Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU Podcast

If you've read Jonathan Haidt's book, The Anxious Generation, you know that one of his most talked about remedies to teen anxiety is for schools to take steps to keep the phones out of students hands during the school day. While that might seem to be something easier said that done, how can we move schools in that direction, and how do students respond? I want to invite parents, youth workers, and school administrators to find out as you listen in to my conversation with two school administrators who followed Haidt's advice, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The new Netflix four-part drama series Adolescence has received rave reviews. Here at CPYU we have watched it, and we applaud the way it raises so many of the issues and problems facing teenagers and their families today. If you've already watched Adolescence, we encourage you to keep listening, and if you haven't we recommended taking the time to watch before listening to this episode of our podcast. If you care about kids, the Adolescence mini-series is one we highly recommend, and it's what we are talking about on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If we haven't been there ourselves, we have no idea what it's like. When Anna Meade Harris's husband went to be with Christ back in 2010, she suddenly found herself navigating the new and difficult world of being a widow and single -parent to three young boys. In many ways, she lost her place in the local church. Now desiring to help families, churches, and youth ministries navigate the unique realities of single parent families, Anna has written a book that will help all of us understand and respond to the unique needs of single parent families. I chat with her about that book, God's Grace For Every Family, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Because we live in a rapidly changing world, it's important that parents and youth workers keep their fingers on the pulse of youth culture, taking the time to know just what our kids are navigating, along with how to help them understand what God's Word has to say about living to His glory. My friend Micah Marshall is a youth worker who has taken this calling seriously and does it well. Listen in as I chat with Micah about how to build meaningful connections with kids in order to effectively communicate the timeless truth of the Gospel, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

In I John 2:6 we read these words written about what it means to be a follower of Jesus: "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did." In his new book, "Radical Like Jesus", Greg Stier helps us to understand what it means to be in Christ and to live like Jesus. I'm excited about this book and how we can use it in our homes, our churches, our youth groups, and our own lives. And, I'm especially excited to be chatting with my passionate and engaging friend, Greg Stier, about his new book, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

You don't even need to listen carefully to hear our culture nurturing us and our kids into a consumer mentality of get, get , get. That message is everywhere! But the gospel is one that tells us to respond to the grace we've been shown and given, with a lifestyle of give, give, give. What does this mean for youth ministry and how we do discipleship? My friend Dave Coryell recently wrote a book built around a metaphor involving hippos and honey bees that can help us shift our youth ministries to better reflect gospel priorities. Stay tuned as I chat with Dave Coryell and Josh Good about this much-needed youth ministry shift, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It's that time of year between thanksgiving and Christmas when so many of us are watching and talking about our favorite holiday movies. As with all things in life, Christians need to think differently about movies. What is it that makes a movie good? What can movies tell us about the human condition? And how can we use movies in our homes and ministries to advance the Gospel? Stick with us as we engage in a winsome, fun, and informative conversation about movies with our movie-loving friend John Perritt, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Truth be told, I've yet to meet a parent who hasn't at some time felt like a failure. Fear, guilt, shame, and regret are feelings that visit us all from time to time as we think about how well or not so well we are doing as Dads and moms. But for the Christian parent, there are truths about our God and ourselves that we need to hear, ponder, embrace, and live out. Stick with us as I chat with counselor Lauren Whitman about her helpful new book, “when parents feel like failures”, on this episode of youth culture matters.

As a parent and now a grandparent myself, I have lived through the ups, down, stresses, strains, opprotunties and joys that come with raising kids in today's world. Recently, the U.S. Surgeon General issued an advisory regarding the troubling state of the mental health and well-being of parents. Because youth workers are strategically positioned to come alongside, encourage, and ministry to parents in today's world, we need to pay attention to this advisory, and look for ways to proactively minister to the parents in our churches and communities. Stick with us for my roundtable conversation with youth workers about the advisory and our response, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

When Fern Nichols sent her two oldest sons off to junior high school, her heart was heavy, knowing that they would be facing all kind challenges, choices, and temptations. Her concerns were shared by other mothers and they gathered to pray for her kids. This happened 40 years ago back in 1984. This was the beginning of Moms in Prayer International. Today, I'm chatting with two moms who are part of the Moms in Prayer ministry about how to pray for our kids as they navigate life in a changing youth culture, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

One of the most pressing developmental tasks facing all of our kids is the task of identity formation. It's during the period of adolescence that the question, “Who am I?” is front and center. Because our kids are growing up in the world that pummels them with conflicting messages directing them to find their identity in what they do or how they feel, they need voices that will steer them into embracing an identity which has been given to them by the creator of life itself. I'm talking with Jonathan Holmes about his fantastic new book, Grounded in Grace: Helping Kids Build Their Identity in Christ, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

One of my go-to sources for information and thoughtful analysis on today's youth culture is social psychologist, Jonathan Haidt. In his newest book, The Anxious Generation, Haidt offers insights and practical responses to the mental health epidemic sweeping through the population of children and teens. I've invited a group of youth workers who have read Haidt's book to a roundtable discussion about our kids, mental health, Haidt's insights, and Haidt's four simple rules for remedying the crisis, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

How can we teach our children and teens to live out their faith and devotion to Jesus Christ in a culture that is largely ignorant of and even averse to the Gospel? One powerful teaching tool which we oftentimes overlook are the stories we can pass on regarding those who over the course of church history have devoted themselves, warts and all, to faithfully following Jesus Christ, regardless of the cost. On this episode of Youth Culture Matters,  I chat with biographer Ellen Vaughn about Elisabeth Elliot, a modern-day follower of Christ whose ups and downs filled life and devotion to Christ offers a powerful example of what it means to live counter-culturally for the sake of the Gospel.

How can we best care for and love our kids as they navigate life in a confusing culture that encourages questioning whether or not they were born in the right body? As Christians, we are called to root our convictions on identity and gender in the unchanging word of God. Still, there's been lots of confusion among youth workers and parents regarding the issue of gender, leading many to misguide kids in deeply damaging ways. Now, a growing number of detransitioners are speaking out from their own experience about the insidious and damaging transgender ideology. We welcome author, filmmaker, and the executive director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture, Kallie Fell, to take us into the very personal and compelling stories of detransitioners, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

This episode was originally released on April 26, 2023.Don't judge. You do you. Be authentic to yourself. God just wants you to be happy. These are just some of the cultural mantras that saturate the soup of today's culture. If we aren't careful, even followers of Jesus Christ can get swept up in the spirit of the times and believe these lies that we see and hear on social media each and every day. Alisa Childers will help us understand how to listen to evaluate and respond to these cultural lies as we talk about her new book, Live Your Truth and Other Lies: Exposing Popular Deceptions that Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If you're a youth worker or parent, you've been called to lead. As followers of Jesus Christ, learning to lead properly and to his glory is essential if we hope to nurture our kids in the Christian faith. I recently read a short little leadership book that took me on a deep and helpful journey into looking at who I am as a leader. The book, Faithful Leaders, And The Things That Matter Most is the most helpful leadership book I've ever read and I believe it would be for you, too. Stick with us as I engage in an energizing chat with the book's author, Rico Tice, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

Journalist Abigail Shrier is no stranger to controversy. She hit the topic of rapid onset gender dysphoria hard in her first best-selling book, Irreversible Damage. Recently, she released a new book, Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up, which calls out therapeutic practices which she believes hurt rather than help our kids. Stick with us as I chat with counselors Julie Lowe and Dr. Phil Monroe to get their take on Shrier's new book, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The school year has come to a close and we're launching into the summertime, a season that the old popular tune tells us is a time when the living is easy. If you're like most, the summer months are a time for vacation getaways and getting your nose into a good book or two. On this episode of Youth Culture Matters, I'm going to share a very fast run-through of twenty books from which to choose if you're looking for some good summer reading, all of them related in some way to faith, life, youth work, and parenting in today's world.

Over the course of our years studying youth culture here at CPYU, there are a host of films that have offered us helpful peeks into the adolescent experience. One of the most provocative of those films is 1985's The Breakfast Club. As the fortieth anniversary of the film is coming up, it's amazing how well the film still captures the realities of teenage life. Today, I chat with a couple of youth workers about how The Breakfast Club is still very moving, and in many ways timeless, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

What is it like when undeserved mercy confronts undeniable evil, when kindness upends condemnation, and when heaven engages hell? Today, I interview two members of a family about how these things became real for them. It's a story we need to hear, to consider, and to share with our children and teens as a way to learn about God's amazing grace. Listen in as I chat with Tim Rogers and Megan Shertzer about how mercy is more powerful than murder, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Our children and teens are growing up in a world marked by a confusing mix of ever-changing challenges, choices, pressures, and expectations. These realities make it increasingly difficult for them to know what to believe and how to live in the world as faithful followers of Jesus Christ. How will they know right from wrong? How can they develop Biblical wisdom in order to be able to discern truth from lies? We are talking about practical ways to cultivate wisdom and discernment in our kids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It was back in January of 2007 that Apple CEO Steve Jobs spoke prophetic words to the attendees at the Macworld Conference. Jobs famously said, “Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” He was talking about the smartphone, a device that has changed just about everything. Stick with us as we have a youth worker roundtable conversation about the latest findings on teens, tech, and social media, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.We begin the podcast with a fun discussion about music. Then CPYU Research Fellows and Youth Workers, Jason Engle, Kerry Trunfio, Tim McAlpine, and new CPYU staff John Barry, talk about the U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on Social Media and Youth Mental Health. We take a look at some of the data it points to, as well as practical ways the insights can impact our ministries. We also look at a few trends and news stories from the world of teens and technology and discuss how to approach the issues biblically.

One of the questions youth workers are asking more than any other is this: What can I do to come alongside of and help parents as they seek to love their LGBTQ+ kids? Because all of our kids are divine-image bearers and we are called to parent them with grace and truth. I invite you to listen in as I chat with Joan McConnell and Joy Worrell, both members of the Parent and Family Ministry Team at Harvest USA, about how to best support our youth ministry parents as they navigate these tender, sensitive, and difficult issues in ways that honor the Lord and His good design on this episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

Culture is changing at breakneck speed, and today's youth workers need to not only keep up with the host of new challenges facing our kids, but they need to respond in ways that communicate the truths of the Gospel so that our kids might embrace a life of faithfulness to Jesus Christ as His disciples. Today, I pull together a group of boots-on-the-ground youth workers to help us learn more about where culture has gone over the last year, where it's headed, and how we can practically respond as we nurture kids in our churches and homes. I invite you to listen in to our helpful conversation, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

“The feminist movement has given birth to many things: one of these is the popularization of gender, a concept that drives a wedge between sexed identity and embodiment.” Those words are written by Abigail Favale in the autobiographical chapter simply titled “Heretic”, in her new book, The Genesis of Gender: A Christian Theory. Abigail's personal story and thoughtful book on the gift of our embodiement as male and female is a must-read for anyone hoping to lead kids through the current muddied and confused cultural narrative on sex and gender. I invite you to listen in to this conversation with Abigail Favale, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The way that we parent and the way that we do youth ministry is always informed by the theology we embrace, whether that theology is embraced consciously or unconsciously. Of course, unless we work to consciously embrace a biblically-faithful and orthodox theology, we run the risk of thinking about God and Jesus in ways that are inaccurate and not even Christian. One hundred years ago, J. Gresham Machen faced and addressed this same dilemma, and he did so in ways that are helpful and informative for us today. I chat with my friend Dr. Steve Nichols about how Machen's message is timely for us today, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

All of us in the youth ministry world have heard the experts tell us about the differences in generations. We have to realize that all of these statements are generalizations that are sometimes accurate and helpful, and sometimes not so accurate and less than helpful. What should we think about generational theory? And how can we as people who care about and love kids use it with wisdom and discernment in our youth ministries? Listen in as I chat with my friend Crystal Kirgiss and three of our youth worker friends about the good, the bad, and the ugly of generational theory, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

As Christians, our lives must be marked by a never-ending passion to know and live the truth. This is especially necessary in those aspects of life where convincing and easily-believed lies have taken root and grown, not only in the culture, but in our lives as well. What we believe about sex and gender is too often shaped by lies, rather than the truth of God's will and way for His creation. Today we chat with someone, who like all of us, has believed and lived lies. By God's transforming grace, she has also been brought out of darkness and into the light. Rosaria Butterfield is passionate about helping all of us know and live the truth, and I'm chatting with her about all of this on this episode, of Youth Culture Matters.

Here in the United States, over 45 million children and teens participate in organized sports every year. It's no secret that over the years youth sports are costing families more and more in terms of time, effort, and money. If we allow it, this growing commitment can cut into our commitment to live a life of faithful Christian discipleship. Many youth workers and pastors lament how youth sports are taking so many kids away from opportunities for Christian nurture and growth. Today, I'm talking to our youth worker friend, Jason Engle, about how we can best navigate youth sports and church participation, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It's no secret that conversations about sex and gender are front and center in today's world. This creates challenges for those of us who want to communicate God's good design for sex and gender in our homes and churches. What voices are our kids listening to? And what should we be teaching regarding what it means to live lives of gender and sexuality regarding God's design? Today, I'm chatting with one of the most trusted and helpful voices regarding biblical sexuality, Dr. Christopher Yuan, on this practical and helpful episode of Youth Culture Matters.

This episode was originally released on October 19, 2020.Recent research tells us that about half of our eleven to twenty-one year old girls regularly alter their photos to enhance their appearance online in order to find acceptance. Researchers also tell us that our girls are much more likely to experience anxiety and depression than their male peers. What are cultural forces that are shaping and even mis-shaping girls in today's world? Why are more and more of our girls struggling to figure out who they are and how to live in the world? And what can parents and youth workers do to guide girls through the earthquake of adolescence and into an adulthood where they flourish? Stay tuned as we chat with physician, counselor, and author Dr. Leonard Sax about his new book, Girls on the Edge, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

This episode was originally released on June 5, 2021.People have always had questions, doubts, and objections to the Christian faith. Kids growing up in today's youth culture are no exception. As they marinate in a cultural soup that encourages them to rely on their own intuition rather than biblical authority, the challenges to embracing a lifetime of following Jesus are very real.  And I fear that the nurture taking place in our homes, churches, and youth groups all too often remains shallow, leaving kids to simply embrace the cultural narrative, rather than engaging with solid biblical answers to their questions. One of the best resources to remedy this is Rebecca McLaughlin's new book, 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask and Answer About Christianity. Stay with us as we chat with Rebecca about helping our kids find life-giving answers to their toughest questions, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It's been just a few days since Tim Keller went to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A pastor, writer, and theologian, Keller has had a profound impact on so many during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. I, for one, have been blessed by Keller's ministry. Today, I'm going to converse with some youth ministry friends about the life, impact, and legacy of Tim Keller and what it means for all of us moving forward, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Don't judge. You do you. Be authentic to yourself. God just wants you to be happy. These are just some of the cultural mantras that saturate the soup of today's culture. If we aren't careful, even followers of Jesus Christ can get swept up in the spirit of the times and believe these lies that we see and hear on social media each and every day. Alisa Childers will help us understand how to listen to evaluate and respond to these cultural lies as we talk about her new book, Live Your Truth and Other Lies: Exposing Popular Deceptions that Make Us Anxious, Exhausted, and Self-Obsessed, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Our kids are growing up in a world where questioning one's birth gender is an encouraged option. With more and more of our kids questioning their gender and even taking steps to transition, we need solid guidance on how to compassionately walk alongside them and minister to them in ways that glorify God. Stay tuned as I chat with my friend Nicholas Black about what to do say and what to do with those who are experiencing gender confusion on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It's mind-boggling, isn't it? I'm talking about the rapid advances being made in technology and social media. As parents and youthworkers, it's essential  that we not only keep up with these changes, but that we also develop biblically-faithful strategies for helping our kids and their families navigate the use of these tools in ways that bring glory to God and advance our human flourishing. Knowledge, caution, and wisdom are necessary. That's what we'll address as we chat with Chris Martin about his new book, The Wolf in their Pockets: 13 Ways the Social Internet Threatens the People You Lead, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Where is God in the midst of the trials and suffering we face in life? Jesus told us that in this world we will have trouble, and the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation is filled not only with testimony to this fact, but with a theology of suffering that we must know, embrace, and pass on as an inheritance to our kids. If you're like me, you often wonder how God works in the lives of those who face unimaginable suffering. When all seems hopeless is there any hope? Today, I chat with some young youth worker friends who have been and are in the midst of the unimaginable. Stick with us for a compelling conversation about real life suffering, real life hope, and a challenge to teach this to our kids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

So today, I've got great news for youth workers! CPYU has put together a youth ministry training opportunity that we know will encourage and equip you as you look for ways to effectively minister to kids and their families. And I want to invite you to join us for four days in March to hear from sixteen gifted youth ministry trainers in five plenary sessions and your choice of twenty-eight different breakout sessions. Listen in as we introduce the Northeast Youth Ministry Summit and how to bring biblical hope to anxious hearts, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

We can't answer the question What am I to do?, until we first answer the question “What am I to believe?” As Christians, we are called to listen to God's Word, seeing it as the light that shapes our beliefs and guides our choices. Perhaps there's no more urgent place in today's world to embrace this reality than in God's good gifts of marriage, sex, and gender. In an effort to help us recover and live out God's will and way in these areas of life, Dr. Tim Tennant has written a fabulous book that will inform parents, youth workers, and pastors alike. I talk with Tim about his book, For the Body: Recovering a Theology of Gender, Sexuality, and the Human Body, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Because our children and teens are vulnerable, they need to be protected. After more than two decades as a family counselor, our friend Julie Lowe has seen how important it is to help parents and caregivers think wisely and biblically about the dangers children face. Instead of living in fear or denial, parents and caregivers can equip children to assess people and situations and model for them how to live by faith in a world where evil exists. Today, we chat with Julie to get insights from her brand new book, Safeguards – Shielding Our Homes and Equipping Our Kids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Culture is catechizing and indoctrinating our kids twenty-four seven. From the time they emerge from the womb, our kids grow up in a media-saturated world that tells them who they are, what to believe, how to live in the world. Sadly, the culture more often than not steers our kids away from the life-giving answers that the Bible provides to all these questions. Parents and youth workers, we need to be intentional about teaching our children and teens a biblical worldview, and that's we're talking about today as we chat with Amy Davison from Mama Bear Apologetics, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

Anyone who takes the spiritual growth and nurture of children and teens seriously can't help but lament all the data that points to reality of so many young people coming of age and walking away from Christ and his church. But our lament is for naught if we don't take steps to reverse this troubling trend. Today, we chat with our friend Tony Souder about some specific ways we can build the long-lasting faith of kids through fostering intergenerational relationships and facilitating intergenerational ministry opportunities, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It was the late great media theorist Marshall McLuhan who said that first we shape our tools and then our tools shapes us. He went on and said, we become what we behold. Any of us who have used social media know that McLuhan was spot on. . . and if we don't know it, we need to. Today, we take a look at how social media is shaping and misshaping us as moms, dads, kids, and youth workers. Listen in as we chat with Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra about her own story and her practical and Gospel centered book, Social Sanity in an Insta World, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If you had it to do all over again, what would you do the same, and what would you differently. I can tell you that the older you get, the longer your list of answers becomes. Recently, I've been thinking about what I would add to my list of youth ministry strategies and practices if I was starting off this school year leading a local church youth ministry. I've come up with a list that I hope will encourage and equip you to be more effective in your youth ministry, and we're talking about that list on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Well, all that hot fun in the summertime that sly and the family stone sang about so long ago is coming to an end as the fall is upon us and we are getting back into the swing of things with our youth ministry schedules. The big question we're asking you today is this: What are you doing with parents? We've put together a roundtable of youth workers who talk about the importance of ministry to parents along with a host of parent ministry ideas and strategy, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

One of the greatest challenges facing the church, the home, and youth ministry today is the need for effective Christian nurture and discipleship that will lead kids to a deep faith that informs all of life for the rest of their lives. One necessary component in these ministry efforts is to welcome and answer the kinds of doubts and questions teenagers express about Christianity. Darkroom is a brand new series of free videos and support resources marked by quality in production and content, designed to be used by church and home to spark deep and meaningful conversations about the issues kids face today. Stick with us as I chat with Darkroom content creator Mary Jo Sharp, about this free new evangelism and discipleship resource, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It seems that you can't get away from all the cultural noise regarding issues of sexuality and gender. Sex education is coming fast and furious at our kids at younger and younger ages. This means its more important than ever that we speak and keep speaking about sex and gender from a biblical perspective. And, we must start to share God's truth with even our pre-school children. What should we be teaching them about sex and gender. Stick with us as I chat with a group of parents and youth workers about ten truths from God's Word on sex and gender home and church must be teaching kids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Christian apologist Alisa Childers has called Progressive Christianity an entirely different religion from historical biblical Christianity. It has, she says, another Jesus and another Gospel. By twisting the Scriptures, Progressive Christianity plays well in today's youth culture, and it is leading our kids away from obeying God, and into following their own feelings and preferences. To effectively lead our kids into a deep understanding of the Christian faith, we need to be able to recognize and answer progressive Christianity's half-truths. That's what we're doing today as we chat with six youth workers about how to correct the lies of progressive Christianity, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

The late pastor Dr. James Montgomery Boice once said that “we must evaluate our experiences by the Bible's teaching, rather than the other way around.” If we aren't careful, the church, our youth ministries, and our selves will fall into the dangerous and deadly trap of believing, living, and leading in ways that are marked by that other way around. As youth workers and parents, we need to be aware of how this is happening through the advance of what's called progressive theology, and we need to mindfully push back by staking ourselves to the truths of God's Word. That's why I'm chatting with a group of six youth workers about progressive Christianity and its dangers, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

A few weeks ago, a newspaper headline asked, “Is woke to be the only religion allowed in U.S. public schools?” Another headline reported that the Google search engine has gone woke, by adding an inclusive language function designed to suggest politically correct terminology. Our kids are learning that being woke is a virtue. What does it mean to be woke? How does wokeness mesh or not mesh with a biblical world and life view? How can we talk with our kids about wokeness in ways that are informed and balanced? Is there a Christian response to the dogmas of wokeness? That's what we're addressing today as we chat with Noelle Mering about her new book, Awake, Not Woke, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

What was the first thing you did this morning when you opened your eyes? Perhaps even before you got out of bed? A growing body of research says that you, like many others, grabbed and checked your smartphone. Have you ever spent time thinking about what your smartphone might be doing to you, your brain, and relationships? Stay tuned for some interesting insights from four boots on the ground youth workers about what they see smartphones doing to their students, along with some honest confessions about what those same phones are doing to them. . . on this episode of youth culture matters.