Friday Review (2/27/26)
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
Gen Z and the Search for Status, by Eddie LaRow (Mere Orthodoxy)
As America becomes a retirement community, Gen Z is seeking and finding wealth in other places. In other words, as material wealth becomes less and less attainable, young people are thrusting themselves more and more online in the hopes that they will achieve status. Like the robber barons of the gilded age, the modern social Gen Z elite swallows up digital followers through outrageous behavior and views.
Biblical & Theological Studies
The Lord’s Supper Is the Best Altar Call, by Cole Newton (B. C. Newton)
In the end, altar calls attempt to accomplish something that the ordinances already do. Christ has given His church two powerful, visible calls to repentance. We do not need to invent others.
Is the Gospel an Ideal?, by Michael Jensen (Lost Arts)
Once ‘the gospel’ has become a dream or an ideal or even a cause, it has become something other than itself – and it is lost, whatever apparent successes are achieved in its name.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
A Simple Way To Ensure You Use AI Well (And Not Poorly), by Tim Challies
In some ways, we will find that it can do these functions better than we can, or as well as we can, and society may give those uses the nod. But in the meantime, we owe it to others to be adamantly upright and forthright. Thus, to use AI well and not use it poorly, be sure to always disclose rather than cover up or deceive. Together we will figure this thing out.
How Is AI Shaping You? Three Principles for Wise Use, by Samuel James (Desiring God)
The New Testament warns against going down the path of too much theological speculation. There’s always a temptation to care more about what we can’t know than what we can. In this brief article, I want to offer a few diagnostic tests for thinking about, relating to, and using AI in a Christian way.
Pastoral Ministry
Be the Predictable Pastor, by Reuben Bredenhof (The Gospel Coalition Canada)
That is not the same as saying the pastor is boring or uninteresting or that he never does things on the spur of the moment. But it is saying that he is consistent. His ministry will be marked by a reliability that speaks of his deep devotion to Christ and to Christ’s flock.
5 Challenges of Pastoral Ministry: The Difference Between Struggling and Thriving, by Scott McConnell (Lifeway Research)
Lifeway Research has asked pastors many questions about what makes a difference in their well-being, and five challenges of ministry leadership emerge: burnout, family, conflict, mindset, and preparation. How a pastor navigates each of these zones can determine whether the pastor struggles or thrives.
A Practice for Pastoral Endurance, by Zach Cochran (For the Church)
To break this cycle, we must prioritize how we engage in disciplines that stir our affections for Christ. We need a framework that shifts our posture from giving God a status report to simply abiding in His presence.
Family & Parents
The Collapse of Parenting: Reclaiming Authority, by Walt Mueller (CPYU)
She jumped up and down, screamed her demands over and over, and eventually won-out as her parents caved and gave in. Her cuteness diminished quickly. And while she won the confrontation, she really was losing out.
Godly Motherhood and Pinterest Dreams: The Mom I Long to Be, by Haylee Williams (For the Church)
This fictitious mother of my Pinterest dreams represents all the things I am not. She represents one of the mothers I want to be. I’m drawn to the beauty of these photos depicting motherhood, but I stay for what I can see underneath. Even if it’s a facade, I still re-pin the mirage of mothers I long to emulate.
From YPT this week
ep.130: Getting Students to Engage and Love One Another
Mike and John tackle two listener-questions: How do we get students to engage when they’re “checked out”, and how do we get our students to go from “liking each other” to “loving each other” in Christ?
The Passover Lamb and Jesus, the Lamb of God, by Chandler Warren
Teaching students about the Passover lamb motif will shape their view of Christ’s work and lead them to behold the long-promised gospel.
