Christian singer-songwriter Colton Dixon said the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the government’s restrictive response to the COVID-19 pandemic “changed” him.

Dixon, 35, told CBN News seeing Kirk murdered for exercising his right to free speech pushed him “to seek truth harder.”

“I feel like, just for a lot of people, whether you believed in what Charlie stood for or not, just for a lot of people, it was, like, it just — I don’t know, it changed me,” said Dixon. “It was just, like, ‘Wow.’ [It] gave me a new outlook on things, even just to seek truth harder.”

The up-and-coming generation, he added, aren’t taking things at face-value anymore, regardless of the source. “They’re seeking truth for themselves,” he explained.

As a Christian recording artist, Dixon said he believes he has found the answer: “The answer’s Jesus.”

The recent spate of culture-defining events have, according to the “Build a Boat” singer, “anchored my feet down in my beliefs so that I’m not going to be pushed around by a little Chihuahua who might bark louder.”

“I kind of even really figured out why I believe what I believe,” he said. “[B]ecause again, it’s just COVID and just all these different things, they’re trying to get you to do different things and I’m like, ‘OK, why aren’t we just going to do it?’ Let’s figure out why so we’re not just being stubborn and hardheaded.”

“We open up God’s Word, we pray, we seek godly wisdom, and then we come to the conclusion, ‘Oh, this is why,’” Dixon said. “So now I just feel more steadfast in why I believe what I believe.”

As he’s ruminated on his convictions in recent years, Dixon has become noticeably more comfortable creating edgier content — at least edgier for the status quo in the contemporary Christian music world.

The “American Idol” alumnus just released a new song, “Bones,” based on the Old Testament passage of Ezekiel 37, chronicling the story of the prophet being transported to a valley filled with dry bones. God asked whether the bones could live and then commanded Ezekiel to prophesy over them. As the prophet began speaking promises to the bones, they assembled and were covered in flesh. Then a second prophecy called breath to fill their lungs and they became a living army standing to their feet.

Dixon said the song is “straight from Scripture,” recalling reading the biblical account and feeling “super inspired” and “like God gave me revelation” about speaking “over the dead things in your life.”

During a time of year when most of American culture is fixated on death from a secular perspective, Dixon saw an opportunity to flip the script around Halloween with a biblical understanding of death.

“What if we could … take this passage that already theatrically lines up with a lot of the visuals of skeletons — that’s what this whole passage was, it was a valley of dry bones, the bones rattling, coming together, flesh coming upon the bones, it was like zombies out there, you know, in Ezekiel 37,” he reflected.

That passage of Scripture, Dixon emphasized, shows a biblical interpretation of death, which, for the Christian, he said, is “just a little blip on the timeline of what our lives look like.”

He said, “For the rest of the world, death is the final word. … That’s the period. Life after death is this big mystery. But for a believer, death is not the final word; the cross —what Jesus did on the cross — is the final word, and not only that, but three days later, Him resurrecting from the grave so that we could spend eternal life with Him in heaven. … Death can be a scary thing to talk about, but as a believer, I don’t think it should be.”

The song — and its music video, which is set at night in a graveyard — is certainly unorthodox in its approach, but it paints a clear picture to the world that this life is not all there is. It also tells the story of spiritual power, a nod toward Romans 8:11, where Paul wrote, “The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you”.

“I think that this song is … a kick in the pants for sideline Christians, where I’ve found myself before,” said Dixon. “It’s time to start using the spiritual authority that we have as believers and not just talk the talk, but walk it, as well.”

In fact, for Dixon, it was his wife Annie’s certainty about spiritual authority that led him to do some self-reflection.

“I found myself being so in awe of [my wife] that that was her first response [to pray and speak over things],” he said. “But then also going, ‘Why isn’t that mine?’ You know? If I’m really going to be the best spiritual leader of our house, I need to stop kicking my feet up and actually get in the game and start doing this for real.”
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com

Mel Gibson is calling on churches to pray as he prepares to bring one of the most important moments in human history to the big screen.

In a special video message to Pastor Samuel Rodriguez and members of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Gibson offered a new glimpse into the spiritual weight surrounding his highly anticipated film, “The Resurrection of the Christ Part One,” which is scheduled to hit theaters May 6, 2027.

“I’m so grateful to all of you and can’t wait for you to see ‘The Resurrection of the Christ Part One’ in theaters May 6, 2027,” Gibson said.

But Gibson’s message wasn’t simply about promoting a movie. He issued a direct request to the church: Pray.

“Please prepare your churches to pray for us as we get ready to release the film in theaters next May,” Gibson said. “And thank you for all your prayers and support in leading your churches to ‘The Resurrection of the Christ’. God bless.”

Gibson also revealed that Rodriguez was with him in Italy during production, where he got a firsthand look at the work in progress.

“Pastor Samuel was with me on set in Italy during production, and he saw firsthand the epic scale of what we’re putting together,” Gibson said.

The video also included powerful statements about the potential spiritual impact of Gibson’s latest project, with Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller declaring that the filmmaker is “preaching the gospel with this modern means.”

“’The Resurrection of the Christ’ is not just a film,” the Rev. Franklin Graham said in the video. “This is the greatest event in history, and it’s being recreated right here so you can see it.”

Graham expressed hope that the movie “will touch the lives of millions of people,” while another described Christ’s resurrection as the very source of the church’s life.

More than two decades after “The Passion of the Christ” brought Jesus’ crucifixion to audiences around the world, Gibson is now preparing to tell what happened next.

The message of this next chapter is unmistakable: The resurrection is not simply the end of a biblical story. It is the foundation of the Christian faith.

As Pastor Samuel Rodriguez declared, “This right here, this is the exclamation point of Christianity.”
Sources:CBN News

http://theendtimeradio.com

Grammy-winning Southern Gospel singer Guy Penrod disclosed Monday he is facing a “serious” health diagnosis and is in need of divine healing.

Penrod, 63, shared limited details about his health during a livestream with fellow Gaither Vocal Band alumnus Mark Lowry.

“This is not something that can be healed,” the recording artist said, meaning there are very limited medical interventions that could successfully treat the diagnosis. “It’s serious. It’s blood stuff in the bones and [has to do with] producing blood.”

While he has not yet disclosed what he’s facing, Penrod and his wife, Angie, “aren’t freaked out” and “are not casting a net of fear.”

“We all serve the same God,” he said. “I’m not the guy that likes to hide away, for the most part. The trouble or difficulty we’re going through, I’d just as soon have a team of warriors like you praying and call[ing] on God and bringing my name up to Him.”

Lowry, 68, interrupted Penrod to suggest they pray right then for the Lord “to touch and heal our brother Guy.”

“Father, thank You so much for Guy Penrod,” prayed Lowry. “Thank You for all he has meant to my life all these years. Lord, You know more than the doctors do about his situation, and nothing ever takes You by surprise. Father, will You touch Your son and heal him from the top of his head to the sole of his feet, Lord? Would You fix whatever needs to be fixed? Would You guide the doctors’ minds? Would You give them supernatural wisdom? Lord, would You put Your warring angels and Your healing angels all around us right now, Lord, to protect and to touch Guy, Lord Jesus?”

Penrod, for his part, brought up the account in Matthew 8:1-4, when Jesus healed the man with leprosy:

Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed” (NLT).

The “Then Came the Morning” singer began praying for whatever health issues those watching the livestream might be facing.

“Father, we pray for our brothers and sisters as they walk the road of life and they deal with what comes at them,” he said. “May Your Spirit encourage, uplift, heal, deliver, strengthen, provide [for] all the needs that are represented here. Provide for all of them, Father. We know that You don’t need. You don’t need. You say that ‘I’m here for You.’ Isn’t that amazing? He just says, ‘The thing that makes me happiest is meeting all of your needs and seeing you whole and healthy and well.’ So thank You. We receive that, Jesus. Give us a fresh dose of Your love for us, because we know that, by understanding that, it produces the byproduct of good fruit. Thank you for it. And we receive Your love today, Jesus. We say, ‘Thank you.’ Amen.”
Sources:faithwire

http://theendtimeradio.com