"Ex-Jay Z Fan" Pastor Steps Down from Passion 4 Christ Movement

Sad news.

In a statement published on their website on January 31, the Passion 4 Christ Movement announced that Justin Cox had "willingly stepped down from his office of Senior Pastor of the Passion for Christ Movement due to a pattern of sin including sexual immorality and a lack of respect for the authority of the office of pastor indicating he no longer meets the qualifications for an elder as laid out in 1 Timothy 3:1-5."

The sentence that follows it reads: "While working through this issue, our Assistant Pastor Chris Facey confessed that he also fell into a pattern of disqualifying sin and needed to step down from his office as assistant pastor. We know this news comes as a shock and disappointment to many and as you may imagine it has dealt a heavy blow to the local church members here at P4CM."

The statement went on to describe the Biblical process the leaders of the church went through in making this decision and included a joint statement from both Justin Cox and Chris Facey.

As you might remember, Cox and PC4M have often been a topic of debate within the Christian hip hop community for their provocatively titled YouTube clips (including: "How to Game Up a Girl At Church," "The Best Place to Have SEX," and "Kanye West Says He Sold His Soul To The Devil") and their bold “Ex-Fornicator / Ex-Liar / Ex-Jay-Z Fan” line of T-shirts.

As we’ve done recently for Ambassador, RedCloud, and Da’ T.R.U.T.H. please keep these men and this church in your prayers.

Jay-Z's "Jesus" line stirs controversy

Catching up on blogging by posting a few of my recent rants for The Wade-O Radio Show.

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So apparently the Christian hip hop community is just now hearing Jay-Z’s “Jesus can’t save you” line from “Empire State of Mind” from his Blueprint 3 album that dropped in September.

Last week, Pastor Justin Cox of P4CM launched an excited YouTube response and the Internet message boards have been all a Twitter about these lines:

I’m a bit torn on this issue. On one hand, I feel Pastor Cox and his passionate response to something negative or false being said about one we so deeply love. Imagine if someone dissed your wife or your mom and how your emotions would spike with outrage.

However, is Jay really saying “Jesus can’t save your soul”? Or is he being more poetic and espousing something with a different, layered meaning?

Further, should we be surprised when a non-believer clearly communicates that they are a non-believer? Would we really be happier if he just said he was a follower of Christ but didn’t live it? Goodness knows we have enough people that like in the rap industry – on both sides of the cross.

Like my man Brother Wize said, the next time you’re in your Word, take a look at 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 and see how it might apply here.

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Updates:

1. Former Cross Movement member Cruz Cordero has provided several equally passionate counterpoints to Pastor Cox's vids.

2. Pastor Cox has also added an update after his clip landed on mainstream sites like WorldStarHipHop.com.

3. A video from a recent Jay-Z performance in Europe shows him using an alteration of this original lyric. Whether this intentional or an ad-lib is unknown.