Friday Review (2/9/24)
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
How to Hold a Mission Trip Info Meeting for Parents, by Kyle Bjerga (Rooted)
You have spent countless hours researching mission partners, locations, service opportunities, fundraising, and travel arrangements, and you finally feel like you have the perfect mission trip for your students. From your perspective, it’s a trip that will benefit your partners, while providing appropriate challenges for teenagers to step out of their comfort zone in sharing the gospel. What could go wrong?
Biblical & Theological Studies
Your Body Is Not the Temple, But THE Body Is, by Nicholas G. Piotrowski and Ryan Johnson (9Marks)
The trouble is that the Bible consistently speaks of one temple for the one God. So if each Christian’s individual body were a temple in and of itself, then that would mean God has millions of isolated temples all over the world. There is a bit of a theological problem with this.
Should Christians Be “Welcoming and Affirming”?, by Ken Keathley (Center for Faith & Culture)
Just like “nice and warm,” or “sick and tired,” the two words “welcoming and affirming” are used together express a single concept. In doing so, many advocates emphasize that Christians are not truly welcoming unless they are also affirming.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
Unpacking “Look inside Yourself”, by Brian S. Rosner (Crossway)
One of Jesus’s favorite sayings, appearing in all four Gospels, strikes at the heart of the other assumption: “Whoever finds themselves will lose themselves, but whoever loses themselves for my sake will find themselves” (Matt. 10:39; my own translation). Jesus insists that to find yourself, your true and lasting identity, you need to relinquish the quest for self-assertion.
The MrBeast Within, by Izaac Cowling (The Gospel Coalition Australia)
And even if we aren’t greedy for wealth, how many Christians watching MrBeast are greedy for his kind of platform—wishing they too were famous YouTubers known for being fun and generous, even though this would entail performing for the praises of people in the exact way Jesus warns against?
Throw-Away Culture is the Spirit of the Sexual Revolution, Too., by Samuel D. James (Digital Liturgies)
A person who interprets their sexual desires to be some sort of immovable identity that must be verified and actualized is in a very lamentable state. But what about the person who interprets their quick temper, their suspicion of other Christians, and their desire to build a platform atop the ruins of others’, as likewise an immovable identity— “I just know what time it is”? Theirs is hardly better. The Christian life doesn’t work like that.
As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do, by Pamela Paul (New York Times)
Of the dozens of students she’s trained as psychologists, Edwards-Leeper said, few still seem to be providing gender-related care. While her students have left the field for various reasons, “some have told me that they didn’t feel they could continue because of the pushback, the accusations of being transphobic, from being pro-assessment and wanting a more thorough process,” she said.
Pastoral Ministry
Are Christians Too Busy for Discipleship Community?, from Barna
Barna’s findings suggest the decisive factor is not who has the hours in the day, but who is willing to creatively commit from the hours they do have to growing in their faith and becoming qualified or equipped to help others grow, too.
Addressing Nonbelievers in Corporate Worship, by Jamie Southcombie (9Marks)
The key to staying on the horse is to find the right kind of balance between these two approaches. The primary goal of our gatherings should be to edify the saints through the Word. And yet, we should also regularly speak to the non-Christians in our midst. If we commit to this, then our assemblies will mirror the gospel itself, which both gathers in and edifies and scatters us to proclaim.
Family & Parents
The Parenting Book Too Few Parents Read, by Tim Challies
And my encouragement to young parents today is to do the same. Don’t neglect the “books” made up of human lives in favor of books made up of mere paper. Let the people in your life and church be the main thing and let the paperbacks be supplemental.
How Can I Connect With My Distant Child? (Ask Rooted), from Rooted
So we asked our Rooted parent writers: how do you connect with a teenager who is pulling away? What are some things you can do to “grease the wheels” so that conversation might eventually become a little easier? We hope their answers will help you connect a little more easily with that reluctant-to-share child you love so much.
From YPT this week
YPT Podcast Episode 57: More to the Story with Jennifer Kvamme
Jennifer Kvamme’s new book, More to the Story, invites teenagers to discover the goodness of the Bible’s teaching on sexuality.
Should Churches Shift From Youth Ministry to Family Ministry?, by Mike McGarry
Should churches shift from youth ministry to family ministry in order to prioritize the importance of partnering with parents?