Wild Truth Bible Lessons--Pictures of God: 12 More Wild Bible Studies on the Character of a Wild God and What It Means for Junior Highers and Middle S

This is truly excellent work! This is by far the best material I've seen for Jr. Highers. 1) It actually hits at the right level... not too old, not too young. It makes simple clear points, and helps students wrestle with concepts in concrete ways. 2) It deals with theology and knowledge, but always brings it back to application. You don't just learn about God, but you talk about how to be LIKE him. 3) I can actually put this in the hands of a volunteer... ANY volunteer. There are big plans, but with simple, last-minute versions. It is workable for a first-time Sunday School teacher or a long-term vet. There are great teaching moments for the leaders about the unique needs of middle school ministry. AND (best of all) my volunteers look like the coolest people in the world. This has been the best curriculum purchase I've made in the last year or so. I highly recommend it.

Mark's curriculum has been so helpful to me these last few years as a new youth worker. His "Wild Truths" study on Jesus was great, and so far, I have been very impressed with "Pictures of God". I have a volenteer group who leads the middle school students in Sunday morning lessons, and they are so thankful for Mark's easy style of writting, many different ideas for presenting the lesson (from having lots of time to prep all the way down), and the way Mark always lets the readers know the point of the lesson. It has been very good: taking deep theological truths and simplifying them enough for middle school students without watering it down too much where it misses the point. I highly suggest these lessons for anyone who wants interactive and creative lessons without too much time to spend planning for the lessons.

This resource is big-picture stuff. Mark uses incredible metaphors and paints big pictures for your students with these lessons. Our kids are growing up in a different world than we did. It's filled with stories and images that we never seemed to notice in our day. Mark pulls out the images scripture uses to describe God to us and makes them tangible and accessible to the mid-high student. Your students will understand so much more about the God who loves them because of this teaching series. It's interactive and will have them learning from each other as much as they do from you. The dynamic way Mark sets up the curriculum allows for each part of the lesson to build upon the next. It's never heavy-handed and really respects the students and their ability to grasp big concepts. It's really been my favorite curriculum I've ever had the opportunity to use.

I was disappointed to see the negative review of this resource. It was coming from a person who has not used the book, however. I used Mark's "Wild Truth" books on several occasions, and I found them to be engaging with my preteens while still getting across the point. It is an excellent resource.