Many parents have taken a defeatist approach toward understanding their teens, and not without good reason; it does often seem hopeless, after all. But that's where you, the volunteer youth worker, come in. Mark Oestreicher shows that Understanding Today's Teenager is both possible and rewarding, if one has the right tools. Marko explores the dimensions of nature vs. nurture, brain activity, culture, biology, and emotional development, all of which lead teenagers to do the wacky things they do that adults don't understand and often can't remember having done themselves. Marko also reminds us that adolescent development doesn't end at the age of 18 just because United States law says it does. A Volunteer Youth Worker's Guide to Understanding Today's Teenager uses a combination of science, logic, and compassion to help bring us back from the cliff edge and remember why we started working with teens in the first place. Use this book as a jumping-off point to re-ignite your passion for teens.

What does God want to say and do in your worship service?As a pastor or worship leader, planning a meaningful, relevant, and theologically rich worship experience for your church is of the upmost importance. How do you meet the demands of the modern congregation without getting in the way of what God is doing through worship?Created to Worship: God's Invitation to Become Fully Human is a resource that provides a theology of worship in the Wesleyan tradition. This book will help you plan for a worship service in a discerning manner, while answering the question, 'What does God want to say and do today?'

What does it mean to be a Christian citizen of the United States today? This book challenges the argument that the United States is a Christian nation, and that the American founding and the American Constitution can be linked to a Christian understanding of the state and society. Vincent Rougeau argues that the United States has become an economic empire of consumer citizens, led by elites who seek to secure American political and economic dominance around the world. Freedom and democracy for the oppressed are the public themes put forward to justify this dominance, but the driving force behind American hegemony is the need to sustain economic growth and maintain social peace in the United States.
This state of affairs raises important questions for Christians. In recent times, religious voices in American politics have taken on a moralistic stridency. Individual issues like abortion and same-sex marriage have been used to "guilt" many Christians into voting Republican or to discourage them from voting at all. Using Catholic social teaching as a point of departure, Rougeau argues that conservative American politics is driven by views of the individual and the state that are inconsistent with mainstream Catholic social thought. Without thinking more broadly about their religious traditions and how those traditions should inform their engagement with the modern world, it is unwise for Christians to think that pressing single issues is an appropriate way to actualize their faith commitments in the public realm.
Rougeau offers concerned Christians new tools for a critical assessment of legal, political and social questions. He proceeds from the fundamental Christian premise ofthe God-given dignity of the human person, a dignity that can only be realized fully in community with others. This means that the Christian cannot simply focus on individual empowerment as 'freedom' but must also seek to nurture community participation and solidarity for all citizens. Rougeau demonstrates what happens when these ideas are applied to a variety of specific contemporary issues involving the family, economics, and race. He concludes by offering a new model of public engagement for Christians in the American Empire.

For those who have a friend that has been devastated by the loss of a loved one. When others care enough to rub shoulders with grieving friends and are willing to be inconvenienced. It requires someone to care enough to put aside cliche condolences and stick close through a long grieving process. An individual's grief can never be 'fixed'. But friends can wash a sink full of dishes, listen, go along on a cemetery visit. Sharing another's grief is not about 'fixing-it'- it's about showing up.Harold Ivan Smith, popular speaker and grief educator, guides others to respond with their heart. He shows tangible, meaningful ways to make a significant difference as one journeys through grief with someone they care about.

Families are living stories. They tell us where we came from, guide us as we live our lives, and help us see who we could become. Especially priceless are the lives and words of those who came before us.

Christ-followers from earliest times to the present enrich us with their insight and inspiring examples. In the face of political, social and theological challenges, these saints lived lives faithful to the gospel story.

The Book of Saints The Middle Era is a devotional gateway to the thoughts and insights of church leaders, teachers, and spiritual mentors who lived between the early fourth and early fifteenth century. Living in a world of change, conflict, and controversy, these saintly persons have much to say to us today. Their words and life stories, along with prayers and Scripture selections, are brought together in this book to inspire and challenge us to a life of love and holiness, the great themes of our family story.