Do Hard Things - Alex and Brett Harris

I was extremely surprised that this book was written by teenagers, but I guess that was the point! Alex and Brett are sons of Greg Harris and brothers of Joshua Harris two already well-known pastors in the Christian world. The book is written on the central message of their website which has taken the teenage blog world by storm called The Rebelution. In a very simple style, the brothers present a very bold message that Randy Alcorn thinks will make this book "one of the most life-changing and culture-changing books of this generation," and in some sense I agree. The book is written primarily for Christian teenagers, but that is not to say those of us who are well beyond our teenage years can't benefit from the challenges set forth in this book. The message is this: Teenagers are far more capable and competent than the world would like them to believe, and we should expect them to live up to higher standards (that's their message in my words). Teenagers of our age definitely need to hear this message, and even more so the adults that influence them. This is why I was very thankful to have read this book, it changed my view on young adults and how I want to lead my youth pastorate.
Still, there are things that I thought they could have done better though I really can't complain! The book is well-written, the stories are encouraging/challening, and the message is rooted in a solid biblical world-view. But one thing that bothered me a little was that the brothers didn't touch much on spiritual guidance and biblical decision-making. The book talks about God speaking to someone and God telling someone what he needs to do, but doesn't really give a great amount of help in discerning what God's will is. If they had a chapter on this, it would be truly complete. And also, having been accustomed to expositional type books, I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the style was centered around scripture, but that's just personal taste! Christian teenagers should be very thankful that such a book is available, and the movement that's been growing through the Harris brothers' website proves to me that they are.

Pages - 224
Reading Difficulty - Simple
Rating - 4/5
Buy or Borrow - If you're a teenager or a parent or a youth-worker, this is a definite must-read; buy!