Evangelical apologists attempt to argue and debate me back to faith by using philosophical arguments or quoting Bible verses. Apologists are perplexed by why their gold standard argumentation doesn’t work with me. Maybe I am an apostate or have been turned over to a reprobate mind by God. What apologists refuse to do is look at the likelier reasons for my lack of faith — namely, how they treat people who believe differently from them.
While I think the arguments given by apologists are lacking intellectual weight, one of the primary reasons I have no interest in the Evangelical God is how they treat me and other godless heathens. These apologists act in ways that reflect that they actually know very little about the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus. Either that, or they deliberately ignore Christ’s teachings. I’m inclined to think that it is the latter. Evangelicals such as Dr. David Tee, Revival Fires, John, and countless others claim they have read the Bible; that they know and understand its teachings. If this is so, why do they behave the way they do?
The Bible has much to say about the fruit (good works) Evangelicals produce in their lives. While I know Evangelicals who treat others with decency, kindness, and respect, and don’t try to bully people into faith in Jesus, most of the Evangelicals who send me emails or comment on my writing are anything but. If Christianity can’t transform the lives of its biggest fans, what good is it? It is a salt that has lost its savor and is good for nothing. Jesus said to throw such salt into the streets to be trampled underfoot (Matthew 5:13)
Don’t tell me Evangelicals, show me. You are not going to tell me anything about the Bible, God, and Christianity that I do not already know. What I want to see is change and transformation in the lives of people who say they worship Jesus. So far, all I see are people who value being right, getting certain politicians elected, and returning prayer and Bible reading to public schools more than they do loving their neighbors and helping the least of these.
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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Atheists often ask Evangelicals for evidence for the existence of God. Some Evangelicals will quote prooftexts from the Bible, as if this proves the existence of God. Of course, these quotes do no such thing. The Bible is a book of claims. It claims Jesus is God. It claims Jesus was born of a virgin. It claims Jesus worked miracles, including raising the dead. It claims Jesus resurrected from the dead. It claims Jesus ascended to Heaven. What evidence is provided for these claims? None. Unbelievers are just supposed to take Evangelicals at their word. The Bible says . . . end of discussion. If the Bible is the gold standard for evidence, Evangelicals shouldn’t expect many atheists to become Christians.
Many Evangelicals think personal testimonies are evidence for the existence of God. Again, much like the Bible, personal testimonies are claims, not evidence. Claims of healing and deliverance are just that — claims. How do we know God healed or delivered someone? We can’t. Evangelicals are free to believe that a cosmic being of some sort miraculously healed them or delivered them from adversity, but they shouldn’t expect skeptics to believe them.
What is evidence? Evidence is “the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.” By all means, Evangelicals, please use the comment section to provide facts or information that justify your faith claims. Telling us a personal story or quoting prooftexts will not suffice.
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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We don’t hate them, LGBTQ people, Sage. If we hated Because we hate LGBTQ people, them we would let them go go hell unearned and unprayed for without the gospel! hope these sexual deviants burn in Hell. Dr. David Tee and I, and many others bring them the gospel! will not rest until LGBTQ people are rounded up and sent to internment camps.
Sadly, those caught in lgbtq trans demonic homos snare who attack and condemn LGBTQ people are going to realize too late that the “haters” those who shared the gospel with them were the ones that really LOVED THEM! it is they who will land in Hell someday for hating other people who have literally done nothing to them. And those who approved of, supported, and celebrated with them in their sin were the ones that HATED them LGBTQ people will be rewarded by God for loving their neighbors as themselves, while Revival Fires and Dr. David Tee will be And driven the through the gates of Hell on a Trump-driven, Musk-built rocket sled. 😭😭
“HE SHALL BAPTIZE YOU WITH THE HOKY GHOST AND WITH FIRE” MATTHEW 3:11. Put your left foot in, and put your left foot out, and shake it all about, do the Hoky Ghost, and turn yourself around, that’s what it’s all about.
MAY GOD BRING MANY TO JESUS!!! SPARKE A REVIVAL FIRE!!!! 🔥 May Revival Fires and Dr. David Tee repent of their wicked, hateful ways before it is too late and they land in Hell.
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.
Why are so many Evangelical preachers obsessed with sex, gender, and genitalia? Every day, I peruse blog posts by preachers preoccupied with who fucks whom, when, where, and how. These preachers prattle incessantly about what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms. While these so-called men of God would say that “sin is sin,” based on what they dwell on in their sermons and blog posts, it’s evident that they consider sexual sins more serious than others. Never mind the fact that most sexual “sins” are between consenting adults; “sins” that hurt no one.
These keepers of everyone’s chastity but their own are especially focused on what LGBTQ people do sexually. Worse, they have gone after transgender people with hatred and vengeance. What have LGBTQ people done to these preachers of God’s sex code? Nothing. Their mere existence is enough to stir Evangelical preachers into fits of rage.
One Evangelical preacher, Dr. David Tee (whose real name is Derrick Thomas Theissen), recently wrote:
By now, everyone has heard of the UK Supreme Court’s decision. It is good news for real women who have suffered more than enough these past few years with fake women invading their spaces.
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Of course, no Christian needed a Court’s decision on the issue. The Bible has been declaring the separation of the two genders for thousands of years, and Judaism did it long before that. The Supreme Court is merely saying what all Christians already knew, and what unbelievers have been hiding from.
What we hope will happen is that all fake women will be denied access to these spaces, and real women can feel safer. While this ruling only applies to the UK, we hope to see similar rulings take place around the globe.
The madness must stop as trans- women are not real women and suffer from mental and spiritual problems that deceive them into thinking they are something they are not. The objection that this decision may cause more fake women to kill themselves is erroneous.
The source of the problem with fake men and women is their blind acceptance of the feelings that they were born in the wrong body. They hold tightly to those feelings as if they were a lifeline. This is deception at work.
Until the fake men and women see this, they will always be confused and have problems. The feelings are not real, but a trap from evil to destroy them. They have to see that those feelings are false and take the right steps to get help.
Encouraging their ‘transition’ is not the answer and does not protect the lives of these fake people. In fact, it puts them more in harm’s way as the majority of society finds their delusions disgusting and wrong.
It is even more wrong to allow them to enter women’s spaces and activities and claim they are real women. As the Bible and science have pointed out continuously, no one can change their gender, and participating in this folly only makes fools out of the fake people and their supporters.
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God does not change just because the NT came into existence. God made two distinct genders at creation, which do not change at any time. Science cannot overcome what God did at creation.
If you want to protect fake men and women, then get them the help they need instead of parading them around in public where they will be rejected, ridiculed, and worse. Trying to make them a part of normal society is not the right thing to do.
The trans ideology is perversion at its finest, desecrating what God called good. Let’s hope that more courts see the light and make the same correct decision as the UK Supreme Court did.
It is time to protect our children, sisters, brothers, cousins, and everyone who is falling to this sinful thinking that does more harm than good. Get them the help they need before it is too late.
Thiessen would have his handful of readers believe that transgender people are a threat to the human race. Previously, he has called for transgender people to be arrested and put in internment camps — thus protecting the public from these “evil” people.
Rarely does a week go by without Thiessen writing a post condemning transgender people. He is obsessed with these folks, even though they haven’t done anything to him. Most transgender people just want to be left alone. They want to have the same equal protection under the law as the rest of us.
While Thiessen is free to twist the Bible to fit his perverse hatred of people who violate his Puritan code of human sexuality, it doesn’t follow that the United States government should give his beliefs the force of law. We live in a secular state, not a theocracy. Until the David Thiessens of the world clearly show that transgender people harm others, their protestations carry no weight.
I find it interesting that Thiessen and his merry band of genital inspectors show little to no interest in a real threat to people, especially children. Transgender people rarely make the news for committing sex crimes, yet rarely does a day go by when one or more preachers are arrested, indicted, or convicted for sexual abuse, rape, and other sex crimes. Thiessen, in particular, ignores these stories, and even goes so far as to defend these Jesus-loving perverts. What are we to make of his behavior?
The message to Evangelical preachers is this: Mind your own fucking business. Clean up your own backyard first. Do something about predatory preachers and clerics who take sexual advantage of vulnerable people. Focus your attention on church members, and not on people who don’t attend your churches — people whose beliefs and practices are different from yours.
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.
Lamar CISD, a school district about 30 minutes from Houston, Texas last fall removed a section about Virginia from its online learning platform used by 3rd-5th graders.
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The reason: The bare breast on Virginia’s flag, a picture of which was included in the lesson, violated the district’s recently adopted ban on any “visual depictions or illustrations of frontal nudity” in elementary school library material.
Here’s the picture in question:
Who is driving the objection to this benign picture of the Virginia state flag? I have no doubt that Evangelical Christians are behind the outrage. Evangelicals are ALWAYS behind culture war battles. Do they really believe anyone — including children — will be harmed by this picture? Keep in mind, Texas is the same state that wants to legalize high school students carrying handguns. Let’s see, which is likely to cause more harm — boob or gun? If you have to think about this question, you are an idiot. Guns can and do cause harm. I don’t know of anyone who has been harmed by the passive portrayal of a boob in a school lesson for third to fifth graders.
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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Texas legislators are currently reviewing a series of firearm-related bills that, if passed, would mark a historic and controversial shift in U.S. gun policy. Among them are House Bill 2470 and House Bill 4201, which together would make Texas the first state in the nation to legally allow teenagers to carry handguns on school campuses.
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“Instead of taking action against gun violence by strengthening our weak laws, our lawmakers are convinced that more guns in our communities is the answer,” said Molly Bursey, a volunteer with the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action. “Putting more guns into dangerous hands, and in more sensitive places, will only lead to more violence, more fear, and more loss,” as reported by Moms Demand Action.
HB 2470 proposes lowering the minimum age to possess and obtain a license to carry a handgun from 21 to 18, while HB 4201 would permit license holders to carry concealed firearms in locations currently designated as sensitive, such as schools, hospitals, airports, bars, and government buildings.
These proposals have drawn sharp criticism from gun safety advocates and student-led organizations who argue that such measures would worsen the state’s already significant gun violence problem. According to Everytown for Gun Safety, more than 4,300 people die by guns in Texas each year, and gun-related injuries total nearly 8,000 annually.
Hayden Presley, a student leader with the University of Texas at Austin’s Students Demand Action chapter, also spoke out. “It’s absolutely crazy that our lawmakers would think that putting more guns into the hands of young people—people younger than me—would make us safer. We know it won’t, and we demand better ‘solutions’ than that.”
In 2024 alone, Texas saw at least 17 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, highlighting concerns about the potential consequences of introducing more firearms into educational settings.
In addition to HB 2470 and HB 4201, lawmakers are considering several other bills that critics say would further loosen gun restrictions across the state. These include:
HB 259, which would remove the prohibition on short-barreled rifles and shotguns;
HB 1128, which would allow election judges and early voting clerks to carry concealed handguns at polling places;
HB 1794, which would allow any licensed individual to carry concealed firearms at polling locations;
HB 2771, which would narrow the list of felonies that disqualify individuals from firearm ownership;
HB 3053, which would prohibit localities from organizing gun buyback programs;
HB 3428, which would limit which restaurants and bars can prohibit firearms;
HB 3924, which would allow school marshals to openly carry handguns on campuses
Just what Texas needs: high school students carrying handguns to school. What possibly could go wrong, right?
I know several Texans. Decent, thoughtful, caring people who, I know, without asking them, oppose allowing high school students to carry handguns to school. Why don’t I need to ask them? Unlike their Republican legislators, these Texans know that mixing handguns with immature brains is a recipe for disaster. They know more guns don’t make them safer and only lead to more violence, injury, and death.
For the life of me, I don’t understand how anyone could think that allowing teens with underdeveloped brains to carry firearms while attending classes is a good idea.
What do you think, readers? Should we arm high school students?
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.
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.
Shane Wiggins, pastor of Baldwin Baptist Mission Church in Baldwin, Louisiana, stands accused of child rape and molestation.
Shane Wiggins, pastor of Baldwin Baptist Mission Church, Baldwin, Louisiana, was arrested April 9 on charges of rape and molestation.
Wiggins has been with the Baldwin congregation, a mission of Little Pass Baptist Church in Charenton, La., since March 2015.
According to the police department of Morgan City, La., Wiggins was arrested in Paris, Texas, and faces extradition.
The Morgan City Police Department (MCPD) reported via Facebook April 9 that Wiggins has been under investigation since December of last year when a mother filed a complaint accusing Wiggins of inappropriate behavior with her child. Recently, unable to contact Wiggins at his residence or by phone, MCPD detectives suspected he had left the state. Police did not report why they believed Wiggins was in Paris, Texas, but that was where they focused their search in collaboration with the Lamar County Sheriff’s and Paris Police departments. Wiggins was arrested while driving in Paris and is now detained in the Lamar County Jail in Paris.
In an email to the Baptist Message, Chris Holloway, senior pastor of Little Pass Baptist Church, said that Wiggins had abandoned the Baldwin congregation at least as early as the first Sunday in February.
Holloway also serves as the associational mission strategist for the Gulf Coast Baptist Association that includes both congregations.
Wiggins is being held in the Lamar County Jail in Texas while awaiting extradition to Morgan City.
Hollaway said Wiggins had previously served as pastor of the Baldwin Baptist Mission Church prior to 2011 and had returned in 2015 to again lead the small congregation (which averages 10 in worship services according to the Louisiana Baptist database).
“Shane left town around the first of February,” Holloway wrote. “My last conversation with him was on Jan. 28, 2025.”
Holloway also noted that Wiggins had been replaced as pastor on Feb. 12 by Warren Guidry, the associate pastor of Little Pass Baptist Church, and the Baldwin congregation merged with First Baptist Church of Franklin, La., on April 13.
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.
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.
Benjamin Guerra, a youth pastor at an unnamed Evangelical church in Outlook, Washington, stands accused of raping a minor church member.
Prosecutors charged an Outlook youth pastor with raping a teenage girl he knew.
In addition to five charges each of second-degree rape and third-degree child molestation, Benjamin Felix Guerra, 32, was also charged with three counts of third-degree child rape and a single count of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes, according to a six-page charging document filed in Yakima County Superior Court Monday.
Guerra, who is out of custody after posting $10,000 bail, is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges April 24.
A woman called the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office in late March saying that Guerra had inappropriately touched her 15-year-old daughter, who was part of a youth group Guerra was leading, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by a sheriff’s detective.
The Yakima Herald-Republic typically does not identify sexual assault victims without their consent.
Sheriff’s spokesman Casey Schilperoort said the report did not identify the church where Guerra served.
In an interview at the county’s Children Advocacy Center, the girl described several incidents where Guerra raped and molested her on multiple occasions, the affidavit said. While at a fast-food restaurant with Guerra and members of the youth group, Guerra, she said, wrote a note on his cellphone asking her to prepare for sex with him and telling her to be quiet about what they were doing.
Guerra was arrested at his home in the 2800 block of Gurley Road April 9 and booked into the Yakima County jail.
While a pretrial evaluation recommended releasing Guerra on court supervision, Judge Jeffery Swan ordered Guerra held in lieu of $10,000 bail and, if he posted bail, to maintain weekly phone contact with court staff and report in person twice a week, as well as receive text messages reminding him of further court dates.
Swan also barred Guerra from having any contact with the victim.
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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A Palatka pastor has been arrested for having a “sexual relationship” with a child “between 12 and 18” years old, according to the Palatka Police Department.
Leo Alfonzo Parker, 42, was arrested Wednesday, PPD said. He was identified as a pastor at an East Palatka church. Neighbors tell First Coast News he works at Emerge Church — his picture is also on their social media.
Both sides of the street where Parker lives were cut off by police tape Wednesday night. Neighbors who were in the area said they were shocked and that Parker was well-liked.
It wasn’t until police taped off her street that she realized that pastor was her neighbor, Leo Alfonzo Parker.
“It’s kind of scary because I have two kids. Very scary actually,” Hansford said. “It’s pretty scary that, and there’s a school right across the street as well so that’s also really scary.”
Police say they responded to a call last Thursday where someone reported an “inappropriate relationship between a minor child and an adult male” who was later identified as Parker; they then discovered he was involved in a relationship for an “extended period of time.”
A warrant for Parker’s arrest on charges of sexual battery with a minor was issued Wednesday. He surrendered to detectives.
He is being held on bond for $100,000 at Putnam County Jail.
Police say the investigation is active. Parents are asked to contact the Palatka Police Department if they think there could have been inappropriate contact between Parker and their child.
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.
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.
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.
William Johnson, worship pastor of 2|42 Community Church in Brighton, Michigan, recently pleaded guilty to one count of child sexually abusive activity, seven counts of using a computer to commit a crime, four counts of surveilling an unclothed person, two counts of possessing child sexually abusive material and one count of tampering with evidence.
A former pastor at a Livingston County church has pleaded guilty to 15 charges after he admitted to placing a hidden camera in a unisex bathroom at the church.
William Johnson, 38, pleaded guilty on April 14 to one count of child sexually abusive activity, seven counts of using a computer to commit a crime, four counts of surveilling an unclothed person, two counts of possessing child sexually abusive material and one count of tampering with evidence.
In September 2024, leaders from the 2|42 Community Church in Brighton alerted the Livingston County Sheriff’s Office after church staff found a video recording device in a church bathroom. Johnson, who was the church’s worship pastor director, admitted to church leaders in September 2024 that he placed the camera in the bathroom intending to record people without their knowledge. He was fired from his position with the church.
Johnson, who worked with the church for five years, was later arrested by the sheriff’s office at his home in Howell.
When he was interviewed by detectives, Johnson admitted to hiding a camera in a church bathroom periodically for the last two years and targeting specific people who were known to use that bathroom. Deputies say the bathroom was used by church staff and volunteers and was not typically accessible to the public.
Johnson will be sentenced on May 22.
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.
