Kanye West told televangelist Joel Osteen today that “I know God’s been calling me for a long time and the devil has been distracting me for a long time.”
West was speaking during a live interview with Osteen today at the pastor’s 17,000-seat Lakewood Church in Houston. The two have been friends for some time and talked about West’s journey to faith, reflected in his new album, Jesus Is King, and his traveling Sunday Service, a quasi-religious music show
The 42-year-old West talked about his “journey to his faith for 20 minutes, and plans to return for an evening Sunday Service. 45,000 free tickets have been made available for the events. The concert/Sunday Service will be held in a spillover area of Lakewood Church that can accommodate larger crowds.
“I know God’s been calling me for a long time and the devil has been distracting me for a long time,” West said. He was wearing a black suit for the interview.
West said God gave him visions that led to his new album and the creation of Sunday Service.
“When I was in my lowest points, God was there with me and sending me visions and inspiring me. I remember sitting in the hospital at UCLA after having a breakdown and there’s documentation of me drawing a church and writing about starting a church in the middle of Calabasas,” he said. “Even after that I made the Life of Pablo album and said this is a gospel album. I didn’t know how to totally make a gospel album and the Christians that were around were too beaten into submission by society to not speak up and profess the gospel to me because I was a superstar. But the only superstar is Jesus,” he said.
“All of that arrogance and confidence and cockiness that y’all has seen me use before God is now using for Him,” West said, getting applause from the crowd. “Because every time I stand up, I feel that I’m standing up and drawing a line in the sand and saying I’m here in service to God and no weapons armed against me shall prosper.”
Osteen asked about worshiping fame and money, an ironic question, given the pastor’s focus on prosperity.
Also Read …. Watch Kanye Live at Lakewood Church
“It’s like the devil stole all the good producers, all the good musicians, all the good artists, all the good designers, all the good business people and said, “you gotta come over and work for me,” said West. “And now the trend, the shift, is going to change. Jesus has won the victory. Now the greatest artist God ever created is now working for him,” he added, dotting the comment with a smile.
West told Osteen his father took him to church three times a week, and his mother took him on Sundays.
“As I now have a family, I’m 42 years old and married for five years, there’s a blatant responsibility for me to become more like my mother, who has gone to heaven and more like my father, who is working in building a water purification center in the Dominican Republic.”
West also talked about his new album.
“Closed on Sunday (a track on the album) is the hardest record ever made because it’s talking about protecting your kids from the indoctrination of the media,’ West said.
Osteen asked what advice he’d impart to his younger self.
“You know, it’s nothing I can say to the younger Kanye through words. I could speak to the younger Kanye through music….We on they neck. This music coming every month. God is strengthening our hands. We have writers, producers, we’re taking all the most fire producers and bringing them back to God,” West said.
The interview closed with a prayer. He and wife Kim Kardashian, who sat in the front row with the couple’s daughter, North, were applauded at the end of the interview.
Credit: Culled from Deadline.com
Video: abc7.com
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