We should be grateful that Winehouse openly discussed the pressures she felt and how those pressures affected her life. We can't do enough to understand these realities and talk about them with our kids. We must teach them that they inevitably will face the pressure. We must teach them that living God's will and way for their lives requires them to do all they can to reverse the growing tide of these pressures through a "Thy will be done" kingdom mentality and resolve.

3. We must preach the truth about the only One who redeems. The "unknown god" in today's culture is all-too-often human relationships, particularly romantic relationships. Hungry for restoration to that which existed before the Fall, human beings search high and low for a redeemer to make them whole again.

We look to relationships with others to fulfill us, but those relationships are destined to come up short, leaving us hungrier than we were before. Winehouse offers ample evidence of this fact. We must help our culture's seekers put human relationships in their proper perspective. Then, we must proclaim the truth about the only One who can redeem, Jesus Christ.

4. Winehouse provides an opportunity to discuss the existence of sin and its consequences. Perhaps the first person to admit that Winehouse was a walking trainwreck would be Winehouse, but it would be wrong to have written her off as a hopeless case for the simple fact that there are none.

Instead, we should look at Winehouse's life through the framework of a biblical worldview, pointing out the way sin and human fallenness are not only present in her life, but leaving a well-marked trail of hurt and pain. In other words, we must define sin and point out the nuances of how our rebellion against God is being uniquely embraced and lived in today's world, starting with divorce, family breakdown, etc.

Then, we must point out how embracing sin is like building a bomb that may explode at one point in time, but that leaves long-lasting wounds as it continues to ripple through generation after generation. Exposing sin and its consequences can serve as a great deterrent. As a result, we must discuss these things with the kids we know and love.

5. Winehouse offers opportunities to discuss substance abuse and addictions with our kids. Because they are young and feel seemingly invulnerable, even our kids who have heard about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse can fall into the trap of believing they can experiment and avoid harm because, after all, "nothing bad will ever happen to me."

Sadly, our youth and adult culture is littered with folks who once thought that about themselves, but now realize how wrong they were. With Winehouse, our kids not only have heard about the dangers of abuse and addiction, but they have seen it happen. While we don't want to fall into the trap of exploitation, we can and must point to Winehouse as an example of the sad results of substance abuse and addiction.

6. Loneliness is epidemic in our culture. The church must provide a loving community. Winehouse is a poster girl for so many negative cultural realities. One of those realties is loneliness. Winehouse offers a window into the deep loneliness sweeping through our communities.

Corporately, our churches must become places where the lonely can find connections with other humans and with their Creator. Individually, we must reach out to those in our neighborhoods and along our paths who are disconnected, even if they don't look, sound, think or act as we do. We have been made for connection, and if we desire to follow Jesus, we will go out of our way to connect.

7. The church must model and dispense Christlike compassion. Woven in and through Winehouse's music is an unmistakable cry for redemption. Her music serves as an expression of spiritual hunger pains. We must answer the cries by becoming the hands and feet of Jesus, by living and sharing the gospel with unmistakable clarity. This, after all, is what she was groaning for ultimately.

Amy Winehouse is dead, but her broken reality lives on in far too many kids. Let's reach them.