Street to Street by Fred Lynch

A monthly message from Fred Lynch.

Street to Street by Fred Lynch

Acts 20/20 Going 'Street to Street'...Youth Workers are no longer 'holding back'.

August 2005

Ever find a youth ministry in your area doing something cutting edge that you knew would be a blessing to your ministry but you couldn't find the source or didn't have a clue how they put it together? Great ideas are sometimes hard to come by, and as you and I both know, the majority of resources developed scarcely cater to the urban mind-set. Today in Urban Youth Ministry we can's afford to nurture an, "I got mine-now go and get yours" mentality if we are to progress and change these streets.

Therefore I'd like to welcome you to a new article entitled, "Street to Street". Our goal is to highlight ministries across the nation (and globe) who are seeing genuine change 'in the hood' and share their stories to encourage you and hopefully inspire you to try a few tips and ideas as we follow Paul's example and hold nothing back that would be good in helping you reach kids. Each month we will showcase real people out there from street to street and hood to hood who are doing the 'dirty work'. We will be highlighting different stories, new shifts, ideas, tips, inspiration, anything and everything to help you do what God has called you to do out there in the street.

So enough with the intro...Let's talk about what's happening 'Street to Street'.

This month I'd like to showcase a powerful ministry tool that many hip hop lovers are eating up: Mix Tapes. For those who aren't familiar with this new phenomenon, mix tapes have been popular for the last ten years in the secular world and has become the new demo/calling card of most hip hop artist. You may ask what is a 'mix tape' and how could it be used in ministry?

A mix tape is a music compilation project. It can vary from remixing old songs with new beats (much fun with older hymns) to using all original material (which is rare) to original lyric material dubbed over popular hip hop beats (be careful with copyright issues here). Most people use the later example because the music track may be well known and give the emerging artist a chance to show their talent to the tune of a familiar song. This is where many Christian Artist are using this tactic to grab the ears and hopefully the hearts of today's 'hip-hop-head'. Although this may seem like a questionable approach, many who are using this type of resource in ministry say that they see teens who are used to secular tunes encouraged to think on better things as they incorporate the use of secular beats.

Now I just have to mention that many people may find this as a hindrance rather than a help to wean kids off of toxic music (where do you draw the line in what you should use for God's Glory). There is also the issue of dealing with copyright laws (the best answer to that are groups who just give the mix-tape product away as a promotional and do not incur charges). I tell you what, why don't you be the judge and check out just a few of the links of some brothers who are doing it in the street...and let me know what you think?

Sharing the gospel from 'Street to Street',

Fred Lynch III
GodStyle Productions

Fred Lynch is the founder of GodStyle Productions, a ministry committed to changing youth culture. For more information on Fred, visit his website or check out his latest project, The Epic (the gospel of John translated into rap).

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