FourFifteen

Lie # 12 - "Schools are responsible for the lives of their kids." Here's a list of responsibilities that today's culture has laid at the feet of our schools: -To make sure kids are fed well-enough. -To make sure they are developing good social skills. -To make sure they're learning how to behave correctly and are treating other people with kindness. -To make sure they have access to their hobbies and activities. Strangely, actual education  is often WAY down the list. But what role should a school play in your family? I have a unique perspective on this issue. As a student, I was always homeschooled. My parents put a priority on my education, and believed they could provide me with a better start in life than what the schools around us could give at the time. And so - even at a time of strict truancy laws - my parents took on themselves the responsibility of what I learned. ( They did it very well, I might add. All five of their kids were doing schoolwork that was...

 Lie #11 - "Everyone knows..." Have you ever heard the term " groupthink"  before? This word was coined in the mid-1960's to describe " the practice of thinking or making decisions as a group in a way that discourages individual responsibility. " Groupthink occurs when people let the culture around them decide what they believe is true. Usually this is an unconscious attempt to fit in with "everyone else." Unique opinions and beliefs stand out - and are usually open targets for attacks and ridicule. In the face of that, it's just easier to go along with what "everyone knows is true. " The fact that groupthink exists is undeniable. Over time, it has been described in a variety of ways: "Peer pressure." "Mob mentality." "Consensus." "Common knowledge." "Conventional wisdom." Whenever there is a group of people that tend to believe the same way (like a nation, a school, a religious ...

 Lie # 10 - "Do what makes YOU happy!" The front-facing camera was originally invented in the early 2000's to use in video conversations. At first, it was marketed to high-ranking business people as a way to make conference calls. But that's not really how it worked out. Even though almost every cell phone has had a forward camera, video calls didn't really take off in the general public until recently. Between the time they were introduced and the time they began to be used as intended ...what were these devices doing? Taking selfies! Think about it, in the days before Facetime was common, why did every phone  come with a camera facing the user? Obviously, selfies were around before the front camera, but it was more of an art back then. It took skill to be aware of the camera's location and aim it just right. I'm sure a lot of us remember the constant re-takes because the camera wasn't aimed right, or it was out of focus, or because you were making th...

Lie #9 - "What happened before me doesn't matter." Everyone knows this saying, but it's worth repeating over and over again: Those who don't learn from history are destined to repeat it. The world didn't start turning when you were born. There was a long chain of events that has led up to this point - some of them good, some bad. And if Jesus doesn't return for us, that chain of events will continue long into the future.  Unfortunately, most American people today have largely forgotten that there was real life  before they were here; with real people  and real issues  to face. The average person today has a hard enough time remembering their own  life before a year ago...let alone learning about the earlier lives of their parents or their grandparents. Going back further than that - one century, four centuries, back to the first millennium after Christ - you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks of that time as real life .  Looking through the in...

 Lie #8 - "Live for the moment! " There was a word coined in 2011 that summed up this attitude - "YOLO". Of course, you know that this was an acronym for "You Only Live Once". People would usually say this just before they did something that was fun or exciting. Saying this was a way of shrugging off whatever  long-term  consequences came from their decision. The thought was, " If I don't do this now, I may never get a chance to do it again - so I won't worry about the cost! " The term "YOLO" has faded away from our nations collective memory, but the attitude behind it remains as strong as ever.  Instead of planning ahead, setting goals, and saving for the future - we've become a hour-by-hour, moment-by-moment culture. My wife's favorite show ( Parks and Recreation ) has a character that sums it up this way: " Treat yo-self!" This attitude can be seen when people see something they want, and then declare "...