The Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU Podcast

Kyle invites youth ministry professor Duffy Robbins on the podcast. They discuss ways in which messages are delivered poorly, as well as ways in which they can be delivered well. Duffy helps point out traps we might fall into so that we can avoid them. He encourages us to keep preaching the Word and provides ways to keep filling our own wells. Kyle and Duffy discuss whether or not the way we should approach teaching to teens has changed at all since the advent of the smartphone.

Kyle invites CPYU Research Fellows Kerry Trunfio and Jason Engle to joint the discussion for this episode. We take a look at questions that have been submitted by e-mail from our listeners. The three of them take the time to answer questions about Bible engagement, a "Simple Church" model, and more.

Kyle has a conversation with Art Rainer of Christian Money Solutions. They discuss the importance of being generous with our resources because we serve a generous God. Thinking biblically about money is a skill that will set them up well for the rest of their lives. Giving allows us to live with greater contentment and satisfaction as we come to realize that we are simply stewards of what God has provided to us. Art helps us lean into a biblical worldview of possessions, finances, and money and offers listeners lessons on how we can teach and model the concept of generosity to our children and the teens in our ministries.

Kyle invites CPYU President Walt Mueller and author Andrew Walker to join this episode. They discuss transgender ideology, how it is impacting our kids, and steps we need to take in our youth ministries to teach the truth. The importance is teaching solid theology is stressed, with an emphasis on going back to Genesis 1 and 2 to see God's intended creational order. Andrew Walker takes a look back at how some of the cultural issues surrounding the LGBTQ+ movement have changed so quickly, even in the short number of years since he wrote the first edition of his book, and addresses some of the changes he'd make or add today.

Pastor and author Tim Challies joins the podcast to discuss his book Seasons of Sorrow: The Pain of Loss and the Comfort of God. We use the opportunity to talk about how we can train those in our youth ministry how to suffer well. If we haven't taught a deep theology of suffering to our teenagers, then they can be blindsided later in life when suffering comes. Tim describes how walking with faith through suffering is an opportunity to steward the suffering that God has given for us. Suffering is an inevitable part of life in general, and particularly of the life of a Christian, so we must do our part to equip our students biblically with a proper view of God's sovereignty in suffering.

Our culture has a broad misunderstanding about sex, marriage, divorce, cohabitation and other related topics. Dr. Jim Newheiser joins the podcast to help us look at teaching these topics from a biblical perspective. His years of pastoral counseling experience help us realize the importance of confronting cultural lies and pointing to biblical truth. Students need to be equipped to think through whether they are being called to get married, and whether or not they are ready for marriage. We also take a look at the pitfalls of cohabitation and instead teach about the covenant of marriage. We can help teenagers begin thinking about preparing and maturing for marriage years before they are even considering getting married themselves. We also take a look at teaching about divorce sensitively knowing that many students in our ministries are coming from broken homes.

In this episode Kyle emphasizes the importance of learning from church history. In that light, he invites Pastor Rick Marshall to discuss his time serving as Director of Crusades/Missions for Billy Graham. Rick talks about the importance of ministry to the next generation and reflects back on his time with Billy Graham to help pass along a few lessons. He shares about Billy Graham's heart for young people and what it looks like to not only start well, but to finish well.

Kyle welcomes Mike McGarry, founder of Youth Pastor Theologian on the podcast to discuss teaching the Bible the students. Mike emphasizes the importance of teaching theology and filling our students' cups. Together, they discuss Mike's latest book Discover: Questioning Your Way to Faith and how important it is to let students ask questions in your youth ministry setting. There's plenty of great information to learn from this 20 year youth ministry vet in this episode.

Kyle invites youth pastor Will Standridge to join the podcast. Together they discuss teaching 1 Samuel 15. Their conversation covers sermon prep, considering the setting, praying for your audience, and dives into the difficult passage. Will offers great advice to youth pastors, not only for teaching this specific text, but for teaching students in general.

Kyle and Rich Brown of Next Gen Matters discuss the importance of teaching The Word to the next generation. They look at passages of scripture, from Acts and II Timothy, and talk about lessons we can gain as we work to pass the torch and equip our teens. Do our students have a relationship with Jesus? How do we teach students the truths of Scripture and get them to engage with the Word of God? How do we get them to actively serve in the life of the Church? We look at these questions and more on this episode of The Word in Youth Ministry.