| TheSource4YM.com | |
 | Jonathan’s Resource Ezine |
Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
| In This Issue |
- Featured: A Li’l Bit of Scripture in Your Teenagers’ Ears: A New Podcast Just for Teenagers
- What’s New: Dan Kimball Talks About the Issue of Homosexuality in Episode #12 of The Source Podcast, in THE SEVEN SINS of Preparing Today’s Youth for Life After High School
- Youth Culture: Time to “Bully” Once Again -Another Youth Culture Update from Jonathan’s Blog
| If you aren’t a subscriber of this EZINE and would like to subscribe – it’s free – just pop on www.TheSource4YM.com and sign up in the upper right hand corner. |
| Featured: A Li’l Bit of Scripture in Your Teenagers’ Ears: A New Podcast Just for Teenagers |
It has arrived!
Last weekend I was speaking to a few hundred teenagers in Pennsylvania and the same thing happened that always happens at the end of the weekend. A bunch of kids make decisions and get excited about reading their Bible…
…but three weeks later, they struggle to find the time to get their Bible out, find a passage to actually read… and even if they DO get their Bible out, often they have trouble understanding certain parts of what they read.
So what do we do?
Have you ever noticed that more teenagers carry iPods than Bibles?
That’s why we started a free podcast just for teenagers… helping them get just a li’l bit of scripture to get them through the day.
Wouldn’t it be cool if we could get THE WORD into their ears?
It’s here! www.ALilBit.com
A weekly-updated 10-minute podcast that digs into the Word, applies it to their lives that week, and gives them some further reading for the rest of the week! Check it out for yourself, and then spread the word!
All on www.ALilBit.com
| What’s New: Dan Kimball Talks About the Issue of Homosexuality in Episode #12 of The Source Podcast, in THE SEVEN SINS of Preparing Today’s Youth for Life After High School |
EPISODE #12
THE SOURCE4YM PODCAST, EPISODE #12
DAN: … and that leads us right into sin #4.
JONATHAN: Beautiful segue!
DAN: … which is… the sin of not addressing human sexuality and homosexuality in a Biblical. thorough, and loving way.
JONATHAN: So you’re saying, “Don’t ignore these issues.”
DAN: I wouldn’t say that in youth ministry we’ve ignored them. I think we have sometimes done a lot of damage in the way we have historically taught about them. We will go out and say “Homosexuality is a sin!” and quote Leviticus 18:22, or Leviticus 20, or Romans 1 and pull these verses out and then say, “It’s wrong! Period.” and leave it there.
JONATHAN: And never explain– never give the reason why.
DAN: And never go into the context of what was going on there, the holistic complexity of human sexuality. You’re teaching a ninth grader that homosexuality is wrong, but not talking about, well, what if a ninth grader does have same sex attraction? What should they do? How should they address it? Is your church a loving place? …trying to create a culture where it can be talked about. And I think we have basically said, “Here’s a couple Bible verses. It’s wrong.”
…I knew of a young girl who was raised in a wonderful church but they talked about homosexuality in such a way that-she was having same sex attraction-but she felt that she couldn’t talk to anybody about it. She had to wait for her college years and then she actually began experimenting in same sex relationships because the church and the youth ministry that she was involved in, even as a leader, was not allowing the discussion to be open so she could share what she was experiencing… she felt, “they’ve already painted me as this horrible sinner, therefore, why would I want to even confess that I’m having these attractions.”
So I’m thinking that we have to really address it in a different way and hold to the truth of the scripture, but we have to create a culture that’s different in our youth ministry, and children’s ministry and our whole church.
JONATHAN: And we gotta realize that our typical youth ministry might mention it… what… maybe a couple times a year? You know, in that one week… “Sex Week.” Or “Strange Beliefs Week!” … and they’ll mention it there. But we gotta realize, every TV show, every class at school, everywhere else they’re hearing, “Hey, this is fine, this is okay, and it you aren’t believing this you’re a tightwad.” And for us not being able to articulate something better than, “Because the Bible says so! Here’s one verse!” That’s probably leaving them way short.
You know Dan, a lot of people here are thinking, “Well, what does this guy with the spikey hair believe about the homosexuality issue?” So can we ask you? What is your belief on it? Because I think people are going to want to know.
DAN: Yeah, my belief is that the holistic teaching of the Bible is…
Click here for more of this FREE podcast where Dan shares his beliefs on this issue, gives 6 more sins, and provides other great pieces of wisdom for those of us equipping high school students for real life! Also here’s what else you’ll get…
Episode Highlights:
- In our YOUTH CULTURE WINDOW section of this podcast we take a peek at an issue that teenagers are very concerned about: it is either war, environmental issues, or world hunger… which do you think it is?
- Dan shares THE SEVEN SINS OF PREPARING TODAYS YOUTH FOR LIFE AFTER HIGH SCHOOL.
- We discuss how Christians are perceived by people outside the church.
- The question of “what are women’s roles in the church” is addressed, and begged to be answered.
- Dan reveals his beliefs about what the Bible says about homosexuality.
- World religions are discussed as well as how Christians often respond to people from those religions.
(CLICK HERE)
| Youth Culture: Time to “Bully” Once Again -Another Youth Culture Update from Jonathan’s Blog |
After years of writing articles about youth ministry, parenting and youth culture, Jonathan has launched a free resource at one location where people can go to get a regular dose of this content. The buzz is out… check it out for yourself… Jonathan’s Blog.
Check out the trailer your kids will see for the new Wii and Xbox 360 game “Bully: Scholarship Edition” on Jonathan’s Blog. (NOTE: it looks racy… but the preview is actually PG)
It’s Time to “Bully” Once Again
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…
Some of Jonathan’s Other Recent Blog Entries:
2008 Trendsetters
In 2008 who are the celebs that teenager girls have their eyes on the most? Jonathan looks at 2008 trendsetters like Miley and the “Gossip Girls.”
You Mean… the Lyrics DO Affect Me?
Jonathan looks at what recent studies are saying about the ties between music and sex & substance abuse.
Miley Cyrus is like… so popular!
Disney’s star of Hannah Montana is one to watch. Jonathan looks at the popularity of this young diva and some of the choices she’s making.
MTV Top 10 Artists… Not quite Role Models
MTV posted their top 10 artists on their web site this week. Jonathan takes a closer look at this list and what kind of role models some of these artists are.
Soulja Boy Up In “the What?!!”
Jonathan diggs a little deeper into this raunchy song that held the #1 spot on charts for months and shares about how now the “Superman” dance is being taught in the PE class at some public schools.
Jonathan McKee is president of The Source for Youth Ministry and author of numerous youth ministry books like “Do They Run When They See You Coming?” and “Getting Students to Show Up.” Jonathan studies youth culture and trends, speaking and training across the country and providing free online resources, training, & ideas for youth workers at www.TheSource4YM.com
Delivered free via e-mail to subscribers each week. We encourage you to distribute this newsletter freely and ask only that you not change its contents.
HAVE YOU MISSED PAST “EZINE” ARTICLES?
CLICK HERE FOR JONATHAN’S “EZINE” ARCHIVES
And for more FREE resources and ideas … go to THE SOURCE
www.TheSource4YM.com
Copyright ?2008 The Source for Youth Ministry
All rights reserved.
Jonathan McKee
Jonathan McKee is the author of over twenty books including the brand new The Guy's Guide to FOUR BATTLES Every Young Man Must Face; The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices; If I Had a Parenting Do Over; and the Amazon Best Seller - The Guy's Guide to God, Girls and the Phone in Your Pocket. He speaks to parents and leaders worldwide, all while providing free resources for youth workers on TheSource4YM.com. Jonathan, his wife Lori, and their three kids live in California.