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ysmarko

life, faith, youth ministry, emerging church, leadership, whimsy

teen abortion rates plummetYesterday

interesting article in newsweek recently on “the changing face of abortion.” of particular note for youth workers:

Abortion rates have dropped steadily since the 1980s, from a peak of 29.3 abortions per 1,000 women in 1981 to 19.4 in 2005. But behind this general decrease are striking changes in the demographics of abortion. Compared to 30 years ago, women having abortions today are older and more likely to be mothers and minorities, according to a study released Tuesday by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Guttmacher Institute.

What researchers found is contrary to what pop culture phenoms, from “Juno” to Jamie Lynn Spears, might suggest: Teenagers are not the most likely to confront this issue, twenty-somethings are.

In fact, teens saw a bigger drop in abortion rate than any other demographic over the past 30 years. From 1974 to 1989, women aged 18-19 had the highest abortion rate among all age groups, varying from 32 to 62 per 1,000 women. In 2004, the latest year for which data is available, the abortion rate was 20.5.

But the news isn’t all good. While the teen abortion rate has declined by nearly 30 percent, the rate for women ages 20-24 is almost 10 points higher than it was in 1974. (In that group, rates hit 30.4 abortions per 1,000 women in 1974, spiking to 53.8 in 1989 and declining to 39.9 in 2004.)

The decline in abortion rates among teens mirrors a decline in teen pregnanci

palin or fey: a visual quizYesterday

pretty funny photo quiz on the chicago tribune website: palin or fey, can you tell the difference?. certainly, we’ve all been blown away by the best SNL look-a-like in years.

dang, i thought i nailed this; but i only got 6 out of 10 correct!

jesus wants to save christiansOctober 9

Jesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile, by rob bell and don golden.

rob bell’s newest book (his third) is his best one yet, i believe. his main premise is that the bible should be read as the story of exile and reconciliation. and he traces this storyline throughout the narrative arc of scripture. peppered with the storytelling that rob is known for (stories from scripture, stories from jewish midrash, and modern day stories), the book wanders through the old testament - starting with “the first book of the bible: exodus” - and into the new, with more and more implications for “our current exile” as the book progresses. it’s a deeply theological book, but extremely accessible. it’s a “framing” book for followers of jesus, seeking to understand the story of god and how we fit into it. rob doesn’t shy away from taking jabs at the “empire” we live in, the spiritualization of violence and oppression, or the mindset of american christianity. i dou

blogging and twittering from the sacramento nywcOctober 9

here’s a list of people who are blogging from the national youth workers convention in sacramento national youth workers convention this weekend. i’ll add to it as i find more, so check back. also, two new features on this post this time around:
- live blogging
- and, twitterers

we’ve added live blogging this year. a handful of bloggers will be live blogging (in real-time) from seminars and general sessions.

here’s the sacramento nywc live blogging page.

bloggers who say they’ll be blogging from the convention:
andrew seely
brian eberly
abby fox
sandy hughes
aaron geist
joseph yoo
jonathan mckee
tim schmoyer
ken rawson
kurt johnston
dan rosch
isaac arten
mark helsel
alicia v

jesus junk of the month awardOctober 8

this is world class jesus junk, baby. not only is it a product that really has nothing to do with jesus, and is only being marketed that way in order to generate sales, they go they extra-impressive mile of making crazy claims about its spiritual qualities! i’m not sure whether to be disgusted, or to give the creators a hearty chuckle and a manly, energy-drink-infused slap on the back!

1 in 3 trinity energy drink

“a special blend handed down from the flourishing vines and trees of the holy land…”

“fused with ‘the fruit of the spirit’”

(ht to bill reichart)