Glorious Mud

Yes, I know I haven't finished my series on volunteer recruitment, envisioning, and leadership - but this was too good to pass up. In the 1960s, Stanford conducted some very famous psychological experiments dealing with temptation. They put kids into a room and put a marshmallow in front of them. They were told they could eat it whenever they were ready, but if they waited for the researcher, they would get second marshmallow. Studies have shown that the kids who resisted the temptation had a higher reported rate of success as adults - because they were willing delay gratification and suffer discomfort in order to turn the situation to their advantage. I believe there are numerous applications for this as we consider the gospel, but for now, let's just look at the video. It is hilarious. Oh, The Temptation from Steve V on Vimeo .

What could MTV, the inventor of such kid-friendly shows as Beavis and Butthead, and George Barna, the famous Christian researcher and author of Raising Spiritual Champions , possibly have in common? In what universe could these two culturally polar-opposites possibly agree - especially about the American family? For once they may actually agree on something. When MTV conducted a survey of people aged 13-24 asking them what makes them happy, you would naturally expect to hear about things that are the glory of MTV: money, sex, drugs, and fame. The results, though, were surprisingly (or, maybe not so surprisingly) in line with what Christian researchers like Barna have been telling us for years: parents are the single most important factor in a child's happiness and sense of well-being. Nearly 3/4 of those surveyed said that their relationship with their parents was a significant source of happiness. When asked about what activities made them happy, the respondents li...