I received an announcement about a writing contest going on at Regenerated Magazine. If you have teens in your house, here’s some incentive for a fantastic end-of-year assignment.

What I like most about this contest is that it’s sponsored BY teens and FOR teens. It’s encouraging for me to see Christian teens engaging their peers in such a thought-provoking assignment. And I love essay contests!

I hope you’ll help spread the word!

From the website:

Regenerated Magazine is holding an essay contest this summer for students ages 12-18. The topic is “How to live a regenerated life,” and the first place winner will receive an iPod Nano.

Regenerated Magazine is all about transformation, inspiring young Christians everyday to change our culture. Through the renewing of our minds with our biblical worldview, we’re challenging our peers to live for the glory of God.

How can you do this? How can you regenerate our culture in politics, in religion, in everyday life? How can you transform the world for Christ? Tell us! Write an essay about it—you might win an iPod® Nano!

Topic:

In Regenerate Our Culture’s mission statement, it says we are trying to “regenerat[e] our nation’s worldview away from the post-modernism holding it and back to the Christian worldview it was first built on. It can’t be denied that many in our nation have turned away from God in politics, religion, and their everyday lives. Our vision is to help bring about a positive change in these three important areas…”

What does this mean in real life? How can you live a regenerating life that will impact our culture for Christ?

Entrant Qualifications:

Students between the ages 12-18 as of May 1st, 2007. This contest is open to homeschoolers, public schoolers, and private schoolers.

Contest Dates:

All essays must be emailed to essaycontest [at] regenerateourculture [dot] com between April 1st, 2007 and June 1st, 2007 (closing on 10:00 pm EST).

Contest Rules and Guidelines:

* All work submitted must be entirely the work of the person submitting it. No outside assistance in, but not limited to, brainstorming, editing, proofreading, is allowed.

* The essay cannot exceed 900 words.

* All essays must be emailed to essaycontest [at] regenerateourculture [dot] com and the header must have the entrant’s name as the subject line, and the essay must be BOTH in the text of the email and attached in Microsoft Word format. The essay must be double spaced in size 12 Times New Roman font. The essay must have the entrant’s name and birth date as the title.

* All essays must be submitted by 10:00 pm (EST) June 1st, no later.

* The essay must not have been previously published anywhere. This includes on the internet (on a blog or other site).

* Regenerate Our Culture staff and board members may not enter. Regenerate Our Culture writers may not enter unless Regenerated Magazine has only published one (1) of their articles.

Judging/Judges:

Essays will be judged on the following:

* Biblical worldview (we’re not nitpicking the theology—just the essential doctrines of God, sin, man, salvation, etc.)

* Organization/Clarity/Logic

* Content/Writing Style

* How well the thesis is supported (how convincing the argument is)

* Grammar

Judges will be picked by ROC and their names will be disclosed when the contest winners are announced. They have been chosen for their excellence in writing, clear understanding of a biblical worldview, experience, and other qualifications. Judges’ identities will be revealed after the contest is closed.