Friday Review (10/11/24)
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
Why Do Kids Leave The Church? Don’t Forget Bad Theology!, by Sean McDowell
And yet the larger point is that bad theology lies at the heart of why so many young people disengage the church (and the faith). If we are going to help kids develop a vibrant faith, we must unequivocally help them develop deep and balanced theological convictions.
Youth Sports: Perspective Needed!, by Walt Mueller (CPYU)
Parents... we do have a responsibility. It’s to nurture our kids. Is our top priority to nurture them in the Lord? Or, is it to nurture them into something else? You see, nurture we will... whether consciously, unconsciously, intentionally, or by default.
Learning to Partner with Parents of Teenagers, Not Judge Them, by Josh Hussung (Rooted)
Before I had kids, I had parenting figured out. When I just had one very young child, I thought I was a parenting expert. As a 24-year-old youth pastor, I would look at the parents of my students and had all the best ideas of how I would parent my teenager better than they were. Their priorities were way out of whack, they operated out of frustration instead of a desire to disciple. How could they not get it?
Biblical & Theological Studies
Why Romans 12 Without Romans 13 Endangers Those in Destructive Relationships, by Brad Hambrick (New Growth Press)
This might seem like hyperbole. But let’s look at Romans 12 and consider what it would be like to apply this passage to a destructive relationship without Romans 13. As you read the end of Romans 12, imagine yourself as a child with an abusive mother, a wife with an abusive husband, or a parent of a drug-addicted young adult who is increasingly disrupting the stability of your home.
Of What Use Is Doctrine To Formation?, by Ian Harber (Back Again)
One of the keys to this discussion is, in my opinion, regarding the role of doctrine in the Christian life. What is someone to do with doctrine? It seems to me that there are at least four postures someone could take toward doctrine. We could be ignorant of doctrine, master of doctrine, negotiator of doctrine, or formed by doctrine.
Why the Sabbath Is Like a Car Door Slamming, by Cory Barnesl (Center for Faith & Culture)
He does not rest because he is tired or because he has grown weary or bored in his work. He has finished creating and so now he rests in his creation thus enjoying His finished work. This orients our understanding of the purpose of the Sabbath.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
The Normalization of Slander, by Trevin Wax (The Gospel Coalition)
We get so accustomed to sin we don’t see it. And that means we should always ask, What sins appear normal today? What sins are so common we hardly shrug at them? The more I contemplate this question in a digital age, the more I’m convinced we’ve entered an era marked by the normalization of slander.
Suicide Pods and the Trivialization of Death, by Carl R. Trueman (First Things)
Yet ours is an age where nothing is safe from inevitable trivialization. It is of no real importance whether this is the result of all things being reduced by our consumerist culture to profitable commodities or of our society’s therapeutic values reshaping everything in light of a utilitarian ethic.
Pastoral Ministry
6 Characteristics of a Successful Pastorate, by Allen Nelson (For the Church)
The two chief duties of every pastor are the “preparation and delivery of sermons” and “the development and execution of a strategy by which the people might grow in holiness and in serious work for the cause of Christ.” These two chief duties should manifest themselves in six characteristics:
Family & Parents
Three Reminders for Parents of Wayward Children, by Jim Newheiser (Biblical Counseling Foundation)
When you feel like giving up, God is able to help you to endure in love. And God offers comfort to those whose hearts are broken because of wayward family members.
10 Diagnostic Questions for You and Your Spouse, by Kevin DeYoung (Clearly Reformed)
The couple that laughs together lasts together. This insight got me thinking: what are some other questions that can help diagnose the health of our marital life? Here are ten that may prove useful.
From YPT this week
YPT Podcast ep.77: Disciplemaking With Teen Boys with Jonathan Denton
It’s no secret that boys and girls mature differently. How does that shape the way we minister to the teen guys in our youth ministries?
How to Teach the Prophetic Books in Youth Ministry by Bryan Barrineau
Students can learn a great deal by studying prophetic books. Below are four recurring ideas I have discovered as I have sought to teach teenagers the major and minor prophets.