Houston Report #6: StreetLife

I think it was in the summer of 1992 that I realized that someday I would be sitting in a worship service that used the favorite instruments of rap and hip hop: the turntable/scratch machine (I don't know what the people in "the know" call it).

Sitting in the sample worship service at StreetLife I realized that I probably should have experienced this sooner than 15 years after the thought had first occurred to me. Maybe I wasn't ready for it. Maybe I'm still not. And, yet, there we Beesonites were, a whole loaf of Wonder Bread sitting in a storefront that the Union Baptist Association had financed into the StreetLife Church.

The MC (or DJ--again, I'm not in the know here) was a surprisingly white guy mixing and scratching his way through a worship service. The noise was constant, even while things were being said from the microphone.
We were treated to a round table discussion regarding what was happening in this setting, what the goals were, and what the challenges were. On the stage, from left to right, the men get more institutional. On the left is Terrence Levi, he is the front edge of the ministry and a former gang member. Next to him is Robert "Rob Phat" Taylor, who oversees their media operations. Next is Coach Scoggins, a man who leads their sports ministries in downtown Houston and who mentors young men through that venue. Next is Ricky Bradshaw, a Baptist minister who does not claim to like rap or the rap culture, but who champions this ministry with the Union Baptist Association because he has seen the need to reach young people caught in a destructive way of life.Here I am with Terrence Levi, who was a powerful speaker. Really. I was impressed. Here are some of the things he saidthat caught my attention:

• "I don't know church language. People said to me things like we got to evangelize and disciple. I don't know what that means, I just want to get 'em saved for real and then have them go and tell somebody else."
• "The 'hood has gone to the woods. Kids everywhere want to be in the hood, but the hood is dangerous. Too many kids have they draws draggin' the ground and don't know Christ."
• "We tell them to come into the church and put down the drugs and the guns."
• "I didn't get saved by someone like me. My pastor wore cheap, ugly, suits."
  

All of this was taking place under the sign, "First Southwest Baptist Church." Amazing. If you're interested in knowing more about this group is doing, go to http://www.streetlifeonline.com/