Chris, here are a few paragraphs from a third article which quotes him saying what he plans to do now, quoted at a service for the church mentioned in the other two:
"Brian has found out that God's real, and he's stoked," Pastor Ron Vietti told the third service.
Welch — wearing jeans and a T-shirt, with his signature long, curly hair in his face — sat down with Vietti for discussions that found the guitarist displaying a mix of emotions, from stoked to somber.
"I thought I had it all, everything I thought was important when I was a kid — money, fame, pretty women — but I came to a point where I didn't want to live," he told the congregation.
Welch confessed to coming to the church as a last-ditch effort to kick a drug addiction. "When I came here I was hooked on meth," he said, stopping to wipe the tears gathered in his eyes.
The guitarist, who showed off new tattoos on his neck ("Matthew 11:28") and fist ("JESUS"), took the stage after a 20-minute set of Christian worship songs from a rock band, as well as a 20-minute sermon from Vietti, who talked about his coming to God and surviving leukemia after being told he would die from the disease.
Welch said he now works for the Lord and announced that he would be joining Vietti on a trip to Israel this week, where the pastor plans to "dunk me in the Jordan River" — meaning to baptize the new Christian.
"This is the book of life right here," he said, pulling a Bible from his back pocket. "It's not about religion, it's not about this church, it's not about me. It's about the book of life and everybody needs to be taught this. It's crazy, it's gonna do stuff like this, like change a guy in a rock band."
When he returns from Israel, Welch plans to launch a solo career, with music about his experiences as a new Christian, and then give the money to charities and to Valley Bible Fellowship's plan to build "rock and roll churches" across America."
....end of article
THIS ("rock and roll churches across America") is not your typical suburban church. People will come to see his testimony who never would have set foot in a "normal" church, and he has credibility because he walked away from what most believe is a dream career. Look at his quote above: "it's not about religion, it's not about this church, it's not about me..."
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Chris, here are a few paragraphs from a third article which quotes him saying what he plans to do now, quoted at a service for the church mentioned in the other two:
"Brian has found out that God's real, and he's stoked," Pastor Ron Vietti told the third service.
Welch — wearing jeans and a T-shirt, with his signature long, curly hair in his face — sat down with Vietti for discussions that found the guitarist displaying a mix of emotions, from stoked to somber.
"I thought I had it all, everything I thought was important when I was a kid — money, fame, pretty women — but I came to a point where I didn't want to live," he told the congregation.
Welch confessed to coming to the church as a last-ditch effort to kick a drug addiction. "When I came here I was hooked on meth," he said, stopping to wipe the tears gathered in his eyes.
The guitarist, who showed off new tattoos on his neck ("Matthew 11:28") and fist ("JESUS"), took the stage after a 20-minute set of Christian worship songs from a rock band, as well as a 20-minute sermon from Vietti, who talked about his coming to God and surviving leukemia after being told he would die from the disease.
Welch said he now works for the Lord and announced that he would be joining Vietti on a trip to Israel this week, where the pastor plans to "dunk me in the Jordan River" — meaning to baptize the new Christian.
"This is the book of life right here," he said, pulling a Bible from his back pocket. "It's not about religion, it's not about this church, it's not about me. It's about the book of life and everybody needs to be taught this. It's crazy, it's gonna do stuff like this, like change a guy in a rock band."
When he returns from Israel, Welch plans to launch a solo career, with music about his experiences as a new Christian, and then give the money to charities and to Valley Bible Fellowship's plan to build "rock and roll churches" across America."
....end of article
THIS ("rock and roll churches across America") is not your typical suburban church. People will come to see his testimony who never would have set foot in a "normal" church, and he has credibility because he walked away from what most believe is a dream career. Look at his quote above: "it's not about religion, it's not about this church, it's not about me..."
I think he's got it.
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