Friday Review (6/27/25)

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

Student Pastors Face Unique Ministry Insecurities by Aaron Earls (Lifeway Research)

As student ministry leaders serve in such a pivotal role in churches, senior leadership should work with them to address any insecurities as much as possible. Churches may not be able to solve all the issues, but just as student ministers must work to establish clear communication with parents, churches can ensure they communicate effectively with their student ministry leaders.

Dear Bi-vocational Youth Minister, Your Labor is Not in Vain, by James Powell (Rooted)

If you are a bi-vocational minister to youth, sharing with students both the gospel of God and also your very self (1 Thess. 2.8), I want to encourage you in a fundamental reality of your calling: it is your life. You are nothing close to a part-time servant of God, even if you have a part-time employment arrangement with a local church.

Biblical & Theological Studies

Honoring God With Your Body: More Than a Health Goal, by Staci Eastin

Losing weight and exercise are good things to do, but when my motivation is only to look good to others, I need to examine my heart before I worry about the size of my hips. Food is a gift from God that we are to enjoy and receive with thanksgiving. But when I reach for the chips out of boredom or exhaustion, I am seeking something from food that it wasn’t designed to provide.

Cultural Reflection & Contextualization

AI and the Threat of Mutually Assured Boredom, by Trevin Wax (The Gospel Coalition)

What captures my attention is a deeper anthropological question: not “What will AI do?” but “What will AI do to us?” In asking that second question, I’m not picturing Terminator-style battles with hostile robots. Instead, I’m wondering about the subtle effects of AI on our humanity.

More Barbaric than the Incas, by Jonathan Van Maren (World Magazine)

The Incas and other Mesoamericans sacrificed human beings to their gods because they believed that children were the most valuable sacrifice they could make. Every day across the post-Christian West, we kill our children with pills, forceps, and suction aspirators as if they mean nothing at all.

Pastoral Ministry

If Aslan is Shaking His Mane Again, Why Not Enjoy the Feast?, by Stephen McAlpine

Don’t let a shrivelled imagination, or a shrivelled hope, stop you from enjoying the newly invited guests to the feast. Make sure there is room at the table for even the one or two that land at your doorstep. And even after that, go find and put out a few extra chairs around that table just in case that one or two ends up a small tribe.

Five Questions for Preachers, by Ryan Van Der Avoort (The Gospel Coalition Africa)

So it is right that preachers weigh up how they are preaching as they develop in their discharging of this privileged responsibility. One of the ways I have found helpful to do that is by setting an aim for expository preaching that encompasses at least these five things: contextual, clear, concrete, compelling and Christocentric.

Family & Parents

The Sandwich Generation, by Tessa Lind (Pursuing Perfection)

I guess that’s why they call us the ‘Sandwich Generation’. We are still parenting young-adult children, while at the same time attempting to gracefully maneuver through the aging years of our parents with honor.

Dumb Dads: 3 Ways The Stereotype Is Harming The Archetype, by Chloe Ann (The Radical Reader)

In light of Father’s Day just a few days ago, I wanted to touch on the subject of fatherhood in fiction and how we should fight to read stories that present dads as being humble, strong in character and resolve, courageous, loving, and sacrificial.

Remote Work Is Pro-Family, by Mike Woundy (Center for Faith & Culture)

We are present somewhere; would you rather be present with your coworkers or your family? Is it more important to be able to talk face-to-face with your teammates or your spouse? Is it more important to spend your breaks networking or playing with your kids?

From YPT this week

ep.108: The Image of God and Youth Ministry, a preview of Mike's new book

This episode stresses the importance of the doctrine of the image of God, and is a preview of Mike’s forthcoming book, Iconic: Being God’s Image in Your World.

Crafting a Strategic Plan in Youth Ministry by Nick Hartman

Is your teaching disconnected from the rest of your ministry? Here are a few ways to pursue a more integrated ministry strategy.