As parents we all make mistakes; they're impossible to avoid. But sidestepping these three big mistakes can shift your relationship with your teen out of survival mode and into thrive gear.

Read the rest of the article by Bill Sanders by following this link:

http://tinyurl.com/avoid3mistakes

Bill Sanders

Bill Sanders speaks nationally to parents and teenagers on key issues impacting their relationships. His "Opportunity Parenting" video program is used in more than 900 churches around the world. To learn more visit www.billspeaks.com.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

Parents of teenagers can grow anxious about the path their teen is choosing in life. They might worry about their teen’s future, or even fret over whether or not they’ll have a good relationship with their teen after they leave home.

If you’re feeling anxious today, I’d like to offer some advice. First, let’s put anxiety into perspective with the words of Billy Graham, who wisely said, "Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us." If we could apply that truth to the parents of teenagers, the answer to anxiety is the same — to have faith in God to guide your teenager along the right path.

Read the rest of the article by Mark Gregston by following the link below.

http://tinyurl.com/guidingteens

Mark Gregston is the Founder and Executive Director of Heartlight Ministries, a Christian residential counseling program for struggling teenagers, located in East Texas.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

Some claim that the silly gesture of crossing your fingers behind your back to cover up a lie originated with Roman persecution of Christians. To escape death, those who lied about their faith in Christ, just as Peter did, made the sign of the cross behind their back to ask God’s forgiveness.

That sounds more like a fable to me, but it’s a fact that teenagers today seem to be crossing their fingers behind their back more and more. They are cheating and stealing more, too. The latest Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth, by the Josephson Institute of Ethics, shows teens are lying more often and more easily than ever. The report indicates an increase in lying, cheating and stealing among youth since 2006, when the report was first published.

Read the rest of the article by Mark Gregston by following the link below.

http://tinyurl.com/teendishonesty

Mark Gregston is the Founder and Executive Director of Heartlight Ministries, a Christian residential counseling program for struggling teenagers, located in East Texas.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

If you’re dealing with a wayward teen, you know how relationally fatigued, emotionally beaten up, and personally worn down you can get. In fact, you may right now be thinking, "I’ve been pushing against this wall forever…I just can’t do it anymore." But let me encourage you to never give up…keep parenting, even when the going with your troubled teen gets toughest.

Read the rest of this article by following the link below written by Mark Gregston.

http://tinyurl.com/NeverGiveUpParenting

Mark Gregston is the Founder and Executive Director of Heartlight Ministries, a Christian residential counseling program for struggling teenagers, located in East Texas.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

You’ve probably heard the saying, "What we need to give our children are roots and wings." I believe this gets at the heart of what I want to say this month. Lest you think that I have succeeded totally in doing this for my children, let me hasten to say that I am still learning about all this even though all three of my girls are grown. Another way of putting this might be to give them acceptance (roots) and then offer them challenges (wings). Our goal is that they become fully-functioning human beings with a deep faith in God. So how do we get to that point? Here are a few thoughts.

Follow this link http://tinyurl.com/n34wtq and read the rest of the article from Living with Teenagers.

Chuck Gartman has served as a youth minister for more than 20 years, has parented three daughters through the teen years, and is presently Assistant Professor of Christian Studies at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

Parents' greatest fear may be that their children will enter some awful rebellious period and reject the faith. That fear is mostly unfounded. Contrary to popular thinking, children generally do not become teenagers who are alienated from the church or its ministers and members.

Researchers report that more than 80 percent of teens say they believe in God, and two-thirds describe Him as involved in people's lives; 71 percent of teens say they feel "very close" or "somewhat close" to Him. Among teens who describe themselves as religious, only 5 percent report having had a number of doubts about their faith in the previous year, while 70 percent of church-going teens say their congregations are a "very good" or "fairly good" place to talk about serious life issues.

Follow this link http://tinyurl.com/klawzg to read the rest of the article.

Adapted from the new book, Parenting with Kingdom Purpose by Ken Hemphill and Richard Ross. Hemphill is the national strategist for the SBC's Empowering Kingdom Growth emphasis; Ross is professor of student ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Texas and one of the founders of True Love Waits.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

Thanks to Firehawk77 for the use of the image. Check out Firehawk77's profile at http://tinyurl.com/kwtosg

According to recent experiments conducted by researchers at Princeton and Emory University School of Medicine, it appears that between the ages of 11 and 13, the part of the human brain that normally inhibits excessively risky behaviors freezes. And the part of the brain that registers reward burns white-hot. The result? The onset of less rational decision-making.

Follow the link to read the rest of the article by Nancy Nolan. http://tinyurl.com/qunn8u

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

Science has now caught up with what parents of teens have known for eons: Teenagers are more emotional than rational. The mood swings may have a biological base. Research now indicates that key parts of the brain related to integrating emotions with judgment (that is self-control and thinking ahead) are the last to develop. That means the emotional centers of the brain are better developed in teens than the rational ones. The bottom line is that regulating strong emotions is flat-out difficult for teenagers.

Read the rest of the article by following this link
http://tinyurl.com/b7ydow

Written by Tian Dayton

Tian Dayton, Ph.D., is the author of recovery bestseller "It’s My Life: A Power Book for Teens." Dr. Dayton is a counselor in private practice and the director of the New York Psychodrama Training Institute at Caron. This article first appeared in Living with Teenagers, published by LifeWay Christian Resources.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church.

Science has now caught up with what parents of teens have known for eons: Teenagers are more emotional than rational. The mood swings may have a biological base. Research now indicates that key parts of the brain related to integrating emotions with judgment (that is self-control and thinking ahead) are the last to develop. That means the emotional centers of the brain are better developed in teens than the rational ones. The bottom line is that regulating strong emotions is flat-out difficult for teenagers.

Read the rest of the article by following this link http://tinyurl.com/cn9hw7

Written by Tian Dayton

Tian Dayton, Ph.D., is the author of recovery bestseller "It’s My Life: A Power Book for Teens." Dr. Dayton is a counselor in private practice and the director of the New York Psychodrama Training Institute at Caron. This article first appeared in Living with Teenagers, published by LifeWay Christian Resources.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church.

In Parenting the Postmodern Teen (Part 1) http://tinyurl.com/c4m2ot parents looked at the postmodern mind and how teens reject ultimate standards. In part 2 parents will discover how postmodern teens value stories and can be launched into young adulthood by learning to connect God’s story in their own lives.

The Power of a Good Story

Postmodern students also are more biblically illiterate and less connected to the church than past generations. Over the last century, our culture has moved farther and farther away from a Judeo-Christian foundation. While we have seen major events increase the gap between church and state (like the removal of state sponsored prayer in schools), more subtle things also have been at work.

Read the rest of Parenting the Postmodern Teen (Part 2)

http://tinyurl.com/ckwysx

Written by Rick Morton

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church.

The postmodern teen faces stakes that are higher than they were when their parents were teens, and there are unique challenges presented by the postmodern thinker. Parents must better understand the postmodern mind and know that teens tend to ignore or reject ultimate standards.

Read the rest of the article by following the link below.

http://tinyurl.com/c4m2ot

Written by Rick Morton

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church.

Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13 NIV). I can think of no one for whom I would give up my life more quickly than my child. A mother's love is fierce, loyal, protective, and self-sacrificing.

Follow the link to read more. http://tinyurl.com/djvxvv
from FamilyLife.com written by Barbara Rainey

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church.

Our kids are looking for a relationship with the Lord - something they can count on. It’s up to us as parents to show our kids what that relationship with God really looks like. The best way we can do this is to model a healthy, accepting, God-honoring relationship between them and us. Recently, I sat down with Josh McDowell, to talk about his recent book, Beyond Belief to Convictions, and he shared seven principles for helping parents do just that - and I just can’t agree more with these principles.

Read the rest of the article by Jim Burns, president of HomeWord at http://tinyurl.com/dec62e

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

Children are not born with instructions. Even if they were, I doubt that many parents would actually read the directions. Most parents, like me, learn from experience. The following four pointers are some principles I’ve used to reduce the parent/teen conflict in my own home and to increase my teen’s involvement in making responsible choices.

Follow the link to read the rest of the article. http://tinyurl.com/cmqj2c

Written by Dr. Larry Purcell

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church.

Early adolescence is important from the standpoint of information processing. Kids are learning new ways to learn and that raises questions in their minds. Here are a few suggestions for dealing with the barrage of questions that come from the fertile minds of tweens.

Read the rest of the article by following this link http://tinyurl.com/d4js8l

Written by Bob Bunn for LifeWay.com

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

TGIF, RSVP or even ASAP may sound familiar; however as computers have transformed communications a new dialect has emerged: Internet lingo.

Acronyms or character symbols called Emoticons (mixing symbols to express emotions or moods) enable teens to communicate with others in a few keystrokes. While often just a convenient and quick means of communication, many teens use these acronyms and symbols to warn their friends when parents might be present and even to discuss drug use in a code that parents can’t decipher.

Follow the this link http://tinyurl.com/djxjnj to the The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign website for more information.

This article is posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.

You may find it simpler to set a goal of reading a certain number of chapters a day than to try and stick to some of the formal schedules that are available. They work fine for some people, but for others, the (false) guilt or discouragement that come from "getting behind" is not helpful. If you miss a day or don't read the number of chapters you planned, you don't need to go back and "catch up" (though you can if you have time)-just keep going. It may take you a bit longer this way, but better to finish a little later than not finish at all.

If you want to read through the Bible in one or two years, the following figures may be useful. There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible, so reading an average of 5 days a week, to read the entire Bible in one year, you would need to average about 4.5 chapters per day; in 2 years, about 2.3 chapters per day; Reading one chapter a day will take you through the Bible in about 4.5 years. Reading through the Bible in one year isn't one of the Ten Commandments, but it is a helpful spiritual discipline. Many people will find a slower pace more helpful, even if they don't keep up with Joe or Aunt Matilda.

Also, try reading all the way through in a different translation some time-you'll be surprised at how much you notice that you tend to "read over" in your more familiar translation. Try the NIV or the NASB [1995 update edition] or the new ESV if you haven't read them through before.

By using various markings (circle, underline, line through, hi-light, etc.) and different color inks multiple readings may be marked on this sheet. The top part of this sheet will fit in most standard-size Bibles to use as a bookmark, or it may be fastened inside the cover so that it doesn't get lost.

Follow this http://www.ntresources.com/other.html to download this excellent Bible Reading Chart from New Testament Resources. Click on "Bible Reading Chart."

For more information contact the Student Ministry Office at 850.785.6530.

Each week, parents receive two, twenty-minute Bible study devotionals via email. These studies, authored by Dr. Richard Ross, contain solid Bible teaching presented in a warm, interactive format. In addition, the devotions are set-up so that students & parents alike are involved - each given specific things to say or do. A meaningful way to pray as a family is also included at the conclusion of each study.

Begin imparting biblical truth to your teenager. Follow the link and sign up today. http://www.heartconnex.org/

HomeWord is a Christian organization designed to provide assistance to adults worldwide as they help young people make wise decisions and lead positive, vibrant, Christian lifestyles. Multiplication and Leverage: While absolutely committed to young people, HomeWord equips parents, grandparents and youth leaders; those who daily reach out to kids. By equipping adults, and leveraging those adults to reach kids, HomeWord reaches more young people more cost effectively. http://www.homeword.com/

The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding is a nonprofit organization committed to building strong families by serving to bridge the cultural-generational gap between parents and teenagers. At a time when an already confusing youth culture is changing quickly, CPYU helps parents, youth workers, educators, and others understand teenagers and their culture so that they will be better equipped to help children and teens navigate the challenging world of adolescence.

Founded in 1990 by Walt Mueller, CPYU has developed an international reputation as a voice providing cutting-edge information, resources and analysis on today's youth culture.

The mission of CPYU is to work with churches, schools, and community organizations to build stronger relationships between young people and those charged with helping them grow into healthy adulthood. http://www.cpyu.org

Almost all teenagers are religious, but their views of God and faith vary widely. Most seem to think God exists but don't believe He is very involved in life on earth. This has serious implications for Christian parents and the role they play in helping their kids.

Parenting with Kingdom Purpose from youth ministry pioneer Dr. Richard Ross (True Love Waits, 24-Hour Counselor) and respected Christian author Dr. Ken Hemphill will help Christian parents see what the reality is instilling in their students a faith that has a foundation.

Dr. Ross and Dr. Hemphill will help parents see what they need to be and what they need to show students for faith to be a reality for teenagers today. http://tinyurl.com/cgawg7

Blueletterbible.org is an on-line interactive reference library continuously updated from the teachings and commentaries. http://www.blueletterbible.org/

BibleGateway.com is a free service for reading and researching Scripture online—all in the language or translation of your choice. http://www.biblegateway.com/

For over 30 years Youth Specialties has worked alongside Christian youth workers of just about every denomination and youth-serving organization. We're here to help you, whether you're brand new to youth ministry or a veteran, whether you're a volunteer or a career youth pastor. Each year we serve more than 100,000 youth workers worldwide through our training Seminars and Conventions, resources, and here on the Internet.
http://www.YouthSpecialties.com/

Hiland Park Baptist Church, a church "Where everybody is somebody." http://www.hilandpark.org/

Hollywood Jesus reviews current films, television shows, and music from a Christian perspective. http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/

GoodSearch.com is a search engine which donates 50-percent of its revenue to the charities and schools designated by its users. So use Goodsearch.com and help raise money for Hiland Park. http://www.goodsearch.com/

Plugged In Online is a Focus on the Family publication designed to help equip parents, youth leaders, ministers and teens with the essential tools that will enable them to understand, navigate and impact the culture in which they live. Entertainment is a potent influence on our culture for both good and evil. Through reviews and discussions of that entertainment, Plugged In Online hopes to spark intellectual thought, family discussion, spiritual growth and a strong desire to follow the command of Colossians 2:8. "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ." http://www.pluggedinonline.com/

Understanding the Relationship Between Abortion and Prejudice

Throughout the history of our nation there have been great times of hope, development, and peace. Unfortunately, there have also been times when the weak, the poor, and the socially disadvantaged have faced oppression and hostility. Most of these times, some form of prejudice was at the heart of the problem. http://www.stopprejudice.com/

The Parents Television Council was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media. A nonpartisan organization that works with elected and appointed government officials, the PTC produces critical research and publications documenting the dramatic increase in sex, violence and profanity in entertainment. This information is provided free of charge so parents can make informed viewing choices for their own families. http://www.parentstv.org/

Parenting Today's Teen is offered in two formats, a daily 1-minute feature (now heard daily on over 2,500 radio outlets) and a weekly half-hour topical program (heard on several hundred radio outlets). http://tinyurl.com/ParentingTodaysTeens

Ravi Zacharias International Ministries a ministry that seeks to reach and challenge those who shape the ideas of culture with the credibility of the gospel of Jesus Christ. http://www.rzim.org/

The above links are posted for informational purposes only. The views expressed on these links are not necessarily those of any staff member, church member or Hiland Park Baptist Church and should not be construed as an endorsement.