Wednesday, October 08, 2008

The Wings of Reformation

In the Lord's providence and sovereign control of all things, He has often worked wider reformation of His church alongside technological and cultural advancements. The printing press comes to mind, along with the mighty hymns of the reformation.

I'm of the opinion that significant theological reformation in the African-American context is being carried on the wings of "holy hip hop." What these brothers are able to distill, teach, and distribute via urban hymns is incredible. I pray for the widespread popularity and faithfulness of the brothers putting out theologically robust, evangelistic, and culturally-engaging rhymes for the glory of God.

Yesterday I recommended Stephen Nichols' book as a way to enter into a corner of the vineyard often neglected... Delta blues. Today, a couple of CDs are in my iPod that I want to plug for those who can swing with Christ-exalting hip hop.

Evangel has dropped a new cd, "Expository Journey." An exposition of culture, scripture, and more. Check the YouTube promo here:



Also, the 116 Clique has pumped out an album called, "13 Letters"--18 tracks covering the letters of Paul. Excellent stuff for the soul. Here's a video:

8 comments:

Joseph said...

I love it... Have you check out Reach Records' Lecrae? They also got new record called Rebel. Rappers with theology? I love it.

Unknown said...

Absolutely! The camp that has most encouraged me has been Lampmode Recordings. They were the ones who helped Evangel drop his Expository Journey album. My favorite of Lampmode's albums was Killing Sin, by Timothy Brindle, but unfortunately they don't sell it anymore (it can be downloaded from Amazon, though). Another recent one by them is the Atonement by Shai Linne, a definite classic. Check them out on www.lampmode.com

Char said...

I love the 116 clique guys!

Anonymous said...

Hi I met you at Southeastern, I was one of the last to come through, when you came here a couple of weeks ago and I just wanted to thank you for posting this. So many christians aren't willing to listen to or promote something they might not find their style and that is one thing that hinders what these men are trying to do. I pray God continues to Bless You

Stewart said...

I like the music and video of 116 Clique. I have to confess that I am old and white and not really into hip hop. But I am glad that these men are using their gifts to bring the gospel to the younger generation. Do you think that there should be a specific genre known as "Christian hip hop or Christian rap"? Isnt it sort of like "CHristian rock music or Christian bluegrass/ country? maybe instead of creating a specific genre, couldnt artists just write songs about things that are good, and be accepted within those artistic communities, rather than creating a new genre?

Simply Seth said...

Praise God for what God is doing through Reach Records, Lamp Mode Records and Cross Movement Records.

Shai Linne is releasing a new album next month named storiez.
His album "The Atonement" is available at
http://lampmode.com

I praise God that the elder saints of the faith, the ones we look up to are recognizing this media of gospel proclamation.

baruch ata Adonai Elyon

KG said...

Thanks Thabiti for recognizing and ackowledging the diversity of methods for communicating the timeless truth. I pray that God will continue to use those who are glorifying God through hip hop.

I also look forward to seeing more of these young men given opportunity to not just perform their music, but to preach in our churches. In Chicago, we host the annual Legacy Disciplemaking Conference. We have had Ambassador, Lecrae, Shai Linne and others for main session speakers. They do workshops as well along with Trip Lee, Tedashi, Sho, J-son, Flame, Da Truth. The conference is meaty and geared towards urban youth and young adults. We need to continue to ackowledge the work that God is doing through these men of God.

http://legacy-conference.org/

pilgriminconflict said...

Brother,

Thanks for this post. I had just been praising the Lord this past weekend for the work of reformation He is bringing in the church through these brothers in the Lord as I listened to an interview between Lecrae and Mark Driscoll. Did you catch it (I know time is pressed, but well worth the listen)?

Do you have the latest Lecrae CD that was referenced in the first comment? It's hot. It's powerful.

The last song, Beautiful Feet, is especially moving and births prayer in my heart for our Lord to raise up more indigenous ministers of His gospel here in the states.

Thanks for your ministry,
Chris