Spirituality Youth

There are literally thousands of books available on how to live various aspects of the Christian life. Of these, at least a couple of dozen pertaining to family life and child training are well worth reading. This is not one of those books. This book is designed to help you take those other books, as well as all the sermons, teachings, and exhortations you have received on child training and leadership in the home, and make sense of it all. Pastor Tad Thompson has assembled a biblical approach to effective family discipleship.

Life gets tough. People get mean. How do we push through? What does God's plan mean for our lives? What does it mean to be God's girl in middle school? Well, that's what Just Us Girls is all about.

This book offers a measured Christian response to the diverse gender identities that are being embraced by an increasing number of adolescents. Mark Yarhouse and Julia Sadusky offer an honest, scientifically informed, compassionate, and nuanced treatment for all listeners who care about or work with gender-diverse youth: pastors, church leaders, parents, family members, youth workers, and counselors.

If you're brave enough to take an honest look at the issues facing the culture-controlled church - and the issues in your own life - read on.

Do you ever look at how the Christian faith is being lived out in the new millennium and wonder if we're not doing what we're supposed to be doing? That we still haven't quite 'gotten it'? That we've missed the point regarding many important issues? It's understandable if we've relied on what we've been told to believe or what's widely accepted by the Christian community. But if we truly turned a constructive, critical eye toward our beliefs and vigorously questioned them....

This audiobook gives youth workers the opportunity to go beyond simply trying to motivate kids to serve those in need and invites them to help their kids wrestle with why those people are in need in the first place. Specific topics that will be addressed include the out-of-the-box-Jesus, the power of repentance, biblically grounded motivations for service, the power of community, as well as how to respond to the poverty, racism, and unequal power relationships.

In Sticky Faith, the team at FYI presents youth workers with both a theological/philosophical framework and practical programming ideas that develop long-term faith in teenagers. Each chapter presents a summary of FYI’s quantitative and qualitative research, along with the implications of this research, including program ideas suggested and tested by youth ministries nationwide. This resource will give youth pastors what they need to help foster a faith that sticks with all the teenagers in their group long after they’ve left the youth room.

If you're tired of youth ministry that fails to change lives, it's time to change youth ministry. Building on two decades of the Fuller Youth Institute's work and incorporating extensive new research and interviews, Faith Beyond Youth Group identifies the reasons youth ministry often flops both short-term and long-term, and offers five ways adult youth leaders can cultivate character for a lifetime of growing closer to Jesus rather than drifting away.

God has dreams - just for you. You are on the most important journey you’ll ever take - the journey of becoming yourself through the love of God. You might sometimes feel inadequate in the world’s eyes, but the truth is that you are beautiful, valuable, and made with a purpose!In Free to Be Me, Stasi Eldredge tells stories about her own struggles and hopes as she helps you recognize God’s truth about your beauty and worthiness. Learn who God created you to be and the amazing dreams he has for you.

Parenting isn’t for wimps. It's not just the routines, schedules, discipline, and heartaches - it's the hard conversations. One of the greatest challenges of parenting is navigating the crucial conversations that we must have with our kids. Using the Three Circles gospel tool (God’s design; brokenness; gospel), Jimmy and Kristin will give you a “conversation map” to work through any tough conversations you have with your children.

The number of Christians leaving the church today is significant. Many feel there is no place for them within the faith—they no longer feel at home in their church community or tradition. For various reasons, they are unsettled by the version of Christianity they've inherited. Stripping away the nonessential aspects of Christianity, Sean McDowell and John Marriott will help you navigate the jarring questions and cultural challenges that lead many to walk away from the faith.

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is a Christian missions movement like no other. Since 1960, it has launched wave after wave of young missionaries now into the millions who have impacted every nation on earth by simply listening to and obeying the voice of God. In Values Matter, YWAM Co-founder Darlene Cunningham shares inspiring stories of how God shaped YWAM into what it is today—a large and effective wave-maker for missions through the spiritual DNA carried within its Core Beliefs and 18 Foundational Values.

My image of God the Father, enthroned in heaven in flowing white robes and Birkenstock sandals, was overshadowed by my certainty that he didn't want me to have any fun. God was all about rules—from Chapter Five.

Alongside offers practical application and biblical truths to highlight the complexities of relational youth ministry, address the needs real teenagers encounter in their daily lives, and engage their hearts rather than just their behavior. Hill explores what it looks like to not only share the love of Jesus with our teenage friends but to share our very lives with them, as well.

We’ve all been there before: all the power and potential of our smartphone held hostage by a dead battery. You’re ready to operate, but your mobile battery isn’t! Youth ministry can sometimes feel a lot like this scenario. You’re ready to make a positive eternal impact on the young people you lead, but sometimes it feels like something is missing. Your youth worker battery is nearly empty.

With emerging generations in his sights, Mark Batterson delivers a fresh and eye-opening journey of self-discovery, drawing on theology, psychology, and neurology.

Get ready for a crash course in effective communication. More than just a book on how to "do talks," Speaking to Teenagers combines the experience and wisdom of two veteran youth ministry speakers, along with insightful research and practical tools, to help you develop messages that engage students with the love of Christ and the power of his Word. Whether you're crafting a five-minute devotional or a 30-minute sermon, Speaking to Teenagers is essential to understanding and preparing great messages.

Do your kids think that clean, folded clothes magically appear in their drawers? Do they roll their eyes when you suggest they clean the bathroom? Do you think it's your job to pave their road to success? As parents, so often we hover, race in to save, and do everything we can for our kids - unintentionally reinforcing their belief that the world revolves around them. When Kay Wyma realized that an attitude of entitlement had crept into her home, this mother of five got some attitude of her own.

Cutting. It’s become a buzzword lately, but very few books address it from the perspective of a youth worker or concerned friend. Marv Penner has lived in this world for the past few years, talking with teenagers online and meeting with them to understand what drives them and why they self-injure. In this timely and helpful book, youth workers, coaches, teachers, and others will get the information they need to begin to understand and help (or point to help) kids who cut.

In Helping Teens with Stress, Anxiety, and Depression, Roy Petitfils gives parents, pastors, and youth leaders the knowledge, courage, and tools they need to step in, make a difference, and be the presence of Christ for teens in crisis. Roy Petitfils knows what it's like to be an addicted, depressed teenager, filled with self-loathing and desperate for help. He describes himself at high school graduation as by far the largest person in his hometown and yet feeling as though he were "stuck in Harry Potter's invisibility cloak".

No Fear draws you inside the stories of young, ordinary believers who, despite incredible opposition, courageously stood up for God's truth. Tony Perkins pairs each story with a biblical example and gives practical ideas for building a "no fear" perspective every day. Today, followers of Jesus Christ face more opposition to their beliefs than any generation in American history. Yet even in such a hostile cultural and political environment, it is an exciting time to stand firm in the faith.