Day 253: Christian rap

The sounds of rap flowed out the windows of his white SUV as he filled up with gas. The man himself was probably in his late 20s, with a beard and baggy pants. Easy enough to stereotype. Except for the cross that hung around his neck. And the sticker in his window, one that said "No Shame" over the top of a cross. Below that, it said, "Romans 1:16."

So I'd found a Christian. He immediately said I could pray for him. And then we stood there talking for a long time. Rap, it turns out, was his thing. His name was Greg, and he grew up in a home without God. His entire life was centered in the secular world -- one filled with secular rap -- and he carried a lot of rage with him. The Christians he met turned out to be just like him, further pushing him away from this God who was supposed to transform his life.

The change came later. He said he had a child with a woman he barely knew. And when the boy was 2 1/2 years old, he found himself going to church for the wrong reasons -- with a girl. It was Newspring Church in Wichita. But something about it grabbed him and didn't let him go. (I'd call that the Holy Spirit.) Another time, he found himself watching CBN TV, and scoffing at the people there. And then he started listening to what they had to say.

And then he started challenging God. God, he determined, couldn't change him. No one could change him. That's when the miracle happened. As he told me this, I could see the emotion in his eyes. He said God picked him up and turned him around. Just like that. He was saved.

That was about two years ago. Now he rejects efforts by his old friend to turn him away from "that Jesus thing." And he goes into downtown Wichita to minister to the homeless there. And he still likes rap and hopes to bring more people like him to Christ through music.

And here I was, asking to pray for this guy. But he allowed me to. I prayed that the Holy Spirit would guide him in whatever path of ministry, formal or not, that God had laid out for him. My new friend's name was Greg. I'm glad I met him.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first the Jew, then to the Gentile." Romans 1:16