"The Story Behind God's Block Ministries"
Hip Hop? What can I say? I love it. I remember when my sister let me hear Too Short's "Life is... Too Short". Then there were those N.W.A. and Eazy-E tapes that some neighborhood kids had and I thought "this is the coolest music I have ever heard". A few years later, I received my first CD player and purchased Public Enemy's "Fear of a Black Planet" and L.L. Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out". Needless to say, I have been a fan since my early days. I noticed that all these rappers did was glorify themselves and talk about things my neighborhood never saw such as crime, drug dealing, sex and gangs. I grew up so far removed from this culture, but it made it to my neighborhood through radio, magazines, and TV. By the time I entered high school I was consumed by hip hop and its message to ME. Hip hop focuses on two things: self and pleasure. Their main message teaches to get all the money, drugs and women you can by any means possible. If and when you have attained it all, brag about it over the sickest beats. I never was a rapper, but quickly found my avenue when the attention shifted from the rapper to the entire crew. Suge Knight and Puff were the epitome of this. Label vs Label; Death Row vs Bad Boy. I wanted to be a label owner. Master P and J Prince were two guys that seemed to have it all: Power and Control. I had plenty of money and a steady job, but it was never enough. I still found myself selling drugs and robbing houses. As the years passed, I was in and out of jail, had two D.U.I.'s, got two of my girlfriends pregnant which resulted in 2 abortions, got busted with 4.5 lbs of weed and alienated myself from anyone who cared about me. I could no longer look at myself in the mirror. Who was I and how had I become this person whose reflection stared back at me? I had let the message of hip hop permeate my life and there was no way out.
Addiction was a huge stumbling block for me and, in turn, made me a bad drug dealer. So, I went to rehab. On my 3rd day of a 30 day in-patient stay, a tract was given to me called "My Heart Christ's Home". The book told me about Christ, who He is, why He came, and how much He loves us. It told me that He died for me. While I was hurting people; stealing, lying, anything just to get ahead, God sent His only Son to die for me. This sounded amazing and way better than the message I had been consumed with through rap music. This book told me that this same Jesus would come into my life and change things. There was one catch though: I had to be honest with Him. He wanted to come into my soul, mind, and heart to live, dwell and reign as King. Jesus and I then went through a house that looked good on the outside but was screwed up on the inside. The house was me. My soul, mind, and heart contained things I did not want to show Jesus but, just as we entered each room, He assured me that upon entering He would clear out the trash and replace it with His righteousness. He would fill me with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness and goodness. I did not even know some of the things that were contained in these rooms; they had never seen light. They had never been shared with anybody but He was more than happy to come in, shed light, and clean house. Christ cleaned out my soul, heart and mind that day and instantly removed my need for drugs and alcohol. He put me on a path to walk with Him and let Him clean house when needed. Men love the dark because their deeds are evil and this is how I lived my life up until that fateful day. My deeds had been evil and I kept them in the dark and I was completely ashamed. I figured that I could hide it all with a fast life and it nearly killed me. At this point, Christ is in my life and I am free and in the light.
Hip hop was still a huge passion of mine, but I wondered "Can Christ and hip-hop co-exist"? I could not listen to Eminem, 2Pac and Too Short anymore. It did not feel right. My sister tried giving me a Christian rap CD, God bless her, it was the worst CD I have heard to this day. However, I figured there had to be more people trying this than just me, so I went to my local Christian book store. They let me open any CD and listen to it. I listened to one or two and then hold up, wait, this beat is tight. Who is this?? The Cross Movement? House of Representatives...dang this is tight. I'm in Family Christian Bookstore going crazy. I purchased that album right then and there as well as The Ambassadors "Christology in Laymen's Terms". I had never in my life heard people preach Christ's message and gift of salvation so boldly. Hip hop shaped my life and I wanted Jesus to shape my life too. It was at this moment that my two passions collided. I knew that there had to be others like me: People who needed Christ, but didn't have anybody who they could talk to about Him that related to them and their culture. Every time The Cross Movement put out a new album, I would cop as many as I could and pass them out in the street with my number. I was helping out a local church's youth group at the time and found a new church home at Mars Hill in Seattle. The theology between these rappers and this church were very similar and I felt at home there and began to grow. A pastor at Mars Hill named Leif Moi was teaching apologetics and he was encouraging me to memorize scriptures; one of which was Hebrews 4:12. "The word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart". By putting this in me, I became alive. I became active and sharp. I was growing closer to the Lord. My identity was found in Him and I was getting bold.
God called me into a barbershop to start a Bible study. I was confused but positive that it was Him who was calling me. So, I went in and asked to speak the owner. This place was tight. It had a pool table, they were bumping music and I simply said "My name is Mike, God asked me to come in here and start a Bible study". Two months later, Barbershop Bible Studies were in full swing. One day, I was passing out CDs and a gentleman laughed at the CD I game him like he was a tough guy (he most likely was), but I turned at him and said "This ain't your block, this is GOD'S BLOCK". God's Block is not something I sat around to think up but it was something God put on my heart as I walked with Him. None of it was planned, it came about from small obedience's like passing out CDs or going into that barbershop. Then one day, I was reading Act and 4:20 jumped off the page. The apostles had just been charged to never speak of Christ and His message again, but they replied "we can't help it". I can't help it. I must share about what I have seen and heard, Christ saved me from myself and my sins. The only person that ever charges me to be quiet is myself, but then I get all FOTU with it and can't help it. God then opened the door for an outreach concert, then another and another and then I received an email for The Cross Movement's HIStory tour, which I knew had to happen and God did it. I want to thank Mars Hill for helping me with that. By drawing close to Christ and trying to be servants of Him, we have seen God move in big ways and will continue to do so.
Grace and peace.
-Mike