Spoken: Paul Washer]
I am not given to flattery
I believe that flattering is a sin
A dark sin that does no help to the hero
But I have met with men in the last two days that were men who did not so much have a passion for a style of music as they had a passion for God and the truth of God
And everything, without that, absolutely everything that would be done here would be vanity, and foolish, and useless
But the fact of the matter is, some of the words that I heard spoken here in the songs were truth
The type of truth that this country needs, the type of truth this world needs, the type of truth that the church needs
I came here thinking that I would hear hip hop
I came here thinking that I would hear rappers
I heard preaching
I heard preaching
And I heard a respect for the truth, and a desire to communicate it
I especially appreciated - for those of my generation who might wander off the street unknowingly and come into a place like this - I appreciated the words being put on the screen
Because then even I could understand
I would call what's going on here something that I use quite frequently: the Gideon's call
It seems that God will take the least expected thing and use it for a mighty thing
My whole life has been based on that: God taking the runt of the litter
God taking that which is not, that which is despised, that which is unable, and using it and filling it with the power of God
Let's look at this for a moment
Every one of us who is Christian was found by God to be vile
And our best works was not- were nothing more than filthy rags; but He saved us, and He cleaned us, and He uses us as instruments for His glory in such a way that even angels long to trade places with us
The art form you're doing here: what is it known for, in the world?
It is known for sin and immorality
It is known to be vile and to cause destruction
But yesterday and today, I saw the same thing happen to a music form that has happened to my life
God has taken it, cleaned it off, made in new, and filled it with life
But let me give you a warning that's very important
As a preacher I know this: whenever eloquence is more important than the words spoken there is no power
And whenever a music medium becomes more important than the truth it seeks to communicate, it's useless
Now I didn't see that here, I- I stayed up last night 'til almost three in the morning with a group of men
And I was absolutely amazed
I couldn't even sleep this morning because I was saying, "
Lord what a privilege it was for me to be in the midst of a group of young men that You're raising up, that believe the ancient ways
They're saying the exact same truth and they're speaking to a people that Spurgeon could not reach, and Edwards could not reach, Whitfield could not reach."
I applaud what's being done here
I came here only to be a spectator to see, "
God, are You in any of this?" But in the hearts of the men, and the words of the music, I am greatly, greatly encouraged
I'll only warn you: it is so hard to be a true preacher of the gospel
And it is so hard, to live out the truth that we proclaim to others
But that is the task for every one of you who rap, for every one of you involved in this
You have a special stewardship from God: you must be holy
You must follow Him- don't you know that because of what you're doing, people, even good Christians, are waiting and looking for you to fall?
They're looking for you to do something that will prove that this was not a medium chosen by God