miley cyrus hates selena gomez?

OK, so for the sake of some of you that may not know, Miley Cyrus is the star of Hannah Montanna and Selena Gomez is the star of Wizards of Waverly Place – both top “tween” tv shows on The Disney Channel. The reported story has been that Hannah and Selena are in this huge fued because of two reasons. One, Selena is the new tween sensation on The Disney Channel, giving Hannah a little run for her money. Two, because Selena was said to now be dating Nick Jonas of The Jonas Brothers, alleged to be the formally undercover boyfriend of Miley.

Well my friends, according to a recently aired show on “The View”, Selena put an end to all of the rumored allogations regarding the fued. When asked by Barbara Walters if she had a “thing” for one of the Jonas Brothers, Selena told the ladies of “The View” that she was friends with all of the Jonas Brothers and does not have a “thing” for one of them. When Sherry asked Selena if their was a fued between her and Miley, Selena said that “There is no fued.” She said that “they are both 16-year old girls working for the same network and there is nothing to be fueding over.” She closed by saying “We both have great things happening in our lives.”

So, we can kill the noise about these two young ladies fighting with each other over boys and popularity. It apparenlty was just another rumored story that hit the media airwaves and to get us talking. Unfotunately, it won’t be the last untrue story that we hear. Hopefully we will be mindful to think the best of everyone instead of believing the worst upfront.

protecting your teens from predators

We are living in a generation where sex offenders and child predators are becoming more and more skillful at finding their victims. The same way a small business owner begins growing their business on the internet is the same way predators are attempting to expand their reach into the homes of millions of children. It is a dangerous time to live and we as parents have to take an ACTIVE role in protecting our children from those whose desire is to harm them.

Here are some startling statistics (Taken from Darkness2light.org):

• 1 in 4 girls is sexually abused before the age of 18.
• 1 in 6 boys is sexually abused before the age of 18.
• 1 in 5 children are solicited sexually while on the internet.
• Nearly 70% of all reported sexual assaults (including assaults on adults) occur to children ages 17 and under.
• An estimated 39 million survivors of childhood sexual abuse exist in America today.
• 30-40% of victims are abused by a family member.
• Another 50% are abused by someone outside of the family whom they know and trust.
• Approximately 40% are abused by older or larger children whom they know.
• Therefore, only 10% are abused by strangers. THIS IS HUGE PEOPLE!!!
• The median age for reported abuse is 9 years old.
• More than 20% of children are sexually abused before the age of 8.
• Over 30% of victims never disclose the experience to ANYONE.

Even though this information is staggering, we want to make sure that we don’t begin operating in fear regarding keeping our children safe. If you are a Christian, the Word of God gives us promises that we can and should use each and every day regarding the protection of our children. Read Psalm 91: 1 – 16 Verse 3 (NIV) says, “Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.”

The word fowler means “trapper” or “bait-layer.” Our children and our families have the right to be protected from those that try to set traps for them in order to cause them harm. This is our biblical covenant right and we should walk each day in faith believing it. Bottom line, God is our refuge and protector. Even in the midst of not knowing the dangers out there, we must always know that we can trust, lean on, and rely on God to keep our children safe under His shadow (vs.1).

We also, however, need to be fully aware of the dangers that are very present in this world and do all that we can to provide the natural and logical safe havens for our children. We have to educate ourselves as much as possible on how to keep our children safe from sexual predators. One of the fast growing tools predators are utilizing to find their victims is via the internet.

Below are some practical and important tips and suggestions to follow in order to help keep your child safe. Protect Your Children from Online Predators (Taken from Oprah.com) Minimize the Chances of an Online Predator Victimizing a Child

• Warn your children about potentially dangerous people who may try to befriend them online.
• Keep the computer in a public space in your house, not your child’s bedroom.
• Don’t allow children to use a screen name profile or to give out personal information online.
• Use parental controls provided by your service provider or blocking software.
• Monitor all chat room usage.
• Insist children never agree to meet someone they’ve met online without your permission.

Types of Children Sexual Predators Target and Prey Upon

• Children with lower self-esteem
• Children who divulge too much personal information online
• Children who frequent chat rooms
• Children willing to engage in online conversations about sex

Signs Your Child Might Be at Risk Online

• Your child spends large amounts of time online, especially at night.
• You find pornography on your child’s computer.
• Your child receives phone calls from people you don’t know or is making calls to numbers you don’t recognize.
• Your child turns the computer off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.
• Your child becomes withdrawn from the family. Offenders try to drive wedges between a child and their family, trying to accentuate any minor problems at home a child may have.
• Your child is using an online account belonging to someone else. Sex offenders will sometimes provide potential victims with a computer account for communications with them.

If Your Child Is Approached by an Online Predator

• Write down as much information as possible-including the screen name or e-mail address of the person who contacted the child, the URL of the chat room and the date and time of contact. Report the incident to the local police department or FBI.
• In addition, you can contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s cyber tipline at 800-THE-LOST. This tipline collects leads from individuals reporting the sexual exploitation of children.

secular vs christian music

Teen Devotions
Is there something wrong with listening to secular music?

What a huge question to ask. You know, I don’t think the Bible literally says to not listen
to secular music. You won’t find those words anywhere in the Bible. Personally, there is
a lot of “non-Christian” music that I enjoy. Don’t get me started with Michael Jackson’s
Off the Wall album (OK, that may before your time…). I enjoy many kinds and types of
music. But my appreciation for music and enjoyment of it never supersedes what God
may be saying to me in regards to the types of music I allow in my life and in my home.
Above all else, my desire is to keep my heart away from things that may be bad for me
or impact me in a bad way.

For this study, I will define “heart” as the following”

Heart – the most inward part of us that connects with God. The part where your
morality and character lives.

The Bible tells us to keep or guard our hearts with all diligence, for the circumstances of
our life come from what is in our hearts. Let’s read Proverbs 4:23 (NIV):

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

If you want to see different circumstances in your life, you are going to have to start
watching what you are putting before your eyes and what goes into your ears – which
are literally gates into your heart. Some of your music choices may not have the best
words to put into your ears or some of the music videos you watch the best to put before
your eyes if you are trying to change particular behaviors in your life. Only you know
what those behaviors are that need to change. If you find yourself desperate to be in a
relationship, maybe pouring music in your heart about relationships is not the best thing
for you. If you find yourself tempted a lot sexually, maybe (not maybe – definitely!)
music with sexual lyrics and innuendos are not what you should be listening to. If you
have a problem with cussing, maybe artists that tend to use cussing in their lyrics are off
limits for you. Philippians 4:8 (NIV) tells us the following:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever
is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is
admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think
about such things.

Bottom line, if you are spending 5, 6, 10 hours a day pouring secular music into your
ears and heart and NO time in the Word, guess what? You will see more of the world’s
way of living and doing in your life than God’s way of living and doing. It is impossible to
think that you will succeed in God if you are putting more of the world into you than Him.

This is just common sense. Whatever you sow into your life, that is what you will reap
Let’s read Galatians 6:7 – 9:

7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what
he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from
that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please
the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not
become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will
reap a harvest if we do not give up.

So, you have to be the judge of your own life. You have to set the guards up for
yourself. No one else knows what those guards are and no one else can do this for you.
If you want to see a change in your circumstances and issues, you’ve gotta change
what’s going in you. Out of YOUR heart are the issues of YOUR life. You’ve got the
control, so what are you going to do?

Click here for a pdf version of this post.

examples – our new direction