By Caleb Campos –
David Lynn was once a feared car thief in Toronto.
“I got myself involved with gangs you know, just trying to fit in by doing different criminal activities, whether stealing cars, doing drugs, smoking weed,” Lynn says on a CFM video.
Lynn got bullied in a mostly Caucasian school. When his family moved to a neighborhood in Toronto with many immigrants from the Caribbean, he joined their gang and became a prolific carjacker. Even the cops knew him.
Lynn was behind bars more than once, but the last time would change everything,
An Iranian Muslim in the prison had a Gideon New Testament Bible and gave it to David.
“Somehow this Muslim had a New Testament,” David says. “If it wasn’t for the person that went out of their way to put a Bible in jail, I would be either dead in hell today or in jail for life for murder.”
He remembered that his mother always told him to read his Bible. Though he didn’t fully understand at first, the Holy Spirit began to convict David about his sins.
The power of the Word and the Spirit caused him to surrender his life to Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord, and he was born again.
As a new creature in Christ, God helped him overcome his insecurities. ”Before I was trying to have my security in my looks, the girls, the cars. But thanks be to God, he showed me my true value.”
After David’s release, his ministry began with telling five high school kids his testimony. The Spirit of the Lord took over, and 40 minutes later David looked up and 200 teens sat before him listening to what he had to say.
Out of the crowd, a Muslim approached and started debating David. Though David didn’t have any prior knowledge of Islam, he stood his ground and declared that ultimately, Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
The school preaching went so well he branched out to street evangelism. His method is to incorporate apologetics with an unapologetic, masculine proclamation of truth. He comes off as persuasive and masculine.
“When I first started street preaching, I was criticized by every Christian church – everybody,” he said. “People said, Jesus wouldn’t be with a microphone, wouldn’t be with a speaker.”
David ignored the nay-sayers. He was proclaiming the truth and people were drawn to the Truth.
He has also drawn controversy. A year ago, a crowd of 400 LGBTQ and other wokies found out that David was coming to Vancouver, Canada, to shut him down, he says.
David persevered and preached the word of God, planting seeds among all who would listen. The opposition, however, drove him from the city.
He heard that some people wanted to get baptized, so the next day he went to a lake and another large crowd awaited him.
“I saw the huge crowd and some people started coming around,” David said, “You know a thought came into my head, and it’s like, today might be the day I get clubbed.”
He started walking towards the waters, and when he looked around, he saw police officers around him. “The whole contingent of the, I would say there were at least 100 police officers who came and stood around me. They walked me right to the water in front of all my enemies, and those who hated me.”
David says that it was one of the best baptizing experiences he had, despite the opposition.
David and the CFM ministers upload videos on YouTube to inspire other Christians to reach out boldly.
Jenny Liew commented about David on the Isaiah Salvidar channel: “His endurance, patience, and love shown when preaching are the keys to winning lost souls or sinners over. He casts out demons! Many street preachers are too afraid to pray as they preach!”
Today, David Lynn oversees 20 churches in the U.S. and Canada and two in the UK as the founder of Christ’s Forgiveness Ministries (CFM).
To learn more about a personal relationship with Jesus, click here
About this writer: Caleb Campos studies at the Lighthouse Christian Academy near Los Angeles.
