“Excuse me, but is my banner blocking your view? Believe me, I raise it with the best intentions.”
by (some dude I know)
{Due to confusion the (*) denotes a correction}
I have hurt many people because they didn’t believe what I believed. Not that they didn’t believe Jesus was God or that salvation came by grace through faith. It wasn’t because they * thought the Holy Spirit wasn’t God or that the Bible wasn’t the final Authority. It wasn’t debates over the eternal existence of the Godhead. I’ve smashed them because they believed that they could call their pastor “Bishop”. I’ve sparked arguments over Christians working in Non-Christian markets. I’ve called people out at conferences because they don’t share my method of discipleship. I’ve blasted people because they actually wanted to study for a test rather than go to a bible study. Well I’ve grown a lot since last week! I’ve come to learn that some people have the freedom to exercise their faith differently than me. (Romans Chap 14,15 and 1 Cor 6:8-13)
I’ve also come to learn that some people don’t want you to think. Some individuals would rather you just adopt their philosophies and move on. I am not that person. I believe one of the many things Christians should do more is think. I want people to challenge my beliefs to keep me sharp, although I do believe I am correct 98% of the time. The other 2% is when my wife corrects my improper grammar. My point is to express the enormous disdain I have for Christians who smash other Christians for not having the same stances they have.
I do believe some teachings are essential to confront (Titus 1:9, 2 Tim 6:3-4). There is a matter of how we confront that issue which is equally important. The question is, do we confront in Love? Is the issue even worth confronting (Mark 9:38-39)? Is this an issue where I should submit to the weaker brother (Romans 15:1)?
The one burden I’ve had recently is hearing people use the argument of wise men to fight their battles and not the scriptures. I know some wise men. Some of these wise men quote other wise men. In principle, I will never grow tired of hearing wise men quote wise men. What does concern me is when people who follow some of these wise men filter their information and allegiance improperly. I believe some individuals name-drop because it saves them from actually having to communicate what they believe. As long as I associate with this person you should know where I stand. These people don’t actually study and learn what they believe; consequently they just become clones quoting their favorite wise man.
The reason I bring this up is because this effects how we communicate our beliefs to those who believe differently. When you do not have a proper grasp on what you believe, when you attempt to defend your stance, the first thing to go out the window is gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15).
I remember a friend of mine attempting to call out a very intelligent Pastor about his method of prayer in a laymen’s class. My friend quoted a famous dead pastor in his rebuke. The Pastor didn’t tell him he was wrong or proceed to kick him out of the class. The Pastor simply asked, “Have you been to any of the corporate prayer times this year?” My friend said no and the Pastor followed that up with, “Well Sir, you’re just quoting a Dead Man.”
We all knew what he meant by this statement. This pastor didn’t have time to debate men who didn’t even understand the depth of information he was quoting. If your going to tell me about your method or philosophy then you better do it with respect and love, as well as understand it.
Sometimes we are just quoting dead men. We need to understand every human being has flaws. Every wise man has taught or done something he regrets. Some have repented and some have not. There are some things on my last album that I regret saying. One thing I feel like I have together is my understanding of men. I know that men are fallen and I put my faith in Jesus Christ alone. Not my pastor, not “The MAN of GOD”, not the prophet, not the Bishop, not my favorite author, not Reach Records and not any dead men. I appreciate their contribution to the faith but I will place my faith in the one who is living.
If I use their resources it will be an added pearl to the understanding I should gain in scripture. If I adopt their philosophy I should make sure I’m not fighting for the integrity of them alone but the integrity of the scriptures and biblical truth. If someone disagrees with the wise man I quote or even myself, I will not drag their name through the mud or dismiss them as non-solid as long as it is an issue outside of “Essentials”.
Ultimately, I’m asking us to Preach with Fire, Love Unconditionally, be careful with the Axe and always have an extended Hand.
Below are some questions to help challenge us.
Questions?
1. When I communicate my beliefs, am I just recycling the quotations of my favorite author, pastor or artist without a genuine grasp of their stance? Or Do I communicate it with an understanding of truth in the scriptures of GOD?
2. Is the incorrect doctrine that I believe this person is teaching, something that disqualifies his or her salvation or the salvation of those who follow them?
3. If I believe someone is teaching wrong doctrine, am I attempting to reconcile him or her in love or just attempting to embarrass him or her by proving how ignorant his or her stance is?
4. Do I believe this because it makes me feel better or because it is what the Scriptures teach?
5. Before I smash my brothers Banner do I know what he believes? Or Am I just going off what others have told me?
6. Is your beef a Biblical or a Cultural debate? If cultural, are you willing to die on the hill for that stance?
Comments
Thanks Sho!
Crayzee Joe
When you said "It wasn't because they disagreed with me thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."
Are you saying that they believe the Holy Spirit is NOT God as well as they also believe the Bible ISN'T the final Authority?
Or are you saying they believe that He IS God and the Bible IS the final Authority?
Mostly what im wondering is do you yourself believe the Holy Spirit is God and part of the Trinity?
And it would seem obvious that you think the Bible IS the final Authority.
P.S. Good writings, and good Wisdom.
And on a side note (not that it is relevant to anyone) my belief is that the Holy Spirit IS God and the Bible IS the final authority.
(You can hear from the Lord and get words and prophecies but if it goes against the Word it is not from God.)
In Christ,
-Brad
hey I know for a fact he believes that the spirit IS God and is part of the Trinity, God bless!
Now that you've asked it, I can see how that statement could be misread. But make no mistake on what Sho was sayin'. Without doubt, the Holy Spirit IS God. (Peep Trip Lee's Behold the Spirit.) No doubt, the Bible IS the final authority. (Peep Trip Lee's Real Vision...which video I can't wait to see.)
Those are major issues. No Christians should disagree on those. (I'm not sayin' that they don't, but they really shouldn't.) But, that point was, on minor stuff you can think you're right without sayin' the other person was wrong. Let the minor stuff go if you are just self-righteously, unlovingly condemning people.
-Grace and Peace
"It wasn't because they disagreed with me thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."
To
"It wasn't because I disagreed with them for thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."
"It wasn't because they disagreed with me thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."
To
"It wasn't because I disagreed with them for thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."
"It wasn't because they disagreed with ME thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God."
AND NOT BY M.IMMANUEL OR JONATHAN. DONT KNOW HOW ANYBODY COULD SAY THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT GOD SO I [DO] THINK IT WAS A TYPO. BUT I STILL THINK SHO, BEN OR SOMEBODY AT REACH SHOULD CLARIFY THAT BECAUSE ALOT OF BABES COME THRU HERE, AND THATS A VERY STRONG ISSUE. IT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE NOT TO ADDRESS THAT.
BUT I DO BELIVE THE BIBLE ISNT THE FINAL AUTHORITY...GOD IS! DONT GET ME WRONG TO ME THE BIBLE IS HOLY AND INSPIRED BY GOD, BUT THE CREATOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREATER THAN THE CREATED...
"It wasn't because they disagreed with ME thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God."
AND NOT BY M.IMMANUEL OR JONATHAN. DONT KNOW HOW ANYBODY COULD SAY THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT GOD SO I [DO] THINK IT WAS A TYPO. BUT I STILL THINK SHO, BEN OR SOMEBODY AT REACH SHOULD CLARIFY THAT BECAUSE ALOT OF BABES COME THRU HERE, AND THATS A VERY STRONG ISSUE. IT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE NOT TO ADDRESS THAT.
BUT I DO BELIVE THE BIBLE ISNT THE FINAL AUTHORITY...GOD IS! DONT GET ME WRONG TO ME THE BIBLE IS HOLY AND INSPIRED BY GOD, BUT THE CREATOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREATER THAN THE CREATED...
Now on the general issue of the Holy Spirit/Trinity see 2 Peter 1:16-21.
The music Reach Records puts out really helps encourage people to do this so THANK YOU for allowing Jesus to use you in this way.
Your fellow Bond-Slave of Christ
Chris
I mostly agree with your article. I had to ask myself some of those very questions Saturday Jan. 31st, 2009. Esp. #3: If I believe someone is teaching wrong doctrine, am I attempting to reconcile him or her in love or just attempting to embarrass him or her by proving how ignorant his or her stance is? I asked it too late, but I was able to apologize to the person
You said, "There are some things on my last album that I regret saying." I was wondering if you could provide a few lines as examples?
As listeners of ReachRecords we can know pretty much were they stand biblically based on their music. As members of the Church we need to have some grace on these brothers when they are not 100% clear on points. If there are issues that you feel need to be addressed you should decreitly send a private email, instead of trying to expose. My crew and I love this ministry, and are encouraged to hear kindred spirits.
UR 100% RIGHT AND AFTER I WROTE THAT I KINDA REGRETTED IT, BUT IT WAS MORE FOR THE ONES THAT ANSWERED FOR HIM THAN ANYTHING. I DID [IMMEDIATELY] SEND A "PRIVATE EMAIL" TO REACH ASKING THEM TO PLEASE CORRECT IT, WHICH THEY DID AND IT DIDNT TAKE EM 24 HRS TO DO!!! [THANX YALL]
ONCE AGAIN UR 100% RIGHT THOUGH DAN B, MATTHEW 18:15!
THANX FOR THE CORRECTION SHO!!!
Maybe we as christians shouldn't think so much as meditate on truth... God's people are afraid of that term "meditate" because they think it's a yoga thing, but the word tells us to do it. Once we give ourselves room to "think" instead of having truth ingrained, through inspiration and meditation, we come up with our own ideologies and don't let the Lord speak. I've often come up with this dilemma in which I ask my self "should I or shouldn't I say that?, will it offend?" and through "thinking about it" I come up with the conclusion that maybe I shouldn't at the time. This is because I wouldn't listen at the first hint and I didn't trust my observation as inspired as it may have been. So maybe it's no longer a matter of thinking but of meditating and conditioning ourselves to hear the voice of God rather than believe that our mind can make a good decision. (If Adam's didn't neither will mine, but God's will all the time)
Dude let me just say first off that I thank God for your music ministry and that of Reach Records b/c it is much more than music it is like going to seminary for $13 a cd ha!
Just one thought that I had though brotha, and I mean this in the most loving way i can it's not meant to be a slight, but it seems to me that every single time i read or hear a commentary in the same vein as the one you have here i don't see many blogs or hear commentaries from here on out that DO call out people preaching heresies.
to be fair i haven't read every single one of your blogs or heard every one of your songs so I'm sure being the faithful Christian you seem to be that you have addressed some things in the past. i think the church today is tipping the scales more towards being TOO cautious and being TOO sensitive and that we are afraid to say so and so in evangelicalism is preaching heresy and has not repented to this point in time stay away from them they are in error. this goes especially for holy hip hop, it seems to me that we are allowing way too much silliness to go unchecked and the church appears to the outside world to be somewhat of a circus b/c the true church won't purify itself through church discipline and through discernment preaching.
now you may say reach records is all about that and i agree! that's why i roll with y'all but at the same time i have heard people who are in just flat out error as far as the scriptures teach praising yawls music and the message which could be preached right at them just zooms over there head. how can this happen?
now since I've put it out there i guess the burden is on me to give an example, and i would have to start with tonex. from everything i have heard and read about his situation the brother has not been contrite, he has not been repentant, he has a backward attitude when it comes to his sin, and that whole situation blew over and is now an afterthought and he's about to drop another cd soon. i know you're starting a new church venture soon, is that how it would go down in your church?
I'm not saying we/you/us need to take on the Holy Spirit's role in the life of a believer b/c then I'D be in the wrong, but i am saying in my humble opinion the scales have been tipping for quite some time towards the direction of not speaking up about these things and these individuals and we should continue to preach the truth in love.
i speak on this directly in terms of holy hip hop, i was having a debate w/a supposed christian rapper the other day on illspot regarding President Obama's stance on abortion and if there existed a contradiction w/Christians voting for this man. let me tell you i've had more civil debates w/atheists than i did w/this cat. when are we as a church from our hip hop cultural perspective going to address the problems in our hip hop culture even within believers? there is rampant arrogance and pride that are specific marks of secular hip hop that come through these cats both on the mic and off.
are these kinds of things worth addressing?
anyways, sorry for the long post, i had that in me for some time. now if you wish you may tear apart my reasoning and show me where i'm wrong! lol no j/k but seriously i don't claim to know it all and i know for a fact that i could tweak my stance on this issue so that i am being more biblical.
thanks again sho, love you brother! i mean that.
p.s. i agree w/the majority of your piece on we shouldn't be slinging around quotes from mere men as if they were scripture but i think we should start w/the scriptures and then show how men throughout church history have lived out its truth and show that their statements are valid b/c they are based upon scripture.
God bless
grace and peace, tyree
It's funny that I just read Ecclessiastes this morning; talking about wisdom of men. I am extremely grieved by so many people who fall for the okey doke. Just because something may sound good out of someone's mouth, we have to check it with the word of God. I hear so many people say, "My pastor or my bishop said it, so it must be true". Do people believe in researching what was said? Put your grind into understanding God's word. In our society as well as churches, we count prominent figures or celebrities words as gospel. There is only one Gospel. We owe it to ourselves, our brothers and sisters, and our God to know, represent, and defend the word of God. Props to you for sticking to the Word!
Love it, Live it, Understand It
Its a while late on this response but:
Thank you for clarifying that, I did figure it was a mistake and that you DID believe the Holy Spirit is God and that the Bible IS the final authority!
This was in NO way a bash or a attempt to call you out in front of anyone, I treasure the whole line of reach record artists and since the day I found you guys I've been encouraged by HEAVY HITTING and more importantly TRUTH BASED music!
At the time I wrote that comment I had not had your CD for more then a month and that explains why I wasn't 100% grounded that you were for the Trinity. In NO way personal! (need you listen to your music more!)
So my apologies again!
I pray you, Sho, along with Crezy (a.k.a craola) (sp?), Trip and T-dot , stay encouraged in the Faith and striving for Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
-Brad
Its a while late on this response but:
Thank you for clarifying that, I did figure it was a mistake and that you DID believe the Holy Spirit is God and that the Bible IS the final authority!
This was in NO way a bash or a attempt to call you out in front of anyone, I treasure the whole line of reach record artists and since the day I found you guys I've been encouraged by HEAVY HITTING and more importantly TRUTH BASED music!
At the time I wrote that comment I had not had your CD for more then a month and that explains why I wasn't 100% grounded that you were for the Trinity. In NO way personal! (need you listen to your music more!)
So my apologies again!
I pray you, Sho, along with Crezy (a.k.a craola) (sp?), Trip and T-dot , stay encouraged in the Faith and striving for Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
-Brad
Its a while late on this response but:
Thank you for clarifying that, I did figure it was a mistake and that you DID believe the Holy Spirit is God and that the Bible IS the final authority!
This was in NO way a bash or a attempt to call you out in front of anyone, I treasure the whole line of reach record artists and since the day I found you guys I've been encouraged by HEAVY HITTING and more importantly TRUTH BASED music!
At the time I wrote that comment I had not had your CD for more then a month and that explains why I wasn't 100% grounded that you were for the Trinity. In NO way personal! (need you listen to your music more!)
So my apologies again!
I pray you, Sho, along with Crezy (a.k.a craola) (sp?), Trip and T-dot , stay encouraged in the Faith and striving for Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
-Brad
Its a while late on this response but:
Thank you for clarifying that, I did figure it was a mistake and that you DID believe the Holy Spirit is God and that the Bible IS the final authority!
This was in NO way a bash or a attempt to call you out in front of anyone, I treasure the whole line of reach record artists and since the day I found you guys I've been encouraged by HEAVY HITTING and more importantly TRUTH BASED music!
At the time I wrote that comment I had not had your CD for more then a month and that explains why I wasn't 100% grounded that you were for the Trinity. In NO way personal! (need you listen to your music more!)
So my apologies again!
I pray you, Sho, along with Crezy (a.k.a craola) (sp?), Trip and T-dot , stay encouraged in the Faith and striving for Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
-Brad
Basically they were trying to tell me that the holy spirit is a gift or as they say the "holy ghost speaking in tounges" one thing in it self together that every believer has to seek and pray to recieve to seal and make your salvation evident now me myself completely disagees with that Romans 8:9 the spirt dwells in every believer upon salvation and because it clearly doesnt line up with the word simply read corinthians chapter 12-14
Even though touges is a gift from the holy spirit each gift is soveringhly dispensed such as "widom knowledge prophecy" and given to each believer as he chooses to edify the building of the church and not every believer has the same gifts or will recieve the same ones but each gift is jus as equally important dispensed as he wills for the building and body of the church Ive jus been thinking of ways of how i could explain it to them in the most loving way and the motives behind why i should explain it to them and they all lined up correctly with the questions you asked at the end so i want to thank you for that and hope the best for you as you continually glorify the lord through your messages in the music
The Lord really brought brokenness when she finally told me that she felt I was condiscending(had to go and look that up, lol!) toward her. And that was when I began to realize that the way I had been treating her was not out of love and was absolutely contrary to God's will for our relationship. It didn't matter who was "right" or "wrong." The issue was that I had pushed her away and judged her in EVERYthing she said for an entire year and a half...and the Lord wasn't pleased.
Now I'm at the point where I'm like, oh, now I think I get it. This is what it really means to love one another. And it is out of that love for one another, God instructs us to speak the truth(Eph 4:1-16). Often times we bypass the love part and try to play defense attorney on God's behalf, as if He needs us to teach truth to His children. Romans 14:4 says "Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand." A piercing verse.
I guess I share this in hopes that those who read this post will take the time to look through the scriptures that Sho posted and be prayerful in situations like this. Ask God to show you how you have failed to love your brother or sister in Christ and ask for help to love them like He wants us to. God calls us to be united, not proud. I just pray that it won't take a year and a half for someone else to get it.
You guys are such a blessing in my ear! Keep it up, not for the sake of running swiftly, but to ENDURE! I'm excited to see you all in Lima, OH on June 11th!!! Praying for you guys. O, yeah, and those DWYL commercials...they kill me!
contain a happy year
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