like a normal person again, at least as far as that goes, me being me. It seems like time is going at an ever accelerating pace, hard to believe that it is already Wednesday.
Watched The Beast again Monday night, it is a really interesting film. Just as good, if not better, the second time. Gets right to the heart of the human condition. This exchange caught my attention:
Koverchenko: Why did that rebel we ran over laugh at me?
Samad: He wasn’t laughing at you, he was happy. Such men believe if they die in a holy war they will go to paradise.
Koverchenko: Is that what you believe?
Samad: After university, I don’t know what I believe.
Isn’t that the truth? And when the widow of the rebel mentioned above shows up with blood on her hands and face, along with the boots of the guy she just killed, wow.
Our study this week is proving to be very stimulating, so much so that I’ve read through it several times already. The first couple of days talks about the veil that we wear to cover up our fading glory. Sort of like when I talked about the mask that people wear.
This morning, I covered 2 Cor 4:2, where the apostle rejects using anything other than the truth in our message to the world.
4:2 But we have rejected shameful hidden deeds, not behaving with deceptiveness or distorting the word of God, but by open proclamation of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God.
In today’s world, the equivalent would be the hyper-marketing of large churches, the emotional pull of medium churches and the exclusiveness of small churches. Paul rejects all of that, saying that we should let our lives appeal to everyone.
Along those lines, I stumbled upon one of the most vile examples of melding the church with the world I think I’ve ever seen. There is something called the Texas Holy Hip Hop Awards that is being held this weekend at Copperfield Church in Houston.
If ever there were a time for a Christian to stand in the gap and overturn the money changers in the church, it would be for something like this. No matter how pious or old-fashioned I might appear, this is wrong. Is hip hop itself wrong? Not at all. Is hip hop music in church wrong? Well, depends.
Depends upon the message of the music. And this message for this event is horrible. The lyrics from the current songs of the headliners are so far removed from the truth of the Good News that it makes the hair on my arms stand up. Here is a sample:
I walk around this DELETED, trippin on these weak niggaz
Pullin all this hoe DELETED, callin themselves street niggaz
Talkin down, wishing the worse and straight hating on me
Praying that I fall off, DELETED keep waitin on it
I ain’t got no friends, niggaz take it how ya hear it
Where was y’all for the bid? I did five DELETED years!
While the chill turned to lab dap, after all that I took back
Never go broke again, DELETED I know how to cook crack
Learned to stack a dollar, hold the power in a black Impala
Try to swerve and hit the curb and watch the crackers follow
DELETED nigga got my name in his mouth
We go pistols when we pissed, that’s how we play in the South (play in the South)
That is but one very small snippet from one of Pimp C’s latest songs and one of the cleanest. I’ve no idea what type of pastor would turn his church into a glorification party for this type of event but I can guarantee you he isn’t walking hand in hand with the Holy Spirit.
2 Corinthians 4:1–2 Because he was entrusted with such a great ministry, Paul says, we do not lose heart. For that reason also he renounced secret and shameful ways. Negatively, this involved a refusal to use deception or to distort the word of God, (i.e. mingling it with alien ideas; cf. on 2:17). Positively, it involved setting forth the truth plainly. While we need to strive to make the truth of God’s word plain to people in the situations in which they find themselves, we do not need, any more than Paul did, to manipulate it to make the word of God effective. Presented in a straightforward way, and in reliance upon the Spirit, the word of God will achieve the results for which God sends it forth (cf. Is. 55:10–11).
Carson, D. A.: New Bible Commentary : 21st Century Edition. 4th ed. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA : Inter-Varsity Press, 1994, S. 2 Co 4:1
Sharon says
June 20, 2007 at 2:14 pmSurely this isn’t so….I will definitely have to find out if Larry is hosting such an event as Holy Hip Hop!! Hard to believe this!
Bigjolly says
June 20, 2007 at 2:43 pmIt is very much so. He is also listed as a presenter if you click on the link above. This blows me away.
american woman says
June 21, 2007 at 8:03 pmI understand your concern with the hip -hop movement at Copperfield Church. Copperfield Church used to be Copperfield Baptist. My daughter was baptized there. They have changed so much, and lost me when they started selling coffee and donuts in the church. To add insult to injury the music director and men were wearing shorts and t shirts. I don’t expect anyone to dress in finest garb, but these men dress better to go to work. Khaki pants and golf shirts are fine. There is a huge push to bring in new parishoners, but I do not believe we have to be worldly to do that.
Bigjolly says
June 21, 2007 at 9:36 pmAW, I’ve hesitated posting more for two days because I’m so ticked off about this. Thanks for the comment. I hesitate because what usually happens when I post negative thoughts about the church is that non-church goers/non-believers delight in my thoughts.
But this one is so, so wrong that I’m furious to the point that I might post again. I did email the pastor, Larry Womack and he responded with the usual patronizing remark of: thank you for praying for us, knowing all the while that he would continue in his money grubbing quest. Really wants to make me puke.
Sharon says
June 22, 2007 at 6:03 amAmen to american woman…we do not have to resort to worldly means to spread the Gospel. It sells itself if given the opportunity. I hope the UBA is aware of Larry’s involvement!
american woman says
June 22, 2007 at 8:10 amBig Jolly I understand your hesitation, but this is your Blog, speak out! I just keep in mind, that Copperfield is full of wonderful families, and that truly is what a church is. I also know that good is attacked by evil constantly, so sometimes the good stumble. I found a group that fits my needs, and you pray for those at Copperfield. Those who are not Christian need to know that we all put one shoe on at a time, and are not perfect. There are so many bumps in the Christian road, the difference is, when we stumble, our Faith is there to help us continue. We have experienced God and Jesus in our lives. The Faithless are all alone. If they want to mock us, so be it. Church’s are imperfect and attacked constantly by evil. Sometimes evil seems to win for a bit….. but we know in the end evil looses big time.