Street to Street by Fred Lynch

A monthly message from Fred Lynch.

Street to Street by Fred Lynch

Schedule your Service Project

April 2006

Working with inner-city kids has its advantages. You definitely gain an appreciation for the sovereignty of God, because you quickly learn that if God doesn't fight your battles, fund your operation and guide you through the hood, you won't make it! You also develop a keen sense of awareness; you aren't trying to be the next victim that gets jacked!

However one of the advantages that's often overlooked and loses its appreciation is how familiar our kids are with the sense of raw need. We are working with many young people who come from brokenness and pain. You don't have to labor too hard to convince them how quickly life can unravel at the seams and fall apart because they live too close to that type of drama everyday. Talk about the pains of poverty, the perils of domestic terror, the weight of not having someone who believes in you and immediately 'you can get a witness'. Yet if you can take those same students who've been trampled on and give them a chance to help somebody the results are explosive!

This is why I appreciate this hidden treasure: people who have been in pain and experienced healing are the greatest distributors of healing. I always like to remind my youth that there's always someone who's less fortunate than you and when you get your mind off of your problems and try to help somebody else, God always has a way of taking care of your problems.

Well folks, I know that's good preaching, but it's even better when you practice it. I'd like to encourage you to check out some of the local and regional service projects that may be going on this up and coming summer where you can get your group plugged into service. Since we live in such a self-centered society, we can really help young people experience freedom and joy that comes from serving in Jesus' name. Whether it's working with the neighborhood that your church is in, visiting another neighborhood, going out to another city, state or nation there's always an opportunity to serve.

Let me give you a few web sites to go and check out. One of my favorites is Chain Reaction. This ministry is headed up by a dear friend of mine Matthew Stevens. Some of you old Hip Hop heads may remember D.O.C. (Disciples of Christ) well Matt was the drummer for the group, and he's still making noise, but in a different way. Go check it out for more information. My homie Bart Campolo began Mission Year, and I'm constantly running into people who've participated with them and their lives are CHANGED. Also if you're looking for something exciting this summer, check out a great friend of mine whose experiencing God's Blessings as he's equipping the Church to love the city. Check out Urban Harvest. Again, these are just ideas to get you started. You don't have to go with the big time ministries to get your kids to serve. The most important thing is that you do expose your kids to the awesome power of God through service.

Freddie Freebie: I have a great little e-book that I'd like to help distribute. It's called the Customer Evangelist and it's a secular view of the concept of evangelism. Not spiritual evangelism, they're talking about the evangelism of goods and products. I'd encourage you to check it out and as you read it, compare the customer evangelist to the average church member 'evangelist' and I bet you'll have a fiery message to help your disciples go out and make disciples! You can find it on my site www.godstyle.com and visit the download page and you'll find it along with many other goodies.

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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