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 Ministry
Learning from the Providence of God in Ministry by Kyle Kennicott (Youth Pastor Theologian)
Everyone in ministry will experience pain of some sort, whether philosophical tensions in ministry, a student not growing as you would have expected, or experiencing loss. Amid these struggles, we need to not cast our minds on what we can control, but what the Lord controls. For He “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11).
Letters: To Christians On College Campuses Today by Ben Chow (SOLA)
Where the norm is to cancel and scorn people with views different from your own, we can instead be gracious and humble. In humility there is a doorway to sharing the gospel. Our peers crave what we have, a lasting hope and true justice. We ought to share that with them.
Partnering with Parents
Why We Pulled Our Kids from Club Sports by Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra and Ross Douma (TGC)
“The benefits were not outweighing the things that were making life challenging for us,” [Douma] said. “Our son was improving his skills to a degree, but we were compromising family time, schoolwork, and sometimes church activities. We said to ourselves, ‘This is not how we want to raise our children.’”
Kids and Their Bodies in 2024 by Walt Mueller (CPYU)
In addition to modeling the unconditional love and acceptance of Christ during the physically awkward years, Mom and Dad should temper the social pressure to be preoccupied with outward appearance. Take the time to teach your children about the inward qualities of godliness. Be sure you provide an example void of obsession over your own appearance.
Help! I’m Raising a Legalist by Ginger M. Blomberg (Crossway)
By teaching our children both law and grace, we can help them see the tragedies of both legalism and prodigalism. We can show them the beauty of God’s goodness and mercy through the life, death, and resurrection of his Son who loved us and paid the penalty for us.
Youth Culture
Why Young Men Are Failing to Launch by Russell Moore (Christianity Today)
If a young man doesn’t know how to take up the cross of Christ to follow him, he will often take up the hammer of Thor, to follow him. If by default the model of mature manhood that we give is that of Barabbas, not that of Jesus, if our model of manhood looks more like the crucifiers than the Crucified, we shouldn’t be surprised if what we end up with is a quest for pretend caesars and pretend harems.
Redeem Time in the Age of TikTok by Joe Carter (TGC)
The transient nature of contextless information on platforms like TikTok can have a profound effect on our worldview. When the ephemeral is the celebrated norm, and the lasting is overlooked and avoided, we may value quick successes over long-term achievements, instant pleasures over enduring joys, and surface-level interactions over deep relationships. This not only influences our personal lives but shapes our societal norms and expectations.
New Words Are Spreading Faster Than Ever—Thanks to Teenage Girls by Rachel Fobar (National Geographic)
Being at the forefront of linguistic change often comes with strife. Young women who use new words are “subject to so much criticism,” Tagliamonte says. “This is how generation gaps develop, right?”
Ministry Skills
Wrestling with Awkward Stories in the Old Testament by Carmen Joy Imes (Christianity Today)
In my experience, even the most difficult passages (maybe especially those passages) can be a source of blessing when we persist in trying to understand them. The problem is that many people struggle to understand the Bible because they were never really taught how to engage with it. So, with that, I’d like to share three keys to go about interpreting these tricky passages:
Nurturing Health in Youth Ministry Teams by Justin Knowles (Download Youth Ministry)
Youth pastors, remember that your volunteers are not just contributors; they are valuable partners in the ministry.
Rooted’s Two Most-Read of January
When Teenagers Choose Sports Or the Arts Over Youth Group by Matt Brown
One Degree of Glory to Another: Reevaluating Youth Ministry Milestones in a Changing Culture by John Gers
In Case You Missed It (Rooted’s January Honorable Mention)
Two Simple Shifts for Teaching Apologetics in Youth Ministry by Bradley Blaylock
