Real Talk

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

Peace and blessings,

Below are half of the selected postings from '07. Take care, God bless, and speekonit...





1)

Beacon of Light

(A woman gives her life to Christ and ministers to exotic dancers)





2)

A Dream Preserved

(MLK's dream will forever live on in and through us)



3)

JC, MLK, and SF: Who Would Have Thought?

4)

More Than a Month: Good Looking Out Carter G.

5)

A Lesson in Social Psychology: The Children of Israel

6)

Fly Like an Eagle, Sort of

(A juxtaposition of biblical conceptions of an eagle and the "eagle" dance)





7)

More Than a Month: Good Looking Out Dr. Phillip Emeagwali

(The "father of the internet")



8)

Has it Really Come to This?

(A false teacher leading people astray)



9)

Two Sides to a Coin: The Video Game Dilemma

(Video games about Darfur and Columbine)






10)

Holding it Down: Bishop George McKinney

11)

Heaven for a Gangsta

12)

The Universal Importance of Unity

Labels: 2007, Children of Israel, eagle, JC, Jose De Jesus Miranda, Lecrae, Miseducation of the Negro, MLK, New Slavemasters, unity, video game, Voltron

"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,

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,

I pray everyone's weekend was blessed and refreshing. Below are some tracks from Lecrae's two albums ("Real talk", 2005 & "After the music stops," 2006). He's one of my top five Christian Mcees, and after listening to these tracks, you'll be convinced of his gift.





This first track is entitled "Take me as I am," and it is about the common misconception we have about coming to Christ, namely that we must "get ourselves right" before we come to Christ. Actually, we alone are able to "get ourselves right" in any sense of the word, but only through Christ are we changed. What's the point of the song? That we must come to Christ as we are, regardless of what we've done, because through Him, all things are made new.






The next track is called "crossover," and it's basically an anthem about the importance of developing a relationship with Christ and doing away with destructive behavior. In addition to the potency of his lyrics, the beat is sick. It sounds like that old memephis bleek cut called "do my ladies..."






The next track is called " Praying for you," and it is about him interceding in prayer on behalf of someone. The song is deep, as I think it really touches on some of the issues that we as believers wrestle with in our minds. The beat is one of the sickest i've heard in a while. It reminds me of jay-z's "song cry."



This last track isn't even a full song, but I had to include it because it's vicious. It's him dropping a minute-long freestyle. I'm not going to say anything else, just peep it...



Enjoy the soulfood, and speekonit...

Labels: Christian hip hop, Lecrae, music, Real Talk

Peace and blessings,

I want to start off by wishing everyone a happy new year, and may God provide for you and your families this year and the years to come. From now one, I will frequently post Christian hip-hop songs from the artists that are in my holy-hip resources section, as well from artists that are not in the section. The jump off features two tracks from Lecrae, "Tha Church" and "I did it for you." These tracks are my favorite songs from each of his albums. Artist and album info is provided in holy-hip resources section. Also, if u have any suggestions of tracks I should post, let me know and i'll see if I can find it. Holla back and speekonit...

Source: www.imeem.com

Labels: Christian hip hop, I Did it for You, Lecrae, news, Tha Church

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