The late Lewis Sperry Chafer once wrote: “Next to the way of salvation, there is no more important theme to be mastered by the human mind than the divine plan whereby a Christian may live to the glory of God. Ignorance and error may result in tragic spiritual failure. As in preaching the Gospel, there is a great need for accuracy in the statement of the scriptural doctrine of salvation from the power of sin.” With “Killing Sin,” the superbly crafted follow-up to the 2004 classic “The Great Awakening,” emcee timothy brindle provides the believer with the biblical accuracy that is needed to master this important theme, but in a very accessible format. From beginning to end the listener is thrust on a musically compelling sweep of lyrical artistry that chronicles the believer’s struggle with his worst enemy: sin. Far from an easy listen, this record demands patience, stillness, and critical listening. You may have to have this album surgically removed from your CD player. It is just that engaging and powerful. Based on Romans 8:13; it’s a call to arms that will hopefully encourage and challenge complacent believers to contend earnestly for the faith. Honestly, the only possible result I can see from a careful listen, discussion, dialogue, and consideration of the topics espoused in this album is the edification of God’s people and an increase in their ability to murder sin.

"You may have to have this album surgically removed from your CD player. It is just that engaging and powerful."

“Introduction” opens the album, and we are welcomed by the geeked out male vocals of shai linne. It is here where we are introduced to the album’s main theme. This record is clearly intended for the purpose of instruction. This theme of didactic verse is prevalent throughout, and it serves to impart practical godly principles that are crucial in understanding the scriptural doctrine of salvation from the power of sin. The allegorical, “Pressing into the Kingdom” is up next, and this thrilling affair hurls the listener right into the action. timothy is able to use his descriptive verbs to power his lyrics and draw the listener into what’s happening. Effective active verb usage is very key on this track in particular, because the listener is able to experience the action of the song in their head, rather than just hear about it. Track 3, “Let’s Kill Sin” is one of the more raucous and rowdy cuts on the album. By the end of the track, you’ll practically be screaming this catchy chorus. Resistance is useless. It’s the conviction and passion he has for teaching the truth within this song that will win you over. Solid songwriting and execution all around characterizes “Sacrifice of Worship” with emcees Ackdavis and Evangel (Christcentic) lending their vocals on this one. At just 2:51, “Fruit Inspection,” is a compendious and robust statement of what saving faith and murdering the deeds of the flesh means. Keep in mind as your listening to this album that the doctrine of salvation from the power of sin is limited in its application to Christians. The vocals on this one are discernibly more relaxed as brindle delivers the truth about the evidences or “fruit” of salvation with all the forthrightness and zeal of an accomplished bible teacher.

Track 6, “Power of the Holy Spirit” opens with an audio clip: “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you…” The word Holy Spirit, which appears 53 times throughout the entire album and 23 times just in this song alone, is the way the Christian can be delivered from the power of sin. The hook on this track is fiercely addictive; it absolutely blows up all over the speakers. But it is necessary to pause for a quick moment to comment on brindle’s exemplary skills as a writer. tim’s strength lies in his thought-provoking lyricism. Indeed, it is crucial to his commentary to note that he gives careful consideration to how to begin and end lines, rhyme schemes, verbs, adjectives, tone, theme, and language – and he has an uncanny ability to balance each of these elements against the others simultaneously --a very difficult and complicated task. A darker tone encompasses the next cut, “The Sinfulness of Sin.” The diction employed by brindle is very graphic and descriptive. In describing sin tim uses startling imagery, “…it’s more sickening than kissin’ harlot’s lips//whose breath stinks worse than garbage mixed//with the rawest fish after she’s gargled spit…” Later he adds, “It’s worse than smoked dung…” Are you disgusted yet? Good. The aim of the song is to show the wickedness or “sinfulness” of sin. Many may find tim’s word choice here rather alarming, but as Chafer noted in describing sin, “It [sin] outrages the holiness of God.” May we begin to see the malign effects of sin as God sees it. There are also at least two instances in which the music transitions into a more gloomy tone, and thus yields more aggressive vocals from brindle. This is a very effective technique that creates a pervading atmosphere intended to influence the listener’s emotional response to the wretchedness of sin.

The following quote appeared in a 2004 issue of the Christian Research Journal: “It appears the sin of choice among Christians today is pornography.” tim deals with this destructive vice rather extensively in track 8, “Step into the Light.” This thoroughly convicting song is written from the perspective of a former pornography user. The title seems to carry the idea of moving from a place of darkness (sinfulness); this is significant because sexual sin thrives in the darkness. tim offers practical wisdom to those believers that are “starving to be free” from this awful tyrant. This is followed up by “Temptation,” a 2:48 descriptive piece on the deceptive allurements of sin. The physicality of the language used on this track –how the language sounds and feels – accounts for a large measure of this song’s effect. With “Blessings of Obedience” and “The Faithfulness of Christ” we have two tracks that effectively convey the truth of God’s word as it pertains to obedience and Christ’s faithfulness. The beauty of this release is that it can be rightly classified as a worship album as well. Each track showcases a very convincing exactness of idiomatic expression on the part of emcee brindle. Each line is appropriate, biblically accurate, and sincere.

“Battle”, track 12, is easily the most sonically interesting cut on the album. With the live crowd roaring, R-Swift hosting, and DJ Essence spinning, two contestants take stage. These two rival emcees, “sin” (shai linne) and “Christian” (tim brindle) duel head to head with a bold stream of verbal punches and counterpunches. The lyrical creativity of both emcees is put on display as these two former prominent battle emcees educate the listener in a very attractive and interesting format. Track 13, “The Preciousness of Time” is next, and the irony of this song is how timely the message is; indeed it is absolutely timeless. Repetition of the word “time” is probably the most striking feature of this song, and it serves to emphasize the importance of using our time wisely. Track 14, “Fix Your Eyes” is an excellent example of authorial time, that is, the mood the author was in at the time in which he wrote the piece. tim wrote this 5:51 exhortation the very night the LORD delivered him from the destructive vices of sin. This adds greater significance, weight, and scope to this track’s message. Marked by precise and powerful language, “Humility” is up next. Very few tracks in HHH are this evocative. It is absolutely stunning in its lyrical and musical intensity. But let’s pause again for a final comment on tim’s ability as a writer. This time we will explore his use of various rhyming techniques. They differ from song to song, and they account for a large part of each song’s effect. tim uses slant rhymes (words that almost rhyme), he rhymes vowel sounds, and he uses sight rhymes (words that are spelled similarly but pronounced differently). It really shows his versatility as a writer, because it shows he is not limited to just one rhyming technique or scheme. The album wraps up with a very thorough and beautiful enumeration on the many excellencies of Jesus Christ. This is worship music folks. The track itself sounds like a massive instrumentation effort complete with a moving guitar solo to end the album. Excellent.

Making a hip hop album that delivers edification and Christ-glorifying content from start to finish is a rare thing. Making a record that sounds unlike anything else in HHH right now is a triumph and accomplishment in itself. To bring the two in line as timothy brindle and the Lamp Mode camp have done with “Killing Sin” may well be considered an astounding achievement. There really isn’t a lackluster track in the bunch. It is an exceptionally powerful album that has near-infinite replay value. What Lamp Mode has achieved here is nothing less than another classic HHH album. It’s a highly accessible album, but one that is very challenging. In the end, what’s most impressive is how tim powerfully weaves a consistent theme of personal holiness and devotion to our sovereign LORD into a very aesthetically pleasing package. Unprecedented.