Friday Review (11/10/23)
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
How to Feed Gen Z’s Hunger for Jesus, by Kyle Richter and Patrick Miller (The Gospel Coalition)
Our awareness of these generational hungers led us to recalibrate how we evangelize and disciple Gen Z. While those efforts cannot entirely account for the spiritual renewal we’re seeing—that’s God’s work, after all—we want to suggest five ministry practices that can help churches and college ministries reach America’s second-youngest generation.
Social Media: Four Considerations From a Youth Pastor to Parents, by Ryan Oakes (Rooted)
The reality is, it’s better for teens to learn to make their own decisions and mistakes within the confines and safety of their own home, before they grow up and are on their own. Social media affects young people in serious ways; however, as with anything else, we mustn’t treat the symptoms. The root of the problem isn’t giving your kid access to social media as much as it is giving your kid access to social media without education, discipleship, or accountability.
Biblical & Theological Studies
What Evangelism Is & Why 3 Laws Are Better Than 4, by Sean McGever (Logos)
Bill Bright’s Four Spiritual Laws is one of the most cherished evangelistic tools in modern memory, but I’d like to talk about what I consider to be a better evangelistic approach available: we might call them the Three Laws of Evangelism for the Care of Souls.
Why Do We Get Baptized One Time but Take Communion Many Times?, by Kevin P. Emmert (Crossway)
Many Christians today have a weak understanding of the sacraments (also often called ordinances) and what they accomplish in the lives of believers. We know they are important because Jesus commanded that we observe them, but we are largely unaware of their purpose and power.
Christianity and Functional Liberalism (Or How Evangelicalism Denies the Faith), by Bryan Laughlin and Doug Ponder (Sola Ecclesia)
The problem we face today is of a slightly different sort. If liberalism entailed an overt denial of core Christian doctrines, the essence of functional liberalism is consent to doctrinal confessions on paper while subverting them in practice—whether by downplaying their significance, reinterpreting their meaning, or rejecting the logical implications.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
How the Customer Review Changed the World, by Samuel D. James (Digital Liturgies)
Of all the web’s achievements, one of its greatest is surely the sheer freedom of access to information it has given to billions of people around the world who would probably otherwise have never come near it. From my home office in south Louisville, Kentucky, I can gaze at ancient treasures of art and writing housed in the most elite museums around the world.
Critical Grace Theory, by Carl Trueman (First Things)
I may be naive to imagine that an appreciation of the theological resources available to those who wish to hone their analysis of society might move the current discussions forward—given that so many presume that race, class, gender, sexual identity, and the rest exhaust our critical tools. But Christians, at least, should acknowledge Isaiah and Paul as more fruitful interlocutors than Derrick Bell and Kimberlé Crenshaw.
Pastoral Ministry
Six Marks of a Good Sermon, by Nick Gardner (9Marks)
How does a preacher know if he’s preaching good sermons? There are several ways that question could be answered: What is the fruit? How does the congregation respond? How clear is his teaching? Most importantly, how closely does his message line up with the passage? To answer this question, I would like to go back in time, 375 years ago to the Westminster Assembly.
A Crucial Reminder for ‘Double Listening’ by Trevin Wax (The Gospel Coalition)
One of my heroes in the faith, John Stott, made popular the idea of “double listening.” What we need, he claimed, is a Christian mind that’s “shaped by the truths of historic, biblical Christianity and also fully immersed in the realities of the contemporary world.” Stott framed this call for double listening within the context of a “double refusal.”
Family & Parents
When My Teenager Doesn’t Like Church, by Connie Nelson (Rooted)
So parents of “I don’t like church” kids, let’s remember that in our Father’s world, blindness precedes sight for those he loves. As we rest in the comforting knowledge that Jesus did not stop at any length to redeem sinners, we can continue to train up our children to repent and trust Jesus by his power and in his time.
From YPT this week
YPT Podcast Episode 49: Leading a Faithful Children’s Ministry with Sam Luce
Youth workers and children's ministry often fail to have intentional collaboration and transitions. How can we correct that as we work together to serve families?
Thanksgiving is More Than an “Attitude of Gratitude” by Jason Engle
How can youth workers lead students beyond an “attitude of gratitude” this Thanksgiving, and prompt them to recalibrate their thankfulness around the eternal promises of God?