Legendary country music singer/songwriter and Hollywood star Kris Kristofferson passed away “peacefully” at his home in Maui on Saturday, his family confirmed. He was 88. A statement to People magazine from the “A Star is Born” actor’s family read, “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news our husband/father/grandfather, Kris Kristofferson, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 28 at home.” “We’re all so blessed for our time with him,” the statement from Kristofferson’s family added. “Thank you for loving him all these many years, and when you see a rainbow, know he’s smiling down at us all.” Born in 1936 in Texas, Kristofferson got his start in the entertainment industry after moving to Tennessee in the 1960’s because of his love for songwriting. He worked as a night janitor at Columbia Studios and would submit songs he wrote like “For the Good Times” and “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down.”  Speaking to Clash in 2010, Kristofferson said he fell in love with the music community in Nashville. Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here! “Kris Kristofferson believed creativity is God-given, and those who ignore such a gift are doomed to unhappiness. He preached that a life of the mind gives voice to the soul, and his work gave voice not only to his soul but to ours. He leaves a resounding legacy.” —Kyle Young,… pic.twitter.com/JMyZp6lJUr — Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (@countrymusichof) September 29, 2024 “The way the old heroes helped out the new guys,” Kristofferson said. “It was a very soulful business at the time; I don’t know if it’s anything like that now. But it was definitely the best move I’ve ever made.” He continued writing songs and had massive success with hits like “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make it Through the Night,” the Associated Press noted. “He is a poet rather than a musician, more concerned with interpretation than with quality of voice,” The New York Times wrote in a 1970 profile. “He is at once blunt and mystical, above petty prejudices, strongly appealing to both the campus and to intellectual sets. He is an important link between country, pop and underground music.” Kristofferson then entered the world of Hollywood, starring in movies like Martin Scorsese’s 1974 film “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” and in 1976’s “A Star Is Born,” alongside Barbra Streisand. Later, he performed opposite Wesley Snipes in Marvel’s “Blade” in 1998, the AP noted. Following news of his death, stars like Dolly Parton, Streisand and more shared tributes to him. “What a great loss,” Parton wrote. “What a great writer. What a great actor. What a great friend. I will always love you, Dolly.” Streisand labeled her former co-star “something special” and recalled how in their movie, “Kris and I sang the song I’d written for the film’s main love theme, “Evergreen.” For my latest concert in 2019 at London’s Hyde Park, I asked Kris to join me on-stage to sing our other A Star Is Born duet, “Lost Inside Of You.” He was as charming as ever, and the audience showered him with applause. It was a joy seeing him receive the recognition and love he so richly deserved.” Country star Travis Tritt wrote that Kristofferson was, “an inspiration to me and I was fortunate to get to know him on the set of “Outlaw Justice” that we filmed in Spain in 1998. My heartfelt condolences go out to Kris’s wife Lisa and all of his family, friends and fans.” Reba McEntire took to social media calling Kristofferson, “a gentleman, kind soul, and a lover of words. I am so glad I got to meet him and be around him. One of my favorite people. Rest in peace, Kris.” Kristofferson is survived by his wife Lisa, eight children and seven grandchildren, People noted. Related: ‘Field Of Dreams’ Star James Earl Jones Dead At 93

Whether you are just getting more in the habit of practicing daily thankfulness or a specific experience has propelled you into celebration, we are going to worship God together in prayer today for the gift that is gratitude.

Are we living in the last days? Is Jesus coming very soon? According to Hebrews 1:2, we’ve been in the last days since Jesus’s ministry, death, and resurrection, which means the last days have now spanned 2,000 years. We aren’t only in the last days; we’re in the final hour, for John declares, “It is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). So the last hour has been ticking over for two centuries. The end of the age has arrived with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is “the firstfruits” of our future resurrection (1 Cor. 15:20). Can we say we’re in the last days of the last days, or the final minutes of the last hour? Can we say Jesus will come in our generation? What does the New Testament tell us? Jesus emphasizes that he’s coming soon (Rev. 22:20), and we’re told that “the time is near” (1:3). It’s important we interpret these verses accurately to understand the timing of his return. No One Knows God has revealed his truth to us in a fascinating way. We can’t calculate the day, hour, year, or even century of Jesus’s coming. Many have tried setting the exact date in history, and we know how that has turned out. Echoing a book written in 1988 about Jesus’s return, we could say there are 88 reasons for not picking a precise date for Jesus’s return. At the same time, there’s a reason we’re tempted to set dates. Chief among them is Jesus’s declaration that he was coming soon. In addition, Jesus taught us to be ready and to watch for his appearing (Matt. 24; Mark 13). As we long and wait for Jesus’s return, we’re inclined to become more precise than the Bible, to set a date when the Bible refuses to do so. No one knows that day or hour—even Jesus as a human being didn’t know when he’d return (Mark 13:32). It’s ironic that so many in history, in setting a date, have in effect claimed to know more than Jesus himself. The End Is Near I suggest the following. God in his wisdom has set up history so we rightly think in every generation, The end is near. Jesus is coming soon. And we pray the words of Revelation 22:20: “Come, Lord Jesus!” At the same time, we can’t nail down precisely when the end will be. We long for Jesus to come. We wait for him to come, but we can’t specify when he’ll come. Thus every generation in church history has rightly said, “All the signs point to the coming of the end in our generation.” From the first generation up to and including our day, Christians have discerned the times and seasons, and they’ve rightly thought that Jesus could come very soon. Even Jesus as a human being didn’t know when he’d return. The apostle John’s words in his first letter are instructive in this regard. John predicts that before the end there’ll be “many antichrists” (1 John 2:18). Then, out of the many antichrists, there’ll be one final and climactic antichrist, the person whom Paul identifies as “the man of lawlessness” (2 Thess. 2:3). Since we don’t know the identity of the final antichrist, we’re to be alert, realizing that one of the many antichrists in our day may turn out to be the final antichrist. And every generation of believers has been right to think that one of the antichrists may turn out to be the final one. They’ve erred, however, when they set an exact date for the end. Come, Lord Jesus How does this apply to us today? Are there signs in our generation that the end is coming? Indeed there are. Yes, the gospel is still the power of God leading to salvation (Rom. 1:16). The good news is going to the ends of the earth and many are being converted. Faithful churches are proclaiming the Word and building up their congregations. This isn’t a call to despair or defeatism. We aren’t called to hide away and await Jesus’s coming. We serve a Christ who rules the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5), and the gates of hell will not prevail over the church (Matt. 16:18). Jesus’s words to suffering churches still ring out today: “Do not be afraid” (Rev. 1:17, NIV). He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. God in his wisdom has set up history so we rightly think in every generation, The end is near. Jesus is coming soon. At the same time, false teaching threatens on every side. Many deny the final judgment, the truthfulness of God’s Word, justification by faith, and the sexual morality clearly taught in Scripture. We may be living in the days when the restrainer is removed, when common grace is withdrawn (2 Thess. 2:5–6). We look around our world and see that evil has increasing influence and Christian teaching on morality is denounced as wicked and dangerous to society. The moral degeneration of our day and the intense hostility to the gospel are signs of the end. We aren’t delusional for thinking in a world where there are nuclear weapons, artificial intelligence, virulent diseases and pandemics, and negative ramifications from social media that the end is coming. We’re reminded that this world isn’t our home, that our destination is the heavenly city, that paradise isn’t on earth. We think, Jesus is coming soon. And yet, we can’t set a date. We can’t know for sure. God keeps us alert, waiting, longing, hoping, and expecting. He’ll fulfill his promise in his wisdom at the right time and in the right way. In the meantime, we keep on with our work: preaching the gospel to a lost world, living in a way fitting for citizens of the kingdom, and praying, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

This is absolutely fantastic

Donald Trump railed against immigrants in the country illegally in an often-graphic speech in Pennsylvania on Sunday, his fourth campaign stop in a month in what has become the presidential campaign's…

This is really quite stunning…. If it feels like there have been an abnormally large amount of Food Processing Plants burned down, blown up, or otherwise destroyed under Biden….you’d be right. I…