Friday Review (1/7/21)
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
3 T's of Transitions by Riley Vandevoorde (Youth Specialties)
With the foreknowledge that transitions happen and are a part of life, how can we be prepared to weather these types of seasons?
When Being the King or Queen of Wing Is Not a Good Thing by Brian Berry (YouthWorker.com)
We don’t accidentally stumble into a great youth ministry that produces life-long disciples of Jesus. We aim for it with intentionality and planning.
Teaching Our Students the Promises of God by Skyler Flowers (Rooted)
…the promises of God are directly tied to who God is. To hold on to the promises of God in our lives is to hold on to his character. Therefore, a promise from God is surer than any sort of proof. Basing our decisions and futures on probabilities – even really good probabilities! – does not compare to the assurance of a promise from the God of the Universe.
Biblical/Theological Studies
How Do We Make Sense of the Book of Genesis? by Shara Drimalla (The Bible Project)
This book that perhaps once felt random or perplexing will start to show itself as carefully designed and purposefully organized literary art. These journeys will help us move through confusion and fear toward an understanding of God and his story with humanity that can ground our real lives. And it will help us see how the whole Bible is one unified story that leads to Jesus.
Cultural Reflection/Contextualization
How to Prepare for the Metaverse by Ian Harber and Patrick Miller (The Gospel Coalition)
Like every technological innovation, the metaverse will bring both opportunities and threats. But if we begin the hard work of discipleship today, we might find resilient disciples of Jesus faithfully leading on the edge of a new frontier, working for the flourishing of everyone — physically and virtually — with confident humility in the face of monumental change.
The Strange Case of Antonio Brown… by Walt Mueller (Center for Parent/Youth Understanding)
One has to wonder. . . based on what is now known, could CTE be a factor in the Antonio Brown story? Regardless of the reason, we cannot forget that Antonio Brown is a human being. . . a Divine-image-bearer. . . someone worthy of the utmost care and concern.
Pastoral Ministry
Confessing the Faith: The Place of Confessions in Church Life by Kai Soltau and Matthew Short (9 Marks)
Every local church ought to be a holy city on a hill, united with the saints across time and space, and grounded in the teaching of Christ and his apostles. Historic confessions, creeds, and catechisms ward off the gangrenes of undefined confessional identity, narrow biblicism, and chronological snobbery.
Family/Parents
Parents Set the Pace for Their Adult Children’s Religious Life by Christian Smith and Amy Adamczyk (Christianity Today)
Parents set a “glass ceiling” of religious commitment above which their children rarely rise. Parental religious investment and involvement is in almost all cases the necessary and even sometimes sufficient condition for children’s religious investment and involvement.
Why I Don't Have Family Devotionals by Sean McDowell (SeanMcDowell.org)
But we don’t have family devotions. Again, if they work for your family, go for it. Just don’t be led to believe that they are the primary ways that faith is handed down.
Other
4 Things Believers with Bipolar Disorder Want You to Know by Lieryn Barnett (The Gospel Coalition)
It’s difficult to know how to help or respond when you learn someone in your church family is suffering from bipolar, but a good place to start is striving to understand the struggle.
From YPT this week
The Two-Fold Gospel is Narrow and Broad by Mike McGarry
What is the gospel? The gospel is not merely an evangelism strategy for making new Christians. It is God’s story of salvation for sinners. Here’s what this means for the way we minister to students.
Faith is Not a Good Idea by Mike McGarry
It’s easy for students to grow up in church where the gospel becomes a good idea… but they never actually have faith. This is the kind of dead faith James warns us against.