Welcome to the blog tour for Don't Check Your Brains At the Door by Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler. To celebrate the release Josh and Bob are hosting a KINDLE giveaway and a Q & A Facebook Party on the 18th!

Don't Check Your Brains at the Door answers many of the faith-related questions Christian youth face. It challenges young readers to test gospel truths found in the Bible so they can learn to give an answer for their faith as they mature into thinking adults.

About the authors:

Josh McDowell wrote the international best-selling apologetics references Evidence That Demands a Verdict and over 120 other books. He travels and speaks with Campus Crusade for Christ. For more about Josh visit his website Josh.org.

Bob Hostetler is an award-winning and best-selling writer, editor, pastor, and speaker. His books include Don't Check Your Brains at the Door and The Bone Box. For more about Bob visit his website BobHostetler.com.

About the book:

“Seven in 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30—both evangelical and mainline—who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23, according to the survey by LifeWay Research.” (USA Today) Don’t Check Your Brains at the Door gives teens answers that make sense, even for the toughest of questions. Internationally known defender of the faith Josh McDowell and co-author Bob Hostetler offer clarity laced with humor to expose common myths about God, the Bible, religion, and life to show how Christianity stands up to the test of fact and reason. Teens will be better equipped to stick with their faith as they begin to understand why they believe and why it’s important to make a lifetime commitment to Christ and the church.

To celebrate the release of their new book, Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler have teamed up with their publisher,Thomas Nelson, to give away a brand new KINDLE!

One "brainy" winner will receive a Kindle prize package worth over $150.00:

• A Brand New KINDLE with Wi-Fi and Pearl Ink Screen
• Don't Check Your Brains At the Door by Josh McDowell & Bob Hostetler (for KINDLE)

A perfect back-to-school prize package! To enter just click one of the icons below. Hurry! The giveaway ends August 18th. Winner will be announced on the evening of the 18th during the Don't Check Your Brains At the Door Facebook Party! The authors will be chatting with guests, answering questions on "knowing what you believe and why" (it’s okay if you haven’t read the book – who knows, you might WIN a copy!), testing your trivia skills, and giving away tons of great stuff! (Gift certificates, books, and more!)

Blog tour schedule:

8/10  

Noah at Books I Recommend This book is very useful to modern teenagers, and to other people, in refuting common myths about various Biblical topics and ideas. This revised edition has made it much more useful with more myths being torn down and explained in an easier way. For example, in some of the stories, iPads, iPods, gaming systems, etc. are mentioned. The chapters are pretty short, but comprehensive and complete. The “Brain Food” sections at the end of each chapter help the reader see for himself how the Bible refutes the myth just discussed. This is a fantastic book, and I recommend it to any struggling with questions about such myths, or even those who support any of the myths. 5 Stars.              

Abi at 4 the LOVE of BOOKS Don't Check Your Brains at the Door is defiantly a two thumbs up book. It will help any young reader to dig deeper into the Word to know what it is they believe and why they believe it.  What is true and what is not true. Could be used as a devotional. Each topic is 3-5 pages in length (very short) with Brain Food activities added to the end of the chapter to get the ol' brain something to think about and dig into God's Word.    

Brevis Josh and Bob have a very conversational and story-telling style of writing, which easily draws their readers into the content. The book accomplishes what it set out to do—challenge young readers to test gospel truths found in the Bible so that they can learn to give an answer for their faith.     

Vic's Media Room While “Don’t Check Your Brains At the Door” is written primarily for our youth to give them the answers to the questions that they have and to provide them to others who are also questioning it is also a good resource for adults who have the same questions and have never had the answers provided to them before.  The authors have done a great job in presenting the questions and giving the answers in a clear, concise format.  This book will help change your thinking by providing you the truth you need.  I highly recommend it.

8/11    

Nicole at Bless Their Hearts Mom Very approachable and easy to understand. The book is divided into different sections: myths about God, myths about Jesus, myths about the bible,myths about the resurrection,myths about religion and Christianity, and then myths about life and happiness. They give personal reflections or stories, and then offer verses from the bible to correspond to them. A good starting off place. I would recommend it to Teen Youth Leaders as a book of topics to discuss.       

8/12

Kaylea at My Scrappy Life Each "question" is literally tackled in less than four pages - which includes a section called "brain food" or Bible verses readers can look up for further study. It's written in a conversational style that I think will appeal to teens and youth leaders, alike. I would feel comfortable passing along to a young teen (or even an older elementary student), to encourage them to "see what the Bible says" about a specific issue. I guarantee, it will  at least prompt a further discussion about the topic, which I believe is Hostetler and McDowell's objective.     

Megan at Homeschoolin Mama This is a fantastic book for any one to read but especially some one who has grown up in the church. I think too often we start "going through the motions" when we are apart of any thing for a few years and church (and unfortunately our faith sometimes) starts to become a routine. The passion starts to fade and some times you may forget the real reason you are here in the first place - to spread the word and love of God! If you know any junior high or high school age kids this is a must read for them! With the addition of "Brain Food" at the end of each chapter and Notes at the end of the book I highly recommend Junior High and High School Pastors consider starting a small group series for this book as well. The authors have written this book in such a way that it is totally relate able to teenage kids and I think they would really get a lot out of it. More and more these days God is being taken away from us, in the media, in schools and in science. Our faith is being attack from all angles. Why not arm ourselves and especially our children with the wisdom to deflect it?        

8/13

Mel's World with Melissa Mashburn Holy smokes batman...this book is off the wall awesome! I decided to do a review of it, thanks to LitFuse, because I have two teenage boys knocking on the door to college and adulthood. I want to be able to share with them all they need to know to "Know what you believe and why" and let me just tell you this book is the answer!!! With forty-two short chapters (like 3-5 pages each) you can start anywhere you want or right from the beginning. At the end of each chapter there is a little section called "Brain Food" where you can do a little further digging on your own. This book is a must have for anyone looking to "know what they believe and why", not just teenagers. There are just not enough words to describe how incredible this book is. I can't wait to give it to my boys and let them soak up the wisdom tucked away on the pages of "Don't Check Your Brains At The Door".     

8/15

Julee at Mommy's Memorandum The authors write with humor in exploration with titles like “The Luke Skywalker God, Wimpy Jesus, The Bible and the Telephone Game and more. It’s a teenagers prospective with powerful lessons that strengthen faith.

Cara at Tween & Teen Book Reviews I read a couple to my daughter and she's since grabbed the book to read on her own. Each short chapter has Brain Food, which send the reader to Bible passages and asks questions about what they read. There is also usually an interactive portion to that section as well. What I like about that is it gives the reader a chance to interact with the ideas but more important with what the Bible says on the topic. These topics are critical. We've got to know what we believe and why. This book is the perfect way to introduce these key apologetics to your teen. Make sure they can own their faith, because if they don't by college, we risk losing them.

Heather at Faith, Family and Fun

Julie Arduini: The Surrendered Scribe There are questions, rumors, pressures and temptations surrounding our kids. Don’t Check Your Brains at the Door provides the answers. Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler give excellent, Biblical answers to questions our young people are confronted with on a daily basis. We attend a private Christian school and my son now has this book. He asked if he could pass it on to friends from school. He let me know friends from school are asking questions that are in this book. Questions like isn’t being good enough? Why can’t everyone go to heaven? Aren’t all religions alike? The worst thing we could do as parents is pretend these lies aren’t surrounding our kids. I can’t say enough about how informed this book made me and is helping my son. The readings are short with brain food activities to reinforce the topic. The pages are highlighted and dog-eared already. We are passing it on to friends. THAT is how good this book is.     

8/16

Staci at 7 on a Shoestring Over our 9 years of homeschooling, Pepper, Jake and I have gone through several books together. We enjoyed the simplistic style of Don’t Check Your Brains at the Door because of it’s easy-flowing structure. The “Brain Food” section of each chapter makes you dive into the Word and explore scriptures that relate back to the topic at hand. Hard questions are asked and get the teen thinking and learning how to rely on God’s Word. A magnificent tool for understanding why we believe what we believe. It is normal for a youth to begin to ask why we have faith in a God we have never seen or to begin to question the Bible as a viable source of information. The world we live in asks these questions daily. Reading and working through the book, myths are explored and questions are asked.    

Lauren at 5 Minutes for Books A great resource. Through their use of humor and pop culture references, authors McDowell and Hostetler will attract their target audience. But while the style is appealing, the book’s greatest strength is that it provides answers and evidences to help young Christians stand firm in their faith. As a Christian mom, I highly recommend it.     

Clint at Friar Tuck's Fleeting Thoughts A valuable gift to give to intellectually curious teens, or even for creative Sunday School teachers to use with their teenage classes.   

Pamela at Mommie CEOs

8/17

Reviews by Jane Very good. 

Theresa at Frugal Experiments  I found Don't Check Your Brains at the Door to be an interesting, quick read, touching on many issues that most are faced with when it comes to standing strong in our faith. Although the book targets teens, I think the information it contains is useful for many Christians, both younger and older. With it's simple, straightforward language, most would find value in it.

Laura at Lighthouse Academy Handily arranged so you can search by topic, you can find whatever lie that you’re being exposed to (or doubting) and find the truth for yourself. I highly recommend this book for teenagers facing ridicule for their faith to adults.

Debra at Footprints in the Butter  I love that the chapters are pretty short (around four pages) and the "Brain Food" sections at the end of each chapter are intended to drive the kids to the Bible to figure the stuff out for themselves.     

Loren at Heart of a Bookworm This is an excellent book! If your child is a teen or maybe even headed off to college, you will definitely want to make sure they have this in their suitcase! This book will be a huge help to them, but it is also an excellent tool for others that they meet who just "aren't sure" what they believe or why they believe what they do! Or maybe you are a Youth Pastor and sometimes the kids need a little more than others...."Don't check your Brains at the door" is an EXCELLENT RESOURCE! Instead of watching the TV show "Mythbusters", this book is filled with Bible Myths and backed up with lots of Scripture! A definite 5 ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥'s from HeartofaBookWorm!       

8/18

Deanna's Corner Written in a language and style that is perfect for teens. Each section is written with their attention span in mind. While each chapter is short and to the point, it isn't stingy on quality and truth. The end of each chapter presents "brain food" that challenges teens to dig deep into the Bible for the only place where you can find complete truth:  the Bible. There is a lot of information being thrown at my sons each day. Being able to cipher through all of it requires discernment. Discernment is a even greater skill. It is why our kids don't need to check their brains at the door. It is why reading this book can give them such an advantage as they walk out into the great big world each day. 

Sundi Jo at Living The Lyrics It seems today that parents rely too much on the church to “raise their kids up in the way they should go.” Sending them to the youth group for an hour once a week isn’t enough. As parents, you are responsible to continue growing them in the faith. This book could perhaps give you some answers you’ve been searching for as well. I think it would make a great dinner chat. Perhaps read it together as a family. The questions and references at the end of each chapter could add some great fun to the family. McDowell and Hostetler add doses of humor to the book, which of course I loved.