“Shifted by the Spirit”

What happens when a holy call disrupts the career of a thriving hip-hop producer? In A Sacred Storm, Christopher Michael Jones, a.k.a. Chris Large, producer on Shaq's "You Can't Stop the Reign" featuring Notorious B.I.G., rereleased just this summer—shares the story of radically changing his life's course after a divine encounter.

"There will come a time in our lives when all that we know to be true about our paths ... will be shifted by the Spirit." —Darnell L. Moore, No Ashes in the Fire

"[A Sacred Storm] will leave you wanting to find your footing and voice in the winds of change." —Rev. Dr. Valerie Bridgeman, Methodist Theological School in Ohio

At the Intersection of Hip Hop and the Church

A Sacred Storm considers how hip hop was a church-like experience for Black youth and young adults in the '90s: "The MC was the preacher," writes Jones. "The DJ was the worship host. The B-Boys, break-dancers, and pop-lockers were the liturgical dancers."

Jones shares the parallel wisdom he learned through the worlds of hip hop and church: the good news of “can’t stop, won’t stop” preached by hip hop in socioeconomic turbulence, and the good news of God’s unstoppable compassion in the wake of life's disruptions.

"An extensive work that plumbs the depths of both the Christian experience and the hip-hop culture." —Rev. Dr. David Latimore, Princeton Theological Seminary

About the Author

Dr. Christopher Michael Jones is a hip-hop scholar, educator, practical theologian, pastor, grassroots organizer, community advocate, and former multi-platinum music producer known professionally as Chris Large. A native of Queens, New York, Dr. Jones is a scholar-practitioner whose work explores the intersections of hip-hop culture, theology, education, preaching, leadership, and community transformation. He brings a unique intellectual and cultural perspective to the academy, drawing upon his lived experience in hip-hop alongside his theological training and decades of service in the church and community.

Dr. Jones currently serves as Faculty Mentor of the inaugural “Building and Bridging: Transformational Approaches to Pastoral Leadership, Prophetic Preaching, and Spiritual Formation” Doctor of Ministry program at United Theological Seminary in Dayton, Ohio. He previously served as Visiting Professor of Preaching and Worship at New Brunswick Theological Seminary, where he also served as Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Administration and Co-Mentor of the Doctor of Ministry program in Pastoral Care and Counseling.

A frequent lecturer at universities including Teachers College-Columbia University, Duke University Divinity School, and the University of Oxford, Dr. Jones has also served as Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Leadership at Pillar College and Guest Lecturer at Long Island University–Brooklyn, where he taught on Faith and Public Policy. Across these academic appointments, Dr. Jones integrates hip-hop scholarship, practical theology, culturally responsive pedagogy, and pastoral leadership to equip pastors, seminarians, organizational leaders, and emerging scholars to engage the complex realities of contemporary ministry and public life.

A graduate of Forest Hills High School, Dr. Jones graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University, earned his Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and received his Doctor of Ministry from Memphis Theological Seminary, with a concentration in Preaching as Pastoral Care in the African American Tradition. He has pursued additional theological study at institutions including the University of Oxford, where he served as a Graduate Fellow of Theology. His academic and professional journey is complemented by his former career as Chris Large, a multi-platinum music producer whose work with some of hip-hop and R&B's most influential artists provides a rare foundation for his scholarship and teaching. His scholarship takes hip-hop seriously, not simply as a musical genre, but as a cultural text, pedagogical resource, theological conversation partner, and vehicle for understanding identity, creativity, leadership, social consciousness, and community.

A proud member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., Dr. Jones serves as Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Hillside, New Jersey, and has been appointed Chaplain of the Hillside Police and Fire Departments, becoming the first African American appointed to serve both departments in their history. He also serves as Chaplain of the Sigma Zeta Lambda Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. in Morris County, New Jersey. Whether in the pulpit, classroom, recording studio, doctoral seminar, or community, Dr. Jones embodies a distinctive synthesis of hip-hop culture, theological reflection, academic scholarship, and community leadership, demonstrating how the cultural intelligence of hip-hop can become a powerful resource for teaching, preaching, leadership formation, and social transformation.