About 5minutes

I'm 5minutes. I'm the admin here. Short history: Musically, I've been into Christian Metal since the mid-to-late 80's. Although I remain a die-hard metalhead, yes, I do listen to other kinds of music that some would consider "eclectic" and some just wouldn't consider. Jazz, funk, acoustic, alternative, etc. It's all good, unless it's a) Southern Gospel; b) Country made after 1970; or c) R&B made after 1980. Spiritually, I was one of the lucky ones who was raised in a Christian household. I can't remember a time when Christ wasn't a part of my life. I made a confession of faith at age 7 in a small charismatic house church. During the 90's, I slowly, but surely, left the charismaticism of my youth, but never really found a home. In mid-2001 (just prior to 9/11), I had a spiritual awakening that led me to seriously begin studying the Reformers: Luther, Calvin, etc. Over the next few years, I discovered the joy of Reformation Theology, and have been, as some have called me, a "stark raving Presbyterian" ever since. Whatever your theology, tho, my heart for you is simple: you, as much as I, need the Gospel. It's why I'm still part of the Christian Metal community. It's why I'm still breathing - because I have a mission, as we all do, to preach Jesus Christ, crucified and raised from the dead for our sins for no other reason than grace. And grace, my friends, is the key to my life - and yours. I need it, constantly. As my theological hero, a certain German Augustinian monk who got kicked out of his church, put it: “If you are a preacher of grace, then preach a true and not a fictitious grace; if grace is true, you must bear a true and not a fictitious sin. God does not save people who are only fictitious sinners. Be a sinner and sin boldly,  but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for he is victorious over sin, death, and the world. As long as we are here [in this world]  we have to sin. This life is not the dwelling place of righteousness,  but, as Peter says,  we look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. It is enough that by the riches of God’s glory we have come to know the Lamb that takes away the sin of the world.  No sin will separate us from the Lamb, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day. Do you think that the purchase price that was paid for the redemption of our sins by so great a Lamb is too small? Pray boldly—you too are a mighty sinner.” - Dr. Martin Luther