Loving Bravely

After my 13-year-old's jarring confession, I talked to other youth about their impressions of God, the church, and "Christ vs. Christianity." I quickly discovered that my son was not alone in his doubts about the integrity of adult Christians.

My 13-year-old son's shocking confession forced me to confront my tendency to obscure Jesus behind the "religious" parts of my faith.

This year, a more balanced perspective on gift-giving, and a newly discovered respect for "Scroogenomics," is saving my Christmas.

Enola Aird of the Community Healing Network believes too many Black youth have internalized the myth that their lives are not as valuable as the lives of others -- and it's leading them to act out in destructive ways. She's out to change that.

Chris Rock's new documentary probes the world of black hair to humorous effect, but also forces us to confront disturbing questions about our prescribed standards of beauty.

Let's face it. Life doesn't always go according to plan. Perhaps you expected to be married by now. Perhaps you did not anticipate being single again. Perhaps that big decision you made -- the decision you sought godly counsel on and that you thoroughly prayed through before making -- is not working out. Despite your surprise, God knew all along where you would be right now.

Celebrities go to great lengths to obtain the children of their dreams. Singer Céline Dion recently announced that she's pregnant with her second child through in vitro fertilization. Madonna and Angelina Jolie can't seem to visit Africa or Asia without leaving with a kid. Then there was Michael Jackson, whose children's mysterious origins continue to be the topic of endless speculation.

Whether their intentions are noble or egotistical, the rich and famous like to cross the lines of race, gender, and biology to get the children they want. But what if they could actually design and create a baby exactly the way they wanted? It's a scary thought, but one that may soon become a reality.

Earlier this year, in Parts 1 and 2 of this series, we looked at urban teenagers' attitudes about sex, and their behaviors and practices that reflect those attitudes. Part 2 ended with a question about how parents and churches can fill the gap in teens' knowledge about sexual health issues and thereby prompt a change in their behavior. We now tackle that tricky subject.

"The industry doesn't want you to know the truth about what you are eating, because if you knew you might not want to eat it " -- Food, Inc.

I recently headed out to a sold-out showing of the documentary Food, Inc. at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema here in Austin, Texas. Generally, getting dinner and drinks along with my movie is my favorite "night out" activity, but in watching a film which critically examines our industrial food system, it was a bit strange. Granted, all around me I heard orders for veggie burgers and the local organic veggie platter, and there wasn't a high fructose corn syrup soda to be seen, but I was glad to have finished my (veggie) burger by the time the previews ended. Although I have sought to inform myself about the injustices in our modern food system, Food, Inc. presents the most comprehensive and disturbing summary of that system I have seen yet. It is a necessary film for basically anyone who eats food.

A Special UMI Promotional Feature

There's a shortage of enduring love stories in the black community. And if the dismal statistics released by the U.S. Census Bureau, the Barna Group, and others hold steady, the decline of African American marriages will only continue. Currently, African Americans have the lowest marriage rate of any group in the United States (41 percent), and research has found that among those few that do marry, as many as 36 percent end their relationships in divorce. The numbers are bleak, but Christian marriage experts Drs. Clarence and Ja'Ola Walker believe there are steps Christian couples can take to ensure they build strong healthy marriages.