Troubled Teen Help

Aug 7th, 2009 by Trace

The following entry is taken from one of the SHF newsletters about a year or so ago. I just thought it would be pertinent to some of the issues we have been dealing with here again lately. The subject never seems to go away. Sometimes society, and even the church, can’t see the forest for all the trees. Let me know your thoughts.

MYTHBUSTING Nearly a year ago we enrolled a troubled teen boy who had been spending virtually every waking hour of his life playing video games. His parents sought help in a Christian boarding school and found SHF. Like this troubled teen, it is not uncommon for kids with this addiction to quit going to school, stop eating normally, quit bathing, and neglect other important issues related to hygiene and life in general. His new life in the woods at SHF with no electricity or running water helped him shed his addiction and 30 lbs. Since his enrollment, he has been very adamant about leaving SHF the very day he turns 18–and just as determined not to have anything to do with this “Jesus” thing. Eric, our boys’ outdoor program director, called him a card carrying member of the “Anti-God Club, since he was one of at least three boys who had made a pact not to succumb to the “Jesus myth”. A Christ-centered Christian teen program like SHF wasn’t going to brainwash him into belief. A couple of months ago we were concerned about a spiritual lethargy among the kids. We said the only way to have victory over it was to pray, endure it, outlast it, and suffer through it. So that’s exactly what we did. We never force Jesus on anyone, because Jesus Himself never did. Any “Christian” program for troubled teens that would attempt to force Christ upon a struggling youth, or anyone else for that matter, can’t be a true Christ-centered program. Even the devil can call himself a “Christian”—and he often does. He does his best work in the church. The good news is that God does His best work there too.

WON BY ONE As this boy’s graduation date gets closer it was looking like he might be one of the few to leave SHF without coming to Christ. However, the look of conviction on this kid’s face with every chapel and church service over the past few months has become more and more obvious. He no longer carried the look of a troubled teen or a youth with problems. You know the hurt, bitter, angry, sad, look I’m talking about. Just recently, this young man approached one of our counselors in the woods and asked him to pray with him to accept Jesus as his Savior! This kid’s soul was probably saved a month before his head was aware of it. God was given an effective platform to work by our staff simply by being Jesus to this kid over time. Jesus said, “If ‘I’ am lifted up, ‘I’ will draw all men unto me”. There was no special strategy. We don’t win anyone to Christ; it is Christ in us who does the winning! That’s why we can’t put a time frame on it, or artificially induce it. Sometimes, the Gospel message gets in people’s heads; then, it can take a lifetime to get to their heart. For other people, the Gospel goes straight to their heart; then, it takes time to get to their head. Souls get saved; the head, heart, and body will follow. Since SHF doesn’t do altar calls, this former troubled teen never had an opportunity to be lured down the chapel isle during some emotional experience. This restored young man was convicted enough to track a staff member down on his own!

UNLIKELY CANDIDATE Several months ago one of our new troubled teen boys, who I’m pretty sure was demon oppressed if not possessed, stole a counselor’s truck, wrecked it, and then told the counselor how much he enjoyed “prettying up his truck for him”. Today, this same boy is an RA (resident assistant). In other words, his behavior is such that he is now in leadership! I wish I could tell you that he has prayed to receive Christ, but he hasn’t yet. Promotion among the ranks is not based on one’s faith, but on one’s behavior and degree of trust. Please pray that this, once rebellious teen boy will come to accept and realize where all good things come from. With prayer and Godly stimuli, his “Anti-God Club” membership may soon expire without renewal. I wish every human being on the planet could witness what the staff at SHF get to witness regularly. To see a teen in crisis, troubled teens, struggling youth—however you want to define them—go from rebellious kids to children of the Light right in front of your eyes within months is absolutely amazing! There is not a more rewarding feeling in the world than to get a dysfunctional family reunited, and a troubled teen healed, by the principles and power of God Almighty through Jesus Christ! Please pray for this hurting boy. He has come a long way; but, with the help of our Savior, your prayers can bring this struggling teenager all the way home.

ANOTHER SAD MELODY The new boy coming next week could be just another poster child for my continual rant about the dangers of music on our church and on our culture. By the way, if you go to our website, you can read more on the power of music—among other things. I know I have discussed this topic often; but, I’m going to until the Lord tells me otherwise. This troubled teen is a church-going boy who listens to “Christian” punk, rock, grunge, rap, and death metal regularly. When you get to the root meaning of these different terms, how do they make any more logical sense than the term “Christian” porn? How about “Christian” debauchery or “Christian” drunkenness or suicide? I’m simply struggling with the terms. You will never hear me say that all music categorized under these labels is evil. Since our culture is now a mission field, perhaps there is even a place for some of it—or perhaps not. Regardless, we must be careful not to allow Baal in the camp. I had the privilege of talking with Dr. Norman Geisler when he was at Toccoa Falls College recently. He is the author of 70 books, co-founder of Southern Evangelical Seminary, and one of the world’s premier Christian apologists–among other things. When I told him I thought music was the most dangerous and single-most over-looked tool of the devil used against the church and our culture today, he told me that he couldn’t agree with me more! Maybe I’m not as nuts as you thought after all. The fact that more Christians aren’t keen to this is disturbing to Dr. Geisler—as it troubles me too. Some people may think because we serve extreme cases of troubled teens here at SHF that I am prone to paint with a broad brush on this topic. But if music can influence some of us to the point of needing a program for troubled teens like SHF, don’t you think it could at least influence others to behaviors or habits just short of needing one? How short of needing a program for troubled teens should our entertainment appetites take us? How about our “worship”? Not everything appealing is healthy. Believe it or not, many Christian programs for troubled teens have no problem with some of the music that we, here at SHF, understand to be incredibly damaging. But, I think I would be more accurate in saying that they don’t see it as “that much of a problem”. In the words of more than a few Christians I’ve talked to, “It’s not a battle worth fighting”. Think about this: they’ve identified it as a problem– just not that much of one. They’ve identified it as a battle– just not one worth fighting. I think Britain took that same attitude and approach in the early days of Adolph Hitler’s threat against the world in the early stages of WWII! Remember, the devil is beautiful! It is the outcome of his influence that is ugly. Amen.