Street to Street by Fred Lynch

A monthly message from Fred Lynch.

Street to Street by Fred Lynch

Get Ready for Spring

March 2006

Ahh...spring is so close that you can almost feel it! I know that some of you up north are stretching out your hands in hope of a glimmer of change in the weather, but rest assured, the season is changing and before you know it the birds will be singing, the flowers blooming and that playful romantic air of new life will burst out of every nook and crack that it can. Spring just can't be denied, and especially with the rough fall and winter that we've all faced, spring is definitely welcome.

As a youth minister, I always made a point to began encouraging my students in keeping their vows of abstinence around this time of year. You ever notice how so many of your students began focusing on relationships around this time of the year? It seems to spread like a crazy love spell; even those who you never thought would bloom into that next level are now trying to get the hooked up. Although statistics will show you that more sexual activity occurs during the summer season than any other time of the year for teens (because they don't have anything to do; an idle mind/body...), spring seems to be the critical time where so many seeds of passion are planted in the mind and bodies of our adolescents. What I'd like to do is help you point your students and student leaders in the right direction. Our goal is to help teens plant the seeds of passion into the fertile ground of a vibrant love for God and watch it bloom into a summer of service and celebration.

One site in particular that has helped me find the latest research and resources on abstinence is called The Abstinence Clearinghouse. You can visit this site by going to www.abstinence.net. This is the place to find the latest news, facts, media and resources to help you help students make the right decisions even though they're hormones may be swinging (or 'springing') to a different beat. Another staple site that I'd like to showcase is a ministry that has been helping teens for the last 30 years, in fact many of you may have been helped by this brother when you were teens. His name is Josh McDowell and he's my hero! Josh has been putting it down for over 30 years and he's still out there making a difference (you go Josh)! Josh has a special spot on his site where he posts all of his professional research up for youth workers to keep up with the latest statistics and findings. So here you go: www.josh.org/lovewaits is a 'back door' to a special page on Josh's site where he constantly updates his personal notes on everything from Parenting to Crime and Violence, to Education to Teen Sexuality and a whole lot more! Be encouraged as you get your teens ready for Spring!

Freddie Freebie: I have a great little e-book that I'd like to help distribute. It's called the Customer Evangelist and it's a secular view of the concept of evangelism. Not spiritual evangelism, they're talking about the evangelism of goods and products. I'd encourage you to check it out and as you read it, compare the customer evangelist to the average church member 'evangelist' and I bet you'll have a fiery message to help your disciples go out and make disciples! You can find it on my site www.godstyle.com and visit the download page and you'll find it along with many other goodies.

Sharing the gospel from 'Street to Street',

Fred Lynch III
GodStyle Productions

Fred Lynch is the founder of GodStyle Productions, a ministry committed to changing youth culture. For more information on Fred, visit his website or check out his latest project, The Epic (the gospel of John translated into rap).

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