Yeah, so I was thinking about some nice one/two-liner to post as a status update on facebook; preferably something from my upcoming mixtape to which I'd add #IAF (The Acronym for the title of the mixtape), but I couldn't come up with anything or think of what I liked. After fiddling around, I came across Blinders, the type used on horses. I stumbled across it while thinking of window blinds.
So God revealed this to me: And now do not assume this message is to only listeners who are artists and ministers... it applies to everyone spreading the gospel however in some situations. Keyword being: some. Do not ever take anything I say over the voice of God.
In the Christian Rap genre, a lot of people often try very hard to come across as very lyrically gifted and pros at wordplay and stuff. I have nothing against that if that is how God blessed you. My issue with it is when rappers try too hard to do this. Note this:
There is nothing wrong with trying and striving to improve lyrically as an artist; your lyrics and writing will show this, but be yourself. Do not try to be a lyrical heavyweight if that is not what God told you to do with your music. Maybe some songs require you to be, maybe some features, but not all. Listen to God first; not even your fans come before God. Maybe God wants to feed them something they do not even know they want.
Simplicity is good (when needed) It is better for the listener to understand your message in your ministry tool (singing, rapping, etc) and not even appreciate it that much (and that seed God gave you be planted) than for them to only take away from your ministry/song/rap, that you are a gifted lyricist.
The aim of any ministry first of all should be to get the gospel out so that souls are saved, before anything else. The world view is what is "staining" (for lack of a better word) the Christian rap genre so that those rappers who have simpler rhymes are considered worse. If you need to get the gospel across as simply as possible, do so. Be yourself.
Like KJ-52 for instance, he is different on every feature I've heard him on, which I believe is a sign that He is led by God. He lets God do the writing and then let's God use him to communicate it. That's a good example in my opinion, whether you like KJ-52 or not. When KJ talks about God, to the best of my knowledge, it is very clear and understandable.
Imagine me, a computer programmer using jargons like "Hey, I designed this awesome program using a recursive algorithm popular in data structuring, but a memory leak caused the program to cause an exception."
If you are not familiar with the Computer science field, that made no sense to you. I would have to make that statement simpler to get you to follow my conversation. I do not have to be all technical with you except to show-off. Pride may be an issue here?? ;)
Now imagine that with the gospel message. Excessive use of theological jargon can act like a Blinder of the message being spread or perhaps, encourage the listener to learn more about that word or phrase. You see, learning about these theology jargons is good, but that alone won't get anyone in to Heaven. I'd rather say (and this might lead me to change some of my lyrics) Jesus died to save me so that God's anger against the sin in me is gone, than to say the word Propitiation, if you get my example.
By the way, if you are wondering what a blinder is, here's a short definition: A blinder is another name for a blinker or winker. This is placed on the bridle behind the eye of a horse in order to reduce the field of vision. Gotten from answers.com
We want people to know that they need Jesus, not general knowledge or a dictionary to get smarter phonetically (or however else). Do not let your ministry point to any other thing except to God.
Now if you as a minister, have Jesus, God, the Holy Trinity as the center of your ministry, this entire blog post should not get you to think twice. When God leads you, only good is bound to come, however it comes.
God draws men (and women) to you, not your lyricism or ability to go triple-time over a hot beat. Focus on God and let God be the driving force behind your ministry, not your ability.
And finally, this is what I came up with:
Yeah, if there where any hot one-liners, I'd choose the back, let Him shine insteadSo God revealed this to me: And now do not assume this message is to only listeners who are artists and ministers... it applies to everyone spreading the gospel however in some situations. Keyword being: some. Do not ever take anything I say over the voice of God.
In the Christian Rap genre, a lot of people often try very hard to come across as very lyrically gifted and pros at wordplay and stuff. I have nothing against that if that is how God blessed you. My issue with it is when rappers try too hard to do this. Note this:
There is nothing wrong with trying and striving to improve lyrically as an artist; your lyrics and writing will show this, but be yourself. Do not try to be a lyrical heavyweight if that is not what God told you to do with your music. Maybe some songs require you to be, maybe some features, but not all. Listen to God first; not even your fans come before God. Maybe God wants to feed them something they do not even know they want.
Simplicity is good (when needed) It is better for the listener to understand your message in your ministry tool (singing, rapping, etc) and not even appreciate it that much (and that seed God gave you be planted) than for them to only take away from your ministry/song/rap, that you are a gifted lyricist.
The aim of any ministry first of all should be to get the gospel out so that souls are saved, before anything else. The world view is what is "staining" (for lack of a better word) the Christian rap genre so that those rappers who have simpler rhymes are considered worse. If you need to get the gospel across as simply as possible, do so. Be yourself.
Like KJ-52 for instance, he is different on every feature I've heard him on, which I believe is a sign that He is led by God. He lets God do the writing and then let's God use him to communicate it. That's a good example in my opinion, whether you like KJ-52 or not. When KJ talks about God, to the best of my knowledge, it is very clear and understandable.
Imagine me, a computer programmer using jargons like "Hey, I designed this awesome program using a recursive algorithm popular in data structuring, but a memory leak caused the program to cause an exception."
If you are not familiar with the Computer science field, that made no sense to you. I would have to make that statement simpler to get you to follow my conversation. I do not have to be all technical with you except to show-off. Pride may be an issue here?? ;)
Now imagine that with the gospel message. Excessive use of theological jargon can act like a Blinder of the message being spread or perhaps, encourage the listener to learn more about that word or phrase. You see, learning about these theology jargons is good, but that alone won't get anyone in to Heaven. I'd rather say (and this might lead me to change some of my lyrics) Jesus died to save me so that God's anger against the sin in me is gone, than to say the word Propitiation, if you get my example.
By the way, if you are wondering what a blinder is, here's a short definition: A blinder is another name for a blinker or winker. This is placed on the bridle behind the eye of a horse in order to reduce the field of vision. Gotten from answers.com
We want people to know that they need Jesus, not general knowledge or a dictionary to get smarter phonetically (or however else). Do not let your ministry point to any other thing except to God.
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| Don't even ask what this picture has to do with this post. It's from my former blog and it looks good. I'm not trying to be professional, sorry :D |
God draws men (and women) to you, not your lyricism or ability to go triple-time over a hot beat. Focus on God and let God be the driving force behind your ministry, not your ability.
And finally, this is what I came up with:
Don't wanna limit the listeners vision of Christ like blinders attached to a horse's head.
Not too dope, but I like the sound of it.
Be a reflection of Christ, not a distraction... like @daelee says.
