Men of God Spotlight â€" Manwell

The Rap and Hip Hop music scene has been labeled violent and know as the voice of thugs for a long time. From the shooting deaths of Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac, to the arrest of many prominent figures in rap and hip hop, to the graphic lyrics of sex and violence, the hip hop culture has long been considered a black eye on society by many people.

Even more problematic is the fact that few people are even attempting to reach the youth and the men who are part of the hip hop culture. A new singer and his group have one mission in mind…to reach them with the message of Christ while turning the once tarnished genre of hip hop into a positive outlet for evangelism. Manwell, an up and coming Christian hip hop artist has a vision and a heart to win people to Christ in this genre many people simply wished to turn a cold shoulder to. The name, Manwell, comes from an alternate spelling of his middle name, and it stands for “this “man� is doing “well�. His story and his perspective is something we all should stop and look at.

His Life

Manwell was born in Germany and he lived there for the first nine years of his life. After that, he moved to the United States, as his father’s life in the military kept Manwell constantly on the move. He stayed in trouble, but it truly fell apart once he moved to Florida. He’d been kicked out of two schools for assault and he was on the cusp of being expelled for attempted assault and skipping too many days.

Manwell’s life was in shambles. He said, “I was heavy into stealing and selling “various� products until I found myself at this place where all of my homies were getting’ caught; some were even locked up. It was then that I realized that I had to change.� A friend from church invited him to a summer camp and Manwell decided to go along. It was at that point that his life changed forever.

“The first night I got there, God showed up, literally. I saw the feet of Jesus in that room. Mind you, I’m not even saved at this point, but I saw His feet! Needless to say, I got saved after that and I’ve been so ever since. It’s been nine years.� He began to step out of the life he had known, filled with trouble, and into an intimate walk with his Savior.

His Music
Manwell and his group, Group 1 Crew, recently signed a record deal with Fervent Records, a division of Warner Brothers. Manwell also recently participated in the Cruise For A Cause Crusade in the Bahamas.

Q â€" What can we expect from Manwell and Group 1 Crew in 2006 and 2007?
“Hopefully a hit record. If not, then you can expect me to be on the street, dropped from my label (lol). Also, some great music, hopefully that’ll inspire the world to look at this beautiful Savior a bit differently.�

Q â€" How do you think God can use your music to make a difference?
“Well, I honestly think that God would love to make hip hop blow up for His glory cause He notices that secular hip hop runs the world! He’s just looking for the right group to make it happen. We may be that group, we may not, but I’m just glad that He’s given us the chance. The determining factor won’t be the music technically…it’ll be the heart of the musicians. I would love to make Him more famous than He already is.�

Before interviewing Manwell, I had listened to a CD of his that we had bought in the Bahamas. I noticed the different extremes he went to during the course of the CD and wondered what inspired him.

Q â€" Where do you get your inspiration from?
“I get my inspiration from my worst/best circumstances. I love to write pure reality, no censorship. If I had a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year, my music will reflect that. There won’t be some unrealistic “yippidee doo-da� song in the middle of my grief. In my pain, I find inspiration. In my joy, I find inspiration. I find it in people as well. I always keep my ears to the cry of the street. The streets are always saying something…it’s just that people don’t listen, or maybe don’t want to.

In listening to Manwell’s music, you can hear a voice for the hip hop generation calling out for this population, frowned upon in many areas of society, to turn their lives over to God. He is real in what he writes, real in how he lives, and real in who he is.

His Advice
In talking to Manwell, I noticed how he truly took time to think about the world around him, pondering how God could use his voice to change this world. Also, coming from two different walks of life, as he and I have come, I listened intently, knowing that I could learn something and get a better understanding of other areas of life.

Q â€" What was one difficult situation you have gone through where you knew that God was with you and brought you through it?
“Well, the most difficult time would be when I was in Bible college at Southeastern University. I took a step out in faith to go to that school because I had no job, no place to stay or nothing. I wanted to learn what it was to live by faith, so what better circumstances than that? I promised God that, if He would provide for me through m businesses, then I would work even harder to get my ministry off the ground and give Him my all. And so He did…provided for every bill and I never even had a job! All I did was cut hair and He provided enough to pay it all. Man, He’s funny!�

Q â€" What do you feel are the biggest problems facing men today?>“Well, I feel with men today, they’ve never had a good role model to look up to. I talk to all my homies and they tell me the extent of their relationships with their fathers, and they’re all so insufficient. It’s like, “Where are the freakin’ dads?â€? There were no Godly men to lead these boys into a mature understanding of Christ. I know from firsthand experience. My father isn’t even saved and I had no idea there was a God when I was growing up. The most I knew of God was on my jewelry. So, because of that, I think there’s a generation of men who don’t know how to be real men. We have this false persona of a “man’s manâ€? who doesn’t cry, struggles with every sexual sin under the sun, is girl crazy, and doesn’t do the church thing too well. I even saw it in Bible college where the ration of men to women was amazing! It was like 8 to 1 and that’s what I see in churches too.â€?

Q â€" What is your favorite Bible passage and why?>“Philippians 1:6 says, “be confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.â€? This verse gets me so amped cause it reminds me that He’s never finished with me. It promises that no matter how horrible I may think I am…I’m not done. I’m confident that God will do what He needs to to make me the man He envisioned me to be before I was created.â€?

God has called Manwell to share His message to the largest area, and undoubtedly most overlooked, of our population. With the talents that the Lord has given Manwell and the words that He gives him as well, this man of God will lead our hip hop culture into a true and deep relationship with Jesus Christ. Manwell has a conviction from the Lord, one that he can’t ignore until he sees the Lord’s glory in its’ fullest throughout the hip hop community.

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