Jonathan McKee
Zondervan, 2012, 4-session DVD/Study Pack, $29.99
I liked that Real Conversations: Sharing Your Faith Without Being Pushy included alone time, small group, and large group segments; that was very helpful. I thought the activities and content were clear, interactive and of high quality. I like the distinction between pushy and silent, but I think the author downplays the fact that 98 percent of teens struggle with the latter rather than the former. He defines authentic faith as a congruency between or actions and words. It seems that a truly authentic faith grows out of our living, active relationship with Christ, though I don’t think he mentions this. We’ve got nothing to give away if we’re not abiding in Him first. Showing that our mission field is those around us every day was excellent. I thought the inclusion of the “6 kinds of students” confused matters greatly and was unnecessary for the evangelistic preparation of the average teen—the biggest weakness of this resource. It mostly seemed to be a plug for his book Connect, a more helpful resource for leaders rather than teens. This, in itself, probably would keep me from using this resource with my group. In an effort to avoid a canned presentation of the gospel, I think he majored in testimony and minored in the content of the gospel—not so sure he struck a good balance there.
—Jeff Crosby
I was leaving to speak at a camp in Florida when I received this resource in the mail. I knew I would be teaching a Bible class during the day for about 50 minutes, and I thought this would be a great way to kick the tires on this puppy, which comes with a DVD, leader guide and participant guide. When I arrived at camp, I read through the leader’s section of the guide, and I was pleased to find a meeting outline for a large group meeting. This was good, considering I had a group of about 150 resident and day campers. The material was flexible enough that I did not have to use every question or use every example. Jonathan does a great job of covering the material in the video.
With the 150 kids divided into tracks of 15 to 20, I was able to break up the groups for small groups Q-and-A time. I gave the counselors one question to work on for about 10 to 15 minutes, fielding answers around the circle. So, how effective was the material? By Friday, just about every kid knew what their style of evangelism was, knew how to reach different kinds of friends with the gospel and was confident in his or her message. I had one young day camper tell me he shared Christ with a Jewish friend. If you want kids to have real conversations about their faith with their friends, this resource will get them there.
—Paul Turner
Sharing your faith is intimidating—not just for teens, but for adults, as well. Jonathan McKee’s resource Real Conversations does a terrific job leading students to an understanding of how to have authentic conversations and not just sale pitches. Meant to be done in a small group setting, the video and guide give students the knowledge and the confidence to share their faith. This is easily one of the best resources I’ve encountered for teaching teens how to talk to their friends about Jesus.
—Bill Nance
I truly was excited to hear Jonathan McKee was releasing a new curriculum and DVD about sharing faith. I always have had great respect for his discernment and wisdom on teen culture and society. I knew if he were to release something to help teens share their faith it would be excellent. I was not disappointed. Real Conversations: Sharing Your Faith Without Being Pushy is a thorough, concise training. It is a 4-session DVD-driven curriculum that also includes participant guides and a leader guide. The participant guide is divided into alone time and large group time, which I love. The alone time is not homework, but a short journaling reflection assignment that prepares students for the coming week’s large group time and video clip. The large group time includes an overview of what is happening, along with great small group discussion questions. The leader guide gives good suggested Say This and Transitional Statements to help those who are not sure what to say, while allowing more seasoned leaders the freedom to share. The leader guide includes fun group activities and engaging learning practices. There are also solid wrap-up helps for large and small group times. The DVD itself almost could be a stand-alone resource with its strong presentation and fast-moving clips, visuals and McKee himself sharing. The four parts of the series each work well and give leader and student a strong foundation to have real conversations about faith. Genuine and authentic, this is a needed resource in youth ministry settings. Nothing against many of the other fine resources out there helping teens share their faith, but this one does it with a simple conversational approach. It will make your students feel comfortable and natural in sharing their faith without unneeded complicated scripts or things to memorize. If you are looking for something to help teach real life evangelism, no need to look any farther than this set of books and DVD. This is well worth the small investment as it can be used again and again.
—Dan Istvanik, Mansfield, Ohio
Real Conversations is a youth ministry must-have! This is a great resource to use as a small group study, especially among groups that are hesitant when it comes to faith sharing. Not only does it address the issue of why we should share our faith, but it includes the how we can share our faith. It also takes students who are at different levels of their faith—be it a little faith or none at all—and shows how we can share our testimony and (more importantly) Christ with them. The curriculum is divided between alone time, small group and large group settings, along with the DVD sessions. While some of the questions may be a little cheesy, this is a great resource to have in your arsenal.
—D.J. Pittman, Youth and Family Minister, Branches of Christ Church, Acworth, Georgia.
In his DVD lesson series, Real Conversations: Sharing Your Faith Without Being Pushy author/host Jonathan McKee offers a 4-partlesson series focused on encouraging teenagers in articulating their faith in a style that is not abrasive. Each lesson has a video lesson hosted by McKee and includes a participant/leader guidebook to work through what is shared on the DVD lesson. In this 4-part series, McKee covers the basics for teenagers very well. Aside from that, it does not go much deeper. The videography pans off at random times to random places (such as McKee’s Reef sandaled feet), which can be distracting at times. The guidebook is a very nice piece to the curriculum and is easy to follow. I would recommend this lesson series to those who need a quick and basic series for teenagers who may struggle to articulate their faith.
—Chris Ensley, Youth Pastor, Marion Christian Church, Marion, Kan.; adjunct professor, Tabor College, Christian Ministry Program.
Real Conversations is a great four-week study on sharing your faith by Jonathan McKee. The four sessions cover our faith, our mission field, our approach and our message. Each session has a video (10-20 minutes) to let the students hear from Jonathan himself. These videos are well done and will keep your students’ attention. Along with the DVD, you can get participant guides (which have the leader’s guide in them) for each student. These guides give your students things to do and read before you get together and help guide them through your meeting. If you plan on doing a series on witnessing or evangelism, this is a great resource to help your students learn to have real and honest conversations about their faith with their friends.
—Mike Kupferer has been involved with youth ministry for more than 13 years and currently is serving in Northwest Ohio. He married his high school sweetheart, and they have three wonderful kids.
I highly value the words and heart of Jonathan McKee. The Real Conversations Bible study is practical, engaging and stretching, which is exactly want and need for our student leaders. This is going to challenge them to step up and out as Christian leaders in their schools, homes, work places and neighborhoods. Students want to lead. They want to serve. They’re looking for direction on how to do so. This is a great spot to start.
—Shawn Harrison is the Student and Family Pastor at Wayne Street UMC in Saint Marys, Ohio. He is also the author of the forthcoming book Ministering to Gay Teenagers published by Simply Youth Ministry.
###
