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Living in the Land of God, Guns, and the GOP: Local Evangelical Car Repair Ad

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god guns trump

We live in rural Northwest Ohio, fifty miles west of Toledo and forty-five miles east of Fort Wayne, Indiana. This is our home, even though we have lived in central Ohio, Southeast Ohio, Arizona, Michigan, California, and Texas. I was born in nearby Bryan, Ohio. My Hungarian grandparents owned a one-hundred-acre farm three miles north of my home. Since 2007, we have lived in the one-stoplight town of Ney, population 356. Over the years, I worked for two local churches, one in Montpelier, another in West Unity.

As a young man, I couldn’t wait to get away from rural Northwest Ohio with its flat land (an overpass is a hill) and social and cultural monoculture. Yet, time after time over the years, I returned to my home, finally making peace with its bland, boring, slow way of life. Now that pervasive health problems have boxed me in, I know I am “stuck,” with no other option than to live out my days in the land of God, Guns, and the GOP.

Lest I leave readers with the impression that I am just sitting around waiting to die, let me be clear, I love living in rural Northwest Ohio. I am a homegrown boy, intimately familiar with my surroundings. I love the watch-the-corn-grow rhythm of life. Yet, wanderlust is ever with me, calling me to waters and hills far beyond my home. I know I am living in the last home I will ever inhabit, so I have to content myself with road trips and vacations to other places. My six children and thirteen grandchildren live nearby, allowing me to be involved in their lives as much as I physically can. Yet, I can’t help but hope that my grandchildren will leave this place we call home and explore the world.

I am an atheist in a place where few people are. I have met fewer than ten locals over the past fourteen years who identify as atheists or agnostics (and some of them are still in the closet). I am sure there are more atheists around me, but the economic and social costs are such that atheists often keep their unbelief to themselves. Evangelicalism rules the roost, even at mainline churches. There are three hundred churches within thirty or so minutes from our home. Jesus is everywhere (yet nowhere because he’s dead) — literally. And the local culture reflects this. People assume you are a Christian. People assume you attend church. People assume you believe the Bible is the Word of God. People assume you believe God created everything. The pressure to conform to religious norms can be overwhelming. While I refuse to conform, I totally understand why some local atheists choose to play the “game” instead of being tarred and feathered as an unbeliever.

Let me give you a good example of how pervasive Evangelical Christianity is in rural Northwest Ohio. What follows is a front-page ad on the Defiance Crescent-News’ website for Auto Servant, a Christian car repair business in Defiance.

auto servant ad

Auto Servant has a Facebook page for its business. Here are some of the posts made on the page:

Christmas

Merry Christmas! From all of us at Auto Servant! We are so thankful for God our father to send His son Jesus Christ! And to lead us all with the Holy Spirit! We are so thankful for all our friends and family and customers! You are the best people in the world! We truly appreciate you all and all you do. For all your prayers and support! We are very grateful for you all! God bless you!

Thanksgiving

We are so thankful for God our father! Our Lord Jesus Christ! Our guidance Holy Spirit! Thank you Lord for all you have done for us and our families! You are the center of who we are! Thank you to all our wonderful family and employees. You are the best! Thank you to all of our wonderful customers and friends! We truly appreciate you all so much! God has put amazing people in our lives! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Easter

Praise God- though the last few days- we were unsure/ now we know/ God has risen! Death has been defeated! Jesus you change everything! Chains fall- fear gone- Jesus you change everything!

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! Thank you Lord for your sacrifice and for the sacrifice of all those who gave their lives for us! We pray for Your protection over the USA!

Easter

Celebrating the greatest comeback in HISTORY! God bless you all! Thank you Lord Jesus for sacrificing so much for us!

It’s clear from its newspaper ad and Facebook page that the owner of Auto Servant has a certain demographic in mind for its services — Christians. On one hand, this is a smart business model. Using words and imagery that says to local Christians: “Hey, I am part of the same tribe. Get your car fixed here,” is smart and likely profitable. Auto Servant is not the only local business that uses this model. Crosses, fish symbols, and Bible quotations are common. Go to these businesses and you will find Christian kitsch everywhere. Again, these things say to Christian customers: “Hey, I am one of you. Spend your money here.”

On the other hand, the United States is becoming increasingly non-religious. The fastest-growing religious demographic in the U.S. is the “nones” — those who self-identify as atheist, agnostic, or indifferent towards religion. People in this demographic are less likely to frequent businesses that use religion as a marketing tool (even if these businesses think they have a higher motive or purpose for doing so). As godless heathens, my wife and I deliberately avoid businesses that use Jesus to promote their stores. That’s why we don’t eat at Chik-fil-A or shop at Hobby Lobby. That’s why we don’t shop at some local businesses and would never take our car in for repair at Auto Servant. We simply won’t do business with stores that lead with the Cross.

We certainly frequent businesses owned by Christians. We have no problem with an owner’s personal religious beliefs as long she keeps her beliefs to herself. When we go to a business, we are there to fulfill our wants and needs. If we wanted to hear about Jesus, we would go to a church. Several years ago, an appliance repairman came to our home to fix our dryer. We knew he was a Christian, but he was known for providing excellent service, so we decided to have him repair our dryer. During the course of repairing our dryer, he took it upon himself — unprompted — to witness to us and invite us to his church. We said nothing. However, we will never do business with this man again.

We rarely shop locally these days. The reasons are many, but one reason is that we are tired of the constant Jesus-in-your-face business practices. Typically, we do most of our shopping in Fort Wayne, Toledo, or online. By doing so, we use our dollars as a protest to the practice of using Jesus/Christianity as a marketing tool. Will this choice of ours make any difference locally? Nope. And that doesn’t matter. This is a personal choice for us, one that reflects our values. A generation from now, I suspect local businesses will be less likely to parade Jesus and Christianity before potential customers. For now, Jesus is good for business.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Evangelical Pastor Blames Watching Westerns for His “Hanging” Comment on Facebook

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im sorry

In response to a woman’s Facebook post about items being stolen from her home, Mark Guy, pastor of Independent Community Church in Millry, Alabama, said:

Need to go back to the old days and start hanging again, crime will stop when they see people rot off rope in every town.

Community outrage was swift, forcing the good pastor to “apologize.” Here’s his apology (which is no longer available on Facebook):

It has been blown way out of proportion. I was watching a western at the time of the post. In the old days they hung people for stealing. I read her post and made the comment, had not one thing to do with race. Might not should have but I did.

In other words, John Wayne made him do it. 🙂

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Codie Malesker Sentenced to Jail Time for Mail Fraud

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pastor codie malesker

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.

Last Friday, Codie Malesker, pastor of Faith Community Tabernacle (Our Church Is A Oneness Apostolic Church That Believes In The Plan Of Salvation As Outlined In Acts 2:38. Love, Laughter, Singing, Fellowship, Worship And Serving God!!!) in Hastings, Nebraska, was sentenced to five years of probation and 15 weekends in jail for committing mail fraud.

ABC-8 reports:

United States Attorney Jan Sharp announced the sentencing of 47-year-old Codie D. Malesker to five years of probation on Friday. United States District Judge John M. Gerrand sentenced Malesker to spend 15 weekends in jail and ordered him to pay $63,443.77 in restitution as part of the probation.

Malesker worked as an insurance agent with Midwest Regional Agency, operated Malesker Agency, LLC and served as a pastor and board member at Faith Community Tabernacle. Malesker was also a partner with Shaun Peck Family Construciton, LLC and managed finances for the company.

In this position, Malesker had access to the company’s bank account, checks and debit cards and an Intuit account. During a four-year period, Malesker issued policies to himself, his insurance agency and Faith Community Tabernacle. Malesker would then make fraudulent claims against those policies and would divert the proceeds to his accounts.

During the time period, Malesker caused an actual loss of $76,296.48 as a result of the fraud. According to a press release, Malesker filed a theft loss claim against his Continental Western Insurance Group reporting $31,648.77 of premium cash and personal property being stolen from Malesker Agency Office.

To support the claim, Malesker submitted fake receipts and bank records. The fraud worked and Continental Western Insurance Group mailed Malesker two claim checks totalling $31,648.77.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Gustavo Zamora Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Sex Crimes

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pastor gustavo zamora

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.

Gustavo Zamora, former pastor of Apostolic Assembly Church in Lindsay, California, was sentenced last Friday to twenty-five years in prison for six counts of lewd acts committed upon a child under the age of 14.

The Fresno Bee reports:

A pastor who worked in churches across the central San Joaquin Valley since the 1980s will spend 25 years to life in prison for molesting several girls. Gustavo Zamora, 69, was sentenced in Tulare County Superior Court on Friday for six counts of lewd acts committed upon a child under the age of 14. The crimes involved substantial sexual conduct, and each count is a felony considered as a strike offense, according to a statement Tuesday from the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office. Zamora pleaded no contest to each count and admitted the crimes occurred against more than one victim, which adds a special allegation.

The crimes are nearly 40 years old. According to the DA’s office, Zamora was a pastor at the Apostolic Assembly Church in Lindsay between 1984 and 2000, when he assaulted five girls. They were 4 and 14 years old at the time of the sexual assaults. The incidents occurred at the church and other locations within Tulare County.

Zamora was first confronted with allegations of abuse in 2000, though the crime was not reported at the time and Zamora left the church and disappeared. A comprehensive investigation was started after multiple adult victims came forward with new allegations between 2004 and 2020. Zamora was arrested in May or 2020 in Lodi, where we was still working as a pastor. “While it may be difficult for some to process such news, especially regarding someone in a position of trust, the bravery of these victims to come forward cannot be understated,” said Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward in the statement. “Their courage should be an example to anyone who has suffered such abuse.”

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Quote of the Day: The Truth About Child Sex Trafficking

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kaitlyn tiffany

All over the country, well-meaning Americans are convinced that human trafficking—and specifically child sex trafficking—is happening right in their backyard, or at any rate no farther away than the nearest mall parking lot. A 2020 survey by the political scientists Joseph Uscinski and Adam Enders found that 35 percent of Americans think the number of children who are victims of trafficking each year is about 300,000 or higher; 24 percent think it is “much higher.” Online, people read that trafficking is a problem nobody else is willing to discuss: The city they live in is a “hot spot,” their state one of the worst in the country. Despite what the mainstream media are saying, this is “the real pandemic.”

Of course, child sex trafficking does happen, and it is horrible. The crime is a serious concern of human-rights organizations and of governments all over the world. Statistically, however, it is hard to get a handle on: The data are often misleading, when they exist at all. Whatever the incidence, sex trafficking does not involve Tom Hanks or hundreds of thousands of American children.

When today’s activists talk about the problem of trafficking, knowing exactly what they’re referring to can be difficult. They cite statistics that actually offer global estimates of all forms of labor trafficking. Or they mention outdated and hard-to-parse figures about the number of children who go “missing” in the United States every year—most of whom are never in any immediate danger—and then start talking about children who are abducted by strangers and sold into sex slavery.

While stereotypical kidnappings—what you picture when you hear the word—do occur, the annual number hovers around 100. Sex trafficking also occurs in the United States. The U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline has been operated by the anti-trafficking nonprofit Polaris Project and overseen and partially funded by the Department of Health and Human Services since 2007. In 2019, it recorded direct contacts with 14,597 likely victims of sex trafficking of all ages. (The average age at which these likely victims were first trafficked—“age of entry,” as the statistic is called—was 17.) The organization itself doesn’t regard its figure for direct contacts as one that should be used with too much confidence—it is probably low, but no more solid data exist.

There is a widely circulated number, and it’s even bigger than the one Laura Pamatian and her volunteer chapter publicized: 800,000 children go missing in the U.S. every year. The figure shows up on T-shirts and handmade posters, and in the captions of Instagram posts. But the number doesn’t mean what the people sharing it think it means. It comes from a study conducted in 1999 by the Justice Department, and it’s an estimate of the number of children who were reported missing over the period of a year for any reason and for any length of time. The majority were runaways, children caught up in custody disputes, or children who were temporarily not where their guardians expected them to be. The estimate for “nonfamily abductions” reported to authorities was 12,100, which includes stereotypical kidnappings, but came with the caveat that it was extrapolated from “an extremely small sample of cases” and, as a result, “its precision and confidence interval are unreliable.” Later in the report, the authors noted that “only a fraction of 1 percent of the children who were reported missing had not been recovered” by the time they were counted for the study. The authors also clarified that a survey sent to law-enforcement agencies found that “an estimated 115 of the nonfamily abducted children were victims of stereotypical kidnapping.” The Justice Department repeated the study in 2013 and found that reports of missing children had “significantly decreased.”

Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, The Great (Fake) Child-Sex-Trafficking Epidemic, December 9, 2021

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Don’t Quit

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dont quit
Pain is temporary? Come walk in the shoes of those who haven’t had a pain free day in years.

The late Jack Hyles, pastor of First Baptist Church in Hammond, Indiana, was known for telling preachers DON’T QUIT! Hyles even wrote a poem on the subject:

When the cup is turned to wormwood,
And the wormwood turns to gall;
When your walking turns to stumbling,
And the stumbling to a fall;
When you’ve climbed above the mountains,
Yet the Alps rise rough and tall;
DON’T QUIT.

When the path ahead is crooked,
And the road’s too rough to tread;
When the best upon the table
Is replaced by sorrow’s bread;
When you’ve crossed some troubled waters,
Yet a Marah’s just ahead; (Exodus 15;16)
DON’T QUIT.

When the vultures have descended
And disturbed your downy nest;
When sweet fruit has changed to thistle,
While the thorns disturb your rest;
When a deep to deep is calling,
And when failure seems your best;
DON’T QUIT.

When the Lord has cleansed the table;
Then He takes away the fat;
And the best wine has been taken,
Till you find an empty vat;
When another fills the throne room
Where once you proudly sat;
DON’T QUIT.

When your health is feeling sickly,
And the medicine tastes bad;
When your fellowship is lonely,
And your happiness is sad;
When your warmth is getting colder,
And in clouds your sunshine’s clad;
DON’T QUIT.

When you find your wins are losses,
And that all your gains are lacks;
When ill things never come alone,
And your troubles run in packs;
When your soul is bruised and battered
From the Tempter’s fierce attacks;
DON’T QUIT.

Be not weary in well doing,
For due seasons bring the grain;
He who on the Lord hath waited
Shall never run in vain;
The just man falleth seven times,
Yet riseth up again;
DON’T QUIT.

I heard Jack Hyles many times implore preachers to never, ever quit. Dr. Tom Malone, chancellor of the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) college I attended in the 1970s, Midwestern Baptist College, frequently reminded students that God never blesses quitters. Students who dropped out of school were excoriated and labeled quitters — men who would never, ever be blessed by God. When my wife and I left Midwestern before graduating, a friend of ours told us, “You will never amount to anything for God. God doesn’t use quitters.” Polly and I went on to spend twenty-five years in the ministry. Our friend? He graduated but never spent one day in the ministry.

Certainly having a bulldog never-quit spirit can lead men and women to do great things. Life can be hard, and successfully making it through this life often requires us to fight and refuse to give in. However, when DON’T QUIT becomes the proverbial tail that wags the dog, it can result in people hanging on when they really should be letting go.

I learned that it is okay to quit (walk away from) toxic churches. I learned that it is okay to stop helping people who are sponges that suck the life out of all who come their way. Not everyone deserves my love, compassion, care, and kindness. I have found that it is better to walk away than let people ruin my life.

I have learned that it is okay to give in and give up. Realists understand the lay of life’s topography and refuse to let the demands of wishful thinking cause unnecessary physical and psychological pain. I know first-hand how hard it can be to quit doing things. Chronic pain and illness have forced me to quit doing a number of things. DON’T QUIT still taunts me, but I no longer let it force me to do things I can no longer do. Just this past weekend, I dismantled my office, knowing that I will never sit in my office chair again for any length of time. Too painful, thanks to the herniated discs in my back, a torn labrum in my shoulder, and widespread arthritis and muscle pain. I now do all of my writing for this site on the couch or in a recliner. I shed a few tears as yet another aspect of my life went by the wayside, but it was time. It’s been eighteen months since I used the computer in my office. No amount of wishing was going to restore that which has been lost. Time to metaphorically turn off the lights and lock the door.

Quitting is not failure. It is the admission that I can no longer do something. Quitting is me being honest with myself and not letting the demands of others control what I do with my short life. Several years ago, I wanted to learn woodworking. I foolishly invested several thousand dollars in equipment that went unused. Try as I might, I was unable, because of my physical limitations, to do what I wanted to do. I had no other choice but to quit. I have whittled my life down to three things I greatly value: family, photography, and writing. And photography might be on the cutting board soon. I struggle to hang on, knowing that if I let go of these things, what is left?

I know I am losing the battle against pain, illness, and time. I wonder, what more will I have to quit doing?  I have given up so much, yet my body cares not. It continues to demand that I quit, quit, quit until nothing is left. I continue to fight, holding on to the few things I can still do (safely and skillfully). I know, thanks to osteoarthritis, that there will likely come a day when I can no longer write. Even now, my hands, arms, and shoulders scream in pain as I write. I ignore the screams, but I do know that someday I will be forced to give up. I know that the ravages of arthritis and fibromyalgia will one day force me to use a wheelchair all the time. For now, I push back — often stupidly so — refusing to admit that I am a broken-down old man. Will there come a day when I stop pushing? Maybe. Time will tell. All I know to do, for now, is to accept, adjust, and move foward.

Do you suffer from chronic pain or illness? How have you adjusted to your new reality? Please share your experiences in the comment section.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Black Collar Crime: Evangelical Pastor Frank Jacobs Pleads Guilty to Filing a Fraudulent Tax Return and Wire Fraud

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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.

Frank Jacobs, pastor of Rock Worship Center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Quest Church, also in Charlotte, pleaded guilty last week to filing a fraudulent tax return and wire fraud.

The Charlotte Observer reports:

As a man of the cloth, Frank Jacobs was expected to render to God what was God’s. On Wednesday, however, it was Caesar’s turn, with the Charlotte pastor admitting in federal court that he failed to file income tax returns while also bilking a COVID-19 relief program out of a $52,000 loan with a phony application filed on behalf of one of his churches. Jacobs, 51, pleaded guilty to filing a fraudulent tax return and wire fraud in a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge David Cayer of Charlotte. Combined, the two charges carry a maximum penalty of more than 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine — though given his plea agreement, Jacobs’ penalty is expected to be much lighter. He will be sentenced at a later date.

….

In a statement released after Jacobs’ hearing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte said his criminal behavior occurred while he led two Charlotte churches. Plea documents say Jacobs led the Rock Worship Center Church from at least 2009 to 2018. The website of the southwest Charlotte congregation still lists him as pastor, crediting Jacobs with building the church from the ground up, and growing membership from the 11 who turned up for the first service to more than 1,500. In a 2009 story in the Observer, Jacobs — who at the time was doubling as a preacher and an executive with a pharmaceutical company — said his growing ministry had to balance its members’ spiritual and secular needs. ”The church should be a place that uplifts and encourages,” Jacobs said. “But it also should be a place that helps people find a job.” For much of his time at the Rock Worship pulpit, Jacobs apparently had trouble following the New Testament’s rendering advice.

The Christian Post adds:

Ever since he was a young boy, North Carolina Pastor Frank Jacobs Sr.’s mother noticed he had a taste for expensive things. She warned him that he would have to get a good education to afford them. So he studied hard and ultimately became a pastor, earning nearly $400,000 in one year. It apparently wasn’t enough.

Earlier this month, Dena J. King,  the U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, announced that Jacobs, 51, who led the Rock Worship Center Church in Charlotte from at least 2009 to 2018 and Quest Church in Charlotte from at least 2019 to 2021, pleaded guilty to tax and wire fraud.

Jacobs was accused of filing a false tax return and using fraudulent information to obtain a $52,000 loan from the federal government’s coronavirus relief program for small businesses, known as the Paycheck Protection Program.

On Sunday, during a Facebook Live broadcast from Quest Church, Jacobs said very little about his charges. But he told his congregation and supporters that the Bible remains his favorite book and apologized for embarrassing the church.

“It’s been a tough week, a very tough weeks for me and my family,” said the father of five, who is married to online talk show host Kimberly Jacobs.

“I first want to apologize to you … as church members and people who follow this ministry for being in a situation where you have to even see this, hear this, deal with this with your friends and colleagues. I’m very embarrassed by it, and I’m very sorry about it, and I apologize to you that you’re enduring this even as I endure it. I’m sorry to you because you had nothing to do with it.”

….

Documents cited by the U.S. Department of Justice show that for tax years 2009 through 2013 and 2015 through 2017, Jacobs failed to file timely U.S. individual income tax returns, Form 1040s, even after he received correspondence from the IRS in some of those years about the need to file and pay taxes.

He filed a return for 2014, claiming he only earned $66,370. But an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service suggests that he had $387,456.35 in income, according to a court document cited by The Charlotte Observer.

On April 22, 2020, Jacobs filed a fraudulent PPP loan application on behalf of Quest Church. He claimed the church paid five employees more than $135,500, but the church did not report any wages to the IRS for the corresponding calendar year and did not pay any withholding taxes.

Jacobs was released on bond following his court appearance last Tuesday and will be sentenced at a later date.

Filing a false tax return carries a maximum statutory penalty of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, while the wire fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Jacobs’ church bio page states:

Frank Jacobs was born the sixth of 10 children to Supt. Lewis (deceased) and Mother Gladene Jacobs. Growing up in an industrial (steel) town on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, PA, he learned the value of hard work. As a result, he secured his first job before becoming a teen and contributed to the household income.

As a youth, Frank’s mother made a comment that would be a pivotal point in his life. He requested that his parents purchase a pair of Nike’s he desired and upon denying the request, his mother simply said, “Boy, you like expensive things and you’ll need to go to college to be able to afford them”!  Frank decided that very moment to find a path to college and to finance it – somehow!

During the course of his investigation, Frank discovered that he’d essentially get a full scholarship if he was accepted into a military academy.  With that in mind, he focused his attention on the U.S. Air Force Academy.  Frank found the process to be competitive and grueling, in addition to learning that he had to be nominated by Congress for admission.  He persevered through the process and was eventually nominated by his U.S. Congressman for the Air Force Academy.  Over the course of a year, Frank received full scholarships from various universities as a student-athlete.  He ultimately accepted an invitation from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA and graduated in 4 years with a Bachelor’s Degree.

With determination in his DNA, Frank decided as a senior (Biology/Pre-Pharmacy major) that he would work in the pharmaceutical industry.  Amazingly, he was hired almost immediately, by the foremost pharmaceutical company in the world.  Frank, being as competitive as he was, told his girlfriend Kimberly (whom he married) that he would achieve the rank of VP of Sales by his 40th birthday.  18 years after his prophetic comment and continued advancement, Frank Jacobs, at the age of 40, was promoted to VP of Sales for a multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company!

Frank made every attempt to avoid the call to ministry, but had a heart-felt commitment to helping others. Even in corporate America, with all of his success, he remained highly involved in ministry and every aspect of that ministry flourished as a result of his involvement.  This was most evident when he and his wife Kimberly started a teenage 501c3 youth program within the church. The program grew from 11 youth to 300 in only a few years, drawing children from all walks of life (including the Amish community) and forcing them to move their weekly meetings from the church to a high school auditorium.  From an idea, to the U.S. Department of Education funding its programs, this 501c3 received millions of dollars in federal grants for almost a decade.

Frank later earned his Master’s Degree, completed multiple ministerial training programs, was licensed as a Minister and was eventually ordained as and Elder in The Church of God in Christ.  In a life-changing event, Frank suffered the loss of his father in 1999 and succeeded him as Pastor at the request of the Bishop.  In only a few years, the ministry grew exponentially and the Bishop then requested that Frank lead the State church (Pennsylvania). Upon accepting the new appointment in 2001, the State church grew 10 times its size in just 3 years. Multiple ministerial training programs,[sic] Frank and his family moved to Charlotte, NC upon being promoted by the pharmaceutical company for which he worked. He then assumed his toughest assignment as he was led by God to start a ministry from the ground.  With no history in Charlotte, no previous relationships, congregation, nor building, he was driven to start The Rock Worship Center COGIC.  In 2005, he secured a building and opened the doors with just 11 people.  To date, over 1500 people have joined The Rock Worship Center and Superintendent Jacobs is resolute that the ROCK has only just begun to be effective in Charlotte.Superintendent Frank Jacobs has been married to Talk Show Host, Kimberly Jacobs, for the past 20 years.  This union has blessed them with 5 wonderful children.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Life in the Ministry: Fifteen Years of Marriage and Not One ‘Just the Two of Us’ Date

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bruce and polly gerencser 1985
Bruce and Polly Gerencser, Sweetheart Banquet, 1985

A few months after our first wedding anniversary, Polly and I packed up all of our worldly goods into a late-60s Chey Impala and an AMC Gremlin that was missing its right front fender and moved three hours south to Newark, Ohio. We later moved to Buckeye Lake and then to the Southeast Ohio communities of New Lexington, Glenford, New Lexington (again), Somerset, Junction City, and Mount Perry. All told, we lived in Central and Southeast Ohio for fifteen years. During this time, I pastored churches in Somerset/Mount Perry and Buckeye Lake, Ohio. A consummate Type A workaholic and perfectionist, I neglected my wife and children. Thinking that all that mattered was serving Jesus, winning souls, and building churches, I worked day and night, rarely taking a day off. Work for the night is coming when no man can work, the Bible says. Jesus could return at any moment, I thought at the time. I want to be found busily laboring in God’s vineyard when Jesus splits the Eastern sky! Jesus said in Luke 18:8, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? When Jesus returned to earth, I wanted him to find me working hard at keeping the faith.

My children can testify to what I have written above. They watched their father walk out of the house in the morning, returning home later in the day, only to shower, change clothes, and head out the door once again, often not returning until they were in bed. For years, I worked a full-time secular job while also pastoring a church full-time. Even after I stopped working secular jobs and devoted all of my time to the work of the ministry, I still worked sixty-plus hours a week.

Fifteen years of busting-my-ass for Jesus. Fifteen years of sacrificing family and body. Fifteen years, one vacation — a preaching engagement in Braintree, Massachusetts. Fifteen years, and not ONE, just the two of us date with my wife. Let that sink in for a moment. Not ONE date. Polly and I have spent a good bit of time combing through our shared experiences. We couldn’t come up with ONE instance of the two of us — sans children — going out on a date during the first fifteen years we were married. Oh, we went to scores of special church events, Valentine’s banquets, and the like, but we never, not ONE time, got in the car, just the two of us, and went somewhere to spend an evening enjoying each other’s company.

I told Polly that it is a wonder that our marriage survived. While I was busy winning souls, studying for sermons, and building churches, Polly invested her time in keeping our home and raising our children. Now, I don’t want to paint a misleading picture. When I had time, I spent it with my family. We spent many a summer Saturday evening watching races at local dirt tracks in Zanesville, Crooksville, and other communities. We also— in the early 1990s — took numerous day trips to West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, and sundry other points in Ohio. Our older children have fond memories of crazy family road trips along the forgotten back — often unpaved — roads of Southeast Ohio and neighboring West Virginia. That said, what time I had for doing these kinds of things was limited. Jesus ALWAYS came first.

While these memories remind me of the fact that I did spend (some) time with my beautiful wife and children, I find myself saddened by the fact that I should have spent a lot more time with them, but didn’t. Southeast Ohio is a place of beauty, yet I rarely took the time to enjoy the scenery. Enjoying life was for those who didn’t take seriously the commands of Jesus. As the Apostle Paul said centuries before, I wanted my life to be a testimony of single-minded devotion to Jesus. Better to burn out than rust out, I thought at the time. Some day, I will enjoy the scenery of God’s eternal kingdom! Did not the Bible say, prepare to meet the Lord thy God? There will be plenty time later to relax and fish along the banks of the River of Life.

My children and Polly have long since forgiven me for not giving them the time they deserved. They understand why I worked as I did, but I have a hard time forgiving myself for putting God, Jesus, the church, preaching, and winning souls before my family. No matter how often I talk about this with my counselor, the guilt and sense of loss remain. I suspect other super-Christians-turned-atheists have similar stories to tell. We sacrificed the temporal for the eternal. Now that we understand the temporal is all we have, it is hard not to look at the past with regret. Particularly for those of us with chronic illnesses and pain, it is hard not to lament offering the best years of our lives on the altar of a non-existent God.

There is nothing I can do about the past. It is what it is, as I am fond of saying. All I can do is make the most of what life I have left. Fortunately, my six children and thirteen grandchildren live less than twenty minutes away from our home. Given an opportunity to do things differently, I do my best to spend time with them. Many days, it is difficult to do so. To quote a well-worn cliché, my spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. I know there will come a day when I will permanently be in a wheelchair. It has been two years since I have driven a car. Forced to rely on others to haul my ass (and the rest of my body) around, I am unable to do all that I want to do. I do what I can, forcing myself — at times — to do things that I probably shouldn’t be doing. I know that this life is all that I have. As a Christian, I said, Only one life t’will soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last. As an atheist, I see things differently. Only one life t’will soon be past, and then I’ll be dead. End of story. All that will remain are the memories I made with my family while I was alive.

And as far as the no date thing? I think Polly can attest to the fact that I have acquitted myself quite nicely. We now take short vacations, road trips, and go on frequent just the two of us dates. Are we making up for lost time? I think so. Polly has become my best friend. I genuinely enjoy her company, even when her driving puts me in fear of my life. 🙂 We have a bucket list of places we would like to visit. Will we successfully check off everything on the list? Probably not. As we wander together through life, we continue to find places we want to check out. So much to see, do, and experience. Funny what you find when you take your eyes off the heavens and look at what is right in front of you.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Horny IFB Men Report “Immodestly” Dressed Women to Their Pastor

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modest clothing

Tom Brennan pastors Bible Baptist Church in Dubuque, Iowa. Bible Baptist is an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) congregation. Recently, Brennan wrote a blog post titled Appearance Matters:

First, it is evident in America that we have a declining Christianity paired with a growing paganism. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind (Mark 5.15). When a person individually or a society corporately is operating under the affect [sic] of the devil or the affect [sic] of Christ it is evident in their appearance. What do we find in America today? Undeniably, we find a growing breakdown of any public sense of modesty. Yoga pants, which leave nothing to imagination, rule. Activists increasingly advocate for the right for women to be topless. Local governments routinely look the other way as pride parades violate public decency laws, and no one breathes a word of opposition. And I could go on and on here.

Damn those yoga pants. It seems Brennan is saying that a sure sign of increasing American paganism is women wearing yoga pants and, I assume, leggings. Brennan is using “paganism,” as many IFB preachers do, as a catch-all for “unbelief.” Brennan knows the United States is becoming increasingly secular, with the fastest-growing religious demographic being the “nones” — those who are atheists, agnostics, or indifferent towards religion. In Brennan’s mind, how women, in particular, dress reveals how far or how close our society is to the one true God of the Bible. IFB preachers have been warring against female “immodesty since the late 1960s and 1970s. Back then, it was miniskirts that were the problem. Now, according to Brennan, the biggest problem in our culture is women wearing yoga pants and leggings. In Brennan’s mind, we are only a hop, skip, and jump away from women walking down our streets topless.

Nothing to see here, right? IFB preachers have been pontificating about women’s clothing for decades. I wouldn’t have given Brennan’s post nary a thought if it hadn’t been for what he said next:

Believe it or not, this is a church issue. I have pastored twenty five years. Most of you reading this have no idea how often I have had a man come to me struggling with the way some sister in Christ dresses, even in a conservative church like ours. Which means even more have a problem but will not actually say anything to me about it.

Brennan preaches about “modesty” and maintaining proper attire. He is, after all, an IFB preacher. It’s what they do. What I find sadly interesting is that Brennan has horny male church members who come to him and tattle on church women who are dressed “immodestly.” What kind of church culture encourages this kind of behavior?

“Struggling” is a euphemism for getting a boner or having lustful thoughts when viewing a sister in the Lord who has a skirt above her knees, wears pants that are too tight, or wears a blouse or top that is revealing. These women aren’t strolling down the church aisles on Sunday as a hooker would on a city street on Saturday night, seductively dressed, hoping to catch men’s attention. Yet, because they show too much leg or cleavage or accentuate their feminine shape, they are viewed as seductresses out to lead poor, hapless, weak, pathetic IFB men into sexual sin — either literally, as in the case of adultery, fornication, and masturbation, or psychologically, as in have “lustful” thoughts and immoral desires.

Imagine the discussions between Pastor Brennan and an aroused/offended/outraged male church member:

Preacher, did you Sister Betty today? I can see her cleavage! Brother, all I can think about is motorboating. I want to keep my mind and heart stayed upon Jesus, but Sister Betty is causing me to have unholy, impure thoughts. Make her stop, Daddy, err, I mean Preacher.

Pastor, Sister Maybelle is showing way too much leg. Her skirt is two inches above her knee and it’s so tight I can see that she’s wearing an IFB-approved thong! What should I do? I can’t possibly stay focused on Jesus when all I can think about is Maybelle’s sexy legs and ass. Sorry, pastor, I mean butt.

Preacher, you need to do something about Sister Jezebel. Her tops are too tight, too revealing. My God, she even wears pants to church, revealing the form of her hot, sexy — make it stop — body. Me and Deacon Bob were talking and both of us think that you need to tell Sister Jezebel to dress modestly.

Pastor, have you seen how the church’s teen girls are dressing? They are dressing just like public school girls! I’ve had several church boys come to me complaining about how these girls are dressing; how their “immodesty” is causing them to have lustful thoughts. Little Billy, you know Deacon Bob’s son, came to me and said that all he can think about during church is sex. He’s NOT even listening to your sermons! You need to do something about this before church teens start having sex with each other.

Brennan, of course, is part of the problem. His preaching has facilitated a culture where women are demeaned for how they dress — cuz it’s in the Bible — and men believe they have little to no control over their sexuality. Again, standard IFB fare. Brennan is part of a religious sect that is stridently anti-culture. Try as he might, modern culture still seeps into his church. Several weeks ago, I watched a Youtube video of the Sunday service at Polly’s mom’s IFB church. I was shocked to see several women in the choir/church wearing leggings underneath their dresses. One woman was even wearing tennis shoes. OMG, sure signs of liberalism, moral decay, and the second coming of Hey-Zeus. Try as IFB preachers might, they can’t stop their churches from changing with the times. It is often said, that IFB churches are twenty years behind culturally. Take the church I mentioned above. Forty years ago, men were prohibited from having any facial hair. Today, numerous men have mustaches and beards, including the pastor. Some men even have bald heads, a sure sign years ago that they were, according to their pastor, nazis, white supremacists, or gay. Brennan is fighting a battle that neither he nor Jesus can win.

The solution to Brennan’s problem is quite simple: tell church men to grow up; tell them to embrace and own their sexuality; tell them to mind their own fucking business. Remember, this is not about women strolling down the center church aisle on Sundays in string bikinis. Most of us would agree that doing so would be inappropriate, even though it would be quite entertaining (and much better than the sermon). We’re not talking about scantily clad women. These men are outraged over women who refuse to obey the church’s archaic, misogynistic dress standard; women who dare to show a bit (or a lot) of cleavage or leg; women who feel comfortable in their own skin.

Yoga pants and leggings are not the problem. My wife wears leggings, typically with a long top or short dress that covers her ass. She also owns a pair of yoga pants. I think Polly looks nice (and attractive) when she wears leggings. Not that what I think matters. Her body, her choice, end of discussion. I have certain types and styles of clothing I like to wear. Why should it be any different for my wife? I doubt Brennan has women coming to him, complaining about men who are wearing tight pants or that they can “see” their junk. Why is that?

Many of you were raised in IFB churches. How differently were women treated from men? Did your pastor ever preach about men’s clothing? Please share your stories in the comment section.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

Our Pastor Looked at Child Pornography and Took Inappropriate Pictures, but He’s a Really Nice Guy

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father stephen pohl

I have known Stephen Pohl since the day he was born. I seriously doubt that these allegations will be proven. He said mass at my mothers [sic] passing and has been a friend to my family for over 50 years. It is painful because we are again seeing the pillory [sic] of another priest. Father Joe Hemmerly has been dogged by allegations all stemming from putting Lotion on the Sun Burn of a camper at the summer camp he ran. Many priests are unfairly targeted and I will be seriously surprised if these allegations pan out.

Father Stephen Pohl Supporter

Another day, another Catholic priest is arrested/charged/convicted of sexually molesting children. In August 2015, Stephen Pohl, 57, a pastor at St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Louisville, Kentucky was arrested and charged with the possession of child pornography. According to the Courier Journal, Pohl “admitted to accessing the pornographic images of nude underage boys on computers at the church rectory and office between January and August 2015.” In January, Pohl admitted his guilt and signed a plea agreement that could result in him spending 33 months in a federal penitentiary. Pohl would also be required to register as a sex offender and face a “lifetime of supervision by the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services.”

According to Courier-Journal report:

The federal case began after a 10-year-old St. Margaret Mary student told his mother that “Father Steve” singled him out at an after-school club to take a series of “weird” photos on his cell phone. The youth posed with his hands on his knees and legs spread apart, following the priest’s orders, according to the affidavit.

When the parents eventually confronted Pohl about the pictures, the affidavit details, they saw similar pictures of another child on the priest’s phone and reported it to law enforcement.

According to another Courier-Journal report, Louisville Metro Police Crimes Against Children Unit detective Dan Jackman is quoted as saying:

“One can clearly see up the child’s shorts and underwear,” Jackman wrote of one of the photos while another is “focused on the child’s genitals.”

You would think that St. Margaret Mary parishioners would be calling for Father Pohl’s head. Nope. According to WLKY, several Pohl supporters have written U.S. District Judge David Hale, asking him to be lenient when sentencing Pohl on March 29, 2016. After all, Pohl is “presently working with a psychologist. It has assisted me in understanding what is happening here.” What IS happening here? What is happening is that a Catholic priest is sexually attracted to boys and he got caught accessing internet child pornography. He also took photographs of young St. Margaret Mary boys. What more does anyone need to know? Pohl is a pedophile. Does anyone honestly think this was Pohl’s first time looking at child porn? Does anyone seriously think that he looked but didn’t touch? Not me.

While I don’t think Pohl should be locked away for life, I have serious reservations about any treatments that purport to “cure” pedophiles. If there is no cure, should men such as Pohl be permitted to roam free in public? Should they — after 20 hail Marys and 50 Our Fathers — be permitted to return to the church and have access to children? I hope not. Pohl should NEVER be permitted to be alone with children.

And what’s with those who write letters of support? I have noticed in other sex crime cases involving children/teenagers and clergymen that these predators always have supporters urging the courts to not be too hard on the convicted felon. Several years ago, Jack Schaap, former pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana, was convicted of a sex crime and sentenced to 12 years in prison. I was astounded by all the letters that were written in his support. Schaap’s supporters commented on this blog, suggesting that Schaap was not to blame for his crimes. He was tired, had medical problems, the girl seduced him, said Schaap supporters.

Why is it that many Christians are unable to see people as they are? I suspect the main reason is cognitive dissonance. On Sundays, members see nice, loving, kind, and supportive Father Pohl or Pastor Schaap. During the week, these “nice” men are surfing child porn sites or shagging church teenagers. Every year, hundreds and hundreds of “nice” preachers are arrested, charged, and convicted of sex crimes. How can these things be? cry church members. On Sundays, these men preached sermons, blessed the communion elements, and glad-handed with parishioners after services. During the week they visited the sick, cared for widows, and took groceries to the hungry. Everything about their lives said these are “nice” men. Yet, in the shadows of their lives, these men committed crimes that Christians and atheists alike find reprehensible. The cognitive dissonance is so great that parishioners convince themselves that their sexual predator pastors and priests are misguided and weak — but still “nice” men. Yet, when asked if they would let their children or grandchildren spend an unsupervised weekend with these men, I suspect most parents and grandparents would emphatically say, NO!

I have long argued that the Christian notion of atonement and forgiveness gets in the way of people seeing sexual predators as they are — men who prey on trusting, defenseless children and teenagers. No amount of prayers, magic mumbo-jumbo at an old-fashioned altar, or confessions can erase the fact that these men committed heinous crimes. They are not “nice” men. They are sexual predators who deserve punishment for their crimes. Let the mothers of convicted sexual predators tell the courts how “nice” their sons are. That is what mothers do. Church members, however, should spend their time helping the victims and making sure such crimes NEVER happen again. Louisville Catholics should be demanding a full accounting from diocese officials. What did they know and when did they know it? Were they aware of Pohl’s perverse desires? If they were, what steps did they take to make sure he no longer had access to parish children? As is the case in many Catholic parishes, sex crimes by priests are buried with the hope that they will remain so until the statute of limitations runs out. Just what Jesus would do, right?

In 2016, Pohl was sentenced to 33 months in prison.

Bruce Gerencser, 68, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 47 years. He and his wife have six grown children and sixteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.