Real Talk

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,'
declares the LORD."

-Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)

Peace and blessings,

No this post does not have anything to do with Al Gore's film "An Inconvenient Truth," but you have to like my play off of the film's title right, lol? I just wanted to share a few thoughts about an experience I had Wednesday night. After I got out of class, I got something to eat before I started walking to my car. Because of the crazy parking situation near campus, I park about 15 minutes (walking distance) from campus and just walk it, because it's all day parking. As folks living in the Bay know, it is starting to get pretty cold at night. Once I got to my car, I noticed that my gas light came on. My initial thought was "man, I really don't want to stop for gas on the way home." Therefore, I prayed to God that I could make it home without getting gas, and I would get gas tomorrow. The reasons I really didn't want to stop for gas were:

1) I was a little under the weather, so, given that I was just walking in the cold for the past 15 minutes, I noticed that the cold weather was starting to get to me, so I wanted to get home as soon as possible. Furthermore, I really didn't feel like standing out in the cold pumping gas.

2) On my way walking to the car I picked up a broccoli and cheese soup bread bowl from Quizno's (yes, I had to give you the specifics because it is off the hook), and I wanted to get home before it got cold.

3) I knew that I had a lot of work to do when I get home, and I know that the longer it took me to get home, the more likely I would want to chill and procrastinate when I got home. I know how I operate, and if I don't "strike when the iron's hot," then I get complacent.

So as you can see, stopping for gas that evening would have appeared to me to be an inconvenience. As soon as I start driving, the gas light goes off and I'm feeling optimistic about my chances of getting home before the gas tank gets really low. However, this optimism quickly waned, as right before I approach the freeway onramp, the light comes on again and the gauage looks real "suspect." Huffing and puffing under my breadth, I turn into the gas station to get some gas. Before proceeding with the story, it is important for me to let you know about my "gas station steez." For people who know me (or at least have visited this blog) know that I am a hip-hop head, and have a substantial collection of Christian hip-hop. Given my views on

mainstream media's "haterism" towards Christian hip-hop,

I make an effort to really blast my Christian hip-hop while I'm cruisin' in Justice (the name of my car). In addition, I tend to blast my music while I'm pumping my gas, while either having the window rolled down or leaving the driver's door open, lol. Normally I do this without giving much thought to those around me. My reasoning being that since we get bombarded daily with garbage that passes for good music or hip-hop, blasting my Christian hip-hop is an act of resistence, as well as my way of introducing people to a healthy alternative they may know little or nothing about.

This particular time at the gas station, however, was a little different. As I was pumping my gas, I became overly conscious of my blasting of my Christian hip-hop. I admit that this is a result of two ethnic and age steretypes that I held at the moment. Because the woman pumping gas next to me appeared to be a middle aged Asian woman, I automatically assumed that 1) she may not be a Christian and that 2) she would not be interested in being on the receiving end of me blasting my music. I was wrong on both fronts. While pumping gas she asked me who was I listening to. I told her that the artist was Flame and the album as

13 Letters

by the 116 Click. After telling her what the song and album was about (the 13 Pauline letters), she said it was good hear something different type of music. I offered to give her my copy (because those who know also know that I keep my originals at home, lol), but she said no thank you, but nevertheless indicated that she was feeling the concept of the music. She then told me that she was on her way to her church to hear T.D. Jakes speak. So hear you have it, a presumably middle aged Asian woman and a young adult African American male chopping it up about Christian hip-hop and church at an Oakland gas station at night. Tight huh? After we parted ways, all I could do was thank God because not only was I trying to avoid going to the gas station, but I had a complaining spirit once I got to the gas station. Nevertheless, God once again reminded me of the above scripture, and that sometimes times of inconvenience (perceived or actual) are in fact opportunities to learn a little more about Him, His children, and ourselves.

This experience really taught me about the importance of viewing situations as opportunities for God to work in our lives. Who knows, maybe our encounter had to do with breaking down stereotypes and embracing the

diversity of God's kingdom?

Regardless of the meaning of the encounter, one truth is in fallible: God knows what's best for us better than we do! What do you think? Have you had any similar "interesting" encounters? Has there ever been a time when you didn't want to do something, but once you did you realized that God revealed something to you or about you in the process? Take care, have a blessed weekend, and speekonit...

Labels: 13 Letters, Christian hip hop, diversity, Flame, inconvenience, Isaiah, stereotypes, truth

Peace and blessings,

In light of pt. 1 of this topic, I wanted to let you know about some alternative technological websites that provide alternatives to Youtube and Myspace. As mentioned in pt. 1, I don't have anything against Youtube and Myspace in themselves, as I use both of them. I just wanted to put people on to a couple of other sites that are more Christ-focused. The first is

GodTube,

which is clear in the name is like a Christian Youtube. The other site is

Cool Christian Friends,

which is like Myspace. Below are four videos put together by the

Community Christian Church

in Naperville, IL, which are parodies to the MAC/IBM commercials. I like the concept behind these videos. The first one deals with clothing conventions, the second deals with "advertising" Christ, the third deals with music, and the forth with the holy spirit.











What do you think of these videos? Of

GodTube

and

Cool Christian Friends?

Have a blessed week and speekonit...

Labels: alternatives, clothing, conventions, Cool Christian Friends, Flame, GodTube, Holy Spirit, music, myspace, society, technology, Youtube

"She's so young with so much pain/there's so many things Shante wishes she can change/
So what she does is spend hours of the day/meeting new friends in her own little place/
Just today she counted and 300 friends/most of them young, but yet some were older men/
But it's ok/Shante says that's safe/her own little place to get away, her myspace"

-Flame
"Myspace" off of the album, "Our World Fallen"

Peace and blessings,

I was in class a few weeks back and came across a very interesting article. The article explored the potential causes for adolescents choosing to participate in risky health behaviors, such as substance use, sex, and so forth. The author, Laurence Steinberg (2007) presents a neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk taking, which argues that choosing to engage in risky behavior is largely depends on which networks in your brain are more salient during a given period in your lifetime. In other words, the argument is that there are times in our lifetime when the socioemotional network (SEN) in our brains, which operate primarily on emotion, arousal, and impulse, is more salient than the cognitive control network (CCN), which primarily deals with thinking things through, weighing the costs of our decisions, and thus regulating our behavior. This is what is believed to being going on in adolescence (Steinberg, 2007). One of the findings which supports this perspective is that in general, antisocial peer pressure is most very influential in pre-adolescence and mid-adolescence (i.e. around puberty), where the gap between the SEN and CCN is the largest, in favor of the SEN. Therefore, because peer pressure can appeal to one's emotional arousal (i.e. a person getting "hyped" up when your peers are encouraging him or her to do something), it's no surpsrise that many of the risk behaviors adolescents engage in are also often shared by their peers. As people move into late adolescence and adulthood, the CCN becomes more and salient, helping one to make decisions that take the costs of one's behaviors into consideration (via logic, reasoning, reflection, ect...) (2004, cited in Steinberg, 2007). The implication from this article is that because since the mere presence of peers provides rewards (e.g. encouragement, arousal, approval) for one's behavior, then this social influence will be more important in an adolescent's decision to engage in risky behaviors than any other rewards the adolescent would factor into their decision when alone (Steinberg, 2007).

Given that I am in the social sciences (education and human development), this article was of great interest to me because it presented a perspective on pre-adolescent and adolecent behavior that I have not been exposed to. What really interested me as a developmentalist is the idea that during adolescence, whether or not adolescents are making decisions in a solitary context (i.e. alone) or social context (i.e. in the presence of peers) can have a profound impact on the decisions adolescents will generally make. With the advancements in technology and the mass incorporation of these advancements into just about every aspect of many societies, it seems like the distinction between the solitary and the social has been blurred. For instance, with the development of the internet, and most recently Myspace, Facebook, and Youtube (just to name a few), one can be in a solitary context (e.g. in one's room by oneself), while at the same time communicating and participating within a social context via the internet (e.g. video chatrooms, being apart of various Myspace and Facebook networks and groups, etc...). This idea of simultaneously being in a solitary and social context makes this issue of technology and society an issue of great importance. As an avid internet user, I personally do not have an issue with things such as Myspace, Facebook, and Youtube, because I use all three. However, I wonder about what having this kind of social access does for younger children and adolescents, especially when they are being exposed (via observing the behavior of others, the TV, etc...) to certain themes, images, and behaviors at a younger age. I know what my mentality was during pre- and mid-adolescence, and let's just say that my having access to these social mediums back then would have been "all bad." Like with anything else, I think that these technological advancements can be beneficial in may ways. However, if not used properly and if unchecked, these mediums can be detrimental as well. Everytime I sign on to my Myspace page i'm presented with images and adds that I don't need to see. And i'm just signing on to check my messages! As more people are becoming connected through these mediums, it is important that we are conscious or and careful of how we use them, and especially how the youth are using them (or whether or not they should be using them at all). Most importantly, we must stay prayed up that God gives us discernment as to how to use these mediums to further our relationship with him and for the betterment of our fellow brothers and sisters, especially for the youth. If not, then we must ask ourselves: Are these technological advancements really "advancing" our society?

Below are a couple of articles I came across related to this issue. Also below, is a live performance and audio track of the song "Myspace" by Flame, who addresses the Myspace phenonemon. What do you think? Take care, stay blessed, and speekonit...


1)

A teen who made a fake ASA Coon page on myspace

2)

Schools and libraries respond to the Myspace phenomenon

*Steinberg, L. (2007). Risk taking in adolescence: new perspectives from brain and behavioral science, CURRENT DIRECTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, 55-59

Labels: Flame, God, internet, myspace, society, technology, Youtube

Peace and blessings,

I must say that 2007 has been a great year. Not just because biblically "7" represents the year of completion and freedom (i.e. the year of Jubilee), but also because of the abundance of lyrically and musically solid Christian hip-hop that has came out this year. Although I'm sure there is a ton of good Christian hip-hop that has come out this year (check the website links in the "Holy Hip Hop Resources" section to find out for yourself), I can only speak on the albums that I have personally copped and listened to. Therefore, below are five albums that have been released in 2007, each accompanied by a lyrical quote from the album. A couple of these quotes, as well as the reviews to these albums (which can also be found in the HHH Resources section), are courtesy of

Rapzilla,

and excellent site for all things Christian Hip Hop. Feel free to share your thoughts on any of these albums that you may have. Until next time, stay blessed and speekonit...



1) "Open Book" by Da Truth



From the song "Star Struck:"

"No, He’s not common at all/ All eyes on Him/Hold your jewels, we gotta priceless gem/Who else can pay the price for sin/ Nobody, and build a whole body/Like a private gym/ Nobody, nobody but Him/He’s Superman but godly, embodied in Clark Kent/ yeah, He came to save the day/ Why would you trade Him to play/ In a crooked world that is fading away?/ Candy paint and wood grain decay, ok?"



2) "HIStory: Our Place in His Story" by Cross Movement



From the song "Spare Change:"

"We lost Truth in this period/and proof is so mysterious/losing absolutes is so serious/how we think we gon' live when everything's relative/is anybody curious?//without a standard of Truth society's deranged/that's why I'm up in your ear begging for change."



3) "13 Letters" by 116 Click



From the song "Evolution:"

"I was a slave to the night life, sex and the chronic/the unki-jerk(?), mad dog, gin and tonic/then God pulled my heart strings, yeah He's harmonic/now i'm gonna live forever I'm bionic/put death in a joke hold and slammed it like onyx/so we can slam dance in heaven it's ironic/after years of research these scientists couldn't figure/how I acted like an ape but evolved from a sinner"



4) "Our World Fallen" by Flame



From the song "Call Him:"

"Let's take a look at the fall man/the One who came down, put His foot on the raw land/gotta question 'do you know who you are man?'/or do you assume that you can do what the Lord can?/I know it's hard fam, trying to live life/lookin' to the left and nobody is livin' right/lookin' to the right everybody is livin' wrong/like we livin' in a movie and doin' it to a song/are your influences throwin' you a zone?/influencin' you to want to do what you're most prone/you Christ He left His heavenly home/not just that, He left his heavenly throne/just to bring Ebony home/or whatever your name is/He definately claims His/plus exhanges filth to anguish/guilt and pain/and makes us stainless"



5) "The Process of Illumination and Elimination" by Everyday Process



From the song "Holla at Me:"

" I guess to say that the Rock's in the building/2000 years flawless He's still rockin' His children/A monument like Plymoth Rock for His Pilgrims/In fact, the impact has got me rocked for a million/Strict life and I don't play in the streets/strict diet, I stay away from the sweets/excuse me kid if he don't eat the king's meat/I'm on my Shadrach tell them boys go 'head bring heat"

Labels: 116 Click, 2007, albums, Christian hip hop, Cross Movement, Da Truth, Everyday Process, Flame, freedom, HHH

Peace and blessings,
This time around, the featured artist is Trip Lee, a member of the Christian hip-hop collective known as the 116 Click. The collective is based on Romans 1:16, which reads:

"For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (good news) of Christ, for it is God's power working unto salvation [for deliverance from eternal death] to everyone who believes with a personal trust and a confident surrender and firm reliance, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,"
- NKJ Amplified


The following tracks are from his album, "If They Only Knew." The first track is entitled "Who You Rollin' Wit" and features fellow 116 click representatives Flame and Json. This track is an anthem for the body of Christ, laying out what it means to be "in the world but not of it," while demonstrating the importance of strength in numbers.




The next track is called "Behold the Christ." So without further, press play and behold the Christ...



This track, entitled "Give you that truth," is a comparison of the purpose, values, and content of secular and Christian hip-hop. What realy good? God, as always...



Feeling it yet? I already know the answer to that, but I'm going to hit with "more" anyway.



Any thoughts on the tracks? Enough to make you cop the album? Share your thoughts and speekonit...

Labels: Christ, Christian hip hop, Flame, If They Only Knew, Json, Trip Lee

Peace and blessings,

For my west coast folks, I'm sure you are familiar with Chino XL, a west-coast mc who's battle rap skills are phenomenal. If you've ever wondered what his style would sound like with Christ-centered lyrics, look no further: Introducing Shai Linne, a Philly MC with a fierce rhyme scheme, lyrical prowness, and rapid delivery. Oh yeah, and he's heavily versed in the dotrine of the Christian faith as well. Two of the following tracks are from his solo album, and the last track is from a guest appearance on another Christian MC's album.





The first track is called "Christ Crucified," and is basically about how the answers to the world's problems (social, economic, political, individual) rest in Jesus Christ.




This track is called "Random Thoughts" and it's just that. After a few seconds once it starts playing, it may stop. If that happens, then just put the cursor on the bar, and drag it forward (fast forward it) to about 45 seconds into it.




This track is off of Flame's Album "Rewind," and the song is titled "To My Heart" It's about the daily battles we go through with our sinful nature. All I can say is wow...



Hope you enjoyed the soul food. Holla back and speekonit...

Labels: Christ, Christian hip hop, Flame, Shai Linne