Introduc tion
I’ve been working with teenagers for the past fifteen years of my professional life. I’ve pastored, befriended, counseled, and had a lot of fun with the craziest demographic on the planet: you! We’ve had lock-ins, camping trips, short-term mission excursions, and all sorts of programs. It’s been a blast. But, as you probably could have guessed, it hasn’t been all fun and games. I’ve helped students understand divorce. I’ve walked with them through major addictions. I’ve talked them down from suicide. I’ve been privy to some serious sexual deviances they wouldn’t share with the most secretive of priests. And I’ve heard their hearts. When people ask me, “What’s the biggest problem we can identify in the teenage nation today?” it’s an easy answer: Teenagers are living all alone! Now, hear me out. I know that sounds a bit strange; you are probably the most connected generation in history. Still, Facebook was started not long ago in 2004, YouTube has been around since only the early part of the twenty-first century, and I remember when e-mail first started. (Yes. I do.) 7
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