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Written by Phil
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Friday, 07 September 2007 |
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Is God’s hope really for the hopeless cases or just for those who haven’t totally gone off the deep end?� I’ve been thinking a lot about Christians and gangs lately because I keep meeting gangsters and families affected by gangs.� Although our mission here is not a “gang ministry” per say, it seems that every family in our community has been impacted in some way by this aspect of life in the city.� Two nights ago I was standing outside at 10pm with a mom who was nervously smoking a cigarette, anxiously waiting for her son (who joined a gang and just bought a gun)�to come home.� How many moms know her pain and the years she is losing from worry and lack of sleep?� Years ago we temporarily housed a single mom and her two boys whose apartment was burned up by a local gang for saying the wrong thing.� I’ve met a killer who nearly died in a driveby and regrets his past and wants to change his life.� I feel for victims of gang brutality, for all the moms and dads, and for the kids in gangs.��I think most Christians are in agreement that it's a struggle to break free from gang life.� The endless supply of gangsta movies have taught us that.� But when I hear Christians talk about it, it’s as if they’ve resigned to give movies, news reporters, jaded police gang units, and even gangsters themselves, the final say.� Yes, it’s a complex and many-faceted problem, long in the making.� But people don’t get the final say.� God does!� If God says anything is possible with Him, then anything is possible (Matthew 19:26).� Anyone can be saved from the hell they are living in (and have helped to create for themselves).� The promise is for gangsters, too!� Church, please don’t forget His promise is good for everyone!�Please!
Original content at: http://wayoflifevillage.org/2007/09/07/a-promise-for-gangsters/.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 08 September 2007 )
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Scott Bartchy is a radical. He believes in a subversive system that embraces those on the fringes of our society and seeks to establish a new way of life that goes against the status quo.