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
Is Science Incompatible with Christianity? By Derek Rishmawy (The Keller Center, TGC)
Physicist Paul Davies puts it this way: “Even the most atheistic scientist accepts as an act of faith that the universe is not absurd, that there is a rational basis to physical existence manifested as a lawlike order in nature that is at least in part comprehensible to us. So science can proceed only if the scientist adopts an essentially theological worldview.”
Being Known: Psalm 139 for Asian American Teenagers by Connie Leung Nelson (New Growth Press)
Our heavenly Father gets us. We don’t need to strain and contort ourselves for him to see us and hear us. Without any work on our part, he not only comprehends us, but he understands what’s on our hearts at the deepest level, in the most intricate and nuanced ways. Before our thoughts have been fully formed, he knows the meanings behind them—before the words are even on our tongues.
How to Understand and Teach 1 Peter 3:18-22 by Andrew Slay (Youth Pastor Theologian)
When teaching difficult passages, we shouldn’t dodge the major issues. Instead, we help our students understand how to interpret complex texts by showing them which views are plausible. However, for time’s sake and for our students’ attention span, we cannot go over every viewpoint. Focusing on the main point will help with this, but also knowing our audience will aid us in narrowing down the issues we need to address and how deeply to explain them.
Partnering with Parents
Parenting Fail: Getting off the Hamster Wheel of Success by Jane Anderson Grizzle (Mockingbird)
Or perhaps, as Christians, we want our children to be good Christian adults, so we encourage them to be in Christian fellowship groups in college or go to church in college and avoid temptation to do whatever it is that we deem “UnChristianlike.” So we sign them up for youth groups and Sunday school programs, we send them to Christian camps and build a foundation of memory verses or quiet times or family devotions now so that their future faith is secure.
Poor Teen Friendships Predict Adult Anxiety and Depression Symptoms by Jane Kelly (UVA Today)
“The first and most important step is to take teenagers’ relationships seriously,” Allen said, adding teens treat relationships as “almost matters of life and death.” Adults often minimize those feelings. Allen’s data shows teens are not overreacting.
Youth Culture
Why Do People Deconstruct? Beware the Grand Theories. By Trevin Wax (TGC)
Monocausal explanations don’t open our ears; they harden our hearts. They speak more to our need for reassurance of our moral righteousness, or our righteous cause, or our righteous stance than they do to the struggling person’s need for a listening ear during seasons of doubt and disillusionment, sin and suffering.
Video Games and the Teenage Mind (and Heart) by Eric Lau (SOLA)
The gospel is the metanarrative that allows the Christian to face massive uncertainty with equally massive peace. Uncertainty and lack of control is part of this world. Video games don’t change that – they simply cover it up for a moment. But since God sent his own son to die on the cross for our sins and guarantee for us a future and a hope, we don’t need to be in control of this world because we belong to the one who is.
Ministry Skills
Election Season and Your Soul by Brian Zahnd
Exercise your liberty to vote your conscience and conviction, while accepting that other Christians will do the same and vote differently than you.
Mind the Power Gap in Missions by Josh Irby (Christianity Today)
Even Jesus, whom Lederleitner calls“the ultimate high-power partner,” positioned himself to rely on the strengths of others. He made himself nothing, taking the form of a man. He walked softly among us. He invited the disciples “behind the curtain” of his life and shared everything with them. He entrusted them with the mission.
Dear Pastor, Sermon Prep Is Worth the Effort by David Jackman (Crossway)
Exposition addresses the mind as the truth is identified, stated and explained. It moves to the heart, where it has to be received in faith for obedience. It energizes the will so that as the Spirit teaches the meaning of the word, he also stimulates and enables the hearer to respond in practical action.
Rooted’s Two Most-Read of October
Learning to Partner with Parents of Teenagers, Not Judge Them by Josh Hussung
The parents in your youth ministry might not all be as spiritually mature as you think they should be. They might not have all the right priorities. But that shouldn’t stop you from wanting them to grow. After all, we serve a Savior who died for us while we were still sinners. He knew we would fail time and time again, but he keeps on showing us his relentless love.
Teaching Teenagers God’s Character Through the Book of Jonah by Joey Turner.
Jonah is a “type” of Christ, meaning he prefigures Christ by pointing forward to him. Biblical typology helps us to understand how the whole Bible connects as one story. In the case of Jonah, his three days inside of the fish prefigure the way Jesus will spend three days in the grave. By showing our students the similarities and differences between Jonah and Jesus, we can help them understand how Jonah points to the perfect work of Christ.
In Case You Missed It (Rooted’s October Honorable Mention)
Discernment for A Digital Age: Practical Steps towards Online Media Literacy for Teens by Anne Chen
As we encourage media literacy among our children, let’s also pray for and exhort them to seek God’s wisdom.No amount of knowledge or information can compare with the truth found in the person of Jesus Christ. He is wisdom incarnate (1 Cor. 1:30), and he alone offers the wisdom that gives meaning, life, hope, and direction. In a world of deepfakes, conspiracy theories, and Instagram filters, his wisdom anchors us in the truest reality.
