Hal Young's Blog, page 66

Ask For The Old Paths

God told the prophet Jeremiah, "Stand in the ways and see, And ask for the old paths, where the good way [is:], And walk in it; Then you will find rest for your souls." (Jeremiah 6:16) 

That's spiritual advice, but it's wisdom to consider in everyday things, too.  Here's a story from Britain that says the old way of teaching kids to read actually works better for boys:

Boys can learn to beat girls at reading if they are given old-fashioned teaching methods, claim psychologists.

The use of more...

News: Scientists Discover Teens Take Risks

Writing in the journal Cognitive Development, researchers at the University College of London have discovered teenagers take risks:

Scientists found that the teenagers took the most risks compared with the other groups, with the most risky behaviour seen in 14-year olds. [The test group ranged from age 9 to 35:]

The results suggest that teenagers are good at weighing up the pros and cons of their decisions (unlike children) but take risks because they enjoy the thrill of a risky...

Building Cathedrals says Raising Real Men has "much good advice, friendly humor and biblical wisdom."

"The day I received an email from Melanie and Hal Young was probably like any other day with 3 young boys. Except that the commonplace falls, bumps and bruises of this particular day necessitated our first ER visit (I know, not too bad in 9 combined years of little boyhood).

"Would you be interested in a review copy of Raising Real Men ?" They asked.Still shaking from our first ER visit, I laughed at reading the subtitle, Surviving, Teaching and Appreciating Boys, (at the moment, I'd...

Boys Need Heroes

The power of example is awesome; the Bible is full of admonitions to follow godly leaders' footsteps and look up to men of strength and character.  Modern culture isn't doing much to provide them, though.  Writing for the Pope Center for Higher Education, Dr. Stephen Zelnick of Temple University observed recently that the lack of heroic ideals is eroding the spirit of this generation's young men:

Boys, and young men in particular, respond very well to noble purpose but haven't had much to go...

O Worship the King

Hal's oncologist visit and chemo went very well Friday. His immune system was nearly twice as strong as it had been at the last visit! We are so grateful for your prayers, God's mercy is the only answer. The doctor was encouraging and laid out the next steps for us:

Hal will get chemo on April 2nd and then on April 19th while we are in Missouri. We are doing a Midwest speaking tour in April that will find us in Kansas City and then in Springfield, MO. We are so grateful for the Porters who...

Richard the Lionheart, Please Call Your Office

Recently I started tracking the words "courage" and "courageous" in news stories.  At the moment there are relatively few stories about "courageous" men, with the possible exception of politicians (usually those who disregard their constituents' wishes, it seems).  The top three stories this morning illustrate my observation that most of the people in these articles fit into one of three categories: 

1.  Women ("Hutchins praises women aviators")

2. Athletes ("Courageous [halfback:] Porter faces ...

No Respect?

George Will's column in the current issue of Newsweek asks, "What are today's 'basement boys' doing down there? Perhaps watching Friends and Seinfeld reruns about a culture of extended youth utterly unlike the world of young adults in previous generations."  He looks at a new book by Penn State historian Gary Cross:

Permissive parenting, Cross says, made children less submissive, and the decline of deference coincided with the rise of consumer and media cultures celebrating the indefinite...

Expecting a Boy? Watch What You Eat

Especially if you're a mouse.

Okay, take this for whatever it's worth. Researchers working with mice at the University of Missouri (Columbia) have found differences in the way the placenta responds to maternal diet depending on the gender of the unborn baby. It appears that a placenta for a female baby adapts to changes in the mother's diet better than the placenta for a male baby, allowing more potentially harmful substances to pass through to the male. On the other hand, another researcher s...

Raising Real Men is "highly recommended" by Christian Book Notes

Introduction

Hal and Melanie Young have six sons and two daughters—the six boys came first. Their children range from 2 years old to out of high school. They speak on parenting, educating your children and family policy issues among other subjects. You can read more about their ministry at RaisingRealMen.com.

Summary

Divided into two parts, the Young's first offer biblical foundations for how they parent their boys (and, yes, sometimes even their girls). The introduction to part one...

Media Events

Monday March 8 - Hillsborough (Portland), Oregon

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