Welcome to Rooted’s Top Ten, a curated reading list for youth ministers. Each month we find ten articles, and sometimes videos or podcasts, from various sources that we believe will encourage you in your ministry to teenagers and their families. Some give explicit instruction on gospel-centered ministry, while others are included because there is a message of common grace that is helpful to youth workers. (The opinions presented in these articles do not necessarily reflect the position of Rooted.) For more articles to share with the parents in your ministry, make sure to check out our Parent Top Ten, which runs every-other month.
If you find an article that could educate, equip, or encourage the Rooted community, please email the editor at chelsea@rootedministry.com.
Gospel-Centered
Student Ministry and Psalm 139 by Adrian Owen (For the Church)
The Lord has been with these students since the beginning. He knitted them together. He knew their names before they were conceived. He has providentially placed them in your care to hear the good news of Jesus. Do not waste that.
Spiritual Formation Is Not a Formula by Cole Hartin (Christianity Today)
For those of us serving in ministry, it’s easy to feel as though we’ve failed when people are not as committed to the faith as we’d hoped. We can feel frustrated when our discipleship programs are not producing the results we envisioned. But even if our Lord didn’t see consistent growth from his small band of disciples, why would we assume our spiritual formation practices can ensure better results?
Partnering with Parents
Explain Disabilities to Your Children by Laura Wifler (TGC)
Occasionally, my kids ask why their sister seems different from the other children in our lives. I’ll never forget the time my oldest asked pointedly, “Why did God make her like that?” It struck me like a gust of wind on a cold Iowa day, knowing this was the question I was looking to answer as well. Thankfully, the Bible isn’t silent on this topic.
Teaching Kids to Read and Love the Bible by Landry Holmes (LifeWay Research)
Based on data from Lifeway Research, “The single greatest influence over spiritual health is regular Bible reading while growing up. Plainly put, the parents of young adults indicate that regular Bible reading as children yields the greatest influence over their spiritual health.”
Answering Kids’ Hardest Questions: Why Can’t I Have Screen Time All the Time? By Andrew T. Walker and Christian Walker (Crossway)
As we’ve thought about technology in our own home, we’ve thought about it less as an on-off switch and more as a dimmer switch. And so as we’re training our children, we are trying to give them a little bit more responsibility over their technology that they can handle.
Youth Culture
How Dude Perfect Won Me Over by Brad East (Christianity Today)
For Christians, at least—in fact for pretty much everybody—“masculinity” cannot be a problem to be solved. God made us male and female. Christian parents raising boys and girls are raising sinners, one and all, but the solution to sin isn’t to destroy nature. It’s to discover how God’s grace might heal, restore, and perfect nature. We want our children to grow into mature, faithful adults. In the case of boys, that means becoming men.
How Gen Z Became the Most Gullible Generation by Catherine Kim (Politico)
It’s a startling reality about Gen Z, backed up by multiple studies and what we can all see for ourselves: The most online generation is also the worst at discerning fact from fiction on the internet.
Ministry Skills
Responding to Criticism in Youth Ministry by Robin Barfield (Youth Pastor Theologian)
Make a cup of coffee and spend 20 minutes with a pen and paper writing down what you think God was doing through all of this. Was he directing your heart to some needed change in yourself or in your approach to ministry? Was he bringing about grace in a broken relationship? Was he pointing out that the current system of your life is a toxic mess of criticism and that you need healthier rhythms?
Can You Spot a False Cultural Narrative? By Thomas West (TGC)
If cultural narratives shape us unnoticed, then we must become people who intentionally immerse ourselves in Scripture’s better story. The gospel isn’t just an argument against falsehood—it’s an invitation to something deeper, more authentic, and more satisfying. So here’s the challenge: What stories are shaping you? What narratives have you unknowingly absorbed? Where has the culture discipled you more than Christ has?
God’s Guidelines for Sex Aren’t Arbitrary by Trevin Wax (TGC)
But many young people still struggle to explain why the biblical strictures make emotional or spiritual sense. They can’t explain why God condemns sex outside marriage as sin in a way that doesn’t sound arbitrary. It can seem as if God simply dropped these rules onto humanity, demanding compliance without explanation as to why some sexual temptations and behaviors are illicit.
Rooted’s Two Most-Read of April
Building A Table for Men and Women in Youth Ministry by Rebecca Heck
Regardless of where each of us lands theologically regarding women in ministry, Scripture is clear that God calls men and women to do the work of the kingdom together side by side…We have kingdom work to do, and it will require both men and women to do it with the fullness that God intends.
Preparing for (and Surviving!) the Summer in Youth Ministry by Ryan Wood
I don’t want to dread the summer each year. Although the summer has several challenges, it also presents many opportunities to grow in relationships with students and disciple them. Here are a few suggestions to help you prepare for and use the summer months well, to the glory of God.
In Case You Missed It (Rooted’s April Honorable Mention)
Ruth and Boaz: Better than Girl Power, Better than the Manosphere by Katy Morgan
Jesus, like Boaz and Ruth, did not concern himself with power dynamics but with loving his Father and serving his people—leading him to live a life far more beautiful than any worldly principle could inspire.
