Street Threat

Yesterday, David and I are in the house, and my phone rings. Its early afternoon. Its one of the women from our church community. She's married one of the guys from our church community. I mean, they are two of our young people who met and got married, moved in and are endeavoring to serve jesus in this little expression of the Bride of Christ...

She's on the verge of hysterical. Voice cracking with fear, but still holding on. She's at the library, five blocks down, where she and her man were looking at stuff. He was tired and wanted to go home. She wanted to stay. So he starts walking home.

Five Blocks.
not far.

one thing though. He's "mixed". Do you know what that means? I have learned, since it truly means nothing to me, that to some, the fact that this guy has light brown skin and somewhat caucasian features puts him in "subhuman adversary" status category.

He leaves the library, crosses the street, and immediately there's a "mobilization" of the street guys. Do you have these guys in your neighborhood? These are the ubiquitous 15-20 something people who "hang" on the "ave" and "chill" with the "crew" (RUN-DMC).

They mobilize. Forming on corners at his 4 and 8 oclock peripherals, they start flanking him at the outset of the first block. he ducks into a convenient store, calls his wife, she calls me, David and I jump into the Tercel and power down there to pick him up.

his wife, as she calls me, has run out of the library, leaving her car behind. When we arrive to pick our bro up, we're also picking up his wife. We return them to the library parking lot, a block away, and our local street guys see the whole pickup.

now, you may be thinking, "this is a little dramatic." "how do you know?"

this same guy got pistol whipped a year and two months back, along with his young cousin, just a block away from that site. Pistol whipping: when someone takes a handgun and flat out HITs you with it.
It broke bone and cut tendons. He looked like meat.
and the guy who did it is one of the street guys from yesterday...

The night before, we were studying Ephesians 6--the Spiritual nature of our conflict. The whole time we pray.
Can you imagine what's swirling around in our neighborhood in the unseen heavenly realms? How much apprehension there must be in the enemy's camp as we focus on jesus, listen to the Spirit adn preach the word--in deeds and lyrics...

Friends, we're in it up to here. Please join us in praying for a major breakthrough in the church. Otherwise, money will come in here and gentrify, setting up a deeply entrenched encampment of even more evil kingdom stuff... This is an "up and coming" neighborhood. That means that either the Jesus people or the Money People's god will have it.

Please pray with us.
Come visit us and feel the air crackle. There's a fight afoot, here...

and join us in thanking God for brothers and sisters who count being beaten in the street a part of normal Christian discipleship.