rebelling against low expectations
Best of the Reb Rewind: To celebrate the past 19 years of the Reb, we’re republishing a selection of the very best articles throughout the years. Enjoy these throwbacks as we travel back in time to when it all began. You think about it a lot. You wonder who it will be. You wish it could happen soon but it completely freaks you out. So let’s talk about it: dating. Marriage is exciting. It’s...
I have wrestled intensely for a few months, wondering how to write this article. I struggled to find the words–and I’m not sure, even now, that I ever did find them. But one commitment I’ve always tried to keep in my writing has been to write honestly and from the heart. No doubt you’ve already picked up on it, but I am resigning from being Editor-in-Chief of TheRebelution. There’s no...
In my last article I wrote about how teens should set boundaries with technology. If you want to know why, you can go back and read that short article. One of the most influential pieces of technology in human history has been the smartphone. I think the smartphone is brilliant and helpful, but it can quickly become toxic and harmful to our productivity, mental well being, and physical health. In...
I have been on Facebook since I was thirteen years old. Now, I am twenty-five, which means I’ve been on Facebook for over twelve years, having joined in November of 2008. To put this in perspective for you younger folk, when I joined Facebook, then President-elect Barack Obama had not yet been sworn in as President of the United States and Apple’s revolutionary new device, the “iPhone,” was...
Can you believe we are already well into the third month of 2021? It’s been an exhausting year by just about every definition. A lot of things feel like they’ve been turned upside down and shaken up. There are so many different, pressing issues at hand that I find it difficult to know what specific needs are facing young people going into 2021. Nevertheless, regardless of how COVID-19, stay-at...
I write this poem on the eve of the 2020 election as a reflective, occasionally silly and exaggerated reminder to be grounded in my one true hope: Jesus and his unshakeable Kingdom, not in earthly politics (during these exaggerated times). I hope it’s a comforting reminder to you as well. Yet, I have hope. It could be that by this time tomorrow We’ll all be drowning in sorrow. Or by...
Have you ever been involved in an intense discussion? Perhaps it was with your siblings or your parents or with a friend. I’m not talking about an excited conversation, such as you might have about whether or not Lebron James is a better basketball player than Michael Jordan or whether or not Minnesota is a more beautiful state than Michigan. Those conversations might sound intense–people...
I am grieving for my people and my church. The world feels turned upside down. I imagine, for our generation, just saying the word “2020” will become synonymous with anger and bitter fighting. “It’s 2020 all over again.” Unfortunately, teenagers are stuck right in the middle of it. No doubt, over the past year you’ve sat through countless discussions about COVID-19 or the economic shutdowns or...
“I just wanted you to know that I am bisexual.” What would your response be if one of your good friends told you this? For many Christian teens, it would probably be scary. I know it’s scary for me–and I’m not even a teenager anymore. Topics, such as one’s sexuality, are really sensitive, hot-button issues. It could make or break your friendship. An easy out for teens would be “Hey, we’re...
Deep sigh. I don’t know how to start this article–I’ve been procrastinating finishing it for weeks (and now it has turned into a series)! I was going to name and address some of the disagreements our country (for us Americans at least) and church are dealing with head on. I was going to talk about how divided we are and what we can do to navigate the sharp fights we’ve been having. I was...
rebelling against low expectations
