Friday Review (4/25/25)
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
Why We Doubt Everything, by Freya India (Girls)
It’s often said that my generation has lost faith. We are losing faith in God, losing faith in love, losing faith in the future. But I’m not sure that’s entirely true. Closer to the truth, I think, is we never learnt faith to begin with.
Preparing for (and Surviving!) the Summer in Youth Ministry, by Ryan Wood (Rooted)
I don’t want to dread the summer each year. Although the summer has several challenges, it also presents many opportunities to grow in relationships with students and disciple them. Here are a few suggestions to help you prepare for and use the summer months well, to the glory of God.
Biblical & Theological Studies
The Jurassic Park Principle of Christian Freedom, by Stephen Kneale (Building Jerusalem)
That is the principle that Paul cites long before that film was ever made: just because you can doesn’t mean that you should. This is the Jurassic Park principle of Christian freedom and Paul unpacks what it means for the Christian life.
Grimké’s Vital Appeal to the Doctrine of God’s Image in the Post-Civil War South, by Drew Martin (Crossway)
All human beings created in God’s image are worthy of dignity and respect. Believers in Christ not only share this image with all human beings, but as those redeemed in Christ they possess an additional unity that demands respect. The failure of the American church, and White Christians in particular, to celebrate and pursue the unity clearly taught by Jesus and all the Scriptures was legitimate grounds for righteous discontent.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
Snapchat is Harming Children at an Industrial Scale, by Jon Haidt and Zach Rausch (After Babel)
We think this compilation gives vital information to parents, who might want some insight into the business practices of a company that hosts their children’s social lives, owns much of their attention, and influences their social development.
Welcome to Metamodernity, by Patrick Miller and Paul Anleitner (Mere Orthodoxy)
By now it has become a cliche to note that we are living through a “vibe shift.” But it is a cliche because it has become so obvious that any halfway observant social commentator can’t miss it. The question is whether all these changes should be understood as a function of a single overriding change, or as disparate events representative of further cultural fragmentation.
Pastoral Ministry
Autism and the Church, by Jeremy Smith (Center for Faith & Culture)
Many of the challenges autistic persons face are embedded expectations within the church, which therefore requires the Christian to step out of the routine of the church to care for autistic persons.
Can I Pastor the Traumatized?, by Ed Welch (Desiring God)
How might pastors begin to care for Christians who have experienced real trauma? Trauma literature generally outlines four features of care: know the person, reclaim the body, retell the story, and offer help to live in the present. Pastors and other leaders in a church might usefully apply this framework in their own ministry to sufferers, even as they fill each step with Christ and his word.
Family & Parents
Explain Disabilities to Your Children, by Laura Wifler (The Gospel Coalition)
Thankfully, the Bible isn’t silent on this topic. Here are four theological truths I’ve shared with my children to help them understand God’s design in allowing one of their siblings to have disabilities.
Reading Through the Bible With Your Child, by Dave Hopping (Rooted)
It’s true there are some very uncomfortable things that come up as you read the Old Testament with a ten-year-old. The reality is that your child is going to be exposed to these things at some point, and what better way than in the context of the word of God?
From YPT this week
How to Lead a Book Club in Youth Ministry by Joseph Bradley
Reading and discussing good books with students can be a powerful experience. Here’s some counsel about how to start a book club in your ministry.