Friday Review (9/13/24)
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
The Duty and Delight of Partnering with Parents in Youth Ministry, by Huey Lee (Rooted)
As a pastor, my compassion and empathy grows for all parents desiring what I desire for my own children. Knowing what I know and feeling what I feel as a parent, I want to do what I can to stand in the gap between parents and their children so that together they can move towards one another in love and in truth. Whether or not you are a parent yourself, I want to encourage you to see partnering with parents in your youth ministry as both a biblical duty and a delight.
4 Common Questions Youth Leaders Ask About Recruiting and Equipping Volunteers, by Chuck Hunt (Fuller Youth Institute)
The Hartford Institute for Religion has found that there’s been a drastic decrease in the percentage of congregation members volunteering since the pandemic. However, there’s good news: the same report finds that the recent trend “shows a significant recovery.” With hope on the horizon, many youth leaders are asking how to equip their volunteers to disciple teens effectively.
Biblical & Theological Studies
9 Myths About Hell, by Sam Storms (Desiring God)
In a short article today at the blogsite of Crossway, my friend Tom Schreiner posted a few brief comments about the nature and reality of hell. I thought it would be good to follow up on this by reminding us all of several misconceptions or myths about the nature of hell.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
The Allure and Danger of WitchTok, from Growing Young Disciples
In a world where spirituality is increasingly explored online, TikTok has become a major platform for spiritual discovery among young people.
iThink Therefore iAm, by Brad Littlejohn (American Compass)
Our age-old striving to “be as God” has never seemed more achievable than in the age of the iPhone and its accompanying social media ecosystem, which promises not only to put the world at our fingertips, but also to remake our sociality and liberate us from the constraints of time and place. The digitization of our lives is transforming human existence in ways incompatible with conservative conceptions of flourishing.
Pastoral Ministry
Pastoring, Productivity, and Priorities, by David Kaywood (Pastors & Productivity)
To make this more concrete, however, as I write with adult teaching pastors in mind, I offer a suggestive list of pastoral priorities. This following list doesn’t mean these tasks are the only things to be done in ministry, but the most important ones. The point is not to get you to agree with the list, per se, but to challenge you to shape your schedule around biblical priorities.
Why Church Membership Matters, by Alistair Begg (Truth For Life)
Many well-meaning Christians attend a church without ever joining that church in membership. For many, this pattern probably finds its genesis in the expressive individualism rampant in our culture. But the notion that a local church is merely a gathering to attend rather than a body to join is foreign to the New Testament. It indicates a biblically inadequate view of the church.
Family & Parents
Are Christian Parents Too Protective of Their Children?, by Michael J. Kruger (The Gospel Coalition)
As nervous Christian parents, we sometimes think our number one job is to make sure our kids are never exposed to any non-Christian thinking. We may be tempted to place them inside a sanitized theological bubble, safe from all forms of intellectual contamination. But, as for germ-conscious parents, this may not be accomplishing what we think.
Walking Our Wives through the Valley of Miscarriage: An Encouragement to Husbands, by Ben Francis (Shepherding Thoughts)
If you are reading this article as a husband of a wife who has lost a child in the womb, my aim is to encourage you: Sit with your wife in the grief; comfort her with hope; entrust her to the Lord.
4 Issues Your Children Are Facing That You Never Had To, by Andrew T. Walker and Christian Walker (Crossway)
Parenting in today’s culture can make you feel like you’re in a boat headed out into uncharted waters. The good news is that even though the culture may throw new challenges in the face of Christian parents, we believe that Scripture speaks a better, inspired, and authoritative word in which to anchor our parenting.
From YPT this week
Teaching the Broader Gospel: The Fall by David Manuel Correa
A right understanding of sin and its effects is essential to understanding the broader gospel. I want to propose that youth leaders recover a more comprehensive view of sin.