THE GOSPEL MINISTER AND THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY

The entertainment industry is the one of the fastest growing industry alongside with the mobile and communication industry.  Entertainment has moved from its traditional method to a more advanced method of operation that generates billions of dollars every year and adds to the GDP of the nation. This industry is very powerful because it has the ability to influence a wider audience positively or negatively. 

Over the years we have witness the decline of morality in this industry giving rise to “Sodomic” and “Gomorric” life style. One of the major reasons why this industry is still growing in this decadence is because the church has in one way or the other imbibed these worldly virtues into its system of gospel ministrations, therefore given no clear distinction between the worldly entertainers and gospel ministers. 

We must therefore understand that the entertainment industry for the gospel minister is not a place for entertainment; it’s a place for spiritual edification through spiritual songs birthed under the incubation of the Holy Ghost to capture the lost and recapture the derailed elects. 

Let me list a few mistakes this generation of gospel ministers make in regards to their approach to the entertainment industry.

• Changing the lyrics of a circular song to make it suitable to sing in the church. Gospel musicians must understand that there is a spirit behind every song and no matter how you change the lyrics it doesn't change the inspiration from where the music was originally born. If a particular music is satanically inspired, no matter your good reasons and no matter how good the new lyrics sound, as far as it contains certain beats and similarities like its worldly counterpart you cannot relate it to God. God is holy and pure, he cannot accommodate iniquity, and the Holy Ghost has not run out of ideas and inspiration to inspire good music. The bible says in Job 32:8 “But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding”, this means that a gospel artist must sit under the inspiration of the Almighty and not taking leads from a circular musician.
• Using the circular party jam, techno, rap, and hard rock beats in gospel music production. I have been forced to stop listening to some gospel artist both within this nation and other nations of world. This is because when I hear the beat of their songs it sounds to me like I am in a wild party or a rock show.  This has also given birth to various arms in the gospel music industry like the Gospel Hard Rock music, Gospel Rap music, Afro Gospel music, Gospel Hip-hop style, and Gospel party Jam. These dimensions took a foothold because of trying to compete with the entertainment industry, trying to sell their music beyond the Christian community to others who love such satanic beats, trying to make more money, and to please their fans. We must understand as a Christian community that we have acceptable standards by God to praise him.
  
• Dressing like a hip-hop artist and other circular musician in Christian music videos. I watch most of our Christian music videos and I keep wondering how would these videos convict a sinner? When a gospel musician in putting on a dog chain, wearing rings in all fingers, sagging their shorts, making signs with fingers in photo album, and sometimes with a rude hair style and then calling the name of Jesus in his/her music video I see it as a loss of identity. What is the difference between light and darkness, I remember watching a church called the hip-hop church that gives people the ability to serve God in the hip-hop way. God has his pattern and standards; it is us who will go to his standard and not him coming down to our standard.
  
• Break Dancing, circular musical dance steps, and all other dancing stunts in music videos. Break dance came from Satan and was spread through his instrument late MJ. The circular world uses breaking dances and stunts in their videos and also for reality shows competition. Then I ask myself, “why is a gospel artist encouraging our Christian youths to break dance and stunt through his music video which is not even adding value or adding a soul to the kingdom of God?”  If not for the mercies of God most of these ignorant youths may die on stage out of simple mistake when engaging in such risk act as a means of entertainment. If the world is the one that initiates every dance step that we copy then what is our faith for the future?

TRENDinG NOW IN CHURCHES

Circular stand-up comedy and comedians featuring in the gathering of Angels and Just men made perfect. Comedy is more of entertainment and nothing edifying about it; the reason why it is wrong to allow comedians feature in the church is because the bible says in the multitude of words you must find sin, and comedy is all about multitude of words that tries to create laughter out of  meaningless events. Paul said in (Eph 5:4) “Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks”.  Every comedian whether Christian or circular makes a fool of themselves sometimes to crack jokes or tell some lie about an event that never occurred in other to make the audience laugh, this is what Paul refers to as foolish talking. A lot of the time we don’t know when this comedians use the name of the Lord in vain and we laugh about it because he just said a funny joke.

 The church must be careful of what it allows and accommodates because I am yet to see a comedian perform in a mosque or even in an orthodox church. Am not saying that comedy is bad because I listen to a lot of it to relax myself, but am saying it is wrong to imbibe it into the church. A Christian comedian can feature in circular events if they choose to but the church of God must stop encouraging comedians to feature in major church convention and programs because the church is not and entertainment ground, it is a spiritual ground for the move of the Spirit.