What's Your Story?
We all tell stories to each other—stories about what happened when we were kids, stories about last night, and stories where we dream about the future. Some stories are funny, some are amazing, others are sad, but they all have something in common—each of us is the hero of our own story. Our thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams take center stage. But when it's all about you, it's also all up to you. You have to make life work, find meaning, and hope for the best even when you mess up or things go badly wrong.
But what if we were made for something different? What if the main character in our life story isn't us, but it is the God who became like us and is now with us? What if being fully human means knowing him and growing to be like him? What if the way to be fully alive is to be caught up in Jesus's story?
This 52-week devotional book and small group resource is designed to help you live with Jesus in his gospel story–the good news that your sins are forgiven, your future is assured, and following him is the only meaningful way to live. No matter your age, where you live, who your family is, or what your past, God wants you to experience the freedom that comes in being secure in his love.
Divided into three parts, starting with creation, each section progressively explores the idea that the whole Bible is the unfolding story of Jesus. Through this grid, who Jesus is and why we need him will shape your understanding of freedom and grace and how you grow to be like him. This yearlong study for teenagers and young adults is designed for individual devotional times, but a small group discussion guided by a mentor would help participants to absorb and live out the truths of each week's teaching.
"We are story people, created by a storytelling God. Get Your Story Straight is a brilliant resource designed to help students discover the beauty and power of the greatest story ever written, the story of Jesus. This guide provides a creative and clear way for students to unpack the living and breathing Word of God."
Louie Giglio, Passion City Church/Passion Conferences
"If you're a teenager, you should know some things about Kristen Hatton and her new book: 1) She'll speak to you honestly; there's no soft-peddling the big issues. 2) She'll treat you with dignity; there's no talking down here. 3) She'll take you seriously; she knows what's at stake in your life. 4) She'll help you to maturity; she's learned the path. Good reasons to make Get Your Story Straight your book of the year!"
Sinclair B. Ferguson, Professor of Systematic Theology Redeemer Seminary, Dallas
"After working with teenagers for decades, I am well aware of the challenges that come with adolescence. Kristen Hatton cuts to the heart of today's 'me-centered' culture by placing Christ as the true hero of everyone's story. With a heavy emphasis on how God exists for his own glory, this devotional is a humbling reminder of his transformative grace. It's perfect for every teenager's walk with Christ!"
Dr. Joe White, President, Kanakuk Ministries
"A highly recommended, valuable contribution to teenagers and the church. This devotional cuts against the grain of standard teen devotionals, which historically point kids to their own inner strength. This devotional points kids to Jesus and his finished work. It also offers practical instruction on spiritual disciplines in a clear, helpful, non-legalistic way."
Cameron Cole, Chairman of Rooted: Advancing Grace-Driven Ministry; director of youth ministries, Cathedral Church of the Advent, Birmingham, AL; coeditor, Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry
"The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is not a story about us but about Jesus. The way teenagers begin to understand themselves is to get caught up in a story bigger than their own. Kristen Hatton has captured a unique, clever, and devotional way to grab the hearts and minds of young men and women. For those of us who work with college students, our plea would be: please give this book to teenagers a few years before they hit the college campus. They will come better prepared to face campus life and pressure. They will be men and women who understand that their life and story is defined by his story."
Rod Mays, Former National Coordinator, Reformed University Fellowship
"Get Your Story Straight is a powerful way to introduce teenagers to God's Word. The difference between Get Your Story Straight and other devotions for teens is that it goes through the Bible from beginning to end and reveals truths in stories from the Old and New Testament in a new, exciting way that they can relate to. Readers of this devotion are introduced to biblical principles like justification and sanctification—life-changing truths of what Jesus offers through the sacrifice he made for us on the cross. I would recommend Get Your Story Straight to any teen."
Lauren Nelson, Miss America 2007; author
""Raising kids in today's society to honor God and to invest in his kingdom can be a challenge. Get Your Story Straight is a great tool to encourage young people to find their true identity in Jesus and pursue him passionately.""
Lance Berkman, Former Major League Baseball player
"The story about Jesus and the gospel isn't just a point in history. It is the history of thousands of years of love and hate, joy and sadness, victory and loss, all of which gets us ready for the greatest climax of the greatest story ever told. It's also the story that becomes our story when we see ourselves written into the purposes of God in the pages of Scripture. Kristen Hatton has done us a big favor by making the storyline clear and the applications personal and relevant. I wish my wife and I had this book when our children were teenagers."
Skip Ryan
"Finally, a devotional that connects youth to the substance and story of the Bible! Kristen Hatton has given teenagers a gift in Get Your Story Straight—with key Scripture passages to memorize, thoughtful questions to fuel reflection, and gospel application. Take up and read!"
Brian H. Cosby, Author, Giving Up Gimmicks: Reclaiming Youth Ministry from an Entertainment Culture
"Kristen Hatton in her book has struck just the right balance for a teen who is a new believer or is a searcher to learn and understand God's Word and the gospel. The readings are Bible-based and present the story in daily doses that build on content and repetition so that a solid Christian world and life view is firmly established."
Brad Bradley, Founder, Southwest Church Planting Network
"If you view the Christian life as being about your performance, then what do you do if you are not performing well? Regrettably, many Christians never follow an inductive Bible study or develop the daily exercise of meditating on the greatest story ever told. This incredible step-by-step guide to learning and living the gospel of Jesus Christ will help not only teens to approach the Bible but adults as well. Led by this devotional, become captivated by the narrative and the characters in God's story as you rest in the words of Jesus when he says, 'It is finished.'"
Mark Davis, Senior Pastor, Park Cities Presbyterian Church, Dallas, TX
"What an outstanding job Kristen Hatton has done crafting a devotional that makes the Scriptures wonderfully accessible to modern teens. It invites them to study the ancient biblical narrative so they discover the life-transforming reality of the One who is at the center of that narrative. And in so doing, it encourages them to make sense of their 'story' in light of THE story."
Leo R. Schuster III, Lead Pastor, City Church, Houston, TX
"Teaching the next generation to understand how their story intersects with the grand story of the Bible is mission critical for the church. Kristen Hatton offers an engaging, relevant, and Word-saturated tool for this high and holy calling."
Karen Hodge, PCA Women's Ministry Coordinator
"As teenagers, we make the most important decisions in our lives. We decide who we will be, where we are going, and who we are taking with us, all before we reach adulthood. That thought scares me. If we want teens to make right choices, they need to know who they are. They need to know how they fit into God's story. Kristen Hatton's book aims to teach them that very thing. As we learn who God is and where he plans to take this world, we begin to see the way to follow him. I am confident this book will help teenagers of all ages and I commend it to you warmly."
Ricky Jones, Pastor, River Oaks Presbyterian Church, Tulsa, OK
"God's call on my life came when I was a teenager, so teens have always been at the heart of my ministry. Following seminary, the first opportunity the Lord gave me to serve was as a youth pastor. I learned firsthand the importance of a walk with the Lord in the formative years of adolescence. Kristen Hatton speaks directly to the minds and hearts of teenagers with truth and grace. These young men and women, especially in today's culture, need a daily reminder of God's authority, his sovereignty, and his grace in a relatable way. This little book carries that big message!"
Ed Young, Senior Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Houston, TX
"Kristen has taken Scripture and made it accessible for teenagers in a culture that tells them to tune out and disengage. She challenges teens to take the next step beyond just reading the Bible. This study was written with them in mind; it allows them to engage Scripture in different ways throughout the week, helping Scripture come alive. Teenagers at any point in their relationship with Christ can use this book to help them grow in their faith and understanding of who Jesus is."
Sydney Miller, Young Life Director, Edmond, OK
My freshman in high school is going through Get Your Story Straight. Overall, she enjoys it, but she has said that sometimes the questions are 'hard'. While she is going through this book alone, I think she would benefit from having a friend or her small group reading it, too. I do not recommend this book to preteens or teens not yet in high school, just based on my personal thoughts about some of the relevant topics. But, those subjects (often found in "The Word Applied" section) are good for high school teens to stop and think about and then connect it back to the Bible lesson for the week. And Day Three("Straight to my Heart') is great for teens to stop, reread the passage, and then answer questions. I really do appreciate how the 52 week study is separated into five days of lessons to do weekly. The layout gets the teen into a good rhythm of reading the Word, applying the Word to her life, answering questions that have her look at how it affects her heart, going back and reading the Word again, and ending on Day 5 with Journaling and Prayer. The focus on our teen's story intertwining with Christ's story is definitely what I desire for her to truly grasp, and Get Your Story Straight is a good start & resource as she grows her own faith.
We all tell stories to each other–stories about what happened when we were kids, stories about last night, and stories where we dream about the future. Some stories are funny, some are amazing, others are sad, but they all have something in common–each of us is the hero of our own story. Our thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams take center stage. But when it’s all about you, it’s also all up to you. You have to make life work, find meaning, and hope for the best even when you mess up or things go badly wrong. But what if we were made for something different? What if the main character in our life story isn’t us, but it is the God who became like us and is now with us? What if being fully human means knowing him and growing to be like him? What if the way to be fully alive is to be caught up in Jesus’s story? This 52-week devotional book and small group resource is designed to help you live with Jesus in his gospel story–the good news that your sins are forgiven, your future is assured, and following him is the only meaningful way to live. No matter your age, where you live, who your family is, or what your past, God wants you to experience the freedom that comes in being secure in his love. Divided into three parts, starting with creation, each section progressively explores the idea that the whole Bible is the unfolding story of Jesus. Through this grid, who Jesus is and why we need him will shape your understanding of freedom and grace and how you grow to be like him. This yearlong study for teenagers and young adults is designed for individual devotional times, but a small group discussion guided by a mentor would help participants to absorb and live out the truths of each week’s teaching. My Review: Our children have it rough in this day and age. Who can they really trust? Everywhere they turn there is danger and an enemy that is ready to devour them. Crime and everything associated with it are on the rise and there is not too much we can do about it. They have to have God in their arsenal if they are to ever survive. The author Kristen Hatton has put together a 52 week devotional that forces our kids to face their actions and to examine them evaluate them and causes a call to action and true repentance. She uses different scripture as well as other people's stories to bring it all alive to our children and she is "real" with them and it's good, real good. A teenager already begins to think that their parents are the true enemy. They become so knee deep in their sin that they can't ever see past it to the point of defending it. They need a Savior!!! And this author points the way to them finding just that!
I work with middle schoolers and teenagers at a local Bible study that I participate in and I have a child who’s only a couple of years from his teen years, so I find myself very interested in resources for teaching the Bible to teens these days. So, when I received the opportunity to review a new teen devotional called Get Your Story Straight: A Teen’s Guide to Learning and Living the Gospel, I knew that it was a devotional that I wanted the opportunity to look through and imagine how it could be used with the young people that I teach. Get Your Story Straight is a fifty-two week devotional for teens that is really a great discipleship instructional manual. Beginning with the concept of getting the story of the Bible straight, the devotions continue to build on each other over the weeks, branching into how our lives are part of the story and then taking that and branching it out into how our lives intertwine with others and how you can share and be Jesus to other people in your life. Each devotional is broken into five days of work for your teenager to complete. This is how the days break out: Day 1: Straight from the Word–This contains one or more passages of scripture and your teen is expected to take those scriptures and answer the questions below the scriptures. In case you’re concerned that your child is not able to do this, don’t worry, the introduction gives examples of how to complete these assignments. Day 2: The Word Applied–This is a devotional lesson for your teen to read each week. Day 3: Straight to My Heart–These are more questions about the text for deeper thought on behalf of your child as they read through the passage for the third time. Day 4: Word and Deed–Now your teen is ready to take the lessons they’ve been learning into the scripture and answer some questions designed to make them apply these scriptures to their heart and lives. Day 5: Journaling and Prayer–This is an opportunity to take what you’ve learned over the past week (and over the whole course of the devotional) and determine how it has affected your life and what you’ve changed as a result. It’s also an opportunity to pinpoint some areas for change and growth. Make sure that you don’t skip or try to shorten your reflections in this section. I felt like this was an excellent devotional. For the most part, except for about a page of commentary, the devotional is a whole week for your teenager of taking a passage of scripture and deeply meditating and reflecting on it and how this applies to him/her. I love the way that it gets you into the scripture and truly, at the end of the day, allows the scripture and the probing questions to do the work of helping your teen to develop the Biblical knowledge that they’ll need for life. I highly recommend it to all teens, and I feel like I could benefit from working through the devotional myself.
We all tell stories to each other–stories about what happened when we were kids, stories about last night, and stories where we dream about the future. Some stories are funny, some are amazing, others are sad, but they all have something in common–each of us is the hero of our own story. Our thoughts, feelings, hopes, and dreams take center stage. But when it’s all about you, it’s also all up to you. You have to make life work, find meaning, and hope for the best even when you mess up or things go badly wrong. But what if we were made for something different? What if the main character in our life story isn’t us, but it is the God who became like us and is now with us? What if being fully human means knowing him and growing to be like him? What if the way to be fully alive is to be caught up in Jesus’s story? This 52-week devotional book and small group resource is designed to help you live with Jesus in his gospel story–the good news that your sins are forgiven, your future is assured, and following him is the only meaningful way to live. No matter your age, where you live, who your family is, or what your past, God wants you to experience the freedom that comes in being secure in his love. Divided into three parts, starting with creation, each section progressively explores the idea that the whole Bible is the unfolding story of Jesus. Through this grid, who Jesus is and why we need him will shape your understanding of freedom and grace and how you grow to be like him. This yearlong study for teenagers and young adults is designed for individual devotional times, but a small group discussion guided by a mentor would help participants to absorb and live out the truths of each week’s teaching. My Review: Our children have it rough in this day and age. Who can they really trust? Everywhere they turn there is danger and an enemy that is ready to devour them. Crime and everything associated with it are on the rise and there is not too much we can do about it. They have to have God in their arsenal if they are to ever survive. The author Kristen Hatton has put together a 52 week devotional that forces our kids to face their actions and to examine them evaluate them and causes a call to action and true repentance. She uses different scripture as well as other people's stories to bring it all alive to our children and she is "real" with them and it's good, real good. A teenager already begins to think that their parents are the true enemy. They become so knee deep in their sin that they can't ever see past it to the point of defending it. They need a Savior!!! And this author points the way to them finding just that!
I work with middle schoolers and teenagers at a local Bible study that I participate in and I have a child who’s only a couple of years from his teen years, so I find myself very interested in resources for teaching the Bible to teens these days. So, when I received the opportunity to review a new teen devotional called Get Your Story Straight: A Teen’s Guide to Learning and Living the Gospel, I knew that it was a devotional that I wanted the opportunity to look through and imagine how it could be used with the young people that I teach. Get Your Story Straight is a fifty-two week devotional for teens that is really a great discipleship instructional manual. Beginning with the concept of getting the story of the Bible straight, the devotions continue to build on each other over the weeks, branching into how our lives are part of the story and then taking that and branching it out into how our lives intertwine with others and how you can share and be Jesus to other people in your life. Each devotional is broken into five days of work for your teenager to complete. This is how the days break out: Day 1: Straight from the Word–This contains one or more passages of scripture and your teen is expected to take those scriptures and answer the questions below the scriptures. In case you’re concerned that your child is not able to do this, don’t worry, the introduction gives examples of how to complete these assignments. Day 2: The Word Applied–This is a devotional lesson for your teen to read each week. Day 3: Straight to My Heart–These are more questions about the text for deeper thought on behalf of your child as they read through the passage for the third time. Day 4: Word and Deed–Now your teen is ready to take the lessons they’ve been learning into the scripture and answer some questions designed to make them apply these scriptures to their heart and lives. Day 5: Journaling and Prayer–This is an opportunity to take what you’ve learned over the past week (and over the whole course of the devotional) and determine how it has affected your life and what you’ve changed as a result. It’s also an opportunity to pinpoint some areas for change and growth. Make sure that you don’t skip or try to shorten your reflections in this section. I felt like this was an excellent devotional. For the most part, except for about a page of commentary, the devotional is a whole week for your teenager of taking a passage of scripture and deeply meditating and reflecting on it and how this applies to him/her. I love the way that it gets you into the scripture and truly, at the end of the day, allows the scripture and the probing questions to do the work of helping your teen to develop the Biblical knowledge that they’ll need for life. I highly recommend it to all teens, and I feel like I could benefit from working through the devotional myself.
When you're given a devotional book to rate, it's very different. You can't place it in the same category as any other. For me, this book was easy. I just used it with my family. We used this book every night and I can say, I loved it. We're still using it and will continue to use it in the new year.
When you're given a devotional book to rate, it's very different. You can't place it in the same category as any other. For me, this book was easy. I just used it with my family. We used this book every night and I can say, I loved it. We're still using it and will continue to use it in the new year.