Years ago, I was invited to a church to do a multimedia presentation on research I had done in Harlem, NY and Paterson, NJ on the Five Percent Nation, aka the Nation of Gods and Earths. The meeting was open to the community and held at a large Baptist church in Paterson. The audience of about 75-80 was comprised mostly of Christians (many in church clothes), so it was a bit of a surprise when four young men dressed full street-style came in about halfway through the presentation. Five Percenters! They sat in the back pew on the right side and suffice it to say, things got inter'sting. Here I was, presenting my findings about their group to the saints and now to these 4 young men as members of that group. Generally speaking, Five Percenters don't do church; they side with Islam - specifically the Nation of Islam. We had a Q&A afterwards during which one of the 4 young men stood up, wanting to clarify and/or challenge some elements in the presentation. The youn boul came across stridently enough to prompt several of the saints to ask him to sit down. He didn't (whew!) and I responded as best and as splangkna-etically as I could (the Lord enabling) to his concerns. The young man seemed okay with what he heard in my response and sat down. After a few more questions, the meeting came to a close. As the gathering dispersed, the four Five Percenters came to the front of the church and a few others in attendance and I began dialoguing with them. It was a delightful and amicable interchange. A couple of nearby brothers (suits and ties - deacons? elders?) saw the conversation as an evangelism opportunity, came over and started asking the young men about their salvation. Fair question with (what seemed to me) an obvious answer, but the convo just wasn't there yet. The deacons meant well but their effort nipped the conversation in the bud and the Five Percenters left. To be perfectly clear: we the saints gathered that night needed to look beyond outward appearances, listen beneath the surface to hear what makes hearts beat, learn how incarnationally close we really are in this sojourn together, so as to love those we cast as the "other" (in this case, them four youn bouls).I cannot forget what happened that evening. The interactions, actions and reactions that took place made an indelible impression, goading me forward to try and figure out how we saints can better bridge the gap between the church and street culture. TGTS 2.0 is a response to what happened that evening.This jawn is for spiritual entrepreneurs - people hyped to explore the places where they live, move and have their being, looking to do what one of the pioneer spiritual entrepreneurs, the Apostle Paul, did as he moved around Athens before heading to the Areopagus (Acts 17:16-34). Where might we find entry points to share the Gospel of Christ in our context?Indeed, some material might cause discomfort or pain. It's OK. Even as Paul's spirit was provoked (a paroxysm) as he walked around Athens - observing, exegeting and then speaking into its situation with the good news of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ - so too our spirits as well. I submit to you that it is actually a good and even necessary reaction. It softens resistant hearts and makes them more receptive.TGTS 2.0's look at challenging social issues might seem as too secular and worldly to the saints ("Just preach the Gospel!"), and conversely, too religious or preachy for secular types. (1. What then do you propose to ameliorate things? 2. How much longer before they get fixed? 3. Is the plan just to leave this a better world or might there be something more than this that you might be missing?) TGTS 2.0's intent is to provide middle ground. Neither shallow nor easy, we put it street terms, "Spiritual meat - for the saints, for the street. Jawn's deet's R 2 deep 2 jus' peep it or tweet."The issues - fundamentally spiritual in nature - are far too deep to offer anything less.Hep