Youth Culture Today with Walt Mueller

Precocious puberty, also known as early puberty, takes place when a child's body begins to change into an adult body too soon. In today's world, puberty usually begins for girls around age eight, and around age nine for our boys. In recent years, there has also been research showing that in general, our kids are reaching puberty at earlier and earlier ages. There have been lots of different theories put forward regarding what's causing this. Researchers tell us that one factor which triggers early puberty in girls are the fragrance producing chemicals that are in the commercial beauty and skin-care products that flood the market, and that have become especially popular among pre-teen and younger girls in recent years. Research indicates these fragrances have the potential to stimulate parts of the brain that trigger early puberty, risks of psychological problems, heart disease, and breast cancer associated with early puberty. Parents, keep an eye on the products your kids are using.

All this week we've been looking at David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock's book Faith for Exiles, and the five ministry practices churches and families must pursue to lead kids into life-long faith. The research done by Kinnaman and Matlock indicates that in order to form a lasting faith, we must curb the cultural tendency toward entitlement and self-centeredness by getting our kids engaged in counter-cultural mission. This does not mean that we need to be sure they get involved in a missions trip once or twice a year. Sure, those experiences can be valuable for our kids. But engaging in countercultural mission means living as a faithful presence wherever we are, by trusting God's power and living differently from cultural norms. This means that we bloom for God as His ambassador wherever we are planted. We need to teach our kids to play to his glory, study to his glory, conduct themselves in relationships to his glory, and live every moment to his glory. Let's pray that our kids grow to embrace and live the faith!

All this week we're looking at David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock's book Faith for Exiles, and the five ministry practices churches and families must pursue to lead kids into life-long faith. The research done by Kinnaman and Matlock indicates that in order to form a lasting faith, we must ground and motivate our kids through training for vocational discipleship. This means that they know and live out God's calling on their lives, especially in the arena of work while conforming their ambitions to God's purposes. In today's world, the culture teaches our kids to pursue work and vocation as a passport to privilege. Rather than seeing work as a way to serve God and further His kingdom, our work is about making money, pursuing fame, and building up the kingdom of me, myself, and I. One of the key opportunities facing the twenty-first-century church is to help kids learn that they have been made for something, and that something is a life where faith is integrated into their work.

All this week we're looking at David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock's book Faith for Exiles, and the five ministry practices churches and families must pursue to lead kids into life-long faith. The research done by Kinnaman and Matlock indicates that in order to form a lasting faith, we must work to create a church and family culture where rather than separating the generations, meaningful intergenerational relationships are formed with fellow believers who live and model a deep faith in Jesus Christ. Our culture is marked by isolation and mistrust between different generations. Some specific ways to make this happen include starting a mentoring program at your church where an older believer is paired with a young person. Our worship services should be inter-generational rather than generationally-segmented. And our homes should be places where our kids are exposed to older Christians as we practice hospitality. Endeavor to give your kids the gift of sitting under the wisdom of those who are older.

All this week we're looking at David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock's book Faith for Exiles, and the five ministry practices churches and families must pursue to lead kids into life-long faith. The research done by Kinnaman and Matlock indicates that in order to form a lasting faith, we must lead our kids into developing the muscles of cultural discernment. Exercising cultural discernment means that we all must take part in a robust learning community that seeks, under the authority of the Bible, to wisely navigate today's rapidly changing culture. This means that we must develop their ability to compare the beliefs, values, customs, and creations of the world we live in with those of the world we belong to, which is the Kingdom of God. And once that comparison has been made, we need to anchor our lives to the theological, ethical, and moral norms of God's Kingdom. Parents, in order to lead your kids into living counter-culturally to the glory of God, you must be doing the same.

With so many of our young adults graduating from high school and walking away from the faith, what can we do to lead them to embrace a lasting faith? All this week we're going to look at David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock's book Faith for Exiles, and the five ministry practices churches and families must pursue to lead kids into life-long faith. The research done by Kinnaman and Matlock indicates that in order to form a lasting faith, we must lead our kids into experiencing intimacy with Jesus. This is best done by clearing what they call the religious clutter that so easily sidetracks us. We've been complicit in presenting a Jesus to compete at the same level as our other affinities and affiliations. In addition we've expected way too little from our kids. They are more willing to be challenged than the church is willing to challenge them. And, parents must be living a life of spiritual vitality where they give everything they have and are over to Jesus. Let's lead our kids into a deep and lasting faith.

Here's an interesting strategy to consider as you think about how to lead the teenagers you know away from a culturally-influenced self-centered lifestyle, to a God-centered lifestyle: pray for crisis to enter their lives. Self-centeredness with no room for God plays and advances well in a youth culture that feeds the beast of self-absorption from a deep well of luxury and wealth. Sometimes it's not until the well runs dry through poverty, want, or crisis that our kids understand their thirst for what it really is – a longing not after self, but after God. While our kids might not see it as such, it's a blessing when the clay feet on which a self-centered lifestyle is built crumble to dust. Sadly, that's oftentimes what it takes for them to reach out to their heavenly Father. As John Stott reminds us about the prodigal son, “he had to ‘come to himself' by acknowledging his self-centeredness, before he could ‘come to his father.'” While we hate to see our kids hurt, sometimes that hurt helps!

From time to time I tell you about the power that marketing has over our kids. Marketing not only peddles products, but it also sells and promotes a world view. Yes, marketing shapes the way that our kids look at and live life. But our kids aren't the only targets that marketing so effectively hits. Marketing also shapes us adults. It's for that reason that I want to sound a warning that relates to one message marketing so effectively is sending to us as parents. That message is this: don't grow old. It seems that we're listening as we older folks have become obsessed over our appearance, our clothing, our complexions, our body shapes, and more. We spend billions and billions of dollars trying to stop something that just can't be stopped. Ultimately, this is idolatry. And in the process, we're teaching our kids to grow up to worship the idol of youthfulness as well. Parents, consider what it is that you worship, and the message you're sending to your kids about what's most important in life.

“I had a simple rule for my kid. I now realize what a hypocrite I am.” That's the headline over an article about kids and device usage written by Molly Mulshine, a young mother of a one-year-old. Mulshine begins by proudly telling readers that she never puts her phone in the hands of her child for the admirable reason that she doesn't want her spending time on or getting addicted to a device. But Mulshine was surprised when that little one-year-old got ahold of mom's phone, and in Mulshine's words, “started scrolling and swiping with the muscle memory of a bored teen.” Mulshine soon realized that it was the example of her own addiction to her phone that was modeling exactly what she didn't want to see happen to her own child. Mulshine offers up this question that all wise and concerned parents should be asking themselves: Will my excessive phone use make my daughter long for the sweet, lobotomizing glow of a high-tech rectangle, despite any screen limits I place on her? Parent, think about it.

There's some new data on teenagers and vaping that deserves our attention. Published in the journal Pediatrics, the data looks at trends in vaping behaviors among our eighth, tenth, and twelfth graders. Near daily vaping was admitted by one-point-seven percent of eighth graders, four-point-two percent of tenth graders, and almost eight percent of twelfth graders. When asked why they vape, the three top reasons are these: to relax and relieve stress was number one, cited by over seventy percent of those kids who vaped daily. Second on the list was experimentation, and coming in at third was vaping to relieve boredom. Other reasons cited include the taste, feeling good, convenience, and to have a good time. Parents, be aware that there are numerous health issues related to vaping. It is not safe. Take the time to raise your awareness of the consequences of vaping, warn your kids, and direct them to the Lord who promises to minister to them in their stress and anxiety.

“Be sure to look them in the eye and say please and thank you.” If you grew up in home like mine, you constantly heard those words from your mother as she was training you to be kind and polite in social situations. I learned that lesson well and hope that we were successful in passing it on to our own kids. New research from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has found that when family members show appreciation and gratitude to each other through saying “thank you”, relationships are strengthened and mental health improves. For married couples, showing gratitude to your partner improves relationship satisfaction and mental health. When a child expresses thanks to a parent, parenting stress is actually reduced. As Christian parents, we want to be sure to teach our kids that all good things come from God, including the gift of salvation. Point them to I Chronicles 16:34: “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

Parents, are you aware that the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning parents, educators, caregivers, teens, and children about the growing tide of online dangers that they say may lead to the solicitation and enticement of minors to engage in sexual acts. Known as “sextortion”, this danger involves a perpetrator coercing a minor to create and send sexually explicit material. If the perpetrator gets the sexually explicit material, they will then threaten to release those pictures online unless the victim produces more of the same, or unless the victim sends a payment often in gift cards, wire transfers, mobile payment services, or cryptocurrency. Sextortion victims are most often males between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, but anyone of any age or gender can become a victim. Parents, teach your kids to never engage in online communication with someone they don't know, and teach them God's good design for the sacred gift of their sexuality.

One of the most beautiful and telling aspects of the Genesis Creation narrative relates to the importance of relationships. In Genesis one twenty-six we read these words, “Then God said, ‘Let US make man in OUR image.” The God who created human beings as the crowning point of creation is a trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And out of that divine relationship comes the creation of those who God said later in Genesis 2:18, “It is not good that the man should be alone.” Relationships are a key part of our humanity. We are made for them, and it is reasonable to assume that without them, our flourishing and well-being are undermined. Because of that, it's not surprising that scientists at the University of Cambridge have discovered that teens who spend time alone in their rooms, even while relating to others online, are actually isolated in ways that lead to excessive worry, feeling unsafe, and lonely. Your kids need flesh and blood social interaction. They've been made for it.

Russell Kirk was a twentieth century social critic who back in 1992 said something very important regarding the changes taking place in culture as it slides further and further into secularism, and what needs to take place. Kirk said, “If a culture is to survive and flourish, it must not be severed from the religious vision out of which it arose. The high necessity of reflective man and women, then, is to labor for the restoration of religious teachings as a credible body of doctrine. America as we know it cannot survive without biblical Christianity. The rights we cherish, the freedoms we enjoy, the ideals we all love together – all are rooted in and sustained by the tradition of the Bible. Christianity is the electric current of our national life. Turn it off, and the light will fade.” Parents and youth workers, it begins with all of us studying and knowing the truths of God's Word. Then, we must be committed to teaching and telling the truth to our kids, all the time! 

As the recreational use of marijuana has become more widespread, socially acceptable, and even legal in many states, the notion that smoking or ingesting cannabis products is actually harmless has spread as well. But a growing body of research is reporting on a variety of harmful effects from the use of cannabis. A new study published in the journal, Addiction Biology, is suggesting that using cannabis causes damage to cells, which in turn increases one's risk for developing cancerous tumors. Specifically, researchers found that cannabis use damages the genetic information in a cell, which can lead to cancer and accelerated aging. And, with the modification of the DNA in a cell, a parent can pass on altered or damage DNA to their offspring, thereby increasing the risk of premature aging and cancer for that child. Parents, we need to raise our children well, doing all we can to enable them to steward the health of those bodies to God's glory!

As a baby boomer, I'm part of a generation that believed that adulthood began at age eighteen, which usually coincided with the time a teenager graduated from high school and went into the work force or off to college. For generation z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – there's the belief that adulthood doesn't begin until sometime around the ages of twenty-seven to thirty. Researchers found that only eleven percent of Gen Z-ers say they feel like adults. One reason for this is that they don't have the financial stability they believe they need to be considered adults, including being able to pay all their own bills, contributing to a retirement account, and having a life insurance policy. In fact, forty percent of those surveyed don't think they'll ever be financially stable. Perhaps we need to be more intentional about raising our kids to take on responsibility, coddling them less, requiring them to learn the value of work, and teaching them principles of biblical stewardship.

Today we conclude our week-long look at what it means to entrust our children to God. To entrust our children to God is to completely entrust our children to God! While yes, we have been given the aforementioned responsibilities to tend, teach, and train, we cannot drag, push, or pull our kids screaming and kicking into the Kingdom of God. There is no guarantee that we will see the results that we want, in the way that we want, or in the time that we want. No, “salvation belongs to the Lord!” It is only the Holy Spirit, working in His way and His time, who will call our children to faith. We need to constantly remind ourselves of what I heard R.C. Sproul say on many occasions: “God has entrusted the ministry of the Word to us, not its results.” Our high calling is to be faithful and obedient. . . and to leave the rest up to God. Let me remind you once again, that there is no higher parental calling or privilege than to focus your time, energy, and prayers on leading your kids to love and serve Jesus.

All this week we're looking at what it means for us as Christian parents to entrust our children to God. In First Timothy four, six to ten we learn that to entrust your children to God is to train them in righteousness. Knowing sound doctrine is a worthless pursuit if that doctrine is not translated into everyday living. Our parenting should be directed to the end of not just honoring God with our lips, but glorifying Him with our lives, as we learn in Mark 7:6. One way parents can teach this is to look for those everyday opportunities to employ what I call the World-Word-Walk paradigm. It starts with keeping your ears and eyes open to the current cultural narrative. What is the world teaching our kids? We point these things out and then examine them with our children under the light of God's Word. Finally, we think and pray with them about how God's Word is calling them to walk obediently to God's glory in the midst of a world that teaches them to live contrary to the Gospel. 

All this week we're looking at what it means for us as Christian parents to entrust our children to God. To entrust your children to God is to teach them doctrine. Our children and teens are seeking answers to two basic developmental questions: “Who am I?” and “What do I believe” Thanks to smartphones and social media, culture is catechizing our kids around the clock. While they turn to their devices to make sense of life in the world, we must lead them into the life-giving Word of God, which is the only source of Truth. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 reminds us that we are to be intentional about constantly and diligently teaching them God's Word, showing them how it speaks to all of life. Our approach is to be multi-sensory as we talk, sit, walk, lie down, and rise up with God's Word on our lips and our lives. We teach sound doctrine by enlisting the tools of age-appropriate Catechisms, family devotions, and the everyday teachable moments that offer opportunities to pass on the truths of God's Word. 

All this week we're looking at what it means for us as Christian parents to entrust our children to God. One of the most important things to remember is that to entrust your children to God is to tend to yourself. I love Tedd Tripp's definition of parenting as “shepherding the hearts of your children in the ways of God's wisdom.” It follows that the only way we can effectively nurture our children in the ways of God's wisdom is to be constantly nurturing ourselves. The Apostle Paul's words to the Colossians tell us that “therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving”. We can only lead our children to where we are. If you want your children to walk the road of discipleship and to love Jesus Christ with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, we have to do the same ourselves. Take stock of your life, and ask God to show you where change is needed.

My fourteen-year-old self had gone to bed at my usual 9pm time. Two hours later, I woke up to use the bathroom. While walking undetected past my parents darkened room, I not only heard my dad whispering, but I heard him whispering my name. It was at that unforgettable moment that I learned that my parents' bedtime routine included intercession on behalf of their three children. I had been blessed with parents whose only stated hope for me was that I would grow up to love, follow, and serve Jesus Christ. As Christian parents, our hope for our children should be the same. The good news is that parents always exercise the greatest influence on the spiritual lives of their children. God has established the home as the primary arena for spiritual nurture. This influence is effectively exercised as we entrust our children to God, which includes certain responsibilities that He has entrusted to us. Listen in all this week as we talk about how to entrust our children to God.

I recently read through the report on teens and media from the University of California and found some thought-provoking data. The report is titled “Reality Bites: Teens and Screens 2024.” As I was reading through the survey there was one bit of data that caused me to pause, and I want to pass it on to you. This question was asked to the ten to twenty-four year olds who participated in the survey: “At what age did you start using social media?” Now remember that the major social media platforms require users to be at least thirteen years old to create an account. The reason for this is compliance with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. Remember too, that there is growing movement to keep kids off social media until the age of sixteen. So, how did respondents answer the question regarding when they started using social media? Fifty-one- point-five percent, over half, started using social media under the age of thirteen, with many at or under age ten. Parents, what about your kids?

Today, I want to talk about a research finding that might make your kids angry, but it might also help your kids perform better in school. A study published in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found that a student's cognitive performance may be improved if they walk to school, rather than be driven to school in a car or on the bus. It seems that God has wired our bodies in such a way that teenagers who engage in physical activity early in the morning wind up stimulating their brains in ways that contribute to increased cognitive performance during the school day. And because adolescent females are typically less active than their male peers, that early morning walk is especially helpful to our girls. While researchers do say that there are actually a multiplicity of factors that could be at work here, one thing is sure: this research reminds us that God made us as integrated beings. To be balanced, our kids need to get enough exercise. Make sure your kids are active and not dormant.

A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks at the issue of bullying in the lives of our twelve to seventeen-year-olds. The report defines bullying as occurring when “a person is exposed to aggressive behavior repeatedly over time by one or more people and is unable to defend themself.” More than a third of the kids surveyed say they've been bullied over the past year. Over thirty-eight percent of twelve to seventeen year old girls report being bullied, and just under thirty percent of the boys surveyed report being bullied. The report also found that bullying is more prevalent among twelve to fourteen year olds, at just over thirty-eight percent, and less prevalent among fifteen to seventeen year olds, at just under thirty percent. With bullying prevalent in today's teen culture, we need to teach our kids to show the love of Christ to their divine-image-bearing peers, and we need to minister well to our kids who have been victimized so that we might build their resilience.

Imagine a factory where the workers come in for eight hour shifts. At the end of each shift, a whistle blows to signal that it's time to pack up and go home. It's eight hours of work and then time to punch out. There's a new and different working trend among young adults that's been labeled as “grind culture” or “hustle culture.” Works days are marked by a work hard and don't go home mentality, all in an effort to increase production and climb the ladder. The World Health Organization reports that four hundred and eighty-eight million people around the world are putting in more than fifty five hours a week at work. As Christians, we are to work as unto the Lord. We are to be hard workers who pursue excellence. But if the motivating factor to our hard work is about bringing glory to something or someone other than God, then we are engaging in idolatry. Teach your children to see work as an act of worship, without sacrificing time with family, and time with the Lord.

As Christian parents, we are called to raise our kids in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We must be doing what we can to lead them into an adulthood that is spiritually, emotionally, relationally, intellectually, AND physically healthy. Their physical health depends greatly on how we teach them to steward their God-given bodies during their childhood and teenage years. One aspect of this that's related to today's youth culture regards caffeine intake. Are you aware, for example, that your local quickmart drink coolers are filled with aggressively marketed caffeine-infused energy drinks that appeal to teens? And, are you aware that ER visits due to eating or drinking too much caffeine have doubled among middle school kids, and almost doubled for our high schoolers between 2017 and 2023? Parents, we need to educate our kids on God-honoring matters of health and on the dangers of caffeine intake, along with setting borders and boundaries for their consumption.

All this week we're looking at some four-hundred year old guidance and advice from the Puritan writer, Thomas Brooks. Specifically, Brooks has listed five remedies to the enemy of the soul's  strategy to get us to see following Jesus as a dangerous, losing, and suffering-filled way of life. Brooks offers great insights for us to share with our kids as they face opposition in this world. Today, Brooks tells us to consider that we gain more in our service of God and by following God as we face troubles and afflictions, than we can ever possibly lose by following God. Jesus said it this way: “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit their soul?” Thomas Brooks uses the metaphor of money when he says that for every penny a Christian might lose in the service of God, he in turn will gain a dollar. Our light afflictions will result in the weight of glory. Life as a follower of Christ in today's culture is difficult. Still, it is the path to flourishing now and for eternity!

All this week we're looking at some four-hundred year old guidance and advice from the Puritan writer, Thomas Brooks. Specifically, Brooks has listed five remedies to the enemy of the soul's  strategy to get us to see following Jesus as a dangerous, losing, and suffering-filled way of life. Brooks offers great insights for us to share with our kids as they face opposition in this world. Today, Brooks tells us to always remember that difficulties and troubles in this world are actually a way that God grows us in our faith. Specifically, Brooks writes these words: “God knows how to deliver us from troubles by troubles, from afflictions by afflictions, and from dangers by dangers. In my own life I've seen this to be true. Sometimes God saves us from ourselves and our foolishness through times of difficulty. While these times have been hard, I would not, in hindsight, trade them for anything. God's curriculum for our growth and flourishing often-times comes through difficulty.

All this week we're looking at some four-hundred year old guidance and advice from the Puritan writer, Thomas Brooks. Specifically, Brooks has listed five remedies to the enemy of the soul's  strategy to get us to see following Jesus as a dangerous, losing, and suffering-filled way of life. Brooks offers great insights for us to share with our kids as they face opposition in this world. Today, Brooks tells us to remember that all of the troubles and dangers we will face as followers of Jesus are only temporal and momentary. And, we must also remember that if we waver and walk away from faith because of these troubles and dangers, we open ourselves up to a host of other temporal, spiritual, and eternal dangers. In other words, following Jesus will result in contempt and opposition from others while we are on this earth. But choosing to please men rather than God will result in our loss of our relationship with God. We must always remember that faithfulness to God is our calling. 

All this week we're looking at some four-hundred year old guidance and advice from the Puritan writer, Thomas Brooks. Specifically, Brooks has listed five remedies to the enemy of the soul's  strategy to get us to see following Jesus as a dangerous, losing, and suffering-filled way of life. Brooks offers great insights for us to share with our kids as they face opposition in this world. Today, Brooks tells us to never, ever forget that great cloud of witnesses who precedes us in the faith who are now with Christ. We read about these saints in Hebrews, chapter eleven. God has given us a rich history of sisters and brothers in Christ who, while they were living, endured tremendous troubles and hardships because of their faith in God. Yet, they remained faithful to God, pushing forward and shining as bright lights in their dark cultures and times. Whether we are adults, children, or teens, God calls us to faithful living in spite of cultural opposition. Let's be sure to teach this to our kids.

Almost four hundred years ago, the Puritan writer Thomas Brooks wrote a book about the strategies Satan uses to derail us from Christian growth. I've found his words to be very timely for life in today's world. One devilish strategy that I consistently see in my own life and in the lives of kids is the tendency to be convinced that following Jesus is way too dangerous, risky, and filled with the promise of suffering. Brooks then goes on to list five remedies to this strategy of Satan. I want to share one of these remedies with you each day this week. And, I want to challenge you to teach these remedies to your kids. The first remedy is this: remember that God has promised that even though you will encounter troubles and difficulties in this world, those troubles and difficulties will not harm you. God is with us. He looks on us with favor. We are in union with Him. And, he's promised that no one and nothing can take these things away because our souls are secure in our Father's hands.

Do you ever look at your kids and get scared? Be assured, you're not alone. We've been there. It is sometimes paralyzing to think about parenting kids who are growing through unbelievable amounts of change, at the same time that they're engaging with a rapidly changing and frightening world. In some ways this is nothing new. Did you ever hear what Mark Twain said about teenagers? "When a child turns 12 you should put him in a barrel, nail the lid down and feed him through a knot hole. When he turns 16, plug the hole!" While parents should be cautious, watchful, and discerning, we can't allow ourselves to fall victim to fear. The Jesus we serve has conquered fear and sent His promised Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us. As the parents of teens, we've learned that the comforting words the angel of the Lord spoke to shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night are words for us: “Do not be afraid.” Parents, find your rest and refuge in Christ.

Late last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of almost fourteen hundred teens, ages thirteen to seventeen, to come to an understanding of our teenagers' experiences and attitudes around social media and their mental health. One of the most interesting findings is one that really isn't that surprising, especially if you've been tracking with the data on how digital devices are interrupting our kids sleep patterns. Forty five percent of the kids surveyed said that social media sites hurt the amount of sleep they get. Only four percent of kids say social media sites help their sleep, while thirty two percent are neutral. As you've heard us say here many times before, God made us for a rhythm of work and rest, and our kids need over nine hours of uninterrupted sleep each night for healthy growth and development. Parents, one of the first and most helpful parenting steps you can take is to get the phones out of their rooms. Doing this will contribute to their health and flourishing.

“Teenism” is a term I first encountered in Ellen Galinsky's book, “the Breakthrough Years: A New Scientific Approach to Raising Thriving Teens.” Galinsky says that teenism occurs when we as adults stereotype the teenage years and those going through them in negative ways. She says that teenism can not only harm our kids, but can harm us as well, by putting us in an interactive posture with our kids where we assume negative things. When asked to describe the stereotype of an adolescent, researchers used negative terms, including moody, overly emotional, makes risky decisions, selfish, self-centered, impulsive, wild, rebellious, lazy, and awkward. When asked to describe the teens they studied, researchers used positive words like motivated, creative, fun, curious, social, excited by life, and hardworking. As Christians, let's begin by looking positively on our kids, as at their core, they are divine image bearers.

Now that I'm older, I've got enough of a history to know that life is a journey that can be pretty intimidating and confusing. Having kids brings that reality home. As one parent once half-seriously said to me, “There are the parenting years that go real well. And then, there are the years of parenting teens.” To be honest, it's the gift of difficulty and confusion that we need to redirect our eyes, ears, minds, and hearts to where they should be aimed. In a world where it's easy to look for guidance and direction in all the wrong places, we're prone to follow a host of “guiding lights” that wind up leading us in the wrong direction. In a world where there are many “experts” sharing conflicting opinions on how to parent our kids through the teenage years, it's good to know there's a light we can trust. And the One who created life, children, teens, parents, and families offers that light to us. That light is the Word – both the incarnate Word Jesus Christ and the written Word of the Bible. 

Late last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of almost fourteen hundred teens, ages thirteen to seventeen, to come to an understanding of our teenagers' experiences and attitudes around social media and their mental health. One of the most interesting findings is that after all these years of adults noticing the drop in kids' productivity due to so much time spent on social media, the kids are now beginning to realize this themselves. Four out of ten thirteen to seventeen year olds say that social media platforms hurt their productivity. This makes sense as we know that social media is distracting, with notifications interrupting whatever it might be that our attention should be focused on. In the past, research has shown that the human mind can not multi-task with optimal productivity for either task. Teach your kids to focus their minds on the task at hand, putting their phones aside so they might do their best at whatever it is, all to the glory of God.

Today we complete our week long look at childhood sexual abuse and how our churches should respond. Today I will issue a warning – don't ever let down your guard. Over the course of the last few months our internet feeds and news sites have been filled with a steady streams of abuses revealed. Our temptation is to always point the finger and to shake our heads in pious disapproval, all the while denying that we'd ever think or do anything like that. Don't buy the lie. We are sinful and fallen human beings. Each of us could easily cross the line into anything from inappropriate emotional enmeshment to sexual abuse. Surround yourself with accountability. Set boundaries and hold to them. Don't take advantage of vulnerable young people in any way, shape, or form. And, if you're struggling, step away and get the help that's needed. Paul wasn't joking when he said, “Flee from sexual immorality” 

All this week we're looking at how our churches should respond to the epidemic of childhood sexual abuse. Today's advice? Don't fall into the trap of believing that you have the knowledge and ability to intervene and do what needs to be done from start to finish. Trained and competent counselors must be employed to work with the victims and the perpetrator. Law enforcement officials must be informed immediately. Harvest USA, a ministry dealing with the scourge of sexual sin and brokenness, has a list of goals for the redemptive process. First, protect the minor child. Second, honor the laws of the state. Third, begin to repair the damage. Fourth, enable the perpetrator to face the consequences of his or her actions. Fifth, maintain the purity of the Church if the person is a part of the church. And sixth, maintain the purity of the witness of Christ in the community.

Today we continue our look at how to respond when childhood sexual abuse visits our church or someone we know. Never forget to focus on the victim. Believe it or not, they are oftentimes forgotten and blamed. What's wrong with us? We must go out of our way to affirm young victims who come forward. Not only does this promote the process of healing for the victim, but it fosters a climate where other victims too scared to speak come to see the church as a safe place from which to launch on to the road to restoration. Realize that young sexual abuse victims need you to walk with them every step of the way. . . and that journey begins the moment they reveal their abuse. Being victimized by sexual abuse is a monumental faith-rattler. How we choose to respond – or not respond – to young victims will shape their concept of God, their relationship to the church, and their faith for the rest of their lives.

This week we're looking at how to respond to the epidemic of childhood sexual abuse. Sadly, one of the complaints heard most often about Christians and the church is that we ignore the problem of sexual abuse, or sometimes even deny its existence. The consequences of our ignorance and irresponsibility are great. We wind up ignoring the need to develop effective and responsible preventive and redemptive responses. Fortunately, the growing pervasiveness of sexual abuse has caused many churches to wake up and establish protective policies for the church, their children's ministry, and youth group. What, is your church doing? Work to implement policies and training that will reduce the risk of making it easy to put kids into the hands of sexual predators. Screen your volunteers. Require interviews and background checks. Implement oversight and accountability standards. 

All this week we will look at what the church can do in response to sexual abuse. First, talk about sexual abuse - over and over again. Make sure that everyone in your church understands the reality and pervasiveness of childhood sexual abuse. Not only does this paint sexual abuse as a very real social and spiritual problem, but it fuels a mentality that leads to the development of healthy preventive and redemptive responses measures. Talking about it with your kids helps them more readily recognize it as sinful and immoral behavior. Consequently, those who have been victimized will be more prone to come out of the shadows of secrecy and into the light that leads to liberation. And, you will be preparing kids to move into a spiritually healthy adulthood with an established sense of right and wrong. . . especially in a world that sends confusing sexual messages that only feed the mindset of the abuser.

Life for teenagers is difficult. When their hands hit the doorknob at your house, do they feel like they are stepping out of a difficult world into a place of even greater heartache, brokenness, and difficulty? Or are they able to breathe a sigh of relief as they step over the threshold into the loving, safe, and comforting place they call home? Be sure your home is the latter. And once it is, why not open the doors to your child's peers, providing them with a safe and welcoming place too? Chances are good that your teenager has friends whose homes are anything but peaceful. Don't see the presence of these kids as a burden. Rather, embrace the opportunity to love a young person who may not experience love anywhere else. If this is what you hope for your home to become, why not refinish your basement or furnish another room, then fill it with teenagers? Fill your refrigerator with food and for these kids. The potential for making a positive impact in a teenager's life is tremendous.

Late last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of almost fourteen hundred teens, ages thirteen to seventeen, to come to an understanding of our teenagers' experiences and attitudes around social media and their mental health. One of the most interesting findings is related to how social media affects one's friendships. Teens say that there are positive effects on friendships, including being more connected to what's going on in their friends' lives, finding it to be a place to show their creative side, finding people to help them during difficult times, and making them feel more accepted. But they also site negative impacts, including being overwhelmed by all the social drama, feeling the pressure to create content that others will like, feeling like their friends are leaving them out of things, and making them compare in ways that makes them feel worse about their own lives. Parents, this mixed bag is one reason why many experts are advising no social media until the age of sixteen.

“How much should I tell my kids about my life as a teenager?” Ever wonder about that one? You have if you're conscious about the mistakes you made during your teenage years and you're dreading the day one of your kids starts asking those probing questions. Answering with age appropriate honesty is the best policy when kids are considering their own actions and wondering about what you did when you were their age. Our kids have asked us some very frank questions over the years. And, we've given them some very frank answers. At times, we've been able to espouse the virtues of God's ways by speaking from the experience of embracing those ways during our own teenage years. At other times, we've been able to espouse the virtues of God's ways by talking openly about the sins of our past and the resulting consequences of those sins. Telling your story with honesty is not only helpful for your kids, but your vulnerability makes you a real and credible person in their eyes. 

The hallway of my junior high school seemed less like a passageway from class to class, and more like a gauntlet. Walking that hallway was painful business as my self-conscious self wondered where – if anywhere – I fit in to that mass of same-aged students known as my “peers.” As children move into the early stages of adolescence, peers become increasingly important. Kids feel more secure when they are accepted by a group of friends. Hiding in the confines of a group offers safety to an insecure and self-conscious teen. Peer acceptance is sometimes pursued with reckless abandon. . . and what they often abandon are the beliefs and behaviors you've instilled in them as decent, good, and right. Because rejection is feared and to be avoided at all costs, many kids will compromise these standards of right and wrong if that compromise will facilitate peer acceptance rather than rejection. Parents, talk to your teens about peer pressure, decision-making, God-honoring choices, and the nature of healthy friendships.

Late last year, the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of almost fourteen hundred teens, ages thirteen to seventeen, to come to an understanding of our teenagers' experiences and attitudes around social media and their mental health. One of the most interesting findings points to the fact that our kids themselves are starting to see the downside of all this time spent on social media. Back in twenty twenty two, thirty six percent of kids said they spend too much time on social media. A year later, that number had dropped to twenty-seven percent. But in twenty-twenty-four, just one year later, the number jumped up to forty-five percent. We are hearing about more and more kids who are initiating steps on their own, by taking social media fasts, getting rid of their smartphones in favor of dumbphones, and getting off social media altogether. Parents, too much time spent on social media means too little time on other more important things, like the cultivating of a rich devotional life.

All this week we've been looking at what we need to embrace for ourselves and in turn teach to our kids about what it means to walk with God. The guidance comes from the writings of the seventeenth century Puritan writer, Jeremiah Burroughs. Burroughs tell us that when we walk with God, we will experience his approval and blessing, and we won't be looking for encouragement from the world. In today's social media saturated world where everyone wants the likes and positive comments, this is a radically counter-cultural ideal. Burroughs teaches us to pray, “Lord, I depend on you for blessing, and however things seem to go, still Lord, I look up to you for your blessing and approval alone.” Parents, teach your kids that when they are truly walking with God, they will turn away from seeking the approval of others and the world, but look to God. Athletes often say it like this: “I am playing for the audience of one, for His approval, and for His glory alone.” May it be the same for our kids!

All this week we're looking at what we need to embrace for ourselves and in turn teach to our kids about what it means to walk with God. The guidance comes from the writings of the seventeenth century Puritan writer, Jeremiah Burroughs. Burroughs tell us that if we are walking with God, our lives will be marked by taking on the tasks we face not in our own power, but with the assistance of God. Parents, we can teach our kids to pray this prayer of dependence on God in all things: “Lord, this is the work you've called me to. Let me have strength from you to do this work. I can do nothing without you, Lord. Come, I pray, and assist me.” In this current age which celebrates individuality, our kids are being taught that they need to depend on nobody but themselves. They are being told the lie that all you have to do is put your mind to it and you can anything. But the Scriptures tells us that it is God who is our refuge and strength, and it only through Him that we do anything. Teach this to your kids.

All this week we're looking at what we need to embrace for ourselves and in turn teach to our kids about what it means to walk with God. The guidance comes from the writings of the seventeenth century Puritan writer, Jeremiah Burroughs. Burroughs tell us that when we set ourselves to walk with God, we depend on God for protection as He takes care to watch over us in whatever we do. Our kids need to learn that the pathway of discipleship, which is the pathway of self-denial, is one where we will experience difficulties, dangers, and even opportunities to enter into the sufferings of Christ. We should teach our kids to pray this prayer from Burroughs: “Lord, I am in the way into which you have guided me. I may meet with much trouble and affliction. But Lord, protect me, defend me in this way of yours.” Parents, as we walk with God, let us echo these words of the Psalmist: “even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

All this week we're looking at what we need to embrace for ourselves and in turn teach to our kids about what it means to walk with God. The guidance comes from the writings of the seventeenth century Puritan writer, Jeremiah Burroughs. Burroughs tell us that when we are walking with God, we will depend on God for direction. In today's world, so many cultural voices are calling out to our kids, inviting them to come and follow. If they assent, they will find themselves on what the Bible calls the wide road that leads to destruction. But if we are Christians, we are called to ignore those voices, instead looking to and depending on God over the course of our lives. We must teach our kids to pray, “Lord, lead me, guide me.” Burroughs says that wicked hearts avoid listening to and following the guidance of the Lord. We must teach our kids that rather than listening to the voices in the world or their own untrustworthy thoughts, we are to seek to hear God speak in His Word and walk in His ways.

If you are familiar with your Bible characters you know that there are two individuals mentioned in the early chapters of Genesis who, we read, “walked with God.” Both Enoch and Noah are described in this way, indicating that they had a close and intimate relationship with almighty God. What is indicated by this descriptor is that they both lived obediently as they worshipped, prayed, and sought God's guidance. All of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, young and old alike, need to make walking with God our top priority in life. As parents, we need to walk in total dependence on God, and we should pray that the children and teens we are raising will grow up to do the same. I have recently been reading a series of writings from the seventeenth century Puritan preacher Jeremiah Burroughs, which are all about what it means to walk with God. Listen in for the rest of this week, as I will be passing on good guidance and advice from Burroughs that can shape how we lead our kids.