Youth Culture Matters - A Cpyu Podcast

When was the last time that you pondered, if ever, the architecture and layout of your church building or youth room? And, does architecture and layout even matter? Should our spaces be purely utilitarian in nature? Or, should they serve an even greater purpose? Winston Churchill once said, “First we shape our buildings, and then our buildings shape us.” The fact is that space does speak. And space can shape us in ways that lead to our spiritual flourishing, or space can undermine our spiritual growth and development. Dr. Bill McAlpine has studied and written on the power of sacred space. Stay with us as Marv Penner and Duffy Robbins join me for an eye-opening conversation with Bill McApline about our churches and youth rooms on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Insecurity is a painful reality that all human beings struggle with. In today’s social media saturated world, the ever-present insecurities gnawing away at our teens are amplified. According to author and youth worker John Perritt, there is a healthy and greater fear that can drown out this lesser fear that we call insecurity. It is by living in the fear of the Lord that insecurity can be defeated. In fact, the pain of our insecurities is there to point us to Jesus. We’ll be talking with John Perritt about his new book, Insecure: Fighting our Lesser Fears with a Greater One, and how we can lead ourselves and our kids into finding security in Christ, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It wasn’t until the late 1960s and early 1970s that the term Transgender was first coined and used. In today’s world, the word sits front and center on our collective cultural consciousness as more and more people are referring to themselves as transgender, and as transgender activism intensifies. The reality is, more and more gender dysphoric kids are showing up in our youth groups. For those of us doing ministry in the church, we should be thinking about how to minister with grace, truth, and compassion to those who identify as transgender. Peter Lynas is approaching the issue in this way as he helps the Christian community in the U.K. think through the theological, pastoral, and legal implications of ministry to the transgendered. Stay with us as Peter guides us through the difficult issues related to what it means to love and care for the transgendered, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

In her book, American Girls, Nancy Jo Sales writes these sobering words regarding what it’s like to grow up as a girl in today’s youth culture: “The constant seeking of likes and attention on social media seems for many girls to feel like being a contestant in a never-ending beauty pageant in which they forever performing to be please the judges.” Navigating life in our appearance-obsessed world is dangerous business for girls and boys, young and old alike. What are the messages our girls are hearing regarding their identity? How do these messages undermine their flourishing? And what can the home and church do to change the destructive trajectory our girls are on? We’ll be talking about these questions and more with writer Heather Zieger, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters. Full episode notes with links can be found here.

Where have all the good men gone? We’re hearing more and more young women lament the lack of mature Godly men. One says, “The guys I dated were more like the kids I babysat than the dads who drove me home.” Research and observation increasingly point to the fact that it is taking longer and longer for our boys to mature into responsible, Godly manhood. What are the factors that contribute to this reality? Are our current youth ministry and parenting strategies working to remedy the situation? And what can we do in our churches and homes to help prepare our boys to become Godly men and leaders? We’ll be talking with youth pastor Chris Walker about what he’s discovered in his research and ministry about how to disciple our boys into maturity, on this practical and informative episode, of Youth Culture Matters.

A recent headline from the Barna Group reads, “Almost half of practicing Christian millennials say evangelism is wrong.” The Barna group has been conducting research on the faith-sharing experiences and expectations of Christians and non-Christians alike. And it seems that many millennials now believe that it’s wrong to share their faith. Join us as we dig into the data, talk through the implications, and think forward about the implications for the church, as we talk with Barna’s David Kinnaman, on this episode of youth culture matters.

If you’re active on social media, you know that not a day goes by without someone posting an article or news story which sparks sometimes heated disagreement and discussion over one of the many issues related to life and sexuality. Discussions center on topics like abortion, euthanasia, gender, and marriage. The reality is that even in the church disagreements and divides are on the rise. How can we build a strong biblical foundation that serves us well as we seek to respond according to a Christian world and life view? Do world views even matter? And what’s at stake in these conversations with our kids? We’ll be looking to find answers to the hard questions about life and sexuality as we chat with Nancy Pearcey, author of the book Love Thy Body, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Our youth sports culture is broken. That was the headline for a recent op-ed piece in the Port Huron Michigan Times Herald. Written by a highly-respected high school wrestling coach, the article has gone viral, drawing accolades from educators, coaches, parents, and youth workers. Even though we all live in this sports-worshiping North American culture, we are seeing clear signs that our obsessions and pushiness are not serving kids, families, communities, and the culture at large well at all. What damage are we doing to our kids as they get involved in youth sports? And what can we do to change the youth sports culture in ways that builds kids up, rather than tearing kids down? We’ll be tackling these questions and more as we talk to the article’s author, Coach Brandon Day, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The Scriptures tell us with great clarity that all human beings have been made by God, in the image of God, and for a relationship with God. But the reality of life in our post-fall world has left everything broken, including all human beings. This brokenness touches us all deeply, but in a variety of different ways. This includes the many types of physical and cognitive disabilities in our world. This means that our churches and youth groups must be places sensitive to the unique needs of those among us who are disabled. How can we best minister to the disabled, from birth through old age? How can we create welcoming, safe spaces that foster spiritual growth and development among the disabled? Stay with us as we learn about ministry to and with the disabled as we converse with Ashley Belknap, from a ministry called Engaging Disability With the Gospel, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Before he ascended into heaven, Jesus issued what is now known as the Great Commission. He commanded his followers in all times and all places to go into the world and make disciples. That task follows our efforts to communicate the good news of the Gospel. Do our youth ministry efforts reflect a commitment to obedience to this command of Christ? What does it mean to do evangelism and discipleship with the emerging generations? How can we fuel our passions and abilities at evangelism and discipleship? We’ll talk about these issues and more with our friend, Dare 2 Share’s Greg Stier, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Four years ago, the band Twenty-One Pilots released a hit song focusing on the pressures of adulthood and a yearning to return back to the relatively easy years of childhood. Title Stressed Out, the song went to number one on the mainstream music charts. But judging from what we’re hearing from researchers, parents, youth workers, educators, and kids themselves, stress and anxiety is increasingly common among our children and teens. What is anxiety? How is it manifesting itself in the lives of our kids? What are its causes? And how does the Gospel speak to this new epidemic of anxiety among our kids? We’ll be discussing strategies for navigating the epidemic of youth anxiety on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Plato once said that “music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” While you might argue with the particulars of Plato’s words, you have to agree that music has power. And there’s no question that Scripture has influenced music since the first ever song was penned. Poet, author, and rock music critic Steve Turner knows this to be the case. And in his new book, “Turn, Turn Turn: Popular Songs and Music Inspired By The Bible,” Steve Turner takes an in-depth look at the lyrics and cultural context of 100 of the most popular songs ever written, and how those songs were influenced by the Bible. Stay with us as we talk music and the Bible in this eye-opening and informative episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Every now and then, a film comes along that offers a helpful, realistic, and compelling peek into the world of contemporary adolescence. The recent film, Eighth Grade, is a movie follows the last week of middle school before thirteen-year-old Kayla graduates and moves on to high school. It’s a good one that covers all kinds of issues including identity, family, social media, friendships, and sexuality. We recently sat with a group of youth workers to view and discuss the film. Does Eighth Grade accurately capture what its like to be a kid in today’s world? Are there issues the film raises that we need to be addressing in our youth ministries and in our homes? And, how can a youth worker use Eighth Grade as a ministry tool? We host a round table discussion with three local church youth workers on these questions and more, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Over the course of the last few years, youth workers and parents have been increasingly lamenting the exodus of kids from the church once they graduate from high school and launch into the next phase of life. A growing volume of research is offering ideas on why this is happening, and solutions designed to reverse this trend. Why is it that our kids are leaving the church in droves after they grow up? Have we come to a clear understanding of the reasons? And what steps can we take to prepare kids for a lifetime of spiritual growth and following Christ? We’ll chat with John Nielson about what he’s discovered about why youth stay in church when they grow up, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

We live in a marketing saturated world. When we engage with an average of 4,000 to 10,000 marketing messages a day, we become unaware of both the presence of marketing in our lives, and the power of marketing to shape our beliefs and behaviors. And for our vulnerable kids who are in the midst of growth and change, marketing is an especially powerful force. What would it look like to disciple our kids into thinking consciously, critically and Christianly about the thousands of marketing messages they encounter over the course of a day? Can we shape the way they engage with advertising now, in ways that will train them to be wise, shrewd, and marketing-savvy for the rest of their lives? We’ll be talking about some practical ministry tips that parents and youth workers can use to help kids manage marketing, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Youth ministry has always needed to adapt and adjust to changes in the mainstream culture. With the advent of the metoo movement and our growing knowledge of the nature and extent of sexual abuse, youth workers must be thinking about how to best engage with students in ways that lead to healthy relationship building. Is it ever proper to give a student a hug? What about car rides, lunches, or having one-on-one meetings with kids? What are the borders and boundaries we need to enlist to insure that none of us or our volunteers cross lines that would thrill the enemy, undermine ministries, or do harm to the kids who have been entrusted to our care? Our good friend Marv Penner joins us to offer wisdom and to help us answer the question, “To hug or not to hug? How Do we love kids well in our metoo culture? . . . on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Thomas Chisholm wrote the classic hymn, Great is Thy Faithfulness, as a testimony to God’s enduring love. The hymn calls to mind the words of the prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations 3: "I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” How does one have hope like this? And how can parents and youth leaders nurture children and teens in ways that result in great hope? Our friends Cameron and Lauren Cole have experienced firsthand the kind of tragedy that leads to a downcast soul. But in the midst of that, God gifted them with great hope. We’ll be talking with the Cole’s about Cameron’s new book, “Therefore I Have Hope: 12 Truths That Comfort, Sustain, and Redeem Tragedy”, along with the importance of communicating these truths in our homes a

It seems that you can’t watch the news or go online these days without encountering stories related to matters of gender and sexual identity. The conversations on these matters are progressing into unmarked territory that can leave parents and youth workers confused, and even paralyzed in terms of how to respond. In recent weeks, a new study has emerged that has opened the door for conversations about what’s being called rapid onset gender dysphoria that’s becoming more and more prevalent in the teen population. We’ll be talking about our need for knowledge, careful posturing, and a distinctively Christian approach to issues regarding gender and sexuality, on this edition of Youth Culture Matters.

Summer’s over and a new youth ministry season is here. If you’re a youth worker, your youth group schedule is ramping up and you’ve no doubt been planning. . . or should be planning. . . your teaching and ministry schedule for the coming school year. So let me ask you, have you done your youth ministry planning? What goals, objectives, and priorities have guided your planning? What do you hope to see happen in the lives of your students and their families this year? Effective ministry requires a combination of faithful prayer and careful planning. Stick with us as we talk to four youth workers who share how they have incorporated prayer and planning into their plans for this year, on this episode of youth culture matters.

It’s that time of year when the fall sports season is heating up, everywhere from the pre-school soccer fields to the NFL gridiron. Our sports-obsessed culture will be in full gear as we do everything from playing to spectating. If all of a Christian’s life is to be an act of worship, how can we engage in our playing, sports-parenting, and spectating to the glory of God? How do we push back on a culture that encourages us to idolize sport, winning, and sports stars? And how can we shift our priorities so that youth sports don’t eclipse the necessary task of nurturing the faith of our children and teens? We’ll be talking with John Perritt, author of a new book on youth sports, about these important issues, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.