I rarely give 5 stars, but this...

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	• Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture: Bridging Teen Worldviews And Christian Truth Walt Mueller InterVarsity Press, 2006 - 239 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

I rarely give 5 stars, but this...

Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture by Walt Mueller brings together the principles of cross-cultural communication and applies them to the cross-generational situations found in Christian youth work. He deals with modern v. post-modern worldviews and the need for understanding and listening to help understand the emerging generation in order to effectively minister and communicate the gospel to them. Those who have read books dealing with postmodernism may feel that it drags here but he is writing to parents as well as youth workers and is assuming that some have no idea what postmodernism is. Also, those familiar with cross-cultural mission authors will be familiar with the principles that he lays down in the book.

Like some other recent authors who have written on the subject of the Church and culture, Mueller does a good job of explaining the two main relational errors we see in regards to youth culture: Fundamentalism and Syncretism. He warns of the fundamentalist error of cocooning away from culture and thus seeming out of touch with those you seek to reach. He also warned of theological and moral error that comes from compromising with culture and thus loosing the message of the true gospel and the moral authority to preach it.

I highly recommend this book to all Christian youth workers. I have read several boos on the subject and this book reflects a man who has spend decades of thoughtful work in youth ministry. As I read it, I felt like it was a fine, mature wine that had taken a long time to get to the way it was. The author has reflected and studied the Bible in relation to these issues for many years and the intellectual depth is evident. The author is 50 + and yet he naturally quotes from films and bands like Nine Inch Nails in a way that is not fake or forced.

The not only has Biblical and cultural depth, but I believe the book to be extremely relevant to a lot of the questions we are asking in the church at this time. Some may find little new here if they have been reading books dealing with these questions of culture, but Mueller brings these ideas together and applies specifically to the area of youth work. Long before words like "culture" and "engaging" became trendy in the Church, this man was pioneering the subject and applying the principles that the evangelical church in the West only now seem to be rediscovering. It is as if the message has been simmering in the man for decades waiting for such a time as this.

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New Take on Ministry

I ablolutely loved this book. I enjoyed Mueller's approach to Youth Ministry--as missions. The youth culture of today can be so diverse and distant that it looks like a foreign mission field. It is very important to investigate carefully what is really going on. His statistics are frightening. I suggest that anyone who is involeved with youth should read this--the parent, the YMCA associate, teacher, or the local Youth minister.

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great resource

This book lays out the post modern landscape in youth ministry in a concise manner. Each chapter is presented clearly-with no wasted words. The author does not offer a bunch of answers, but invites the reader to think about the kids they serve. The fact that he resists the temptation to give us formulas for "sure fire" success, [haven't we heard enough of about the NEXT BIG THING?], is down right refreshing. What this book does is to present a road map of the post modern world while encouraging us to build our hope on the transcendant promises of God. Some books in this genre [Maclaren, et all] ask us to treat the faith story as a story we can manipulate until it fits our ideals. This author presents the faith story as a fixed point. Its changeless nature makes it an anchor for the soul. Great stuff.

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Finaly...

If you have felt lost in this new world we live in, this is the book. As a youth pastor this book was relevant and inciteful. It gets to the roots of what lies under today's youth culture. It is written in a way that is hopeful and handy. I have recommended this book to everyone I know. It is good for volunteers and "pro's". It is good for rookies and veterens.

I am only 32 years old and this generation is living in a world that is foreign to the world I grew up in. This book was so helpful.

reviews: page 1, 2

Before we can reach today's youth with the turth of the gospel, we need to see what they see and hear what they hear. We need to catch the messages encrypted in their culture and understand what's really being communicated.In Engaging the Soul of Youth Culture Walt Mueller, founder and president of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding, helps us to navigate the troubling and confusing terrain of teen worldviews so that we can effectively and compassionately pass along good news: our God is their God, our Savior can be their Savior.

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