Thursday, March 20, 2014

Be the Wave

Be the Wave: Daring to Believe God and Embrace Your Destiny by Rob Hensser is a great devotional for the preteen/teen crowd.

Although it would fall under the category of devotional, it is much more than that.  Typically, when I think of teen devotionals, I think of a passage of scripture being shared with a good amount of "fluff" around it to make the devotional "like-able" with its targeted age group. That is not the case with this devotional. As I read through it, I was struck by how much substance this book holds.

Each chapter deals with a specific issue that young people face today. There is a "real life" introduction usually based on a news account, missionary story, or a "real life" situation that teens may find themselves in.

As the Bible character of focus is introduced, his or her situation is made very relevant to life today and it is done in a way that truly captures the attention of the reader.

The author, I think, does a wonderful job of making the devotional personal by adding how he thinks he would respond if he were put in the situation the Bible character found himself in or giving a real example of how he has found himself responding in similar situations.

What I Like: My favorite part of this devotional is how much Scripture is used in each and every chapter. A devotional is supposed to keep us thinking about what we have read from God's Word, but sometimes it is hard to do that when we have read so much of the author's thoughts and not enough of the Bible itself. Passages from the account being discussed are spread throughout the chapter and are put in bold type.

At the end of each chapter are two short sections. The first is a list of questions titled Making Waves. This section is designed to make students reflect on their own lives in order to help them find ways to serve God more fully in a way that will impact those around them. The second section is titled Be the Wave. This section is for the student to have a real heart to heart with God and make a commitment for action.

What I Dislike: I liked everything about this book.

Overall Rating: Excellent

Age Appeal: 11-18 years old

Publisher Info: Standard Publishing, 2005; ISBN: 0-7847-1766-4 ; Paperback, 208 pgs.

Buy Now at Christianbook.com for $10.99

OR Buy it at Amazon.com for $12.59.



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