YouthWorker Journal - March/April 2009 - (Page 54)

TOOLS Resource Reviews has enough creativity in its techniques to avoid a “surefire recipe for boredom,” something today’s attention-challenged youth won’t tolerate. —Adam Griffin The Searching Generation: The Spiritual Life of TwentySomethings (DVD) Auroris Media and Current Pictures, 2006, 30 minutes, $19.99, www.visionvideo.com Downtime: Helping Teenagers Pray Mark Yaconelli Youth Specialties, 2008, 288 pp., $19.99, www.zondervan.com We get into a trap in our churches. We farm kids out of the worship service and make them go to “junior church.” Then when they become teens everyone asks, “Why don’t the youth want to come to church?” They haven’t been welcome until now—what did you expect? This DVD and discussion guide take the question one step further: How do we get the 20-somethings back? How do we, as a church, reach them even if it means leaving the safety of the building to do so? This is an excellent resource for any church. Announce free coffee and doughnuts to every person 30 or older in the congregation, then lock the doors and make them watch this 30-minute video. The DVD may be a little short on answers, but it is excellent in defining the situation and allowing congregations to decided how to reach out to this searching—not lost—generation. —Steve Case How is your prayer life? That question posed by Mark Yaconelli, son of the late Youth Specialties founder, Mike Yaconelli. Mark hopes your own trust in God and the practices you engage in can become powerfully contagious to the kids you serve. While this resource is written to youth workers, it broadly seeks to guide you in helping kids step up to the plate and “claim the prayers that are already stirring within them.” Yaconelli’s approach is refreshing, moving beyond any other book that’s been written on the subject. His years of research translate into a practical dialogue with the reader, allowing the personal initiatives at the end of each chapter to seem reasonable and bite-sized. When combined with several case study examples, this is easily a year’s worth of solid ideas for you and the students you serve to trust in God like never before. —Tony Myles Our youth are poised to transform their world and here is a resource to ignite and inspire their passions. The film Amazing Grace chronicles the life and work of William Wilberforce and his commitment to abolishing slavery in 18th century England. Wilberforce did not act alone, but in partnership with a preacher named John Newton. Once Blind relates Newton’s incredible story of trouble, sin and God’s relentless pursuit on the life of a man who eventually would help end the slave trade. Finally, to complete the package, is the book World Changers. Beltz and Kallestad highlight seven characteristics of world changers and illustrate each one through the work of Wilberforce and the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Also included is a five-week study guide, which uses film clips, questions, biblical references and personal application. The set provides resources for personal reading and study, small-group study and group service ideas. This is a must-have resource for any youth group! —Sonia Urban NO MORE MONKEY BUSINESS Unleashing God’s Word in Youth Ministry Barry Shafer Zondervan, September 2008, 304 pp., $19.99, www.zondervan.com “Be a World-Changer” Church Kit Authentic Publishing, Bristol Bay, and World Changers for Christ, 2008, $44.00, www.worldchangersresources.com The Late Great Ape Debate Bayard Taylor Standard Publishing, November 2008, 207 pp., $12.99, www.standardpub.com Most youth ministers eventually question themselves, wondering if they are making a long-term impact on their students. After similar personal and professional introspection, Barry Shafer concludes “the number one deficiency in student ministry, as I believe research and experience have proven, is good Bible study.” Biblical illiteracy certainly is pervasive in teenagers and a major reason students struggle to grow in their faith after graduating from church youth ministry. Shafer takes on not only why this is true, but also how to do something about it. This is a good place to look if you want to start teaching inductive Bible study methods to teens, as well as create a ministry that outlasts you. Unleashing God’s Word The Late Great Ape Debate Discussion Guide Bayard Taylor Standard Publishing, November 2008, 80 pp., $7.99, www.standardpub.com Kit Contains: Amazing Grace: The Story of William Wilberforce DVD World-Changers: Live to Serve Bob Beltz and Walt Kallestad The Marriage CoMission, 2007, 256 pp. Once Blind: The Life of John Newton Kay Marshall Strom Authentic, 2008, 256 pp. Cleverly titled and cleverly written, this is an uplifting and significant entry into the emerging Creation debate within the faith culture. In a subtle way, it is best summarized in its own words: the “focus on anti-Darwinism and anti-evolution…can be accused of taking people’s eyes off the prize in Genesis 1. The main goal…is to overturn polytheism, to get people to worship the one true creator-God, and to see all people as created in God’s image.” As with others in the genre, all sides are represented and dealt with respectfully; but there is this gentle nudging toward a less scientific and more spiritual reading of the creation story, an urging away from the evolution battle toward the battle for the lost. —Fletcher Andrews 54 March/April 2009 | YouthWorkerJournal.com http://www.zondervan.com http://www.visionvideo.com http://www.worldchangersresources.com http://www.standardpub.com http://www.zondervan.com http://www.standardpub.com http://www.YouthWorkerJournal.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of YouthWorker Journal - March/April 2009

YouthWorker Journal - March/April 2009 Contents Feedback Youth Culture Update Culture Watch Encountering God Campus Ministry The Urban Take Sight Unseen Worldview Soul Care Managing Your Ministry 10 Minutes in God's Word From IQ to CQ Caring Amidst Crisis Risky Business When Tragedy Gets Personal Deaths in the Family Stopping Suicide Blessed Are They Who Mourn Healing the Healer Resources for Working with Crisis Tools Stirring it Up

YouthWorker Journal - March/April 2009

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