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.
Felix Sung, an IT specialist at Church of the Good Shepherd in Durham, North Carolina, stands accused of 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor. Good Shepherd is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
A Durham church employee faces 10 counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor for incidents dating back to 2014.
According to a search warrant, on Oct. 31, officers with the Durham Police Department responded to the Church of the Good Shepherd, where the pastor reported numerous pornographic files of children were located on a computer managed by Felix Sung, a former IT specialist.
The pastor told officers Sung worked with the church for years, maintaining computers, the security camera system and the computer server from a locked office, according to the warrant.
According to the warrant, the pastor said Sung had a history of ongoing disagreements with office staff over administrative issues and resigned in late October, turning over his keys, church credit card and computer passwords.
On Oct. 30, new IT specialists began working at the church.
The new employees alerted the pastor to suspicious pornographic content on church computers, including “files labeled with names of female children who attended church” and “concerning photos” of girls, including one child’s face on “various nude female and male adult bodies,” the warrant states.
Some of the images were made from child pornography and others were computer-generated, the warrant states.
According to church staff, Sung was the only person who had previously had access to the computer. The warrant states Sung was seen on security camera removing computers and hard drives on the day of his resignation.
Sung appeared in court for the charges on Nov. 13. He was given a $250,000 bond and has since bonded out. His next court date is scheduled for Jan. 14, 2025.
WRAL News on Monday interviewed Norman Acker, a church elder and spokesperson.
Acker said the images were found on Oct. 30, and police were notified the following day.
“The police interviewed staff and looked at the photos, and the church was fully cooperative with police and turned over those photos to the police,” Acker said.
To be transparent, Acker said the congregation was immediately notified in a meeting following church services.
“We know that these kinds of allegations have happened in the past where churches have not been transparent and have tried to hide things, and we do not want to be in that category,” Acker said. “We want to be fully transparent.”
Acker said Sung did not work with the church youth group, either in a paid or volunteer position, but the warrant says “He was also involved with photography for the church and assisted with many programs within the church, including the youth ministry.”
The church offered to pay for professional counseling for people were affected and created a committee made up of a nurse, a mental health professional and church members — all female — to help in case hands-on abuse was reported.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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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American Evangelical missionaries believe God commands them to go to foreign countries to evangelize the lost; “lost” meaning anyone who is not an Evangelical Christian. Catholics? Lost. Hindus? Lost? Buddhists? Lost. Muslims? Lost. According to Wikipedia, there are about 600 million Evangelicals in the world. This means Evangelicals believe 8 billion people are lost and headed for Hell unless they repent of their sins and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Evangelicalism is comprised of hundreds of sects and countless non-denominational churches. Those within the Evangelical tent bicker and fight among themselves about who is and isn’t a True Evangelical®, so the actual number of Evangelicals is likely less depending on who is doing the counting. In the 1990s, I was the pastor of a Sovereign Grace Baptist church in San Antonio, Texas. Sovereign Grace churches are Evangelical and Calvinistic. Some members believed only Calvinists were saved; that Arminians were headed for Hell unless they repented of their heresy and embraced Calvinism. A tract floating around the church posited that the great Evangelical revivalist D.L. Moody was lost. Why? He wasn’t a Calvinist. Similar arguments take place in countless denominations and churches, judging Evangelicals with theology different from their own.
Many Evangelical churches are mission-minded, believing they have a duty to send missionaries to the ends of the Earth to evangelize sinners. An interesting observation is that many of the missionaries end up in countries where English is their first language. There are even Evangelical missionaries to the United States, the most religious nation in the world. Why? Remember, only Evangelicals are True Christians®. Think of all the lost Catholics, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, Seventh-Day Adventists, and liberal Christians there are in the United States. Lots of souls that need saving.
I was an Evangelical pastor for 25 years, pastoring Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB), Sovereign Grace Baptist, Southern Baptist, Christian Union, and non-denominational churches. Every one of these churches financially supported foreign missionaries, and several of them sent out missionaries from their congregations. I planted five Evangelical churches, and several pastor friends treated me as a missionary, sending me monthly support while I was getting the new churches up and running. I had a heart for world missions. Countless missionaries visited the churches I pastored to present their work to congregants, asking for our prayers, and most importantly, our financial support. One church I pastored had a small one-room apartment called a prophet’s chamber. Missionaries would come and stay with us for several days so I could get to know them better. Unfortunately, some missionaries did not fare well when I paid closer attention to them. One man spent a week with us. He had no interest in helping me at the church. He spent his time with us driving to nearby towns to look at used cars. Needless to say, we didn’t support him.
Evangelical missionaries believe God divinely calls them to go to their chosen foreign field. Most missionaries work with mission agencies. These agencies send out the missionaries, provide material support, and handle the monthly donations sent to them on behalf of the missionaries. Some missionaries decide to have their home (sending) church handle these things instead. Regardless of how the missionaries are sent out, the goal is to win souls to Christ and establish new Evangelical churches. Some missionaries believe they are called to do other things for the Lord such as pastor established churches, do medical work, fly airplanes, translate/print Bibles, teach school, start radio/TV stations, or build new church buildings. Most missionaries are men. Female missionaries are typically only permitted to teach school, do medical work, teach children/women, or be a nanny for married missionaries. Some Evangelicals permit women to be full-fledged missionaries, though they are far and few in between.
Missionaries bring to their chosen foreign field American values and ideals, including capitalism and Evangelical moral/ethical beliefs. Instead of allowing indigenous people to worship Jesus in the context of their own culture’s beliefs and practices, they force them to adopt Westernized worldviews. I knew one missionary who was perplexed and upset over the fact that women in the African country he ministered to didn’t wear underwear, especially bras. He felt it was his duty to convince women after they got saved to wear proper undergarments. 🙂
Many missionaries believe that their calling, Western values, and the Bible supersede and are superior to other cultures. Worse, they often believe that the teachings of the Bible usurp the laws and customs of their chosen field. This often gets them in trouble with law enforcement or religious leaders. When arrested or attacked they scream “persecution,” when, in fact, what’s really to blame is their arrogance and smug American/Evangelical superiority.
Suppose a Muslim missionary came to the United States to reach sinners with the gospel of Islam. Believing he was called by Allah and walking in the footsteps of Muhammed, he entered an Evangelical church one Sunday, stood up, and started preaching from the Koran. What would happen? He would be asked to leave, and if he refused, he would be arrested for trespassing. Was he being persecuted? After all, he was doing the will of Allah.
Suppose this same missionary went to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (which is not public property) and started preaching to passersby, violating the law. Law enforcement was quickly called and the missionary was arrested, prosecuted, and thrown in jail. Again, was he being persecuted?
In both instances, no, This Muslim missionary violated U.S. law and was duly arrested and prosecuted. After serving his sentence, he was expelled and sent back to his native country. None of us would object to this. We rightly expect foreign nationals to obey our laws, regardless of their personal beliefs and practices, or what their holy book says. When in Rome, do as the Romans do, right?
When American missionaries arrive in their chosen field, they often think that their personal beliefs and practices, along with their Western understanding of culture and law, can continue to be followed regardless of local customs and law. And when they are harassed or arrested for violating the law, what do they do? They scream persecution! Some countries forbid proselytization, preaching, or handing out religious literature, including tracts and Bibles. Shouldn’t missionaries obey these laws? Of course, they should, but believing God’s calling and the teachings of the Bible are above man’s laws, they break the law and end up in jail. Their supporting churches are called on to pray for “persecuted” missionaries. Calls are made to congressmen and the State Department, asking for help to get their “persecuted” missionaries out of jail. Far too often, lawbreaking missionaries spend years in jail for breaking the law. Sad, to be sure, but they broke a cardinal rule: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. A foreign country is not the United States. Western values and laws do not apply. Missionaries are visitors, and just as we expect visitors to follow our laws and customs while within our borders, other countries expect the same. Just because a country is Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or communist doesn’t mean a missionary has a right to disobey the law. If a missionary can’t work within the legal framework of their chosen field, then they shouldn’t be there. That includes, by the way, missionaries who fraudulently take jobs in foreign countries as teachers so they can secretly evangelize their students. If they are caught doing so, they are lawbreakers, and not persecuted Christians.
To quote the great preacher, Tony Baretta, Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. Every nation has its own laws. Missionaries are expected to obey those laws. And if they don’t? They shouldn’t cry “persecution” when they end up in a dirty, dank prison. Maye this will be their opportunity to pray, as the Apostle Paul did, for God to unlock their cell door and set them free. Good luck with that.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
Recently, a local Evangelical man messaged me on Facebook. He wanted to share God’s “truth” with me, not knowing that I was a former college-trained Evangelical pastor. I suspect he thought I would be receptive to his “preaching,” but he quickly found out I was not a good target for evangelization. Once I engaged the man, asking him for evidence for his claims — i.e. there’s 2,000 fulfilled prophecies in the Bible, the Bible is the “living Word of God, the gospel is all love, and we are under grace, not the law — he quickly retreated to the safe confines of faith.
Let me share a few comments illustrating what I want to discuss next. My comments are blue, his gray, though I suspect you will have figured that out without me telling you. 🙂
This thirty-one-year-old man believes he is “called” to speak the good news to unbelievers. Now that he has done so, it’s up to the Holy Spirit to intercede. I can confidently say that his prayer failed and the Holy Ghost did not intercede. I’m still an unrepentant atheist. Evidently, these “called” evangelizers have a dial-up connection to Heaven, and the connection times out before God’s Telephone Company receives the call and connects it to J-e-s-u-s. Thousands of calls have been dialed over the years on my behalf, but no successful connections to Jesus have been made. One might conclude that the line has been cut, or it doesn’t exist.
What I want to focus on is this man’s refusal to engage anyone outside of his tribe. In his mind, anyone who disagrees with him is blind. Either that or he’s afraid of having his beliefs challenged or he’s afraid that he might be led down a path that his pastor told him leads to death and damnation.
In other comments I made, I tried to challenge his bald assertions, asking him for evidence for his claims or providing alternate interpretations for his pontifications — all without success.
As with most Evangelicals, this man believes the Bible is literally written by God, and is inerrant and infallible. These are faith claims for which there’s no evidence outside of the Bible itself. Sadly, what this shows is that faith robs believers of the ability to think skeptically and rationally. And as long as they stay within the safe confines of the house of faith, it is impossible to meaningfully interact them.
This man is a poster child for ignorant Evangelicals. Raised in Fundamentalist churches, taught to obey their pastors, and repeatedly told that whatever the Bible says is true, and whatever the “world” says is Satanic. Thoroughly indoctrinated and conditioned, by the time they reach adulthood, their path is set unless something happens that forces them to re-think their beliefs. Imagine a world where you only read books that reinforce your beliefs and are surrounded by people who agree with you. It’s a safe world, one where the wicked, evil world rarely, if ever, intrudes (unless their pastors are featured in the Black Collar Crimes Series). Believers can live their entire lives in such an environment, safe from questions, doubts, and intellectual challenges. This, in my opinion, is no way to live. And it for this reason I continue to share my story and critique Evangelical Christianity. I know from my own story that it is possible to escape the pernicious grip of Fundamentalism. And it all starts with niggling doubts and questions that go unanswered by the preachers of certainty. Will the man who messaged me one day break free from bondage? Maybe, but he could also end up forty years later just like Dr. David Tee and others like him — people whose minds have been ruined by decades of indoctrination and conditioning.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
Bodily Autonomy: the right to make decisions about your body without coercion or violence. It’s a fundamental human right that allows people to make choices about their health, sexuality, and reproduction.
While no right is absolute, with few exceptions, each of us has the right to do what we want with our bodies. No government, religion, or individual has the right to force us to violate our bodily autonomy. There was a time when most Americans understood this principle. Even when another’s choice fundamentally runs against our personal beliefs or morals, we have no right to force people to act against their own self-interest. Of course, this principle has frequently been violated throughout our nation’s long history. In recent years, right-wing Republicans have used the power of the state to violate the bodily autonomy of both men and women. Republicans have even gotten between people and their doctors, forbidding medically necessary treatment, all because their moral or religious sensibilities are offended.
We see this most often in the culture war against reproductive rights. Republicans demand that women surrender their bodily autonomy to the dictates of an ancient religious text — the Bible, and their errant interpretations of the text. Abortion, in particular, is THE issue that drives the right’s immoral war against a woman’s right to choose. If Republicans had their way, there would be a federal abortion ban, without exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Further, many Republicans want to criminalize abortion. Sadly, there is little difference between the moral pronouncements of many Republicans and Muslim Sharia Law. If given an opportunity, Republicans will ban abortion, in vitro fertilization, and some forms of birth control. No matter how many state constitutional amendments are enacted protecting reproductive rights, Republicans intend to ignore the will of the people.
Women have a fundamental right to choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term. The choice is theirs alone. Not their husband’s; not the government’s; not God’s. Theirs alone, end of discussion. It is their body that is affected and changed by pregnancy. In what other scenario do we allow people to intervene in the medical care of others? As long as a person is mentally competent to make their own decisions, they have the right to do what they want with their body. My body, my choice, applies to all of us.
But what about the “baby,” Bruce? What about it? Eighty-eight percent of abortions take place during the first trimester, long before what’s growing in a woman’s womb is a baby. Even when it comes to third-trimester abortions, most terminations take place due to fetal abnormalities. At no point do women surrender their right to bodily autonomy.
Let’s suppose I need a kidney. Without a transplant, I will die. After testing, I find out that my brother is a match. I go to my brother and ask him to give me one of his kidneys so I can continue to live. My brother says “no.” Should my brother be forced to give me one of his kidneys? Even though I will die if he doesn’t do so, he has a fundamental right to say no. His body, his choice. The same goes for pregnant women. No woman should be forced to carry a pregnancy to term. Her body, her choice.
But, Bruce, God says . . . the Bible says . . . I think abortion is murder. What God, the Bible, or you say doesn’t matter. The woman’s body is her’s alone, and no one has the right to force her to do anything against her will. I know this is hard for conservative Christians to hear, but what you “believe” plays NO part in what a woman does or doesn’t do with her body. Think abortion is morally wrong? Fine, don’t get one. You would be rightly offended if non-Christians stuck their noses in your medical decisions; so it is when you stick your nose in the medical decisions of women.
For Evangelicals planning to post Bible verses in the comment section, don’t bother. Your proof texts are anything but. The Bible has little, if anything, to say about abortion. The notion that life begins at conception is not found in Scripture. Oh, you can massage and twist a few verses to justify your attacks on bodily autonomy, but careful exegesis suggests that your interpretations are wrong.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
Dr. David Tee, an Evangelical preacher whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, despises LGBTQ people — especially transgender folks. He is the epitome of a transphobe. His bigotry is common among Evangelicals who, lacking imagination, can’t fathom anything other than a cisgender, heterosexual, no-sex-before-marriage world. Thiessen not only disparages transgender people at every turn, but he also believes that justice and equal protection under the law doesn’t apply to them. He thinks transgender people are mentally ill and are under the influence of Satan. I suspect if Thiessen had his way, LGBTQ people would be rounded up and sent to sex/gender education camps.
Today, Thiessen wrote an ugly, vicious article titled, Why Should Anyone Support Transgender Rights? Without further response, I give you the words of sex/gender expert Dr. David Tee (all spelling, grammar, and punctuation in the original):
So far, there has not been one valid, legitimate, or even halfway good argument that presents any type of solid case for anyone to support transgender rights. There really isn’t one because if supporters were honest, they would realize that the concept of transgenderism is a mental and spiritual deception meant to harm unwary people.
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How can anyone seriously get behind the [transgender] movement when their supporters go to such extremes to bully others into silence or drop their opposition?
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Why should a minute minority be given such leeway when their American population is roughly under 1,000,000 people out of a population of 300,00,00+ people. On the world stage, the figures are just as bad.
Why should 8,000,000,000 +/- people have to give in to the demands of a people group barely making it to 5 million if that? We are not even talking about the issue of right and wrong here. We are just discussing how the rights of the vast majority are undermined and trampled in favor of those who are in desperate need of mental and spiritual counseling and therapy.
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The truth has to be told that transgender identification is wrong and cannot be given special rights. The people also need to be told that they need to go get mental and spiritual help if they want to be part of normal and real society.
There is nothing wrong with telling them the truth. What is wrong is supporting these delusions and allowing them to permeate society to the point that those who do what is right are punished. There was a time when this did not take place and almost all parts of society did tell the confused they needed help and offered to get them the help.
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People need to be rebuked about their sinful ways and corrected from them and transgenderism is sinful and all of its members and supporters need to be rebuked and corrected. Not the Christian.
There is no such thing as discrimination against what is wrong.
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When people cross moral boundaries, nothing immoral or sinful is out of line for them . . . They have no morals stopping them from harming those who disagree with them.
That condition tells you that there is nothing of God in transgenderism. it cannot be supported, given special rights, or normalized. It is a sin which needs to be repented of completely.
Fake men and women need to be treated, not the normal majority.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
Is it reasonable for atheists to ask Evangelicals for their supernatural claims? I listen to YouTube shows such as The Atheist Experience, Talk Heathen, The Hang-Up with Matt Dillahunty, Skeptalk, and The Sunday Show. The hosts of these shows ask theists of all stripes to call in and share with them what they believe and why. This is a Biblical approach, even if the hosts are atheists and agnostics. The Bible says in I Peter: But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear. When unbelievers ask Christians why they believe what they do, they should be ready and willing to share the truth with them. When asked for evidence for their beliefs, Christians have a duty to provide it. Most cannot or will not do so, choosing to “live and let live” Evangelicals, in particular, are challenged to share their faith with the unwashed, uncircumcised Philistines of the world. Most don’t, but those who do are largely ill-prepared to handle the hard questions asked by skeptics.
Many Evangelicals think, when asked for evidence for their religious claims, that Bible verses are “evidence.” Is the Bible evidence for claims such as the existence of the triune God, the virgin birth of Jesus, his resurrection from the dead, and the plethora of miracles attributed to Jesus? Is the Bible evidence for claims such as a six-day creation, the existence of Adam and Eve, Noah’s flood, and notable people such as Moses? No. The Bible is a book of claims. Just because the Bible says something doesn’t mean it’s true. Sadly, countless Evangelicals, including college-trained preachers, either don’t understand this or refuse to accept it. They think by quoting one or more Bible verses that they have provided evidence for their claims. That’s not how it works. If that was not the case, I could prove Hogwarts exists simply by quoting passages from one or more of the Harry Potter books. In no other realm except religion do we accept claims without evidence. If Evangelicals want non-believers to accept and believe their claims, they MUST do more than quote chapter and verse.
The real issue here is that Evangelicals want to be viewed as rational, scientific people, so they attempt to “prove” their beliefs to unbelievers. Scores of apologetics ministries have cropped up, each, allegedly, giving rational, evidence-based defenses of Christianity. Unbelievers are rarely swayed by their arguments. I’ve concluded that these ministries exist, not to reach unbelievers, but to make Evangelicals feel good about what they believe. As science continues to push the Bible God to the margins of human experience, believers have harder time defending their beliefs — especially Evangelicals who are presuppositionally committed to Bible literalism and the inerrancy/infallibility of the sixty-six books of the Protestant Christian Bible. Numerous Evangelicals have called the shows I mentioned above to defend all sorts of things such as rape, misogyny, genocide, and slavery — to name a few abominable “Biblical” behaviors. Instead of admitting the Bible records things that are now considered immoral, and even criminal, these defenders of God’s name go to absurd lengths to keep God — who, according to them wrote the Bible — from looking bad. As I have said before, God has a PR problem.
Christianity is better served if believers retreat to their houses of faith. After all, doesn’t the Bible say that the foundation of Christianity is faith, and not evidence? In fact, a better approach to reaching people for Christ might be to love God with all their heart, soul, and mind, and to love their neighbors as they love themselves. Maybe the best evidence for transformative faith is good works. Sadly, most of what unbelievers see and experience from Evangelicals is anything but “good.” Eighty percent of Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump three times. Their “works” tell us everything we need to know about their faith. Think of the behavior of Evangelicals such as Dr. David Tee, Revival Fires, Steve Ransom, Danny Campbell, John, Steve, and countless others on this site. Does anything in their behavior remotely suggest that the Jesus they allegedly follow is one any of us would want to worship? I think not. When called out on their behavior, they deflect, defend, and attack instead of repenting and doing a better job representing the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
Faith Healing:The belief that sick, addicted, or “possessed” people can be supernaturally healed using prayer, faith, and/or the laying on of hands.
Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:14-16 KJV)
Are you sick? Call the church leaders together to pray and anoint you with oil in the name of the Master. Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet. And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven—healed inside and out. Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. (James 5:14-16 The Message)
According to James 5:14-16, sick Christians should:
Call for the elders/leaders of the church, asking them to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of Jesus
If the elders/leaders of the church pray in faith, Jesus will heal the sick, restoring them to health
If the sickness is due to sin, their sins will be forgiven
This should be a common practice in Christian churches
Are you a Christian? Former Christian? Have you ever witnessed church elders/leaders anointing a sick church member with oil, praying over them, and the person was supernaturally healed? Some of us have, perhaps, witnessed this healing ritual, without healing taking place. I can’t think of one time when a sick Christian was supernaturally healed. Not-One-Time. Typically, clerics blame prayed-over sick people for their lack of healing. “You didn’t have enough faith,” sick/dying followers of Jesus are told. Wait a minute, the Bible says the healing of sick Christians is dependent on the faith of elders/church leaders, and NOT the faith of the sick.
Turn on Christian television — an oxymoron if there ever was one — and what do you find? Programming dominated by Evangelical/Charismatic/Pentecostal/Apostolic charlatans claiming they can supernaturally heal the sick by laying hands on and praying over them. This fake healing has filtered down to countless churches and pastors who week after week claim they are healing people in the name of Jesus.
Have you ever noticed how their practices never square with James 5:14-16; that healings never materialize; that when healings do occur, they are the result of very human medical intervention? If Jesus is indeed a prayer-answering, healing God, he sure is bad at his job. I would argue that MOST healings attributed to supernatural intervention can be attributed to human instrumentation or natural healing, and those few healings that seem to have no medical explanation are not enough for us to warrant giving credit to Jesus, the Great Physician. Not every recovery can be explained by science, but that doesn’t mean God — which God? — should get the credit. Unexplainable stuff happens, but that doesn’t mean we should praise a deity who hides from us for what happened. Sometimes, the answer is, “Hmm, I don’t know.”
Billions of Christians have lived and died since Jesus walked the shores of Galilee. Billions of sick, dying people of faith have desperately prayed — often for months and years — for Jesus to intervene in their lives, without success. Prayer may have a psychological benefit, but it doesn’t affect healing. By all means, pray if it comforts you or gives you hope. but when you find a lump in your breast or feel sharp pains in your chest, the only proper response is to either call 911 or see a doctor. It’s 2024. We no longer need to seek out shamans, witch doctors, homeopaths, or faith healers for healing. Doctors certainly aren’t the end-all, but they should be the first people we contact when sick. Pray if you must, but by all means, get that lump in your breast biopsied or get an EKG for the pain in your chest.
Last week, TD Jakes, an Apostolic megachurch pastor of The Potter’s House in Dallas, Texas, recently suffered a medical emergency while preaching. Jakes collapsed, 911 was called, and emergency medical personnel rushed him to a hospital where surgery was performed. Jakes has not said what caused the emergency, but it was serious enough to require immediate surgery and ICU care. Afterward, Jakes said, and I quote, “Many of you don’t realize you’re looking at a miracle. I faced a life-threatening calamity, was rushed to the ICU unit, I had emergency surgery. Survived the surgery.” Jakes later added, “I’m in good spirits, I feel good, no pain. I’m in peace and tranquility and I want you to know that I can feel your prayers.”
Did church elders pray over Jakes, anointing him with oil, believing in faith that Jesus would instantly heal Jakes so he could finish his sermon? Of course not. They dialed 911. No time for empty religious rituals; no time for anointing oil and prayers. In a lucid, rational moment, church leaders knew that Jakes needed immediate medical intervention lest their pastor die.
A miracle? Nope. Another win for science.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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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Both you and Ray [Boltz] were very passionate about the Lord for many many years. And Ray still is. I don’t believe in people losing their salvation so I look to you as a brother who got very very weak in his faith. I think Ray is a very strong believer who has found a liberal church to condone his lifestyle. So are they all unsaved because they don’t see it like us?? I say who are we to make that judgement call??? If you believe in Christ from your heart you are given eternal life period..you are saved. I believe you both have done that.
The commenter is a proponent of the doctrine of once-saved-always-saved. At the age of fifteen, I asked Jesus to save me. For the next thirty-five years, I was a committed, devoted follower of Jesus. I pastored Evangelical churches in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan for twenty-five of those years. Based on my decision at age fifteen, the commenter mentioned above concluded that I was still a Christian — once-saved-always-saved. While I know this doctrine well — having grown up in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement — I have long believed that this idea is absurd. Yes, I lived as a Christian for four decades, but there’s is nothing in my life today that remotely suggests that I am still a Christian. I have spent the past seventeen years opposing Christianity in general, and Evangelicalism in particular. I proudly self-identify as an agnostic atheist, yet, according to this commenter, because I sincerely prayed the sinner’s prayer at age fifteen, I am still a Christian. There is nothing I can do to divorce Jesus. We are married, no matter what I do or how I live. I can fuck every other God and make a mockery of my marriage to Jesus, yet I am still married to him. Nothing, according to the Bible, can separate me from the love of Christ. (Romans 8:31-39) Think, for a moment, about the men featured in the Black Collar Crime Series. All of these men likely had similar religious experiences to mine. The difference, of course, is that they raped and sexually molested children and took advantage of vulnerable congregants, and I did not. Yet, according to the aforementioned commenter, these vile, disgusting “men of God” are still saved, and when these men die, they will inhabit the same Heaven as the children and congregants they harmed. Is there any Christian doctrine more disgusting than once-saved-always-saved?
Look, I get it. Evangelicals who believe in once-saved-always-saved are hemmed in by their literalistic beliefs and interpretations of the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. Instead of stating the obvious — people can and do walk away from Christianity — proponents of once-saved-always-saved are forced to defend the indefensible. Christian salvation is reduced to a momentary transaction in time, and once the transaction is completed salvation is sure and secure. Are there Bible verses that teach once-saved-always-saved? Absolutely! But some verses teach the perseverance/preservation of the saints and conditional salvation. Any and every doctrine Christians believe can be justified by the Bible. The Bible is a book that can be used to prove almost anything. When asked if the Calvinists or the Arminians are right, I reply, “They both are.”
The Bible speaks of a “faith once delivered to the saints.” This suggests that Christianity is singular in nature. However, it is clear, at least to me, that there are numerous Christianities, each believing that their sect/church is True Christianity®. Christians can’t even agree on the basics: salvation, baptism, and communion. Millions of theological tomes have been written, each defending a peculiar theological system. According to Evangelicals, the Bible can be understood by children, yet pastors spend years in college learning how to interpret the Bible. Their study shelves are lined with books that break down the Bible into singular words and clauses. Baptists and Campbellites fight to the death over one Greek word in Acts 2:38 — the word eis. Evangelical Internet forums and Facebook groups are filled with people who spend their days and nights debating the nuances of this or that interpretation of the Bible. Once-saved-always-saved is one such interpretation.
From Pascal’s perspective, once-saved-always-saved is a good deal. I have said the prayer, and now I am headed for God’s Heaven when I die. No matter what I say or do, a room has been reserved for me in the Father’s mansion. (John 14:1-6) Sweet deal, right?
I have decided to call myself a Christian Atheist®. Sounds crazy, I know, but is this not the logical conclusion of once-saved-always-saved? I am in every way an atheist, yet because of the prayer I prayed at the altar of Trinity Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio at age fifteen, I am a Christian. Or so some Evangelicals say, anyway.
I feel embarrassed for Jesus. Well, I would anyway, if he were still alive. But, he’s not. Jesus’s bones lie buried somewhere in the sandy soil of Palestine. Consider what I am saying here. I deny that Jesus resurrected from the dead. Is not Jesus’s resurrection central to Christian belief and practice? How can one deny Jesus’s resurrection and his divinity and still be a Christian?
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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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Several years ago, an atheist/agnostic reader sent me the following questions:
As an atheist, do you still read/think about the Bible’s literary or symbolic meaning, or have you had enough of it in your life?
Have you become hardened/cynical to the point where you can’t approach the Bible with a sense of wonder as I do?
Do you have any passages that still inspire you, engage your mind, and move you in any way?
And lastly, do you ever feel like fundamentalism is responsible for turning people away from stories and poetry that would otherwise be valuable to hear?
Bruce, do you still read/think about the Bible’s literary or symbolic meaning, or have you had enough of it in your life?
From ages fifteen to fifty, I was a devoted follower of Jesus. Reading and studying the Bible was a part of my daily routine. I read it from cover to cover numerous times. As a pastor for twenty-five years, I immersed myself in the teachings of the Bible. Few days went by when I hadn’t intellectually and devotionally read and studied the Bible. I also read scores of theological tomes as I prepared one of the thousands of sermons I preached on Sundays and Thursdays. I had a good grasp and understanding of the inspired, inerrant, infallible Word of God. When people sat before me on the Lord’s Day, they expected to hear me preach from the Bible. I did my best to provide congregants with well-studied, well-thought-out sermons. I despised then, and still do to this day, lazy preachers who have plenty of time for golf, preachers’ meetings, and dinner at the buffet, but no time to prepare their sermons. I’ve heard numerous pastors deliver incoherent, contradictory, rabbit-trail sermons. Awful stuff. I couldn’t imagine sitting in church week after week listening to such drivel.
All of this changed, of course, when I left the ministry in 2005 and left Christianity in 2008. Over the past seventeen years, I have not picked up the Bible just to read it. I still have my KJV preaching Bible, but it collects dust on the bookshelf. My mind is crammed with Bible verses and theology, so when it comes to writing posts for this site, I don’t need to consult my Bible. I will, on occasion, use the Bible Gateway or the E-sword Bible Study Program if I can’t remember something. As you might know, I have memory problems. Usually, it’s newer stuff I have a hard time remembering. The Bible and Christian theology lie safely buried in my long-term memory, whether I want it to be, or not. I may not remember what I did an hour ago, but I can remember a sermon I preached years ago.
Have I had enough of the Bible? The short answer is yes. Evangelicals love to tell people that the Bible is a “special” book; that it is an inexhaustible book; that every time you read the Bible it teaches you something new. Nonsense. Poppycock. Bullshit. The Bible is no different from any other book. It can be read and understood by atheists and Evangelicals alike. You can diligently and thoroughly read the Bible, so much so that you have mastered the text. Don’t let all the college training that preachers receive fool you. These men aren’t sitting in classes day and night immersing themselves in the Biblical text. In fact, Bible colleges and universities don’t comprehensively teach prospective pastors the Bible (and Bible “survey” classes don’t count). I learned far more about the Bible in my study than I ever did in college.
Do I know everything there is to know about the Bible? Of course not. That said, I have read and studied the Bible enough that I am confident that I know the text well. “But, Bruce, people disagree with you all the time about what the Bible says.” Such disagreements aren’t from a lack of knowledge. These skirmishes come as a result of the divisive, sectarian nature of religion in general, and Christianity in particular. There are thousands of Christian sects, each believing that their interpretation of the Bible is correct. That my interpretations differ from those of others is to be expected. Who is right, and who is wrong? Beats me. That’s what makes the Bible so awesome. You can make it say virtually anything. Homosexuality is a sin — no, it’s not. Abortion is murder — no, it’s not. Women can be pastors — no, they can’t. Baptism is by immersion — no, it’s not. Sinners must repent over their sins to be saved — no, they don’t. Baptism is required for salvation — no, it’s not. The universe is 6,028 years old — no, it’s not. Jesus died on Friday — no, he didn’t. Jesus went to Hell when he died — no, he didn’t. Divorce is a sin — no, it isn’t. True Christians speak in tongues — no, they don’t. Shall I go on? The disagreements are legion.
Bruce, have you become hardened/cynical to the point where you can’t approach the Bible with a sense of wonder as I do?
The Bible is a YMMV book — your mileage may vary. I don’t believe I am hardened or cynical when it comes to the Bible. I approach the Bible as I would any other book. I can’t say that I have approached any book with a sense of wonder. I have, however, read a few books throughout my life, which, when finished, made me conclude: this book is an awesome book, one that I would read again. Few books are worth reading once, let alone twice. Is the Bible really that much better than any other book ever written? I think not. I have a few favorite authors all or most of whose books I have read. Bart Ehrman, Thomas Merton, James Michener, and Wendell Berry come to mind. Over the years, I have read thousands of books, most of them one time. That I have read the Bible over and over and over again doesn’t mean that I think it is a New York Times bestseller — a book that should be frequently re-read. I read the Bible as often as I did because doing so was an essential part of my job. I also did so because my pastors and teachers repeatedly told me that one of the signs of a good Christian was how much time he spent reading and studying the Bible. I really wanted to be a good Christian, so I devoted myself to reading and understanding the King James Version of the Holy Bible. Only in religion do we think such excess is normal. If I spent hours a day, for decades, studying the Harry Potter books, I doubt anyone would think such behavior is healthy.
Bruce, do you have any passages that still inspire you, engage your mind, and move you in any way?
I still love and appreciate the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and some of the Psalms. Do these Bible verses inspire me, move me, or engage my mind? Not really. I am at a different place in life. Due to declining health, I no longer read as much as I used to. Sadly, I have gone from being a War and Peace reader to being a magazine reader. I am fatigued and in pain every day, so once I have done my writing for the day, I typically don’t have much time left for reading. I “want” to read, but alas, although my spirit is willing, my flesh is weak. If and when I have time to read, I don’t want to spend it reading an ancient religious text I have read countless times before. Simply put, I just don’t find the Bible all that interesting these days.
Bruce, do you ever feel like fundamentalism is responsible for turning people away from stories and poetry that would otherwise be valuable to hear?
Whether what the Bible says is “valuable to hear” varies from person to person. Most Christians don’t even read the Bible through once, let alone numerous times. That’s why devotionals such as “Our Daily Bread” are so popular. These publications are easy to read, taking only a few minutes a day. Reading them allows Christians to feel as if they have “read” the Bible and “communed” with God. Pablum for nursing babies, perhaps, but not meat that comes from devoting oneself to reading and studying the Bible. Bible illiteracy is common, even among Evangelicals — people who generally say that they are “people of the Book.”
I am of the opinion that fundamentalism is a problem wherever it is found. Fundamentalism is not only intellectually stultifying, it can and does cause psychological and social damage. In some instances, it can even cause physical harm and death. As a writer, my target is primarily Evangelical Christianity — which is inherently Fundamentalist. (Please see Are Evangelicals Fundamentalists?) I know firsthand the harm caused by Evangelical beliefs and practices. It will be a good day when Evangelicalism draws its last breath. I will dead by then, but maybe, just maybe one of my grandchildren or their children will be alive when Fundamentalism goes whimpering into the night, never to be seen again. I make no apology for working towards the demise of Evangelicalism. As far as non-Evangelical Christianity is concerned? Meh, I don’t really care one way or the other. I am an atheist, not an anti-theist. Not all religions are the same. Some are benign and innocuous; others ravage the mind and cause untold damage to our culture. To the former I say, “live and let live.” To the latter? “Bring me a flamethrower.”
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
Daniel Mayfield, a student pastor at First Baptist Church of Gowensville in Landrum, South Carolina, was accused of secretly video recording a woman while she was taking a shower. First Baptist is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. Since this initial allegation, more than 150 counts of secretly recording young girls in the shower and bridal parties changing clothes have been levied against Mayfield.
The Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office said a youth pastor admitted to videotaping a woman while she was in the shower on Saturday.
According to an incident report, a woman told deputies she was showering at her mother’s house when she saw a light outside the bathroom window. When she went to look, she said she saw 35-year-old Daniel Kellan Mayfield standing in the backyard alone.
The woman and her sister told deputies they confronted Mayfield about the incident to which he initially denied. He then admitted to taking a video of her while she was showering and gave her the phone to look at the video, according tot he report.
Deputies were contacted and responded to Mayfield’s home to speak with him. After admitting to law enforcement, he was taken to the Greenwood County Detention Center and charged with voyeurism.
First Baptist Gowensville, which is located in Greenville County, confirmed that Mayfield was employed with the church as a student pastor.
He was fired from the church on the day of his arrest.
First Baptist immediately fired Mayfield, but makes no mention of him and his alleged crime on their Facebook page or website.
After this story was published, more allegations were leveled against Mayfield.
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office announced that an Upstate youth pastor is facing new charges after allegedly videoing girls in the shower of an Upstate church.
Deputies said they began investigating the situation on May 30 after they received information from the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office.
Following this incident, deputies in Greenville County investigated and discovered that Mayfield allegedly filmed multiple girls in the bathroom of Gowensville Baptist Church in Landrum. They added that they’ve identified six victims so far and that they are as young as 14 years old. According to deputies, Mayfield reportedly set up and recorded video inside the restroom on at least three occasions dating back to July 2022.
First Baptist Gowensville confirmed that Mayfield was employed as a student pastor. However, he was fired from the church on the day of his arrest. Deputies said they believe Mayfield acted alone and don’t believe anyone from the church knew about his activity. On June 1, the church released the following statement on the incident.
A former youth pastor at a Landrum church faces additional charges for criminal sexual conduct, according to arrest warrants provided by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office.
Daniel Kellan Mayfield, 35, now faces a total 14 charges for filming underage girls and women in the bathroom of Gowensville Baptist Church while still in his official capacity as a youth pastor for the church.
Mayfield was previously charged with five counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, first degree, as well as one voyeurism charge. At the time, investigators said at least six victims were involved, as young as 14-years-old.
Mayfield now faces five additional counts of sexual exploitation of a minor and three voyeurism charges, according to warrants filed Thursday, June 8.
Warrants allege Mayfield filmed the victims “in a closed bathroom … where (they) had a reasonable expectation of privacy.”
The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office warrants allege that Mayfield admitted to recording underage girls during an interview with Greenwood County deputies. The videos were allegedly found on his phone.
The alleged crimes occurred on five different dates between May 2021 and September 2022, according to the fourteen separate warrants.
Mayfield faces an additional voyeurism charge in Greenwood County according to public court records.
Mayfield was arrested at his Boiling Springs residence on June 1. He is currently detained at the Greenville County Detention Center and pending an initial court appearance, according to the jail’s website.
“Investigators do believe Daniel Mayfield acted alone and do not have reason to believe anyone from the church had knowledge of the unlawful activity,” Lt. Ryan Flood of the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said in a June 1 email.
On November 21, 2024, Mayfield pleaded guilty to having illegal child sexual abuse images. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
A former Upstate youth pastor already facing more than 150 counts of secretly recording young girls in the shower and bridal parties changing clothes pleaded guilty to a federal charge for having illegal child sexual abuse images.
Daniel Kellan Mayfield, 36, pleaded guilty Nov. 21 to one count possession of such an image on his iPhone and professional camera, according to recently unsealed court documents.
The maximum federal sentence Mayfield could face is 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, court documents show.
Mayfield faces at least 167 charges across several counties in South Carolina, including 109 in Greenville County, 38 in Spartanburg County, nine in Greenwood County, six in Charleston County and five in Beaufort County, according to a Post and Courier tally of court records.
Authorities in several counties have charged Mayfield with voyeurism for allegedly recording people in private places without their knowledge.
In many of the episodes, Mayfield was a contracted photographer or videographer for a wedding and secretly recorded people at the venue, according to multiple news releases.
Previous warrants in Greenville allege Mayfield had been hired as a videographer for weddings in 2021 when he recorded members of the bridal parties changing clothes. One of the weddings occurred at First Baptist Church Gowensville, according to a warrant.
The charges also allege Mayfield recorded girls using the bathroom while he served in his role as youth pastor.
Mayfield’s state case is being prosecuted by the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office because it crosses into multiple jurisdictions.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 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.
