Today we’d like to introduce you to Pastor Joe-Lynn Harper II.
Hi Pastor Joe-Lynn, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a licensed, ordained and Baylor Truett Seminary trained Baptist Preacher and Pastor for the last 23 years, I planted a Church in my Hood of Birth that I ran for 9 years before I realized the limitations of the framework to actually free my people from the conditions they are in. I have mourned the idea of having to leave the church for 7 years until I walked away from the institutional church last year to start my nonprofit Out DA MUDD (Moving Under Divine Deliverance) Ministries which will focus on Interrupting the Student to Prison Pipeline by focusing on Literacy and Gardening at elementary and middle schools in High Risk Areas, and through afterschool tutoring and gardening programs to help parents with aftercare and as an afterschool club. Nature therapy has proven to be one of the only natural healers of neurological damage caused by prolonged exposure to violence and trauma. I have been using various methods of biblical counseling, camping, fishing and gardening inside high risk areas for years and have had moderate success with partial focus. I’m expecting God to multiply the work as I finally get in my lane. His hand of blessing has already been with us as he has brought many partners alongside the ministry in a short time. We will also be partnering with a nonprofit called No More Violence and another called 2nd Chance for Felons to address broader needs as a collective in the DFW Area. We will also be partnering with Dr Donna Nickerson/ Indigenous Gardner and Psuchoanalyst who runs DA Shack Farmers Marker in Waco and does business in DFW as well. We have a few other nonprofits that we are in conversations with that are yet to confirm, but are likely. Many of us grew up in these neighborhoods together and survived the same war and are now trying to get ahead of the trauma with our children. I’m recruiting a GIG Squad of former felons and mal-actors to be mentors to troubled youth as we work in the garden to slow down their internal rhythm and repair some of that prefrontal cortex and critical thinking ability that is lost in the trauma. We will be partnering with Dr Stephanie C Boddie who is an endowed Chair in the School of Social Work and a Professor at Truett Seminary as well. She is my mentor in the emerging ministries of ecotheology as social justice. The Complete picture of to work toward developing healing communities by rallying parents from the ground up to get active in our SOS(Save Our Seeds) Campaign. I will work with the schools to recruit and form parent groups using songs from my Debut Gospel Rap Album called Holy Smoke. The lead single is Get Lifted which is a southern swinger with a jazzy bounce that talks about getting up and getting involved in snatching out kids out of the fire. One other is called “Who Got the Juice” and it talks about the effects of media and technology on the developing human brain and it empowers parents to “Cut the Crap and Cut the Cord” to take back control over their children’s mental well being and development. I could go on, but that is the basis of my story now with a short ramp on the background of a pretty colorful story as a guy who came from 2 crackhead parents living through the War on Drugs. My mother is 30 years clean this year and is a licensed Minister and used to serve with me in the same neighborhood she once smoked crack in. God Redeems from the Bottom and it seems the church is afraid of not showered to go after our most troubled and I have been fighting and winning against those inner city demons for a while and want to show others how to do the same for the healing of their progeny.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My own demons and self doubt My Father was absent during my key developmental years between 5 and 10 as my mother drug us from one cheap apartment to the other in the struggle of her addiction while poppa was a rolling stone.. That leaves a kid with some scars and some demons even if he is the “overachiever” and “overcomer” of a group where many loved ones fell into the trap. I made mistakes and escaped my own prison sentence when I got caught selling drugsI was seeking to live up to a standard that was lived in a duality that never fit. It was like putting new wine in old wine skins. The only shock was when I fought out of that life and thought I was getting something healthier in the church only to find out that the church was just as infected as the hood. Which is the crux of this major life shift at 46 years old 😩😭.. But I also believe that just like Esther in the Bible , I WAS BUILT FOR THIS
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m new to the Artist side of the isle, but for me I am still preaching the same message. Theology must speak the language of culture and currently we live in a Hip-Hop/Pop Culture and. a Tech Saturated World. So My Podcast, The Dysfunctional Disciple Podcast and I’m the Host Pastor Joe the Profane Prophet. And my Holy Smoke Album are more about the message than fame. I want to use the music to catch the frequency of our parents long enough to deliver some medicine and some solutions. The Universality of Music and the healing properties multiply when the words are wrote in love.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Probably climbing my first mountain around 12. Walking near Mountain Lions and seeing the grandeur of Gods Cosmos at night and at that elevation is a view every human should experience. I understood as a kid how large God is and the abiding reality that he is too Big to Fail.
Pricing:
- SOS 🆘 Save OUR Seeds Giving Campaign
- Can We Get $5 on it to Save OUR Seeds
- 5/5/$5
- 5 Hours a Month Volunteer Hours, 5 Likes and Shares a Month, Giving in any increment of $5
- Venmo: @SaveOurSeeds1. Email: [email protected]
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dysfunctionaldisciple?igsh=MWUwemhmaXN3OWR1dQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/16uXjh9y5n/?mibextid=wwXIfr
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@bs3network?si=eMenTlggoWsllz13
