Leading The Messengers: Concealed in Your Book Club
One of the things I love about hearing from readers is learning the many ways you’re all using The Messengers series. Classrooms, family settings, youth groups, book clubs . . . the...
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Your Students Are Valuable to God
Recently, some of my students asked me a question I’ve heard dozens of times since I began teaching. Perhaps it was because of the circumstances driving the question or perhaps it was...
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Composer of the Month: Robert Powell
Robert J. Powell (b. 1932) began writing music when he was in high school and, since then, has had more than three hundred compositions published by sacred music publishers. His works...
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Answering Teens: The Evidence Tells Me So
Previously, I wrote about the veracity of Scripture being based on Jesus’ testimony that the Bible is God’s Word. Every instance in which Jesus refers to the Old Testament is marked by...
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Answering Teens: How Do We Know the Bible Is the Word of God?
It was a beautiful day; the glory of creation was undeniable, and the fruit looked tempting … or at least it did after that simple but fatal question: “Did God really say …?”
With that...
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God’s Plan and Purpose for Youth
There is an existential crisis among our youth. That is not to say that such a crisis is sudden, or even new, to this young generation. In many ways, this crisis is at the root of the...
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Spiritual Care for Students Delaying Dreams
How long is your list of cancellations this year? Each month of 2020 seems to try to bring back one thing we lost and also takes away something many of us were looking forward to. A...
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Encouraging Youth to Speak Up for Christ
I don’t remember much from my middle school years, but I do remember one song we shared in our spring choir concert that has stuck with me throughout my life. With summer close on the...
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Youth and Social Justice
Repeat after me: “Having been created in the image of God, all humans are equal in value, honor, and dignity.” It’s a statement that I go over and over again in my theology classes. It...
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Your Youth Are Epic Warriors
Who am I? What does God want with me? During my youth, and perhaps even still now, those were questions I constantly considered. After all, I’m just a simple human without a grand life...
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Creating Routine for Your Teenagers
Our teenagers are not immune to the stress caused by the ongoing shutdowns due to the coronavirus. High school seniors have seen much of their culminating experiences canceled or...
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Subtle Sins
Growing up, I thought I was pretty much the perfect kid. Even in high school, I was always the good kid—I even got voted “Parent’s Dream Child” my senior year of high school. (Yes, I...
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Smaller and Smaller Churches: Evaluating Our Retention
My hometown church is small. It always has been. I started attending my junior year of high school, and at that time, it was already a pretty small congregation. But it’s smaller now,...
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Skeptical Thoughts and Teaching the Answers
I can see how people might be skeptical regarding Scripture. I was, after all. At one point, I truly didn’t know much about the Bible, so the minute someone stated that the Bible wasn’t...
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Connecting Students’ Families to Church
Entering the back-to-school season, teachers have a great opportunity to reach out to the families in our schools and connect them to church. While some of these families may already be...
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Heather Ruesch “You Matter” Tour
“You matter.”
It’s a simple, three-syllable phrase loaded with meaning.
So meaningful, in fact, that Heather Ruesch, author of Sexuality Mentality, is touring the country talking...
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