*Language Warning* I'm 3 Pages Into Woke Church - Exciting Stuff! ;-)

Well, here it is. Here it is. Woke Church. I have to say that the graphic design here is excellent. Absolutely excellent. I just started reading it, and I've got to say, I've got a strong stomach for this kind of thing, and this is going to be a struggle.

This is going to be a struggle. Let me read you from page 24. This is really only three pages into Eric Mason's word. There's a few forwards, one by Ligon Duncan. There's a lot of praise for the book, how they do that.

Race Relations, Hip-Hop, and the Church

Let me read to you what Dr. Eric Mason says on page 24. He says this. He says, one of my favorite shows, there was an interview that Oprah did. Oprah is one of Dr. Eric Mason's favorite shows, which is fine.

A lot of people like Oprah. Oprah did an interview with rapper and businessman Jay-Z. She asked Jay-Z for his perspective on race. As he began to talk, I found myself feeling convicted. He said that hip-hop, through its music and its culture, has had more impact on race relations than any figure or any entity other than Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement.

He talked about how whites and blacks can come together in the clubs, even though they might not get together outside the club. They gather around this musical and cultural form and find solace in being able to talk about things they wouldn't normally talk about.

Hip-hop helped them to start talking with one another and even to begin building relationships. Why was I convicted by that? Because a musical, cultural form that's only about 40 years old should not have more impact than the church, which has existed for thousands of years.

We should be the main communicator about the challenges that happen in our country on race and justice. We should be the first place that people look to for answers. We should be the ones presenting a clear, viable model of the hope that lies within us.

This is, again, three pages into his words in the woke church. And I have to say, you know, this is a remarkable passage, remarkable. Jay-Z. You know, Jay-Z, I used to listen to Jay-Z. You know, I remember, and this is a fun fact about me, one of the first bad things that I did as a child, you know, really bad.

I'm talking, like, things that were, you know, beyond the pale. I went to a Jay-Z concert without telling my parents about it. I told my parents I was going bowling and I went to a Jay-Z concert. Instead, DMX, Jay-Z, Method Man, Red Man, you might remember the tour.

And I got in a lot of trouble for that one. In fact, we actually left before Jay-Z because I was worried about getting in trouble. So I was a bit of a hip-hop guy. And I know a little bit about Jay-Z and his music and hip-hop culture in general.

Money, he's talking about the Money Cash Hoes guy, you know, the big pimpin' guy. You know, he's talking about the, you know, what's-my-mother-fuckin'-name Jay-Z guy, Jigga guy, that guy. That's the one he's talking about, yeah.

And that's the one that he's saying has, that music, that cultural style, that's had a bigger impact on race relations than almost anything, except for Martin Luther King, he says, and the Civil Rights Movement.

And listen to this sentence again, I want you to catch this. He says, why was I convicted by that? Because a musical cultural form that's only about 40 years old should not have more impact than the church, which has existed for thousands of years.

That's what he's, he's saying, that the hip-hop, Money Cash Hoes, you know, that kind of thing, big pimpin', has had more impact, a positive impact, on race relations than the church has. The Church of Jesus Christ, you know, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, his church, has had actually a worse impact on race relations than hip-hop culture.

Here's what I have to say about this, it's as preposterous as that is. If that's the kind of race relations you're looking, racial reconciliation you're looking for, the kind that you can, you know, you both like Jay-Z, you both like Money Cash Hoes, and so, you know, you go to the concert to hear him sing Money Cash Hoes together, if that's the kind of racial reconciliation you're looking for, it shows how worthless your goals are.

They're not biblical. They're just not biblical. If you think that hip-hop culture has had a more positive impact on race relations than the church, then you're more twisted up than I ever thought you were.

I mean, it's just that simple. It's just that simple. Like I said, I've been to these concerts before, and I've had many friends of many colors, right? And so, you could say that, well, you know, it's because you were in that hip-hop culture, it had a positive impact on your race relations.

No, it's not. It's because my parents were Christians, and they taught me to treat people with love and respect regardless of their skin color. That's a church thing, by the way. My parents didn't just come up with that.

My parents didn't just come up with that. They got that from the scriptures. They got that from the Bible. They got that from the church of Jesus Christ, you know, the most powerful, influential entity in the entire planet, because it's Christ's church.

Christ is the King of Kings, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the Lord of Lords. No, no, the church isn't worse on race relations than hip-hop culture, Dr. Eric Mason. And again, if this is the kind of racial reconciliation that you're after, it shows, again, how superficial and worthless it is.

Just because white and black people get together in the club doesn't mean they like each other. It doesn't mean that they have deep-seated love for one another. You do understand that, right? I remember when I went to the Jay-Z concert, I did remark that, you know, there were quite a few white people there.

And I remember thinking that that was strange because, you know, hip-hop culture, as far as I knew, was all urban, you know? And we were thinking, wow, there's a lot of middle-class, maybe upper-class white kids here, you know?

And the tickets were like $100. I mean, I guess that's the only people who could afford it. But yeah, this shows you just how worthless the goals are. I mean, if this is the kind of thing that you're talking about, then Jimmy crack corn, I don't care.

I just don't care. That's not what I'm interested in. I'm interested in actual reconciliation, the only kind of reconciliation that counts, the kind that Jesus Christ accomplishes for his church and that we get because we're in his church.

And so we're connected to every believer around the world in our communities, but also around the world. The Church of Jesus Christ is already multi-ethnic. You don't have to try. Christ has already accomplished that.

The Holy Spirit has gone to all corners of the earth, and he has people everywhere. So you're connected to the brothers in Nigeria. I mean, you understand that. This is just one of the most ignorant, stupid ways to start a book, how you're convicted by Jay-Z because, you know, fuck the police and money cash hoes and, you know, big pimpin' and Jigga Man and all that kind of stuff.

That has had a bigger influence on race, a more positive influence on race relations than the 2 ,000-year-old Church of Jesus Christ. These people are twisted, man, twisted. They've got this all wrong.

They've got this all wrong. But anyway, I'm going to continue reading this book as much as it pains me. I mean, again, I'm only on page three, and this is what I found. There's also a few, you know, digs at white people here.

I do think Dr. Eric Mason's a racist. I've demonstrated that before with his talk at ERLC, MLK50. Eric Mason's a racist person, and I think he's fighting against it. I mean, unlike Kyle Howard, who I don't think is fighting against it at all, Eric Mason, I think, is at least trying to fight against it, but it comes out at times.

You know, he's the Angloid guy, right? But anyway, I hope this was helpful. God bless. The color scheme is really nice, too, I have to say.