Let wonder replace worry

The Things that Carried Him

I just spent a half hour reading one of the most gripping stories I have read in awhile. It is a long story from Esquire Magazine that is definitely worth your time. Link.

It is the story of Joe Montgomery and his trip back home after he was killed in Iraq. I personally know 3 guys who have been killed over there (one a former youth group student) and I had no idea of the care, honor, and respect they receive on their final trip home.

It will make you hate war and at the same time, make you love and be proud of your country.

I would have never thought those 2 things could exist together in the polarized world where we live.

Engaging Culture (Really Cheap!)

Anyone in youth ministry should know how important it is for us to keep our finger on the pulse of pop culture. Why? Because this is the world students are saturated with every day.

Besides a list of websites I am subscribed to, another thing I do this is have subscriptions to Rolling Stone and Entertainment Weekly. These 2 magazines keep me up on everything happening in the world of music, movies, television, technology, celebrities, and many other things.

Right now at this link you can get a year of Entertainment Weekly (57 issues) for $10.

Go ahead, charge it to the church account. It sincerely does help me to minister more effectively.

Fast Company

One night after youth group, a couple of girls were checking out their MySpace comments  and I made a comment about the fancy theme's they all seemed to have. I asked where one would go about obtaining these very pink and flowery backgrounds and images. They rattled off about 3 sites and I never thought another thing about it.

Fast forward to this afternoon. I am reading the latest issue of Fast Company (great magazine) when I come  across an article about a 17 year old girl who began the site whateverlife.com in her spare time. That domain jumped out at me and I knew immediately this was one of the sites the teenage girl had rattled off to me that night.

This 17 year old has now quit high school to run her million dollar website. Would this have even been possible just 10 years ago? We are living in an amazing time. I am proud of this girl and wish her luck.

Check out the article online here.