August

August 31, 2018

Gen Z and Their View of the Church: a Love/Hate Relationship

We have been exploring in a series of blogs what our new youth culture, Gen Z (born 1999 to 2015) thinks about life, God, the world, gender identity, and truth.  Today we take a few moments to see what they think about the Church.  There are positive things that Gen Z’ers see in the Church, but there are also deeply disturbing issues within them about the Church that should sound the alarm for any church leader seeking to reach and to disciple them in the gospel. I’m grateful for the resources from the Barna Group (their book Barna Trends 2018) and Impact […]
August 23, 2018

The Consequences from Parenting in a Gen Z Culture: Where has this taken our Youth?

In this rapidly changing, post-Christian culture, we are exploring in a series of blogs the world of the Gen Z (those born from 1999–2015), the earliest of which are now freshmen and sophomore students in college.  In this “screenage” population where deep anxiety, diversity, gender-confusion, and personal safety/security are top issues, how have their Gen X parents attempted to parent them through life? More importantly, how has this parenting affected the Gen Z worldview and what does this mean for evangelism and discipleship of Gen Z’ers? As with past blogs, I continue to highlight research from two primary “think-tanks” in […]
August 16, 2018

Sexuality and Personal Identity in a Gen Z World: Changing Perspectives

In the last several blogs, I highlighted a number of key findings on the new Gen Z population (those born from 1999-2015) dealing with this new youth culture’s worldviews, obsession with technology and social media, and understanding of relationships with a new meaning of “family.”  But nothing stands out greater in this new generation than their confusion over gender, sexuality, and personal identity.  In this environment where misunderstanding and perplexity abound, the Church must speak with clarity about sexuality, evangelize with compassion, and disciple with intentionality. Impact 360 Institute and the Barna Group’s research (the books Gen Z and Barna […]
August 7, 2018

Discipleship in a Gen Z “Anxiety Culture”: Key Realizations

In previous blogs, I have highlighted some important new research on the Gen Z population (those born between 1999-2015) given to us by the Barna Group and Impact 360 Institute. They paint the portrait of a new generation that struggles with their own identity, swims in an ocean of moral relativism powerfully influenced by social media and YouTube, and often hides behind devices (phones, tablets, etc.) rather than connect directly with others in interpersonal ways. Today, we look at another central element that defines this culture: ANXIETY and how the Church can disciple them. Gen Z “screenagers” have never felt […]