parenting teens

My last post reminded me of two books that I recommend for parents of teens.

Eugene Peterson's "Like dew your youth" has the strangest title I've ever heard of for a book on parenting. And in that vein it's different from every other book on parenting. Peterson reflects on the experience of having raised three sons and points out that God is at work in the parents, too. So he writes about the changes that God worked in his own life and calls the reader to attend to what God is doing in her/his own life.

Kenda Creasy Dean worked on the National Study on Youth and Religion headed up by Christian Smith at the University of North Carolina. She concludes that the American Christian church is raising our adolescents to be "Almost Christian". She takes this title from George Whitefield, who wrote: "An almost Christian… is one that… is fond of the form, but never experiences the power of godliness in his heart." The book is both a warning and a guide to parents and churches who want our youth know the "power of godliness".