Restoring order: Program targets gang, thug plague

By Tom Davidson
Herald Staff Writer

FARRELL November 14, 2008 12:00 am

— The gospel refrain “trouble don’t last always” boomed off the walls of Hour of Power Full Gospel Tabernacle in Farrell, as more than 50 people gathered Sunday to praise the Lord and listen to a message about the Shenango Valley’s gang and thug problem.
“I came to bring you the reality of the situation you are facing,” Bishop Joseph G. McNeal said during his presentation of “Gangs and Thugs: Ready for Action 2008.”
As founder and overseer of New Wine Ministries Church Without Walls International, Bishop McNeal knows about street life and has taken his message to the streets of Youngstown.
“You are facing” problems, he said, that can’t be resolved with some “happy, happy, joy, joy message.”
“Parents, you need to quit being afraid to teach your children holiness,” Bishop McNeal said. “Make them go to church; matter of fact, make their lives revolve around the church.
“Teach your kids praise, teach your kids worship,” he said.
Doing that would go a long way toward stemming the rising tide of street violence and gang problems in the Shenango Valley, he said.
Municipal officials and law enforcement can do some things, but “none of them has brought in the word of God,” he said.
Gangs offer a sense of belonging that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, and it’s something churches can build upon.
“The problem isn’t they’re in a gang, it’s they’re in the wrong gang,” Bishop McNeal said. “Being in a gang is an exciting thing because you feel accepted.”
That’s the reason he leads a church “without walls” that takes its message directly to the street, he said.
“Expose the enemy and run him out of town,” he said. “Get your minds ready for action.”
Of the 50 people who came to the service, about 20 were youth who listened to Bishop McNeal’s message to choose the Lord over the ways of the street.
“Be transformed,” he said. “In our gang, the gang leader (Jesus Christ) took the beating for you.
“The church must reach out.”

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