Quotes from Trip Lee

When people ask me what I call myself, I am not going to say 'Christian rapper,' because what they think of when they hear Christian rap is something very different from what I do.

I actually fell in love with hip-hop before I fell in love with Jesus. I'm a fan of hip-hop, I love hip-hop. I don't even necessarily want to call myself 'Christian rapper.' You know, I don't want to put myself in that little box.

The gospel is the power of God for salvation for all who believe, not just old, black grandmothers or not just old, white Republican guys.

If you look at pop culture as the main picture you see of black men, all these kind of threatening pictures and - I think those of us who are artists and who are in media have to think carefully about what those pictures are.

I don't' really have lots of hobbies. I like to read and hang out with my family. I'm a pretty boring person beyond that.

For me, as a believer, I found myself in between two worlds because I live in this world, this fallen world, and I want to glorify God here, and I want to point to Jesus here, I want to work here and live with my wife here, but I also look forward to the recreation of this world when the Lord Jesus comes back and makes all things new.

I know, when I was growing up, a lot of the views I was listening to, it was a worldview that was not helpful. The world even sold me a false idea of what the good life was, and I wish that people would have helped me to think better about how to interact with that worldview.

I would like the secular world to know that the Scriptures are about the things that we wrestle with every day. The Scriptures are not ignorant. Life is really hard. We know that things don't always go well and that our hearts don't naturally obey God.

There was a time when I was in my sins and I was God's enemy, but now I have been purchased in Christ, and God is for me. He is not going to do anything or command anything that is not ultimately for my good and for His glory.

The fact that God is for me, that is huge for me when I am thinking about fighting my own sins, because my art tells me that God is against you.

If I just point out the fact that black people hurt each other, too, then we can ignore the fact that other people harm black people. I think it's an irresponsible argument.

I know that everyone has their own ideas about what the good life is, and hip hop has especially strong ideas about it. It's been the same old thing for years and years: a bunch of females around you, nice cars and money. I wanted people to know what the good life actually is and challenge a lot of the lies that we're told.

My dad loved music, and he passed that on to me. I fell in love with hip-hop the first time I heard it. I started writing raps at a young age. I wasn't a Christian at that point. I thought I was, but I don't think I was, looking back on it.

There's a difference between being excited about a trend and being excited about what God is already excited about.

One of the things that I just kind of became very enthusiastic about, and wanted to learn more about it, is how God saves.

I think if you were to ask me when I was much younger what my definition of the good life was, I think it would have sounded a lot like what most people would say - a life with all the things you want and everything you think you need to make you happy, and these sorts of things.

Every trip I made to Atlanta was crucial because it was so hard to get away from family and church duties.

I was about 14 when I became a Christian. I had been going to youth group, and I'd heard the Gospel preached, and then suddenly it all started to click. God opened my eyes to see Jesus for who He really was. After I trusted Christ, the Lord changed my entire perspective on everything.

I think I used to not know if I could be a good pastor because I think I had some things in mind that I thought were part of being a pastor that don't necessarily have to be.

It was always very clear to me that God was sovereign in salvation.

We're born spiritually dead, and I'm calling for everyone to become spiritually alive. Secondly, don't wait until later to live the way you were created.

The Cross Movement was a group that was a huge encouragement to me. The music was good. The content was good. It really spoke to my soul. It was good to have them around as someone I could learn from and really pattern myself after.

Some of us care about this - justice and unity - just because it's in style right now.

It would be really dangerous for us to assume that Christian hip-hop's popularity equals racial unity.