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Tag: Evangelical Christian Quotes

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Is it a Sin to Wear Distressed (Torn) Clothing?

distressed clothing

Clothes don’t have to be clean anymore. People can wear clothes that are deliberately ripped, stained and full of holes without fear of rejection. Clothes don’t even have to be clothes anymore. They can be shredded rags, the dingier the better.

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Such tattered garments are called “distressed” clothes (rightfully so), and they are becoming increasingly fashionable. It’s not just amateurs haphazardly ripping up faded jeans or retailers making random tears anymore. It is going mainstream.

The world of high fashion has now embraced “distressed” clothing as chic. Fashion designers are using new technology and hiring special effects technicians to get that natural moth-eaten, threadbare look that makes it seem like you’ve been wearing the garment for twenty years.

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You should not have to explain why you don’t wear ripped clothes. This is something your mother should have taught you at an early age. She would sew up your tears the minute she saw them. If she found a hole in a purchase, she would make you take back such clothes to the store for a refund.

Times have sadly changed, and so have some mothers. A lot of fashion conscious moms can now be found in shredded shorts and custom-holed t-shirts.

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Perhaps the first place to start is by affirming that a ripped garment is not modest clothing because it is not real clothing. This claim is guaranteed to raise a firestorm, but from a purely metaphysical perspective, it must be admitted that such garments fail to fulfill their purpose.

Most people would object that it is still clothing, but just a different kind that is more comfortable and thus makes people happier. People should do that which makes them happiest. Therefore they should wear ripped clothes so as not to worry about their appearance or condition. It is all about comfort.

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Deliberately ripped garments work against the purpose of clothes. They are caricatures of what clothing should be. Far from adorning the body, the process of ripping turns that which should be strong, beautiful and orderly into something weak, ugly and frayed. Tattered attire is disordered and therefore should not be worn.

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The second reason why ripped clothing should not be worn is that it is immodest.

Again such a claim raises hackles. Most people would object that as long as tattered clothes stay outside the extreme point of undress that is considered morally and socially unacceptable, you cannot say that it is immodest.

And here is the crux of the problem. People have completely lost the notion of what modesty is and how it is manifested. People lack even a catechism definition of this virtue.

People confuse modesty with chastity and thus only associate it with sensuality. Modesty does play a major role in preserving chastity, but it is much more than that. It is often mistakenly associated only with female attire, but it also applies to men.

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Modesty is the virtue that safeguards the dignity of a person in association with others. It benefits both the individual and society because it governs the exterior appearance and behavior of the person and thus helps make society civil and harmonious.

Beyond dress, modesty is concerned with the manner of speech, posture, gestures, and general presentation of the person. Modesty calls upon people to behave well with others and conform to standards of decency and decorum found in the healthy customs of an ordered society.

When you present yourself properly to others, you are modest. When you control yourself in your external actions and manners in society, you are modest. When you act erratically and speak in a manner that offends and disregards others, you are immodest.

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In matters of Catholic dress, this means holding to all that is proper to a soul that is a temple of the Holy Spirit. That is to say, you dress in a manner that is ordered, dignified and reasonable to who you are. Adults dress like adults; children dress like children. Authorities dress in accord with their office.

It also means you should not dress carelessly. Saint Thomas Aquinas states that you are immodest when you are unduly negligent in your appearance and fail to present yourself according to your state in life. You are also immodest when you seek to attract attention to yourself by showing a lack of concern for presenting oneself well (Summa, II-II, q. 169, a. 1).

Immoral and revealing clothing is of course immodest. However, improper, soiled and ripped unisex clothing is also immodest. It is not proper to the dignity of a person made in the image and likeness of God. When Our Lady spoke out against immodest fashions at Fatima, she was referring to this kind of immodesty as well.

— Catholic John Horvat II, Return to Order, Is it Immodest to Wear Deliberately Ripped Clothes?

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 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.

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Christians Say the Darnedest Things: North American Indigenous People Have Only Been Here for 4,200 Years

god said it
The Ken Ham Maxim, The Bible Says…

When did humans first settle North America? According to the most common evolutionary view, this supposedly happened 16,000 years ago. But a new find of a mammoth tusk and bashed-in skull at an ancient butchering site in New Mexico is challenging this view and pushing the date back to 37,000 years. Of course, in a biblical worldview [alternate reality] we know that both of these dates are not correct—so when did Native Americans first arrive?

Let’s consider how biblical history can provide some boundaries for when this might have happened. God created everything in six days, finishing with the creation of the first couple. All humans are descended from this pair. The genealogies in Genesis tell us two thousand years passed between Adam and Abraham and we know there were about two thousand years from Abraham to Christ, and, of course, two thousand more years gets us to the present. That’s about 6,000 years for all of mankind’s history (so even the conservative date of 16,000 years is way off!).

Genesis chapter 6 records the wickedness of man and God’s judgment with a global flood. This reduced the entire human population to just eight people aboard the Ark. These eight were told to spread out and fill the earth, but their descendants wanted to stay together and build a tower. In judgment for their rebellion, God confused their language, splitting them up around the world. This means that no one could have reached modern-day North America until after the tower of Babel event. In other words, no one was in the Americas prior to about 4,200 years ago. At that time, the peoples were dispersed and began travelling and eventually settling all around the globe

— Ken “Hambo”Ham, Answers in Genesis, When Did Humans First Settle North America? August 18, 2022

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: The Government Has Zero Jurisdiction Over Churches

bible thumper 4

The government has zero jurisdiction over the local church. In any way. It neither defines it nor regulates it. That is solely the jurisdiction of Christ Jesus.

— Denise, Surph’s Side, “God vs Government”: the pretend heroics of Grace Community Church, August 15, 2022

Denise defines herself this way:

My name is Denise. I grew up in the Charismatic movement, but God delivered me out of it, and I thank Him for that. My heart is to show other believers the error of various movements(WOF, NAR, Seeker Friendly, Reformed theology/New Calvinism).I want to help them find truth through Scripture. I love the Word of God and hold it dear to my heart. It is the standard by which I filter everything, including doctrine & politics, including my own thoughts and actions. Ps 138:2 There is One God, and within the One God there are three distinct, co-equal and co-eternal persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit(1Peter 1:2; Matt. 28:19; Matt. 3:16-17; John 14:16-17). Literal 6 day Creation is Truth.Scripture is infallible, inerrant, & God-breathed (2Tim. 3:16, Heb.4:12, Ps. 19 & 119). Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone for the glory of God alone apart from any works (baptism, prayers, walking an aisle, etc.) so that no one can boast (Eph. 2:8-10). God is totally Sovereign in ALL things (Ps 33). I do mean ALL. Man is responsible for his sin. God is responsible for saving the elect through HIS means.

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 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.

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Christians Say the Darnedest Things: A Warning From God

“I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the LORD, who does all these things” (Isaiah 45:7). Certainly God is in total control of everything in this universe and He has allowed this coronavirus situation for His purposes.

I do believe it’s a warning to a nation that puts to death nearly 1 million children a year, has told God He’s not welcome in schools, rejects nativity scenes and crosses in public places and has allowed the religion of atheism to be imposed.

It’s a warning to a nation with a lot of churches but majority of which are lukewarm and compromise God’s Word in Genesis with man’s pagan religion of evolution and millions of years.

It’s a warning to a nation that is at war against the family and promotes sexual perversion through Drag Queens, LGBTQ movement, etc.

It’s a warning to a nation that is at war against children as they permeate their minds with wickedness through education and media.

It’s a warning to nation that views the elderly and infirmed as needing to be eliminated.

It’s a warning to a culture where politicians and others say we need to pray about this coronavirus situation but are not repentant about blatant sin that permeates the nation.

Be warned America and all Western nations–be warned world.

Ken Ham, via Clyde Herrin: Here Are Some Things I Have Learned From Studying the Bible, April 6, 2020

I find it interesting that Ham didn’t use the KJV for his quote of Isaiah 45:7:

I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.

Hmm . . . God created evil. I can see why Ham would prefer the word calamity to evil. Regardless, Isaiah 45:7 clearly teaches that God is sovereign and in control of everything. That would include, by the way. the very things Ham is complaining about. You can’t have it both ways. Either God is in control, or we are. Based on the available evidence, it is humans who are in control. So to Ham’s warnings, I say, “who cares?” Ham sounds like a droning ceiling fan on a hot, lazy August day. Of course, if God really is in control, I only say and do what God wants me to. 🙂

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 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.

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Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Atheists Stupidly and Rabidly Hate God

atheists are idiots

Those “freethinkers’ marching in lockstep, getting their “facts” from atheopath talking points clearinghouses, seem determined to argue with Christians and creationists about practically everything.

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Many professing atheists seek their identities in denying the existence of God, which is galactically stupid even on the surface. Study on it a spell. How many a-Easter-Bunny-ists write and sell books, form groups, make videos, have people pay money to join their “reason circle” to combat the Easter Bunny, use anti-Bunny profile icons, and more? It’s because there is no Easter Bunny, but they know God exists and suppress the truth! For some inexplicable reason, ridicule is an acceptable substitute for rational discourse and proves them right. Contradiction and ridicule are not refutation. You savvy that, pilgrim?

It is amazing that so many of Satan’s handmaidens reflexively contradict us, thrusting their atheopathy into the bright spotlight. For example, informed creationists [oxymoron] often have to correct evolutionists and professing atheists on their own belief systems and scientific truth. Also, you would think that people who claim to believe in reason, science, and logic would have at least some skill in using those things. Instead, we are subjected to bullying and malarkey. Most are all hat, no cattle.

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In their rabid hatred of God, Christians, and especially biblical creationists, bigots like this [and most atheists] are fond of perverting Scripture. It’s who they are and what they do, even when the truth applies to them — and they end up proving God right yet again.

— Cowboy Bob Sorensen, The Creation Cowboy, Internet Atheists Proving God is Right about them — Again, August 8, 2022

Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Southern Baptist Denny Burk Says Monkeypox Divine Judgment on Gay People

denny burk

Those who engage in this activity [homosexual sex] receive in their own person the due penalty of their error. There are consequences to sexual immorality. The most severe consequences are eternal for those who do not repent and turn to Christ. But there are temporal consequences as well, and diseases like Monkeypox are evidence of that. This does not mean that Monkeypox will only affect those who engage in homosexual immorality. No doubt, its ravages will extend outward from that community to people who are otherwise innocent of such behavior. But that doesn’t diminish the fact that the spread of this disease is being driven largely by those who have been given over to “degrading passions.”

I don’t know how bad the Monkeypox outbreak will get. I don’t wish it on anyone. In fact, my prayers are quite the opposite. I’m praying that in wrath the Lord would remember mercy (Habakkuk 3:2). Mercy on those who are innocent of sexual immorality and mercy on those who aren’t. I hope others are praying that way as well. But as we do, we must have moral clarity about what is happening. God made this world, and he made us. The structure of reality, therefore, is entirely according to His design and purpose. Anyone who impenitently defies that structure should expect painful consequences in this life and in the next. This latest plague is a reminder of that inexorable truth. We do no one any favors to pretend otherwise.

— Denny Burk, Professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, Denny Burk, Homosexual Immorality Driving a World Health Emergency, July 23, 2022

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 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.

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Christians Say the Darnedest Things: The Evils of Masturbation

masturbation

The host of a popular Christian dating podcast recently said that masturbation is giving into a spirit of perversion and should not be done by Christians. 

Tovares Grey, an author and speaker who spearheads the Godly Dating 101 podcast, said in a July 14 episode that it is a “myth” to say that masturbation is “normal.” He clarified that the act of pleasuring oneself in a sexual nature is not a man-only issue because women also struggle with addictions.

“I know a lot of people have the impression that the Bible doesn’t explicitly say anything. So, is it a sin? Is it not a sin?” he said. “I’ve had feedback in regards to the podcast when we spoke about [masturbation] briefly in the past. … And then there was a whole lot of women that commented that they were struggling with that, [and] with pornography. So [it’s a] way bigger issue than I thought.” 

Grey, a husband and father of two, referenced 2 Timothy 2:22 to note that lust is a sin, adding it’s impossible to masturbate without lusting.

The podcaster explained the Bible is “not specifically clear on a lot of things” when it comes to what one can and cannot do, “but it does mention the principles that we should avoid.”

“Why would God tell us to abstain from fornication and then He’s like, ‘Oh, but masturbation is cool?’” Grey said. He dismissed the idea that masturbation is “normal and you should do it.” 

He quoted Genesis 3:4-6, where the serpent convinces Eve to eat the forbidden fruit by assuring her that nothing bad will happen and that her “eyes will be opened.”

“I believe that’s what the devil is doing today,” Grey said. “He wants you to think, ‘Hey, man, don’t overthink it. It’s normal. Hey, some doctors even recommend it. Don’t even overthink this. God is not going to get mad at you.”  

“Did God really say you’re allowed to have these hormones and not act on them? Did God really give you urges that you’re not able to act on?’” asked Grey, speaking from the devil’s perspective. 

“[Satan tries] to tell you there are benefits to it without considering the consequences of acting out [in] our flesh and turning away from the Holy Spirit.” 

Grey addressed listeners who struggle with addiction to masturbation due to abuse and trauma in their pasts. He recommended that they seek therapy or prayer.

“I know there’s a lot more women who struggle with that and there’s a lot of people who say ‘Oh, I do it because it’s the only time, [I] feel good because of abuse [and] all these other issues.’ And that’s why it’s so needed to go to God in prayer for healing.”

For those who engage in masturbation to release “sexual frustration,” Grey said they need to eliminate things that can lead to temptation. He noted that if “there was no desire for it, there would be no reason to cave into it.” 

“Every single person has a sex drive,” Grey explained. “That’s how God creates us. But what happened was your appetite was growing too much, growing too high.”

“You had too heavy of a desire that you did not know how to release that, because you’re more than likely not married, that you decided to take matters into your own hands.” 

Every sexual temptation is “the enemy” planting seeds in someone, according to Grey. He cited examples of sex scenes on television or music that include sexually graphic lyrics. 

“He’ll plant those seeds, and now when you’re home alone and in the middle of the night, your hormones are raging because you keep listening to this music that you don’t need to be listening to, and now the Enemy is just like, ‘Oh, it’s just this one time,’” Grey said. 

“We don’t realize that that music that we thought was no big deal, it was doing something to our spirit. Because what you constantly feed yourself, your body’s going to desire it.” 

….

“The Bible mentions God only has one standard for His children: holiness. So while people are recommending it, you have to understand that they are not trying to honor God,” said Grey. 

In 2019, then-Southern Baptist Convention President J.D. Greear warned in a podcast episode that masturbation “dangerous because it can be addictive.”

“It’s something that can start to almost re-wire your brain,” Greear said. “It can actually sabotage healthy sexual relationships because it takes sexual desire away from the way that God intended it, which is between two people, and turned it into sort of an auto-eroticism type of thing.”

— The Christian Post, Should Christians Masturbate? July 19, 2022

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 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.

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Christians Say the Darnedest Things: When Atheists Say You are a Hater and Bigot, Ignore Them, Even if You are a Hateful Bigot

dr david tee

The first step in doing God’s work to fulfill his dream is to not fall victim to the labels and lies of the unbelieving world. When you tell people they are going to hell if they are unrepentant sinners be prepared to be called a hater and a bigot.

But names like that should roll off our backs. Telling the truth in love is not hatred nor is it bigotry. The truth exposes the hatred and bigotry on the unbelieving side as they do not want to hear it.

The people who do not want to repent of their sins will feel both emotions and more when they are excluded from paradise. They do not want to follow the standards of right and wrong, etc., yet they accuse the believer of being hate-filled and bigots.

We are just the messenger letting them know what is right and what is wrong. If they do not like it, it is not our responsibility. They have had their equal opportunity to be saved and they have rejected it. Their decisions are all on their shoulders.

— Fake Dr. David Tee, whose real name is Derrick Thomas Thiessen, TheologyArcheology: A Site for the Glory of God, There is Still Work to Be Done, July 31, 2022

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 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.

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Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Transgender People Do Not Exist Cuz the Bible Says They Don’t

andrew t walker

This is where the true debate resides. Christianity views reality through the lens of Scripture, which speaks of male and female as beings defined by their anatomical and reproductive organization (Genesis 1:26–28). Hormones or surgery cannot override the underlying realities of our genetic structure. If culture tries to define male and female apart from anatomy and reproductive organization, male and female become fluid, absurd categories. Hence where we are as a culture.

The transgender worldview is an active thwarting of one’s nature. It is akin to defying limits or swimming upstream against a current: you might try, but eventually limitations and the strength of the current are going to sweep you up against your will.

This reality of nature leads to one of the most important truths: actual transgenderism does not exist. Sure, there are people who may have genuine confusion over their “gender identity” (a concept itself riddled with problems), but the idea that there are persons truly “trapped” in the wrong body is false. Scripture does not allow for such a dualism between the body and the “self.

— Andrew T. Walker is Associate Professor of Christian Ethics at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Desiring God, The Transgender Fantasy, July 23, 2022

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 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.

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Christians Say the Darnedest Things: Why Have Sex with Unbelief When You Can Have Sex with Jesus

sexy jesus

Unbelief is essentially your spiritual mistress. And like any mistress, she is untrustworthy and unfaithful. You are not her only lover; not by a long shot. Your mistress gives herself to anyone who will join her in rejecting the Messiah.

God commands you to break off your sinful relationship with your mistress of unbelief. Tell her the affair is over. Leave her once and for all. Turn to God in repentance and trust in the sacrifice that Jesus made on your behalf when he died for your sins on the cross. You owe him everything. You owe your mistress nothing. 

And besides, your mistress does not care about you in the slightest. She is not even a person. She is simply a perspective that you happen to find alluring. You have been seduced by her mind as you have bought into her enticing definition of personal freedom.

She whispers to you:

“Be your own person. Forget about God and all that mumbo jumbo about sin and the cross and salvation. You deserve to be free of any interference from God. Heaven and Hell are merely make-believe concepts used to control weak people. You, however, are strong, independent and enlightened.” 

One lie after the other, and so far, you have taken the bait as evidenced by your persistent unbelief and refusal to accept Jesus as your Savior. Your infatuation with your mistress will disappear once you end the affair. 

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Do you realize that her tantalizing lies come with strings attached? These strings ultimately drag souls into far greater misery than you can even imagine. Affairs never end well, but the consequences of this particular affair take things to a whole other level. Hell is a real place in a different realm and is a deep dark pit of never-ending agony and despair. (Luke 16:19-31)

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Why continue to lust after your mistress when the One who truly loves your soul is willing to forgive your unfaithfulness to him and give you peace and joy today and forever? Did your mistress suffer hours of agony on a cross to pay for your sins? Of course not. A real person suffered and died for your sins so that you can go to Heaven when you die. Christ loves you, but he will not force you to receive his love, forgiveness and salvation.

You get to make the choice. Faith in Jesus, or unbelief? Truth or spiritual lies? Heaven or Hell? No man can serve two masters, just like no man can love both his wife and his mistress.

You should be mad at your spiritual mistress because of how badly she has corrupted your soul. Unbelief is a dark and shady character. I suppose this is one reason you feel drawn to her. You find her seductive words of unbelief exhilarating in some twisted way. But one day she will leave you. And you will be left with nothing.

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You would be smart to have the awkward discussion with your mistress immediately and break off that doomed relationship. After all, she doesn’t care about you, but Christ does. You are simply under her spell. Your affair has taken you far from God.

If this sounds ridiculous to you, it is only because your mistress is blinding you from the truth. You tell yourself you love her, but even that is a lie. If you end up in Hell, you will hate what your mistress did to your soul. And yet you will realize that you are fully responsible for your eternal sentence. You will finally come to see that it was never about love; it was always about lust. 

Unbelief is rooted in spiritual lust. This intense longing to be the captain of your soul resists submitting yourself to the rightful owner of your soul, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Christian faith, on the other hand, is rooted in God’s love in sending his only Son to be our Savior from sin. (John 3:16) True and lasting freedom can only be found in a loving and faithful relationship with Jesus Christ. 

I hope you will decide today to end your affair with unbelief.   

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So be honest. What has unbelief ever done for you? And it only gets worse the longer you stay in that tawdry relationship. Sure it may be humiliating for you to say goodbye to your mistress, but in the words of Oliver Markus: “A horrible end is better than endless horror.”

— Dan Delzell, pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska, The Christian Post, Why you should end your affair with unbelief, July 29, 2022

Bruce Gerencser, 66, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 45 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.

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Bruce Gerencser