Hip Hop in the Church

[Rev. Kenneth R. Jenkins]

I now understand more and more about this so-call world of "Hip-Hop". I understand now why "Hip-Hop"has really no place in our churches and yet it's slowly creeping in our church doors. After hearing all of this, I will stand behind fellow clergy members by NOT allowing "Hip-Hop" into our churches.

Pastors,Ministers and Church Leaders, would you allow "Hip-Hop" in your churches? Is this a way in keeping our youth in church? I am interested in all feedback concerning this issue.

[newview]

"...The beats and rythems is what draws the youth to the church, but the Word should be what keeps them. "

STOP you are scaring me!
If its the music that draws youth to church then what is it that draws middle aged men to church?
or elderly Chinese laborers to church?
or fat toddlers with hazel eyes to church?
Let's see...I am 17 and I dont go to church - how will beats and rhythms draw me to some where I dont go?

[Rev. Spencer L. Miller]

Well, my brother it does look like we have a disagreement. I remember at an early age being drawn my the Word of God. And there are a lot of young folk in the church who more interested in the Word than the beat and the rhythm and the so-called cool sounding lyrics. Don't dismiss our youth as not being able to comprehend what the preacher is preaching about. Especially if your church is able to have youth church.

[Pastor Ray C. Jones]

Still no direct reference about God saying or even implying that any style of music is sinful or demonic. Allow me to educate you, if you don't know what I am talking about. A direct reference deals with this same issue directly exegetically. All of you are just reading a scripture and trying to make it work for you. You are supposed to working for the scripture. What some of your are doing is considered proof-texting, which in most cases yields to imporper interpretation. My challenge is that you find a scripture that directly deals with this dilemma and forbid the use of music style in church. I guarantee you will not find it. I know, because I looked for it. I used to think just like some of the haters in this discussion. I had to study up in the Bible to get it right. Don't be afaid of what you have not studied, just study.

[S. Bernard Mitchell]

Grace and peace everyone. I know that you all are blessed in the beginnings of 2010. First and foremost I would like to thank you in advance for taking the time out to read my feedback. Next, I would like to say that we have the right to "agree to disagree". We all have our views and keep in mind that is what makes us so unique. Many of you are influence by the pushing and pressing by who you "respect" in ministry then of course we will go with the crowd. I am reading the views and I must say that I am quite shocked.

Many opinions are in the mix, many finger pointing but where is the truth?

Man's thoughts: "I think that"; "I feel that"; "I believe that" and ect...

The truth & command: "Psalms 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands."

Now with that said, what makes holy hip hop/ gospel rap/ however you want to label it, so wrong, so vile, so detrimental to the body of Christ? Why do you attack what you "FEEL" is not of God? Is it because of how you were introduced to it? It's it because of what you did when you listened to it? Is it because of you just don't understand it? I speak of secular hip-hop. See music had no meaning until man labeled it. Take away the lyrics and just have the beat, would it still be considered vile, & detrimental? God created everything but satans influences had man to tant & contaminate a pure thing. Now that you have people who use what is rightfully ours for the kingdom of God; because we do have dominion through Jesus, the entire body of Jesus the Christ is at stake. NOT SO!

David said make a joyful noise unto the Lord. He never defined or specified what a joyful noise is. (study on your own time) We have ministers of music who use rock as the music choice but whose bashing that? We have those using raggae, whose bashing that? We have contemporary, and thank God BeBe & CeCe Winans survived that attack. We have Kirk Franklin who was attacked but now those same attackers are supporting his ministry. And now the antichrist is "holy hip hop/gospel rap".

The reason why that attack is great is because this music is inducing "change". Traditional people; may I add "tradition" is a demon that hinders growth, don't like change. When the Winans came with the smooth styles of music that made you want to relax or made you want to move, the church got upset and even wanted to blackball. It didn't have that "im going through" or collective "we shall overcome" vibe to it. The commandment is to rejoice, and this music promotes rejoicing. Now the secular side of this music is not productive to the kingdom of God, and we are not secular. We speak the truth about Jesus the Christ in our music. I grew up to the chior music and the take 6, commissioned, winans and so forth. I love all that, yet the music that we use is not degrading the women of God nor does it promote violence. We speak life.

Tell me this, why do you have a chior or praise and worship team, and we only need the Word of God to survive. Why not all the churches just preach and send the people on without music? Jesus didn't have a chior, praise and worship team or minister of music. So why do we have it in church today? Just as you enjoy that in church, others enjoy this form of music. What makes it so wrong is because man convinced himself that it is wrong! Fact of the matter, nothing is wrong with holy hip-hop/ gospel rap. The men & women who minister in this genre must live Christ-like and be and example. Wow, with the demonic spirits of sexual lust, marital, jezebel, ahab, haughty, habit, & tradition(just to name a few) in the praise & worship, chior and contemporary gospel genres, one would thing we would come together and pray those SPIRITS out instead of trying to boycott a particular genre of music. Point of this, sin is in man, not the music. The demonic spirits are in man, not in the music. Only influences come from the music but the choice of habitual sin is on man. We as the body of Christ are attacking the wrong thing.

My wife and I minister in what we call "praise hop" (tm). We do this for the glory of God not man. We are not people pleasers, we are here to please God. We induce praise with our music ministry. Secular hip-hop is done to the glory of man. Holy hip-hop/gospel rap/ praise hop is done to the glory of God. In all genres of music, there are those who seek self-gratification. Judge by the fruit one bear, not by the genre of music. And for the super deep ones, Jesus love us no matter what type of music we use to praise Him as long as we praise Him in spirit and in truth. Blessings to you all!

[Tarik Al-Hadi Hodge]

Dear sir; I beg you please answer my questions; it seems that the conversations are geard toward lyrics when I have not read one coment against the lyrcs- What I cannot understand is why must the Church steal the devils music to give praise to God? I don't know on what level that makes sense ...Why can't you create some fresh new music to go with your fresh new lyrics oh and by the way if its 100% fresh and new why call it hip hop, holy hip hop, praise hop or any hop for that matter? just please come up with something NEW???!? REMIXING IS NOT CREATING! REMIXING IS NOT NEW its the same old song that michael sung' really this can't be that hard!

[Kisbahlayish]

like one man said...the devil cant create anything...I dont see in the Bible where the devil creates...I see where he infiltrates...I see where he perverts...not create... and by the way..no music worth hearing is easy to make...try it ...it takes discipline and practice all the same...to make a symmetrical composition..be it a remix or whatever...and the more you study music...nothing is truly new....everything comes from something old...now I can compose a new song...but guarantee I was influenced by someone

Did you forget about ray charles and how he took the sound from the church and brought it to pop music...did you forget about all the artists who get up in front of crowds and say ...I was brought up in the church and learned to sing and play while working with the church choir...and you are going to sit there and let these demons dominate what the Lord gave us....I think not!

by the way personally my anointing definitly comes from the Lord all while I was young I would here music while reading the bible...and it wasnt hymnals bro....not in the traditional sense anyway

[Tarik Al-Hadi Hodge]

You just made my point for me - like you said "no music worth hearing is easy to make...try it ...it takes discipline and practice all the same...to make a symmetrical composition"

So we are having this [Long]discussion because as a God's Warrior you are not Disciplined to practice enough to making new music? oh well why bother to ask God for some help, it's called prayer - oh by the way there is a reason its called the "WORK' of the ministry! what anointing allows you to make excuses like that? it takes practice it takes discipline??? you're being "infuenced" the devil stole it first? is not easy? well guess what, if you turned off those worldly, ungodly influences and turned to God in prayer he will give you a tune! a fresh tune! an awsome sound that is full of joy! (there is nothing joyful about "snoop dogg" or any of those guys) and I tell you what; you won't have to call it anything but what it is: Holy unto the Lord a new song of praise filled with the melodic nature of the God of our salvation! By the way I don't have a problem with the devils kids copying off of my paper! letem copy me all the way to the alter...I have a problem with me copying them...remember: the whole "Be not conformed thing", we are the "salt" of the earth? salt burns on the open sore of sin! so burn that trash and let's get started with something new! I will help you! we'll WORK together!


Thanks

Pastor Hodge

[S. Bernard Mitchell]

Who said anything about stealing. Please don't let leviathan influence you.

[Derrick Boyd]

Music come from a broad stream of the outside world if we compare some of the old gospel groups through time. It would fit in the same catagory of the outside world. What is the difference between a doowop group and a quartet same sound but different message. We know that Rance allen had a funk slash soul rythm in his music. We can even compare alabama blind boys with the Chilites or Tempations having that same tune but yet different message. One of the greatest example of that is in the color purple the cross over with church music and the junk joint music coming together as a praise song. Music is a tool used to compell the people to come to Christ we have to be realistic some gospel songs fall short of our Lord. There is a large generation gap from the old to the young. Time has shown that there are more grandparents raising children which is causing this generation gap. Hip hop gospel bring intrest to teens when it come to God now they know that church is a place to worship, a place of healing and salvation. Music is a tool to bring all to the glory of God because his word sustain them.

[Pastor Ray C. Jones]

What is this about about drawing youth? I'm sure that many of you may use gospel hip hop for this and that's cool, but there is way more to this than that. I have had many years of experience in youth ministry and the kids brought this music to me, not the other way around. At first, like many of you, I was opposed to the use of it in church. Then I took time to study, what is acceptable in the eyes of God and found that God doesn't have a problem with Hip hop. God has a problem with sin. I also found that many gospel hip hop artist's lyrics are sometimes even more biblical than some contemporary gospel artists. I listen to all music and have even learned to appreciate the music of our Anglo brothers and sisters, which at times is a bit more radical than ours. Have you ever heard "Demonhunter"? Hip hop is fairly tamed compared to that.

Most of the youth that introduced me to this, were some of the best youth that you had ever seen. They were living righteously before the Lord and they shared Christ with all of their friends. Most of those Youth are now college educated married people now. They enjoyed some Gospel Hip Hop, but they also enjoyed Gospel and other Christian music. Jesus said that we know a tree by the fruit it bears, these trees were very fruitful. They weren't drawn in by the music, they were drawn in by the Holy Spirit. The lyrics is Gospel hip hop lays out scripture in most cases, but says it in a different way. Scriptural lyrics brings people to realization of Christ through the Holy Spirit, in all Christian music. I am not talking about drawing youth. I am talking about accepting people that have been drawn by the Holy Spirit and giving them a message that they can understand. Hip hop started in the late 70's, and the rythmic influence goes back further than that. It is easy to say that Hip hop is not new and other people in the church enjoy it as well, not just the youth. Gospel Hip Hop is a movement to engage the culture for Jesus Christ. Many of us may be different from some of the people in your perspective congregations, but we are winning souls to the kingdom of God. Many of us look just like you, but we are flexible to let the Lord move however He will and refuse to put him in the box of tradition.

You can choose to do whatever you will in your church, but make that decision based upon sound research and the leading of the Holy Spirit, not your vein tradition that you've created from your own personal sins and temptations. God is bigger than that.

[Bishop Derrick Day]

Outstanding response, Pastor! Amen!

[Rev. Spencer L. Miller]

"Many of us may be different from some of the people in your perspective congregations, but we are winning souls to the kingdom of God."

In the end, winning souls is really what it is all about isn't it? My way may not be your way, and your way may not be mine, but we can still remain men of God in the process. We don't have to resort in calling each other 'haters' or any other name for that matter, we can call each other servants. And for sure God is much bigger than our differences of opinions.