Disordered Eating. . . Beyond Anorexia and Bulimia. . .
Perhaps the best way for me to state it is like this: If my grandmothers were ugly, they didn’t know it. I know that the statement sounds a bit crude and harsh, but I don’t remember either of them being…
Read More
God Can’t Change People. . . . Sad. . . .
Yesterday, I celebrated 30 years of marriage with my wife. After a nice dinner out, I came home to a moving and thoughtful surprise that put a smile on my face and gave me great joy. There in our room sat…
Read More
Hey Abercrombie. . . I Accept You As My Savior. . .
I was going through some files the other day and came across a syllabus for Dean Borgman’s “Understanding Youth Culture” class at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Dean has had a profound impact on my life so I took some time to…
Read More
Realities And Questions Few Of Us Ever Imagined. . . .
It’s commencement season. That means that a small army of “speakers” have been invited. . . one per institution of higher education. . . to address a gymnasium or stadium full of robed graduates and their parents. And every realistically…
Read More
The Virtuous Business of Scaring The Kids. . . Maruice Sendak, Oswald, and the Lindbergh Baby. . .
The older I get, the more convinced I am of the fact that a healthy dose of realistic fear is a healthy and helpful thing for children. Yes, I think children need to be scared in just the right way.…
Read More
Parental Diligence Needed Here. . . .
The other day my post asked whether or not the mix of teens and technology is good, bad, or ugly. I think it’s got the potential to be all three. . . powerful potential. Certainly one of the “bad” and…
Read More
Technology and Kids. . . Good? Bad? Ugly? . . .
Courtesy of: Online Schools Yesterday this infographic on “The Millennial Teenager” was making the rounds. My buddy Doug Fields posted it over on his blog. I gave it a quick look over there and was curious as to how Doug’s…
Read More
14 Takes On Seventeen. . . Julia Bluhm’s Noble Crusade. . . .
Exhibit A. . . both what you see and what you read A 14-year-old has me thinking about body image today. As far back as I can remember, any and every youth culture seminar I’ve presented has included at least…
Read More
Fifty Shades of Grey. . . . Deconstructing the Buzz. . . or, What’s a Christian To Do???
The chatting-behind-closed-doors about the latest cultural literary phenomena is making its way out into the open. Yesterday’s blog post on that heretofore dirty little secret known as the best-selling Fifty Shades of Grey generated loads of responses (phone calls, emails,…
Read More
Fifty Shades of Grey. . . Lady Porn and The Fall of Culture. . . .
The conversation was between me and two of the women in my life. . . my wife and one of my adult daughters. We were driving from church to Costco. The conversation began with some comments and questions about Fifty Shades of…
Read More
Junior Seau, Rachel Ehmke, and Edvard Munch. . .
Rachel Ehmke Every now and then there comes a day when it all gets piled on and you can’t help but think about the common threads that tie certain news stories together. Yesterday I heard about the death of…
Read More
Caring For Cutters – Part 3 on Kids Who Cut
Yesterday I posted a link on Facebook to my blog on cutting. One of my former youth group kids (who is now a mom in her 40s) commented under the link: “Last year, my 9th grade daughter could name 23…
Read More