YouthWorker Journal - March/April 2009 - (Page 61)

With narratives being two or three pages long and followed by questions, these vignettes could be used by ministers for children sermons, talk illustrations and topical study conversation starters. Youth also would enjoy this collection of narrative sketches. Families could use the stories in reading time. These stories of boldness in stepping out on faith and trusting God through difficult circumstances is a universal message and written for everyone to enjoy. —Annie A. Lockhart perspective on these topics by authors who have been inside that culture. It is well researched and written so students who have become curious about these topics can understand. —Larry Lindquist Leave a Footprint: Change the Whole World Tim Baker Zondervan, 2008, 160 pp., $9.99, www.zondervan.com BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL Making Sense of Spiritual Warfare Eddie Smith Bethany House, August 2008, 208 pp., $14.99, www.bethanyhouse.com Leave a Footprint gives confidence to high school students, not only in who they are, but in what God thinks of them and desires them to accomplish. Teenagers are full of excuses for why they aren’t doing something. Baker asks questions that can inspire them to be free of excuses and start living lives that will leave a legacy. There are a lot of books with a similar mission of finding out a teenager’s unique design and encouraging him or her to use his or her gifts for kingdom work. The strength of Baker’s Leave a Footprint is that it takes that same motivational mission and pushes it to a global scale, emphasizing how following our dreams can impact those who will follow after us in the next generation. If your students can take the precepts seriously, this could make a serious difference. —Adam Griffin that addresses the top eight misconceptions guys have about girls? For Young Men Only spells it out and does a better job than most about teen dating. Using survey results from 400 girls, the authors combine humor and cartoons to make clear that being “all that” is not what girls are seeking. For your young adult or singles ministry, Dr. Ronn has put together an extensive read, complete with fill-in-the-blank questions at the end of every chapter. No-Nonsense Dating is for the serious dater—those searching for “the one.” The book is a little too aggressive for my taste, offering chapters such as “Marketing Yourself” and “Get in the Game.” The book is one part motivational speaker and one part relationship counselor. So, if you or someone you know is making dating a second career, this book is no-nonsense. —Paul Turner The Miracle Girls Anne Dayton and May Vanderbilt Faith Words, September 2008, 291 pp., $9.99, www.faithwords.com The Dark Side of the Supernatural: What is of God and What Isn’t Bill Myers and Dave Wimbish Zondervan, 2008, 240 pp., $12.99, www.zondervan.com BIRDS AND BEES REVISITED Ana Dominguez is the new kid in school and when she is forced to write an essay in detention about the day her life changed, she discovers three other girls with similar stories. The Miracle Girls form a group who believe God has them alive for a reason, and they want to live that out together. This book has characters to whom teens can relate, a story that is interesting and easy to follow and depicts life as a teen from a realistic point of view. Youth workers may find this an interesting view of how those attending their group view youth group activities—or youth workers themselves. —Lara M. Van Hulzen Making Sense of Spiritual Warfare is heavy on anecdotes and light on objective theological research. Smith writes to an audience likely to be skeptical about healing, deliverance and occult activities. Although he includes biblical texts, the weight of his subjective argument is his personal experience. I was challenged by Smith’s statement: “we have elevated spiritual gifts above spiritual fruit.” His book challenges and entertains (but maybe does not convince) those who have little exposure to spiritual warfare. On the other hand, The Dark Side of the Supernatural was hard to put down. This book is a catalog of supernatural topics such as talking with the dead, UFOs, near death experiences, ouija boards, mediums, Wicca, vampires, and angels. Unfortunately, with the number of topics addressed, depth on any particular one is limited. This book is a biblical push against the Hollywood’s A Not So Simple Life: Diary of a Teenage Girl Melody Carlson For Young Men Only: A Guy’s Guide to the Alien Gender Jeff Feldhahn, Eric Rice, and Shaunti Feldhahn Multnomah, September 2008, 192 pp., $13.99, www.mpbooks.com Multnomah, July 2008, 256 pp., $12.99, www.mpbooks.com No-Nonsense Dating Dr. Ronn Elmore Harvest House Publishers, July 2008, 213 pp., $11.99, www.harvesthousepublishers.com Think of the last conversation you had with a young man about girls, dating or sex. How’d that go? Could you have used a book “These two things I know for sure: (1) nothing about life is fair, and (2) it is not going to get better.” This is how the book begins, as teenage Maya reveals her innermost feelings in a journal entry. This work of fiction is a one-year journal, chronicling Maya’s real-life struggles as the bi-racial daughter of divorced, addicted, and absent parents. Carlson’s writing is believable and will connect with a teenage female audience, YouthWorkerJournal.com | March/April 2009 61 http://www.zondervan.com http://www.faithwords.com http://www.bethanyhouse.com http://www.zondervan.com http://www.mpbooks.com http://www.mpbooks.com http://www.harvesthousepublishers.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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