Lynn, a mom to a teen, read my book “Real Issues, Real Teens: What Every Parent Needs to Know“. In it a teen shares that if she could tell her mom anything, she would tell her about all the times she struggled with a guy who was physically abusing her and was making her feel like her life didn’t count.

I shared with parents how important it was to listen — all the way to the end. Without lectures, or “in my day” stories, and without freaking out, and gave practical helps to reconnect with their teen and to really hear what they were saying.

A mom named Lynn read that story and that chapter and had a great talk with her teen son–one she didn’t expect and one that was amazing to her. This is what she had to say: (more…)

Do you want to speak to others about your faith?

Do you have a driving passion to write?

I’m leaving on Wednesday to speak at a conference in N. Carolina called She Speaks. I’m excited because this is a very cool conference, but also because I get to keynote the Next Generation women at the conference.

 You. Teens. (more…)

 

Real Life Downloaded, one of our favorite curriculum resources, shares this lesson: A Text From God.

Use it in your small groups, or for private Bible time.

Making It Real: Whose Faith Is It Anyway?
By T. Suzanne Eller
Kregel, 2007, 162 pp., $11.99, www.kregel.com

From YouthWorker Journal, Review by Adam Griffin

What youth worker has not been frustrated by students whose faith waxes or wanes based on whether or not they can feel God right now? Who hasn’t dealt with kids who live by “borrowed convictions”? Whether they got them from their parents or their youth pastor, kids tend to grasp belief systems that they have been “raised in” without taking faith seriously and making it personal. Through six short, surprisingly deep and probing sections and their coordinating five daily devotions, Making It Real attempts to lead its teenage audience to a personal and living faith.

Completing 30 daily devotions may be an unrealistic expectation for many students, but then again, the goal of Christ-likeness requires a serious effort. Suzanne Eller consistently refuses to water down that commitment. Using a variety of scripture and thought provoking questions, she offers teens much more than another philosophy. She presents a faith worth living for.

 

A friend, Darrin Ballard, has started The Timothy Project. It’s a blog for anyone who want to learn how to stay away from porn or how to make a different choice when tempted. It’s also for youth workers, or parents who want more information on how to prevent, or talk about, this issue with their teens. It’s definitely for teens who say that porn is a full-fledged problem in your life and you don’t know where to turn. (more…)

Are you looking for a great discipleship resource? Check out Real Life Downloaded, a site that ties in current events with lessons that connect with students.

This week’s lesson is On Fire! Hey, it’s great AND it’s free! How do we know about it? Suzie is one of the curriculum writers for RLD, and it’s a great tool she is excited about. (No, we don’t get any kickbacks from this, just the satisfaction of sharing a resource with those who teach and work with teens seeking real-life faith).

A few days ago I heard two different people with two very different ideas talking about the movie, Expelled. This is what one of our favorite sites, Planet Wisdom, had to say about it:

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed
Rated PG
reviewed by Christopher Lyon

Ben Stein’s documentary about the battle in the scientific community between Intelligent Design and Darwinian evolution is NOT a debate film.

Stein mostly doesn’t try to make the case for Intelligent Design (ID) or get too deeply into the science of evolution. What he wants to do is make the case that the scientific and academic establishment is freezing out legit ID scientists from participating in the conversation. And he makes that point convincingly — especially if you were pretty sure that was true to start with. (Read rest of review. . .)

Real Quote from Review: As Bible-believing Christians, we are convinced that God created all life. Here’s my bias: I’m going to believe that no matter what. Faith in God as revealed in His Word is my first commitment. Because I’m so convinced, I believe that a thorough and free study of the scientific evidence will, in fact, eventually reveal that a designer is necessary for life to exist.

Church? No thanks.
WHY TEENS ARE LEAVING IN DROVES

BY REBECCA GRACE, AFA Journal May 2008

Article Excerpt: Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the doors. Where are all the people?

Seventy percent of the people, 23 to 30 years old, are nowhere to be found in church on a regular basis for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22. They become church dropouts, according to a 2007 study from LifeWay Research. (more…)