LaRosa Johnson {dot} com

This past weekend I had the opportunity to witness something special. Cliff Beveridge, one of the deacons at Austin Bible Church, had spent the past few years training his gift of pastor-teacher under the tutelage of Pastor Bob Bolender. Well, after completing his training, he was to officially be ordained and recognized as a pastor-teacher. He had already completed his written exam, and Friday he had to stand before a council of pastors and go through his oral examination before the final determination of whether he would be ordained. Well, being the first ordination at ABC since his own, Pastor Bob decided to open up the oral exam to the congregation so that we could witness the event. This would serve particularly beneficial to the likes of myself who are currently training for the same gift, so that we could see what to expect if (3rd class condition) our time comes. Long story short, he passed the oral exam with flying colors and was ordained later that evening in a magnificent and God honoring ordination service.

For me, this series of events was particularly insightful because it served as further confirmation as to what the Lord had in store for me. Cliff and I had been joking in the weeks leading up to his ordination that if I showed up one of two things would happen: 1) they would never see me again, wondering what happened to me, or 2) I would be greatly encouraged. Well, the latter is what happened. I was more than encouraged, but I became all the more convinced of my gift and calling as a pastor-teacher. If I had any doubts before, they’re completely gone now. Before getting thrown into the Sunday night rotation back in August, I was always wary of my voice and my ability to stand behind the pulpit and deliver a sermon, and possibly shepherd a flock. Well, after that was over, I felt much more comfortable and confident in being able to deliver the truth of God’s Word orally, and not just in written form like I do via this website. Then, add the events of the weekend, and visualizing myself up there, I can see it clearly now.

What’s more, for the past month or more, I’ve heard several pastors attest to the fact that if you can see yourself doing anything else other than preaching that you should do it. I’ve had that at the forefront of my mind of late, and the more I think about it, I can’t see myself doing anything else than teaching God’s Word and shepherding a flock. Sure, I love my job, but it is far from a passion. I live and breathe the Word of God; I love reading and studying it, talking about it with others, fellowshipping with other believers, and so on. Everything I want to do centers around communicating the truth of Scripture, including raising and leading my family (of which I need to do a better job doing).

So yeah, I’m convinced. I’m a pastor-teacher, and I’m dedicated to training that gift as best I can (through learning Greek & Hebrew, Systematic Theology, church history, learning to shepherd, and anything else that will benefit me). From there, only the Lord knows what will happen, and I’m content leaving that in His hands. It’s funny to think about because many at church were telling me that they were looking forward to my ordination. On the one hand, I’m looking forward to it too; but, on the other, I’m content in living where I am and being a student of the Word, patiently waiting for my time to come. In the meantime, many congrats to Pastor Cliff and all of his hard work; I look forward to continuing to learn from him and Pastor Bob as I train my gift!

In a word, humility is a beast, and God seemingly has an infinite number of ways in keeping your boy humble.

Today, I was looking at a website and noticed that they had a devotional section. I was immediately like, "Aww yeah! Let me check this out and see what’s going on!" I saw that it was being headed up by a good friend of mine, and that gave me a good bit of comfort. Then, given that I know a good number of people who had a hand in putting the site together, and them knowing that I write devotions too, my flesh immediately started to rise up. My flesh started to say, "Why didn’t they holla at me about putting my devotions up there? Mine are just as good!" and so on. Needless to say, I wanted to start beating my chest and cry foul play, especially when I had gotten an email about submitting content for the site, but only asking for editorial/reviews/news type pieces (of which I could care less about these days).

Then it hit me. I had to remember my last blog post and the admonishment I had given to the HHH community. Simply put, I needed to humble myself, put myself in check and realize that they asked my boy to do it, and not me. It was their decision to make, and not mine. Plus, who am I anyway? I’m not ordained or anything of the sort; I’m just a layman training his gift and trying to teach the Bible. The more I thought about it, I realized that it was God’s call and not theirs. Given the circumstances, I’ve already dedicated myself to my studies and will already be cutting back on what I do with the site (that’s my decision, by the way, in reference to a previous blog entry), so I wouldn’t be able to commit to providing content for another site anyway. After that, I felt pretty low and humbled before the Almighty because I knew that it was definitely His call and His circumstances. I repented for my jealousy, covetousness, anger, and pride because I was absolutely in the wrong. If the Lord wills, it’ll happen in His time; and, if not, He’s still God and I’ll just have to be content with what He’s given me stewardship over, nahmean?!

Blessings. G&P.

With Lecrae being the first holy hip-hop artist to debut #1 on the Billboard Gospel charts, there has been a lot of reciprocal talk about quite a few different things. Some of the discussions have included: this legitimizes HHH/CHH as an industry, how do we push/promote the genre, who’s the next artist to make it big, and so on. All of this has gotten me thinking about my role in the genre (as a meager album reviewer) and how do I personally feel about all of this.

First things first, let me say that I’m ecstatic (sort of, cuz I’m too calm of a guy to get excited about much of anything) about Lecrae debuting at #1 on the gospel charts. It’s been a long time coming for the genre and I’m glad that it was someone like Lecrae who is focused on ministry, spreading the gospel, and making disciples. In my mind, there couldn’t have been a better artist or label to have done this. It’s definitely a testament to the work that he and the label have put into their music, the fan support they’ve gained, and the doors that Jesus Christ can open for those who are faithful.

With that being said, I want to look at the talk that has surrounded this and the opinion that this legitimizes our genre. My initial reaction is no, it doesn’t. Sure, it legitimizes Lecrae and Reach Records with what they’re doing, but not the genre as a whole, at least that’s my opinion. Why do I say that? Because the success of one doesn’t mean success for all. Yes, it’s a victory for the genre as a whole, but it doesn’t mean success for everyone.

Maybe I’m being shortsighted, but I really don’t think holy hip-hop (or Christian hip-hop for those that want to call it that) is ready to "blow up" per se. There is still a significant amount of immaturity that needs to be corrected first. Yes, the music is now on par with (and in some cases better than) what the secular industry is putting out, but that doesn’t mean that our business practices, legalities, and so on are up to par with how things should be. Not even going that far, there’s still a lot of growing up that needs to happen in the content; I shouldn’t have to listen to a holy hip-hop album and have to listen to track after track of an emcee talking about himself and how much better he is than the competition and then hear a positive/Christian message at the tail end of a recording. Let’s have the content be consistent throughout. I’m not saying you have to have Jesus raps, but let’s leave the jocking to the secular because, frankly, if you have to tell me you’re the hottest, then you’re not (and not worth my time or money).

I also can’t help but to think that this is very largely a stewardship issue. God blesses whomever He wills, but the one thing that Scripture states is that we have to be faithful over little before we’re given more. Joseph showed that he could be faithful in the small things, and God continually elevated him until he was only second to Pharaoh. His circumstances weren’t always favorable (i.e. sold into slavery and imprisonment), but even in that he remained faithful. I think we need to look at this the same way, not from a global/genre perspective, but from an individual point of view. Whatever God has given you, be faithful over that. You may grind & grind and only remain a local emcee, but be content in that, knowing that you’re being faithful with what you’ve been given. God isn’t going to have everyone "blow up" and have national acclaim, just like all pastors aren’t pastors of mega churches. Some of the most faithful pastors are only leading a small flock of believers. Why? Because that’s what God has entrusted to them, and the same is true for you.

Along those same lines, your walk has to be right. Not only should you be faithful in what you’re given, but your life needs to line up with the Word of God. How can we expect God to grow us and give us more responsibility if we aren’t walking out His Word and putting Him first? Is reading your Bible and spending time in prayer a priority? Are you growing in holiness on a daily basis? Is God more important to you than your music? In other words, God should be your treasure and cultivating that relationship with Him should come above anything else, including "ministry." I can’t help but to think that the guys (i.e. Lecrae) who are "blowing up" are the ones who are digging into the Text on a daily basis and trying to please the Lord in all they do, and the Lord has blessed them as a result of that. That’s just speculation because only the Lord knows, but it’s definitely food for thought.

All of that to say, let’s stop worrying about promoting hip-hop as a tool and wondering who is going to be the next artist to be #1 on the charts. Let’s focus on our walk and pushing the gospel; let’s get our lives right in every area, and let God be the one to open the doors for success so that all we have to do is walk through them. Joseph wasn’t trying to be a leader in Egypt, but because he kept his focus on God, the One who gave him his gifts, God did the promoting without Joseph even trying. I think that’s the way it should be. If we blow up, then fine; but, let’s let it be because the Lord did it, and not something that we manufactured on our own.