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When I first handed a "rough cut" copy of Win This War to Heath, our youth pastor, he was blown out. "Man! There's a sermon in every song!"
He immediately began planning to use the songs in youth services by putting the lyrics on the screen, playing the song, and then launching into his weekly sermon based upon what they'd all just heard.
What a great idea, I thought. Music is a perfect way to connect with anyone!
Of course, that idea never crossed my mind at the beginning. I simply wanted this CD to take the Biblical truths from my book Tactics and set them to music in such a way that the project would take a young man from Point A to Point B as he listened through the songs. That's why the early tracks are about the costs we pay in our relationships with the Lord with our sexual sin, the middle tracks are about repentance and fighting for victory over that sin, and the last tracks are about our relationships with the Lord and with girls, and what sexual purity means in those relationships. After talking to Heath and looking back through the song sequence, I could see exactly what he was talking about and how the CD could be used as the basis of a quarterly teaching series.
Like Heath, perhaps you'll agree that this CD might provide a fresh, interesting way to help you connect with your youth on the issue of sexual purity. In light of that, I've put together my own little "sermon pack" for each song as a starting point for you. On this website, you'll find that I've focused on a specific track behind each song link, printing the lyrics, some related Bible verses and some of my own thoughts about the lyrics of each song. I welcome you to use these thoughts as a springboard into further prayer and study to create the teachings God inspires you to deliver to your own young flock.
I'm excited that you might use these songs to reach and teach your youth about sexual purity. For years, youth pastors have been using my book Every Young Man's Battle to teach their guys how to defend their eyes and minds from lust. Tactics is the follow-up book to Every Young Man's Battle, and it picks up the battle training where EYMB left off. After all, Every Young Man's Battle concentrated very little upon the spiritual front of the battle for purity. Tactics, however, is focused upon that spiritual front from start to finish. It teaches guys how form a tighter intimacy with God and with their own brothers in Christ, which will give them the upper hand in the battle for purity. Such intimacy can change the battle for purity forever, and it will give a young man the opportunity to win the battle permanently.
Since the message of Tactics is expressed in both word and in song, God can reach these young men with these truths on various levels, and it will allow you to be creative in your preparation, as well. To help out even further, I've included some free downloads of discussion questions for both Every Young Man's Battle and Tactics. These questions will help you get some good group discussions going with the guys, even though the topic can sometimes be uncomfortable for them. May God be with you as you teach them the truth about His ways!
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