Real Talk

1)

Some thoughts on how we as Christians can witness to Muslims

2)

How Arab Christians are providing a great model for witnessing to Muslims

3)

Some advice on attaining spiritual refreshment through intimate prayer

Labels: Christian, God, Islam, Muslim, news, prayer, witnessing

Peace and blessings,


The motivation behind my decision to read this book came from a discussion I overheard two years ago between a group of orthodox Muslims and a Christian, all appearing to be males from the African diaspora. The only reason I heard part of their conversation (which dealt with similarities and differences between Christianity and orthodox Islam) was due to a mis-read on my part (I thought the group of brothas were freestyling so I got in the huddle to listen and hopefully spit a little something something myself, lol). After telling a friend of mine about the encounter and how it got me interested in the differences between Christianity and Islam, he (who is also a Christian) told me that it is believed that both religions emerged from Abraham's offspring: Christianity stemming from Isaac and orthodox Islam stemming from Ishmael. This resulted in me copping Bruce Feiler's "Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths" (2002) when I came across it at a book store shortly after.

This "synopsis" of the book (or of any books I have written about or will write about) is in no way meant to be detailed or exhaustive for one of two reasons. Either it has been a while since I read the book so many of the key points I initially wanted to address I forgot about; or because I do not feel like addressing everything about the book I enjoyed or had issues with. Whatever the case, the purpose of these synopses is for you to hopefully read some or all of it for yourselves and form your own opinions, because I think the books are worth reading. With that said, on with the (brief) synopsis...

The basic premise of the book is that three of the world's major religions, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, stem from Abraham's offspring: Islam from Ishmael, and Christianity and Judaism from Isaac. Further, Feiler (2002) argues that some (or many) of the major similarities and differences between these three religions are reflected in their depictions of Abraham's life. For instance, one of the things I found striking is that whereas the Bible's depiction of Abraham focuses on his "adult" life, the Koran's depiction of Abraham, according to Feiler, contains sufficient information about his life as a child. Another example lies in way in which Feiler suggests that how each religion views Abraham's relationship with God sheds light on how that religion views the role of humans in relation to God. The bible's telling of Abraham's life stresses his enormous faith in God, whereas the Torah and Koran's telling of Abraham's life emphasizes Abraham's submission and obedience to one God.

In addition to comparing and contrasting depictions of Abraham through each religion's canonical and ancient texts, Feiler also situates this discussion within the contemporary context of the current discourse about each of these religions. Contrary to the media's tendency to heighten differences and downplay similarities, Feiler does the opposite. While he gives considerable attention to the differences between these religions, he also gives much consideration to the similarities, in particular how each religion is at the core about promoting peace and unity, despite the presence and actions of fanatics in each. As a result, after reading the book I developed an increased sense of hope that one day, we will realize that in most if not all cases, there are more similarities than differences between us. I'll conclude with a quote from the book that I think sum's it up best:


"You could not have written a script that would say that today, after thousands of years, with all our technology and sophistication, we would still be fighting a war over this place (Jerusalem), over the legacy of Abraham. But the reason is that this is the place of relationship. This is not only the spot where it is possible to connect with God, it's the spot where you can connect with God only if you understand what it means to connect with one another. The relationship between a person and another human being is what creates and allows for a relationship with God. If you're not capable of living with each other and getting along with each other, then you're not capable of having a relationship with God. So the question is not whether God can bring peace into the world. The question is: Can we?"

-David Willna (p. 12)


Take care, God bless, and speekonit...

Labels: Abraham, Christian, Judaism, Muslim, religion, world

"In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins[e] and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

-Luke 10: 30-37 (NIV)


"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former."

- Matthew 23:23 (NIV)


"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence."

- Matthew 23:25 (NIV)


"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean."

- Matthew 23:27 (NIV)


"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

- James 1:22-27 (NIV)


"What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."

- James 2:14-17 (NIV)


Peace and blessings,

Out of the many topics I have been blessed with the opportunity to write on over the past two years (by the grace of God), this one has probably been the most pressing on my heart. I originally thought of the idea for this topic last summer, during a time when God was speaking to me in "unique" ways so to speak.

Throughout the years I have learned (through sermons as well as through personal experience), that a common misconception about the Christian walk is that once we "join the squad" (i. e. give our lives to Christ), then things will generally go smooth from there. Sure there are a few bumps or minor setbacks along the way, but for the most part, life will not really be difficult. Although the bible tells us that as believers that all things will work out for the good (Romans 8: 28), it also tells us that the things we experience in life can help built our spiritual character (Romans 5: 3-5). Taken together, I interpret these scriptures to mean that for Christians, we will inevitably experience hurt and pain, but that all of our experiences (good or bad), insofar as we seek out God in the midst of those experiences, can yield spiritual rewards for our life on earth and for our eternal life in heaven.

In general, I feel like God has been showing me that many of our experiences as Christians are sort of like "check points" to assess the extent to which our lives are consistent in three areas:

our worldview (how we view the world, our place in it, others' place in it)

our words (the things we say,, words we live by, the advice we give to people)

our works (how we act in the world, treat others)


Let me preface this by saying that I am not arguing that we as Christians have to be perfect, because Lord knows we can't be (lol). What I am arguing, however, is that many of our experiences provide a measuring stick for us to assess in what ways our worldview, words, and works line up or do not line up. This level of consistency is a difficult task because there may be certain areas where we are more or less consistent. For instance, in certain contexts it is more easier for me to be consistent in all three areas, others more easier to be consistent in two of the three, and other areas where there is no consistency. The goal in my opinion is two-fold. One goal is for us to continually work on those areas that we have partial or not consistency and build on those areas. As mentioned in

New Beginnings,

one of my prayers this year is for God to help me view things the way He views them, because there are times when I find myself telling others to view setbacks through a spiritual lens yet I myself am viewing my obstacles through a purely human (limited) lens. Second, our goal is to recognize those areas in which we do have consistency, and learn from them so that we are able to live our lives in a way that best pleases God; through our expression of love, faith and humility in how we view the world, the things we say, and how we live.

What do you think? Any areas where you see consistency? Inconsistency? What are some steps you think yourself as well as us as Christians in general can take to achieve and maintain consistency? Take care, God bless, and speekonit...

Labels: character, Christian, consistency, experiences, God, James, life, Luke, Matthew, Romans, spiritual, words, works, worldview

Peace and blessings,

Here is the second half of the '07 posting. Stay blessed, encouraged, and speekonit...





1)

What Does it Take, Pt. 1

(Don Imus, Hip-hop, and moral responsibility)




2)

What Does it Take, Pt. 2

(Hip-hop artists' moral responsibility)






3)

Loving to Agitate

(The Gadfly and the call of Christians to be agitators)






4)

Worlds Apart

(The separating power of classism)




5)

On The Immigrant Debate, Pt. 2

6)

An Interesting Way to Look at Intercession

7)

A Few Thoughtz: The Tipping Point, Pt. 2

8)

A Christian, a Muslim, and an Atheist

9)

Technology and Society

10)

Health Nutz, Pt. 1

(How Christian living is healthy living)



11)

Of Water and Diamonds

(Juxtaposing the intrinsic value of water with the extrinsic value of diamonds)

12)

Health Nutz, Pt. 2: Joy in the Midst of Pain

13)

Truth of Inconvenience

(Why I think odd encounters are sometimes God's way of speaking to us)








14)

The Complexities and Challenges of the Jena 6 Case

Labels: 2007, artist, Atheist, Christian, gadfly, health, hip-hop, immigration, Intercession, Jena 6, Lecrae, moral, Muslim, society, technology, Tipping Point

1)

The Bush Administration and U. S. policies on torture

2)

The Pentagon violating the Constitution in the name of Christian Evangelism in the military?

3)

How many politicians are banking off of the "fear" doctrine

Labels: Bush, Christian, Constitution, news, politics, torture

Peace and blessings,

I thought I would share these videos with you because they are pretty funny.


The first one is about the comic Michael Jr.'s experience jogging one night:



The second clip (comedian Tim Hawkins) is about what would happen if major corporations high-jacked some worship songs:



The third clip (Tim Hawkins) is about holding hands in church:



The final clip (Tim Hawkins) is about our food prayers:



What do you think? Funny? Not really? So-so? Take care, stay blessed and speekonit...

Labels: Christian, Comedy

Peace and blessings,

Below is a conversation on what appears to be a Christian TV show and/or station, and a Professor of Religion about the

relevance of the bible.

Check it out and share your thoughts. Take care and have a blessed day.

Labels: Bible, Christian, education, TV

Peace and blessings,

As promised, I've just added a section on Contemporary, Country, and Rock Christian music. It's located right under the Christian hip-hop section. I've only included reviews and samples to albums that I have purchased and have heard. However, a few of the artists previewed below (e.g. Jars of Clay, Casting Crowns) have newer albums out. Below are samples to some of the albums I've heard and can attest to. I recommend that you cop these albums because the music and messages are good, especially Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, and Switchfoot. Check them out and let me know your thoughts? Any songs you're feeling? Not feeling? Why or why not? Enjoy, stay blessed and encouraged, and speekonit...


1)

Redemption Songs

by Jars of Clay










2)

Coming Up to Breathe

by Mercy Me







3)

If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something

by Rebecca St. James









4)

Lifesong

by Casting Crowns












5)

Look to You

by Hillsong










6)

Nothing is Sound

by Switchfoot

Labels: artist, Casting Crowns, Christian, contemporary Christian music, Country, Hillsong, Jars of Clay, Mercy Me, Rebecca St. James, Rock, Switchfoot

Peace and blessings,

A friend of mine sent me links of the video (posted below) of Bill Maher's 9/7/07 show featuring Cornel West and Mos Def. Aside from a few comedic moments, they discussed some very significant social, political, and moral issues. They talked about perceptions of terrorism, American hypocrisy, three political economic "-isms" - militarism, capitalism, and imperialism, the Jena 6, and the 2008 elections. As you can see from the variety of topics and the nature of the guests, the discussions were very insightful.

What I enjoyed most about the discussions, however, was not necessarily the topics they discussed, but the context in which these topics were discussed. Cornel West is a Christian, Mos Def a Muslim, and Bill Maher an Atheist. Now I don't watch cable tv too often, but as far as I can remember, this was the first time I've watched people from different belief systems engage in a respectful and critical discussion on a variety of topics pertinent to the human condition. Disagreements and emotional responses are common when discussing issues of this magnitude. However, unlike many other televised discussions that are more characterized as confrontational rather than constructive, this discussion was more than fruitful. It provides a good example of how people with different belief systems can achieve common ground by sharing their ideas and views and respecting those of others.

As a Christian, I thought this video was important because it represents a snapshot of the American diversity and demographic. Throughout the world, it seems like two major belief systems are Christianity and Orthodox Islam. Within the U.S., in particular within the African American community, it seems like the two major belief systems are Christianity and the Nation of Islam. Therefore, it is common for family and friend circles to consist of Christians, Muslims, Atheists, and other belief systems. Due to the increases in diversity, technology, and transportation, I believe that more conversations between people from differenent belief systems will start taking place and given times we are living in, these conversations are more than needed.

What do you think? Does anyone close to you (family member or friend) ascribe to a different belief system than you? If so, has any conversations about your belief systems come up? Any conversations about other topics? How did the conversations go? Stay blessed, encouraged, and speekonit...

Labels: African American, American, Atheist, Christian, diversity, elections, imperialism, issues, Jena 6, moral, Muslim, Nation of Islam, Othodox Islam, political, social, U.S., world

"Father, I'm praying for a friend, he and I are really close/and out of all my friends, for this one i'm concerned the most/he say he reading daily, but he ain't really learnin'/he be in church but say that he ain't moved by any sermon/his face (is) weak, he ain't prayed in a week/he wake up and just weep/with his face in the sink/Lord, you gotta help my man/I'm praying for him daily/he ain't sin but it just seem as if he's going crazy/ ...but is it done for him?/ Lord don't let it be/if he don't want to talk to You then Father hear from me"


Peace and blessings,

These words come from the opening verse of "Praying for You," a song off of Lecrae's "After the Music Stops." In this song, Lecrae is having a conversation with God on behalf of one of his friends, whose spiritual welfare Lecrae is deeply concerned with. When I first heard this opening verse, I immediately thought that this song was about the importance of us interceding on behalf of, or praying for others. Once I heard the second verse, however, I realized that my immediate thoughts about the song were only partly accurate. While the song is about intercession, it is about a type of intercession that I personally never thought about until hearing this song. At the end of the second verse, Lecrae "reveals" to God (we can't really reveal anything to the One who is all-knowing) that the friend he is interceding for is none other than himself. Now at first I was taken back and extremely confused. How could he be talking to God, when in the song he said that his "friend" (i.e. himself) has not been talking to God? How can a person go to God and intercede on behalf of him or herself?

The more I wrestled with this idea, the more I began to "break out" of my limited view of intercession and view the term in a broader, more encompassing sense. Moreover, as I reflected on the sacrifice Jesus made for us, and the various things we experience in our Christian walk, the type of intercession Lecrae was talking about started to make more and more sense. Despite our sinful and rebellious behavior in the Old Testament, God continued to show compassion, sending prophets to warn them to turn away from those things that are not of God, and to turn back to those things that are of God. For those of who repented and turned back to God, He not only provided for them, but in many cases He elevated them in ways never imagined. In the New Testament, Jesus, despite our sinful and rebellious behavior towards each other and also towards Him, gave His life so that we can be in good standing with God, granted we follow and believe in Him as Lord and Savior.

Reflecting on Lecrae's song, and on how God deals with us in the Bible, I began to ask the question: Even though God's love for us is unconditional, is there anything about us, that God sees in us, that could also serve as motivation to love and care for us despite our shortcomings, sins, and rebellion? Now by "about us" i'm not referring to things that we do, because there is nothing we can physically do to give us salvation. It only comes through believing and following the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. By "about us" I am referring to some inherently spiritual aspect of our being, that God considers worth preserving and nurturing. I have come to realization that there must be an inherently spiritual part of us that not only longs to connect with God, but that also "intercedes" with God on our behalf when our mental, physical, or emotional being is trying to distance ourselves from Him. That would help explain why even when we feel like we are at our worse and are disconnected from God, He does something, or sends someone in our lives to remind us that He's right there by our side. We don't just intercede for others during their time of need; there's also a part of us that intercedes on our behalf during our own time of need.

This idea is something I have just recently started seriously thinking about, so I am really interested in hearing what others think. Until next time, stay blessed and speekonit...

Labels: After the Music Stops, Bible, Christian, conversation, God, intercede, Intercession, Lecrae, love, need, prayer, unconditional

Peace and blessings,

Below are a couple of recent gems to check out. The first is the music video "Who Am I?" by DA Truth featuring Tye Tribbett. The song emphasizes the importance of having all aspects of one's identity grounded in Christ, so that the legacy one leaves behind is one of inspiration and not denigration. It raises the ever-important question that personally I know I need to reflect on more often: "What type of person am I, and how do I want to be remembered?"




The next video is a promo for the group "Everyday Process." Some brothers put me on to them while I was in Chicago last week, and they are continuing to grow on my. They have that grimy, Philly/New York flow, which is right up my alley. The group's name represents the struggles and experiences that we as Christians go through everyday in our walk with God.



Any thoughts? Weigh in and speekonit...

Labels: Christian, Christian hip hop, Da Truth, Everyday Process, videos

Peace and blessings,

I would like to start off with a quote from Lecrae’s “I did it for you,” which I think is the best song off of his album, “After the music stops”:

“The say Mack got saved/ and (???) is a Christian/Well I don’t really know them/ but I pray they both listenin’/ it’s hard trying to grow up in a sinful land/and you don’t have an example of an godly man/well hold on!/just keep your eyes on Christ/when you’re in or in the world/man our lives are alright/they say heaven gotta ghetto/ but that ain’t true/ and if God has a standard then that ain’t you/ and that ain’t me/ that’s what I learned late one night/till a man named James White/Changed my life/he told me that Christ paid the price for sin/every lie I ever told Christ died for them/See, I never knew that I offended God/I just knew I really wasn’t trying to live for God/And my sins all cost me/yeah pretty costly/I couldn’t blame the hood for death sin brought me/All that I could do was blame myself/ and realize there was no way I could change myself/so I, trusted Christ with my lust for life/and He saved me that’s why I’m trying to touch the mic/Yeah, so if you ask me who I’m spittin’ this to/that’s right yall I did it for you/I did it for you/and if you ask who I’ve written this to/that’s right yall I did it for you/I did it for you”

Lecrae, from “I did it for you” off of his album, “After the music stops.”


While growing up, I was blessed to have both parents around and a good education. Despite these blessings, however, I was exposed to my share of gang violence. I vividly remember when I saw someone shooting at another person in my driveway, only to find out moments later that the person was shot and killed on my front porch. Some years earlier I remember overhearing my pops’ telephone call when he found out that my cousin, who had a scholarship to attend UCLA and was a honor roll student and athlete, was shot and killed over a CD players just days before his high school graduation. Further, I have and currently know plenty of people who are involved in gang life.

Now that I’m older and have tried to learn more about the contexts and experiences which encourage youth to get involved with gang life, I often wonder “what if that was me?” “What if I didn’t grow up with two parents who loved me and encouraged me to be great, and didn’t have a great-aunt to anoint me with olive oil and pray over me often?” I think that asking these type of self-reflective questions is a start to realizing that regardless of the “endowments” or supports we may have grown up with, it is only by the grace of God that we do not have to live a life of crime, violence, and desperation. Does that mean that God is the reason why there are “those” people who are in gangs and who commit violent acts toward each other? I emphatically say no. What it is a result of, though, is the many sins and choices that we have made (via free will) that have created the conditions to where some people feel like joining a gang is their best option for survival or a decent life, given the alternatives. Every choice we make, big or small, has some kind of effect on someone other than ourselves…

Once we get to the point where we realize that we could easily be in the same position as our brothers and sisters who are severely impoverished, involved in drugs, and/or gang life, we must then ask ourselves, “what kept me out of that situation?” Once we realize that the only answer is the grace of God, we must then ask ourselves, “how do we tell those who are in these predicaments that this is not what God intended for them, and that God, through Jesus Christ, will free them from their bondage and change their lives around?” Whenever I think about the power that we as Christians posses to reach those outside of the church walls, I recall an ever-important question that a woman raised during a discussion on whether or not Christians should embrace hip-hop as a ministry tool. She simply asked:”If Jesus was to come back today, where would he spend his time?” This immediately struck a cord with me because one of the first things that came to my mind were the people most likely to not “get down with” the church (although there are some more progressive churches were this is not the case). When I look in the bible at how and where Jesus spent most of his time, it is clear that Jesus was deeply concerned with those who were marginalized and written of as “outcasts.” In Luke 5:32 Jesus states,

“I have not come to arouse and invite and call the righteous, but the erring ones (those not free from sin) to repentance [to change their minds for the better and heartily to amend their ways, with abhorrence of their past sins” (NKJ Amplified)



Someone who has taken this scripture to heart is Bishop George McKinney, who has a

ministry in San Diego

which focuses on ministering to and improving the lives of gang members, prostitutes, drug dealers, and any other force the enemy tries to enslave our people with. Another thing I like about this ministry is that it doesn’t just focus on the individual (although it comes to choice that must be made by the individual), but also focuses on the context and structural sins that contribute to these outcomes (e.g., poverty, materialism, racism, and so forth).

What do you think? What do you think are the main causes as to why youth get involved with gang life? What role do you think Christians should play in addressing this issue? Weigh in and speekoint…

Labels: After the Music Stops, Christian, Christian hip hop, church, drugs, gangs, Heaven, Jesus, Lecrae, Luke, New Slavemasters, youth

Peace and blessings,





While attending a graduate student seminar at Atlanta '05 (an African American Christian student leadership conference put on by InterVasity Christian Fellowship), one of the speakers said the following with regards to the perceived distinction between Academics and faith,

"To the Christian, there is no such thing as sacred and secular...everything is sacred."

That phrase stuck with me throughout the whole conference and continues to resonate with me today, especially seeing that I am currently and will be in academia for a while. I took that phrase to mean that as Christians, our entire lives are dedicated to glorifying God. Therefore, regardless of what we "specialize" in (e.g. medicine, science, education, law, etc...), our approach to and usage of those skills must first and foremost be a reflection of our relationship with God. During this and other graduate student seminars, we discussed how many (if not all) of the subjects we study in school (i.e. physics, chemistry, psychology, philosophy, biology, etc...) are simply attempts to further identify, analyze, and explain God's creations. One of my favorite disciplines besides education is psychology, and the more I learn about social and developmental psych (my particular interests within psych), the more I realize that the principles discussed and researched are the same as those emphasized in the bible (i.e. leadership, decision-making, inter-personal relationships, persuasion and influence, etc...). Although I think there are tons of examples in the bible, i'm not going to discuss them here, as that is not the focus of this piece.


I mentioned that quote from Atlanta '05, and the context in which it was discussed because I think it is relevant to the current debate that exists between those who are for Christian hip-hop, and those who are against it. I'm not going to get into the whole debate, but just a brief summary. For those on the "con" side, one of the criticisms of Christian hip-hop is that some artists' use the beats of "worldly" artists, and many of these beats are associated with negative behaviors. Further, it has been noted that before satan was cast down from heaven, he specialized in music, therefore the negative messages and images that are often associated with hip-hip culture(and in other genres as well) are indicative of Satan's influence(via manipulation of one's emotions and attitudes through music). The "Pro" side on the other hand, argues that hip-hop as a culture and artform in itself is not of satan, but it (as with anything) can be used to acheive destructive or constructive ends. Further, people contend that artistic expression is a gift from God, and thus another tool for ministry and spreading the Gospel. For more information on both sides of the debate, you can check out exministries.com (con) and theambassadoronline.com (pro).

What got me thinking about this debate was a song I heard on Lecrae's Album, "After the Music Stops (2006)." His album is one of the best Christain rap albums i've ever heard, and I advise you to cop it (album info will be on the site soon). The name of the song is called "Jesus Muzik" and it sounded to me like the hook sampled the voice of a secular rap artist. I called "the music expert(my sister, lol)" and she told me that when songs are "chopped and screwed," they slow the voice down so that anyone's voice can be transformed into that slow, "draggy" sound. Despite this information, I still wondered if people would view the song and its impact differently if the song did contain a sample of a secular artist? My answer is no, or atleast they shouldn't for a couple of reasons. For one, I can atleast say for me that I listen to the music I listen to not just because of the quality of the music itself, but also because of my perceived quality of the artist as well. I believe that the artists that I listen to ( both "secular" and "sacred") are generally "good" people in a sense that I believe they make music for the betterment as opposed to the detriment of their listeners. Therefore, because I own both of Lecrae's albums and I'm aware of his sincerity and fervor in spreading the Gospel, I know that whether or not the sampled voice on the track is from a secular artist is an irrelevant issue. Further, being preoccupied with whose voice was sampled will cause me to miss the purpose of the song and the album, which is to show Christ to the lost and to strengthen us as believers to do the same.

The second point I wanted to make before I sign off (Honestly, I never intend on being this long-winded when I write, lol), is that I think there is a need to distinguish between the culture and art-form of hip-hop itself, and how artists within that culture and art-form choose to use their gifts. With regards to the debate mentioned earlier, I am for using hip-hop as a tool to reach the lost because when it's all said and done, what matters is what words are spoke, not whose voice was sampled or what beats were knockin'. The bible talks about how the power of life and death is in the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Christian hip-hop artists are first and foremost Christians, therefore we as listeners should be more concerned with the Gospel they are spreading, and not which samples or beats they use, how they are dressed, etc... After all, as long as the music is inspired by Jesus, we need to forever rep and support that Jesus Muzik...

Here is another scripture that I thought was relevant to this issue, as well as Lecrae's music video for "Jesus Muzik." Peace, blessings, and I want to know your thoughts on this issue, so definately speekonit...



"21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings."

1 Corinthians 9:21-23 (New International Version)




Link to the "Jesus Muzik" video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaTXRaSvq-M

Labels: academic, ATL, Bible, Christian, faith, God, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Lecrae, social psychology

Peace and blessings,

I came across this scripture this week, and I thought I'd post it because I found it to be very inspirational. In my opinion it speaks to the distinction we as Christians must always make between being in the world but not of the world. Namely, although we are humans and to an extent must tend to human needs and faculties (e.g. food, communication, relationship, expression, intellect, etc...), the battles we endure are not of human origin, but of spiritual origin. Similarly, the "weaponry" we use to claim victory over these batttles (because as believers we are already made victorious through Christ) comes from the spiritual power invested in us through Christ (e.g. the Fruits and Gifts of the Spirit). I'm interested in hearing what people think this scriputure means to them, so have a blessed weekend, and speekonit...



" 3For though we walk (live) in the flesh, we are not carrying on our warfare according to the flesh and using mere human weapons.

4For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,"


2 Corinthians 10:3-4 (Amplified Bible)

Labels: 2 Corinthians, battles, Christian, gifts, Jesus Christ, scripture, spiritual, world

Below are a couple of trialers for films that are coming out next year. The first trailer is of Spider-Man 3, and the other is of Transformers. If you've read my "more than meets the eye" piece I did in Februrary, then you know I am partial towards Spider-Man films, because I think his plight mirrors that of the Christian walk in some respects. With regards to transformers, I haven't made any "deep connections" with that concept yet, but for now I'm "pubbing" the ilm solely on the strength that I grew up watching the cartoons as a child, and was "devastated" when Optimus Prime died in the first cartoon movie, lol. Anyway, I'm interested in whether people think there is a "deeper meaning" behind the spider-man story and if so, what it is. So as always, speekonit...

Labels: cartoons, Christian, movies, Spiderman, Superheroes, Transformers

Peace and blessings,

I've been meaning to put up a trailer for a movie that I saw a couple of months back, and within a week or so of renting it I purchased it online. It's called "the Second Chance" and it's about the politics and inequality that exists among two sister churches and their respective communities (one church is in the suburbs and the other in the urban city). I thought the movie was very good simply because it was a Christian film (of which we need more mainstream access to), but because it dealt with alot of social issues that I think are not always addressed among and between the body of Christ and people in general. When u get a chance, rent the movie and/or cop it and let me know what you think. Have a blessed weekend, and speekonit...

Labels: Christian, church, economic, movie, Second Chance

Peace and Blessings to all,

First off, I just want to thank everyone who takes the time out to visit this blog. The goal is simply to provide a space for people to discuss their thoughts on and reactions to the many things going on within the country and throughout the world. Also, this blog is a space for people to post encouraging quotes, scriptures, and/or prayers in response to the events and issues we as humanity are dealing with. Although I am a Christian and my approach to many of these issues with be rooted in such, this is a space for everyone who wants to voice their opinions. With that said, let's get it going...

Labels: Christian, humanity, prayers, quotes, scripture