The Bottom Line, Ministries Christian News, Articles, & Poetry 
Despite being hard-pressed on all sides by bad news and looming unrest, there’s a reality that also deserves attention: God is raising up a generation of youth that is moving with unprecedented power and focus.
In ministering to and mentoring teenagers, I am witness a level of commitment that is beyond what I saw even a decade ago. It doesn’t mean these youth don’t struggle, or that they’re fundamentally all that different than teenagers of previous generations. Rather, there seems to be an understanding of the cost and the brevity of time supernaturally imprinted on these teens’ hearts.
Here are some examples I’m witnessing among teens and young people in my own sphere:
Bringing the kingdom of Heaven to their classrooms. An ordinary speech class in a public high school turned into a demonstration of God’s power when one Christian girl offered to pray for a peer who had Celiac disease. The next day in class, the girl who’d had the diagnosis testified before everyone of sensing she was healed and going home and sampling various items from her fridge that ordinarily she’d never dare to touch. She did not get sick. Another teen in this same youth group shared with me how she and one other Christian quietly but firmly refused to participate in a witchcraft ritual led by their English teacher during class.
Signs and wonders. A 12-year-old boy last month delivered a fellow youth of a demon when the latter walked into a church service during worship and fell over and began manifesting. The 12-year-old ministered before the pastor realized what was happening and could get there. Once free, the young man sat up and was in his right mind.
Taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth. In the last five years I’ve been privileged to offer prayer support for at least two dozen teens who are embarking on trips to Nepal, China, Honduras, Ecuador, Turkey, and various African nations to serve God and serve others. They are doing this at a sizable risk, considering American citizens no longer have their government’s protection the way they used to. Nevertheless, they have counted the cost, and decided that their Father’s backing is enough.
Witnessing this impetus of today’s Christian teens brings to mind Haggai 2:9, which says:
” ‘The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’ “
Yes, the darkness around us is undeniable. But we’re the ones with the light and we’re the ones with the “hope and a future” when we seek Him wholeheartedly. (Jeremiah 29:11-13) How does this thought motivate you?
As important as homeschooling and Christian schools are, we need Christian students in our public schools. Many are taking very bold stands for their beliefs and being a light to the godlessness that exists in the system.
There is definitely great need in the public school system for light and truth. It’s also a combat zone that can make an unrooted child a casualty very quickly. I truly believe every Christian parent needs to seek the Lord, year to year, on where to send his or her children or whether to home school.