Thoughts on God’s love and redemption through conscious and Christian hip-hop
This is a piece prepared for Easter Sunday church service, today April 12, 2020. In it I contemplate the love and confidence of Father Son and Spirit in their planning to redeem humanity (did They laugh?), and wonder if there was wavering on the way to the Cross. I look at how far heaven may have seemed as Christ moved closer to death for us. And I celebrate the beauty of the Resurrection, even as we still wait for the fullness of it to be revealed.
"But neither infinite power nor infinite wisdom could bestow godhood upon men. For that there would have to be infinite love as well." Walter Miller Jr., A Canticle For Leibowitz. As of this posting we are under the pandemic. Covid-19 is ultimately an icon of creation post-fall. As we live in the tension and long for redemption, let us take time to mourn with those who mourn over loss and suffering. I believe that that number includes our God.
The Laments in Midlothian circle around the question “will justice be done?”.This question is asked because of the looming shadow of a legal system that has historically dehumanized one segment of the population while venerating another. In part three of the Laments commentary I touch on some of the history of discrimination based on race in the USA and how that has trickled down to the present. From the Dred Scott decision of 1857 to Law Enforcement Officer's Bill(s) of Rights today, the lowly lion has roared Condemnation of one group and Veneration of another into our atmosphere for generations. This has led us to Laments.
This is the full worship set from 11/24/2019 which features the previous two spoken words I posted here on March 15th and March 22nd. Set list: I Am Loved, Consider... As If, Canvas and Clay, My God Uses Things to Make Things, Canvas and Clay. Honor to the entire Light leadership team and family for providing the space and opportunity to break new ground in our worship experiences.
This spoken word is about redemption, restoration, and purpose. It sort of picks up where the previous word left off and crescendos in rejoicing over how God sees us and has always seen us. Forget rose tinted lenses, our God sees us through the brilliant blood of the Cross.
We as human beings are highly esteemed by God, and marveled over by angels.
This spoken word reminds us of that again.
Part two of the Laments commentary. We touch on how fear and the excuse of fear contributes to violence against citizens and plays into the killings and justifications of the killings of Jemel Roberson and Botham Shem Jean. I attempt to trace the pronounced fear of these black men up to the fear that ungodly principalities could have had of them… I draw out how these men were a threat to depraved systems and how spiritual wickedness may have rejoiced at their killings and at the Laments in Midlothian.
This spoken word is all about perspective and grace. We as human beings are highly esteemed by God, and marveled over by angels. We can also become discouraged by circumstances and sell ourselves short, taking on the identity of our situations instead of our adoption. In this spoken word I try to set some perspective by referencing some of the hills and valleys of Frederick Douglass. Then I consider the statistical miracle that you are. This concludes with a call to come to the throne of grace, where we find Christ interceding and waiting to help us in our time of need (Hebrews 4 verse 16). I point out that Jesus had days we would not consider worthy of the 'gram. He was betrayed and unfollowed. He was misunderstood and rejected. People wanted to use Him for their own selfish gains. He understands. And He invites us to be in relationship with Him at all times, in our hills and our valleys. It's not about perfection, it's about connection.
In Laments in Midlothian, I tried to cover some of the factors that contribute to the systemic and disproportionate abuse of black American citizens at the hands of law enforcement. The writing was birthed from observing the pain of loved ones of the deceased, and shifted focus to the spiritual wickedness in high places that rejoices in that pain, and provisions for its occasion. The poems of that series introduced some concepts that I will delve into deeper. This is part one of that commentary.
Here is the audio from the church service where for the spoken word text in the previous post were part of service. There are clips with the two spoken word excerpts and one full clip of the worship set the spoken word was a part of.
Part I Of course we would see it in our superhero and adventure movies it's the stuff of legend it's the stuff of the epic Jesus looked out over the city the City of Creation saw the villain in the wings making its move to attack saw us in the danger zone saw us under... Continue Reading →
Festival of Booths 