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Jonathan’s Resource Ezine |
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
- Something You Can Use: Using Crowder’s Everything Glorious to Talk about Demi Lovato and Self Esteem Issues
- Jonathan’s Blog: Wholesome… and NOT… in the Music Charts
- Jonathan in Your City: Parenting the Texting Generation-Jonathan’s Parent Workshop Equipping Parents to Open Up the Channels of Communication in Their Home
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Main Point: Jesus Christ offers a great way to deal with issues of self-esteem through His promise of making our lives into something beautiful and glorious when we offer them to Him.
Discussion Starter: “Everything Glorious” by The David Crowder Band We’re going to listen to a song by David Crowder called, “Everything Glorious.” This song has some deep insights about who we are created to be…
It seems that not a week goes by that another Disney star checks into rehab. Sadly, Demi Lovato has been having some emotional struggles lately. Although there are conflicting reports about whether or not cutting was the primary reason Demi Lovato checked herself into a rehab center, the fact that she is struggling emotionally and physically is very obvious. And just like her, many of us sometimes struggle with self-esteem issues and whether we matter to anybody. This song by David Crowder is great reminder of a truth from God’s word that we’re going to unpack tonight…
Wholesome… and Not… in the Music Charts
The music charts have had some interesting movement in the last few weeks, some wholesome stuff, and still plenty of the “not-so-wholesome.” I always find it intriguing to see what our kids are listening to.
A FEW OBSERVATIONS:
1. Willa Smith (10-year-old daughter of Will Smith) found #1 on the iTunes video charts with her new song and video Whip My Hair. The song is well done and the video is really cute. (Wow, am I showing my age? Only a dad would say… “this is cute!”) No one is dressed risque’ in this video, the lyrics aren’t about picking people up in the club… speaking candidly, it’s a breath of fresh air. I saw it as high as #2 on iTunes for songs in the last week, it currently rests at #13 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. Not bad for a 10-year-old singing a clean song!
My only worry- in all honesty- is what fame can do to a 10-year-old. I hear from numerous sources (including Scott Derrickson when I interviewed him about Jayden Smith in his film “The Day the Earth Stood Still”) that Will and Jada are really good parents. So I hope the best for her. But fame creates a lot of pressure, as we’ve seen over and over again recently (Demi Lovato)
2. Glee did a version of Katy Perry’s racy song Teenage Dream this week and it immediately catapulted to #1 on iTunes and didn’t budge all week. This shows you the incredible draw and power of this show. Many of you read my two cents about the show before the launch of Season 2. Season 2 has proven to be edgier and even more risqué’. I was bummed when I saw them redo Teenage Dream. If you wonder why I don’t like the Katy’s Teenage Dream, just Google the lyrics of the song or… grab your accountability partner and co-watch the music video (And while you’re watching the video, especially at the 2 minute to 2 1/2 minute mark, realize that 28 million people have watched this video on YouTube alone! Yikes!)
3. Black Eyed Peas are back with a new dance song called “The Time (Dirty Bit).” The song is #2 right now, I predict it will go #1 in no time. Black Eyed Peas are amazingly talented, but keep putting out these typical “I wanna lose control” club dance songs. Sometimes the lyrics are clean, like I’ve Gotta Feeling,” but with really raunchy videos- I’ve talked about that before. Other times they try to slip some raunchy stuff under the radar– but our kids know what they’re talking about. I showed a sobering example of this (an insight into their lyrics and an interesting YouTube video of kids performing their song) with their song “Imma Be.” Regardless… they are back!
Other noteworthy observations:
- Another clean option- Taylor Swift’s new “Speak Now” album is selling like gangbusters (what exactly is a “gangbuster?”), claiming Billboard’s #1 spot on the Top 200 Albums, the #2 album spot on iTunes, and with six of the songs from the album in iTunes top 200 downloaded songs.
- Rihanna teamed up with rapper Drake for the song What’s My Name. That song flew to #1 on the Billboard charts, which isn’t as quick to move as iTunes (iTunes changes almost hourly- revealing trends like the Glee song, where Billboard won’t reflect those changes for a week). Don’t underestimate Rihanna. She’s getting racier and her new album “Rated R” will be releasing November 23- her first album to bare the “explicit lyrics” label. Hmmmmm.
- Katy Perry still owns the charts, with her Glee song at #1 on iTunes, her new song Firework at #1 for videos on iTunes, #4 for song, and #10 on Billboard. My thoughts on Katy here.
Keep talking with your kids about the music they listen to. The lyrics do affect them.
Make use of our MUSIC DISCUSSION pages on both TheSource4YM.com (for youth workers) and TheSource4Parents.com (for parents)…different discussions for each page. If our kids are already listening to this stuff, let’s use it to get to the Gospel!
Other Topics Jonathan Blogged about Recently:
Jonathan McKee is the author of the upcoming book, Candid Confessions of an Imperfect Parent, and numerous youth ministry books about connecting with teenagers. He speaks at conferences and events all across North America, teaching parenting workshops, and educating youth workers about the effect of media and pop culture on the brand new web site TheSource4Parents.com. Jonathan lives in Northern California with his wife and three teenagers.
AN EYE-OPENING GLIMPSE INTO YOUTH CULTURE!
This seminar encourages parents that they CAN make a difference in the lives of their kids, and equips them to do just that. Jonathan gives us a glimpse into the highly sexualized world of youth culture and exposes the media messages your kids are immersing themselves with. Learn how to filter these influences and teach our kids discernment. Discover how to build lasting values and glean a few ideas that will help you open the channels of communication in your house.
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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.