Kanye West says Sunday Services saved him from drug use and addiction

Rapper Kanye West speaks with Pastor Joel Osteen at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, on Sunday November 17, 2019. Lakewood Church

Kanye West has told his fans that his popular Sunday Services saved him from a life of drugs and p**nography.

The rapper hosted Sunday Services throughout 2019, the first of them being local to his home in Calabasas before being taken across the US and then internationally to Jamaica. 

Just before the end of 2019, he held another Sunday Service, this time at a homeless shelter on Skid Row in Los Angeles. 

He brought his choir to the Union Rescue Mission, where in addition to providing a musical performance, he shared his testimony. 

"A lot of times people say, 'Thank you Ye for Sunday Service.' I'm saying thank God. This thing saved my life," West said.

"This thing was an alternative to opioids. This thing was an alternative to p**nography."

He told the shelter guests that he could handle being called names as long as no one calls him "secular" because he is now in the service of God. 

"I worked for others before Christ," he said. "It landed me right in the hospital."

One of the songs performed at the shelter was "Closed on Sunday", from his new gospel album, Jesus is King.  The song talks about the value of stores staying closed on Sunday and takes inspiration from the US fast food chain Chick-fil-A, which shuts on Sundays to give staff a day of rest and time to spend with their families. 

One of Kanye's biggest Sunday Services last year was held at the megachurch of Joel Osteen in Houston, Texas, which seats around 40,000 people. 

They are reportedly pairing up again this year for another Sunday Service to take place at the Yankee Stadium in New York City during Osteen's annual "Night of Hope" tour. 

It was a busy Christmas for the "Jesus Walks" singer, though, as his new Sunday Service Choir album, Jesus is Born, released on Christmas Day to positive reviews.

And later this month, West be part of the line-up at the Strength to Stand Bible Conference in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, alongside Christian artists Lecrae, Tauren Wells, and Hillsong Young & Free.

News
13 Christians abducted in church attack in Nigeria
13 Christians abducted in church attack in Nigeria

Thirteen Christians have been abducted by a militia group in Nigeria following a skirmish in Kogi State.

Former moderator of Church of Scotland teams up with pop star to release Christmas song
Former moderator of Church of Scotland teams up with pop star to release Christmas song

What do you do when you've retired from leading a church?

Christians protest LGBT nativity play where Jesus is 'King of the Gays'
Christians protest LGBT nativity play where Jesus is 'King of the Gays'

The university and students' union said the play was within the bounds of free speech laws.

Pro-life campaigner who silently prayed in abortion clinic buffer zone criminally charged
Pro-life campaigner who silently prayed in abortion clinic buffer zone criminally charged

A pro-life campaigner who silently prayed near an abortion clinic in Birmingham has been criminally charged.