Do not let the videos, CDs, concerts, and compliments deceive you.  These things are definitely a blessing, but they do not yield the kind of support that you may think.

It has been about five years that The Cross Movement has been putting out hip-hop music as a means of expressing the abundance of our heart.  Many can attest to the fact that it is out of this abundance that our mouths have spoken, and what was spoken has been recorded.  Ears, and better yet, hearts have heard the deliberately redundant theme, “Jesus Christ is Lord,” and “mankind is in desperate need of Him.”

As a born sinner, man must acknowledge the paradox as he finds himself stuck between the rock of God’s love, and the hard place of His holiness.  I know, this is starting off way too deep, but it is meant to invade your present reality and remind you that it is into this context that God has dispatched every one of his children.  Was not the Spirit of God given to us for more than a Sunday dance step?  Of course, we were given the Spirit to be witnesses of Jesus Christ in the roughest of situations.  That has been the mission for us as The Cross Movement.  Go into the hip hop world and make disciples…  

For us, this is a full time job.  Leading a reformation among the hip hop community  takes full time workers.  Hip hop pumps its poisonous message all day every day, and it’s  top representatives are multimillionaires who live free of any cares outside of  there  musical career.  In the ideal situation, records are supposed to sell, and sales provide income, and income meets human need, and the satisfaction of human need creates freedom to do and be all that is necessary to keep this cycle going.

Well, the Christian musician who does not, and many times can not play to the market, is in need of another way to raise income.  Because of the sacredness of the gospel mission, and his counter-cultural calling, he finds himself in need of a biblical strategy for ministering in this ministry/industry. Our commitment to Christ and his gospel greatly limits our mass appeal, but that is why we can not afford to be driven by a desire to be a rich and famous group.  We agree that we need to excel in our craft, and develop our gifts.  Yet it is the power of God that makes the change in peoples lives, not our skills.  So if we are going to remain faithful to call of God, we may have do some things differently.  Indeed we are doing some things differently and we want to explain this to you.

Because our ministry has us doing battle on “industry turf” we face many difficulties.  We often feel the tension of being evangelists who are also recording artists.  Because of the “rules of the game”, we have found that unless God does something unique, we face the issue of having to abandon or at least alter the divine mission just to do the kinds of things that would make the kind of money that would support us.

The Cross Movement has taken a voluntary stance to depend on honorariums and donations rather than charging a fee for performance.  We thought that you should know that regardless of what it may appear to be on the surface, we could make more money at McDonalds than we make from record sales.  Even the artist who goes platinum (1 million units sold) could not live very long on those royalties alone.  Most musical artists depend on Public appearances, concerts, endorsements, movies, and bonuses, that’s where the “big dollars” come from.  As ambassadors sent with a message that’s like “fire in our bones,” we choose not to go that route.  Not only does that route increase the chances of being led astray, but also we just want to be different.  The Lord definitely has allowed His word to color our perspective and drive us to this stance.  Paul said that though he deserved to reap material blessing from ……, he waived his right so as not to be a burden on those whom he was just determined to minister to.  In fact, he described his methodology as “robbing other churches, to be able to confirm the integrity of his commitment to Christ and them.” 

In like manner, we want to be servants of the free gospel, who operate like missionaries rather than celebrities.  This places us in a great position to learn and live lives of faith.  We have families and needs, responsibilities, dreams, goals, and desires, like you.  We are just convinced that there is more than one legitimate way to achieve this.  God has communicated Himself as the God that provides for those who live outside the realm of normalcy and security for the sake of Christ and his gospel.  Many would accuse us of being too spiritual, or even foolish for this mode of operation.  But we will trust the God of the Bible who commended the men and women of Hebrews 11. 

We have positioned ourselves to receive support from God’s people as we formed a nonprofit organization.  As regular contributions and honorariums come in, we use them to enhance ministry, and meet the needs of a core group of Cross Movement members.  Last year we received a grant that provided some cushion for us financially, but that will not be sufficient as the new year approaches.  We need more people to join us as we seek to work for the Lord in the gospel ministry.  We are seeking for the support of individuals, churches, and foundations.

You can help us to fulfill the mandate of God, especially toward the hip hop community.  We need regular, consistent support so we can expand ministry and increase productivity.    We will eventually be able to expand our missionary staff so that others can be apart of Cross Movement Ministries (not the rap group).  We are attracting many other young “ex ghetto” youth who want to devote their lives to full time ministry.  We want to be an example for them, work with them and disciple some of them.  Our web site will become an even more resourceful center.  Tens of thousands have heard the gospel, and this number will increase with your help.  You get to be a sender, and we will go with the help of you resources. 

It is only recently that we felt comfortable making this appeal with such directness.  We believe that many of you have monitored us for some time, and have seen some kind of consistency.  You have been made aware that everything is not perfect with us, and we go through pruning on a consistent basis.  Sin must be dealt with in our lives as well as in our communities.  However, we want to present ourselves as bond servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, and servants of the cross.  If God gives you a desire to give to this ministry then please pray for us, and give to us.  We need monetary gifts as well as different kinds of office equipment.  We are a tax-exempt, 501 (c)3, nonprofit organization so you can give to the cause as a charitable donation.  We trust the Lord as this appeal goes out, and we thank all of you who stand with us in prayer and support us by giving.

In His Service,
The Cross Movement