Beautiful Girlhood

Youth. It is a time for building: character, moral strength and integri­ty, personal friendships, spiritual maturity and godliness. All of these are building blocks and stepping stones in a young girl’s life, much like the blossoming of a tender rose. Each girl is like a half-opened rose, growing and stretching throughout the transition to woman­hood—the fully-devel­oped blossom. Beautiful Girlhood, a book written by Mabel Hale in the 1920s and newly revised for the 90s by Karen Andreola, develops these qualities and others, focusing on the importance of good character.

This book is perfect for girls between the ages of 12 and 14 years old, though it has good advice for any age. It is full of truth for young girls with statements like, “Character is not given to us; we build it our­selves. The choices you make now build the character that will be yours throughout life.” It challenges you to ask, “What is more important? Outward beauty? The best or most expensive clothes? The latest hair style? Or, inward beauty and godly character?” This and other topics, such as kindness and obedience, are illustrated in an interesting and per­sonal way throughout the book.

Another positive aspect of the book is its tone. Instead of being “preachy”, it is like a mother teach­ing her daughter with love and wis­dom.

The author encourages all young women to enjoy their youth and become an example to others. Beautiful Girlhood offers some good advice to today’s young woman, emphasizing Christlike character-building in a world that is placing less and less importance on moral values.—Tara Hebert

Beautiful Girlhood, revised by Karen Andreola, US $9, Great Expectations

A Heart For Truth:

Taking Your Faith to College

Whether having been home schooled, gone to private schools, attended public schools, or some of each, when the high school years are done each person wonders what to do next. Greg Spencer’s book, A Heart for Truth, addresses many of the issues that confront college age stu­dents. It challenges the thinking of individuals, and provides meaningful insights that will encourage each per­son in his Christian walk.

Will I be able to handle college life? Where do I pick up Mom’s cookies? How do I handle the intel­lectual attacks on my faith? Mr. Spencer offers answers to these and many other important questions. His opening section deals with why a person would choose to attend col­lege. What a terrific way to begin! If we as people of God do not know why we are. doing a given task, how can we hope to excel in that task? Spencer cov­ers a wide array of subjects includ­ing: good study habits, friendships, dating (This issue’s cover story, Emotional Fornication, is excerpted from it.) and being a Christian on campus. His use of scripture, stories, and ideas by other Christian thinkers makes his book especially relevant to the Christian young person.

One of the most interesting sec­tions entitled “The Intellectual(!) Christian” illustrates how glorifying God can be done simply by enjoying the discovery of God’s world.

    Striving for excellence and delving into one’s studies glorify God through the use of the talents God has entrusted to the student. Spencer writes, “Certainly there are risks in challenging the status quo with the Christian perspective. But the rewards are great.” The risks truly are worth the effort. God called His followers to be in the world, but not of it, and Spencer writes from this mindset. He reveals the standard objectives for many college students: passing the class, getting a degree, landing a job; but this is not learn­ing. Certainly, learning can accom­plish these purposes, but using our minds the way God intended sets Christians apart from the world. Spencer writes, “How can we resist the subtle but powerful lies of our culture if we cannot recognize them?. ..The mind must be fully operative if we are to see and resist the world’s ploys and enticements.” Greg Spencer instructs the reader to develop a “new attitude” towards learning and college. He encourages the believer who wants to serve God with the mind as well as with the soul.

A Heart for Truth is a wonderful book for students to read before or during the college experience. Spencer’s book gave me a new per­spective on learning, thinking, and, in some respects, God’s will for my life. The best part about the book was its Christ-centered message:

“Taking your faith to college is invit­ing Jesus into every room and cir­cumstance in which you live.” Enjoy the book and what Jesus has in store for you during the college years.— Kevin Baird

A Heart for Truth, by Greg Spencer, US $10, Baker Book House

Deadline

Whether or not you’re a fan of fic­tion, Deadline .is a Christian novel that will not only engross you, but educate and inspire as well. Randy Alcorn, director of Eternal Perspectives Ministries (See his arti­cle on page 8.) and author of numer­ous non-fiction titles including the best-selling Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Questions, has successfully used the vehicle of fiction to communi­cate his life message: Christians need to live with eter­nity in mind.

Deadline is the story of Jake Woods and the mystery sur­rounding the tragic death of his two closest friends. When evidence surfaces that their death was no accident, Jake is thrown into a roller-coaster search for the murderer and, even more importantly, meaning in his own life. The genius of Alcorn’s novel is that his protagonist is an antagonist in the eyes of most Christians. Jake Woods is a liberal’s liberal newspaper columnist who dog­matically pushes everything from abortion on demand to “safe sex” and the NEA in his widely read columns. The author, who in his own life has been sorely abused for his pro-life stand and convictions in the press, still manages to get inside the head of Jake Woods and convincingly show his mindset and perception of conserva­tive Christians.

The jolt that wakes Jake out of his cozy, elitest lifestyle is the departure of Doc and Finney, two men whom he grew up with, fought in ‘Nam with, and with whom he spent every Sunday afternoon watching football games. In Doc and Finney, the author has a vehi­cle to show the outworking of the lives we live and the eternal consequence of everything we are.

I was most impacted by the por­tions of the book where heaven is described. When Finney, Jake’s only, and sometimes barely tolerated Christian friend dies, his role in the story doesn’t end. With one of the most joyful and imaginative (and I should add, I believe, accurate) descriptions of heaven you’ll ever read, the author shows the awe and wonder­ful discovery Finney experiences in heaven. The juxtaposition of eternal paradise and Jake’s struggles in the hellishness of our world gives meaning in the daily struggles we face as Christians, and hope for Christ’s final victory.

In a letter I wrote to Randy Alcorn thanking him for his novel, I told him I’d never felt more “excited about being alive and more anxious to die.” In a very real sense that should be the wonderful dilemma of the Christian life. Though rich with meaning and purpose, we’re constantly aware that in this life, we’re only passing through. Reading Deadline challenged me to live with, in Randy’s own words, “an eternal perspective. “—Joshua Harris

Deadline, by Randy Alcorn, US $9, Questar

How To Order

All three books in this issue’s Readables are titles featured in New Attitude’s Recommended Resources List. This line of books and materials for Christian young people was developed for the New Attitude Tour and is available from our tour’s sponsor, Christian Life Workshops.