If there’s one thing I’ve learned about social media it’s this: It’s all about human connection

You don’t need to dwell in the past, but it can be beneficial for you and your ministry to honor that past

LifeWay to Pull Book From Stores

Followers of Islam are raping, butchering, and beheading Christians, Jews, and anyone who doesn’t submit to their Sharia Islamic law

The girl is wearing clothing that makes her look naked and so is he…weird/perverted

‘Birdman,’ ‘Budapest’… With 9 Nods Each

Unfortunately, addiction is not the only problem associated with Smartphones

The Effects of Their Sleep-Deprivation Lasts Way Past Lunch

Eye-opening video showing how children respond to violence against women

She was “a huge, breakout star before going X-rated. She proved she doesn’t need to lower herself to this type of crude exploitation to be a megastar

The clip, viewed almost 3m times was produced for a programme that aims to educate children aged 3 to six about the body

News U Can Use

“Our findings suggest that decades of anti-tobacco work have succeeded in convincing adolescents that heavier smoking patterns are dangerous,”

The second measure, the Student Data Privacy Act, would prevent companies from exploiting the data they collect though apps and services for schools

Rebekah not only received a picture that was painted by Taylor herself and one of the singer’s own necklaces…

when separated, we experience a lessening of ‘self’ and a negative physiological state

Justin says he’s trying to raise his children to honor God, work hard and do the right things, and he says he can’t believe his son was banned from reading the Bible.

The study included 22 children….more than 6,000 “head impacts” were recorded

It looks at rates of secondhand exposure among more than 350,000 teens from 168 countries using the Global Youth Tobacco Survey

Andy Blanks challenges youth workers to consider how closely they’re following God in their personal lives and how this affects how they lead students

Influence is the impact—either positive or negative—we have on the lives of those teenagers we minister to

It’s time to dream, plan, and schedule what the coming year will look like in your youth ministry

By definition, no fad lasts. So you cannot build a church that endures by chasing every fad

Review + Discussion Guide

George Barna & David Kinnaman

One of the biggest hindrances to students stepping up and leading others is the assumption that they cannot lead unless they’ve been given permission to do so

“Ours is tested and you know what you’re getting,”

NY Times

I often wonder if the changing times today are similar to periods in history where cultures were transformed by the tools they created

Part 1

Part 2 your attitude

The List

Likely to Force Them Into Jihad

According to the newly released World Watch List for 2015, nine out of the top ten countries that have populations that are at least 50% Muslim

France ‘no-go-zones’ off-limits to non-Muslims

The Huffington Post

by Jim Liebelt

Teens With Strong Religious Worldviews More Likely To Avoid Drugs, Alcohol

Vast majority of young people admit they would struggle to give up texting on mobile phones and social media

Here are some of the acronyms that some teens use and a few thoughts concerning how to respond

How to counter the narrative of radical Islam

George Lockhart

Terry Linhart

Here’s What Some Teens Are Using Instead Of Snapchat And Instagram To Share Pictures In Class

If you are encountering teens who cut and are at a loss for what to do, here are a few steps that I practice

Ask, Act and Walk

“The new normal is the lack of permanence. The result is that it is hard to know who we are.”

By Walt Mueller

History warns us what happens when empires refuse to teach known values that strengthen societies and help protect them from enemies intent on their destruction

Mayor de Blasio said the change will enable parents to stay in better touch with children, especially in case of an emergency

An Amazing Resource To Help You Accomplish Your Goals

The ads are different from previous pot-education efforts because they don’t demonize the drug

Comedian and vlogger based in LA, is one of the first YouTube-made celebs making the jump to a major network for her own show

…they would be memorized and used for Christian growth and training

Recorded the program while out at church, spotted their 14-year-old and 16-year-old sons in surveillance footage burglarizing a store

Youth unemployment in 2014 was 18.1 percent (18.1 on YMI), with almost six million young people between the ages of 16 and 24 not in school or work

She did not plan on getting pregnant

A joint adult and children’s catechism consisting of 52 questions and answers adapted by Timothy Keller

He saw the 19-year-old sneaking around his apartment Friday with his 17-year-old daughter

The percentage of Americans attending religious services weekly declined by 1.0 percentage point

The percentage of 12th graders reporting current drug use increased by 1.4 percentage points

As Marriage Goes, So Goes the American Dream

Renewing Our Culture

Almost 40 percent of children ages 10-17 in South Carolina are either overweight or obese

“Happy” sold 6.45 million copies in 2014, putting it far ahead of “All of Me” (4.67 million) and “Dark Horse” (4.43 million)

The fight for faith…

(But You Won’t Find Details About It On This Mysterious Web Page)

The average student loan debt held by each year’s graduates with loans increased by $4,612.

The percentage of public high school students who graduated on time (i.e., four years after starting 9th grade) increased by 6.9 percentage points

School Choice Spreads … and So Does Hope

From 2001 to 2011, charter school* enrollment increased by about 1.22 million students

The reading proficiency rate for 17–year-olds remained nearly unchanged, declining by 1 point on a 500-point scale

Climbing the Ladder of Upward Mobility Through Education

America’s greatest strength is its civil society. And ‌central to this civil society is family and the capacity to provide for one’s own through work

The work participation rate for work-eligible households receiving aid from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program declined

From 2002 to 2012, the percentage of individuals living in poverty (excluding welfare benefits) increased by 2.9 percentage points.

From 2002 to 2012, the percentage of children born outside of marriage has grown by 6.7 percentage points.

To retain its crown, “The Hobbit” had to contend with two resilient Christmas holdovers in “Unbroken” and “Into the Woods”

I don’t FaceTweet or whatever people do… I turn on my computer and look at porn a little bit…

“My biggest advice for kids these days is don’t hang out with knuckleheads. Be smart about who you hang out with.”

by Laurence Steinberg Ph.D.

by Paul David Tripp

Book Review

“A lot of kids are doing this somewhat regularly, they’re doing it repeatedly,”

Part 2: Franklin Graham

Ownership and perseverance are sustained through life-on-life investment

The Youth Culture Report

Year-in-Review

Box Office Preview

Here are 5 keys I see to a future of greater impact. In many ways, they are the new cool

ThomRainer.com

“I don’t want free flights and I’m not interested in contacting a lawyer…she said. “I just want the airline to apologize.”

Uber rich children have posted their New Year’s Eve photos on Instagram

Roughly 2,500 teenagers who died during the span studied, 82 percent were driving cars that were over six years old

I was in the 11th grade and my dad and I were kicked out of the apartment complex we were living in because he had been arrested for selling drugs.

Frozen knocked from perch as top-selling album

Great Kids Ministry Activity

Yahoo Tech

The Year That Was 2014

“We have to come together as one and show them we can be peaceful, that we can do this. If not, they’re going to just want us to act up so they can pull out their toys on us again.”