Study Says Teen Faith Shaped More By Hands-On Ministry Than By Worship
by Ken Camp
February 8, 2007

Excerpt of article: WACO, Texas (ABP):

Serving meals to homeless people at a church-sponsored shelter can have a greater impact than sitting in a pew every Sunday morning on how a teenager’s faith develops, a new study has concluded.

“Involvement in community service is far more significant to the faith development of teens than involvement in worship,” said Michael Sherr, assistant professor in the School of Social Work at Baylor University.

But volunteer service in faith-motivated ministries to meet human needs has a direct impact on how involved teenagers become in a variety of religious practices — including worship, Bible study and prayer, he noted.

“The best scenario is involvement in worship and prayer, living out faith through service, followed by time committed to study and reflection,” he said. “The ideal is preaching the gospel and doing the gospel together.”

FROM RTF:

This spring I get to join with 400+ freshmen girls and 30 women to tackle a project in our community. This came after talking about “Vision”.

Vision is leaving a legacy. It’s different than a dream. It’s working with others to make a difference.

The people I will be working with are not all believers. In fact, most of them are not, but I know that this is what God has called me to do.

My faith has to be bigger than sitting on a pew. I don’t want to take and take, without giving back. I don’t think that my faith can be truly shared, until I work side-by-side with others to help someone else.

What about you? What do you think of this article? This issue? What can we do to make a difference in our communities? In the life of one person? Let’s talk!

Have you visited Shoutlife.com yet? It’s an amazing online community like MySpace or Facebook, except it’s designed as a Christian community. You get to hang out with your favorite musical artists, band members, authors, and others who love Christ–just like you.

I work with teens and I have a myspace and a facebook and a xanga, but I love the fact that Shoutlife is a safe place where you can openly talk about your faith and hang out with new friends.

You can search for people, music, friends, organizations (like Teen Life), authors, and more. Very, very cool.

I hope you check it out.

Suzie, Real Teen Faith

Not So Pretty Inside

by Lydia Rule, RT Staff Writer

My family went on vacation, spending the night at a luxurious three-star hotel. Clean white sheets, folded tissue in the bathroom, music to help you sleep, a computer desk, and a t.v. graced the seemingly perfect room. Everything was a sterile white color, and the common clutter traces found in most houses were nowhere to be found… at first glance anyways.

By accident, a glass of water splashed onto the stiff carpet. Sopping up the mess with a soft white towel, I discovered a strange wonder. The towel turned grimy black. I stared at the towel in disbelief. Someone hasn’t shampooed these carpets in a looooong time, I thought. The enchantment faded. Traces of filth appeared in hidden places. Strange black hair congregated in the corner of the bathroom. Grease stains on the remote. A wad of dry gum on the bottom of the trashcan. Smudges on the mirror. A growing colony of mold on the shower’s ceiling tiles.

Yep. The outside looked nice and clean, but the inside told a different story.

Jesus said in Matthew 23:27, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”

God can’t be tricked by a sparkling outward appearance. He sees things the way they truly are. I Samuel 16: 7 says, “But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

Being real inside and out isn’t something you can do on your own. God is the only one who can turn a filthy heart into a priceless jewel. Let Him be your “clean-up” crew, room service, and fixer-upper. Don’t try to hide little sin stains in the unnoticeable areas of your life. Let go, and let God take over!

copyright, 2007, Lydia Rule

BIO: Lydia Rule is a homeschooled senior in high school. She has been published in Nextstep magazine, Long Story Short, Aboite Independent, Fundsforwriters, Acceleration, Around the Bloc, The Torch, and (of course!) Real Teen Faith. She is currently working on her fifth novel as well as a variety of other writing projects.

Wow.

I don’t say that often about a book or DVD or resource for teens, but let me say it again: WOW.

I loved this fresh new product, but I loved the message more. Packed with a book that looks like a great magazine, a leader’s guide, and a DVD with Christian music artists, Jami Smith and Kelly Minter, and also several teen girls talk about what it means to tackle issues like modesty, girl politics, conformity, and lots more.

This isn’t preaching. It’s simply being very honest about the pressures you face, and offering great biblical advice on how to be your own person, but also His Girl.

Love, love, love this!

Suzie Eller

author to teens, and founder of Real Teen Faith

Real Article: Jr. High Student Suspended for Writing on Backpack

Excerpt of Article: KGET.com. BAKERSFIELD - A local junior high school student is suspended from school after writing “I Love Jesus” on his backpack.

His mother wants to know why.

His principal said it’s not as simple as the boy and his mother say.

The buzz Friday at Actis Junior High School is about Justin Molatore, sent home after he refused to leave his backpack in the school’s office.

Molatore said it’s because of the principal, but the school won’t budge.

Three words written by Molatore’s brother on his backpack days before the brother was sent overseas in the military, they read “I Love Jesus.”

As I read this article, I see a trend emerging. The world is getting a bit tougher on the Christian faith. We have so much freedom of faith. You can turn on the TV and see preachers (this can be good or bad or even a little bit odd sometimes) at any time of the day. You can freely go to church. But individual faith is under scrutiny.

And yet the rules are no writing on your backpack. Would it be better if this student traded in his backpack, but took the opportunity to share why he wrote “IluvJesus” on his backpack for the world to see?

How should this student respond? How would you respond if it were you? What do you think?

Real Article: Youthography: American Teens Want Love More Than Sex

Excerpt of article:

BOSTON, Jan. 31 /PRNewswire/ — Youthography, North America’s most significant full-service research and marketing communications agency dedicated exclusively to youth culture, today revealed that, contrary to popular belief, the prospect of lifelong partnership and marriage is more important to young Americans than having sex.

“This doesn’t mean they’re not having sex or enjoying it,” explains Mike Farrell, Director of Research & Strategy at Youthography. “Instead we’re seeing a lessening in the impact that sex, or the prospect of having sex, has on the young American id.”

In Youthography’s latest national, regionally representative Ping(TM) survey of more than 1,900 Americans aged 14-29, 77.8% and 64.2% of respondents put top box importance (a rating of “4″ or “5″ on a scale from 1-5, “5″ being “totally important”) on “having a lifelong partner” and “getting married” respectively. In comparison, “having sex” received top box importance from less than half surveyed (46.1%).

FROM RTF: I keep meeting teens, especially girls, who regret that sex was their first introduction to “love”.

It makes them cynical when a person says “I love you” and then the next day, or the next week, or maybe even the next month, they walk away or are strutting down the hallway with another girl/guy on his/her arm.

Sex is confusing in this culture. You are told to have it, lots of it, with lots of people. No big deal. No consequences. It’s all cool, right?

Except that love is defined in such a huge way by our faith:

• Love one another as I have loved you (Christ)
• This is how you show love for one another, that you are willing to lay down your life
• Love your wife as Christ loved the church
• Respect and lift up your husband with words that build him up
• Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ

It’s not surprise that you, the smart generation that you are, wants more than what culture defines as love.

How will that change? One person at a time — you — standing against the cultural definition as you accept nothing less than what God intended.