I’ve been teaching Christian worldview to teenagers for nearly 20 years. I’ve seen, and so have you, how much the culture has changed—we might even say, devolved. Could we ever have imagined how quickly things would go from being unthinkable to unquestionable? That men could marry men? That school teachers and doctors could encourage gender-confused boys and girls to start hormone therapy before puberty? That our teens would be spending this much time in front of screens each and every day?
The pace of cultural change today is simply mind-boggling. I sympathize with those parents who feel they just can’t keep up. But at the same time, we can’t send our kids out to navigate these treacherous cultural waters alone. So what should we do?
I’m pleased—actually thrilled—to announce today that The Colson Center is partnering with Axis.org and several other organizations to sponsor a free, digital conference with parenting experts and Christian thought leaders. The Parenting Teen Summit begins tomorrow, June 1st and runs through June 15.
More than 40 of the best informed Christian authors and thoughts leaders will share unique insights on parenting teens. Featured speakers include Ravi Zacharias, Gary Chapman, Tim Keller, Russell Moore, Roxanne Stone, J. Warner Wallace, Kara Powell, D.A. Horton, and others—including me.
As my friend and Axis President David Eaton says, the Parenting Teens Summit is like taking some of the best ideas from the life work of 40-plus experts and condensing it into something specifically for parents, pastors, and teachers who serve junior high and high school students. If you can think of a topic, it’s covered: money, technology, sexuality, discipleship, apologetics, pornography, sports, reading the Bible, you name it.
The Parenting Teen Summit covers topics in three different categories:
First, “Know Their Culture”: Here it’s all Snapchat, Selfies, and Chance the Rapper… pop culture, smartphones, social media, and entertainment influence teenagers. We know that. So this category of sessions will help you make sense of youth culture where it’s at its loudest.
The second category is “Connect the Generations.” The Secret Sauce for building a lifelong faith in teenagers is intergenerational community. The Parenting Teens Summit will help you bridge the generational gap between you and your teen.
The third category is “Develop Their Heart.” In the face of the huge conversation topics teens face every day at school, with friends, and online, parents must become the most significant conversation partner their kids have. These sessions will show you how to build a deep relationship with your teenager.
By the way, each session is in conversation format, so it’s not just lectures here. Registration is now open for the Parenting Teens Summit. Starting tomorrow, each day for two weeks, a new presentation with a different parenting expert will be posted—starting with my opening conversation with David Eaton. Each talk remains online for free for 72 hours, and then you can choose to purchase a lifetime pass.
So come to BreakPoint.org and click on this commentary. We’ll provide you with all the information you’ll need to get signed up for the Parenting Teens Summit.
I should add if you sign up for a lifetime pass to the Summit (which does involve a fee), you’ll also receive my new book, which I wrote with Brett Kunkle, “A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today’s World.”
Look, taking part in the Parenting Teens Summit is one of the best things you can do to help your kids stay strong in the faith in this difficult cultural moment. Again, come to BreakPoint.org and click on this commentary to sign up.
BreakPoint is a Christian worldview ministry that seeks to build and resource a movement of Christians committed to living and defending Christian worldview in all areas of life. Begun by Chuck Colson in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today’s news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print. Today BreakPoint commentaries, co-hosted by Eric Metaxas and John Stonestreet, air daily on more than 1,200 outlets with an estimated weekly listening audience of eight million people. Feel free to contact us at BreakPoint.org where you can read and search answers to common questions.
John Stonestreet, the host of The Point, a daily national radio program, provides thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.
Photo courtesy: Thinkstockphotos.com
Publication date: June 1, 2017