Youth Culture Matters - A Cpyu Podcast

After each of my four children were born, I spent time wondering about the course their lives would take. What did God have in store for their futures? What would God call them to vocationally? Would they be called to singleness or marriage? And if it was marriage, who would they choose to marry? As a youth pastor, I asked the same questions about my students, especially as marriage has declined in our culture. I would oftentimes pray for my own two daughters, asking God to provide good husbands if in fact marriage was in His plans. I also knew that I shouldn’t just sit back and let nature take its course, but that I had to prepare them to choose well. Tom Stein has written a very helpful letter to his own daughter about choosing a Godly husband, and that letter is what we’re talking about, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

There’s little chance that we are able to discern biblical truth from the spirit of the times until our roots go deep through washing and delighting ourselves each and every day in the Word of God. Sadly, many of those called to nurture children and teens in the faith today are misleading the young by never faithfully teaching the truths of God’s Word. And without a knowledge of the truth, the enemies lies are more easily believed. Even what seems like an innocent Christian children’s book can put kids on a fast road away from the true Christian faith. That’s why I’m chatting today with Elizabeth Urbanowicz about how to train our kids in biblical discernment, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.  

It was over three-hundred and fifty years ago that Richard Baxter wrote, “Study hard, for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow.” Baxter’s words are timely for life in our world today, as we tend to feel around for what is good, true, and right, rather than engaging our brains to find what is good, true, and right. This shift has created challenges to our efforts to always be ready to give an answer for our Gospel hope. That’s why we’re chatting with Dr. Steve Nichols and educator Graham Dennis about the place and practice of apologetics in a post-truth world, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Parenting and youth work these days hasn’t gotten any easier. Both involve relating to and leading kids who have to navigate a difficult and confusing world. This means that as leaders, we have new challenges to navigate as well. Counselor and author Julie Lowe is no stranger to these difficulties, and we’ve found her to be a source of great wisdom and guidance as we encounter tough situations. Stick with us as Julie answers many of the questions facing parents and youth workers in this rapidly changing youth culture, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Remember Kevin Malone from The Office? The sitcom character once said, “I work hard all day. I like knowing that there’s going to be a break. Most days I just sit and wait for the break.” I laughed when Kevin said it. But for the Christian, work and our attitude toward it is to be something different. Sadly, most of us don’t know what that something different is. Too many of our kids are growing up without a working theology of vocation, calling, and work. And if we want to see our kids liberated from the cultural narrative of seeing work as a necessary evil, we need to educate them properly. Stick with us as I have a paradigm shifting chat with Dan Doriani about his new book, Work That Makes A Difference, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

There’s absolutely no way we can ignore it. The Netflix nine part series Squid Game is a big hit across cultures and generations. It’s especially popular among our kids. Since pop culture artifacts like Squid Game serve as a worldview forming and reflecting map for our kids , we need to pay attention. And that’s what we’re doing today as we chat with our friends Clark Fobes and Kevin Yi about Squid Game, it’s message, its meaning, and how to respond, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

You most likely remember Paul McCartney taking the lead on the Beatles’ classic 1970 song, “Let It Be.” Devastated by the death of his mom Mary to breast cancer when he was only 14 years old, McCartney was paying homage to the memory of his mom’s best advice when he sang, "When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it be.” Wisdom. It’s much needed and sadly, in short supply. We live in a world where social media and technology undermine our wisdom, and we are fattening up on foolishness. I’m grateful for Brett McCracken and his new book which provides an antidote to our current wisdom famine. Stick with us as we chat with Brett about his book, The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul In A Post-Truth Word, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

1970 was a long, long time ago. In September of that year, Ford introduced the Pinto. The supersonic Concorde landed for the first time at Heathrow Airport. The first New York city marathon was held. Both the Mary Tyler Moore show and Monday Night Football premiered. And along with all of that, I was fourteen years old and starting my freshman year of high school. That was also the year when a new youth pastor showed up at our church. Fifty one years have passed since the day I met Phil Douglass, and I’m really excited to reconnect with Phil all these years later to talk about life and ministry, on this special episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

On the night before his death, Jesus prayed what’s now become known as his high priestly prayer. As he prayed the will of the Father for his disciples in all times and all places, he said, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is the truth.” For the follower of Jesus, our place is to be in, but not of the world. In today’s world, one place where our counter-cultural presence has been compromised is in the area of sex and marriage. We increasingly and willingly choose beliefs and behaviors that go with flow of the culture. What do young evangelical Christians believe about sex and marriage? And how can we guide them into God’s good and beautiful plan for their sexuality? Stick with us as we talk to Dr. David Ayers about his new book, Beyond the Revolution: Sex and the Single Evangelical, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Way back in 1678, John Bunyan wrote the classic book, The Pilgrim’s Progress. The allegory brings to life the difficulties followers of Jesus face in navigating the challenges of living to God’s glory in this broken world. Even though the story is almost three hundred and fifty years old, Bunyan’s young protagonist, Christian, is not unlike our children and teens today. How can we equip our children and teens to navigate the unique set of pressures, dilemmas, challenges, choices, and expectations they face in today’s youth culture? Are there ways to facilitate the development of Christian wisdom and skills in cultural discernment that will serve them well for the rest of their lives? Join as we chat with two youth workers about a new resource from CPYU designed to help kids navigate today’s culture to the glory of God, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Welcome to Youth Culture Matters, a podcast from the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. We’ve taken a short break from recording new episodes, so today we want to go back into our archives to highlight a timely conversation. Today's episode is a look back at a discussion with Peter Lynas that aims to help us better understanding the transgender issues rapidly taking shape in today's culture. Listen in to a replay of Episode 83, titled "Understanding Transgender in a Changing Culture" with Peter Lynas. This episode was originally released on May 13, 2019. 

One of the most frequent concerns I hear from youth workers regarding the influence of today’s youth culture, are concerns related to the growing involvement of kids and families in youth sports. These days families are spending more time and more money on youth sports, sometimes pulling kids out of opportunities for spiritual growth. Even those of us who don’t play, but who watch college and pro sports, can easily develop idolatrous habits? What is it that’s driving our obsessions with sports? Can we engage with sport in healthy ways that bring glory to God? And how can we best minister to kids and families in our sports-obsessed world? Stick with us as we talk about integrating faith into the world of sport, with Dr. Tim Sceggel, a college athletic director, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

You might remember Kanye West’s 2007 chart-topping single, “Stronger.” In the song West quotes the famous line from Fredrich Nietzsche, “that which does not kill us makes us stronger.” According to the Bible, that’s true. But in today’s world, we are told that the emerging generations increasingly believe the opposite, that what doesn’t kill you makes you weaker. Are our kids losing their ability to do hard things and endure difficulty? Are we coddling and protecting them out of healthy growth and development? And, what can we do to reverse the tide and begin to facilitate spiritual growth that leads to a life marked by resilience? Stay with us as I chat with my friend Marv Penner about resilience and how to foster it in our kids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

On the day I became a father, everything changed. And then, on the day almost eight years ago when I became a grandfather, everything changed again. When I became a father, I earnestly prayed for my kids as I knew they were growing up in a world markedly different from the world that I grew up in. Now, as a grandfather, my prayers have increased as the challenges of growing up have ramped up even more. I am convinced that for kids growing up in today’s world, the role grandparents can and must play is more than necessary. And one of the greatest roles we can play is that of being a prayer champion for our grandkids. Youth workers and parents, listen in today as we talk with our friend Tony Souder about ways that you can resource grandparents to pray for their grandkids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

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.

I recently went back and read through the first book I wrote way back in 1988, Ministry To Families With Teenagers. I had written these words: “Moral and faith development are influenced first and foremost by the family. Inevitably, those clumsy 12-year-olds in the middle school youth group blossom into mature adults who are strikingly like their parents.” I believed that then, and I believe it even more now. In recent years, sociologist Dr. Christian Smith has served to provide youth workers and parents with practical research-based suggestions that affirm this reality and which, when heeded, foster greater effectiveness in our parenting and youth ministries. And that’s what Christian Smith will be sharing as we talk to him about his new book, Handing Down The Faith, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The great theologian J.I. Packer once said, “If I were the devil, one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible. How? Well, I would try to distract all clergy from preaching and teaching the Bible?” As I read Packer’s words, I got to thinking about youth workers. Our primary calling is to lead kids to faithfully follow Jesus, a task that requires us first and foremost to know and teach the Bible. Sadly, the rising tide of biblical illiteracy and spiritual wandering among our kids is evidence that we should be doing everything in our power to effectively teach the Bible and theology. And it’s for that reason that today, we’re making make a big announcement to our youth worker friends. Stick with us to hear all about it, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.Check out the new podcast at cpyu.org/twiym

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. Its managing our social media feeds, the devices in our homes, our online shopping, the way we get our news. . . really, the way we live each and every day. It’s influencing all of us, including our children and teens, who are destined to live with more and more artificial intelligence as the years pass. In his new book, The Age of AI, Jason Thacker helps us see Artificial Intelligence’s impact on our bodies, sexuality, work, warfare, economics, medicine, parenting, and privacy. Join us as we talk to Jason Thacker about how parents and kids can navigate the age of AI to the glory of God in ways that don’t compromise our human dignity, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The sexual revolution of the 1960s was about anything and everything in opposition to a biblical sexual ethic. A response from the church was necessary, as the cultural narrative was undoing God’s order and design for his good gift of sex. Many of us responded with what’s known now as the purity movement as we ministered to kids in the 1980s and 90s. While the purity movement and its advocates were well-intentioned, we are now able to look back and evaluate the effectiveness of the movement and its message. To move forward in our ministry to kids, we need to reckon with our mistakes and change course where needed. That’s what we’re discussing as we chat with Rachel Joy Welcher about her new book, Talking Back To Purity Culture: Rediscovering Faithful Christian Sexuality, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If you’ve ever studied or even just dabbled in the social sciences, you’ve probably heard the German word Zeitgeist. Translated into English, the term Zeitgeist means the spirit of the times. To know the zeitgeist is to know the widely-held beliefs that shape behaviors. As Christians, we want to stay in touch with the times as we seek to understand what the apostle Paul referred to in another way, as the course of this world. What are some of the main beliefs that are shaping the behaviors of young and old alike in today’s world? And, how can we begin to teach kids to believe and behave to the glory of God?  Stay tuned as we chat with our friend Sean McDowell about these questions and his new book, Chasing Love, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.