RESOURCE REVIEWS

Group, Jan/Feb 2004 by Gauche, Paul, Drager, Chris, Burnside, Ann, Belknap, Bryan, Et al

SOUL SHAPER: EXPLORING SPIRITUALITY AND CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICES IN YOUTH MINISTRY

WHAT IT IS: This disciple-making resource written by Tony Jones is a comprehensive description and study of spiritual and contemplative practices aimed at youth leaders for the sake of the kids they serve.

THE SCOOP: Tony Jones is a man who's done his homework-and yours, too. Finally, between two covers of one book, we have 2,000 years' worth of spiritual practice presented in a way that calls us deeper into the heart of Christ. While this book is filled to overflowing with ministry tools, it's not for the youth leader scratching together that last-minute activity. Here's a serious and insightful look at the history and theology, practice and application of 16 spiritual, "ancient-future" tools-the Jesus Prayer, Lectio Divina, Stations of the Cross, centering prayer, fasting, and the labyrinth, to name a few. The only thing readers might find the least bit distracting is the small font-size and the odd shape of the book (5.5x8.5-inch). Beyond that, this book needs to be in the hands of every youth leader.

COST: $19.99

AVAILABLE FROM: Youth Specialties, Zondervan Publishing, 800-776-8008, (610) 532-1249.

TRANSFORMING PRAYERS

WHAT IT IS: Author Jenny Baker's 40 unique prayer encounters can be used as stand-alone experiences or adapted for large groups of students to assist with spiritual conversation regarding God's active involvement in their lives.

THE SCOOP: This unique resource invites participants to set aside distractions and focus on spiritual opportunities to encounter Christ through prayer in a variety of experiences. The ideas include suggestions for welcoming prayer environments and for multi-intelligence or multi-sensory experiences that can be led by a facilitator or by means of a variety of self-explanatory handouts. Our group previewed this material on a recent retreat with excellent results-middle school students, adult volunteers, and the high-school-aged junior counselors were all very engaged by these experiences. We found, however, that we needed to allow more than the recommended time for the multiple-encounter experiences because students were reluctant to leave the stations. As part of the retreat evaluation, students and adults were asked if they'd discovered any prayer encounters they'd use in the future to assist them with their prayer life. One hundred percent of our group indicated that the prayer encounters found in Transforming Prayers would be used again in their daily living. This is a great, relevant, and transforming resource.

COST: $17.99

AVAILABLE FROM: Group Publishing, Inc., 800-447-1070, (970) 669-3836.

BRYAN'S PICKS

JOSEPH ARTHUR

Redemption's Son (Universal)

I never push my player's eject button when I have this album loaded up. It has an original sound that crosses Bob Dylan with Aimee Mann and features probing lyrics that resonate long after the disc ends. This is 2003's best CD (though it was released in 2002).

MARS ILL

Backbreakanomics (Gotee)

This is the best rap duo in Christianity, and they've gained a secular audience with their phenomenal sophomore album filled with phat beats, sick rhymes, and God's spirit.

CHARLIE HALL

On the Road to Beautiful (Sparrow) Hall infuses the spirit of a worship leader into 12 modern-rock gems that evoke Coldpiay and Radiohead. This disc boasts passionate music, literate lyrics, and rich vocals that are soothing to the soul,

BLEACH

Astronomy (Tooth & Nail)

Alt-rockers Bleach continue improving with age. This set finds them rocking harder and opening up about their faith in ways non-Christians will understand.

BEYOND THE YEARBOOK SUPER-SERIES

WHAT IT IS: Doug Fields' three-sermon super-series on God's intention for your students' lives includes three audio CDs of the lessons and a CD-ROM full of completely editable material.

THE SCOOP: If you hear someone say that big things come in small packages, they just might be talking about Beyond the Yearbook Super-Series. This three-week series focuses on moving teenagers beyond "a reputation" to a place where they see themselves through God's eyes. The audio CDs contain Doug Fields' sermons, which you can listen to for personal preparation. The super-disc CD-ROM offers a ton of promotional and programming elements to accompany each session, including word-forword transcripts, student outlines, PowerPoint trivia games and backgrounds, drama transcripts, Fields' MP3 audio commentary, and promotional images. This little disc packs small but plays big, and is very user-friendly. Every element can be edited; for example, you can adapt the material for different age levels, change or add Scripture verses, or even extend the series with additional sessions of your own that utilize the basic look and feel of these three meetings. (The one thing that I'd add would be follow-up discussion questions.) This quality series may make you look as good as you did in your senior yearbook. . . maybe even better.

COST: $30

AVAILABLE FROM: Simply Youth Ministry, 866-974-6759, (949) 830-4042.