It’s been a long time. Sorry for the wait. Here’s a quick snack to chew on…
Try not to take too much comfort in the statement, “I’m a work in progress”. We all have that one thing or those things in our lives or in our character that can keep us from fully being pleasing to God. Take those things seriously.
We like to say, “I’m only human”; however, Jesus said His yoke is easy and His burden is light. His commands are not burdensome. This means He wouldn’t expect something from us that He didn’t think we couldn’t do. He also said no temptation is out of the ordinary for the common man… paraphrasing… What I’m saying is we can all come out of ANY sinful state and truly repent, that is, turn away and walk completely the OPPOSITE direction of your sin. You just…WE just have to TURN AROUND and WALK AWAY. It comes down to how bad you want it — MORE IMPORTANTLY, it comes down to how strong your faith is.
If we are truly to believe that our God is alive and loves us and watches over us and heaven is a REAL and TANGIBLE reward, you will successfully make the choice to eliminate that sin from your life and do it quickly. THAT is definitely a work in progress. Endeavor to keep building your FAITH. Faith drives EVERYTHING. But don’t rest on your, “God knows my heart” and “I’m only human”.
It’s only a matter of time before that simply becomes less of a challenge and more of an excuse to keep going on as you are, thus costing you eternal life.
#TalkingToMe
But on the music side of things, here’s my go to record these days… IT’S GOOD TO BE BACK!
This is by no means an attack on Weeknd or trying to insinuate anything on his part. In fact, I love this song. There is a song called “Shameless” that I’ve been into for quite a while now (the CLEAN version) and I got to thinking about the lyrics much more. It hit me. Sin and the devil works in THIS way.
Please allow me to break this down by each verse excerpt:
“Say it louder, say it louder Who’s gonna love you like me, like me? Say it louder, say it louder Who’s gonna touch you like me, like me?
Ooh, said you wanna be good but you couldn’t keep your composure Ooh, said you wanna be good but you’re begging me to come over Ooh, come over Ooh, saying who’s gonna touch you like me?”
Look at that. We all know how good it feels at the moment we are enjoying the pleasures of this life, the forbidden pleasures. I need not make an exhaustive list of those. Even instinctually we kinda know what is wrong. Perhaps God designed us that way. We try to be good, but yet you’re failing to keep your composure. Wow!
“I don’t wanna hurt you but you live for the pain I’m not tryna say it but it’s what you became You want me to fix you but it’s never enough That’s why you always call me cause you’re scared to be loved But I’ll always be there for you, I’ll always be there for you I’ll always be there for you, girl I have no shame I’ll always be there for you, I’ll always be there for you I’ll always be there for you, girl I have no shame”
Guess what? The devil, much like God will always be there for you (until Jesus comes back, however) and he will be there to give you what you think you need because he has no shame. The song most likely refers to a man that is willing to take advantage of the woman who doesn’t respect her self. She is scared to be loved. Can you see people calling on the ones that will encourage the hate because misery loves company? He says, “I don’t wanna hurt you, but you live for the pain.” Do you know people like this? God stands ready to alleviate that pain while Satan stands ready to accentuate it.
“Say it louder, say it louder Who’s gonna love you like me, like me? Yeah Say it louder, say it louder Who’s gonna touch you like me, like me?
Ooh, said it’d be the last time, all you needed was a little closure Ooh, said it’d be the last time but you’re begging me to come over Ooh, come over Ooh, saying who’s gonna touch you like me?“
Have you seen this scenario? One of my favorite preachers talked about how when someone is trying to choose Jesus and live for God, they always face the temptation of that one last fling. He said that one last fling will “fling you right into hell.” But seriously, this can be us. This is the struggle of anybody trying to live right. Furthermore, as the song says, they get reminded of the fact that nobody can “touch you like me.” and that can lead them back to a place they don’t want to be.
So here’s the thing. The Lord is always here. He will be there for you and stands ready to pick up your broken life and steer it in the right direction. The devil is always here. He will be there for you and stands ready to KEEP you in the wrong place and or to steer you in the wrong direction. You may not understand love and don’t think you deserve it and so you run to that which is NOT love. But God showed love by sending His only son to suffer, and I mean suffer, for YOU. He says you’re worth it. You are blood-bought. Visualize a person being beaten, spit on, tortured, having nails placed through hands and feet, for you. Feel THAT love. When you do, you will then make an effort to learn what is required to obey this Jesus’ expectations and then live for Him…shamelessly.
This singer/rapper has blessed a hook for a who’s who of Christian hip-hop artists from The Breax to Eshon Burgundy and still finds time to make his own soulful classics.
“Home” is the first piece of content I’m releasing from my “Race the Sun” series. The term “Race the Sun” is an allegory that represents our life here on Earth. Essentially everyone is in a race against the sun. A race to accomplish our purpose before our sun sets. My purpose is to make God honoring music that edifies the body of Christ.
With that in mind, I’m starting a yearlong audio-visual series called “Race the Sun”. Every two months I’ll be releasing a song and a video (6 songs & 6 videos total). The theme for this year will be “Home” and tell a story about redemption. This first release is the title track and will introduce this years theme. This song lets listeners know that no matter how low we get or how far we roam, we can always come…home.
— Sean C. Johnson
Download available exclusively at www.SeanCJohnson.com. Sign-up to receive updates.
I’m always looking for witty punchlines and out-the-box delivery these days, but sometimes you need that straight up rap about the gospel. This kid does just that. That bassy down south beat that knocks doesn’t hurt either!
Bible Toter is about the Word of God being a weapon against the enemy. There are also references about not bowing to Caesar which represents us as believers of Jesus Christ not bowing down or compromising to the world. It speaks to being on fire for God.
Go to now, ye that say, Today or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.
James seemed to really take issue with those that would make future plans. He chatsises them and urges them to say, “if the Lord wills”. This is something that seemed very minor in the scheme of things. People say those things on a regular basis. I can’t count how many times I’ve heard someone casually say, “see you tommorow!” and I couldn’t tell you they were evil for that. However, James expressly points out that God in fact does have a problem with that…why?
First, let me say that I don’t think that anybody who does not say anything along the lines of “Lord willing” is evil. I will say perhaps they know not the weight and or the blessing in what they are saying. “See you tommorow…I’ll be there next week”. Perhaps it’s too morbid to face the reality that this isn’t always the case, though we take it for granted. James hightlights the fragility of life. Furthermore he highlights WHO controls the days of every one of us…that is God. Okay so I got morbid I suppose.
What is the point in all this? The point is that God has to factor into everything that we plan. Honestly God’s in control of everything. And to even suggest tomorrow as though it is a forgone conclusion slights the very One who holds the future. Grant it, not everybody is coldly planning thier future and saying, “I’m going to do this no matter what God says.” Perhaps the matter is of a training of the mind. To be reminded to say, “if the Lord wills” is to be reminded to be reverent and submissive to God. Those little words can keep us humble and thankful as we greet another day. Conversely, the more we fail to acknowledge God’s control and providence in our lives the more we become overly self seeking, self praising and downright conceited. Boastful… You may feel weird saying, “Lord willing” in response to, “will you be coming in to work tomorrow?”. You may even feel like it’s understood so why say it? But God has given us things to remind us and to keep us right with Him. In His infinite wisdom He lovingly tells us, “Not so fast”.
We tend to give ouselves more credit than we deserve sometimes. To vocally give it to God’s will when sharing our plans and when interacting with the world and our brethren is to give God the glory. It is to encourage us and remind us to be thankful. To arrive safely is by way of God giving you that grace. A healthy vocal regimen trains a mental awareness of God in our lives and also serves as an evangelical tool.
Who knew saying something as basic as “See you next week” would hold so much weight. Yet it does. Not to scare you, but to encourage you. Count yourself blessed. A wonderful God has blessed you with this moment. In that moment, while today is still today, give Him the glory. Obey His Son who is able to save you on the day that tomorrow does not come. He promises that all who call on His name by confessing Him as Lord and Savior, washing away thier sins in the watery grave of baptism, dying to the flesh and rising up a brand new child in Christ will live life in eternal joy.
God simply wants us to understand that we need Him. He loves us. He can save us. He protects us everyday. He sustains us. And He blesses us according to His will.
I hope to provide you another blog soon…Lord willing
Hip hop artist Flame has flown somewhat under my radar for some time and hadn’t really gotten my attention until he dropped the instant heater Royal Flush. Once that near classic album dropped he got me listening. Call me late to the party or super picky, but when he prepared to drop Forward I was ready for it and it didn’t disappoint. In fact it exceeded expectations.
The album is centered around the concept of how Christians can in fact move forward in spite of the world’s current problems and the current cultural Christianity in the United States. The album effectively weaves in the quotes of an evangelist throughout the album that is relatively spot on in much of his teachings. The album conveys hope, evengelism, clarification and confrontation.
Now onto the music. Flame opens up with the emotionally charged 1st Freedom where he opens by saying “we bout to forfeit our 1st freedom. Run and get your constitution kids.” over a somber guitar. Musically these soulful melodies are punctuated by a banging drum kick. The chorus flips America The Beautiful and he speaks on the affects of the secularization of America and the impending persecution of Christians, all while speaking that we are the light of the world.
The album continues to pick up steam with the bass heavy trap tracks Know the Times where he says the world is crazy and how they think Christians are out of thier minds. Here he goes for the jugular addressing boldly current issues such as police brutality and the fact that this is NOT a Christian nation. He urges Christians to be more than positive but to give Bible reasons for our faith. The melodic chorus has Flame singing “the world is crazy. It’s all a sign of the times”. This leads into Believe That and Made Me Do. Both hardcore trap tracks talk about the need to go beyond just teaching good morals and actually speaking about sin and obedience to Christ being necessary. Made Me Do highlights the frustration of speaking the truth and being considered the bad guy for doing so as the chorus has Mike REAL yelling “look at what you made me do!”
Flame has a mellow sing songy style that he incorprates throughout the album. On one the standouts The Greatest he sings about how throughout all the challenges God is still the greatest and they shouldn’t place thier faith in people and things. I believe vocals are backed by V. Rose throughout the album. Another standout track is Positively Eternal where over a mid tempo simple string, kick and piano track he adresses the difference between conscious rap and Christian rap. He also speaks on great causes versus the cause of Christ. This is a very timely album. He highlights J. Cole’s Forest Hills and Kendrick’s To Pimp a Butterfly. On another standout called Move Forward featuring Jai, Flame goes in on cultural Christianity, liberalism and compromise happening due to fear of the world. Jai sings “we might suffer now but we’ll get our crown”. This is more soulful moving music. I feel the album climaxes with Absolute Truth where he opens with the potent statement “if what we’re saying is true, then it changes everything”. This song is a must listen where he urges context when reading the Bible. Wow!!!
My favorite part at this point is where the repeatedly quoted speaker says we need to have friendships and relationships with people who disagree with you. Wow! Think about that one.
The album winds down with more trap music as You Ready reminds us to stop and think of the impending judgement at the end. Had Me Flexin, while not one of my faves does bump and exposes the devil as a liar who had him flexin hard like it’s his birthday.
As with most albums at the end, this one mellowsout but still inspires. We Gon Reign features a hip hop ballad that earnestly feels for the Coptic Christians recently murdered overseas and encourages us that the gates of hell will not prevail against the church and if we suffer with Him we will reign. Very moving and inspiring.
Melinda Watts lends her vocal talents to the reworked Let it Shine where hip hop drums back a piano melody. We obviously know the message here as Flame effortlessly rocks this beat. The last words of Flame on this album says PREACH THE CROSS AND REACH THE LOST.
This album effortlessly blends dope beats, meaningful commentary, lyrical content and great lyrical delivery for an album that is both enjoyable and important.
Listen to the album on YouTube but pick up your copy of one of best and most important albums of 2015.
It’s been a long time…I shouldn’t have left you. :DHumble Beast recording artist J. Givens is back. This introduction features punchline driven flow over a nice beat backdrop. Click the link below to hear Ignorantro. Christians kill mics too!
Rapper Bizzle never shied away from taking issues head on. In this one he addresses the issue of selling your soul for success among others over a sick loop from Lauryn Hill’s “I Get Out”. I think L Boogie would be proud.
Christian Music Pusher 