Unity - Being Drawn by the World?
Posted by Melvin Jones on June 28th, 2006
I think maybe I’ve figured it out. Apparently T. Dexter is getting ready to change professions. Apparently he is about to become a secular concert and entertain event producer. That is the only reason I can see for some of the guests he is inviting to The ‘Mess 2006. Either that or he thinks you are some incredibly stupid people.
In a concert called “The Celebration of Unity” ‘Mess organizers are going to have Aretha Franklin, Pastor Shirley Caesar, Donnie McClurkin, Fred Hammond, Kelly Price…”and more” strutting their stuff. Notice I didn’t say “ministering to the attendees.”
Why do I get the feeling that the only thing unifying these performers is name recognition and their ability to draw a crowd? Aretha Franklin is the uncontested queen of Soul. If you don’t know who she is, not only are you not an authentic Black but you must have been living in a cave for the last thirty-five years. Why is she performing? At best her connection to the Gospel and the Christian life has been tenuous during those thirty-five years.
I’ll give McClurkin, Hammond, and Caesar a pass. Though they are likely more performers than ministers, they are active and have been active in gospel music.
But then we get to Kelly Price. One of the things I like about writing this blog is the fact that I have to learn a lot of new things. One of the things I have been learning is the personalities in secular music. At first blush that would seem kind of curious since I am doing a Christian Apologetics blog. But given the intermingling of the secular with the Christian, perhaps it shouldn’t be that surprising.
But back to Kelly Price. Until this year, Ms. Price has apparently been a secular performer; a rather successful secular performer. I checked on some of the lyrics of her songs and they reflect the immoral view of sexuality and intimacy displayed by most of the current crop of popular singers. I won’t even bother to post some of the sleazier lyrics. But before any of you accuse me of looking just at her past, I recognize that Ms. Price is being featured in a Gospel album entitled “God’s Gift.” So maybe she has, within the last year, committed her life to Jesus Christ. Maybe.
Is it just me or do the rest of you think it’s somewhat presumptuous to feature a person who is better known for their secular productions than for being featured on a religious album just now being released? Why do I get the feeling that this concert is more about generating revenue and publicity than about teaching people how to live holy and acceptable lives to God (Romans 12:1,2)?
T. Dexter is also featuring Gerard Henry, the creator and host of BET’s Gospel music video show “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” He says his primary goal is to “motivate people to use their gifts to bring honor and glory to God.”
Of course you do know that BET doesn’t stand for Black Entertainment Television right?. I used to think it did. But then I spent some time watching it. That was when I decided the acronym actually stands for “Booties Exposed Tonight.”
Here is a two-fold why question: Why would someone produce a gospel program to be broadcast on such an ungodly network as BET? And please don’t tell me that it is to attract the unsaved who watch BET. If that’s the case, why not pay to broadcast that show and others on some of the adult entertainment cable channels?
Second why: Why is T. Dexter bringing in a man who would work for a network that broadcasts such negative-imaged sewage? Who next - Larry Flynt? Afterall, Larry professed to be a Christian something like fifteen years ago.






