Over the years it seems that women's fashion has allowed for showing more and more skin. A Christian modeling agency called Pure Fashion is fighting to show girls how trendy and modern does not have to mean skimpy and immodest. The group was created in 1999 by a group of moms tired of seeing 12 and 13 year old girls trying to dress in racy clothes as if they were in their 20's or 30's. The agency puts on fashion shows where girls have to adhere to "modesty guidelines."

Now, God calls us to be modest, but what do you think constitutes modesty? Do you think today's fashion is taking an immodest edge? Do you think that teens need to dress more modestly? Vote below and feel free to share your thoughts in a comment or in the forums:

• I don't like showing so much skin, and I'd be glad to get back to clothes that cover more up.
• Showing skin doesn't bother me, and I think we take the "modesty" thing too far.
  
  
• View Results

This weekend a cyclone devastated the small country of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. To date experts estimate that over 22,000 people have perished in the disaster, but the number is expected to grow as there are over 41,000 still missing.

However, Myanmar is not just facing a large death toll. Countless people are homeless and have no clean drinking water. Emergency response has been slowed by the military junta, which is just now allowing aid to enter the country.

While many of us have our own troubles to face, God calls us to pray for those in need. Let us offer those in Myanmar our prayers as they struggle to move past this devastation, and pray for the aid they need to enter into the country quickly.

Photo Courtesy of Pricegrabber

Sunday, May 11th is Mother's Day, so what have you done lately to honor your mom? Spend some time in prayer this week to focus on blessing your mom and trying to do your best to develop a good relationship with her. If you haven't gotten her a gift for Mother's Day yet, think about the different items you might want to give her like a Mom-focused Bible, t-shirt, or frame. This is the time to remember how much your mom has done for you, so finding ways to make her feel special is a great way to honor your mom.

• Great Gifts for Mom
• A Prayer for Your Mom
• Bible Verses for Mom

May is just around the corner, and soon after that Summer Vacation will begin. Yet, if you want to go on a mission trip or attend summer camp, now is the time to start planning. It's time to start writing those mission trip support letters and sending them out to friends and family. Or you may be looking to book your spot at your favorite summer camp. Those spaces fill up quickly.

However, if you aren't planning to go anywhere special, there are still thing you can do this summer. Maybe get involved in an outreach group that does volunteer work in the community. Or you could even consider starting a devotional or delve deeper into your Bible. Maybe your summer could be spent deepening your personal relationship with God by spending more time in prayer.

Remember, it's your summer - use it wisely.

• Best Summer Camps for Christian Teens
• Sample Mission Trip Support Letter
• Top Mission Trips for Christian Teens

After 3 years as head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI is visiting the U.S. He will be meeting with President Bush today after an elaborate ceremony at the White House. There will be over 9,000 ticket holders in attendance and over 3,000 more spectators. In a change from normal receptions, a musical performance of "The Lord's Prayer" will be added.

Later there will be Masses at both Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium.

Over the next month or so, many Christian teens will be shopping for dresses and tuxes to wear to their Junior and Senior proms. Prom can be one of the best nights of your teenage life if you do it right. There is so much pressure today to make the night perfect, but really Prom just needs to be about having fun.

There's so much talk about being safe at Prom, and it is for good reason. There's nothing worse than your Prom being ruined by drinking or drugs. There's also a lot of pressure to fall into temptations like sex on Prom night. Sometimes all the "safety" and "temptation" talk takes the fun out of the night. Instead, take the advice to heart so that you know your night will be about the dance rather than the pressure.

Also, some teens stress about buying their dresses or tuxes, and some Christian teens don't bother going to prom, because they just can't afford a dress or a tux. You can help those teens get to prom by having a dress exchange. You may even want to trade dresses with your own friends to save money.

Prom itself does not need to be a high-pressure time. You just need to focus on having good fun with great friends that share your values.

After a long winter, it seems like things start getting stale. We tend to get a bit of cabin fever, itching to get out of the house and enjoy the warmer weather, which is why we often spend our time doing Spring cleaning. We're getting ready for the open doors and freedom that Spring brings.

Yet, sometimes our faith needs a bit of that freedom, too. It is easy to do the same thing every day and every week to learn about God and the Bible. We pray. We read our Bible. We go to church. Yet, sometimes we get so caught up in the routine that our faith gets a bit stale. We get more caught up in what we're supposed to do rather than why we are doing it in the first place.

So I challenge you to take some time this week to do something different in your faith. If you pray every night before bed, try praying in the morning. Instead of just reading your Bible, try working on a devotional that focuses your study. Try volunteering for an outreach event or sign up for a mission trip. There are plenty of things you can do to make your faith a little more fresh.

Most of us know that Easter came a bit early this year. This Sunday, many Christian teens will be in church celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Yet it is amazing how many of us end up in church on Easter without really knowing much about why we are celebrating.

In my own study of Easter I found that I was ignorant to the origins of traditions and what each Holy Day really meant. I understood on the surface, but researching the days further, I felt closer to God through my new understanding. For instance, I found out that the ash used on Ash Wednesday represented death and sorrow for sin. I also found out that the eggs we search for each Easter were originally part of a pagan celebration to represent everlasting life, and the symbol was adopted by Christians to represent rebirth in Christ.

• An Overview of Easter, Holy Week, and Traditions
• Where do those Easter Traditions and Symbols Come From?

A study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 1 out of 4 teenage girls between 14 and 19 years old has a sexually transmitted disease. It was also found that STDs were more common in black girls, where almost half of those studied were found to have an STD, while there was only a 20 percent prevalence in caucasian and latino teens. Even more shocking was the fact that approximately half the girls studied responded that they had sex, and 40 percent of those girls had an STD.

While many of those numbers are shocking, there was also a part in the study that stated how teens define sex in many different ways. There are those that believe intercourse is sex, period. There are those that also define other forms of intimate behavior as sex, and many of those behaviors can spread STDs, too.

The fact that sex is defined so differently among teens made me wonder how many Christian teens also define sex in different ways. Some may be participating in risky behaviors, because they define sex as "intercourse only." This thought was disconcerting, because many intimate behaviors can lead to intercourse, STDs, and emotional connections that one may or may not be ready for. While the Bible says sex between a husband and wife can be beautiful, I wonder what an STD does to that situation. Even if a Christian teen doesn't "go all the way," other sexual activity can also have its consequences.

• What the Bible Says About Sex
• 10 Lies About Sex, Dating, and How Far Is Too Far
• CNN News: 1 in 4 Teen Girls Has an STD

A recent survey by the Leaders of Common Core found that many teens are disturbingly ignorant of literature and history. When asked, almost 50 percent of teens did not know why Job was such and important figure in the Bible. The same percentage could not identify when Christopher Columbus sailed to the Americas, nor could they identify when the Civil War was fought. Another study by the National Geographic Society reported that 87 percent of young people could not find Iraq, 49 percent could not find New York, and even 11 percent could not find the United States on a map.

The Leaders of Common Core went on to blame President Bush's No Child Left Behind law, because it puts too much emphasis on math and reading testing over a good liberal arts curriculum. However, that may not be the only reason. Ignorance is not necessarily new. I know many adults who went to school long before NCLB went into effect, and they remain ignorant on many of those same questions. Look at shows like "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" The show exploits people's ignorance to the things they were taught back when they were in elementary school.

However, is it important to issue blame or find solutions? I know Christian teens that know more about their Bibles than history or literature. It is because the education they got in church was better than what they received in their schools. What do you think? Do you think your school is doing enough to give you a well-rounded education, or do you think that there could be improvements?

By the way, Job was significant for his praise of God even in the midst of great suffering. Christopher Columbus "sailed the ocean blue in fourteen hundred and ninety-two." The Civil War was fought between the Union and Confederacy from 1861 to 1865.