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A La Carte (11/12)
- 11/12/10
- 16
Matt Drudge and others have been writing a lot about the TSA’s new search procedures—procedures that seem designed on driving all of us through the full-body scanners (since, if you opt-out, you’ll be subjected to an invasive full-body pat down). I got patted down like this last time I went through security and it really was kind of disturbing—it was far more rough and thorough than any I’d been subjected to before. Like a lot of other travelers, these procedures really do make me think twice about flying. And every time I see the TSA thoroughly patting down a six year-old kid I figure that already the terrorists are starting to win.
A Theology of Workflow - Matt Perman was interviewed by CT on productivity and workflow.
Radical - I appreciated Gary Gilley’s review of David Platt’s bestselling book Radical. I think he does a good job of pointing out its strengths and weaknesses.
Is Holy Hip-Hop Holy? - A lot of people will disagree with David’s take on this, but I think there’s real value in having the discussion. He says “I’m increasingly concerned about the increasing promotion of ‘Gospel Rap’ or ‘Holy Hip Hop’ in New Calvinist circles, even by men whom I admire and esteem very highly in the Lord.”
Win Winslow - The Octavius Winslow Archive is giving away a set of Winslow’s devotional classic Morning & Evening Thoughts.
Encouraging Missionaries This Holiday Season - “To Be A Pilgrim” has some good thoughts on how we can encourage missionaries this holiday season.
Blindness - I enjoyed this short film set to an instrumental version of ‘Nothing But the Blood’ by Page CXVI.
Idleness is the devil’s workshop, but so is busyness if, while we are busy here and there we fail in our main responsibility. —Vance Havner
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
Releasing on April 1, The Next
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This review of the bestselling
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Comments (16)
I have just started to read through Radical and cannot offer any in depth opinion as of yet. But one thing that has bothered me for some time now is when I see Christians living as materialistic as the world in the west. I ‘m not saying one cannot have decent things but I have seen spending habits no differentiate than unbelievers and know of non-Christians or are way more generous than a lot of so called believers that I know.One thing that should be a clear example of personal holiness is charity. If Christ is our ultimate treasure , than why should our life not reflect that in giving. Perhaps Platt goes too far in places , but I think much of what he has said so far is a push back against the materialism that is so rampant even in my Church. I live in NS , Canada and have seen the philosophy of bigger ,better and more. John Piper and Francis Chan have touched on this as well in sermons and writings , so I don’t think Platt is too far off. Perhaps the spots were he tips over the edge are a good thing , because it makes one think and move towards a balance.
Regarding the “Is Holy Hip-Hop Holy” article he is more addressing public worship.
I think the balance comes from the thinking that says right music right occasion. This in itself is hard because it can be subjective.
There is a difference between should we replace our worship with a Rap concert :-) and is the music wrong or “Unholy”
Again right music right occasion and for sure the preaching of the Word/ The Pulpit is the center of everything.
My 2 centsAll things for His glory :-)
Re: hip hop:
Personally I think Christian hip-hop is kinda…dumb…but I also question David’s assertion that the genre’s origins are irredeemably corrupt. There’s a certain subset of hip-hop that focuses on gang violence, drugs, and misogyny, but that isn’t the whole genre. There are other groups that, while they do often deal inappropriately with sex, don’t glorify criminal behavior or violence. Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Digable Planets, Common, Missy Elliot, The Roots, Outkast, Kid Cudi. Heck, even Kanye West.
I totally agree. There are teen friends of my kids who never step in to a church building, but will listen to rap music. The solid theology of some of the new artists (like Lacrae) is a good thing when it is plugged in to those minds.
With the integration of various popular cultural “methods” into our public worship, I wonder if AW Tozer has hit the nail on the head. I’m not seeking hasty responses…just tossing up here for reflection:
“Those Christians who belong to the evangelical wing of the church (which I firmly believe is the only one that even approximates New Testament Christianity) have over the last half-century shown an increasing impatience with things invisible and eternal and have demanded and got a host of things visible and temporal to satisfy their fleshly appetites. Without Biblical authority, or any other right under the sun, carnal religious leaders have introduced a host of attractions that serve no purpose except to provide entertainment for the retarded saints.
It is now common practice in most evangelical churches to offer the people, especially the young people, a maximum of entertainment and a minimum of serious instruction. It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend a meeting where the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God’s professed children are bored with Him, for they must be wooed to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of religious movies, games and refreshments.
This has influenced the whole pattern of church life, and even brought into being a new type of church architecture, designed to house the golden calf.
So we have the strange anomaly of orthodoxy in creed and heterodoxy in practice. The striped-candy technique has been so fully integrated into our present religious thinking that it is simply taken for granted. Its victims never dream that it is not a part of the teachings of Christ and His apostles.
Any objection to the carryings on of our present golden-calf Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, “But we are winning them!” And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ? Of course the answer to all these questions is no.
We are paying a frightful price for our religious boredom. And that at the moment of the world’s mortal peril.”
Before a friend got me listening to holy hip hop, I had never listened to rap and I had no intention of doing so. But I do love theology. I have been most drawn to the holy hip hop movement not because it is rap but because there is a clarity of doctrine, a call to a holy life, a passion for the lost, a boldness for the Gospel and a tactful, honest dealing with the reality of living in a lost world and with your own propensity toward sin, even after new life with Christ. Lecrae, Shail Linne, Trip Lee and these other men are not forsaking God’s means of preaching His word; from what I know of them, they are men deeply devoted to the local church and to preaching. But they are men who are getting out more truth per song than many (although not all) Christian artists. At the same time, they are dealing with the complexity of serving a holy God in a fallen world…much like the Psalms do and as contemporary Christian music often fails to do. I came home to my wife listening Shai Linne’s Atonement one day; it is not because she likes rap. I have wept multiple times during Lecrae and Trip Lee’s albums; it is not because I like rap. It is because these men are exalting a redeeming, gracious, holy God who acts in human history to changes us into the image of His Son! Some fans in the movement may see this as the way to finally save the inner city; I see in these men a faithfulness to Christ who saves the inner city, and the rest of America. I’m thankful for them!
Dr. Murray writes an absolutely excellent article. I would preface my comment by saying a) I am black and b) I was heavily involved with the hip hop culture before coming to Christ.
One key issue of distinction which most people fail to realize is that rap is the music, hip hop is the culture. While a lot of outsiders just look at the music and the lyrics and say “There’s nothing that bad about it”, they neglect to understand the depth of the culture behind it.
This is why his comment here is so powerful (from the article):”Why is it mainly white churches that are providing a platform for this, and why are so many African American churches so reluctant to welcome a genre of music that has done so much to destroy their communities and devastate young lives?”
A keen observation lost on most.
There’s also the spiritual aspect of music, especially hip hop, that does not allow for a simple change of lyrics, and “Voila”, it’s now glorifying towards God. No it is not.
JPH listed a number of rap artists above (ie: Tribe, Roots, etc) and reveals his ignorance about the genre saying they while they deal with sexual content explicitly (yes, they do) they don’t “glorify criminal behavior or violence” - as if that’s the litmus test. BIG problem with this line of reasoning.
I appreciate the humility that Dr. Murray approaches the topic with, and I have to agree with his premise and conclusions.
I find that second to last paragraph difficult to apply to the current conversation on the holy hip hop movement. I would encourage anyone to listen to Lecrae’s album Rebel; you will find an example of a man seeking to win men and women to discipleship, cross-carrying, self-denial, separation from the world, crucifixion of the flesh, holy living, nobility of character and despising the world’s treasures. If someone is not a fan of rap, they could still do a search for the song lyrics on the album. Just an idea!
Sorry. I was responding to the above post by KB! I thought it would indent below it!
Thanks for linking to me, Tim. Again, I appreciate your ministry.
“JPH listed a number of rap artists above (ie: Tribe, Roots, etc) and reveals his ignorance about the genre saying while they deal with sexual content explicitly (yes, they do) they don’t “glorify criminal behavior or violence” - as if that’s the litmus test. BIG problem with this line of reasoning.”
You may consider that “not glorifying criminal behavior or violence” is a bad litmus test to use, but how does that equate to my being ignorant of the genre? Or are you saying that Tribe, Roots, et. al. do in fact glorify criminal behavior and violence? (Honestly trying to understand your criticism here, not just nit picking.)
As far as I know, those groups’ music doesn’t fall under the banner of “gangster rap”, which is what most people typically criticize and what certainly seems to be what Murray is alluding to when he writes:
“…do not have to live with the brutal, terrifying, blood-soaked, and tear-stained fruits of it in the inner cities…”
I appreciate Gary Gilley’s review, thanks for linking to that, Tim.
I appreciate David’s article on hip-hop as well.
At one time Blues, Jazz, and Folk music were also associated with notoriously sinful subgroups within society. Unless you only listen to 16th and 17th century organ music, you listen to music that is based on and derived from these genres. So if the origins of Hip-Hop music are a problem for you, you should also have a problem with all Christian music from the past 150 years.
Having read Radical, I actually found Gary’s review overly pretty simplistic. I think he oversimplifies Platt’s work and flattens the tensions/nuances there, misrepresenting the book in some places.
On the other hand, as a fan of HHH, I thought David’s comments were helpful in thinking through some of the issues related to genre.
Re: Radical
I concur with John. I felt that the review misrepresented the book in a few places. For those interested, I recommend the following review and response. I see it as a perfect example of how to disagree as Christians.
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2010/05/25/getting-to-t…
Geoff, that was a much more helpful review. I have read Radical and thought that the initial linked review just misrepresented what was written. I think that it is important that we as Christians disagree honestly. If we disagree with a point that is fine. But the original authors should recognize their own writing, not see a review that is more about the agenda of the author than the actual work being discussed.