|
______________________________________
{HeartTouchers.com} *The Allure of MySpace* ______________________________________ If you enjoy this email service, I encourage you to spread the word to family and friends that we may bring inspiration the lives of many! If you are not on the list and this has been passed along to you, join us by visiting: http://www.HeartTouchers.com Be sure to check out our inspirational list just for teenagers! http://www.Heart4Teens.com ____________________________________________ Michael's updated book Heart Touchers "Life-Changing Stories of Faith, Love, and Laughter," is finally here! ($13.95) Visit the link below to preview the book! Personalized autographed copies are available at no extra charge and we pay the shipping for you! An E-book version is also available for just $3.25! http://www.hearttouchers.com/books Be sure to let us know who you would like it autographed for and then allow about two weeks for us to sign it and send it on its way to you.Credit card, PayPal, Checks, and Money orders accepted! The book is also available through Amazon.com, Borders.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Booklocker.com _____________________________________ A 'Smorgasbord' for Pedophiles The Allure of MySpace by Mark Earley A few months ago, a 16-year old New York girl began exchanging messages with a stranger on the social networking site, MySpace. It was a tragic mistake. One day the stranger--a 37-year-old man--drove to where the girl had an after-school job and sexually assaulted her. How did he know where to find her? She had listed her place of work on her MySpace profile. MySpace. It's a place for kids to go to escape parents?and teenagers know it. So do sexual predators. The body of another MySpace fan, a 14-year-old New Jersey girl, was found in a dumpster in Newark, strangled. In California, the body of a 15-year-old girl was found floating in an irrigation canal. Both girls had MySpace accounts, and police are investigating the possibility that they met their killers through it as well. Clearly, kids do not realize the danger. According to the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more than 2,600 reports were made involving adults going online to lure minors. The center has received nearly three hundred complaints involving MySpace alone. U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan says MySpace "creates a smorgasbord" for pedophiles. Tragically, our kids make it all too easy for them often. Nearly 40 percent of American high school kids have posted their personal information online?information that allows predators to learn who they are, what they look like, where they live, and where they go to school. According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, teenagers consider MySpace the way to communicate with friends; checking for messages, and receiving them, is part of a daily computer ritual. And they reveal a chillingly naive attitude about what they're doing. As one boy told the Post-Gazette, "I don't think it is so much of a worry . . . everyone posts pictures and puts their ages up. It's kind of like a rite of passage to have MySpace." Clearly, teaching our kids how to be safe online has to become a rite of passage for us as adults. For several decades, we have seen increasing efforts in our culture to drive a wedge between children and their parents--from toymakers advertising toys parents don't approve of, to sex education that sends the wrong message, to films that encourage kids to engage in dangerous behavior. MySpace has become a huge success in part because it exists as a space where kids can go to escape parental influence. It's no accident that MySpace advertises itself as "a place for friends." While kids usually think they can take care of themselves, the Scriptures are full of warnings that children need their parents, their wisdom, their protection. In the book of Proverbs, we find a father warning even his young adult son to beware of the attraction of evil and the danger of making the wrong friends. Parents need to make sure their own kids are safe--by preventing access to MySpace, perhaps, or keeping a sharp eye on whom their kids are conversing with online and how much information they have divulged. Warn your kids about the predators out there; make sure they never give out personal information. And all of us must demand that the authorities vigorously enforce laws protecting kids from online predators--predators who consider online social networks "a smorgasbord" for evil. Mark Earley Mark Earley, 50, former State Senator (1987-1997) and Attorney General of Virginia (1998-2001), became president of Prison Fellowship on February 1, 2002. As President and CEO of Prison Fellowship USA, Earley oversees the national ministry founded by Charles Colson in 1976, which has since spread to 108 countries in addition to the United States. Prison Fellowship's core commitments are Fellowshipping with Jesus, Visiting Prisoners, and Welcoming Their Children. In line with these commitments, PF works with thousands of churches and volunteers across the U.S. to disciple prisoners and prepare them to re-enter the community; to minister year-round to prisoners' children through Christmas, camping, and mentoring programs; and to help redeem the culture by embracing, defending, and applying a clear biblical worldview. Earley is a graduate of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, where he received a B.A. in Religion. He earned a juris doctor degree from Marshall-Wythe School of Law. He resides in Lansdowne, Virginia, with his wife, the former Cynthia Breithaupt, and their six children (Rachel, Justin, Mark Jr., Mary Catherine, Franklin, and Anne Harris). You can contact Mark via the Prison Fellowship website at: http://www.pfm.org _________________________________________ Thought For The Day: "It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it." Verse for the Day: "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men...It is the Lord Christ who you are serving." --Colossians 3:23, 24 Kid's Thought For The Day: "Plain underwear is boring." Parent's Thought For The Day: "Doc," the father says, "I keep seeing talking crickets, talking dogs, talking birds, talking cats - what's wrong with me?" "Nothing at all," the doctor answers. "You're just having Disney spells." Coach's Thought For The Day: "Although I wanted my players to work to win, I tried to convince them they had always won when they had done their best." -- John Wooden Writer's Thought For The Day: "The demonic paradox of writing: when you put something down that happened, people often don't believe it; whereas you can make up anything and people assume it must have happened to you." --Andrew Holleran Deep Thought For The Day: "If swimming is good for your shape, then why do the whales look the way they do?" _________________________________________ Inspired Audio -- Inspirational Audio Message of the Week! Inspired Audio is a brand new offshoot of HeartTouchers.com. Every week we will offer a different audio message that you can listen to right on your computer as you are surfing the net or just getting things done around the house. Be sure to come back and visit each week! This Week: The Truth About the Truth - The DaVinci Code Part 2 by Jeff Williams http://www.HeartTouchers.com/Inspired_Audio _________________________________________ Over 86,000 people have listened to popular Chicken Soup Author Michael T. Powers' free inspirational message entitled: "Breathing Life into Others". If you aren't one of them just visit: http://www.HeartTouchers.com and click on the link to listen to the free streaming audio message! __________________________________________ Video Imagery --Michael's Video Production Business Dear Michael, I just wanted to take a minute to thank you for the beautiful video you made for me! It was so special to see both of my parents in tears as they watched their children grow up in pictures before their eyes! I loved the way you made Estania's part set aside from the rest--that was the part that really got them! The music was beautiful. My mom kept blubbering, "What song is that?" I don't know how you did such a beautiful job with the video in such a short time. I really appreciate your doing it so quickly. You have a wonderful gift, and I thank God that you are using it to create such sentimental memories. I hope that I can find my niche like that in an area that I love. Your video gave us one of our most lasting Christmas memories! I hope yours was filled with moments to be treasured forever! Love, Trisha Silverhill, AL Let me make you a video from your photos! Check out my video production business by visiting: http://www.hearttouchers.com/video_imagery __________________________________________ Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you? http://www.greatcom.org/english/four.htm |
 |
|
Touching Lives - One E-mail at a Time! Author Michael T. Powers - HeartTouchers @ aol.com
|