Do you know who G. Craige Lewis is? You should, because what he is saying will probably affect you in one way or another, especially if you are a Christian. His extreme, partially inaccurate views and his legendary attacks on Gospel artists and Workers in the Ministry has become nothing short of a witch hunt. I have watched almost all of his videos and presentations as well as read his blogs and his website. While his goals I believe are noble, I think that the (mis)information he presents has been distorted and has been used as a banner for extremist fundamentalist within the church. The first thing that jumps out at a listener to his presentation is that he appears to be extremely homophobic. The second thing that jumps out at you is that he has no problem with calling people out by name, even when it borders on slander. Case in point, during his earlier presentations (the truth about Hip hop) he openly attacked R&B artist Jill Scott (on his website as well) as a part of the Islamic spin off 5% movement. Look here. Completely untrue. I have looked at all of her liner notes, attended her concert, and read her biography. She does not hesitate at any point to give all glory to God and goes so far at her concerts to specify on stage that she praises the "God in Heaven who sent his Son for us!" I WAS THERE. I heard this at the Ryman auditorium in downtown Nashville, TN. Jill Scott is a Christian who believes in Jesus Christ. Does she sing about Sex? Yes. Does she sing about Love? Absolutely. IF you want to attack Jill on being sexual, fine. At the same time, she makes public disclaimers that her music is for adults. It has it's place. But to make public claims that she is part of a movement in which her stated belief in God is transferred to the belief that the black man is God (5%ism) is completely untrue and should not be tolerated. This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this man. He also attacks pastor's and Bishops in the church who he feels are inappropriately rich and who are only preaching of prosperity. Whatever good he says is completely compromised by his methods of delivery. This whole movement started back when he claims he received a vision in 1990, and now has mushroomed into a noted underground phenomenon, with churches throughout the country bringing him in and helping him to sell thousands of his dvds. The problem I have with G. Craige is that while he appears to know what he is talking about, many of his reported facts are patently wrong. Two that jump to mind are the Jay-z "murder, murder Jesus" snippet along with the High school with 60% aids in South Carolina. The High School Aids story he told is a known hoax explained at this website. The Jay-z snippet played backwards has already been completely debunked as being a DJ remix by DJ Danger Mouse with words jumbled and reassembled taken from the original song "Lucifer" from the 2004 Black Album. Here is where G. Craige makes his claim, and here is where it is debunked by a music fan. Yet even after careful research and study reveal this discrepancies, people still invite him in and fall for everything that he says, hook, line, and sinker. We as a Church need to realize that a concoction fed to us consisting of a little truth mixed with a little lie still equals an assault on our Salvation. This kind of deception is even more powerful and dangerous then an outright lie, because at the outset of the argument, he comes with Biblical text and emotion, and then proceeds to pull the wool over your eyes. Parents come to these presentations and bring their kids, and he terrifies the parents and in some instances sensationalizes the truth. Now the parent feels like they "know" whats going on and in some instances they are just in the dark as much (or more) then when they first walked in to hear the presentation. Over the next few posts I will be peeling back the layers on this interesting man and share with you a few things you may not have noticed or known at all about him, his "ministry" and the claims he makes about Christianity, the Church, Gospel Music, and the people around the church.
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