INTERVIEW: Wize – Part 2 of 2

In part 1 of this interview we looked at Wize‘s insight into his time with Frontlynaz and his views on Holy Hip Hop. This time we will take a look at some of Wize’s ministry life away from the stage. If you want to catch up you can read the previous article by clicking this link.

Edward: What is Pop The Culture and how does that play with your current ministry outlook?

Wize: Pop The Culture is a guiding mission, statement, and brand message. It is all about being in the world demonstrating out-of-this-world Christian influence. Being a follower of Jesus is not a part-time job where you punch in on a Sunday or Friday service and then punch out when Monday hits. Leveraging our positions in the core influencing areas of culture like business, media/arts, government, education etc. is very important. 

Ministry can be pigeon-holed to church activity with church people and we forget that there is a world of opportunity to be used as an agent of faith away from the pulpit. I align my music, secular career pursuits, and church ministry with this mantra and hope to build up leaders that will identify and “pop” their sphere of influence. Without a ton of explanation, you can tell where I’m coming from with how I approach things. I live it in my music and my talent development profession.  

I’m always amazed when faithful followers of Jesus are making an impact in mainstream culture. My speaking ministry is a blend of biblical teaching and the Pop The Culture mission. It is a timely message for young adults developing their career paths because only a small fraction will ever go into ministry as a vocation. You can find more at www.poptheculture.com. Edward: How did you get involved with the Pop The Culture movement?

Wize: Pop The Culture was a vision that was developed as I grew in my faith and biblical perspective. The years of 2008-2010 were a tremendous reformation period for me as my perspective of what ministry is was opened and I began to look, not only at the land of the church, but out into the sea of mainstream culture.

C.S. Lewis is an example of someone that really carried out the PTC mission. He was undeniably Christian, yet he undeniably impacted popular culture through fictional literature. Discipling this culture is a relational work of patience. Don’t confuse that with compromising your beliefs. Our faith in Christ should permeate through all that we do even our 9-5. How we approach our 40 plus hours is a testimony.

Edward: What do you do to serve or minister to your local body?

Wize: For over six years I was the young adult ministry leader at my local church. We named it “The Timothy Project” and we focused on developing deep biblical roots and developing individuals. The focus was not on numbers of people and the approach was to build a reflective community. I wanted to ensure we created a true environment and not a faith dependent on marketing bells and whistles. It pushed people to stretch themselves and develop depth in their walk.

These were great years of my personal growth. During this time, I also was a frequent teacher for the adult Sunday morning bible classes and served on the board for two years.

In 2012, I decided with my wife to leave that church and we are looking to identify a new church close to our new home. We are temporarily attending a great church as we are in transition and I’m resting up before my next “assignment.”

Apart from my local church, I am often called to speak to young adults in other churches for retreats and other special events.

Edward: Do you do any ministry with your wife?

Wize: My wife is a prayer machine and really spends time listening to others, counseling, and praying. Women are drawn to her socially and I feel she has a great ministry with young adult women. She was a great support during my time as a young adult ministry leader. Her main focus right now is balancing her career and the ministry of the home. In the future I can see us doing more collaborative ministry, but I believe she enables everything I do. In a way we are partners at all times.

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I hope you enjoyed this indepth look at Wize life and ministry. If you have any interview requests or article ideas feel free to leave your comments below. If you want some direct feedback you can hit me up on Twitter @speakredwords. Thank you for reading I will check you next time.