Atlanta pastor defends using rap songs to teach book of Acts during New Year's Eve service
A Grammy-nominated pastor in Atlanta is defending his decision to help his congregation usher in 2024 by dancing to secular rap songs during a church service.
Bishop William Murphy of the dReam Center Church of Atlanta went viral following his New Year’s Eve service in which he played the rap music in reference to a lame man being healed in the book of Acts.
In the video, congregants are seen dancing in a darkened auditorium as “Walk it Out” by the rapper Unk and “Swag Surfin’” by Fast Life Yungstaz play over the PA system.
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The video shows people dancing to ‘Walk it Out’ as Murphy and others dance on stage.
Murphy told WSB-TV in Atlanta that he played the rap songs while teaching out of Acts 3, where the Apostle Peter famously commands the lame man to walk: “But Peter said, ‘I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!’”
For Murphy, the passage of Scripture — and the music — was a way to illustrate Christian fellowship in the New Year.
“We were talking about 2024 being the best year of your life so far, but there was a responsibility to watch the prophet and then to work the prophecy, and so the working of the prophecy was to walk it out,” he told WSB-TV.
“And that’s why you saw people with their arms around each other. It was, come what may, we’re walking this thing out together.”
Released in 2006, the song “Walk it Out” includes the lyrics, “Now hit the dance flo,' and then ya back low/ She do it with no hands, now stop, pop and roll/ I'm smokin' bubble, ho, yeah, they in trouble, ho/ I like the way she move, an undercover ho.”
“When people walk into our sanctuaries, there ought to be something that they can relate to,” he told the news outlet, adding that he only played the clean versions of each song.
The viral video stirred up controversy on social media, with some pointing out Murphy’s failure to find suitable worship music despite his own musical background.
“A gospel singer can't find Christian songs to support his message? Interesting,” one woman wrote.
“I've seen too many churches turn into entertainment venues for ‘popularity dollars,” replied another person.
A Grammy-nominated and Stellar Award-winning performer with hits including "Praise Is What I Do" and "Everlasting God,” Murphy launched the dReam Center Church in 2006.
In a 2017 sermon inspired by rapper 2 Chainz, Murphy preached defiantly against the "trap" culture he says is being propagated in popular media to deconstruct wholesome family figures and make prodigal sons of Christians.
Urging his congregation to get back to the business of making disciples of the world rather than allowing the world to make them into prodigal sons, Murphy warned against the influence of “music and media” on the Church.
"The devil is making disciples on a daily basis and he's using music and media to baptize and to teach and to indoctrinate our children in the ways of unrighteousness. And has produced an entire generation of prodigal sons," he said.
