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Can I Ask That?



When I normally think of sticky, I think avoid. I like things clean. I stray from messy. Sticky things have their place. Honey goes on a biscuit. Glue goes in a bottle. Children go in their rooms.

But I love the good people at Sticky Faith, youth ministry gurus who provide great resources for helping the Bible stick in the minds of teens. See, as much as I abhor stickiness in my home, the youth room is a great place for sticky things. This would apply both to the weird smells in the youth room as well as the conversations on deeper matters that we have.

We've all read about the dangers of teens faking a form of Christianity through high school, only to leave it behind in college. So it is important for us to ensure that teens own their faith. Can I Ask That? by Jim Candy, Brad Griffin and Kara Powell is a great tool to accomplish just that.

It's a set of books, one for the students and one for the leaders, that ask the difficult questions and allow space for students to struggle for the answers. This book covers essentials such as trusting the Bible and knowing who Jesus really is, as well as other controversial topics like homosexuality and violence.

The student book offers spaces for teens to read ahead and answer some questions before a group meeting. This may be the only practical weakness of the whole idea. I'm not sure my group of teens would read ahead or fill out answers. That could just be me not expecting enough.

The leader's book and the discussion guides are well thought out, giving instruction both for transition of questions as well as advice on how to lead through these topics. I'm already planning on how I will fit this curriculum in to my plans this year.

My good friends at Youth Worker Journal gave me advance copies of this for free. Youth Ministry has its perks as well. I would recommend this resource to other youth pastors. You can find out more about Sticky Faith and Youth Worker by clicking the links.
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