The Empty Promise of Stuff. . .
When you’re a kid, the prospects for happiness and fulfillment seem endless. There’s a yearning for the accumulation of experiences and material things. . . all of which, at some point, we believe will allow us to rest our heads…
Read More
Praying For Our Kids. . . Beautiful And True After 400 Years. . .
When the nexus occurs, it brings great joy. It happened again yesterday. . . and it always leaves me excited. Yes, God still speaks. I reached the milestone of 61 years on this earth yesterday. (The birthdays seem to come…
Read More
Scripture. . . Not What You Think It Means. . .
One of my morning companions over the course of the last 25 years is Scripture Union’s Encounter With God. For the last several days it’s been taking us through the latter half of Genesis. What I read this morning prompted a…
Read More
Watching Gender. . . Kids And Media Stereotypes. . . A Helpful Infographic. . .
Our media mantra here at CPYU has always been this: Media serves our kids as a map. In other words, it shapes the way they think about and live their lives. And, with teenagers engaged in 9 hours of daily media time.…
Read More
Identity. . . Searching For God Knows What. . .
This morning I’m teaching a class on how technology and social media are controlling and shaping us. . . and what we can do to use the good gifts of technology and social media. In effect, how we can take…
Read More
Hijacked by “Look At Me”. . .
“What’s the best advice you would give to a young youth worker?” Implicit in that question I’ve been asked many, many times is the reality that I’m getting older. I hope that with my increased age has come growth in…
Read More
Summer “Coming-of-Age” Movie Suggestions. . . .
As a youth culture watcher, I’ve developed a special place in my heart for movies. French film director Jean-Luc Godard once said that “a film is the world in an hour and a half.” For those of us who need…
Read More
Happy 10th Anniversary iPhone . . . .
Happy 10th anniversary iPhone. . . and all smartphones. You are an amazing tool. Those who conceived of you, made you, and have kept growing you have lived out the image of God through their creativity. . . whether they…
Read More
Do You Control Your Phone? . . . Or Does It Control You? . . . A Helpful Infographic
A few minutes ago we finished recording an interview with Tony Reinke for our “Youth Culture Matters” Podcast. We talked about Tony’s book, 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You. The book is a beautiful piece of accessible, hope-filled, practical theology…
Read More
This Is Who We Are. . . But Is It Who We Should Be? . . .
“Can’t you see what’s happening around you and to you?” Good question. How would you answer? Because history tells us that we typically don’t recognize the fall-out from our believing and behaving until we are paying the consequences of that…
Read More
Camille Paglia on Transgenderism. . . .
I’m not a reader of The Weekly Standard. But I was directed there this week by my friend Sean McDowell, who had posted a link to an interview with feminist Camille Paglia. Going straight to the source, I read Jonathan V.…
Read More
Youth Ministry Hazard: Emotional Affairs
One of the basic habits effect driver education instills in student drivers is the habit of scanning the road ahead for hazards. That’s a healthy habit for us as we engage in youth ministry. For those of us in youth…
Read More