• Rock the Tote

    Yes, I’m having fun with word association today. I’m entertaining myself…

  • Rock the Moat

    A little graphic for my friends storming the castle today. 

  • Celebrate National Awkward Small Talk While Waiting to Vote Day

  • Why is there a sex shop in my neighborhood?

    (Romantix, an adult bookstore, is the purple marker. The red markers are nearby schools) 

    Why is there a sex shop in my neighborhood?

    I don’t about your neighborhood. But in my neighborhood we have enough problems to deal without having an adult bookstore just a few blocks from 4 schools and within a mile of 8 schools.

    That’s the case with Romantix, an adult bookstore located right smack dab in the middle of City Heights on the corner of 48th & El Cajon.

    I’m not talking about Romantix being buried in a shady shopping center. It’s on El Cajon Boulevard, where hundreds of students have to walk each day to and from school. And tens of thousands of cars stream… often stopped in front of the shop because of traffic lights. For example, it’s caddy corner to a Jack in the Box and across the street from a corner market. There’s a bus stop on this block, etc. This store is public and visible in every way.

    Worse yet, the store advertises like this:

    I’m asking you to join me in changing how Romantix advertises their business.

    • Help draw attention to their sexually suggestive advertising in a residential neighborhood.
    • Contact local media. A little bit of media attention could go a long way.
    • Call the shop to ask them to take it down. (619) 582-1997
    • Contact San Diego City Council to ask them to enforce appropriate ordinances.
    • Use these edited images to draw attention to this injustice.

    Would you want this in your neighborhood? Would this be allowed where you live? I doubt it. The simple reality is that this form of overt sexually suggestive advertising wouldn’t be allowed in any neighborhood ones like City Heights. I guarantee you that this wouldn’t fly in La Jolla, Point Loma, etc. 

    Why is an adult bookstore in a residential neighborhood?

    According to San Diego Municipal code 141.0601 an adult entertainment business cannot operate within 1,000 feet of a residential area, a school, or a church. Um, it’s within 100 feet of a residential area! 

    Quoting the ordinance… section 3.

    (3) The public health, safety, and welfare shall be preserved and protected by applying the provisions of this section in the following descending order of importance:

    (A) Proximity to other adult entertainment businesses;
    (B) Proximity to schools;
    (C) Proximity to churches;
    (D) Proximity to public parks;
    (E) Proximity to residential zones; and
    (F) Proximity to social service institutions.

    So is it against the ordinance for Romanix to even be there? I actually don’t know the answer to that question. This neighborhood has been there for many years. But the ordinance says that it can be exempt if they don’t changed owners or expand/improve their property. I find it hard to believe that Romantix has been there, not changed owners, and not made any improvements in 20, 30, or even 40 years!

    We all know why this is happening. It’s because the people who live in my community are often the working poor, powerless, and voiceless. It’s there because the people who live there don’t know that it’s not supposed to be there. And even if they don’t like it, they don’t know that there is anything they could do about it.

    In truth, I doubt we could get them to close their doors. But I am fairly confident we could get them to cease using sexually suggestive advertising on the exterior of their building.

    So while I wish Romantix weren’t allowed to do business in that location at all, I recognize that they likely do have every right to be in business at this location. To be clear, I’m not saying they should close– just advertise in such a way which is responsible and respectful of their location.

    Together we can demand that the owner’s advertise in ways which are less degrading to women and less sexually suggestive.

    My Note to the Owners/Operators of Romantix

    Romantix, your business may be on a main artery in City Heights. But it is also in a neighborhood where hundreds of children pass by daily. Likewise, tens of thousands of motorists stream by and are even stopped in front of your shop while waiting for the traffic light to change.

    As a concerned member of the community I am asking you to refrain from sexually suggestive, lewd, and degrading advertising on the outside of your business. Your clientele knows exactly what you are, where you are, and why they shop there. There’s simply no reason to advertise in this way when your establishment is in an area where thousands of people are forced to go by your shop. There is a difference between “within the law” and “what is right.” I am asking you to do what is right and best for the community.

     

  • Football Thoughts: Week 10

    Um, WOW. That about sums up my thoughts for week 10 of college football.

    Let’s start off in two obvious places for me.

    1. Notre Dame beat Pitt to go to 9-0. If you watched this game you know how ridiculous it was to get an Irish victory. It had all the ingredients of an upset loss. Red zone turnovers, penalties, and Coach Kelly playing Russian Roulette with his QBs. The defense looked mesmerized by Pitt all game– as if this weren’t the team they’d seen on film that lost to lowly Youngstown State to open the season. (As an Irish fan, I know that it’s the NBC factor. For most mediocre teams the Notre Dame game is their only shot at national TV. It’s their de facto bowl game and crappy teams tend to play better.) I thought the game was over when Golson threw a pick in the endzone with 3 minutes to go. But the defense got a stop and 2 plays later Golson somehow tied it up. How far can the Irish go? At this point if they win 1 out of 3 games they are going to a BCS game. Win 2 out of 3 and they go to a BCS game. But win all 3? Mark my words… an undefeated Notre Dame team will not be denied a spot in the National Championship game. They are just too powerful from a fan base perspective. An undefeated Notre Dame team could bump out undefeated Oregon or Alabama. Money talks and everyone in football is poor compared to Notre Dame.
    2. San Diego State beat Boise State in Boise. For those outside of the West you need to know: No one beats Boise State in Boise. Going into the game they were 71-1 at home since 2001. Additionally, SDSU has not beaten a nationally ranked team on the road in the history of the program. (They were 0-31 in road games against ranked teams.) Quite literally, it was the biggest win in team history. Not only did it catapult them into a tie for the Mountain West lead, it also was huge from a recruiting perspective as they head into the Big East alongside Boise State. A lot of Boise State’s talent at the skills positions comes from Southern California, so showing those recruits we can go there and get a win means a ton. Credit for this victory goes to two departments. First, Rocky Long made some ballsy calls down the stretch to run out the clock, including going for it on 4th down with 2:03 to go. (Rocky’s go-for-it chart now has its own Twitter account.) Second, special teams won this game. We opened the game with a 102 yard kickoff return for a TD. And late in the game we blocked a punt to set up the victory.

    Still kind of pinching myself about those two games. Wow. 

    Notre Dame Opponents Making the Case for the Irish

    ND’s schedule was a death sentence. No one… NO ONE predicted they’d be 9-0. But now that we are here we can thank our opponents for helping us with the BCS picture. (In basketball terms we’d call this the RPI) Navy has won 5 in a row. Michigan beat Minnesota in the first post-Robinson era game. Miami beat VaTech. Stanford is on a 3 game winning streak. And BYU went to Atlanta and kicked the crap out of Georgia Tech.

    No Upsets in the Top 10

    Boy, ESPN was sure hoping for a shake-up yesterday– right? They set it up all week for one of the undefeated teams to lose, but they didn’t. Alabama came back against LSU. Oregon went all video game on USC in the 4th quarter. Kansas State held on despite probably losing their QB. And Notre Dame stole victory from Pitt.

    Even in the top 20 teams there wasn’t really a major upset. The day played out with only the SDSU/Boise State game surprising most people. Some ranked  teams lost to lower ranked or unranked conference opponents… but that’s gonna happen this time of year.

    Who is For Real?

    Is Louisville (10-0) for real? Um, no one seems to think so. I think they are destined for the Orange Bowl to play whichever team loses among the 4 undefeated who isn’t Oregon. All of whom will hammer the Cardinals. While undefeated, they haven’t played any team of significance, which is why no one is giving them love.

    Is Rutgers for real? No.

    Is the state of Texas for real? Meh. I’ve not been impressed with any of the Texas teams this year. I love that TCU beat West Virginia yesterday. But all the Texas teams just seem to be chewing up one another in 2012 and none of them is emerging. I’ve been impressed with A&M… but I have a feeling they’ll get thrashed by Alabama next weekend. I think that we’ve finally learned what happens when all Texas teams can recruit… they all kind of lose something. (TCU, Texas, A&M, Tech, Baylor are all meh in 2012.)

    Is Florida State for real? Yes. No one wants to play them in a BCS bowl game. While their schedule has sucked they have thrashed some teams. If they can get by Florida, expect them to be in a top tier bowl.

    Is the Big 10 really this bad? Yes. Other than ineligible Ohio State, none of the Big 10 teams are playing very well. It looks like Nebraska could make it to the Rose Bowl. (If Oregon gets the national championship game we could see a 1 loss Notre Dame vs. Nebraska… which would be a GREAT game.) Don’t forget that the Big 10 was horrible in non-conference games this year.

    Is the MAC for real? Yes, but it won’t matter. A 1 loss Ohio/Kent State/Toledo/NIU team will still be in the Motor City Bowl because the MAC is a lower tier mid-major.

    Adam’s BCS Bowl Projections

    National Championship Game – Notre Dame vs. Oregon

    Fiesta Bowl – Florida vs. Kansas State

    Sugar Bowl – Alabama vs. Florida State

    Orange Bowl – Louisville vs. Clemson

    Rose Bowl – Nebraska vs. Georgia

  • The role of father’s in adolescent sexual education

    Existing research preliminarily suggests fathers influence the sexual behavior of their adolescent children; however, more rigorous research examining diverse facets of paternal influence on adolescent sexual behavior is needed. We provide recommendations for primary care providers and public health practitioners to better incorporate fathers into interventions designed to reduce adolescent sexual risk behavior.

    Link

    “Our research suggests that fathers matter when it comes to their adolescent children’s sexual behavior,” Guilamo-Ramos said. “Moving forward, more attention to the role of fathers in shaping adolescent health and wellbeing is needed. Fathers represent a critical missed opportunity to support the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents and represent an additional mechanism to influence teenage sexual behavior.”

    Link

    I’m intrigued about where this research can end up.

    What do you think? Obviously, dads have impact on their adolescent children. But what are ways that you’ve seen dad’s attitudes towards adolescent sex positively or negatively impact his children? 

  • 3 New Books from The Youth Cartel

    In the past 2-3 months I’ve earned a Masters Degree in Publishing. OK, not literally. But I’ve had to teach myself how to turn a manuscript into a book you can buy and a Kindle/iBook you can read on an eReader. It’s been crazy hard and fun.

    So here are the 3 books we’ve published this fall. (In reverse order)

    Leading Up: Finding Influence in the Church Beyond Role and Experience by Joel Mayward

    Back cover:

    Far too many church leaders find themselves frustrated, floundering, or fired because their dreams for the church reach beyond the job description they were hired to fill. Whether you’re a pastor, an intern, or a volunteer, you’re not the one in charge of the congregation. Thankfully, neither is your boss; Jesus is the lead pastor for every church. His Spirit moves in each of us, and those gifted in leadership can find Christ-honoring practices for leading up- having influence that goes beyond role or experience. This isn’t about manipulation or rebellion, but about humbly participating in the mission of God in your church.

    Leading Up is a leadership fable that unpacks a paradigm and practical tools for leading up in your church. Logan is a young pastor with a big vision for Evergreen Community Church, but cannot seem to move any of his ideas beyond wishful thinking. At a significant breaking point, a mentor comes alongside to mentor Logan on his journey of leadership, transforming both of these leaders and the church in the process. Logan’s affecting tale will offer compelling insights for any church leader wanting to expand their leadership skills.

    My thoughts: Oh baby, this is so needed in multi-staff churches. I think this would be a great book to work through as a staff team. And if I were overseeing interns, especially those who aspired to be church staff, this would be mandatory reading.

    Releases December 1st. Pre-order from the Cartel store. It’ll be on Amazon for both physical copies & Kindle soon. And it should be on iBook by December 1st as well.

    Masterpiece: The Art of Discipling Youth by Paul Martin

    Back Cover:

    Masterpiece. That’s how Paul the Apostle describes us in his letter to the church in Ephesus. We are God’s masterpiece. Most people never hear that one phrase. Even fewer will believe it. Masterpiece: The Art of Discipling Youthuncovers the process of revealing teenagers as the masterpieces Christ created them to be. It doesn’t approach discipleship with a blank slate, sketching with small groups or painting with programs. Instead, it focuses on revealing the art that is already under the surface of every teenager, removing the grime of life and restoring the vibrancy of the true colors underneath.

    This book is for youth workers who are tired of canned meetings geared towards the masses. Veteran youth worker Paul Martin shares his process for recognizing individual youth as what they are: God’s masterpiece.

    My thoughts: I’m pumped for this book. We, as a tribe, need to think more imaginatively about faith formation and Paul helps us get there. I think every youth worker needs to read/wrestle with this book, I’d love to see it used as a text book for youth ministry students, too.

    Releases December 1st. Pre-order from the Cartel store or Amazon right now. (As well as a few other youth ministry websites) It’ll be on both Kindle & iBooks by December 1st, as well.

    The Youth Cartel’s Unauthorized Dictionary of Youth Ministry by Steve Case

    Back cover: 

    Most church people don’t like to work with teenagers. Teenagers scare people. But what do youth workers like you do? You love them. You spend all your time with them. You do your best to listen to heartaches, guide fledgling souls, and avoid dismemberment. You’re like a saint. A saint who drinks a lot of coffee.

    Even with all that coffee in you and with the mighty hand of God shoving guiding you, sometimes the pressure, church committees and annual budget meetings can make you feel like you are gonna explode. Don’t do that. It’s gross.

    Instead: breathe deep. Allow yourself one of those “snort” church giggles. You can even hide this book inside your Bible (just bow your head and you’ll look like you’re praying). Go ahead and laugh. We won’t tell anyone.

    My thoughts: This book is hilarious. It “gets us.” Plus, how many books in our world can you say… “Oh, I’d totally buy that to read on the can.” Everyone who reads it thinks it is hilarious. If you have a youth worker in your life it’d make a great Christmas gift. And if you’re a youth worker… well, you need to have it because our job is so weird that sometimes you just need to laugh at yourself.

    This released October 1st, so it ships immediately. It’s available on the Cartel store and Amazon. It’s also available digitally on Kindle and iBooks.

    So how many books are you guys gonna do?

    Yeah, starting a publishing business has been crazy fun and we think we’re going to keep doing it! We’ve got 4-5 more books/curriculums in the hopper and we’re talking to a fair number of folks about future stuff. In theory, we’re planning on doing 6-10 titles in 2013.

  • Infographic: Why Youth Ministry Must Decentralize

    Infographic: Paid youth worker ratio to American 10-19 year olds

    Click here to view or download full-sized version

    Source: U.S. Census Data

    Challenge

    You cannot reach 427 10-19 year olds with 1 paid youth worker. We have 40 years of data which tells us this is impossible. The way we currently do things is part of the solution but we must think differently to engage more of our societies 10-19 year olds.

    We must decentralize our role, invite more adults who minister to teenagers already to the table, and multiply our effectiveness.

    The cause of Christ is too important to continue on with another 40 years like this.

    My invitation to you is simple: Join us. Help us innovate contextual means for decentralizing our role and impacting more 10-19 year olds. I am not alone, there are thousands who think like me. Together we can write a new story of youth ministry.

    Ready to dream about your ministry, again? (Instead of just surviving.) Join us next week at The Summit.

  • How to trade halloween candy

    OK, so this didn’t quite work for this weeks YouTube You Can Use, but its dang funny.

    Question: How many days go by before you start stealing your kids candy while they sleep? 

  • A season of winning

    Saturday, both of my favorite college football teams got big wins. First, SDSU beat UNLV at home to move their record to 6-3 and become bowl eligible. And second, Notre Dame remains undefeated and overachieving at 8-0. How in the world did they end up in the National Championship discussion after a schedule like that? For both the Irish and the Aztecs we are in a season of winning and that makes it very fun.

    In truth, the same is also true in my life. As I reflect on the amazing fall we’re having with The Youth Cartel there’s just no other way to label it except a season of winning.

    • We have amazing and flourishing collaborative relationships with a growing number of like-minded organizations.
    • More and more youth workers are seeing their ministry benefitted by the services, products, and training we are creating.
    • Open Seattle was a high risk experiment and it exceeded all expectations. (Content, attendance, impact, etc.)
    • Middle School Ministry Campference (last weekend) has gone from an alpha mode last year (Can we make this work?) into something which is growing, fun to be a part of, and we know is a winner. I can’t wait for 2013.
    • We started the year with publishing desires but are finishing the year with 4 innovative, high quality titles in our brand new publishing line.

    I could go on… there’s lots of winning going on!

    And in case you weren’t aware we’ve started a new business [without external funding] in the middle of a recession.

    How We Got Here

    Just like on a sports team, when you get into a season of winning you can only point to a long, hard pre-season of planning/training/and hard work. You don’t get here on talent and/or good fortune alone. There’s no better way to win!

    As a result, as much as I am enjoying this sweet season of winning of winning I’m completely reticent of the fact that this is only happening because of the extreme sacrifices we’ve made to make it happen. Long nights, tough decisions, lots of strategy execution.

    Enjoying the Wins

    Is it OK to enjoy winning? I absolutely think so. Something in me wants to act like this is no big deal. Or to blush off the compliments. Or, worse yet, just move past even considering these as wins because we have much larger aspirational goals. Sometimes I don’t know how to take winning. It feels like I shouldn’t, at least not publicly.

    But I think it’s wise/important/necessary to celebrate and enjoy winning! I don’t think it’s gloating to jam the victory spear into the ground and take a picture.

    How do you celebrate wins in your life, ministry, family, spiritual walk?