Why We Do It. . . .

I was supposed to be in San Diego tonight. . . spending time with my wife and a whole bunch of friends who have not only devoted their lives to doing what we do, but who inspire us to pursue our unique calling with CPYU with excellence, passion, and integrity. A couple of thousand youth workers are gathered there at the National Youthworkers Convention as a community to be challenged, equipped, and refreshed so that they might be better able to pursue their unique callings as messengers of the Good News about Jesus Christ, walking with kids into the liberating life in the Kingdom of God.

Since we can't be there this time around, I'm committed to praying for what's happening this weekend on the other side of the country. I'm praying for my friends as they stand before youth workers to present the fruit of their labors in seminars. I'm praying for the youth workers who are the real heroes in San Diego. And, I'm praying that together, everyone will be challenged and equipped to address the deep hurt, pain, and spiritual groanings of a generation of kids that not only doesn't have it easy, but is living in a world where fewer and fewer voices point them to the Redeemer.

If you don't know how to pray for the kids and the people called to minister to them, give this video a look. This gives a glimpse into why we all do what we do. A special thanks to my friend Travis Deans, who gave me a heads-up about it.

It's Getting Close! . . . .

I'll keep this short and sweet! Circumstances (ie - a railroad crossing that swallowed my front tire) I encountered back on July 30th forced me to fore go my plans to take a 100 mile bicycle ride in late August to raise money for our long overdue tech replacement needs here at CPYU (ie - a new server to keep us connected to the world and two new presentation laptops to keep us connected with seminar-goers). I'm still recovering from my trip over the handlebars and onto the road, and probably won't be doing any serious riding again until the Spring.

But just when I thought my ride would never happen, some other people volunteered to take it for me. That's going to be happening next Wednesday afternoon when four members of our CPYU staff (Derek, Cliff, Chris, and my wife Lisa) hop on their bikes to ride 25 miles together on the Conewago Trail. Together, they'll ride 100 miles on October 6. Most important, together they hope to raise the $7300 still needed to reach our goal of $15,000 for our tech replacement needs.

You were all going to hear from me back in mid-August as I was going to be soliciting sponsors for my ride. Now, I'm asking you to prayerfully consider sponsoring our staff as they "(Finish) Walt's Ride for CPYU." I can't stress enough how important and necessary these computer upgrades are for us at this time. We need to make this happen. Your donation toward the ride can help make it happen. It's as simple as this: If 200 people would step up and each donate $36.50, we'd reach our goal of $7300!

To donate to the ride, just click here and you'll get all the information you need about making an online donation. Any gift - no matter how large or how small - will be greatly appreciated, not only by our staff, but by all those youth workers, parents, pastors, educators, and others around the world who rely on their connection to us both virtually and in person to feed their knowledge of today's kids and how to reach them for Jesus Christ.

Thanks so much for considering my request.

A Little Ethical Exercise for Your Students. . . .

We've gotten pretty good at telling our kids what to believe, sometimes without ever taking the time to consider what they already believe, how they've come to those conclusions, and how those beliefs influence their lives. A little listening goes a long way. Not only that, but if we take the time to listen, kids know that they've been heard. So, when we open our mouths to teach kids the truth or to challenge their opinions (that are - at times - way, way out there), they're more prone to hear and consider what we have to say. That's one of the secrets to good dialogue. And good dialogue is always a prerequisite to spiritual nurture.

A news story circulating this morning caught my eye as one of those opportunities to dialogue about real-life ethical issues and culture. This one is unfolding in New York City, where a 30-year-old art teacher at an elementary school in the Bronx has been pretty straightforward in an article she wrote for the Huffington Post about her past as a "sex worker." Not surprisingly, people are upset and there is a growing debate raging about whether or not she should have been hired to teach young kids in the first place.

This morning, I quickly read the article penned by Melissa Petro for the Huffington Post, along with a report from the New York Daily News on the story. While I'll reserve more in-depth comment until a later time when I know more about Petro and the context of her remarks, there are some initial reactions I have.

As a Dad, I'm very concerned about the character of the people who teach my kids in school. Sure, Petro says the experience left her "spiritually bankrupt." I'd love to know more about what that means to her, along with what she's done to remedy that spiritual bankruptcy. Depending on what that means, she could teach kids some amazing lessons that might just save them from adopting dangerous beliefs or making horrible decisions of their own later in life. Those who have been there and done that can issue powerful and credible warnings.

Of even greater concern might be Petro's foundational beliefs about human rights and authority. I know that my life is not my own and that I answer to someone much higher than myself or any philosophical life foundations that I could ever dream up on my own, adopt, or feel good about. I always hope and pray that my kids are around people who do the same, so that they are better equipped to converse, love on, work with, play with, and minister to those who think and live differently. Those are just some initial thoughts.

What I really want to encourage you to seize on is the timeliness of this story as it unfolds. I would sit down with your more mature kids and students and have them read the stories I've linked to, along with the countless others that are sure to flood the internet and airwaves over the coming days. Ask them what they think about Petro, the school, the hiring of her as a teacher, the reaction of the school's parents, etc. What a great window into how your kids are thinking and what they believe. Remember, listen hard. . . but follow that up with some clear guidance and direction . . . . guidance and direction that comes from that someone much higher than ourselves and the revealed Word that that someone has graciously given to us.

I'd love to know where your conversations on this one go. What do you think?

Over The Edge With The New Skyy Vodka Ad. . . .

I always get a little nervous about talking about things like this. . . the "this" in this case being the latest Skyy Vodka print and billboard advertising campaign that was announced today. Sure, there's concern about kickback from our friends who think that we shouldn't be looking at or talking about things like this. But for me, it's more the way the old cliche - "any publicity is good publicity" - might play out because I'm telling people about something I think they should be aware of.

Let me make this short and sweet. This new ad campaign leaves little to the imagination. For that reason, kids will be looking at and talking about this ad. . . which is exactly why we should be doing the same. . . with them. It might not be the teachable moment we had hoped for, but it's a teachable moment nonetheless.

Here's the ad. . . .



Chris Wagner, our Director of Media Resources, pointed me to this story today. He reminded me that I had just penned a Trend Alert on kids, alcohol, and an alarming new way some kids are reportedly abusing Vodka. Timely, I guess.

And by the way, if you're wondering where you can find that upcoming Trend Alert, you have to be subscribed to our weekly Youth Culture e-update. Don't worry, it's free. And because we've got another free new monthly resource we're about to announce that will include this Trend Alert, you might want to sign up now. Just click here to sign up.

"What Lindsay Lohan Really Wants To Know. . . ."

Her roller coaster life seems to make the headlines every day. And just when you think she's got her life back on track, it all derails into an ugly mess one more time. Sure, Lindsay Lohan is now a 24-year-old adult, but her few years of adulthood have been built on the very shaky foundation of a childhood which was - like the childhood of most child stars - never really a childhood at all. These kinds of childhoods seem - more often than not - to be precursors for a miserable and maladjusted adulthood. Sure, Lindsay Lohan is now responsible for herself and she needs to take charge of her out-of-control life. . . a task which I'm sure is much easier said than done. But Lindsay Lohan also serves as an example of how incredibly difficult it is for an adult to connect the dots in a way that leads to a healthy adulthood, when all the dots of her childhood were connected in wrong ways when she should have just been allowed to be a kid.

As I read the latest on Lindsay Lohan over the weekend, I couldn't help but think of the things child development expert David Elkind was writing twenty-five years ago in books like All Grown Up and No Place to Go and The Hurried Child. What Elkind knew then was that kids were being ripped off. What we know now is that Elkind was right, not only in his assessment of how kids were being ripped off, but in his predictions regarding how the robbery of their childhoods would effect them later in life.

Elkind's message was simple and straightforward. What kids need is a time to grow. In other words, they need to be kids. What we give them in our culture is a push to premature adulthood. . . a push that can take many forms including things like over involvement in youth sports at younger and younger ages, along with thrusting cute little kids in front of movie and tv cameras before they've even reached the age to climb onto the school bus. Elkind says that our children wind up reaping what we've sown. The result, he says, is stress and its aftermath. . . including everything from early sexual activity to substance abuse to self-abuse to depression to suicide, and a whole lot more. I've always wondered if in Lindsay Lohan's case, her substance abuse problems aren't rooted at least partially in an attempt to self-medicate and numb the pain of her existence.

The more I watch what's happening with Lindsay Lohan, the more I believe that she's desperately searching for an answer to one simple question: "Who Am I?" She's really no different than the rest of us.

The other night I had the privilege of hearing Derek Melleby, Director of our CPYU College Transition Initiative, address a group of teenagers and their parents on issues of identity. Derek has put together a wonderful seminar entitled "Identity Matters: The voice of Culture, The Truth of God." As Derek ran through the pervasive, compelling, and convincing messages we hear from the voice of culture, I couldn't help but think about how these messages have shaped, influenced, and confused Lindsay Lohan as she continues her quest to discover her own identity. How has she been influenced by "You are what you buy!" Or "You are how you look!," "You are what you do!," and "You are somebody if you are accepted by the right people." How many of us have ordered our day-to-day comings-and-goings because we believe these lies to be truth?

Ultimately, the search for our identity is a spiritual quest. Alistar McGrath captures that reality in his book The Unknown God:

If there is something that has the power to fulfill truly and deeply, then for many it is something unknown, hidden in mystery and secrecy. We move from one thing and place to another, lingering only long enough to discover that it is not what we were hoping for before renewing our quest for fulfillment. The great certainty of our time seems to be that satisfaction is nowhere to be found. We roam around, searching without finding, yearning without being satisfied. The pursuit of happiness is often said to be one of the most fundamental rights. Yet this happiness proves astonishingly elusive. So often, those who actively pursue happiness find that it slips through their fingers. It is an ideal which is easily put into words, yet it seems to remain beyond our reach. We have long become used to the fact that the richest people in this world are often the most miserable, yet fail to see the irony of this. Perhaps it is just one of the sad paradoxes of being human. Maybe we will have to get used to the fact that we are always going to fail in our search for happiness. Part of the cruel irony of human existence seems to be that the thngs we thought would make us happy fail to do so.

On Saturday night, I loved hearing Derek offer the truth of God to those kids. . . a truth that contrasts sharply with and corrects the voice of culture. Derek said the answer to the question "Who Am I?" is quite simple: "You are a child of God." For those who are in Christ, their identity is secure in Christ. Will there be struggles? Difficulties? Doubts? You bet. But we need to remember, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!" (I John 1:31).

Let's pray that Lindsay Lohan would experience the redeeming, freeing, and life-giving love of the Father. And, that she would find the answers to all of her questions.

You Gotta Like Sean's Parents. . . .

I've seen alot happen over the years in Philadelphia's sports cathedrals. . . and I'm not necessarily talking about player performance. What I didn't see happen live while watching the Phillies battle the braves the other night, was 17-year-old Sean Hagan's red spandex run through left field during the game. I did hear Tom McCarthy and Chris Wheeler bemoan the interruption as the camera - in an effort to not glorify the teen's actions - focused on Jason Werth and Brian McCann laughing about Braves' left fielder Matt Diaz' run-ending knee to Hagan's side.

But the incident that Phillies' security wished would quietly go away has garnered a lot of attention from media both near and far. On the day after, we not only learned the identity of the elusive red-man, but we learned that his parents, Gary and Barbara Hagan, seem to be responding by doing the right thing. . . something that happens less and less in our culture when teenagers break the law. Instead of covering for their son or bailing him out by running interference in order to spare the kid the consequences, they've gone public and say he will pay.

What do we teach our kids when we steal away the opportunity for them to learn from their mistakes by making sure they pay the consequences for their actions? We learn from adversity, don't we? Sometimes, the adversity God uses to teach us lessons we need to learn is adversity that is a direct result of our impulsivity and lack of good judgment.



To Gary and Barbara Hagan. . . thanks for being an example to the rest of us through how you're handling this thing in the public eye. I'm guessing you were living a pretty quiet life until Monday night. And to Sean. . . I've got a hunch that you'll learn a lot from this. And, twenty years from now, some reporter will do one of those "Where are they now?" stories on you and we'll see firsthand what a great lesson it was that you learned from your mom and dad.

They're Going To Do It! . . . .

They're going to do it. . . and we need your help! A couple of weeks ago I told you that our hearty and healthy CPYU staff of 4 (the folks who work so hard to keep you updated on all things youth culture) are going to finish my bike ride. On Wednesday afternoon, October 6, they are going to take the 100 mile ride that I was planning on taking, but can't (more on where I'm at in the healing process in a minute. . .)

So. . . here's the deal. . . plain, simple, and straightforward. I was scheduled to ride 100 miles on August 25th to raised the additional $10,000 we need to 1) replace our CPYU computer server. . . should have been done three years ago so we're living on borrowed time, and 2) replace two of our presentation laptops. . . have you seen the dinosaur I've been using when I present? Yep, it's been getting some laughs lately! My plan was to have 200 youth workers step up and sponsor my ride at 50 cents a mile. . . . which - if I'm doing the math right - would result in the much-needed $10,000. Then, I wrecked and wound up looking ahead to months of recovery for a host of broken bones and other injuries.

Now that our staff of 4 is going to ride 25 miles each (that's 100 miles!), I'm asking youth workers and others who benefit from our stuff to step up and consider sponsoring our staff at the same rate. We've already raised $300 towards the goal! If you would like to make a tax-deductible donation of any amount to sponsor the ride, just click right here! And, for any of you who live near us who would like to ride with the staff, just call our office to get yourself signed up - 717.361.8429.


But wait. . . there are some other ways you can help. I was blown away by a small group of individuals from around the country who emailed me to ask if they could take my ride in my place. Because of that, we're inviting individuals, youth groups, families. . . anybody. . . to ride any distance on our behalf between now and mid-October. We've put together a downloadable instruction sheet and a downloadable sponsor sheet to make it as easy as possible. Just choose your date and your distance, recruit the sponsors, and then ride! You can click here for more information and the downloads.

While I'd much rather be telling you about what's happening at CPYU, I will answer the requests of many of you who have been following up and asking how I'm doing. Tomorrow marks 7 weeks since the accident. God is doing something in my life. . . I'm just not sure what it is yet, but I am working and praying to sort it all out. I've learned more about suffering, pain, and prayer than ever before. I've realized that I've got a great family and some very special friends. Physically, I'm back to sleeping in my own bed and driving, although it is short distances. I'm walking alot in the neighborhood and doing more and more work at my home desk. I'm tired, I'm sore, and I'm stiff. But I'm not as tired, as sore, or as stiff as I have been. I'm going to therapy to get my left arm working again. . . and it's getting better every day! My ribs, clavicle, and scapula are healing. I can feel that. My lung is recovered as far as I can tell. My bruises have disappeared. There are still some other things going on physically for me, but I'm simply asking people to pray for complete healing. I have also turned the corner on my fear of ever riding my bike again. . . and I'm looking forward to getting back in the saddle next spring. I most likely will be riding rail trails rather than on the road. I've learned that concrete hurts!

Finally, when I took my first little solo drive in the car last Sunday I went to our local K-Mart. Guess what I saw in the aisle? Yep. . . I think I might buy it!