Lyrical Theology: "Doublespeak"

Ignorance isn't bliss...
It's a hiss -

Whispering in your ear
Tellin' you that night is day
That death is life
And every breath you take
Is word made flesh;
A Manifest Destiny relegated
To Tainted fruit and sound bites
Edited for your approval -

But little did you know
That removal of the restriction
Would end up in a hearse...
Or did you?

I mean..
It was really hard to miss
The forest for the trees
'Cause it was all you had
For miles around to see

But, that one...
Set apart...
Oh, how it took root
In a heart of darkness
And sparked a blaze
That we haven't been able
To put out since

Every single resident
Covered in dust and ashes
Leaven roasting over an open fire
Is consumption for the masses
Satiated by mud pies
And drunk off the blood of our ancestors
Even if the milk and honey are free
We can't imagine it tasting any better

Dung pile after dung pile
Comprised of filthy rags and false idols
Stained glass mingled with clay feet
And a razor-wire smile

"Blessed are those who eat;
For they shall inherit the earth."
Back we go from whence we came
Doublespeak and a wink
Puts us right back in the dirt

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

"Nigga"

“…Negro's, black as Cain,

May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train.”  -  Phillis Wheatley

The nigga on the right

Hates the nigga on the left

And the niggas at the top

Are puttin' niggas on the shelf

Some niggas have it all

And they hoard all of their wealth

Other niggas are doin' what they can

And make the most of what's left

 

One nigga says

Another nigga's skin is too dark

And when that nigga disagrees

It's like igniting a spark

Everything goes dark

And that's the way it all starts

Now niggas are on a mission

To tear those niggas apart

 

Sellin' niggas like they're stock

Dead a nigga for his guac

If that nigga needs a ride

Then that nigga better walk

(Or sell rocks)

 

Front row niggas

Holdin' backseat niggas

To a much lower standard

Ignoring what they're seein'

In the mirror

 

Inferior niggas

With their fingers on the trigger

Accomplices to the nonsense

As a nigga's sense of worth

Begins to wither

So it figures…

Little niggas drawing pictures

Of a living hell

They've got nothin' to go home to

So what's left for a nigga...

But a cell?

 

But just beyond the pale

Is a cross and three nails

Where niggas, long ago, set up for failure

Find the good for what ails 'em

The race war that's been ragin'

Was long before us finished

To redeem us from our niggardly ways

And grant salvation to the chiefest of niggas

 

(cf. Numbers 12:1-10; Jeremiah 13:23; Proverbs 20:9; Romans 3:19, 23; 11:32; Galatians 3:22; Revelation 5:9-10)

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Slave

“Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin." - John 8:34

It’s open season on the blackamoor…

And four score and seven
Only serves as a reminder
Of how far we are from heaven
Linkin’ us to a past
But we’re too easily forgettin’
The bondage that’s awaitin’
And treat it like a broken record

We scratch it up and mix it
Tryin’ to put a new spin on it
Thinkin’ that if we spend enough dough
That’s all we need to depend on
But those whips and chains are now whips and chains
Money stacks and diamond rings
As we tiptoe through the cotton rows
Chasin’ after the “finer things”

The same thing that is
Rainin’ down on Jupiter
Is the very same thing
That we’re willing to become captives for
The love of money
Is the mother of invention
Rooted in all kinds of evil
And limitless in its potential

Becoming a slave
Is much easier than we think
So many give up their freedom
Just to own a couple of trinkets –

Tinkertoys that pale in comparison to Zion
And precious jewels that will one day pave the streets
Our feet will tread on…

(cf. Hebrews 13:5; 1 Timothy 6:10)


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Face of the Earth (Terra Cotta)

"And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God." - 2 Samuel 6:6-7


We hastily presume that our hands
Are cleaner than the dirt
Beneath our feet

But the reality is that the dirt
(Unlike me)
Is just being what it was meant to be
And that we’ve been deceived
Into believing the lie
That it makes us filthy
 

We hate the dirt
Because it is a reminder
That removes all blinders
Never letting us forget
Where we come from

Because you may very well
Be able to escape the ghetto’s aura
But you will never be able
To escape your skin color

Explore any avenue that you wish
But we all have to dismiss
The notion of black and white
And any shades of grey fade
In light of the knowledge
That we’re just different shades of brown
All made from the same lump

Molded and shaped
Fearfully and wonderfully made
“Oh, the distinctiveness of the human race!”
And yet, we bite off our own noses
In spite of the familiarity of the faces
Simply because they come from other places

And we leave it to the ground
To soak up the blood from wars
And we leave it to the ground
To soak up the tears from the scarred;

Age after age -
It bears witness to the trauma
And eagerly awaits redemption
From a history of violence and dishonor

But the ownership has been rescinded
And when the world is returned to its Sender
The face of the earth will crack a smile
As it relinquishes its descendants

I am the ground…
I am the dirt…
And I’ve been trying to find my way home
Since the day of my birth

(cf. Genesis 2:7; Romans 8:18-23; Revelation 20:13)


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

True Blood

If I would've been there 

I would've done the same 

I would've been the first one to ridicule 

And put him to shame 

I definitely would've been the one 

That hated Him the most 

So, He did what He had to do... 

 

He killed us both. 

 

And when He got back up 

He brought me along 

To drink from His cup 

And sing a new song 

Truest blood shed from His wounds 

Forever covers my deepest stains 

 

Now I'm alive in Christ -- 

His death. My gain.

 

Isaiah 53:1-12; Galatians 2:20 

 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Re4m

Reform me...

Conform me.
Mold me.
Make me.
Shape me.
Do whatever you have to do -
Even if it means
You gotta break me
Don't forsake me
Wake me up
Remove the scales
From my eyes
I'm seeing men as trees

Falling down around me

Because I was born
Legally blind

Out of sight
Out of my mind
No appreciation
For the divine
Design flaw
To the interior;
A heart that's wicked
All the time... 

Until Another Kind

Love sublime

Comes to the rescue

Of a villain

Cleanse me through a bloodletting...

This redemption's gonna kill me.

(cf. Romans 8:13; 12:1; 1 Peter 3:18-22)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Ten (Law Is King)

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. - Romans 3:19 ESV


If you had a projector
Connected to my head and my chest
It would showcase nothing but an independent festival of darkness
Bleak thoughts to match a black heart
Every matinee selling out to the sinful desires of my humanity
You know Kierkegaard was right;
You’d be shocked and amazed at what a sane man
Dreams about doing in the broad daylight

And if accountability of consequence
Lifts even for a second
The fantasy becomes reality…
What masters of debauchery we are
Nightmare walking…
Psychopath, stalkin’…
A Gorilla in the mist
Notorious for poppin’ off with my two lips…
With two fists up

Because I consider every punch I throw
To be therapeutic or medicinal
Because if there is no God
Then everything is permissible to us
It all boils down to dust
Knocking the rusty latch off of reason, then
Now it’s like someone opened up a floodgate
And in a blind fit of rage
Recklessly misplaced a wooden stake –

I’ve got 2x4’s disguised
As splinters stuck in my eyes
Violence begets a nihilist
And now the nihilist wants to get violent
Because he’s somebody’s child
The only problem is
That we were separated at birth
And I’ve been raised in the wild –
Exploiting my desertedness
Using it as ammunition to lash out at a “negligent parent”
Resolved even more now to respond
Solely to the vibrations of my own larynx

I’m a rebel whose primary cause
Is to be an embarrassment to my inheritance
I don’t want a share…I want it all
And now I’ve got it; A bunch of empty wallets
In a clenched fist of covetousness
So there’s a rumble coming from deep within the jungle
Because my Father’s given the order to give chase
“LEX REX” on my chest branded with ten phrases
Serve as a valuable reminder
Lay down my arms and wait for grace
Or just keep running, only to die tired


For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. - Galatians 3:10-14 ESV


Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Heaven Underground

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water." - 1 Peter 3:18-20 ESV

"For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does." - 1 Peter 4:6 ESV

 

Heaven didn’t just come down… 

It went underground 

We couldn’t go and get it 

It had to come and get us 

Because we were held hostage 

In the darkness…slaves to the dust 

A bunch of guilty as charged 

Criminals at large 

Conspiring since the beginning 

To assassinate God 

And if you find that statement offensive 

It’s understandable 

But you still have no defense against it  

And you know it –  

Your fingerprints are showin’ 

And herein lies the biggest problem 

Because even if you’re Robin Hood
You’re still a thief –
Because you’re robbin’
No sob story is good enough
To regain that trust
Our red-handed antics
Have left us stone cold busted

And in case you couldn’t tell
We’re disgusted with the outcome
But too prideful and bitter to ask for help
So we put our roots down firm
And build ziggurats wherever we dwell

But how we gonna reach the Kingdom
When we don’t even speak the same language amongst ourselves?
And when our stairway to Heaven was vanquished
It all came crashing down in an epic fail…

The most frightening attribute of God’s character
Is that He is good and a Just Judge
So He will always rule in favor of righteousness
Not based on what I think I am
Or who I thought I was

Truth is…
I’m a lying, cheating
Backsliding heathen
Full of murderous intent
And I’m stealing by just breathing
With no plan to give up the lifestyle
Anytime soon
So the mercy of the Court
Will have to be way more than prevenient
Because I’m already doomed…

Therefore grace has to intrude
As the Kingdom manifests the expanse
Of its territorial boundary
To dig us up out of our whitewashed tombs
And shut down all of the foundries
‘Cause the Devil’s melting down the metal
Turning plows and pruning hooks into swords

But the Kingdom of Heaven came among us
To suffer the violence
So Death can never have the Final Word


"From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force."  - Matthew 11:12 ESV

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Rose

She dreams of being treated like a queen

She wants to be known

Wants to be seen…as a human being

She longs to be treasured

Not measured on her features and appearance

She knows she’s meant to be more

Than an object of lust

For men who leer

It makes her flesh crawl

Every time they get near her

But the reality is

That it’s all she’s ever known

Papa was a rolling stone

And when he was home

He was a boulder of destruction

Tearin’ up the house in a drunken rage

And hittin’ her and mama in the face

For missing a simple instruction –

While he’s still cussin’, still fussin’

It was disgusting…

She had to get away

But in her haste to find safety

She started looking for love

In all of the wrong places

Many a days wasted

On suitors that shouldn’t suit her

Because all they wanted to do

Was use her up, then lose her

Sugar, spice and everything nice

Is replaced by sex, deceit, and deadly vices

To those who know her

She’s a rose of a different kind

Not altogether lovely

But fine enough for a good time

And her new man don’t mind sharin’

“‘Cause I bet those dudes will pay top dollar

As hard as they be starin’”

Now she’s out there as eye candy

As her reality sours

The breath of strange men heat up her neck

And she’s getting paid by the hour

She’s been rejected so long

That she resolves to accept it

Believing that it’s better

To play by her own rules

Than to go through life dejected

She says, “The situation is screwed up

And since no one else seems to give a f---

I’m gonna make the most

Out of my station in life;

Make some money and get high – bottoms up”

Truth is she’s feeling stuck

And her identity is in shambles

A rose that’s lost her petals

Instead of a lily among the brambles

Built for love and dominion

But worn down by others’ opinions

She fails to receive the mantle

For which she was attentively intended

New day, new city

While the nights all look the same

And she cries herself to sleep

Because the showers can’t remove the shame

My sister, you are more than the sum of your deeds

Don’t listen to the deceivers

You’re more than just a perverted history

Of a long line of leavers

You were created with dignity and purpose

For a lover who sticks closer than a brother

He wants nothin’ but the rose

And gave it all to show that you’re worth it

(cf. John 8:1-11)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Trafficking the Girl Next Door

During the 1980s, mothers used the phrase "stranger danger" to caution their children about the possibility of kidnappings. It was the idea of seeing your missing child's photo on the side of a milk carton that caused many U.S. families to warn their kids about abductions. The possibility of human trafficking wasn't even on most parents' radar screen.

Yet during the same time period, a 13-year-old Miami girl became one of the countless children to fall prey to a sex trafficking scheme. Only in recent years have U.S. officials realized the trend is just as alarming at home as it is abroad. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, human trafficking ranks second only to drug trafficking as the fastest growing criminal industry worldwide. And half of those trafficked are children.
In 1985, Katariina Rosenblatt, her teenage brother, and their mother left their South Florida home to escape Kat's abusive father. Katariina's mother was trying to hold down a job while caring for her children. The family lived out of a Miami Beach hotel, where the kids spent most days unsupervised at the swimming pool. There, Katariina was approached by Mary, a sophisticated 19-year-old who took an interest in the young teen. "She was everything I thought I wanted to be," Katariina says. "Thin, pretty, blond hair, and blue eyes."
The sexual, verbal, and physical abuse Katariina had endured from her father left her damaged and vulnerable, a weakness Mary quickly sensed. Offering her friendship and sisterly advice, Mary began telling Katariina about local men who would take care of her, give her money for food, and offer fatherly love. In reality, Mary was a recruiter for a local child trafficking ring.
"The devil doesn't come with a pitchfork," Katariina says. "He's much more deceptive. For me, he came in the form of a girl in a red bikini."
Led by Mary, Katariina soon found herself sequestered in a room with a 65-year-old man who attempted to purchase her, still a virgin, for $550. Refusing the marijuana she was offered, Katariina narrowly escaped the exchange and fled back to her hotel room. It was the first in a series of trafficking scenarios she would face as a young teen, and the only one she would manage to escape unscathed.

 God's Whispers

 In the following years Katariina became ensnared in a series of trafficking exchanges, all unbeknownst to her mother. In one instance, she went to a sleepover at a friend's whose father was a pedophile and worked as a trafficker. Katariina was taken to an apartment-style brothel in a neighboring county and exploited by a 40-year-old man who fostered her cocaine addiction and began making her dependent on him and the future men who would exploit her in exchange for drugs, food, and temporary affection.
Continued...

via todayschristianwoman.com

Marvel

I, alone…
I’m not enough to handle this on my own
My metropolis is in trouble
And all of the supermen are gone
Fade to black – everything is whack
And these dark nights keep risin’ –
These jokers say that I’m tokin’
To believe that there’s anyone who can stop it

No secret identity
Or hideout with slick amenities
Are needed to win this war
‘Cause we're battlin’ a different enemy –
Long ago defeated
Still severely pissed and heated
And he and his minions will stop at nothing
Until everyone else can feel it

So we need a hero
Who’s far beyond the discussions –
No hiding behind a mask
To deal with the repercussions
Not just an alien that got stuck
Not just some vigilante we trust
But someone who can justify the guilty
And at the same time dispense justice

From the punishment due
To wholeheartedly renewed –
Avenging us from the impenitent
And putting an end to the feud
With web-sight, he catches predators
His strength is so incredible
Takes the shame and turns it to gain
So it wouldn’t eventually fetter us

Even though death still remains
It’s now no longer in vain
And the suffering serves a purpose
Since he auto-tuned it with “T-Pain”
Does it all through a Ghost Protocol –
Impossible for evildoers to shake him
Marvel at this Man on a mission…
Who can stop him?! Any takers?

 Cf. Revelation 6:2, 19:11-21, 21:5, 22:12

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Zeros & Ones: Gospel In Life [Week 8] - Eternity (The World That Is to Come)

We wrap up our study on "The Gospel in Life" with a discussion about eternity. We discuss how the hope that is to come in the New Jerusalem changes how we operate in this fallen world. When the veil of this present world is rolled back, we will then see fully the ever-existent glory and light of God. Also, how the future reality helps to give us hope and and against the trials of this world. Seeing that the now is only temporary and that every single day we are moving toward the everlasting peace and communion with God and our fellow man...Live with the end in mind.
"for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection." - (Luke 20:36 ESV)



Isaiah 60:1-22; Revelation 21:9-22





Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Posted via email from THE CENTER (ROOM 116)

Taste

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

(Romans 7:24 ESV)

What happens when the taste

Becomes stronger than grace?

When I’m more about seeking the thrill

Than seeking your face?

The burnout is inevitable

But the rush is so incredible

You only live once

And I don’t want it to be regrettable

Half of me says, “One time never hurt anybody.”

The other half says I worry too much:

“You don’t even have to think about it.”

Eat, drink, and be merry

Never seems to be scary

Until you discover

That the meal’s being prepared

In an environment that’s unsanitary

An occasional lick of the spoon

Now turns into a toxic addiction

And my microscopic pursuit of joy

Has led to a life of telescopic affliction

Tried to divide my passions

Between redemption and lies

But when the latter won my affection

It left me with no way to climb…

Yet your mercy still abounds

Like a shot to the heart

While I was on the ground dying

(In this case, not a bad place to start)

Behaviors I used to savor

No longer renew my confusion

Now I’m infused with new life

To comprehend your mercy and beauty

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

(Romans 6:1-4 ESV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1 John 1:9 ESV)

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

(Hebrews 4:15-16 ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria,

Shon

Zeros & Ones: Gospel in Life [Week 3] - Idolatry (The Sin Beneath the Sin)

This week, we discuss the issue of idolatry. We take an in-depth look at how idolatry is the driving factor behind all of our sins, and how understanding the gospel and seeing Christ as our ultimate prize and satisfaction shuts down the idol factory and brings our passions and pleasures under new management...

Also: We use the recent film, Prometheus, as a tie-in to our discussion.

Soli Deo Gloria,
Shon

Zeros & Ones

Eventually, it all comes down to zeros and ones

Whether it’s the sum of your bank account

Or the last day to come

Credited with a federal deficit

From an act of confederate arrogance

Lord, grant leniency for our inconvenience

Because the ledger won’t ever find a balance

No power to the people –

Dying on empty bellies and wallets

But the no. 1 killer of the nations

Is that they perish for a lack of knowledge

Deprived and depraved

Because I don’t give a damn

About the rising poverty level

And the notion of goodness is a sham

The more zeros I need in my bank

To put one gallon in my tank

My daily bread goes missing

And so does my thanks

They say the love of money

Is the root of all kinds of evil

And these churches love stacking dough

To keep raising up steeples

Bake it but don’t break it

Pressed down and shaken, but not stirring

The collective conscience of the people

To feed the needy and to serve them

Salvation’s army shouldn’t ever come to harm me

Whatever happened to the Great Commission

Or showing faith, hope and charity?

Hilarious giving is no laughing matter

When you serve the Suffering Servant

It’s not an option – Follow after Him

To be born as an orphan

Doesn’t turn you into a bastard

To get the message crossed up

Leads to evangelical disaster

The first will be last

And the last will be first

The first death leaves you breathing

But the second lays down the worst

So stop selling headstones

And returning people to slavery

Strive to share the truth in love

With the utmost transparency

Christ bares the scars

As a reminder of the cost

So that we can openly display our weakness

To show the glory of the cross

A not-to-do list is always sealed with a hiss

And wreaks of self-righteous piety

That deserves to be dismissed

Spiritual amnesia

Leads to legalistic procedures

That spit in the face of grace

And gets it backwards for unbelievers

Because you can not have “gay sex”

And still be a wreck

You can not put lips to liquor

And still be a mess

Behavior modifications

Don’t necessarily mean you have the Savior

It just makes your public appearance acceptable

But leaves your private life unsavory

No, the task of salvation

Isn’t to make you a better person

Or for you to appear perfect and blameless

To a world that’s starving and hurting

We’re just the finger pointing at the moon

Which gives us light by reflecting the sun;

So in the end, it just goes back to the beginning

It all comes down to zeros and ones…

Posted via email from 0's & 1's