If you haven't seen the video "Why I hate religion, but love Jesus" you are missing out. Jeff Bethke a 22 year old former student of Pacific University used his poetic talents and created a video that displays his beliefs of God and how religion today is ignoring what Jesus actually stands for. The video that Bethke and his friends thought would get maybe a couple thousand views, hit more than 1 million in just 24 hours. In less than a month it hit 15 million views and Bethke who was just another christian trying to glorify God in a way he knew how, was now a celebrity.
If you haven't seen the video, I urge you to watch it. I've watched it over a dozen times and each time I am able to pick out something new and eye opening.
Who is Jeff Bethke?
After watching the video, some of you may be sitting there thinking Bethke must be another extremist, your wrong! Or, if you are like I was at first and think he must be someone who was brought up around the word his whole life and if "more pure" than yourself, you would also be wrong! Bethke's story is similar to mine and many others. He was another college athlete that got caught up in the desires of the body and messed up a lot of opportunities Christ had put before him.
Here is a video of Bethke speaking to a group of FCA members about his path to Christ. After hearing his testimony I had so much more respect for him, and being in a similar situation I immediately needed to find out more. This video is a great example of someone that turned their life around and showed everyone its never too bad, or too late to be saved by Christ.
The Aftermath
As you can imagine, not everyone agreed with Bethke and his views on religion, or even Jesus. Since 84% of the world is involved in some form of religion and 33% of them believe Christ is their savior, this inferiorated a lot of people. Dozens of parodies and response videos have littered the web. Many lashed out at Bethke while others praised him. He was one of the first to really get noticed for his view of separating Jesus from religion, all because of the internet. Bethke is now wanted by many stations to appear on their show and discuss his video and the overnight fame he received.
There were many parodies made to Bethke's video, here is one from a catholic priest explaining how he loves Christ and religion.
Other Bethke Poems
Bethke has made two more poetic videos, and has a slew of video blogs that point out different issues in society. None of them have been as popular or created as much controversy as the first, but I find them extremely powerful and full of hard truths. Below are the two video poems he created after Jesus>Religion.
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| Bethke's YouTube page, over half his video views are generated by "Why I hate religion, but love Jesus" |
"Sexual Healing" talks about the problem with sexual lust and immorality in todays relationships.
"Sex, Marriage, and Fairytales" is a poem about the perception of marriage in the media today.
My Opinion
After seeing "Why I hate religion, but love Jesus" I was overwhelmed by self reflection. For so many years I was unable to connect with Jesus simply because I was thrown into a religion. I was blinded by a process rather than the truth. After I conducted some research to find out more about Jeff Bethke, I learned he was not so different than I was. Being a new christian is tough, but being a new young christian, in college, and with a daunting past is extremely challenging. You are faced with overcoming old habits and desires and the sense that you are alone. Many times you feel like you are not able to make it or that you are simply not worthy of what has been promised to you. After seeing many of Bethke's videos, I was filled with more hope and motivation to get over some of these barriers.
More Info
If you want some additional information of Bethke. Visit his site http://jeffbethke.com/ , like him on Facebook , or follow him on Twitter
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