Youth Ministry and Parents. . . Thoughts As You Kick Off The Year. . .
A Facebook post I spotted this morning got me thinking. A youth worker was asking his ministry peers for ideas on what he could address during this week’s annual meeting with parents. What caught my attention was his use of…
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A Little Message For Youth Workers On Broken Kids. . . And Some Things I’d Do Differently. . .
In his bestselling book Season of Life, Jeffrey Marx follows a season of high school football at Baltimore’s Gilman School. At the cookout following the team’s first preseason scrimmage, one of the moms approached head coach Biff Poggi to ask…
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Colin Kaepernick. . . Some Thoughts. . .
He certainly has people talking. And whether you like what Colin Kaepernick has been up to or not, I think that what he’s been up to is worth talking about. If nothing else, the 49er’s quarterback and one-hundred-fourteen-million-dollar man has…
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Self-Injury. . . The Scream On The Skin. . .
As a culture-watcher, I sometimes like to “rewind” as a way to gain perspective on just how much and how fast youth culture has changed. The practice serves to wake me up at times when familiarity with what was once…
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The Shame List. . . And How To Talk About Sex. . .
Last week, the folks at Campus Pride, a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a safer college environment for LGBTQ students, released its 2016 Shame List of the absolute worst campuses for LBGTQ youth. As I scrolled through the list of colleges…
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Texting While Driving. . . A Powerful Video. . .
I didn’t know the story of Jacy Good until this morning. She was pictured on the front of our daily newspaper under the headline, “Jacy’s Mission.” The story reported on a new four-minute video that’s been viewed well over 50…
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The VMAs, Youth Culture, and Monday-Morning Grieving. . . .
Perhaps the most telling sign of the times is how my mood has changed over the years. When it comes to MTV’s annual Video Music Awards show, it’s transitioned for me from one of the most-valuable-annual-youth-culture-rituals-to-watch, into a burdensome chore.…
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A Powerful Must-Watch Tale of Redemption. . . .
Yesterday morning, a listing on the TV pages in our local newspaper caught my eye. Having already been impressed by ESPN’s O.J.: Made In America documentary a few months ago, I thought that Pin Kings might be promising and worth the hour it…
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Ryan Lochte, Freedom, and A Glance At Who We Are. . .
Not only was our American “Bro Culture” exported to Rio and the Olympic Games, but it seems to have gotten caught doing what “Bro Culture” does best. Now, the big story coming from the Summer Olympics is allegations by swimmer Ryan…
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The Digital Diet of American Teens. . . A Helpful Infographic. . .
Our friends over at Rawhide.org have released another helpful infographic. . . this one offering loads of information on teens and digital media consumption. Yes, things have really changed since 1995. This is worth looking at and passing on, particularly…
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A Christian Approach to Same-Sex Marriage. . .
Last year one of my college friends, Dan Doriani, released a new book on being a man. Dan’s book, The New Man: Becoming A Man After God’s Heart, is one I’ve been reading carefully for my own personal enrichment. Dan’s goal…
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The Olympics, Russian Doping, And Our Cheating Hearts. . . .
Last night Olympic officials announced that 271 Russian athletes will be allowed to compete in this year’s Olympic Games in Rio. This means that one-third of Russia’s Olympic athletes will not be competing in the games thanks to a government-sanctioned…
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