Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU Podcast

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.

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.