Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU Podcast

It's summertime and here on Youth Culture Matters were devoting our time to shorter episodes where we're talking about purposeful parenting, addressing timely topics to encourage and equip you as parents to help your kids navigate their world in ways that bring honor and glory to God. Take a few minutes to listen in today as I talk about our need to raise "weak" kids.

It's summertime and here on Youth Culture Matters were devoting our time to shorter episodes where we're talking about purposeful parenting, addressing timely topics to encourage and equip you as parents to help your kids navigate their world in ways that bring honor and glory to God. Take a few minutes to listen in today as I talk about rewiring the rewiring.

The U.S. Surgeon General just dropped a massive warning on what’s trending with our kids regarding screen time, and the message it sends on how screen-time is impacting our children and teens is a wake-up call for all of us. Today, on this episode of youth culture matters, I chat with three youthworkers to break down the reports data and recommendations, and to strategize about how we can best res...

What does it mean to thrive as a youth worker in today’s rapidly changing youth culture? And what are the best practices we can employ to insure that we are faithfully serving the Lord in this high calling of ministering to students? We’re tackling those questions and more as I chat with a trio of seasoned youth workers from the National Network of Youth Ministries – Wayne Morgan, Travis Deans, an...

One survey found that one third of 11 year-old boys had gambled in the last year. Smartphones and gambling apps are now driving the numbers up among children and teens. As Christians we need to embrace a biblically-faithful theological perspective that not only informs our personal behaviors and choices, but which we can pass on to our kids as they grow up in a world that is doing everything it ca...

The number of parents expressing concerns and confusion regarding smartphones and screentime is on the rise. And as we learn more about what kids are seeing during screentime and what they are opting out of in order to spend time on screens, the worries are rising. What our parents need is a robust theological and practical response to these issues. Youth pastor Jake Bier decided to dive in to pro...

If we aren’t careful, social media can become a place where we can very easily indulge our sinful nature in ways that cause us to turn ourselves into little idols. We can become consumed with building our brand, bowing to the desires of our followers, and sharing versions of ourselves that really aren’t who we are at all. In a day and age where we experience ramped up identity pressure, we need to...

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....

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 narrati...

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 Livi...

It seems like every other day brings a story of a Christian leader, whether well-known or not, that falls into moral failure. How should we respond? Do we continue to use their teaching and writing after the revelations of sin come to light? And perhaps most importantly, are there lessons we need to learn about ourselves from the sins of those who have been entrusted with leadership? That's what w...

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 resourc...

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 liv...

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 p...

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...

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...

We love our sports, don’t we? We play, our kids play, and we are increasingly involved in indulging our allegiance to our teams. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, sports outlets have run story after story about players and fans behaving badly. Would you agree that the level of behavior on the fields and in the stands is getting somewhat less than civil? With Jesus as the Lord of all of...

 It's summertime and here on Youth Culture Matters we're devoting our time to shorter episodes where we're talking about "Purposeful Parenting." We'll be addressing timely topics to encourage and equip you as parents to help your kids navigate their world in ways that bring honor and glory to God. Take a few minutes to listen in today as Walt Mueller shares ways to teach your kids about how to nav...

 It's summer time and here on Youth Culture Matters we're devoting our time to shorter episodes where we're talking about "Purposeful Parenting." We'll be addressing timely topics to encourage and equip you as parents to help your kids navigate their world in ways that bring honor and glory to God. Take a few minutes to listen in today as Walt Mueller shares ways for you to help your kids navigate...

 It's summer time and here on Youth Culture Matters we're devoting our time to shorter episodes where we're talking about "Purposeful Parenting." We'll be addressing timely topics to encourage and equip you as parents to help your kids navigate their world in ways that bring honor and glory to God. Take a few minutes to listen in today as Walt Mueller shares ways to teach your kids to hear and fol...

 It's summer time and here on Youth Culture Matters we're devoting our time to shorter episodes where we're talking about "Purposeful Parenting." We'll be addressing timely topics to encourage and equip you as parents to help your kids navigate their world in ways that bring honor and glory to God. Take a few minutes to listen in today as Walt Mueller shares ways to teach your kids how to reclaim...

 It's summer time and here on Youth Culture Matters we're devoting our time to shorter episodes where we're talking about "Purposeful Parenting." We'll be addressing timely topics to encourage and equip you as parents to help your kids navigate their world in ways that bring honor and glory to God. Take a few minutes to listen in today as Walt Mueller shares ways to talk to your kids about making...

 It's summer time and here on Youth Culture Matters we're devoting our time to shorter episodes where we're talking about "Purposeful Parenting." We'll be addressing timely topics to encourage and equip you as parents to help your kids navigate their world in ways that bring honor and glory to God. Take a few minutes to listen in today as Walt Mueller shares ways to talk to your kids about biblica...

If you’ve read Jonathan Haidt’s book, The Anxious Generation , you know that one of his most talked about remedies to teen anxiety is for schools to take steps to keep the phones out of students hands during the school day. While that might seem to be something easier said that done, how can we move schools in that direction, and how do students respond? I want to invite parents, youth workers, an...