Get Real

Making Core Christian Beliefs
Relevant to Teenagers

By Mike and Amy Nappa
and Michael Warden

Group, $15.99

ISBN 1559457082

Unchanging Truth For Questioning Teens

The teen years are such an in-between stage of life. We change in every way from child to adult during the teenage years -- physically, spiritually, psychologically, sexually, socially. Watching a young person go through this stage is interesting if you're not a parent. It's just plain painful if you are, especially when everything else in the culture is changing pretty fast as well.

Except there are some things that aren't changing -- God in Christ isn't changing; His Word as revealed in the Bible isn't changing; the way of prayer and repentance isn't changing.

Mike and Amy Nappa and Michael Warden make us think about the real world teens struggle through and about how to communicate the unchanging truth to them in Get Real: Making Core Christian Beliefs Relevant to Teenagers. Along with 24 life-changing principles they believe we must make real to our teenagers, these authors have put together some startling stuff. Each page is loaded with two kinds of material: the content about the core belief that teens need (Salvation, Sin and Forgiveness, the Church, Suffering, etc.), and quotes from a great variety of sources that indicate what teens are thinking today -- some positive and some negative.

For example, here's a quote from Jeni through her America Online connection: I believe in no almighty God, and how it hurts my heart to say that because I so long to believe. Just reading the quotes is an eye-opener. Many come from two books, 13th Gen, by Neil Howe and Bill Strauss and Jesus for a New Generation by Kevin Graham Ford and Jim Denney. Quotes also come from Toby McKeehan of dc Talk; pollster, former youth minister, and author George Barna; and Bill Clinton, a father of a teen as well as president of the U.S.

But pull yourself away from this array of quotes and read the content of each of the fairly short chapters. They are organized with a pertinent explanation of the subject followed by the topics "What Teenagers Need to Know About. . . ", and "Programming Ideas You Can Use." These ideas include skit scripts and starters, song writing ideas, suggestions for community service projects like writing notes of encouragement to someone who is suffering from a long-term illness or donating blood after a natural disaster.

The authors know teenagers well. The Nappas have been in youth ministry for the past 14 years and have written a number of youth resources as well as the bestselling Bore No More! Warden has also been a youth worker and is the author of Small Church Youth Ministry Programming Ideas. If there's anything to criticize about Get Real, it is that the authors, with their strong backgrounds in youth ministry, naturally have in mind the needs of other youth ministers; yet so much of the book has value for parents and others with vested interests in teenagers.

After you have thoroughly read the book, you may want to go back and read the first chapter again. It summarizes a lot about the groping, emotions-on-edge teens -- how they perceive things, how they want to act rather than talk, and how they value relationships more than causes. Last of all, this chapter offers encouragement to anyone working with today's teens as it reminds us what God has given us to make God's Word real to them.