Suppose I woke up tomorrow morning and decided that I wanted to be a Christian. I realize that seems unlikely, but that’s not the point here. And because it isn’t the case that I want to be a Christian, we can set aside the “why” questions. What I’d like us to consider is the far more intriguing “how” questions. How would I become a Christian? Is there a series of steps I could go through that would get me there? If I got there, how would I know I was there? And if I thought I was there, would most Christians accept me as one of them?
What might be a good first step if I wanted to be a Christian?
Jack asks an excellent question, one I hope Christian readers will answer.
There are thousands of Christian sects, each with their own beliefs and plans of salvation. How can an unbeliever possibly know with certainty how to become a Christian? As a pastor, my understanding of Christian salvation changed over the years. As my theology evolved, so did my soteriological beliefs.
If you profess to be a Christian, how does one become a follower of Jesus? If you are a former Christian, what did you believe about salvation? Did your soteriological beliefs change over the years? 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.
Fifty-three years ago in September, I made a public profession of faith at Trinity Baptist Church in Findlay, Ohio. This simple, brief, heartfelt decision became the foundation of my life for the next thirty-five years. According to my pastors, and later my professors, once an unsaved sinner gets saved, they can never, ever lose their salvation. I remember R.B. Thieme saying that once a person is saved, they can blaspheme God and deny that Jesus saved him without affecting his salvation. In other words, once you sincerely pray the sinner’s prayer, you are f-o-r-e-v-e-r saved. Nothing you do afterward can separate you from the love of God and his grace. And I mean nothing. Sure, Christians can backslide and find themselves out of the will of God, but this does not affect the state of their salvation. Once saved, always saved. If what we do affects our eternal destiny, that means we are saved by works, and not faith. Or so many Evangelical preachers say, anyway.
While the Bible certainly can be used to justify these beliefs, the Bible can also be used to show that Christians can and do lose their salvation and end up in Hell. Further, the Bible also teaches that once a person loses their salvation, they can never, ever be saved again. For Christians who believe you can lose your salvation, works are essential to saving faith.
Which soteriological position is right? They all are. Every Christian sect, preacher, and church member uses the Bible to justify and prove their beliefs. How can we possibly know which view is right? I think the best way to determine who is right is to put representatives of each position in an octagon ring and let them fight it out. The last soteriology standing is right, or, at the very least, less wrong than the other ones. You would think God would be clearer on such an important subject, but alas, God cares more about his golf score or finding Grandma’s keys for her, that he doesn’t have time to settle the terms of salvation.
Let me set up this discussion with a hypothetical scenario.
Have you ever heard preachers say, “If a person doesn’t obey the Bible, they may not be saved, even if they claim to have faith.”
But then at a funeral, the same preacher may say, “The deceased person was saved because they claimed to have faith, even though they didn’t obey the Bible.”I noticed this inconsistency when I was in high school when one of my close friends passed away.
So which is it? Do we have to obey the Bible until we die to be saved, or is it enough to have faith?
Well, I’m confident that the Bible teaches that once someone is made alive in Christ, born again, and becomes a believer, they have eternal life that can never be lost or returned.
That means a Christian who becomes an atheist will still have eternal life. They are still saved even if they fall into unbelief and disobedience.
Now, I know many of you that might be a new idea. However, it’s not an idea I invented, but instead a concept that the Bible teaches quite consistently. So I thought I would take a minute to answer a few obvious questions that the video raises.
Some opponents of this idea will say that a “true” believer will never stop believing.
But the Bible doesn’t distinguish between “true” belief and belief.
Secondly, the Bible speaks of saved people who stopped believing for a time.
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If eternal life is given when one first believes, then obedience is not required for salvation. If receiving eternal life required a life of obedience then Jesus could only give eternal life at the end of someone’s life when they proved that they could be obedient. But that’s not what the Bible tells us.
It sounds good on the surface, but there are a few of problems with this claim. It is true that Someone’s belief in Christ can blossom into good works. In fact, that’s what we hope happens with all Christians. We hope that they add good works to their faith. We hope that they not only believe but obey Christ. So if someone is doing good works in obeying Christ it’s likely they are doing that because they have believed in him. We have to be careful here though, we can’t use good works as proof that someone has believed since it’s possible for a believer to disobey Christ. We find that in second Timothy two, first Corinthian‘s three, and a number of other places.
There is another problem with this concept still. We can’t use obedience to Christ as proof of faith since Current actions are most likely based on current beliefs. Therefore, current inaction can only be based on current disbelief but is not necessarily based previous disbelief.
You can’t prove that someone never believed in the past by how they act in the present. There was a time when I believed it was ok to drink only coca-cola all the time. I acted on that belief while I still believed it. However, I no longer drink Coke all the time. Can you infer from my current actions what I used to believe? Obviously not. The only thing that you might be able to make a guess on is what I currently believe that I shouldn’t drink Coca-Cola. Even then, I could be acting against what I believe. The point is, trying to use obedience to Christ as proof of faith is a flawed method.
Eternal life is not given after a life of belief, but at the first moment, one believes.
Therefore, present disobedience cannot demonstrate a lack of belief in the past.
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The bottom line is if you believe in Jesus for eternal life you have it. No matter what happens after that point you still have it.
An atheist’s current unbelief doesn’t negate salvation received earlier in life.
A believer’s future unbelief or misbehavior can’t dissolve, destroy, or derail their deliverance from Hell.
Even if the Christian strays that can’t sabotage, subdue, or stop salvation.
So there ya have it, outspoken atheist and denier of the central claims of Christianity Bruce Gerencser is still a Christian! According to Kitchen, because I made a profession of faith fifty-three years ago, there’s literally NOTHING I can do to lose my salvation. And I mean nothing! According to Kitchens, I can’t sabotage, subdue, or stop my salvation! Take the men who frequent the pages of the Black Collar Crime Series, Vile, corrupt men the lot of them, but have you noticed that many of them end up back in the ministry after being punished for their crimes? How is this possible? Simple, 1 John 1:9:
If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NRSV)
This means that forgiveness is but a prayer of forgiveness away, and since the Bible says in Romans 11:29: For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable, not only is a pervert’s salvation irrevocable, so is his calling. And it is for these reasons that David Hyles — an IFB preacher with a long track record of immorality and crimes — is still a preacher, and people continue supporting him.
Romans 8:31:35, 38-39 says:
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?He who did not withhold his own Son but gave him up for all of us, how will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ who died, or rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
….
For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Apostle Paul was clear: NOTHING can separate us [Christians] from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I wasn’t in the ministry long before I realized how bankrupt this kind of thinking really was. Guaranteed salvation gives men like Dr. David Tee (whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen), Revival Fires, John, and countless other Christians the freedom to live as they wish without fear of losing their salvation. Nothing they say or do can separate them from the love of Jesus. In those rare moments when they genuinely feel sorry for what they do, all they have to do is to sincerely repent, and God will wipe their slate clean. Awesome, right?
As a pastor, I concluded that, as James did, “faith without works is dead; that we show our faith by our works.” Think of all the Evangelical miscreants, including those mentioned above, who comment on this site, send me emails, and write blog posts about me and the readers of this site. What do their words say about their Christianity? Everything. Don’t tell me what you believe, show me. By the late 1980s, my preaching had a Calvinistic bent. No longer did I preach the truncated, bastardized gospel of my IFB upbringing and training. Sure, IFB preachers could prove their beliefs from the Bible, but so could I. I determined that a faith+works salvation best reflected the teachings of Jesus. This, of course, led to me being accused of preaching “works salvation.” Better than no-works salvation, I thought at the time.
To this day, I think there should be a connection between beliefs and how a person lives. As an agnostic atheist and humanist, I try every day to live according to the ideals reflected in the various humanist manifestos. And when I fail, what do I do? I do my best to make things right, and, if necessary, make restitution. Unlike the Evangelical Christian, who prays to God when atoning for sin, I make things right with those I’ve offended. No God needed.
Am I still a Christian? According to Kitchens, I am. And nothing I do can change this eternal fact. Once saved, always saved. After I post this, I think I will get drunk, snort some drugs, and go pick up two prostitutes for a wild roll in the hay. I am sure I will feel guilty afterward, so all I have to do is ask the God who doesn’t exist to wipe my slate clean. I can do this day after day, and God will still forgive me. What’s not to like about his form of Christianity, right?
To the thousands of heathens who read this blog, I encourage you to stop what you are doing and pray the sinner’s prayer, asking Jesus to cleanse you from your sin. No need to cross your fingers. No matter what you do, and that includes murder, rape, incest, and rooting for the Cubs, the triune God of the Bible will forgive you and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. That’s why Paul had to field the question, “Should I sin more, so the grace of God may abound?” While Paul said, “God forbid,” the Bible says differently. Sin away, Christians, God’s forgiveness is but a mumbled prayer away.
I am sure this belief sounds absurd to many of you, and I agree. I am no more a Christian than Satan himself. There’s nothing in my life that remotely suggests I am a Christian (other than I live a better life than many Christians I know). Scores of people who read this blog are former Evangelical Christians. This means they are still s-a-v-e-d! Maybe we should start an online church, First Church of Saved Atheists or First Church of Hitchens. As long as we had a momentary born-again experience, we will go to Heaven when we die. Though, when I think about it, do I really want to spend eternity praising the name of a narcissistic God? Hell is starting to sound more appealing to me. But I can’t go to Hell even if I wanted to. Once saved, always saved. I am powerless to divorce Jesus. We are forever married, regardless of what I say or do.
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.
Kind, thoughtful Christians will often object when I reveal how I have been treated by Evangelical Christians since 2007. In their minds, they can’t fathom a Christian threatening to murder someone. Alas, deplorable conduct from Evangelicals is common; more common than polite, respectful behavior. Throw in the Evangelicals who take delight in threatening me with eternal punishment in Hell, and I’ve concluded that my writing either attracts the worst Christianity has to offer or this sort of behavior is normative.
Today, Daniel left the following comment:
I know you’re not lying, but you have seriously had “Christians” send you death threats? I’m sorry. That’s pathetic and vile. Jesus very clearly said if you hate someone in your heart it’s as if you committed murder. Wishing death on an atheist is totally opposite of what Jesus taught (I do believe His teachings myself). Can you expound on this or write an article about these threats? If you have not already.
I have had a few Evangelicals threaten to murder me. One man, an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist (IFB) from Detroit — 2 hours from my home — threatened to slit my throat. Others have prayed imprecatory prayers, asking God to physically and permanently silence me. And then there are the threats made against my family, including my thirty-five-year-old daughter with Down syndrome.
I have received thousands of emails, comments, and social media messages from Evangelical Christians. The majority of them were argumentative, belligerent, and hostile. Evidently, Colossians 3:12-17 NSRV is missing from their King James Bibles:
Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
These verses tell believers that they are to clothe themselves with certain behaviors. It seems to me a lot of Evangelicals are stark naked.
Here’s the thing: while their behavior is detestable, is it really much different from polite, smiling, Bible quoting Evangelicals who feel duty-bound to tell me and other non-believers that we are headed for Hell unless we get saved? While murdering me is bad, is not consigning me to endless torture and suffering in the Lake of Fire worse?
Even if I returned to Christianity, I would never attend an Evangelical congregation. The damage is done, and the behavior of too many of them is a poor reflection on Jesus. I have no interest in a religion that is known for what it is against, and is one of the most hated sects in America. The first people to object to this post will be Revival Fires and Dr. David Tee. Not surprising since they are known for abusing and attacking anyone and everyone who disagrees with them
Today, I received a long email from a Mennonite man near Somerset, Ohio. This man was a teen back in the days when I pastored Somerset Baptist Church. I befriended some of the Mennonite men who lived nearby. I found the lot of them to be good people. This man’s email reflected that goodness. It was polite and informative, a reminder of the common connections we once had. (Short Stories: Bruce and the Amish.) While a nice letter from an Evangelical man won’t convince me to return to Christianity, it does remind me that not every Christian is like Revival Fires and David Tee. I suspect the letter writer and his fellow Mennonites would condemn their behavior, as I have.
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.
I received the following email today from an Evangelical named Garry (all spelling, grammar, and irrationality in the original):
A humanist and an atheist…..That’s all I need to know about you to dismiss your opinion! My unsolicited advice to you would be to please state your belief system at the beginning of an article you write. Wouldn’t have wasted my time with your article. To be fair however; CT Townsend is a charlatan and the Holy Spirit warned me against him long ago…..just as He has warned me against you just now.
Instead of judging and evaluating my writing based on its content, Adkins dismisses everything I say because I am an atheist and a humanist. Talk about a closed mind. I read Evangelical content virtually every day. I do not dismiss Evangelical writers just because of their religious affiliation. I try to judge and critique Evangelicals based on what they say instead of who or what they are. What’s important is what people think and believe. Granted, it is sometimes impossible to ignore a person’s character and associations, but I try my best to take a person’s arguments at face value.
I am perplexed by Adkins’ suggestion that I state my beliefs at the beginning of every article. Depending on what device and operating system you use to read this site, you will see an author’s block on the top right of the page that details who and what I am. People using mobile devices won’t see this, but EVERY post has an author’s block at the the bottom. Further, there’s an About page that gives new readers everything they need to know about the man, myth, and legend Bruce Gerencser. If you want to know who I am or how to contact me, that information is easy to find.
Adkins says God spoke to him directly, warning him against me. What did God say? I want to know. I have been asking this same question for almost twenty years. Most people who claim God directly speaks to them about me are unable to tell me exactly what God said. Of course, the reason for that is that God is a myth, and the only voice in their heads is their own. Adkins cannot prove God, in the person of the Holy Spook, said anything to him about the Evangelical-preacher-turned-atheist Bruce Gerencser.
Much like other lazy, indolent Evangelical Christians, Adkins lacks curiosity. Either that or he thinks he already knows everything he needs to know about me.
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.
Warning! Evangelicals who have never had sex with the lights on or in anything other than the missionary position might find this post offensive. The rest of us? Snicker away!
Last night, I listened to a YouTube channel called the Deconstruction Zone. Its host is a college-trained former Evangelical preacher named Justin Holmes. I love Justin’s approach when challenging Evangelical dogma and presuppositions. He regularly “cooks” Evangelicals in their own juices. 🙂
Justin has a wonderful, snarky sense of humor, which is shown below.
Snarky Atheist named Justin: No, but I’ve heard of cunnilingus.
Bruce rolls on the floor laughing.
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.
Atheists choose to limit themselves to only one cosmological option. They hitch their wagon to the wild fantasy that everything came from nothing. This foolish belief creates an irrational worldview. But unlike Christianity, which is an evidence-base faith, atheism has a religious-like devotion to the absurd belief that nothing created something.
Let me rewrite this paragraph for readers:
Christians choose to limit themselves to only one cosmological option. They hitch their wagon to the wild fantasy that everything came from a mythical deity. This foolish belief creates an irrational worldview. But unlike atheism/humanism, which is an evidence-base faith, Christianity has a religious-like devotion to the absurd belief that a mythical triune deity created everything.
Delzell went on to say:
Atheists should actually be afraid of ‘nothing.’ That is to say, atheists should fear the faulty assumption that nothing produced space, time, matter and energy at the beginning. This blind faith is rooted in a preposterous make-believe theory, without a shred of scientific evidence to support its impossible conclusion.
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Lee Strobel posted in 2017: “To continue in atheism, I would need to believe that nothing produces everything, non-life produces life, randomness produces fine-tuning, chaos produces information, unconsciousness produces consciousness, and non-reason produces reason. I simply didn’t have that much faith.”
If an atheist follows the evidence, he or she can meet “the only true God” (John 17:3). But when atheists dig in their heels and continue trusting in their illogical ideology, they remain spiritually blind. Sadly, man with his free will can choose to close his mind to the truth he was created to understand and accept.
When an atheist faces a family crisis, he has nothing to rely upon for spiritual comfort. When atheists become disillusioned with life, there is nothing substantive to pull them out of the pit of discouragement. And when atheists stand before Jesus Christ on Judgment Day, they will have nothing good to say about why they rejected God.
A callous heart prevents a person from experiencing the appropriate fear of paying the penalty for his sins in Hell. Many atheists laugh off the notion of an actual place called “Hell,” but their laughing is tragically misguided and uniformed.
I wrote, “The man who refuses to trust God is a man who assumes he can trust his own opinions. And so he looks for ways to shore up his weak position, and to convince himself that his perceptions are in perfect alignment with the visible and invisible realities of the universe.”
If you are staking your soul on the idea that everything came from nothing, you need to wake up and snap out of your spiritual stupor. God created you with a body, soul and spirit. (see 1 Thessalonians 5:23) And it is impossible to extinguish your immortal soul.
Therefore, you would be wise to get on board with the Creator’s design for your life. If you place your faith in Jesus, God will wash away your sins. But if you refuse to adopt the fear of the Lord, you will remain on a path that leads away from God throughout eternity.
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.
Forrest Valkai is a frequent guest on shows produced by The Line and the Atheist Community of Austin. Valkai is a biologist, and when it comes to explaining complex science to mere mortals, he does an outstanding job. However, when it comes to Christianity, Valkai often makes claims he can’t support, such as claiming that preachers are in the ministry for the money. I have yet to see a fellow host correct Valkai’s false assertion, so I assume they have similar sentiments.
Are preachers really in the ministry for the money? I am sure some are, but most preachers believe God has called them to preach, and while they certainly need money to provide for their needs, making money is not their first priority. Remove megachurch pastors from the mix, and most preachers pastor congregations of 60-90 people and are bi-vocational. Preachers work outside of the churches they pastor because the congregations don’t pay them enough for them to make ends meet.
Most of the preachers I knew either struggled to make ends meet, worked part-time outside of the church, or were on social security or government assistance. I was in the ministry for twenty-five years, pastoring rural/small town churches that ranged in attendance from 50 to over 200. I was a full-time pastor for every church I pastored, but not one of them paid me a living wage, with benefits. This forced me to work outside of the church. Later in my ministerial career, Polly went back to work, easing the financial pressures we had been under for years.
Did I know any money-grubbing preachers? Of course, I did. I knew a few lazy-ass preachers who were in the ministry for the money. When looking for a new church to pastor, how much the congregation paid was their first priority. Money never mattered to me. I preached and ministered to people whether they paid me or not, and that included preaching revival meetings that cost me more in expenses than the church paid me. I never complained, though, to be honest, there were times I should have been clearer with congregations regarding my financial needs. I quickly learned that if I didn’t say anything, no raises would be forthcoming. In retrospect, I should have appointed a group of members who were responsible for setting my salary and benefits. Sadly, I was always hesitant to talk about money, and because I never mentioned it, church members thought everything was fine.
Granted, some of the churches I pastored couldn’t pay me a decent salary, with benefits. That never stopped me from being their pastor, but there were times when I thought congregations were taking advantage of me. I remember one church in West Virginia that wanted me to be their pastor. They were sitting on thousands of dollars, yet when I asked them to pay my moving expenses, the church board said they could only pay half. I told them that the church would have to pay all of my moving expenses. They eventually agreed, but demanded that I only preach from the King James Bible. A King James-only family was outraged by my preaching from the English Standard Version (ESV). I declined, knowing that this KJV-only family would be trouble for me, and since the board wouldn’t stand up to them, I declined to be their pastor. They hired a retired pastor, instead; a man who wouldn’t rock the boat and would be happy with the meager salary the church paid.
Megachurch pastors and TV preachers deserve every bit of the criticism they receive. They have turned Christianity into a circus, a clown show. Some preachers makes millions of dollars from not only preaching, but from book and media sales. They also rake in loads of money holding conferences and revival meetings. But, these men and women do not represent most preachers, and atheists such as Forrest Valkai would do well to remember this. (And I know how much Valkai hates being painted with a broad brush.) By all means condemn and criticize their doctrine, but unless there’s evidence to the contrary, we should assume that most pastors are decent, hardworking clerics. I know I was, as were many of my colleagues in the ministry. I was dead wrong about what I believed and preached, but my motivations were pure. I sincerely wanted to help other people, and that desire remains to this day.
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 see the atheist must indeed lead a lonely life since he does not believe in a divine Creator. By definition they must believe that they have no soul and no immortality. Since they came into existence by chance, and not divine design, any meaning they find in life is but a by-product of random occurrences. Even the great mysteries of our universe that cause us to ponder just who we are and why we are here, are a closed corridor of thought, to those who place God as something that exists only in one’s imagination.
If the atheist can show that the disciples were lying and the whole Christian story is a fabrication, then he must conclude that he came into existence from nothing and when he dies he will go back to nothing. And somehow in between these two states of nothingness he is supposed to find meaning in life!
Since the atheist has no god to believe in he places himself as the supreme person in his universe and spends the rest of his life searching for a reason for his existence. Searching every pathway, every byway, overturning every stone, examining every philosophy, and experiencing every feeling, as he comes to the end of his journey, the answer he finds is that none exists!
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What does the life of an atheist offer its followers but a life of no meaning, no accountability, and no hope for a life to come. And in the last analysis if there is no God then the atheist can enjoy his sin since he doesn’t have to worry about being accountable to a holy God. Thus, he can do what is right in his own eyes. So, who would die for a lie? The Christian is betting his eternal destiny on Jesus. The atheist if he is right loses big time. My friends I know that Jesus is who He says He is because He transformed my life. Jesus is no lie – He is the way, the truth, and the life!
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.
For those of us raised in Evangelical churches, we are acutely familiar with a song titled Happiness is the Lord:
Happiness is to know the Saviour, Living a life within His favour, Having a change in my behaviour, Happiness is the Lord. Happiness is a new creation, Jesus and me in close relation, Having a part in His salvation, Happiness is the Lord.
Real joy is mine, No matter if the teardrops start, I’ve found a secret, It’s Jesus in my heart.
Happiness is to be forgiven, Living a life that’s worth the livin’, Taking a trip that leads to Heaven, Happiness is the Lord.
Real joy is mine, No matter if the teardrops start, I’ve found a secret, It’s Jesus in my heart, Jesus in my heart. Happiness is to be forgiven, Living a life that’s worth the livin’, Taking a trip that leads to Heaven, Happiness is the Lord, Happiness is the Lord, Happiness is the Lord.
If you dare, watch the following video. You will immediately have an earworm that you can’t get rid of.
Released in 1972, Happiness is the Lord is a song that children sing over and over and over again in Evangelical churches. I was in ninth grade when this song came out, and it quickly became a hit among the church’s teens.
What is this song teaching children about happiness?
Happiness is Jesus
Happiness is living a life in Jesus’ favor
Happiness is changed behavior
Happiness is a new creation (in Christ)
Happiness is a close relationship with Jesus
Happiness is having a part in Jesus’ salvation
Happiness is to be forgiven
Happiness is living a life worth living
Happiness is a trip to Heaven
From their nursery years forward, Evangelical children are indoctrinated and conditioned to believe that happiness only comes through Jesus. Without Jesus, children live meaningless lives. Want a life worth living? Want to have your sins (and don’t worry, kids, we will tell you all the behaviors that are sins and affronts to Jesus) forgiven? Want to go to Heaven when you die? Who doesn’t, right? According to Evangelicals, Jesus is the answer to every one of these questions.
Of course, what naturally follows is the idea that without Jesus, you can’t be happy. Your life isn’t worth living, and when you die, you will go to Hell. When life is framed in this manner, is it any wonder that the majority of Evangelical children make salvation decisions by the time they are out of elementary school?
Is happiness possible without Jesus? Of course it is. People were happy for thousands of years before Jesus arrived on the scene, and countless people have been happy since then, all without believing in and worshipping a dead Jew.
Google defines happiness this way:
Happiness is a state of well-being and contentment, often described as experiencing joy, satisfaction, and fulfillment. It’s a subjective experience, meaning what brings happiness to one person might not be the same for another. Happiness can be found in both fleeting moments and overall life satisfaction.
Note that the definition doesn’t mention Jesus as the source of happiness. Millions of Evangelicals lustily sing Happiness is the Lord, but their lives reveal that these words mean little to them. I pastored lots of unhappy believers; people who sang Happiness is the Lord on Sundays, and lived miserable, unhappy lives the rest of the week.
I deconverted seventeen years ago. Did unhappiness overwhelm me after I divorced Jesus? Nope. What changed was the locus of my happiness. As a Christian, my happiness was rooted in Jesus. As an atheist, my happiness is found in the simple things of life: Polly, our six children, our sixteen grandchildren, and four cats. Lots of happiness to go around for the Gerencser family. I also find happiness in nature and observing the lives of others. We did some shopping tonight at the Aldi store in Auburn, Indiana. I was in a good mood, even though I was in a lot of pain. I chatted with several shoppers. One Amish woman (we have a large Amish community near where we live) was shopping with her teen daughters and a toddler. I watched as the toddler ran down the aisles, evading her older sisters. I briefly talked to the mother, commenting on her daughter’s energy. We both laughed, traded a few pleasantries, and continued shopping. You know what I felt in that moment? Happiness.
None of us needs God/Jesus to be happy. If you think you do, you have been indoctrinated and conditioned. Life is what you make it, and even in the midst of suffering and loss, happiness can be found. We bought some hot dogs for the feral/stray cats that frequent our yard. Tonight, there were four adult cats and five kittens at our back door. I cut up hot dogs and put them on the porch. It was every cat for herself. I was delighted to see the kittens eating solid food. Again, how did I feel? Happy. Later tonight, four coons that have been visiting us at night will make an appearance. Their antics provide loads of entertainment. How will I feel? Happy. Happy for the sake of being happy, and happy that the coons made to our yard without getting hit on the highway in front of our home.
None of us needs Jesus to find happiness. Even if you are a Christian, Jesus is not the sum of your happiness. Expand your horizons and embrace life. You will find all the happiness you will ever need.
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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Derek Lambert operates the Mythvision YouTube channel. A former Evangelical Christian, Lambert makes informative videos about Biblical and historical subjects. Excellent videos, for the most part, though I find the clickbait titles annoying.
Two or so years ago, Lambert embroiled himself in a conflict over having mythicist Dr. Robert M. Price on his channel. The conflict, however, was not over mythicism. The issue was Price’s racism and his support of right-wing, MAGA beliefs. Why was Lambert platforming a man such as Price? supporters, friends, and acquaintances wanted to know. There’s a lot to the Price Saga, but the bottom line is this: with much weeping and gnashing of teeth, Lambert condemned Price and deplatformed him.
Fast forward to two weeks ago. Lambert reversed course, kissed and made up with Price, and with weeping and gnashing of teeth, attacked the “online atheist community.” He called the “online atheist community” a cult. He has retreated from the cult claim by editing the video title to hyperbolically say “Toxic People are Trying to Destroy Careers.” Contrary to what Lambert thinks, no one is trying to ruin him or destroy his career. If he has evidence that suggests otherwise, he needs to cough it up. I seriously doubt any hairball is forthcoming. Lambert can be hysterical at times, and I suspect the title issue is more about his hysteria than anything else.
What was a skirmish with a handful of largely unknown online atheists, Lambert turned it into an attack on the “online atheist community” in general.
Lambert and Price are now best buds. The bad people in this story, according to Lambert, are woke, pro-trans, online atheists who dare to call Price what he is — a bigot and a racist.
It’s evident, at least to me, that Lambert’s politics have moved to the right, more in line with Price’s politics. It would not shock me to hear in a few years that Lambert has (again) seen the light and is returning to Christianity.
Some atheists think Lambert is a grifter; he thinks he can make more money by platforming people such as Robert Price. Maybe. I do know that Lambert’s “I’m Done” video ends with an infomercial advertising his wife’s channel that sells online educational programs. So, there’s that. The ad is out of place, so much so that you are left to wonder if all the junior high whining about the “online atheist community” is a pretext; that the real goal is to sell shit.
I tried to engage Lambert several times over the years — without success. Evidently, I wasn’t high enough up the “online atheist” food chain for him to bother with me. Granted, I’m somewhat of a loner, hanging out on the fringes of the so-called “online atheist community.” This allows me to say my piece and not care what online atheists think. This means, of course, I won’t be invited to be on this or that channel, and that’s okay. I have much to offer, as many fellow creators have learned, but, for some atheist creators, I’m too liberal, too woke, or too religion-friendly, I’m told. Fair enough, but I am who I am, and I believe what I believe. Derek Lambert needs to figure out who he is, what he believes, and act accordingly. You can’t be all things to all people.
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.
