Trusting in Tragedy

In this week's issue of ENCOUNTER, the article "Why, God?" April talked about her family's car crash. April's grandfather died and her grandmother and mom were seriously injured. It devastated April's whole family.

Although April questioned why her family had to go through such tragedy, she continued to see God's presence with them. She learned to rely on Him, in good times and tragedies.

Have you learned to trust God through a tragedy? Leave a comment and share your story.





article author: April Stier
magazine: August 10, 2008 issue of ENCOUNTER

Answered Prayers

When bad things happen, we start questioning God. Why doesn't He always answer prayers as we expect Him to? But sometimes, looking back on life, we get the chance to see the blessings that came from God's plan. Other times, we don't always know God's reasoning for acting or not acting how we wish.

Leave a comment and share some prayers that God has answered for you—both in ways that you were hoping He’d answer or in ways He answered unexpectedly.

Life Online

This week's issue of ENCOUNTER was all about the Internet. Like most things, the Internet can be used for good or for bad. It's all about what you choose to do online.

Leave a comment and share some of your favorite positive and safe websites. Have you ever shared your faith with someone online? Tell your story.

Your Kind of Music

This week's issue of ENCOUNTER was all about music. You heard from hip-hop artists Mars Ill. You read about Ethan's special song in the Battle of the Bands. And you read how Melissa has discovered the soundtrack of her life.

How does music express emotions that you feel? Leave a comment and share the things that songs say better than any of your own words.

Movie Reviews!

In this week's issue of ENCOUNTER, the article "Six Great Movies" showed us how to use movies to get conversations about God started with our friends. Here are a few more movies that the author of the article really loves:

*Surprisingly Awesome Alert*: Miracle, Eight Below, One Night with the King
*Classics*: Charade, Les Misérables, Chronicles of Narnia series
*Sports*: Invincible, Glory Road, The Natural
*Chick Flicks*: Emma, Little Women, Father of the Bride
*Superhero:* Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Batman Begins, Superman Returns
*Comedy:* Ratatouille, Evan Almighty, What About Bob?

Have you ever used a movie to talk to a friend about Jesus? What do you think about the movies listed in the magazine and those listed above? What are your favorite flicks?







article author: Christina Schofield
magazine: July 20, 2008 issue of ENCOUNTER

What are you?

In this week's issue of ENCOUNTER, there was a quiz to help you figure out what kind of news media you are.

Are you a newspaper, a magazine, the TV news, or the Internet? Leave a comment and share your results!









article author: Christina Dotson
magazine: July 13, 2008 issue of ENCOUNTER

Christmas in July!

In this week's issue of ENCOUNTER, the article "Christmas in July!" reminded us that we can use our summertime to reach out to people in need. Have you ever tried one of the ideas on the list?

Leave a comment and share the ways that your youth group is serving others this summer.





article author: Katrina Cassel
magazine: July 6, 2008 issue of ENCOUNTER