An Expose on Teen Sex and Dating: What’s Really Going On and How to Talk About It
Andy Braner
NavPress, 2011, 193 pp., $14.99

Here’s another call-to-arms book. This time teen sexuality, dating and relationships are the targets. The author reveals his cause, purpose and passion for the subject matter in the first few pages of the book:

“WE MUST ACT NOW! It’s time we lay aside the weirdness of talking about sex. It’s time to be honest with kids. We need to talk about desire, defeat and demoralization. We need to give teens the choice to make decisions in light of the consequences. We need more mentors. We need more people who care about the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of our teens rather than how many certificates were handed out at the local purity rally.”

Author Andy Braner has had inside access to the hearts and minds of countless teens by being involved in the Kanakuk camp ministries, as well as traveling and speaking to thousands of high school and college students for years. In this book for student leaders and parents, Braner gives us an inside glimpse into what is going on not only in the hallways of our schools and churches, but also the brains and hearts of our teens. He gives strong opinion and well-developed arguments for dating, as well as caution on the methodology of purity conferences and the philosophy of courtship. He believes we are failing our students and singles on each of these levels and that we must do more.

“I’ve spoken to hundreds of True Love Waits crowds about dating, sexuality, and what it means to be in a meaningful relationship. It’s not that we don’t have the right information; the real problem centers around the way we deliver it. The problem lies in the ability teenagers have to compartmentalize every area of their lives. Teenagers have a home life, a school life, a friend life, an entertainment life, and a dating life. There are so many different compartments in the mind of today’s teenagers, and they have trouble keeping up with which one is which.”

Braner is calling us out—student leaders and parents. He believes we are under-informed, so he educates us on the cultural norms of dating relationships and sexuality in this generation. He believes we are all doing something for the cause, but it is not making a difference and is time for change. He doesn’t just expose our deficiencies, but gives a model for parents and leaders to take the risk and enter deeply into the lives of every teen, one student at a time.

Take the time to get this book, read it and get it into the hands of your leadership and parents. It is a strong resource for your ministry.

We Were the Least of These: Reading the Bible with Survivors of Sexual Abuse
Elaine A. Heath
Brazos Press, 2011, 196 pp., $19.99

According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, someone in the United States is sexually assaulted every two minutes, or about 213,000 times a year, with 60 percent of these sexual assaults not being reported to police.

These startling statistics also indicate a ministry opportunity. Shouldn’t ministry leaders be trained to care for victims? In her outstanding book, We Were the Least of These, author Elaine Heath, a professor, pastor, theologian and sexual abuse survivor, reminds us that often the church has not been a safe, redemptive place for the survivors of sexual abuse:

“Often they (survivors of sexual abuse) are internally if not outwardly disconnected from Christianity, the church, the Bible and clergy. Much of their alienation has to do with how the Bible is read and interpreted in the church. The church’s obsession with sexual sin coupled with its poorly developed theology of sexuality only compound the alienation.”

Heath doesn’t stop there. She invites readers to join her searching Scripture through the lenses of those who have been abused. She believes in the transforming, healing power of the biblical text:

“We survivors read the healing stories of Luke 8 with a different set of lenses. In these stories, we see the consequences of our abuse played out in a lifetime of suffering. We see the isolation, the labeling, the exclusion and the sin. But larger than all the wounds we see redemption. For the same Jesus who got into a boat and crossed over to the other side, the same Jesus who called a bleeding woman ‘daughter,’ the same Jesus who said, ‘Talitha cum! Little girl, arise!’ has come to us. He has given us back our lives, and we will never agree to participate in our own subjugation again. Christ has set us free.”

This book is a great resource. It challenges the reader on issues central to ministry: the gospel and helping people. It invites us to be better ministry leaders. We Were the Least of These teaches us how to read Scripture from the perspective of those with a different story than our own. It also invites us into more of our own healing. Heath includes a thorough resource section, which includes articles and papers, books, movies and websites for additional helps.