Music Album: Elation Foundation, by Evangel

A couple years ago, I highlighted the debut album of Evangel, a solidly Reformed theologian and artist who has found a way to express the deep truths of the Reformation through the medium of rap music. Well, I’ve just discovered that this same man has a new album coming out, which I’ve been privileged to listen to already, and am pleased to say that it contains much more doctrinal acuity, mixed in with a little lighthearted fun, and all in that same hip-hop style.

The name of the album is Elation Foundation, and its content is patterned after the Beatitudes, which Christ delivered in his Sermon on the Mount. They who have Christ as their foundation will certainly possess as well the immense and eternal elation which he describes in his list of blessings, promised to all who belong to him. The Beatitudes are a rich and beautiful doctrinal passage, and they provide Evangel with plenty of opportunity (which he makes good upon) to express in down-to-earth, non-technical language, some of the most important truths of the Gospel – total depravity, the nature of repentance, justification by faith alone, good works as the fruit, not the root of forgiveness, the eternal preservation of all the saints, and so on. I am very pleased to say, Evangel’s doctrine is clearly and unashamedly suffused throughout with the great and essential truths rediscovered in the Protestant Reformation.

The whole album makes use of the metaphor of ascending a tall building from the foundation to the top – along the way, the various floors give opportunity for dwelling upon each of the Beatitudes, and are named accordingly (e.g. Bankruptcy Department [see Mat. 5:3], Savings and Moans [see Mat. 5:4], Mercy Mutual [see Mat. 5:7]). This overarching metaphor, along with a tour guide, the elevator man, gives opportunity for a lot of the fun and goofiness – but the real meat of the album comes from the tracks which express a thoughtful and exegetically competent meditation on each of the beatitudes in order. Any attentive listener will learn; and he will learn truths that are of utmost importance, not just in this life, but in the life to come. And therefore, I am eager to give this new album, Elation Foundation, a high recommendation.

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