Courageous Teens

"The story is told of a battle where the flag bearer got so far ahead of the regiment that the officer called back to headquarters and asked, "Shall we bring the flag back to the regiment?"

The commanding officer said, "No, make the regiment catch up with the flag!"

Today we need young people with the hearts of warriors; people who will run to catch up with the flag Christ carries ahead of us. People who won't turn back. But the responsibility to mentor those young people falls to me, to my generation. During our Disciple Now weekend in 2012, Tally Wilgis, pastor of one of our church plants in Baltimore, was our greatest speaker. Talley asked the students, "How many of you know for certain that one of your parents has led a person to Christ in the last year?" Out of the 250 students, only 12 stood in agreement.

In a church filled with "Bible-believing" people, it's hard for me to imagine we are that apathetic about sharing our faith. It is a denial of the Great Commission and a bad example for you, our next generation. Faith works or it is not faith. Faith gives evidence by what it does.

Unless the people of my generation take time to equip you, our young people, with spiritual courage, the church is just one generation away from extinction. In this book, I explore the examples of people in the Bible who displayed great courage when playing it safe would have easier. Each section begins with a segment of Joshua's story of courage and throughout we explore other leading examples of courage in the Bible, Esther and Moses, Daniel and Jesus - each story challenges us to keep moving forward. They cause us to examine our priorities and deal with anything that brings fear to our hearts. They call us to have a faith that matches our mountains.

If we can raise up an army of courageous soldiers for Christ, we can once again recapture that adventuresome faith of biblical days and win the world for Christ. It's not too late. We need to step out in faith! We need to be courageous! We need to do it now!" (pg 1-3)

In the book, Courageous Teens by Michael Catt and Amy Parker, the challenge for this next generation is laid out for teens to rise up and become empowered to lead the world in whatever capacity they can to Jesus Christ. Written by the creators of the movie Courageous, each chapter opens with a scene from the movie, and then moves on to a specific Bible passage to reference the chapters contents that lay out how to develop a courageous heart with a passion and call to follow Christ. The chapters close with some thinking questions.

This book would be an incredible resource to use in youth groups, church camps and Bible Study's to enable this next generation to be equipped in what is to be expected, how to develop courage, how to face an unknown future, creating the courage to lead on all levels, how to become a humble hero, how to do what's right when faced with what's wrong, and so many more topics. I am super excited to share this with our youth pastor so he can use it with middle schoolers and high school students to inspire them to be a positive change in the world. There is even a resolution pledge, much like the one listed in the movie Courageous that teens can sign showing their commitment to follow through on what they have learned through this book!

I received this book compliments of Handlebar Central and B & H Publishers for my honest opinion and can't wait to see how this generation can be equipped to carry on the Great Commission with boldness, courage, and all the right tools to be successful in sharing their faith and their personal testimonies. I easily rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars and look forward to working within my own family and church to encourage our youth in the right direction when it comes to their faith. I look forward to hearing more stories of just how God will use this resource to help our younger generation prepare for the future.

For more information on Courageous Teens, Michael Catt and Amy Parker, and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Courageous Teens by Michael Catt and Amy Parker

You can also learn about more books by Michael Catt by following his Facebook page.