Paul Walker on Faith

Paul Walker, 40, will best be remembered by fans as the blond-haired, speed-loving character in the successful "Fast & Furious" movie franchise. But less known is that Walker, who died in a tragic and fiery car crash on Saturday, was a Christian.

Walker was raised up in the Mormon church, but he graduated from Village Christian School in Sun Valley, Calif.

"I'm a Christian now. The things that drove me crazy growing up was how everyone works at fault-finding with different religions. The people I don't understand are atheists. I go surfing and snow boarding and I'm always around nature. I look at everything and think, 'Who couldn't believe there's a God? Is all this a mistake?' It just blows me away," Walker was quoted as saying by IMDb.

The late actor was a non-denominational Christian who in a GQ UK magazine interview talked about how his Christian education and Mormon background influenced his thinking about family.

"Thing is, I went to a born-again Christian high school, was brought up in a traditional Mormon family where these ideas about parenting are of structure and sacrifice. To think outside of that idea of family and parenting that I've grown up with is tough, but also very freeing."

In the same interview, the journalist asked Walker what he hoped to achieve before he died. And Walker responded by talking about his previous experience being part of the National Geographic Channel series "Expedition Great White" where he was part of a crew that caught and tagged great white sharks off the coast of Mexico. Walker majored in marine biology in college and was a great enthusiast of all things related to the ocean, including surfing.

"To now be going on an expedition with National Geographic? Are you kidding me?! Where are we going? It's just one of those opportunities I had to seize," Walker had exclaimed to GQ.

Walker died in a car crash in Santa Clarita, Calif., on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. PT, while riding as a passenger in his friend's Porsche. His friend who was driving also died.  Authorities are still investigating the cause of the accident.

A statement on Walker's official Twitter account said that he was attending a charity event Saturday afternoon for his non-profit, Reach Out Worldwide, that would benefit Filipino victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

Universal Pictures, which is behind the "Fast & Furious" franchise, released the following statement: "All of us at Universal are heartbroken. Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the 'Fast and Furious' films, and to countless fans. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul's family."

Walker was scheduled to star in the seventh installation of the "Fast & Furious" franchise, which was slated for release in July 2014. It is unclear how the seventh "Fast & Furious" movie will manage after losing one of its biggest stars that has been in six of the seven films.

Jars of Clay Giving Away Song to Help the Philippines

Jars of Clay is giving away the song, "Fall Asleep," from its album, Inland, through a special NoiseTrade offering to raise money for relief efforts in the Philippines. All of the proceeds from the single will be used to support The Red Cross in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan, claimed to be the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall in recorded history.

The official music video for "Fall Asleep," which premiered on USAToday.com and is now being promoted in various video channels, was created in Manila and stars Filipino supermodel/actress, Rhian Ramos.

"The video was done for us entirely for free, as a gift," says Jars of Clay lead vocalist, Dan Haseltine. "We are so grateful for the gift of such a stunningly beautiful music video. By using the video and the song as a means to raise funds to help in the clean up and restoration efforts currently taking place in the Philippines, we felt it would be a wonderful way to respond in kind."

People are encouraged to watch the video and download "Fall Asleep," leaving a tip for the relief efforts.

"I incorporated the sun and stars from the Filipino flag, as well as the skyline of Manila," says Haseltine of the artwork created for the single. "We are hoping to raise $50,000 to help serve the amazing people of the Philippines and will be working with The Red Cross to insure the funds are used properly and efficiently."

Singer of As I Lay Dying arrested 'for hiring ex-policeman to murder his wife'

The Grammy-nominated frontman of metalcore band As I Lay Dying has been arrested on suspicion of hiring an ex-policeman to kill his wife.

Tim Lambesis, 32, was arrested at a shop in Oceanside, Southern California yesterday according to a statement released by the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department.

He was detained on suspicion on hiring an undercover detective to murder his estranged wife Meggan, who is believed to have started legal proceedings for divorce last September.

Detectives said they averted an attempted hit on Meggan Lambesis, who lives in nearby Encinitas, after they received information last Thursday that Lambesis had solicited someone to kill his wife.

"The information came to us late last week. We acted quickly on it. I believe that we averted a great tragedy," San Diego County Sheriff's Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell told Reuters.

The singer, with his trademark long hair and heavy tattoos, was arrested “without incident” at around 2pm.

The band formed in San Diego 13 years ago, releasing six albums including their most commercially successful 2007 LP, An Ocean Between Us, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard charts. A track from the album was nominated for a Grammy for top metal performance.

As I Lay Dying, whose title is taken from a William Faulkner novel, describes itself as “always has something thoughtful and positive to say while still playing a combustible, aggressive style of music”.

As I Lay Dying has stated on several occasions that all of the members of the group are Christians. When asked if they're a Christian band or Christians in a band, Tim Lambesis stated on the band's FAQ, 

"I'm not sure what the difference is between five Christians playing in a band and a Christian band, If you truly believe something, then it should affect every area of your life. All five of us are Christians. I believe that change should start with me first, and as a result, our lyrics do not come across very 'preachy.' Many of our songs are about life, struggles, mistakes, relationships and other issues that don't fit entirely in the spiritual category. However, all of these topics are written about through my perspective as a Christian."

However, Lambis also stated on his Tumblr page 

"Every year that I had put toward my degree in Religious Studies caused me to see the god of tradition and ritual that I grew up with as less and less of a probable truth. By the time I graduated, my entire concept of the divine had changed as I sought to reconcile spirituality and reason. The more I sought truth uncorrupted by years of religious history, the more I kept finding answers I didn’t want to find. Emotionally, it would have been easiest for me to just hold on to what I grew up believing, but mentally that wasn’t an option anymore."

Michael Sweet's Wife Succumbs to Cancer

Kyle was diagnosed with cancer in February 2007. She passed away at 8:30 p.m. ET on Thursday, March 5, 2009. You can read a touching letter from Michael on his site.

Kyle's life was dedicated to caring for her husband and home-schooling their two children. Her heart's desire was for their children to attend college. To best honor Kyle's work as a home-school mom there has been a fund set up called The Sweet Children's College Fund.

In lieu of flowers, donations to this fund can be mailed to:

Sweet Children's College Fund
Sovereign Bank
50 Cohasset Avenue
Buzzards Bay, MA 02532

A private funeral service will be held in the coming days.

Michael Sweet is a well-known musician and vocalist, best known as the co-founder and frontman of the band Stryper. Sweet is also a guitarist and vocalist for BOSTON.

Grammatrain derailed

A day after Jesus Freak Hideout announces Grammatrain is working on a new CD after a 10 year hiatus, they've followed up with this troubling addendum:

After posting this, Pete shared with us, "I'm not sure if you've followed me much musically over the last several years, but I've been fairly upfront about the fact that I don't consider myself a Christian any longer. I realize this is kind of a touchy subject with people who were/are fans of grammatrain and of me as a solo artist. Obviously, that's going to set the tone for this record to be different than our albums of the past and quite likely much of its reception." Stewart doesn't speak for Grammatrain's other members, as far as their spiritual status (they both consider themselves to be Christians), but this clearly changes the direction of Grammatrain since their years on Forefront in the mid to late 90's...

Beyond his notable band and solo work, he also was briefly a part of Tait.

Storyside:B Bassist Dies on Cruise Ship

On Janua​ry 18 Storyside:B Bassist Ron McLelland passe​d away from an undiagnosed heart problem.​ According to their MySpace blog:

He was on a cruis​e with his wife Rebec​ca and 88.1 The Promi​se out of Jacksonvil​le FL. He was playi​ng baske​tball​ and sudde​nly colla​psed,​ and they were unable to reviv​e him. We are all shock​ed and deepl​y sadde​ned of our broth​er's passi​ng.​ Pleas​e keep his famil​y and wife Rebec​ca in your praye​rs.​ We will be setti​ng up a donation fund to help offse​t the cost of the funer​al and to help suppo​rt Ron'​s famil​y.​ God Bless​ Story​Side : B

They did not have life insurance and donation information is here.

'Bibleman' Fighting Back After Suicide Try

Willie Aames is back in charge. That's the message the "Charles in Charge" and "Eight Is Enough" star is sending now, after trying to kill himself last year on Thanksgiving Day.

Aames, 48, opens up in the current issue of Star magazine about the awful series of events that led him to try to take his own life.

After he declared bankruptcy and had his car repossessed, he says his actress wife of 22 years, Maylo Upon, left him. Willie then moved out of their Kansas home and rented a room in Los Angeles.

Aames who struggled with addictions before becoming a Christian, recounts: "I stole a bottle of Jack Daniel's from the guy I was renting the room from," Willie tells the magazine. "I'd been sober for 20 years when I took that first drink... It got so bad, I put a knife to my throat and cut myself in six places."

In a revealing interview with BeliefNet two years ago in conjunction with the publication of his memoir "Grace Is Enough," the couple has some disappointing revelations about their involvement with the Christian community.

They discuss Christians reactions to Willie's 'incident' on "Celebrity Fit Club" and his complicated relationship with Bibleman. Hopefully, Aames will realize that God's grace is still enough and will be restored to a better place.

Delirious - the end is near

Delirious announces in their newsletter that they will disband at the end of next year.

Steven Curtis Chapman's Daughter Killed in Accident

Maria Sue Chapman, Steven Curtis Chapman's youngest daughter, died Wednesday evening from injuries sustained when a sports utility vehicle hit her in the driveway of the family's home near Franklin, Tennessee. She was 5.

Michael Sweet's wife has cancer

You can help.

Alas, no new Guardian

It looks like there won't be a new Guardian CD after all. more...