Debunking Petra Myths

[brent]

Stryper was like Joe English. They spoke of Jesus, sang about Jesus, but Jesus was just a means to an end. Joe English apologized for all that he did, repented, and said that he was never saved then, and only did all he did for the money. All of that time he was living like hell. There are lots of other CCM artists that might have had some conversion experience, but the life got the best of them. Gary Chapman (abuse, sex), Amy Grant (sex, divorce), Michael English, Russ Taff (alcoholism, depression), and the list goes on. There have been child molesters, drug addicts, partiers, womanizers, etc. Heck, the whole Star Song label shake up was because of sex, drugs and money. If you guys think that the CCM industry and bands are any different than anyone else, you are freakin' crazy. Oh, there are some legit people, but they are on the front side. Peal back the layers and it is all the same. This is why I do not take anyone at face value, including Petra. ALL CCM is clean entertainment IMO. That is the only way I can know what I know about people behind the scenes and reconcile what comes out of their mouths. This is the reason I cannot listen to much of it.

Let us all not forget that Lucifer and all of his followers know the Truth and admit it. Anyone can speak truth, but that doesn't make the speakers believers. In judgement there will be people that thought they were used by God, but will be told they were never known by God. When I was a kid, I thought all pastors had to be real, because they knew the bible, and if they believed the bible, they couldn't possibly live without fear. But, I matured and learned that I live out of fear myself at times. I am no different than the CCM people. I am not a reliable reflection of Jesus Christ all of the time. Neither is the CCM industry. But the difference would be that I am not in Christianity to be a star, make money, get laid, etc.

[Shell]

We would also do well to remember that sin is sin no matter who it is. Sin is not more wrong because you might happen to hear about it in the media. There are plenty of people who do the sort of things Brent mentioned you never hear about because they don't get the attention from the press. Just sayin'.

[gman]

I've liked Stryper as a rock band since the 80's, but never in my mind or heart did I see them as "a Christian Rock Band" until they came back in about 2004 and I went and heard them play and Mike gave his testimony. I saw them for the first time in Beaumont, Tx on "The Soldiers Under Command Tour" and needless to say I saw nothing about them being a "Christian Band" except for them throwing the Bible out to the audience which was very controversial at the time. After the show I caught a glimpse behind the stage and as a 15 yr old teenager was amazed at all the half naked women running around, liquor everywhere, and a lot of other things going on. I saw one band member smoking a cigar with a topless lady sitting on his lap doing things up to this point in my it was a real shock to my faith how a lot of the band... Stryper paticularly...life I had only heard about. Sorry but at this point and uptil they left the scene in 1992 there was NOTHING about this band that was Christian, and if they were Christians they were not acting like it, but I'm not one to judge because I have the beam also in my eyes.
I will say that present day they have matured and you can now see their fruits of the Gospel taking hold and they now I guess have a very strong testimony about walking & talking the Christian life; but Mike will still tell you today that Stryper is just a rock band that so happens to have 4 Christians playing in it.

It was a real shock to me how a lot of the Christian bands... paticularly Styrper... were actually living. It's one of the reasons I'm so confused about faith today. I know people are people, but I've always tried to live my life taking things at face value and taking people's word for things. As a teenager, you see Stryper and say, "Man, they live for Jesus and don't do those things...," but as an adult you find out they were. Kind of like when you think the adult leaders in your church are interested in you as a person and that you have friends that will last a lifetime, only to find out they were only doing their "Christian duty" by putting up with you and don't want anything to do with you as an adult. Sorry to post these things here, but it really bugs me. Faith was such an important part of my life... but now I have little to none because of such things. I admit it... I'm a bit bitter. I loved that song Michael W. Smith sang on Live the Life called "Missing Person." I wish I could find that person, but he's gone forever. In life I'vefound it's more like "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel: "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun." At least they're honest about it. You can always count on Gene Simmons to be a douche bag, but Mike Waranke telling the truth about his testimony or your own youth minister being the friend he always pretended to be is too much to ask for. It hurts. Alot.

I watched a video the other day where Oz Fox was interviewed, primarily relating to his wife and her ministry, but in it he called Stryper a christian band. That's a side point though. One can't base their faith on men or life experience in general. There will always be letdowns. Our faith must be based on Christ alone, and his word. Also, the Christian life isn't guaranteed to be fun. Paul talks about counting on it being tough and difficult at times. But, those of us who are called by God were chosen by him for adoption as one of his own. His word guarantees that we are secure in that calling. It also tells us that our citizenship is in heaven. We are promised a glorious eternity. We are not promised the best life now. Our hope is in Christ, and an eternity with him secured by his work on the cross, and flowing from the love God. As the old hymn says, "turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace". The world and the people in it will fail every day. We wait with abundant joy and anticipation for what is to come; what God has called us to, because of the incredible salvation he has bestowed upon us by his love, grace, and mercy.

[executioner]

I've liked Stryper as a rock band since the 80's, but never in my mind or heart did I see them as "a Christian Rock Band" until they came back in about 2004 and I went and heard them play and Mike gave his testimony. I saw them for the first time in Beaumont, Tx on "The Soldiers Under Command Tour" and needless to say I saw nothing about them being a "Christian Band" except for them throwing the Bible out to the audience which was very controversial at the time. After the show I caught a glimpse behind the stage and as a 15 yr old teenager was amazed at all the half naked women running around, liquor everywhere, and a lot of other things going on. I saw one band member smoking a cigar with a topless lady sitting on his lap doing things up to this point in my it was a real shock to my faith how a lot of the band... Stryper paticularly...life I had only heard about. Sorry but at this point and uptil they left the scene in 1992 there was NOTHING about this band that was Christian, and if they were Christians they were not acting like it, but I'm not one to judge because I have the beam also in my eyes.
I will say that present day they have matured and you can now see their fruits of the Gospel taking hold and they now I guess have a very strong testimony about walking & talking the Christian life; but Mike will still tell you today that Stryper is just a rock band that so happens to have 4 Christians playing in it.

It was a real shock to me how a lot of the Christian bands... paticularly Styrper... were actually living. It's one of the reasons I'm so confused about faith today. I know people are people, but I've always tried to live my life taking things at face value and taking people's word for things. As a teenager, you see Stryper and say, "Man, they live for Jesus and don't do those things...," but as an adult you find out they were. Kind of like when you think the adult leaders in your church are interested in you as a person and that you have friends that will last a lifetime, only to find out they were only doing their "Christian duty" by putting up with you and don't want anything to do with you as an adult. Sorry to post these things here, but it really bugs me. Faith was such an important part of my life... but now I have little to none because of such things. I admit it... I'm a bit bitter. I loved that song Michael W. Smith sang on Live the Life called "Missing Person." I wish I could find that person, but he's gone forever. In life I'vefound it's more like "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel: "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun." At least they're honest about it. You can always count on Gene Simmons to be a douche bag, but Mike Waranke telling the truth about his testimony or your own youth minister being the friend he always pretended to be is too much to ask for. It hurts. Alot.

I watched a video the other day where Oz Fox was interviewed, primarily relating to his wife and her ministry, but in it he called Stryper a christian band. That's a side point though. One can't base their faith on men or life experience in general. There will always be letdowns. Our faith must be based on Christ alone, and his word. Also, the Christian life isn't guaranteed to be fun. Paul talks about counting on it being tough and difficult at times. But, those of us who are called by God were chosen by him for adoption as one of his own. His word guarantees that we are secure in that calling. It also tells us that our citizenship is in heaven. We are promised a glorious eternity. We are not promised the best life now. Our hope is in Christ, and an eternity with him secured by his work on the cross, and flowing from the love God. As the old hymn says, "turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace". The world and the people in it will fail every day. We wait with abundant joy and anticipation for what is to come; what God has called us to, because of the incredible salvation he has bestowed upon us by his love, grace, and mercy.

Nicely said. I know when we start looking at the failures of men with ones that are in some type of ministry lead we will always be disappointed because they are just like us. Only your faith in God will keep you from the failures. Some disagree but I do believe the ones like the pastors, church leaders, and ministry leaders should be held to higher accountability because I do feel God does this. Over the years Petra has voiced their opinions on what they are and its seems to be that they feel like Petra is a ministry first, so I do believe God holds them in higher accountability then us and I do feel we should do the same.

[Shell]

Okay, I do understand the concept of accountability...However, that applies to anyone claiming to be a believer in whatever realm of influence they may happen to be, whether they are in the public eye or not. We are all supposed to set examples with whoever we might be in contact with. And fans need to be careful about looking for things to be critical about. We should first of all pray for these folks and keep in mind they deal with the same sort of things we do.

It has to start at a local level. Part of the reasoning behind attending church is to get encouragement and support from other believers. If these guys are smart, they have home churches that they go to as much as possible and have at least one or two people they can talk to about things they are struggling with. That is part of the Christian walk.

My best friend and I have been keeping each other from going off the deep end for years now...And we met at a Petra concert.

[Mountain Man]

You may not have been around back then, but Stryper was not well received by the churches, or the CCM industry. They were a joke. Mike was on posters with cucumbers stuck down his tight pants, Robert was shirtless and looking feminine...their music was terrible. Contrast Stryper with the other Christian bands that did ministry (Servant, Petra, DeGarmo & Key, etc, and Stryper was a freak show. Having a big thang on posters is sooo important to spreading the gospel. How demonic. They threw out bibles, sang korny songs and had shallow messages. Big deal. Again, Stryper declared themselves that they were not a Christian band, and they lived like that until the end.

And despite it all, I still like their music.

I should go home go home and rethink my life.

[Mountain Man]

It was a real shock to me how a lot of the Christian bands... paticularly Styrper... were actually living. It's one of the reasons I'm so confused about faith today. I know people are people, but I've always tried to live my life taking things at face value and taking people's word for things. As a teenager, you see Stryper and say, "Man, they live for Jesus and don't do those things...," but as an adult you find out they were. Kind of like when you think the adult leaders in your church are interested in you as a person and that you have friends that will last a lifetime, only to find out they were only doing their "Christian duty" by putting up with you and don't want anything to do with you as an adult. Sorry to post these things here, but it really bugs me. Faith was such an important part of my life... but now I have little to none because of such things. I admit it... I'm a bit bitter. I loved that song Michael W. Smith sang on Live the Life called "Missing Person." I wish I could find that person, but he's gone forever. In life I'vefound it's more like "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel: "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun." At least they're honest about it. You can always count on Gene Simmons to be a douche bag, but Mike Waranke telling the truth about his testimony or your own youth minister being the friend he always pretended to be is too much to ask for. It hurts. Alot.

Psalm 118:8, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man."

[Mountain Man]

Stryper was like Joe English. They spoke of Jesus, sang about Jesus, but Jesus was just a means to an end. Joe English apologized for all that he did, repented, and said that he was never saved then, and only did all he did for the money. All of that time he was living like hell. There are lots of other CCM artists that might have had some conversion experience, but the life got the best of them. Gary Chapman (abuse, sex), Amy Grant (sex, divorce), Michael English, Russ Taff (alcoholism, depression), and the list goes on. There have been child molesters, drug addicts, partiers, womanizers, etc. Heck, the whole Star Song label shake up was because of sex, drugs and money. If you guys think that the CCM industry and bands are any different than anyone else, you are freakin' crazy. Oh, there are some legit people, but they are on the front side. Peal back the layers and it is all the same. This is why I do not take anyone at face value, including Petra. ALL CCM is clean entertainment IMO. That is the only way I can know what I know about people behind the scenes and reconcile what comes out of their mouths. This is the reason I cannot listen to much of it.

It reminds me of my experience with the television industry. I worked in television news for several years which was full of liars, cheaters, and backstabbers, and it didn't bother me as much as it probably should have because I expected it. Then I finally got sick of all that crap in secular TV and went to work for a Christian television station where I naively let my guard down. To my complete surprise, it turned out that there were worse liars, cheaters, and backstabbers in Christian TV! I unfortunately got caught in the cross fire of a bitter power struggle and ended up losing my job because of it, but I did learn a very valuable lesson.

[Shell]

....I admit it... I'm a bit bitter. I loved that song Michael W. Smith sang on Live the Life called "Missing Person." I wish I could find that person, but he's gone forever. In life I'vefound it's more like "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel: "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun." At least they're honest about it. You can always count on Gene Simmons to be a douche bag, but Mike Waranke telling the truth about his testimony or your own youth minister being the friend he always pretended to be is too much to ask for. It hurts. Alot.

Gene Simmons may be a jerk (and he hasn't claimed to be anything else from what I can tell, although I will admit I haven't paid that much attention to him) but as was pointed out at least he hasn't pretended to be something he's not.

I do understand why that would bother you, but people are people wherever you find them, and yes, you will find the same garbage in "Christian" groups--Maybe even more so. It's not an excuse for bad behavior I know, and yes, people claiming to be Christians should live that way, but keeping that in mind might help keep it a little less personal. It might help to keep in mind too...These folks will reap what they sow. You might not be around to see it and it might not be in the way you might think, but things do catch up with you sooner or later. It's actually pretty sad they are that way, it is their loss. It's just a shame they end up hurting others in the process.

I think at least part of the problem is that fans tend to put these folks on pedestals they don't belong on. It isn't easy to be in a position where you're constantly having to deal with the public or in an environment where money is really all that matters and egos get out of hand. Of course that's not all there is to it, and of course it's not license to sin, but if you focus too much on the people it is a normal response to become disillusioned. I decided a long time ago God was bigger than all that or I wouldn't want anything to do with anything "Christian" now. You can't be defined by other people's nonsense or it will drive you crazy. Hang in there.

[zman7720000]

It was a real shock to me how a lot of the Christian bands... paticularly Styrper... were actually living. It's one of the reasons I'm so confused about faith today. I know people are people, but I've always tried to live my life taking things at face value and taking people's word for things. As a teenager, you see Stryper and say, "Man, they live for Jesus and don't do those things...," but as an adult you find out they were. Kind of like when you think the adult leaders in your church are interested in you as a person and that you have friends that will last a lifetime, only to find out they were only doing their "Christian duty" by putting up with you and don't want anything to do with you as an adult. Sorry to post these things here, but it really bugs me. Faith was such an important part of my life... but now I have little to none because of such things. I admit it... I'm a bit bitter. I loved that song Michael W. Smith sang on Live the Life called "Missing Person." I wish I could find that person, but he's gone forever. In life I'vefound it's more like "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel: "I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun." At least they're honest about it. You can always count on Gene Simmons to be a douche bag, but Mike Waranke telling the truth about his testimony or your own youth minister being the friend he always pretended to be is too much to ask for. It hurts. Alot.

Psalm 118:8, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man."

1 Corinthians 11

New International Version (NIV)11 1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.