Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU Podcast

Several years ago, a concerned father approached me during one of our CPYU seminars to pose this question: “How can I expect my 13-year-old son to hear the still small voice of Jesus with all those other voices out there calling him to come and follow, come and follow?” Like this man, our greatest desire should be to see our children and teens launch into adulthood as faithful followers of Jesus. How can we trumpet the life-giving message of the Gospel in a world filled with competing voices? We’ll look for answers to that question as we chat with Katie Polski as she gives us three helpful reminders regarding the effective spiritual nurture of our kids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

One of the great questions we face as Christians in today’s world is this: how do we lead young people to embrace biblical truth when the world they live in is obsessed with the "sovereignty of self"? They’re swimming in a culture of self-made truth, governed by the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I. Recently, I read a book for teens and young adults that pushes back against these false narratives—and does it with incredible kindness and grace. It’s called God-Breathed: Connecting Through Scripture to God, Others, the Natural World, and Yourself. Today, I’m chatting with the author, Rut Etheridge, to talk all about it on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

All of us who do youth ministry know peers who have lasted a long time in youth ministry, and those whose time in ministry has either been a flash in the pan, or perhaps a flitting around from position to position, never staying long enough in one place to really nurture students into a deeper faith. This is not surprising in a culture that doesn’t value commitment. Can’t we change this? Jody Livingston has identified ten essentials for longevity in youth ministry. That’s why we’ve invited Jody in to talk about his new book, Staying Power, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Carrie Trofeo, youth worker and researcher focused on student care and pastoral response. Jason Engel, seminary professor and pastor experienced in accountability and safeguards. Duffy Robbins, theology professor offering pastoral perspective on leadership failure. They discuss how to steward writings of fallen leaders, protect students from cynicism, set safeguards and boundaries, and teach grace and truth in ministry.

With 2025 coming to an end and 2026 right around the corner we want to invite you to listen in as we talk today about devotional resources that can help us grow in our faith. Resources that we can put into the hands of our teenagers, resources for youth workers, resources for parents, and resources for the rest of us to all grow in our faith. We'll be discussing some of the best devotional resources we've found in this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If I was to list the many ways in which today’s cultural narrative is misdirecting and misshaping our kids, the topic of identity would have to be at the top of the list. This is especially troubling when we realize that the search to figure out who I am is front and center in our kids lives as they grow through adolescence. Our friend Mike McGarry has written a book to help teenagers know and live out the beautiful reality of finding one’s identity as a divine image bearer. Stay tuned as I chat with Mike about leading kids to the truth about who they are, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It's a pretty sure bet that everyone of us has been lonely at some point in our lives. In today's world, loneliness has reached epidemic proportions, especially among our children, teens, and young adults. Shelby Abbott has written a great new book on loneliness... it's causes and cure... and that's what I'm talking about with Shelby, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Here’s a fact of life regarding something that we all have in common: We’ve all been made by God to worship. The question is, who or what will we choose to worship. True and proper worship is our active response to God whereby we declare His supreme glory and worth, not just when we gather to sing, but with every fiber of who we are in every moment and endeavor of our lives. What are we doing to prepare our kids to worship this way in spirit and in truth, both now and for the rest of their lives? Listen in to learn how to curate deep, counter-cultural, and meaningful worship times with your kids, as we chat with seasoned and thoughtful worship leaders, Tom Yarbrough and Tammi Rhoton, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

I’m guessing you and all your kids are familiar with Taylor Swift, and most likely you know about her music. In recent days, she’s received lots of publicity for her new album, The Life of a Showgirl. And there’s one particular song on the album that’s garnered attention for it’s blatantly sexual and obscene lyrics. Because kids are listening and singing along, we need to teach our kids to think critically and Christianly about all music and media, and this particular song is a perfect place to start. Stick with us we chat with a couple of youth workers about the song, their students, and how they will be addressing it, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

You’ve seen the headlines. You’ve read the data. And you know doubt have heard and even lived in the growing number of stories. Teen mental health is a growing concern, as our kids deal with what seems like unprecedented amounts of anxiety, stress, and pressure. . . all being experienced during the vulnerable years of adolescence. As parents and youth workers, we need help, and a new book from our friends Dr. Danny Kwon and Dr. Monica Kim is one resource we can’t do without. Stick with us as I chat with Danny and Monica about how to understand and address the teen mental health epidemic, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.