A growing movement of young people around the world is choosing to rebel against the low expectations of today's culture and "do hard things" for the glory of God. And for some reason, God has seen fit for two teenage twin brothers from Oregon to help lead the charge.

We weren't looking to launch a movement back in August of 2005. In fact, all we did was start a blog. Sixteen million hits later, this idea of teens "rebelling against rebellion" has sparked a national conference tour and now a book, "Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations," which reached No. 5 on Amazon.com – even before its April 15 release.

To the average person, the success of this message is more than unlikely; it is inexplicable. Teens don't want to be challenged. They don't want to do hard things. Yet, as we've traveled around the world we've found that God is doing something big in the hearts and minds of our generation. There is a growing restlessness and a desire for something more than the piddling offerings of popular culture. Young people today want more. They want to be challenged.

We stumbled upon this restlessness early on. One of the first series of articles we posted on our blog was "The Myth of Adolescence," calling into question the modern notion of the teen years as a time to goof off. Almost immediately, other teens started to comment on our posts. "Everyone I know at school is shackled by low expectations," said 16-year-old Lauren from Colorado. Nate, a senior from Florida, wrote, "Man, did you ever say exactly what I've been feeling, well, ever since I became a teenager!"

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Within a week, we were receiving more traffic than friends who had been blogging for more than a year. Within three weeks, our blog had been featured in the New York Daily News, the sixth-largest daily newspaper in the United States. "Think Big! HS Twins Tell Peers" read the headline. The column opened with the words, "Most high schoolers' blogs are the online equivalent of perfumed diaries or locker-room walls. … But a pair of 16-year-old homeschooled twins from Oregon … are out to change that."

"The teen years are not a vacation from responsibility," we'd told the columnist. "They are the training ground of future leaders who dare to be responsible now." Our words were bold and idealistic, but the last two-and-a-half years have done little to change our minds.

Since then we've interned in the Alabama Supreme Court, served as grass-roots coordinators for four statewide political campaigns, coordinated an international conference tour, written a book, and launched a 20,000 member grass-roots organization for former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee – gaining coverage from MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the New York Times.

Some have called us prodigies. We think we're just normal teens living a radically different way. Reinforcing this conviction are the stories of countless teens like 15-year-old Conner Cress and his friends, whose efforts last year provided clean water to 20,000 people in Africa. Or like 16-year-old Zach Hunter, who has overcome severe childhood anxiety attacks to speak to over half a million people in live audiences and write two books in the fight to end modern-day slavery, and who, to this day, considers himself the most unlikely of heroes.

These are stories of teens who were 12 when they began to hate slavery, 14 when they had compassion on the homeless or 17 when they decided that managing a $55,000 political campaign was not impossible. These are normal teens with a different focus. All of them shun labels like "prodigy" or "exceptional." An exception only proves the rule. They want to create a new rule. They want to raise the standard for their generation.

It was these stories that prompted us to write our book. But in "Do Hard Things," we do more than simply share these teens' stories. We unpack the decisions that brought them to where they are today. Decisions to step outside their comfort zones; to go beyond what is expected or required; to remain faithful in the small things; and to take a stand for what is right. These choices transform "average" teenagers into world-changers able to accomplish incredible things. And it starts by simply being willing to break the mold of what society expects of young people.

Both our book and this year's conference tour invite teens, parents and youth workers to explore some radical questions:

• Is it possible that even though teens today have more freedom than any other generation in history, we're actually missing out on some of the best years of our lives?
  
  
• Is it possible that what our culture says about the purpose and potential of the teen years is a lie and that we are its victims?
  
  
• Is it possible that our teen years give us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for huge accomplishments – as individuals and as a generation?
  
  
• And finally, what would our lives look like if we set out on a different path entirely – a path that required more effort but promised a lot more reward?

We describe that alternative path with three simple, but powerful words: Do Hard Things.

Alex and Brett Harris founded TheRebelution.com when they were 16 years old and today, at age 19, are among the most widely read teen writers on the Web. Sons of homeschool pioneers Gregg and Sono Harris and younger brothers of best-selling author Joshua Harris ("I Kissed Dating Goodbye"), Alex and Brett live with their family outside Portland, Ore.