(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Why shouldest thou destroy thyself? Be not overmuch wicked, neither be thou foolish. Why shouldest thou die before thy time? It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this. Yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand, for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all. Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than ten mighty men which are in the city, for there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good, and sinneth not. Also take no heed unto all words that are spoken, lest thou hear thy servant curse thee. For oftentimes also thy own heart knoweth that thou thyself likewise has cursed others. All this have I proved my wisdom. I said, I will be wise, but it is far from me. That which is far off and exceeding deep, who can find it out? I apply mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things. As know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness, and I find more bitter than death the woman, whose heart is snares and nets, and her hands as bands, who so pleased of God shall escape from her, but the sinner shall be taken by her. Behold, this have I found, saith the preacher, counting one by one, to find out the account, which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not. One man among a thousand have I found, but a woman among all those have I not found. Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright, but they have sought out my inventions. That's all, bow your hands and have a look of prayer. Thank you, Lord, for bringing us here on this Wednesday night in the middle of our busy schedules, Lord. We ask that we please fill passage with your Holy Spirit as it comes forward to preach the message that you laid on his heart. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen. All right. Amen. All right, so we're in Ecclesiastes chapter number seven. What I'm preaching about this evening is the subject of Christian rap, Christian rap music, and you might be thinking, well, why are you bringing that up here? What's the whole point? Well, you know, the Bible says here in Ecclesiastes chapter number seven that wisdom is a defense, and you know, part of our job as believers is defending the foundations and the fundamentals of the faith, and Christian rap, whether you know it or not, is really an attack on the fundamentals, an attack on our faith, and I'm going to prove that to you this evening. You know, you say, well, why not attack Christian rock or Christian rap or CCM, you know, contemporary Christian music? Well, really, you could plug any one of those into this sermon, and it's all going to be the same. And so Christian rap right now seems to have the probably the most influence, I'd say, especially with the latest regular secular rapper Kanye West or whatever, you know, claiming to be a Christian. Now all of a sudden Christian rap YouTube channels and forums and websites are really starting to promote his stuff like it's all okay. Even all of his past stuff, you know, is okay to listen to, and so what you're going to wind up seeing is him yoking up with other Christian artists to basically bring the message of the Antichrist, to point you away from God and his free gift of salvation right back to the human achievement that the world likes to promote, you know, and that's really what it's all about, you know, and somebody's got to, you know, lead the fight, and I think it's churches like ours and like our friends that are going to be doing it. You know, nobody else wants to come out there and really, you know, tell it like it is, and so that's what I'm going to do this evening. So you're there in Ecclesiastes chapter number seven, look down at verse number five, it says, it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools. Now what in the world are you talking about there? Well, here's one application, you know, it's better for you to come to church like this and get your face ripped off than it would be to listen to your favorite song and then pats you on the back that is just nothing but mockery or foolishness or vanity or anything like that. It's far better. If you look at the last part of the verse, it says it's better than for a man to hear the song of fools. So as Bible-believing Christians, we shouldn't even allow ourselves to hear that garbage. Now obviously, you're going to go out into the world, you're going to work at places and you're going to hear things, right? There's protection in that because, you know, I didn't make the choice, you didn't make the choice to purposely set that stuff, right, into your mind. You didn't put yourself in that situation for that reason. And so with that, you know, your defense, right, being wise is to speak to yourself in psalms, right, in hymns and spiritual songs, and by doing that, over time, those songs after you leave or after they turn off will be erased from your memory. Not forever, but obviously, you'll be able to replay the hymns inside of your mind, and this is true of me. I go into people's houses that are playing this music a lot, right, because everybody in Idaho goes to church and a lot of them think, oh, I'm going to put something wholesome on for you. And I've said this before, a lot of people have this idea that they can witness to people just by turning on the Christian rock station or the Christian rap station. You do it all the time, all the time. You know, I'll be working in someone's house. This happens regularly to me. And all of a sudden, I'll hear some, you know, Christian raps on and it'll slowly start to get louder, right? Like, they want me to ask them, well, what kind of music is this? You know, and sometimes I do, but I'm, you know, I'm working and I'm not trying to get into an argument and, you know, knowing me, I'm going to say everything that I think about it. And I'm, you know, going to be seeking employment somewhere else. So oftentimes just, you know, bow out of that. But you know, that's the foolishness of the world thinking that some song, especially the song of fools is going to actually benefit you in any way. Get somebody saved. You listen to this garbage. You're not going to hear a clear presentation of the gospel. Now, you might be able to show me some low level guy that's got like 700 views and makes a Christian rap video about the gospel. Okay. I'm not talking about him. I'm talking about people that have millions of views on YouTube that reach millions of people on the radio. These are the ones that I'm talking about. They are doing a great disservice to the cause of Christ, and we're going to stand up and we're going to fight him. Not going to let this go down lightly. If you look down there at verse number four or back up to verse number four, rather, it says the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. So the Bible, again, making a comparison between somebody who's wise, so somebody who has a wise heart, it says that your how your, your heart basically dwells in the house of mourning, meaning that you're capable of being serious, of being grave, being filled with all gravity. Okay. Not everything is a joke. And that's what mirth is amusement, right? It says, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. Now if you don't believe me, just listen to this. There's a, um, I don't know if you want to call them a Christian rap or Christian rock group, but it's called family forest five. Who's ever heard of family forest five? If not, I can give you the videos. Now it's not what they say so much that is bad. You say, well, they're not cussing. They're not cursing people. That's fine. But this goes beyond that. Now these videos they make, they're real goofy. Like they have a song called wobble. Okay. And you know, these people dressed effeminate, they've got long hair and they're basically making people do this stupid dance. The whole thing is mirth. The whole thing is just for your amusement. But when you read the comments regarding these songs, it's like, I'm serious. It's just comment after comment. Like, wow, the gospel was preached. Amen. What a spiritual blessing I'm receiving. And it's like, wow. The discernment level of people who call themselves Christians in this nation, I don't think can get any worse. Now I might be wrong, but it sure seems like it couldn't get any worse. They have another song called chainsaw. It's all about chains. It's just goofy stuff. I'm not saying that you're in great sin if you listen to it, but the idea here is their influence and who they endorse and what they say affects people. People look up to them. They look to them. Well, what artists do you listen to? What artists do you get your inspiration from? And just by that, that alone is enough to make people reason in their minds that it's okay to go right back to the secular stuff that they left because their favorite Christian artists listened to it. See, this is a problem, you know, and who's ever known a fool? Probably everybody in here, right? Do they ever take anything serious? No. Even when something bad happens, let's make it a joke, right? Because their heart dwells in the house of mirth. That's why. That's what these verses are talking about here. Now, if you would go to Romans chapter number 12, Romans chapter number 12. So I've got four points for you this evening, not going to be too long. The first one is actually all four of these points here. Start off with a question. And the question is, why would Christian rap be considered by God to be the songs of fools? And that's a good question. That's a question that you may get asked, right? That's a question that I had, you know, and I'm guilty of listening to all this stuff in the past. And I'll tell you, during that time, I did absolutely zero for the Lord Jesus Christ. Absolutely nothing. Because why? I was in a liberal church and now just, you know, they're not going to get you on fire. They're not going to send you out two by two. They're not going to send you out to fulfill the great commission, right? And those are the ones that by and large are endorsing this garbage. So you're there in Romans chapter 12. Point number one is this. Why would Christian rap be considered by God to be the songs of fools? Number one, because Christian rap is not about creativity, but conformity. So I've been studying this out for a long time now, as some of you know by my text messages. One thing that these Christian rap artists and even the rock ones, all of them, right? One of the things that they commonly say is, well, I'm an artist and I should be, as a Christian artist, I should be allowed to express myself as an artist because I believe that God has given me a gift. And I'm not doubting your gift. I'm not here to attack their talent. I'm sure that they, you know, they have talent. They could succeed in the world if they wanted to. I'm here to attack the purpose. I'm here to attack the fact that they say they're Christian and they really aren't. Okay. But one of the things that they'll often say is that, you know, we're just being creative in a way that's going to benefit and bless Christians by all. I mean, just about every single artist that you read up on, you read their biography, you watch them in an interview. That's what they say. It's about creativity. But I will tell you just by watching this stuff, just by listening to it, just by sampling the lyrics, you're going to find it's not about creativity. It is about conformity, about conforming to the world. You're there in Romans chapter 12. Look at verse number one, Romans chapter 12, verse one says, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, right? Not conforming to the world, right? You're commanded and Paul's like, look, I'm pleading with you like the book of Proverbs does. I'm pleading with you. I'm beseeching you. I'm urging you. I'm exhorting you. Hey, be holy, be separate. Make sure there is a distinct line between you and the world, right? And he says, that's your reasonable service. I mean, think about it. Jesus Christ died on the cross. So shouldn't it be accepted amongst God's people that it's a reasonable thing that we decide to put away the world and the foolishness and the vanity and the mirth of the world? I think that's a reasonable thing. Now obviously I'm not talking about salvation right now. I'm talking about being a soldier for Christ. I'm talking about going hardcore for Christ. That's what I'm talking about right now. Look at verse number two, it says, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So here's a quick lesson for you right out of this verse. If you disagree with this, if this makes you angry, then that tells me that you are conformed to this world. You have not allowed your mind to be transformed and renewed. This is why the people that follow Christian rap, that are fans of this stuff, this is why they get so angry, because they don't have the discernment to be able to prove that it's wrong. You see what I'm saying? This is why it's important that we allow the Bible and God's words to renew our minds, so that we can prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. If you don't allow that renewing of your mind, you will never be able to do that. You're not going to be able to prove, and you're not going to even agree with a lot of this stuff. You watch, someday this sermon's going to make a lot of people angry. They're going to stumble on it, and they're going to be like, that guy's a heretic, he's a cult leader, he's this, he's that. Well say all that you want, but you know what? You've got no Bible verses. You've got nothing. You've got no leg to stand on, because you're not creative. All you're doing is conforming to the foolishness of this world. Now I'm just going to read to you a song here, not all of it, just some lyrics. You know, I'm full of samples. This has been bugging me for a long time. So who's ever heard of Lecrae? Probably most people in here. Did you know that Lecrae's a Calvinist? Yeah, Lecrae's a Calvinist. And you know, a lot of his videos have millions of views on YouTube. Did you know that? And he's got many more millions, you know, in record sales or CD sales or whatever, listeners on the radio. Now here, I'm just going to read some of these lyrics, because this proves my point, that they are not being creative, but rather conforming. They're trying to get you to conform to the world, okay? Listen to this. Here's from a song called Dum Dum, D-U-M-D-U-M, okay? It says, I, A-Y, I hope I'm saying that right, I, listen, real skinny, loud color tennies, body marked up like graffiti. I don't push a Maserati, Beamer, Benz, or Bentley, and yeah, I rode a Ford, at least I look spiffy. Did you get any kind of doctrine in there? Would you tell, if I didn't explain anything to you this evening, and I just read this, would you think this is Christian? No, not at all, right? This is covetousness, this is mirth, this is vanity, this is foolish, and I'm not even done. Not even close. So he goes on to say this, go ahead and doubt us, what you know about us. We ain't got to follow them, no, we take another route. The way I take this song, and I listen to it, is that they're pleading with the world's radio stations for acceptance, right? I even watched the video, okay? Now, in the video, it starts off with like the radio, like a DJ, you know, playing songs on the radio, and he's like, you know, I'm gonna give these guys some air time, or something like that, and so that just kind of sets the tone, it sets the message. They want to be accepted, not by Christians so much, but rather by the world, okay? That is the goal. That's what they're angry about, that's why these lyrics read the way that they do. Now, he goes on to say this, no, we ain't blowing trees, bro. Open up my window. I see you popping tags, but you know that's why yo ends low. I, you know, I can't even, I can't even translate that for you. I think we talked about popping tags a few weeks back, didn't we? And I've already forgot what that means. But you know, let's just move on here. It says, why are they hating like we all a bunch of hooligans? No gimmicks, spirit in my lyrics. You got a spirit in your lyrics, all right, buddy, but it's not the Holy Spirit. It's not the spirit of the new man, right? The Bible says to worship him in spirit and in truth. That's what the Bible says. I don't know what this is. I don't find this in the Bible. Oh yeah, I do, actually, I'm sorry, I misspoke again, I'm new, please forgive me. It's called covetousness, it's called foolishness, it's called vanity. That is what this is. It says, no one people hear it, they're gonna love it, or they're gonna fear it. Well, they forgot about us, I hate it. It's weak, it sucks, it's garbage, it's trash. I'm gonna skip some of this here. All right, so the second half of the song is taken over by a guy named T-Dot, or Tedeschi. Okay, now listen to this. So he starts about halfway through the song, and he says, six, two, two plus, go on, add it up. Hey, that's a big problem, call it calculus, okay? I mean, doesn't that sound like the world, bragging about how big you are, and all this, how tough you are? Math on some track, but content like I had enough. Long hair, don't care, Samoan, plus I'm tatted up. So from Leviticus, the very beginning of the Bible, which tells us not to mark ourselves up, all the way to the end of the Bible, right, in Corinthians, more or less, about men having short hair, women should have long hair, amen, that's what the Bible teaches. He apparently says he doesn't care. So the way I take it, and hopefully you take it the same way, he's saying, I don't care about the Bible. What's his source of truth? This is what he's saying, but yet, they're sold, and they push themselves as Christian, when they're being interviewed by other Christian networks. Now, when you find them on other platforms that are secular, it's a different story, we'll talk about that here in a minute. So he goes, I know this blow your mind, and I ain't blowing pine, not talking women look at Skippy every other line, yeah, I gotta die, I'm about to make her mine, life in Christ got me finished like I crossed a line. He goes on to say, with the way that you're telling me to do it, sell out, sell out, no man, that's so foolish, I'm done trying to be you, and don't fit. The rest of it is just gibberish and garbage, just more stuff that you can't understand, but you get the point, right, you get the point. You mentioned Christ, and all of a sudden, Christians, pastors, deacons, you just go wild. It's like, wow, this is insane. Who's heard of Pastor Polka Dot? That bozo down in Arizona that was sent out by Paul Chappell, he made a Facebook post about Kanye West that said something to the effect of, if America got revival, would we even recognize it, basically endorsing Kanye West. So that tells me you endorse Christian rap, Rapzilla, Christian rock, I mean, you endorse all of that stuff, you endorse this, you're not gonna find them speaking out about this, right, you're gonna have to come to a place like this that's gonna tell you the truth. You know, and it's sad because it used to be a day in this country where they did preach against this stuff. You know, even liberals, probably 20 years ago, you know, I can remember myself in a liberal church and them even saying, yeah, that stuff's not good. You know, but now that has completely changed, that's completely gone back. Turn to Revelation chapter number two, Revelation chapter number two. And so I said, point number one is, why would Christian rap be considered by God to be the Songs of Fools, number one, because Christian rap is not about creativity, but conformity, it's about conforming to the world. I just read to you one song, I could show you many, many, many, many, many more. And all of you in here know this, right, it is a fact, there's no way somebody's gonna come up to me and be like, I don't like point number one. It's not true, it is true, it's very true. It's case closed, there's no debating it. And there's this other organization that I completely hate on YouTube, this YouTube channel, it's called Rapzilla. What's the other one called? Christian hip hop. Yeah, Christian hip hop or something like that. They play all these Christian rappers, they play Lecrae and Kanye West Garbage, all this stuff. Well, they've got this song on there, and I mentioned this not too long ago, it's called Black Boy Joy. And look, we're not racist here, we believe what the Bible says, that God has made all the nations of the earth of one blood, okay? That's what it says. We don't discriminate based off skin color, all right? That's ridiculous. But apparently it's okay for these guys to do it. So you got this song on there, it's called Black Boy Joy, and the guy's just bragging about how they're happy, and they're content that they're black, it's like, okay. You know, and then about a quarter of the way through the song, this guy starts naming like Trayvon Martin and these other people, and he's like, you know, all of you dissing on black lives, that's why your mama likes black guys. You know, and so I just went on there, and I just posted some verses from Acts, you know, from James, you know, about we shouldn't have our faith with respect of persons. Is that not what James chapter 3 says? And they deleted my comments. So I just asked them again, okay, well, isn't this nation of Islam rap? The whole song's about, you know, being against white people, that's the way I took it. Against anybody who's not black, not like them. But yet Rapzilla's like, you know what, like, we don't exist, and I don't think I'm the only one in here that's left comments, right? And I go by, you know, every so often I look for your guys' comments, I don't see them, I don't see mine. You know, lately I can't even get eight hours with a comment on there, okay? I'm going to have to get another account, but you see the point, and the reason why is because that music is not creative, it conforms to the world, right? There is an agenda there. You see, any time God's people decide, you know what, we're going to stand up, we're going to fight this stuff, we're going to preach against the sins of our day, the devil's like, okay, now I've got to get a little bit more creative, and I've got to rub some people. How can I rope these people back into the world, right? It's just this cycle that goes on and on and on and on. All right, let's move on here, so you're there in Revelation 2. Point number two, so why would God, so why would Christian rap be considered by God to be the songs of fools? Number two, because Christian rap is designed to be a stumbling block to God's people. Christian rap is designed to be a stumbling block to God's people. I read this story, you know, I don't know, I believe it's true, that back in the 70s, you know, the preachers of that time, they were really doing some damage, you know, against this Christian music, you know, like the Christian rock. And I heard that a rich person, who was a Rockefeller, funded, like gave eight billion dollars to like this Christian rock band to basically flourish, start up, and flood the market with their stuff. And now why would he do that? It's with an agenda. He's not saved. Right? He's not saved. We're supposed to be holy. We're supposed to be separated from the world, right? We're supposed to have the renewing of our mind, and that stuff, it mimics the world a hundred percent. That's all it is, right? It's just another avenue to get you right back out of God's plan and right back into the world. And think about it, any one of these songs violates the wisdom that we've studied over the last few weeks in James chapter three. It's all earthly, it's all sensual, and it's all devilish, right? And you say, well, what about the beat? You've seen the beat? Look, I'm not going to spend time tonight talking about the beat. We already addressed that with the worldly worship sermon and the Michael Jackson sermon. You know what? Brother Justin Sawyer up in Vancouver, he preached a sermon, two sermons, I think, a while back called The Sorcery of Sound. Check those out. Because that's preached by a brother that is in music, that used to be in music, right? He used to be in a band. He had songs on the radio. He understands how the chords and the beat influence people, how they appeal to the flesh. And so, you know, we're going to go ahead and move on here. So look down at verse number 14, Revelation chapter two, verse number 14. It says, but I have a few things against thee, because that has there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed and to idols and to commit fornication. I go to Numbers 22, Numbers 22. You can see right here, right off the bat in Revelation, you can see the attitude that Jesus has towards people that would cast stumbling blocks to his people, right? And he compares it to the doctrine of Balaam. Now, just in case you don't know what Balaam did, we're going to go over that here. I'm going to bring you here to Numbers chapter number 22. Look at verse number two. It says, and Balak, the son of Zippor, saw all that Israel had done unto the Amorites. Verse three, and Moab was sore afraid of the people because they were many, and Moab was distressed because of the children of Israel, right? So this king, Balak, what he decides to do, he's like, okay, these guys, the nation of Israel, they've been steamrolling people. We got to do something. And so he's like, oh, I got this bright idea. I'm going to hire Balaam to put a curse on them, okay? Now jump down to verse number six. It says, come now, therefore, I pray thee, curse me, this people, for they are too mighty for me. Peradventure I shall prevail. So he's saying, perhaps we'll prevail, you know, if you curse these people. The verse goes on to say that we may smite them and that I may drive them out of the land. For I want that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed. Verse seven, and the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand, and they came unto Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak. All right, so what does he do? He decides, you know what? I'm going to offer Balaam all these goods, this position, and all these different things to hopefully sway him over to my side. Now look at verse number nine, I'm sorry, look at verse number eight, it says, and he said unto them, launch here this night, and I will bring you word again, as the Lord shall speak it to me. And the princes of Moab abode with Balaam. Verse nine, and God came unto Balaam and said, what men are these with thee? And Balaam said unto God, Balak, the son of Zippor, king of Moab, hath sent unto me, saying, behold, there is a people come out of Egypt, which covereth the face of the earth. Come now, curse me them, peradventure I shall be able to overcome them, and drive them out. And God said unto Balaam, thou shall not go with them, thou shalt not curse the people, for they are blessed. Now we're just going to stop reading right there, I just wanted you to get the beginning part of the story. So what goes on is Balaam tells him, look, I can't curse these people, God said no. Instead of just saying, hey, God said no, get away from me, don't come back at me with this stuff again. Balaam doesn't do that. What he does instead, because Balaam keeps sending him, hey, I'll lift you up, I'll give you power, I'll give you all this stuff, please just do this, right, so Balaam is tempted with that, and he wants those things, he wants the glory, he wants the materialistic goods, he wants the fame, so he does what a politician does. And he says, okay, well God said I can't curse them, right, but I can cast a stumbling block in front of them. And so what he did is he came up with a plan and he basically caused the children of Israel to commit fornication. So what we just read in Revelation chapter two about the doctrine of Balaam is exactly what you're going to see when you study out this subject of Christian rap. It is a stumbling block to people, because like I've been saying, all it does is get you soft on the world's music. Why? Because it's conformed to the world, that's why. That's exactly why. Now during the study, I watched numerous interviews by these Christian rap artists, Lecrae, this other fool we're about to talk about, his name's Andy Moneo, this guy named Tripplea, Bizzle, right, look, just all these different, I can't even remember them all. Now a lot of them, once they start getting up there in fame and in popularity, BET likes to come interview them and ask them questions. Well, every time Tripplea, and by the way, Tripplea is a pastor also, or Lecrae, any time these people get on BET, guess what they start saying, oh, I'm not a Christian rapper. I'm not a Christian, we don't want to be labeled as a Christian rapper. Now why do you think they do that? Cash. They're not interested in the rebuke of the wise, they're interested in ratings and revenue. That's what their goal is. That's why they say that. They say, well, I should be free as an artist to communicate my feelings and my life experiences to people, and that should be okay, and I shouldn't be just labeled a Christian. Why? Because they know where the cash is at, and it's with the world. So people hear that, they see that, and they're like, oh, oh, okay, well, Lecrae listens to Kanye, well, Lecrae listens to Dr. J, well, Lecrae listens to whoever, that must make it okay for me. And a lot of these Christian artists, once in a while, they'll get a little bit of time, they'll get to open for a major secular rap artist. There's Christian rockers, right? They'll oftentimes get to open up for Metallica or some corn or whatever these bands are. My mind slips, I can't remember them all now, but you get the point, right? They get a little bit of a bite, a little bit of balac, a little bit of an offering for balac, and they just run with it. They say, well, we're not violating anything, we just don't want to be labeled, right? Because then we can't get our message out. Here's what they say, then we can't get the gospel out. I bet you they can't even tell you what chapter defines the gospel in the Bible. I mean, take me up on it. You know, I bet you can't find it. But over and over and over again, anytime these people are interviewed, the first thing they say is, oh, you know, I'm not just a Christian rapper, I'm just a rapper that loves God and talks about stuff. That's what Kanye's going to do. He's going to yoke up with these people, right? And they're going to lift them up and people are just by the droves, they're just going to follow that. And we need to stop that, we need to stand in the gap and make sure that that doesn't happen as much as the devil wants, right? That's the point of this sermon. So we're going to move on here, go to Proverbs chapter 28, Proverbs chapter number 28. So I said point number two is that Christian rap is designed to bring a stumbling block to God's people. It's to get you soft. It's to provide you with a logical reason, okay, well don't, you don't have to listen to the world stuff anymore. You can listen to our clean, wholesome stuff. And then they go on to interviews and say who their favorite artists are and they're almost always secular people. There's this Christian artist, her name was Plum. I don't know if she's still popular or whatever, but I was reading up on her several years ago, and she said that she gets her inspiration from Trent Reznor, the guy from Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson. Yeah, that's who she gets her inspiration from, right? But oh, I'm a Christian musician. I'm an artist. No, what they are is they're con artists. You know, I've got more respect for the secular people because at least they tell you all they're interested in is cash, money, and hoes. It's true. At least they're honest. They're not trying to baffle you, they're not trying to hoodwink you, rather. You know, they're forthcoming with it. They're like, look, we're evil. This is what we're about. Love it or hate it. Whereas the Christian people are like, oh, you know, well, over here, you know, I'm all about the gospel and reach the people, but over here, you know, don't call me a Christian rap artist. You know, I, you know, I just want to be independent and I just want to, you know, reach people. Reach people with what? With trash? All right, so point number three, why would Christian rap be considered by God to be the songs of fools? Point number three, because Christian rap artists are pushing the sodomite agenda, because Christian rap artists are pushing the sodomite agenda, and this is the big one here, right? I told you these people have influence and anytime somebody gets high up in the entertainment industry, it's no marvel, right? It's no wonder that they start pushing what the elite want pushed. The principalities and powers of darkness want the spirit of antichrist push on the world, right? And they're leading the charge with that, with the sodomite doctrine, with allowing sodomites to have more rights than we have, with allowing pedophiles to have free reign over your children, right? Just like in Sodom and Gomorrah. Now you're there in Proverbs chapter 28, look at verse number four. It says, they that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. Because we're a church that desires to keep the law. We're going to contend with people. We're going to make some people mad. We're going to start fights with them. Because what they're doing is not right. The message that they're promoting is not okay. It's not right and it does affect people and we know that because we actually go out into the community and we go swimming and we knock on their doors and we try to get people saved and guess what they give us? Most of the time they give us the answers of the world or they give us the answers of Lecrae or the answers of Andy Moneo or the answers of DC Talk, who by the way, DC Talk said that they endorsed Marilyn Manson. They thought he was a brilliant artist. Everybody in here probably knows about DC Talk. They were real popular even when I was in high school. They've been around for a long time. All of these bands, all of these rap artists, all of these people, once they get high up enough, they will endorse anything that the world endorses. That's why I said they're not about creativity, they are about conformity. Their goal is money, but more so than money is to get you away from following God just like Balaam did. They've got the same doctrine of Balaam that the church of Progamos had, and does that make Christ happy? No, it doesn't. It's irritating. So read the verse one more time. They that forsake the law, don't miss this, praise the wicked. So anytime you hear of some so-called Christian pastor or deacon or leader or artist or whatever the heck they want to call themselves, and they start praising wicked people, you better just know you're dealing with somebody who has forsaken the law. They're not interested in these commandments, they're not interested in these statutes, they're not interested in the wisdom from above. Do you think Tedeschi Tdot is interested in the wisdom from above? No. He said he doesn't care. That's what he said. From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. So I took this interview here, I'm kind of getting ahead of myself, but it fits right here. I'm going to spend some time this evening going over an interview from 2014 by this Christian rapper named Andy Mineo. He was on a secular interview by a website called Boombox, and he's asked several questions. I'm just going to go over one of them right now, and then we're going to go over the other ones at point number four. So here's a question that Boombox put forth to Andy Mineo. Hey, Brother David, what was the name of that book that he endorsed? Christian and Gay or... Something like that. Something like that. There's this... Gay and Christian. Yeah, there's this book that this faggot wrote called Gay and Christian or something like that, and this Andy Mineo guy, he makes this YouTube video, and he's like, I fully support this book. This is great, and if you don't like it, then unfriend me, okay? So just keep that in mind. But here's what Boombox asked him during his interview. It says, on your song Uncomfortable, you say, I apologize for Christians with picket signs saying God hates fags. I promise Jesus wouldn't act like that. That's a powerful line. Why was it important for you to show your support for equality? Now I'll say I'm not about going outside with picket signs saying that God hates fags, okay? That is not my ministry. That's not, you know, going to profit anybody anything. I want to get people saved, and that's not the best approach, right? Especially with our culture today, okay? But you all know that's a sermon for another day. So he's taken that from that Westboro Baptist Church, which does stuff like that. They protest the funerals of veterans. They protest the queers by holding up signs. Personally, I think they're probably started by the CIA. I might be wrong, you know, maybe I'm wrong, but either way, the devil's behind it. I'll tell you that right now. So I get what he's saying here, but listen to his response. This is what Andy Moneo says regarding the question. He says, I desire to honor them, the LGBT community, as people in the image of God. Nobody, regardless of how they feel or behave, deserves to be on the other end of receiving hatred and discrimination. I don't care who you are. Didn't David say, do not I hate them, O Lord, to hate thee? This guy had never read a psalm in his life. So he goes on to say this. I don't care who you are. There is a bigger conversation there about honoring and respecting people who are different from you. One of the trickiest things that people can't wrap their mind around is how you can honor and respect someone and still not agree with them. How do you look at Donald Trump or someone who is a polarizing figure and say, I respect you? And then the quote stops there. But notice the beginning. Here's what he says one more time. I desired to honor them, the LGBT community, as a people in the image of God. How about this? Genesis chapter 19. First book of the Bible. This fool can't even get past the first book in the Bible. You understand that? The first book in the Bible. Turn to Jude, right before Revelation. First book in the Bible, he can't even understand. Which is no marvel, right? Because the Bible says the spiritual judgeth all things. If you're not spiritual, you're not going to be able to judge anything. So, the first book in the Bible, Genesis chapter 19, it's very clear how God feels about queers. Now, a lot of people want to say, well, you remember the whole nightclub shooting in Orlando and all that. Well, you know, God still loved them. Well, how many nightclubs perished in Sodom and Gomorrah? All of them. One hundred percent. How many queers died? All of them. I mean, does that not? I mean, did something change between Genesis 19, Judges 19, 1 Kings 15, right? The rest of the Kings and Chronicles till now? This is what they'll say, well, Christ came back and he changed that. There was a change of the law. Really? Okay. You're there in Jude, look at verse 7. End of the Bible here. End of the Bible, right? Jude 7, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh are what set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. So the beginning of the Bible, we see how God feels about queers, fire and brimstone. It's the perfect combo. It's the perfect remedy to deal with those people. At the end of the Bible here, right? Jude's New Testament, last time I checked, which was last night, okay? It's still there. I don't believe in the Mandela effect, okay? We see that that event in Genesis 19 was what? Set forth as an example. So has there been a change regarding that issue to God, to Jesus Christ? No, there isn't. No, there isn't. Not at all. They that forsake the law praise the wicked. That's what the Bible says. They praise the wicked. What is Andy Moneo doing here? He is praising the wicked, and not just him. He's a part of Reach Records, right? I read an article that said his CEO was Lecrae. I don't know if that's still true. It was a little bit of an older article, but Lecrae didn't come out and say anything about this. No one has come out and rebuked him for this. So from the beginning of the Bible to the end, and you can even read it in Revelation, God's attitude. In Revelation chapter 11, God still likens Sodom and Gomorrah as an evil thing, okay? From the beginning of the Bible to the end, there's no change. It has continuity, just like we talked about last week, right? The attitude remains the same. Say what do you think about queers? Leviticus 20, 13, Genesis 19, Judges 19. That is truth. That is reality. That's how God feels about it. That is how the Lord Jesus Christ feels about it. So turn to Proverbs chapter number 17. All right, well, we're going to move on here. So point number three is because Christian rap artists are pushing the elite's Sodomite agenda. You know, and that's just one guy. You know, but really, there's a whole lot more. You know, if you just stay silent about it, you don't say anything about it, then to me, you agree with it. You know, I mean, did Lecrae say anything? Did Tdot come out and say anything? There was one guy that did come out and say something. There was a music group called Macklemore. Does anybody know who that is or what that's about? I don't know what kind of music that is, if it's rock or rap or whatever, but I was reading about this. In this Macklemore group, I guess they made a song promoting the queers, and guess who came to their defense? Andy Fideo, or whatever his name is, Andy Minao, Andy Minow, Andy Minow, a little twerp fish. That's what he looks like, too. You know, he came out, and he endorsed that. This guy gets millions of views. He has a lot of influence, a lot of people that follow him, and guess what? He's a deacon at a church. Yeah, he's a deacon at a church. Makes matters worse, don't it? During my study here, I was reading about this Macklemore song, and there was a guy who came out, and he wrote a song against it, and his name's Bizzle. Now Bizzle is a hardcore work salvationist. Repent of your sins, turn from your sins. But I did look up the lyrics to the song, and I read them, and he's attacking Macklemore and people that support the song, and his video keeps getting taken down, which is weird because the song's really weak. You know, he's like, God still loves you, but we just don't support that, and we're not going to be like this. So he kind of came out against it, but it was real weak. It was a weak attempt. You know what? My message is to Bizzle. Shut your mouth and sit down, and we'll take it from here. We'll deal with it. You know, let the people of God deal with it, you idiot, and go get saved. All right, point number four. Why would Christian rap be considered by God the songs of fools? Point number four, Christian rappers by and large justify the wicked. Proverbs 17, look at verse 15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Lecrae is an abomination to the Lord. Andy Moneo is an abomination to the Lord, okay? Anybody who wants to justify these queers, these pedophiles, these sick freaks, and condemn us for preaching the Bible, guess what? You, sir, are an abomination. Not what you believe is an abomination, but you are an abomination. This is Bible. This is biblical Christianity. This is reality. So we're going to continue on here with our interview of Mr. Moneo. All right, the boombox. Here's what they asked him next. What do you think of the voice of Christian rappers, and it says, what do you think of the voice Christian rappers have in sociopolitical commentary today? Andy Moneo responds, I'm going to split it up into artists, then Christians, then Christians who are artists. That's why I made the points that I did. See, it gives them this ping-pong effect, like, oh, on this side of the table, I'm a Christian, on this side of the table, I'm an artist, and in the middle, I just want my money. Okay? He says, I would like to think that the Christians are the most equipped to deal with the messiest and stinkiest issues of life and be the ones who are leading in conversations about justice, race, forgiveness, reconciliation, equality, et cetera. And keep in mind, by equality, he means sodomites being equal with us. That's what he means. It says, but sadly, in a lot of ways, the church in America needs to grow in doing better in those conversations and sharing the perspective of the Bible faithfully and lovingly in a changing culture. That's what I'm doing today. Hey, that's Genesis 19, fire and brimstone. Judges 19, I mean, look, God allowed the tribe of Benjamin to almost be completely wiped out because of this issue. He says, I don't want to diss the church and say that they are not capable of having these conversations. Well, you better not diss our church because we're more than capable of having this conversation. I just think they are not leading in some of the conversations that are coming up today. Somebody needs to send them a video from our church. All right, next question. You are immersed, so this is Boombox asking, you are immersed in hip hop culture just as much as you are in your faith. As a deacon, how do you bring hip hop to church and vice versa? You say, that's the goal. Get the conformity of the world into church buildings and get that into your people. That's what they do. I mean, that's what Create Church is about. That's what the Vector Church is all about. That's what the Journey is about. That's what the Pursuit is about. That's what Life Church is about. That's what New Life is about. All of these churches, unfortunately, Foothills Christian, it's about conforming to the world to get your cash. They're not about truth, right? They're not instant in season and out of season. He goes on to say, it's interesting being a leader at my church and having this public platform. It really must be, because you belong to the world in some ways. Hip hop has always been about keeping it authentic and being authentically you. Okay. There's a violation of Roman suave. It says, that is why I try to do in my music and when I speak about the Bible, in the Bible, there is sex, drugs, rock and roll, adultery, and murder. That's what he said. That's how he looks at God's word. It is real stuff. There are real things that are not really communicated in our Ned Flanders of the Simpsons idea of Christianity. A lot of people use Ned Flanders. Look, somebody had that nickname for me a long time ago because I was their neighbor and I called him hockey puck, but he referred to me as Ned Flanders because we're fundamental. You know, he sees us running out to the vehicle in ties. So the world likes to make fun of us fundamentalists and say, you're just like Ned Flanders of the Simpsons. And that's what he's doing right here. He goes on to say, there is space for artists like me who want to talk about reality. My faith is a part of who I am. So it makes its way into all that stuff, sex, money, relationships, and life. That's what his faith is. He just admitted it. But yet we're hateful. We're a cult. We're not wise. Blah, blah, blah. No, this guy's a fool. He's an idiot. This guy's a wicked abomination to God is what he is. Here's the next question. When you listen to your music, it's interesting how you take ancient Bible stories and bring them to life in your rhymes. Then Andy Mineo, or Andy Minow, he says, you know, Lauryn Hill, she took a lot of stories from the Bible and stories and was able to communicate them simply on Miss Education of Lauryn Hill. And I'm not misspeaking. This is how it reads. Because there is such beautiful wisdom in the scripture for everybody, whether you agree with everything in the Bible or not, there's a lot more common ground than people think there is. Like Genesis 19, like King Asa, like Josiah, like Jude, like Revelation, like Jesus Christ. And then it goes on to say, read more about this. Andy Mineo talks rappers, activism, the LGBT community, and Prince. We're about to look at who he gets his inspiration from. All right, here's another question they asked him. Back in February, you sparked uproar on Twitter for your comments regarding rappers of faith using curse words. Sad that so many Christians criticize other people on their faith journey. We don't leave space for them to be journeying. They either in or out. So he goes on to say, is social media making it easier for people to criticize one another? So this Andy Minow guy, he gets on Twitter and he is blasting other Christian rappers for saying cuss words, saying the F word and the S-H word and all that stuff, right? And then over here, he's supporting pedophiles and queers and saying that the Bible is full of stuff that it's not. To me, that's the hallmark of a fool. I mean, what other term is it? This guy's a loser. This guy's a devil. And you know what? It's not just him. Keep in mind, he's at the higher echelon of this stuff. So that means his producers, the people that finance him, the people that promote him, that support this stuff, the people that desire to be like him, they are abominations as well. So he's upset about saying cuss words. Look, he goes on to say this, the criticism is easier because it's like a bathroom wall. You're writing something you don't see in person. They're hiding behind a screen. A lot of things that I read and see on the internet, no one has ever said to me in my face. Well, I'll say it to your face any day of the week. Come down here and I'll say some stuff to your face. You won't have a face left when I'm done with you. Social media is ruthless because there are no repercussions for your actions. If you don't have to show your face, also it just gives little snapshots of people. We know that real people are a lot more complex and more than just their highlight reel on Instagram or their failed reel on IG. We take failed moments and expose them and think it's cruel. People are changing, evolving and learning and growing when you put something on the internet from five years ago. It's there forever. Okay. So just keep in mind how stupid this guy is. He's upset at other Christians for saying cuss words, but yet he's upset at other Christians because they stand against the sodomites. You know, and I've noticed that is a trend with a lot of Christians. They'll get after you for saying a cuss word or something like that, but then everything else is just a-okay, sodomites, bring them in, pedophiles, bring them in, fornication, no problem, tattoos, long hair, anything else that violates God, no problem. How many Bible verses are there in the Bible about saying the F word or cuss words? Right. Now, is it wise? No. Okay. Look, I'm not going to lose any rewards over it, okay? I mean, obviously we should put away filthy communication and there's a way those words can be used where it becomes sin, but look, that is not a battle right now, okay? The issue here is what we've been talking about is them promoting the agenda of the devil. Here's the next question. Did you grow up listening to Prince? He was a secular artist, but a lot of his songs Adore or like Adore in 1999 and Let's Go Crazy. He was full of spiritual undertones, masks, and sexuality. So this is what Boombox asked him. They say, well, he was a Christian. He was a kind of Christian guy. He talked about spiritual things. Here's what this guy says, honestly, Prince was before my time. So now he's back to that political pilot. What is truth? Honestly, Prince was before my time, but I did know his big songs. Like I don't know the catalog of all his music, but I respect him for one, his ability to play basketball and his crazy ability to play like 40 instruments. He was a child prodigy. He has always been a legendary figure in music to me. Well, there you go. I told you they look up to the artists of the world. Now what was Prince about? Who knows what Prince was about? Was he about what, fornication, drugs, drunkenness, adultery, effeminacy, right? That's what he's about. He is the inspiration for this man right here. You see the problem with this? This is worth contending for. This is worth fighting for. So he goes on to say this, absolutely, I think it's interesting about, or what I think is interesting about art is that all art is not literal, and I don't think it should be. But that's what gives us the creativity and freedom to pull different ideas and images. We can make things provocative and call people to think. We can cause people to question lyrics and think deeply when they engage with music and art that way. See that's the idea, to get into your conscience, right? These people that sing these songs and write these songs, they write them in a very careful way to plant these seeds into your mind. That's why the Bible says it's better to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools, right? Something happens to the believer. Something happens to a person when you sit down and you just allow this garbage, this wicked music, to enter into yours. When you willfully do that, it is a problem, and God's people should never do that. By the way, that's how I know this person. He's not a child of God. Not at all. All right, so he goes, that's what guys like Prince did. That's what I'm doing and a lot of artists. Everybody at their core has some sort of desire for meaningfulness and purpose. I think that spirituality speaks most deeply to it and is woven in a lot of people's music. So he's like, just, it's all good. Music's music. It's no harm. You know, that's what he's saying. Last question here. He says this, who are you listening, here's what Boombox says, who are you listening to now? Would you consider collaborating with any of them? Keep in mind. So they're like, hey, what secular guys are you listening to right now? How do you get your inspiration? And would you ever yoke up with them? Here's his response. I have been listening to Jack Garrett a lot now. He's the man. He has a song called Worry. He's a freak. He plays like four instruments and does all of them at the same time live. Then he goes on to say, my man, John Bullion, wait, John Bellion just dropped a guillotine. It's crazy. He makes fusion music, soul, R&B, hip hop, and indie rock. I really like all those genres. And to get them all in one is everything for me. Now, I was like, I don't know who this Jack Garrett is. He's some guy from England. I guess he sings his popular music. It's all trash. I'm not going to sit down and listen to it. I just looked up some lyrics. It's straight garbage. And then I was like, well, you know, let me look up this Bunyan guy, this John or John Bullion, John Bellion, all right? So I type into Google, John Bellion, millions of views, songs for days, and he's got this one song. And then I clicked it off. And I'll never research this again. I just saw the title on Google. It says he has a song called Woke the Effa. That's who your boy, Andy Moneo, gets his inspiration from, aside from Prince and Satan himself. OK? Keep that in mind. He's not alone. I just picked him because this was easy pickings. You could attribute this to Lecrae. You could attribute this to a lot of these so-called artists. They're artists for the devil. And if the world wants to make fun of us, then so be it. Because you know what? I'm not going to be looking down at the judgment seat of Christ. And unfortunately, and it's sad, I'm going to be looking at these people being tossed into the lake of fire during the Great White Throne judgment. You know what? That's the sad part. And that's our mission, right? Our mission is to stop their message from reaching those who are hanging in the balances. I say that all the time because it's true. Let's see here, just real quick here, I just want to end this with some practical stuff here. If you would, turn to 1 Corinthians chapter number 2. 1 Corinthians chapter number 2. We're almost done. Look at verse 7, 1 Corinthians 2 verse 7 says, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory. Verse 8, which none of the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. So the Bible here is telling us, Paul's telling the Corinthians, he's like, hey, these princes, these high-end lifted up people of the world, they don't understand the wisdom of God. But you need to be different, right? And the Corinthian church was messed up. They were ate up. They were allowing fornication and all sorts of garbage into their church. And Paul's like, hey, that's not okay, right? We should not be like that. We should not be like the world at all, which is a big point in this sermon. That's the edification here. That's the application here. Now turn to 1 John chapter number 2, 1 John chapter 2, 1 John chapter number 2. Look at verse 15, 1 John 2, 15 says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him, right? He's not saying that you're not necessarily saved, right? But the love of the Father is not in you. And I'll tell you, the love of the Father is not in Andy Moneo or Lecrae, neither is the Holy Spirit, neither is salvation. Verse 16, for all that is in the world, right? All that's in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. But wait a minute. That's the stuff that Andy Moneo just got done praising. That's what's in his music. That's his message. But yet, we're going to be labeled as hateful, as heretics, just for preaching against him. But like I said, so what? Bring it. Let's go. Look at verse 17, and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. And we know that the will of God is to get saved, right? That's the will of God, right? That's not the will of these people. Turn to 1 John chapter number 4. The Bible says, through thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false way. Right? There's a reason why I hate this stuff so much. It's because I've gone through God's precepts. And I continue to do that, and you continue to do that. That's why we and those that are like us, God's people, right, that are walking in the light, right, going through his precepts, they that love the law, you know, those people us. That's why we hate these false ways. That's what this book will do to you. All right, what did I say? First John 4. All right, look at verse number 5. First John 4. It says, they are of the world, therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. You know that the world hears anti-menial? That's why BET interviews these guys. That's why Boombox interviews these guys. That's why these secular just news outlets interview these Christians that rise up in influence, right? Because they hear them. Why do they hear them? Because of this verse right here. Because of this verse right here. They are of the world, therefore, so because of that reason, speak they of the world. And that's what you're going to find in their lyrics. Look at verse 6. We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth and the spirit of air. You know that spirit that Lecrae said that he had in that Dum Dum song? That's the spirit of air. That's what that is. It's not the spirit of truth. That is the spirit of air. One last verse. First John 5. Look at verse 19. We know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness. So if the whole world lies in wickedness, why in the world would you want to pattern your music, your ideology, your beliefs after them and then call yourself a Christian? It's foolish and God's people ought not to subscribe to this junk. It's trash. It's garbage. It does not edify the believer. Look there's a reason why these people aren't talking about the hymns that we sang tonight. Because it's not earthly. It's not sensual and it's not devilish, right? Boombox isn't going to call us up and be like, so you know that last song you guys sung on Wednesday, man. Tell me like how that, you know, how does that feel? You know, they're not going to call us for that, right? They're going to label, they're going to probably submit this sermon to the Southern Poverty Law Center and get us listed on there, you know? So anyways, the stuff's trash. It's garbage. You know, we're going to contend with it and nuts to them all. Amen. This is a church. We're going to stand up for the truth. We're going to fight and that's just how it's going to be. Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for the, for these people that would come here, Lord. And thank you again for the truth that you bring to us every single week, Lord. Please continue to increase our zeal according to knowledge and bless the fellowship after the service, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.