“In August 2017, Thorn appeared on a podcast that was later entitled “Joe Thorn Loves the Darkness” as he was asked about his various interests, which included horror films, cigars, bourbon and heavy metal music—including “melodic death metal,” noting that “95 percent” of his listening is heavy metal music.”
(Heather Clark – Christian News Network) In a move that some would say is counter to its mission of “calling the church … to repent of its worldliness,” The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals has invited an unorthodox pastor and podcaster who espouses a love for all things dark—from horror movies to death metal to dark fiction—and whose “Pastors in Cars Smoking Cigars” series and other videos reflect his love and promotion of cigars, bourbon and tattoos, to speak on justification and the Christian life at its upcoming Reformed theology conference.
On March 16, Joe Thorn is scheduled to speak at the “Redemption Accomplished and Applied” conference at the First Christian Reformed Church of Byron Center, Michigan. He will be leading a session on “Justification Through Faith Alone,” as well as a workshop on “The Cross and the Christian Life.” Other speakers will include Liam Goligher, Ian Hamilton and David Murray.
Thorn leads Redeemer Fellowship in St. Charles, and is the author of the books “Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself,” “Experiencing the Trinity: The Grace of God for the People of God,” and “The Life of the Church,” “The Heart of the Church” and “The Character of the Church.” He is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, which published his Church trilogy under its Moody Publishers label.
Thorn, who co-hosts the podcast “Doctrine and Devotion,” is known for often being pictured or filmed smoking a cigar.
In 2017, Thorn posted a series to his YouTube channel entitled “Pastors in Cars Smoking Cigars,” during which the two engaged in banter about various subjects before delving into the topic for the video.
In one of the recordings, Thorn asked pastoral assistant Jimmy Fowler to “name that song,” that is, to identify music that he pulled up on his phone and played out of his car stereo. The two laughed as Fowler correctly identified the tune, which turned out to be the “Thong Song” by Sisqo, a Grammy-nominated hit centering on “what men think about”—namely women’s rear ends—as it states, “Baby, move your butt” and “Baby, make your booty go.”
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