Hip Hop Stereotype gets Crossed Out

Hello everyone and God Bless You.

First of all, I thank God for the salvation of my soul and forgiveness of my sins. Without Him we are nothing.

I had the pleasure of hosting the Crossed Out CD Release concert this past Saturday at Jehovah Shamma. I will get my thoughts about their music in here quick. They are hot.. Don't fall asleep on them.. Ministry in every song. Great production and excellent vocals. Yes, Reggaeton rappers that can actually sing too.. hahahaha.

Well, the concert was supposed to be held at Monroe High School. Unfortunately, due to circumstances out of everyone's control, the event had to be moved back to the local church on Southern Blvd. Jehovah Shamma.

At first glance it was like a regular X-Out Cafe night which they hold regularly. Bunch of teenagers all over the place.. I mean literally... All Over The Place. . AS the night progressed, the crowd thickened and thickened and thickened. It was crazy.. Standing room only by start time.

Speaking about start time. Since the School was not available to us, JS ministries had vans at the school to transport anyone who might have showed up to the school thinking it was still going to be held there. That kind of pushed the starting time to 8:30 PM in stead of 7:30 PM. The Worship DVD's in the background kept the place focused on God's goodness for the 1 hour delay. (Praise Him).

Finally, when it was time to start, the people got excited. The crowd was eager to hear some blasting Reggeton music. But, nothing gets done without praying first so, for the first half hour, the audience was lead in a good 30 - 40 minutes of prayer time. Wow.. Is this a hip hop reggaeton concert? Where was all the break dancing hype men in the beginning of the concert. Where was all the loud destructive music that should be blasting out of the speakers? Where were all the irreverent folk with oversized clothes and bandanas? hmm..

Facts:
1 - There was no opening ceremony with breakdancers.
2 - There was no loud destructive music.. Only Worship to begin.
3 - The irreverent folk (as they are so oftenly described as) were all in prayer.

That's right. Prayer was the opening ceremony of the night. As Christians, no matter what your role in ministry is; a painter, a sound man, security guard, a cook, a singer, a rapper, a preacher, an evangelist, a teacher, etc... Prayer is the key to open up the blessings from heaven that God has for you and others.

So, all those people looking to stereotype Reggaeton Concerts read closely. This was not a Reggaeton concert, this was a CHRISTIAN Reggaeton concert. Key Word Christian. Remember, if we are Christians, Christ must be the center of what we do. If He is not the subject of your every thought, conversation, action and move, you won't succeed.

Much props to Crossed Out Entertainment Ministries, Jehovah Shamma and all of those behind the planning of the X-Out CD release concert. You truly stand out and showed the true lifestyle of a CHRISTIAN Reggaeton gathering.

Much thanks to all of the ministries that celebrated the evening with us. Yes, we celebrated the current achievements of the X-Out ministries but, there was no doubt that God was getting all Praise non stop. That, my friends, was not and is not a show. Too many people stereotype the Christian rap ministries as being Hype-Men only. Please read closely. These people are called into ministries just as singers, evangelists, preachers and others. If God is not involved it's all flesh and talent. A preacher without God as the center is just as useless as a rapper or singer without God as the center. There is absolutely no difference.

So, in summary, go pick up a X-Out CD. You will not be disappointed. 12 tracks of ministry. In fact, my favorite track is not even a rap track.. It's a preacher over a beat.. Whew.. "Sacudete" it's fire. !!

Rap, Reggaeton, Jazz, Ska, Salsa ... Those are all music styles.
Christian = The person who has rendered his or her life to the Lord.

Christian Rap = A person who has rendered his or her life to the Lord using Rap as a tool.
Christian Reggaeton = A person who has rendered his or her life to the Lord using Reggaeton as a tool.
Christian Jazz = A person who has rendered his or her life to the Lord using Jazz as a tool.
Christian Ska = A person who has rendered his or her life to the Lord using Ska as a tool.
Christian Salsa = A person who has rendered his or her life to the Lord using Salsa as a tool.

Go out and preach the message to everyone. That's our call. The Great Commission.

Let's do it.
Bert
6/27/06

Panel Discussion

This is from the panel discussion at the Salem Coffee House on "Hip Hop and the Church." I've made some small changes to what I said that day and have added a few things in light of recent events / articles / meetings. I hope you're blessed:

I’ve been on 9 albums, but I don’t have my own. That has never been the focus of what I do, or my measure of success in ministry. My work has solely been about influencing the souls. And…I don’t worry about numbers because what I plant, another waters and maybe another reaps the harvest, but the souls are definitely the measure of success for this ministry.

Now, in regards to hip hop and the church, the church has an obligation, a calling to reach those that don’t know Christ. I think that’s very plain and every single church or every single minister would agree with that statement. AMEN?

That being the universally accepted scenario, that we must reach those that don’t know Christ, there are those among us, in our own city, in our own neighborhood, who we, as a church, have ignored. I’m speaking in very very general terms so please don’t be like, “Oh I haven’t ignored them, I’m out there every week, blah blah blah.” I’m speaking about the church as a whole! Matter of fact I can look around this room and see some churches represented here that ARE DOWN with reaching the Hip Hop culture. Salem of course is a leader in the Bronx in that area, Salem has answered the call for a long time and I praise God for that! However, generally speaking, we as a church, are ignoring those of the Hip Hop Culture.

Now, there are those that will say that Hip Hop is not a culture. Dictionary.com defines culture as: “The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. …the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population: Japanese culture; the culture of poverty; religious culture; musical culture; oral culture.” Taking that into consideration, we can obviously see that Hip Hop has all of these things…the problem is that most people think that Hip Hop is JUST music, and, they think Hip Hop is just the things they see in videos or read about in newspapers and magazines. BUT THAT’S NOT HIP HOP. THAT’S THE MEDIA AND THE MONEY-MACHING MACHINE THAT is MTV, BET and record labels, HAS INFLUENCED YOU. SEX AND VIOLENCE SELLS.

BUT CHECK IT, CHECK IT OUT!!! The Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of American History “is readying "Hip-Hop Won't Stop: The Beat, The Rhymes, The Life," it’s first ever perpetual hip hop culture exhibit.” The Smithsonian Institute believes Hip Hop is a culture yall!!! There own press release said, “A multi-year initiative to gather broad collection on Hip Hop culture… Some 30 years after it emerged from the neighborhoods of the South Bronx, N.Y., hip-hop has evolved into a pervasive and global cultural phenomenon.”

I want to tell you what I believe is my calling, and our calling is in relation to the urban context, in relation to urban communities, in relation to rap music, and in relation to hip hop in general. I believe that I am an Urban Missionary and I believe that YOU are an Urban Missionary. That, I believe, is my calling. Over the years that call has taken on many forms, many methods of ministry. In no particular order, I’ve been a retreat coordinator / a youth director more than once / a Sunday school teacher / a speaker / on staff at Rap Fest / an MC. I say all that because I believe that in my role as an Urban Missionary, I have an obligation to reach people exactly where they are at. If we look at John chapter 4, and the woman at the well story, this well was where the woman was at. He met her there even though, culturally he wasn’t supposed to be there, alone with a Samaritan, let alone a woman. But Christ met her where she was at...how about this, Jesus GOT THERE FIRST, so do you think He KNEW she’d be coming through? He got there first and WAITED FOR HER!!! See for me, He met her exactly where she was going to be! Our young people are going to be IN hip hop, let’s me them there.

I want implore you, I want to challenge you, to go against the grain and NOT ignore our young people and their culture. Their culture IS hip hop. Listen, my Mom’s culture was the hills of Puerto Rico, but I grew up here. I rejected that jibaro culture until I came to adulthood, now I can appreciate it. But for folks like me, the 2nd and 3rd generation, our culture was NOT that of our parents. I mean I grew up in NYC baby, Spanish Harlem not no hills in Rancheras! The same goes here for our young people. Their culture is not like yours. To ignore this fact would be to ignore them. To say that hip hop is NOT a culture is to say that those who “are” hip hop don’t matter. We would marginalize them, to make them less than what is the “norm”.

“Real men are real friends, showing their real commitment.” - KRS-One, Take Your Time. “Instead of picking up our women, ready to mistreat them, you better get yourself a wife and kid and never leave them.” - KRS-One, Know Thy Self. “Don't you think it's time we thought about the future? Whether our children are gonna be winners or losers?” - KRS-One, The Mind. “Trust in God, that's where the crown is at. It's not in what you get, it's what happens after that.” - KRS-One, Trust. “Vote for God, don't vote for the devil. Let me take you to a higher level.” - KRS-One, Higher Level. I read these quote, without revelaing the author, to a class I teach on "Reaching the Hip Hop Generation." I asked, "Who said these things?" One very influential leader said, "I don't know who said it but he must be Christian." LOL NOW, KRS is not a conventional Christian, I believe he has some belief in Christ, but he’s obviously not like you and I are in our beliefs. Let me say it again so you don't get it twisted, KRS is NOT a convential Christian like you and I. I pray for him regularly because I believe he’s on a journey. But his words ring so very true. We need to make changes in our world and to do that we need to make bridges or in-roads to the culture. I quote KRS to illustrate the following.

Let’s look at Paul in Athens in Acts 17. He met them right where they were at and, like we just looked at a “poet” of hip hop in the words of KRS-One, Paul used the words of one of their own poets to reach them. He said, “28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'“ Paul built a bridge into their culture by using their own poet.

NOW WE HAVE TWO BIBLICAL EXAMPLES of reaching people where they were at, even using the “secular” of their time to build bridges.

Now FINALLY, we have one incredible opportunity that both Paul and Jesus had. We know they both preached in synagogues right? We don’t have to find Scripture for that right? Good. What is the reason they were able to preach in the synagogue? They were Jewish. They were indigenous. Just like you and me!

by Brother E

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If you'd like to LISTEN to this panel discussion, along with Rev. Mike Carrion's statements AND the question and answer period that followed, go to http://www.rapfest2000.com/ and click on PODCAST! You'll be blessed!

Next up? Is culture evil?

To Be In His Presence - His Space

Seems like every day, more and more teens are joining myspace.com. What are they looking for? What is the desperate need that they have? Is this generation so blind to the horrific tragedies that have occurred because of myspace.com relationships and quote/unquote Friends. ?

Daily I see more and more "Christian" teens walking in the myspace.com quicksand. As they sink, we are all blinded by the "my child won't get caught up in it" mentality. Let's wake up here. It's not your child that is causing the danger, your child is exposed to the dangers of myspace.com as soon as they sign up.

Domain names only cost about $8 per year.. Hosting your own website can cost as little as $50 per year. Challenge your kids to create their own website... their own forums.. their own chat rooms with more controls. Friends? People you only talk to on line? Those are friends? What about the church? What about the family? Are we no longer on their priority lists? Oh yes, we are all excited that our kids are spending more time in the house but... are we actually spending time with them while they are home or have we left them with the cyber-babysitter aka myspace.com .

More and more Christians join myspace daily. Even some Christian artists have their myspace pages. Yes, some are wiser than others and some have more control over their own environments. But, others are weaker.

Friends, hear my heart on this. I pray that your kids, friends and family that are on myspace use wisdom and are lead by the Holy Spirit in their thoughts, conversations, music selection, background selections and friends. It's ugly out there.. I have been observing for a while...

I have a teenage daughter. I know the struggles. She is not perfect. But, I have to join her space and be her friend so that there will not be a need to join the cyberspace friends. Can we or should we totally control their lives.. No but, as long as we keep an open communication with them and have a part in what they do daily, we should be able to influence our own children for the best..

I am seeing Christians on line with Cursing in their comments.. Obscene pictures... Vulgar Comments. It's wild. These are the same kids singing... "I am a friend of God".. however, God is not on their friends list.

My friends.. I am scared... really scared.. It's getting out of control. If we as parents don't take a bolder stance for Christ in our homes with our kids.. We will surely lose them all... I ask that you pray for me as I raise my kids and I will do the same for you.

Be bold. Log on to your computer and ask your kids to show you their myspace pages.. Then ask for one or two of their friend's pages and you will see the dark world it leads to. Be aware of who is on your child's friends list. Hopefully you only see them one on line and not in a line up at a prison or have to identify them from police images. Go ahead ask them to show you their myspace pages.

What's on a page
MySpace users can include lots of information on their profiles in categories like "interests and personality," "background and lifestyle," "schools and companies."
Users interact by blogging, sending bulletins, and messaging between friends. They can also share their thoughts, moods, and favorite music. (You gotta hear the crazy music our "Christian" teens have on their sites.)
Users often view profiles of their friends and their friends' friends. People also tend to surf for people in the same school or neighborhood.
"Cool new people" are also showcased on the site -- this feature rotates links to member photos and profiles.
Friends
Making friends is at the core of what MySpace is all about. If you want more access to information about another user, you can ask to be accepted as a "friend." Once you're a "friend," nothing is private -- including blog entries and bulletins. Accumulating friends on MySpace is a badge of honor

The Bible Says in Psalm 27
8 My heart says of you, "Seek his [a] face!" Your face, LORD, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me, do not turn your servant away in anger; you have been my helper. Do not reject me or forsake me, O God my Savior.


Disclaimer: All of this info comes from my heart.. Some from research. I pray that I am not offending anyone by bringing this info out into the light. My ministry is one of reaching out and saving souls. Specifically teens and young adults. I pray that you collaborate with me in prayer about the dangers that are surrounding our youth. Satan is upset and wants them. The war is on... Front Line soldiers. Let's step up. Ou fight is not against flesh. We know that. Let's pray. And pray hard.

Bert Bocachica
June 19, 2006 - 10:03AM

For you single folk...a thought

This is taken from a conversation with a young lady I know. I'm just posting a portion that I am going to continue to think on and develop. Just thought I'd share it, especially if you're a single person!

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Regarding sitting and waiting for someone, I kinda think that's the wrong posture to take, to wait. Not that you go out and LOOK for someone, but you're not necessarily WAITING. Instead, you're improving who you are, making yourself better, growing and, in the end, bringing more to that marriage table. I think a lot of people take that waiting posture and waste some time "waiting".

I know that this might NOT be exactly what you mean, but I've been on this trip about using the "write" words to express what we really feel, words can determine our posture. Is that too spooky? LOL I mean you don't stop living while you're waiting, instead sista, you work, you gather, you live, you get closer to Him, you correct flaws, you gain in wisdom and knowledge, you take care of your debts!!! All that stuff is not "waiting", instead it's living. And while it may just be a play on words, and my own lil weirdness right now, I think it's important to use the right words...for example I'm trying to stop saying, "I hate _____." I hate few things and hate is a strong word. Or "I'm DYING to ______." Am I dying to anything? LOL Feel me? OK, I'm spooking myself now. LOL

Ahhhhh the damaged goods thing. Right here I'd like to treat you like a lil child because I believe that's the posture God takes with us when we feel this way. Should I rattle off the Scriptures you've known for forever? "There is none righteous..." "For all have sinned..." "...sea of forgetfulness..." "...white as snow..." Please know how much God loves you, so much that despite the fact you and I were in the muck and mire, in the dispicable acts of our lives, Christ died for us. God sent Him, the only one who's blood is sufficient, to clean us. So it's really an "us" issue when we feel damaged. Not a "Him" issue because in His sight, He sees us through scarlet lenses, lenses that show us dipped in the blood of His Son.

And, because of this I believe He's loving on you right now with the love a parent has for their little baby, the one totally dependent on the love and care of it's parent. You're in a beautiful place, allow Him to remove the "us" issue in you because you are the only one that has it. I see you and I see the love of the Lord, the care, the healing and soooo much more. Allow the Holy Spirit to move your mind and your feelings about yourself because that's the only opinion that really matters, His.

God bless you,

Brother E
http://www.brothere.com

A TRUE Release Party

Hey Y'all,

It's Tuesday morning, June 13, 2006. I am a little bit tired today.. Why? Because I spent a few hours last night at the T.R.U.C.E. "pre-release" party for their new CD "Refuge". What an awesome night too.

Now, many of you know that I have been involved in Christian Hip Hop for, well, let's say, many years. Probably since it all began. I have to tell you though, the TRUCE release party was, by far, the best release party I have ever been to. It was a unique and sincere celebration of the ministry's accomplishments.

You can only admire a ministry of young people going around spreading the Gospel in the streets. Then, to hear that they are going to be traveling to London and spending a good 4 weeks in the UK estates aka "the Projects" just sharing their hearts. My .... May God continue to bless them.

A blog, website, chatroom nor forum, would not be enough to explain the details of lastnight's release party to you. What I can tell you is this, the Spirit of God moved throughout this celebration. It was not about rappers trying to shine.. Mind you, they didn't even have their CDs there to sell so it wasn't even about selling the product.

Watching David Ham direct the youth from TRUCE brought to mind an underground Kirk Franklin feel. The connection between the Nicky Cruz organization, David Ham and the TRUCE members is so evident. They have one goal, one mind and one purpose. Save souls.

I was part of TRUCE many years ago when they first touched the NYC area. Through the ministry work over at Crossroads Tabernacle and Storytellas, I was able to participate in their vision as well which helps me understand them even more. This is definitely a unique ministry which, by it's own character and humble attitude, demands respect.

Much love to every single church, denomination, pastor, family, city, country and member represented by TRUCE. My prayer is that God will continue to draw youth from all over to a ministry such as TRUCE where they can learn to love the Lord with the intensity and understanding they should have.

Nicky, Patrick, Alicia and Dave... Keep up the good work man.. We love you guys..

Bert Bocachica
6/13/06 - 8:26AM

Rap Fest Blog Welcome

Welcome to the Rap Fest Blog site. In this section we will write our thoughts, messages, biblical discussions, theological topics and more.