Friday Review (4/13/23)

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

Youth Pastors Ditch Gross-Out Games and Help Student Ministry Grow Up, by Ericka Andersen (Christianity Today) 

Churches picked up on the draw of YFC’s youth rallies and adopted their own versions. But as culture shifted toward mass media and entertainment, youth group culture became defined by amusement-focused methods like eating challenges, trust falls, Christian ska music, and end times fiction. Simultaneously, youth were slowly carved out of the local church’s family-focused approach and separated in ways that would not bode well for them. Today, youth ministries are seeking to remedy that.

Biblical & Theological Studies

3 Things You Should Know about John’s Gospel, by Mark Johnston (Ligonier)

When we come to the gospel according to John, it is immediately apparent that, although it deals with the same subject matter, it has a distinctive angle. Instead of providing a synopsis of Christ’s life and work, it provides a selective overview highlighting the defining elements of who Jesus is and what sets Him apart as the only One who can rightly be acknowledged as “the Christ.”... This leads us into three features of John’s gospel that highlight its importance.

6 Steps for Biblical Word Studies, by Davy Ellison (The Gospel Coalition)

Conducting a word study is many people’s first foray into deeper Bible study. You might do a word study when teaching the Bible, preparing for a small group, or reading for personal edification. Word studies can easily go awry, so here are six steps to help you conduct a word study with greater confidence.
(A companion piece also worth reading is linked in the introductory paragraph)

The Goal Is Knowledgeable Love, by Justin Huffman

Is your relationship with God a healthy one? With your fellow church members? With your family? You cannot love them well if you don’t know them well. Yet all the knowledge in the world is useless if it is not accompanied with love.

Cultural Reflection & Contextualization

No Mindful Matter: The Explanatory Failure of Scientific Materialism, by Melissa Cain Travis (Christian Research Institute)

This is the classical Christian view of human persons, and it is still respectably defended in contemporary academic philosophy. Since the soul hypothesis and a materialist understanding of human persons are empirically equivalent hypotheses with respect to the neuroscientific data, there is no reason, other than a philosophical precommitment, to prefer the latter, and excellent reasons to prefer the former. On yet another score, the scientific materialist manifesto fails to provide good explanations for things we simply cannot do without.

A Sexular Society, by Mark Loughridge (Gentle Reformation)

We used to live in a religious world, where your religious belief defined who you were—it was where you got your identity from. Religion flavoured every aspect of life from the cradle to the grave, taking in education, community, family, even work. But things have changed, now we live in a secular world—one, in a sense, stripped of religious input.

Pastoral Ministry

3 Stages of a Pastor’s Life, by Mike Minter (The Gospel Coalition)

So how do you know if you’re running well—or even in the right direction? It may look different depending on how far along you are in your pastoral course. But whether you’re just starting out or the finish line is in sight, it’s always a good time to assess how you’re doing. And it’s never too late to pick up the pace.

Where Did All This Expository Preaching Come From?, by Tim Challies

There’s no doubt that, at least within Reformed churches, this is an age of expository preaching—of preaching sequentially through books of the Bible while always ensuring that the point of the text is the point of the sermon. Yet you do not need to look far into history to find that it was not always so and that in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries such preaching was rare. I was intrigued by Bob Fyall’s explanation of how expository preaching became not only accepted but expected.

Family & Parents

Snacking On God’s Word With Our Kids: Ways to Supplement What They Learn In Church, by Melissa Powell (Rooted)

Participation in our local church, through weekly worship, Sunday school, youth group and/or small groups provides essential and irreplaceable spiritual meals God has given to his church. As a parent, though, I can also provide spiritual “snacks” on God’s word throughout the week to supplement the meals of Bible study and worship we enjoy with our church community.

Choosing the Right College: A Guide for Christian Parents, by Thomas Kidd (The Gospel Coalition)

In summary, there are a ton of factors to consider when choosing a college – or another post-high school option. As with all such decisions, much prayer is needed! Take the time to think through all the factors.

From YPT this week

Young Ethnic Minorities Need to Know Their Cultural Identities Matter, by Michelle Ami Reyes

The latest Springtide Research Institute report, Navigating Injustice, offers helpful counsel to youth workers who want to cultivate a ministry where students’ ethnic identities are seen and affirmed. If we want to disciple the whole person, this will involve conversations about our racial backgrounds. 

YPT Podcast Episode 33: Discipleship as Alignment with Jason Engle

Every youth pastor theologian wants to make lifelong disciples. We know that’s the mission. But how do we plan our ministry with the end in mind while avoiding the temptations of pragmatism and information-transfer?  

The Death of Calvary, by Joseph Bradley

A stirring gospel-poem about the unlikely Lamb who reigns.