Archive for the 'real issues' Category

December 2, 2007

I used to have a strong faith in God, but junior year has messed me up, I don’t feel close to him anymore, my grades have been falling. I have suffered from depression and Ii always feel doubtful. I don’t know what to do about falling into the wrong relationships with guys who don’t have the same religious faith as me, but I really need some advice from someone who has more faith than I do… Emi

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Filed under: faith, real word, real issues, real advice

November 27, 2007

Rough youth was a path to teen ministry

Greg Stier’s Dare 2 Share

By Electa Draper
The Denver Post - 11/24/2007

Excerpt: One of Greg Stier’s earliest and most vivid memories is of his mother taking a baseball bat to smash a car and then bloody the man inside it, one of a string of husbands. Stier, founder of the Arvada-based international youth ministry Dare 2 Share, later converted his own fierce mother to Christianity.

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Filed under: real story, youth worker resources, real quote, real articles, real links, real issues

October 29, 2007

Campus Life, September/October 2007
I Hated Everyone
How God’s love changed Flyleaf’s Lacey Mosely.
By Todd Hertz

I had nothing:

Flyleaf lead singer Lacey Mosely started doing drugs at 13. It was her escape from life. “Home was a war zone and I dealt a lot with low self-esteem and depression,” Lacey says. “All that carried over into my relationships. I hated everyone.”

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Filed under: suicide, music, real articles, real issues

October 3, 2007

Real Quote: Chances are good a Christian teen will walk away from his or her faith within the college freshman year. A recent LifeWay Research survey indicates 70 percent of church-attending Christian teens fit the bill; that’s about 1.2 million a year. Most are in their latter teens, ages 17, 18 and 19.

Article: Are College Freshman Losing Their Religion?

What do you think?

Filed under: faith, real articles, real issues

August 31, 2007

Go Deep: 6 Spiritual Things You Need to Learn in College
TrueU
by Jason Boyette

Dating? Nope. Drinking? Nah. I’m thinking about another of the big Ds on campus: Devotion. According to a much ballyhooed Barna study, more than three-fourths of your college friends maintain at least an outward commitment to Christianity.

But when it comes to young adults who were active churchgoers as teenagers, three out of five of them are currently spiritually disengaged. They don’t attend church. They don’t read the Bible. They don’t pray very often.

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Filed under: real articles, real issues

August 14, 2007

 

Head-On

by Lydia Rule, RTF Staff Writer

Here is the understatement of the century: people do not get along. In fact, confrontations between people can get downright nasty. (more…)

Filed under: friendship, family, real devos, real issues, lydia rule, real advice

August 9, 2007

Today we get to hang out with author, Sarah Sumpolec. She’s not only written the Becoming Beka series, five books about a teen who is trying to live her faith and find her dreams, but is also the author of a very cool blog by a character in her novel. Lucy. 

This blog is called Totally Unfamous.

Let’s talk with Sarah!

Suzie: Hey Sarah, thanks for dropping by Real Teen Faith.  I’ve read a lot of blogs, but never one that was also a novel. What made you decide to try this? 

Sarah: I was interested in writing a spin-off from my “Becoming Beka” series and decided that I wanted to share Lucy’s story.

Because the story format is experimental, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to find a publisher for it and I wasn’t interested in self-publishing.

That left the Internet, and since the story is written in short poems I thought a blog platform was the best way to share it. That way it would be free for anyone to read. And hopefully enjoy. (more…)

Filed under: writing, real interviews, real issues

August 7, 2007

What’s a Life Worth?

by Brian Perceful, guest writer RTF

Every so often I read of something online or on in a magazine that really gets to me. Last year as I was making my daily rounds of my favorite sites like Drudge Report, CNN, Xanga, Myspace, and a few others I was quite dumbfounded on what I read and saw.

Maybe you saw it as well. Maybe you read about it.

It seems that some bored people thought it to be a great idea to take out their life’s frustrations on random homeless people in the Ft. Lauderdale, FL area. A total of four beatings occurred with one leading to a fatality. Not only were these attacks unprovoked, it seems that the guys who turned themselves in really have no reason behind the attacks. Not only were they senseless, worse yet they were heartless and I feel a direct reflection of our culture in general. (more…)

Filed under: Guest Writers, real issues