HSBA 2006: Winning and Reminiscing
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who voted for The Rebelution for Best Teen Blog in the 2006 Homeschool Blog Awards. Your efforts have allowed us the special honor of being crowned “best teen blog” for the second consecutive year.
As Brett and I were thinking back to the 2005 Homeschool Blog Awards, hosted by SpunkyHomeschool, we realized that many of our readers may not know the early history of The Rebelution. So we decided to take this opportunity to reminisce.
An Early History of The Rebelution
The Rebelution started roughly one year and eight months ago as two different blogs: Conscientious Contemplation (me) and Rebelution (Brett), which at that time had a nebulous and overly-verbose definition. On August 8th, 2005, I sent out the following email to about twenty friends, some of whom had blogs of their own:
This email is to announce my new blog. It will not be a journal of my emotional state or be primarily focused with the events of my personal life, but rather, each post will cover a certain specific topic and analyze it from a Christian worldview. Hopefully, as time progresses, the purpose of the blog will become more clear.
I know at least some of you already host/write blogs of a similar nature and purpose, and I would love it if others would join us as well. It is my hope that we would be able to network and draw from one another in such a way as to firmly cement our existence in the online community as sources for objective Christian truth on a plethora of topics.
I pray that we might make our presence felt in the online blog community, not only as a group of godly young people, but as a reliable source of information to those far beyond our personal group of acquaintances.
None of us, with our limited schedules and busy lives, can be more than a drop in the ocean-sized bucket of the internet community on our own… But together, unified in Christ and through His grace, I believe we can fill a gap that needs to be filled. God bless you all!
Fighting the Good Fight,
Alex Harris
After several weeks of blogging, Brett and I came to the conclusion that our blogs should be merged. Thus Conscientious Contemplation and Rebelution came together as The Rebelution. Immediately afterwards, just twenty days since entering the blogosphere, we were featured in the New York Daily News:
Think big! High school bloggers tell peers
Dawn Eden, New York Daily News, August 28, 2005Most high schoolers’ blogs are the online equivalent of perfumed diaries or locker-room walls - outlets for teens to gossip, confess and network with their pals. But a pair of 16-year-old home-schooled twins from Oregon… are out to change that.
Their goal, in Alex’s words, is to “create a community of young people where thinking deeply is the norm, and where achieving excellence is ‘cool.’”
“Our blog stemmed from a sincere desire to communicate a message to our generation that we didn’t see being communicated elsewhere,” Brett said. “Namely, ‘Wake up! History says you can be doing big things right now! Don’t let the culture’s expectations toward teenagers dictate what you think is possible.’”
The twins’ solution is, as Brett puts it, “rebelution” - a vision fueled by their Christian faith and based on the universal ideals of “character, competence, and collaboration.”
“The teen years are not a vacation from responsibility,” writes Alex. “They are the training ground of future leaders who dare to be responsible now.”
So began the Rebelution, “a teenage rebellion against low expectations.” By this time, we had already written several series of articles. One of the first was based on a speech I had given, called The Myth of Adolescence. Brett wrote another called The World is Flat, based on Thomas Friedman’s book on globalization.
By the end of August we had posted almost 40 articles, including blog commenting guidelines for newfound friend and columnist Dawn Eden. The three pillars of the Rebelution—character, competence, and collaboration—were established and we had started a new series on the disturbing phenomenon of adultescence.
In September we continued to develop the core themes, while at the same time introducing fun features like our older brother Josh’s Jiffy N’ Lou comic strip. A sense of purpose seemed to instill itself within the community of serious Christian teen bloggers and the number of rebelutionary bloggers on our sidebar began to grow. Old-time greats like Agent Tim Online, Spunky Junior, SmartHomeschool, and Legal Redux were joined by newcomers like Rhetorical Response, Oneway Purpose, Sold Out, Fearlessly Feminine, Daughter of the King, and Catch Word.
October marked the introduction of the rallying cry of the Rebelution movement: Do Hard Things. In our life, “do hard things” included serving as official live-bloggers for the second annual Independent Christian Film Festival in San Antonio and relocating to Alabama mid-month to intern for two months at the State Supreme Court—an opportunity that came through the blog itself.
The Rebelution continued to grow despite our new responsibilities as interns. We began to post on news stories involving young people, bringing a rebelutionary perspective that drew considerable attention to our coverage. Stories like the Paris youth riots, the murder and intrigue surrounding the David Ludwig and Kara Borden situation, Noah Riner’s convocation speech at Dartmouth College, and 18-year-old Michael Sessions’ election as mayor of Hillsdale.
That same November, Brett had a chance to meet and talk with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, we traveled through the continued devastation of Hurricane Katrina, and nominations opened for the very first Homeschool Blog Awards. Voting opened in December, the votes were collected and tallied, and The Rebelution was crowned the Best Teen Blog of 2005, a blessed end to an exciting first five months.
Looking back, Brett and I marvel at God’s faithfulness and sovereignty. What we thought was just a blog for our thoughts, God has turned into something so much more. In fact, there’s a lot more “history” to tell: about the conference and the campaigning, about the new domain and website, about the Modesty Survey and the book. But those… Well, those are stories for another time.
Soli Deo Gloria!
April 18th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
Wow — that is really an amazing story. Isn’t it so exciting how God works? I just discovered your blog this last fall, and it has been such a blessing. I knew nothing of its beginnings and have often wondered how it all got started. I would be very interested in hearing the rest of your “history” another time.
And congratulations on the Best Teen Blog Award!
April 18th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Wow I had never heard the whole story before, God really has blessed you.
Keep up the good work, I am looking forward to your book.
Your Brother In Christ,
Joshua
April 19th, 2007 at 3:55 am
Congrats on a well deserved award
It has been so neat to watch how God has blessed your efforts these few years and I look forward to what He will do in the future!
April 19th, 2007 at 6:53 am
Congrats!!!
I will try not to be spiteful about the fact that I had completely no idea about this year’s awards until it was too late, but it looks like there was really no category I would have a chance in anyways =P So congratulations again!
April 19th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Emily It’s not just you! Brett and I didn’t know about it until after nominations were closed. There were bunches of teen bloggers who should have been in the running who were not, including yourself.
April 19th, 2007 at 9:45 am
Congrats! I’m soo happy you guys won (I just knew you would!:-) Thanks for telling us about the history of the blog-it is truly amazing. Keep up the work!
Love,
MJ
P.S. I see Brett had the more influence over the name
April 19th, 2007 at 10:50 am
Congratulations! I’d like to commend you two on your commitment to excellence; I see it so rarely, and when I do, it blesses me. Even approaching web design with a heart for excellence in all things is an imitation of the heart of God, though it is rarely recognized as such - “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” (Col 3:23, ESV). Keep up the good work!
“To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever.” (1 Timothy 1:17)
April 19th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Oh, I always wanted to know all that background! Thanks for taking the time to reminisce and give newcomers like me a peek into the exciting path God has led you on. How long did you two have Conscientious Contemplation and Rebelution before you decided to do the merge? It would be fun to be able to go back and look at them now.
It really thrills me to see how abundantly God answered your prayer of that first e-mail, Alex: [i]“I pray that we might make our presence felt in the online blog community, not only as a group of godly young people, but as a reliable source of information to those far beyond our personal group of acquaintances.”[/i]
I’m definitely one of those “far beyond” ones, but God has honored your vision and dedication and used your lives to be such a great blessing to me, even though we’ll probably never meet this side of Heaven. That’s just exciting.
April 19th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Congratulations Alex and Brett! Ya’ll defintely deserved the award. While I know that other blogs are good, the Rebelution is a great encouragement and motivater for all of us.
I really appreciate your giving background/history regardfing the Rebelution. I didn’t know all of that! Clearly, God has been good to the two of you, and I pray that He will continue to bless your efforts as you seek to be like Him (and encourage others to do the same!)
God bless!
April 19th, 2007 at 4:19 pm
Congratualations on the award! You guys deserved it. I also like hearing about your blog. I read about it once in WORLD magazine, but I liked hearing it from your point of view.
April 19th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
Wow. I had always wanted to know the history of the Rebelution. Congrat’s on the award!
Thanks for this post.
April 19th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
This is a neat story you have. It’s an exciting thing to see what God does with willingness
I have to ask … is there any story behind the inventing of the word ‘rebelution’? Whose brainstorm was that?
April 19th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Praise God! What a story of His goodness. Keep fighting the good fight and restoring our generation!
Your Sister in Christ,
Claire
Phil. 4:8
April 20th, 2007 at 1:48 am
Wow! Congratulations guys!
I can see that God has blessed your efforts in so many ways. Thanks for starting the Rebelution and creating an impact in the lives of so many teenagers around the world. 
God bless you!
And what an amazing story!
April 20th, 2007 at 4:09 am
Simply amazing and so encouraging.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:54 am
Great job! It’s amazing to look back and see how far you’ve gone in only a year. I well remember the “old look” to the blog and everything… I’ve so enjoyed the Rebelution the whole time it’s been up and running. I look forward to whatever God will bring about through it in the year ahead!
April 21st, 2007 at 4:09 am
Congratulations! The Rebelution is great - you really deserve the award :o) Thanks for sharing the history behind the Rebelution, it’s so cool to see how God has blessed your efforts with this site!
April 21st, 2007 at 5:53 pm
Thanks for sharing your history. I had wanted to know about it.
I’m so glad you won. God bless you!
June 11th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
Your blog is amzing! I first read about it in WORLD magazine, but forgot about it until I read about your upcoming conferences in another WORLD magazine. God Bless you guys in yourwork!
June 11th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
This blog and the whole Rebelution site is amazing! It’s like a breath of sunshine in the rain of this world. Keep up the good work and may God bless you in everything you do!
“For God gave his own begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
August 20th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
Lol, I did the same thing, Ruth. I’m glad I checked out the website, though! I can’t wait to explore as much of here as I can! Keep up the good work!
October 3rd, 2007 at 9:01 am
it’s amazing… i found your website whilst looking for images on gender equality for my project work:P
I just wanted to encourage all of you to keep up the good work! I’ll definitely be reading your blog from hence forth.
December 19th, 2007 at 11:46 am
WOW!!!
Just found out about your website while watching a newscast featuring Mike Huckabee & Chuck Norris. How refreshing,exciting and inspiring to see what’s happening through your efforts. Look forward to following the progress. Hope to attend an event in 2008! Can’t wait to forward your site to my children(3) & grandchildren(10)!!
December 20th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Awesome guys,
I was watching Mike Huckabee on Larry King Live and Chuck Norris mentioned the “Rebelution” while endorsing Huckabee. I think it is awesome what you guys are doing. I’m with you. The bar has been set low for teens and I’m glad to see that a coalition is forming to unite the voices of Christian young folks. God bless you guys and keep fighting the good fight.
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:42 pm
I’m 50 and I totally relate to your perspectives on the need for a Rebelution! One of the first orders of business I’d like to see spoken into is the need to move away from being addicted to the use of petrol to get around and to encourage all to wake up their God given legs and feet and vote with them! Running and I mean not always with foot coverings… As in Bare Feet… is a viable, healthy, as green as it gets way to get around. Save the use of cars for grocery hauling, emergencys, getting small children around over longer distances.
I do it! I’ve got the same pair of legs you all have…. Jesus lives in my heart and meets me on every step I take… He will be there for you too….
Now Run!
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
April 26th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Yo,yo,yo!
Congratulation for the good work!
I’m from Sabah Below the wind, we r living in the small world today,so lets networking n motivating each others!
May 13th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
e5444bd800e0…
e5444bd800e0a824c844…
June 26th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I’ve known about the Rebelution movement for about a year now, but have let my sister fill me in on happenings and events. My sister just bought Do Hard Things, and I read it, expecting another book with a diagnosis and no cure. I could not believe what I was reading! My expectations (awful word, isn’t it?) were low, and I was very pleasantly surprised. After devouring the book, and making a few commitments, I came to the website to see what else I could find. Let me just say that I’m making this site my homepage now.
Don’t you guys ever give up!
In His Grip,
Amy
August 19th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
Praise God! You kids are like fresh water in the middle of a desert.
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Congrats! I can hardly wait to join!
September 15th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
Wow!! I am currently reading your Do Hard Things book and wanted to see your blog. It’ s cool to read a book by teens for teens and I love your website.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
I am impressed with what God has moved and inspired you to accomplish. Thank you for being willing to serve and to be used of Him. Modesty is a big issue to me and I am thankful to see that other Christians share the same feelings. May God bless you to continue to serve and be used of Him.
November 29th, 2009 at 9:50 pm
Hey guys! You two are awesome! You’ve inspired me with your story to do bigger and harder things for God. Thanks!! I love your book and the Rebelution so much that me and my 2 best friends are starting a study on it! They live in Illinois and I live in Nebraska, so we’re doing it over the phone, but it brings all of us together even in the busiest of schedules. Thanks for everything you guys have done because you’ve definitely inspired me to think bigger and do hard things!!
*bekah*
November 30th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I just finished reading your book and it was awesome. I love this website, and have found a lot of encouraging and challenging things. Keep it up.
P.S. May I ask what Soli Deo Gloria means?
January 14th, 2010 at 8:33 pm
I just finished reading your book literally an hour ago and thought it was AMAZING…
I could really connect with Brandon (on page 221 in the book) in the fact that those are pretty much the steps I need to take as well.
I loved your wording and all the examples in the book! Good luck and God Bless,
Andy
p.s. oh… and congrats on the Best Teen Blog Award
February 8th, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Hey guys, i am starting to read your book and can’t wait to finish up the rest!!
The concept of the site is a splendid one, teens really are underestimated far to often.
However, are you a revolution that is rebelling or are you a rebellion against the revolution of immortality and irresponsibility in the current era?
with sincerity,
William J Fox
March 15th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
hey guys, i come from the dominican republic and we are also studying your book at the church with the teenegers group. you really have opened our eyes to the reality and inspired us to do hard things. i just want to congrats you for your work.God is really using you guys.
p.s. i want to know if you’re going to make the spanish version
God bless!
sorry if i’ve made a mistake. i’m not very good in english
March 25th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
I just wanted to let you guys know what an inspiration you guys are to me. I love to read your books. Thank you for being such wonderful motivators for living a Christian life!
April 5th, 2010 at 1:29 am
hello! i just finished reading the book on april 4, 2010 and i was blessed. i always ask God to give me a challenging book to read. on february 15, i came across the christian bookstore and i found your book. the title was catchy and i didn’t hesitate to buy it. every chapter is full of lessons and insights. i was challenged to study harder and strive for more excellence. and now, i’m thinking of how can i make a big change in my own self, family, church, school, community, and eventually, in my country, the Philippines. i thank God because He gave me a chance to change my goals in life into a better one. i’m 15 and i’m willing to do harder things in my remaining teenage years. =)
April 5th, 2010 at 1:38 am
hello! i just finished reading the book on april 4, 2010 and i was blessed. i always ask God to give me a challenging book to read. on february 15, i came across the christian bookstore and i found your book. the title was catchy and i didn’t hesitate to buy it. every chapter is full of lessons and insights. i was challenged to study harder and strive for more excellence. and now, i’m thinking of how can i make a big change in my own self, family, church, school, community, and eventually, in my country, the Philippines. i thank God because He gave me a chance to change my goals in life into a better one. i’m 15 and i’m willing to do harder things in my remaining teenage years. =)
August 11th, 2010 at 7:25 pm
I got this book from my school and when I found out that it was your brother that wrote “I kissed dating goodbye” I thought it was really cool how God is doing such amazing things through your family.