Posts filed under: ‘Gospel Music‘
BISHOP LARRY TROTTER and child in a bathtub…
I often check my blog to see exactly what people are referencing my blog to read. It often signifies a hot topic or that some event has just happened. And so was the case this morning 
when I logged in to check my blog and happened to noticed that I had gotten a lot of hits concerning Bishop Larry Trotter, of Chicago, IL., and a little girl… supposedly a 4-year-old grand-daughter of his in the bathtub together.
Immediately, I Googled the story and lo and behold there it was a picture of Bishop Trotter, and what is reported to be 1 of his young grand-daughters… and both appear naked in the bathtub together.
All I can say is who takes a bath with their children?
Or their grand-daughter????
I remember my father in the bathroom… there were times that we would pass the bathroom and 
would see that he was shaving or brushing his teeth, but by the time he was taking off any clothes we never saw him. There were times when he got into the shower and needed something and called for 1 of us… but he was always safely in the shower careful to keep himself out of our view.
For that matter my mother was pretty much the same. We never saw her in the tub or in the shower either.
They did not allow us 
into the bathroom with them while they were naked.
Years later, however, while growing up we… me and my sisters from time to time had gotten dressed in the same room or area as our mother when we had to… you know like while visiting a relative’s house or in some hotel etc. But outside of that no.
During a radio interview Bishop Trotter attempted to explain away the incident. But Bishop Trotter stated that he saw nothing wrong in getting into the tub with his very young grand-daughter. And he added that he had gotten into the tub with all of his children.
In that interview also, Bishop Trotter recalls his growing up, when he and his sisters and 
brothers bathed together. I would believe that most people who have or have had siblings may have also experienced this. But beyond a point it ceased to happen. None of us went into adulthood… or grew up as teenagers jumping in and out of a bathtub or shower with his or her sister and/or brother. That is to say… not unless something was going on. And I never grew up in that kind of family where those type of things went on. Least ways… I don’t think so… 
and never heard of any such thing in our family.
However, many people will tell you that they were sexually molested.. abused or raped by a close family member. Oprah, for 1, herself speaks of an uncle that sexually abused her. I even think Donnie McClurkin speaks of an uncle 
who abused him for years.
I have heard people testify about things that even their father had done to them sexually. So, these kinds of things do happen… and sad to say they happen more often than we all really care to talk about.
For years the DeBarge family carried around their ‘dirty little’ secret about what their had father had done to all of them while 
growing up in their mother’s house. So, this thing is not new.
So, yes eyebrows would go up upon seeing such a picture. Or when they hear of such a thing as this picture. And to say that you both had on ‘swimming trunks’… Well, it simply does not wash.
Who takes a bath with swimming trunks on?
Another question…
If it happened as Bishop Trotter says it did, then why was he taking a bath with the bathroom 
door open so that just anybody could walk in on him… much less a little child?
In fact, Bishop Trotter’s explanation for how the picture came about… the events surrounding it… and how he and his grand-daughter ended up in the same bathtub together in what looks like they are both naked… really opens the door to a whole lot of other questions?
In fact, if you really listen to that radio interview Bishop Trotter actually states that there was no reason for his little FOUR YEAR OLD GRAND-DAUGHTER to not be able to take a bath with her ‘pa-pa’ if she wanted to. WHAT??? And evidently, the little girl at 4 years old must have been down on her knees or something while on his lap in that water. Because at 4 she would be taller than we can actually make out in that picture.
I recall the first time I ever saw Bishop Trotter… he at the time was part of Full Gospel under 
Bishop Paul Morton. And I think that was about the same time that I first saw and heard Bishop Eddie Long too. Shortly, after that Full Gospel conference both Bishop Trotter and Bishop Long broke from the Full Gospel Baptist organization, and decided to pursue their own separate church organizations, New Birth and Sweet Holy Spirit.
A few years ago Bishop Long fell into his own share of 
troubles by the way of 4 or 5 young men who had been a part of his New Birth organization. To which Bishop Long later settled out of Court with, for a few million dollars against allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse.
The moment I read the story and saw the picture of Bishop Trotter, I must say that it brought back memories of Michael Jackson… and all the controversies of Michael with little kids. Namely little boys…
And just like Michael, Bishop Trotter in his radio 
interview clearly states that he found nothing to be inappropriate about him being in a bathtub naked with a little child… much less a little girl. With Michael it was that he found nothing wrong with being in bed with little boys. And like Bishop Trotter, Michael said that he did it all the time.
Bishop Trotter stated in his radio interview that ‘he used to jump into the bathtub all the time with his son, and their army men.’ Then added ‘I guess the times have changed.’
It really has nothing to do with how times have changed… which is what Bishop Trotter was trying to pass off as an accuse for the uproar over the picture. Because when you get right down to it… it is not about times changing at all. It is about putting yourself in a situation where something could happen… or bringing a small child into something they are not supposed to be exposed to.
I recall how when we were small my mother used to take us to this wading pool in our neighborhood. All the kids loved for summer to come around… and so didn’t we. During the summer our mother always took us swimming when it got too hot. There were times when she would pack us up and drove us to the beach… or to the pond where we could feed the ducks… or to that small wading pool, that was not too far from where we used to live.
The pool wasn’t very deep… but got deeper as you stepped closer and closer to the center of the 
pool. In the center of the pool you could float or try to swim and then put your feet down, and stand up any time you liked. So, we had fun playing in it… splashing… and sometimes running through it.
But then there came a time when our little pool became invaded. An occasional Spanish man or 2 would get into the pool playing around with the children. They mostly hug out near the center of that small wading pool so you could not see below their waste. Therefore, anyone sitting along the far outside edges of the pool could see the children in the water… but nothing too much under the water that 
may have been going on. And of course, the pool always had lots of kids into and out or the pool or running in the water… or splashing about further obstructing any parent’s watchful eye.
But 1 day I came to find out why they… those men liked being in the pool with us… I saw something… and I never liked going back to that pool again.
Pulled this off from over the internet…someone had writ
en a comment about having attended a conference where Bishop Trotter spoke here is what she said:
I went to a convention where he was at in Virginia.
He was promoting his newest series “My Wife, My Mistress, My Bitch or My Whore”.
The whole church gasp, he said don’t be in shock, don’t judge,get the CD and then you will understand. For a Bishop I thought he was out of order fo
r that.
I had come across where Bishop Trotter had written that book a while back. The title was curious to me also… and like the person who wrote that comment over the internet… I too thought it very inappropriate. Especially, since Bishop Trotter had written that book about his wife… who was… is … and had been the mother of his children… and I guess at some point the First Lady of his church.
Inappropriate is a very good word here. And I guess we can all say the same thing about him climbing into a tub… or allowing a little child to climb into a bathtub with him while he bathed.
God bless…hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend. The weather has broke here. We are now experiencing mild weather today… but for past couple of days it was freezing cold.
Remember that Monday… this coming Monday is both President Barack Obama’s second inaugural… AND Dr. Martin L. King, Jr.’s birthday celebration. Enjoy them both… and I am hoping to see you in D.C for the festivities. But if 
not please enjoy it for me too.
I am so happy about it. Truly a time to remember… And if you can be part of it don’t let the opportunity go by… by not being so.
And again…happy belated birthday FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA… can’t close without saying that. Love you… In fact, I love you both…. And 49 is still a great year… A very special year in fact…
Serena Williams on the bike champion Lance Armstrong finally admitting that he 
cheated…
“Serena Williams said Armstrong let all athletes down by doping and lying about it for so long, while No. 1-ranked Victoria Azarenka says the disgraced cyclist “deserves everything he gets.”
“I think a lot of people now look and are like, `OK, if somebody (is) that great, what about 
everyone else in every other sport?” Williams said.
“As an athlete, as someone that works really, really hard since I was 4 or 3, I think it’s a sad day for all athletes in general. Overall, it’s even more disappointing for the people that were adversely affected through everything. You can only just hope for the best for them.”
For years Armstrong had denied that he ever used any drugs to enhance his ability to become the top ranking bike cyclist in the world. And recently sat down with Oprah and confessed that he had lied.
And I hope that you are checking for a picture 
of me in these blogs… Who knows I might even think of doing something real special. Just keep looking out for me… in my blogs.
4 comments January 19, 2013
HAS GOSPEL MUSIC GONE SECULAR…the Gospel… and Changes in People Preaching the Word
You might not believe this but I actually completed this blog the night before Martin L. King’s birthday weekend. But I’m just now getting back to it now… nearly how many months later?? But I hope that you still find it to be a good read.
Interesting…
Recently, I got an interview request from someone who wanted to discuss with me some of my comments and opinions… or rather some singular statements that I voiced here on my blog site. Statements regarding a shift in 
gospel music. In particular they wanted to talk to me regarding my blog entitled… ‘KIM BURRELL…secular music wanna be.’
In that blog I stated my opinions on gospel artists attempting to move away from their musical base…or roots if you will… to chase after what appears to them to be ‘greener grounds’ on the other side. They want larger crowds… bigger audiences… and when you get right down to it… it’s all about “moe money”… “moe fame”… “more of the roar of the crowd”… and “moe money.”
Wonder who told them getting it would be “all of dat…then some?”
Do I feel that Kim Burrell’s decision to try to follow a secular career in music is based upon money?
Yes, I do.
Kim saying that it is about souls…really contradicts Biblical text which says ‘come out from among them’ …not become like them so you can bring them in.
So, when I hear an gospel artist say that they have hipped up their music and performance to reach the masses or the younger generation… it really does not equate. Least ways… not for me.
What it really amounts to is nothing more than not wanting to be labelled as an ‘gospel artist‘ any longer… which Kim Burrell has publically stated.
So, Kim has this burning desire to not just do ‘gospel music’ any more ….or to be labelled as a ‘gospel music artist’ any longer…but something wider…and broader than that. Might as well just come out and say… something more worldly.
You can tell something about Kim Burrell if you have ever watched that show, Sunday’s Best…which I never did. But it was all over the internet …including a youtube upload of the segment that I am refering to… where Kim 
told someone to get rid of “that gospel sound” … saying, “You’re sounding too churchie.”
Too “CHURCHIE???”
Has Kim not heard of Aretha Franklin?
Sounding ‘churchie’ never hurt Aretha 1 little bit.
Po’ Kimberly.
Well, this kind of thinking may or may not have stemmed from Kim having grown up in her family’s church, singing gospel music most of her life. Until… I guess… maybe all of her 
life until now.
So, now Kim Burrell wants a secular career. She wants to cross over to do R&B … or SOUL music or Pop Music… or whatever they call it today. And I say that because today all ‘our’ musical forms are under attack… though Pop is not ours. But our music is under attack. Is under the threat of seriously totally disappearing before our very eyes. It is all being re-catagorized into something else.
Coming from the music industry from way back… I can make certain assessments and statements from a point of knowledge that most cannot. Because of my history of being many years in the record industry …namely by way of radio…I do therefore come with some degree of insider knowledge based upon my observations over the years… and they are merely my observations. I have been watching certain changes and themes going on in the music industry since I guess I started listening to music… because it has always been there. And namely because we do not control it… other people do.
Who would have ever thought that there would come a day when black folk would not want to sound black?
We all have heard of Elvis and other white recording artists covering black folks music and trying their best to sound like us. There were those that emulated our keyboard playing… guitar playing… singing …and even dancing. But now there has been a shift… now we’re the ones trying to do the emulating. This is sad. We are now doing what they used to do… and it is especially so in the gospel industry. And particularly among some of the upper tier gospel artists who want to get air time on Christian radio stations.
It used to be that black gospel singers just wanted a contract… get some radio exposure… do concerts …and praise the Lord, while showing forth their praises to Him for the marvelous gifts He had endowed them with. But not today. The atmosphere has changed… and it is not about God. Well, for many it is not… but all about money.
Guess gospel radio stations are about to bite the dust as far as some of today’s gospel artists 
are concerned… and they are disappearing. Our artist could care less about those small little black owned radio stations that they used to leap at for a chance to get an interview on so they could talk up their latest projects.
In regards to my thoughts on what some so-called gospel artists are currently calling urban gospel music… I really think that it is a shamme. It is truly a shame and disgrace how readily we are so quick to forsake those things which are so uniquely us. And we do it all for nothing more than the sank of a few almighty dollars…that only last for a little while.
And they do it without any consideration to our history and our future legacies.
We just throw it all to the wind…and then other people come in… and they begin to lay claim to it… calling it theirs.
Have you not seen that?
There was once a time when there had been more than just a hand 
full of black owned businesses in America… and they were large booming corporations. But during the latter 70′s into the mid-80′s there was a big sale off of most of those black owned companies… and mostly they were sold off to companies controlled by non-African Americans. Thoes African American companies were 
companies that produced products directly for us and by us… and had been birthed primarily because other corporations did not care about us… or what our specific needs were.
There was a time when all the make-up and hair products in the stores were basically geared towards white women and men. But the difference you see in stores today is not there because of anyone outside of ourselves. We began to produce black hair products and make-up etc. for us… to fit our needs… or skin tones… and hair textures etc.
But those African American companies…for the most part were really the beginning of the big sell off. The big money makers like the black hair care and make-up companies followed by publications and radio stations etc. were the first things bought out by white corporations. Today you see that almost all our so-called black radio stations are owned by 1 corporation, Clear Channel. Clear Channel owns almost everything media…black, white, hispanic and etc.
The first cab company here in our town was even started by a 
black woman… and even that too was sold off.
So, what am I saying?
I am saying that we are good historically at creating then selling off and out everything that we own… and have created… selling out our goods, talents, gifts etc… to other groups of people who almost always end up capitalizing far more 
off them… than we ever did. And we usually have done so to our own detriment…as a group of people… and to the lack of consideration for our future generations, who have no knowledge of what was… and no vision for what can be for them.
We have lost so much in all of those 
sell-off transactions. And one of the greatest things we have sold off is our ability to control and determine our own destines…through any sustainable period of time.
This same trend for years has been spreading across the board into everything we have either created 
or have produced… not just our hair care products and cosmetics, but also in our art and various other art forms such as dance etc. This is not good… and has been a huge determent to our children’s future and their entrepreneurial spirit. Which many of them have none at all.
It is definitely not good for us to forsake our cultural gifts… our diversity and own creativity… and particularly to forsake those things which are uniquely us… such as our music and our other cultural forms of art.
If we don’t preserve them …who will?
If we don’t treasure them …who will?
Today’s artists are greedy. They want more money… and they are just not satisfied with more money… they want LOTS of it. Which, of course, has to mean more sales… wider variety of awards… and all of this translates into creating a wider market.
So, today’s gospel artists do not mind forsaking their old fan base who loved and supported them during their meager beginning…
who bought their music before the big switch to sounding like somebody else… somebody non-black… somebody undefined…somebody non-negro …because it is a race thang… or un-black. And many gospel promoters can’t even touch them… because they are priced outside of our reach.
It all has to be a new form of self-hate. And I thought we had gotten way past that.
Our children walk around believing we have nothing… have done nothing… and that they will be nothing… because we have forsaken so much. We have just thrown it all away… all to the wind. Even our own self-respect.
There are just some things too valuable to place a price on… things that are truly worth holding on to no matter what. If we do not… we all loose. 
There are so few black businesses today. 
A few gospel labels are still trying to hold on… like Malaco, Tyscot, JDI, and some smaller record labels and those yet under-ground… companies that we all should be trying to support because they still maintain their integrity by staying close to our gospel core… providing good gospel music while other companies… the larger gospel labels out weigh them with the stellar gospel stars and much much much larger 
budgets.
The thing that hurts the most … and I can say even worst… is that our children will loose… and loose big for every generations to come. Clearly, they are already suffering when you look and hear what they are pumping out. It neither sounds like us… or looks like us. They have gone ga-ga..
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/evangelisttonyaglive/2011/12/03/ngm-presents-talk-show
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf
During the course of my career there has come my way many times that I got up and walked off away from the table… because I was made offers. But money has never wowed me like that. Me… myself… and I… WE ARE NOT FOR SALE… and have never been.
So, even as a sinner… way back then… I got up and turned my back on a lot of things that could have gotten me lots of money… but I chose to say, ‘no’… as I have never elected to do anything that would disgrace me or my family… or my people… or my core beliefs.
So, I have never been a sell-out.
Nor have I ever sold myself out. And as good as God has been to me… I definitely have no intentions of ever considering ‘going for the money’ now.
No, way… I love Him too much. And all our gifts are for his glory.
Money is not worth selling off that part of you that you will never be able to buy back.
How do you sell off your soul?
I have always been called an artists. Most of the time I made a lot of decisions based upon my art… and not necessarily in consideration of my pocketbook. So, I have been in the dark many a times.
Yes, I have had the electricity shut off…more than a few times…. cars repossessed… and bill collectors up the yah-zoo. But I never did anything that went against me… Well, almost once. But it didn’t work out… thank goodness for God. He stepped in.
I do believe some gospel artists are choosing to go against whatever moral standings they may have had… if some of them had any at all. Or maybe it is just that they are not really saved or sanctified in the first place. I have heard comments concerning people 
we have long held in high regard as truly being people of God… who behind the scene cuss… fuss, use drugs, drink …and show off a side to be anything but holy.
But truly here are some things that we have to take seriously… and very seriously indeed. Putting God up for sale.. or whether we should… or would want to is one of them. And trying to sell it off as a means of winning souls to Christ is another.
Confess and tell the truth.
Today the music industry is going through another re-defining, repositioning, and a transitional period. It is something that the industry goes through periodically. It ususally comes about when they realize that there is more money to be made if we…do this. So, by dangling sparkling trinkets before the eyes of certain artist who may be hot… or have the talent to be very hot. So, these companies feed them a song and dance about how they can make more money if they would… Sell out… because that is what it comes down to. 
It happened with Michael Jackson when he was stolen away from Motown and his family group, the Jackson 5. You remember when Michael emerged as the King of Pop… that was the new thing then… a new musical catagory called Pop Music.
This re-catagorization or creation of new music sub-divisions are for the purpose of openning artists up to larger audiences …by making them more acceptable to ‘other people’ in order to rake in more 
capital. And it has meant the lost of such music catagories as… R&B… and Soul Music… which were converted into catagories called ‘urban‘ and this new junk call ‘neo-soul’ today. And most of the black radio stations became urban radio stations.
When gospel artist decide that they are going to ‘go for the money’ then they should say that… if that is what they are going for.
They really should just say, “I’m going for the money.”
But no… they want to make statements like-
“God told me I needed to go out there to the unsaved. And in order to do that I have do what will appeal to them. That means creating music that speaks to them and will intrigue- Ooops…excuse me. I mean to say help bring them in.”
Such statements speak in direct contradiction to Biblical text… and can never justify anyone going out there trying to cross-over their music in order to reach ‘a 
wider’ audience outside of the gospel world. And when you think about it… was not gospel music created for the saved… not the un-saved?
They already have their music.
In the mid-80′s came this thing called “POP MUSIC.” It was the beginning of a marketing plan to make black artist… or African American talent more acceptable to white audiences. And it was all about making more money for those artist who wanted to do this thing called ‘cross-over.’ And was the beginning of ridding the music world of anything sounding …or looking like us.
In many cases of the artist’s who wanted to go Pop their whole sound changed… just as we are hearing today in the gospel music industry. The artist moved away from making music or writing songs that brought them to the attention of those who began chasing them, offering more money and bigger contracts.
Those people came up with a plan to do away with certain groups of music… music you hardly hear any more because they set about graying the lines between the music to make it more acceptable to all… Well, almost all.
One of the first types of music that was aimed to hit the bricks was 
jazz. This began just about the time that many of the real jazz masters started departing this earth… jazz greats such as Miles, Coltrane, Armstrong, Thelonious Monk etc…etc…etc… And if it had not been for die hard jazz lovers who strongly resisted the lost of this musical genre by (1) rebuilding a core of new real jazz music lovers, (2) the emergence of jazz radio station 
programming it … usually on mostly public radio and/or educational stations where subscribers supported this type of programming, and (3) the creation of smooth jazz radio stations programming a softer more acceptable jazz, 24 hours a day everyday of the week. Though smooth jazz is considerably different from the type of jazz that had been created by the masters like Miles Davis… it did, however, find its nitch.
Now, while half watching… get this… the Soul Train Music Awards show… I noticed a drastic change has happened to Soul Music. While watching it all I could think was… if Don Cornelius was alive (and he was at the time…I just didn’t know it until he committed suicide). 
During that show I heard terms like ‘urban soul’… and that mess they called ‘neo-soul.’ All mostly foreign to me… as of course do not listen to such mess.
I equate ‘neo-soul’ to the new direction we see gospel music headed in… and it is very sad.
While putting together a gospel music video program… I included a music video by the gospel duo of sisters called MaryMary. What stuck out to me as I was typing in the data for their video… I noticed that it was classified as being 
‘urban.’
I realized then that MaryMary did not desire to be pigeoned hold as simply being ‘gospel’ artists… but something more acceptable to a wider audience… which would also mean wider radio and television programming… and/or exposure for their music
Okay…
I guess if that is what you want to do. But the argument on the side of MaryMary can still be made that they have never really totally sold out… they are not afraid to speak ‘Jesus’ or ‘God’ in their music… nor does it appear that they are willing to expose much of their bodies ‘for profit.’ And the focus of their music still seems to be not as far out there as I see where some others have gone lately.
In order to reach the acclaim and match the money that MaryMary has managed to reap… it appears that others have decided to follow MaryMary’s lead… but they have decided to go that additional mile. They have decided to reach further out into the deep waters… by what seems to me to be a casting off of any semblance of anything that remotely sounds like ‘gospel’ music… and/or looks ‘holy.’ They desire to be more like what is being 
called ‘Christian’ music artists. Which is very much more like rock music… and will drive you crazy if you sat listening to it all day.
In almost all of the music on the so-called Christian radio stations… you have to listen real hard to even be able to deciper that itit is a Christian song… because Christian radio stations do not play gospel song.
So, in order to be heard over Christian radio stations…which are growing while our smaller less popular gospel radio stations are fading, barely able to stay afloat… since many black people are now tuning in to Christian radio stations too., which give them greater Arbitron numbers which means more advertising dollars going to them. So, many of our artists have lost that black sound… or the ethnic sound in order to blend in.
Oh, I know that rock music has it roots in our music… going all the way back to such people like Little Richard and Jimmy Hendrix. But that is not what I am talking about.
What I am talking about is this…
Christian radio station is a misnomer… because it sounds like for the most just like another rock station. It is just positioning itself as something else… and that something else is working.
I do not care what they call it… those radio stations pump rock music… and they are rock & roll radio stations at their core, and they are hurting our radio stations. It really doesn’t matter what type of lyrics their songs may or may not have… the basic overall sound of it is still the same as that of rock and roll.
When urban radio stations began playing music like Donnie McClurkin’s ‘We Fall Down’ …or going all the way back to Walter Hawkins,’ Oh, Happy Day’…it did not make those stations become gospel radio stations. Nor did playing Donnie’s song or the Clark Sister’s ‘You Bring the Sunshine’ dictate an overall change in their basic programming format. Their focus was and still is… is on playing supposed urban music… or today mostly that neo-soul mess.
Therein, this leads me to further make my case, urban radio stations used to be soul radio stations… or R&B radio stations… but in the mid-90′s there came about a change. A re-classification change… many R&B artists wanted to follow the king of Pop…Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Lionel Richie and others come from under the rock called ‘black music artist’ tag. They wanted to lean toward another word just beginning to circulate… first ‘urban’…and then it became ‘pop.’
All of it was aimed at reaching beyond the boundaries of our own neighborhoods… from the urban areas to a much wider and broader audiences. Also it was to bring about something which was being whispered at that time… the doing away of the R&B/Soul music categories. And none of this was being done by us.
No, but it was by those who whispered into the ears of the so-called up and coming artists and rappers of today.
It was done by the people who own the labels… the chart books… and who had influence to get things heard and played over the radio. And those people are a lot like the penthouse drug kingpins…and might be some.
You know those guys… the drug lords who never touch the street but reap the bigger benefits… because the drug market is really theirs… and to a large degree it intertwines with the music business. Though this is never spoken of.
Yeah, it is like that. The drug business and the music business are 
constructed very much the same. Little wonder why drugs are so easily and readily obtainable in the music industry… the sports industry… and wherever else where there are lots of dollars to be made. Anything that makes money is usually owned and operated by the same people when you get right down to it.
When a new radio station signed on in New York City I was looking forward to it. I had read that it was going to be a Christian radio station… in a place that was pumbing everything else but any daily gospel music. But from the moment it began airing I realized that there was something wrong. It sounded more like Z-100 ‘the Zoo’… a local New York City rock music radio station.
The whole thing is really a gimmick to entice hardcore rock listener
s to tune into something else which is being passed off as Christian music …but is still very much and sounds just like the music that they love and crave for so very dearly… rock. They have not been transformed.
Thus, were the Christian radio stations birthed. They became a quick sell buying into every market and opening the doors for many of their artists… caucasian singers and musicans to become more widely known and accepted in the Christian/Gospel 
music market… and more importantly the award shows.
In a very large metro areas such as New York City… which up until the Christian radio station began air… it had no 24 hour …or daytime radio station 
programming any gospel or Christian music at all at that time… it was seen by many Christian people as a welcomed and long overdue arrival.
But this welcomed arrival… soon became a big game changer too. And they were on the FM dial… which everybody knows sounds a lot better than a low signal AM station any time.
Thus was a desire kindled by some gospel artists to create material which could become acceptable to this new outlet called ‘Christian 
Radio.’ A large part of this transformation called for those artists wishing to cross over… to first lose their ‘black’… or ‘gospel-ee’ sound. And that is exactly
y what they have done… much like Beyoncé sounding less ‘black’… like almost that whole ‘neo-soul’ movement in what used to be known as the Black Music Division yesterday… to the Urban Music Division a few years ago… and now Neo-Soul. And there is nothing soul in it… or about it …outside of the color of the skin of those who call themselves performing it.
This change you can especially be heard in Tye Tribbitts latest cd… also in much of the Kirk Franklin’s material… as well
as in many others who want to jump onto that band wagon. You can say that they have sold out …and it is not for Christ’s sake. But for that all mighty thing called in the Biblical text ‘filthy luka.’
Kim Burrell in her latest 
cd release has attempted to do the same thing… as well as, Kierra Shear… and Trinity 5:7… and the list goes on… and on.
When I saw Kim baring her shoulder and trying to appear as a sex vixen in a music video produced from a song on her latest cd… it seemed sad to me. I thought… she has eyes but can not see. The video was anything but sexy… nor was it appealing.
Then I saw where someone had posted over the internet a note about the Trinity 5:7′s latest video… saying that she was shocked at their display… asking if it was just her…. or whether or not the video appeared to be leaning towards anything gospel… religious… or 
Christian at all???
So, I checked out the video. And my answer was…‘NAY.’ ‘NAY.’ ‘NAY.’
One could say that many of todays new brand of gospel music producers and performers are pimping that gift that God has so freely endowed them with … which is supposed to be for His glory… by subverting it for their own benefit… and worldly profit.
Yeah, the kids like it… I guess…must be… for the most part. And don’t get me wrong… not all of it is totally bad. There are a lot of songs that I like by Kirk… and at least 1 by Tye.
I know my son loves Kierra’s latest cd. But when I first heard it I didn’t have a clue as to who it was singing. It was not until sometime later that he told me it was Kierra, Karen Clark Shears daughter.
Kierra’s cd does get there but after a while… but still you can see the direction that Kierra chose to take in an effort to land on Christian radio stations… as opposed to catering to the gospel music brand of those she follows so closely in the footsteps of… namely her mother, Karen… and her aunts… the other Clark Sisters. And of course her grandmother… Dr. Mattie Moss Clark.
Thank goodness most of the gospel artists and especially the gospel quartets have remained true and strong their art form. Chosing to preserve the traditions of an art form that still moves many of us to tears with moving 
touching lyrics… or foot stomping songs… and hand clapping music that still brings many of us to our feet. Music created in the muke 
and miry clay of the fields during slavery times… and on up through the years of our history here in America.
Maybe, I should have waited to write this during Black History Month… or Gospel Music Month. Is there such a thing as… Gospel Music Month?
Is there a Gospel Music Month?
If not then there should be. Because our music is the only real American music… as Soul Food is the only real American cuisine. Because it is the only food in which its roots were started here in America. Almost every other food we eat came from some other country… rooted in other cultures and brought here as the immigrants began to flow into this country. But 
our circumstances being different… forced us to create ‘a new’ everything we eat… said… and did.
Earlier this evening while working on this blog… I had my computer on the Word Network listening to this 
preacher named Dr. Chris Hill, a pastor of a T.D. Jakes church in Dever, Colorado. I had heard him before and have occasionally watched his broadcast… but to tell you the truth I can only take a little bit of the guy. But tonight as I typed I would occasionally glance over to his broadcast …and it dawned on me as to what it was I found so irritating 
about him.
For the first thing… it came across my mind that each time I have happened to catch a piece of his broadcast… that the man appeared to be on drugs.
And for the 2nd thing that I noticed was… the guy likes to holler. I have nothing against hollering …preachers holler. So, growing up in the Church… and particular the black Church… I have learned to accept hollering by preachers as being part of their technique.
In the Pentecostal Church whenever the Pastor or whomever is preaching when they got excited they automatically began to holler… or in other words speak very fervently. But this guy… Dr. Chris Hill hollers at numerous places throughout his sermon at varying times… and most of the time as it appears to me… he does it for no other reason outside of him just wanting to do so… or to grab a laugh.
As I occasionally would glance back and forth at him tonight… he reminded me of a stand-up comedian. Appearing comedic appears to be very much Dr. Hill’s forte… or so he believes.
But tonight I felt I have really put my hand on it finally. That is to say… put my hand on exactly what it was that I had been trying to put my hands on about him. And this is it…he appears more like ‘Stepin Fetchit.’
Now, I am really not trying to crack on Dr. Hill. No, I am not. Truly, I am not trying to do that. But he gives me the impression of someone who is more playing with his audience… which is made up of a large number of white church goers. Rather than just 
delivering a sermon to them. He likes to play with the sermon and them a lot. And he seems to love to do what he thinks will prompt them to laugh.
I don’t know… perhaps I am just toooooo old school… or maybe I’m just being ‘too’ black… first the gospel music… and now this????
Will the church become full of preachers who want to do stand-up comedy rather than preach the word?
I don’t mind humor. I know that humor is good. But the entire sermon turned into a joke… I don’t know????
Or maybe it is that this is the Chris Hill way of preaching. Is the way of a new group of preachers coming up today… to slay them with laughter?
We’ll see.
But there does seem to me to be such an urgency today that wasn’t there yesterday. And that is we are getting closer and closer to the end times… far closer than we were yesterday. And though I definitely know and agree that laugher is good… but preaching salvation and deliverance is of a greater need. And I’m not saying that humor cannot be mixed with it… if you can do it without shading the overall message too much.
So, do not get me wrong. Yes, I believe in laugher. In fact, I hired some comedians recently and brought a night of comedy here… but for everything there is a time and a season. Standing up and humoring a bunch of folk straight through what should be your sermon does not seem to me to be ministering to the whole man… when you are working the crowd like a stand-up comedian rather than a man of God operating in his formal capa
city.
It was Jesus who said… “Feed my sheep.”
As of New Year’s Eve Pastor Paula White became the new senior Pastor over New Destiny Christian Church… following the sudden death of their founder and leader Pastor Zackery Tims.
In reading the story… namely the ill feelings between the Broads of Regents over the Church and Riva Tims… the ex-Mrs. Zackery Tims, who filed papers against the Church claiming that she should have been named the senior Pastor since she and her then husband, Pastor Tims, were the founders of New Destiny.
I found it interesting that Paula like Sheryl Brandy just decided to up and leave her church behind. Well, Paula not quite…as it seems that Paula is still in control over her own church still, the church Without Walls International, in Tampa, FL … which Paula founded along with her then husband, Randy White… whom we do not hear much of anything from or about rany more.
As you many may or may not have noticed …but over the course of the last few years Paula has shifted in terms of her theology… it has swung to prosperity. This is extremely evident in her daily television show segments which she broadcasts over the Word Network… and other channels as well. One thing in 
particular that stands out is Paula’s show’s guest list … featuring a bunch of false prophets and supposed evangelist… and I guess even some so-called Pastors all soliciting sowers on the behalf of Paula White.
It will be interesting to see or read about New Destiny since the passing of Pastor Zackery Tims, who had built up such a vast media following. I can only imagine how greatly vested he was in media equipment and facilities as he had a large television ministry. His vast media possibilities have now availed themselves to Paula White since she has been chosen the new Pastor at New Destiny.
The question in all of this is whether of not Paula White can carry it …or what will she do with it?
Well, tomorrow is Dr. Martin L. King’s birthday. Meaning we all have a day off… and an opportunity to reflect upon the history and legacy of Dr. King. With some states chosing it to initiate state issued Voter ID cards… a trend that can only be seen as a drive by Republicans to lessen minority votes…as well as, to try and weaken worker’s rights, benefits and compensation, medical plans, and unions busting… also changes in Women Rights to abortion etc… as it is all tied in with the power to vote.
This holiday we have much to reflect upon.
Let us not allow the hands of time to be turned back.
It is interesting to think that forty years after the death of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. we have an African American man in the White House, as President of the United States of America. And I love it.
But the other side of that coin is the number of death threats per day that President Obama receives, more than 8 per day… it is the highest number ever in the history of American Presidents. And the number of insults hurled at him publicly by Republican members of both the Senate a
nd Congress… inclusive of being called ‘liar’ loudly during a State of the Nation broadcast… can be surmised as nothing more than pure out and out racism.
Miss Daisy said it best… an elderly woman of over 100 years of age… who said to me 1 day angrily-
“Do you see what they are doing to Obama?”
And man… was Miss Daisy mad when she said it.
Unlike the kids… she saw… lived …and remembered what it had been like years before laws were created to force the change in things… as to how we live… our basic everyday rights… and privileges that were never extended to us before. But Dr. King marched…went to jail and fought that we might be able stand like everybody else in this country… with our back up straight and tall. So, we could stand on the law… and in our case ‘the laws’… there were many and they were long in coming.
Enjoy Dr. King’s day.
Got a little snow the other night… didn’t amount to much and I am glad about that after all the snow 
we got last year.
But it has been very very very cold these last few days… then 1 day would get mild… and by night fall which to come very early this year… it turns soooo cold all over again. But then it is winter… and I would rather the cold over the snow… or cold and snow.
Well, God bless… and enjoy your week. Just noticing… this is my first blog for this year….2012. Time is truly flying by.
Well, it would have been… had I finished it before now. LOL….
Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2012
Add a comment July 31, 2012
