Since this an introduction for so many of you to Mark-J and the music, I wanted to let you know of the heart of this urban hip hop minister. While loving hip hop, loving Christ is so much more of whom Mark-J is. Because you are all so special to me I want to offer this album to you for FREE. Simply visit http://www.gozpul.com/freemarkj. You can provide this link to each person in your groups, all other ministry groups, youth groups, other leaders, and even the general public. This link will expire on November 30, 2009, so get it quick. I believe Christ has something so passionate on this record that the World needs to hear it. So as you get into this song by song description of the album you can also enjoy the entire album. I hope you love it, but more than that I pray it ministers the things God put on my heart.
1) AN EVERYDAY WORLD
The Lord gave me this song after traveling extensively out of the country. I began seeing the world from a different vantage point. Although there are many different cultures, religions, races and creeds, we still have a common thread of sin. I truly believe Jesus Christ is the universal answer. This song was birthed as a result and it eventually became the title of the album.
2) MERGE
I wanted to somehow get through to people who can’t associate merging how they live with what they believe. I know it’s simply a statement but cats really don’t get it, so I figured I’d do a song to emphasize it. Hypocrisy is not a disease that you haphazardly catch. It’s when people choose to disconnect their belief system from their every day living. In Matthew 23, God speaks of such lifestyles and the consequences of them. In this day and age of relevancy (as oppose to scripture) and gray areas I felt a message needed to be absolute in regards to God’s viewpoint.
3) ENMITY
This song was inspired by people who justify everything to live a life of spiritual complacency...never really going all the way with Christ because they’re holding on to the world. I have wrestled with this in certain aspects of my walk. The funny thing about this Christian life is that it’s similar to a mountain climb. You can’t just stand still or eventually you begin to slide back down. You’re constantly challenged to move forward towards the image of Christ which means tearing away from this world.
4) MARVELOUS LIGHT
I was studying 1 Peter 2:9-10 in my daily devotion one day and it said, “...you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light...” After reading that it really convicted me to write a song that displayed my gratitude to the Lord for bringing me into his light. We who had no mercy have now obtained mercy because we are his chosen people. It’s really hard to comprehend the depth of God’s love sometimes.
5) TUMBLING DOWN
Tertullian was a Christian writer/lawyer in the days Marcus Aurelius (Emperor of Rome). He made a profound statement that changed my way of living. He said, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church” In other words, the faith of one who is willing to lose his life can multiply the faith in others. Just looking at the religious and social climate we live in today, I believe we are once again approaching an era of martyrdom. The question is...are we willing to die for what we believe?
6) DATING OR MARRIED
This song piggybacks the theme of the song, “Enmity.” It’s yet another challenge to people to stop compartmentalizing God to Sunday mornings or when you feel spiritual but to let Christ rule all aspects of your life. I often find myself chanting the hook to this song in my everyday walk just to remind myself in whom I serve.
7) RIDE OUT
Authenticity has been missing in Hip-hop for sometime now and is spilling over into the Christian industry. I felt led to bring this issue to light in regards to artists who seem to be following this trend. Unfortunately, trends become habits which in-turn become traditions and that’s when people stop asking the question, “Why?” I pray this song will encourage artists to remain authentic before that happens.
8) APATHY
We can become so numb to the Lord and his presence that it leaks into our vantage point on life. We start having an apathetic mindset to every aspect of our spiritual walk, as if someone shot Novocain into our hearts. Everyone begins to act like their own island all to themselves with no one around to help. No one’s praying for each other, no one’s lifting each other up. We lose that accountability that God so desperately wants us to have.
9) LET IT GO
This song was inspired by Luke 9:62. Too many of us (including myself) get tripped up in this journey towards God by looking back at regrets and past mistakes. Christ forgives 7 X 70 (which is why I almost named this song, “491”) and his grace is sufficient. The enemy keeps our heads turned to the past so we stumble towards the future. We need true repentance to begin afresh and continue to press towards the mark.
10) HOLD THIS LINE
This song is a charge to all Christians to stand firm on what they believe. We are getting attacked on all sides; political correctness, societies’ standards of what is right and mostly by false doctrines creeping up in the church. In the words of Paul in 2 Timothy 4:3-4, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” We must draw a line in the sand and hold to it!!!
11) VANITY FAIR
I wanted a song that expressed the heart of King Solomon in Ecclesiastes when he spoke about the highs of life and how it all amounts to nothing. Solomon said it’s like grasping the wind, which means you can feel it for a moment but its not real satisfaction. Really much hasn’t changed since the days of Solomon. We have just switched vices (cars, houses, clothes, etc).
12) LUV THING
If you are cruising on a nice summer day or if you’re sipping on some lemonade just basking in the sun thinking about the Lord...this is the song you want playing in the background. A hip-hop soulful record you can just chill to and marinate on the goodness of God. I was inspired to write this song while on vacation with my wife in the Bahamas. I was looking up at the beautiful scenery of God’s wonderful creation and just starting writing. The Earth’s the Lord and the fullness there of....no one can compare!!!
13) DARFUR DREAMS
I was in Seattle, WA last year for a show and stopped by Seattle Pacific University to attend a symposium on the crisis of Darfur. I was floored and in tears by what I heard. Allison Hosley (a registered nurse/missionary) spoke of issues of Darfur from her personal experience since she lived over there for time, lending a hand to the refugee camps. I felt convicted and compelled to write this song to help bring about awareness to the tragedies still going on over there. When I ask the average person on the street about Darfur, people usually respond, “Who’s that?” Most people think it’s a person and not a place. I pray this song prompts hearts to get involved and stand up for what is right.
14) BABY U DON’T LUV ME
The theme of the song was based on the fact that many couples have gotten divorced lately. Kat and I had a rough start at the beginning of our marriage. Only God’s grace and a strong will to please our Lord kept us together. We were both stubborn, headstrong people so we clashed a lot at first. However, we could always rely on each other’s love for the authority of Christ in our lives. I tell young people to look for potential mates based on their awe and respect for the word of God and its supreme sovereign authority in their lives. Trust in prayer even more than your common reasoning. And know that it’s never too late to reconcile no matter how fatal the relationship looks.
15) LOOK TO THE SKY
This song really came about while touring the U.S. and seeing gentrification in full effect. The dormancy of the youth today on our society’s ills is astonishing. Young folks are trapped in a bubble by media and entertainment, to the extent that they are ignorant to the global issues that surround us. The youth are just looking to the sky similar to how people looked to the unknown altar in Acts 17. I needed an outlet to express this issue through song.
16) CHAMPION
I always feel it necessary to have a song that shows the power of the God I serve. The book of Psalms in the Bible constantly displays the unimaginable supremacy of God and the lowly feebleness of man. No matter how deep your Bible knowledge or your intellectual prowess you can never fully comprehend the magnificence of God. I literally get a headache even trying to figure out the vastness of space and time. Crazy!
