Friday Review (6/3/22)
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
Rooted Resources for Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Ministers and Students (Rooted)
In observance of AAPI Heritage month, we wanted to share just a few of the best resources we have on the Rooted blog for Asian American youth pastors and anyone ministering to AAPI students.
Ground Rules for Counseling Students by Tim and Tasha Levert (YouthMinistry.com)
Ministry is messy because people are broken. And counseling students is a by-product of healthy ministry. As you earn the trust of students and families who invite you into the sacred space of their mess, remember the above ground rules and offer care focused on long-term health.
Biblical & Theological Studies
9 Things You Should Know About Muhammad by A. S. Ibrahim (The Gospel Coalition)
[A]s more Muslims come to this country, I believe American Christians need to know more of what Muslims understand about their prophet. Here are nine things you should know about Muhammad.
Reformed Theology - In The Wake of Sexual Assault by Leah Boyd (Sassy Seminarian)
I believe that an acknowledgement and understanding of the workings of God’s justice, both spiritually and materially, provide an incredible opportunity for me to pray for real earthly justice and retribution to be done on my behalf, without diminishing the almost unfathomable offering of spiritual forgiveness for even my worst enemy.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
3 Ways to Engage LGBTQ+ Pride Month by Michael Horton (Core Christianity)
So instead of just rolling our eyes this Pride month, let’s use it as a springboard for loving outreach and hospitality, for self-examination, and for prayer that people we love will find, instead of pride in a way that leads to death, release from captivity.
Youth Workers, Parents, and Pride Month... by Walt Mueller (CPYU)
Parents and youth workers. . . study and teach God’s truth on sexuality and gender. You will have countless opportunities this month to lovingly and obediently lead kids into knowing and experiencing the kind of freedom and flourishing that comes with following God’s will and way. Don’t miss it!
Is the Church Ready for a Post-Roe America? by Tim Shorey (Gospel Centered Discipleship)
Let us redouble our loving efforts toward women who, for whatever reasons, will find themselves carrying a vastly disproportionate burden in a Roe-less world. And let us advocate for justice and love that applies social and legal consequences to men who use, abuse, and abandon. Church, let us rise up, let us care, and let us not leave women to bear the post-Roe burden alone.
The Uvalde School Shooting Sends Me to Matthew 18 by Isa Torres (Christianity Today)
Our nation now carries even more broken children. How will we Christians in the wider church embody our love of God in how we love all the little ones in our communities?
Pastoral Ministry
How to Save the American Church by Elliot Clark (The Gospel Coalition)
As we seek to be a community transformed by God’s Word, we should be willing to learn from one another. For those of us facing a future as cultural outsiders in the post-Christian West, perhaps believers with experience living as sojourners and strangers are the first ones we should listen to.
Four Ways to Love Your Lay Elders by Taylor Cain (9Marks)
These five men counsel our members, fill the pulpit, and make tough decisions—all while working 40 to 50 hours a week in their jobs. Here are four ways to care for lay pastors who go the extra mile for their flocks.
Family & Parents
When Violence Touches a Child’s Life by Julie Lowe (CCEF)
The threat of danger impacts our children on a regular basis... Regardless of where you live or how stable your family life is, the lives of kids and teens are being touched by violence to some degree, and we must help them make sense of it.
From YPT this week
Building a Discipleship Plan in Youth Ministry by Vince Greenwald
In this excerpt from episode 7 of the YPT Podcast, Vince Greenwald shares how the youth ministry at Immanuel Church in Nashville sought to build a discipleship plan that aligned with the whole church.
Funko Pop Discipleship by David Manuel Correa López
How can we avoid Funko Pop Discipleship, an approach to discipleship primarily oriented to our students’ heads?