Friday Review (12/27/24)
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
From Routine to Resilience, by Tim Wadsworth (Download Youth Ministry)
Lean into the “hard” and ask God what He’s doing. Don’t miss the opportunity quietly brewing in your midst. Don’t miss the opportunity to fail or grow in ways you didn’t think possible. Hardship can bring incredible opportunities.
Biblical & Theological Studies
What Did Mary Know? Maybe More Than You Know, by M. R. Conrad (Rooted Thinking)
What did Mary know? Maybe more than most of us. But it need not stay that way. Let Mary inspire you to know God and His Word better.
Hospitality: The Forgotten Qualification, by Matt Foreman (Reformation21)
Why is “hospitality” uniquely important for elders? Why is it such an important supplemental to the ministry of the word?
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
Chatbots Aren’t a Solution to Our Loneliness Epidemic, by Alan Noble (The Gospel Coalition)
Whether people obsessively chat with their favorite characters from a book or characters of their own invention, the potential to create deep emotional bonds with chatbots reveals something about our social maladies and our need for deep, embodied relationships. Even more, it says something about the crisis of meaning in our time—our desire for something true and good that can bring order and significance to our lives.
Christmas Used to Be Perfect (Then I Grew Up), by Heidi Tai (Letters from Heidi)
My Christmases, though still delightful, began to groan—with regret, guilt, and the grief of barren waiting. While the carols called me to rejoice, Christmas began to feel choked out by consumerism, end-of-year calendar chaos, and being forced to confront the deepest corners of my heart.
How (Not) to Use AI: Three Principles, by Jonathan Threlfall
These convictions undergird three principles I seek to adopt for myself regarding my use of AI: (1) the responsibility principle, (2) the human development principle, and (3) the truth and honesty principle.
Pastoral Ministry
It's a Wonderful Strife, by Joshua Budimlic (Iotas in Eternity)
Shaping rock, shaping students; I'd be hard-pressed to say which is more difficult. Rock is less resistant to change and fights back far less often, but again, it's just rock in the end. Students, while tough as granite at times, are well worth the effort - well worth the strife.
Am I Overusing Bible Commentaries?, by John Piper (Desiring God)
Second-handers are like ambassadors of a king who are never sure what he says. They’re never able to say, “Thus saith the sovereign king . . .” Instead, they’re always saying, “Well, my commentary says that the king says . . .” That’s a second-hander.
Family & Parents
How To Talk With Kids About Jesus, by Jennifer Defrates (Cross Examined)
Today, children are confronted with atheist perspectives at younger and younger ages. In an information age, we must contend for the faith of our children in new ways. Holding fast to the accuracy and inerrancy of the Bible isn’t as simple as because I said so anymore.
Children Don’t Need Perfect Parents, by Juan Sanchez (New Growth Press)
In a sense, parents need to model their entire life lived in dependence upon God and his word before their children. We need to show them how we need God’s grace and the Spirit’s help to obey God. We need to show them how to confess sin and ask for forgiveness.
From YPT this week
Heroes of Christmas: The Angels by Jason Engle
Don’t overlook these heavenly messengers this Christmas season. Lean in to listen as they reveal the wonder of God’s unfolding plan.