I don't know if you saw the Oscars... I don't know if you even cared. But Miley Cyrus was one of the presenters, and one of the few to be interviewed by Barbara Walters on her famous post-Oscar interview show. I thought you might like to hear what she said about her faith.

Miley's the hottest thing in the world of young girls right now. I've blogged about her before, about her popularity, and her as one of the biggest trendsetters in 2008. There's no question why Barbara interviewed her. Miley is THE draw for young girl audiences right now.

The interview was short, but I thought Miley did well. She talked about her faith a little bit, and might have been perceived by some as a little cocky, once almost sounding a little condescending... but she's young and I think she did fairly well for her age and degree of difficulty of the questions she was being asked.

We don't know much about her faith, just that she uses the word "Christian" (which means nothing these days- 81% of Americans claim to be "Christian") referring to herself, and she seems to reflect good morals (a breath of fresh air today) in the midst of a world full of poor role models. Barbara asked us about this.

We transcripted a snippet of the interview for you:

Barbara: Miley, you’re living here in California and you’re 15 years old and you pick up the papers and every day practically, you read about another young star, some of whom were Disney stars, how can you be certain that what happened to Brittney and Lindsay and to Jamie Lynn Spears won’t happen to you?  What will be the difference?

Miley: For me, as I know, that some people don’t have a family to fall back on like I have and that’s when something greater than even that comes in and that’s faith and that’s what I have for me it’s what keeps me strong.  And I know that some of these people you know do have Christian families and they’re just, you know, not seeing that they’re so much greater than the materialistic things that are there right now than, like, you know, going out and the parties and whatever, but the people that are the ones that you want to hold on to are the people that tell you the truth and that’s your family and that sometimes you know can be a little bit harsh and can you know say things that have to be honest and that can hurt sometimes.

Barbara: What do you think about Jamie Lynn Spears?  I mean she’s pregnant, she’s only 16.  Can you imagine that?

Miley: No, and I think, you know, it’s definitely hard when it’s your friends. Jamie Lynn is you know a friend of mine. But also I know how strong she is as a person. I just think it’s pretty cool that she has stepped away cause that’s what I would have to do.

Barbara: You know Jamie Lynn Spears?

Miley: Mmmhhmmm. I know basically all of those girls, which is really crazy to see that.  But, my main goal for me is the reason that I also feel pretty confident that I won’t end up like that is because I can go out there and be kind of like a light to them and make them want to live the way that I, you know, long to live.

Barbara: Your birth name is Destiny Hope. What’s your destiny?

Miley: The reason my dad named me Destiny Hope in the first place is because he always said it was my destiny to bring hope. And I think that’s kind of the thing that I want to do. There’s been so many people that have come up to me and say, you know, the hour that we are watching your shows are the times that my kids are happiest, they’re smiling, they’re laughing.  And that is what I long to do, is to be the person that you can, open up a magazine and see my face and there’ll be something, you know there’ll be a quote that’s so positive and that will be like, you know I’m having a hard day today, but you know what Miley said will get me through it. And so that’s what my destiny is.

Hmmmmmm.

The report was released just Monday. The results are in...

Americans are fickle about their religion!

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life released the results of their 35,000 person poll concluding, "Americans not only change jobs, change where they live, and change spouses... they change religions too."

Yahoo News reports:

According to Pew, 28% of American adults have left the faith of their childhood for another one. And that does not even include those who switched from one Protestant denomination to another; if it did, the number would jump to 44%.

Some other interesting facts from the report:

• one third of Americans raised Catholic have left the church
• two thirds of Jehovah's Witnesses have left that church
• the single biggest "winner" of a group that has changed their minds was the group called "unaffiliated" (including athiests and agnotics) who lost 50% of their original group to one church or another.
• the highest rates for marrying within one's own faith were Hindus (90%) and Mormons (83%)

The summary of the report has a nice chart that summarizes it pretty well. The actual report web page is pretty interesting, even at a glance. You can look at an AFFILIATIONS page that breaks down the percentage of people from each religion in the US, or look at a MAP that shows you the percentage of US adults affiliated with certain groups per state, or even look at the PORTRAITS of a particular religious group, detailing the demographic characteristics such as age, ethnicity, educational level, and income level.

Last weekend when I was in Pennsylvania I saw a video game cover that caught my eye in a Game Stop window. The game is called "Bully: Scholarship Edition" ...and you're going to want to know about this one.

Brought to you by Rockstar Games, the lovely people that provided the "Grand Theft Auto" games, the new "Bully" for Xbox 360 and Wii will hit the video game shelves March 4th. This game features exclusive content which was apparently unavailable in the PS2 version released in 2006. And now, with the XBox 360 graphics, you'll be able to get into mischief and kick some butt in High Def! And now you can do it with online multiplayer features.

They say that pictures speak 1,000 words. Well... then previews must speak 10,000. This trailer will show you more about the true content of this new game than I could ever describe to you. (NOTE: Don't worry... I'm not showing you something innapropriate for your eyes... this trailer would probably be approved for all audiences. When you see it you'll just agree that it's sad that this is the entertainment deemed acceptable for our kids today. We've come a long way since "Space Invaders".)

 For those of us that missed the first "Bully" game--Bully or be bullied-- that seems to be the name of the game.

"Bully" doesn't have graphic gun violence like "Grand Theft Auto." Instead, you fist fight with other kids. Common Sense Media describes the violence on the original version like this:

Parents need to know that this game is not Grand Theft Auto (the games were both created by Rockstar Games). It is, however, about bullying behavior in a school setting and therefore -- given the sad state of school violence -- a hot-button topic for parents. There is plenty of psychological brutality and physical violence (fistfighting, kicking, and "humiliating" finishing moves). Weapons include a baseball bat, garbage can lid, and fire extinguisher but, there are no guns, blood, or gore. Because this game deals with intimidation and violence with realistic language, parents who let their kids play it should absolutely talk about school violence (see next paragraph). The game contains some sexual remarks and alcohol references; and depending on the path taken, the main character, Jimmy Hopkins, can kiss another boy. Pranks include firing at football players from a tree with a slingshot and throwing marbles on the ground for others to trip over. The game does include consequences for misdeeds.

Gamespot.com describes the new game as a sort of "director's cut" for the original "Bully."

"The new version keeps the soul of the original PlayStation 2 game and adds a next-gen polish to its body. It also adds new graphics, extra solo missions, and multiplayer games."

The game is rated "T" which means for teens. But that means that kids can purchase it. I called up my local Game Stop store to ask them about it. The rated "T" supposedly means you have to be 14. But that isn't enforced. The only rating enforced is "M." According to this Game Stop employee, everything below M is just a recommendation. "So a 6 year old can come in and buy this?" I asked. "Yep. We can sell anything to a six-year-old but M."

Some think the game should be "M." The National Institute on MEDIA and the FAMILY issued a KidScore rating of RED for the first"Bully," commenting that they think the game should be rated "M" for only mature audiences. And when the original game was first going to be released, Miami lawyer and video game critic Jack Thomson filed a lawsuit against Rockstar Games parent company Take 2 Interactive, as well as Wal-Mart, and Game Stop, trying to prevent them from being able to sell the game to minors. TechNewsWorld reported that the Florida circuit court judge "decided not to ban the sale of the controversial game to minors."

So the new "Bully" will be just like everything else in this world... easy access. That means it's up to parents.

Hmmmmmm.

Yesterday was a fun day for us here at THE SOURCE as David, our East Coast guy, flew West and connected with me before I flew East.

David R. Smith has been one of our speakers and writers for years, but in the fall of 2007 we were able to hire him enough hours where he can now speak, train and write full time. David lives in Tampa... our East Coast rep of sorts. I'm in Sacramento doing the West Coast thang. Funny though... I'm flying to Pennsylvania this weekend for a camp I am speaking at, and David is teaching one of our workshops in California this weekend. I had him come out a day early so we could do a few podcasts (note our cool podcast picture) and hang out. It's not often we get to hang out together.

So yesterday I picked him up from the airport around noonish, we got some BAR B Q, and then came back to my home office, worked on his seminar a bit, and record two podcasts. One of the podcasts we recorded was our next episode of our new podcast for teenagers, A Li'l Bit. We're really excited about this podcast. It's a weekly podcast we just launched for teenagers to get them in the WORD each week. This is simply because we've noticed that more teenagers carry iPods than they do Bibles. We figure that maybe we can get the WORD in their heads through earphones if not through reading it.

After working we at dinner and watched American Idol with my Family (Where I picked 4 out of the 4 that got dropped... YEAH!) David was on East Coast time so he sacked early. I'm leaving on a 6:15 flight this morning, so I'm up at o' dark thirty. Pray for our speaking and training this weekend if you think of it.

Generation Y (or "Gen @" as I call them in my newest book) has been frequenting the business sections of papers across the world. People just don't know what to do with this generation of young business people that are as old as their late twenties.

In this Dallas News article, ad exec Owen Hannay doesn't hold back in his feelings about this generation:

It's not that millennials lack the creative genius or technological know-how that he's looking for. Far from it, he says. It's more that they lack the real-world grounding it takes to deal with responsibility, accountability and setbacks.

"They wipe out on life as often as they wipe out on work itself," says Mr. Hannay, who let go more than a dozen millennials from his 130-person staff over the course of 2006.

That's when he stopped hiring them. "They get an apartment and a kitty, and they can't cope. Work becomes an ancillary casualty. They're good kids with talent who want to succeed. That's what makes me nuts."

The article goes on to talk about how this generation needs to be understood.

I'm always intrigued by Gen @ simply because they are one of the largest sources of our volunteers in youth ministry. Despite their bratty, narcissistic reputation, many employers and volunteer managers are finding them to be worth the struggle.

I have to agree. If you harness the passion and potential of these young professionals, you'll find that you have a huge asset on your team. (Here is an excerpt from my new book THE NEW BREED on that very subject.)

Which stars do teenage girls have their eyes on this year?

That's a good question. And Seventeen Magazine's Gina Kelly has made the self fulfilling prophecy this year, choosing Miley Ray Cyrus (Hannah Montana), Rachel Bilson (Jumper, The O.C.), Emma Watson (the Harry Potter films) and the "Gossip Girls."

Kelly helped pick these "Style Stars" for the magazine's last issue.

In 2007 Rihanna led the pack. You may remember her hit song Umbrella riding the #1 spot for what seemed like an eternity. And then... we started to see her influence on fashion. Think about it for a second. Didn't you notice? (Maybe you did without knowing.) How many of her haircuts you've seen walking around town in the last few months? I saw a lady with one where I dropped off my car today!

But 2008 is a new year. And according to this recent AP article, Cyrus and the "Gossip Girls" are the main ones to watch:

Right now, Cyrus, the real-life "Hannah Montana," is doing a good job connecting to the teens and "tweens" who love her, Kelly says, but she'll have to walk a fine line as she gets older and likely becomes an even bigger star. "I'd love to see her evolve a little but also keep her youthfulness."

Meanwhile, "Gossip Girls" has become the TV destination for style-savvy young women, in the way "The O.C." and "Sex and the City" were for the girls who are now in their 20s and 30s, according to Kelly.

I blogged about Miley recently... I don't need to revisit the subject. Anyone who spends any time with young girls, tweens and even teens knows that Miley is the STUFF! The Oscars even have added her to the presenting lineup on February 24th in hopes of drawing more of a tween audience (we'll also see Miley as one of Barbara Walters' in-depth interviews in her 27th annual Oscar® edition of "The Barbara Walters Special," thanks Anastasia for that link).

And many of you might be familiar with the CW's fairly new show "Gossip Girl," the show that Media Life deemed "The top rated new show among 12-17-year-olds" last Fall.

These trendsetters have our kids' attention. I encourage you to take a peek at either of these shows (Hannah Montana and Gossip Girl) once or twice, just to keep aware. (Acts 17)  

(thanks to Anastasia at YPULSE for the AP link)

Wow... I preached my first sermon as a freshman in High School and I thought I started young!

These are hilarious. These children not only are imitating preaching, they have every gesture, every voice inflection... these kids have been paying attention!

This one (below) is quick:

But this one (below) is really funny. Especially at about 50 seconds to about a minute 10.

And this kid below (I think it's the same one as above... not sure) can barely talk, yet he already has his preaching style nailed! I love it about 50 seconds into it when he opens the Bible to go through what he "went through last week!" LOL.  Then at 2:10 he tells you what happens to us if we don't obey. You can even hear a few voices in the background giving "Amens" throughout.

Hmmmmm.

Most of us have already read the story of Steven P. Kazmierczak, the gunman who went on a shooting rampage at Northern Illinois University. Apparantly he recently stopped taking medication, went ballistic, and opened fire in a geology class, shooting 21 people, killing 5, then taking his own life.

This time the shooter didn't seem like a "troubled" kid seeking revenge (as we've seen in many past shootings). University police said that Kazmierczak was actually an "award-winning" student "revered" by colleagues and faculty.

The sad thing is... this trajedy is nothing new. We've seen it so many times we can't even count.

So what can we do?

1. Use this as an opportunity to dialogue with kids about the trajedy. Lane Palmer, a Columbine youth pastor/counselor who worked with kids through the 1999 shooting, advised the following:

It is vitally important that we help our teens walk through events like these for many reasons. Some youth leaders might be hesitant to talk with their groups about the recent tragedy for fear that it will only intensify the stress and fear already imbedded in their emotions. The fact is, the opposite is true. The excess of various emotions that were released over the past few days need a healthy outlet, otherwise they will work their way out in negative ways.

One thing that helped me with our students was to help them put labels on what they are experiencing (stress, fear, sadness, etc.), then talk about ways to address each individual one. For example, if they are feeling sadness, ask them what has helped them in the past with those feelings. If they are anxious, walk them through the whole concept of how God is still in control, so we need not be anxious about the future (i.e. Matthew 6:25-34). This could happen on a corporate and individual level.

I think the other key issue here is the chance we have to bring up the important issues in life. When events like this occur, we have a golden opportunity to help teens evaluate their spiritual condition. As well, many times you'll see a lot of new faces in your group after events like these, because students are looking for answers. Again- what a great opening for evangelism.

Lane talks more about this in my interview with him last April after the Virginia Tech shooting. He answers questions like, "What youth group would you run this week" and links some resources for discussions on dealing with tragedy

2. Pray for the families and friends of the slain victims:

• Daniel Parmenter, 20, Westchester, Ill.
• Catalina Garcia, 20, Cicero, Ill.
• Ryanne Mace, 19, Carpentersville, Ill.
• Julianna Gehant, 32, Mendota, Ill.
• Gayle Dubowski, 20, Carol Stream, Ill.

Is Hollywood slowly turning pro-life?

I must be seeing things. No, it's true. In the past year I've seen more secular movies and TV shows address the issue, not in a militant Operation Rescue fashion, but in a very real sense of simply proposing, "I think having the baby is the right thing to do!"

The current issue of Christianity Today just chimed in on this fact in this article, proposing...

In some ways, 2007 was the Year of Pro-Life Cinema. From the church-friendly Bella to the raunchy Knocked Up, film after film depicted its main character facing an unplanned pregnancy and opting not for abortion, but for carrying the unborn child to term. Sometimes the mother kept the baby (Knocked Up, Waitress), and sometimes she gave the baby up for adoption (Bella, Juno, August Rush). But in each of these films, the mother, and sometimes the father, made a critical decision that was decidedly "pro-life."

And last weekend, NBC's Friday Night Lights delivered one of the most powerful pro-life speeches I've heard in recent years. Crippled quarterback Jason Street pleads with a "one night stand" to keep their child. He goes on to describe the baby growing in her, the little hands forming... a powerful talk.

The incredible thing about all of this attention on the issue is the fact that these aren't obscure little films. Juno is huge right now (it's made over 109 million) and a ton of our kids are seeing it. And sadly, a ton of our kids saw the very R-rated Knocked Up (really raunchy film, with a really cool theme). The value of the life of the unborn child is being placed on kids' minds, and this generation is always open to share their point of view on an issue.

If you're looking for discussion starters on the subject, a few weeks ago we wrote a free MOVIE CLIP DISCUSSION on our web site using a scene from Bella that's a great one to use.

This is a good time to have conversations with kids about the issue.

(thanks to my brotha Thom for the email and CT link)

On March 5th Avril Lavigne kicks off her two-month-long tour, named in true Avril fashion, "The Best Damn Tour."

If you don't recognize her name, don't worry... your kids do. Or you might have heard her lyrics in the checkout line at Wall Mart:

She's like so whatever
You can do so much better
I think we should get together now
And that's what everyone's talking about

Hey hey, you you
I don't like your girlfriend...

Or, maybe you heard the "unedited" version that hides in the "Favorites" section of many of our kids' iPods with these lyrics:

Don't pretend
I think you know
I'm damn precious
And hell yeah
I'm the mother f***ing princess
I can tell you like me too
And you know I'm right...

Avril has been on my mind lately. I was just reminded of her when I heard her mentioned in our recent podcast-- Episode #11 about women in ministry-- Danette, Brandon and I commented about Lavigne and some of her recent choices. We like her spunk, and she's really talented. But like most celebs of late, she seems to be ignoring the fact that children (yes, literally children) everywhere look up to her as a role model.

She doesn't seem to mind that bad press. Last Summer she opened the door to more criticism when she showed up "almost topless" on the cover of Blender Magazine (a shot of her topless with a banner blocking her chest saying, "Hell Yeah, I'm Hot!"). MTV news interviewed her in this May article for the truth behind the cover:

Lavigne has certainly come a long way since her innocent days as punk princess of the mall. In recent months, she's been known to spit on and flip off paparazzi. She's also bragged about booze-soaked nights — "I wrote 'Girlfriend' when I was drunk," she told us back in February. And now she's taking it all off?

The blogosphere is abuzz this week over the June cover image for Blender magazine, in which the singer appears to be naked from the waist up. What really lies beneath that strategically placed headline?

Truth be told, Lavigne revealed to us before taking the stage last night, the photo shoot was a little more innocent than you think. "Actually, I'm not topless on the cover," she said. "I was wearing a tube top, and they just kind of put a banner on top of it."

Anyone who looked the popular music magazine would probably argue otherwise.

Her tour is catalysted by the success of her recent album, "The Best Damn Thing" which debuted at the number 1 slot on the 'Billboard 200' album charts, an album that included the #1 hit "Girlfriend."

Keep your eyes on Avril... our kids are.

Guys... don't buy the lie! Don't you DARE listen when your special girl says any of the following statements in the next few days:

  "Don't get me anything." 

  "We don't need to celebrate Valentine's Day this year."

  "I don't need anything from you... just your love!"

Lies! Don't believe her! Falsities. Not a shred of truth. Liar, liar, pants on fire!

I'm speaking from experience guys, and thousands of other males have made that fatal mistake... ONCE! (because if we've made the mistake once, we've never done it again!) I listened to my wife when she said that one year. Valentine's Day came and went and I took her advice. I didn't get her a thing. Oh boy was that bad advice!

If she says one of the above statements... she doesn't mean it. She might think she means it, but she DOES NOT! What she really means is something much deeper and mysterious locked in the deep emotions of the female body. If you could read her mind at the moment, you'd read something like this:

"I don't need a gift.... but I want one. But that's selfish of me to want one... isn't it? So I should let you off the hook... but I really wouldn't be disappointed if you gave me something. I'd probably actually be really disappointed if you don't give me anything... but I shouldn't be that way... so don't get me something... or do... either way, but if you don't... I can't help but wonder if you really like me..."  (This line of thinking goes on way too long to type!)

Bottom line: GIVE THEM SOMETHING! How hard is it? But you might be saying, "Jonathan... I'm poor! I'm a youth worker. The janitor brings home more than me!" If that's the case, you don't need to stop by the jewelry store. Heck, just do something! If she likes chocolate, just get her a little chocolate sum-something that says, "I went out of the way to get this for you because I love you." If she loves flowers, get her flowers. And anything from a gas station doesn't count! (Costco does count, but you have to go buy a vase somewhere else.)

And, if she told you she doesn't need anything, she DEFINATELY didn't mean don't get her a card. They ALWAYS want a card. So if you're too pathetic to go and buy a gift, you MUST go at least buy a card. And don't just sign it. Oh no... you might as well not even buy the card then. You have to write a little note that says something about the card to show that you read the card and chose it just for her, and then add your own commentary on your feelings about what the card was talking about.

Wow... it's tiring thinking about this. I think I need to go take a nap!

And when she reads this blog and tells you, "He doesn't know what he's talking about!" What she's really saying is, "I'm really mad that we've been portrayed as such emotional and selfish creatures! But... I still hope you get me something... if not I won't get mad... but... it would be nice..." (again... this thinking goes on for a very long time.)

A final plea to all the males. If you're still thinking, "Not my Sally-Jean (I'm guessing this would cover all the males in Texas and Oklahoma), she's not like that!" Then you have to ask yourself one thing. "WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO LOSE IF YOU JUST BUY HER SOMETHING!"

I promise you. She WON'T get mad if you buy her something anyway. She won't get mad if you make her breakfast in bed WITH a little card from you. She won't be upset if expensive flowers arrive at work. She won't be agitated if she wakes up to find a new outfit from her favorite store hung in the closet. She won't be angry if you surprise her and take her to dinner at her favorite restaurant. (make reservations now!)

Very little to lose... a lot to gain! Better go shopping!

It's really not that hard to figure out. It's amazing that so many are blind to it. But here it is, plain and simple: More raunchy music means kids having sex earlier. And the more a song refers to substance abuse... yep, you guessed it... the greater a chance kids will try those substances.

Think about it for a second. If you're a kid who listen's to an average of 2.4 hours of music per day (that is the average), and the typical song you're listening to is talking about stuff that goes on in the bedroom... how do you think this will influence you?

Our kids will tell us, "It doesn't affect me!"  (If you want to ask them yourself, join us in our survey from this blog and post your results within the next week or two)

Opinions are a dime a dozen. What do studies show?

This article from a while back summarized it pretty well, tying raunchy music to losing virginity sooner:

Teenagers whose iPods are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found.

Whether it's pop, rock, hip-hop or rap, much of popular music aimed at teens contains sexual overtones. Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed, researchers found.

 Songs depicting men as "sex-driven studs," women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts are more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where sexual references are more veiled and relationships appear more committed, the study found.

Teens who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as were teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.

Excellent article, I recommend reading the whole thing. There are plenty of good articles out there on this subject. Some tying TV to teens starting sex early.

But what about the use of substances? Does music really affect that?

The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine just published a new report analyzing the 279 most popluar songs our kids listen to. 33.3% portrayed substance abuse, with an average of 35.2 substance references per song-hour.

Here's what the experts in this study said:

"There is convincing evidence that exposure to certain media messages increases substance use in adolescents. For instance, viewing smoking in movies prospectively predicts a substantial proportion of adolescent smoking initiation. Similarly, exposure to smoking-related media promotions is associated with smoking initiation. Alcohol use in movies and promotions is also linked to actual alcohol use. While the most frequently studied genres for this research include movies, television, and advertising, health behavior theory strongly supports a link between music exposure and substance use. According to the social learning model, human beings learn not only by direct experience but also by exposure to modeled behavior, such as that represented in popular music."

And they rapped it up well...

"Music is wellknown to connect deeply with adolescents and to influence identity development, perhaps more than any other entertainment medium."

Side note: that report was phenomenal. It broke music down by genre. I wasn't surprised to find that hip-hop and rap were two of the top three that contained the most mention of substance abuse (Country was also very high).

Am I picking on hip-hop and rap?

Yes.

Why? Well, it happens to be the most popular genre by far. I've gone into great detail about this in past articles for sure... and if you don't believe me, just look at the top 10 Billboard songs or the top 10 iTunes downloads any day of the week. The influence of hip-hop still dominates.

So What Can We Do As Parents and Youth Workers?

1. Find out what your kids think. Ask them yourself. Join us in our survey from this blog and post your results within the next week or two-- your results will help us help you!

2. Talk with your kids about this. Note: I didn't say, "PREACH TO THEM ABOUT THIS!" The emphasis here is more about LISTENING than talking. As a parent, I'm always looking for opportunities to dialogue with my own kids about anything. As a youth worker, I'm always looking for real issues that kids want to discuss. Music is something that they will often be excited to talk about. Use this an open door to discuss our character. (we even linked some great discussions you can use in that blog mentioned above)

3. Parents: Don't be afraid to take the advice I offered at the bottom of this blog about television. I recommend using two bottons on your remote control often: The pause button, and the "Off" button.

If your a parent of girls... you know the name.

If you work with junior high girls... they know the name.

If you work with high school girls... they still know the name, but are pretty hush, hush about it.

Miley Cyrus is the hottest thing since the Rubik's cube! (wow... where did that obscure 80's reference come from?) 

For those of you who don't know... Miley's show Hanna Montana dominates the number one spot on TV for kids, at times keeping up with the big boys.  Her concerts sell out in minutes. Her new concert film just set a web tickets sales record.

As a parent of 10 and 12-year-old girls, I've kept my eye on her show. It's actually pretty good. Most of all- it's clean.

In this CNN article she was just interviewed about her success. Here's "like" a snippet:

Q: Your tour was one of the highest-grossing tours, right up there with the Police and Justin Timberlake. What do you think about that?

MILEY: Sometimes, "It's like wow, I really have to be good." Especially when you hear what people are doing for tickets. It's like this is their one chance to see the show and it's the one night I'm going to be here so it has to be perfect.

Q: Do the problems of other young stars, like Jamie Lynn Spears' pregnancy, put more pressure on you to set a better example for kids?

MILEY: It does, but I mean those persons don't have anything to do with me either. So it's like you just have your own heart and you have your own soul to kind of help you through life.

Q: Do you ever wish that you could just be a regular 15-year-old instead of a teen phenom?

MILEY: I do sometimes, but then again it definitely is fun and it's been really nice because having my uncle as like my bodyguard and my mom with me and my dad, working with him. My family wants the best for me so they try to find a way so that I can still go out and hang with my friends and also have a normal life of my own.

She's one to watch. She is by far THE biggest role model in the lives of young American girls today.

She's had some people trying to pin some garbage on her, but it seems like she's kept a pretty clean slate.

I admit, I was a little bit discouraged with the dress she wore to the 2007 Teen Choice Awards last year. But, in her defense, that is the way this generation is dressing. And if no one is teaching her differently...

Sigh.

I just know as a dad of little girls... my girls aren't going out in dresses that advertise that much realestate. (And the guys they date are gonna have a little "sit down" talk with me while I'm cleaning my 12 gage!)

Keep Miley in your prayers. It can't be easy to be in the limelight like this. But at the same time, I hope she realizes that she's being watched. With fame comes great responsibility.

Many of you have already read my blog about Soulja Boy and the truth behind his “Superman” song and dance penetrating schools across the country. A few days later the subject came up again in this blog, and I ended with a quote from a 14-year-old in a chat room:

I love this song, and
i dont really care what
the lyrics mean.
:P

That day, a youth worker named Jason read my blog and decided to do an experiment with this new knowledge. He took a survey with his kids. Here’s what he discovered:

in Ref. to this blog I thought I would sit down with my youth group and pick their brain about music and how we as parents and leaders should deal with the music. Below is the results.

About Music

1. Question should we as parents turn a deaf ear to your music and hope you don't know what it means?? 58% agree we should turn a deaf ear

2. Should we explain to you what a song means and then if it's bad (not pleasing to God)..ask you not to listen to it. 52% said we should explain

3. As a Sunday School teacher should I mention if a song is bad? 33% said yes I should

4. 33% said they would keep listening to the song when they realize it's not pleasing to God

I think Jason had a great idea. I’d love to find out what your kids think!

So try this: take 5 minutes next time you meet with your kids to survey them anonymously (hand out blank scraps of paper and have them number 1-6). Ask them these six questions adapted from Jason’s poll:

1. Do you think that parents and youth workers should stay out of your music, turn a deaf ear, and hope that lyrics don’t affect you?
2. Do you think that the lyrics affect you?
3. If parents or youth workers discover that a song is vile or degrading, should they explain it to you and warn you about it?
4. How many of you would still listen to it even if you knew the lyrics were bad?
5. Should parents draw a line and enforce rules of what you can and can’t listen to?
6. What should that line be? (what criteria should they use?)

(Note: Some of you might think, "This would be a good opportunity to discuss the issues of the stuff we allow in our heads, or compromising." We've got several good resources that you can use as "ready-made" discussions on the topic. Our MOVIE CLIP DISCUSSIONS page has a great one using a clip from the third Lord of the Rings film, and one from 24... but also check out some Object Lessons like the one on Purity, the "Special Brownies" one... etc. Good discussion material.)

Now, about the survey... I only took one statistics class in college, so I’m no expert. But I do know one thing about this quiz: there is crossover in these questions and I think that’s good. It helps us evaluate kid’s true feelings about a subject. Sometimes you have to ask a similar question two different ways to get at the truth. In other words, questions 1 and 3 are really similar. It would be funny if kids answer YES to #1 and YES to #3 (3 is asked in the inverse). We see that trend in Jason’s kid’s answers. 58% said “stay out of our music!” But then 52% turn around and say, “sure, explain a song to us if a song is bad!”  (do they want us to stay out or what?)

Post your results as a comment on THIS BLOG. (and if you aren't already, don't forget to SUBSCRIBE to this blog so you can stay updated.) I realize it might take a week or two to get results. No worries. But try to take a quick 5 minutes to survey your kids next time you see them in a youth group, bible study, or small group format.

I’ll try to post as many of your stats and comments as possible. More importantly, I’ll post a grand total of all the responses. So stick to the six questions I gave you for our survey.

17 Million.. that's a lot of kids!

Yes, 17 million kids are watching the Superbowl game this year... AND the commercials. I don't know about you, but this three hour slot of TV is the one time I actually enjoy the commercials. But that doesn't stop me from using my TiVo to start the game about 45 minutes late so I have the freedom to skip certain ads (Remember the two girls wrestling in the fountain a couple years ago? That ad had a bunch of parents across the country frantically searching for the remote control!).

Apparantly I'm not the only one concerned. Marin Institute, an "alcohol watchdog group" out of San Rafeal, California, is very concerned, specifically about all the beer commercials. Media Life magazine reports in this article:

Seventeen million kids will be watching Sunday’s game, according to Marin, and alcohol advertising has been tied to increased underage drinking. Considering Budweiser annually produces the funniest, most well-received ads, Marin believes the ads put kids at risk.

“The NFL identifies the Super Bowl as a family-friendly televised sporting event, so their opinion of what family-friendly is is clearly not the same as ours,” says Michael J. Scippa, Marin Institute’s advocacy director. “Nearly 17 million youth watch that every year, and they’re being exposed to very clever, very funny, very powerful brand messaging – and clearly there are strong links between exposure and usage, especially in underage drinkers.”

There are studies to back up that point. A study in the January 2006 edition of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that youth who saw more alcohol advertisements on average drank more.

Studies are revealing that people are drinking at increasingly younger ages, according to this UK article, fueling violence and anti-social behavior.

So I guess it comes down to what's more important... the health and safety of our kids... or a whole lot of freaking money!

Hmmmmmm.

Today I flew out of Sacramento on a direct flight to Chicago where I popped in my rental car to drive 2 hours to one of my favorite camps to speak at, Timber-lee Christian Camp.

I gotta admit, last night I had my doubts if I'd ever get here- the weather was looking pretty bad. My dad was flying back from Kansas City where he did a workshop and he said everything was stopped at Ohare (Chicago's Airport.. my destination this morning). Sure enough, flights were being canceled or delayed up to five hours due to heavy snow in the midwest.

So this morning I checked flight status and surprisingly everything was fine (when I was leaving my house at 4 AM). But 5 minutes before we were supposed to board we received word of a delay (figures). Chicago had a foot of snow last night and they were limiting incoming flights. I popped open my laptop and began getting some work done. They actually didn't delay long. Bottom line... we only arrived in Chicago an hour late. (Whew! There are a lot of people stuck in airports across the country right now. I squeaked through!)

I was in my rental car (a 4x4) navigating through the newly fallen snow by 1:30 PM and stopping at my favorite pizza place in the world, Giordano's, at 2:30. (I wrote about Giordannos in an earlier blog.. wow... that's some great pizza! This is my only time scheduled to pass through Chicago in the next six months... I had to get my fix!)

I arrived at the camp around dinner time and got settled in. I am excited about the weekend. I speak once tonight, twice Saturday, and once Sunday. I'm doing a new series on our two natures. Tonight I talk about the world's focus on "external," and God's focus on "internal." Tomorrow I'll dive into our two natures (Romans 8) and reveal how we need to give it up to God and let Him work in us instead of us trying to "do works." It should be a fun time.

I'd love your prayers as I speak to this group of high school kids this weekend. You can also pray for a mighty tail wind on the way home so I can catch the last 5 minutes of the SUPER BOWL!!!!    :)