Thoughts and Prayers Regarding Our Tensions. . . .
How do we balance it out? How can we maintain that tender balance between grace and truth that marked the life and ministry of our Savior, and must mark His bride, the Church? I’ve been attempting to navigate that tender nexus…
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Miley Cyrus. . . The Power of Pop Culture And A Reminder To Pray For Our Kids. . .
It is potent and powerful. It’s the soup of youth culture that our developmentally vulnerable children and teens swim in every day. One “ingredient” that’s been in the mix for the last nine years is Miley Cyrus. Now 22-years-old, she was…
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Tony Campolo, Biblical Interpretation, and How I’m Feeling This Morning. . .
Sleep didn’t come easy last night. Writing these words is equally difficult. While sitting on the couch taking in a Phillies game last evening (lost. . . again), I checked my Facebook feed and spotted a story linking to Tony Campolo’s…
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A Message to Parents. . . .
Yesterday, we found ourselves sitting at a kitchen table surrounded by friends who are grandparents. There was even a great-grandparent in the bunch. Grand-parenting has brought a whole new dimension to culture-watching and conversations. Someone took the conversation where it…
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Jenner. . .
“Jesus. . . always keep opening my eyes and giving me wisdom.” That’s the prayer I was reminded to pray once again this morning as my heart felt like it was in the grip of conflict. Last night, I returned…
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Eugene Peterson And A Message To The “See-Me’s”. . .
Eugene Peterson tweet this earlier today. . . “You are at your pastoral best when you are not noticed.” Wow! A direct assault on our egos, our culture of Christian celebrity, etc. Brilliant. Peterson’s words got me thinking about something…
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Sexual Assault, Abuse, and Molestation In The News. . . Framing The Conversation. . .
For the last few days, the social media splash of the moment has been all about sexual assault and molestation. Triggered by revelations of a media icon’s heretofore hidden history of horribly destructive and damaging behavior, everyone is talking about…
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Some Thoughts on Parents, Kids, and Youth Sports Craziness. . .
The other day I posted a link to a great article by ESPN’s Tim Keown on the cultural insanity that we call youth sports. It’s a great piece titled “Where the ‘elite’ kids shouldn’t meet.” While pondering Keown’s analysis, I thought…
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Adolescent Realities. . . A Gut-Wrenching Poetic Peek Into Life In Today’s World. . . .
There’s very little that’s been written by generational theorists that sits well with me. The theorists I’ve read over the years typically function in a prophetic mode. They look ahead and speculate on the shape the next emerging generation will…
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Mad Men And Our Lives. . . .
Was it the best? For me, it certainly ranks up there on my list of TV favorites and is probably at the top of my list. I’m still trying to figure that out. But whether it ranks at #1 or…
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Graduation Speech, 2015 . . . .
Welcome to the inside of my head. There’s something that happens in there every year about this time. It began happening some twenty years ago when I found myself listening to a variety of college commencement speeches. I found myself…
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Character. . . What Is It? . . . And How Do We Get There? . . .
Back in the early days of CPYU, I was doing a lot of reading in the area of what was being called “Character Education.” At the time, a growing number of educators and cultural analysts were decrying the decline of…
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