Anyone who takes the spiritual growth and nurture of children and teens seriously can’t help but lament all the data that points to reality of so many young people coming of age and walking away from Christ and his church. But our lament is for naught if we don’t take steps to reverse this troubling trend. Today, we chat with our friend Tony Souder about some specific ways we can build the long-lasting faith of kids through fostering intergenerational relationships and facilitating intergenerational ministry opportunities, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It was the late great media theorist Marshall McLuhan who said that first we shape our tools and then our tools shapes us. He went on and said, we become what we behold. Any of us who have used social media know that McLuhan was spot on. . . and if we don’t know it, we need to. Today, we take a look at how social media is shaping and misshaping us as moms, dads, kids, and youth workers. Listen in as we chat with Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra about her own story and her practical and Gospel centered book, Social Sanity in an Insta World, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If you had it to do all over again, what would you do the same, and what would you differently. I can tell you that the older you get, the longer your list of answers becomes. Recently, I’ve been thinking about what I would add to my list of youth ministry strategies and practices if I was starting off this school year leading a local church youth ministry. I’ve come up with a list that I hope will encourage and equip you to be more effective in your youth ministry, and we’re talking about that list on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Well, all that hot fun in the summertime that sly and the family stone sang about so long ago is coming to an end as the fall is upon us and we are getting back into the swing of things with our youth ministry schedules. The big question we’re asking you today is this: What are you doing with parents? We’ve put together a roundtable of youth workers who talk about the importance of ministry to parents along with a host of parent ministry ideas and strategy, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

One of the greatest challenges facing the church, the home, and youth ministry today is the need for effective Christian nurture and discipleship that will lead kids to a deep faith that informs all of life for the rest of their lives. One necessary component in these ministry efforts is to welcome and answer the kinds of doubts and questions teenagers express about Christianity. Darkroom is a brand new series of free videos and support resources marked by quality in production and content, designed to be used by church and home to spark deep and meaningful conversations about the issues kids face today. Stick with us as I chat with Darkroom content creator Mary Jo Sharp, about this free new evangelism and discipleship resource, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

It seems that you can’t get away from all the cultural noise regarding issues of sexuality and gender. Sex education is coming fast and furious at our kids at younger and younger ages. This means its more important than ever that we speak and keep speaking about sex and gender from a biblical perspective. And, we must start to share God’s truth with even our pre-school children. What should we be teaching them about sex and gender. Stick with us as I chat with a group of parents and youth workers about ten truths from God’s Word on sex and gender home and church must be teaching kids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Christian apologist Alisa Childers has called Progressive Christianity an entirely different religion from historical biblical Christianity. It has, she says, another Jesus and another Gospel. By twisting the Scriptures, Progressive Christianity plays well in today’s youth culture, and it is leading our kids away from obeying God, and into following their own feelings and preferences. To effectively lead our kids into a deep understanding of the Christian faith, we need to be able to recognize and answer progressive Christianity’s half-truths. That’s what we’re doing today as we chat with six youth workers about how to correct the lies of progressive Christianity, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

The late pastor Dr. James Montgomery Boice once said that “we must evaluate our experiences by the Bible’s teaching, rather than the other way around.” If we aren’t careful, the church, our youth ministries, and our selves will fall into the dangerous and deadly trap of believing, living, and leading in ways that are marked by that other way around. As youth workers and parents, we need to be aware of how this is happening through the advance of what’s called progressive theology, and we need to mindfully push back by staking ourselves to the truths of God’s Word. That’s why I’m chatting with a group of six youth workers about progressive Christianity and its dangers, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

A few weeks ago, a newspaper headline asked, “Is woke to be the only religion allowed in U.S. public schools?” Another headline reported that the Google search engine has gone woke, by adding an inclusive language function designed to suggest politically correct terminology. Our kids are learning that being woke is a virtue. What does it mean to be woke? How does wokeness mesh or not mesh with a biblical world and life view? How can we talk with our kids about wokeness in ways that are informed and balanced? Is there a Christian response to the dogmas of wokeness? That’s what we’re addressing today as we chat with Noelle Mering about her new book, Awake, Not Woke, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

What was the first thing you did this morning when you opened your eyes? Perhaps even before you got out of bed? A growing body of research says that you, like many others, grabbed and checked your smartphone. Have you ever spent time thinking about what your smartphone might be doing to you, your brain, and relationships? Stay tuned for some interesting insights from four boots on the ground youth workers about what they see smartphones doing to their students, along with some honest confessions about what those same phones are doing to them. . . on this episode of youth culture matters.