Get Your Story Straight: A Teen's Guide to Learning and Living the Gospel

I am adding a photo to my existing review. The book in the photo belongs to my fiercely independent, extremely artsy, free-thinking 15 year old. The 230 pages you see folded in were done of her own volition without any encouragement from me. I just gave her the devotional. I can't imagine a better testimony for this devotional than that photo! Original review:: I love the way the days are broken up. Each day seems to be "just the right amount" to get you thinking and engaging more deeply about how to daily re-orient your life back toward God's agenda instead of the tyranny of my own agenda. This book is not syrupy sweet or bafflingly dense. The questions are clear, focused, relevant and Scripture-directed. I got this book to follow along with my high school freshman--who has also enjoyed it, but I think the questions are very relevant, clear and concise for adults as well. I just sent another copy to my college freshman and am encouraging her to use it for a Bible study with her friends.

I’m using this book as a one on one devotion with a student I have with special needs. The break down and organization for the week is just enough and not overwhelming, yet it’s gospel centered and speaks to our hearts. I do wish there was a guide to go alongside to help her to be a little less dependent on me for help in answering questions. Overall, I highly reccomend this gospel centered devotion!

This is such a great book! I love doing it with my teenage son, and will do it with my daughters when they become teenagers too. It talks about the issues that our kids are facing. It gives my son and I a chance to talk about the issues and how we can always keep Christ a part of every decision that we make. I highly recommend this book to do with your child individually or with a group. We can't have our kids prepared enough for the challenges they will face!

I’m a mom of two boys and this devotional speaks right to MY heart as I think about my identity and all the competing messages in our culture. I want these truths to settle deeper into my own heart as I help my children learn to navigate the world.

Thoughtful, clear, intentional, and keeps the main thing the main thing--a great devotional for teens and parents alike.

This book is phenomenal! Inductive, gospel center bible study for you and your teen. Doing together with my son:)

Get Your Story Straight is a devotional that takes teens through the story of redemption, showing them that the story is about Christ. He is the center of the story and of every story. Part 1 focuses on who the story is about. It begins with creation, goes through the fall, the promise of a Savior, and the promise fulfilled in Christ. Part 2 helps the reader see how their story is part of God's story and shows them their identity in Christ and the work of the Spirit in their life. Part 3 focuses on how the story of Christ plays out in their life with others including the church, friendship, and service in the Kingdom.In going through this devotional, teens will learn about the problem of sin and their need for Christ, what he has done for them through the gospel, and what it means to be justified by faith. They will learn how the gospel transforms all of life, even the daily challenges of adolescence.One such example comes from a study on Hebrews 12:"Life is hard. We are weighed down by our sin, idols, circumstances, relationships, and trials and left here on earth to endure. Yet God, who providentially directs our paths, does not leave us alone. In fact, he sent his Son to endure life in this fallen world for us--to endure the rejection, hatred, mockery, and shame that followed him all the way to the cross. But he did it for the joy set before him, the joy of spending eternity in heaven next to his Father with YOU. Therefore, fix your eyes on him. He is the object of your faith, the perfecter of your faith, and the encourager for your faith" (p.216).What I love most about Get Your Story Straight is that it teaches teens how to study the Bible and gets them in the word each day. The book is divided into 52 chapters, one for each week of the year. At the beginning of the week, the teen reads through a passage of Scripture and answers questions about what they read. On the next day, they read Kristen's explanation of the passage and consider more questions. Day three, the reader is encouraged to read the passage of Scripture again and answer more questions. Day four does the same. And day five encourages the reader to journal and pray about what they learned that week.Kristen often points out repetitions of words and phrases and has the reader underline them. She asks specific questions of the text that help the reader understand what they have read. She then helps the reader think through how the text applies to their own heart. In addition, Kristen has the teen memorize various passages throughout the book.As a mom of a preteen, I am thrilled about this book. Though my son is not yet a teen, I know he can already benefit from this study and plan to go through it with him. If you have teens yourself or will soon, you'll want to get this devotional for your children.

"Get Your Story Straight" is a surprisingly intense teen Bible study. It's arranged as a devotional, with 52 sections comprised of seven segments and grouped under three headings. The headings are "Getting the Story Straight," "My Life Mixed into the Story," and "The Story in Me Lived out with Others."These devotions are written for teens who are engaging in the world of high school and sports and friends and relationships and teachers and employers and increasing responsibilities. Kristen Hatton definitely wrote to reach kids where they are, but she certainly did not "write down" to them.Kristen leads teens to think about all the big themes- renewal and purpose and character and salvation and freedom and purity and truth and what it means to be a human who walks with God. And she continually draws the whole "Christian life" message back to its source- Christ.Kristen openly addresses the pit-trap of moralism, that place where your behavior is excellent and you don't act like a rebel, but inside you're not resting in the love of God and you're not confident of His transforming grace. Way too many parent/teen resources are totally satisfied with moralism. "If we can only get them in line, and their outsides are clean, then we'll be happy." Kristen wants kids to be alive in Christ, alive to the work of God, and actively engaged in it.That's what we need. And this book can be a mind-stretching, heart-strengthening, Jesus-proclaiming experience for those kids who will read it.I thank Litfuse for providing me with this book in exchange for an opinion