On the day I became a father, everything changed. And then, on the day almost eight years ago when I became a grandfather, everything changed again. When I became a father, I earnestly prayed for my kids as I knew they were growing up in a world markedly different from the world that I grew up in. Now, as a grandfather, my prayers have increased as the challenges of growing up have ramped up even more. I am convinced that for kids growing up in today’s world, the role grandparents can and must play is more than necessary. And one of the greatest roles we can play is that of being a prayer champion for our grandkids. Youth workers and parents, listen in today as we talk with our friend Tony Souder about ways that you can resource grandparents to pray for their grandkids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

People have always had questions, doubts, and objections to the Christian faith. Kids growing up in today’s youth culture are no exception. As they marinate in a cultural soup that encourages them to rely on their own intuition rather than biblical authority, the challenges to embracing a lifetime of following Jesus are very real.  And I fear that the nurture taking place in our homes, churches, and youth groups all too often remains shallow, leaving kids to simply embrace the cultural narrative, rather than engaging with solid biblical answers to their questions. One of the best resources to remedy this is Rebecca McLaughlin’s new book, 10 Questions Every Teen Should Ask and Answer About Christianity. Stay with us as we chat with Rebecca about helping our kids find life-giving answers to their toughest questions, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

I recently went back and read through the first book I wrote way back in 1988, Ministry To Families With Teenagers. I had written these words: “Moral and faith development are influenced first and foremost by the family. Inevitably, those clumsy 12-year-olds in the middle school youth group blossom into mature adults who are strikingly like their parents.” I believed that then, and I believe it even more now. In recent years, sociologist Dr. Christian Smith has served to provide youth workers and parents with practical research-based suggestions that affirm this reality and which, when heeded, foster greater effectiveness in our parenting and youth ministries. And that’s what Christian Smith will be sharing as we talk to him about his new book, Handing Down The Faith, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The great theologian J.I. Packer once said, “If I were the devil, one of my first aims would be to stop folk from digging into the Bible. How? Well, I would try to distract all clergy from preaching and teaching the Bible?” As I read Packer’s words, I got to thinking about youth workers. Our primary calling is to lead kids to faithfully follow Jesus, a task that requires us first and foremost to know and teach the Bible. Sadly, the rising tide of biblical illiteracy and spiritual wandering among our kids is evidence that we should be doing everything in our power to effectively teach the Bible and theology. And it’s for that reason that today, we’re making make a big announcement to our youth worker friends. Stick with us to hear all about it, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Check out the new podcast at cpyu.org/twiym

Artificial intelligence is everywhere. Its managing our social media feeds, the devices in our homes, our online shopping, the way we get our news. . . really, the way we live each and every day. It’s influencing all of us, including our children and teens, who are destined to live with more and more artificial intelligence as the years pass. In his new book, The Age of AI, Jason Thacker helps us see Artificial Intelligence’s impact on our bodies, sexuality, work, warfare, economics, medicine, parenting, and privacy. Join us as we talk to Jason Thacker about how parents and kids can navigate the age of AI to the glory of God in ways that don’t compromise our human dignity, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The sexual revolution of the 1960s was about anything and everything in opposition to a biblical sexual ethic. A response from the church was necessary, as the cultural narrative was undoing God’s order and design for his good gift of sex. Many of us responded with what’s known now as the purity movement as we ministered to kids in the 1980s and 90s. While the purity movement and its advocates were well-intentioned, we are now able to look back and evaluate the effectiveness of the movement and its message. To move forward in our ministry to kids, we need to reckon with our mistakes and change course where needed. That’s what we’re discussing as we chat with Rachel Joy Welcher about her new book, Talking Back To Purity Culture: Rediscovering Faithful Christian Sexuality, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

If you’ve ever studied or even just dabbled in the social sciences, you’ve probably heard the German word Zeitgeist. Translated into English, the term Zeitgeist means the spirit of the times. To know the zeitgeist is to know the widely-held beliefs that shape behaviors. As Christians, we want to stay in touch with the times as we seek to understand what the apostle Paul referred to in another way, as the course of this world. What are some of the main beliefs that are shaping the behaviors of young and old alike in today’s world? And, how can we begin to teach kids to believe and behave to the glory of God?  Stay tuned as we chat with our friend Sean McDowell about these questions and his new book, Chasing Love, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Yogi Berra is not only known for having one of the greatest baseball names ever, but for uttering some amazingly creative and funny things. After experiencing the cultural upheaval of the last twelve months, I was reminded of what Berra said after watching his teammates Micky Mantle and Roger Maris hit back to back home runs: It’s déjà vu all over again!” For those of us who came of age during the late 1960s and early 70s, the last few months seem strangely familiar. What’s the same? What’s different? And are there lessons we learned fifty years ago that can help us understand and respond to our current times? Stick with us as we seek answers to these questions in an enlightening conversation with a pair of astute culture watchers, Steve Garber and Steve Turner, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Frederick Douglas once said, “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” And that famous philosopher, Dr. Suess once gave this directive for a flourishing life: “Fill your house with stacks of books, in all the crannies and all the nooks.” One of the greatest gifts God has given to us is the ability to read. But in today’s world, constraints on our time and our increased focus on screens has crowded out reading for most of us and for most of our kids. We need to recover a love for reading, as good reading will shape and form us in good ways. It’s because we believe this to be true that we’re chatting with author Karen Swallow Prior about the power of good books to shape our lives, our kids, our families, and our youth ministries, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

For many if not most of us, Superheroes played a significant role in our childhood. It was Adam West’s TV portrayal of Batman that I remember from my elementary school years. Since then, Superheroes, comic books, and an almost endless stream of superhero films have played a significant role in pop culture, not just for kids, but for adults as well. Because we have been made to love stories, we are drawn into the tales of these mythical characters. Why is that? And how can we leverage these cultural artifacts in our ministries with kids? Today, we have fun with the lively and winsome trio from the Thanos to Theos podcast, about Superheroes, comic books, movies, theology, and our kids, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.