Guide to the VMAs

I LOVE MTV...
This is so good, I had to post most of it... From Walt Mueller and the Center for Parent and Youth Understanding... I've posted some of this thoughts and links before, and like always he is right on.
So much more in his email, which is a VCR Alert...
Anyway, I hope if you watch it, that you use his thoughts as some great guidelines for learning about the current youth culture.
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Friends,

I want to invite you to "take a walk" on Sunday night at 8pm. The walk you need to take is similar to the walk the Apostle Paul took through Athens as he prepared to engage the pagan mind and worldview with the truths of the Gospel (Acts 17). Paul knew the value of listening to his audience before opening his mouth to proclaim the unchanging Word. Paul knew that listening first would lead to an understanding of the values, attitudes, behaviors, allegiances, and mindset of an Athenian population on a desperate self-conscious search for God that was going down the dead-end street of idolatry. And so. . . . Paul walks through their culture with his mouth shut and his ears and eyes wide open to their reality ? a reality covered by a forest of idolatry and immorality. Sounds familiar, huh?

I'm putting the final touches on a book about Paul's encounter with the Athenians, and after years of studying this passage, I am more convinced than ever that the parallels between first century Athens and our current postmodern culture are so clear that I think we need to be doing some more "walking." Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards offers people ministering to students an amazing opportunity to walk through the "Athens" of today's youth culture. That said, let me offer some random suggestions ? listed in no special order ? for what you can be doing before, during, and after the VMA's that will make your walk extremely valuable.

Let the VMA's shape your ministry.
Look for the major themes that are now mainstream.
Don't miss the opening.
Pay attention to the commercials.
How will the envelope be stretched?
Don't be surprised.
Pay special attention the Viewers Choice Award.
Watch the "Christians."
Keep an eye on the teenagers.
Pay special attention to spirituality and sexuality.
Keep an eye on the "big stories.
Ask the 3D questions.