Depth Needed: Responding to A Theater Shooting, Lady Gaga, and Everything Else Wrong With the World
“Satan Afflicting Job” by William Blake I don’t think there are easy answers, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t answers. I’ve been thinking about that all week since our pastor, Michael Rogers, preached a challenging sermon on the first chapter…
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Bicycles, Tacks, a Crying 14-Year-Old, and Sportsmanship. . .
I often wonder if our culture’s most revered golden calf is sport. Of course, you can build a case that money, sex and power are the most seductive idols we face, but even that trio combines to tarnish what sport…
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Tom, Katie, and Christian Celebrity. . .
We live in a day and age where our culture is the sea that plays host to a perfect storm of divergent systems that have come together to create a kind of idolatry that we might not even recognize. In…
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Profiling the Abuser. . . .
This headline caught my eye in yesterday’s Lancaster Sunday News: “Profile of an abuser.” The article was written by a local pastor, Steve Cornell, who is also a correspondent for the paper. Cornell says that in today’s world, parents who entrust…
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Teens, Social Media, and Relationships. . . .
Here’s a little infographic from a new bit of research from Common Sense Media. The report is entitled Social Media, Social Life: How Teens View Their Digital Lives. Give the infographic a look. Read the report. I’m wondering. . .…
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What the Sandusky Story Means to Youth Workers. . .
My good friend Marv Penner wrote this timely guest post. Sadly, this is the world we live in and we need to be ready to respond. The Jerry Sandsuky case has sparked all kinds of discussions and reactions. As youth…
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Jerry Sandusky, Sexual Abuse, and Nurturing More of the Same. . .
I’ve been trying to figure out what it is about this case that’s played so much with my thoughts and emotions. Perhaps it was the fact that Jerry Sandusky was known in our commonwealth and community as someone who really…
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Heartbreaking. . . .
This speaks for itself. We have our work cut out for us. Makes me grateful for all the people doing youth ministry in our world.
Taylor Swift and Good Sense. . . .
Last night I caught the tail end of this re-broadcast of the Tayor Swift interview from last fall. Fascinating stuff. Pay attention around 12 minutes in. There’s some good stuff and good sense that Swift communicates at that point. It’s…
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I Miss This Guy. . . .
Thanks to the folks at PBS Digital Studios, Fred Rogers is back. I realize how much I miss him. . . and how much I miss the times that he represents. Children’s television programming used to be more balanced, restrained,…
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Facebook and Kids Under 13. . . Not A Good Idea. . .
So social networking giant Facebook – now the third most populated “country” in the world – is considering a planned “baby boom.” OK. . . so they’ve already got millions of kids under the allowed age of 13 already “living”…
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Sandusky Goes To Court. . . Pondering Confession and Repentance. . .
Get ready. The Jerry Sandusky trial begins tomorrow. It will be all over the news. What will you do with it? I’ve learned that the best way to process these things is not to mock, laugh, or make jokes. There…
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