Chistian band lead singer arrested: Plotting murder for hire

[Boldhunter]

http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-75820517/
Christian Band: As I Lay Dying singer Tim Lambesis arrested in murder-for-hire plot
 
METAL BLADE

As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis, third from left, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly hiring a hit man to kill his wife.
BY TODD MARTENS
May 8, 2013, 5:00 a.m.
Grammy-nominated As I Lay Dying vocalist Tim Lambesis was arrested in Oceanside on Tuesday on suspicion of hiring a hit man to murder his estranged wife, according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department. Lambesis, 32, was charged on three federal counts -- one count of solicitation to commit murder and two counts of conspiracy to commit crime. 

The Times' L.A. Now reported that Lambesis "was arrested without incident while shopping. He is accused of attempting to find someone to kill his estranged wife, who lives in Encinitas." Authorities told L.A. Now that he had "attempted to hire an undercover sheriff's detective for the murder." 

A representative for the band did not respond to requests for comment. 

Lambesis, an openly Christian heavy metal artist, had recently raised more than $78,000 from fans to fund his side project, Austrian Death Machine, a band mocking the film work of Arnold Schwarzenegger. For $500, Lambesis promised to be "your personal trainer for a month." The top prize, for those who spent $5,000, was to have the winner's initials tattooed on Lambesis' buttocks.

Fans have taken to the act's Facebook page seeking more information on the incident. 

"I can't even imagine him resorting to this after all of the inspiration from this band," wrote one. "They have never produced a single thing that would make me believe any of them were capable of this. This would be absolutely heart breaking to hear."

"I am praying for Tim's salvation with you God," wrote another. "Cover him and speak to his heart."

The band's 2007 single "Nothing Left" was nominated for the metal performance Grammy. Lambesis has spoken often on the importance of writing about "philosophical topics," and when asked recently by metal site Suicide Scriptures if his Christian faith clashed with genre, he said people get "stuck on it. They tend to focus on those ideas more than the music."

Yet the act didn't hide its beliefs. Lambesis recently posted a video on YouTube in which he and a bandmate trade "mosh calls for the lord," including such rallying cries as "crowd surf for the virgin birth."

The San Diego-based As I Lay Dying has been signed to local label Metal Blade since 2003 and released its sixth album, "Awakened," in the fall of 2012. The album debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard pop chart.

As a vocalist, Lambesis vacillates between sinister screaming and high-energy growling. Lambesis has led the Warped Tour veterans since the group's formation in about 2000, and the band has gradually added more of a punk rock leanness to its pulsing, rhythmic metal aggression. "Awakened" was said to take the band down a darker path, thematically, and was produced by Bill Stevenson, drummer for South Bay punk band the Descendents.

"On this record, I wasn’t purposefully trying to be negative, but I think sometimes we have to be honest with some of the darker and more difficult times of our lives to get back to that positivity," Lambesis said in a record label news release. "While the lyrics do perhaps seem like a dark window into my soul, they’re written that way specifically because I want to move on and transcend those difficult moments in life."

As I Lay Dying was due to spend much of the summer on tour with peers Killswitch Engage. The tour, which had no scheduled L.A. date, was due to launch May 30 in Oklahoma City.

[Mark]

Lambesis, an openly Christian heavy metal artist, had recently raised more than $78,000 from fans to fund his side project, Austrian Death Machine, a band mocking the film work of Arnold Schwarzenegger. For $500, Lambesis promised to be "your personal trainer for a month." The top prize, for those who spent $5,000, was to have the winner's initials tattooed on Lambesis' buttocks.

  there is no such thing as metal christian or especially Christian death metal music.

[Kilika]

No kidding! Talk about not edifying.

have the winner's initials tattooed on Lambesis' buttocks.

He has a ton of nerve calling himself a Christian. Reprobate!

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/christian-rocker-convicted-murder-plot-reveals-he-atheist-n136246

Christian Rocker Convicted of Murder Plot Reveals He Is Atheist
The embattled frontman of a Christian metal band sentenced to prison for plotting to have his wife killed recently confessed that he and other band members had become atheists, but continued to pose as Christians so they could keep selling records, according to a report by The Christian Post.

Tim Lambesis, 33, lead singer and founder of the band As I Lay Dying, was sentenced to six years behind bars on May 16 for his role in a murder-for-hire plot involving his estranged then-wife, Meggan Lambesis. Lambesis tried to hire a hitman in an attempt to have his wife murdered.

Lambesis’ arrest, case, trial and conviction took many of his faithful fans by surprise. Many took to social media to express their disbelief over the allegations and, ultimately, the singer’s sentencing.

“As I Lay Dying” frontman, Tim Lambesis, 33, was sentenced to six years in prison last month for his role in a murder-for-hire plot involving his estranged then-wife.

But according to the Christian Post's report, those fans may have had more faith in Lambesis than he did in the Christian religion, citing what Lambesis said during an extensive interview with Alternative Press conducted shortly before his sentencing.

In that interview, Lambesis talked about a YouTube video he made about a month before his arrest in which he addressed fans who felt his new side project, “Pyrithion” was “satanic.”

Lambesis admitted that at the time, he never really gave a straight answer as to whether he was still Christian. He said he was afraid of revealing his true beliefs about God, or lack thereof, because he didn’t want to impact his band’s record sales, so he chose to say “I’m not a satanist” instead.

“As far as the [YouTube] video I did explaining 'Pyrithion''s lyrics… I was trying to put out a fire. I was afraid it would affect As I Lay Dying sales, which would affect my overall income. I was trying to put out the fire by saying the easiest thing, 'I'm not a satanist!'" he explained in the Alternative Press interview.

"Truthfully, I was an atheist. The 'strategy' I had at the time was cowardly. Two of the songs on that record were about coming to grips with the idea that life has no purpose, no meaning. These were negative themes I wasn't 'allowed' to deal with in As I Lay Dying songs. I thought making As I Lay Dying darker would be bad for my career. That was my thinking," he continued.

Lambesis went on to say that many of the Christian bands he had toured with over the years had a similar stance and weren’t exactly devout Christians either. He said a few of his fellow As I Lay Dying band members were also no longer Christian.

After a while, the charade became awkward, he said, like the time when an interviewer at a Christian festival asked one of the band members to share his testimony, but he froze on the spot.

“We laughed about it afterward, but we were only laughing because it was so awkward," said Lambesis in the interview.

"When kids would want to pray with us after shows, I'd be like, 'Um, go ahead and pray!' I would just let them pray. I'd say 'Amen.' If praying while I have my hand on their shoulder makes them feel better, I didn't want to take that away from them. When they would specifically ask me to pray for something, I'd say, 'I don't really like to pray out loud, but I'll take that with me to the bus," the singer added.

Lambesis’ shocking fall from grace began when he was arrested in May 2013 in connection with the murder-for-hire plot.

Until that point, he had enjoyed a successful and lucrative musical career with his San Diego-based heavy metal band, which formed more than a decade ago and released eight albums, including the 2007 Grammy-nominated "An Ocean Between Us."

Beside the many albums, the band was also a mainstay of the San Diego Music Awards (SDMA), nominated in 2012 for Best Hard Rock Album for "Decas" and winning for Best Hard Rock the year before that. In 2005, 2007 and 2008, the band took home the SDMA statuettes for Artist of the Year.The band was slated to go on a cross-country tour with the Massachusetts metal band Killswitch Engage until Lambesis’ arrest last year.

When news of his arrest broke, it perplexed members of the San Diego music community, including SoundDiego contributor Tim Pyles of FM 94/9.

"He’s not the idealistic young Christian kid he once was, apparently," Pyles said last spring. "Because that’s what [As I Lay Dying] are: a straight-edged Christian metal band. He was a nice guy.”

At his sentencing last month, the courtroom was wrought with drama as character witnesses, including his ex-wife took to the stand to ask a judge to hand down the maximum sentence.

"My name used to be Meggan Lambesis. And up until two years ago, my heart was entirely devoted to him," said Meggan, who now goes by Meggan Murphy.

"I trusted him with everything, including my life," she added. "When the one person who you've been most vulnerable with and the most intimate with, who you've entrusted with every aspect of your life, who has not only desired but planned your murder -- you're left feeling completely exposed and unprotected. Who can I trust now? How can I feel safe?

Murphy said the ordeal will haunt her for the rest of her life, leaving her always looking over her shoulder. She said many of his fans had sent her threatening messages on social media since his arrest.

"The question of who Tim talked to or will talk to will forever haunt me,” she said in that San Diego courtroom. “The scariest thing is Tim's notoriety. He has followers that will do anything for him. It's terrifying to think there are people out there motivated to kill me on his behalf."

First published June 19th 2014, 5:17 pm

[Psalm 51:17]

2Peter 2:1  But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2Pe 2:2  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
2Pe 2:3  And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

[FervorForFaith]

That makes me want to puke...

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

It reminds me of a popular "Christian" metal band (P.O.D.) that will be playing a big festival a local radio host is throwing in the Cleveland area. This festival will have a ton of alcohol, strippers, etc. there. What a great place to be for a Christian... 

[Boldhunter]

Matthew 18:6-7, 10 KJV

But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.    Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!    Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.

The Lord help these poor kids who have been deceived by these bands! And they wanted to pray with them and be strengthened in their walk with Jesus... that is so sad. May the Lord use this to wake these young people up and that their faith would not be disillusioned! In the name of Jesus we agree.

[Mark]

As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis Says Nine Out of 10 Christian Bands Only Claim to Be Christian

 Lead vocalist of Christian metal band As I Lay Dying Tim Lambesis is now serving time in prison for attempting to have his estranged wife killed by a hitman. The musician now says that he is actually an Atheist, and many so-called “Christian” bands are not what they claim to be either.
 
According to Lambesis, As I Lay Dying originated as a Christian group, but members lost their faith over time. Though the band felt that they were lying by portraying themselves as Christian, the group wanted to keep record sales up with the Christian audience.
 
“We talked about whether to keep taking money from the ‘Christian market,” Lambesis said. “We had this bizarrely ‘noble’ thing, like, ‘Well, we’re not passing along any bad ideas. We’re just singing about real life stuff. Those kids need to hear about real life, because they live in a bubble.”
 
Lambesis now feels that “when you change your views, you kind of owe it to the fans to be honest.”
 
According to the singer, As I Lay Dying is not the only band putting up false pretences. "We toured with more 'Christian bands' who actually aren't Christians than bands that are. In 12 years of touring with As I Lay Dying, I would say maybe one in 10 Christian bands we toured with were actually Christian bands," he said.

http://www.christianheadlines.com/blog/as-i-lay-dying-s-tim-lambesis-says-9-out-of-10-christian-bands-only-claim-to-be-christian.html

[Psalm 51:17]

And these modern-day Babel church buildings use alot of this CCM nonsense. It's not just the big megachurches that do so, but even the medium-sized ones do so as well.

Scary? No, why? B/c DANGEROUS is more like it!