Preaching the Gospel at Gunpoint

“It’s not the typical territory where you would figure your average middle-class, white boy would end up,” says photographer Bill Youngblood about the alleyway in which this issue’s cover was shot. But perhaps it was a good thing he didn’t know it at the time.

When he went to pick up the processed film at the lab, Bill discovered his pictures had caused quite a stir. “How did you get Crips and Bloods together in the same photograph,” one lab worker wanted to know. In his spare time, this technician was shooting documentary photographs of Los Angeles-area gangs. He told Bill that normally, members of black gangs and members of Hispanic gangs would not be on the same site without violence. Bill, however, knew these were ex-gang members whose lives had been changed by Jesus.

Reflecting later on the potential danger of working with ethnically mixed models on strange turf, Bill remembered that Victory Outreach minister Robert Alvarado had brought with him to the site about a dozen more people than were needed as models. Was that “phalanx of extra subjects” there as “muscle” in case of trouble?

As Tone Head, pictured in Bill’s photograph on page 16, regaled him with tales of “preaching the gospel at the point of a gun,” Bill realized just how low some people sink—economically, emotionally, and physically—before they come to Christ. “Those of us who grow up in the white, middle class,” he said, “have trouble realizing what turning to Christ really means for many people.”

DAVID NEFF, Senior Associate Editor

Our Latest

The Bulletin

Young Republican Texts, Anglican Split, and George Santos Released

Controversial Republican texts, Anglican Communion splits, and George Santos’s sentence is commuted.

Review

Do Evangelical Political Errors Rise to the Level of Heresy?

A Lutheran pastor identifies five false teachings that threaten to corrupt the church’s public witness.

Highlights and Lowlights of 1957

In its first full year of publication, CT looked at Civil Rights, Cold War satellites, artificial insemination, and carefully planned evangelism.

News

Will There Be a Christian Super Bowl Halftime Show?

Conservatives suggest country and Christian artist alternatives for game day.

News

As Madagascar’s Government Topples, Pastors Call for Peace

Gen Z–led protests on the African island nation led to a military takeover.

News

Amid Fragile Cease-Fire, Limited Aid Reaches Gazans

Locals see the price of flour rise and fall as truce is strained and some borders remain closed.

News

Federal Job Cuts Hit Home as Virginia Picks Its Next Governor

Meanwhile, the GOP candidate draws from Trump’s playbook to focus on transgender issues in schools. 

Religious OCD and Me

Scrupulosity latches onto the thing we hold most dear—our relationship with God.

Apple PodcastsDown ArrowDown ArrowDown Arrowarrow_left_altLeft ArrowLeft ArrowRight ArrowRight ArrowRight Arrowarrow_up_altUp ArrowUp ArrowAvailable at Amazoncaret-downCloseCloseEmailEmailExpandExpandExternalExternalFacebookfacebook-squareGiftGiftGooglegoogleGoogle KeephamburgerInstagraminstagram-squareLinkLinklinkedin-squareListenListenListenChristianity TodayCT Creative Studio Logologo_orgMegaphoneMenuMenupausePinterestPlayPlayPocketPodcastRSSRSSSaveSaveSaveSearchSearchsearchSpotifyStitcherTelegramTable of ContentsTable of Contentstwitter-squareWhatsAppXYouTubeYouTube