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Kicking The Tires: A Review of "Live Large, Be Different, Shine Bright"

(YM360 Note: At youthministry360, we’re committed to bringing you youth ministry resources that are biblically sound, creatively designed, and culturally relevant. AND, because we’re also committed to equipping and serving you, we like to highlight other ministries who are producing good resources, as well. Our friends over at Simply Youth are some of the best resource producers around. This is a review of one of their new resources.)

As youth workers, we all want our students to live lives that are markedly different than the world around them. And for this difference to be motivated by Christ in them. Live Large, Be Different, Shine Bright by Doug Fields and Josh Griffin is an excellent new book written for teenagers that carries this same charge.

The guiding premise behind this little book with the big name is that our culture seems to expect so little from teenagers. The authors note that it doesn’t take much for a teenager to make headlines: “round up some shoes for the homeless” or “collect a few cans for the local shelter” and teenagers get noticed. Doug and Josh write, “Teenagers should be insulted by [the] low expectations put on them.” This concept resonates with me.

In essence, the book is a challenge to students to live in such a way that doesn’t allow room for people’s low expectations. The book calls teenagers to, well, live large, be different, and shine bright. And, I think the book successfully accomplishes this purpose. I think it’s a book students will really get.

As we’ve all come to expect from these two, Doug and Josh take a pretty creative approach. The book has 12 chapters, with each chapter focusing on a different character quality. These character qualities are rooted in Scripture. But the qualities the authors chose are kind of outside the usual handful we tend to stress with students. And I think this is a good thing. Doug and Josh reveal in the introduction that this is by design.

Part of the authors’ strategy is to address some traits that aren’t always mentioned in church, but traits that are, as I mentioned, still biblical. I think they have found a perfect balance here. The traits they address are:

• Integrity
• Enthusiasm
• Managing Conflict
• Giving
• Encouragement
• Transparency
• Nonverbal Communication
• Meekness
• Cliques
• Competition
• Laughter
• Reflection

(See, told you they were creative . . . and a little unexpected.)

This is my moment of transparency. At first I wasn’t 100% convinced. It felt a little too unconventional at first glance for my taste. But once I got into the book, I was hooked. And I believe your students will be as well.

Each of the easy to read and entertaining chapters is full of personal stories (some that showed a lot of openness and transparency) and creative examples. The chapters make the biblical case for the specific character trait, provide some practical help on how to actually begin modeling the traits, and end with really good questions to help students further apply the book’s instruction.

There is a million dollar question on the table, and it is this: will students read it? I think the answer is yes. (And speaking as a guy who has been writing and designing devotional/Bible study books for teenagers for almost a decade, most books for written for teenagers stand no chance of being read by them. It’s true.)

The design of  “Live Large . . .” is awesome. The look and feel is great. It’s a great length (not intimidating). And the tone and style are laid back (what would you expect from two guys who live and minister in the OC?).

The content is valuable, fresh, and biblically grounded. The presentation is excellent. I think Doug and Josh have a great resource on their hands. It feels like the kind of book that would be a great back-to-school gift to your students, to really challenge them to “live large” in their world.

You can click here to purchase the book, download a sample, or look inside.

Andy Blanks is the co-founder of youthministry360. Andy has worked in youth ministry for 12 years, almost exclusively writing, designing, and developing curriculum. Andy is a teacher at heart and loves to challenge teenagers and youth workers alike through his writing and speaking.

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