eZine 11.10.2009

Weekly Resources, Ideas and Articles from The Source for Youth Ministry
Tuesday, November 10, 2009

If you’re intrigued by youth culture and the direction it’s going today, you’ll love this conversation between two youth culture gurus! – Episode #30 (11/9/2009)

If you wanna know what’s going on in youth culture…and how to help teenagers navigate it…you need to check out this podcast!

Walt Mueller sits in on this episode and talks with Jonathan about current trends in youth culture. They converse about how culture has changed, and also about its effect on kids. Grab a notepad because Walt shares some practical ideas for handling today’s youth culture and helping parents move from thinking for their kids to thinking with their kids… preparing them for the time when they have to think for themselves.

Listen to it now for free on iTunes! (CLICK HERE) Or, if you don’t have iTunes already… jump on Apple’s web page for a free download, then click on our podcast page.

Episode Highlights:

• Hear what Walt thinks are the major shifts in youth culture today
• Learn which artists Jonathan listened to in the 80’s
• Understand the difference between thinking FOR our kids versus thinking WITH them
• Learn how Jonathan uses the pause button at home with his kids
• Discover some of the subtle lies embedded within youth culture’s message
• Get Jonathan and Walt’s take on MTV’s recent Video Music Awards show

An article from David R. Smith at TheSource4YM.com

What can producers and celebrities do when their sex-saturated content no longer sells albums, boosts ratings, or stands out? They have to up the ante, of course.

Maybe that’s why we’re seeing so many threesomes in youth media, lately.

Making Sexy Even Sexier
You may be surprised to learn this, but not even sex is immune to poor ratings. That’s right. When culture runs uncensored and becomes saturated with sex and sensuality, somebody has to figure out a new recipe that will allow them to distance themselves from the rest of the racy pack. In other words, they have to make sexy even sexier.

We’ve seen this before, remember?

Think back to the day when sex between one guy and one girl caught our attention. It made headlines and infuriated media watchdogs. When this lost its spark, media turned to girl-on-girl kissing. Madonna kissed Britney and the image appeared on the front page of newspapers and on magazine covers across the globe. Media producers realized, “This is huge!”

Fast forward just a bit when Katy Perry hit the top of the charts with “I Kissed a Girl.” Music videos began banking on girl-on-girl kissing, like the hit video from The Black Eyed Peas entitled “I Gotta Feeling,” and the music video from Cobra Starship’s “Good Girls Go Bad.” When in doubt, get a girl to kiss another girl.

Recently, NBC’s Heroes’ ratings took a downhill turn. The solution? Let’s have Claire’s female roommate get “bi-curious” and kiss her. The network leaked photos of the kiss and tried to create a buzz, an obvious “slumpbusting publicity stunt.”

The mindset is this: two girls will always be better than one. If the last few years have proven anything, it’s that lesbianism and girl-on-girl action can capture enough attention to bolster ratings, fill theaters, and sell albums.

But what must you do when everybody’s got two girls going at it?

Make it a threesome.

Yep, that’s exactly what some of culture’s biggest names have done recently. They’ve discovered that threesomes (sex between three people) are the ticket to higher ratings, albums sold, and enthralled fans. Take a look at the sexy math these cultural icons have been doing lately…

CLICK HERE FOR THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE

David R. Smith is the Director of Content Development at TheSource4YM.com, providing truly free resources and ideas that help youth workers reach kids. David speaks and trains around the U.S., sharing the gospel, and equipping others to do the same.

It’s fun, it’s informative, it’s gritty… it’s Jonathan’s Blog.

Cover Design
Posted on Monday, November 09, 2009 1:59 PM
Last week I shared with you a little about my new book CONNECT, a book that I think will be a great tool helping anyone who is connecting with today’s teenagers (many of you have already pre-ordered it- you’ll get it early December).

I recently received the full cover design– the people at Zondervan did a great job with this one. You have seen the front cover- now the back cover is done too. They added some of the endorsements from guys who’ve read the book and are plugging it: Dan Kimball, Walt Mueller, Jim Burns, Dare 2 Share’s Greg Stier and Young Life’s Dan Jessup. Check it out:

I also like how they added the “six types of kids” that we need to connect with to the back cover. Good stuff.

On the front- I’m excited that they kept my little “chain link” icon that I’ve been using for my CONNECT seminar for the past few years. They incorporated it nicely into the front cover design. Those of you who saw the cover before might also notice a small change on the front. They added Dr. Dave Rahn’s quote on the front– great quote.

Click here to get our special deal on this book. We’ve got the lowest price, we’re shipping it early December (everyone else is in January), and we’re giving away a free ppt. training that corresponds with the book- one that you youth workers can use to train your leaders how to connect with students.

Teenagers have choices, and they make them based on what they see in life. When they see hypocrisy in the lives of other “Christian” teenagers, the decision to follow Christ becomes more difficult. Many wonder, “What’s the real difference?” or “Does following Christ truly matter?” Now you have a brand new lesson from our MOVIE CLIP DISCUSSION page to help you answer these questions. This resource has everything you need, including the video clip to show from the movie, that hasn’t even been released yet!

Main Point: Even though there is hypocrisy in Christianity, following Jesus Christ is the most rewarding and valuable path in life.

The Movie Clip: Is It Worth It?
To Save A Life is a powerful movie about the real-life challenges of teens and their choices. But it’s more than just a movie-it’s a story about change and a powerful reminder of how we can all make a difference in someone’s life. At some point, every teen has to decide: “What’s my life going to be about?” To Save A Life dares to bring that question into their world, encouraging them to answer it with boldness, honesty, and Christ-likeness.

Introducing the Clip:
I want to show you a clip from the movie To Save a Life. Jake, who you’ll meet in this scene, is a popular kid from an unchurched background who has recently visited youth group and is open to the idea of following Jesus with his life. The problem is that he’s seen hypocrisy amongst the Christians he knows, so he has a one-on-one conversation with the youth leader to try and sort out the dilemma he sees. Check it out.

Transitional Statement:
In this scene you can feel the dilemma Jake is trying to process, and the youth leader is careful not to give oversimplified or ?churchy’ answers. Rather he is trying to paint a picture that helps Jake look at his options and decide for himself.

Divide into Small Groups:
Let’s go ahead and split up into our discussion groups, and then afterward we’ll come back together for a final word.

CLICK HERE FOR THE ENTIRE LESSON, INCLUDING SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS, A CORRESPONDING BIBLE PASSAGE, AND A WRAP UP

It’s often difficult to “show” someone the concept of faith, but this OPENER helps you do just that. Your kids won’t soon forget this activity, or the lesson behind.

Passage: Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

Opener: Hand out balloons to different students in your group. Have them blow the balloons up and tie them off. Ask each student that has a balloon to come to the front of the room with the balloon. You will need to have a table at the front of the room that is turned upside down so that the legs of the table are sticking up into the air. Have each student with a balloon stick their balloon under the surface of the table. You should have at least….

CLICK HERE FOR MORE