Reflecting on four-decade-long a career marked by wild social turbulence and remarkably creative and innovative ministry--including game-changing initiatives such as Youth Specialties and the Wittenburg Door--Wayne Rice turns his eye toward those who are to come. What does the future of youth require of the future of youth ministry? For three-dimensional people at the greatest cusp of change in their lives, set against a backdrop of a constantly changing world, it requires youth, parents, congregations and youth workers alike to undergird the activities of their ministry with a commitment to reality--to remember that the gospel is always, ultimately, a matter of a flesh-and-blood God pouring his life into his flesh-and-blood children.
Fresh, funny, and fearless, The Middle Finger Project is a point-by-point primer on how to get unstuck, slay imposter syndrome, trust in your own worth and ability, and become a strong, capable, wonderful, weird, brilliant, ballsy, unfuckwithable YOU. "Don't worry, this isn't a book about God, nor is it a book about Ryan Gosling (second in command). But it is a book about authority and becoming your own." --Ash Ambirge After a string of dead-end jobs and a death in the family, Ash Ambirge was down to her last $26 and sleeping in a Kmart parking lot when she faced the truth: No one was coming to her rescue. It was up to her to appoint herself. That night led to what eventually became a six-figure freelance career as a sought-after marketing and copywriting consultant, all while sipping coffee from her front porch in Costa Rica. She then launched The Middle Finger Project, a blog and online course hub, which has provided tens of thousands of young "women who disobey" with the tools and mindset to give everyone else's expectations the finger and get on your own path to happiness, wealth, independence, and adventure. In her first book, Ash draws on her unconventional personal story to offer a fun, bracing, and occasionally potty-mouthed manifesto for the transformative power of radical self-reliance. Employing the signature wit and wordsmithing she's used to build an avid following, she offers paradigm-shifting advice along the lines of: • The best feeling in the world is knowing who you are and what you're capable of doing. • Life circumstances are not life sentences. If a Scranton girl who grew up in a trailer park can make it, so can you. • What you believe about yourself will either murder your chances or save your life. So why not believe something good? • You don't need a high-ranking job title to be authorized to contribute. You just need to contribute. • Be your own authority. Authority only works as long as you trust that someone smarter than you is making the rules. • The way you become a force is by being the most radically real version of yourself that you can be. • You only have 12 fucks a day to give, so use them wisely.
Based on a national survey, this revealing book explores what Christian teenagers say they believe about Jesus and the church--and what that means in their lives.
In innumerable discussions and activities dedicated to better understanding and helping teenagers, one aspect of teenage life is curiously overlooked. Very few such efforts pay serious attention to the role of religion and spirituality in the lives of American adolescents. But many teenagers are very involved in religion. Surveys reveal that 35% attend religious services weekly and another 15% attend at least monthly. 60% say that religious faith is important in their lives. 40% report that they pray daily. 25% say that they have been "born again." Teenagers feel good about the congregations they belong to. Some say that faith provides them with guidance and resources for knowing how to live well. What is going on in the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers? What do they actually believe? What religious practices do they engage in? Do they expect to remain loyal to the faith of their parents? Or are they abandoning traditional religious institutions in search of a new, more authentic "spirituality"? This book attempts to answer these and related questions as definitively as possible. It reports the findings of The National Study of Youth and Religion, the largest and most detailed such study ever undertaken. The NYSR conducted a nationwide telephone survey of teens and significant caregivers, as well as nearly 300 in-depth face-to-face interviews with a sample of the population that was surveyed. The results show that religion and spirituality are indeed very significant in the lives of many American teenagers. Among many other discoveries, they find that teenagers are far more influenced by the religious beliefs and practices of their parents and caregivers than commonly thought. They refute the conventional wisdom that teens are "spiritual but not religious." And they confirm that greater religiosity is significantly associated with more positive adolescent life outcomes. This eagerly-awaited volume not only provides an unprecedented understanding of adolescent religion and spirituality but, because teenagers serve as bellwethers for possible future trends, it affords an important and distinctive window through which to observe and assess the current state and future direction of American religion as a whole.
John Stott is the leading evangelical churchman of the twentieth century. In this engaging story of this remarkable life, Roger Sheer takes readers from Stott's lifelong association with the parish church of All Souls in London to every continent on the planet. Here is the book that tells why he is, as Time magazine noted in 2005, one of the hundred most influential people in the world.
"Youth today love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, no respect for older people, and talk nonsense when they should work." Even the most caring parents in the world can't protect their teenagers from the problems they might encounter. From years of working in youth ministries, authors Wayne Rice and David Veerman have discovered that parents are the single most important factor in shaping the lives of teenages. Understanding Your Teenager will encourage and equip you to fill your role as a parent of a teenager.
Volume three of the best selling Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks series delivers all new lively, effective illustrations, stories, parables and anecdotes from the personal files of many of youth ministry's best speakers.
"Explores the gifts and challenges of grassroots mission initiative in a world of difference. In this stimulating new work, congregations and church leaders at every level can gain the theological and practical background to build mission relationships marked by companionship, reconciliation, and mutuality.
As one of the first successful Latin crossover artists, Jon Secada dominated the pop music charts in the early 90s, releasing hits such as Just Another Day and Angel and winning multiple Grammy Awards. As a Cuban refuge, Jon understands that life is about starting anew and embracing opportunities, something he never lost sight of while achieving his dream of being a performer and while building new dreams when life took unexpected turns. In his debut book, Jon shares the lessons he learned that made him the resilient person he is today. His moving message reaffirms that wisdom and strength comes from constantly reinventing yourself and finding what you’re made of through doubt and hardships, growing from adversity, and having faith in A New Day.
Readers can follow step-by-step through the process of setting up and conducting the Rotation Model of church school. Classes focus on a single biblical story for several weeks, with children rotating to different workshops each week.
