Surfing in NJ

Posted on: 07/8/08 11:58 AM | by Jonathan McKee

As most of you know, I’m on the East Coast speaking at a camp at the NJ shore. When we arrived at the camp and were at the front desk checking in, a surf instructor walked by to check who had signed up for free lessons (provided for the kids at the camp). Only two kids had signed up, so he asked my son Alec if he would like to try it. Alec hesitated for a second.

That same morning Alec had been bugging me about wanting to surf. So when the instructor asked him… I looked at him and said, “Don’t hesitate… now’s your chance!”

So 10 minutes later Alec’s on the water taking lessons, and 45 minutes after that he’s catching waves (small waves… but still waves nonetheless) on the Atlantic.

Pretty cool! (Some of you remember me blogging about Lori and I taking lessons last December)

When he came in it was nothing but, “Dad! I’ve gotta get a surf board! I love it! I totally want to live where I could surf all the time…”

🙂

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Six States in One Day

Posted on: 07/5/08 9:09 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Tomorrow my family and I fly to the East Coast where I’ll be speaking at a camp all next week. If our flight goes through (don’t even get me started about the reliability of the airlines lately!!!), we’ll be arriving in VA tomorrow afternoon, then hitting D.C., Maryland… the edge of Delaware, and finally New Jersey within 24 hours (and that’s including a night’s sleep).

In California if I drove that long I would just run into… more California. So it’s always a fun experience for my kids. “Hey kids, we’re hitting a new state!”

“Huh? I thought we just arrived in a new state 10 minutes ago!”

“We did. But now we’re entering another one. Did you enjoy Delaware?”

Once the flight is done (grumble…), I’m really looking forward to this trip. I speak a week at Long Beach island in NJ. The camp is on a huge strip of land that parallel’s the shore. Beach on both sides… the kids are pretty excited.

If you think of it, pray for the week. I speak a couple times a day most of the week. I present the Gospel and do an invitation on Tuesday night (you can really pray for that), and then I teach about making Jesus a priority for the rest of the week.

When I finish up Saturday we are heading to Philly for a day to visit family, then onto the D.C. area to visit some friends. We’ll probably spend a day in the D.C. “Mall”… the monuments, museums, etc. We haven’t seen the new WWII memorial so we’ll probably go check that out.

It will be good fun having the family with me again on this trip.

Good times!

Lend Your Infant to NBC

Posted on: 06/26/08 10:54 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Who would lend out their infant as a reality show challenge?

Add in the fact that a teenage couple will be raising your kid on camera… and you can bet that NBC didn’t choose the brightest of teens for this challenge.

Yesterday on the plane I read a brilliant USA Today article about the new NBC reality show Baby Borrowers… and I wanted you to see it. Beautifully written. A great commentary about the direction our entertainment has gone.

Here’s a snippet:

On the heels of the now-disputed story about a New England teenage pregnancy pact, NBC is selling the show as if it were electronic birth control. Even if societal improvement were the goal, and it’s not, Baby wouldn’t do much to achieve it. Any teenager who has watched a reality show knows these kids were chosen to fail, and to be ill-behaved brats while doing so.

What manipulation can’t achieve, editing does. The show lovingly dwells on every snit-fit and flaw, particularly that adolescent know-it-all attitude that causes them to respond to criticism as if it were an assault on the deference they assume is their natural due. Still, try to keep in mind that they’ve been lent to the show as well — and by adults who should know better.

Click here for the entire article.

Fear of the Crosswalk Lady

Posted on: 04/4/08 5:11 PM | by Jonathan McKee

What’s your biggest fear? Shark attack? Hurricane? Spiders?

If you asked me that question I wouldn’t even hesitate to answer: I’m scared of the crosswalk lady at my daughter’s school!

That’s right, the crosswalk lady. To the innocent passerby she might seem nice and sweet. But really she’s just waiting to pounce on someone and inflict her justice! She’s a mall security guard gone bad!

My daughter’s school has numerous volunteers that help guide traffic in and out of the parking lot, stopping traffic as needed for the children to cross the crosswalk onto the school campus. Some of the volunteers are nice soccer moms. Some are men. But one of them is a woman with an agenda. She’s gonna clean up this school by kicking butt and taking names!

The school has a routine in place of how parents should drop off their kids. It’s a little tricky for new parents, but once you get it down it’s easy. This school is a special school that brings kids from all over town. There are no busses, so the “car” traffic is pretty busy on any given morning. No worries. All a parent needs to do is wait in the line of cars, pull in the long circular driveway, stop when traffic stops, and drop off your child.

Where’s the problem?

That’s what I’m still wondering.

Here’s what seems to be the problem:

  I didn’t pull up far enough.
  I pulled up too far.
  I didn’t stop soon enough.
  I stopped too soon!
  I dropped her off to early… no…. I dropped her off too late!

Aaaaauuugh! I feel as if I’m being followed by a police car in a 55 zone and he’ll pull me over for speeding at 56, but he’ll cite me for obstructing traffic at 54. “Please little foot… be strong and sure! Maintain that 55!”

My wife Lori and I “rock-paper-scissors” who gets to drop off Ashley each morning. We don’t mind dropping off Alec. Heck, I’ll carry Alyssa on my BACK to her school! Just DON’T make me have to go and face that NAZI at Ashley’s school.

So if you ever see me in the corner of my office, crouched in fetal position, sucking my thumb and mumbling, “Mama… mama…” you’ll know that I just dropped off Ashley.

Oh how I loathe that crosswalk lady!

Married Men Will Want to Read This!

Posted on: 03/6/08 9:58 AM | by Jonathan McKee

I guess you could file this one under the “duh” factor… but it’s nice to see it in print.

So, to all you married guys out there, here’s a “post-Valentines” Associated Press headline for you that you’ll want to pay attention to: Men Who Do Housework May Get More Sex.

Yahoo News reports:

American men still don’t pull their weight when it comes to housework and child care, but collectively they’re not the slackers they used to be. The average dad has gradually been getting better about picking himself up off the sofa and pitching in, according to a new report in which a psychologist suggests the payoff for doing more chores could be more sex.

Hmmmmm.

Well… I’d love to keep writing… but I gotta go vaccuum!

 

Lori “Owns” Surfing Leaving Jonathan in Her Wake

Posted on: 03/5/08 11:48 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Yesterday I shared with you that my wife Lori and I were going surfing (we’re on vacation celebrating 17 years of marriage- HEY, NO OLD JOKES!!!) We did, and Lori “owned” (to use my kids’ words for “showing me up!”).

Neither of us have surfed before. So we showed up for a lesson and were each handed a huge “barge” of a surfboard that a Rhino could get up on. The slogan of this “surf school” is “For beginners and cowards!”

Now you have to realize that it was a HUGE ordeal for me to get Lori to even get out on the ocean on a board. She is scared to death of sharks and was sure that she would be shark meat regardless of any statistics you throw at her. But she made the mistake of mentioning to me how fun surfing would be and I jumped on it before she had a chance to change her mind.

So here we are yesterday at the “surf shop” getting ready. The day started out hilarious as they handed us these “rash guard” covers for our upper body (long sleeve shirts) so we wouldn’t get all scraped up. Then they told Lori that she should wear some long shorts to protect her from scraping up her legs. So they dress her up like a clown and I can’t stop laughing. Here’s my cute little wife who was wearing this cute little swim suit… and now she looks like something between a clown and a colorblind tourist in blue floral print (not that my red outfit was much better).

My laughing was short lived. It was time to surf.

After a quick “land lesson,” our instructor Ikeka took us out on the water. Lori rides the first wave all the way in and I fall flat on my butt. A photographer was there to document the whole thing. Look! Lori stays up even when I wipe out next to her, knocking my board into hers.

It takes me about four times before I really got the hang of it. Meanwhile, all the instructors are gawking at Lori because (despite her clownsuit), she’s trying all these cool things that the instructer is telling her like switching to fakey (jumping off the board and switching the other direction mid-wave). And then… I kid you not… she does another trick… she puts her feet together, faces backwards and rides it backwards!!!

She showed me up big time.

But we had a blast and got to ride a few in together.

Yes, the biggest wave we experienced was about 4 feet. Yes, our boards were barges. Real surfers would have laughed at us. But we had a blast. And Lori’s a lot more sore than me this morning! Ha!

If you’re married and haven’t done something like this together… I recommend it.

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A Dab of News to Know

Posted on: 03/4/08 10:34 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Surfing, Kid Rock arrested, American Idol contestant a stripper, new iPod technology, Moses and the Israelites stoned??? What do these have to do with each other?

Blogs are short and sparse of late… I’m on vacation with my wife Lori celebrating 17 years of marriage (Wow, I sound old!). We’re having a blast in a tropical getaway, our first time really away for a week in a spot like this (it seems like so many of our vacations are attached to a speaking trip to save money, travel, etc. This vacation is truly 100% VACATION. Wow!) My parents are taking care of our three kiddos (learning what it’s like to taxi three kids to different activities… they’ll sleep well when we’re back), so very cool of them.

I am very excited about today. This morning I talked Lori into going surfing. No, we don’t surf. But we’re going this morning. It’s amazing because all my wife talks about is sharks and somehow I still convinced her to go. I’ll report back about that. The vacation is a nice break. 

Anyway… back to blogging- some quick random news for you to know. (I always like to keep you updated with the stuff your kids might be talking about… or stuff that’s just interesting to me. Hey… it’s my blog!)

In the media, all the talk is about American Idol contestant David Hernandez who used to strip for a living a Phoenix… at a male strip club. CNN reports:

The 24-year-old finalist from Glendale, Arizona, once worked as a stripper at Dick’s Cabaret, appearing fully nude and performing lap dances for the club’s “mostly male” clientele, club manager Gordy Bryan said Monday.

“He had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money here,” Bryan said.

It’s not clear whether a history as a stripper could disqualify Hernandez from the competition. In 2003, finalist Frenchie Davis was dismissed because of her appearance on an adult Web site; but last year, Antonella Barba remained in the competition after racy photos of her surfaced on the Internet.

(updated)TV Guide spoke with Idol’s executive producer about the situation in this interview. Here’s a snippet:

TVGuide.com: Will the revelations about David’s stripper past have any impact on whether he stays on the show?

Ken Warwick: No, it won’t make any difference. The truth is, we’re never judgmental about what people do to earn a living. They’ve got to put food in people’s mouths. We’ve had strippers on the show before. Nikki McKibbon was one in [Season] 1. We’re never judgmental about people who do things like that. If it were some sort of heavy porn, then maybe we’d have to take action. But certainly not on this.

TVGuide.com: Were you aware of his past before it was reported?

Warwick: No, I wasn’t. [Laughs] But the truth of the matter is, it wouldn’t have made any difference. There are a lot of people I know who’d love to have the opportunity just to make a better living by taking their clothes off.

Sigh.

And another celeb in trouble. Outspoken musician Kid Rock got himself arrested for punching, kicking and hitting a victom with a chair in a Waffle House. Do I need to even say anything further about this?

The techno side of me just collided with my interest in working out in this news piece. Nike and Apple are working together to make the iPod compatable with gym equipment. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for anything iPod of late with the launch of our new podcast for teenagers. But this side article caught my attention:

The companies announced Tuesday that they are working with gym equipment manufacturers and health clubs to allow members to plug their iPod Nano into cardio equipment to track workouts, set goals and upload the information to a Nike Web site.

And in ludicrous news, I sure hope no one believes this:

The biblical Israelites may have been high on a hallucinogenic plant when Moses brought the Ten Commandments down from Mount Sinai, according to a new study by an Israeli psychology professor.

Hmmmmmmm…

You Mean… the Lyrics DO Affect Me?

Posted on: 02/7/08 12:04 PM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s really not that hard to figure out. It’s amazing that so many are blind to it. But here it is, plain and simple: More raunchy music means kids having sex earlier. And the more a song refers to substance abuse… yep, you guessed it… the greater a chance kids will try those substances.

Think about it for a second. If you’re a kid who listen’s to an average of 2.4 hours of music per day (that is the average), and the typical song you’re listening to is talking about stuff that goes on in the bedroom… how do you think this will influence you?

Our kids will tell us, “It doesn’t affect me!”  (If you want to ask them yourself, join us in our survey from this blog and post your results within the next week or two)

Opinions are a dime a dozen. What do studies show?

This article from a while back summarized it pretty well, tying raunchy music to losing virginity sooner:

Teenagers whose iPods are full of music with raunchy, sexual lyrics start having sex sooner than those who prefer other songs, a study found.

Whether it’s pop, rock, hip-hop or rap, much of popular music aimed at teens contains sexual overtones. Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed, researchers found.

 Songs depicting men as “sex-driven studs,” women as sex objects and with explicit references to sex acts are more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where sexual references are more veiled and relationships appear more committed, the study found.

Teens who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or other sexual activities within the following two years as were teens who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.

Excellent article, I recommend reading the whole thing. There are plenty of good articles out there on this subject. Some tying TV to teens starting sex early.

But what about the use of substances? Does music really affect that?

The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine just published a new report analyzing the 279 most popluar songs our kids listen to. 33.3% portrayed substance abuse, with an average of 35.2 substance references per song-hour.

Here’s what the experts in this study said:

“There is convincing evidence that exposure to certain media messages increases substance use in adolescents. For instance, viewing smoking in movies prospectively predicts a substantial proportion of adolescent smoking initiation. Similarly, exposure to smoking-related media promotions is associated with smoking initiation. Alcohol use in movies and promotions is also linked to actual alcohol use. While the most frequently studied genres for this research include movies, television, and advertising, health behavior theory strongly supports a link between music exposure and substance use. According to the social learning model, human beings learn not only by direct experience but also by exposure to modeled behavior, such as that represented in popular music.”

And they rapped it up well…

“Music is wellknown to connect deeply with adolescents and to influence identity development, perhaps more than any other entertainment medium.”

Side note: that report was phenomenal. It broke music down by genre. I wasn’t surprised to find that hip-hop and rap were two of the top three that contained the most mention of substance abuse (Country was also very high).

Am I picking on hip-hop and rap?

Yes.

Why? Well, it happens to be the most popular genre by far. I’ve gone into great detail about this in past articles for sure… and if you don’t believe me, just look at the top 10 Billboard songs or the top 10 iTunes downloads any day of the week. The influence of hip-hop still dominates.

So What Can We Do As Parents and Youth Workers?

1. Find out what your kids think. Ask them yourself. Join us in our survey from this blog and post your results within the next week or two– your results will help us help you!

2. Talk with your kids about this. Note: I didn’t say, “PREACH TO THEM ABOUT THIS!” The emphasis here is more about LISTENING than talking. As a parent, I’m always looking for opportunities to dialogue with my own kids about anything. As a youth worker, I’m always looking for real issues that kids want to discuss. Music is something that they will often be excited to talk about. Use this an open door to discuss our character. (we even linked some great discussions you can use in that blog mentioned above)

3. Parents: Don’t be afraid to take the advice I offered at the bottom of this blog about television. I recommend using two bottons on your remote control often: The pause button, and the “Off” button.

Miley Cyrus is like… so popular!

Posted on: 02/6/08 10:14 AM | by Jonathan McKee

If you’re a parent of girls… you know the name.

If you work with junior high girls… they know the name.

If you work with high school girls… they still know the name, but are pretty hush, hush about it.

Miley Cyrus is the hottest thing since the Rubik’s cube! (wow… where did that obscure 80’s reference come from?) 

For those of you who don’t know… Miley’s show Hanna Montana dominates the number one spot on TV for kids, at times keeping up with the big boys.  Her concerts sell out in minutes. Her new concert film just set a web tickets sales record.

As a parent of 10 and 12-year-old girls, I’ve kept my eye on her show. It’s actually pretty good. Most of all- it’s clean.

In this CNN article she was just interviewed about her success. Here’s “like” a snippet:

Q: Your tour was one of the highest-grossing tours, right up there with the Police and Justin Timberlake. What do you think about that?

MILEY: Sometimes, “It’s like wow, I really have to be good.” Especially when you hear what people are doing for tickets. It’s like this is their one chance to see the show and it’s the one night I’m going to be here so it has to be perfect.

Q: Do the problems of other young stars, like Jamie Lynn Spears’ pregnancy, put more pressure on you to set a better example for kids?

MILEY: It does, but I mean those persons don’t have anything to do with me either. So it’s like you just have your own heart and you have your own soul to kind of help you through life.

Q: Do you ever wish that you could just be a regular 15-year-old instead of a teen phenom?

MILEY: I do sometimes, but then again it definitely is fun and it’s been really nice because having my uncle as like my bodyguard and my mom with me and my dad, working with him. My family wants the best for me so they try to find a way so that I can still go out and hang with my friends and also have a normal life of my own.

She’s one to watch. She is by far THE biggest role model in the lives of young American girls today.

She’s had some people trying to pin some garbage on her, but it seems like she’s kept a pretty clean slate.

I admit, I was a little bit discouraged with the dress she wore to the 2007 Teen Choice Awards last year. But, in her defense, that is the way this generation is dressing. And if no one is teaching her differently…

Sigh.

I just know as a dad of little girls… my girls aren’t going out in dresses that advertise that much realestate. (And the guys they date are gonna have a little “sit down” talk with me while I’m cleaning my 12 gage!)

Keep Miley in your prayers. It can’t be easy to be in the limelight like this. But at the same time, I hope she realizes that she’s being watched. With fame comes great responsibility.

Googling Your Name

Posted on: 01/11/08 8:42 PM | by Jonathan McKee

Have you ever googled your own name?

I was searching for one of my new books (to see how GROUP was marketing it) and I ended up googling my name. When I did, I stumbled across an old interview I did that I couldn’t even remember. It was pretty funny reading my answers. Is it bad to laugh at your own jokes from two years prior?  (yeah, probably so)

It’s pretty short- here’s what I said:

It is a very refreshing pleasure to welcome Jonathan McKee to our studio today. I always look forward to reading Jonathan’s powerful, youth focused, eZine which is published by his outstanding organization, The Source for Youth Ministry.

What is the name of your company and what products or services does it provide?
We are www.TheSourceforYouthMinistry.com

We love impacting the lives of kids around the world. And one of the best ways we found to do that is by equipping youth workers who are working with these kids. So our ministry’s goal is threefold: Speaking to kids, Training student and adult leaders, and Providing Free Resources on our web site.

What role do you play in your organization?
I am the president, founder, janitor and best boy.

As a successful person, how did you get started?
I started on the front lines as a youth worker. I was a volunteer in the church, then I worked with Youth for Christ reaching “unchurched” kids for almost 10 years. When I looked on the web for some free resources, I found few . . . almost none. I thought, “What a shame. I have a whole file cabinet full of curriculum and ideas that I’ve developed over the years. Why don’t people share these things?” So I did. And the web site was a hit. So we started doing it full time.

How did you learn what it takes to succeed?
By God’s grace. Actually, I’ve learned about 100 ways how NOT to succeed over the last decade. But slowly, I’m learning a few things that work in youth ministry. And I’m trying to share those ideas with as many people as possible.

What personal/family activities do you enjoy?
I love just hanging out with my family . . . my wife Lori, and my three kids, Alec, Alyssa and Ashley. They’re awesome. We like family bike rides, back pack trips . . . or just piling on the coach with popcorn and a movie.

What experiences in your life have helped you expand who you are as a person?
Eating Pizza! Pizza has made me the man I am!

But I guess I’d also say working with kids on campus. Kids across the globe are hurting and looking for someone to notice them. As I spent years on campus meeting kids and investing time into their lives . . . my life was changed. God used me to share his love with kids. And there’s no greater joy than being used by God to make a difference.

What are your concerns about the world today?
MTV. Have you seen that crap?

Are there any tips or advice you would like to offer people?
Yeah . . . don’t swing your 5 year old around in circles after she just finished eating a spaghetti dinner.

And don’t ever stop learning. The successful people I know are teachable. When I meet a guy who “knows all the answers” . . . I meet someone who’s reached their limit. Go into every situation trying to learn something. Everyone has something to offer. (yes, some less than others)

Which people have been role models to you?
Ray Johnston, Jim Burns, Chap Clark . . . and Napoleon Dynamite.

What are your favorite books, computer programs, or forms of entertainment?
My top 10 favorite books are listed on my web site on the left hand side bar: www.TheSource4YM.com. My least favorite computer program is Microsoft Word because it can spell and format better than me. My favorite entertainment has to be movies. I’m sort of a movie fanatic. But everyone knows that from my movie review page: www.thesource4ym.com/moviereviews

What is it that you are most passionate about or gives you the greatest enjoyment in life?
My 7 year old came home from church the other day and told me how she really wants to trust God with her actions. I asked her if that meant that she would stop talking about how the cat’s butt rises when you pet it. She agreed.

The greatest joy in my life is when I see my own kids following Christ. I love it when I see “a light go on” during a family devotions time or when I see my son put $5 out of his pocket to give to a homeless person on the street. It doesn’t get much better than that.

I was right. It doesn’t get better than that.

Fun little glimpse into the past.