Two adults followed teens to God
(December 23, 2004) ? I am pleased that more than 4,000 teens will be in Rochester for the "Joshua Revolution" national conference (story, Dec. 17). Among its goals, the group's Web site says, "Every student will be schooled in what Scripture teaches on living the victorious Christian life and how to lead someone to Christ."
Just living the Christian life can be powerful testimony. Such unspoken witness even reached across the "generation gap" for my wife, Dianne, and me in our 60s. It started three years ago when Greta, 15, came to our door selling plants. We were impressed to hear that her church youth group was raising money to bring 13 Romanian students to Brockport for two weeks on an exchange mission program. We soon met several families in Greta's evangelical church. Seeing genuine Christian faith in their homes, we wanted to sample their Sunday worship.
With our mainline church background, we had two pleasant surprises when we attended their church for the first time: the enthusiastic, Spirit-filled worship and the large bloc of young people in the congregation.
As we continued to attend the church, we were impressed by how the teens had come to know Jesus for themselves, and how they banded together in worship and in service for others. They share the same standards for moral behavior and spend time together in youth group. Many use their musical talent to lead worship. Almost all raise $700 to $2,000 each to serve at a mission site somewhere in the world. On biblical principles they respect their bodies and resist alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, provocative dress and premarital sexual activity.
Seeing the Lord at work in the teens was part of our incentive to receive him also and to stay in the church. We gratefully remind all Christian teens of Paul's words to the young apostle Timothy: "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12).
Hickerson lives in Brockport. He and his wife attend Christ Community Church in Brockport.
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(December 23, 2004) ? I am pleased that more than 4,000 teens will be in Rochester for the "Joshua Revolution" national conference (story, Dec. 17). Among its goals, the group's Web site says, "Every student will be schooled in what Scripture teaches on living the victorious Christian life and how to lead someone to Christ."
Just living the Christian life can be powerful testimony. Such unspoken witness even reached across the "generation gap" for my wife, Dianne, and me in our 60s. It started three years ago when Greta, 15, came to our door selling plants. We were impressed to hear that her church youth group was raising money to bring 13 Romanian students to Brockport for two weeks on an exchange mission program. We soon met several families in Greta's evangelical church. Seeing genuine Christian faith in their homes, we wanted to sample their Sunday worship.
With our mainline church background, we had two pleasant surprises when we attended their church for the first time: the enthusiastic, Spirit-filled worship and the large bloc of young people in the congregation.
As we continued to attend the church, we were impressed by how the teens had come to know Jesus for themselves, and how they banded together in worship and in service for others. They share the same standards for moral behavior and spend time together in youth group. Many use their musical talent to lead worship. Almost all raise $700 to $2,000 each to serve at a mission site somewhere in the world. On biblical principles they respect their bodies and resist alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, provocative dress and premarital sexual activity.
Seeing the Lord at work in the teens was part of our incentive to receive him also and to stay in the church. We gratefully remind all Christian teens of Paul's words to the young apostle Timothy: "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity" (1 Timothy 4:12).
Hickerson lives in Brockport. He and his wife attend Christ Community Church in Brockport.
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