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Good Post Blackwatch
Blackwatch, thanks for expanding the thought.
Church should be enjoyable, not fun. You have fun at Chucky Cheese. Yes, the Holy Ghost should move you to sing, dance, shout, and otherwise praise the Lord, but in an unscripted and uncontrived fashion. Like Blackwatch said, the Spiritual Growth must surpass all that "holy ghost partying" As someone posted earlier, the prayer by DMX was very deep and illuminates the struggle between wordly desires and a better relationship with God, but at some point, it has to manifest itself with true spirituality. If your church needs to grow at the detriment of the word, then your church doen't need to grow. |
I agree with a lot of what Doggystyle is saying.
When Kirk Franklin first came out with "Stomp", I used to wonder what a video like that would have young people thinking. Kids in jeans, laughing, dancing, and joking. Kirk Franklin chilling with Salt (from Salt-N-Pepa). And Salt talking about she was trying to be cute when she praised Him. I don't know. I have mixed feelings about the topic. A walk with Christ is not always fun. Walking with Christ is extremely challenging. After all, the enemy ain't trying to corrupt those whose hearts already belong to him. He's trying to get to those of us who belong to the Lord. After Kirk, and the rest of the praise rappers work people up, and (possibly) cause them to think about attending church, what do they do when a problem arises? Do they put "Stomp" into their CD player and feel okay? Does a song like "Stomp" help them feel closer to God and His promises for them? Are these songs and videos sending the wrong messages? I don't want my daughter bamboozled into thinking that spirituality is ALL about comraderie, good times, and being cute when you praise Him. Some of us know what it's like to praise looking real ugly with tears running all down your face, on your hands and knees begging all alone. I just hope that the people being fed by the formula that is hip-hop, gansta gospel (or whatever it's called) are seeking meat and potatoes in their spiritual diets as well. |
I agree, this has been a great discussion. I have so much I could say, but I'll keep it short.
The purpose of any ministry in the Christian church is to point people to the Way, the Truth and the Light: Jesus. If it is not doing that, it is not of God, plain and simple. I think it is o.k. to do things like cartoons for kids, raps for teens, etc. to drawn them to Christ, but after a while they have to get off the bottle and get some meat of the Word. I believe those things (cartoons, raps, etc.) can DRAW you to Christ, but they won't help you GROW with Christ. Can contemporary Gospel point people to Jesus? Certainly. One of the things I love about Fred Hammond (who has some slamming bass beats in his music) is that his lyrics are from the WORD. Scriptures be all up in his music (ebonics!) Can Gospel rap point people to Jesus? Yes it can. At my church's annual "Community Impact Day" we had a Gospel rapper who did an excellent job of rapping the Word. Are there contemporary and rap gospel musicians that are not living up to the standards that they should and compromising the Word? YES!! Those are the folks I have problems with! T The other problem I have is those "inspirational" singers who refuse to say JESUS. The Winans, who I don't recall anyone mentioning, used to be good about having some song that said things like "HE loves me" "HE does this for me, HE does that for me, etc." with out ever saying the name JESUS. One song, that escapes me right now, I remember thinking that it was a man/woman love song until I realized that it was CeCe Winans! That, to me is unacceptable. Once thing that you can's say about Stompin' Kirk, no matter how you feel about him, is that you have any doubt in your mind who he is talking about. I did have an issue w/ Mr. Franklin though when he was at some awards show and when he sang that part in Stomp that says "He gets me high...up to the sky...(or something like that)" he put 2 fingers up to his lips like he was smoking a joint!! I was like :eek: I could not believe he did that and I sure hope he has repented!! Now, regarding the comment about single mothers getting their children blessed. My church's policy is to bless any child that the parent or parents want blessed, but you best believe everyone, especially if you are not a regular member of the church or not a traditional family you are going to get some words from the Pastor. Now, don't get me wrong, these are not condemning words, 'cause only you and God know what you have repented for, but he is going to talk to you about your situation, YOUR relationship with the Lord and what the entire ceremony is about. It's not just a casual thing about let me buy my child a cute dress and parade him/her in front of the church. One of the most touching moments I have experienced in church was when a teenage member of the church and her boyfriend brought their baby to the church to be blessed. You know the tongues were wagging about that one! The father was not a member of the church, and after he got the words about his responsibility and what he needed to do the young man's conviction was so strong that he gave his life to Christ. One last thing about secular singers singing gospel songs, especially those that have "questionable" lyrics. I think all of us who proclaim the name of Jesus, famous or not, must be mindful of the contradictions in our lives. On threads like this folks are proclaiming the gospel and gotta Word for someone and on other threads are talking about all kinds of lewd and lascivious things (that they have participated in no doubt!) We never know who may be listening to us, watching us, etc. The Bible says that we should live our lives so that we are not a stumbling block to any one, and while I can appreciate the struggles that we go through and know that each and every day that we take a breath we will also sin, we (whether DMX or Kirk or any other Christian) must do everything to make sure that our behavior is not a stumbling block! That's it for me! have a great Labor Day weekend everyone!! I know I will!! |
hey
Good topic, but it seems like some of y'all got some "ghetto" church stories. Please share.:)
QTE |
Thanks Eclipse!
You hit the nail right on the head. |
Clarity
Again, this is a wonderful topic.
Eclipse, Great insight and summary of your stance. Question though, you state: "...I think all of us who proclaim the name of Jesus, famous or not, must be mindful of the contradictions in our lives. On threads like this folks are proclaiming the gospel and gotta Word for someone and on other threads are talking about all kinds of lewd and lascivious things (that they have participated in no doubt!)..." Interesting point. Yes the bible teaches us to not only be hearers of the word, but doers also. And yes all of us have profound contradictions in our lives (Just as Paul , David, Solomon, Peter, etc.), but the focus and the goal of every believer should be to weigh our own personal contradictions in light of scripture and therefore truly worship (respect) God by acknowledging his greatness in perfection and our falleness in imperfection. Nevertheless, this does not preclude or prevent any of us from trying to weigh the effectiveness of certain "ministries" in the body of Christ. Yes, we have all sinned, and do sin, but that does not stop us from trying to understand God better by questioning everything that comes "In the name of Jesus" to see if it is really true and profitable for edification. One very popular phrase that is used today is "Judge not , less ye be Judged" (Mat. 7:1) But people neglect to move on and read further to see that Jesus was teaching that we should use the same rule of law to measure the validity of all actions for everyone, including ourselves. So often we take this to mean that we cannot say that anything is right or wrong, which totally defeats the purpose of even pursuing truth. Even though people sin, they still have the Holy Spirit and the Scritptures to lead and guide them into all truth. We should be debating the validity of everything , especially those things that are said to be ministries, regardless of whether or not we have sinned. Blackwatch!!!!!! |
Quote:
The chorus goes like this... "I might let you tease me I might let you squeeze me I might even let you kiss me But you can not take my virginity" I am just not cool with the message that they are putting out there. |
I saw that video the other day, and...I don't know what to say about it. I mean, the message about nottaking their virginity is cool, but the way they delivered it and with that chorus, is kinda off, if you ask me. Plus some were half naked at some of the time. HUH???
I like this topic a lot and read the whole thing. I think that in some respects the New Generation gospel is a little much, but I think that it does help. Outside of just rap and hip hop is pop and rock and heavy metal. I think that there should be a picture of what we CAN do as Christians and not just what we CAN'T do anymore. But some of the videos go a little far. Like I saw the video for Gospel Gangstaz (completely inappropriate name) and if you put it on mute, you'd have thought it was a video for Cash Money or somebody. They had an interview with them and they made point of how God wants us to prosper and were trying to link that into their music. I mean they had the bling, the benzes, the girls, they had the whole nine, and I was like, they CAN'T be serious. I think that if this new music and especially the videos that go with it is too close to "secular" living, it will send out the wrong message or no message at all. Yes you can dance and sing and be happy while being a Christian, but bumping and grinding and the "butterfly" and excessive bling is not what its about. If you look back at how they worshipped back in the Bible times and compare it to now, its WAAAAAAAYYYYYY different. If way different from how they worshipped 100 years ago. Things change with the times, including how society worships. The worshipping falls under "religion" which is based on ceremonies and traditions, most of which have nothing to do with the Bible, but the messages and the teachings, which falls under "spirituality" is what really counts and is what's gonna matter with God. Anything new is going to be looked at with a half opened eye JUST because its something outside of the norm. And there are always going to be extremists on all sides of an issue. But I think that the new wave of music is ok, except for those that carry it TOO close to the secular ways. In the DC area we have GoGo music, and now they have gospel go go bands. Some say THAT's too far because regular go go talks about "put your one leg up and put your booty on the floor". People like to take what's familiar to them and reshape it in an effort to retain a piece of what they used to be, only they rearrange it and redecorate it to fit who they are now. That's what they're doing with the gospel music today. |
Virginity Video
I am glad that young girls are proud to be virgins and not willing to give it up to whomever they are calling their boyfriend for that week. I do not agree with the manner in which they chose to get their message across. I would love to be able to encourage some of my younger female relatives to use this song as their "anthem" but I do not agree with the message. Why do you have to let him touch, tease, and squeeze you? That's too much physical contact for young girls, in my eyes.
I wish they had written something like "I like you, and I like spending time with you, but my body is my temple and I'm not going to let you do whatever you want with it. We can hold hands, and hug, and maybe even kiss, but nothing more. And, if you try it, you'll get a swift kick in the crown jewels." |
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