Surprised That Atheists Perform CCM? Not Me

As reported by Elisabeth Prata, the Christian flavored metal band As I Lay Dying has outted themselves as atheists. Surprised? Think about it: How many Christian music artists have hired hitmen to kill their wives? My guess is a number somewhere between "none" and "not any", but that's just a guess. 

Of course being a Christian performer doesn't prevent us from sinning, the Holy Spirit helps us from committing sin (Galatians 5:22) but the title of Christian does nothing... except sell records to goats. And yes, people who believe that As I Lay Dying was a Christian Metal band have been duped utterly and completely. You can point the finger of blame at promoters and record companies who have no problem taking your money, you can blame As I Lay Dying front man Tim Lambesis for your misconception that the band is Christian, because at one point he did say he was a Christian. But in the end you only have your self to blame.

"You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? (Matthew 7:16)

The fruits displayed by As I Lay Dying are clearly not Christian. To begin with, at no time did they ever mention God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit in their "music", they claim that they espoused Christian values in their music but caring for the sick and helping little old ladies across the street then "singing" about it is not Christianity. A sample of their "lyrics" are:

You're in never ending pain

And drink the devil's rain

You're screaming out your name

Hellion! The devil's hellion in town

Hellion! We'll never have to die!

The Gods you worship are steel

At the altar of rock and roll

You kneel,

A slave who forever rocks

His tail in the devil's locks

A slave like the bloody exile

Hellion! The devil's hellion in town

Hellion! We'll never have to die! 

- Hellion, from the album Decas

How could you hear that and still convince yourself that this was a Christian band? and you can't blame As I Lay Dying front man Tim Lambesis for your misconception that the band is Christian, he never showed in any form that he was. First he said that he was a Christian, Then he told his wife he no longer believed in God and turned away from Him and hired a hitman to murder her. He may have been Christian at some point, but his music never was. I don't know if he ever was a Christian, because the fruit of his Christianity has never been displayed, at least not in his "music".

Of course if he really was a Christian at some point and he did fall away, this opens truly opens up the debate of "Once Saved Always Saved" VS maintaining and strengthening your faith. The members of the "Once Saved Always Saved" belief will point to bible verses like Romans 8:30, while members of the "maintain your faith" belief will point to Hebrews 6:4-6. There are a lot of verses warning us to maintain our faith, preserver to the end, and to beware of the great falling away. Personally I have yet to find a bible verse that says prima facia either way, because there's plenty of verses that say your salvation is eternal, but there's also a lot of verses that say you must maintain your faith or you'll fall away. Personally I believe that your salvation is eternal... unless you willingly throw it away.

If you consider that stand wishy-washy I don't care, I read the bible, I pray over what I've read, and I believe this is what the Holy Spirit has convicted me to believe. Another thing I believe that the Holy Spirit has convicted me to believe is that the noise our young Christians are listening to is causing them to cast aside the faith of their fathers. Heavy metal noise and lyrics that are as shallow and atheistic as the stuff written by the pagan John Lennon fill the airwaves on KLOVE and are played as worship music in church is step by step leading our children into Satan's arms. If you don't agree with me, fine, prove me wrong. In the meantime visit http://goodfightministries.org and see what Pastor Joe Schimmel says.

And listen to these folks, they know what being a Christian and making a joyful noise really is all about: