My Testimony

I've been clearing out my ipod to get rid of tracks I don't want playing in shuffle mode and came across some tracks I wrote and recorded a few years ago. This is not something I do any more; partly because I realised I probably wasn't very good at it, partly because I don't have time any more and partly because I am so impatient with the recording process.

Anyway, this one song I'd like to share on here (not the audio, mind you) is basically my testimony. As far as I can tell from the Word file, this was written/finished on 25th February 2007. There was a first verse but I don't feel it added much to my testimony:

About ten years ago a voice spoke in my ears,

A voice that before had been greeted by sneers,

had been treated to jeers, but this time I heard it,

My mind was quite settled but the voice disturbed it,

It said that I was a sinner, and was headed to Hades,

The voice erased dreams of peacefully pushing daisies,

That was it, a tender nerve hit, I couldn’t swerve it,

Knew I needed pardon, but how? I didn’t deserve it,

But the voice that convinced me had not yet finished,

by now opposition in my head was diminished,

Cos the train of thought in my one track mind,

Was on the turntable halfway down the incline,

And the voice was speaking ‘I am the way,

Sins committed, now admitted, follow me today’,

So I turned my life around and started to climb,

I knew I had to have it, this gift was too precious to decline.

I gotta give praise to my almighty saviour, Cause I know that He’s working in my life,

Seems like only yesterday that I found out that the only one that I needed was Christ,

Convinced of my sin, I had to let Him in, I knew there was no other choice,

And now I’m living in His light, He’s forgiven my lies and I only listen to His voice.

And since that day He’s stayed by my side,

And although I've strayed, He’s able to provide,

My faith has waxed and waned and it’s died,

But He’s never wavered and my faith’s been revived,

Even in the times when I’ve favoured my pride,

And I’ve tried to hide, the relationship survived,

I came crawling back; He had arms open wide,

And all too often I act so surprised,

He reminds me of His grace, reopens my eyes,

Memories erased of all my brokenness and lies,

He loves me, my failings and hopelessness aside,

Mercy immerses me, sins washed in the tide,

A few years after that first day I got baptised,

A sign to the world that I now despised,

All that was below the ways of Christ,

The day I heard His voice: the most defining of my life.

I now understand more about baptism and believe that there is more to it than it being "a sign to the world". I also would now advocate repenting and being baptised going hand in hand - they should both happen at a similar time, it shouldn't be a few years apart!

I'm not saying that I'm an excellent lyricist by posting this, I just thought it appropriate to share my testimony!

'Do You Only Listen To Christian Hip Hop?'

My wife asked me today, as we were travelling in the car listening to Deepspace 5's 'Unique, Just Like Everyone Else', if I only listened to Christian Hip Hop now. It made me realise that actually, I do. She asked me if that was a concious decision and I answered that, yes, it mostly was.

Previous to writing this blog I started and built up another music blog about UK Hip Hop. It went on to be the biggest and most well known blog on the subject. I built up good relationships with PR people and artists themselves, but doing it almost took over my life. I felt the need to cover everything, and be the first to do so. I also put myself in a position where I felt obliged to say positive things about most releases I was sent (I had CDs in the post almost every day) although I did give short shrift to some releases that were so against my beliefs as a Christian. All the time I ran it I didn't have other contributors, mainly because I didn't want to compromise on the standard of writing or on the viewpoint from which the blog was written (my own viewpoint). I finally made the decision (partly influenced by the imminent arrival of our first child and the increasing lack of time to spend listening and writing) to hand the blog over - which I did very quickly once the decision was made. Once this had happened I almost stopped listening to Hip Hop and started picking up on other genres that I had neglected over the years - I nearly went cold turkey on Hip Hop (the fact that there was so much rubbish rap being released helped).

The other main factor that acted as a catalyst to this change was my continuing maturity as a Christian. I felt I couldn't go on supporting and championing music that came from such a different viewpoint to my own Christian stance. I also felt that letting it saturate my life so much couldn't be helpful for my own spiritual state. I realised that it could be replaced by something a bit more beneficial and began to return to some of the old Christian Hip Hop CDs I had (as a teenager I had a purge on secular Hip Hop, giving away albums such as Eminem's 'Slim Shady LP' and Dr. Dre's '2001' and replacing them with albums by John Reuben and Peace 586 amongst others). I knew that filling my life with things that pointed me towards God (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) would help to shape my life as a believer - and Christian Hip Hop was one way of doing that.

So now, whilst there are still secular tracks I like and will listen to, I am mainly listening to Christian Hip Hop. Hopefully it will provide me with decent music I can play whilst my children are around which at the same time challenges me and turns my thoughts towards God. I am not relying on it solely to minister to me but hope that it can be a part of a life which worships and enjoys God in everything I do.

For my latest review at Sphere Of Hip Hop, click here.

Edit: I am not saying this is what everyone should do, or that I will never listen to secular Hip Hop again, just at this moment in my life this is where I'm at!

'Rehab: The Overdose' - Lecrae (review)

As promised, here is my review of Lecrae's 'Rehab: The Overdose'.

Again, despite the fact that I'm not really a fan of the dirty south sound, nor the commercial, poppy sound (which is much less prevalent here), I appreciated this album for the way Lecrae consistently lays truth wide open on the table.

He explores less-covered issues, issues which come from the heart (see 'Anger Management') and are honest and open. In this way, I feel as a listener it was easy to relate to Lecrae as a human being - he is humble and down to earth.

Joyful About Jesus #1: 'Jesus' - Jahaziel

After returning from an excellent week away at a small family conference I've been after finding some Hip Hop which revels in the work of Jesus on the cross. I listened to Shai Linne's 'The Atonement' in the car on the way home, and whilst I love the way doctrines are taught on that CD, I wanted something more responsive to what Jesus has done for me to listen to.

I decided to get out my copy of Jahaziel's 'Ready To Live' and found the track 'Jesus' to hit the spot! I have been so challenged in my thinking about the cross and resurrection. I think for me it had turned into just head-knowledge; something I knew, and was real to me, but not something that made me rejoice daily in what my Saviour has done for me.

I'm now on a quest to put together a decent sized playlist of Hip Hop tracks which enjoy what Jesus has accomplished for us, rather than just teach what He did. Watch this space and if you have any suggestions, send them my way!

Christian Hip Hop #1 @ Amazon.com

What's currently number one on Amazon.com's most downloaded Hip Hop and Rap charts? Eminem? Beastie Boys? Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Wiz Khalifa? You'da thought so wouldn't you?

Currently sitting in that number one spot is Illect Recordings' Mind The Rap Vol. 1' compilation. Not far behind it at number four is 'Mind The Rap Vol. 2'. It's also worth noting that This'l's 'Beautiful Monster' is there in third place and Lecrae's almost-year-old 'Rehab' is still on the first page at number 22. All Christian Hip Hop releases.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

- Matthew 28:18-20

The Great Commission; CHH is doing it. God is using these artists. Let's pray that with these prominent positions unbelievers will download these projects (the Illect ones are free!) and hear God's name glorified and Christ preached. Pray also that if people are touched by this music that they will seek further guidance from the Bible and Church. Pray that the Spirit of God will work in their lives.

'Mind The Rap Vol. 1' features music from Scribbling Idiots, Deepspace5, JustMe, Peace 586, Cas Metah, Sintax The Terrific, Ajax Starglider and Freddie Bruno among others.

Now, would just love to see this happen in the UK too! If you're not in the US and can't get those downloads for free then check out Illect's Bandcamp page where you can get them for 99 cents each (about 62p in the UK).

'Cry No More' - Cross Movement

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

Revelation 21:1-4

Are you looking forward to death? Are you genuinely excited about the new heavens and the new earth? In honesty, it's probably not something we think about very often even though it is our great hope and it is the gift we've been given through Christ's death and resurrection.

I'm always thankful for Cross Movement's 'Cry No More' from their 'Holy Culture' album. It's one of my favourite Hip Hop tracks and it reminds me every time that, although we don't know a great deal about what heaven will actually be like, and what we do know is hard for us to picture because we only have earthly experiences, "We're going to a place that'll be much better than now". Whatever it will be like, there won't be all the awful things that there are in this world - things which sin has created.

Thank God that the former things will pass away. I'm so glad that despite the many, many blessings God has bestowed on me here in this life I'll be leaving it one day because nothing here can be perfect.

Uprok Records LP Covers Love

No music, no musings today; just a sharing of my love for some album covers. With the exception of 'Tunnel Vision' by the Tunnel Rats all of these albums came out on Uprok Records ('Tunnel Vision' came out on Uprok's parent label 'Tooth and Nail') in the noughties. I'd love to see more covers in this vein - surely we can have a revival? Albums in the slideshow are New Breed's 'Stop The Music', Sev Statik's 'SpeakLife', Peace 586's 'Generations', Tunnel Rats' 'Tunnel Vision' and Underground Rise's 'Sunrise/Sunset'.