August 2018 - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

If Dr. Seuss was in youth ministry

Posted on: 08/30/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Earlier this week I was looking through the archives of the articles I wrote to youth workers back in the days… really fun looking through it all. I found this little gem from April of 2005 (I had totally forgotten about this). It gives you a glimpse of the type of kids I worked with… NOT very politically correct, mind you (apparently the filter was completely off back then).

WHAT IF DR. SEUSS HAD CHAPERONED ONE OF YOUR
YOUTH MINISTRY EVENTS?

One kid, two kid,
old kid, new kid.
Flabby kid, toned kid,
clean kid, stoned kid Continue reading “If Dr. Seuss was in youth ministry”

Posted in Humor, Youth Ministry Philosophy | Tags: Dr. Seuss, Jonathan McKee, youth ministry | Leave A Comment

Remember when we looked like this?

Posted on: 08/28/18 11:18 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Remember when we looked like this?

We’ve been revamping this thing for years! And hold on to your hats… because it’s about to get even better.

In the next couple weeks you all are going to see some welcome changes around here. Many of you have noticed that both my blog and TheSource4Parents.com have both been completely revamped: mobile friendly, new content at the forefront, much easier to navigate. Well the youth ministry site is about to get the same revamp (longtime needed)… Continue reading “Remember when we looked like this?”

Posted in Youth Ministry Planning | Tags: Jonathan McKee, TheSource4YM.com, youth ministry resources, youth ministry website | Leave A Comment

giving the first 100 of you my school shooting book

Posted on: 08/21/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s a sobering glimpse into a high school campus through the eyes of today’s teenagers and it releases this month in print! (you know… real books with actual pages!) 🙂

This new piece of fiction is titled Bystanders, and I thought I’d give away the print version to the first 100 of my U.S. blog readers who would love to read it… with one condition: you read it. (Sorry those outside the U.S., I love you, I honestly just can’t afford the shipping. Buy the Kindle version!)

Seriously. And if you like it Continue reading “giving the first 100 of you my school shooting book”

Posted in Books, Contests, Discussion Ideas, Youth Culture | Tags: Bystanders, faith conversations, high school campus, school shooting, teen culture | Leave A Comment

Depreciating Morality in the Top Music

Posted on: 08/14/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Popular music always has provided a few vile examples that made grandmother gasp…

But never like today.

We’ve come a long way from “Like a Virgin” being shocking. In fact we’ve come a long way from, “I Kissed a Girl.” Sure we’ve seen some raunchy lyrics from top artists before… but never so potent at the top of the charts.

So far this month the Billboard Hot 100 has only one song that is not explicit in the top 10. And those that are… really push the envelope.

Drake’s song, In My Feelings, currently at No. 1, is probably one of the cleaner songs in the charts… that is… if you ignore the sampling of Lil Wayne & Magnolia Shorty near the end of the song with the lyrics:

Bring that a*s, bring that a*s, bring that a*s back!
B-bring that a*s, bring that a*s, bring that a*s back!
Shawty say the nigga that she with can’t hit
But shawty, I’ma hit it, hit it like I can’t miss
Now let me see you
Clap that a*s, you’re the only one I love Continue reading “Depreciating Morality in the Top Music”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Jonathan's Rant, Music, Parenting, Sexuality, Smartphones/Cell Phones, Youth Culture | Tags: billboard hot 100, Cardi B, drake, explicit lyrics, music discernment, Nick Minaj, teens | Leave A Comment

Walking Through Social Media Safety with Jim Daly

Posted on: 08/6/18 11:20 AM | by Jonathan McKee

My Interview on
Focus on the Family
This Wednesday

I always enjoy the dialogue with Jim and John when I’m invited to be a guest on the Focus on the Family daily broadcast. On this Wednesday’s broadcast Jim interviewed me about my new book The Teen’s Guide to Social Media & Mobile Devices, asking how it can help parents open up this important dialogue with their kids. At this point in the interview he asked me how to help parents engage in a conversation about online safety in a way that kids will actually listen.

Here’s my reply:

You can catch the whole show on their broadcast this Wednesday on Focus on the Family… or online at FocusOnTheFamily.com

Posted in Parenting, Smartphones/Cell Phones, Social Media | Tags: Focus on the Family, Online predators, online safety, Safety from online predators, social media, Social Media Safety, teens and social media | Leave A Comment

Two Completely Different Theologies… both Reaching LGBTQ Kids

Posted on: 08/2/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

In the last few months, in preparation for our upcoming Anchored Leadership Conference, I’ve been conducting interviews with people who are effectively reaching out to young people identifying as LGBTQ. I’ve been engaging in these conversations for several reasons:

I want to learn as much as I can about how to help this hurting group of young people.
I want to know how loving ministries can answer tough questions, like Continue reading “Two Completely Different Theologies… both Reaching LGBTQ Kids”

Posted in Evangelism | Tags: LGBTQ, reaching LGBTQ youth, youth ministry | Leave A Comment