How’s the music going ?
What inspired me to take a sabbatical? The story started in August 08, I had the opportunity to serve on the London leg of the Unashamed tour, during the concert there was a call for all people involved in a church leadership capacity to join Ben Washer from Reach Records backstage. So about 50 of us gathered in the back of the room and had a very challenging discussion about how we are to reach the people of our generation.
The context of the discussion was a resource tool that Reach Life had developed called “13 Letters” . The session really challenged my thinking, especially because Reach Records are quite a prominent label at the moment but they still invest time to develop a relevant biblical based curriculum that expounds the deeper meaning of the scriptures.
The next day we where in Birmingham where Lecrae and Trip Lee held an afternoon workshop with about fifteen “Aspiring Artists” including myself. In the session he gave his testimony of how he got into music and it was so amazing to hear how the lord directed him because I felt like I went through similar experiences apart from the bit when he said that he was a Christian for almost 4 years before he started putting out albums. It was really interesting to hear because that wasn’t the case for me.
I kinda hit the ground running and made a lot of mistakes but the lord has brought me through regardless. Through my mistakes I have learned that rap ministry is front line work and like a soldier needs time to mature in his skill before going to war, its the same for gospel front line servants, we have to be grounded in the lord before going out to win souls [1 Timothy 3].
So after a few more months of shows, I began to think about how I could enhance my music and provide a wholesome resource for all those we reached out to over the summer and so Pause and Think . was birthed. As I was developing the site I was getting more and more invitations to perform but felt the lord directing me to stop. I was hesitant at first then began to think about how music could be an idol If I placed more importance on the music as apposed to seeking God.
I read a blog that Sho Baraka wrote and one of the questions at the end was “If GOD stripped your form of service would your life still look like Romans 12:1?” Sacrifice!…Sacrifice!…
I couldn’t do that now…things where better than ever, people being touched by the music, my first album out, press reviews, music video in mid production and God wants me to stop and focus not part of my time but all of my time to my local church. At this point I thought mmmm, maybe God wants me to give this up for good and to be honest I was ready to think he may not give me this ministry again. So after much thought and prayer I was content to put the mic down.
In the space of one week of me giving up I was invited to the launch of Ground Level , a monthly workshop held by Green Jade’ss Wizdom, Noel Robinson and Jahaziel who individually realised the growth of the Urban Christian Music scene but felt strongly that it would be good to impart the knowledge that the established artists have learned on their journey so that the up and coming artists are able to avoid the pitfall, naive mistakes and many distractions that can affect a Christian Hip-Hop or Grime musician.
I have been attending these sessions which will last about a year, I realised that had I still been touring I would not have the time to dedicate to Ground Level, during a time of prayer at the event I felt God showing me that though my time in music will be limited, the job is not done and he wants me trained up to be more effective. Throughout this time I have hugely benefited from the testimonies and lessons Ive learned, I will blog about them soon but the main things God’s dealt with me so fare are, about “Identity” , “idolatry”, “Humility” and more.
In response to the challenge Sho baraka gave, I have found it rewarding to serve outside my normal gifting as I am not comfortable and I get nervous but its good because it gives me more opportunity to make mistakes and rely on God for direction. One of the key reasons why I am not performing is because its easy to perform because of a desire for applause from men and I have been guilty of that at times. I am still on outreachevery month supporting others in their gifts, getting deeper in the word and reaching the lost. Though this may appear to be an extreme measure to take, I know that these challenges will not go away, they are part of our everyday life, I recall speaking with Karl Nova about this topic and remember how he said its important to take seasonal breaks of refuge with God. We all need it guys…not just Christian musicians, in all our area’s of service we need it!
As a result, When I get back, I am more determined than ever to give my all in music. I hope to start doing shows from January 2010 so please pray for me to continue to grow in humility, wisdom and discernment. Here is a scripture I have been meditating on “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24.
LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THOUGHT
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