Welcome to the Rooted Parent Top Ten, a curated list of resources from across the web that we believe will be helpful to parents raising teenagers. Here you’ll find articles, podcasts, and videos to support you in gospel- centered discipleship and interpreting youth culture. While most are gospel focused, others are included because they include a message of common grace. (The opinions presented in these articles do not necessarily reflect the position of Rooted Ministry.) At the end, you’ll find Rooted resources compiled from the last month’s new offerings. We hope this resource is helpful!
Gospel-Centered
Your Kids Need Real-World Experience by Keith Plummer, TGC. “Youth pastors and parents would benefit from considering how they can collaborate to create cultures that encourage more ‘real world’ activity. Doing so, however, will require a willingness to forego speed, convenience, and efficiency for greater goods. It will also require the courage to withstand social pressure, even from fellow believers.”
Melissa Kruger on Hopeful Parenting in a Secular Age (podcast) Gospelbound podcast with Collin Hansen and Melissa Kruger. “Melissa Kruger doesn’t promise that our kids will turn out OK. But her new book, Parenting with Hope: Raising Teens for Christ in a Secular Age (Harvest House), reflects so much of what I admire about her and her husband, Mike. She grounds us with hope in the gospel: we can trust God with our kids, that his purposes can never be thwarted.”
How Can the Church Help Families Touched by Autism? by Christine Gordon. “Families who have members with autism do have needs that the church can address. If you want to help your church, start by asking questions of those already in the pews. Find out what barriers exist that keep them from being a regular part of worship and other group meetings.”
7 Questions That Teens Need to Answer by Paul David Tripp, Crossway.org. “Since you will be asked to grapple with life-shaping issues in your teen years, you will need reliable, true, and trustworthy guidance. What will be your life GPS? Whose plan for life will you follow?”
Youth Culture
Sports Can Be a Touchdown for Faith. Beware of Encroachment by Justin Giboney, Christianity Today. “ I believe sports can be a helpful servant for Christians—and an awful master.”
An Update to The Anxious Generation with Jonathan Haidt (podcast) The Russell Moore Show, Christianity Today. “Haidt describes how religious communities are taking the lead in providing some protection from mental health problems. He and Moore discuss the ways that modern life lends itself to overprotecting our children in the real world and under-protecting them online. They talk about what childhood is, how it’s been rewired, and the subsequent impact on young people. They consider the unique traits of Generation Z, the power of religious communities, and why people of faith are statistically happier.”
Social Media Poisoning by Melissa, youmomhasablog.com. “If we aren’t careful, Christian women will wake up one day and realize that are worshipping at the altar that the advertisers built for us. What a cheap alternative to the kind of abundant life that Jesus talked about.”
Anxious Parents Are the Ones Who Need Help by Mathilde Ross, NYTimes. “I worry that the current obsession with mental health awareness is disempowering parents from helping their adult children handle ordinary things.”
Good Cop, Bad Cop in the Home by Ed Welch, CCEF. “ Wise parents prize unity in their marriages, and when they are at odds over how to parent, they are determined to pray and work through those differences rather than simply resign themselves to impasse and look for other ways to implement their ideas.”
Gen Z and the Draw to Serious Faith by Trevin Wax, TGC. Though this one is written mainly for church leaders, it’s well worth a read for parents, too. “What does a generation crippled by anxiety, given over to digital compulsions and performative impulses, broken by relational fallout due to the corrosive effects of diminishing moral boundaries—what does this generation need? A clear and compelling vision of morality, a serious faith that’s meaningful and rooted.”
On Rooted
Gospel Encouragement for the Parent of a Lonely Child by Danny Kwon
How a Heavenward Perspective Transforms Our Teens by Anna Meade Harris
A Resource for Teenagers About ‘Attraction, Identity, and Relationships’ by Rooted
How the Book of Daniel Helps Us Lead Our Children to Live Counterculturally by Jason Engle
Three Truths for Parents and Children in a Changing Cultural Climate by Joey Turner
Parents, Let’s Reframe the Sexuality Conversation by Jennifer Kvamme
Parenting Our Introverted Teenagers by Connie Leung Nelson
Join us in Dallas on October 24-26, for Rooted 2024, a gospel-centered conference for parents and youth ministers!
