Front Page

By Barbrianna A.

Strictly Speaking Staff Writer

The idea of a

conscience is a proven fact to which each person possesses. The ability to think before you act is a common trait that our generation possesses, but is very fond of being criticized as not having.

Day to day, teenagers are faced with reality and the decisions we make are a reply to how we face reality. There are always several routes to take, but in that selection there are two main routes. There is one with a blinking neon sign, which says “ONE WAY”. Many people follow this route and never come back. This return of no people questions whether the route less taken is the one which to follow. It is very narrow and only small amounts of people proceed down this route. The decision to proceed on either route is violently knocking on the door of our brain, asking which way is best. Our conscience is the voice inside our head that is yelling the route to take.

The decision, having been thought repeatedly, has come to a conclusion. The conclusion is to follow the road less taken, but our surroundings urge us to take the “ONE WAY” route. This decision

What I Wish You Knew NOW

Christian Teens Tell Adults What They Wish They Knew About Their Generation

By Sybil C.

Strictly Speaking Contributing Writer

I am glad to have the gift of salvation. You can

only do better when you know better. When you don't know, you learn by mistakes. I always knew that once you start something you should finish it. I say that to say that I graduated from high school and went straight to college and got my B.S degree in Political Science from State University of New York/College at Old Westbury. I got pregnant a year after graduating. Now, the only thing I wish I knew then was that I should have waited until I got married before having a family. In other words, I should have done it in God’s order. The results were I had to struggle being a single parent at the time with one child. Not too long after, I had another child. I was still not married and out of order. Now I’m a single parent with two kids. I was not happy living this sinful life at all. I remember trying to fill this void in my life with all the wrong things - partying, socializing and having relationships that weren't healthy, just making the wrong choices. One day I turned the channel to TBN and Juanita Bynum was on preaching a sermon called, NO MORE SHEETS. As she was preaching I saw myself in everything she was saying. I asked God to change me. I knew in order for this to happen I had to change. Change brings change. I had read the Bible before. I grew up Catholic and the script is written for you. There is no Holy Spirit filled word. I knew the Bible but I didn't have a relationship with Jesus. I know for sure that it was NO MORE SHEETS that started my journey toward my relationship with Jesus. It was 1996 when I got saved, joined a non-denominational church called Christian Life Center in Brooklyn, NY, now named Christian Cultural Center. I served and loved my church family from day one. What I wish I knew then was that I should have waited (stayed pure) for the man of God, Michael Clark, my present husband, got married and then had my children. That's the order God wants for every one of us. So teenagers and single ladies and men - wait on God and have no regrets.

What I Wish I Knew Then

Christian Adults Tell Teens What They Wish They Knew Back Then

is vital to our development because it provides an outline to which our life will set up. This outline poses as the life of a blossoming teenager living day-to-day.

The exemplary teenager will lead by sharing their thoughts, and not

let the thoughts of others influence their opinion. Both teenagers use their conscience, but each go about applying it differently to their everyday life. Our life is determined by our decisions and it depends on your personal look on life, which will show the route we will ultimately follow.

MEET THE STAFF

BETHANY

BARBRIANNA

VANESSA

RICARDO

DANAE

DANIELLE

JOVAN

CHEYENNE

JOIN US!

Pastor Bobby White, New Generation Ministry Director; Carla Varner, Editor;

Renee Sherman, Sybil Clark, Celeste Small, Assistant Editors; Brenda Cooper, Marketing Director

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WHAT WILL YOU DO?

DID YOU KNOW?

By Jovan P.

Strictly Speaking Staff Writer

JAY-Z Disrespects Christianity in Empire State of Mind

LYRICS

...

Mommy took a bus trip, now she got her bust out

Everybody ride her just like a bus route

Hail Mary to the city, you’re a virgin

And Jesus can’t save you, life starts when the church ends ...

Sean Carter, a.k.a “Jay-Z”, a.k.a “HOVA” a.k.a “jay-hova” is declared as the savior of hip hop. People have said he’s one of the greatest rappers to ever hit the microphone. What they don’t know (neither do some Christians know) is that he’s had a struggle with religion. Jay-Z declares himself a “spiritual” man. This means he doesn’t specifically belong to a religion. As most worldly artists, Jay-Z has come out with underground albums. In his underground album “the gray album” one of his songs is named “Lucifer”. If you play it normally, it sounds like gibberish. But if you play it backwards, he is tremendously, disrespecting Jesus. Recently, in his album THE BLUEPRINT 3, he came out with a song called “empire state of mind”. The song has become very popular, especially after the World Series. The unsaved and even saved people don’t know that Jay-Z has become more open with his “dissin” to Jesus. In one of the lines in his song, he says

“hail Mary to the city you’re a virgin. And Jesus cant save you, life starts with the church ends”. So I have a question for you readers. Do you agree with Jay-Z and his music? Think about it.

There is another Empire State of Mind version on Alicia Keys new album, The Element of Freedom. As a New Yorker, I recommend you listen to her version of it. There are no Jay-Z lyrics in this but it tells you more about what New York is than the original version. Compare the two songs; you’ll notice a cleaner, simpler version of Alicia Keys then Jay-Z. Some of Jay-Z’s lyrics are true about New York, but Alicia Keys’ Version is more inspirational. I personally recommend you listen to it. If you are like me, you will find it to be a better song compared to the original.

- By Jovan P.

Alicia Keys’ Version

Wingo’s poetic sermons,: http://www.p4cm.com/p4cm/taxonomy/term/26

HAVE YOU HEARD OF BLAIR WINGO &

THE PASSION FOR CHRIST MOVEMENT?

Blair M. Wingo is a 25 year old model, actress, and Christian spoken word artist (poet). Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Blair moved to Los Angeles where she enrolled in various perform-ing arts schools where she was exposed to acting.

Her acting career has had tremendous success. In addition to appearing on several shows including Alias, Days of our Lives, Boston Public, Malcolm in the Middle, The Parkers, American Dreams, as well as her own Saturday morning show, SK8 (Skate), Blair most recently (2008) was featured in the film, Beautiful Loser.

Throughout her acting career Blair continued to do spoken word. In 2005 she gave her life to Christ and all of her poetry became Christ-centered and driven. She began her spoken word ministry by performing at well-known LA ministries and is now worshipping under the Pastoral leadership of Pastor Justin Cox at the Passion for Christ Movement (P4CM) in downtown Los Angeles.

Pastor Cox and his P4CM ministry has a youth-driven focus. Their website: www.p4cm.com addresses the matters of culture vs. faith in a straight forward,

“Trafficking isn’t a distant crime. It’s right here. There is no escape from the fact that people are being bought and sold, across all borders, continents, around your town and even up your street. People are product. I was one of them.”

- A Survivor of trafficking, taken from, Stop the Traffik

LOOK TO THE RIGHT OF YOUR SCREEN. Did you catch that? STOP THE TRAFFIK People Shouldn’t Be Bought and Sold.

The International Labor Organization (ILO) is the United Nations agency charged with addressing labor standards, employment and social protection issues. The ILO estimates that there are at least 12.3 million adults and children in forced labor, bonded labor, and commercial sexual servitude at any given time. Of that number it estimates that at least 1.39 million are victims of the commercial sex industry. Fifty-six percent of all forced labor victims are women and girls. It is also estimated that human trafficking generates between 10 and 12 billion dollars a year, second only to the trafficking of drugs. According to Chalke and Blair the trafficking of people is the fastest-growing global crime.

Now, let’s define human trafficking as stated in Steve Chalke and Cherie

Blair’s book, Stop the Traffik. The definition: Human trafficking is the dislocation of someone by deception or coercion for exploitation,

through forced prostitution, forced labor, or other forms of slavery.

Human traffickers prey on the weak. They use deceptive schemes to lure their victims into servitude. Oftentimes they promise employment and educational opportunities, even marriage. They target men, women and children in the most poverty-stricken areas of the world.

Their victims are men, women, boys and girls who are tricked, duped and/or forced into unspeakable, seemingly hopeless abusive situations.

But hope never fails. And it is because of organizations like Stop The Traffik that hope lives and is making a difference.

Stop the Traffik was established in 2006 to raise awareness and understanding of human trafficking, advocate to create a world in which it is harder to traffik, and fundraise to finance anti-trafficking projects around the world.

It is a world-wide movement of individuals, communities and over 1,000 member organizations that have come together to stop human trafficking by campaigning to prevent the sale of people, prosecute the traffickers and protect the victims.

www.stopthetraffik.org

Sources: Stop The Traffik by Steve Chalke and Cherie Blair & http://www.state.gov/g/tip/c16467.htm

NOW THAT YOU KNOW ... What Will You Do?

Two ambitious teenage boys by the name of Alex and Brett Harris took a pretty presumptuous risk, writing and publishing this book by the name of Do Hard Things. It’s certainly, as they say, “a different kind of teen book.” What twenty-first century teenager could enjoy a book that actively urges him or her to do HARD THINGS; who would even pick it up?

Well, as HARD as it might be to believe, this book is one I can assure you, you will not regret reading. Written with a quality both professional and contemporary, it’s anything but HARD to read. The Harris brothers come at their audience as a part of the growing crowd; they’re as much accomplices in this crime of HARD THINGS as they are the masterminds. Now let’s get one thing straight right now, the Harris’ are not trying to get you out there doing every single difficult thing you can think of. There’s one main HARD THING they’re after: changing the world’s perception of the teenager.

There are plenty of books out there that urge adults to change the world, but the Harris brothers are onto something even better.

Stop the Traffik

Builds Awareness

hard-hitting manner. Issues such as teen sex, homo-sexuality and abortion are not shied away from but challenged from a Biblical standpoint.

Blair Wingo’s poems are featured on Youtube and Tangle, formerly Godtube. Her poem, “Allow Me to Re-introduce the Christ” is one of the top 25 most viewed videos in the history of Tangle. Her poetry has been featured on ABC’s Nightline and in the Los Angeles Times. She is now invited to perform her poetry all across the United Sates and the world. Her mission to inspire youth to sell our for Jesus the Christ.

A PASTORAL RESPONSE TO THE JAY Z ARTICLE

FAMILY INTEGRATION:

Whose Idea Is This and WHY?

Family Integration is a movement within the modern day church founded upon the principle that GOD ordained the family to be the principle source of youth discipleship and training. The concept was born out of the reality that the former way of catechizing youth, putting the emphasis on the church (Sunday school and youth programming), has failed. Statistics show that a startling 80% - 90% of young adults entering college leave the faith by the end of their freshman year.

Family Integration looks at the Biblical model of teaching and raising youth in the faith. That model clearly shows young people learning, praying and worshipping with their families and alongside their elders. So to answer the question above, whose idea was this? It was GOD’s idea.

Therefore the Family Integration model strives to create a church whose practices strengthen families in their God-given roles. In doing so, the church provides parents with tools to teach their children the Bible and develop a practice and atmosphere conducive to praying, worshipping and praising GOD together. This will naturally produce families, specifically young people, that live and view life from a Biblical standpoint.

In following this family-based spiritual development movement Calvary Revival Church Chesapeake is in the process of ceasing all Sunday school programs and restructuring youth activities. On Sunday mornings families will come together to worship, pray, praise and read and grow in the WORD of GOD together. Can I get an AMEN!?

NOW THAT YOU KNOW...

A RESPONSE FROM THE CRCC YOUTH

Strictly Speaking is a web newsletter designed to inform,

what is STRICTLY SPEAKING?

They’re asking, why wait? Did you know that for a great majority of time, teenager was not even a word? Now, consider all the countless times you’ve begged mom and dad to treat you like an “adult” (I know you have). When do we even really cross that fine line into adulthood? Why must we even yearn to be older when there’s so much we can do now? This is the battle cry of Do Hard Things. We, “teenagers” need not wait a moment longer. The only thing holding us back from greatness is our own tainted mentality. God gave us many examples in the Bible of youth who made huge differences. Esther changed a kingdom and saved a people, David defeated Goliath and became a king, Timothy…

On the back of this book it is written, “Most people don’t expect you to understand what we’re going to tell you in this book. And even if you understand, they don’t expect you to care. And even if you care, they don’t expect you to do anything about it. And even if you do something about it, they don’t expect it to last. WE DO.” I’m as sure as the Harris brothers are that we CAN DO HARD THINGS. In the end, we might find that the HARDEST thing of all, was realizing we could, too.

challenge and bear witness to Jesus Christ. It is written and designed by the teens of CRCC.

“Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.”

1 Timothy 4:11-12

Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham, Jr. is a great resource on the Family Integration Movement

Jay Z is showing us very clearly that he has the spirit of the Antichrist on him. We cannot afford to listen, nor buy and support his message, if so we are joining in on his work (pls read 2 John 7-11). I’m just keepin it real!! For something that seems so harmless to people it is very detrimental to our souls and we are unconscious of the fact that this is killing your generation spiritually. In the book of 2 John vs 10 it says, “Do not receive this spirit into our home” and it refers to hospitality that goes beyond just greetings because being rude is never appropriate, but however, we are not to lend aid to false teachers for example: like putting money in his pocket by purchasing his music. Another example: by allowing his message to go through our ear gates and inter into the temple that was created for the Holy Spirit to dwell and not the Antichrist spirit. This is my challenge to you, and that is for you to stay away from his music because it can ultimately damage you unconsciously. I would like for you to try to read more on the antichrist. Please read (1 John 2:18) (1 John 2:22) (1 John 4:3) (2 John 7-11) and please, please don’t just limit your reading to what was asked, read it all to get a better understanding and meditate on his word. Bottom line it all depends on how serious you are about walking with the Lord in total and complete righteousness. Love Ya’ll.

Pastor Bobby White

Youth Pastor/Director of New Generation Ministries

@ CRC Chesapeake

bwhite@crcchesapeake.org

Book Review: Christian

By Cheyenne V.

Strictly Speaking Staff Writer

A COVENANT CHALLENGE

"Now that you know, what will you do?" That my young friends, is a good question. One of the regrets of my childhood is that the God-fearing adults in my life didn't push me MUCH harder to evaluate whether I was truly saved and transformed in Christ, whether or not I could truly see Him high and lifted up, and whether or not I'd truly give my life to honor Him. I have an assignment for you. Here is the covenant (below) I gave out to parents and adults at CRCC. I'd truly be interested in seeing how YOU might tweak this for yourself. Allow it to reflect what you go through as a young person, to come up with a "what I'm gonna do now that I know is ..." type mindset!! I'd love to see some of you declare war on the ungodly culture!!! You up for it? Send me your covenants! ---- Pastor McLeod