'Holy hip-hop'

Black History Month: Calvinism meets thumping baselines in a new breed of Christian rap | Mark Bergin

Bethlehem Baptist pastor John Piper took the podium at a Saturday evening service in downtown Minneapolis last fall and introduced Curtis "Voice" Allen, a hip-hop artist. After warning the largely white congregation that his music would "thump" a bit more than typical Bethlehem fare, Allen launched into a lyrical testimony about the unstoppable power of God's irresistible grace: "I been exposed to bright lights, the doctrines of grace, I'm elected, imputed perfected, becuz of the power of God resurrected and his gift of faith, that when we see his face we're not rejected."

Allen repeated the rap at two subsequent Sunday morning services, enough to ignite a full-scale firestorm within the Christian fundamentalist blogosphere. The internet churned with volatile reactions, one blogger labeling all rap as "rape set to music" while others denounced Piper's entire ministry.