Quit Playing With Fire (Download)

Growing up is hard. Navigating hormones & peer pressure in our entertainment focused world is very challenging. This book is great at pinpointing the areas that most people struggle with & giving Biblical council. Although the entertainment avenues used are outdated, the topics are still very valid. It would be best for parent & teen to work through it together to allow further discussion when necessary. I believe that this book would also be great for new believers or anyone who is needing to “reset” their Christian walk.

This book is divided into five sections, including: Breaking the Spiritual Gridlock; The Boy/Girl Thing: Date 'em or Hate 'em; Who's in the House? The "Fam Thing"; The Hard Stuff; and Doing Something that Counts.

It begins with the premise that the most essential part of dealing with all the tough situations facing your life as a teen is to make sure that the fire of God is continuing to burn strong in your life. It helps teens examine the strength of their relationship with the Lord before delving into topics like waiting for sex, how to navigate their relationship with their parents (whether they're saved or not), forgiveness, and more hard stuff.

The reference to MTV (i.e. "42 percent of Christian teens watch MTV compared to only 30 percent of non-Christian teens on any given week"), Walkmans, VCRs, and such are outdated, but the context of evaluating what is listened to remains valid as well as the importance of evaluating what we give our attention to.

The section on How to Stand Against Peer Pressure is valuable.

Overall, a worthwhile read but some teens may roll their eyes at the "vintage" lingo.

Great book for parents to read along with their teen. It leads to discussion and prayer. What does it mean to have a fire of God in you? People can see Him in you without you telling them. Once all the hype of a Christian event is gone, how do we keep a fire burning for God? Ron Luce answers that with practical application and scripture. These are not candy-coated answers. Some are tough topics but this guides a parent to have those challenging discussions with their teen. I highly recommend this book for parents of teenagers.

This is a great resource for a parent and older teen to go through together. The book opens with the question, 'What do you crave?" And the stats presented were astounding, seeing how many murders, sexual references, and alcohol commercials viewed by teens. Then the author gives practical ways to combat these issues.
The next section is about dating. The 7 reasons to wait for sex were very thought provoking and lots of Biblical references.
The third section is about family. This section covers a large area, some of which may not apply to your situation, but I appreciated that they included them. For example, there is a discussion about unsaved parents, divorce, step parents, and single parents. While this might not apply to many reading this, if I were in one of those categories, I sure would be thankful to have this book apply that to me.
The fourth section is called the hard stuff. From topics like music to peer pressure to idolatry, this section hits home for many kids. Teens, esp in Christian circles, say they would never have an idol they worship, like Baal, but how many of them are seen spending more time watching TV, admiring the latest music star (come on, can we say Taylor Swift lately with those concerts?!?!), and money? It is hard to admit that those are true idolatry, but they are!
The last section is what I felt summed this book up the best - doing something that counts. We all need to have a purpose and seek God's plan for our lives.

This book is a great book to guide any teen or older child through hard times
This book is in five sections the first which gets to your heart of your teen and what relation ship they have with God. The second part goes over dating. The third part is about family differences and difficulties. The fourth goes through hard situations like depression how music influences peer pressure being addicted to things or devices. And the last section is a conclusion going over the purpose of believing in God and having him inside you as they pursue their dreams.

Although it looks a little dated, this is a really good book for upper teens/young adults. At that age, they are going at the speed of light, unknowingly full of themselves and thinking they will get to God ‘later’. As parents we want our children to cry out to Jesus as soon as possible so they can begin their life on the right path, saving themselves a lot of heartache. I really feel like this book covered so much of what the world’s teenagers are dealing with, livening in a world of sin. It gives biblical application and reads in a very conversational manner so it doesn’t feel like judgement is being placed on our youth.
This book is broken up into 5 sections: the first which gets to the heart of the matter of teens and their relationship with Jesus; the second goes over dating and waiting even dancing-all these things should be for the Lord; third section goes through family differences and difficulties; fourth goes through hard stuff like depression, music and influences, peer pressure and addiction to devices; and the final section is an uplifting conclusion going over their purpose as a child of God, and pursuing their dreams alongside God.

If you plan to give this to your teen, I would advise you to pre read it, or even better go through it together. It does go over some tough issues and things that are necessary to discuss as teenagers become adults.Its good to mention so that no one is caught off guard.