Barna Group – författare

There is a new reality for mothers in the 21st century-it''s a different world with different goals than it was even a generation ago. As little girls, today''s moms didn''t grow up with ONLY dolls and toy kitchens and princesses and visions of idyllic domesticity and motherhood behind a white picket fence: they were given these but also a little plastic doctor''s bag and a coloring book full of potential careers to choose from. "You can be anything you want, child." It''s a message of empowerment and it''s beautiful. But, as many of those young girls grew up, a message that was once meant to convey opportunity has begun to feel like a pressure cooker. What once was "You can have it all" has now become "You need to have it all." You need to have the perfect job, the perfect husband, the perfect house, the perfect kids, the perfect play dates and craft nights and date nights and DIY Pinterest projects and #nofilter Instagrams.

What does it mean to be a mom in a world like that? Where does vocation fit into all this? What does a holistic idea of self fit in? Many women struggle with the decision to work inside the home or outside the home. How can you maintain a sense of self and motherhood in both decisions?

The reality is we can''t really have it all - sometimes we will have to make choices. This Barna Frame explores the value and beauty in those constraints. Join Kate Harris, wife, mother, and the executive director of The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation, and Culture, as she unpacks the identity questions, the economic realities, and the role of the church in your life as you feel compelled to be wonder woman.

It’s an age of accelerated information and information overload. The rate and way in which we receive information has changed dramatically: from newspapers and radio and a few nightly news programs to constant news online. We have made our lives available to the world in “tweetable” moments. As much as we try to stop consuming the vast amounts of info coming at us, we wrestle against a paranoia of ‘missing out’ on important information or being out of the loop on something. How can we rest from information, take a Sabbath for our technology or information use? How does this help us to become the right kind of factivist? The onus is more and more on us to find "the truth" and to be aware of our own biases in what we share and don''t. Join Jun Young, an award-winning entrepreneur and communications strategist, and David Kinnaman, the President of Barna Group, in this Barna Frame as they wrestle through what our responsibility looks like in how we read and disseminate information.

Millions of children are not fulfilling their God-given potential in many of our nation''s classrooms. Their potential and purpose is being left on the floor of classrooms in many low-income communities. What may God have called them to do? How is a substandard education prohibiting them from accomplishing that purpose? In what ways are Christians and churches accountable for that? How are we our brother and sister''s keeper with respect to a quality education?

Join Nicole Baker Fulgham, formerly on the national staff of Teach for America and the founder of The Expectations Project, as she explores what our role is in solving the nation''s crisis for public education. This Barna Frame explores a critical topic of our time - schools in crisis.

"Why should I invest myself in something that I''m not sure does any good?" This is a question many people today are asking about the church. Data shows young people are leaving the church, especially in urban contexts. Yet as Jon Tyson will show you in this Barna Frame, the church has much to offer cities—and individuals—in the 21st century.

Whether you come with an open-mind, skeptical, or already committed to your local church, join Jon Tyson, lead pastor of Trinity Grace Church in New York City, as he makes the case for why church matters.

There are lots of questions we must ask ourselves when we talk about violence, and our role in perpetuating it or in creating peace. Why are we, as Christians, more comfortable with violence in our movies than sex? What does it mean that Jesus called us to love our enemies? How can we, in our churches, cultivate a peace that might reshape society? Do we create it by constantly protesting violence? By preaching? By rethinking our foreign policy? By somehow making peace cool?

Join Tyler Wigg-Stevenson and Carol Howard Merritt as they tackle these tough questions and others in this Barna Frame. Violence is a tough, timely topic, and one that we, as the Church, have the chance to transform.

Twentysomethings today are redefining what this decade means and what making a positive contribution to society looks like. One reality is today''s economy - you may find yourself a recent college graduate with no job prospects. As such, many twentysomethings are shifting away from career, to calling, looking for ways to impact the world. Or maybe for you, a career or job is what you do in order to support the more meaningful work you love, like photography, music, brewing, or traveling.

Likely you have found a tribe of like-minded people who are taking the journey with you, asking yourselves big questions like what to do with life, what does it mean, why should I settle down with a spouse and house so soon? These questions have huge ramifications for all aspects of society. Twentysomethings need new ways of thinking about institutions and finding rootedness in a transient culture, while at the same time institutions need new ways of thinking about and incorporating twentysomethings. Join David H. Kim, the executive director of the Center for Faith and Work at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, as he walks through the uniqueness of this transformative decade.

Caring for orphans makes grace touchable. When Christians choose to adopt, foster, mentor or support care for orphans around the world, it reveals God''s true character to the world like nothing else we can do. This softcover book unpacks specific steps that you can take to care for orphans in distress.Some of these steps are “big” choices like fostering or adopting; some are smaller choices like supporting work abroad or mentoring a foster youth. But all have the impact of revealing God’s love to someone who wants to be home for good.Join Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO), as he reveals the profound sense that deep, sustaining love for orphans springs not from duty, guilt or even idealism, but foremost as a response to the way we''ve first been loved by God.

Job changes. Restructures. A waning passion. Retirement. A new ''norm'' for length at any job.

All of these, and more, lead us to wonder about the legacy we are leaving  this world. Are we leaving it better than we found it? Are we able to separate our identity from our career? Maybe you know the deep passion you recently discovered (or re-discovered), that lay dormant for 30 years. Or perhaps you don''t know yet what that calling is, but you know there is more than what you are doing now. Join Bob Goff, founder of Restore International, in this Barna Frame as you explore a biblical perspective on the legacy you are leaving, even as you face a career transition.