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{Heart4Teens.com} *Why Wait?* ______________________________________ If you enjoy this free email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration into the lives of teenagers everywhere! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, you can join Heart4Teen.com readers around the world by sending a blank e-mail to: Heart4Teens-subscribe@myinjesus.com or visit: http://www.Heart4Teens.com Visit our inspirational web site and read all the past articles in our archives, and view the tons of resources we have there for teens! http://www.Heart4Teens.com/Teen_Stories ____________________________________________ Be sure to check out our other inspirational email list and web site! http://www.HeartTouchers.com To subscribe send a blank email to: HeartTouchers-subscribe@myinjesus.com _________________________________________ Author Michael T. Powers Contributing Author to Chicken Soup for the Teen's Soul on Love and Friendship and 14 other inspirational books. Check out his book: Straight From the Heart by visiting: http://www.HeartTouchers.com _________________________________________ SEX AND CHRISTIANITY 10 Reasons to wait for marriage by Larry Kreider 1 ...because God says so (Galatians 5:19-21) God knows that we are made of body, soul and spirit and that our spirit needs to be united through marriage before we can experience the freedom of sex under God's plan. What you do with your body always touches your spirit. Sex is not just a physical thing. It is a blending of two entire personalities - body, soul and spirit. 2 ...to protect you from memories of past relationships. Another way to say it: to protect you from the ghosts of relationships past. Those involved in any type of sexual activity before marriage will have to deal with flashbacks from past relationships when they get married. The enemy uses flashbacks to place extra stress and strain on a marriage relationship. We need to renew our minds by the Word of God in order to be set free (Romans 12:1-2). 3 ...it protects us from distrust and suspicion. Distrust and suspicion wipes out our basis for intimacy in marriage. Many married couples struggle in their marriage in the sexual area because they were involved in some type of immoral behavior before they were married. 4 ...to learn the difference between love and trust. A friend of mine from the past, boasted that sex would handle any problem he had in his marriage. A few months after he was married, his marriage was already in shambles. Good marriages are built on trust, not sex. Sex is a gift from God to strengthen a marriage relationship. One of the lies from hell is that you need to have sexual experience before you are married so that you are compatible. Sex before marriage destroys the trust that a wholesome sexual relationship is built on. You have your entire life to practice and grow sexually for the man or woman you marry. 5 ...because purity takes away all fear of disease. It's been estimated that between 50 - 100 million people will die of AIDS before the end of this decade. In Africa, 9 - 11% of the entire population may die of AIDS. Anyone involved sexually with someone other than their spouse is having, in reality, sexual relations with each of their partners the past 10 years. 6 ...sexual impurity makes it hard to obey God and hard to break up a relationship. Either sex ruins a good relationship or it sustains a bad one. Sex creates an emotional bond and causes a person to think that the relationship is deeper than it really is. 7 ...sexual impurity causes the couple's communication and whole relationship to deteriorate. Every good marriage is based on communication. Premarital sex distorts and lessens that communication. By keeping a relationship platonic - on emotional, intellectual and spiritual levels - good communication has a greater chance of happening. 8 ...God wants to protect you from losing your virginity. One young girl told her peers who were teasing her about being a virgin, "Any day I can become like you. But you can never become like me." 9 ...to protect your testimony. In Samuel 12:4 Nathan said to David, "By this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme me." Nathan told him this after David had committed sexual sin with Bathsheba. A friend of ours wrote a letter to a past boyfriend asking for forgiveness for sexual promiscuity years before. The Lord set her conscience free through this act of obedience. 10 ...the seed of sexual activity before marriage will produce a crop of immorality and confusion after marriage (unless you truly repent and the curse is broken in Jesus' name). God's plan is for the sexual act to unite two people who are committed in a marriage relationship. The devil's tactic is to use sex to divide couples before they are married, through immorality, which will produce a lack of trust. However, after a couple is married, the enemy tries to tempt those in a marriage relationship to become attracted to someone other than their husband or wife. The devil's strategy is always to divide and to destroy. The same disciplines and grace needed before marriage are also needed after marriage. A married lady recently wrote me a letter and said, "God has shown me that most of our marriage problems were due to sexual immorality; fornication before marriage. As these problems were happening in my marriage, I knew in my Spirit that something was wrong, but I couldn't define it. I was deceived. It is very clear to me now. I've repented and cut off these sins from my life. I am made pure by the blood of Jesus." Larry Kreider currently serves as International Director of DOVE Christian Fellowship International (DCFI), a worldwide network of cell-based churches and house churches. During the past two decades, he has trained Christian leaders nationally and internationally to make disciples with the small group concept. He has written several books, including House to House, a practical manual for home cell group leaders with spiritual insights for the church of the 21st century, The Cry for Spiritual Fathers and Mothers, and a new book just released entitled House Church Networks; A Church for a New Generation. He and his wife LaVerne, have been married 30 years, have four children, two grandchildren and live in Lititz, PA. _________________________________________ LET'S GO SURFING DUDE! Read more about Sex, Love, and Relationships at: http://www.heart4teens.com/love_and_sex __________________________________________ Reading Books, Changing Lives! For those of you who love to read or love to give out books as gifts... You can now order a number of different autographed best-selling inspirational books for the same price you would get them in the store, the shipping to you is paid for, and you are helping change the lives of teenagers and those they come in contact with! And best of all, every penny from the book sales are going to youth ministry to help pay for a life-changing winter retreat and a missions trip to Guatemala this summer! If you love to read inspirational stories, these books are most likely those you will eventually buy anyway. And how cool would it be to be able to buy books like those in the Chicken Soup series for your friends and family with a personalized autographed message by one of the contributing authors! How's that for a unique gift! Not only are you changing lives through supporting a youth ministry, but every book included on our website has the power to make a difference in the lives of those you give the books to. Check out this link to find out more! http://www.HeartTouchers.com/books _________________________________________ PARTING HUMOR HOW THE MEDIA WOULD COVER THE APOCALYPSE USA Today: WE'RE DEAD The Wall Street Journal: DOW JONES PLUMMETS AS WORLD ENDS Microsoft Systems Journal: APPLE LOSES MARKET SHARE Sports Illustrated: GAME OVER Wired: THE LAST NEW THING Rolling Stone: THE GRATEFUL DEAD REUNION TOUR Readers Digest: 'BYE Discover Magazine: HOW WILL THE EXTINCTION OF ALL LIFE AS WE KNOW IT AFFECT THE WAY WE VIEW THE COSMOS? TV Guide: DEATH AND DAMNATION: NIELSON RATINGS SOAR! Lady's Home Journal: LOSE 10 LBS BY JUDGMENT DAY WITH OUR NEW "ARMAGEDDON" DIET! Inc. magazine: TEN WAYS YOU CAN PROFIT FROM THE APOCALYPSE Microsoft's Web Site: If you didn't experience the rapture, download software patch RAPT666.EXE _________________________________________ ALL-STAR Ministry --The Youth Church of Faith Community Church in Janesville, WI If you are in 6-12th grade and live in the southern Wisconsin/northern Illinois area and would like to check us out, we meet every Sunday night from 6:30-8:00 PM at Faith Community Church which is located at 2931 Lucerene Dr. in Janesville, WI. (About 4-5 blocks south-east of The Skating Place.) Currently we have students from Fort Atkinson, Milton, Janesville Craig, Janesville Parker, Orfordville, Clinton, Beloit Memorial, Beloit Turner, South Beloit, and Hononegah. E-mail me back if you have any questions about our weekly meetings or would like to come to any of our events that are listed below... We have way too much fun and then, most importantly, talk about issues that are relevant to you as a teenager. THIS WEEK: All-Stars: Going Roller Skating at the Skatin' Place in Janesville from 7-9 PM. Cost is $6 and all money that comes in that night is being donated to our Guatemala Missions Trip by the friendly folks at the Skatin' Place! The Outlet: Starting a new series called H.A.B.I.T.S. _______________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENTS Sunday April 27: Roller Skating at the Skatin' Place in Janesville. 7 - 9 PM. Cost $6. All money coming in is being donated by the Skating Place to our Guatemala Missions trip this summer! *********** Saturday, May 3 at 8:00 p.m. at Faith Community Church New Rocketown Recording Artist "Alathea" Tickets: $3 Advance $5 Door Tickets Available at Lighthouse Books & Gifts, Janesville WI, Bible Book Center, Beloit WI and Lemstone Books, Cherryvale Mall, Rockford IL "Alathea exhibits strong talent" if you're ready for something fresh and invigorating instead of today's all-too-usual pop fare, then Alathea is definitely a group to check out. Gospelsite.net "Indian Creek. It's got a cool Americana vibe with its acoustic instruments and her plaintive delivery. This trio sounds like a star-in-the-making to me." "Music Row magazine (Robert K. Oermann review) "The sound could probably best be described as folk pop, very earthy with touches of country and bluegrass. While there is a very folksy country sound to the instrumentation of this album, it is tempered with a healthy dose of pop songwriting. The results are delightful." ChristianityToday.com *********** Friday May 9: Open Gym. Basketball and Volleyball. 7 - 9:30 PM. Tentatively scheduled for Clinton High School Gymnasium. Tuesday May 27: Taking a trip to Rev'd Up in Rockford. Go-Karting, Mini Golf, etc. Details and times forthcoming. Saturday June 21: Bowling at Blackbridge Bowl. 1 - 4 PM. ___________________________________________ Change Is Here! All-Stars will be extending its time to 6:00 - 8:30 PM on Sunday nights. 6:00 - 6:30 will be time for the youth to chat and discuss anything they want with the youth leaders or each other. 6:30 - 7:00 PM will be for games or fun activities and then 7:00 - 8:30 PM will be for the lesson and discussion time. Students are still welcome to "hang out" after 8:30 PM if they want, as the leaders are usually at the church until at least 10:00 PM, and some nights even later. (For the past couple of months the students have continually complained that we are running out of time before we get to really discuss the topics in full and asked if we could have longer teaching times... I know, most of you are probably now getting back up off the floor from the shock. We have been most encouraged that the teens have been wanting to stay longer to be able to discuss the lessons more fully.) The Outlet: "Get plugged into Jesus Christ!" (Teen Cell Groups) Wednesday night community groups for teens. The groups are limited to no more than ten teens and will be originally split into Jr. High and High School ages. This night is for those teens who want to dig deeper than what we do in All-Stars, but may not be ready to be a part of the Extreme Teens. These cell groups will also be doing special activities with each other as the year goes on to build community. "The Extreme Teens" (formerly the Core Group) meets from 5:00 - 6:00 PM at the church. This group is very extensive with weekly homework, memorization, service projects, etc. Students interested in this group will have to fill out an application, provide references as to why others think they should be involved with this, and sign an agreement as to what is expected of them. (If your teen will also be attending All-Stars that night, they are encouraged to bring a sack lunch or snack to tide them over until 8:30.) We are very excited at what God will be doing with our youth! _________________________________________ Author MICHAEL T. POWERS www.Heart4Teens.com "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20 ___________________________________________ Would you like to see your story in Heart4Teens.com? Writer's guidelines can be found on our Web site here: http://www.Heart4Teens.com/guidelines/ __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm __________________________________________ |
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Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
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