Friday Review (10/7/22)
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
Cultivating Spaces That Are Safe From Racism in Youth Ministry by Michelle Ami Reyes (Rooted)
God has raised you as a leader for such a time as this, to lead teenagers into a place of healing and joy, even in the midst of racism, and it starts with simple intentional steps.
Biblical & Theological Studies
Day of Atonement: How Yom Kippur Points to Salvation in Christ by Alastair Roberts (The Gospel Coalition)
Understood this way, the Day of Atonement is both symbolic and anticipatory of the work of Christ, upon whom forgiveness ultimately rests. The efficacy of the Old Testament sacrificial system rested on the promise of Christ’s future act.
Why Church History Matters by Andrew Menkis (Core Christianity)
The church may struggle and suffer, but it will not be vanquished. Looking to Christian men and women of the past who have taken up their cross and followed Christ through life—and even unto death—can give us strength to persevere.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
6 Tactics for Using Social Media Intentionally by Chris Martin (Terms of Service)
We don’t have to let social media happen to us. We can wrest control of this relationship, even if we don’t manage it perfectly. But we have to actually try. We have to be intentional. We have to be willing to be uncomfortable.
Christian Nationalism Cannot Save the World by Russell Moore (Christianity Today)
Christian nationalism is a kind of Great Commission in reverse—in which the nations seek to make disciples of themselves, using Jesus’ authority to baptize their national identity in the name of the blood and of the soil and of the political order. The gospel is a means to no other end than union with the crucified and resurrected Christ who transcends, and stands in judgment over, every group, identity, nationality, and culture.
Pastoral Ministry
Beware the New Seeker Sensitivity by Trevin Wax (The Gospel Coalition)
If our message has become little more than “make the world a better place” by voting this way or that, Christian proclamation has become wildly misdirected, no matter how many doctrines we say we believe. Unless our focus is on God, who he is and what he has done, unless our message centers on Jesus as the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, unless our dependence is on the Spirit who sweeps through the sanctuary and does his work in the hearts of people, we lose the thrill of orthodoxy and become little more than an arm of a political movement. Beware the new seeker sensitivity.
Rollercoaster Ministry Isn’t Healthy by Al Gooderham (Al Gooderham)
But just be honest as we start. What keeps you going following Jesus? What keeps you going if you lead? And is that healthy or unhealthy? Where does your spiritual life and leadership resemble a rollercoaster? And finally where is your joy?
How a Lack of Trellis Undermines Ministry by Jonathan Rourke (9Marks)
Don’t let the vine determine the shape of the trellis. Build out biblically, then grow into it. Structure at the beginning will train the vine. The longest-lasting designs are simple and well-engineered. They started with an end in mind, and everything grows up into a unified whole.
Family & Parents
Before You Begin to Mother by Michele Morin (Desiring God)
Someday your family will be full grown, and you will want to have grown full of wisdom in your prayers for them and in your counsel to them. Your journey of faith will continue. I know this because I am still a work in progress today, still grace-dependent, and still sticking close to truth as the only safe home for my heart and mind.
The Most Dangerous Type of Christian Parenting by Aaron Earls (The Wardrobe Door)
When we are consistently concerned with their sanctification instead of our reputation, we will not raise “the perfect kids,” but we will raise children who have experienced and can recognize sacrificial love.
From YPT this week
Living with Biblical and Theological Humility by Alex Tufano
Christians are called to live with humility, but what does that look like in pastoral ministry? Here are four areas of biblical and theological humility to put into practice.