Participants: Dwayne Lemon, Lance Wilbur
Series Code: TKS
Program Code: TKS000027A
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00:30 Hello, my name is Lance.
00:32 And I'm Dwayne. 00:33 And welcome to another episode of TKS, 00:36 a True Knowledge of Self, 00:38 where we get to know ourselves from a biblical perspective. 00:41 Lance, when we were in our last session, 00:44 we were talking real strong about very foundational things 00:48 as it relates to hip-hop culture. 00:50 Which I think was really important 00:51 because a lot of times people can talk about a subject, 00:54 but they have not properly defined it 00:56 and explain what it is and break it down, 00:58 so I think it was really good. 01:00 However I think it would be good 01:02 to reiterate certain points on it 01:03 because we were establishing the fact that number one, 01:07 when somebody thinks about hip-hop, 01:10 a lot of different thoughts can come to a person's mind 01:12 as it relates to dress, music, 01:14 the way a person talks etcetera. 01:16 So we wanted to make sure that hip-hop was not limited 01:19 as some individuals do 01:21 when it comes to our understanding of what it is. 01:23 So this way you were helping us to see that 01:26 it was actually an entire culture, 01:29 an entire culture, go ahead. 01:30 So, yeah, I mean, when people think of hip-hop, 01:33 they think it's just a musical genre. 01:34 Right. 01:35 And that's not really what it is. 01:37 It does, you know, music is part of hip-hop 01:40 but just like any other culture, 01:41 like if we thought of Italian culture or, 01:44 you know, Ethiopian culture... 01:46 African culture. 01:48 Yeah, whatever, we think of not just music. 01:50 We think of the way they dress, 01:52 the way they, you know, their hairstyle, 01:54 the way they talk, 01:55 language, all these things, so hip-hop is the same. 01:59 So those basic principles 02:02 if you will what was referred to by KRS-One 02:05 as the cornerstones of hip-hop culture, 02:08 which were peace, love, unity, 02:11 you know, and safely having fun, right? 02:14 And then those pretty much are expressed 02:17 through those elements that we talked about. 02:20 So that's the emceeing, the deejaying, 02:23 the graffiti writing, the break dancing, 02:26 the street language, the street fashion, 02:30 street entrepreneurialism 02:31 and ultimately the most important element 02:34 was referred to many times as the fifth element 02:36 because those basic four, the emceeing, deejaying, 02:39 beatboxing, break dancing and graffiti writing 02:42 are the kind of primary four elements. 02:44 The fifth element 02:46 which is most oftenly referred to as knowledge, 02:49 wisdom and understanding 02:50 or sometimes some little wordplay over standing. 02:53 So there is a call in hip-hop culture 02:58 through most of these thought leaders 02:59 and idea logs inside the culture 03:03 that there is a need 03:05 to get back to the knowledge side, 03:08 the thing that's been for God. 03:10 There's been a lot of emphasis on the rap music. 03:12 There's been a lot of emphasis on the having fun 03:15 and the party element. 03:16 But the knowledge side 03:17 is really what holds everything together. 03:19 And so there is a call to come back to this knowledge, 03:22 wisdom and understanding, 03:23 and of course that's talking about 03:25 knowledge of self ultimately. 03:27 You know, I appreciate you're sharing that 03:29 because there was a documentary that was done 03:33 or an interview really with Afrika Bambaataa 03:35 who is known as the Godfather of hip-hop. 03:37 He's much respected 03:39 in the hip-hop community and hip-hop culture. 03:41 When he was being interviewed 03:43 there was a question that was being asked 03:44 which was, you know, 03:46 what do you see in modern day hip-hop. 03:49 Now this video came out about 2005, where they were saying, 03:52 you know, what do you see in modern day hip-hop 03:55 that needs to be addressed? 03:57 And one of the things he mentioned 03:59 was what you just said, 04:00 a need to come back to the fifth element 04:02 which was the knowledge. 04:03 You know, really getting that knowledge, 04:05 wisdom and the over standing or understanding. 04:07 And that kind of makes me think, 04:10 is it then that even within the hip-hop culture, 04:14 there is not a total harmony. 04:16 There are individuals 04:17 who some of them are at one different plane 04:21 and others are at the plane, and then you have people 04:23 who are trying to bring everybody 04:25 to a certain common plane altogether. 04:27 Is this what's happening 04:29 within hip-hop culture right now. 04:30 And who are some of the key players with that? 04:31 Yeah, absolutely. 04:33 I mean, it's just like any other culture, 04:34 that's what we got a rapper minds around, 04:36 it's just like every other culture 04:37 there are people that are in, 04:40 you know, compensately or consciously 04:42 trying to advance the culture 04:43 and there's those that are kind of could care less, 04:45 have no knowledge of the culture 04:47 and just kind of living by impulse. 04:48 So yeah, there is a dividing line if you will. 04:51 There is a degree of respect for the pioneers 04:55 you know, and those thought leaders. 04:57 But at the same time those pioneers 04:59 and thought leaders aren't necessarily making, 05:01 you know, billions of dollars, most of them are millionaires. 05:05 You know, but they're not making money 05:07 like you're a platinum artist, 05:09 you're multi platinum artist are today. 05:12 So those up and coming artists 05:14 or those newly establish artists, 05:16 or those modern artists 05:17 who have kind of gotten in to hip-hop 05:20 or emerged as artists 05:22 after all of that pioneer work was done, 05:25 where people were just dismissing and corporations 05:27 didn't want to have anything to do with it. 05:29 Now corporations have embraced. 05:30 Now modern society has embraced hip-hop 05:33 so the people that come after obviously benefit 05:35 from the work of the previous culture. 05:37 But it's not always harmonious as you mentioned. 05:41 So there are some, 05:42 you know, especially the younger generation 05:45 who could care it less 05:46 or what care as one has to say or Afrika Bambaataa, 05:49 they'll respect him like 05:50 you might respect an elder perhaps. 05:53 But they don't think there is any relevance 05:55 to a lot of what we're talking about. 05:57 And, and that's also reciprocated, 06:00 so the thought leaders also look at some of these 06:02 young and upcoming artists as ignorant you know, 06:05 and as, as kind of pawns if you will of corporations 06:08 and the powers that beats or degrade 06:10 the culture and to keep, 06:12 you know, the minority population 06:14 and those truth secrets if you will to keep them down 06:18 and oppressed and chopped in this system. 06:21 So those, you know, those thought leaders 06:23 look at those guys and say they're irrelevant. 06:26 So then the thought leaders 06:28 are trying to be instruments of freedom. 06:30 They're trying to, you know, avail themselves to say, 06:33 hey, you younger generation out there, 06:35 that is just simply all about the looks 06:37 and the money and the fame and all of the stardom. 06:40 Wake up, there is something deeper, something greater 06:43 which is again this "fifth element" 06:46 of the knowledge, and the wisdom, 06:47 and over standing 06:49 which leads them to have again this knowledge of self. 06:53 Right, they believe essentially if you really look into it, 06:57 like we just, we talked about the gospel of hip-hop 06:59 in our previous episode. 07:02 They believe and when I say they, 07:05 I'm talking about these thought leaders. 07:07 They believe that hip-hop was it's... 07:13 it came from a divine origin. 07:14 Right. 07:15 They believe that the God of the universe 07:17 which they don't believe 07:18 that there is a such thing as God in the sky, 07:19 you know, a man up in the sky, 07:21 they believe that most of what we know is 07:23 religion is all false, mostly falsehoods. 07:26 But the idea that whoever the universal mother 07:29 or universal father 07:31 created and introduced hip-hop on the earth 07:35 to create unity both on the earth 07:39 and then there is a belief that 07:40 they're gonna go to other planets 07:42 and bring this cosmic unity 07:44 and they believe that hip-hop is the catalyst, 07:45 hip-hop is the medium through which unity and peace 07:49 and love and all these things 07:50 are going to be realized by humanity, 07:53 that humanity is going to kind of climb the scale of evolution 07:56 if you will through hip-hop. 07:59 And so they're looking at it as a divine institution 08:03 that is raised up at a time such as this 08:06 to bring the world together 08:09 under the banner of peace, love, unity you know, 08:11 safely having fun and all these things. 08:13 And this is what biblical Christianity 08:15 is imperative, it, it... 08:17 We have to bring this to the forefront 08:19 because this is the great commission Christ 08:21 told us to do anyhow. 08:22 In Matthew 28, He says, "Go ye therefore, 08:24 teach all nations, 08:25 and of course making disciples 08:28 and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, 08:30 and the Holy Ghost, and then teaching them 08:31 to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you." 08:34 This is why this program exist 08:36 because unfortunately 08:38 we're seeing hip-hop culture 08:39 as one of the tools that quite honestly, 08:43 the devil is using to bring people 08:47 into a false concept of righteousness, 08:49 a false concept of knowledge 08:52 and understanding in all of these things 08:54 to eventually do what Satan wanted to do. 08:57 You see in our previous episode 08:58 we talked about it in Isaiah 14, 09:00 Satan's mission was, I will be like the Most High. 09:05 I want to be equal to Him if not above Him. 09:07 And because of that 09:09 he couldn't fulfill it in his battle 09:11 according to Revelation 12. 09:12 Revelation 12 makes it clear, 09:14 there was war in heaven between Michael and the dragon 09:16 but it says he lost. 09:17 He prevailed not and he was cast unto the earth. 09:20 So now Satan is seeking to fulfill his dream, 09:23 his desire through the medium of human beings, 09:25 the people whom Christ came to die for. 09:28 And he is using the elements of deception 09:30 and error and the mixture of truth and error 09:32 and all of these things to accomplish his goal, 09:35 and this is where our viewers need to had 09:38 a wider understanding of what really is hip-hop. 09:42 Is it just a musical form that you bob your head to 09:45 or is it a whole entire culture that ultimately is leading 09:49 to a very deep spiritual element. 09:51 And the question is, what spirit is that? 09:53 Right. How do you test that spirit? 09:54 How do you know if it's a righteous spirit 09:56 or an unrighteous spirit? 09:58 And we have to look at it like this. 10:00 I mean most people do not listen to music, 10:03 turn on the radio and listen 10:05 to whatever popular hip-hop song is out there. 10:07 And, and you know understand most of the most popular, 10:10 you know, pop songs are all hip-hop based, right? 10:13 So most people don't listen to that and say, 10:15 "Oh, this is, this has religious undertones, 10:18 there are some spiritual sides to this, 10:19 there is something deeper 10:21 that most people don't go beyond the surface. 10:22 Right. 10:23 So people would say, yeah, 10:25 you now, I like this person's music, 10:26 I like that person's music but I never really considered, 10:28 you know, what their goal and mission. 10:30 You know, it reminds me, 10:31 I remember watching a documentary 10:33 about reggae music in Rastafarianism. 10:37 And obviously Bob Marley is the iconic figure of that. 10:40 And Bob Marley was very plain in all of his dealings. 10:44 His primary function and you just go, 10:46 you can go and look it up somewhere 10:47 but he says himself in interviews 10:49 that the whole purpose for his existence in the music 10:52 that he makes was to spread Rastafarianism, 10:56 was to promote the idea 10:58 and the religious components of Rastafarianism. 11:01 There was nothing else he existed for, 11:02 he considered, or people, 11:04 some, some people consider him almost like a prophet 11:06 and that his goal was to spread Rastafarianism. 11:09 So we hear the music and we say, 11:12 oh, this is a great song or this and not realizing 11:15 that he's actually promoting a religion, 11:19 he's promoting a culture and the way of life 11:21 that in fact is diametrically opposed to Christianity. 11:26 Right, right. 11:27 And we kind of where, so what we don't want to do, 11:31 we're not being dismissive. 11:32 So we're not saying, oh, hip-hop is of the devil, 11:34 so therefore you know it's just... 11:37 There is power in hip-hop, 11:39 there is power in the music 11:41 and in the, the dancing and in the graffiti art, 11:44 in all those things there's power there. 11:46 The question is, where does the power come from? 11:48 And the power is just not of a divine origin. 11:52 It's supernatural, it is supernatural 11:54 you can't attribute it to human planning. 11:56 Right. 11:58 There is a supernatural element, 11:59 the problem is 12:00 it comes from another supernatural component 12:03 and as we identified, it comes from Satan. 12:05 It's satanic in that sense, not that it can be dismissed, 12:08 not that it shouldn't be recognized, 12:09 not that we can just ignore it. 12:11 We have to address it but it's not of God 12:15 and that is the bottom line at his very fundamental DNA 12:20 it's not of God and therefore as Christian 12:23 and as human beings we have to make a decision 12:26 whether or not we're just gonna say, 12:28 hey, I don't care I just like it 12:29 and, you know, do whatever or we're gonna say, 12:32 you know what, this might not be healthy, 12:34 this is not providing a solution 12:36 for the problems of life, 12:37 and the stresses of life, and the challenges of life. 12:40 This is not solving the problem of my, 12:42 you know, deceived heart in my, 12:44 in my crippled soul, in my grief and guilt 12:46 and worry and fear. 12:48 Hip-hop doesn't provide that. 12:50 it medicates, you know, just like many other things, 12:52 it's a form of medication 12:54 where it can help me forget you know, 12:57 "Forget about the problems and worry." 12:59 For a period of time. 13:00 Yeah, but for a period but when the lights are off 13:01 and everything is over, I'm back in that mindset 13:03 and that's where we find each other in, 13:06 you know, in our experience in hip-hop culture 13:08 you know, I'm there, I'm seeing and I'm, 13:11 you know, on the road to stardom 13:13 if you will as a middle teenager 13:17 and you're already achieving professional status 13:20 with the dancing, 13:21 and at a certain point it was not, 13:23 it didn't solve the problems over that. 13:25 And I'd add, that has to be built on 13:27 because like you said, "If I'm going on tours, 13:32 I remember times limousines pick me up 13:33 in front of my house. 13:34 You know, what I'm saying, 13:36 I'm living in Hollis Queens, New York. 13:37 And I got houses to the left, right and in front of me, 13:39 you know, we're very much entrenched right in the city. 13:42 And when the limousine 13:43 picks you up in front of your house 13:45 and everybody is coming out the house to look 13:46 and here you are walking real slow to get in your car, 13:48 you want everybody to see you. 13:50 When you're making thousands of dollars 13:52 in a month, 13:54 you know what some people make in a year, 13:55 you're making in the month. 13:56 You're on television, you're with women, 13:58 you're this, that and the other 13:59 but I'm a living example 14:00 that in the midst of all of that, 14:02 making all the money, being able to dance 14:05 and do all these things, 14:06 I knew that there was a satisfaction 14:09 that I was still seeking for that was not being supplied. 14:12 I had to keep taking the drug in, 14:14 I had to keep doing it. 14:16 And that was the thing and that's why, 14:17 you know, it's, it's always pulling at you. 14:20 Now I think it's good to pause here 14:21 because you know, 14:23 we're not, we're not trying to glorify the devil 14:25 when we talk about these things 14:26 and we're Christian network 14:28 so because of that you know, people can look at us and say, 14:30 why you're talking so much about this 14:32 which is bad or etcetera. 14:33 But I think there is a point that we're trying to do 14:35 that the Bible emphasizes. 14:36 I'm gonna give you a point in 2 Corinthians 2. 14:39 In 2 Corinthians the 2 Chapter 14:42 the Bible actually says something 14:43 that we would do well to consider. 14:45 2 Corinthians 2 14:47 and it was the Apostle Paul 14:49 as he was talking to the brethren 14:51 in the church of Corinth, 14:53 and a guy an individual in the church fell into sin 14:57 and the Apostle Paul was giving counsel 14:59 on how to strengthen him, 15:00 how to reaffirm him in the faith. 15:03 Bring him back. Yeah. 15:04 And basically here's what it says, 15:06 it says in 2 Corinthians 2:8, 15:08 I'm just picking up 15:10 in the middle of the story for time, 15:11 "Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm 15:13 your love toward Him..." 15:14 Talking about this man who is falling. 15:16 "Confirm your love toward him. 15:18 For to this end also did I write, 15:20 that I might know the proof of you, 15:21 whether ye be obedient in all things." 15:24 "To whom ye forgive any thing, 15:25 I forgive also, for if I forgave any thing, 15:29 to whom I forgave it, 15:30 for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ." 15:34 Then it says something key in verse 11. 15:36 It says, lest, 15:38 if I don't do this something is gonna happen 15:40 and here's what is says, 15:42 "Lest Satan should get an advantage of us." 15:47 And then he closes by saying, 15:49 "For we are not ignorant of his devices." 15:52 One of the reasons the Apostle Paul 15:54 had so much success in his ministry was not simply 15:57 because he knew God so well, 15:59 but he also was acquainted with Satan's devices. 16:01 He understood how Satan worked, 16:02 he knew his enemy, and this was actually taught 16:05 by none other than Jesus Himself. 16:07 You read it in Luke 14, in Luke 14, 16:10 the Bible points out really powerfully, 16:12 the very fact that Jesus was using an example of warfare 16:16 and when He used the example of warfare, 16:18 He makes a profound statement in Luke 14:31 16:21 as He's talking about the qualifications 16:23 for discipleship. 16:24 He says in Luke 14:31, 16:26 "Or what king, going to make war 16:29 against another king, 16:30 sitteth not down first, and consulteth 16:34 whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him 16:37 that cometh against him with twenty thousand?" 16:40 So Jesus, look at what He said, 16:42 it is foolish for a king 16:43 to go to war and not consider, wait a minute, 16:46 what kind of arsenal does my enemy have 16:48 so I can make sure that I have enough arsenal 16:51 to counteract whatever he's trying to bring. 16:52 It makes sense. 16:54 In Christianity, it is imperative for us 16:56 to understand our enemy. 16:58 Not that we may glorify him 17:00 but that we may understand his wiles 17:02 and that he will not get advantage over us. 17:05 One of the problems that's happening 17:06 in Christianity today is you got a lot of people 17:09 that go to church and say they love God, 17:12 say they love Jesus, 17:13 and say they believe in the Bible 17:15 as the authoritative word of God 17:16 but were literally indulged 17:18 not just in hip-hop music but hip-hop culture 17:21 and they don't understand 17:23 that this has been diabolically put together 17:25 and set up to the antichrist, 17:27 it is against the word of God, it is against Christ Himself, 17:30 and it's certainly against the Bible. 17:32 It's for these reasons that a program like this exist 17:35 where we have to say, folks, 17:36 there is a power source out there 17:38 that is teaching a false concept 17:40 called knowledge of self 17:42 and what the people need is a true knowledge of self 17:45 so they can make the right decision 17:47 and choose this day whom they will serve. 17:48 Yeah. 17:49 So as we're going through all of these concepts 17:52 and understanding this idea, 17:53 we're talking a lot about hip-hop culture 17:55 but we have to ultimately look at biblical culture. 17:58 That's right. 17:59 So we highlighted a verse or a passage 18:03 if you will in the Book of 2 Peter 1. 18:07 So I want to spend sometime, I want to walk through that, 18:10 I want to read it and we're gonna spend, 18:13 you know, sometime talking about it 18:16 because those elements 18:18 if you will in those principles, 18:21 those cornerstones of hip-hop culture 18:25 need to be addressed. 18:26 We need to look at what they're saying 18:29 and look at what the Bible is saying and seeing 18:30 how they're not in harmony... 18:32 Right. 18:33 That there is not an agreement, 18:35 you know, so people say love, 18:36 oh, it's about love and automatically is good. 18:38 Well, no, not if it's, it's, it can be a wrong kind of love. 18:42 Yeah. 18:44 Just because love is involved, it doesn't mean it's right. 18:47 Only if it's a certain kind of love, 18:49 you know, the biblical love, the genuine love. 18:52 The love of God versus the love of the world 18:55 as the Bible contrast. 18:56 And this is important because when an individual 18:59 uses this terms like love, peace, safely having fun, 19:04 all of that has to be determined. 19:05 Who decides what love is? Right. 19:08 Who decides what peace is, or what constitutes peace? 19:10 Who decides "what constitute" safely having fun 19:13 versus not having fun in the safe way? 19:15 An example, if you were to go to people today 19:17 and say repentance, 19:19 if you say to them repentance, 19:21 is that a good term or a bad term? 19:24 If anyone is at least minutely spiritually conscious, 19:27 especially towards Christianity, 19:28 they're gonna say, well, repentance is a good thing, 19:30 because repentance typically means 19:31 turning away from one thing to come in another direction 19:34 which ultimately is God's direction, 19:36 but the Bible actually says something about repentance 19:39 that would make a person think a little bit more. 19:41 Yeah. It's found in 2 Corinthians 7. 19:44 In 2 Corinthians 7, 19:46 the Bible actually says something about repentance 19:49 that I believe should cause anybody to think. 19:51 It says right here in verse 10, 19:54 "For Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation 19:57 not to be repented of: 19:59 But the sorrow of the world worketh death." 20:01 Okay. 20:02 In other words, sorrow is what makes repentance, 20:06 but there is a godly sorrow 20:08 that leads to repentance and salvation 20:10 but then there is a worldly sorrow 20:12 that leads to death. 20:13 Now a biblical character 20:14 that I believe fits the worldly sorrow 20:17 and worldly repentance was none other than Judas. 20:20 When you read Matthew 27 after he saw Jesus condemned, 20:23 the Bible says, "He repented", 20:25 or somebody should have said amen, 20:26 but when you really look at the whole story, 20:28 he repented but what was the fruit of it? 20:31 It led to death, he hung himself. 20:32 Why, because it was a worldly sorrow 20:35 that promoted this worldly a false concept of repentance. 20:39 This is what God is trying to teach us through His word. 20:41 We have to think a little bit more. 20:42 We can't just accept terms like love and peace and repentance. 20:46 We have to really qualify it, what does it mean? 20:48 How do we apply that? 20:49 And who's the one that has the right 20:51 to get the final saying what it means. 20:52 And that's the reason why we're having the studies, 20:54 we're having. 20:55 So now we're now looking at 2 Peter 1, 20:57 we're looking at God's perspective 20:59 on His elements or His pillars 21:03 when it comes to the Christian culture 21:04 in comparison of course to the elements 21:06 and pillars of hip-hop culture. 21:08 All right, so let's take a look, 21:09 2 Peter Chapter 1, 21:10 I'm gonna read verses 2 to 10. 21:13 It says, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you 21:16 through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, 21:20 according as His divine power hath 21:22 given unto us all things 21:24 that pertain unto life and godliness. 21:26 Through the knowledge of Him 21:28 that hath called us to glory and virtue: 21:31 whereby are given unto us 21:34 exceeding great and precious promises, 21:36 that by these ye might be partakers 21:39 of the divine nature, 21:41 having escaped the corruption 21:43 that is in the world through lust. 21:46 And beside this, giving all diligence, 21:48 add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge. 21:53 And to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience, 21:57 and to patience godliness, 21:59 and to godliness brotherly kindness, 22:01 and to brotherly kindness charity, 22:04 for if these things be in you, and abound, they make you 22:09 that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful 22:12 in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ 22:14 but he that lacketh these things 22:16 is blind and cannot see afar off, 22:20 and hath forgotten that he was purged 22:22 from his old sins. 22:24 Wherefore the rather, brethren, 22:26 give diligence to make your calling and election sure: 22:31 for if you do these things, ye shall never fall." 22:37 There is a lot to talk about there. 22:38 What were they? This is powerful. 22:40 I mean, seriously because I'm getting excited 22:41 just going through it 22:42 because these are literally the pillars 22:45 as it relates to the Christian faith. 22:46 These are the pillars of all those elements 22:49 of what God wanted to establish in every child of God. 22:53 So that like he said, we will not fall, 22:56 those who reject this he says are blind. 22:59 The Bible says, in Matthew 5:14, 23:01 Matthew 15:14, it says, 23:03 "Let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind. 23:06 And if the blind lead the blind, 23:08 both fall into the ditch." 23:10 Well, look at that, blindness leads to falling, 23:12 these pillars, it opens our eyes so that we don't fall. 23:16 And I mean, this is the contrast 23:18 that God is trying to present to us. 23:19 So right now there is a movement 23:22 that is promoting principles 23:25 that actually is promoting blindness 23:27 but they're saying that it's going to give sight. 23:29 Right. 23:31 And this is what God has to debunk, 23:32 this is what the Lord wants His word to make clear 23:36 and open the eyes of those who have ears to hear. 23:38 At the end of the day, Lance, 23:40 some people are gonna just say look, 23:41 I like what I like, I want what I want 23:42 and I'm gonna do what I want to do. 23:44 And there's something I've learned about God. 23:46 God loves us so much that He will respect our decisions 23:49 even when they're foolish and literally He'll do that, 23:52 He'll do everything possible to open our eyes 23:54 but if the man is stubborn, the man is stubborn. 23:56 And if you don't believe that, 23:57 you can ask a person like Belshazzar. 23:59 You know, God was trying to reach his heart 24:01 but he was a very rebellious person, 24:03 he wanted what he wanted, 24:04 and at the end of the day he did not pay attention 24:06 to the story of his father Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. 24:09 And how he went through his humbling experience, 24:11 so God had to finally write on the wall, 24:12 many, many to kill you for sin, 24:14 your days are numbered, your days up, 24:16 you are now going to die and your kingdom is gonna be 24:19 handed over to the Medes and the Persians. 24:21 So God, He's gonna do everything to save us 24:24 but if people don't want God, 24:26 He will actually respect their decision even to be lost. 24:29 But I believe as long as people have to ears to hear, 24:32 God can help us see. 24:33 There are false pillars 24:35 that are being presented through hip-hop culture, 24:38 they sound good but the problem is, 24:41 there is a way that seems right unto a man 24:42 but the end thereof are the ways of death 24:44 and God has pillars in His word 24:47 that we need to pay attention to 24:48 because they keep us from falling 24:50 and helps us enter into eternal life. 24:52 That's right. 24:54 And there is gonna, you hear, 24:55 you know, in hip-hop culture there is also, 24:57 there is always a call for objectivity. 24:59 You know, that you can't subjectively 25:01 look at culture like subjectively, 25:04 you know, comments on 25:07 or that culture by definition is subjective, right? 25:10 And, but the goal is to look at it objectively 25:13 and so these principles and those things, 25:15 the pillars and the elements is the objectivity 25:18 that helps to guide the subjectivity 25:20 that, that is associated with the culture. 25:23 But we have to accept the fact when we talk, 25:26 remember we're talking about the dependents 25:28 and the independents, you know, 25:31 accepting what the truth that God is presenting 25:33 through His word requires total dependents 25:36 of the created being, the human to the creator, God. 25:41 And when we think about objectivity, 25:46 really the only way 25:48 to look at the world to look at morally, 25:52 to look at culture objectively is from God's word. 25:58 The creator is really the only one 26:01 that can by both creation and redemption 26:05 has the authority to dictate to creation 26:09 what is right, what is wrong. 26:12 How do you do this, how do you do that? 26:14 And if we, once we step away from that 26:17 and we start consulting humanity for objectivity, 26:20 we're going to find ourselves in a real messed up situation. 26:23 Well, the truth of the matter is that 26:24 if somebody came to you and me, 26:25 I said it before and I'll say it again. 26:27 You know, if somebody came to us and say hello, 26:29 I'm deceitful above all things 26:31 and I'm desperately wicked, please accept my counsel. 26:34 You know, you and I would have enough intelligence to say, 26:36 I'm not listening to anything this person has to say, 26:38 they just told me 26:39 they're deceitful above all things 26:41 and desperately wicked. 26:42 And now they ask me to listen to their counsel, 26:44 I'm not doing it. 26:45 But the Bible tells us that all of our hearts, 26:47 all of our hearts, all of humanity, 26:49 all of our hearts 26:50 it is deceitful above all things 26:53 and it is desperately wicked. 26:54 So why would we consult our hearts 26:56 or another human's heart 26:57 to know what righteousness is? 26:59 We do not have an understanding of that naturally 27:00 or an over standing of that, 27:02 whatever term a person wants to use, 27:03 you don't have it. 27:05 So therefore we have to go to the one 27:06 that has it and that is none other than God. 27:08 Yeah. 27:09 I mean, we got to a point now 27:10 where we're once again get in towards our closing. 27:13 Friends, we know that this has been a blessing, 27:15 it's been a blessing to me just to talk about it. 27:17 And I'm very grateful for the time 27:19 that we were able to spend together. 27:21 Remember, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:17, 27:25 "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature 27:30 and old things are passed away." 27:32 When we are new creatures in Christ, 27:34 we have entered into a new culture, 27:37 that culture is called Christianity. 27:40 And this culture 27:41 is a superior culture to all other cultures 27:45 and our lives must be in harmony with this culture 27:48 if we would see the Lord face to face at last. 27:51 It is our hope and our prayer 27:52 that you've received the blessings 27:53 that God wanted to give today. 27:55 We want you to stay tuned. 27:56 Remember that we have more sessions coming up. 27:58 We're gonna dig deeper in the words of God 28:00 and until then remember Proverbs 2:6, 28:03 "That it is the Lord that gives us wisdom 28:07 and out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding." 28:10 God bless. |
Revised 2017-02-24