I love this! I know of a guy who had a theological (non-essential) difference with a very well known pastor and would go online and smear him. He did this for years. One day prior to communion he was convicted of the way he handled it. These two guys are now reconciled and God is glorified. I'm sure they still disagree, but they do so with love. Do they forsake truth for love? No. But they also do not forsake love for truth. They exist together.

Thanks Sho!

Crayzee Joe

Hey Sho, even though you may not respond, I was wanting to ask you to clarify something.

When you said "It wasn't because they disagreed with me thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."

Are you saying that they believe the Holy Spirit is NOT God as well as they also believe the Bible ISN'T the final Authority?

Or are you saying they believe that He IS God and the Bible IS the final Authority?

Mostly what im wondering is do you yourself believe the Holy Spirit is God and part of the Trinity?

And it would seem obvious that you think the Bible IS the final Authority.

P.S. Good writings, and good Wisdom.

And on a side note (not that it is relevant to anyone) my belief is that the Holy Spirit IS God and the Bible IS the final authority.
(You can hear from the Lord and get words and prophecies but if it goes against the Word it is not from God.)

In Christ,
-Brad

BRAD
hey I know for a fact he believes that the spirit IS God and is part of the Trinity, God bless!

Thanks 4 this Sho. This issue has been popping up all around me recently. Now i can study this for myself, take my own grasp of it, then breathe it to others. God Bless

I love this 2, absolutely amazing Sho. I check myself on that all the time, A Lot of times I quote you guys or Mark Driscoll, or Piper but dont check things out myself. Sometimes Im like "well what do I beleive?" It makes me dig into my word more and I love it!

Brad,
Now that you've asked it, I can see how that statement could be misread. But make no mistake on what Sho was sayin'. Without doubt, the Holy Spirit IS God. (Peep Trip Lee's Behold the Spirit.) No doubt, the Bible IS the final authority. (Peep Trip Lee's Real Vision...which video I can't wait to see.)
Those are major issues. No Christians should disagree on those. (I'm not sayin' that they don't, but they really shouldn't.) But, that point was, on minor stuff you can think you're right without sayin' the other person was wrong. Let the minor stuff go if you are just self-righteously, unlovingly condemning people.
-Grace and Peace

Hey Sho, I think that for clarity you should change that line:

"It wasn't because they disagreed with me thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."

To

"It wasn't because I disagreed with them for thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."

Hey Sho, I think that for clarity you should change that line:

"It wasn't because they disagreed with me thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."

To

"It wasn't because I disagreed with them for thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God or that the Bible wasn't the final Authority."

Very edifying, thanks for this Sho!

I THINK THAT COMMENT NEEDS TO BE CLARIFIED...

"It wasn't because they disagreed with ME thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God."

AND NOT BY M.IMMANUEL OR JONATHAN. DONT KNOW HOW ANYBODY COULD SAY THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT GOD SO I [DO] THINK IT WAS A TYPO. BUT I STILL THINK SHO, BEN OR SOMEBODY AT REACH SHOULD CLARIFY THAT BECAUSE ALOT OF BABES COME THRU HERE, AND THATS A VERY STRONG ISSUE. IT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE NOT TO ADDRESS THAT.

BUT I DO BELIVE THE BIBLE ISNT THE FINAL AUTHORITY...GOD IS! DONT GET ME WRONG TO ME THE BIBLE IS HOLY AND INSPIRED BY GOD, BUT THE CREATOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREATER THAN THE CREATED...

I THINK THAT COMMENT NEEDS TO BE CLARIFIED...

"It wasn't because they disagreed with ME thinking the Holy Spirit wasn't God."

AND NOT BY M.IMMANUEL OR JONATHAN. DONT KNOW HOW ANYBODY COULD SAY THE HOLY SPIRIT IS NOT GOD SO I [DO] THINK IT WAS A TYPO. BUT I STILL THINK SHO, BEN OR SOMEBODY AT REACH SHOULD CLARIFY THAT BECAUSE ALOT OF BABES COME THRU HERE, AND THATS A VERY STRONG ISSUE. IT WOULD BE IRRESPONSIBLE NOT TO ADDRESS THAT.

BUT I DO BELIVE THE BIBLE ISNT THE FINAL AUTHORITY...GOD IS! DONT GET ME WRONG TO ME THE BIBLE IS HOLY AND INSPIRED BY GOD, BUT THE CREATOR HAS ALWAYS BEEN GREATER THAN THE CREATED...

Cheno Lyfe God's will for us is revealed through his scriptures - the Bible - written by His prophets. Therefore if God speaks through His prophets who wrote the Bible, the principles written in the Bible are an expression of God's final Authority. So you cannot state that the Bible is not the Final Authority and yet state that God is the Final Authority - because the Bible is the Word of God.

Now on the general issue of the Holy Spirit/Trinity see 2 Peter 1:16-21.

Ha Ha..sorry for the lack of clarity. Sho Baraka in the Greek means (the great confusion). I definitely believe the Holy spirit is God and that the Bible is the Final Authority. Hopefully you get that in my music.

Ha Ha..sorry for the lack of clarity. Sho Baraka in the Greek means (the great confusion). I definitely believe the Holy spirit is God and that the Bible is the Final Authority. Hopefully you get that in my music.

This is a wonderful discussion. We must take to time to become convinced for ourselves what we believe. So many of us are or have been at the mercy of the teacher. We must learn to take every word of every verse of every phrase of God's Word and plug it into all the other verses of His 66 book love letter before we decide what we believe. Then we will be able to correct others in love if there is the need.
The music Reach Records puts out really helps encourage people to do this so THANK YOU for allowing Jesus to use you in this way.
Your fellow Bond-Slave of Christ
Chris

Hey Sho, instead of posting a comment with the correction, why not edit the blog or re-post it? Not everyone is going to read long enough to see your comment.

Hi Sho,

I mostly agree with your article. I had to ask myself some of those very questions Saturday Jan. 31st, 2009. Esp. #3: If I believe someone is teaching wrong doctrine, am I attempting to reconcile him or her in love or just attempting to embarrass him or her by proving how ignorant his or her stance is? I asked it too late, but I was able to apologize to the person

Sho,

You said, "There are some things on my last album that I regret saying." I was wondering if you could provide a few lines as examples?

Hey folks,
As listeners of ReachRecords we can know pretty much were they stand biblically based on their music. As members of the Church we need to have some grace on these brothers when they are not 100% clear on points. If there are issues that you feel need to be addressed you should decreitly send a private email, instead of trying to expose. My crew and I love this ministry, and are encouraged to hear kindred spirits.

{{{DanB (from Toronto)}}}}

UR 100% RIGHT AND AFTER I WROTE THAT I KINDA REGRETTED IT, BUT IT WAS MORE FOR THE ONES THAT ANSWERED FOR HIM THAN ANYTHING. I DID [IMMEDIATELY] SEND A "PRIVATE EMAIL" TO REACH ASKING THEM TO PLEASE CORRECT IT, WHICH THEY DID AND IT DIDNT TAKE EM 24 HRS TO DO!!! [THANX YALL]

ONCE AGAIN UR 100% RIGHT THOUGH DAN B, MATTHEW 18:15!

THANX FOR THE CORRECTION SHO!!!

"I believe one of the many things Christians should do more is think."

Maybe we as christians shouldn't think so much as meditate on truth... God's people are afraid of that term "meditate" because they think it's a yoga thing, but the word tells us to do it. Once we give ourselves room to "think" instead of having truth ingrained, through inspiration and meditation, we come up with our own ideologies and don't let the Lord speak. I've often come up with this dilemma in which I ask my self "should I or shouldn't I say that?, will it offend?" and through "thinking about it" I come up with the conclusion that maybe I shouldn't at the time. This is because I wouldn't listen at the first hint and I didn't trust my observation as inspired as it may have been. So maybe it's no longer a matter of thinking but of meditating and conditioning ourselves to hear the voice of God rather than believe that our mind can make a good decision. (If Adam's didn't neither will mine, but God's will all the time)

Sho,

Dude let me just say first off that I thank God for your music ministry and that of Reach Records b/c it is much more than music it is like going to seminary for $13 a cd ha!

Just one thought that I had though brotha, and I mean this in the most loving way i can it's not meant to be a slight, but it seems to me that every single time i read or hear a commentary in the same vein as the one you have here i don't see many blogs or hear commentaries from here on out that DO call out people preaching heresies.

to be fair i haven't read every single one of your blogs or heard every one of your songs so I'm sure being the faithful Christian you seem to be that you have addressed some things in the past. i think the church today is tipping the scales more towards being TOO cautious and being TOO sensitive and that we are afraid to say so and so in evangelicalism is preaching heresy and has not repented to this point in time stay away from them they are in error. this goes especially for holy hip hop, it seems to me that we are allowing way too much silliness to go unchecked and the church appears to the outside world to be somewhat of a circus b/c the true church won't purify itself through church discipline and through discernment preaching.

now you may say reach records is all about that and i agree! that's why i roll with y'all but at the same time i have heard people who are in just flat out error as far as the scriptures teach praising yawls music and the message which could be preached right at them just zooms over there head. how can this happen?

now since I've put it out there i guess the burden is on me to give an example, and i would have to start with tonex. from everything i have heard and read about his situation the brother has not been contrite, he has not been repentant, he has a backward attitude when it comes to his sin, and that whole situation blew over and is now an afterthought and he's about to drop another cd soon. i know you're starting a new church venture soon, is that how it would go down in your church?

I'm not saying we/you/us need to take on the Holy Spirit's role in the life of a believer b/c then I'D be in the wrong, but i am saying in my humble opinion the scales have been tipping for quite some time towards the direction of not speaking up about these things and these individuals and we should continue to preach the truth in love.

i speak on this directly in terms of holy hip hop, i was having a debate w/a supposed christian rapper the other day on illspot regarding President Obama's stance on abortion and if there existed a contradiction w/Christians voting for this man. let me tell you i've had more civil debates w/atheists than i did w/this cat. when are we as a church from our hip hop cultural perspective going to address the problems in our hip hop culture even within believers? there is rampant arrogance and pride that are specific marks of secular hip hop that come through these cats both on the mic and off.

are these kinds of things worth addressing?

anyways, sorry for the long post, i had that in me for some time. now if you wish you may tear apart my reasoning and show me where i'm wrong! lol no j/k but seriously i don't claim to know it all and i know for a fact that i could tweak my stance on this issue so that i am being more biblical.

thanks again sho, love you brother! i mean that.

p.s. i agree w/the majority of your piece on we shouldn't be slinging around quotes from mere men as if they were scripture but i think we should start w/the scriptures and then show how men throughout church history have lived out its truth and show that their statements are valid b/c they are based upon scripture.

Amen;
God bless

yo sho not to add to that 2%, but i think that 2Tim 6:3-4 is actually 1 Tim 6:3-4,

grace and peace, tyree

that line is not confusing. if you read it again you would see that he says its NOT that they didn't believe JESUS is GOD and salvation came by faith through grace. it is not confusing.

Sho,

It's funny that I just read Ecclessiastes this morning; talking about wisdom of men. I am extremely grieved by so many people who fall for the okey doke. Just because something may sound good out of someone's mouth, we have to check it with the word of God. I hear so many people say, "My pastor or my bishop said it, so it must be true". Do people believe in researching what was said? Put your grind into understanding God's word. In our society as well as churches, we count prominent figures or celebrities words as gospel. There is only one Gospel. We owe it to ourselves, our brothers and sisters, and our God to know, represent, and defend the word of God. Props to you for sticking to the Word!

Love it, Live it, Understand It

Thats real talk,rj..i believe that we should seek biblical backing if we are to believe what people say..cause erybody,including pastors and bishops,have they own doctrines and stuff..but thanx sho,and tha one one six clique for being the inspiration u are to me

I truly believe as Christians, saved,redeemed

We are the redeemed

Hey Sho,

Its a while late on this response but:

Thank you for clarifying that, I did figure it was a mistake and that you DID believe the Holy Spirit is God and that the Bible IS the final authority!

This was in NO way a bash or a attempt to call you out in front of anyone, I treasure the whole line of reach record artists and since the day I found you guys I've been encouraged by HEAVY HITTING and more importantly TRUTH BASED music!

At the time I wrote that comment I had not had your CD for more then a month and that explains why I wasn't 100% grounded that you were for the Trinity. In NO way personal! (need you listen to your music more!)

So my apologies again!

I pray you, Sho, along with Crezy (a.k.a craola) (sp?), Trip and T-dot , stay encouraged in the Faith and striving for Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
-Brad

Hey Sho,

Its a while late on this response but:

Thank you for clarifying that, I did figure it was a mistake and that you DID believe the Holy Spirit is God and that the Bible IS the final authority!

This was in NO way a bash or a attempt to call you out in front of anyone, I treasure the whole line of reach record artists and since the day I found you guys I've been encouraged by HEAVY HITTING and more importantly TRUTH BASED music!

At the time I wrote that comment I had not had your CD for more then a month and that explains why I wasn't 100% grounded that you were for the Trinity. In NO way personal! (need you listen to your music more!)

So my apologies again!

I pray you, Sho, along with Crezy (a.k.a craola) (sp?), Trip and T-dot , stay encouraged in the Faith and striving for Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
-Brad

Hey Sho,

Its a while late on this response but:

Thank you for clarifying that, I did figure it was a mistake and that you DID believe the Holy Spirit is God and that the Bible IS the final authority!

This was in NO way a bash or a attempt to call you out in front of anyone, I treasure the whole line of reach record artists and since the day I found you guys I've been encouraged by HEAVY HITTING and more importantly TRUTH BASED music!

At the time I wrote that comment I had not had your CD for more then a month and that explains why I wasn't 100% grounded that you were for the Trinity. In NO way personal! (need you listen to your music more!)

So my apologies again!

I pray you, Sho, along with Crezy (a.k.a craola) (sp?), Trip and T-dot , stay encouraged in the Faith and striving for Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
-Brad

Hey Sho,

Its a while late on this response but:

Thank you for clarifying that, I did figure it was a mistake and that you DID believe the Holy Spirit is God and that the Bible IS the final authority!

This was in NO way a bash or a attempt to call you out in front of anyone, I treasure the whole line of reach record artists and since the day I found you guys I've been encouraged by HEAVY HITTING and more importantly TRUTH BASED music!

At the time I wrote that comment I had not had your CD for more then a month and that explains why I wasn't 100% grounded that you were for the Trinity. In NO way personal! (need you listen to your music more!)

So my apologies again!

I pray you, Sho, along with Crezy (a.k.a craola) (sp?), Trip and T-dot , stay encouraged in the Faith and striving for Lord Jesus Christ.
Sincerely,
-Brad

Hey sho i really like this article and it has really shed light on some things i was debating in my mind of talking with a fellow friend about a issue they believed about the holy spirit
Basically they were trying to tell me that the holy spirit is a gift or as they say the "holy ghost speaking in tounges" one thing in it self together that every believer has to seek and pray to recieve to seal and make your salvation evident now me myself completely disagees with that Romans 8:9 the spirt dwells in every believer upon salvation and because it clearly doesnt line up with the word simply read corinthians chapter 12-14
Even though touges is a gift from the holy spirit each gift is soveringhly dispensed such as "widom knowledge prophecy" and given to each believer as he chooses to edify the building of the church and not every believer has the same gifts or will recieve the same ones but each gift is jus as equally important dispensed as he wills for the building and body of the church Ive jus been thinking of ways of how i could explain it to them in the most loving way and the motives behind why i should explain it to them and they all lined up correctly with the questions you asked at the end so i want to thank you for that and hope the best for you as you continually glorify the lord through your messages in the music

Wow!Sometimes our "doctrine" is simply the opinion or philosophy of someone we respect and have pledged loyality to.we have to be really careful that we are not presenting or defending the gospel with limited scripture and an abundance of passed down information that is not biblically sound. Lets stop regurjatating what we've been fed and start feasting on the word so that our diets are balanced and what we talk to others about,believers or non-believers, is not watered down heresies.

Timely post, Sho. Though I am a few months late. I have been wrestling with this issue for about a year and a half and I feel like the Lord is really bringing this full circle these past few weeks. *Sigh of relief* In fact, my relationship with my sister(both in Christ and by birth) was a little rocky because of disagreements regarding another(not-so-blatantly 'off') version of the doctrine that Micheal mentioned above (March 8th).

The Lord really brought brokenness when she finally told me that she felt I was condiscending(had to go and look that up, lol!) toward her. And that was when I began to realize that the way I had been treating her was not out of love and was absolutely contrary to God's will for our relationship. It didn't matter who was "right" or "wrong." The issue was that I had pushed her away and judged her in EVERYthing she said for an entire year and a half...and the Lord wasn't pleased.

Now I'm at the point where I'm like, oh, now I think I get it. This is what it really means to love one another. And it is out of that love for one another, God instructs us to speak the truth(Eph 4:1-16). Often times we bypass the love part and try to play defense attorney on God's behalf, as if He needs us to teach truth to His children. Romans 14:4 says "Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and stand he will, for the Lord is able to make him stand." A piercing verse.

I guess I share this in hopes that those who read this post will take the time to look through the scriptures that Sho posted and be prayerful in situations like this. Ask God to show you how you have failed to love your brother or sister in Christ and ask for help to love them like He wants us to. God calls us to be united, not proud. I just pray that it won't take a year and a half for someone else to get it.

You guys are such a blessing in my ear! Keep it up, not for the sake of running swiftly, but to ENDURE! I'm excited to see you all in Lima, OH on June 11th!!! Praying for you guys. O, yeah, and those DWYL commercials...they kill me!

Totally agree Sho. I am not gonna say much else..cuz I could go on and on for days. so GodBles..and stay encouraged.

What's up everyone, I'm brand-new to the forum and honourable wanted to approximately hey. hi like get to grasp unusual pepole and share in stuff with them

contain a happy year