Is it possible to transmit the gospel to a group of people in context without knowing their context? There have been many attempts to penetrate the culture of Hip Hop with the Gospel but many return with the same conclusion, “They are unreachable.” Coupled with the fact that Hip Hop is an international community connector, Hip Hop has touched 87 people groups throughout the world. Packaged Facts[1] states that there are over 37 million that are connected with the Hip Hop. Located in what is called the 13/30 window[2],” they represent the largest unreached group of people in the world today.”[3] The purpose of this paper is to highlight theological problems between Hip Hop and effectively sharing the gospel.
Why Hip HopHip Hop has had a profound impact on the lives of many of today’s youth. Whether good or bad it has left an imprint in our society. Hip Hop is the culture that the youth are flocking toward. It represents the voice of an unreached people group with a “fierce disgust with the hypocrisies of adult culture-disgust with the selfishness, capitalistic callousness, and xenophobia of the culture of adults, both within the hood and the society at large.”[4] Emerging from within the context of Hip Hop, you have young people that are indigenous to the culture yet properly “submit their hip hop-ness to the lordship of Jesus.”[5] With this comes the tension that of reaching those that they are themselves a representative of. The Ambassador [6] asserts,” Our connection to the non-sinful aspects of hip hop culture was no barrier to our fellowship; in fact this was the key to a strategic partnership. A ministry like Cross Movement was able not only to rise under these conditions, but also flourish. God used us to spread Christ-centeredness through the means of hip hop music and many believers were strengthened in their resolve to be unashamed Christian witnesses. Hip hop provided us, and groups like ours, the platform to communicate our biblical affections to the hip hop generation and beyond. “[7] To understand the theological connection you must first understand Hip Hop.Hip Hop OriginsHip hop is an urban music form that started in the Bronx, NY that incorporated hard, rhythmic beats with poetry. The music form also became part of a greater microcosm of the hip hop culture. KRS-One [8]describes “true Hip- Hop is a term that describes the independent collective consciousness of a specify group of inner-city people. Ever growing, it is commonly expressed through such elements as: Breakin’ (dance), Emceein’ (rap), Graffiti (aerosol art), Deejayin’, Beatboxing’, and Street Entrepreneurialism. Discovered in the Bronx, NY around 1972, and established as a community of peace, love, unity, and having fun by Afrika Bambatta through Zulu Nation in 1974, Hip-hop is an independent and unique community, an empowering behavior, and an international culture.” [9] Hip hop has become an international success in the United States and abroad.The culture and music of hip hop revealed to the world, the embedded sin nature that the inner city had seen displayed for years.[10] It highlighted poverty and crime that was running rampant through many of the inner city dwellings. Hip Hop became a culture that was synonymous with many of the ills of society and rightly so. Fostered by the proliferation of violence, the Hip Hop community began to become the monster that they so eloquently spoke against from its inception. Once considered to be a voice for the community, it now became the enigma of deluge, promulgating self righteousness. From within this context, emerged the Five Percent Nation, a sect of Black Muslims that infiltrated the Hip Hop culture with their claim that the black man was God. If you have followed the move and verbiage of the Hip Hop community you will find that a lot of the language has come from the Five Percent Nation. The Five Percent Nation also called the Nation of Gods and Earth were founded by Clarence Smith after being removed or thrown out of the Nation of Islam. He changed his name to Allah, (Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, and Head) and began his teachings. He was assassinated in 1969, in a Harlem basement, but his legacy and teachings still remained intact for the younger generation. He called Harlem his Mecca and Brooklyn his Medina as he preached on street corners to high-school and junior-high kids, telling fourteen-year olds that as Original Black Asiatic Men they were all gods. Although their teachings are derived from orthodox Islam, they follow a very non-traditional way of life. They believe that the black man is god, and the black woman is earth. They also believe that the black man was the first human creation, and that the white man was made from the black man. The white man then in turn tricked the black man into slavery. The true basis of their beliefs is called the Supreme Mathematics. Based on assumptions there is the whole population represented by 100%. 85% of the population does not know the truth, 15% know the truth, but 10% uses that truth for purposes of evil and keeping the 85% in the dark. Then there are the 5% that know the truth and tries to teach the 85% of the population. These are the "poor righteous teachers”. The 10% have been referred to as the devil by the Five Percent Nation. Also at the core of their beliefs are family and peace. As you reflect on the tone of Hip Hop you would be remised not to understand the 5 Percent Nation. Nelson George asserts, “since the 70’s, Five Percenters have been a strong underground force”, whose message eventually spilled over into hip hop.”[11] Most of Hip Hop is based around their way of life and thinking. There way of life was brought to the forefront by artist in secular Hip Hop such as Nas, Eric B. & Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, Wu Tang Clan[12] and many others. Through their songs they preach to the streets of the inner city youth. They use the principles of their religion and formed lyrics that were reflections of their faith. Rakim gives a description of the Five Percent Nation’s thought in a song ,”And what was once easy became confused and hard /Which brings us back, to the mystic question, who is God/ Sixty-six trillion years since his face was shown/When the seventh angel appears, the mystery will be known/ Check Revelations and Genesis, St. Luke and John/ It even tells us we are Gods in the Holy Qur’an/ Wisdom Strength and Beauty, one of the meanings of God/ G.O.D. you and me ?Gomars O Dubar? /Knowledge Wisdom Understanding Sun Moon and Star/ Man Woman and Child, and so is Allah.”[13] Throughout the song, Rakim continually makes reference to the teachings of the Five Percent Nation. He uses the words knowledge, wisdom and understanding as a way of communicating the tenets of his faith. These are the words that make up the teachings of Supreme Mathematics.[14] These words and symbols became backdrops for the Hip Hop culture.They took over an entire culture by continually teaching what they believed as being the truth. They used the lingo, thoughts, and philosophies of their faith and changed the culture of Hip Hop to a religious faction. With this faction you have a culture where truth is relative and focus of Afrocentric religiosity is prominent. Phil Jackson states,” The Nation of Islam and others in the African American community were questioning if Christianity was truly a religion of the African American.”[15] Posed as a threat to the sanctity of the gospel of Christ, Hip Hop now became an admirable foe. Hip Hop and PostmodernismThe postmodern culture has emerged on the stage of the world asking the question, “What is truth?” Developed and nestled in a culture that cultivates modern thought, postmodernism has flourished in part due to the decline of Christianity. Douglas Groothuis writes, “In the postmodern era, nearly everyone believes moral values are relative-that is, constructed by cultures, not ordained by God.”[16] In contrast Elwell asserts, “At best, says Nietzsche, human knowledge of truth can be no more than simply a “perspective,” not the “truth”?”[17] Within the postmodern culture the definitive answer has become a misnomer. Because everyone has a perspective[18]that is not an absolute truth, postmodern culture has adopted the thought of Relativism.[19]The ideal of relativism brings with it an allowance of what one considers to be truth regardless of any biblical mandate. In essence, relativism embodies the belief that “personal truth trumps propositional truth.” [20] Gordon Clark refutes this point: “Like other words, truth too can be used figuratively, by metonymy, in which the effect is substituted for the cause. Thus when Christ says,” I am the Way, the Truth, and the life,” the word “truth” is just as figurative as the word “life.” As Christ is the cause of truth. That water freezes and that a sinner may be justified by faith are true because Christ creatively said, Let it be so.”[21] He declares that the truth is depended upon the one who said it not the word itself. The dilemma that faces the church today relating to the postmodern culture stems on relativism. The power of relativism resides in its attempt to snuff out all the arguments for Christianity of any significance. Because of the constant obstacle to define truth, the postmodern culture has embraced the concept with open arms.[22] Due to the insurgence of relative thought, many have connected in ecumenical movements through Hip Hop. Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson interestingly declare,” You would think that their various takes on truth would make this kind of postmodern freedom march impossible, but it seems as if in the urban community there is a way to bring people of faith together with people of goodwill around issues of social justice. Hip Hop culture has an influence as well as a tolerance that brings disparate people groups together… A more liberal political agenda seems to lead to a relative stance on truth, with high regard for multicultural tolerance. This is a challenge for the Christian, who should be clear based on Scripture about Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life.” [23] The connection that is made between Hip Hop and the postmodern culture has presented a cultural weight that Christianity has failed to sustain. Bob Hepburn[24] reports, “Here's a people group the church-at-large has found difficult to reach and as a result appears to be disinclined to get involved with.“ The Hip Hop culture presents a challenge because it transcends culture, race, religious affiliation, and gender.[25] The church at large has not developed an effective approach to reach the people in this culture. Subjugating itself with a “Get Rich or Die Tryin”[26] motto they have placed themselves in major jeopardy. Bakari Kitwana quotes Dr. Cornel West,” The Afro- Americanization of white youth…this process results in white youth-male and female- imitating and emulating black styles of walking, talking, dressing and gesticulating in relations to others. The irony in our present moment is that just as young black men are murdered, maimed and imprisoned in record numbers, their styles have become proportionality influential in shaping pop culture.”[27]
The Effectiveness of Being Indigenous to the Culture
The Ambassador writes,” The Thesis follows an Isaiah 6 pattern. There Isaiah lumps himself in with the unclean people of society, but God cleanses him. Then God announces that He is looking for someone that He can send to the sinful society, And out of gratitude and inner zeal, Isaiah requests to be the ambassador sent to his people. What you then have is the cleaned version going to the unclean version to proclaim the way to be cleansed.”[28] This statement captures the life of what it means to be indigenous to a culture while trying to transmit the gospel simultaneously. The goal is to reflect more of the one who sent you in comparison to your countrymen or friends seeing you as one of them. The goal is to use the information that you have and then contextualize that into what the culture understands. One that is indigenous to the Hip Hop culture will find that the culture itself is so diverse that it brings with it constant imbedded difficulties. The Hip Hop culture is a diverse group because it transcends every culture and syntheses itself with most religious groups. This adds to the dilemma of trying to infiltrate or penetrate as opposed to destroying it all together. Because it has the ability to transform itself the culture is always finding opportunity to reinvent itself. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson writes, “There’s an intermingling and cooperation among many ethnicities in hip hop that bring them together in ways other cultures and musical movements didn’t.” [29] Because of its diverse nature Hip Hop can thus transform or synthesize with any culture it chooses. This is what brings forth the imbedded difficulties because now you are force to deal with cultures inside of cultures.We must then attempt to penetrate Hip Hop by subverting the attention from the culture itself by placing emphasis upon the greater object, the Kingdom of God. Richard Niebuhr writes, ” So in Christian ethics we may endeavor to understand how teleological striving after vision or kingdom of God comes to expression in individual men, groups, or movements.”[30] Thomas White explains the teleological approach to ethics:“A teleological outlook is particularly appealing because it takes a pragmatic, common-sense, even unphilosophical approach to ethics. Simply put, teleological thinkers claim that the moral character of actions depends on the simple, practical matter of the extent to which actions actually help or hurt people. Actions that produce more benefits than harm are "right"; those that don’t are "wrong.”[31] This causes a certain understanding that must be complete upon entering into the Hip Hop culture. There must be complete rendering to the context without any person’s presuppositions. One who is indigenous to the culture can in fact penetrate the culture much more effectively than an outsider. Due primarily to the fact that they are not trying to be something that they are not they are just choosing to submit to something greater. Within the context of Hip Hop one must managed to ascertain a street credibility without losing their sense of calling in the Lord Jesus. This gives them a twofold opportunity to engage the Hip Hop community that is unfamiliar with church and the church that are unfamiliar with the Hip Hop community.With the indigenous, there must be an emphasis placed upon the message not the man. Being indigenous to the culture of Hip Hop one must seek to “display weighty Christianity.”[32] The intent is to show a connection with and in the culture but display distinct differences in characteristics as well. The Tonic[33] states,” He asked God to sanctify them by the truth, and not to remove them from the world. The Lord didn’t call us to be removed from the culture; therefore The Cross Movement is striving to infiltrate the culture with the message of God’s Holiness.”[34] The goal must be to break the monotony of the hip hop mentality which seemed to project that there was no hope and wrong was right. Culture Shock
In a time, where everyone has a thought and their two cents to chime in with, you find that the Hip Hop culture is in a constant state of culture shock. Anthropologist Rachel Irwin defines culture shock, “as the anxiety and emotional disturbance experienced by people when two sets of realities and conceptualizations meet."[35] Walter M. Miller in his writings, A Canticle for Liebowitz makes a description of culture in the these words:"For Man was a culture-bearer as well as a soul-bearer, but his cultures were not immortal and they could die with a race or an age, and then human reflections of meaning and human portrayals of truth receded, and truth and meaning resided, unseen, only in the objective logos of Nature and the ineffable Logos of God. Truth could be crucified; but soon, perhaps, a resurrection."[36] The resurrection that I perceive him to be talking about is Jesus.
When you inject the Hip Hop culture with the stimulus of Jesus, what an effect it has on the culture. You start to see the "chickens coming home to roost". Many can attest that they love Christ but have no viable fruit displayed in their lifestyle. During the broadcast of Hip Hop vs. America, they had a panel of great brothers and sisters from different walks of life. The one that stood out the most in my mind was David Banner. David Banner is a southern brother from Mississippi who is also a Hip Hop entertainer. Though he is a wealthy entertainer, he also has a Masters degree from University of Maryland in education. So nestled inside of him, we have a prime candidate for an indigenous member to share the gospel.
He talks passionately about his love for the black people and what he did it Louisiana when Katrina came through and wrecked the city. He was there helping which is and was a noble thing. But the problem comes when he tried to rationalize his lyrics in his song. This statement was taken from an excerpt from a Vibe Magazine interview;"
Yeah because when you look at it, you have so many other people doing the same type of music. They only attack Nelly because he’s at the level that he is. My thing is its entertainment. An actor can get up and act and do whatever he wants to do. Arnold Schwarzenegger perfect example. He can kill kids, he can blow up half of the United States and become governor of California. But we speak about the things we actually see every day in our lives and we’re crucified for it. The thing is, nobody beat anybody to be in that video. The women enjoyed themselves, the same way the men enjoyed themselves and they got paid. And if you really want to talk about ethics as far as women are concerned, you can look at football games. Half naked women on the sidelines, don’t have nothing to do with the boys on the field playing football. You see it everyday; it’s a bigger problem. But young black males are the easiest scapegoat for America to crucify. If Spellman is truly concerned about women, they have a bigger target to attack. But that’s not what people really want to do. They want to attack safe targets, they want to attack their own people and that’s sickening to me."[37]
He expressed the same words on the BET repeating his statement emphatically as if what he was saying was the ultimate truth. He justifies himself by saying that he put his career on the line by writing a song with the lyrics, “God I know that we pimp/God I know that we wrong/God I know why she talk about Moet all of my songs/I know these kids are listening/I know I'm here for a mission/But it's so hard to get 'em/wit 22 rims all glisten/taken from the song Cadillac on 22"s.[38]
This then becomes a culture shock to the Hip Hop culture. What you have placed in these lyrics is the constant tension of Hip Hop which promulgates that you can divorce your walk from your talk. The Bible is very intentional when it says, "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh."(Luke 6:45) What we have is a postmodern culture that compartmentalizes holiness for economical gain. It is alright to be good and accountable when one can see payment for it, but if I have to display holiness because it is a God governed attribute, you might as well trash that idea.
Holiness then becomes anomaly that Hip Hop does not want to envision or deal with. So once Hip Hop is introduced to a Holy Culture it is imperative that the culture now lives up to it true meaning. Combating the premise of Hip Hop in postmodern culture, Cross Movement[39] displays the need for a culture invaded with the truth of the holiness of God. Vessel writes on Christ in the hip hopper website,” Using four interludes to expound on John 17:11-19, as their conceptual framework for Holy Culture[40], the album’s content ranges from topics such as eternal life, materialism, relationships, intimacy with God, and primarily the challenge to be IN the world but not OF it. The chorus on Totally Free, a song title that speaks for itself asks: I wanna know if you wanna know/ which way to go/ and if you carry loads/ you can be set free/I don’t care about the car you drive/are you alive/you and I need to be totally free.[41] Holy Culture was an exposition on the scriptures of John 17:11-19. The Cross Movement through their work on Holy Culture addresses the core of Hip Hop in a postmodern culture. They wrestle with displaying truth to a people group engage in endless questioning. Without belaboring the point they simply rest on the fact that Christ has presented truth in his word. Winifred Couduan submits,” I would not claim to be able to defend by belief…against any imaginable doubt. All I need to do is to be able to defend it against any reasonable doubt.”[42] The imaginable doubt rest in the fact that truth is relative and based on one’s own perception.[43] While a reasonable doubt has a valid point that is driving toward answering the doubt. Cross Movement’s addresses the doubt of the postmodern culture , “That’s why we say, Get a bible and read it in its entirety/ Let God deal with you and your propriety/Check out all the cats of notoriety and the variety/ of ways that they deal with the ills of Society/ Let it bring sobriety, let it make you fiery/ ‘cause it’s gonna take more than a slice of apple piety/ once you realize that there’s sin and there’s symptom/ and there’s lost souls and the things that tempt them/ and in Jesus there’s Rest and Redemption/ you’re covered by a Hebrews 4&1K pension.”[44] Hidden in this song, the bible becomes the authoritative truth[45] that provides a roadmap to Christ. This authoritative truth becomes the answer to the postmodern thought. Cross Movement sends a message that we “let God be God”[46] when dealing with the sinfulness of our soul. By properly honoring God they display a submission to his sovereignty. This submission they refer to as” propriety”[47], then becomes an authoritative truth that everything else is subjective to. The recompense of reward is “covered by a Hebrews 4&1K.”[48] The Cross Movement manages to address the ills of society while developing foundational elements of truth within the postmodern culture all done within the context of Hip Hop. ConclusionI am often remised to declare to the church elite that I am a Hip Hopper. Not because I shy away from conversation but sometimes I do not want the one sided discourse they dump on you. I grew up in the 80's when Hip Hop was meaningful and not this get a dollar and dream stuff. I came up listening to KRS, EPMD, Rakim, Nas and Public Enemy to name a few. They presented an artistic expression that was laced with functional information. None of these one hit wonder and get money music.Once I started going to church regularly, I walked away from the whole scene of Hip Hop, the music and the culture simultaneously. As I began, to really get rescued from the whole church scene I started to see the value in a gospel centered Hip Hop "properly submitted to the Lordship of Christ." I found a common core of brothers, who thought the same as I did. We were ostracized by the church because we still embraced certain concepts of the Hip Hop culture and considered "cornballs" by the same streets we came out of before redemption.But once correctly aligned in the saving grace of Christ I began to really engage the culture that was killing brothers from my neck of the woods. Unlike, when I grew up listen to Hip Hop they were being challenged everyday with the proliferation of gun play and drugs. They were being program to get money and by any means necessary. This has lead and leads to mass destruction of many of the youth today.It is amazing that the body of Christ has chosen to ignore the standards of the Bible until something bad happens in their neighborhood. We stand on our own secular thoughts and then consider them to be sacred. Dr. Michael Eric Dyson refers to these as "tensions."“So there are tensions and, in fact, these multiple tensions define my intellectual projects and existential identities: tensions between sacred and secular, tensions between the intellectual and religious, tensions between preaching and teaching, and so on. But I think they are useful, edifying tensions, tensions that help reshape ongoing evolution as a thinker, writer, teacher, preacher and activist.” [49]The paradoxical stance of life sometimes places us in an unfamiliar place called uncertainty. This place can be frightening for some but at the same time welcoming for others. Uncertainty will ultimately lead you make a decision on the way you think that your life should go. You can choose to enroll in college and seek a degree or you can simply “chill on the corner” and do nothing with your life. That choice is yours to make. But here comes the tension or the grind. That grind, being the sovereignty of God, being properly position in everyday movement of our lives. These tensions bring salt pack to the spiritual nose of the believer. Every now and then we must be brought back to reality even as it relates to our faith. As believers, we get quite complacent with our faith and thus rest on our morals. That is around the time that God allows the truth to come and knock at our door. The tensions are constant reminders that we are just sinners saved by grace and not saints that just happen to sin. This drives home the fact that I must always be mindful of my brothers and sisters still trapped in the matrix of Hip Hop. Fighting for the opportunity to see what lies outside of that dismal world where “the street corner has become a sanctuary community.”[50]
[1] For more than 40 years, Packaged Facts has been a leading publisher of market research in the food, beverage, consumer packaged goods, and demographic sectors. [2] Coined by Rickie Bradshaw, 13/30 Window represents those between the ages of 13and 30. [3] Sherri Brown. "Becoming A Church Planting Church." The Leadership Network. www.leadnet.org (accessed August 10, 2008). Pg.4 [4] Cornel West, Democracy Matters (New York: Penguin Group, 2004) pg.179 [5] Branch, Willam. "The Christian Living in Hip Hop Times." The Ambassador Online. October 25,2005.http://www.theambassadoronline.com/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=14628&columnid=2416 (accessed August 10, 2008). [6] The Ambassador is the spokesman of Cross Movement. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and Teaching Pastor of the urban church plant of Epiphany Fellowship in Philadelphia. [7] Branch, Willam. "The Christian Living in Hip Hop Times." The Ambassador Online. October 25,2005.http://www.theambassadoronline.com/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=14628&columnid=214 6 (accessed August 10, 2008)
[8] KRS-One (Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everybody) is considered to be one of the pioneers of Hip Hop. He is known as a modern day philosophers and the founder of The Temple of Hip Hop.
[9] KRS-One, Ruminations(United States: Welcome Rain Publishers LLC, 2003) pg.179-180 [10] Chuck –D of the rap group Public Enemy declared that hip hop was the Black CNN. [11] Nelson George, Hip Hop America (Middlesex, England: Viking Penguin,1998) pg.68 [12] These are hip hop artists that are affiliated with the 5 percent Nation. [13] Rakim. Mystery(Who is God). Comp. Rakim. 1997. [14]Supreme mathematics is an alleged system of understanding numbers alongside concepts that are used along with the supreme alphabet as tools to unlocking the keys to reality and/or the universe. [15] Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson. The Hip Hop Church (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2005) pg.109[16] Douglas Groothuis. Truth Decay (Downers Grove ,IL:InterVarsity Press, 2000) pg.41
[17] Walter A.Elwell. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Second Edition). (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 2001.) pg.941
[18] The conclusion is drawn from Nietzsche view about truth.
[19] Relativism is the concept that allows everyone to have a subjective truth.
[20]Douglas Groothuis. Truth Decay (Downers Grove ,IL:InterVarsity Press, 2000) pg.141
[21] Walter A.Elwell. Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Second Edition). (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House Company, 2001.) pg.1114
[22] Winfried Corduan states 6 reasons for this embrace found in Winfried Corduan, No Doubt About It (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers) pgs. 28-31; the knowledge explosion, totalitarianism and intolerance, the sincerity of believers in other religions, the influence of Eastern thought, individualism, and the virtue of humility.
[23] Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson. The Hip Hop Church (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press 2005) pg.110-111
[24] Bob Hepburn is an urban missiologist (specializing in reaching young people and young adults involved in hip-hop/street culture) and a musicianary (using the ministry of music as a means of sharing the Gospel). As an Africa Inland Mission US-based missionary, he founded YUBM Ministries, which is intentionally focused on evangelizing, discipling and empowering leadership among young urban Black males, through building and maintaining intentional growth-oriented relationships; particularly with those involved in and influenced by hip-hop / street culture. [25] See footnote 5 [26] Album title for rapper 50 Cent’s first album.[27] Bakar i Kitwana. The Hip Hop Generation. (United States: BasicCivitis, 2002.) pg.10
[28] William Branch. “THE THESIS: Hear the Rhymes and Here’s the Reason.” The Ambassador Online.http://www.theambassadoronline.com/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=12772&columnid=2146 [29] Kenji Jasper and Ytasha Womack. Beats Rhymes & Life. (United States. Harlem Moon Books,2007) pg.23[30] H. Richard Niebuhr. Christ ad Culture. (San Francisco. HarperCollins, 1951)pg. xxxvii
[31] Thomas White. "Revolve and Ethical Dilemma." Ethics and Business. http://www.ethicsandbusiness.org/pdf/strategy.pdf (accessed March 01, 2008). [32] Branch, Willam. "The Christian Living in Hip Hop Times." The Ambassador Online. October 25,2005.http://www.theambassadoronline.com/apps/articles/default.asp?articleid=14628&columnid=2416 (accessed August 10, 2008). [33] Leader of the group Cross Movement. [34] Stan North and Brenda Ingram. "The Cross Movement." GospelFlava.com. April 23, 2003. http://www.gospelflava.com/reviews/crossmovementholyculture.html (accessed August 10, 2008). [35] Rachel Irwin. "Culture shock: negotiating feelings in the field." Anthropology Matters Journal, 2007: 2. [36] Walter M. Miller, A Canticle for Liebowitz. [37] David Banner, interview by Danielle Houston. David Banner: He's a Business... Man (August 10, 2006). [38] David Banner’s lyrics to Cadillac on 22’s. [39] Christian rap group sign to Cross Movement Records/Sony. The members consist of the Tonic, Ambassador, Tru-L.I.F.E. and Phanatik.[40] Holy Culture was named of Cross Movements fourth album.
[41] Vessell. "Cross Movement- Holy Culture." Christ in a hip hopper.com. http://www.christ-in-a-hip-hopper.com/apps/articles/web/articleid/21428/... (accessed August 11, 2008).[42] Winfried Corduan, No Doubt About It (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers1997) pg.42
[43] Dr. Tony Everett of Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary says, “The way we perceive an experience shapes the way we think about it. The way we think about an experience shapes the feelings we have regarding it. The way we speak about (or describe) an experience shapes our behavior following that experience.[44] The Cross Movement. Forever. Comp. The Cross Movement. 2003
[45] Authoritative truth is a concept taken from Doug Bookman, in a paper titled "In Defense of Biblical Counseling” that it is truth so authoritative and manifest that when men, by reason of willful rebellion, reject that truth, they do so at the cost of their own eternal damnation (Rom. 1:20; 2:1,15).[46] This view from Mallard J. Erickson. Christian Theology (Grand Rapids: Baker’s Books 1998) pg.598 is considered to be the essence of sin. Mallard says, “It places something else, anything else, in the supreme place which he is.” The he is being the person of God.
[47] Propriety is used in the sense of one’s true nature in God.
[48] This is s symbolism of Hebrews 4:1,” Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” [49] Michael Eric Dyson. Open Mike.(United States: Basic Civats Books,2003)pg. 12 [50] Harvie Conn. A Clarified Vision of Urban Mission.(Grand Rapids:Zondervan Publishing,1987) pg.44
