eZine 06.29.2010

Main Point of Discussion: The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:17)

IMPORTANT NOTE TO LEADER ABOUT DISCERNMENT: We at The Source for Youth Ministry believe that certain elements in our youth culture can serve as good discussion jump starters with students. At the same time, we would never hope to introduce a student to a negative influence that they haven’t already encountered. This balance is a delicate one.

In our experience most students, churched and unchurched, keep pretty current with music and music videos. Thanks to YouTube, MTV.com, and iTunes, the most popular music videos and songs are free to access only a click away.

This music video is not in good taste. Katy Perry is scantily clad through most of it-no surprise-but also spends significant time naked (lying on a “cloud” on her stomach) and tops it off in a ridiculous scene where she plants whipped cream spray cans to her breasts and shoots the contents into the air, rather triumphantly. So we don’t recommend you show the video, despite the fact that many kids in your group likely have already viewed it. Instead we recommend playing the audio only, or just passing out the lyrics of the song-the suggestive lyrics’ lack of subtlety will more than get the song’s message across.

The Song: “California Gurls”

Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” is #1 on iTunes and Billboard’s Hot 100 this week. She performed it live at the MTV Movie Awards recently. Most kids are familiar with the song. The question is: To what extent have they considered the message this very, very catchy and supremely popular tune is communicating?

You know when you eat really good potato chips or ice cream? Once you take a bite, it’s hard to eat just one. Pretty soon you’ve devoured the whole thing and wish you hadn’t. Listening to really well-done pop music has a similar effect: The hook and beat draw you in, and before you know it, you’re singing the lyrics (at least in your head) and nodding your noggin’ in agreement with the singer, no matter how far out of bounds the lyrical subject matter is.

“California Gurls,” besides being filled to the top with catchy hooks and melodies, boasts provocative lyrics and sexually brazen thematic elements that coax listeners-at the very least-to take a voyeuristic leap into a universe where anything goes and all wishes are fulfilled, which is attractive to most fans of pop and rock music.

This discussion will use the song as a springboard to talk about how we can respond when our culture (or at least the songs of our culture) beckons us to live selfishly, far away from the place God wants us.

Introducing the Song-SAY THIS:
“Here’s a song that’s #1 right now on iTunes and the Billboard charts. I definitely don’t endorse the message of this song-and even though many of you have already seen the official music video or the live performance of the song on the MTV movie awards, I’m not going to show the video here. Very little is subtle or hidden in this song, so let’s examine its messages and weigh them with what we know to be best for us in the long run?

Dave Urbanski is a veteran writer, editor, and critic on the subjects of music, film, youth culture, and Christianity, as well as the author of The Man Comes Around: The Spiritual Journey of Johnny Cash. He lives with his wife and sons near Princeton, New Jersey..

What Twilight Fans Can Expect
The Twilight saga is such big news right now that we actually are hearing buzz about the next two films… and I think you’ll want to hear what they just announced about the sex in Breaking Dawn, the next film in the making. But first… the film that comes out this Wednesday, June 30th: Eclipse.

Some fans got an early glimpse of the film last Thursday. The word “some” may be misleading, because when you’re talking about the Twilight Saga, “some” means thousands. I would have hated to have been around Nokia Plaza in downtown L.A. yesterday where 9,000 wristbands were handed out to screaming Twilight fans gathering for the Eclipse premier. What a madhouse. This young generation just can’t get enough Twilight.

Personally, after New Moon, I can’t believe there are any Twilight fans left. But seeing the mindset of most Twilight fans… I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.

This Wednesday, Eclipse hits theatres around the nation. So what can we expect to see with this new film? That’s a good question. Forget speculation– our movie reviewer Todd Pearage will be watching the film and delivering his two cents on our MOVIE REVIEW PAGE opening day Wednesday (you may remember when David, Todd and I saw New Moon on the opening weekend last year and reviewed the film for you).

But it’s not Eclipse, but the following film Breaking Dawn that the news is talking about right now. Because yesterday at the premier, Twilight screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg told People Magazine, “You will see sex- Yes!” She went on. “The relationship (between Edward and Bella) does go all the way in the book, so in the movie it will as well. You are going to see more skin in Breaking Dawn than you did in the other films.”

I guess the sensuality we saw in the first film is going to run its course.

Hmmmmm.

Other Topics Jonathan Blogged about Recently:

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:

• Find out which “recent” movie Dan just watched with his family
• Gain exposure to some of the toughest questions/objections to the biblical notion of Hell
• Learn why the church’s message on Hell has gotten “mushy” over the years… and how to prevent it
• Hear who Jonathan thinks he bumped into at an airport