At Next 2010, CJ Mahaney challenged Curt “Voice” Allen to come up with a rap based on Kevin DeYoung’s book, The Good News We Almost Forgot: Rediscovering the Gospel in a 16th Century Catechism. A few months later, Curt met the challenge and wrote a song, which he performed at the Sovereign Grace Pastor’s Conference. I continue to marvel at the ability of rappers to capture so much content in so little time.
I didn’t grow up on the Heidelberg Catechism, but greatly appreciated Kevin DeYoung’s book, which contains the full Catechism and his comments on it. The catechism is filled with clear thoughts about vital topics including God, salvation, the Trinity, the church, death and hell, the sacraments, prayer, sin, authority, God’s word, and much more. In his introduction, Kevin wrote:
I freely confess I love the Heidelberg Catechism. I love it because it’s old, it’s biblical, and it’s true. It’s not perfect. It’s not infallible. It says too little about some subjects and too much about some others. But it is through and through trustworthy and beautiful, simple and deep. Most of all, I love the Heidelberg Catechism because I love the gospel it expounds and the salvation it proclaims.
Kevin has a gift for communicating deep truths powerfully and succinctly. I found myself underlining throughout the book. Here are some of the quotes I highlighted:
If we truly believe in providence, we will view success and prosperity not as products of good upbringing, good looks, or good intelligence but ultimately as the unmerited favor of a good God. (61)
On this side of heaven, we will always be sinning saints, righteous wretches, and on occasion even justified jerks. (115)
Too often when we struggle with prayer we focus on the wrong things. We focus on praying better instead of focusing on knowing better the one to whom we pray. And we focus on our need for discipline rather than our need for God. (232)
If we are to be fruitful and godly Christians, we need to have a theological core without being theologically crusty…Let’s try hard to be discerning and grounded without always looking for the next theological misstep in our friends, our family, or the songs we sing. (241, 244)
Kevin succeeds masterfully in the last area – having a theological core without being theologically crusty.
I highly recommend Kevin’s book. And hope you enjoy the rap song it inspired.
Read the lyrics here. Download the MP3 here.
how come he’s got his vocals rapping on the back track? what’s the point of him performing it live?
good words–especially the hook.
This was GREAT! Creative and passionate! Thanks, Curt, for living out 1 Corinthians 14:26 and sharing your gifts for the building up of the body. And thanks to your mentors as well for using their gifts to spur you on. Well done. Glory to God. (OK, and now I’m off to read the Heidelberg Catechism….)
You’re right. So much content, so little time. This is perhaps one of the unparalleled strengths of the hip hop genre. There was some clever word-smithing in this take, and videos like these remind me (as I have always believed) that hip hop is a beautiful art-form, and it is worth redeeming.
Eric….that’s how live hip/hop is performed. That’s the norm. From Jay-Z to Lecrae, most hip/hop artists rap over the full track.
Eric,
The same reason why pastors don’t prerecord themselves for Sunday AM. Live is live.