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IV His Son and Crown Rights Media present the first music video from IV His Son's latest album "The Justice System" titles 'What am I to do?'.
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For more information about false teachers in the Word of Faith movement and why what they teach is so opposed to scripture please visit the following websites:
http://justinpeters.org and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ks3EdMMT48
http://apprising.org
http://alittleleaven.com
http://www.fightingforthefaith.com/
http://justinpeters.org and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ks3EdMMT48
http://www.newcalvinist.com/holy-hip-hop-and-new-calvinism/ When on FB I disagreed with the guy who had posted this article on his blog (He says he is not the author of the article) in which he said on his FB post that he was open for dialog yet when I responded he deleted my comments instead of engaging in a healthy dialog.
I see these type of arguments used against Christian Rap all the time and in my opinion they have no substance at all and always ends up with those who disagree with it because they do not themselves like it and thus pronounce it to be sin for all others. The arguments were very weak, shallow and do nothing to demonstrate his point that Reformed Christian Rap encourages syncretism. I would encourage those interested to read the article that was posted and the readers can decide for themselves.
Lastly let me say I am GREATLY disappointed that instead of engaging in dialog 5ptsalt chose to delete my comments and refused to dialog. During an exchange he said
" And yes, i'm happy to engage in dialogue - as long as it's on-topic" He was not the author of the article but posted it on FB and his blog so I would expect him to be able to defend the serious charge that he is promoting on his blog and FB. I would invite 5ptsalt to feel free to comment on my blog if he cares to defend the claim that Reformed Rap promotes syncretism, and unlike what he did to me I will not delete his comments and censor him but would love to have good healthy debate.
My response which was deleted is reposted below.
So it is clear I am not angry. I am disapointed because I was wanting to have a healthy dialog and I think if people are going to make such claims they really need to be willing to defend them. I wish 5ptsalt well and certainly have no bad feelings towards him. I see these arguments used many times by those who do not like Christian Rap so I think it is important to show the arguments just dont hold under scrutiny!
I am going to go through all of your responses to these arguments because I do not think the objections you raise demonstrate your point at all.
In response to the first argument
1) Redeeming hip-hop culture for Christ
It would be helpful to get a definition of what you mean by "hip hop" culture? Do you mean drugs, guns, pimps, etc? If this is what you mean then obviously to be a Christian would mean to abandon all this stuff to follow Christ.
The Reformed Rappers I have seen such as Shai Linne certainly do NOT promote anything but Godly living and devotion to Christ. Which maybe there needs to be a distinction made between Christian Rap, and hip hop culture.
I found this definition from the Urban dictionary which defines hip hop as
" Hip-Hop" A culture and form of ground breaking music and self expression with elements that consisted of the elements of graffiti art, DJing, MCing, and breaking. Today Hip-Hop is considered to be dead in the mainstream because so-called mainstream Hip-Hop doesn't have the elements of hip-hop and have no meaning. The stuff on MTV and the radio can't be called Hip-Hop because the lyrics don't have any meaning or self expression." http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hip-hop
I would ask why would you say that hip hop could not be redeemed for Christ? A Christian could do those things and be expressing their love for Christ and His word. The fact you may not do it or do not like it does not mean it is a sin. I would ask you to explain why these things could not be redeemed for Christ. (Note: Graffiti if it was done from a Christian would be done in a legal setting and would be part of aesthetics).
Sadly I was hoping to find your response but did not see one. You have stated the argument but never went on to refute the point. Maybe you (or the author if you are not him) could provide a response because the definition of hip hop as I find it I think could certainly be redeemed for Christ.
To your second point
2) A matter of musical preference
I agree it is more than a matter of preference in that the words have to be theologically sound. In response to this point you said
"Punk music [including hip-hop] is the ultimate statement of musical rebellion. Changing the words and the artists and calling it Christian will never sanctify it. It has no place in a new Christian’s life."
1-Please demonstrate the music is rebellious
2-Changing the words will not make it God honoring and Christ glorifying? It is the propositions in the music which determines if the song is glorifying to God or not. Are you saying sound in itself can be immoral or ungodly? One could play whatever sound they wanted with an instrument and it would be neither Godly nor unGodly because the words are not there.
The words is HOW we determine if something is Christ honoring or not. I could sing a Garth Brooks song set to "Amazing Grace" and it would not make it God honoring because you may like that style of music better. Sorry but this point really demonstrates you do not understand the issue. It really highlights the fact that you do not like it but it is not based on actual content but rather a "straw-man" caricature that you have made up of what you think SOME Christian rap is.
You posted Go on to say
"When we examine the lyrics of rap songs we are amazed to see that they are incoherent, meaningless drivel, although they invariably contain a few biblical phrases."
There probably is some Rap out there like that, but you can not throw out all of it because some are bad. There are some really silly hymns that are not theologically deep at all, should we throw out all Hymns? I posted a song and gave an example and REALLY hope you will respond and tell me what in that song is theologically inaccurate because that song has more theology in it then most Christians are exposed to in a year at their church.
It is simply sophomoric and fallacious to discount all Christian Rap based on some bad ones.
Lastly you say in your third point
3) Music is morally neutral
This point you respond by saying
"But this is wrong thinking. According to the Oxford Companion to Music, a composer ‘has the desire to express himself. If he were a poet he would do so in words, if a painter he would do so in line and colour, and so forth. As a musician he uses sound.’[8] The composer has a dual aim—to express his emotion and his sense of beauty. Therefore the only valid question about a composition is, ‘has the composer succeeded in expressing his emotion and his sense of beauty.’[9] So when music is composed it is not composed into a neutral nothing, it has a form that expresses a message and shows the composers vision of beauty. The message of hip-hop is of rebellion against all that is good and decent, and the vision of beauty is a vision that has been corrupted by evil."
So is it your contention that one could tell whether a song is glorifying to God or not by simply listening to the music playing (for example a guitar)? If so please tell me how you are able to tell without hearing the words. If you are going to claim based on the Holy Spirit giving you discernment then what about Christians who say there discernment finds nothing wrong with it?
I really would love to have a dialog and go over these points and hope to hear from you soon. None of my response has been rude, nor have I tried to offend you in anyway so please do not be offended.
That being said I see you have removed one of my previous comments and I really hope you do not remove this before people can read it and we can engage in fruitful dialog.
What I have seen is nothing more than your dislike for Christian rap which is fine, but you take it a step further and claim those that promote it are guilty of syncretism. I have yet to see a solid argument from you that demonstrates your point and numerous reasons to praise God and thank Him for raising these young reformed rappers who are actually getting out in the community and reaching people for Jesus Christ and are doing so with good, sound, Biblical reformed theology.
(1 John 2:15-17 ESV) "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
These are verses that should be memorized and repeated DAILY! Man is depraved and wicked and do not have a problem at all making idols for ourselves:
"Every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master craftsman of idols." John Calvin
Verse 15 says "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
The world hates truth, hates righteousness and hates God. When Adam sinned he ushered death and the fall into the world (Romans 5:12). We have talked before about the doctrine of total depravity and that all men by nature are children of wrath (Ephesians 2) and are hostile towards God (Romans 7).
Because of this the natural man does not receive the spiritual truths that Christians hold precious
(1 Corinthians 2:14). Because God has regenerated us we now have a love for the things of God.
Sadly there are many wolves in sheep's clothing that actually encourage their members to desire the things of the world. They believe Jesus died to make you financially wealthy and healthy. This is commonly known as "Word of Faith" theology and it is blasphemous and an enemy of the Gospel. (Please follow this link for more info on this theology (http://www.equip.org/category/word-faith-movement/)
Verse 16 "For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world"
Regenerate man has God the Holy Spirit in Him guiding him and directing him and the unregenerate man can not help but walk out the desires of the flesh
(Galatians 5:17-21 ESV) For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
We see the eyes and desires of the flesh love those things God hates. This is why one can not love the things of the world, because they are completly opposed to the things of God
James 4:4 says to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God. Being a Christian means you are giving up all material gains and wants to follow the Master. It means that the most precious possession you have is Jesus Christ, NOT worldly possessions.
(Matthew 10:34-39 ESV) “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
Verse 17 "And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."
The world, the universe, everything is decaying. Everything you own now will one day be in the dump and junk. How foolish to love and make idols out of possessions and created things rather than the Creator who made you.
Possessions can not save you. One day we will all stand before Christ, and when asked why they should be allowed in Heaven their pocket book and possessions can not save them. The call to follow Jesus is to lose your life for His sake and not be a slave to selfish sinful desires.
This can be overcome through the power of God the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and when He does we see the fruits of the Spirit rather than those of the flesh.
(Galatians 5:22-25 ESV) "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit."
To overcome the love of worldly things we must live a life that is dominated by the Holy Spirit. We must be saturated in His word and obedient to His word. I know this is a struggle and I struggle everyday to not feed my sinful desires and I do fail. But when we do, we repent and yield to the Spirit of God.
Think on these truths friends. We all struggle with these issues friends and it is part of the sanctification process. God has not left us helpless but has left us the Holy Spirit whom in-dwells us.
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
All of Paul's letters in the NT like you have never heard them! You may not like rap music but I would challenge you to listen to the lyrics and you will soon see that they have more theology in them them most church's teach in a year.
(Romans 5:12-21 ESV) Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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