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Does today’s church believe in absolute truth? Does today’s church even know what absolute truth is?

There’s no doubt that the culture around us is on a downward spiral as far as morality is concerned. What worries me is that many within the church today can’t discern truth well enough to know where and if that downward spiral is taking place. The problem with deception is that it usually starts out small. Anyone can spot a blatant lie from a long ways away, at least you would hope so. However, when truth becomes blurry and lies begin to blend with truth, the result is a concoction that appears desirable yet actually is deadly.

In order to see this, all you have to do is look at modern media. Eat Pray Love, a movie starring Julia Roberts, is currently at the box office. Here’s what a reviewer at PluggedInOnline.com had to say about the movie and the main character, Liz:

Like so many before her, Liz has turned her back on a godly religious conviction and morality, and sought a less challenging spiritual system instead. A system that requires only vaguely sending “light and love” to others rather than buckling down and fighting for a covenant relationship’s survival and growth when things are emotionally difficult. A system that encourages sweetly masked self-indulgence over real self-sacrifice, and salvation without real repentance. Instead of God and His majesty, Ms. Gilbert wants cheap grace to help her get through her needlessly miserable days.

While people may be quick to discount this as only a “movie” or “mere entertainment,” the reality is many women have taken her advice and have attempted to find “themselves” through the same means as the character in the book/film. While there may be elements to the story that are uplifting, encouraging, and positive, there are also elements to the story that are self-indulgent and potentially dangerous. Is today’s society, especially today’s church, able to filter the good from the bad?

While some have blended elements of truth with elements other sources, many have attempted to ignore truth altogether and present sinful behavior as desirable. Take a TV show like Pretty Little Liars for example. The show has been rising in fame, most notable among teenage girls. It actually won the 2010 Teen Choice Award for “Choice Summer TV Show.” Teen show. Award winner. On ABC Family. Should be an acceptable show for teenage girls to watch, right? Not quite. The show has included storylines involving the main female characters “experimenting” with lesbianism. While some may say that they’re just portraying life how it actually is, I would beg to differ. I don’t believe that’s where we are yet. (Sadly, the keyword might be “yet”) Rather, I think that is where the producers and writers want to take our culture. They know they have influence. They know they have ratings. They know they can spread their agenda and people will listen.

Sadly, talk to any youth pastor in this country and there’s a good chance he’ll tell you that many of his teens are influenced by shows and movies like the ones I mentioned above. They get hooked in with the drama, scandals, sex, and provocativeness, and they sit through the agendas, propaganda, and blatant messages that the writers attempt to get across. Before too long, they believe THAT is reality and see nothing wrong with the sinful acts presented on TV because they look quite desirable and fun. To be honest, I think young adults fall into this same trap too.

What influence do these shows, movies, books, music, etc have on us? The truth is we can’t solely watch only for entertainment value because what we watch becomes part of us. It begins to shape our worldview. Don’t believe me? Then why do we get defensive when someone badmouths a show we watch or even objectively disagrees with what the show promotes and endorses?

To be honest, it almost seems like we’ll defend our favorite (trashy) TV show before we’ll defend the truth of Scripture. Sometimes we’ll defend our favorite TV show OVER the truth of Scripture.

My concern is that either we don’t know how to discern truth, or we’re refusing to because it would force us to change our guilty pleasures.

Sadly, I think truth is dying in many churches today. We may say we believe in the truth of Scripture, but in no way do we allow that same Scripture to direct our lives and shape who we are.

It used to be that we had teenagers in the church who had no sense of right or wrong. Now those teenagers have become parents and their skewed view of truth is what is helping shape the lives of their children.

When we don’t have a firm understanding of truth and what we believe and why we believe it, we will be influenced by anything and everything. Every new idea, fad, lifestyle, and “religious idea” will intrigue us. When discernment takes a backseat to intrigue and entertainment, we turn our backs on the truth in which we claim to believe.

If you have been involved with youth ministry for any length of time, I’m sure you’re familiar with the name Walt Mueller. Walt Mueller is the founder and President of CPYU, the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding. Last Friday he was in a serious bike accident. The following message is from an email from CPYU:

A few days ago I received an email from one of our writers. Upon receiving our magazine in the mail, this is what he had to say:

David,

I am just blown away by the sheer awesome-ness, relevance, and Christ-
centeredness of this magazine. I wanted you to know that. Please, if
there are more opportunities in the future where I could possibly be a
help or contribute at all to Randall House Magazines, let me know. You
are by far the best Christian Magazine I’ve ever been published in, or
read. And I mean that! Thank you so much for contacting me.

I’m not posting that to brag on our magazines or even to try to show how great we are. In fact, upon reading the email, I was shocked and humbled.

But what that letter did for my day cannot be understated. By taking time to express appreciation and gratitude, the writer encouraged me in so many ways. It was an encouragement to see a teenager be so encouraged by what we do. It was an encouragement to see a teenager so on fire for what he believes. It was an encouragement to know someone appreciates what we do. It was an encouragement to see what we’re doing at Randall House is actually making a difference.

Encouraging words go a long way. We often don’t realize the magnitude of encouragement until someone encourages us. It’s easy for us to toss out a compliment or meaningful word to someone. By just uttering a simple phrase, spending a few minutes on an email or card, or even sending a text we can change someone’s hour, day, or even week.

Take the opportunity to make a difference in someone’s day. Offer up a word of encouragement to someone day. Regardless of how simple it may be, it could be a world of difference!

Last week I posted some statistics about adults that texted while driving. Well new numbers have come out from the LG Text Ed Survey. You can find the results by click here. Here are some of the things that stood out most from the research:

• 44 percent of parents admitted to texting and driving.
• 28 percent of parents admit to engaging in some form of “sexting”
• 42 percent of parents admit to texting someone while at the dinner table; whereas 69 percent of teens admit to texting at the dinner table.

• 45 percent of teens admit to texting and driving. And only 4 percent of parents believe their teens ever text while driving.
• 41 percent of teens admit to sending, receiving, or forwarding a text that said something sexual, while only 11 percent of parents thought their teens had ever sexted.

• 90 percent of texting parents felt closer to their teen as a result of the medium.
• 58 percent of teens said being able to text their parents made them feel closer.
• 83 percent of teens prefer their parents check in with them via text.

Source: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/do-as-i-say-not-as-i-text-98497159.html

I’m always intrigued by awards shows that cater to teenagers and kids. Seeing the nominees and winners gives you some sort of an idea of where their culture is and where it is headed (or maybe the direction in which corporate American wants their culture to go).

The nominees have been listed for the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, which takes place on August 9. Here are a few things that caught my eye. Feel free to draw your own conclusions about the state of teen culture:

- Eclipse led the way with 17 nominations. 11 of those nominations were for Taylor Lautner

- Katy Perry of “I Kissed a Girl” fame is hosting the Teen Choice Awards

- Here are the shows nominated for Best Teen Drama:
90210
Gossip Girl
Grey’s Anatomy
House
The Secret Life of the American Teenager

- Nominees for Choice TV Show: Comedy include primetime network shows (The Big Bang Theory, Glee, Modern Family) as well as Disney Channel Shows (Sonny With a Chance, Wizards of Waverly Place)

- Here are the nominees for Choice TV: Animated Show: (Looks like the days of SpongeBob SquarePants are long gone)
American Dad
The Cleveland Show
Family Guy
South Park
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

- The awards show includes the following categories:
Choice TV: Reality Show
Choice TV: Reality Competition Show
Choice TV: Male Reality/Variety Star
Choice TV: Female Reality/Variety Star

- Miley Cyrus is nominated for 13 awards

- Presenters include Khloe, Kim and Kourtney Kardashian

- Salt has been nominated for Choice Summer Movie, even though it doesn’t release until July 23 and voting is already underway

- 3 of the 5 nominations for Choice Movie: Comedy carry an R-rating, meaning teenagers 13-16 can’t even see them on their own. 4 of the 5 nominees for Choice Movie: Horror/Thriller carry R-ratings.

- Marmaduke was nominated for Choice Movie: Animated, although it can be argued that it’s not even an animated movie (There’s no point to this statement…other than it looks like the panel had to stretch hard to get 5 nominees)

- Nominees for Choice: Music Rap Artist:
Drake
Eminem
Jay-Z
Ludacris
Pit Bull

Just some things I found interesting. Like I said, whether this depicts teen culture or only the organizations that have the most money within teen culture…I don’t know. But regardless I think we can learn a lot about today’s youth culture thru these award shows.

Have you seen this Silly Bandz things? I’m not quite sure what they are or what they’re supposed to do, but evidently they’re extremely popular. From what I can tell, they just look like colorful rubber bands that are shaped like ducks, sharks, or some Disney character, and they’re worn around the wrist. They’re also relatively cheap, which probably helps the fad. Regardless of whether you think they’re awesome or cheap and overrated, there’s no denying the love that kids seem to have for them.

Silly Bandz is bringing in over $200 million a year right now, and that number is climbing. The bands are so popular that some schools have even had to ban them because they’re a distraction for students.

While I really don’t have much interest in Silly Bandz, their popularity got me thinking about some of the best/crazies toys or “trends” from the last 25 years. Here’s what I came up with. What do you think should be added to the list?

Furbies

Beanie Babies

Tickle Me Elmo

Pogs

Wii

Pokemon

Tamagotchi/Nano pets

TMNT

The evidence seems to be growing but now it’s hit a very weird point. Several months ago, reports came out from divorce lawyers that said Facebook was to blame for failed marriages. In a nutshell, spouses were reuniting with old flames, becoming too acquainted with friends of the opposite sex, or meeting new potential partners through Facebook. According to an article in USA Today, the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers says 81% of its members have used or faced evidence from Facebook, MySpace,Twitter and other social networking sites, including YouTube and LinkedIn, over the last five years.

As sad as that is, it’s probably not too shocking. However, the news has continued to get weird. According to an article from Lindsay Robertson of Yahoo! Movies, some women have nearly destroyed their marriages by neglecting their spouses in favor of Twilight-related activities.

It gets weirder. As if that wasn’t enough, apparently FarmVille and World of Warcraft are now to blame for ruined marriages. Men and women are neglecting their spouse and their children in favor of taking care of a virtual farm of fake animals and crops, or fighting mythological creatures in quests on the computer.

While it’s easy to point the finger at Facebook, Twilight, FarmVille, and World of Warcraft, I think we would be pointing the finger in the wrong direction if we passed the blame off on them. While all of those things take up our time and attention, ultimately WE are the ones who choose to spend time on those things. WE choose to get on Facebook. WE choose who we talk to, flirt with, meet up with, and pursue a relationship with. WE choose to spend all day on Twilight message boards. WE choose to give lunch to a virtual cow rather than make lunch for our own children.

When we pass the blame onto a web site or book or game, we’re ultimately removing responsibility from ourselves and placing it on some “thing.”

The truth of the matter is divorce happens because a person or both people fail to live up to their responsibility as a husband or wife. It’s not the fault of Facebook or FarmVille. Those things can be vehicles which help get us off track, but ultimately the responsibility falls on us.

That is why it is so important to have a marriage that is grounded in Christ. If anything else is the basis of our relationship or marriage, we’re building it on a weak foundation.

It seems like all of the PSAs, ads, commercials, etc. about driving and texting are focused at teenagers. From the sound of it, you would think 99% of teens text and drive, and all other demographics are innocent. Well, all you have to do is lift up your head from your phone to realize there’s a bigger problem at hand.

According to research from InformationWeek, adults text while driving more than teens. The study shows that nearly half of all texting adults say they have sent or read a text message on their phone while driving, compared to about one-third of teenagers.

Neither group is excusable, and this doesn’t give teenagers a reason to point the finger and pretend to be innocent.

Information from the rest of the study can be found at InformationWeek‘s website. You can find it by clicking here.

However, I don’t know if we can expect teenagers to abide by the law if their parents aren’t following it themselves.

Parents, set the example. Your teen is watching. If you don’t want your teen to text behind the wheel, set the standard by putting the phone away while you drive. Whatever it is you need to send or read can wait. It might save your life, as well as the lives of many others.

Via: Online MBA

When Toy Story 3 brought in $110 million in its opening weekend it continued Pixar’s streak of 11 straight movies debuting at No. 1. Not only is 11 straight an incredible streak, but it also amazing considering Pixar has only released 11 feature films. They are a perfect 11/11.

In an age where many movies try to push the envelope, Pixar stands out as different from other companies. There’s something different about the way they go about their business. There’s something different about their standard for excellence. When we look at what this state of the art company has done, I think there are some lessons we can learn from Pixar:

1. Do Everything With Excellence
Allegedly the first script for the first Toy Story movie was so horrendous that production was shut down and a script had to be rewritten. Not many companies would start from scratch, but Pixar did. The idea for Toy Story 2 was to have it go straight to video and be a short 60 minute film. However, the product that was produced was so impressive that it was expanded and sent to theaters. Whether you observe the dialogue, the script, the humor, or the visuals, everything at Pixar seems to be done with the utmost excellence. Whether it’s making animated hair blow in the wind, or find the perfect voice for a character, excellence seems to be a top priority of the company.

2. Quality Over Quantity
The idea for Wall-E was first conceived in 1994. However, the idea wasn’t rushed into action. In fact, the movie did not hit theaters until 2008. That’s a long time to sit on an idea; however, a great work of art was created. Also, consider this: Pixar has released 11 full length feature films since 1995, all of which have hit No. 1. Since 1998, DreamWorks Animation has released 20 full-length films. While we all remember Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Monster’s Inc, and Cars, how many people actually remember much about Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Flushed Away, Bee Movie, or Shark Tale? In an industry that is more about “What have you done for me lately?” rather than “How great can we make this?” Pixar stands above the rest.

3. You Don’t Have to Be Crude to Be Noticed
Have you noticed the innocence in Pixar films? There’s no bad language, no sex, no graphic violence. You would expect movies that are squeaky clean to only be for adults. However, adults may actually enjoy Pixar films more than the youngsters. The messages and teachings in the movie are pure. There’s no need to sell out to sex or crude humor to sell because a product that is done with excellence sells itself. Too many of today’s movies are so weak on content that they have to try to appeal to today’s world by infusing sex and bad language all throughout their movies. Not Pixar.

4. Go Beyond What Is Expected
Movies have been around for awhile. It’s very difficult to “wow” people or catch them off-guard. However, Pixar has found a way to do this by going above and beyond. When people leave the theater after seeing a Pixar movie, most people leave impressed. If you look at critic sites like Rotten Tomatoes, you’ll find that every Pixar movie has been given an overall positive (“fresh”) rating, with some of them holding the highest ratings of any films in history.

5. Think Outside the Box
When you break it down, Pixar isn’t your typical movie-making company. There aren’t “real” people in the movies; it’s all digital animation. And most of the time, people aren’t even the main characters. Think about the leading roles in Pixar’s films: toys, cars, bugs, robots, monsters, rats, fish, and superheroes. Not your typical heroines! Not your typical movie-going experience. However, Pixar has encouraged everyone to think outside the box and dream bigger than what may seem the norm.

The following objective is posted on Pixar’s website:

Pixar’s objective is to combine proprietary technology and world-class creative talent to develop computer-animated feature films with memorable characters and heartwarming stories that appeal to audiences of all ages.

I think they’ve done a pretty good job of that, and taught us all a few lessons along the way.