Friday Review (09/15/23)
Each week we compile a list of helpful articles from other sites, in a variety of categories, for youth workers to read, reflect on, and/or discuss with parents and volunteers. If you have any articles you’d like to suggest, we’d love for you to share those in the Youth Pastor Theologian Facebook group. That’s a great way to bring them to our attention and to discuss them with like-minded youth workers! (Inclusion in this list does not imply complete agreement with the publishing source, but we have found these articles to be beneficial.)
Youth Ministry
Be a Youth Minister Who Brings Families Together, by Bryan Ryu (Rooted)
As our students grow into their teenage years, they might not be able to express what they want or need from their families. Sometimes their choices may even place them in direct opposition to their parents. But youth ministers can help students lean into the truth that parents are their biggest allies. As we create more spaces in our youth ministries to engage parents around the common, ordinary stuff of life, we pray that whole families will be increasingly transformed by the gospel.
Youth Ministry: There's a World to Know, by Walt Mueller (CPYU)
The takeaway for those of us who are doing youth ministry or any other kind of leading of kids is this: we need to be extremely careful regarding the voices we follow, and extremely diligent in maintaining our own faithfulness as we lead. One of the greatest issues is the presence and propagation of half-truths. When theological orthodoxy is compromised even just a little bit, we are entering into the dangerous playground of half-truths.
Biblical & Theological Studies
Fundamentalism May Feel Safe, But It’s Shortsighted, by Phil Newton (9Marks)
Even with the right stance on inerrancy and the call to holiness, Christian Fundamentalism can draw narrow boundaries around fellowship that are not found in Scripture. They point to the gospel for entry into the faith, but then they rigidly insist upon certain beliefs and practices for sanctification and association.
How the Doctrine of Glorification Helps Us Cultivate a Culture of Honor, by Ray Ortlund and Sam Allberry (The Gospel Coalition)
Let’s defy whatever petty and unworthy barriers hold us back. Let’s allow the doctrine of glorification to create a culture of honor wherever we live, for as long as we live. It might start feeling like revival.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
3 Ways the Internet Itself Resembles Pornography, by Samuel D. James (Crossway)
But while much attention has been given to how the web can supply us with spiritually dangerous pictures and videos, much less attention has been given to how the very form of the web shapes us in the image of the spirit of the age. Few Christians would dispute that there is much on the internet that harms us. But by divorcing what the internet presents from what the internet intrinsically is, we are fighting against the symptoms of a more fundamental disease that we are failing to treat.
5 Lies Our Culture Is Telling Us, by Rosaria Butterfield (Crossway)
When it seems like we are living at ground zero of the Tower of Babel, when the whole world seems to have gone mad, we need to cling to Christ with courage, read and memorize our Bible with fervency, be active members of a faithful Bible-believing church with passion, sing psalms with joy, and pray for our enemies with humility. We need to be humble people, remembering that we were not created to be all-knowing.
The Case for Taking Video Games Seriously, by Patrick Miller (Endeavor)
While Gen X and Boomers have helped Christians consider the cost of playing video games, they rarely consider the cost of neglecting them. With rare exceptions, we’ve done two generations of Christian gamers (Millennials and Gen Z) an enormous disservice by ignoring games and failing to offer tools to think critically about entertainment. A healthy theology should drive Christians to develop a framework for critically evaluating games that takes them seriously as a vehicle for artistic expression and aesthetic resonance.
Pastoral Ministry
Gathering Application, by Andrew Roycroft (Thinking Pastorally)
It is possible through our preaching to amass an orchestra of clanging cymbals rather than a body of people who are relishing and responding to the truth of what God is saying to them. Being persistent, consultative, and intentional in our application will deliver us from superficiality as preachers and hypocrisy as hearers and allow for nuance and for re-nerved messages that speak into our lives as believers.
What Are Your Members Doing?, by Stephen Kneale (Building Jerusalem)
Well, at the risk of upsetting yet another tranche of Christendom, I am here to say not. Not only do larger churches not need more staff, they are specifically the churches that need fewer. In fact, if your large church insists it needs lots of staff because it is large, it is not a sign of great success but abject failure.
Family & Parents
Parenting in the Age of the iPhone: Encouragement Regarding Smartphones, by Steve Eatmon (Rooted)
This isn’t the first time we have noted the difference between how kids behave before they have a cell phone and how they behave afterwards. You’ve likely noticed the changes as well, since 94% of Gen Z teens have a smartphone, despite the research linking smartphone usage to mental health problems. Given the ubiquity of smartphones, pre-teens and teenagers often see acquiring a cell phone as a God-given and necessary right. The simple strategy of just saying “no” to a smartphone seems almost unreasonable given that many school communications take place over Messenger and other social media platforms.
If Satan Wrote a Book on Parenting, by Tim Challies
Come to think about it, as I look at the world around me, I can’t help but wonder if Satan actually has written a book on parenting because it seems so many are obeying his instructions and following his advice…
From YPT this week
Ten Tips on Preaching to Teenagers, by Mike McGarry
Here are my Top Ten Tips for Preaching to Teenagers… five are more doctrinal, and five are about delivery.
YPT Podcast Episode 41: Inviting Anxious Teens into the Better Story with Liz Edrington
A conversation with Liz Edrington about how the gospel invites anxious teenagers into the better story.
How I’m Teaching the Old Testament at Youth Group, by Andrew Slay
How can youth workers help students learn how to read, interpret, and apply the Old Testament? Here’s one way to teach the law and the Ten Commandments in youth group.