rebelling against low expectations
After watching The Nativity Story with our family we are pleased to report that it is a beautiful retelling of an old story — one that breathes life into familiar characters and births a powerful and lasting understanding of the true Christmas story in its’ viewers. Watching this film will be a Christmas tradition for our family. The last film Alex and I recommended to our readers was...
What’s harder than doing hard things? Doing hard things and failing. In response to my article, My First Shower Nearly Killed Me, a reader named Gracie commented, “The hardest part is when you keep pushing yourself harder and harder, and you still fail. I put so much of myself into this one thing and I still failed.” Maybe you can relate. Like Gracie you’re not really...
Find this and other satires written by students at Funny Class Notes, a humor page designed to entertain but also make important points through satire. Please, take a long look at the above juicy slab. Gaze at it, fill your nostrils with the imagined scent of its cooked glory and think of what an amazing taste it will bring to your buds. Doesn’t it look wonderful? When cooked, maybe it will...
In Go Ahead, I Dare You, Newsweek columnist Wray Herbert comments on the curious findings of a study published in the journal Psychological Science for the Public Interest. Its query? Why teenagers do stupid things. In order to explore really stupid behavior, [social scientists] have asked what seem to be really stupid questions: Is it a good thing to set your hair on fire? Drink Drano? Go...
Most of you are aware of the recent scandal surrounding conservative Christian leader Ted Haggard, who stepped down as leader of the National Association of Evangelicals and was removed from his position as senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs following recent allegations of a three-year homosexual relationship with a former male escort. The details of the case have yet to be...
“Sugarcoated, MTV-style youth ministry is so over. Bible-based worship is packing teens in pews now.” So reads the sub-headline of a recent TIME Magazine article entitled, In Touch With Jesus. Dr. Albert Mohler has this to say in response to the article: “Now, that is an astounding approach — maybe these kids are hungry for biblical substance and something more than...
While we’re addressing our culture’s distortion of beauty we thought it would be helpful to share this video which also demonstrates the power and scope of photo editing. It is important that we keep reminding ourselves of the many ways our culture tries to lie to us. For some excellent commentary read Carolyn Mahaney’s article, Distorted Beauty.
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This popular ad from personal care company Dove and their new Campaign for Real Beauty does an excellent job of revealing how photos of models and celebrities are drastically modified — fueling unrealistic expectations in girls and guys. Rate It / Blog It / Download UPDATE: Some wise words from Carolyn Mahaney at GirlTalk: To think that women are striving to look like someone who doesn’t...
One of the most common expectations our society has for teenagers is that we are incurably rebellious. Indeed, it was the “storm and stress” model of young adulthood that served as the foundation for the modern concept of adolescence, sparking the cultural redefinition of the teen years in the first half of the 1900s. But like so many of the culture-shaping psychological studies of...
At the strong recommendation of several of our readers, Alex and I went to see the film Facing the Giants with our family this evening. We entered the theater cautiously optimistic. We came out postively enthusiastic. Despite an all-volunteer cast and only a $100,000 budget, Facing the Giants features an excellent (and at times brilliant) script, solid acting, and beautiful cinematography. It...
rebelling against low expectations
