Friday Review (5/3/24)

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

Finding a (Real) Christian College, by Jeffrey Bilbro (Christianity Today)

Moral therapeutic deism can be coded left or right politically, but its adherents still imagine God as an enhancement to their preexisting desires and aspirations. And the real tragedy is that insofar as they simply cater to the superficial desires of 18-year-olds, colleges fail to invite young people into the deeper joys and satisfactions of Christian formation, intellectual rigor, and disciplined work.

Why You Should Preach the Gospel to Teenagers From Every Passage of Scripture, by Seth Stewart (Rooted)

That’s why I’ve determined that every sermon or talk I give (from both the Old Testament and New) must announce the gospel: the good news of what Jesus has done for sinful, hard-hearted, and vulnerable people like us. If my students remember one thing about my time as their pastor, I hope it’s Jesus. But this isn’t just pastorally pragmatic or wise; it’s biblical. Here are four reasons why I believe the Bible calls us to preach Jesus from every passage of Scripture.

Biblical & Theological Studies

Answering Kids’ Hardest Questions: If God Speaks to Me, Why Can’t I Hear Him?, by Kristen Wetherell (Crossway)

If God speaks to me, then why can’t I hear him? This is a great question, and it’s a hard one for little ones to grasp—and even for us to grasp. We often ask, How can I hear from the Lord?

Three Key Questions to Ask Your Mormon Friends, by Seth Troutt (For the Church)

I want to fairly call balls and strikes. The LDS church gets a lot right, but the most important things it gets wrong. Here are my three go-to questions that get to the heart of our most important differences.

Cultural Reflection & Contextualization

The Parable of Kanye West, by Samuel D. James (Digital Liturgies)

A question is bothering me. Is Kanye West’s professed conversion to Christianity thrown into more doubt by his brazen antisemitism a couple of years ago, or by his recent announcement of his own “adult film” company? I am forced to admit that, for me personally, it was probably the latter. I doubt I’m alone.

YOLO Is the New Epicureanism, by Cameron Cole (Crossway)

Depending on your disposition, you may either pump your fist with enthusiasm or roll your eyes at these two trite slogans. Their overuse has solidified their place in the American vernacular. While these expressions carry lighthearted, nonserious connotations, they do capture a core belief underlying modern culture and a source of much human dissatisfaction.

Pastoral Ministry

A Quick-Start Guide for Church Revitalization, by Jake Wright (9Marks)

How do you shepherd a flock to healthier pastures when the sheep aren’t yet convinced that the grass is greener on the other side? Some answers are obvious: we must walk faithfully with the Lord and patiently love the flock. Okay, but what else? Here are some practices and principles that pastors in the midst of revitalization should implement on day one.

Church Shopping, Hopping, and Should It Be Stopping?, by Henry Anderson (The Cripplegate)

Contrary to how some view the church today, leaving a local church is no small matter. It’s a family where you’ve invested in others and others have invested in you. It’s a community united to Jesus Christ, gifted in a manifold of different ways for service, for the purpose of displaying Christ to others and becoming more like Him (cf. 1 Cor 12).

Family & Parents

Are Parents to Blame for Prodigals?, by John Piper (Desiring God)

Be radically consistent and authentic in your own faith — not just in behavior, but in affections. Kids need to see how precious Jesus is to Mom and Dad, not just how he is obeyed, or how they get to church, or how they read devotions, or how they do duty. They need to see the joy and the satisfaction in Mom’s and Dad’s heart that Jesus is the greatest friend in the world.

From Rumination to Repentance: Parenting With Our Minds Set on the Spirit, by Anna Meade Harris (Rooted)

When my children were small, their problems demanded immediate attention (clean the spilled milk, bandage the skinned knee), and I was easily diverted from needless fretting back into the present moment. But as my kids have grown older and need me less, my tendency to rehash old concerns or to dwell on troubling new ones has caused much anxious churning in my one human stomach. When I get stuck in a mental spin cycle, I am far less available to offer my children the  life-giving, God-honoring support a parent wants to give.

From YPT this week

A Summary of The State of Theology: What do GenZ’s Christians Believe? by Mike McGarry

What does The State of Theology report tell us about the need for ongoing theological education in our churches?

YPT Podcast ep.69: Contextualization in Youth Ministry with Mike Dicker

Good and faithful youth ministry can look very different from context to context. How do we discern appropriate ways to accommodate to a culture in order to make disciples?

God’s Omnipresence is Good News for Teenagers by Linda Oliver

We might believe God is omnipresent, but what difference does that really make for teenagers who are discovering how to life for Christ?