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He is an inspirational Christian rapper known for his ability to cross into the mainstream markets, as well as an actor. His music albums include: “Redeemed Hoodlum”, “Tha Life of a Hoodlum”, “Tha Hoodlum’s Testimony”, and Bone-A-Fide. His fourth album, “The Last Street Preacha”, was nominated for the Rock Gospel Album Grammy Award in 2000. It was the first rap album to debut at #7 on the Christian Contemporary Music charts. His film credits include, “The Fighting Temptations”, “All You’ve Got” and I’m In Love with a Church Girl.” He received three Grammy nominations in 2001, 2007, and 2008. He also won a Dove award in 2004 and 2008 along with 11 nominations from 1993 to 2004.
Growing up in San Francisco, drugs and gang life are the norm. As a young child, he wanted to stay away from that life. In an interview with CBN, he said, “Our icons and our people who we’re looking to are the pimps that got all the money. The drug dealers are the ones with the nice shoes and the jacket and the bling on. A lot of my fears growing up were about getting shot, getting stabbed. … Music was something that really kept me focused and kept my head straight, because I knew I didn’t want all that life.”
However, that mentality changed during his teenage years. Though his parents became Christians during this time and shared their faith with him, he wanted nothing to do with it. He said, “A lot of my friends were involved in the gang life and the drug dealing, and they were trying to pull me in. So I started hanging out with them. Eventually when you’re hanging out with them, when those are your buddies, their enemies become your enemies. …I didn’t want nothing to do with Him, because I felt He was a God that wanted to strip me of my joy, strip me of my happiness, strip me of my friends, strip me of, you know, this life – what I thought life was about.”
All of that changed when one of his close friends got shot and killed during a drive-by. He said, “I really began to search for God. Not because my parents told me to search for God, not because other people were telling me, but because I was really searching for God for myself.” When a guest speaker gave the invitation at his parents’ church one day, he said, “He made a call and said, ‘If you want to know who Christ is for yourself, come up the altar.’ I went up to the altar, and as soon as I went, man, I began to cry. The presence of God was there. The Holy Spirit hit me, and I said the sinner’s prayer.”
After his life changed, pretty soon, his music began to change as well. He said, “There’s thousands of kids that love God, all over the world, that probably come from this environment or that even maybe don’t come from this environment but they’re young and they want to listen to music that they can relate to. …I’ve seen thugs come to the Lord, prostitutes, police officers, soundmen, gang dudes take their gang rags and lay their gun and their colors at the altar. When you see those things, you know God is in it. …God wants [people] to know, ‘It’s okay that you’ve made all these mistakes. I forgive you and I love you and accept you the way you are.’ I’m just so thankful, because I’m a person that deserves hell. God has allowed me to live through all those things and He spared me for a reason. So my life is His. The reason I exist is Jesus. Like Paul said, ‘for to live is Christ, to die is gain.'”
His name is Rene Francisco Sotomayor, better known as T-Bone
This is the “Chief of Sinners,” Daniel Whyte III, president of Gospel Light Society International, reminding you of what the Bible says, that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” like you and me. Just as T-Bone gave his life to Christ, may I encourage you to do the same. Here is how:
1. Accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7:20: “For there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and sinneth not.” Romans 3:23 reads: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” In fact, I am the chief of sinners, so don’t think that you’re alone.
2. Accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
3. Accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” The Bible says in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
4. Accept the fact that you cannot do anything to save yourself! The Bible states in Ephesians 2: 8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves: it is a gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
5. Accept the fact that God loves you more than you love yourself, and that He wants to save you from hell. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
6. With these facts in mind, please repent of your sins, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and pray and ask Him to come into your heart and save you this very moment. The Bible states in the book of Romans 10:9, 13: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Dear friend, if you are willing to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, please pray with me this simple prayer: Heavenly Father, I realize that I am a sinner and that I have done some bad things in my life. For Jesus Christ sake, please forgive me of my sins. I now believe with all of my heart that Jesus Christ died for me, was buried, and rose again. Lord Jesus, please come into my heart and save my soul and change my life today. Amen.
If you believed in your heart that Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, allow me to say, congratulations on doing the most important thing in life and that is accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour! For more information to help you grow in your newfound faith in Christ, go to Gospel Light Society.com and read “What To Do After You Enter Through the Door”. Jesus Christ said in John 10:9, “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
Remember, friend, Believe by faith. Share the faith. and Keep the faith!
Daniel Whyte III has spoken in meetings across the United States and in twenty-three foreign countries. He is the author of thirty-four books. He is also the president of Gospel Light Society International, a worldwide evangelistic ministry that reaches thousands with the Gospel each week, as well as president of Torch Ministries International, a Christian literature ministry which publishes a monthly magazine called The Torch Leader. He is heard by thousands each week on his radio broadcasts, The Prayer Motivator Devotional and the Prayer Motivator Minute, as well as Gospel Light Minute X, the Gospel Light Minute, the Sunday Evening Evangelistic Message, the Prophet Daniel’s Report and the Second Coming Watch Update. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Theology from Bethany Divinity College, a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Texas Wesleyan University, and a Master’s degree in Religion from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. He has been married to the former Meriqua Althea Dixon, of Christiana, Jamaica for twenty-five years. God has blessed their union with seven children. Find out more at www.danielwhyte3.com. Follow Daniel Whyte III on Twitter @prophetdaniel3 or on Facebook.
BCNN1 WP 