Years ago, in my youth ministry days, I learned that my high school students didn’t need fluffy “be good” youth group lessons. They wanted to know why their lives were so hard and the world so messed up. They wanted a narrative greater than themselves to be a part of.
The students who were seers wanted to understand what in the world they were seeing. They all wanted a cognitive framework that was true.
It turns out, supernatural biblical theology answers these questions, and helps students form a cognitive framework that was true and made the most sense of the world.
The students came and brought their friends to hear it. No need for smoke machines or lasers or tablet giveaways that other youth groups used to lure students. We had hardcore Bible teaching, authentic worship, and Holy Spirit-empowered student-led prayer ministry.
The most powerful messages involved teaching the Bible through it’s own supernatural lens, as I have learned primarily from Dr. Michael S. Heiser and Dr. John H. Walton, among others.
That’s right – I taught the students temple cosmology, divine council theology, chaoskamph, Kingdom Now/Not Yet, the Second Temple explanation of the origin of demons, the problem of evil, and so on.
Why?
Because it helps high school students make sense of the world and life, and it’s true. Oh, and it helps seers as well.
Oh, and because we also learn that Jesus is truly amazing.
I’ve written about this worldview in Peace In Your House, and it forms the backdrop of all the worldview-forming information on this site.
A couple years ago, the Lord brought some resources to me to record these messages on a set (thanks Rickie Wood!) and a graphic designer who worked tirelessly to craft the Leader Guide and Student Workbook into something pretty spectacular (thanks Marnie Whitten!).
I initially thought to sell this material through a publisher, but have decided to release electronic versions for free right now.
You can access this material, including PDFs of the workbooks, designed for youth groups and student ministries, for free on this site.