'Christ First, Rap Last'

My life is beats, rhymes, Christ, but Christ beats rhymes,
I prioritise my time, and I put life in my lines,
It’s because Christ is first that my wife, child and church,
Plus family and friends come ahead of the verse,
The music is important but it’s not foremost,
There’ve been times when I’ve got too close and almost,
Pushed away the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost,
In favour of Hip Hop and I’ve got engrossed,
In the flavoursome labours of MCs and DJs,
Instead of hearing my Saviour and the words that He says,
I see the pearls thrown; I just snort and turn my back,
I hear the world’s groan and I replay the track,
I’d rather listen to those who put themselves on a throne,
Than the King of kings to whom all things are known?
That’s just backwards, I had to make a change,
Christ first, rap last – priorities rearranged.

'Fruit Cocktail' - B3ar Fruit (free download)

"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

As Christians we have been changed; we have a new identity. Paul stresses this throughout the New Testament (1 Cor 5:7, 2 Cor 5:17, Eph 4:24, Col 3:10) . In Galatians 5 the apostle gives us a breakdown of how we are different. It's that but that makes all the difference. It's not that we can be both, we can't pick and choose - we should be one or the other; we should have the acts of the flesh or the fruit of the Spirit.

Thankfully, as true believers we have the Spirit living in us, and as long as we live by the Spirit we should be producing fruit.

B3ar Fruit have gathered some excellent artists together to really help the believer to meditate over the fruits of the Spirit as laid out in Galatians 5. The album is free, contains a great mix of quality beats (from justWORD, Wes Pendleton, Average Joe and Mac The Doulos) and some on point Theology from the likes of Stephen The Levite, Trip Lee, Phanatik and Mark Arthur. You can download 'Fruit Cocktail' at Bandcamp now.

Read Galatians 5, listen to the album and pray that you would live by the Spirit and so bear fruit.

'The Mighty Binoculars' ft. Braille - Mr. Fresh

Mr. Fresh a UK producer hooked up with Braille, one of my favourite underground US rappers on the track 'The Mighty Binoculars'. It's all about looking forward in time, and more particularly looking forward, through his mighty binoculars, to heaven.

This is a subject I've been thinking of recently as I have been reading Cornelius Venema's 'Christ and the Future' (the abridged version). The book, and subsequent conversations with us, has led me to reassess my forward thinking. Often enough I don't think forward to heaven, but the thing that surprised me is how little I look forward to Christ's return, my resurrection body and the new earth.

Matthew 25:31-46 (hear my pastor's sermon on these verses here) describes what Christ's return will be like. It says "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne." It goes onto explain that Christians are going to live in His kingdom, where he sits on His throne: "‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world." It is in this place that God always intended us to live - it has been ready since the earth was made!

Isaiah 65, verses 17 to 25, describes an amazing place where "the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more", where "never again will there be... an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years" and where "former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind".

Should I not be excited about this? Should I not be looking forward to this? As Braille says, "One day that'll be mine"! Want to know what the future holds? Check those verses I quoted in this post.

'Coming For Me' - The Frontline (video)

A UK posse cut featuring Armor, Guvna B, E Tizz, New D Crew, McGladius, Jahaziel and S.O which reminds us that our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ are being persecuted all around the world. Why not use this song as a prompt to pray?

'Love Me!' - Knew Jeru'slum (free download)

Positive soulful vibes from Knew Jeru'slum on this new track entitled 'Love Me!'. The group are evidently continually honing their craft and this track is a great addition to their catalogue. Check the northern wordplay of Jonny Alpha and Watson G and the dreamy vocals of Belinda Hards by downloading the track for not a penny more than free. The tune is produced by Paris based Keor Meteor and is to promote the forthcoming 'The Samson Lok Files' Project, which will also be free to download in January.

'Does Anybody Know?' - Japhia Life (video)

Japhia Life - Does Anybody Know? from BangPopLA on Vimeo.

'Does Anybody Know?' is taken from Japhia Life's forthcoming album 'Nazareth'. This track is getting attention on secular blogs which is surely a good thing. This track isn't the most evangelistic thing out there but hopefully it will open doors and ears to more of Japhia's music (I seem to remember enjoying 'Fountain of Life').

The premise of the song revolves around the lyrics "On that road, looking for my promised land 7 days of the week/ Does anybody know how a person can get there?". Japhia outlines some of his struggles, both past and present (I assume), and the track forms a kind of prayer of penitence - a cry for help.

Some of the most famous verses in the bible are the answer for to question:

"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."

Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." (John 14:1-7)

The passage clearly speaks of our promised land: heaven, God's house. It also sees Jesus making the most amazing promise - He went there to prepare places there for those who trust in Him. I am so thankful for Thomas too (who gets bad press for being 'doubting') for asking his question; without that we would not have John 14:6. How do we come to heaven, to our promised land? We come through a trust in the Lord Jesus. And, if we trust, love and know Jesus we, by default, know God also!

'Kry Out' & 'Crack Music' - Jacob Izrael (video + free downloads)

I'm really feeling Jacob Izrael's leaks from his forthcoming free-to-download album 'The Glitch' [available here on 30th March] . The two tracks that have dropped are this one ('Kry Out') and 'Crack Song' [download them for free here]. Dirty South beats and Autotune aint usually my thing but this MC really speaks out on pressing social issues. Jesus set this example in His life and ministry and the Bible echoes it over and over.

For example, James writes about social action as part of our faith:

James 1:27 (New International Version)

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

OK so, just by writing a song and addressing the issues Jacob Izrael isn't physically doing something about it but he uses his voice to raise awareness of modern-day orphans and widows and exhorts us to take action.