Participants: Ivor Myers, Atonte Myers
Series Code: BOF
Program Code: BOF000007
|
00:15 Welcome to Battles of Faith
00:17 We're your hosts Ivor and Atonte Myers 00:21 Today we're continuing our discussion 00:23 on the entertainment industry, which we compare to a black hole 00:27 A black hole is that place in space where no light can escape 00:31 Today our program is dealing with music 00:35 Particularly rock music and hip-hop music. 00:38 We've entitled this program "Killing Us Softly" 00:41 Listen to this - 00:42 This is taken from the far west and popular culture conference, 00:46 February 1998 00:48 The hip-hop culture has permeated popular culture 00:52 in and unprecedented fashion. 00:54 Because of its enormous cross-over appeal, the hip-hop 00:57 culture is potentially a great unifier of diverse population. 01:02 Although created by black youth on the street, 01:04 Hip-hop's influence has become world wide. 01:07 Approximately 75% of the rap and hip-hop audience is non-black. 01:13 It has gone from the fringes to the suburbs and into 01:17 the corporate board-rooms. 01:18 Indeed McDonalds, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Nike and other 01:22 corporate giants have capitalized on this phenomenon. 01:27 I don't agree that it's a unifier 01:30 However, what's interesting in this article is that 01:34 approximately 75% of the rap and hip-hop audience is non-black. 01:39 Because I think that when we think of hip-hop music, 01:42 we think of black kids on the street listening to rap music 01:45 and break-dancing and those kinds of things, 01:48 where hip-hop has gone much further than that. 01:51 I would actually say that I do believe that hip-hop 01:56 is a unifier, but just in the wrong way. 01:59 We see that because this music has crossed 02:03 all cultural barriers 02:05 And we have spoken in another program saying that you can go 02:09 to almost any country, even to Iraq and Israel. 02:15 And you will find that rap music has become a part of 02:19 the culture there and it's expressing the feelings 02:24 of the youth in the culture in particular. 02:27 So, yes. It has gone across all boundaries 02:31 And definitely it is unifying people across the world 02:35 Some of our viewers may not have watched some of our previous 02:38 programs and don't know about your testimony. 02:41 But you can talk about this because you actually have 02:44 come out of the hip-hop industry 02:46 That's right. 02:47 And that's why we have entitled 02:51 Many of these talks are actually dealing with the entertainment 02:55 industry in terms of the black hole. 02:57 What it means to have escaped from the black hole. 03:00 In particular hip-hop and rock music. 03:06 As you've said, rock music is melding it's way 03:12 into hip-hop music. The music is becoming 03:17 a phenomenon and it's crossing all boundaries. 03:23 It's so interesting to me. 03:25 I remember the first time I was driving in my car 03:28 I looked over to the right and I saw a corporate business man 03:32 doing the hip-hop beat thing. 03:34 I was like 'Wow! Everyone really is into this!' 03:37 And it was just amazing. 03:39 In the context of what we're talking about 03:42 The black hole, killing us softly... 03:44 There was a song that came out some years back 03:47 called "Killing Me Softly" 03:50 And it was about the words in a particular song 03:53 that were having an effect upon this person's emotions 03:57 and feelings and we found it appropriate to entitle 04:01 this program: "Killing Us Softly" 04:04 Because we want to look to what rap music and rock music does 04:08 to a person's spirit or to a person's character. 04:11 We want to see that it actually is indeed 04:14 killing us in ways that we don't realize. 04:16 That's right. 04:17 We just think we're listening to a heavy beat and some words 04:21 but it's actually doing something to us. 04:24 That's right. Let's take a look in Revelation 04:26 And we invite you, as usual, to get your Bibles 04:29 We're going to open up to Revelation, chapter 18 04:31 and, Atonte, we have been focusing in 04:33 on this text because it shades so much light 04:36 on the battle that we are up against. 04:39 We've entitled this program "Battles of Faith" 04:41 We are talking about what it takes to overcome 04:45 In fact Revelation 12,11 calls us to overcome 04:47 And to overcome by the blood of the lamb. 04:50 We're going to talk about that in a later program. 04:52 But we want to focus in right now 04:55 on the concept of this battle in terms of hip-hop and rock. 04:59 Let's read this verse - 23 of Revelation, chapter 18. 05:04 And the context here is speaking about the fall of Babylon 05:07 Remember that! 05:08 Because Babylon is a key player in last day events. 05:13 Notice what it says here in verse 23. 05:32 We see there that according to the Scripture, 05:36 it is Babylon's sorceries that deceived all the nations. 05:42 We've discussed the word before 05:44 Sorcery is the Greek word "pharmekia" 05:57 And I hope that you'll remember that. 05:58 That understanding is so important 'cause what it does is 06:01 it opens up our understanding. 06:03 Wait a minute! Sorcery is not just Harry Potter 06:07 Even though it is. 06:08 It's not limited to Harry Potter 06:10 It's not limited to reading your horoscope or a palm reader 06:19 But is actually anything that medicates the mind so that 06:23 it will not follow the Will or the Law of God. 06:25 Atonte, when we look at music 06:29 In particular rock, hip-hop and other styles of music 06:33 A lot of these styles of music actually medicate the mind 06:38 so that it will not and can not and don't want to 06:42 follow the Will or the Law of God 06:44 Many people believe that music just doesn't have that power. 06:48 They believe that they're just listening to some lyrics 06:51 And there's a melody and in rock and hip-hop there might be 06:54 a heavy beat behind that 06:56 And that's all it is. It doesn't go any further than that. 07:00 We have just settled that this particular context 07:03 This particular text is speaking about Babylon. 07:06 And if you remember the story of Daniel 07:08 I believe is Daniel, chapter 3 07:11 Where Nebuchadrezzar had set up this golden image 07:15 And he invited all the people to come and worship the image. 07:19 Music played a very important part in that scenario. 07:24 In fact the command went out that said 07:26 The time when you hear the sound 07:28 It goes on to list all these kinds of music's and instruments 07:32 When they heard that sound, they were to bow down to this image 07:35 And as in the type, so in the antitype 07:41 In other words, we will see in the last days 07:42 The Devil will be using music to get people to bow down 07:47 to his image, to his character 07:52 And we see that happen before our eyes 07:54 You were in the hip-hop industry yourself 07:57 You actually were on a TV program, you did concert 08:02 What did it bring up? What surrounded it? 08:09 One of the first things that is evidenced in the hip-hop feeling 08:14 I know this from experience 08:16 is the issue of pride. 08:18 Pride is a necessary thing in the hip-hop culture. 08:22 There's no such thing as being humble 08:24 and being a hip-hop artist 08:26 You mean you can't rap on a stage and be humble? 08:29 No. It's impossible. 08:31 You got to have the head going, you got to show that... 08:35 The whole spirit. 08:36 Even the body movements represent pride 08:42 They just scream "pride" 08:45 So it's impossible. You can't get on stage and just say 08:49 I'm not going to rap. 08:50 I'll just hold the mike and try to be meek, 08:55 It doesn't work. 08:56 So, one of the things that hip-hop calls for and rock music 09:00 It calls for pride. 09:02 And we know that pride is diametrically opposed 09:05 to the character building process of a Christian. 09:09 Something that I see with the hip-hop music or the rap music 09:14 And I've said this in another program 09:16 It has definitely crossed all cultural barriers 09:21 A friend of mine let me know that a lot of people who even 09:25 used to listen to rock music, there's not that many very 09:28 popular rock bands anymore. It's more hip-hop. 09:31 And the rock bands have joined some of the more famous 09:36 hip-hop groups to make songs together, 09:37 just to keep their name out there 09:40 The point that I was trying to make is that most of the hip-hop 09:44 music and the rock music has to be talking about sex, drugs, 09:49 what you're going to do to somebody if they do this to you 09:52 It has nothing to do with the good things that 09:57 are in the world, absolutely nothing. 09:58 It has to be that hardcore things that they talk about 10:05 Or it doesn't sell. It's just not popular. 10:07 That's right. 10:08 Can music really affect the character? 10:14 Again we want to contend that it does affect the character and 10:16 if we are trying to strive to reflect the character of Christ 10:21 we've got to understand that we've got a battle on our hands 10:26 We've got an enemy who wants to subvert that whole process 10:29 who wants to destroy that process of character building 10:33 He's going to use whatever he can to do so. 10:35 When we talk about the word character... 10:39 The word "character" is defined as this: 10:41 Thoughts and feelings combined. 10:45 Thoughts and feelings combined make up the moral character 10:50 That's from "Heavenly Pages", page 164 10:52 And not only it makes sense. 10:53 The way we think about it is as a man figured in his heart 10:56 So the way that we think and the way that we feel 11:02 make up our moral character. 11:04 Why is that so interesting, Atonte? 11:07 I have an acquaintance who has also escaped from the black hole 11:12 His name is Peter Gregory. 11:14 He was a break dancer just around the same time 11:16 that my brother and I were involved in the hip-hop industry 11:20 And the Lord led him out in His mighty way as well. 11:22 I heard he gave an illustration once, where he talks about music 11:30 Music is made up of two components. 11:31 You've got the words and you've got the music. 11:34 And, basically, words reflect thoughts 11:39 And the music reflects feelings and emotions. 11:44 And you put those two together, so you've got to understand that 11:46 what we listen to can actually shape and affect our characters. 11:54 And that's true. You look at rock music. 11:56 You look at hip-hop music. 11:58 The spirit behind that music is rebellion. 12:03 I know that, being around at the introduction of hip-hop music 12:07 It was a vehicle of rebellion against the status quo. 12:12 The same thing with the rock music, when it became popular 12:14 in the 50's and in the 60's 12:17 The feelings that this kind of music evoked out of the heart 12:24 were feelings of rebellion. 12:27 And so, you've got these rebellious feelings, you've got 12:30 these rebellious words that go together and what you have is 12:32 character forming issue. 12:34 It's not only with the rock and hip-hop. 12:36 The Devil will use any kind of music he can, in order to 12:41 shape our character. 12:43 You think of even some styles of country music. 12:47 Some times country music can be known as being very depressive 12:53 So, even in country music, there are certain country songs 12:55 that are good, and there are certain that the Devil's 12:57 going to get in there and say 12:59 Just moan and groan and be sad ... My dog died... 13:05 I'm sure they talk about more than that. 13:07 We've got to realize that the enemy we're trying to comment 13:11 ...in any way now... 13:12 I would say that while there is some good country music, 13:14 there is no good rock music, there is no good hip-hop music. 13:18 We know that probably some people probably think 13:20 What about Christian hip-hop? What about Christian rock? 13:22 We're going to hold those... 13:25 We're not going to answer that yet. 13:27 We're going to do that in our next program. 13:28 Now we're going to focus in on secular rock and secular hip-hop 13:33 And see the effects that these things are having 13:35 on our character. 13:38 One of the things that I can see with hip-hop and rock, 13:42 especially in the young women is I don't know 13:46 if it's the beat or it's just the culture of the music, 13:50 but the more they're into it, the less they have on. 13:56 They're talking about sexual things, they're talking about 14:00 rebellious things, and their dress goes with that. 14:03 The women, they don't have a lot of clothes on 14:06 when they're rolling into the hip-hop music. 14:09 Modesty is just nothing. And then for the young men 14:13 They're dressing with the saggy pants and the hats on backwards 14:17 and the oversized shirt and everything is too big 14:20 It just doesn't make a lot of sense. 14:22 That's right. It's a spirit of rebellion. 14:25 When you look, Atonte, not only at the words 14:28 I was born in Jamaica and reggae music is the music of Jamaica 14:35 I remember growing up as a child Not a Christian 14:40 I remember thinking to myself 'This music sounds so sexual' 14:45 Everything about the reggae music is just sexual. 14:50 When you listen to reggae music its rhythm... calypso, reggae 14:56 Those rhythms in a lot of the island music 15:00 is very suggestive sexually. 15:03 And so, music carries emotion. Music is that vehicle through 15:07 which we express our emotions and what we're feeling. 15:11 And this is one of the tests that we need to apply 15:13 when we're considering what kind 15:16 of music do we want to listen to. 15:17 That's right. That's Satan's whole ploy. 15:21 If young people listen to music that suggests sexual things 15:25 planting seeds in their minds, then they'll actually going to 15:29 Want to go and actually play those things out. 15:32 They're not just going to continue to listen to the music 15:34 dance in a sexual way and not actually participate in that act 15:38 That's right. 15:39 1st Samuel 15, in verse 23 the Bible says there 15:43 "For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft" 15:48 And we notice that the word of witchcraft actually means 15:53 to whisper a spell. 15:55 And again I suggest that a lot of this music, 15:58 when this people are speaking, some rap song 16:02 comes out and the guy is speaking in the 1st person 16:04 I do this and I do that and I shoot this guy and I do this 16:08 and I get all these girls and all these different things 16:11 When a person is sitting and listening to this music 16:15 They're listening to it through the ears of the first person, 16:20 I believe that the Devil himself, through those words 16:23 that he inspired 16:25 Is speaking in first person form and he is hypnotizing, Atonte 16:30 He's saying "I" 16:31 You're sitting there, you're listening and you're going 16:33 That's right. I do this. And I want to do that. 16:36 And this is how that form of hypnotism spreads itself 16:40 Thousands... millions of kids listen to this 16:43 And they hear one guy going 16:44 "I do this... "and they're saying 16:46 I want to be like my hero... I want to be like him... 16:48 And what you have happening is witchcraft 16:50 You have people who are being whispered through the enemy 16:54 And say "Don't you want to be like this?" 16:56 "Don't you want to do like this?" 16:58 "Don't you want to act like this?" 17:00 And really what it is - is the working of the Devil. 17:03 People may be thinking out there 17:05 "I wonder why you're so focused on hip-hop?" 17:07 But again, hip-hop music is taking over the world literally. 17:13 When most of the commercials on TV, their background music is 17:17 hip-hop music, like we mentioned 17:19 the beginning: Nike, Coca-Cola, Sprite 17:21 They all use the hip-hop beat to sell their products. 17:25 And so, it's taking over. 17:27 That's right. 17:28 And jumping, now. This is going into the rock realm 17:30 I remember back in 1994, I believe it was, 17:33 There was a popular video that came out 17:36 And it just broke a lot of standards 17:38 It's a video about a young child who was being teased at school 17:43 And one day, he walks into the classroom with a gun 17:47 And he shoots himself in this classroom 17:49 And everybody thought "Wow!" "This video is incredible!" 17:53 And everybody was ranting and raving about the video 17:55 It was shortly after that, Atonte, that 17:57 school shootings began to become more and more constant 18:04 And I don't think anyone has ever stopped to think 18:06 Could it have been that this particular song with its lyrics 18:10 giving the idea of going into school and proving that you 18:15 are somebody, about getting in and taking a gun and doing harm. 18:21 Is it possible that that could have been a player part in 18:25 the beginning of what went on a series of school shootings? 18:29 Definitely. It's definitely connected. 18:32 In this article that I was reading it's talking about 18:36 How much money the hip-hop industry is binging in 18:39 And it says that 18:40 "Today hip and rap is the fastest growing music in the US, 18:45 accounting for more than 10% of the 12.3 billion dollars 18:50 that music sales did. " That was in 1998. 18:54 So I know now that it's even more. 18:56 It takes me back to "the love of money is the root of all evil" 19:00 The entertainment industry is not interested. 19:02 Or, the music industry is not interested in saying 19:05 You know what. Let's regulate this rap music 19:08 Let's clean it up a little bit. Let's not allow somebody curse 19:12 words or don't talk about sex so much or the bad things that 19:16 you're going to do to this person or that person... 19:18 They don't care about that. 19:19 They are going to allow our young people to hear 19:21 and experience anything if it's going to bring in money. 19:24 That's right. 19:25 I have a quote here that I'd like to read. 19:27 It's from the book "Medical Ministry", page 1-11 19:29 And it says this 20:06 That's amazing, because what this is saying here is that 20:10 the Devil has a power 20:13 to imbue his thoughts into our own minds. 20:17 To connect our thoughts together and to make them as one 20:20 There's a word that most people won't probably understand 20:24 The word is "syncopation" 20:26 Syncopation 20:27 Basically the word means "to fuse together" 20:30 OK? 20:31 And when we talk about syncopation 20:33 we're generally talking about what kind of music? 20:35 Rock and hip-hop. 20:37 Because what happens is they take a rhythm and 20:41 they basically cut off the beginning of one part of the 20:44 rhythm, the end of one part of the rhythm and they 20:49 fuse it together, making this fusion through music 20:53 So it's called syncopation 20:55 And I just wonder, Atonte... 20:57 Could it be possible that through this style of music 21:01 which is very effective in bringing about a 21:05 spirit of rebellion, could it be that Satan himself is 21:09 syncopating or fusing together his thoughts with our own. 21:12 Yes 21:13 I think it's very possible and I think it is happening 21:16 There are so many friends that I have 21:18 who are in the hip-hop industry 21:20 and who have been in the hip-hop industry 21:22 and have experienced that lifestyle of rebellion 21:27 I don't wanna have anything to do with Jesus 21:29 If I come to Jesus, then He's going to take away 21:31 all the fun that I'm having right now. 21:34 And this is one of the greatest barriers 21:36 that stop people from coming to God. 21:38 Because that music says that you can do your own thing 21:42 You can live your own way 21:44 And this is a spirit of rebellion 21:47 You're right, Ivor. 21:48 Hip-hop music does produce the spirit of rebellion. 21:52 But, you know, there might be some people out there 21:55 who are thinking 21:56 I want to give this up, but it's to difficult 21:59 It seems to have control over me 22:01 It reminds me of something that happened to me 22:04 when I was a teenager and I was listening to Prince 22:08 And I don't remember where I heard it from, but 22:11 I heard that Prince's music was from the Devil 22:15 And I thought "You know what?" 22:16 "Maybe I will stop listening to this music" 22:18 So I threw the tape away. I threw it away in the garbage. 22:22 And that tape kept resurfacing 22:25 And I know that my parents were not taking the tape 22:28 out of the garbage can. 22:30 I really believe demonic spirits were taking the tape and trying 22:34 to bring it back into my life 22:36 But I can testify that if you really want 22:38 to give this music up and to allow God 22:40 to help you to listen to music that's edifying to Him, 22:44 that will draw you closer to Him, He can give you the Power 22:47 and He can overcome Satan's supernatural power 22:51 that he tries to put upon us. 22:52 That's right! 22:53 The Bible says in Romans, chapter 8 verse 6 23:12 So we're told here that we need to make a decision 23:15 between which mind we want to live in, we want to dwell in. 23:18 Because if we want to exercise the carnal mind 23:21 the Bible says that we're gonna die, the result of this is death 23:24 Not only death in the end, but death now. 23:27 Because what we are pleasuring in the carnal mind 23:32 is nothing but death. 23:33 It robs us of joy and happiness and peace. 23:36 And God has come to give us joy and happiness and peace. 23:40 The Bible says the thief comes to kill, steal and destroy. 23:43 And really when you listen to this music, it's robbing you 23:45 of what is true peace and true joy and true happiness 23:49 That's what the music does. 23:51 I can remember the last time I was at a club 23:54 A club where you dance and party and listen to hip-hop music 23:58 And I remember being there and and desiring and wanting 24:02 happiness and peace but feeling so empty while I was there. 24:05 And I know it was the Holy Spirit, He just spoke 24:09 into my mind and I said 24:12 I know it was God 'cause nothing good comes from me 24:15 But I know it was God and I just said to myself 24:16 "This is the last time I've ever come to this type of place" 24:20 And I remember just walking down the street thinking 24:23 "This is so empty, this is not really what I want" 24:27 It's only Jesus who can bring those things, the music does not 24:30 It brings emptiness and loneliness. 24:33 There was a British occultist by the name of Aleister Crowley 24:36 who lived between 1875 and 1947. 24:41 And he was a rock icon. I mean he wasn't a rock musician 24:44 He was a musician, he was a poet, he was a mystique 24:47 But a lot of rock artists hold him as an icon. 24:53 Probably one of the most profound statements he made 24:56 Which is definitely not a true statement, but profound because 24:59 it has an effect upon a lot of people, is this. 25:03 He said 25:05 Do what thou wilt, shall be the hole of the law. 25:11 And basically what he was saying was 25:13 Whatever you want to do, however you want to live 25:16 that's the way that you should live. 25:17 And when you think about the spirit of the 60's 25:21 And the hippie movement. When you think about hip-hop and 25:25 all these various types of music that encourage rebellion 25:29 That is basically the principle there 25:30 Do what you will shall be the whole of the law 25:34 This is again diametrically opposed to the 25:38 character building that Jesus wants to take us through. 25:42 God says: "I want you to submit yourself to me" 25:45 This law says: "Do what you will shall be the hole of the law" 25:49 I remember when I was coming out of this industry 25:51 And I said to the Lord "Lord please, you need to 25:53 give me the strength to break away from this. 25:55 And it was a struggle 25:56 But, you know what? 25:58 God gave me the power and the strength to do it. 26:01 And cutting that off made my journey out of the black hole 26:05 much, much, much easier much, much, much quicker 26:09 And I praise God for Him giving me the power to do that. 26:12 Praise God for that. 26:14 I know there are people out there who are thinking 26:16 What do we listen to, then? 26:18 Does God like music? God does love music. 26:22 Music started in Heaven. We know that. 26:25 We're gonna talk about that in our next program. 26:28 Let me just share this final text, Atonte. 26:31 It's in Acts 19, verse 19 26:48 Why did they do this? 26:49 They wanted to make a public statement 26:51 That they were giving their lives to Christ 26:53 and they were getting rid of all the magic books 26:55 Well, we may not have magic books today 26:57 But we do have magic CDs 27:01 That music that is turning our hearts and our minds 27:06 away from Christ. 27:07 And we've been in many churches where we said 27:09 You need to go home 27:11 Get those avenues that the Devil has into your home 27:15 Get those books and those movies those videos and those music CDs 27:19 And get them out and burn them. 27:21 Have a bonfire, get rid of them. 27:23 They're no better than the a Quija Board. 27:25 Get rid of them and start fresh with Jesus Christ 27:29 And He will come into your heart 27:31 And He will do a miraculous thing for you. 27:34 Because people who have not actually gotten rid of damages 27:37 and kept them in their home, they eventually go back to them 27:39 They eventually go right back. 27:40 Just like that tape kept resurfacing strangely 27:44 The same way that spirit of rebellion will keep to resurface 27:48 if we don't cut it off 27:49 And the only way we can do that 27:50 is through getting connected with Jesus Christ 27:53 through saying 27:54 'Lord, I want to give my heart and my life to you' 27:56 'I want to get rid of this thing' 27:58 'And I want You to come in and impound me to do it. ' 28:01 On our next program we will be talking about 28:03 what type of music we should listen to 28:05 So, you don't want to miss that program 28:08 Until next time, God bless! |
Revised 2014-12-17