I received this book from New Growth Press in exchange for this review and the opinions expressed are my own. Building Radically Different Relationships Champ Thornton helps middle schoolers use God’s word to untangle the twists and turns of life  As adults it’s hard to figure out how to live as Christians in a morally murky and increasingly hostile world, so how do we teach the next generation to develop relationships in the world in which we live? There are so many areas of life to navigate when growing up, but in his new book, Radically Different: A Student’s Guide to Community (New Growth Press/August 5, 2019), best-selling author Champ Thornton provides an insightful guide for middle schoolers and young teens who want to live radically even though life and relationships are complicated. Radically Different equips middle schoolers to untangle the twists of life by presenting them with in-depth study of good, bad, and new—creation, fall, and redemption. By understanding these three concepts, students can discover their unique identity in Christ. Living through the lenses of good, bad, and new makes them radically human, radically biblical, and radically different. “To get an accurate picture of life in this world, we must simultaneously view all of life through three lenses. The first lens provides the view that originally God made everything very good (Genesis 1). The next lens reveals this good world is now also bad, broken and tainted by sin (Genesis 3). The third clarifies Jesus came to make new everything that was broken by sin (Romans 8). Creation, Fall, Redemption—good, bad, new. If you leave out any of these lenses, you will neglect some aspect of reality God intends for us and our children to embrace,” Thornton writes. Radically Different consists of thirteen lessons and is available in both a student’s and teacher’s guide. The teacher’s guide provides the outline and activities for the weekly group discussion of the material. The student’s guide (to be completed before the group discussion) provides three devotionals per week that can be completed in ten minutes each.   Radically Different doesn’t aim to be exhaustive or provide a topical dictionary of issues, but to help middle school students begin to think biblically about life and relationships. Each lesson explores how to navigate a different relationship such as parents, friends, siblings, difficult/annoying people, and individuals within the church. “People often decry modern politics and say that the real problem is culture. They’ll say that culture lies upstream of politics. Consequently, the need is to change/transform the culture. But my contention is that what lies upstream of both politics and culture is the next generation,” shares Thornton. “This study aims to pass along a biblical worldview regarding relationships and community, in order to help the next generation see the world through Bible lenses, and change the world, one person at a time.” “It’s not easy for Christian young people today who want to live in a way that’s pleasing to God. However, Champ Thornton has provided an invaluable resource to help middle school students be distinctive. Radically Different is a practical hands-on study offering solid insights and biblical guidance for relating to others,” praises Jim Daly, President of Focus on the Family. Radically Different: A Student’s Guide to Community (Student/Teacher Guide) by Champ Thornton August 5, 2019 / Retail Price: $13.99 Print ISBN (Student Guide) 978-1-948130-17-2 Print ISBN (Teacher Guide) 978-1-64507-032-0 Religion / Christian Education / Children & Youth

About the Author

Champ Thornton is associate pastor at Ogletown Baptist Church in Newark, Delaware. He has pastored in South Carolina and served as director of SOMA, a ministry training school in Columbus, Ohio.   Before arriving in Newark, Thornton lived most of his life in the Carolinas. After seminary, he pastored at Grace Bible Church near Spartanburg, South Carolina.   He is host of “In the Word, On the Go,” a ten-minute podcast for families and is the author of several books, including The Radical Book for Kids, Why Do We Say Good Night?, Pass It On: A Proverbs Journal for the Next Generation, and his latest, Radically Different: A Student’s Guide to Community.   Thornton enjoys hanging out with his family and friends, drinking coffee, listening to music, doing genealogical research, and reading theology, biographies, and fiction. Thornton and his wife, Robben, have three children.   Visit www.champthornton.com to learn more. He can also be found on Twitter (@champthornton) and Instagram (@thorntonchamp).  My Review:   This book is AMAZING! It is an invaluable tool for parents and teachers alike. It teaches that everything is very good good when God created it, next, reveals the bad in the world and how tainted it has gotten because of sin, and thirdly, that Jesus came to the world to make everything new again and repair what was once a broken and shattered world.  It is written in a way that will make sense to the kids, and easy for them to grasp the enormity of the good, the bad and the ugly but with sound biblical theology and doctrine. It is a well-written book with a lot of biblical scripture and prayers to help both parties to embrace the goodness of our precious Heavenly Father. It gives the reader hope, and the skills to evoke on a daily basis. This world has gotten to be a very terrifying place and we NEED God back in our schools, our homes and at church and most importantly our hearts.