Where kids actually adopt their values

Posted on: 03/28/17 10:38 AM | by Jonathan McKee

“My 16-year-old wants Instagram and I won’t let her have it. Is that bad?”

It was an honest question from a mom after one of my recent parent workshops.

“Why don’t you let her have Instagram?”I asked.

“Well… it’s social media, and that’s bad… right?” She replied indecisively.

“When she’s 18 and she goes off to college, do you think she’ll get it?” Continue reading “Where kids actually adopt their values”

face to face and hashtag evangelism

Posted on: 03/21/17 3:34 AM | by Jonathan McKee

A live evangelism training that will create Gospel conversations both in person and on social media?

Yeah… God can absolutely pull that off, and no better person to work through than Greg Stier.

If you’ve been in youth ministry more than a minute, than you probably have seen Greg’s training videos, or heard him teach either at venues like the National Youth Workers Convention or at one of his Dare 2 Share events to a stadium full of teenagers passionate about sharing their faith. Greg is all about sharing the good new of Jesus and equipping other to do it.

And so am I. That’s why I’m super excited about the potential of Continue reading “face to face and hashtag evangelism”

A remarkable man

Posted on: 03/14/17 3:46 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Last weekend I encountered a man so remarkable, the experience was life changing.

I didn’t expect it. I was visiting Maui by myself for the quickest trip to the island I’ve ever had, there and back in just a weekend for a friend’s wedding (not the choice way to do Maui). The ceremony was ocean-side in the beautiful Kahanu Gardens in Hana, a truly precarious drive, but breathtaking scenery.

As we were waiting for the ceremony to begin… this man caught my eye.

He was Hawaiian with a chiseled jaw, a tribal tattoo on his left cheek, and his grey hair pulled back tightly into a bun. He was probably one of the eldest people at the wedding, but no doubt one of the most physically strong. He was perfectly composed Continue reading “A remarkable man”

Porn in plain sight

Posted on: 03/6/17 11:14 AM | by Jonathan McKee

We’ve all been in the grocery store line at one time or another where we glanced to our peripheral only to see provocative images and headlines paraded across the front of a magazine cover. Of course, now these same periodicals offer online versions as well, clickable from frequented locations like Snapchat (the overwhelming favorite communication choice of young people today, by a landslide).

Do you think your kids ever peek at these?

I asked a handful of kids last week. “When you’re browsing Snap stories and you see an interesting Cosmo or Daily Mail headline… do you click on it?”

Every kid I asked said yes.

Do you have any idea what your teens and tweens are reading? Continue reading “Porn in plain sight”

The rise of the non-believing Millennial

Posted on: 03/2/17 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

What do you think of when you hear the word “Christian”?

How do think most college kids would answer if you asked them that question on a University campus?

A couple weeks ago Chance the Rapper burst into Christian worship at the Grammys… and people didn’t know exactly how to respond. It honestly seemed out of place to see Christ glorified in a setting where He is typically ignored… even shunned.

If you watch any TV these days, it’s rare to see faith or religion thrown into the mix. Sadly, if it is, it’s often in gest, particularly portraying Christians as hypocritical or judgmental. If TV was the mirror of our society, then the majority of our population would probably be Continue reading “The rise of the non-believing Millennial”