes for sharing testimonies. Former Evangelicals know that testimonies are used to make human connections with evangelization targets. “Love” and personal testimonies are ways to break down resistance to the gospel. “See, I am (or was) just like you.” Zealots hope by making a personal connection with sinners that they will be more receptive for a gospel sales pitch.
You see, Chad, former Evangelicals are experts at recognizing these sales techniques. In my case, I used them for years. I see that you are affiliated with CRU — Campus Crusade for Christ. Did they teach you these evangelism techniques? If yes, please write in your notes: “does not work with former Evangelicals, especially those who are now atheists and agnostics.” You might add another note: “these techniques piss former Evangelicals off and make them less likely to hear the gospel.” In other words, Chad. Don’t do it!
You shared your “testimony” without me asking you to so do. Here’s what you said:
My grandma was a native of Mexico; she was mentally ill and blew her head off. My dad was 12 at the time or around that age. He ran into the room after hearing the shot and as you can imagine was destroyed by what he saw. My dad too was an atheist/agnostic and worked as in engineer for Boeing for 40 something years. He is a brilliant man of science with his degree in Physics. Sadly he never worked through his childhood trauma and beat me and my sister who has borderline personality disorder. I grew to hate dad passionately. I lived in fear of him and began power lifting in high school and playing football. I eventually weighed 215 and the abuse stopped one day when I realized I could protect myself from him. We got in a fight one night and as usual he threatened to beat me. I got in his face and basically told him his time of terror was over and if he dared put a hand on me or my sister I would crush him. He must of believed me because he sat down and said nothing else. We said nothing to each other after that horrible fight for a year. I would have laughed if he died. I went on to be a huge problem at school and was almost expelled for almost fighting a teacher that mouthed off to me. I graduated and took a job as a male stripper in St. Louis, MO. It was a great life of girls, money, and late parties. My girlfriend was also a stripper. I worked for Chic Entertainment. I’m not sure but they may still be in operation.
My freshman year in college some goofy girl and next door neighbor kept coming over to visit our dorm room, and she wouldn’t shut up about Jesus. She kept asking me to “receive” him whatever that meant. I told her I”m cool with JC, but I”m a stripper, and I’m not the Christian type. She told me I just the type Jesus wanted, and he would help me change. I thought….cool…whatever…..one night in the shower a week or so later I got on my knees and did the whole “pray to receive Jesus” thing. To my astonishment such a peace I’ve never known washed over me. I thought I had conjured it up because I wanted to believe this stuff. I couldn’t shake it either. I felt this presence around me that I could only describe as overwhelming love.
I began to wonder if this Jesus fellow might be true. I began studying religions and looking at historical evidence to see if I could make sense what happened to me. As I was doing this my personality changed dramatically. I went from being “tough guy” who told anyone I didn’t like to “F” off to suddenly feeling so much love for everyone. And that hate for my dad’s abuse just drained away. I literally felt no more hate for the guy. He noticed the change and asked what happened to you. I told him I didn’t know but told him I prayed to receive Jesus. He basically laughed in my face and told me not to give him all that God crap. He kept grilling me with hard questions, and as a new Christian I didn’t know the answers. I just kept telling him if you want to find out you need to pray to receive Christ and see what happens.
A very long story short my dad became a Christian, we both went to seminary, and both ended up in ministry. He is now one of my best friends and our family is so changed it’s unrecognizable. After 6 years in ministry I was praying in the woods before a mission trip to Africa to work with aids orphans. I was bitten by a tick and contracted numerous tick infections including: Lyme, Bartonella, and Babesia. I lived in hell for the next 12 years. For 10 of those years I lived on the brink of death. I could barely eat, breathe, sleep, walk. I begged God for death. My suffering was a constant writhing in agony. I couldn’t sit and even watch TV because my pain was constant or nightmarish. I felt so utterly forsaken by God. Another long story short a new medicine was made available to me, and I’m nearly recovered.
I might normally have been sympathetic towards you had we gotten to know each other, become friends, and shared with each other the struggles we have faced in life. Instead, your unprompted “story” smacks of an evangelism technique; an attempt to hook a big fish and reel him in for Jesus.
Chad, you wrote:
Bruce, you cant shake the feeling of Jesus because he real and reaching out to you. Life is hell let’s face it. Christ never said it would be otherwise. Some of the greatest saints suffered the most. Please Bruce, with tears get on your knees each night or 5 second prayers here and there and say, “Jesus, I dont believe you but please if you are real and Im wrong help me…show me….make a way.” You’re saying to me right now….but i’ve already done this. Please keep trying Bruce…please.
You say, “Bruce, you cant shake the feeling of Jesus because he real and reaching out to you.” You seem to be quite arrogant, Chad. How could you possibly know these things? What makes you think I have the “feeling of Jesus?” I have no such thing. The only feeling I have as I write this letter to you is excruciating physical pain from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet. The pain is so severe in my spine today that I want to die. Literally. I choose, however, to keep plodding through life. I bought a new recliner today, hoping it will lessen my pain. I went to lunch with my wife of forty-five years and our daughter with Down syndrome. We had a delightful afternoon, even though the food I ate caused me all sorts of problems; as food does EVERY TIME I eat. I make the most of what life I have, knowing that I am on the short side of life. If Jesus really cares for me, how about taking away my pain or nausea? How about doing something miraculous that would reveal to me that he is real? Instead, he sends you. He always sends people like you; Evangelicals who have no regard for me as a person and only see me as a target for evangelization; just another notch on their gospel guns.
Jesus isn’t “reaching out to me,” Chad. He’s dead. Besides, even if Jesus is alive as you believe, how do you know he’s trying to reach me at 666-666-6669? Maybe the line is off the hook or disconnected. Maybe I am an apostate; a reprobate. You do know what the Bible says about reprobates, right? I am confident (and happy) that I have crossed the proverbial line of no return. You are wasting your time trying to evangelize me.
Your life might be “hell,” but mine isn’t. Sure, I live a pain-filled life. I struggle to move, walk, and do “normal,” everyday things. But, as long as I have Polly, my wife, our six children, and our thirteen grandchildren, life isn’t “hell,” not even close. I see most of my children and grandchildren every week or two. I am blessed to have my family close by. Because this life is the only one I will ever have, I intend to make the most of every day. I give this advice on my ABOUT page:
You have one life. There is no heaven or hell. There is no afterlife. You have one life, it’s yours, and what you do with it is what matters most. Love and forgive those who matter to you and ignore those who add nothing to your life. Life is too short to spend time trying to make nice with those who will never make nice with you. Determine who are the people in your life that matter and give your time and devotion to them. Live each and every day to its fullest. You never know when death might come calling. Don’t waste time trying to be a jack of all trades, master of none. Find one or two things you like to do and do them well. Too many people spend way too much time doing things they will never be good at.
Here’s the conclusion of the matter. It’s your life and you best get to living it. Someday, sooner than you think, it will be over. Don’t let your dying days be ones of regret over what might have been.
You go on to ask me, “Bruce, with tears get on your knees each night or 5 second prayers here and there and say, “Jesus, I dont believe you but please if you are real and Im wrong help me…show me….make a way.” You’re saying to me right now….but i’ve already done this. Please keep trying Bruce…please.”
Do you have any idea how often Evangelicals have taken this approach with me over the past fifteen years? Hundreds of times. Here’s what your plea says to me: you want me to conjure up a dead man. This is not different from a Voodoo incantation. Besides, do you know how offensive it is to ask a crippled man who can’t walk without the aid of a wheelchair or cane to get on his knees?
Let me be clear, I have no interest in your God, Jesus, or religion. I have no interest in buying what you are peddling. I am not low-hanging fruit. I likely know the Bible better than you do. I know all I need to know about Christianity. I have weighed the central claims of Christianity in the balance and found them wanting. Besides, I have the revelation of conscience and creation (Romans 1,2). I have all that is necessary for me to “believe.” Yet, I remain unconvinced. Ponder that for awhile, Chad. “Think” instead of acting.
You conclude your email to me with an arrogant, self-righteous prayer, a common form of spiritual masturbation among Evangelical zealots.
You wrote:
Lord, I feel such love for Bruce. I’m asking in response to this prayer a series of miracles would get my brother’s attention. I pray you press into him with your love and presence so powerfully it would overwhelm him with delight in spite of himself. Give him the grace to again call on your name even in disbelief. …..and please Lord answer him with such power he cant deny the miracle. Jesus please let me walk on streets of gold with Bruce someday and may we spend eternity as dear friends. God love you Bruce! If you read this far thank you!!!!
I am not your “brother,” Chad. I don’t want to be your “brother” either. I also don’t want to walk on fictional streets of gold with you. Quite frankly, I am not that into you. What makes you think that I would want to spend eternity with the Chad Lawrences of the world? Give me Christopher Hitchens, Steven Hawking, and Steve Gupton in Hell every time. You may want to spend eternity in constant worship and fealty to a man who took a long weekend for you, but I don’t. That sounds like hell, to me.
You are telling me with your prayer that you think there is something fundamentally wrong with me. You know very little about me. In fact, you know so little about me that you couldn’t pass a ten-question exam about my life. Yet, you feel justified in rendering judgment on my life and telling me what I should do. To that, I say, fuck off.
If there is a God, he knows exactly where I am. He knows where I live. He knows my phone number and email address. He can contact me at any time. Better yet, he can show up on my doorstep and take me out to lunch. That said, I will tell you this: if I am miraculously healed of gastroparesis, fibromyalgia, and degenerative spine disease, I will put my faith and trust in Jesus and return to church. You have thirty days to make this happen, Chad. Fast and pray without ceasing for Bruce Gerencser. Gather your spouse and CRU buddies together and pray for God to heal me. Let’s put your prayers to the test. With God, all things are possible, right? Nothing is too hard for God, the Bible says. So here, I am, Chad. To quote Captain Jean Luc Picard, “make it so, number one.”
I hope you have realized by now that contacting me in the manner that you did was a bad idea. We shall see if you learned anything.
Saved by Reason,
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
Thanks to churches and ministries putting sermons online, the words of many Evangelical preachers are readily available to anyone who wants to access them. Throw in books, blog posts, and other forms of media, and the public has more access to the words of preachers than at any other time in the history of mankind. I preached 4,000+ sermons during the twenty-five years I spent in the ministry. Many of my sermons were recorded on cassette tapes. However, it has been eighteen years since I preached a sermon that was recorded. I suppose it is possible that someone somewhere has a sermon tape or two of mine in a storage box in the back of their closet. I have asked former church members if they had any of my sermon tapes. If so, I would love to have them so I can put them online. Sadly, the tapes have either been discarded or recorded over with Highway to Hell by AC/DC. 🙂 Thus, I am somewhat safe from accountability for things I said in the past. All readers know about my sermons is what I tell them. They must rely on me to be truthful about the content of my sermons. That’s not the case today. Every word many Evangelical preachers say is readily available to anyone with an Internet connection.
Rarely does a week go by without conflict or outrage over something an Evangelical preacher has said in his sermon. Preachers can and do say awful things in their sermons. Evangelical preachers are known for attacks on the “world” and other Christians who disagree with them. The culture wars are verbalized Sunday after Sunday in Evangelical pulpits. Attacks on LGBTQ people, science, atheists, Muslims, liberals, progressives, and mainline Christians are common. Preachers frequently serve up advice in their sermons about marriage, sex, raising children, mental health, clothing, and all sorts of issues. In many churches, pastors are viewed as know-it-alls, God-called, Holy Spirit-filled dispensers of knowledge, wisdom, and truth. The opportunities to say something stupid, ignorant, or hateful are legion. The question, then, is whether these preachers MEANT to say what they did.
Generally, people say what they mean the first time they say it. When preachers say outlandish things in their sermons, they mean to say them. When criticism comes their way, preachers tend to either double down, explain that they were misunderstood, or on rare occasions say they were wrong. Evangelical preachers aren’t very good at admitting wrong. Typically, it’s hearers who are blamed for “misunderstanding” them. I choose to accept what they say at face value. When Evangelical preachers show themselves to be bigots, racists, misogynists, or homophobes, I believe them. They said what they meant to say regardless of how much pushback they received after fact.
These so-called men of God spend hours every week crafting their sermons. Most pastors don’t speak extemporaneously. They know beforehand what they intend to say. I was an Evangelical pastor for twenty-five years. All told, I preached 4,000 sermons. That’s roughly 15 million words. (Since 2014, I have written 5,044,326 words for this site.) Outside of innocent mistakes, every word of my sermons I meant to say. I can only remember two times when I stood before the church and said I made a mistake in one of my sermons. I meant everything I said, even if my words offended or irritated people. The same goes for my writing on this site. I carefully think about everything write. When I hit publish, I am confident that wrote exactly what I wanted to say. That doesn’t mean that I don’t make mistakes or have instances where I could have used different words. That happens, but not often. Having an editor helps me avoid bad word choices. Carolyn, when warranted, will say to me, “are you sure you want to say this?” or “are you sure you want to use this word?” Thus, when I say “Evangelicals are an existential threat to the United States,” I mean every word. Let the Evangelicals rage! 🙂
I have done a number of live media interviews over the past two years. I always try to speak thoughtfully and carefully. Sometimes, when I listen to the interviews, I find myself saying “I should have said this” or “I wish I hadn’t said that. People will misunderstand.” That’s the nature of live programming. I try my best to be honest and factual. I do, on rare occasions, make innocent mistakes. The offending preachers we are talking about in this post aren’t making “innocent” mistakes. They have every intention of being provocative, controversial, and inflammatory. That’s why they must be held accountable for what they say. And when they try to say that they were “misunderstood,” don’t believe them. When these preachers stand before their congregations and repudiate their words and admit that they were hateful, bigoted, racist, misogynistic, or homophobic and post their admissions to the Internet, then and only then will I believe and accept their mea culpas.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean.But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.Let not then your good be evil spoken of:For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence.It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. Howbeit there is not in every man that knowledge: for some with conscience of the idol unto this hour eat it as a thing offered unto an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.But meat commendeth us not to God: for neither, if we eat, are we the better; neither, if we eat not, are we the worse.But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.
Before I talk about how Evangelical preachers use these verses to manipulate and control church members, I want to share what these verses actually mean — in context.
Paul was addressing an issue that cropped up in early Christian congregations. Church members were eating meat that had been previously offered up to pagan idols. Paul told them there was nothing inherently wrong with eating a T-bone steak previously offered up to one of the many pagan deities worshipped at that time. Mature believers knew meat was meat regardless of its provenance.
Immature believers, however, believed eating meat offered up to idols was sinful. Mature Christians eating this meat were causing them to stumble in their faith. Paul told mature believers to not eat meat offered to idols if it caused their brothers and sisters in the Lord to be offended and stumble in their walk with God.
Fast forward to 2023. A stumbling block is any behavior that causes other Christians to think poorly of you or presents a bad testimony to fellow Christians or the “world.” Evangelical preachers use “stumbling blocks” as a way to control church members’ behavior. Church rules (standards) are rigidly enforced. Congregants are reminded that participating in forbidden behaviors could cause “weak” brothers and sisters in the Lord to stumble, leading them to sin. Thus, they must refrain from certain behaviors lest weaker, immature believers (or the world, in some instances) stumble and sin.
I could give numerous examples of how the “stumbling block” theology plays out in real life, but for the sake of time, let me give readers four.
Suppose you and your family want to go to the movie theater and watch a G-rated movie. You plan to go to a multiplex that shows nine movies at a time, including R and NC-17 movies. If an immature Christian drove by the theater and saw you going into or leaving the facility, he might question whether you were watching an R or NC-17 movie. This could cause him to stumble in his walk with the Lord, so you shouldn’t go to movie theaters.
Imagine going to the local grocery store to buy beer. As you are strolling to the checkout with beer in your cart, you come upon an immature Christian who thinks drinking alcohol is a sin. Not wanting to offend such people, you should never buy beer at the grocery store.
I had a preacher friend who refused to eat at any restaurant that served alcohol. He believed that if other Christians saw him eating at a place that served alcohol, they might think he was drinking booze. Not wanting to cause his fellow Christians to stumble, he decided not to eat at any restaurant that served alcohol. My friend loved steak. Most steak houses serve alcohol. As a result, he was consigned to steak hell. He couldn’t eat at Texas Roadhouse, so his idea of a “good” steak was the packer-grade meat served by Bonanza or Ponderosa (pound-a-grossa). My friend refrained from all sorts of normal human behaviors, all because he didn’t want to offend other Christians.
Women, in particular, are subject to the “stumbling block” rule. Evangelical men are hapless, helpless horndogs who are unable to control their sexuality. Women are considered gatekeepers, tasked with keeping horny preachers, deacons, and other men from stumbling. They are reminded that they must cover up their bodies: no cleavage, no tight clothing, no short skirts, no pants that accentuate the female form. If they fail to do so, men will stumble over their dicks and try to ravage them in the pews. Thus, Sunday after Sunday, Evangelical women cover up their bodies so the minds of weak, immature men won’t be tempted to lust.
Polly and I followed the “stumbling block” rule for years. We didn’t do certain things because doing so might offend other Christians or make us look bad. Perception mattered to us. I remember when we got food stamps for the first time. We would drive to Columbus, Ohio, an hour away, so no one would see us. We took this approach to other things we didn’t think were sins. Out of sight, out of mind, we thought at the time.
The 1990s were the early days of DOS video games; games such as Commander Keen, Jazz Jackrabbit, Lost Vikings, Cosmos, and Duke-Nukem, to name a few. I am not a good game player, but I enjoyed playing the games mentioned above. Some games I wouldn’t play. Why? I was afraid that if church members saw me playing them they would think poorly of me. I didn’t want to ruin my testimony. I applied the same thinking to music. I would have loved to listen to classic rock music, but I refrained from doing so lest I caused another Christian to stumble.
Eventually, we came to the conclusion that some Christians can stumble over anything; that no matter what we did, there would always be someone offended by our behavior. This freed us to buy alcohol, attend movies, and eat at restaurants that served the Devil’s Brew. We used to not frequent grocery stores that sold alcohol or gas stations that sold pornographic magazines (yes, they actually sold them years ago). Once free of the bondage of the “stumbling block” rule, we were free to shop where we wanted and enjoy various entertainments that were previously off limits to us.
Did you attend a church that emphasized the “stumbling block” rule? Please share your experiences in the comment section.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
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.
Gary Buckaloo, a youth pastor and worship leader at First Baptist Church in Normangee, Texas, stands accused of one count of Indecency with a Child-Sexual Contact, a 2nd-degree felony, and one count of Sex Abuse of a Child Continuous: Victim under 14, a 1st-degree felony. Buckaloo is also a teacher at Buffalo ISD in Buffalo, Texas. First Baptist is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Buckaloo has been scrubbed from the church’s website.
The Leon County Sheriff’s Department said Gary Buckaloo surrendered to authorities Monday after being indicted on two felonies.
Buckaloo is charged with one count of Indecency with a Child-Sexual Contact, a 2nd-degree felony, and one count of Sex Abuse of a Child Continuous: Victim under 14, a 1st-degree felony.
Buckaloo is listed as a Life Skills teacher with Buffalo ISD, but hasn’t been on campus since December 2022, according to a statement released by the district superintendent Lacy Freeman to KBTX.
“Buffalo ISD has been made aware of the indictment of a current District employee by a Leon County Grand Jury,” the statement said. “The District is in close communication and cooperation with the Leon County Sheriff’s Department. At this time, it is our understanding that the charges are unrelated to the individual’s employment at Buffalo ISD and do not involve any BISD students. While the individual has not been on campus since December 2022, the District has placed the employee on administrative leave immediately upon notification of the indictment. Should any parents or staff have specific concerns regarding this educator, please contact your campus principal. As student and staff safety and well-being are our top priority, we will continue to closely monitor this situation as more information is made available.”
Buckaloo was also listed as the Youth Pastor and Worship Leader for First Baptist Church Normangee. As of Tuesday afternoon his name has been removed from the staff directory. KBTX reached out to the pastor of the church, but our calls have not been returned.
Buckaloo is being held at the Leon County Jail on a $100,000 bond. KBTX reached out to the Leon County Sheriff’s Office multiple times for a mugshot, they said their system is currently down.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
I’ll weigh in! So I’m reading that the Bible nor God is your source of moral authority or any type of authority,for that matter, on anything. Got it! That’s entirely up to you!
Christianity is a text-based religion. Without the Bible, Christianity wouldn’t exist. Everything we know about God and Jesus comes from the Bible. Evangelical Christians believe that the Bible is supernaturally inspired, inerrant, and infallible. Thus, Evangelicals see the Bible as a divine moral code by which sinners and saints must govern their lives. Failing to do so puts people in danger of judgment and eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.
Dilliard intimates that she derives her morality from God and a supernatural book allegedly written by him. Christians generally think everyone can know God through divine revelation: conscience, nature, and the Bible. Thus, atheists deliberately deny and reject what is clearly known to them. Atheists, according to the book of Romans “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Atheists see the Bible as an errant, fallible ancient religious text written by fallible, frail (mostly unknown) men. Many atheists, myself included, find some value in reading the Bible — say the Book of Ecclesiastes, the Sermon on the Mount, and Matthew 25 — but treat it as any other book. Evangelicals, on the other hand, believe, in theory anyway, that every word of the Bible is true; that we are duty-bound to obey and practice the teaching of the Bible — as interpreted by each Christian, preacher, and theologian. In Evangelical Christianity, each Christian is a Pope — an infallible interpreter of the Bible.
In the real world, Evangelicals are buffet believers, picking and choosing what Bible commands, laws, and precepts they want to believe and practice. No Christian believes and practices all of the Bible. Their morality is just as subjective and conditional as that of the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world.
Dilliard needs a divine lawgiver outside of herself in order to be moral. Without this lawgiver, she wouldn’t be moral. The only thing keeping her from being a murderer, rapist, kidnapper, or thief is her peculiar version of God. Without God, she would do all sorts of heinous, evil things.
If this really is the case, then by all means she should keep believing in God and following the teachings of the Bible. For me, I don’t need a source outside of myself to be moral. I don’t need a deity telling me what is right and wrong for me to be a moral and ethical human being.
Dillard provides no evidence for the existence of God and the claims she makes for the Bible. I suspect she’s a presuppositionalist, presupposing that her deity exists and the teachings of the Bible are true. I am, for the most part, an evidentialist. I want to believe as many true things as possible. If someone wants me to believe something, she must provide sufficient evidence for her claim.
So let’s talk about where YOUR moral authority comes from , then. Do you believe there’s a right or wrong?
All morality is inherently subjective. There are a plethora of views on morality. As an atheist, I don’t think morality exists outside of self. Some atheists believe that there are moral absolutes, but I am of the opinion that morality is subjective. That said, we live in societies that benefit from commonly held moral beliefs. As with the U.S. Constitution, “we the people” decide the moral standards by which we will govern our societies. That’s why we have laws, rules, and regulations. As a member of a particular society, I consent to adhering to and obeying these things, knowing that if I don’t, I could be punished or imprisoned. Productive, happy societies depend on the consent of the governed. Christians and atheists agree that certain behaviors are wrong. If we don’t like certain laws, rules, and regulations we, through the ballot box, change them. We are seeing this played out with abortion. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade in 2022. Now we are seeing moves in a number of states to enact laws and state constitutional amendments to reverse the damage done by the Court’s decision. That’s how it works in democratic societies. WE THE PEOPLE decide the laws, rules, and regulations we want to be governed by. If our elected leaders don’t do our bidding, we vote them out of office, replacing them with someone who will.
Dilliard seems to want an autocratic or authoritarian society; one where her God and interpretations of the Bible are the law; the determiner of what is moral. Instead of “we the people” deciding how we want to be governed and live, Dilliard believes a supernatural authority outside of us is the one and only authority on morality.
There are thousands of religions and deities, each believing they are right; that their god is the moral arbiter of the universe. How do we determine which religion/deity is right? How could we possibly know that Dilliard’s peculiar deity is the one true God; the moral arbiter of the universe? I know of no way to determine whether her God is the right one.
Thus, I believe that determining what is moral rests on the individual and the societies to which they belong. How can an individual or a society determine what is moral? The best way, in my humble opinion, is to determine what best promotes flourishing, happiness, prosperity, and peace.
If so, who told you lying is right or wrong? Who told you stealing is right or wrong? Who told you to teach your kids not to be selfish? Where did they learn to be selfish,( or not) did you teach them? Why is being selfish wrong or could it be right? Selfishness is a character flaw but how do we know that? How do we know? How do you know cheating on your wife is wrong?
As it has for all humans, including Dillard, my morality has evolved over my sixty-six years of life. Certainly, my parents, church, and the Bible played a big part in the formation of my moral beliefs. Over time, I have learned that my parents, church, and the Bible were wrong about some (many) things. When I deconverted in 2008, I was given a new opportunity to determine what, exactly, were my moral and ethical values. I reevaluated my moral beliefs, holding on to some of them and casting aside others. This, of course, is hard work. Christians don’t have to think about their moral beliefs. God said it, that settles it, Evangelicals say. That’s why we see such hateful behavior by Evangelicals towards LGBTQ people, liberals, atheists, and anyone else who is different from them. God has spoken, end of discussion. Human flourishing never enters the discussion. All that matters is what is written in ink on the pages of the Bible — as interpreted by individual Christians.
Could it be wrong for you but right for someone else? … On and on…. If you are your own moral authority ,or believe our government is your moral authority, how do you know you are right or the government is right and why should I believe you?
I have moral beliefs that conflict with the beliefs of others. For example, I am a pacifist. On principle, I oppose all war. I oppose the death penalty too. I believe it is immoral to kill people. Yet, I recognize that there are times when killing someone might be justified, say in defensive wars or defending one’s family. Each of us decides what we consider moral/immoral. How can it be otherwise? Interjecting God into the discussion changes nothing. Many of the wars humans have fought were initiated and prosecuted by people who believe in God; people who ignored the pacifistic teachings of Christ to win their objective.
I am a rationalist, a skeptic, and a humanist. I use these prisms to determine whether I am justified to believe things. I am humble enough to admit that I could be wrong. Unfortunately, Evangelicals are an arrogant lot. Armed with certainty, they lack nuance, seeing everything through a black-and-white lens. That’s why the culture war is raging in every corner of our republic.
How can you say Ray Boltz is right or wrong in his own belief system? Does the Universe tell you these things? Does the culture/civil society teach you these things but how do you know that if right, not wrong?
I make no judgment of Ray Boltz’s life. His sexuality is his business, not mine, or anyone else for that matter. What consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes is none of my business. Evangelicals, of course, want to criminalize any sex that is not married, heterosexual, and monogamous intercourse in the missionary position. Okay, maybe not that last one, but many Evangelicals think blow jobs, anal sex, or sexual aggression by a woman are sins. There are no cowboys to ride in Evangelicalism. 🙂 Worse, many Christians think using birth control is a sin; that the goal of all sex is procreation.
Or is there some hidden moral code/authority that only atheist’s are privy too? Inquiring minds want to know…
Dilliard is being disingenuous when she says “inquiring minds want to know.” I suspect she already “knows”; that there is nothing I can say that will change her morality and worldview.
As I made clear in this post, most atheists think the locus of morality is self, both individually and as a society. There is no Atheist Ten Commandments or Atheist Bible. As someone who has spent the past fifteen years swimming in atheist waters, I can tell you that atheists vigorously debate the subject of morality. There is no Atheist Morality. All I can say is what I believe on any given subject. I suspect most of the atheists who frequent this site will generally agree with me on the subject of morality, though I know there are some who don’t. And that’s okay. The only way we can come to a consensus is to debate these issues. “Iron sharpeneth iron” the Bible says, and I think that applies to discussions among atheists too. Sadly, the same can’t be said for discussions with Evangelicals. Most of them aren’t open to honest discussion and faith. They KNOW they are right, so their goal is to get people who disagree with them to tap out. Faith, presuppositionalism, and certainty make it nigh impossible to have meaningful discussions with Evangelicals on virtually anything, including morality.
Maybe Dillard is different. We shall see.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
Do you remember Sunday school pins at the churches you attended as a child? They were given out as attendance awards. Attend Sunday school for one year, get a pin, and then get a pin for every year after that. I have seen older church members with pins adverting thirty, forty, and fifty years of Sunday school attendance.
These pins were meant to be badges of honor; a sign that the wearer had dutifully attended Sunday school year after year. They were also meant to remind people that they had endured years of Sunday school lessons taught by unqualified teachers who often read from quarterlies instead of actually teaching them.
I taught Sunday school for years. I knew how bad adult classes could be, so I wanted to make sure that class members actually learned something and interacted with the lessons. At one Southern Baptist church I pastored in Clare, Michigan, the church had an adult Sunday school class teacher. Polly and I decided to attend the class. OMG, it was awful. I mean awful. Bad theology and interpretation. For example, the teacher said election means “we choose God.” Yepper, the Calvinist in me wanted to strangle him. I tried to gently correct him, but he took the “whatever it means to me” interpretive approach. Week after week class members would share what the Bible meant to them. Many of them had Sunday School pins going back decades. So much time invested in Biblical “truth,” so little knowledge and understanding.
Did you receive Sunday school pins (or buttons)? Do you have a Sunday school experience you would like to share? Comment away!
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
In June 2021, Josh Henley, a former youth pastor at Washington Avenue Church of Christ in Evansville, Indiana, was arrested on three counts of statutory rape and one count of aggravated sexual battery.
Josh Henley, 32, of Newburgh was arrested in Benton County, Tennessee on three counts of statutory rape. He’s also charged with aggravated sexual battery.
Authorities say there are at least three teenage girls who are confirmed as victims. Henley is being held in the Benton County Jail on a $500,000 bond and will be arraigned tomorrow.
Investigators believe there may be more victims in other states, including Indiana, Oklahoma and Texas. Eyewitness News contacted Evansville Police, the Vanderburgh County Sheriff and the Warrick County Sheriff. They told us they do not have anything in their system about Henley.
Court documents say Henley is currently employed at Washington Avenue Church of Christ in Evansville. Officials at the church declined to comment at this time.
On behalf of our entire church family, the Eldership at Washington Avenue Church of Christ is praying for accountability, healing and justice in light of the recent arrest of Joshua Henley who served as our youth minister for the past three months. Mr. Henley’s employment with the church has been terminated effective immediately and he has been relieved of all duties and responsibilities. We take the allegations against Mr. Henley very seriously and will fully cooperate with law enforcement in connection with all investigations. We are heartbroken by this news and our prayers are with all involved.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in 2018, Henley was pastor at Holladay Church of Christ in Benton County and coached Holladay Elementary School’s girls’ basketball team. In April 2021, they said he took a position with a church in Evansville, Indiana. Then in June 2021, he drove back to Tennessee to pick up a girl, taking her back to Indiana to “help with his Vacation Bible School there.” Prosecutors said Henley had sex with the girl who had just turned 15. They said the girl told them that Henley had been engaging in sexual activity since she was 13, and asking her to take sexually explicit pictures to send him through a chat app.
Investigators said in 2020, another 15-year-old girl in Evansville said Henley asked her to send sexually explicit pictures to him.
Henley was arrested in June 2021 as he was driving the first girl back to Tennessee. Investigators said after getting a warrant for his cell phone, they found sexually explicit pictures of both girls, and video of Henley having sex with a third girl in November 2020, who had just turned 14.
Joshua Henley, 33, who has lived in Benton County, Tennessee, and Evansville, Indiana, is set to be sentenced in August after pleading to charges of producing sexual abuse material involving three minors, transporting a minor across state lines to engage in sexual activity, sending obscene videos and images to a minor, and possessing and transporting child sexual abuse material.
Today, Henley was sentenced to forty-five years in prison for his crimes.
A former youth pastor at Washington Avenue Church of Christ in Evansville has been sentenced after he was arrested on sexual assault charges.
Officials say Joshua Henley, formerly of Benton County, Tennessee, and Evansville, Indiana, pled guilty in federal district court to an eight-count indictment, admitting that he produced child sexual abuse material involving three minors, transported a minor interstate with the intent to engage in sexual activity with the minor, sent obscene videos and images to a minor and possessed and transported child sexual abuse material.
Documents say Henley was arrested on June 18, 2021, as he was driving one of his victims back to Benton County. Investigators say they found a cell phone in his possession and obtained a warrant to search it and found sexually explicit images of his victims, as well as a video of Henley having sexual intercourse with another victim.
A federal judge handed down a sentence of 45 years in prison plus 10 years supervised release.
Bruce Gerencser, 65, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 44 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.
