Hello everyone! I've scanned ahead and came to the realization that we only have two more weeks of Chapter 2 of "Youth Culture 101" by Walt Mueller. HOORAY!  Last time we talked about how due to culture changes, trends among teenagers are changing as well. Today we're going to talk about the most common excuses that parents make so that they don't have to talk to their children about the things in culture. Let's jump in Shall we?

1. The "I'm Scared" excuse -this might not be what you are thinking. Whereas talking to your children can be terrifying, this is more of an attitude than an excuse. The "scared" excuse simply means that you are scared of the world and so you try to keep you kids away from it at all costs. I've had a couple of friends who couldn't watch tv, go to movies, or listen to secular radio stations because their parents thought that it would turn them into mindless heathen zombies. The parents never talked to the kids about the potential dangers of cultural thought they just banned them. When the children made it into the world they were greeted with things they had never experiences before but they didn't have any forewarning about potential dangers and some of them turned into mindless heathen zombies...just kidding, sort of.

2. Not Now....I'm Too Busy- Busyness is the most effective tool that the devil has to prevent the work of God on this Earth. The students just finished a series on the danger of busyness. When parents are busy the first thing to slip is relationship with God (that's the same for almost everyone) The second thing to go is different aspects of parenting. Parenting takes a lot of time and effort. Not just to feed, clothe, and shelter your child, but also to sit, talk, and teach them about how to survive the world. The bible says that our jobs as parents is to "raise a child in the way that he should go". We are called by God to do this. When we say we're too busy to our children, we are saying that we are too busy to God.

3. I Didn't Know! - Mueller opens this section up with the story of a mom who came to him and proclaimed ther her daughter was FINALLY listening to Christian Music. The album was called "Faith" by a guy named George Michael (which contained the song "I want your sex")   We find ourselves in the same situation today. Catchy songs have horrible lyrics. For example, Brittany Spears new song, 3, is about having three way sex. It's catchy, but morally it's not so great...ok it's terrible. As parents, a lot of times we don't take the time to investigate what our kids are watching or listening to? This is the exact opposite of number one above. Once we investigate, we are able to go to our kids and talk to them about what everything means.

4.It Can't Be That Bad - A natural response to my statements above is "It's not that bad!". And sometimes that's true. For example, when Harry Potter came out, a lot of people freaked out. I didn't know what to think about it until I read all of the books. When I was finished I realized that it wasn't that bad and I could find God in a lot of it. HOWEVER, a lot of times we default to it can't be that bad. Take the Brittany Spears song from above. It's a good beat. It gets you moving (if you dare to dance). It can't be that bad.....right??    " Are you in? Livin' in sin is the new thing (yeah) Are you in. I am countin'!.... What we do is innocent just for fun and nothin' meant  If you don't like the company, Let's just do it you and me, You and me Or three Or four,  On the floor " These are the things that are shaping the culture of our students. If we don't start talking to our students, someone else will.

5. Times Have Changed, Lighten Up!!!- I've seen this attitude among a lot of parents. Parents who believe the cultural lies that are facing our teenagers. I know a story of a high school girl who went to a party at a friend's house. The friends' parents provided alcohol to the teens. The parents believed that it was ok for teens to drink and thought that if they did it at their house then their child would be safe. Unfortunately their child was safe, but this girl wasn't. She left and broadsided and killed a young man driving home that night. It's a tough line to take but it's incredibly important that we don't bend to this excuse.

 I know that at some times I might come off harsh, but I do it out of love. If we begin to get away from these excuses we can begin to really help our kids to grow into being adults who love God with all of their hearts, souls, and minds.

Until Next Week,

Jon