Nothing to Be Afraid Of

"He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Self-consciousness is a major problem in the Body of Christ today. It keeps us from doing the things God tells us to do. Instead of simply obeying Him, it makes us start to wonder, "Now what will people think of me if I do that? What if I command that person to get out of the wheelchair and he doesn't get up? What if I start believing for prosperity and go broke? What about that, God? I won't look too good, will I?"

How Facebook is sexualizing young girls

Teen girls have always obsessed over their looks, says Randye Hoder at The New York Times. But social networking is pushing them to a disturbing extreme

Thanks the to ubiquity of internet-connected cameras, young teens have developed an unprecedented level of self-consciousness and an obsession with sexing it up to solicit more "Likes" on Facebook. Photo: Jan Haas/dpa/CorbisSEE ALL 191 PHOTOS

Best Opinion:  N.Y. Times

In today's "hyper-public internet age, young teenagers are relentlessly living their lives camera-ready — and it's not a pretty picture," says Randye Hoder at The New York Times. Internet-connected cameras are everpresent, and young girls are obsessively posing for Facebook, whose "Like" feature — the ultimate gauge of popularity — drives girls to out-sexy each other to win the coveted clicks. Here, an excerpt:

[T]he glare of the camera is never far away. And that is affecting how adolescent girls conduct themselves in their actual, everyday lives. Girls this age, who have felt pressured historically to look their best most of the time, suddenly seem to feel as if they need to look their best all of the time. In turn, always being "on" seems to lead some girls to pose for pictures that are oversexualized: Pouting lips, lots of cleavage, short-shorts, crop tops that showcase a bare midriff.