Look for any podcast host, guest or anyone
Showing episodes and shows of

Cpyu@cpyu.org (cpyu, Walt Mueller)

Shows

Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 204: "Purposeful Parenting: Teaching Kids To Hear God's Will" 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 follow God's will. 2025-07-2208 minYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 203: "Purposeful Parenting: Heads Up, Thumbs Down!" 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 the gift of paying attention to each other in a screen saturated world. 2025-07-0807 minYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 202: "Purposeful Parenting: What Kind of Proverbial Fool Am I?" 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 wise as opposed to foolish choices. 2025-06-1708 minYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 201: "Purposeful Parenting: The Rainbow and Pride" 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 biblical sexuality during this "Pride Month." 2025-06-0306 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerBible Reading, Paper or ScreensIn a recent article from the folks at Lifeway, I was reminded of the importance of training our kids to use physical paper Bibles rather than depending on our smartphones and other screens. We do know that when we read on a screen, we read differently than we do on the printed page. Screen-reading does not facilitate the kind of line-by-line deep reading that occurs on the printed page. In the article, Tim Pollard from Lifeway offers up some helpful reasons for using a paper Bible. He says it makes the Bible physical and tangible. It minimizes distractions. The...2025-05-1401 minYouth Ministry BoosterYouth Ministry BoosterNavigating Youth Culture in the Digital Age w/ Walt MuellerSend us a textYouth Ministry.. it ain't what it used to be! The digital revolution has transformed youth ministry into uncharted territory, creating what seasoned experts are calling "a perfect storm" of challenges for today's teenagers. At the heart of this storm lies the smartphone – a device that has fundamentally altered how adolescents experience relationships, rest, and reality itself."The culture is catechizing our kids 24-7 through these devices," -Walt MuellerSpecial Guest Alert: Walt Mueller of CPYUThere is some reason to...2025-04-1718 minThe Grace Hour ShowThe Grace Hour ShowParenting in the Digital Age with Dr. Walt MuellerRoger & Liz Robbins with Dr. Walt Mueller from the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. https://cpyu.org/seminars/walt-mueller/2025-04-0230 minYouth Pastor TheologianYouth Pastor Theologian92: Trends in Youth Ministry (Walt Mueller)What's happening in the youth ministry world today and how did we get here? This is an important question that we need to ask from time to time, and who's better to ask than Dr. Walt Mueller?  Walt Mueller has been ministering to young people for over 45 years and is the founder/director of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. He’s also the author of many books for youth and youth leaders, and he’s one of the professors for the Doctor of Ministry program at GCTS in “Ministry to Emerging Generations”.  Discussion Features:  Can you...2025-02-1851 minCultivate: A Veritas Academy PodcastCultivate: A Veritas Academy PodcastNavigating Today's Youth Culture As Christian Parents With Walt MuellerOur guest is Dr. Walt Mueller of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. Walt will be visiting Veritas Academy on the evening of November 19th to present his "Youth Culture 101" seminar, giving parents insight on the major cultural forces influencing today's kids and providing practical, hope-filled, Biblical perspectives on how to guide our kids through the noise that surrounds them and keep them pointed to Christ. (Click here to register for this event) In this episode, Walt brings his experience and expertise to a discussion on how Christian parents can connect with and guide...2024-10-3048 minChristian Parent, Crazy WorldChristian Parent, Crazy WorldThe Hidden Dangers Lurking in Children's Entertainment (w/ Dr. Walt Mueller) - Ep. 105Media is bombarding our children at every turn, and at the same time the generation gap is widening. Catherine’s special guest, Dr. Walt Mueller specializes in understanding the next generation—their thought processes, their challenges, and the many ways that entertainment and media are bombarding our kids’ lives with deeply concerning messages. As founder and president of The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding, Walt has worked as a cross generational liaison for more than 35 years.  Threats from the entertainment world have proliferated with endless internet and television inroads and influences. Walt and Catherine discuss concerning messages from:2024-06-0349 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerHow Music Has ChangedIf you’re like me and you lament the decline in the quality of popular music since the days when you were a teenager, there’s actually some new research indicating that your lament is not simply based on your personal listening preferences. Rather, there has been a change in popular music that’s not something we should be celebrating. Europeon researchers recently took on the task of analyzing the words in more than twelve thousand English language songs from the years 1980 to 2020, all from a variety of genres including pop, R and B, country, rap and rock. What did th...2024-05-3001 minThe Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU PodcastThe Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 64: "Transgender Teenagers and Theology" with Andrew WalkerKyle 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...2024-03-1442 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerChatGPT ConcernsJust in case you’ve never heard of ChatGPT, here’s a short definition written by one of our CPYU Research Fellows, Brett Wirebaugh: “ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence assistant similar to Siri or Alexa, but considerably more powerful, intelligent, and interactive. Unlike those popular chatbots, ChatGPT doesn’t use voice commands. A user simply types in a question and ChatGPT sifts through billions of online data sources to answer complex questions, solve math problems, write essays, and much more, all in a matter of seconds.” Launched just over a year ago, we’ve been concerned that ChatGPT could be used by s...2023-12-2601 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerParenting Strategies for a Toxic CultureHere at CPYU we are always telling parents that there are three essential elements to a healthy, biblically-based response to an alarming youth culture trend. First, when we realize that something is trending, we are to exercise a prophetic influence by speaking Scripture related to the trend into our teen’s life. Second, we are to exert a preventive influence by establishing borders and boundaries designed to protect our kids from harming themselves while providing for their well-being. And finally, when our kids fall prey to the trends and enter into making poor decisions that lead to bad habits an...2023-11-1501 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Sports and Sunday MorningsOne of our Research Fellows here at CPYU, Dr. Jason Engle, wrote one of our CPYU Parent Prompts on youth sports and church participation. Jason tells us that for families with young athletes, the pressure to participate in travel and club teams continues to intensify, with parents having to make difficult decisions about whether or not their child will participate on a Sunday morning. Jason offers this advice regarding how youth sports can become an idol: Jesus teaches that, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”. Jesus alone stands as the only worthy object of what our...2023-10-0601 minThe Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU PodcastThe Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 53: Bible Teaching in a New School YearCPYU President Walt Mueller joins host Kyle Hoffsmith for this episode. They give a shout out to Matt and Linda as they transition to new roles and discuss the future of the podcast and how we'll handle co-hosts moving forward. Together they talk about Bible teaching in the new school year. There is also a helpful conversation about devotionals along with some highly recommended ones. 2023-09-1240 minFLY Convention® PodcastFLY Convention® PodcastDr. Walt Mueller Joins the FLY Convention Podcast | #21Episode #21.  Host and National Youth Director Adam McCarlson visits with Dr. Walt Mueller at the 2023 FLY Convention. Dr. Walt shares about his work with Center Parent/Youth Understanding https://cpyu.org/ www.flyconvention.org flycc@aflc.org2023-08-1521 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerWhy Kids Need to PlayWhen I was a kid, I couldn’t wait to get home from school, to change from my school clothes into my play clothes, and get outside with my friends to play. In fact, my mom would almost push me out the door since she knew that time spent outside with my friends was important. Don’t come home until dinner time, she would tell me. In our neighborhood, our afternoons, weekends, and summer days were filled with games of pick-up sports, hiking through the woods, riding bikes, or just hanging out at a neighbor’s backyard swingset. In those...2023-06-2301 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerHigh School Athletes and NIL DealsI recently received this text message from a high school coach I know: “Would you please make people aware of high school athletes and the NIL deals? Something has to be done. It’s getting out of hand.” In case you’re unfamiliar to what this coach is referring to, Nil is an acronym that stands for name, image, and likeness. You see, just like pro athletes, high school athletes are now signing sponsorship and endorsement deals with major companies like Nike and others, to use their name, image, and likeness to market and promote products. California was the first st...2023-06-2201 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerOnline Peer PressureEarlier this year, Mitch Prinstein, the chief science officer at the American Psychological Association spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee about the effects that social media and technology are having on our kids. His particular focus was on the decline in mental health. One of the made points made by Prinstein during his testimony is one that I’d like to pass on to you today. Prinstein wants us all to know that for our kids, getting “likes” on social media can make bad behavior look good. He relayed that when teens view illegal or dangerous behaviors on social media...2023-06-2101 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerWhat is Calamitalysis?I recently read about a contest where teenagers were encouraged to invent a new word. Many of the respondents created words that reflect the reality of teenage life in today’s rapidly changing world. One of the words that caught my eye was this: calamitalysis. That’s spelled c-a-l-a-m-i-t-a-l-y-s-i-s. The word’s inventor defines calamitalysis as a debilitating stress or anxiety, derived from hopelessness about the terrifying problems of the world. With mental health issues like stress and anxiety on the rise among our kids, we won’t be surprised if calamitalysis catches on as an everyday word. This offers u...2023-06-2001 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerTruth, Lies, and our KidsIn her book, Live Your Truth and Other Lies, Alisa Childers says that there are endless ways that truth can be spun, manipulated, covered up, and even used to promote deception. Often, the lie is christened with religious-sounding language that makes it seem to feel right. Over my own years in ministry, I’ve come to understand that a half-truth is actually more dangerous than a complete lie. As Christians, we actually do a better job of spotting complete lies. But lacking well-honed skills of discernment, we also tend to jump right into half-truths. Childers issues this warning: Our cu...2023-06-1901 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Gift of a Grace-Filled DadAll this week we’ve been looking at the powerful role Dad’s play in their teen’s lives. Our kids will mess up. For some, their poor decisions will result in consequences that last a long time. Others may enter into a rebellious period that leaves you hoping and praying that like the prodigal son, they’ll return home. It’s at these times when we need to realize that loving our kids, means being committed to our kids. Teens living in today’s culture face incredible pressures. Because they are sinful human beings, they will from time to time give...2023-06-1601 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Gift of a Good Example DadThis week we’re discussing what teens need in a dad. When my son Josh was still in his preschool years, he opened my eyes to the power of my example. While riding together in the car I had to swerve and skid to avoid an accident. As we screeched to a halt and the other car went whizzing past us, Josh looked out his window in the direction of the other driver. While raising and shaking his fist, he yelled, “You Idiot!” It didn’t take long to realize where my mild-mannered little boy had learned such hostile behavior...2023-06-1501 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Gift of a Listening DadThis week we’re focusing on Father’s Day. Sadly, the experience of many teens indicates their fathers fail to listen. Research shows that mothers are far more likely than fathers to discuss problems and have close personal talks with their teenage children. As a result, both teenage boys and girls say they feel freer to go to their mothers, rather than their fathers, to “talk about anything,” to “talk openly,” “and to “tell her my problems.” When asked to choose the most likely option out of the four choices of mother, father, close male friend, or close female friend in response...2023-06-1401 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Gift of a Committed DadThis week we’re getting ready to celebrate Father’s Day. Dr. Ken Canfield tells Dads that the first secret to fathering effectiveness is commitment. Commitment involves much more than claiming your child as your own. This commitment requires a conscious choice to be your child’s father, along with resolving to work for your child’s benefit. Fathers who choose not to commit are opening the door for someone or something else to raise their children. In today’s youth culture, there are a variety of fathering surrogates stepping in to assume the role of Dad. It could be the tel...2023-06-1301 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Gift of a Loving DadThis week we celebrate Father’s Day. This is a great time to look at the valuable role Dad plays in a teenager’s life. Research indicates that tonight, 40% of America’s children and teens will go to bed in a home where their father does not live. Countless millions more will go to bed in a home where their father is physically present, but emotionally or spiritually detached.  Father absence is a contributing factor to virtually every social problem and pressure facing our teenagers today. An absent dad invites the presence of pain. Substance abuse, peer pressure, premarital sexual...2023-06-1201 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Importance of Physical ActivityOne of the trends we’ve been tracking here at CPYU has been the rise in childhood and adolescent obesity. Because God has created us to have bodies and called us to care for and steward them to his glory, we must be concerned not only about our own health and well-being, but the health and well-being of our kids. One of the factors related to this obesity epidemic is the decreasing amount of physical activity for kids. More and more kids sit around engaging with screens, which has resulted in less time spent playing outdoors. A new study fr...2023-06-0901 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerBarbie and Body ImageOver the course of the last few months my wife and I have been slowly chipping away at the job of cleaning up and organizing our attic. Now that our kids are grown and out of the house, looking through boxes of their toys, books, and clothing is like a trip down memory lane. One box we found contained several Barbie dolls and accessories that belonged to our girls. I paused as I looked at the Barbie dolls as I had recently read about Nickolay Lamm and her desire to create a doll that has the proportions of an...2023-06-0801 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerVideo Game AddictionWe’ve come a long way since pong was released way back in 1972 and it became the first commercially successful video game. Since then, video games have gone from being accessible through coin operated machines at the local Pizza Hut, to becoming twenty-four seven obsessions for gamers through at-home-gaming consoles with life-like graphics. Parents, we need to set time limits on how much our kids play, and boundaries on what games they can play. Experts warn that we should also watch out for video game addiction. Look for these signs of addiction: thinking about gaming all or a lot of...2023-06-0701 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerDeath Rates RisingA recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association tells us that the mortality rate for children ages one to nineteen increased by almost eleven percent between 2019 and 2020, and an additional eight percent between 2020 and 2021. Most of the upsurge was due to the deaths among older children ages ten to nineteen. The increased rates in this ten to nineteen age group was attributable to increases in suicide, homicide, vehicle accidents, and drug overdoses. Because all of us face the reality of death, it’s important that we understand death in light of God’s story. Those who are...2023-06-0601 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Importance of Family DinnersI recently had a youth worker friend lament what’s happening in the lives of her students as the result of some bad habits their families have adopted. She told me that after doing a quick survey of her students, she learned that only about ten percent eat dinner with their families every night. She went on to say that some of the families rarely ate dinner together. She told me that she had discovered that one of her students was using drugs. When she went to that student’s parents to share what she had learned, the parents were...2023-06-0501 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Authority DilemmaIn today’s world, our kids are being taught that true freedom consists of being able to step out from under any kind of external authority, and to live only under the authority of one’s self. They are to rule over themselves, constructing their own identities, beliefs, and behaviors based on how they feel at any given time. This way of living is not an option for our Christian kids. Consider these words of Jesus from John eight: “If you abide in my word you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will s...2023-06-0201 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerVaping DangersHere’s another update on a cultural trend that should come as no surprise. A study of more than twenty-five hundred subjects ages thirteen to twenty four has found that those who vape nicotine only, THC only, or both nicotine and THC are more likely to report anxiety symptoms, symptoms of depression, and suicidal thoughts than those who don’t vape nicotine or THC through electronic smoking devices. In addition, the symptoms of anxiety were more frequently reported among those who only vape THC, the major psychoactive component in cannabis. And, over half of those who vape nicotine, THC, or b...2023-06-0101 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Dangers of Too Much Screen TimeIn his new book, The Wolf In Their Pockets, Chris Martin offers up some insight and advice regarding what happens to us when we spend too much time staring into our smartphone screens. Chris writes, In the same way that a soccer goalie would have a difficult time evaluating and blocking penalty kicks if a dozen of them were kicked at him all at once, our ability to discern what is true and what is good is hindered by the waterfalls of content we attempt to drink every time we scroll our favorite feeds. In this way, we are...2023-05-3101 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSex and Gender in the BeginningWe live in a world where conversations about sex and gender are all around us. According to the spirit of the times, each individual is sovereign over themselves, and therefore able to choose to live according to their feelings, desires, and preferences. But for the Christian, the foundation must be the Word of God. In his book Biblical Critical Theory, Christopher Watkin writes these words we must heed: “Genesis one is the single block on the bottom row of the Bible’s Jenga tower. If this one truth is removed or neglected, the whole edifice comes crashing down. The firs...2023-05-3001 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerPorn BrainOur kids are growing up in a world where pornography is pervasive. Seeing pornography is not a matter of if, but a matter of when. If they don’t find pornography on their own, it is bound to find them while they are engaging with their smartphones and computers. Because our kids are created by God as sexual beings with desires that have been put there by Him, they are prone to seeking out and actually becoming addicted to pornography, which is a fallen expression of God’s good gift of sexuality. Those who choose to indulge their sexual lust...2023-05-2901 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerParents and the BibleParents, do you struggle to figure out how to best guide your children and teens through the difficult realities of life in today’s world? If you do, you are not alone. Our rapidly changing world can leave our heads spinning. Dr. James Montgomery Boice offers up these words of advice and remedy that I have found to be personally helpful: Study the bible daily. We should discipline our lives to include regular periods of Bible study, just as we discipline ourselves to have regular periods for sleep, eating our meals, and so on. These things are necessary if th...2023-05-2601 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSmartphone Borders and BoundariesOne of the most difficult issues parents find themselves navigating in today’s smartphone and social media saturated world relates to setting proper borders and boundaries for their kids when it comes to devices and online time. Many parents I run into lament putting a smartphone in the hands of their children and teens. Most did it for a couple of reasons. First, to know where their kids are and to keep them safe. And second, they don’t want their kids to feel left out when their circle of friends are all on smartphones and social media. I rece...2023-05-2501 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Sports as IdolsI recently had a roundtable conversation with a group of local church youth workers. We were chatting about the role that youth sports has taken in our current cultural setting. As parents, we want our kids to be able to play, to be able to develop their athletic gifts and abilities, and to be able to move up through the ranks if God has given them athletic talents. Sports are a good thing. But like all good things, sports and children’s athletic achievements can become ultimate things. When that happens, we have wandered into the territory known as id...2023-05-2401 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Dangers of Teen Alcohol UseSadly, alcohol use and abuse has been seen as a normal rite of passage for kids over the course of several generations. But do you know that aside from the moral and spiritual reasons to be concerned, there are a host of other reasons to be concerned about kids using alcohol? The folks at drugfree.org list the following reasons for concern. First, alcohol does damage to a teenager’s developing brain. Second, alcohol use leads to risky behaviors. Third, teens run the risk of drinking and driving while impaired, a habit that can end lives and change families fo...2023-05-2301 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerWhy Do Kids Drink Alcohol?The folks at drugfree.org recently released a guide to help parents understand current trends among teenagers in regards to alcohol consumption. In the guide, parents are given four answers to the question, “Why do young people drink alcohol?” The first answer is not surprising at all: I drink alcohol because my friends do. All of us know the push and pull of peer pressure from our own teenage years. Of course, media and advertising contribute to this everybody does it reality through glamorizing alcohol consumption. The second answer given by kids is that they drinking as a normal part...2023-05-2201 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerA Prayer about SexualityToday, I’d like to share with you a prayer from a little daily Scripture reading guide that I use titled “Seeking God’s Face.” This prayer is most timely for life in today’s world as each of us, young and old alike, works to navigate God’s good gift of sexuality to His glory and our good. Since sexual temptations are ever-present, this helpful short prayer is one that each of us can share with our kids. Here’s the prayer: “Covenant God, we know the well-worn path of sexual sin – a lingering look, a lustful desire, a wicked thought...2023-05-1901 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerBlocking Dangerous Follower RequestsOne of the most dangerous aspects of today’s social media is exposure. Social media is a place where our kids will be constantly exposed, among other things, to dangerous ideas, addictive immoral content, and dangerous people. It’s not a matter of if, but when. And once it finds them, kids who are unprepared to respond according to guidelines you’ve communicated, they very easily could wind up looking for that same content that they never asked to see in the first place. One way this happens is with followers. It seems like each and every day, I run ac...2023-05-1801 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerViral Social Media Challenges And BasketballsI often say that if I had a dollar for every stupid thing I did as a teenage boy, I’d be a rich man. The boys in my neighborhood fed off of each other with our foolishness, and issuing dares to each other was a common occurrence. I would say that it’s a wonder none of us ever got hurt, but that wouldn’t be truthful on my part. Boys are still boys in today’s world. But the dares have ramped up a bit with the advent of social media and the dares and challenges that go viral...2023-05-1701 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerNike's Gender MessageAs the cultural conversation regarding transgenderism heats up, I want to connect a couple of dots for you today. You need to know that according to the latest research from Piper Sandler Companies regarding teenagers and their brand preferences, Nike continues to hold its position as the number one brand for all teenagers in both the footwear and apparel categories. Over the years, Nike has mastered the art of connecting with and influencing teens spending decisions through their marketing. But as we always say here at CPYU, ads don’t only sell product. Rather, their greatest power is to se...2023-05-1601 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerA Dangerous Energy DrinkWith over twenty-three million subscribers to his YouTube channel, actor and professional wrestler Logan Paul is a true celebrity influencer. Evidence of his influence among our kids is the popularity of his line of energy drinks, known as Prime. The drink is so popular among middle schoolers that it’s selling out, and parents of kids obsessed with the brand are looking everywhere for it. The drink is pricey and can cost several dollars per bottle. Some kids have created a second-hand market where they resell the bottles to friends at school at jacked up prices. The drink’s colo...2023-05-1501 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerDo Our Kids Want to Learn about Jesus?Our friends at the Barna Institute have released a new report on members of Gen Z and spirituality that is titled “The Open Generation”. There’s some encouraging news for those who love and lead kids regarding their interest in Christianity. Listen to these words from the report: Curiosity about Jesus is widespread in the open generation. Teens in the U.S. are far more intrigued than their global peers, with 77 percent being at least somewhat motivated to keep learning about Jesus throughout their lives. A teen’s personal commitment to follow Jesus goes hand in hand with thei...2023-05-1201 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Danger of Seeking YouTube CelebrityElle Mills is a twenty-four year old who became a YouTube celebrity when she was only twelve-years-old. Over time, she had one-point-seven-million subscribers, one-point-eight-million total followers, and one-hundred-and-fifty-five million views. But after twelve years of being validated through the addicting high of gaining the numbers, she shut it all down because of the hard-hitting reality of the lows. In a recent New York Times op-ed piece, Mills sends out a warning to parents and young youtube celebrity wannabes about the addicting nature of seeking and getting attention. She writes, “The peak of my YouTube career didn’t always match my c...2023-05-1101 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerFlee From Sexual ImmoralityThe word pornography is rooted in the Greek word porneia, which means to practice prostitution, sexual immorality, or fornication. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul frequently used this word in reference to any kind of sinful and illegitimate sexual activity. Our friends at the HarvestUSA ministry offer this helpful definition of pornography that’s written from a biblical perspective: Pornography is anything that the heart uses to find sexual expression outside of God’s intended design for relational intimacy. It is anything that tempts or corrupts the human heart into desiring sexual pleasure in sinful ways. Parents, we need...2023-05-1001 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerCollege Students and SleepI oftentimes think back to my college days and am struck by how much my eating and sleeping habits have changed since then! Rarely did I go to bed before eleven pm, and sometimes it was quite a bit later. In that respect, college students really haven’t changed that much. New research shows that they are still involved in late-night cramming, parties, and other activities that keep them from getting the necessary amount of sleep. In fact, researchers at Carnegie-Mellon University have found that freshman who get fewer than six hours of sleep a night see a drop in...2023-05-0901 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerHow To Embarrass Your KidsParents of teenagers. . . few if any of us haven’t experienced the embarrassment a child feels when we show up to drop them off at school or pick them up at an event. It’s even worse if we throw out a kiss goodbye or a loud “I love you!” in earshot of their friends. Recently, a video posted on TikTok by Lindsey Helms, the mother of a middle school daughter, went viral. Helms began filming the crowd of middle schoolers waiting to be picked up from a school dance as she pulled up in her minivan. Helms had rolled d...2023-05-0801 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerStudents Pushing Back on Big TobaccoKudos to the group of almost one hundred Hawaiian high school students who last month rallied at their state capital to request that state lawmakers take action against big tobacco. Knowing just how dangerous and addicting tobacco use is, the students were lobbying for legislation to regulate e-cigarettes and stop the sale of flavored tobacco. With the youth vaping epidemic on the rise, these students are taking matters into their own hands to protect their vulnerable and easily influenced peers from getting hooked and suffering the long-term effects of tobacco use. Samantha Lay, a junior at Roosevelt High School...2023-05-0501 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerTikTok Tech AddictionIf you’re a regular listener to Youth Culture Today, I’m sure you’ve heard me quote the words spoken by media critic Marshall McCluhan several decades ago. He wrote, “We become what we behold. First we shape our tools, and then our tools shape us.” McCluhan goes on to say that we immerse ourselves in our technological tools without giving any thought to what they might do to us in the long-term. And then, when we are hooked and we start to regret the consequences, it’s hard to peel back. I thought of McCluhan when I recently rea...2023-05-0401 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Latest on Teens and PornParents, the latest statistics on when teenagers see pornography should remind us that it’s not a matter of if, but when. Consequently, we should be talking to our kids about pornography at younger ages than we might first imagine. The research, from Common Sense Media, tells us that the average age for first time exposure to online pornography is twelve. Fifteen percent of those surveyed saw it when they were ten years old or younger. More than half of the respondents were not looking for pornography. Rather, they report seeing it online accidentally. In other words, pornography found th...2023-05-0301 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerHealthy StressIt’s very easy to get swept up into the spirit of the times. Because we live in the midst of culture, we can easily live into the values of that culture without taking the time to consider whether those values are good values, or bad values. One aspect of the spirit of our current times is what has been called safetyism. The term was first coined by writers Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff in their book, The Coddling of the American Mind. They use the term to describe a belief system in which safety has become a sacred va...2023-05-0201 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSnapchat and FentanylEarlier this year, Amy Neville, a mother from San Diego, testified before lawmakers regarding a tragedy that occurred in her life back in June 2020. Neville had gone into her fourteen-year-old son’s bedroom to wake him up so that they would make it to an orthodontist appointment on time. She was shocked to find her son Alex unresponsive. He had died from a fentanyl overdose. How did this happen? Neville told lawmakers that her son Alex had taken a counterfeit pill laced with illicit Fentanyl. He had purchased the pill online through a contact made in a Snapchat video. In...2023-05-0101 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSports Parenting 5All this week we’ve been looking at how to push back on a youth sports culture that tends to value the wrong things, by living out our faith as sports parents.  Jesus said that it’s out of the overflow of our hearts that our mouths speak. Parents, what do your sideline words and behavior say about your heart? Sports psychologist Vincent Fortanasce says, “Frustrated parents can attack the umpires, berate the managers and coaches, and demean the players on the field with impunity. Some go the full hundred yards in criticizing their children’s teammates, and even their own...2023-04-2801 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSports Parenting 42023-04-2701 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSports Parenting 3All this week we’re looking at how to push back on a youth sports culture that tends to value the wrong things, by living out our faith as sports parents. There’s much that we can learn from hockey hall of famer Mark Howe. Mark understood when his talented 17-year-old son Travis asked to quit playing ice hockey. The win-at-all costs mind set of his coaches and teammates’ parents had finally gotten to be too much for Travis. Mark says that in youth sports today “the child’s welfare is becoming less and less important. The focus should be on inst...2023-04-2601 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSports Parenting 2All this week we’re looking at how to push back on a youth sports culture that tends to value the wrong things, by living out our faith as sports parents.  Have you ever taken the time to stand back and observe the behavior of the parents who stand on the sidelines screaming and yelling at refs, coaches, and even their own kids? As we parent our kids through organized sports, it’s important that we continually ask ourselves this question: “Who’s out on the field?” Unfortunately, some parents see their kids as a second chance to fulfill the sports...2023-04-2501 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSports Parenting 1Vincent Fortanasce is a psychiatrist, coach and member of the Little League Hall of Fame. In his book, Life Lessons from Little League , he relates how he asked parents at the initial team meeting about what they first ask their children after a game, if they had not been able to attend. The most common question was “Did you win today?” The second most frequent question was “How did you do?” Fortanasce writes, “What was my point? Simply that I wanted my team parents to re-focus away from ‘I want my child to learn to win,’ or the pursuit of perfection...2023-04-2401 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSaying Too Much on Social MediaBack when we first started our Digital Kids Initiative here at CPYU, I would often tell parents that they need to let their kids know that whatever they post on social media is not only available for the entire world to see, but it will remain there forever. I was warning them about the impact of their digital footprint. As time went on, kids didn’t care what others saw, and they were posting all their innermost secrets so that others could see them. There are many reasons why this is so. But the fallout is now coming back to...2023-04-2101 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerSocial Media and Cannabis UseI recently ran across a social media meme that pictures some cannabis, along with this message: negative effects of smoking weed include, less weed. It’s one of many weed-friendly social media posts that researchers say are influencing teenagers and their attitudes on cannabis. In a new survey from Washington State University, researchers found that teens are seeing a lot of positive cannabis messages on social media. And, those messages do influence attitudes on cannabis use. Author of the study, Jessica Willoughby, says this: “Youth, in particular, have really grown up bombarded with cannabis information compared to previous generations. We f...2023-04-2001 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerWhy Kids Aren't Getting a Driver's LicenseMany members of Generation Z are either delaying getting their driver’s license, or not getting a driver’s license at all. Generation Z includes all those born between 1997 and 2012. When most of us think back to our own teenage years, we couldn’t wait to get our driver’s license, as it represented a move from dependence to independence, and it served as a marker that we were moving closer to adulthood. But things have changed. In 1997, forty-three percent of sixteen-year-olds and sixty-two percent of seventeen year-olds had driver’s licenses. In 2020 those numbers had fallen to twenty-five percent an...2023-04-1901 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerKids and Flip PhonesIn my home office I’ve got one desk drawer that’s become a tangled mess of charging wires and obsolete devices that are doing nothing more than collecting dust. I recently went through the drawer and started pulling out a collection of old cell phones that reveal a bit of my own tech history. Among the varied old phones were a couple of flip-phones, which I now believe I might have to hold on to as they could be rising in value. It seems that a growing number of kids are realizing just how addictive their smartphones have beco...2023-04-1801 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerChatGPT, Kids, and SchoolLate last year, the American artificial intelligence research laboratory know as Open AI launched the ChatGPT artificial intelligence chatbot. Now if your head is already spinning over that last sentence, you’re not alone. Those of you who share my technical deficiencies regarding the cascading onslaught of new digital technologies are, like me, left scratching your head over what these things are, how they function, and how they will change our lives. Let me start with this: the GPT in ChatGPT stands for generative pre-trained transformer. Still confused? Let me share one way our kids’ lives are being changed by C...2023-04-1701 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerShould We Pray for Our Kids to Suffer?In their best-selling book The Coddling of the American Mind, Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff tell us that one of the cultural lies we and our kids have been led to believe is this: “What doesn’t kill you will make you weaker.” Consequently, our goal in life is to do whatever we can to avoid pain, believing that it will destroy us. Conversely, we believe we should pursue pleasure and comfort at any cost, believing that pleasure is redemptive. Anyone who has endured difficulty and learned great lessons knows that nothing could be further from the truth. In fact...2023-04-1401 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerKids Who Regret What Their Parents Share OnlineA recent article in Teen Vogue’s online magazine is titled “influencer parents and the kids who had their childhood made into content.” As the title indicates, the article talks about the parents who leveraged social media by putting everything about their children’s lives online for the world to see, not just photos of childhood achievements, but all the intimate details of their lives. This includes videos of them crying, to footage of them being disciplined. All of these have been shared like a young life is some kind of reality show, and it’s all been done without th...2023-04-1301 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerThe Teen Gas AppLaunched back in August of last year, the social media app known as Gas quickly became popular among teens. The app’s name Gas comes from the slang term “gassing someone up”, which is a phrase teens use to describe the act of complimenting someone. The app, which is oriented towards high schoolers, allows users to participate in anonymous polls where they can choose pre-written complimentary statements about peers from their own high school. For example, someone might post the question Who do you secretly admire? The names of four students are listed and users can anonymously choose one out of...2023-04-1201 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerTikTok's Teenage Look FilterRecently, TikTok added a new video filter that has drawn in those who are older to using the social media video platform. The filter is called Teenage Look. Users focus the camera on their face and see a split screen, with the lower picture showing them as they look now, while the upper picture smooths out their wrinkles, launching them into a trip down memory lane as they supposedly find themselves facing their high school aged self. Truth be told, I gave it a look which simply resulted in a quick laugh. But reports are that many older users...2023-04-1101 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerA Strategy to Push Back on Teen AnxietyWith anxiety off the charts as a growing epidemic among children and teens, I want to offer a strategy you can employ to prevent anxiety in the kids you know and love. Perhaps the most effective strategy is to teach them to preach the Gospel to themselves. Teach them to speak to their hearts, telling their hearts to follow the Gospel rather than allowing their hearts to speak to them. You see, our feelings are not trustworthy. They can lead us astray. They are especially dangerous during times of emotional highs and lows. While the mantra of today’s cu...2023-04-1001 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerA Good Friday Prayer for our KidsOn this Good Friday, I want to share with you what I call a parent’s version of the Book of Common Prayer’s Good Friday prayer. Gracious God, the comfort of all who sorrow, the strength of all who suffer: Let the cry of those of our children in misery and need come to you, that they may find your mercy present with them in all their afflictions; and give us, we pray, the strength to serve our children for the sake of him who suffered for us, your Son Jesus, Christ our Lord. Let us pray for our c...2023-04-0701 minYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerYouth Culture Today with Walt MuellerTeaching TruthIt is a bad thing when we get swept up in the current of what the Apostle Paul calls “the course of this world”, leaving our minds and the ability to discern between truth and lies at the door. Rather than seeking to evaluate everything under the microscope of Biblical truth, we simply choose to believe and embrace the “truth” we like in the moment, and jettison that which we choose not to believe. It was over 25 years ago that social critic Gene Veith wrote these words that so accurately foresaw our situation today: “With no absolute canons of objective...2023-04-0601 minPCA NextGenPCA NextGenSexuality with Walt MuellerWalt Mueller has over 45 years of experience working with student ministry leaders, students and parents. Check out his website at www.cpyu.org. www.pcanextgen.com2023-01-1959 minThe Bible2School Podcast with MeredithThe Bible2School Podcast with MeredithEpisode 51 - The Truth about Marketing with Walt MuellerEpisode 51 - The Truth about Marketing with Walt Mueller The world of marketing is one of the most powerful life shapers out there, and it's targeted at our kids! Its greatest power is not to sell a product, but to sell a worldview. Walt brings us the truth about this and emphasizes the importance of starting conversations with the kids in our lives - teaching them to think critically and Christianly about what they are viewing. Ready to hear how you can listen to both God's word and our culture? Let's go.... DR...2022-07-2630 minThe Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU PodcastThe Word in Youth Ministry - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 17 - "Biblically Navigating Culture" with Walt MuellerFounder and president of CPYU, Walt Mueller, joins the podcast to discuss his latest book A Student's Guide to Navigating Culture. Kyle, Linda, and Matt pick his brain on why he wrote the book, ask questions about the "World, Word, Walk" paradigm the he lays out in the book, and discuss the role of relevance as youth workers balance being biblically but also culturally informed. 2021-12-2134 minSaultFellowshipSaultFellowshipWalt MuellerPDFM interviews Walt Mueller, the director of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding. For more info on Walt and the ministry he leads visit www.cpyu.org. Thanks for listening.2021-11-231h 24Empower Youth IN MinistryEmpower Youth IN MinistryRe-Opening Intentionally with Dr. Walt MuellerDr. Walt Mueller, the founder of CPYU (the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding) shares his thoughts, insights and hopes for the future of NextGen discipleship post-COVID-19. 2020-06-1106 minVolunteer Youth Worker PodcastVolunteer Youth Worker Podcast057: What’s the Best Way to Understand Today’s Youth Culture? Interview with Walt MuellerYouth culture is changing at such a rapid pace that keeping up with the times is nearly impossible for any youth worker. Yet it’s clear that having a framework for understanding how we ought to engage with our culture is more important than ever. So how do you go about understanding what teenagers are facing today without having to start a TikTok account or watch a bunch of Twitch streamers? How can you empower the youth in your ministry to become more thoughtful with how they interact with culture? Learn more about Walt Mueller at CPYU.or...2020-01-1443 minThink Biblically: Conversations on Faith & CultureThink Biblically: Conversations on Faith & CultureStudent Culture and the Occult (with Walt Mueller)What are the most powerful ways culture influences the beliefs and behaviors of students? Should parents and other youth influencers be concerned, in particular, about the influence of the occult? Sean and Scott interview youth ministry guru Walt Mueller about the most pressing areas of concerning for both reaching and equipping the next generation. And they offer practical tools for any concerned adult for how to engage young people today.  Walt Mueller is the founder and President of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU) and has been working with young people and families for over 35 years. A...2019-10-3127 minPostmodern Worldview Archives - Trace Embry | License to ParentPostmodern Worldview Archives - Trace Embry | License to ParentYouth Culture with Walt Mueller [Podcast]Walt Mueller is the founder and President of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding and has been working with young people and families for over 35 years. As a result of his work with CPYU, Walt has become an internationally-recognized speaker and author on contemporary youth culture. He has written extensively on youth culture and family issues and is the author of the following books: 99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers (Group Publishing, 2010); The Space Between– A Parent’s Guide to Teenage Development (Zondervan, 2009); Opie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore: Where Faith, Family, and Culture Collide (Standard Publishing, August 2007); Youth...2019-10-2128 minLicense to Parent with Trace EmbryLicense to Parent with Trace EmbryYouth Culture with Walt Mueller [Podcast]Walt Mueller is the founder and President of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding and has been working with young people and families for over 35 years. As a result of his work with CPYU, Walt has become an internationally-recognized speaker and author on contemporary youth culture. He has written extensively on youth culture and family issues and is the author of the following books: 99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers (Group Publishing, 2010); The Space Between-- A Parent's Guide to Teenage Development (Zondervan, 2009); Opie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore: Where Faith, Family, and Culture Collide (Standard Publishing, August 2007); Youth Culture 101 (Zondervan, June 2007) an...2019-10-2128 minLicense to Parent with Trace EmbryLicense to Parent with Trace EmbryYouth Culture with Walt Mueller [Podcast]Walt Mueller is the founder and President of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding and has been working with young people and families for over 35 years. As a result of his work with CPYU, Walt has become an internationally-recognized speaker and author on contemporary youth culture. He has written extensively on youth culture and family issues and is the author of the following books: 99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers (Group Publishing, 2010); The Space Between-- A Parent's Guide to Teenage Development (Zondervan, 2009); Opie Doesn’t Live Here Anymore: Where Faith, Family, and Culture Collide (Standard Publishing, August 2007); Youth Culture 101 (Zondervan, June 2007) an...2019-10-2128 minYouth Ministry Sherpas: Coast To CoastYouth Ministry Sherpas: Coast To CoastSherpa Legends -- Walt MuellerOur Fourth Legend -- Walt MuellerIt was 1989. The internet wasn't invented yet. George HW Bush was president. The Berlin Wall came down. The Cosby Show, Rosanne, and Cheers held the top spots on TV. Madonna, Phil Collins, and the Bangles topped the charts. Morgan Freeman was Driving Miss Daisy. And a little-known youth pastor from Pennsylvania got a crazy idea to start a resource ministry to help youth workers and parents navigate the travails of youth culture.  That was Walt Mueller, and his brainchild was the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding (CPYU). For the past 30 years--through b...2019-04-181h 04Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 75: "Stressed Out" a Conversation about Anxiety with Walt MuellerFour years ago, the band Twenty-One Pilots released a hit song focusing on the pressures of adulthood and a yearning to return back to the relatively easy years of childhood. Title Stressed Out, the song went to number one on the mainstream music charts. But judging from what we’re hearing from researchers, parents, youth workers, educators, and kids themselves, stress and anxiety is increasingly common among our children and teens. What is anxiety? How is it manifesting itself in the lives of our kids? What are its causes? And how does the Gospel speak to this new epidemic of...2019-01-1559 minYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 71: "Navigating Advertising and Marketing" with Walt MuellerWe 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...2018-11-1546 minYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 68: "Rapid-Onset Gender Dysphoria" with Walt Mueller and Jason SoucinekIt 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 distin...2018-10-041h 22Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 52: "A Youth Ministry Conversation" with Walt Mueller, Duffy Robbins, Marv Penner, and Chap ClarkOver the course of Walt Mueller's years of youth ministry, he's developed some wonderful friendships with a variety of youth ministry peers. Some of the most significant relationships have resulted in sometimes fun, sometimes serious, and always profitable conversation about their personal lives and ministry matters. They don't always agree, but they always work to sharpen one another. All of us need these kind of relationships where iron sharpens iron as we love each other and serve together. We invite you to listen in on one of these conversations among youth ministry friends, Walt Mueller, Duffy Robbins, Marv Penner...2018-01-231h 19Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 51: "Supporting Parents" with Walt MuellerOne of the biggest mistakes we make in youth ministry is assuming that we are the ones primarily responsible for the spiritual nurture of teenagers. A second and related mistake is making the assumption that as youth workers, we can actually do a better job of nurturing kids than their clueless parents. Sure, parents might sometimes be not well-equipped to nurture their children in the faith, but they are still called to be the ones primarily responsible for the nurture of their children and teens. How can youth workers properly support and help parents as they fulfill this high...2018-01-0554 minYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 48: "The Weinstein Effect, Matt Lauer, and Teachable Moments" with Walt Mueller and Jason SoucinekUnless you’ve been asleep, you know that the last few weeks have been flooded with news stories about a growing number of political and celebrity figures and allegations regarding sexual abuse and assault. What’s now known as the Weinstein Effect was front and center again this week with the firing of NBC Today Show Host, Matt Lauer. Should we be shocked? Should we be surprised? We believe that this cultural moment provides us with the opportunity to look inward, to talk to ourselves, and to talk to our kids about a host of issues from a biblical pers...2017-12-011h 03Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 46: "Should We Use Someone Else's Talk Or Sermon?" with Scott GibsonYouth workers and pastors are busy people. With the pace of life getting faster, we get busier and then have to prioritize the tasks of ministry. Sometimes we let certain tasks slip. In recent years, more and more of us have dropped the important task of study and preparation time. Some have even gone so far as to purchase, download, cut and paste, or even plagiarize talks and sermons prepared by others. This increasingly accepted practice can not only raise ethical concerns, but by moving us out of study and preparation, it can stunt our spiritual growth, lead to...2017-10-3155 minYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 30: "Love of Self" with Walt Mueller and Jason SoucinekIn recent years, researchers have sounded the warning that narcissism is on the rise in our culture, particularly among the emerging generations. If this is true, the tendency towards following self rather than following God will thwart our spiritual growth and development. Where does this focus on self come from? How is it being manifested in our lives? And what can we do to lead ourselves and our kids into a lifestyle of allegiance to God and service to others, when the world encourages us to look out for number one? We’ll be talking about the tendency towards to...2017-02-091h 19Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 20: "Pumpkin Spice" with Walt Mueller and Jason SoucinekWhen you were a teenager did you want to be seen and perceived as cool? In today's youth culture, the concept of cool is what drives fads, trends, and purchases. In fact, marketers are all about capturing, mass-producing, and selling cool. But can cool become a hindrance to spiritual growth? Can it become an idol that consumes our lives? Walt and Jason take a look at these questions and more in this "Pumpkin Spice" episode. 2016-10-141h 24Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 18: "An Honest Discussion about Pornography" with Walt Mueller and Jason SoucinekWalt and Jason discuss the latest in youth culture including stories about parental shaming on social media, Pokemon Go, texting while driving, Elizabeth Smart, magazine covers and more. For the 2nd and 3rd segments of this podcast, Walt and Jason discuss the devastating effects of pornography and what it does to our brains, our relationships, and even our marriages. They close by looking at both preventive and redemptive steps we can take in dealing with issues related to pornography, both in the lives of our students, as well as our own lives. 2016-09-211h 30Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 15: "Media Discernment, 'M.I.L.F. $,' and Mindful Critique" with Walt Mueller and Jason SoucinekWalt and Jason discuss the latest in youth culture including stories about a new dating app for teens, Miss Teen USA, children, teens and resiliency, Draymond Green and naughty photos, Pokemon Go and trampoline parks. The rest of the podcast focuses on CPYU's most popular resource, "How to Use Your Head to Guard Your Heart: A 3(D) Guide to Making Responsible Media Choices." Walt talks about how the resource came about and provides a brief overview of the 3(D) steps and the role media discernment should play in student's lives. In the final segment, Walt uses the 3(D) review...2016-08-171h 25Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastYouth Culture Matters - A CPYU PodcastEpisode 06: "Digital Kids and Social Media" with Walt MuellerWalt and Jason discuss the latest news in youth culture, such new definitions surrounding gender identity, the death of Prince, substance abuse, masculinity and school shootings, suicide rates, generational parenting differences and more. Then Jason interviews Walt about the work CPYU is doing through the Digital Kids Initiative. Walt shares some of the blessings and curses this new digital frontier has brought and then discusses some best practices we can all use as we interact through social media. 2016-05-031h 26