Singer performed blasphemous one-man show declaring Jesus ‘gay’<\/h2>\n\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/assets\/img\/icon\/chat-rect.svg\")
<\/a>![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/assets\/img\/icon\/share-outline.svg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/14\/98\/149859_w_760_398.png\")
<\/source><\/picture>Drag performer Matthew Blake (left) and CCM singer Derek Webb wear makeup and women’s clothing while standing in front of a cross for a music video. <\/span> | Screenshot:YouTube\/DerekWebb<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nFor the first time ever, a man who performs in makeup and women\u2019s clothing has hit No. 1 on the Christian music charts \u2014 a feat in part due to criticism from worship artist Sean Feucht.<\/p>\n
Matthew Blake, who wears makeup and women\u2019s clothing and performs under the name Flamy Grant, released the album \u201cBible Belt Baby\u201d last year but recently hit the top spot on the iTunes Christian and Gospel chart along with the album\u2019s lead single, \u201cGood Day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the album\u2019s unlikely success, Feucht, best known for his \u201cLet Us Worship\u201d tour <\/a>during the COVID-19 lockdowns, criticized Derek Webb, former singer for CCM band Caedmon\u2019s Call, who collaborated with Blake on \u201cGood Day\u201d and shared a photo of Blake, Webb, and Tiffany Arbuckle Lee, singer for Plumb, a former award-winning CCM band.<\/p>\nFeucht tweeted<\/a>: \u201cIf you’re wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb’s new collab with a drag queen. These are truly the last days.\u201d<\/p>\n\nIf you’re wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb<\/a>‘s new collab with a drag queen. <\/p>\nThese are truly the last days. https:\/\/t.co\/sgvzGFoRgu<\/a><\/p>\n\u2014 Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) July 26, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n
In response to Feucht\u2019s tweet, Blake commented<\/a>, \u201cEnd goal? Baby we\u2019re just getting started\u201d and called on his Instagram followers to \u201cprove Feucht wrong.\u201d<\/p>\nIn a September 2022 interview<\/a>, Blake acknowledged his drag name was inspired by \u201carguably the most successful Christian artist of all time,\u201d CCM legend Amy Grant.<\/p>\nHe also revealed his upbringing in a home in which he was \u201conly allowed to listen to Christian\u201d music.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn my house growing up we were only allowed to listen to Christian and gospel music, so as a closeted queer kid Amy Grant was my version of an inspirational diva,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n
In March, the self-described \u201cgospel & roots musician from the Bible Belt\u201d starred in a one-man drag show called Godless Sheathen: A Drag Comedy Cabaret <\/a>about \u201ca sinner saved by lace.\u201d<\/p>\nA highlight reel <\/a>of the show featured Blake declaring, \u201cWe need some more songs about the Bible that don’t sound like they were written by Charles [expletive] Manson!\u201d before singing a song with the lyrics, “And I guess the lesson there \/Is God would only hear a prayer \/When it came from a person with a c\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\nThe show also included a bit with a hand puppet Jesus in which the puppet \u2014 speaking in what Blake called a “gay voice” \u2014 declares, “Yes, I’m gay.”<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/14\/98\/149858_w_760_448.jpg\")
<\/source><\/picture>Matthew Blake, performing in women’s clothing as Flamy Grant, with a puppet Jesus.<\/span> | Screenshot\/Vimeo\/user187760765<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nPrior to his collaboration with Blake, Webb featured the drag performer on his 2023 release The Jesus Hypothesis<\/a> in a song called \u201cBoys Will Be Girls,\u201d a video <\/a>that features both performers in makeup while standing in front of a cross and includes the lyrics, \u201cI heard Jesus loved and spent his life with those who \/Were abandoned by proud and fearful men \/So if a church won\u2019t celebrate and love you \/They\u2019re believing lies that can\u2019t save you or them \/Cause you\u2019re so beautiful by any name.\u201d<\/p>\nWebb, who promoted <\/a>the video on social media as a \u201cfull drag performance,\u201d also wrote a song for his new album titled \u201cGod in Drag,\u201d in which he appears to mock the biblical notions of Heaven and Hell:<\/p>\n\u201cYou\u2019ve heard it said \/Oh, God so loves but he\u2019ll reject you \/If you so choose he will respect you \/And for all time, he\u2019ll disconnect you \/From his love and those who\u2019ve left you \/And in the skies live on without you \/While the devil\u2019s flames surround you \/In the place that he designed to \/For eternity remind you \/Of the choice that\u2019s now behind you \/Either way, I bet you\u2019ll break a sweat.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\nIn a Facebook post <\/a>on Monday, Webb defended the video, saying, \u201cIf lovin\u2019 you is demonic, I don\u2019t wanna be Christian.\u201d<\/p>\nIn an interview <\/a>with Sojourners earlier this month, Webb said <\/a>he wrote the song \u201cfor a dear person in my life who came out to [him] just a few years ago\u201d and compared performing in drag for the \u201cBoys Will Be Girls\u201d video to the Incarnation of Christ.<\/p>\n\u201cThere is something about the experience of being put in drag by Flamy Grant that did feel incarnational to me,\u201d he was quoted as saying. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s a great analog to the work that Jesus did, and the power that incarnational risk has.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nIan M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post and the author of\u00a0BACKWARDS DAD: a children’s book for grownups<\/a><\/em>. He can be reached at:\u00a0ian.giatti@christianpost.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nFree<\/span> Religious Freedom Updates<\/h2>\nJoin thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST<\/strong> newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/14\/98\/149859_w_760_398.webp\")
<\/source><\/picture>For the first time ever, a man who performs in makeup and women\u2019s clothing has hit No. 1 on the Christian music charts \u2014 a feat in part due to criticism from worship artist Sean Feucht.<\/p>\n
Matthew Blake, who wears makeup and women\u2019s clothing and performs under the name Flamy Grant, released the album \u201cBible Belt Baby\u201d last year but recently hit the top spot on the iTunes Christian and Gospel chart along with the album\u2019s lead single, \u201cGood Day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following the album\u2019s unlikely success, Feucht, best known for his \u201cLet Us Worship\u201d tour <\/a>during the COVID-19 lockdowns, criticized Derek Webb, former singer for CCM band Caedmon\u2019s Call, who collaborated with Blake on \u201cGood Day\u201d and shared a photo of Blake, Webb, and Tiffany Arbuckle Lee, singer for Plumb, a former award-winning CCM band.<\/p>\n Feucht tweeted<\/a>: \u201cIf you’re wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb’s new collab with a drag queen. These are truly the last days.\u201d<\/p>\n If you’re wondering the end goal of the deconstruction movement in the church, then look no further than former worship leader @derekwebb<\/a>‘s new collab with a drag queen. <\/p>\n These are truly the last days. https:\/\/t.co\/sgvzGFoRgu<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Sean Feucht (@seanfeucht) July 26, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n In response to Feucht\u2019s tweet, Blake commented<\/a>, \u201cEnd goal? Baby we\u2019re just getting started\u201d and called on his Instagram followers to \u201cprove Feucht wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n In a September 2022 interview<\/a>, Blake acknowledged his drag name was inspired by \u201carguably the most successful Christian artist of all time,\u201d CCM legend Amy Grant.<\/p>\n He also revealed his upbringing in a home in which he was \u201conly allowed to listen to Christian\u201d music.<\/p>\n \u201cIn my house growing up we were only allowed to listen to Christian and gospel music, so as a closeted queer kid Amy Grant was my version of an inspirational diva,\u201d he was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n In March, the self-described \u201cgospel & roots musician from the Bible Belt\u201d starred in a one-man drag show called Godless Sheathen: A Drag Comedy Cabaret <\/a>about \u201ca sinner saved by lace.\u201d<\/p>\n A highlight reel <\/a>of the show featured Blake declaring, \u201cWe need some more songs about the Bible that don’t sound like they were written by Charles [expletive] Manson!\u201d before singing a song with the lyrics, “And I guess the lesson there \/Is God would only hear a prayer \/When it came from a person with a c\u2014.\u201d<\/p>\n The show also included a bit with a hand puppet Jesus in which the puppet \u2014 speaking in what Blake called a “gay voice” \u2014 declares, “Yes, I’m gay.”<\/p>\n Prior to his collaboration with Blake, Webb featured the drag performer on his 2023 release The Jesus Hypothesis<\/a> in a song called \u201cBoys Will Be Girls,\u201d a video <\/a>that features both performers in makeup while standing in front of a cross and includes the lyrics, \u201cI heard Jesus loved and spent his life with those who \/Were abandoned by proud and fearful men \/So if a church won\u2019t celebrate and love you \/They\u2019re believing lies that can\u2019t save you or them \/Cause you\u2019re so beautiful by any name.\u201d<\/p>\n Webb, who promoted <\/a>the video on social media as a \u201cfull drag performance,\u201d also wrote a song for his new album titled \u201cGod in Drag,\u201d in which he appears to mock the biblical notions of Heaven and Hell:<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve heard it said \/Oh, God so loves but he\u2019ll reject you \/If you so choose he will respect you \/And for all time, he\u2019ll disconnect you \/From his love and those who\u2019ve left you \/And in the skies live on without you \/While the devil\u2019s flames surround you \/In the place that he designed to \/For eternity remind you \/Of the choice that\u2019s now behind you \/Either way, I bet you\u2019ll break a sweat.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In a Facebook post <\/a>on Monday, Webb defended the video, saying, \u201cIf lovin\u2019 you is demonic, I don\u2019t wanna be Christian.\u201d<\/p>\n In an interview <\/a>with Sojourners earlier this month, Webb said <\/a>he wrote the song \u201cfor a dear person in my life who came out to [him] just a few years ago\u201d and compared performing in drag for the \u201cBoys Will Be Girls\u201d video to the Incarnation of Christ.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is something about the experience of being put in drag by Flamy Grant that did feel incarnational to me,\u201d he was quoted as saying. \u201cAnd I think that\u2019s a great analog to the work that Jesus did, and the power that incarnational risk has.\u201d<\/p>\n Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post and the author of\u00a0BACKWARDS DAD: a children’s book for grownups<\/a><\/em>. He can be reached at:\u00a0ian.giatti@christianpost.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Join thousands of others to get the FREEDOM POST<\/strong> newsletter for free, sent twice a week from The Christian Post.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
![](\"https:\/\/cdn.christianpost.com\/images\/cache\/image\/14\/98\/149858_w_760_448.webp\")
<\/source><\/picture>Free<\/span> Religious Freedom Updates<\/h2>\n