The Whosoevers

The Whosoevers aren't exactly new, they were established in 2009 so have been around for a few years now, but while I have been following their events from a distance, casually taking a passing interest in them it's only recently that I've been really impacted by their mission and message!

So who or what are the Whosoevers? The founders of the Whosoevers are Ryan Ries, Sonny Sandoval (P.O.D.) and Brian 'Head' Welch (Love and Death/ex-Korn). The Whosoevers are a movement - a lifestyle and a positive stance against the depravity of the world and the artificiality of religion. The Whosoevers aren't a church or a denomination, they are a group of Christians prepared to live for Christ - their message is one of love and repentance leading to a personal relationship with God.

P.O.D. have been a major influence in my life for the past 11 years. They completely and radically revolutionized my view of Christianity. The Whosoevers are a natural extension of Sonny's career and ministry in P.O.D. - it is the part of Sonny's faith that lies behind the passion in P.O.D.'s music. Sonny's relationship with Christ and his experiences touring the world with P.O.D. have profoundly impacted his life and given him a heart to save the youth of today. It is this desire that led him to co-found the Whosoevers. Worship is more than music - it is a lifestyle and this is precisely what the Whosoevers are about: a true worshipful lifestyle.

The great thing about the nature of the Whosoevers is that anyone who is a Christian can identify themselves as a Whosoever based on the truth of John 3:16 from which the movement bases its name from:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Seeing a movement that's not based around religion, a movement that is the very definition of grass-roots Christianity fills me with awe and excitement. And the Whosoevers are a grass-roots movement - the alternative music and culture that they are so intrinsically connected with is the vehicle with which they live out their faith, as an expression of the counter-cultural nature of the Gospel. Christianity is not about conformity to this world's values - it is about killing the flesh, dying to one's self and submitting to another: Jesus Christ. This is the culture that I was initiated into through P.O.D. but for so long they remained the sole source and reference of another view of Christianity. Now the Whosoevers has birthed that lifestyle as a movement for the Kingdom of God. That is a movement and a Kingdom I want to be a part of; a movement that stands for truth, love and hope. Therefore I am a Whosoever!

for more information: www.thewhosoevers.com