Youth

Nearly 200 high school seniors and young adults signed commitment cards indicating they are ready to serve as ordained elders and deacons in the United Methodist Church.

They answered the call to ministry at a gathering over the weekend as church leaders told them their leadership was needed urgently.

"God is calling us to bring some freshness, some newness, to be innovative. God is calling you to lead us to that," the Rev. Tyrone Gordon, pastor of St. Luke Community United Methodist Church in Dallas, said at Exploration 2009, as reported by the United Methodist News Service. "It doesn’t matter how old you are. And when you hear God’s voice speaking to you, you don’t have to be afraid because God’s not going to leave you alone." more >>

Video game enthusiasts will soon be able to say they are strengthening their faith via the Xbox when the first complete Bible application for the popular gaming console launches next month.

B&H Publishing Group, a division of LifeWay Christian Resources, will release the “Bible Navigator X” for the Xbox 360 in early December. The Bible application will be downloadable through the “Indie Games” channel of Xbox.com.

"This application will bring the Bible into people’s living rooms and onto their televisions in a completely new and innovative way," said Aaron Linne, B&H Publishing Group’s executive producer of digital marketing, in a statement Tuesday. “The Xbox isn’t just secular entertainment anymore. We can use technology that other people developed to study Scriptures through a new medium.” more >>

Thousands of pastors, church officials and youth group leaders across the nation were urged to equip and mobilize 20- and 30-somethings for mission this past weekend.

The LeadNow national conference, held Nov. 5-7, drew 2,000 people to Dallas and many more watched via live simulcast from more than 100 churches nationwide. The conference emphasized that the mission of the church matters and urged church leaders to call the next generation to “radical obedience.”

To ignite a movement of Christ followers who put their faith into action, the conference prescribed three actions: creating a culture of service, launching small groups to action, and connecting people to those in needs. more >>

Veteran youth worker Terry Linhart says adults are integral to teens being effective in reaching peers with the Gospel.

When he and Dave Rahn of Youth for Christ/USA began researching youth ministries, adults at the time were removing themselves from the ministry and letting students reach fellow students on their own.

But after two years of research on youth groups that have been successful in seeing teens come to Christ, Linhart found that adults are "super important" in helping young people develop a faith that is "courageous and contagious." more >>

Hanging out, goofing off, and avoiding responsibility may be what teens do best – at least, that's the kind of behavior that is usually expected of young people.

And it's those very low expectations that have left many teens today idle, immature and unprepared for what God has planned for them, says two young brothers.

"Our culture tells us it doesn't matter how you spend the teen years; this is a time to have fun," Brett Harris, 20, said in a recent interview with Focus on the Family. "We've been culturally conditioned to give up when things feel hard and to miss out on the glorious purpose that God has for the teen years because we've been trained to believe what is false." more >>