Friday Review (5/10/23)
Editor’s Note: Today marks YPT’s third birthday! It’s been a true blessing to serve youth workers and to advocate for theological renewal in youth ministry. YPT is grateful for the Lord’s provision through generous givers like you. There are a few potential projects in development behind the scenes that require increased funding for YPT’s ministry to develop. Would you pray about joining our team of monthly partners who are making a real impact for youth workers around the world? Learn more about giving here.
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
Summer Break and the Challenge of Home, by Jerry Riendeau (The Gospel Coalition)
As I’ve talked with students over the years, I’ve realized my experience isn’t unique. For many, going home over breaks can be challenging. If you’re a student about to head back home for the summer, here are four ways to help you face the difficulties.
Leading Evangelism Training for Teenagers and Youth Leaders, by Elliot Weston (Rooted)
But before we launch our service efforts with students, we need to thoughtfully equip them to serve God as missionaries whether at home or far from home. Here are four steps toward helping your students learn to share the gospel with others.
Biblical & Theological Studies
A response to Dr. John MacArthur’s statement on mental health, by Adam O’Neill (Faith & Medicine Foundation)
To be clear, this article is not an attack on the person or character of Dr. MacArthur, a Christian brother for whom I have much respect and who has been a bulwark of solid reformed theology for many decades. Nevertheless, there are several things within the statement that, as a professional working in Christian psychiatry I would like to address:
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
There's Really No Good Reason to Use TikTok, by Samuel D. James (Digital Liturgies)
Rather, I think TikTok simply lacks any merit as a platform and is only useful in the sense that it is passively entertaining. This is also how I would describe things like soap operas, professional wrestling, and the national hot dog eating contest. The difference, though, between TikTok and those things, is that TikTok is 1) addictive, 2) actively corrosive to thinking, and 3) marketed to and consumed by an enormous number of children.
Make the Internet Modest Again, by Hannah Anderson (Christianity Today)
As blogs gave way to social media, content became both more staged and, ironically, more intimate. Instead of writing from the kitchen table, influencers go live from their kitchens, bathrooms, and bedrooms. Nothing is off-limits. Audiences are invited to ride the dramatic arc of personal relationship, sexual experience, and religious doubt. Together, we celebrate milestones in the lives of children we don’t even know.
The Growing Boredom Toward Movies, by John Perritt (Family Movie Night)
With all the benefits of smartphones, one detriment has been the toll it has taken on our attention spans. For the sake of this discussion, one movie on one screen isn’t enough to capture our attention any more. We need a hand-held screen - smartphone, tablet, laptop - while another screen displays the movie.
Pastoral Ministry
Slouching Towards Saul When Selecting Leaders, by Dave Harvey
Like Samuel, pastors and planters—even parents—are responsible to identify potential in individuals and prosper that potential. That means selecting and raising up new leaders. How do we identify and prosper God-given leadership potential? What can we learn from Samuel’s leadership?
How Much Should Churches Pay Their Pastors?, by Ben Jolliffe (The Gospel Coalition Canada)
Still, many churches struggle to land on a salary. Let me suggest, based on my experience setting salaries for church planters in the PCA, a few criteria that a church could use when determining a salary. I propose that an elder board or search committee triangulate the following three numbers to come up with a reasonable salary.
Family & Parents
You Can’t Outsmart Smartphones with Teenagers, by Patrick Miller (Endeavor)
The problem with so many of the strategies we use to limit the negative effects (e.g., massive increases in anxiety, depression, suicidality, sleeplessness, loneliness) of social media and smartphones on teenagers is that they ignore the structure of the medium.
How Can I Be a Godly Mom?, by Emily Van Dixhoorn (Ligonier)
In all my reading about discipline, schedules and developmental stages, he pointed this new mom to what mattered most: love (1 Cor. 13:1). Over the decades, I have come to appreciate the wisdom of his advice. While keeping love at forefront, I offer moms twelve biblical principles on holiness.
From YPT this week
YPT Podcast 70: Youth Ministry and Apologetics in Africa with Kevin Muriithi
What can Western youth workers learn from African youth leaders and pastors?
The Holiness of God is Good News for Teenagers by Kyle Kennicott
How do we teach the holiness of God to teenagers, and what difference does that make for their faith development?