rebelling against low expectations
In a crowded room my friend sat down next to me, looked me in the eyes, and asked me the exact question I didn’t know I needed to answer. It was 12am PST (3am EST) and still, without hesitation, I called my best friend to confess sin, to cry, and to seek comfort. When I endured test after test and still had no diagnosis, my friends laid their hands on me and prayed fervently for answers. I have...
Editor’s Note: Here at the Reb, we want teens to engage culture with a biblical perspective. One area of culture we all participate in is entertainment. Should Christians watch movies? How should Christians view entertainment? Can we use it for God’s glory? These are questions we believe should be considered and answered. With that in mind, the Reb will occasionally be publishing...
What comes to mind when you hear the word hero? Do you see a man or woman with biceps the size of a soccer-ball flying through the air, cape floating behind them and fist leading the way? Or, do you think of someone who has had a significant impact on your life, such as a parent or teacher that helped you achieve or overcome something? It seems like everyone wants to be a hero. Everyone wants to...
They did it. They broke the record! Last month, Rebelutionaries on the Do Hard Things Community set a record by Focus Sprinting for over 40 hours. You’re probably asking, “What in the world is a ‘Focus Sprint’?” Good question. Participants of a Focus Sprint will block distractions and focus on their work for a short amount of time to complete the things they need to do. On the DHT online...
Teens filter into youth group, smiling and waving at their friends. But no one talks. No Christian rock blasts in the background. No snacks are passed around. It’s difficult to have normalcy when youth group is through a screen. Online youth group is quite the experience, but it means the world to me to talk with my small group, learn about Jesus, and pray together. I never realized how important...
As an extrovert, I have been figuring out how I can still foster relationships and satisfy my urges to hang out with people while practicing social isolation. While many of us are stuck in our homes due to coronavirus, I have discovered that hearing someone’s voice is one of our most powerful tools to foster relationships, and I think we should call people more often, even when we are not in the...
All across the country, churches have closed their doors. Two weeks ago, my church canceled all services until further notice. Since then, church has looked like sitting on the couch in front of my laptop. I’m thankful for the technology that enables me to continue hearing from my pastor, but there’s no denying it’s not the same. I miss my church family. I miss worshipping together. I even miss...
When was the last time you looked up at the sky? No, really. Think about it. When did you last stop what you were doing to tilt your head, gaze up, and admire wisps of clouds or an array of stars? How about the last time you said “hello” to a stranger or started a conversation with someone you didn’t know? If your answer is “not much lately” or “maybe sometime last summer” or “I just haven’t”...
Have you seen someone in a wheelchair today? Or someone who kept bobbing their head while flicking their hands without speaking? You probably haven’t. If you’re like most people, you didn’t notice them. Who are these individuals? They are people with developmental and cognitive disabilities. I don’t blame you for not noticing them. Most don’t. Who Have You Overlooked? It might be because you were...
Have you ever put the wrong key into a lock? The key goes in, but, try as you might to get it to turn, it will not open the lock. It can take a while to discover your mistake–some of us spend far longer trying to get it to work than others–but in the end, when the error is finally realized, we feel so silly! How could such a simple solution be so difficult to see? In our world today...
rebelling against low expectations
