Hip Hop for Jesus

Yesterday I met with a young man from our church. He is in his early/mid 20's. He is a pretty unique young man.

He is a rapper, and he dresses the part. He is always dressed in brilliantly bright colors, plenty of bling, and style to go with it. He has the lingo. If you could hear this guy rap....man he has a gift. He is also a graduate of Teen challenge. He is currently living in a transition house trying to get back on his feet.

I have really felt like God wanted me to come along side him and disciple him as he starts this new life. We all know that when we disciple others, we are being discipled as well, right? At the same time I was feeling this, he had been wanting to put on a hip hop/rap outreach concert.

Yesterday, we got to finally meet together. The time was spent getting to know one another, and a bit of our pasts. The bulk of the time was spent brainstorming for the concert. Who would be a part of it, how would it look, sound and feel to the community we are trying to reach. When would we do it, where, etc. It was a great time and we accomplished a lot.

As I reflect back on that first meeting, there is one thing that really stands out to me. His passion. It was great to hear his passion to reach people and tell them about Jesus through his music. It was a genuine, excitable passion. A contagious passion.

For some reason, it seems that the longer we are Christians, we loose some of our passion...if we don't protect it. Why? many reasons.... but it does happen. It was great to see and hear his passion yesterday, because it stirred up my passion. It reminded me why I do what I do and why I want to be a part of reaching people who are lost.

Thank you, my friend, for reminding me what outreach is all about!