Friday Snippets and Soundbites

It's the last Friday in January, and we're celebrating (as usual!) with an edition of "Snippets and Soundbites." If today's news of the weird isn't enough for you, be sure to check out page 48 of this month's issue (and every issue) of ec.

And, now, let's get on with the show!

No FANfare
Basketball season is in full swing in high schools across the country, but tonight in northwestern South Carolina, one double-header between rival teams will be taking place without any fans in the stands. The attendance at the varsity boys' and girls' game in the town of Central, South Carolina, will be limited to players, coaches, officials, game personnel, school administrators, police and the media. School officials made the decision to exclude fans because recently, the animosity between opponents hadn't been left on the court and violence spilled out into the parking lot and surrounding neighborhoods. To read more about this story, go here. To learn more about basketball, go here.

Follow the evidence

A Missouri native, Mandy, ec's editor, is a little embarrassed by the next story. Apparently, a man in Joplin, Mo., accused of stealing a diamond ring coughed up the evidence while being questioned by the police. And we mean he literally coughed up the evidence. It seems that a large diamond ring had been taken when someone stole her purse out of her car. Pictures of the ring were sent to area jewelers and the owner of Newton's Jewelry recognized the ring when a man and woman brought it into the store to sell it. The jeweler called the police and the man in question swallowed the ring before officers arrived. But later, as the police questioned him, he began to cough uncontrollably and coughed up the missing ring. See, we really meant literally. Read the whole story here.

Help Haiti

A 16-year-old girl pulled from the rubble of College St. Gerard in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, on Thursday is reportedly in stable condition. Even though doctors say her survival was medically unexplainable, she was able to eat yogurt and mashed vegetables yesterday. We'd like to remind you how you can help and what Baptists are doing to help. Please consider taking action as an individual, a youth group, church, or family, even if all you can really do is pray.

Airplanes and unconditional love

So the ec team (minus our fearless leader Mike) is packing up and heading to Texas this weekend. We’re excited because we’re going to meet with some students like you who will help us shape future issues of the magazine. It’s fun to hang out with readers and see what makes them tick. Everyone is so different, and I think it’s awesome that I get to meet new people all over the country as part of my job.

So anyways, I’ve got a plane ride ahead of me. I like planes. Maybe it’s the peanuts. Maybe it’s how quickly we arrive at our destination compared to driving. But one of the things I may enjoy most about air travel is talking to God. Something about feeling a little closer to heaven while being up that high really makes me want to pray. (That, and the threat of death by plane crash at any moment. Worst case scenario—check!) At any rate, while I’m flying, I’m reminded of just how creative God is, how close He is all the time (not just when I’m up in the air), and how much He loves me.

As I’ve studied our God’s unique and amazing love—I’ll be honest here—I get a little impatient with His patience in the Old Testament. I kind of want Him to zap the Israelites for their inability to be loyal to Him. I mean, He made water come out of rocks and fed them and made their enemies cry like little girls. Come on, guys; show some backbone and demonstrate some faithfulness!!

Oh yeah, I realize, I’m just like the Israelites. I forget about talking to God when I get busy; secretly wish some people would hurry up and get what’s coming to them—preferably in public so I can watch; and routinely avoid the homeless people on the sidewalk. (And yes, those things bother me, and I’m not proud to admit them.) So I don’t really deserve His love either.

But He gives it anyway, over and over again. And I love that about Him. I hope you see reminders His love for you today. Because He does love you, more than you can even imagine.

The root of all evil?

This week's devotions in the print version of ec are all about our desire to find meaning in the pursuit of more—more stuff, fame, success, whatever. Often, in today's world, we try to find contentment in more money. But as believers, what should our attitude be toward money? Is it really the root of all evil? 


Awhile back, we asked Dave Ramsey the same question. Here's his answer: 

It is impossible to get out of high school today without knowing what an amoeba is, but few high school seniors know how to keep a checkbook balanced. We are taught virtually nothing about
the real world of money. I am not talking about money on Wall Street—I’m talking about money on your street. You haven’t been taught basic principles of managing and making financial decisions on your own.

Consequently, many young adults end up graduating from high school or college and getting a place of their own. Without knowing what a lease is, they sign one. Many of us don’t have knowledge of cars and car financing, but we buy one and sign the loan papers. We don’t have knowledge of the implications of credit cards and high interest rates, but we get a 5 percent approved card in the first two years out of high school, and we use it. It was all so innocent and happened so slowly that the monster in the closet was not noticeable.

I want to help you recognize the importance of money before it’s too late. First, money is active. Finance and money are always moving. Time, interest rates, amounts, cash flows, inflation, and risk all intermingle to create a current that never stops. If you took $10,000 and buried it in the backyard for 10 years, will it buy as much when you dig it up as it will now? Obviously not, since the iPod® you can buy today will be worth nothing in 10 years. We must learn that the current flow of the mathematical process is always affecting our money. It never stops.

The way we use money is like a beautiful thoroughbred horse—very powerful and always in action, but unless this horse is trained when very young, it will be an out-of-control, dangerous animal when it grows up.

The point is this: you must gain control over your money, or the lack of it, it will control you forever. If you don’t take action continually on your money, it will take action on you. Finance is not passive. It requires you to take the initiative to control it.

Second, money is amoral. Money has no morals. It’s neither good nor bad. First Timothy 6:10 does not say, “Money is the root of all evil.” What it does say is that “the love of money is the root of all evil. ”
Money in and of itself has no more moral quality than a brick. So just because you are poor does not mean that you are good or spiritually superior; neither does it mean that you are bad or spiritually inferior. On the other hand, having wealth does not mean that you are inherently good or spiritually superior, nor does it mean that you are a crook or bad person or spiritually inferior. The way you act through your money or your lack of it will show whether you are good or evil, but the money itself is neither.

Money does not decide your value. Be careful of a society that assigns value to a person based upon its wrong view of collecting “stuff.” Your value as a human being, as a person, is not based on your ability to collect “stuff.” If you have jumped on this train of thought, you will be derailed.

Money is “active” in the philosophical realm as well. When your priorities get off track, money will take command instantly because of its active principle. I love the old adage “Measure your wealth not by the things you have, but by the things for which you would not take money.”

When we forget that our money is not our creator and believe instead that we are supposed to create with it, we wreak havoc in our lives. Our forefathers may not have intended this, but they put a reminder on our currency to avoid “stuffitis”: In God We Trust. Please notice it does not say In Stuff We Trust. We must keep money and our handling of it in the proper perspective. We must not treat it carelessly, for this collecting of “stuff” is only a game.

Money is simply a nonentity that must be manipulated. The better we are at manipulating it, the more of it we will control. Until we take this active and amoral view of money, it will continue to have the upper hand in every part of our lives.

Reprinted from ec magazine, June 2008, pg. 44-45.

Friday Snippets and Soundbites

There has been so much going on over here at the ec blog this week that we hope you haven't missed anything! And we've been SO busy, we almost forgot about this week's edition of "Snippets and Soundbites!"

But never fear! It's here. Let's take a look at some of the weird news this week:

Cheater, cheater. 

This week, the news came out that as many as 30 runners in a recent marathon in China had been disqualified for cheating. How do you cheat in a marathon?, you ask. Easy. You used public transportation for part of the route. Or you give your time-recording chip to a faster runner. The marathon, held in the southern port city of Xiamen, took place earlier this month. Almost a third of the runners who finished in the top 100 have now been disqualified. The next question is why would people cheat in a marathon. Well, top finishers had a lot to gain. Those who finished in under 2 hours and 34 minutes could add extra points to their score on China's highly competitive university entrance exams. To read the whole story, go here. To learn about another famous running cheater, go here.

A dog? In church? 

The answer is yes, in Baden, Mo. Recently Our Lady of the Holy Cross Catholic Church got a new priest who brought a special church-goer with him when he moved: Elijah, the Church Dog. A lab and border collie mix, Elijah attends every mass his owner celebrates. The priest, Rev. Don Buhr, came to the inner-city parish from a rural town in which Elijah was allowed to roam freely throughout the countryside—and also come into the church. Buhr asked his new church if it would be OK if Elijah attended services and no one objected. Apparently, the dog is quite calm during the services, quietly meandering about or lying on the floor. To read the whole story, go here.

Helping in Haiti

Today's last news isn't really news of the weird, but we couldn't end this week without reminding you of the suffering and despair the people of Haiti are currently facing after last Tuesday's earthquake. Even before the earthquake, Haiti was the poorest country in this hemisphere. Much of the country was devastated by the earthquake and people are in need. We've written a lot about how you can help and what Baptists are doing to help. Please consider taking action as an individual, a youth group, church, or family, even if all you can really do is pray.

Being God's hands in Haiti

Yesterday, a reader commented on our Facebook page that she thought it was ironic that this week's ec devotions all dealt with the idea of injustice and what we as Christians can do to fight it when the nation of Haiti was trying to pick up from the devastation of an earthquake.

We planned those devotions months ago. A writer took wrote the devotions; we edited them, Jen (our graphic designer) made them look good; and we sent the magazine off to the printer. Months and months ago. But God, being who He is, knew exactly which truths from His Word we would need to hear this week. It's not just a coincidence that this week's devos deal with fighting injustice; that's just God.

But the fact of the devastation in Haiti remains. Orphanages are in shambles; families are separated; food, water, and basic supplies have been hard to come by. The pictures break our hearts. Children in pain. Mothers who have lost all of their children. People who don't know if their family members are alive, hurt, or dead. Fathers holding sick babies. Morgues full of lifeless bodies. Poverty. Need. Hunger.

In Matthew 25, Jesus told us that whatever we did to help “the least of these,” was also something we did for Him (Matt. 25:40-45). It's clear from the whole of Scripture that as believers we're to help others as we can. And today, the people of Haiti need help.

The International Mission Board recently told us this:

“Southern Baptists are mobilizing to assess disaster relief needs after the largest earthquake in more than 200 years rocked Haiti the evening of Jan. 12.

“The initial Southern Baptist disaster relief effort will be led by Florida Baptists, who have had ministry relationships in Haiti for more than 20 years and currently have six staff members who live and work in the country, said Jim Brown, U.S. director for Baptist Global Response (BGR), a Southern Baptist relief and development organization. The International Mission Board does not have long-term personnel stationed in the country.

“Initial funding for the relief effort will be provided by the IMB’s disaster relief fund which operates on a “dollar in, dollar out” basis, which means that 100% of the money donated is used to provide disaster relief. Contributions to the relief effort can be made online at gobgr.org

“Apart from donating to the disaster relief effort via gobgr.org, you can help greatly by joining in focused prayer for Haiti’s 9 million people, more than 80 percent of whom live below the poverty line, said David Brown, who with his wife, Jo, directs BGR work in the Americas.” (To see the full article, click here.)

You can speak hope into the lives of people in need. You can be an example to the world of how much God loves us. Even if you are just a teenager!

For more information on how to give, see Jen's latest “Music Minute.”

This one's for the girls . . .

Hey girls! There’s a special event happening in Nashville, Tenn., February 26-27. If you’re a leader in your youth group or would like to become one, then you should come to a special conference called Converge. It’s an event being planned for adult leaders in girls’ ministry and also the teen girls they want to bring. We’ll have a leadership track just for you so you can meet other people your age and talk about topics like developing healthy friendships, mentoring girls younger than you, evaluating the media’s impact on your life, and more. We’ll hang out together, worship together, and study the Bible together. It’s going to be great, and we want YOU to be a part of it!

Check out all the information on the conference here, then talk to your youth minister or other adult leader at your church about getting a group of female leaders and students to attend. We hope to see you there!

Haiti: ways you can help

Hey y'all! I have been scheming on a brand-new concept for the Music Minute column. I'll be back in two weeks with an all-new format, and until then...

Unless you live under a rock, you know that on January 12, 2010, the small island nation of Haiti was hit by a 7.0-magnitude earthquake. The epicenter (or point of origination) was only 16 miles from the capital city of Port-au-Prince. And, y'all know that earthquakes are caused by the ground literally moving underneath our feet. Tremendous force and energy are involved. Everything that isn't reinforced will likely break, buckle, shatter or collapse under the strain.

This would be scary even with the strictest building codes, but y'all, I saw on the news the other night that most buildings in Haiti don't even use rebar. You know, the twisty steel reinforcing bars that you see sticking out of half-finished construction projects? Rebar fills the same role as your skeleton—it provides structure and strength. So the buildings weren't really reinforced against an earthquake in any way. Some estimates put the death toll at upwards of 200,000. Most—most—Haitians who lived in the capital city are homeless and lost everything they owned that day. And (at the risk of sounding cliché) if all they lost was their stuff, they're lucky. An unknown number of people died, are still buried in rubble waiting to be rescued, or are fighting for their lives in makeshift hospitals. Thousands of Americans visiting Haiti are doing the same.

In other words, nothing most of us have ever seen even comes close to what they're living with on a daily basis. We watch footage on TV, but we sleep safely in our beds at night. Two weeks ago, Haiti was the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Today, they're still the poorest, but they've been living with unimaginable destruction, fear, danger, and stress for the last 8 days.

I have personally been moved by the huge outpouring of financial support I've seen over the last 8 days. I am proud of our government for sending aircraft carriers and floating hospitals to help out, of the soldiers and relief workers dropping in meals and digging people out of the piles of concrete and wood that Port-au-Prince has become. Of neurosurgeons who dropped everything to perform brain surgery in a tent. But I sort of feel the same way I felt after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina—that this disaster is too big for me to help with, or that my efforts can't make much difference. As much as I have to give, I feel like it's not much compared to the millions needed to get things right again.

But y'all, millions are made up of dollars, right?

So this morning, I signed on to Twitter and saw a post from an organization that is collecting old clothing and shoes for Haiti. A newly-formed Nashville charity called Soles4Souls is collecting shoes and clothing and sending it off to people who literally have nothing but the clothes on their backs—and what other people give them. Hey, I can help with that. So I'm going to go home and dig around in my closet for some stuff that's still nice and can go on to another home.

And y'all, I am absolutely convinced that just because you are young does not mean you can't make a difference. Wait...let me try that again. Being a teenager doesn't prevent you from doing good. There is so much good you can do! So how can you help out if you want to? I've listed some ways below.

Be sure to talk over any financial giving with your parents, and be sure to give only through reputable agencies. If you can't give financially, that's okay. But if you've been moved to share some of what you have, here are a few ways you can go about it.

You can pray. Quake victims and their families plus missionaries and disaster relief teams serving in Haiti need your prayers.
• Check out CompassionNet for daily prayer updates.
• Follow @IMBconnecting on Twitter to receive prayer updates from the International Mission Board.
• Find earthquake-related prayer requests and add some to your prayer list at this blog.

You can give money.
• The American Red Cross is in the business of traveling to other countries and helping them in times of trouble. You can use the iTunes store to make a one-time donation. Six different donation amounts are available, including a $5 donation.
• Or, you can donate to the American Red Cross via text message. Just text "Haiti" to 90999 to make a one-time, $10 donation. (Again, talk to your parents and don't give them any surprises on your mobile phone bill.)
• World Vision is an organization dedicated to educating and helping children in underprivileged countries. You can make an online donation by clicking here.
• Compassion International is a child sponsorship organization, and there were a lot of Compassion kids who were affected by the earthquake. You can give any amount you want at the Compassion International web site.
• You can give to the International Mission Board's Haiti Response Fund. 100% of donations are used for meeting the needs of earthquake victims.

You can give "stuff." Try to give useful items that are clean, in good condition, and appropriate for a tropical climate.
• Check with your church to see if they are aware of any clothing drives or other relief efforts you can help with.
• Or read your local newspaper to find out about charity drives. (Again, be sure to do a little homework about the organization if you aren't familiar with them.)

One last thing. Listen for and look for stories from Haiti of God's faithfulness. No matter what things look like, God is still there, and He is still faithful. He still cares, loves His people, and takes care of His own. When you hear those stories of God's goodness and faithfulness, praise Him. Give thanks that He is always working, and that He loves us with an everlasting love. Be thankful for your warm bed, your full tummy, and the love of your family and friends. Do what you can for Haiti, in prayer, thought, or deed. It will make a difference—in Haiti, and in your own life.

Thoughts from Martin Luther King

If you read the print version of ec, you'll know that this week's devos are all about injustice. Today, many of you are out of school in honor of Martin Luther King Jr., a man who saw injustice in his world and fought against it.


So this MLK Day, we invite you to learn a little more about him and ponder what it means for you as a believer to be a peacemaker in this world.

Dr. King was arrested 30 times for participating in civil rights activities. Some of his major speeches include “I Have a Dream”; the eulogy for the victims of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham, Ala.; the acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964; the address after the march from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, Ala.; and one in letter form to religious leaders of the city of Birmingham called “The Letter From Birmingham Jail.”


Thoughts on Justice from Martin Luther King Jr.:
“I refuse to accept the view that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him….”1

“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.”2

“On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right? There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.”3

1. Clayborne Carson and Kris Shepard, eds., A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York: Warner Books, Inc., 2001), 107.
2. Clayborne Carson, ed., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York: Warner Books, Inc., 1998), 196.
3. MLK Jr.’s speech delivered at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C., on 31 March 1968 and quoted in “Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution,” The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute [online], cited 20 August 2009. Available from the Internet: http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/remaining_awake_through_a_great_revolution/.

Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Welcome to Friday! And you all know what that means: “Snippets and Soundbites”!

If this week's edition isn't enough for you, remember to check out page 38 in the January (and every issue) of ec. And now, let's see what happened this week. . . .

The skinny

New York City's skinniest house has sold—for $2.1 million dollars. Sure, million dollar house deals aren't that extraordinary, but they are newsworthy when the house being sold is only 9.5 feet wide. See, the townhouse, dubbed NYC's skinniest house, was built on the land between two buildings that had previously been an alley. It's 9.5 feet wide and 42 foot long. The house was also the home of poet Edna St. Vincent Millay  in its past. To learn the whole story, go here.

Good people

Just when you'd lost hope in honest people in today's whatever-goes world, we came across this story: an Italian woman visiting New York City recently left her purse in a cab. It contained traveling money for her and her traveling companions, $21,000 worth of traveling money. When she reported the lost purse to the police, they advised her not to get her hopes up that it would be returned. But apparently, she left her purse in the right cab. The driver, Mukul Asaduzzaman, drove 50 miles to a Long Island address he'd found in the purse. No one was home, so he left a note, then later came back to return the money. Read the rest of this nice story here.

Say what? 

This one's just a weird story. Apparently, a Pennsylvania man wearing a hospital gown recently stole $50 from his ex-girlfriend at Wal-Mart, then attempted to escape on one of the store's motorized shopping scooters. In case you're wondering, he was caught and faces robbery and disorderly conduct charges. The man had been in the hospital recovering from injuries sustained in a domestic dispute and was released the morning of the robbery, which is apparently why he came to the store still wearing his hospital gown. To read all about it, go here.

Trying something new

In the January issue of ec, writer Sarah Underhill encouraged you to try something new this year. She wasn't talking about resolution, really, but rather making up your mind to do something you've wanted to try but haven't. Like sushi. Or witnessing. Or learning a new skill, like cooking or driving a stick shift.
Here's Sarah's list of ideas from her article on page 7 of the January 2010 issue:

1 Think of a place or culture that’s totally different from anything you’ve ever seen. Learn about the culture, its traditions, people, and language. Then, go to that place, whether it’s another part of the country or another continent entirely. You could go as part of a mission trip designed to bring people into relationship with Christ or on a family vacation, if that’s something your family can afford.

2 What about sharing your faith? That may be something that is new to you. You could share your faith with someone across the world or in your own house or neighborhood! It seems intimidating, but take a class at church in sharing your faith or ask a Christian whom you respect to give you some tips. Begin to pray and look for opportunities to do so.

3 How about something sporty that you’ve never done before? Maybe a big adventure like bungee jumping or white water rafting (with your parents’ approval, of course) or perhaps just a regular activity you’ve never gotten around to doing. Personally, I’ve never played laser tag—I know, I’m missing out!

4 Have you been avoiding sushi, venison stew, or Grandma’s meatloaf? Who knows? It could be your new favorite. Give your taste buds some excitement and try a new dish!

5 Maybe you will decide to find a way to step out of your fashion box. Buy something you usually wouldn’t, change your hairstyle, or wear a funky hat. Don’t be afraid to stand out!

6 What about learning a new skill? Pick up a guitar or learn a different sport. Experiment with cooking or try driving a stick shift.

7 Have you read Crazy Love by Francis Chan? It ­challenges Christians to look for practical solutions to the problems of those around us. Organize a coat drive for the homeless. Help paint an elderly ­person’s house. One student decided to make and sell bracelets to fund the building a children’s home in Haiti! Look for practical ways that you can serve. Nothing is too big for God!

8 Choose a relative whom you don’t know well and cultivate a relationship with him or her. Uncle Bert may be a fun guy under the whiskers and wrinkles!

9 Shake up your quiet times. Maybe try journaling or adding Scripture memory to your daily time with God.

10 Try hanging out with some new people during lunch time. You may be surprised what you learn.

So, we're interested to know what new things you have planned for this year. Share some of your list with us in the comments section!

Friday Snippets and Soundbites

Aren't you happy that the ec team is back from vacation and compiling "Snippets and Soundbites" again? OK, maybe not, but this is the first online edition of “Snippets and Soundbites" for 2010, and we're ready to get the show on the road. Ready?

Here's the strange news that made this week special. And if this isn't enough, just check out page 38 in the January (and every) issue of ec.

No Nuggets, No Nice Guy
It appears a woman in Toledo, Ohio, really, really, really likes her Chicken McNuggets from McDonald's. Last Friday, AKA New Year's Day and the first day of 2010, Melodi Dushane ordered Chicken McNuggets at a local fast food restaurant, when the staff replied that they were out of nuggets at the moment, Dushane responded by punching through the drive-through window. Let that sink in: she punched THROUGH the drive-through window. Police were called to the scene and Dushane was treated for her injuries, then jailed. She later pleaded not guilty to a vandalism charge and was released on bond and told not to have any contact with the restaurant. Read more here. And if this response seems appropriate to you, read about dealing with anger better here.

For the love of words!
We here at ec have a healthy respect and love for words. They're what we do! But Lake Superior State University in Michigan recently had some strong words about phrases they wish would just go away. Yesterday, the school released is 2010 List of Words to Be Banished. Words and phrases that made the infamous list include:
• The Obama administration's preferred adjective to use when discussing the federal stimulus bill, "shovel ready"
• "tweet"
• "app" (a reference to iPhone apps)
• "teachable moment”
But don't be afraid! Just because the university put the word on the list doesn't mean it will go away. Because they put "LOL" on the their list in 2004 and we can all weigh in on how well that banishment has gone. To read more about this, go here. To read the entire list, go here.

Emergency!
We all know 911 is for emergencies, right? The question for some of us though is what constitutes an emergency. For one Boston mom, when her 14-year-old son wouldn't stop playing a video game and go to bed, it was an emergency. So, she called 911. Apparently, the woman called 911 around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday morning to report that her teen son had walked around the house, turned on all the lights, and was then playing video games and refusing to go to bed. Two officers were actually dispatched to the house and persuaded the teen to obey his mother. Read more here.

Music Minute - Top 10 New Years Resolutions You Shouldn't Make

Y'all, I can't find any new music to talk about this time, so I made a list of things your new year's goals should not be about. Hope it makes you laugh.

Ten Things You Really Don't Need To Resolve To Do In The New Year:

1. Ignore people. Y'all, this is a great time to work on your basic manners. If a friend takes the time to call you, call back. If you get invited to a party, you should reply one way or the other—or you're being rude. (If it's a formal invitation, try to send your reply within 24 hours.) Don't text one friend while another is telling you her problems. Don't ignore it when your mom tells you to do something. (Do I need to tell y'all this?)

2. Snoop more. Honestly, it's best if you leave some questions unanswered—and some doors, drawers, and diaries closed. (Actually, leave ALL the diaries closed.)

3. Slack, slack, slack. We aren't saying you have to work yourself to death, but y'all, don't be slackers. Take some time to figure out what the Lord is calling you to do...and do it.

4. Skip church. (There used to be a weatherman around here named Skip Church, y'all believe that?) Being a part of your church community is important. Even if you don't feel like it, you should go.

5. Be sloppy, smelly, dirty, greasy, stringy, or unkempt. Now really, I know this sounds like your mom...but I also know y'all can be neat and clean and reasonably presentable with very little work. Do not wear that shirt if it smells iffy, and try to air out your gym bag on a regular basis. Shower, brush your teeth, wash your face, brush your hair, and shave on a regular basis.

6. Be messy and disorganized, and lose things you need more often. Try spending ten minutes a day straightening your room and you'll never have to spend three days in a panic during exam week turning it upside down looking for your calculator. (An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of digging.) We aren't saying you have to be completely organized, but finding an organizing system that works for you will save you lots of heartache. Also, keep up with your assignments and schoolwork by becoming a creature of habit. If you get in the habit of writing something in your planner as soon as you hear about it, then all you have to remember is to look at your planner. If you're a filer, keep your files neat and organized. And if you're a piler, make an effort to be sure that what is in your piles is up-to-date and together.

7. Be rude. TV shows always have that one tough-guy character who is willing to say what he thinks. That is TV. In reality, the person you sass today will probably be hurt by it for a long time. Friends are worth more than enemies. Don't make enemies needlessly by being ill-mannered. And if you think rude is funny, ask yourself why you think that.

8. Don't bother to learn anything. (Y'all, back in 9th grade algebra I remember thinking "I don't know why I am paying attention. I'm going to be an artist—why would I need math?" And in that sort of poetic-justice smackdown you see all the time in the movies, I use math every single day in my job as an artist. X and Y coordinates, ratios, and geometry are part of the life of a designer. I am so embarrassed.)

9. Be careless. From driving skills to homework habits, being careless is not a skill you want to have. Try to do things well, even things like washing your face. Being careless will get you broken dishes, scratched cell phones, stained clothes, and sprained ankles. Straighten your towel on the towel bar. Pick up after yourself. Look where you put your feet. Take care and a little bit of pride in how you do things.

10. Forget about life skills. We already covered manners, being clean, and staying relatively organized, but what about little-things life skills like knowing how to have a conversation with someone older than you? You should be able to do that without sounding like a goof, right? What if (heaven forbid) your parents took you to a nice dinner or a concert? Would you know how to dress and behave? What about when you're representing your team, your church, or your family? Conduct is important—far more important than it might seem to most teens. I resented my parents a lot for making me go to the theater, concerts or ballets when I was a kid, or for insisting that I use good table manners at everyday dinners. But honestly, the first time I went out as an adult to a concert, or the time I interviewed for my job at ec over lunch in a restaurant with the boss, I thanked God my parents made me do all that boring stuff. Don't resent that kind of training. You will absolutely, positively use it someday.

That's it for now! In 2 weeks I hope there will be some new albums to write about! Until then, remember you can't/won't do everything perfectly. Just keep doing your best and good things will become habits over time. You can do it!

The Injustice Issue

It’s not fair!

Oh how I love those words! I use them when I’m prevented from doing something I want or when I think someone else is getting an honor or privilege I think I deserve. But most often, I fall back on that phrase when I lose or don’t do as well on something as I think I should have.

Obviously, my sense of fairness is sometimes a little skewed—and a little selfish. But there are things in this world that aren’t fair. Things like discrimination and racism and poverty. It’s truly not right that we live in a world with such a marked difference between the haves and have-nots. It’s not fair that there are children in Africa who have been forced to serve as soldiers in a war they never wanted. It’s not fair that as I write this column, there are people being sold as modern-day slaves. There are things in this world that are unjust and wrong. But what do they have to do with us?

Everything, actually. As believers, we serve a God of love. He has shown us infinite love and mercy by giving up His Son so that He could have a relationship with each one of us. But so often, we downplay another characteristic of God: His justice. God is just. He does what is right, and He cannot accept the things that are wrong or sinful. And then there’s the example of Jesus who ate with sinners, touched lepers, and talked to the people everyone else shunned. God hates injustice; it is against His very character. And in Jesus, He’s shown us exactly how He wants our lives to look. We’re to be the people who fight injustice in this world. We’re supposed to be the ones who love our neighbors more than ourselves and put their needs before our own. If we truly lived like that, think about the difference it would make. Would there be as much poverty? Racism? Discrimination?

In this month’s issue of ec, that’s what we want to challenge you to think about and live out in your daily life. You’ll find that challenge in Lindsey Dugue’s cover story, “Fighting the Good Fight” on page 34. You’ll see it in Bryan Daniel’s Q&A about the time he spent in Uganda with Invisible Children. We’ll push you to put your focus on God and His character through devotions, Ryan Vermilyea’s article on page 8, and features about God’s view of success and eternity. It is our hope that when you close this issue, you’re changed. Not by anything we’ve written or edited, but by the God who created you—and everyone in this world—and loves each one of us dearly. We pray that you are changed by the God who always knew that having a relationship with us would cost Him dearly. And when you look at the world, we hope that you begin to see it through His eyes—as a world that can be radically changed by His love. And you have a part to play in that. Will you?

It’s that time of year again—the time to make (and hopefully keep) your New Year’s resolutions. While lots of people are resolving to hit the gym, eat better, read more, or be more green, what will you be attempting to change about yourself in 2010?

Personally, I will be attempting to not talk over people. (I really enjoy “helping” other people finish their sentences, for some reason.) I think I can show more respect for people by not assuming that I know everything, including what they’re thinking.

What about you? Are you a New Year’s resolution(s) person? Take our quiz below! (And if you’re feeling the need to share your resolutions, leave a comment. We’d love to hear what your resolutions are!)

Daily Bible Readings for January

Happy New Year, ec readers! We hope you had a very merry Christmas and that 2010 is off to a great start for each of you. Below are the daily Bible readings for January. We'll kick off another year of reading the Bible through on January 3. We hope you'll read the entire Bible this year and use this plan to do it. Each day, you'll read some passages from the Old Testament and the New Testament. We know you can do it!

Sunday, January 3: Genesis 1–3; Matthew 1
Monday, January 4: Genesis 4–6; Matthew 2:1-12
Tuesday, January 5: Genesis 7–8; Matthew 2:13-23
Wednesday, January 6: Genesis 9–10; Matthew 3:1-12
Thursday, January 7: Genesis 11–13; Matthew 3:13-17
Friday, January 8: Genesis 14–15; Matthew 4:1-11
Saturday, January 9: Genesis 16–17; Matthew 4:12-25

Sunday, January 10: Genesis 18–20; Matthew 5:1-26
Monday, January 11: Genesis 21–23; Matthew 5:27-48
Tuesday, January 12: Genesis 24–25; Matthew 6:1-18
Wednesday, January 13: Genesis 26–27; Matthew 6:19-34
Thursday, January 14: Genesis 28–29; Matthew 7:1-12
Friday, January 15: Genesis 30–31; Matthew 7:13-29
Saturday, January 16: Genesis 32–33; Matthew 8:1-17

Sunday, January 17: Genesis 34–35; Matthew 8:18–34
Monday, January 18: Genesis 36–37; Matthew 9:1-17
Tuesday, January 19: Genesis 38–40; Matthew 9:18-38
Wednesday, January 20: Genesis 41–42; Matthew 10:1-25
Thursday, January 21: Genesis 43–45; Matthew 10:26-42
Friday, January 22: Genesis 46–48; Matthew 11
Saturday, January 23: Genesis 49–50; Matthew 12:1-21

Sunday, January 24: Exodus 1–2; Matthew 12:22-50
Monday, January 25: Exodus 3–4; Matthew 13:1-17
Tuesday, January 26: Exodus 5–6; Matthew 13:18-30
Wednesday, January 27: Exodus 7–9; Matthew 13:31-58
Thursday, January 28: Exodus 10–11; Matthew 14:1-21
Friday, January 29: Exodus 12–13; Matthew 14:22-36
Saturday, January 30: Exodus 14–15; Matthew 15

Sunday, January 31: Exodus 16–17; Matthew 16:1-12