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My Prayer for Lil Wayne
Last night I had the most vivid dream about rapper Lil Wayne. Don’t worry… I’m not gonna get weird on you, but for some reason I had a dream that I met Lil Wayne and we engaged in an intriguing...
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Registering Alec
It’s official. I’m old. This weekend we go down to Southern California and officially register my 18-year-old son for college, pay our first payment (Mama Mia!!!), watch him pick his classes, etc. I’ve...
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10 Lessons I Learned on My Family Vacation
As you know from my previous blog entry, last Sunday morning I loaded up the whole family and headed to Southern California for my son’s registration/orientation for college, and for a short little...
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Which Title Do You Like?
I want your opinion! (Okay… I know this is a Saturday, but I figure that some of you can chime in on Monday when you get around to it.) I’m working on the script for a DVD curriculum for YS/Zondervan....
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Video Interview About Student Leadership
A month or so ago I was interviewed by a pretty tech-savy young youth worker named Robbie Mackenzie– a fun conversation. Robbie had read my book, Ministry by Teenagers, and had some questions about...
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Yelling Works... Temporarily
If you aren’t a regular visitor of our TheSource4Parents.com page, then you might have not noticed a candid little article I just wrote in the WEEKLY PARENTING HELP box on the front page. Several times...
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Top 10 Words/Phrases You Don’t Want to Use Anymore
I recently heard a pastor tell his congregation, “God wants us to be a tool.” The high school kids sitting in front of me exploded in laughter. Allow me to quote the great Inigo Montoya (“Princess...
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Why Captain America is a Better Hero
As I sit and type this, my 13-year-old is with her friends at the movie theaters. I don’t blame her– movies are a fun choice on 90+ degree summer days. Summer movies are almost a rite of passage for...
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Increase in Alcohol Use by Girls
A few weeks ago a parent pulled me aside after one of my parent workshops asking me for advice. She began telling me about her daughter’s drinking problem. Her daughter was 16-years-old and attended a...
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Balancing Family and Ministry
I remember when my wife had enough. The kids were young, I was working 70 hours a week running ministry out of our house, teenagers were over all the time, volunteers were always visiting… and my wife...
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Hiking in the Sierras
This week Lori, myself, my two girls and their friend Trevor went hiking in the Sierra mountains. (Anyone recognize that backpack on Trevor’s back?) I live in a suburb of Sacramento. If you looked at...
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No Consequences- A Glimpse at the Top 10
Every week or so I like to take a little tour through iTunes’ top 10 songs just to familiarize myself with the content of the most popular songs that young people are saturating in day after day. This...
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During Shark Week!
Has anyone else noticed the timely release of Soul Surfer this week… during Shark Week? I don’t know about you, but Shark Week is always a fun time in my house each year. Maybe it’s because Alec and I...
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The Day Off
I’m taking the day off today for my best friend’s birthday. This isn’t something I can do with just anyone, but hey… she’s my best friend, and I wanted to celebrate her day with her. We’re gonna start...
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Teenage Perspective on Parenting
Have you ever asked your own kids for parenting advice? It’s a sobering little exercise, and I’ve discovered two environments where we can try it: one-on-one, or in a program setting. (Both will yield...
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Apes, WW2 Soldiers, Kids with Super 8 Cameras…
This has been a pretty good summer for movies, with a large number of family-friendly-flicks available. This is refreshing news for parents, because if we learned one thing on Fox’s Teen Choice Awards...
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Sharing Your Faith Without Being Pushy
My daughters announced to me last week that they were going to downtown Sacramento on Saturday morning with some of their friends to give homeless people coffee and donuts. This wasn’t an official...
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iTunes Reading
It’s funny how many requests I received in the last year for my books in e-format. More and more people are reading ebooks on their iPads, nooks, kindle, etc. (My mom and dad just bought a nook for...
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First Person Shooter Video Games
Should parents oppose or embrace video games? In a world where over 90% of young people “game” in one way or another (with 91% of tween boys and 93% of tween girls playing games online), how can...
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Saying Goodbye
The day is finally here… in one hour, we leave to take my son Alec over 300 miles away to begin his freshman year in college. Alec is my oldest and this will be our first experience with one of our...
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