Addison Road Hits Big on iTunes

Just a quick update about Addison Road's week as the free Discovery Download on iTunes: Huge hit! Over 160,000 downloads of their new single "All That Matters." Lots of love from new and longtime fans. Woot!

Want more? Pre-order the CD here before its March 18 street date and download 3 songs (MP3) right away.

Lying to Parents

This article from New York Magazine is way long, but it's full of cool research on why and how kids and teens lie to their parents -- even students who say they they believe lying is wrong. One of the conclusions of the article is that kids learn to lie from their parents as a way of avoiding conflict.

The article nails one reason teens lie -- and why parents let lying and other rebellion slide. They just don't feel like fighting.

Forty-six percent of the mothers rated their arguments as being destructive to their relationships with their teens. Being challenged was stressful, chaotic, and (in their perception) disrespectful. The more frequently they fought, and the more intense the fights were, the more the mother rated the fighting as harmful. But only 23 percent of the adolescents felt that their arguments were destructive. Far more believed that fighting strengthened their relationship with their mothers. . . . “They saw fighting as a way to see their parents in a new way, as a result of hearing their mother’s point of view be articulated.”

In the Bible, God clearly (really clearly) tells us both not to lie and to give honor to our parents. But in most relationships, it's possible to bring up a point of conflict without being disrespectful. If the choice is between lying to get what we want and rolling up our sleeves for one more tough conversation (if mom and/or dad is willing), a little honest conflict is the only right option. Isn't it? (Don't just tell me what I want to hear.)

(HT: Evangelical Outpost)

Almost Profound

"Give a man a fish, and he'll eat for a day. Give a fish a man, and he'll eat for weeks!"

—Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata,
Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005

(HT: quotationspage.com)

V-Day Rant

It's that day again. The day when greeting card companies and florists roam the land looking to browbeat hard hearts a little softer in the name of romance. "Do you really love/like/cherish your significant other?" they ask as if they care more about your relationship than the cash they hope you'll spend in cardboard message devices, dying roses, and fat-packed candies. "Then prove it. Nothing says true love like big dollars spent on disposable goods."

Okay, I'm not really that much of a V-Day grinch. I participate. I like showering my true love with affection. She likes to get the flowers and cards and whatnot. The feelings are real even if the day is as artificial as sugar-free chocolate.

But it's not just the profit-fueled expressions of tenderness that bug me. It's that the day makes a lot of students feel a little desperate. A small voice coos, "Everyone has a valentine but you. What exactly is wrong with you, loser?" For them, the traditions of the day just feel mean. Not everyone is meant to be in a romantic relationship today. Sometimes, God has a better plan for us, even in mid-February.

For those in relationships, it can be sweet. It can be a chance to affirm growing affections. But I know a few students carried away by romance who compromised their convictions about keeping physical limits on their relationship. It doesn't help that all those ads package the day with lingerie and lipstick. (Note: Don't tell Victoria any secrets; she can't keep anything under wraps.)

Instead of complaining, one group of Christian teens is claiming Valentine's Day as their own for a whole other purpose.

“We live in a culture hostile to traditional values which has produced shocking statistics on the state of our youth,” said a statement on the Day of Purity Web site. “The Day of Purity is a day on which students can make a public demonstration of their commitment to remain sexually pure, in mind and actions.”

Check out the Day of Purity site, and don't be bullied or seduced into giving your heart, mind, or body away to anyone in the name of artificial romance. The real thing -- built on biblical love -- is always worth celebrating.

Addison Road Free on iTunes

If you've been to a PlanetWisdom tour event, you probably love the worship band Addison Road as much as we do. Big news: You can get their new single "All That Matters" today (through next Monday) for FREE on iTunes as a Discovery Download.

Here's how iTunes describes them: "Addison Road are a Christian band from Texas who are fronted by vocalist Jenny Simmons. The group's sound is a mixture of shiny, well-produced harmonies, touches of soul, and (at least on this week's free single) a touch of the Fab Four's later years. Imagine a female-fronted Maroon 5 and you'll understand the kind of energy being put together here." Nice.

The Road's new CD releases in March. If you want more, check them out on Napster the week of March 10, go to their site or Myspace, or come see them live on the PlanetWisdom tour. But first watch the music video for "All That Matters" — and don't miss the celeb cameos at the end.

Clowns in Church

I've been amusing myself wondering what you might have guessed this post was about based on the title alone. Choir members who wear too much makeup? Goofy youth leaders? Your little brother and his friends?

Nope, it's about realactual clowns who get decked out and go to a super serious church every year to memorialize one of their clown forefathers and clown brethren who have passed in the previous year. It's hard to beat the image of a church full of clowns singing "Amazing Grace" while a lone unicycler slowly rides up the aisle in his floppy shoes and big red nose.

The key quote from the church vicar on the ministry of clowns:

"In the Bible, in the New Testament, it talks about us being fools for Christ and in a sense they clown around, they fool around, and they try to help people see the lighter side of life. I think from that perspective, that they have a ministry to perform."

As much as I like the idea of being called by God to help people lighten up, the vicar badly misses the point of 1 Corinthians 4:10, where Paul sarcastically describes the persecuted apostles as "fools for Christ" as compared with the "wise" people who doubted their authority to deliver God's Word. Or maybe the vicar had in mind the many times in 1 Corinthians when Paul described his preaching as foolishness to those who reject Christ.

There's no doubt some who dismiss Jesus see our Christian funerals as churches full of clowns putting a happy face on the sad reality of death. But that's okay. We're convinced of the reality of the celebration waiting on the other side. I won't even mind if they bury me in a pair of big floppy shoes.