Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 71: "Navigating Advertising and Marketing" with Walt Mueller Nov 15, 2018

Show notes

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.

Episode 70: "Loving Kids Well in our #metoo Culture" with Marv Penner Nov 02, 2018

Show notes

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.

Episode 69: "Hope" with Cameron and Lauren Cole Oct 24, 2018

Show notes

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 and youth ministries, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Episode 68: "Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria" with Walt Mueller and Jason Soucinek Oct 04, 2018

Show notes

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.

Episode 67: "Effective Ministry Planning" with Erickson, Kauffman, Trunfio, and Yi Sep 11, 2018

Show notes

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.

Episode 66: "Youth, Sports, and Ministry" with John Perritt Aug 17, 2018

Show notes

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.

Episode 65: "Teaching Daughters About Sex and Sexuality" with Tim Geiger Aug 02, 2018

Show notes

What did you learn about sex and how did you learn about it when you were growing up? Christian parents, with assistance from youth leaders and the church, are given the responsibility to bring up their children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord. This includes talking about God’s order and design for sexuality.
And because we live in a hyper-sexualized world that’s providing its own narrative on gender and sexuality, taking on this responsibility to instruct our kids about God’s design is non-negotiable. It’s especially important that we correct the erroneous narrative the culture is throwing at our daughters. What should we be teaching them about sex and sexuality? How can we communicate the biblical narrative on this good gift from God? Stick with us as we chat with Tim Geiger about a letter on sex and sexuality that he’s written to his teenage daughter, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Episode 64: "Suffering" with Dave Ripper Jul 20, 2018

Show notes

Somewhere along the way, many of us came to believe that if you are a follower of Jesus, you are promised a happy and carefree life. But when you read the Scriptures, you see that to follow Jesus means that you are also called to take up your cross. For most of us, it doesn’t take long to figure out that living life in a broken and fallen world means that you will encounter suffering and hardship. And, for the Christian living in this broken world, the Scriptures tell us to be prepared for additional difficulty and persecution because of our faith. What is suffering? What are the benefits of suffering? How are we to navigate a life filled with suffering? And how can we as parents and youth workers rewrite the narrative for kids so that they are prepared to live with suffering? We’ll talk about these questions and more with Dave Ripper, co-author of a new book, “The Fellowship of the Suffering: How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission”, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Episode 63: "Youth Ministry Networking" with Travis Deans Jul 06, 2018

Show notes

The poet John Donne once wrote that “no man is an island.” Donne was stating a basic truth about life. . . that is that human beings tend to do things not so well when we are isolated from others. We need community to thrive. That’s certainly what the Scriptures teach from Genesis to Revelation. If we’re in youth ministry, community is vital to our flourishing both personally and in ministry. Youth workers who have run the youth ministry race effectively for a long time are always networked and working with other youth workers. While we’ve encountered countless effective youth ministry networks globally, one that stands out is the long-standing youth network in western Pennsylvania and the Pittsburgh area. What makes an effective youth ministry network? How can we get ourselves networked? And what can we do together than makes us all more effective? We’ll be talking to longtime networker Travis Deans about these questions and more, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Episode 62: "Disordered Eating" with Susie Broms, Nick Mance, and Julie Lowe Jun 18, 2018

Show notes

I was a twenty-one year-old college student when I first heard the term anorexia nervosa. I scratched my head for a moment, and then asked, “What’s that?” Yes, eating disorders and disordered eating were present in our culture forty years ago. But they were largely unknown and misunderstood. Today, the pressure to be thin and perfect is an ever-present part of our lives. Consequently, virtually all of our young middle school students are familiar with the names of these eating disorders. Many struggle with disordered eating themselves. As people who care for and love kids, what do we need to know about eating disorders and disordered eating? How can we recognize, prevent, and respond to the cultural pressures and the resulting health issues? Youth workers Susie Broms and Nick Mance join me to ask questions and learn about the epidemic of eating disorders from counselor Julie Lowe, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Youth Culture Matters – A CPYU Podcast

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected