Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU Podcast

If there’s been a rising chorus of lament over young people in the church, it’s been the rate at which young people are graduating from high school and leaving the church. For several years now, research projects have identified this post high school exodus as a growing concern. But in their recently released book, David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock share research that helps us understand why those who stay, decide to stay. What are the youth ministry practices that build resilient disciples of Jesus Christ? What can we do to turn tide on this discouraging trend? We’ll talk to our friend Mark Matlock about the new book, Faith for Exiles, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Christian parents and youth workers over the years, it’s that they want the best for their kids. One area where many of us have struggled to teach God’s best is in the area of God’s grand and glorious gift of sex and sexuality. That struggle has played out in the church in a variety of ways, including the fact that for our evangelical teens and young adults, sex outside of marriage has become increasingly morally acceptable. What is the extent of premarital sexual activity among our unmarried young people in the church? And, how can we respond to these current trends in ways that effectively teach kids to both glorify God and experience sexual flourishing? We’ll tackle these and other matters as we chat with sociologist and researcher Dr. David Ayers, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Do you remember the old 1981 song from the band Loverboy? "Everybody’s working for the weekend" is how the familiar chorus goes. If you think about it, that chorus really captures how we’ve come to think about and engage in work. In today’s world, work is functionally seen as drudgery, or even as an unpleasant activity that’s necessary for no other purpose than to fund our leisure activities. But that is not what work is intended to be. In the larger Grand Story of the bible, our work matters. And if we fail to understand and teach a rich theology of calling, vocation, and work, we shortchange our kids. How can we recover a proper understanding of  work? And who must youth workers become if we hope to disciple kids into doing all things to the glory of God? Stick with us as we talk about this largely neglected area of discipleship, along with a helpful new youth ministry resource we can use to prepare kids for vocational flourishing, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If you’ve been watching NFL games this fall, you’ve no doubt noticed the amount of attention being paid to hits on defenseless players, helmet-to-helmet tackles, and dangerous blows to the head. It seems like a growing number of fines and suspensions are being dished out. This is all part of our growing knowledge regarding the dangers of sub-concussive impacts and concussions. Thanks to the work of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, awareness is growing regarding our need to reduce blows to the head, particularly at the level of youth sports. In fact, the Concussion Legacy Foundation recently released a PSA challenging parents to put off tackle football until the age of 14. Since we need to steward the health of our children and teens, we must learn what we can about concussions and the degenerative brain disease known as CTE. We’ll talk about the work of the Concussion Legacy Foundation with Chief Impact Officer Tyler Mayland, and get a view from the sideline with Athletic Trainer Sheila Mueller, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

In recent weeks, the news cycle has been filled with conversations about forgiveness. These conversations were started when the 18 year old brother of Botham Jean forgave the woman who killed his brother, convicted policewoman Amber Guyger and embraced her in the courtroom. What is forgiveness? And how and when should we forgive? Here in our local community, we continually see and hear stories of how our Amish neighbors choose and keep choosing to forgive. There’s much that we can learn from our Amish brothers and sisters that we need to be embracing in our own lives, and teaching our kids. Stick with us as we chat with our friends Jonas Beiler and Joel Kime about forgiveness, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If you attended church this week, you no doubt sang. If you are running a youth group, you most likely get your students singing. And maybe your time at home or in the car is time spent listening to what is called worship music. In recent years, there have been mounting debates about what music is the best worship music. Are the new songs too shallow? Are the old hymns irrelevant and out of date? Does music teach and us and form us as followers of Christ? Stay tuned for a thought-provoking conversation about the power of music, along with an introduction to a new way of thinking about worship and spiritual formation, with musician Kevin Twit from Indelible Grace, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The summer of 2019 has come to an end. If you’re like most, you were able to take some time off and enjoy a vacation. But youth culture didn’t take a break over the summer. What are some of the summer youth culture trends we should be aware of, track , and respond to? Do any of these developments offer us insights into our kids, what they believe, and how they behave? Stick with us as we look at what youth culture did over summer vacation, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

When it comes to our calling to love God and love neighbor, one of the most heated discussions taking place in the culture at large and in the church these days is how to fulfill this calling in response to the LGBTQ issue. If you’re like me, you wonder about how to navigate these unfolding realities in our homes, our youth groups, and our relationships. And, as with all issues, we run the risk of listening more to the Spirit of the times than we listen to the Word of God. What does it mean to remain faithful to God’s will and way regarding sexuality and gender? One voice addressing these questions is Rosaria Butterfield, a lesbian activist who experienced a radical and unexpected conversion to Christianity that turned her life upside down. Join me as I chat with Rosaria Butterfield about her conversion, along with how to understand, address, and navigate issues of sexuality and gender, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Since the advent of YouTube, I’ve met several teenagers who are engaging in self-promotion in order to develop their celebrity-presence and build a growing following. In recent months, there’s been growing conversation about the potential pitfalls related to pastors and youth workers who self-promote and pursue celebrity status. What is self-promotion and is it something that a Christian leader should pursue? Does self-promotion derail us from the pursuit of practices that are good, true, right, and honorable? And how does pride play into our tendency to seek the stage and spotlight in order to build a following? We’ll be conversing about self-promotion with our friends Mark Matlock and Derry Prenkert, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

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.