Dave Ellefson is considered one of the hardest headbangers of heavy metal and he shares his uplifting and empowering memoir about overcoming addiction and discovering a life of faith.
In My Life with Deth, cofounder and bassist of Megadeth David Ellefson reveals the behind-the-scenes details of life in one of the world’s most popular heavy metal bands. If you’re looking for eye-opening revelations, they’re here, including the drug habits that brought the band members to their knees.
But My Life with Deth is far more than just another memoir of debauchery. Ellefson also shares the story of his faith journey, which began when he decided his only choice for survival was to get free from his addiction.
Whether religious or not, you’ll be enthralled and inspired by this tell-all book on discovering meaning in a life of rock and roll. You’ll find insightful comments from some of the biggest names in heavy metal, along with universal life lessons. With a delicate balance between humor and earnestness, anyone “can appreciate Ellefson’s unpretentious tone and the delightful irony of a serious Christian who helped define seriously heavy metal music” (Publisher’s Weekly).
Dave Ellefson is undertaking studies at a Lutheran Seminary towards becoming a pastor.
He also has established Mega Life Ministry, check out the Mega Life facebook page
Buy the book by clicking My life in Death
Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stories. Show all posts
Saturday, March 04, 2017
Saturday, May 14, 2016
A story of a city Lutheran pastor God used to touch many with love and peace.
Pastor John Steinbruck is remembered as a city Lutheran pastor, a community organiser and seeker of justice.
Much of his story revolves around his call to Luther Place Memorial Church, Washington DC, where he became an articulate and passionate preacher of the Social Gospel and a leading voice locally and nationally for the homeless, Central American refugees, and the victims of persecution and prejudice.
Charles A Scheiren says "Steinbruck was an outstanding example of all that is right and possible in public theology,”
Rev. Dr. Katie Day. says “He ‘walked his talk and talked his walk’ consistently and without compromise.”
Read His story and how God has been at work in and through him
Wikipedia entry
A Saint in the City
John Steinbruck and the Challenge of Peace
Songbird sings
Much of his story revolves around his call to Luther Place Memorial Church, Washington DC, where he became an articulate and passionate preacher of the Social Gospel and a leading voice locally and nationally for the homeless, Central American refugees, and the victims of persecution and prejudice.
Charles A Scheiren says "Steinbruck was an outstanding example of all that is right and possible in public theology,”
Rev. Dr. Katie Day. says “He ‘walked his talk and talked his walk’ consistently and without compromise.”
Read His story and how God has been at work in and through him
Wikipedia entry
A Saint in the City
John Steinbruck and the Challenge of Peace
Songbird sings
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
Article: Make sure the children actually hear the Gospel and not just a bunch of bible stories
Make sure the children actually hear the Gospel and not just a bunch of bible stories appeared in Christianity Today - The Exchange Blog a by Ed Stezter....at http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2015/february/making-sure-children-actually-hear-gospel-and-not-just-bunc.html
Children have a faith that is ready to go. Let’s not waste that opportunity by delivering a humanistic Gospel.
We talk a lot about contextualization Gospel communication. How do we share the eternal truth of God in specific locations for specific people who have a specific shared experience?
The Gospel does not change. So the message should remain the same, even as the methods are adjusted for effectiveness.
But how well do we proclaim the Gospel to children? I’m not asking how well we teach children Bible stories, or how well we have taught the moral truths of Scripture.
Are we contextualizing our Gospel communication for children as well as we are for the hipsters in Brooklyn or the tribes in Tanzania?
The Bible as a Collection of Good Stories
Too often we teach the Bible as a series of isolated morality tales, like Aesop’s Fables. We want our children to learn how to live well, so we draw from the Bible stories of people who did the right thing and those who did the wrong thing.
We hope they are getting the idea that good is of God, leading to success, and bad is of Satan, leading to failure. If the kiddos can then live out and retell the story with the right names and main points, we feel like they have a grasp on the Gospel.
Churches have told children tons of good stories, but have we told them the Story?
It is easy to tell the stories within the story, but there is a big picture here. We miss some important points when we offer a slice of the Gospel as if it is the whole pie.
I think about it this way.
There’s this huge story with basically four major acts.
Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. I teach these at my church. You might as well. But how do you teach this to children?
I’m a father of three daughters. The reality is I just don’t want them to know one part of God’s big story. He’s given us His Word that tells the story of His grand and awesome plan, from the first verse to the last. I want them to know the Truth, not just a truth or two.
The Gospel is About What God is Doing
We miss the flow of God if we just take the Bible in isolated parts. And the flow is important to understanding that the Gospel is not just a group of ideas, but rather a plan that has been designed and implemented by a loving God for the saving of humans.
Ideas aren’t as personal as a plan. The plan runs the length of Scripture. So for example, we hear Jesus say in 1 Corinthians 11, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.”
But we don’t remember that Moses said, “This blood is a symbol of the covenant” in the Old Testament. We don’t understand why Abraham would be called to sacrifice Isaac if we don’t understand what would happen as God the Son is sent by God the Father to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. This interconnectedness happens all through Scripture.
When we take the Bible as a series of isolated morality tales, we think about 66 books with hundreds, if not thousands, of stories contained within them. In actuality, there are not thousands of stories. There are not 66 stories. There aren’t even two stories with the Old and New Testament. There is one story and that is the story of what God is doing—redemptive history.
We want to teach morals to kids, but we don’t want them to become moralists.
The Gospel is Not a Self-help Program
Part of the challenge is in the midst of sharing the Gospel. We want to teach morals to kids, but we don’t want them to become moralists. Yet that is a facet of the predominant religion of our culture today—moralistic therapeutic deism.
Christian Smith coined this phrase.
Moralism is the idea that whatever God is out there wants you to be a good person. It’s also therapeutic. It makes you a better person. It’s actually good for you to have some spirituality in your life. And deism is merely the belief in some God doing something up/out there.
While many people would not self-identify as moralistic therapeutic deists, that is exactly what they are, practically speaking.
They often draw their theology from various sources, including the Bible. But they cherry pick Bible stories that work well with their worldview and adopt the morality found in the story. This will make them feel better and pleasing to God. Mission accomplished.
But that isn’t our mission. That’s not our desire.
The Gospel is that sinners have been saved and are part of a family of believers who edify and equip one another to go out to other sinners and tell them about the Savior. Scripture tells us how God has been searching for and saving people from the first Garden to the Eternal City. We have the privilege of telling that to others, including kids.
Contextualization for Children is Essential
I'm not a children's pastor and do not have a Ph.D. in educational pedagogy.
Yet, I can tell that that we should not let the fact that children are still learning how to learn keep us from sharing the whole counsel of God with them. When Jesus taught about our acceptance of the Gospel, He said that we must become as children.
Children were designed to hear about the things of God and have faith in them with few hurdles. So let’s be honest with them about the Gospel. It will make more sense if it is delivered holistically, and it will have a greater effect in their lives.
Definitely contextualize, as you would anywhere to anyone else. But do not strip the Gospel of its power in your delivery. God has a Story, and they are in it.
How can we more effectively teach stories without extracting them from the Story? What have you found as you teach children about the bigger story? What part of the Gospel is the most difficult to contextualize for children?
Some Resources
Thankfully, many gifted people see the need to teach the whole Story of Scripture to children. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of great resources available to the Church today to teach children about Jesus, the Gospel, and God's Word. There are some links to some below. Feel free to suggest your tools in the comments below as well.
Children have a faith that is ready to go. Let’s not waste that opportunity by delivering a humanistic Gospel.
We talk a lot about contextualization Gospel communication. How do we share the eternal truth of God in specific locations for specific people who have a specific shared experience?
The Gospel does not change. So the message should remain the same, even as the methods are adjusted for effectiveness.
But how well do we proclaim the Gospel to children? I’m not asking how well we teach children Bible stories, or how well we have taught the moral truths of Scripture.
Are we contextualizing our Gospel communication for children as well as we are for the hipsters in Brooklyn or the tribes in Tanzania?
The Bible as a Collection of Good Stories
Too often we teach the Bible as a series of isolated morality tales, like Aesop’s Fables. We want our children to learn how to live well, so we draw from the Bible stories of people who did the right thing and those who did the wrong thing.
We hope they are getting the idea that good is of God, leading to success, and bad is of Satan, leading to failure. If the kiddos can then live out and retell the story with the right names and main points, we feel like they have a grasp on the Gospel.
Churches have told children tons of good stories, but have we told them the Story?
It is easy to tell the stories within the story, but there is a big picture here. We miss some important points when we offer a slice of the Gospel as if it is the whole pie.
I think about it this way.
There’s this huge story with basically four major acts.
Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. I teach these at my church. You might as well. But how do you teach this to children?
I’m a father of three daughters. The reality is I just don’t want them to know one part of God’s big story. He’s given us His Word that tells the story of His grand and awesome plan, from the first verse to the last. I want them to know the Truth, not just a truth or two.
The Gospel is About What God is Doing
We miss the flow of God if we just take the Bible in isolated parts. And the flow is important to understanding that the Gospel is not just a group of ideas, but rather a plan that has been designed and implemented by a loving God for the saving of humans.
Ideas aren’t as personal as a plan. The plan runs the length of Scripture. So for example, we hear Jesus say in 1 Corinthians 11, “This cup is the New Covenant in My blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me.”
But we don’t remember that Moses said, “This blood is a symbol of the covenant” in the Old Testament. We don’t understand why Abraham would be called to sacrifice Isaac if we don’t understand what would happen as God the Son is sent by God the Father to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. This interconnectedness happens all through Scripture.
When we take the Bible as a series of isolated morality tales, we think about 66 books with hundreds, if not thousands, of stories contained within them. In actuality, there are not thousands of stories. There are not 66 stories. There aren’t even two stories with the Old and New Testament. There is one story and that is the story of what God is doing—redemptive history.
We want to teach morals to kids, but we don’t want them to become moralists.
The Gospel is Not a Self-help Program
Part of the challenge is in the midst of sharing the Gospel. We want to teach morals to kids, but we don’t want them to become moralists. Yet that is a facet of the predominant religion of our culture today—moralistic therapeutic deism.
Christian Smith coined this phrase.
Moralism is the idea that whatever God is out there wants you to be a good person. It’s also therapeutic. It makes you a better person. It’s actually good for you to have some spirituality in your life. And deism is merely the belief in some God doing something up/out there.
While many people would not self-identify as moralistic therapeutic deists, that is exactly what they are, practically speaking.
They often draw their theology from various sources, including the Bible. But they cherry pick Bible stories that work well with their worldview and adopt the morality found in the story. This will make them feel better and pleasing to God. Mission accomplished.
But that isn’t our mission. That’s not our desire.
The Gospel is that sinners have been saved and are part of a family of believers who edify and equip one another to go out to other sinners and tell them about the Savior. Scripture tells us how God has been searching for and saving people from the first Garden to the Eternal City. We have the privilege of telling that to others, including kids.
Contextualization for Children is Essential
I'm not a children's pastor and do not have a Ph.D. in educational pedagogy.
Yet, I can tell that that we should not let the fact that children are still learning how to learn keep us from sharing the whole counsel of God with them. When Jesus taught about our acceptance of the Gospel, He said that we must become as children.
Children were designed to hear about the things of God and have faith in them with few hurdles. So let’s be honest with them about the Gospel. It will make more sense if it is delivered holistically, and it will have a greater effect in their lives.
Definitely contextualize, as you would anywhere to anyone else. But do not strip the Gospel of its power in your delivery. God has a Story, and they are in it.
How can we more effectively teach stories without extracting them from the Story? What have you found as you teach children about the bigger story? What part of the Gospel is the most difficult to contextualize for children?
Some Resources
Thankfully, many gifted people see the need to teach the whole Story of Scripture to children. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of great resources available to the Church today to teach children about Jesus, the Gospel, and God's Word. There are some links to some below. Feel free to suggest your tools in the comments below as well.
- The Gospel Project for Kids—Download a full month preview of The Gospel Project for Kids and see how we've designed this Bible study material to not only teach kids the stories of the Bible, but the Story of the Bible—the Story of redemption through Jesus Christ.
- The Big Picture Interactive Bible Storybook
- The Jesus Storybook Bible
- The Big Picture Story Bible
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Article: How to tell a GREAT story
We tell stories to our coworkers and peers all the time — to persuade someone to support our project, to explain to an employee how he might improve, or to inspire a team that is facing challenges. It’s an essential skill, but what makes a compelling story in a business context? And how can you improve your ability to tell stories that persuade?
What the Experts Say
In our information-saturated age, business leaders “won’t be heard unless they’re telling stories,” says Nick Morgan, author of Power Cues and president and founder of Public Words, a communications consulting firm. “Facts and figures and all the rational things that we think are important in the business world actually don’t stick in our minds at all,” he says. But stories create “sticky” memories by attaching emotions to things that happen. That means leaders who can create and share good stories have a powerful advantage over others. And fortunately, everyone has the ability to become a better storyteller. “We are programmed through our evolutionary biology to be both consumers and creators of story,” says Jonah Sachs, CEO of Free Range Studios and author of Winning the Story Wars. “It certainly can be taught and learned.”
Read the article to discover how to tell a great story.....here
What the Experts Say
In our information-saturated age, business leaders “won’t be heard unless they’re telling stories,” says Nick Morgan, author of Power Cues and president and founder of Public Words, a communications consulting firm. “Facts and figures and all the rational things that we think are important in the business world actually don’t stick in our minds at all,” he says. But stories create “sticky” memories by attaching emotions to things that happen. That means leaders who can create and share good stories have a powerful advantage over others. And fortunately, everyone has the ability to become a better storyteller. “We are programmed through our evolutionary biology to be both consumers and creators of story,” says Jonah Sachs, CEO of Free Range Studios and author of Winning the Story Wars. “It certainly can be taught and learned.”
Read the article to discover how to tell a great story.....here
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Narrative Lectionary
The Narrative Lectionary is a four-year cycle of readings. On the Sundays from September through May each year the texts follow the sweep of the biblical story, from Creation through the early Christian church.
The texts show the breadth and variety of voices within Scripture. They invite people to hear the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the prophets, Jesus, and Paul. Listening to the many different voices within Scripture enriches preaching and the life of faith.
Resources for Narrative Lectionary
Background resources
Watch a video of Craig Koester introducing the Narrative Lectionary
Working Preacher
Narrative Lectionary Workday video
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - Elizabeth City North Caroline
Christian Century Article - Why I am trying the Narrative Lectionary
Resources for Weekly Worship and Church Life
The 4 year readings
Facebook group-Narrative Lectionary
Google Group - Narrative Lectionary
Textweek
Working Preacher weekly commentary
Friendship Presbyterian Church commentary, liturgy and sermons
RevGalBlogPals Narrative Lectionary commentaries
Worship Resources from Reflectionary
Clergy Stuff Narrative Lectionary Resources
Spill the Beans worship and learning resources
Darkwood Brew
2014-15 Hymn suggestions
Word to Worship Contemporary Song Selections
Sunday School resources - Spirit and Truth
Daily Devotions from Living in God's Story
The texts show the breadth and variety of voices within Scripture. They invite people to hear the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and the prophets, Jesus, and Paul. Listening to the many different voices within Scripture enriches preaching and the life of faith.
Resources for Narrative Lectionary
Background resources
Watch a video of Craig Koester introducing the Narrative Lectionary
Working Preacher
Narrative Lectionary Workday video
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - Elizabeth City North Caroline
Christian Century Article - Why I am trying the Narrative Lectionary
Resources for Weekly Worship and Church Life
The 4 year readings
Facebook group-Narrative Lectionary
Google Group - Narrative Lectionary
Textweek
Working Preacher weekly commentary
Friendship Presbyterian Church commentary, liturgy and sermons
RevGalBlogPals Narrative Lectionary commentaries
Worship Resources from Reflectionary
Clergy Stuff Narrative Lectionary Resources
Spill the Beans worship and learning resources
Darkwood Brew
2014-15 Hymn suggestions
Word to Worship Contemporary Song Selections
Sunday School resources - Spirit and Truth
Daily Devotions from Living in God's Story
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Forgiveness by Matthew West... song and story behind the song
Stories and songs are two of the most effective ways in communicating the faith.....
stories that are real and link to God's approach to life are effective and transforming....
songs are away of helping us remember and proclaim God's approach to life.....
Matthew West is a song writer with a mission to put stories into song.....
He was sent a story of forgiveness and the impact it has had on people and has translated that it to song....
Listen to the story.....
Hear the song
stories that are real and link to God's approach to life are effective and transforming....
songs are away of helping us remember and proclaim God's approach to life.....
Matthew West is a song writer with a mission to put stories into song.....
He was sent a story of forgiveness and the impact it has had on people and has translated that it to song....
Listen to the story.....
Hear the song
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
A story: love in action and how it changed a life
Here is a story of how love in action has changed the life for one young boy and his family who have had life tough.
Luke has autism....his family struggled....many carers struggled....his life was miserable and not expected to be long, until Alan Werner affected his life with love in action....
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwuQa3_nVpn0Mk1yYXZPZ09nTGM
or
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/how-love-saved-luke-modra/story-e6frf7kx-1226012506889
Luke has autism....his family struggled....many carers struggled....his life was miserable and not expected to be long, until Alan Werner affected his life with love in action....
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0BwuQa3_nVpn0Mk1yYXZPZ09nTGM
or
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/how-love-saved-luke-modra/story-e6frf7kx-1226012506889
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Stories of our hymns
Singing hymns are an important part of the Christian life, but our life is enhanced even further when we know the story behind the hymns
Stories behind our hymns provide stories and reflections about many of the hymns including those written by:
Clement of Alexandria
John of Damascus
Joseph the Hymnographer
Ambrose
Prudentius
Forunatus
Rhabanus Maurus
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Cluny
Martin Luther
Paul Speratus
Paul Eber
Nikolaus Decius
Nikolaus Selnecker
Bartholomaus Ringwaldt
Martin Behm
Philipp Nicolai
Johann Heermann
Jacob Fabricius
Martin Rinckart
Paul Gerhardt
Thomas Kingo
Hans Brorson
Nikolai Grundtvig
you can find the stories at http://www.geocities.com/resourcesforlutherans/hymns
Stories behind our hymns provide stories and reflections about many of the hymns including those written by:
Clement of Alexandria
John of Damascus
Joseph the Hymnographer
Ambrose
Prudentius
Forunatus
Rhabanus Maurus
Bernard of Clairvaux
Bernard of Cluny
Martin Luther
Paul Speratus
Paul Eber
Nikolaus Decius
Nikolaus Selnecker
Bartholomaus Ringwaldt
Martin Behm
Philipp Nicolai
Johann Heermann
Jacob Fabricius
Martin Rinckart
Paul Gerhardt
Thomas Kingo
Hans Brorson
Nikolai Grundtvig
you can find the stories at http://www.geocities.com/resourcesforlutherans/hymns
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