The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Series: Songs of Sacrilege

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Revelation 22:20 by Puscifer

    puscifer

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

    Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Revelation 22:20 by Puscifer.

    Video Link

    Lyrics

    Don’t be aroused by my confession
    Unless you don’t give a good goddamn about redemption, I know
    Christ is comin’ and so am I
    You would too if this sexy devil caught your eye

    She’ll suck you dry
    And still you’ll cry to be back in her bosom
    To do it again
    She’ll make you weep
    And moan and cry to be back in her bosom
    To do it again

    (Pray)
    ‘Til I go blind
    (Pray)
    ‘Cause nobody ever survives
    Prayin’ to stay in her arms just until I can die a little longer
    Saviors and saints, devils and heathens alike
    She’ll eat you alive

    Jesus is risen, it’s no surprise
    Even he would martyr his mama to ride to hell between those thighs
    The pressure is building at the base of my spine
    If I gotta sin to see her again then I’m gonna lie, lie, lie

    She’ll make you cry
    I’ll sell my soul to be back in your bosom
    Gladly now please suck me dry
    And still you’ll cry to be back in her bosom
    To do it again

    (Pray)
    ‘Til I go blind
    (Pray)
    ‘Cause nobody ever survives
    Prayin’ to stay in her arms just until I can die a little longer
    Saviors and saints, devils and heathens alike
    She’ll eat you alive

    My pulse has been rising, my temples are pounding
    The pressure is so overwhelming and building
    So steady there, Freddy, I’m ready to blow
    What is she, what is she, what is she waiting for?

    (Pray)
    (Pray)
    (Pray)
    (Pray)

    (Pray)
    ‘Til I go blind
    (Pray)
    ‘Cause nobody ever survives
    (Pray) Prayin’ to stay in her arms just until I can die a little longer
    Saviors and saints, devils and heathens alike
    She’ll eat you alive

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Cocaine Jesus by Rainbow Kitten Surprise

    rainbow kitten surprise

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

    Today’s Song of Sacrilege is Cocaine Jesus by Rainbow Kitten Surprise.

    Video Link

    Lyrics

    Listen in, it isn’t when you’re talking for your name’s sake
    Jesus, Mary Magdalene you are, are you okay?
    Sitting by the well, Jill, your falling down the hill, Jack
    And everybody laughed
    Don’t you pray? Don’t you pray?

    To a Cocaine Jesus in a black four-seater
    Got a man, don’t need him, but you wait
    Call me when you want, or just call me when you need it
    If you only ever need it for the day
    High won’t hold, won’t hold, and I have no more
    Than all you left of me
    I have, I have, I have no more
    Than all you leave

    High as hell, feeling fine, nothing bad but nothing kind
    Not a word from me, at least nothing you would mind
    In my head, in my head, I get lonely sometimes

    Feeling fine, coming down, never back ’cause we’re never out
    You’ll never call the cops again, I’ll never call her mine
    In my head, in my head, I get lonely sometimes

    When you find an old picture of us
    And you clear away the dust
    I hope you miss me sometimes
    When you see a frame that reminds you of me
    Would you remember the times
    Oh, the times that we believed

    In a Cocaine Jesus in a black four-seater
    Got a man, don’t need him, but you wait
    Call me when you want, or just call me when you need it
    If you only ever need it for the day
    High won’t hold, won’t hold, and I have no more
    Than all you left of me
    I have, I have, I have no more
    Than all you leave

    I’m nothing more than a page unwritten on the pavement, blowing in the wind
    You win a lot, and lose just a little bit more than you gained in the end
    But God, I wish that I, was better than I am
    But no luck, no love, no Gospel I could understand
    I’m nothing that ever wanted to lean on, yeah, but even then

    When you find an old picture of us, and you clear away the dust
    I hope you miss me sometimes
    When you see a frame that reminds you of me
    Would you remember the times
    Oh, the times that we believed

    In a Cocaine Jesus in a black four-seater
    Got a man, don’t need him, but you wait
    Call me when you want, or just call me when you need it
    If you only ever need it for the day, today

    I’m just a page unwritten on the pavement
    You needed ’til you left
    But I’m more than a need or a thing you believe or a word
    That you leave unsaid

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Songs of Sacrilege: The Spirit Bears The Curse by Derek Webb

    derek webb

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

    Today’s Songs of Sacrilege is The Spirit Bears The Curse by Derek Webb. Webb, formerly part of Contemporary Christian Music group Caedmon’s Call, is now an unbeliever. The song “sounds” like a praise and worship song until the end, and then takes an interesting turn.

    Video Link

    Lyrics

    help me to forget
    all of my regret
    i know you’re strong enough to do the job
    you go by many names
    forever stay the same
    your promises i claim
    you’re all i’ve got

    we gather here because we know
    there’s nowhere else that we can go
    where we can be really free

    so we raise our voice
    we raise an offering
    would you come near
    and quench our thirst
    oh, lift our hearts
    as the spirit bears the curse

    oh, we depend on you
    we know that you’ll come through
    we feel it instantly when you move
    it’s more than chemistry
    more than community
    you enter into me
    you’re in my veins

    you bear the weight of all our grief
    uncertainty and unbelief
    oh, you restore our sanity

    so we raise our voice
    we raise an offering
    would you come near
    and quench our thirst
    oh, lift our hearts
    as the spirit bears the curse

    now my knees are weak
    my speech is slurred
    oh, the things you shake
    oh, the things you stir
    i am calling out the only name
    that delivers me from my guilt and shame

    oh, alcohol
    alcohol
    oh, alcohol
    we raise our voices for alcohol
    alcohol
    an offering for alcohol
    alcohol
    oh, alcohol
    oh, alcohol

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Inside the Fire by Disturbed

    disturbed

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

    Today’s Songs of Sacrilege is Inside the Fire by Disturbed.

    Video Link

    Lyrics

    Hahahaha
    Ohh Devin, won’t go to heaven
    She’s just another lost soul about to be mine again
    Leave her, we will receive her

    It is beyond your control, will you ever meet again?
    Devin, no longer living
    Who had been rendered unwhole as a little child
    She was taken and then forsaken

    You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again
    Devin lies beyond this portal

    Take the word of one immortal
    Give your soul to me for eternity
    Release your life to begin another time with her
    End your grief with me, there’s another way

    Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
    Sever, now and forever
    You’re just another lost soul about to be mine again
    See her? you’ll never free her

    You must surrender it all if you’d like to meet again
    Fire, all you desire
    As she begins to turn cold and run out of time
    You will shiver, ’til you deliver

    You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again
    Devin lies beyond this portal

    Take the word of one immortal
    Give your soul to me for eternity
    Release your life to begin another time with her
    End your grief with me, there’s another way

    Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
    Give your soul to me for eternity
    Release your life to begin another time with her
    End your grief with me, there’s another way
    Release your life, take your place inside the fire with her
    Ooh Devin, no longer living
    Who had been rendered unwhole as a little child
    She was taken and then forsaken
    You will remember it all, let it blow your mind again

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Bruised and Bloodied by Seether

    seether

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

    Today’s Songs of Sacrilege is Bruised and Bloodied by Seether.

    Video Link

    Lyrics

    Add meat to the body, abandon your own welfare
    Feel safe in the knowledge that you’ll save yourself with prayer
    Disgrace everybody then bask in the afterglow
    If I beat myself it seems like you just don’t care at all
    It’s really fucking pitiful

    I’m not asking to pray about
    Parade around
    Or save somebody
    Lost the courage, I’m craven now
    You’re way too proud
    All bruised and bloodied

    Conceit so lovely you’ve led me into despair
    This rape and pillage of all things that I hold dear
    Deface my body with gifts that you now bestow
    When I need somebody it seems like you’re just not there at all
    It’s really fucking pitiful

    I’m not asking to pray about
    Parade around
    Or save somebody
    Lost the courage, I’m craven now
    You’re way too proud
    All bruised and bloodied

    These disembodied emotions are all laid bare
    So please tell me, when will I wake from this new nightmare

    I’m not asking to pray about
    Parade around
    Or save somebody
    Lost the courage, I’m craven now
    You’re way too proud
    All bruised and bloodied

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Religion Ruined My Life by Brian Ritchie

    brian ritchie

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

    Today’s Songs of Sacrilege is Religion Ruined My Life by Brian Ritchie, of Violent Femmes fame.

    Video Link

    Lyrics

    When I was five years old, I walked out of church and
    got hit by a car.
    I suffered a brain concussion and was put in the
    hospital.
    Many friends and relatives visited me there and brought
    lots of cool presents.
    Then Reverend McKenzie came bringing a boring coloring
    book with bible stories.
    I thought to myself, “If this man is in touch with God,
    would he bring such a lame present? No way!”
    My Mother says I was never the same after that day.

    Religion ruined my life, Hallelujah, religion ruined my
    life
    Well I’m traumatized, permanantly scarred, hoisted by
    religion’s petard

    When I was twelve, my famiily switched churches because
    the one were attending wouldn’t admit black people.
    In Sunday School I would ask questions like, “How did
    they fit two of every species on that boat? There are
    no boats that large.”
    The minister told my parents, “He’s causing doubt.” I
    became the first child to be expelled from the church.
    When I realized my religion wouldn’t let blacks in and
    would kick a boy out,
    it set me on a path of antisocial behaviour, which
    landed me in jail within three years.

    Religion ruined my life, Hallelujah, religion ruined my
    life
    Well I’m traumatized, permanantly scarred, hoisted by
    religion’s petard

    As an adult, I thought I was safe from religion.
    But when I was 26, my wife took all the money I had
    saved from years of touring with the Violent Femmes and
    went into hiding in Jamaica.
    I didn’t see my young son for five months. She came
    under the spell of a Rastafarian con man and the money
    dissapeared.
    We’re divorced now. She’s into Hindu and says she’s
    raising my four year old boy to be a great spiritual
    leader.

    Religion ruined my life, Hallelujah, religion ruined my
    life
    Well I’m traumatized, permanantly scarred, hoisted by
    religion’s petard

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Midnight Choir by Larry Gatlin and The Gatlin Brothers

    larry gatlin and the gatlin brothers

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

    Today’s Songs of Sacrilege is MIdnight Choir by Larry Gatlin and The Gatlin Brothers.

    Video Link

    Lyrics

    The doors to the mission open at seven
    And the soup will be ready about nine
    Right now it’s six-thirty, they’re ragged and dirty
    They’re standin’ and sittin’ and layin’ in line

    First they’ll do a little singin’, then hear a little preachin’
    And get saved for the 3rd time this week
    A bowl of soup later and a pat on the shoulder
    And by midnight, they’re back on the street

    They walk to the corner of 4th street and Broadway
    Then take the first alley on the right
    One of them asks a stranger, “How ’bout a hand”?
    And he gives ’em one finger at a time

    Then they spot an old buddy with a bottle of heaven
    Then pass around what means everything
    One bottle for four, thank God, someone scored
    And now the midnight choir starts to sing

    Will they have Mogen David in Heaven?
    Dear Lord, we’d all like to know
    Will they have Mogen David in Heaven, sweet Jesus?
    If they don’t, who the hell wants to go?

    Will they have Mogen David in Heaven?
    Dear Lord, we’d all like to know
    Will they have Mogen David in Heaven, sweet Jesus?
    If they don’t, who the hell wants to go?
    If they don’t, who the hell wants to go, dear good God?

    Will they have Mogen David in Heaven?
    Dear Lord, we’d all like to know
    Will they have Mogen David in Heaven, sweet Jesus?
    If they don’t, who the hell wants to go?

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Preachin’ Blues by Son House

    son house

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

    Today’s Songs of Sacrilege is Preachin’ Blues by Son House.

    Video Link

    I’m gonna get me some religion
    I’m gonna join the Baptist church
    I’m gonna get me some religion
    I’m gonna join the Baptist church
    Gonna be a preacher
    So I don’t have to work I wish I had a heaven (heaven)
    A heaven of my own
    I wish I had a heaven (heaven)
    A heaven of my own
    Give all of my women
    A long and happy home I’m gonna preach these blues (these blues)
    I’m gonna pick my seat and sit down
    I’m gonna preach these blues (these blues)
    I’m gonna pick my seat and sit down
    ‘Cause when the spirit comes
    Lord knows I’m gonna watch it too Grabbed up my suitcase
    And took off down the road
    Grabbed up my suitcase
    And took off down the road
    I said, “Farewell, my church”
    “May the good Lord bless your soul”Bless your soul
    Bless your soul
    Bless your soul
    Bless your soul

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Autotheist by Baby Bugs

    Baby Bugs

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

    Today’s Song of Sacrilege is by Autotheist by Baby Bugs. Baby Bugs is a nonbinary artist who was raised in the Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) church movement.

    Video Link

    Lyrics

    Dear god up in heaven
    Are you glad I learned my lesson?
    I’m not making any promises
    That it’ll end any time soon

    And dear god up in heaven
    How do I fucking get in?
    You tried to make me scared of hell
    But I’m living there, I’m living there

    And if I was god, I’d kill the people who believe in me
    And if I was god, I’d make everybody bow to me
    And who says that I’m not a god?
    I am god to me
    And if I was god, I’d make you all believe in me

    Dear god up in heaven
    You saved my soul, held me for ransom
    You said my life was yours, and I tried so fucking hard

    And dear god up in heaven
    Who do you really let in?
    I pray that it’s not me
    I’d rather die than be with you

    And if I was god, I’d kill the people who believe in me
    And if I was god, I’d make everybody bow to me
    And who says that I’m not a god?
    I am god to me
    And if I was god, I’d make you all believe in me

    You are not my god
    You sent all of these people after me
    You are not my god
    You kept me from feeling anything
    And who says you’re a god at all?
    God is only me
    And when I become god, I promise you’ll believe in me

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Songs of Sacrilege: Misbehavin’ by Baby Billy and Aimee-Leigh Gemstone

    the righteous gemstones

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

    Today’s Song of Sacrilege comes from the HBO show The Righteous Gemstones. If want to watch a hilarious take on Evangelicalism, especially megachurch culture, The Righteous Gemstones is for you.

    StereoGum explains the story behind the following song by Baby Billy (Walton Goggins) and Aimee-Leigh Gemstone (Jennifer Nettles):

    One of the best parts of Danny McBride’s god-tier mega-church satire The Righteous Gemstones is the music. The HBO show’s larger-than-life but true-in-essence parody of uber-rich televangelist life sometimes incorporates bits from the music career of Aimee-Leigh Gemstone, the Gemstone family’s late, great matriarch, portrayed in flashbacks by country star Jennifer Nettles. Season one gave us the instant classic “Misbehavin’,” a duet between Aimee-Leigh and her brother Baby Billy, a trashy huckster played with gusto by Walton Goggins. Within the universe of the show, the siblings used to tour around performing that song and others as child stars before Aimee-Leigh married into the Gemstone family. Here they are reuniting to sing and tap their way through it at church.

    Video Link

    Video Link

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    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.