RSS Feed
Finding Faith in Sin City
What do an American Idol contestant, a pro bass fisherman, a skydiving Elvis, and a pair of high-paid exotic strippers have in common? They found faith in America’s most unlikely place—Sin City.
Behind the glitz and the neon, some of the most improbable people are experiencing transformation. People like Donte and Stephanie, arguably Vegas’s premier adult dancers, who found their lives stripped of more than clothes, but stripped of meaning and purpose. They each began a spiritual journey. Eventually they came to faith, were married, and began to give back.
Or Brian, a Flyin’ Elvi who will sky dive from a plane, land at your party in full Elvis costume, and break into Hound Dog. This former bouncer, marine, and self-proclaimed tough guy now claims to imitate a different King.
Or Geoff, who went from counting the money in the back rooms of casinos to serving a local church in the valley as a financial officer.
Perhaps sometimes we are too quick to write off certain people and places.
I look at the Christian Bible and see that Jesus hangs out with the riffraff of society. Eventually the religious leaders accused him of being a glutton and a drunkard. He “welcomes” sinners, they said. The term “welcomes” could be translated to say he took “great pleasure” in them and felt “goodwill” toward them.
It goes to show you never know where faith will thrive. From the Vegas Strip to battlefields to corporate headquarters to campuses, faith grows in unexpected places. Perhaps the learning is that when it comes to faith--never say never and expect the unexpected.
Jud Wilhite is the author of the new book, Stripped: Uncensored Grace on the Streets of Vegas, senior pastor of Central Christian Church in Las Vegas.
By Jud Wilhite |
June 6, 2007; 9:48 AM ET
Share: Email a Friend | 
Technorati
| Del.icio.us | Digg | Facebook
Previous: Witness to Separation of Church and State |
Next: God Loves Smart People
Posted by: kmwojxbe ldjupni | October 26, 2007 2:54 PM
Report Offensive Comment
nbexhj dehz eaycmiz qstgwfij yqirxtabm nukpsagl cluvfys
Posted by: kmwojxbe ldjupni | October 26, 2007 2:54 PM
Report Offensive Comment
nbexhj dehz eaycmiz qstgwfij yqirxtabm nukpsagl cluvfys
Posted by: kmwojxbe ldjupni | October 26, 2007 2:53 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Hi All!
Google cool!
Posted by: freepornocliopsr | August 31, 2007 4:15 PM
Report Offensive Comment
zpryd gtsmuwh ztbivh edyijtgp sfipv jasnkthqe oujlk
Posted by: lyvoute bxks | August 9, 2007 3:49 AM
Report Offensive Comment
zpryd gtsmuwh ztbivh edyijtgp sfipv jasnkthqe oujlk
Posted by: lyvoute bxks | August 9, 2007 3:49 AM
Report Offensive Comment
zpryd gtsmuwh ztbivh edyijtgp sfipv jasnkthqe oujlk
Posted by: lyvoute bxks | August 9, 2007 3:48 AM
Report Offensive Comment
zpryd gtsmuwh ztbivh edyijtgp sfipv jasnkthqe oujlk
Posted by: lyvoute bxks | August 9, 2007 3:46 AM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.grady.uga.edu/resources/.htm/ed/Cheap-Levitra.html ">Cheap Levitra
Posted by: cawbpw | July 6, 2007 1:19 AM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.grady.uga.edu/resources/.htm/ed/Cheap-Levitra.html ">Cheap Levitra
Posted by: cawbpw | July 6, 2007 1:18 AM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.grady.uga.edu/resources/.htm/ed/Cheap-Levitra.html ">Cheap Levitra
Posted by: cawbpw | July 6, 2007 1:18 AM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.fridae.com/common/images/headers/viagra/Buy-Viagra-Online.html ">Buy Viagra Online
Posted by: lpdtqh | July 2, 2007 5:33 PM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.fridae.com/common/images/headers/viagra/Buy-Viagra-Online.html ">Buy Viagra Online
Posted by: lpdtqh | July 2, 2007 5:33 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: pobbkb | July 2, 2007 12:43 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: pobbkb | July 2, 2007 12:43 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: pobbkb | July 2, 2007 12:42 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: lopbqt | July 1, 2007 10:10 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: lopbqt | July 1, 2007 10:10 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: lopbqt | July 1, 2007 10:09 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: lopbqt | July 1, 2007 10:08 AM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.fridae.com/common/images/headers/viagra/Buy-Viagra-Online.html ">Buy Viagra Online
Posted by: gwiwpn | June 30, 2007 7:04 PM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.fridae.com/common/images/headers/viagra/Buy-Viagra-Online.html ">Buy Viagra Online
Posted by: gwiwpn | June 30, 2007 7:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.fridae.com/common/images/headers/viagra/Buy-Viagra-Online.html ">Buy Viagra Online
Posted by: gwiwpn | June 30, 2007 7:03 PM
Report Offensive Comment
http://www.fridae.com/common/images/headers/viagra/Buy-Viagra-Online.html ">Buy Viagra Online
Posted by: gwiwpn | June 30, 2007 7:02 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: oonycs | June 29, 2007 8:25 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: oonycs | June 29, 2007 8:24 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: oonycs | June 29, 2007 8:24 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Posted by: oonycs | June 29, 2007 8:23 PM
Report Offensive Comment
"The bolshevik Revolution in russia was the work of Jewish planning and Jewish dissatisfaction. Our Plan is to have a New world Order. what worked so wonderfully in Russia, is going to become Reality for the whole world." -- The American Hebrew Magazine, 10, Sept. 1920
Hammar, chief Zionist money raiser, said, 'When the blood flows,
the money flows.'"
(Lawrence Mosher, National Observer, May 18, 1970)
"Israel won the war [WWI]; we made it; we thrived on it;
we profited from it. It was our supreme revenge on Christianity."
(The Jewish Ambassador from Austria to London, Count Mensdorf, 1918)
"Zionism was willing to sacrifice the whole of
European Jewry for a Zionist State. Everything was done to
create a state of Israel and that was only possible through a
world war. Wall Street and Jewish large bankers aided the war
effort on both sides. Zionists are also to blame for provoking
the growing hatred for Jews in 1988."
(Joseph Burg, The Toronto Star, March 31, 1988).
"I may not agree with what you say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it"...Voltaire
Posted by: Anonymous | June 8, 2007 9:18 AM
Report Offensive Comment
"From the Vegas Strip to battlefields to corporate headquarters to campuses, faith grows in unexpected places."
So does fungus. Better check your toenails.
Posted by: Norrie Hoyt | June 7, 2007 3:28 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Jacob, my friend, don't listen to the naysayers who do not even try to understand you!
It took me a while, but I figured you out eventually! Now I walk with you in one holy cosmic heartbeat!
Alex, I could translate for you, but with your closed mind I don't think you'd even understand then!
Too bad for you my friend, because Jacob's posts make a lot more sense than many others on these threads.
May your PHoTONS shine brightly today and forever!
Posted by: Gaby | June 7, 2007 10:25 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Alex, just because you don't speak Chinese, does that mean it doesn't make sense and isn't worth reading? Ethno-centric to the max...fear and anger at what you don't understand. Faith in Eclat + i...Ya ya!
Posted by: Luke | June 7, 2007 9:48 AM
Report Offensive Comment
I think there is a revolution of sorts going on. We want authenticity. We want that what is real. And these kinds of people are finding the real Jesus --- and passionately pursing Him.
Thats the subject of a great blog --
www.redletterbelievers.blogspot.com
All kinds of great stories and ideas on how to live out your faith
Posted by: David Rupert | June 7, 2007 9:22 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Brief Overview of Congressman Paul's Record
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.
LETS GIVE OUR CHILDREN A CHANCE!
LETS KEEP AMERICA FOR AMERICAN's!
VOTE: RON PAUL COME 2008!
Posted by: Anonymous | June 7, 2007 7:23 AM
Report Offensive Comment
Jozevz, please stop writing your incoherent babble on these blogs. Something tells me you're probably just as indecipherable in your native language as you are in the language of English, evidence being that almost none of what you post has anything to do with what the original blog entry was about.
I picture you writing on these blogs from the padded walls of a mental ward's recreation room, desperately churning out incoherent post after incoherent post during the 15 minute playtime allotted to each patient per day. Please, for the sake of our sanity take up origami or something.
And Anonymous, who the heck is Courtney? Wander into the wrong blog?
Posted by: Alex | June 6, 2007 8:29 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Courtney: Out of affection and concern, I am asking you once again to go get an EEG..
Posted by: Anonymous | June 6, 2007 7:30 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Yes Alex, Jacob Jozevz do make silly statements such as --- Those fools who change their lives around Jesus, Mohammad, Moses, Krishna Et al, thinking they was born in sin and that birth is sin, are Insane! more lost, than ever before.
Moslems, Jews and Hindus don't believe they are born in sin, or in original sin.
Posted by: RM | June 6, 2007 5:26 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Please don't acknowledge Jacob. In the numerous posts I've seen of his not a single one has been anywhere near intelligible. I seriously think he is mentally insane, or at the very least very severely socially stunted since he clearly cannot communicate in a clear and direct way. Most ignore him and I suggest you do the same.
I always wonder, If you have a strong point to make, why clutter it up beyond human comprehension with a complete hack of random grammar, punctualization, and capitalization? Even his barely recognizable tone of sarcasm is largely lost in the mass clutter of whatever language he thinks he's speaking.
Posted by: Alex | June 6, 2007 4:11 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Hiya, Brother Jacob. I see you are alive and kicking!
Posted by: Gaby | June 6, 2007 2:40 PM
Report Offensive Comment
I'm fascinated by what American society considers to be riff-raff.
Exotic dancers and people in the porn industry are considered to be riff raff, while industry giants pushing tobacco products on teens and line workers in munition factories building bombs that will kill and mutilate thousands of brown-skinned people around the world are held up as working for respectable industries.
Who does more real harm to society? The Jenna Jamesons of the world, or the nameless line worker responsible for installing the detonator on a cluster bomb?
Perhaps god needs to spend less time crusing The Strip and a little more time in the corporate boardrooms and the homes on Melody Lane. (Or maybe god is like the rest of us, and s/he knows there's a lot more fun to be found on The Strip than on Melody Lane...)
(BTW - I lived in Vegas myself for a few years, and I found it to be a good place to raise a family, which is more than I can say for other places in which I've had the misfortune of residing).
Posted by: Mr Mark | June 6, 2007 12:41 PM
Report Offensive Comment
Thank you for your comments. I agree that it is never too late. If God can turn a prostitute into an evangelist why can't he make a home wrecker a wife. I tell people all of the time stop having your pitty party and do something about it. Living the "high Life" will only bring you to the "Low Life". Faith in God/Jesus is a transformation of the soul and mind. You do your part and he'll do the rest. I appreciate your research and your article.
Posted by: Angie | June 6, 2007 11:53 AM
Report Offensive Comment
The comments to this entry are closed.
nbexhj dehz eaycmiz qstgwfij yqirxtabm nukpsagl cluvfys