Friday Review (1/30/26)
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
Give Your Middle Schoolers More Credit, by Jennifer Kvamme (EFCA Blog)
More than simply teaching them to study God’s Word, though, I wanted them to learn to love it. To hunger for it. To see its beauty and its importance, to find it sweeter than honey and sharper than a double-edged sword, to walk in its light. To meet God in its pages.
Mission Trips for Teens (Top 5 Organizations), by Doug Franklin (Leader Treks)
Choosing mission trips for teens can be a daunting task. With so many great and unique organizations to research and choose from, finding the right trip can easily become an overwhelming, high-pressure experience. Here’s our take on why the right partner organization makes all the difference and our recommendations for the Top 5 Organizations for teen mission trips.
Teaching Biblical Community In Youth Group, by Kendal Conner (Rooted)
I learned the hard way that the longing my students had for community would never come through friendship alone. The reality is that our students do not simply want community; they need it. Yet they don’t need our manufactured versions. Our students need the community of the church the way God created it.
Biblical & Theological Studies
How the Creed, Lord's Prayer, and Ten Commandments Ground Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, by Hayden Nesbit (Mere Orthodoxy)
The Creed, the Prayer, and the Commandments are not spiritual techniques to implement or courses to be pounded out and checked off of a discipleship curriculum; they are entry points into the ongoing areas we need nurturing––Christian doctrine, Christian experience, and Christian ethics.
A Theology of Body Image: Stewarding the Body God Gave Me, by Haylee Williams (For the Church)
But I am a Christian. I believe God’s Word is true. Every worldly idea about how I should feel about my body—positive or negative—comes under His scrutiny. Here are four foundational points to start building a theology of body image.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
An UnChristian Response To The Fall Of Our Enemies, by Jacob Crouch (Aliens and Pilgrims)
Men and women are glad to see people die, so long as it’s people they disagree with. I have seen churches invaded and disrupted in the name of Christ. This is something to be expected from the world that lacks the Spirit of God, but not Christians.
What Happens When You Look Away from the Minneapolis Shootings, by Russell Moore
If the universe is meaningless and good and evil are just categories of power or distinctions between friend and enemy, that’s one thing. But if there is an all-seeing God and Jesus is alive, then the judgment seat is quite different from public opinion. You cannot hide a hardened heart behind the fact that you weren’t the one pulling the trigger.
Pastoral Ministry
The Art of Clear Teaching and Preaching, by Murray Capill (The Gospel Coalition Australia)
It is worth working hard at being clear and simple, without being simplistic. It will take time and effort, and it might mean sacrificing your pride. But it is one of the best ways to love and serve the people God has given you to speak to.
The Regulative Principle of Worship, by Mitch Chase (Biblical Theology)
The RPW is different from the Normative Principle of Worship, which teaches that whatever isn’t prohibited in Scripture is permissible for God’s people. The RPW and NPW can be compared like this:
Family & Parents
Five Essential Gifts to Give Your Kids: Your Prioritization of Their Discipleship, by Jonathan L. Shirk (Gentle Reformation)
Our planners, cars, bank accounts, phones, and homes showcase what we think is best for our children. And for many parents, including many who claim that God is foremost for their families, discipling their kids is secondary.
A Homeschool Parent’s Battle Plan, by Greg Stier
Homeschooling is not a retreat from culture. It’s a training ground. Here’s your battle plan for raising bold, Gospel Advancing world changers.
From YPT this week
126: Should We Practice Communion & Baptism at Youth Group?
John and Mike tackle a controversial topic about whether we should observe the ordinances of communion and baptism in youth ministry contexts, or only with the whole church.
Equipping Teenagers to Share the Gospel, by Aaron Swain
If you’re a student pastor hoping to help your teens share the gospel with their friends, here are a few tips that might help.
