In a conference I attended three years ago, Loren Mead illustrated the cultural message of violence, anger and death we must counteract with God’s love. He pointed out that my grandparents, during their formative years, probably never witnessed a murder and only heard about a few. My parents, during their childhood and teen years, probably saw a few murders portrayed in the movies, while I saw even more as I grew up. My grandchildren will witness, on average, 38,000 violent deaths by the time they reach 18 years of age.

The practice of violence many children and youth experience with video games re-enforces what they are witnessing on TV and in the movies. If police and military agencies know the effectiveness of video games to train their personnel, should we be surprised that our children and youth, via video games, have been desensitized to the practice of violence?

New Church Development and Church Redevelopment’s focus is way beyond, at least it needs to be, the saving of the United Methodist denomination. It is about saving boys and girls, youth and adults. It is about offering the antidote to violence. Think about it. When a person watches an hour-long television show whose content is violence-filled, he or she receives 10 invitations through commercials to buy into and support the culture that generates that violence-filled show.