On August 4, Elon Musk said the following on SpaceX’s first quarterly earnings call as a public company: the next Starship flight, at the end of this month, will attempt to catch the Ship with the tower, and it will deploy real payloads into orbit for the first time. Flight 13 splashed down in the Indian Ocean on July 24 after putting V3 Starlink satellites into space.

SpaceX stated mission: to enable people to live on other planets.

This isn’t theory. NASA just hired them to help. They are progressing in space technology and infrastructure in a way that is truly science fiction.

So my mega church brain rotted brain can’t help but think

Who plants the first multi-planet church?
Who launches the first campus on the moon?

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The winds are shifting, getting stronger, but we need bigger boats.
This one is close and private. So it’s my first paid post. I know many won’t jump in. But I appreciate those who will :) Join my community as a Founder to see what’s new.

Where we are going, we’ll need the suppo…

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Here’s the thing, the evils of America are real. They just aren’t exclusive to America. And pretending otherwise is a huge piece on how you build a Nick Fuentes and launch racism into another generation.

This claim is moving through the culture with the confidence of settled fact: if you are white, you belong to the worst people who ever lived. No group has done more harm. The sins of the West are not just real. They are singular.

There is a mirror version of that claim, and it is spreading just as fast: if you are white, you belong to the best people who ever lived. The most advanced. Supreme amongst humanity.

Both are lies. Neither one comes from the design of God, neither is affirmed by divine Scripture.

A good lie always hides inside something true. America did real evil. Chattel slavery was real. Its cruelty was not exaggerated and its legacy is not imaginary. I am not questioning that, and a Christian has no business softening it.

The lie comes from the idea that “White Christians” are the inventors and primary perpetrators of the greatest sins humanity has ever committed. Additionally, that there was little to no effort by the same group to end slavery and other evils.

Slavery was not a Western invention or a white invention. It was a human institution, practiced on nearly every continent for most of recorded history. The Atlantic slave trade ran on African kingdoms that captured and sold other Africans. The Arab slave trade lasted more than a thousand years. Rome was built on slaves. So were the empires of the Americas, long before a European ship reached the coast. Every people that has ever held power has, at some point, enslaved and brutalized people who could not stop them.

History paired with the fallen nature of man is the great equalizer. It shows that if there were to be a contest in cultures they’d all fall short of the glory of God. That for every invention and cultural achievement of one group of people there is also the collateral damage of their evils. Focusing on “Whites” as the primary evil of the earth or even the modern age does the one thing both lies are built to do: prevent the problem from being solved at the source. This is not in a skin issue, it’s a sin issue. In the human heart. Every human heart. As it has been for all of time.

So why does the West get singled out? Partly because it is one of the clearest places a Christian conscience ever worked itself out in public. Here is the fuller, harder truth, the one that keeps this honest. Christians stood on both sides of slavery. Some defended it with Scripture, twisting the text to bless what it should have buried. The American church split over it. That happened, and pretending it did not is its own kind of lie.

And the people who finally ended chattel slavery were, in large part, driven by that same faith. John Newton captained slave ships, he wrote “Amazing Grace,” and then, late in life, turned on the trade he had served, publishing a confession of his own guilt and becoming a mentor to William Wilberforce, who drove abolition through Parliament. The Quakers moved early. In America, the conscience behind the fight was largely a Christian one, in white churches and Black churches alike.

While the gospel perverted was used as the chain Christian abolitionists won the argument that it was infact THE KEY.

Here’s the problem with trying to solve one lie, black people are subhuman, with another lie, white people are the grave evil of the modern world: when you tell a generation of young men that they are guilty for existing, that their face is the crime, that nothing they do will ever wash it off, you do not produce justice. You produce shame. And shame does not sit still. It goes looking for somewhere to land.

There are men waiting for it, women too.

Andrew Tate hands these young men the exact inverse of the lie they were raised on: you are not weak, you are not the problem, you are a king and the rules are beneath you. He has been charged in Romania with human trafficking and rape, in a case whose allegations include minors. He denies it. Whatever a court decides, the worldview he sells is already loose, and young men are buying it.

Nick Fuentes sells a colder version. He tells those same young men they are not the worst people who ever lived, they are the best, and he wraps it in the language of Christianity and Western heritage. Strip the wrapping off and it is plain white nationalism: Holocaust denial, open antisemitism, the claim that whole groups have “no place” in the West. He recruits the exact demographic the first lie created. Alienated young men who were told they were villains, handed a story where they get to be heroes instead.

That is the move. The first lie does not get corrected by truth. It gets answered by the opposite lie. The pendulum swings from “you are uniquely evil” to “you are uniquely great,” and it never stops in the middle, where the truth has been the whole time.

“[The devil] always sends errors into the world in pairs—pairs of opposites.”

—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

The enemy does not care which lie you hold. He has always preferred to arrive dressed as righteousness. Both extremes let him work. Both deny that the person across from you carries the image of God, and both leave the church fighting itself while he watches.

But here’s how Christians aught to solve the problem: every person you will ever meet bears the image of God. That is the ground floor. It makes prejudice and ethnocentricity and racism repugnant wherever they show up, in the mouth of the activist and in the mouth of the nationalist, in the costume of justice and in the costume of tradition. The church does not get to pick the less embarrassing extreme. We are called to refuse both, and to say the harder thing. No one is the worst. No one is the best. The line between good and evil runs through every heart in the room, the way it always has.

That is the conversation the church has to be able to have. Not the flinch. Not the pendulum. The actual conversation.

So, I make no naive assumptions that I am gonna solve race relations in America with this but I do hope to spark better conversations in the church in HOW we have these conversations. We must be out spoken about BOTH LIES regarding WHITE GUYS, we must end any systems and behaviors that dehumanize God’s creation. We must embrace our flawed past and reconcile it while not LIVING IN IT.

As the church we must model better discourse for a world desperately in need for a better path forward.

Written with fear and trembling, you’rs truly

-Jonathan William Rush

The engagement-based algorithm does not amplify your best content. It amplifies your most charged content. Anger travels. Nuance dies. Pastors are not exempt. We are feeding the same machine.

Here is the data nobody is talking about. In 2017, 30% of pastors were addressing social issues online more than ten times a year. By 2025 that number had doubled to 59%. The algorithm is not just shaping culture. It is shaping the pulpit, and most pastors do not know it is happening.

The new road rage

Same psychology. Something gets dehumanized when there is a layer between you and the other person. In traffic it is the windshield. Online it is the screen. You feel like you can say anything, and the more charged it is, the more the platform rewards you for saying it.

Most of what passes for Christian commentary online right now is not formation. It is road rage with a Bible verse attached.

Two filters before you post

I run everything through two questions. If the answer to either is no, I do not post.

• Do I have fully formed thoughts on this, or am I reacting?

• Will this benefit people or glorify God?

Two filters. If you cannot pass both, the right move is not a better tweet. It is a Zoom link to your staff. Talk it out before you post it out.

The scripture under it

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." Colossians 4:6

Paul wrote that to a church surrounded by an empire that was actively hostile to them. He was not writing to a generation with notification badges, but the logic holds. Speech that forms people is seasoned. Speech that performs for an algorithm is processed.

The line

Wherever the church is silent, social media fills the gap. Your people are forming their worldview somewhere. If you do not teach them to see the world biblically, the algorithm will teach them to see the world angrily.

That is the choice. Formation or reaction. Pick one.

Sources: ScienceDirect, 2025 (toxic engagement study); Patheos / Wilson Harper & Thompson, 2025 (pastor posting trends).

1. You’re doing it to be seen and heard more than serve and help an audience / community.

2. People’s online attention is one of the most valuable resources on earth right now. So this is a highly competitive space. Billions spent monthly by the hardest working most talented people.

3. You aren’t answering questions people are asking. You’re answering the questions you’re asking. Nobody cares what you think. They care about what THEY are thinking about. Speak to it, solve for it.

4. You think people owe you their views, comments, likes, they don’t. Most people owe you absolutely NOTHING in life. You have to EARN their attention.

5. You’re copying others instead of creating unique content. In the name of “best practices” you’re mircowave dinner, fast food junk.

AI is killing and will kill thoughtless, souless rehashing.

Here’s a solid 5. LMK you’re thoughts.

I know you’re confused, bewildered, and honestly quite embarrassed.

Frustrated in ways it barely feels safe to say to your wife let alone any other men in your life.

Leading your family, or trying to build one, from a shadow place, a shallow space of who you thought you were or wanted to be and what you feel you actually are.

It’s all real. But I felt in my spirit to encourage you and challenge you to this Easter, and to encourage you FROM the theme, and significance, of Easter.

The Resurrection of Jesus is not merely an historic moment, a chance to go to church, a bullet point in your political worldview.

The Resurrection of Jesus is a loud announcement that with God all things are possible.

That the Son of God wants to reunite humanity with their divine birthright and supernatural abilities.

That whatever is or was DOES NOT HAVE THE FINAL SAY.

This is an announcement that there is a King and He is good.

There is a King and He calls your name.

Your boss, the market, AI, your mistake, whatever it is…it does not HAVE to be your king even though your mental loops are declaring them so.

He offers The Way, The Truth, and The Life.

A tangible path forward that every famous figure has plagiarized or at best borrowed.

His Way is better than Andrew Tate, Alex Hermozi, Jordan Peterson, Joe Rogan, or any other figure you cling to for modern encouragement in your career.

He’s more than your spiritual, emotional support dog.

He’s more than your small group.
He offers a bold and brazen way to GET UP and produce. To GET UP and steward, grow, build.

This phenomena of joblessness or a stuck place in your vocation, and income, will only become more normal as we plunge into the age of AI.

More and more layoffs will happen, entire industries will shift. Christian men should be ready.

The empty to tomb is the answer to your employment questions.

So my questions to you are this:

1. Are you so hurt and angry by what did happen that you’re blinded to what COULD happen?

The Cross of Jesus is the ultimate weapon of destruction for a victim mentality.

If Christianity has no practical application you’re robbing your faith of its power.

The Empty Tomb isn’t just symbolic, it’s your signal that IT’S NOT OVER FOR YOU.

Jesus doesn’t want to erase the frustration or pain of what you went through but He doesn’t want you to wallow in impossibility and what-if-isms.

If Jesus got up, you can to. Even more so because He did not do so merely out of human will or might as if discipline is the X factor.

2. My second question is are you willing to let His Word, Person, and Church challenge your current state so that you can move beyond where you are?

Are you willing to accept help that’s more than a handout? Are you willing to be pushed to LIVE OUT an answered prayer instead of sitting around waiting for one?

Are you willing to open up to a pastor? To other men? Are you willing to work a job you don’t want to for awhile? Are you willing to do what men have done for all of history: make your own path to profitability and purpose.

He wants you to have a job. He wants you to be a confident dad. He wants you to lead and love your wife with strength. These are all things HE DESIGNED and now REDEEMS.

My Easter Encouragement for Jobless Men and Those Who Feel Stuck is that Jesus is the answer if you will let him lead you.

“If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:11

I know it’s been hard and unfair, but that is actually familiar territory for those who follow Jesus. And guess what friend, when we don’t live like a victim, we always end up winning.

Repentance is the invitation to the Divine to rebuild you into something more than you currently are.

I love you, but please GET UP.

Here are 22 bullet point thoughts I had:

My first reactions and questions to the 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show:

1. My kids are 6, 3, and 1 so neither shows were entertaining or acceptable to my kids.

2. TP USA had less shaking butts so if my kids had to watch one at this age, I guess that’d be the one.

3. Production value of Bad Bunny was obviously much better. Seems like TP had short turn around time but plans on improving for next year?

4. I think it’s great people do their own halftime shows- TP USA, and others should do more.

5. Five Million live viewers is pretty darn impressive viewership for TP USA show. That’s the peak YouTube live number I saw- viewership could have been higher.

6. Bad Bunny’s show had 135 Million live viewers which seems to be a boost in normal viewership.

7. I don’t thinks TP USA’s programming or guests represented “ALL AMERICA”. Maybe the wrong programming?

8. People’s disdain for Puerto Rico is mad weird. They are literally part of the United States. They are all born American citizens. They can be drafted but can’t vote while living in PR. Thousands of Puerto Ricans have been drafted for military service since 1917. Fighting and dying for America.

9. I am not interested in “The Americas”. We are the United States. I don’t like how popular it is to act like America is the worst place. Now more than ever we need to define and invest in the UNITED STATES. 🇺🇸

10. I’m curious if TP USA show was meant to be family friendly or Christian. I’m hearing different things from different people.

11. I personally did not enjoy the content of either show. TP USA felt like if the youth pastor planned a halftime show. Bad Bunny’s was more to do with the fact I’ve never listed to him(more in a second). Growing up in Kissimmee, FL in 2008 I’m more of a Daddy Yankee. Although the one song I’ve heard- DMTF is very good.

12. Bad Bunny’s music and platform is pretty sexual and gross but then again historically so is Kid Rock.

13. There was A LOT of Christian activity in the Super Bowl that got overshadowed by what I feel like was ultimately a kind of silly debate. There’s sometimes the Gospel move is to have an alternative but sometimes there’s more fruit when we infiltrate. But there’s room for both.

14. Similar to my points about PR…I don’t think this subtle disdain for the Spanish language and those who speak it…I thought the greatness of America was our Cultural Melting pot filtered around clear United States values and distinctions.

15. I think it’s totally fair and actually very beautiful for Puerto Ricans to be excited about Bad Bunny’s recent success…similar to how or why people from Seattle are happy their football team won…right? Most Christians have a lot of heroes who aren’t Christian…right?

16. Race, culture, ethnicity are clearly areas we need a lot of help and work on. Seems like we need the church to lead in this and provide language.

17. I thought Benito’s fit was crazy cool. I still think Lady Gaga is a dude.

18. I don’t think your definition as a Christian hinges on which Super Bowl Halftime show you liked best. lol

19. If it was up to me the halftime show would be Creed, Switchfoot, Anberlin, and 2015 Kanye West every year.

20. This is a weird one but…I don’t think Charlie Kirk would have done this alternative show. If he had it would have been different and much better. Charlie seemed like he was just a WINNER and had HIGH STANDARDS. This halftime show seemed last minute and … meh.

21. If bad bunny can stand for “love” then Kid Rock gets to talk about Jesus.

22. I know very faithful and legit Christians who disagree with each other on this halftime show. This should not be an area we draw blood over but many people seem to care more about what Halftime Show you watched then other more important aspects of your life.

Ok, 22 random thoughts I had. Let’s talk about it. What did I miss? What are you thinking?

Let’s think well. Let’s be people of CONVERSATION, COMPASSION, and CONVICTION.

Dr. King dreamed of unity and resolution. I don’t know what these protestors dream of. Maybe because they do a terrible job of communicating.

Certainly one of the untouchable, enduring legacies of Dr. King was his ability to get a message out. And this message was not of tearing a part our country, or people groups, but rather working hard to right wrongs and rebuild it.

As Martin Luther King Jr. put it plainly,

“We must learn to live together as brothers.”

My heart has been heavy for our country for, well, seemingly forever.

The so called “vibe shift” was short lived, as I suspected it would be.

I was excited when President Trump was elected. And am still glad he beat Kamala Harris and Walz, especially in light of recent events in Minnesota that seem to be quickly forgotten and breezed pass in light of ICE’s “worse sins”.

But I was hesitant last January when my friends were popping bottles like Jesus had returned and that the “country was saved”. Maybe all celebration is naive, and I’m ok with that.

But voting in a president does not convert anyone to Christianity, no more than Constantine mandating Christianity as the legal religion of Rome made the known world followers of Jesus. Certainly, a Christian favoring government is nothing to balk at, and can be a huge part of God’s plan on earth. I’m very pro Christians involved in politics. Also, the Church has historically done VERY well in the midst of persecution, and continues to do so even now in places like Iran. God bless them.

Onward to our current sate, President Trump was popular. He had momentum. But unity never seemed on the bingo card.

And then he got his hands on one of President Obama’s greatest achievements, ICE.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement was created in 2003, Pres Bush, under the Department of Homeland Security. With President Obama’s leadership, ICE dramatically expanded its operations. Between 2009 and 2016, the Obama administration oversaw more than three million deportations, more than any previous administration in American history. Funding, staffing, and enforcement authority all increased during those years.

These are important facts for both “sides” to consider. President Obama was effective and committed to the deportation. Maybe President Trump should take a note from his playbook? Certainly could be an oversimplification on my part but something to think about.

When met with “Trump ICE” opposition a good question would be to ask, “what are your thoughts on President Obama’s tenure over ICE?”

A key difference has been that I think President Trump and his team are running the country like they are still running for office.

There is a difference between galvanizing your base and bringing a country together. I pray to God our next president knows how to do that, and that our current President has a change of heart and a shift in strategy.

However, a president has the same difficult task that Jesus did, standing for truth while trying to unite a people.

Jesus was seeking to make one new humanity while adamantly standing for the truth of His Law.

Scripture is clear on this point.

Matthew 5:17
Jesus did not abolish the Law. He fulfilled it.

Unity without truth is not Christian unity. And truth without love is not Christian truth.

I pray for President Trump and his team. It is a difficult job. I just think it is a job done easier and better if he stops with the weird memes and certain aggressive language.

Dr. King certainly had tough words for his opponents but he warned that method matters as much as outcome.

“Means must be as pure as the ends.”

Scripture affirms this same principle.

James 1:20
Human anger does not produce the righteousness of God.

Dr. King understood something we seem to have forgotten.

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate.”

And again,

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness.”

The Apostle Paul said it this way.

Romans 12:21
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

That certainly seemed true of the message of Dr. King, that despite strong convictions, high stakes, and the face of real evil, the opposition was not the enemy.

As he famously insisted,

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy.”

Jesus taught the same ethic.

Matthew 5:44
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

ICE protesters in Minnesota did something on January 18th that Dr. King never would have done. They stormed a holy site in the middle of worship. They stalked children. They shouted hate.

Their entire essence seems anti Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Their cause seems just, but their heart seems black.

Maybe it’s because only the bad actors are getting the microphone? But local Democratic Officials don’t seem to be helping create peace or clarity.

I do not trust the ICE protester movement as it currently stands. I mostly know what they are against, not what they are for.

This is not the dream.

So while we honor Dr. King, while we try and hold our president to high standards, let us also get very clear on how much of the modern justice movement in America lacks the spirit and methodology of the Civil Rights movement.

If you listen to the protesters in the videos who walked into Cities Church, they are doing the very thing that so many are angered at President Trump for doing, co opting the message of Christ.

A Word to Pastors in This Cultural Moment

I know these are trying times. I know the pressure to react or overreact to everything is probably driving you crazy, driving you into despair, and making it feel like it threatens your church.

1. If the church is silent, so is Jesus.

When the church refuses to take on an issue, we communicate to our congregation and to the culture that Jesus is not up to the task. Where the church is silent, culture takes over.

2. Stand on the Word, not on business.

Our job is not to be tough, or savage and being "“based” is not a fruit of the Spirit. Boldness does not always mean shouting back at those you disagree with. Often, it means quieting those close to you who are out of line.

3. Stand your post. Teach. Shepherd. Prophesy.

Do your job. Nothing more, nothing LESS. In an age of information and misinformation, it has never been more important for pastors to teach clearly what the Bible says. Information alone is chaotic. When information is discipled, it becomes knowledge. When knowledge is applied, it becomes wisdom.

4. Do not stop gathering in person.

I do not know that it has ever been more important for Christians to be in rooms together, worshiping Jesus and sitting under the authority and teaching of elders and pastors. If your church has an online audience, I think now is the time you strongly URGE them to find a local community to gather with.

Had my first “love” there. Learned to swim there. Saw Star Wars 1-6 there. Discovered raspberries there. My best friend Jacob’s mom grew them in the back.

I’ve always been proud of Minnesota. The VIKINGS are my sports obsession. The whole feel or NORSE / NORTHMAN fits my heritage and lineage.

As I was driving to church for a meeting last night I realized “MINNESOTA” was printed on my sleeve, I got a new Vikings Hoodie.

It’s a wild thought to think that all that has transpired in our silly state. Our “Minnesota Nice” more so known for George Floyd, Somalian Daycare Fraud, and now the ICE shooting.

There was a vigil for the shooting in Nashville where I now live.

I haven’t spoken at all about the events of the past few weeks. Partially because it seemed everyone else was and partially because I didn’t know what to say.

But, I don’t think it’s a luxury of a pastor to not know what to say. I also don’t think it’s wise for a pastor to say things just to say things.

So what do we do?

We are now caught between voices of faith, influence, wisdom and reason who offer NO HANDLES for current moments and the same voices SHOUTING + SCREAMING like the news machine and politicians do.

The answer can’t be silence, lack of guidance. The answer can’t be that the Church is a tool in the hand of the media machine or in the back pocket of a politician.

So what do we do?

I think when we don’t know what to say we start by asking questions.

The quality of our questions can better create the substance of our thoughts.

Questions make great prayers. Questions create conversations.

If we can teach people to ask questions from a place of conviction they might get their point across AND not demonize fellow believers or human beings.

Peace isn’t the goal. Jesus told us that. But neither is unnecessary strife.

In times like this we must offer scripture based, Jesus centered frames to view current cultural moments.

If the Church doesn’t, Culture will.

Where the Church is silent Culture Leads.

I’d add that where the Church is “screaming just like everyone else” Culture also Leads.

Not every moment demands an answer. Not every moment even has an answer.

Do you know how silly it is how many people are spending hours analyzing iPhone footage frame by frame of an event they were not physically present at?

I cannot think that the goal of the Holy Spirit is to have the people of God staring at a screen watching every pixel, examining the exterior of a vehicle, researching the history of the officer.

Just like I cannot think the leading of Jesus would be to pretend like it’s not happening and that these acts and the conversations around them have EVERYTHING TO DO with how people view their relationship to Jesus and the moral fiber of our world.

Contemplation, like conversation is a lost art and we must teach people this. We must lead ourselves.

Contemplation leads us to prayer. Why God?

Contemplation leads us to the Word.

Contemplation leads us to pause and consider elements of reality and emotion that would otherwise get swallowed up by the algorithm and politic machine of which Im becoming more and more convinced “tech overlords” are using to create the case for their utopia.

Showing current politics so unhelpful and divisive that there must be another way - insert Overseer Zuckerberg and the AI Goggles that will regulate our moods and the algorithms that will better run our laws.

I digress…here are the questions in my head and my heart surrounding the events in Minnesota.

• Did he have to shoot?

• Why did she speed up?

• Is there a better way to secure our borders?

• How can democrats turn a blind eye to Tim Walhz absolute immorality?

• How can the events around Tim Walhz not make every democrat or anti-Trumper not look at the events of the last 6 years politically VERY differently?

• What does God think about what’s going on?

• What would Jesus be doing if he was there in the flesh?

• What should churches in Minnesota be doing?

• How can we support pastors in Minnesota?

• Why are there vigils in Nashville for the death of one person in Minnesota when we’ve had almost 1,000 drug overdoses this year?

• Is there any evil or malice in me that God wants to remove?

• How can I better serve my local community?

• Why is this all happening? What does it mean?

Questions are not passive. Contemplation is not cowardice. I’d submit that questions lead to better actions. Not ignoring emotions but tempering them.

Creating a ritual of the Christian to resist the modern machine of outrage while still being stirred to action in our world in the name of Jesus.

Selah

It’s the type of place where people ask about a lot.

I wanna talk about what it was like being on staff there for 5 years.

We were at the broadcast location. We were there when Maverick City was. There during George Floyd. Covid. I saw a lot.

I’ve never really talked about it in its fullness since I came off staff in the Summer of 2024 and stopped attending in March of 2024 when we moved to Franklin, TN.

There have not been many churches in the history of humanity like Elevation Church.

• Elevation Worship has 4.7 billion+ total streams across platforms.

• Elevation Worship has 9.3 million+ monthly listeners on Spotify.

• Pastor Steven Furtick and his wife Holly founded Elevation Church in 2006 with ~20 people and now it sees almost 20,000 in-person attendance. One location became 20. Shoutout the new Summerville Campus (Charleston) launched by our friends Tyler and Lauren.

• Elevation Church has given $100 million+ in total charitable/outreach. Take that, Religion Business.

Record-breaking ticket sales at Elevation Nights. Thousands and thousands of people watching online every week.

So what was it like on the inside?

Well, I had some of the most meaningful encounters with God in my entire life. God used the teaching and preaching to rebuild my confidence from a previous season. They paid for me to see a counselor.

I witnessed them step into COVID-19 heroically to serve and equip the local church around the world.

Two of my babies were conceived and born in Charlotte. My two girls were cared for excellently in the on-staff daycare.

I was taught to see and run things at a SCALE that will serve me my whole life. It changed me.

I sat behind a relatively unknown man named Brandon Lake in January 2020 the night he recorded a song called “Graves Into Gardens.”

Some of the best humans, whose names you’ll never know, work and serve there.

There was also a lot of stuff I saw and experienced there that hurt me. Stuff I disagreed with. Stuff I believe grieved God. Like the first church I was a part of in Rockford, IL for 10 years it was IMPACTFUL but IMPERFECT.

So why am I writing this? To clear the air for anyone who wonders if I’m hurt, or broken, or bitter.

And to make a statement as a vocally online person that there is a difference between having critical thinking and having a critical spirit.

It’s a prayer I’ve prayed A LOT the last few years: “LORD, DON’T LET ME GET A CRITICAL SPIRIT! But Lord, give me the COURAGE to be a Critical Thinker.”

Gossip doesn’t build the church. But neither does silence.

If silence is the requirement of my loyalty then I’ll be sacrificing my convictions. But if I whine, blabber, complain, and gossip I’ll be sacrificing my soul.

I wonder how many people read this to get the dirt on Steven Furtick. I wonder how many people focus more on what they hate about churches like Elevation than what they love about the church they’re a part of… if they’re a part of a church at all.

So yeah, you’ll notice things I say and do that obviously display how I would do things differently than Elevation Church.

But I witnessed far more good than I did bad. And I believe in the Bride of Christ. My belief in the Church is why I’m sometimes LOUD + OFFENSIVE and why sometimes I’M QUIET + APOLOGETIC.

Lord, and those reading this, I’m sorry for the times I’ve spoken out of a critical spirit and I commit to following the conviction of the Holy Spirit to maintain the boldness to be a CRITICAL THINKER.

If you think I’m a hater because I sometimes disagree with certain pastors and churches then I challenge you to read your Bible lol

If you think I’m soft because I sometimes defend imperfect ministries then I challenge you to actually go and try and BUILD SOMETHING… with real people, not just comment sections… your tune will change.

Thank You Jesus for Your Church. Thank You Jesus for Elevation Church.

Churches with Teaching Teams are much more morale, failure, and transition proof.

Pastors with Teaching Teams have more time to lead the church in other ways, care for their families, and enjoy their lives.

You’ll have a better church. You might be a little less cool on social media. (But not really because healthy people make better content, and you’ll have more time to make more content than OpusClips sermon stuff.)

Some churches that seem to do this well: Dustin Bates, Landon McDonald.

Trend #2 - Excelling pastors and ministries will be focused more on church planting than multisite.

Kingdom over empire vibes. Jedi Temple vs. Clone Army.

Church isn’t Starbucks. Church isn’t Chick-fil-A. There are a FEW graced and gifted with the ability and assignment to do this, but I think most churches will see greater fruit sending church plants as part of an affiliation and network.

How many pastors “lose” their best leaders when they could be sending them?

“SubComboTrend”: Churches with teaching teams will have more successful multisite strategies than video venues.

I’d bet my life, and I could be wrong, that Gen Z and Gen Alpha will not settle for a screen. Their life has been dominated by them. They desire PRESENCE in every sense of the word.

TBH the only people I’ve seen that are like REALLY GOOD, like WOW good at multisite are the OGs themselves, Life.Church and Church of the Highlands. And even they’d have a litany of things they are still working on, or as they’d say, “tensions to manage.” Haha. But the hard part is you either learn multisite from someone who has 3–4 “sites” but isn’t really scaling, or from someone like LC or COTH who have 30+ campuses. I love both of those churches, by the way. Some of the best people I’ve ever been around.

Trend #3 - Shift from Youth Pastor to Youth and Next Gen Team

No one can find good youth pastors. No one can keep good youth pastors.

That’s because a good youth pastor doesn’t exist.

People want someone with the fashion sense and video game knowledge of a 24 year old dude, the administrative ability and maturity of a 40 year old mom, and the theological and psychological depth of John Mark Comer.

And they usually want them to work 60 hours and pay them 35,000 a year. Although this has been changing a lot in churches. Shoutout to people like Carey Nieuwhof and Pete Scazzero and others for advocating for better work life for church staff.

The trouble in finding youth pastors right now is the birth pangs of the pastoral succession crisis we know is coming.

Why is this? Because we’ve generally been more focused on producing services than making disciples. We have great evangelism strategies but poor discipleship ones.

More on that later.

So what’s the answer to youth ministry? My standard advice to senior pastors: find a 20–25 year old dude who you can pay part time or even volunteer and set him up as the Youth Director. Find a mom of teenagers or graduated kids to pay part time to be the Youth Administrator. Have them work both 20 hours a week.

Have other members of the staff, elders, etc. do most of the preaching.

I think Senior Pastors will NEVER regret preaching in youth environments 10-12 times a year.

In general I think the future of church staffing in America is bi-vocational.

Trend #4 - Return to Formal Membership

People don’t just want to attend. They want to belong. They want proof of that belonging. Don’t know that it should be a return to governmental membership, but it’s a process that lets pastors know who is REALLY A PART OF THE BODY.

Mercy Culture is rolling out some seriously amazing stuff on this.

Trend #5 - Theology Classes Will Balance Out Small Groups

Small groups are great for relationships. Poor for spiritual formation.

Theology and doctrine should be taught by approved pastors, teachers, elders.

If people show up to Financial Peace, I promise you they will show up for other topics.

This is an opportunity for Zoom to make a comeback. Cut the drive time and host a 45–60 minute high protein topical Bible class and watch how many people show up from your church.

Record it, and the questions asked, and there’s a church podcast too.

The church has exported hard conversations to podcasters. This is a problem. Theology classes also position a church to not talk about every hot button on Sunday morning, but still talk about it.

Trend #6 - Churches Will Work Together More

I am seeing all across the country churches finding ways to work together and share resources. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Less brand, more Kingdom. W.

My guide to Kingdom collaborations:

-it’s gotta similarly meet the needs of both bodies

-focus on community service efforts, serve the city, clear outcomes

-work together to put on encounter or evangelism events that you couldn’t do by yourselves

-be ok if some people go to a different church

Ok I tried to keep this short. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
The * is on Winning because there are likely exceptions to these trends as there always it.

This debate reveals real theological differences in how and why many modern evangelicals understand worship.

Worship is a big deal. We should talk, not fight about it.

First, it exposes differences in how we understand the role of pastors and priests.

In much of church history, ordained ministry is not primarily a content role but a sacramental one—called to preside over Word and Table for the gathered people of God (Acts 2:42).

Second, it reveals differences in how we understand the sacraments, especially Communion.

Millions of Christians—historically and today—believe Communion is not merely symbolic, but a real, mysterious participation in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16).

To them it’s like the most shoeless Upperroom worship set. It’s like the pastors “Vision Sunday”. Hard to imagine missing it.

A holy encounter.

A gift received in the gathered, embodied community—normally through the ministry of ordained leadership.

That conviction isn’t modern hype.

It’s the historic Christian norm.

As Ignatius of Antioch wrote in the early 2nd century:

“Take care, then, to use one Eucharist… there is one altar, as there is one bishop.”

These are convictions I’ve grown to believe and experience—not as theory, but as formation.

Now, certainly not every Catholic or Orthodox Church is really like that. Reformed bros who “never miss a Sunday” don’t automatically mean they’re in revival.

But for my fellow Evangelicals I think this is worth reflecting on deeper.

To be clear:

I don’t believe a church is false, sinful, or disobedient for having 51 Sundays instead of 52.

But I do think it’s worth examining, because decisions like this reveal what we actually believe about worship.

Pastors should not be shamed into change—and they won’t be.

None of the “based” takes online will awaken anyone to the wonder of the saints gathered before God.

Only love for the Church will do that.

Calling it “Sabbath Sunday” is theologically incomplete and misleading.

In Scripture, Sabbath is not separation from worship but often a holy convocation (Leviticus 23:3).

Rest and worship are not rivals.

And to suggest that a livestream in a living room is the same thing as what Christians have practiced around Word and Sacrament for hundreds of years is—understandably—offensive to many.

As Hebrews 10:25 warns, the issue is not preference but neglecting to meet together.

Still—this isn’t an opportunity for condemnation.

It’s an invitation to conversation.

Some stuff to think about:

• Why did you or your pastor take the Sunday off?

• How was it explained theologically?

• Are you open to examining church history, Scripture, and other parts of the Body of Christ on why canceling the gathering might not be the best path forward?

I’m also in rooms, group chats, and of course see entire accounts dedicated to “calling pastors out”.

Here’s what I’ve found, I have a unique vantage in that I actually know people from both camps. Most pastors don’t actually know many podcasters and most podcasters don’t actually know many pastors, especially the ones they talk about the most.

It’s easy to hate on Life.Church until you’ve been there, or considered the 1 Billion people who have read the Bible via their app YouVersion. It’s easy to knock on Church of the Highlands and At the Movies until you’ve listened to the testimonies of people who have encountered Jesus there.

It’s an all too easy narrative for pastors to think that “man these content creators are just haters, they haven’t actually built anything and they don’t even care about people they only care about views.”

The pastors think content creators will do anything for more views.

The podcasters think pastors will do anything to get more people in the “pews”.

This is bigger and deeper than social media though. It goes to a deeper question, an older one, and one we need to have figured out to secure the healthiest future of the Church.

Who Can Levy Criticism Towards the Church, or their church, and How Do They Do That?

For years a common trope among pastors has been the guy who comes up after the sermon and asks for “deeper messages”.

The story goes almost always to how that guy is an idiot and needs to volunteer more.

What if he just wants to know more about the Bible from his pastor?

Who else is he supposed to ask and where else is he supposed to go?

And of course, this is an oversimplification to level the playing field and redeem the archetype that not everyone, inf act I think most, people that have a critique of their church or the church is a hater. I think most of them just wanna make the Church better. They just maybe don’t know the best way how.

This last Sunday I preached at our local church here in Franklin, TN. As soon as I got off stage of the 6ish people that came up to me afterwards 3 were some sort of “complaint”. The first one, was a person asking me to send them my notes because they had no idea what I was trying to say and that the background image I chose for my sermon made it impossible for her to pay attention.

So yeah, not “fun” as a pastor/communicator to field those inquires after the massively vulnerable task of preparing and preaching God’s Word.

I never feel more vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy or sensitive to insecurity then after I preach.

What’s more, right as I was about to get my kids together and go to Shake Shack I got a call from a member from a previous church who was upset and hurt about something I had posted online. I took the call. We rearranged part of our night.

It’s a unique vantage point I have in life right now where I am actively involved in helping build and pastor my local church, help churches around the world, but do not work full time in a church anymore.

So were the people listed above haters? Were they “attacking” me?

No, they were doing what sheep should do with a shepherd, asking for things. That’s the job of ministry. It’s the job of pastors, and all mature Christians, to be able to handle requests, critiques, even challenges and not have an existential crisis.

I think we need to rewire the narrative of the people who talk the most about the church, why would they be talking so much about it if they didn’t love it?

And then there’s the Content Creator Prophet- PreachersNSneakers, Religion Business, Julie Royce, and your favorite meme page.

We should do a whole write up on how to Meme the church and how to interpret memes. Meaning, if it’s funny it’s because there’s a little bit, or a lot, of truth in it but a meme is just that…a meme. It’s not meant to be the total takedown that it feels like to many churches and pastors who simply are not savvy in internet humor, conversation, and who honestly are probably overly sensitive to any kind of challenge or critique.

Can you imagine the Apostle Paul telling their staff member to DM an Instagram account to takedown a meme about him? Maybe. Worth discussing at length.

Part of why pastors are so sensitive to genuine requests and critics is because they have all, no matter the size of the church, had to battle insane negativity.

Your church doesn’t have to be big to have a Facebook page devoted to it. I believe there is a demonic assignment of unwell people to create lies and controversy about pastors and ministries. That even if they can’t take out the ministry, even if the people of that church community don’t believe what is being said, the lies lodge down deep in that pastor.

The lies affect the cars they drive, or how they post, shadowboxing with a demon possessed lunatic years after the blog post was even minted.

One thing we must remember is that pastors have children, who go to schools, with other kids who have the internet. That regardless of church size that types of content that are made about pastors can be fuel for their children to be harassed or bullied online and in person.

PreachersNSneakers positioned themselves as some moral guardian, this prophetic force. Why did some of my friends experience racist attacks upon them being posted on that page?

What does Religion Business and Julie Royce truly seek to do? What’s their constructive end goal?

I’ll write more on this, this topic is one of my life’s assignments I believe, but as we close this article some final thoughts in summary.

Can You Criticize the Church and Still Love It?

Yes.

How do you do it well?

1. Attack the ideas not the person.

   Content creators need to be more careful to dissect the ideas they disagree with and not make a wholesale judgement on the pastor or church.

2. Separate the idea from your person.

   When someone disagrees with me on something, when my wife rebukes me for a behavior, when someone doesn’t like something I’ve written or posted it’s easy to feel like THEY HATE ME. But my friends, YOU ARE NOT YOUR IDEAS. And if someone has questions about how you do what you do and you can’t see it any other way than as AN ATTACK…

   you might have an unhealthy relationship with your work.

3. Make it personal.

   Making it personal is the best antidote to not taking it personal.

   For pastors, how many times did you personally reach out to the disgruntled person on Facebook? Or do we just roll our eyes and move on? Of course you can’t do that for everyone, but your team can help, and sending a DM or leaving a comment is not the same thing as signing up for a coffee appointment. But also…why is getting coffee with a pastor still such a hard thing to?
   
   For podcasters/content creators, you better not be writing about the church if you aren’t attending one. My personal belief is that you shouldn’t be critiquing the Church if you aren’t volunteering and tithing at a local church you’re submitted to. Additionally, do everything you can do see the PERSON and PEOPLE in the midst of what you are talking about.
   
   Ok so you think Bethel is terrible but have you met anyone from there? Have you talked with someone who has experienced healing at one of their services? Have you considered the thousands of teenagers who draw closer to Jesus everyday by listening to their music?

My goal is not to eliminate tension or whitewash genuinely important topics to talk about. My goal is to unify the Body of Christ. Pastors in general have an insider, shepherding, protective role and demeanor. Podcasters in general have an outsider, prophet, aggressive role and demeanor.

We need both. We need them both playing for the same team. Because, if we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Bible is the Infallible word of God, we are on the same team.

I leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27:

“There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13 We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts.

15 Suppose the foot says, “I am not a hand. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 16 And suppose the ear says, “I am not an eye. So I don’t belong to the body.” By saying this, it cannot stop being part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, how could it hear? If the whole body were an ear, how could it smell? 18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 If all the parts were the same, how could there be a body? 20 As it is, there are many parts. But there is only one body.

21 The eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 In fact, it is just the opposite. The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are the ones we can’t do without. 23 The parts that we think are less important we treat with special honor. The private parts aren’t shown. But they are treated with special care. 24 The parts that can be shown don’t need special care. But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any. 25 In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy.

27 You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it.”

The only time I have ever been cancelled—fired—from a speaking opportunity was from a church where the pastor was a member of Trump’s Faith Council. On the same day, a liberal content creator with hundreds of thousands of followers was posting about me, calling me a Nazi and a racist.

This post sparked by the dialogue I had around Pastor Rich Villodas calling out President Trump in a way I never saw him do for President Biden and I was curious about it: check it out here.

The Cost Wasn’t Abstract

I’ve got small kids, man.

I’ve got a wife.

I’ve got bills to pay.

My wife and I had recently left two full-time jobs with salary, benefits, and essentially free childcare. Stepping out in faith to speak, make content, and build the life we’re currently living

Losing a speaking opportunity hurt us—especially if it led to many more.

How would we pay the bills?

Fear for My Family

Being targeted by far-left weirdos online made me fearful for the safety of our family.

Would a crazy person do something… crazy?

This was months before later public political violence reminded everyone that this stuff doesn’t always stay online.

It was a crazy day.

A hard day.

The Moment of Clarity

But somewhere in the middle of the chaos, I started to smile.

A tired, exasperated smile.

If I’m getting railed by both “sides,” maybe I’m in good company.

Why This Was Especially Shocking

It was especially shocking getting dropped by a pastor so close to Trump because the reason the lefty dude and his mob were yelling at me was because I had just posted—for the first time—that I voted for President Trump.

Here’s the post as to why I voted for him here:

Trump‘s our president: my thoughts.

These were by the way the thoughts I shared that caused family members to shun me and question my love for my children.

My right to vote is what caused thousands of Liberal Weirdos Online to call me a racist nazi and threaten violence on my family.

Sharing my process is what caused hundreds of Christians to unfollow me.

But wait, I thought Trump is the one who lacks tolerance and is divisive???????

It seems that the current narrative is STUCK on how unchristian President Trump is. I don’t debate that argument. I never saw him as a faith leader. Just the best choice for Christian virtue and ideals in the midst of our messy politic process.

I think his Trump Bibles are stupid, as stupid as Joe and Jill Biden decorating the White House Rainbow for Pride Month.

The Left has their Religion too.

Just to refresh the palate I present 3 things President Biden did that were unchristian:

1. Oversaw and defended policies that expanded abortion access

• Reversed the Mexico City Policy, allowing U.S. taxpayer dollars to fund abortion-providing organizations overseas

• Issued executive orders expanding abortion access after Dobbs

• Supported the Women’s Health Protection Act, removing most state-level abortion restrictions

• Framed abortion exclusively as healthcare, without moral guardrails or protections for unborn life

2. Advanced gender ideology through federal agencies and education policy

• Title IX reinterpretations impacting bathrooms, sports, and pronouns

• Federal support for gender-transition interventions for minors

• DOJ action against states attempting to limit such procedures

• Policies that bypass parents and dismiss concerns as bigotry

3. Allowed visible cognitive decline to be obscured

• Restricted unscripted press access

• Downplayed verbal confusion and memory lapses

• Continued exercising executive authority without transparency

• No clear accountability around fitness to serve

He and his team created a concerted effort to mislead the public, LIE, about his fitness to lead.

This is a MASSIVE conspiracy, still can’t believe people have moved past this or have forgotten.

My point? It’s ALL messy. The separation of Church and State was never to protect the State from the Church it was to protect the Church from the State.

Where in the Bible to we take our cues to not engage in culture even when it’s messy and awkward?

Only American pastors have the luxury of “not talking about politics.”

Even then, most of my friends leading Hispanic/Latino churches don’t.

I’ve had friends arrested by ICE who stayed in the country only because their church paid $8,000 for an immigration lawyer.

A pastor friend in Phoenix told me it feels like COVID again—people are afraid to come to church out of fear of arrest and deportation.

This is a mess.

But we can’t ignore it.

We can’t have open, undefended borders.

We can’t build lives on illegal acts.

And we can’t lack compassion for people who are genuinely unsafe.

My friends in Arizona want ICE gone.

My friends in England wish ICE would show up.

Pastors Don’t All Live in the Same World

My seeker-sensitive American pastor friends want to stop talking about politics.

My Canadian pastor friends are afraid that once Bill C-9 passes, they won’t be able to preach the full Bible.

Different countries.

Different pressures.

Same Church.

The Lie in Both Extremes

The lie of the enemy comes in two extremes:

• Politics is the only answer

• Or politics should be avoided entirely

I talk about politics because the life of Jesus, the Word of God, the help of the Holy Spirit, and the counsel of Church history have answers to every problem in life.

If pastors don’t teach and talk about this, people will be shepherded by Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, and Nick Fuentes instead.

A Word to My Conservative Friends

I started working at Elevation Church for Pastor Steven Furtick in January of 2020.

This was right after Kanye West’s public turn toward Christianity.

There was a rumor Kanye wanted to perform at Elevation and was told no.

Later, Pastor Steven said:

“Jesus was cool before Kanye West said he was.”

That stuck with me.

Sometimes Christians get captured by culture when culture finally recognizes what creation has always known.

We don’t need Trump being “based” to make being Christian cool or right. We are a people that thrive and survive in Exile and Empire. Neither being the state to which we were designed to remain for long.

Exile and Empire are extreme ditches to what will ONLY be fulfilled in The Kingdom of Heaven.

How and Why Should Christians Engage in Politics?

We should advocate for Christian values in policies that shape culture and affect people’s lives—especially the world our children will grow up in.

But don’t lose your soul in the process.

God will use President Donald Trump as long as He wants—just like He used President Biden.

Voting as a Christian does not remove our responsibility to speak out.

Trump isn’t a Christian. He said so. Wrote a post on this too: https://www.instagram.com/p/DP46ZMeElS3/?igsh=cjJwbDVtaDY0a3ly

Final Word

I don’t look to the White House to make my faith powerful.

I don’t shy away from the heritage of biblical heroes and Christian history that stepped into the public square.

The issues we’ll face in the next four years are too serious for Christians to sit this out just because it’s uncomfortable, costly, or complicated.

The seeker-sensitive era was, in many ways, an attempt to correct what had become an overly insular church culture. The intention was charity: remove barriers, open the doors wider, and speak to a world growing more secular by the decade.

Not the thoughtful, Spirit-led adjustments every generation needs, but the reactional swing that solves one problem by creating another.

And now apparently everyone wants to be Catholic.

Now apparently everyone only wants to go to a church that agrees 100% with them.

G. K. Chesterton once wrote that the Church “is the only thing that saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age.” When the Church overcorrects, it becomes a slave not to the age, but to its reaction against the age.

But in the effort to reach the lost, many churches dismantled discipleship structures, theological education, and Christian formation. It created congregations full of believers who knew the language of faith but lacked the habits of obedience.

As D. A. Carson noted, many Christians became “educated beyond their obedience.”
Not because they learned too much—but because teaching outpaced discipleship, and the church tried to solve an internal problem (insularity) with an external strategy (accessibility).

Now we face the opposite temptation.
In the renewed hunger for depth, orthodoxy, and formation, there is a real danger of swinging back toward the same insularity that once created the overcorrection in the first place.

If we want to future-proof the Church, we must learn to correct without overcorrecting.

Here’s my thoughts on how:

1. Clarify Lost vs. Found (and Ask the Two Essential Questions)

Every church must clearly distinguish between what is designed for:

A. People who do not know Jesus yet
B. Christians trying to faithfully follow Him

These two groups are not the same, and not every environment can or should try to serve both equally.

“Sundays are for everyone” sounds noble, but it is not accurate.
They can be accessible to anyone, but not equally beneficial to everyone.

Clarify what parts of your local church function is designed for those who DON’T KNOW JESUS and the things that are designed for CHRISTIANS TRYING TO FAITHFULLY FOLLOW JESUS.

Multi-Tasking Ministry

One of the modern ministry mistakes is multi-tasking.
In the name of efficiency, we have lost effectiveness.

We try to reach the lost, disciple the found, cast vision, teach doctrine, create belonging, and offer pastoral care all in one service. That sounds streamlined, but it usually means we do none of those things very well.

Paul’s instruction to Timothy was, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).

Paul is laying out just how complex ministry is. How much time it takes. Not something that can be solved neatly through streamlining Sundays.

The Great Commission, Properly Applied

This is where the Great Commission has often been misapplied, especially in seeker-sensitive contexts.

Then Jesus came to them and said:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20)

We have often treated this as a verse mainly about people outside the Kingdom.
But Jesus is talking to disciples, about making more disciples, and teaching them to obey.

In other words, the Great Commission is not just “get people saved.”
It is:

1. Do whatever it takes to reach people who do not know Jesus with the gospel.

2. Devote enormous energy to Christians so they actually obey Jesus and live fruitful, Kingdom-shaped lives.

Those are not two different missions. That is one mission with two movements.

The Two Questions Every Church Must Ask

This is why your two questions sit inside this point—they clarify the difference between lost and found:

1) What are we doing that effectively reaches people far from God?

Are we waiting for them to come to us, or are we actually going to them?
The very first command in the Great Commission is “Go.” (Matthew 28:19)

The book of Acts shows a church that is pushed outward—Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). Mission is movement, not passive reception.

2) What are we doing that helps Christians follow Jesus more faithfully, experiencing real flourishing and fruitfulness?

This is not optional. Paul says his goal is to “present everyone mature in Christ,” and that he “toils” and “struggles” toward that end (Colossians 1:28–29). The gifts Jesus gives the Church—apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers—exist “to equip the saints for the work of ministry” until we “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood” (Ephesians 4:11–13).

The early church directed its pastoral and financial care first toward believers (Acts 2:42–47; 4:32–35; Galatians 6:10). Not to ignore the world, but to strengthen the household of faith so it could bear witness to the world.

The fact that MANY evangelical churches have a robust strategy to get “people saved” but have anemic strategies for those same people once they’ve come to Christ…makes no sense. It’s like a business who is only focused on CREATING NEW CUSTOMERS and not KEEPING EXISTING ONES.

And as we learned from “The Office”,

Ryan: “Is it cheaper to sign a new customer, or to keep an existing customer?”
Michael: “It’s equal.”
Ryan: “It is ten times more expensive to sign a new customer.”
Michael: “Okay. Yes! It was a trick question.”

We welcome people like the prodigal son and then quietly treat them like the older brother who just needs to get to work.

But Jesus’ own pattern is different.
Some of His final earthly actions are not with a crowd, but with one discouraged disciple. He makes Peter breakfast, walks him through a personal restoration, and then gives him a clear charge:

“If you love me, feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)

Not “grow My brand.”
Feed My people.

Let us make loving Christians great again.

2. Honor the Generations

Overcorrection is often generational.
Younger leaders react against what hurt them.
Older leaders react against what confuses them.

But biblically, formation is multi-generational.
Psalm 78 calls one generation to “tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord” so that they “set their hope in God” (Psalm 78:4–7).
Titus 2 assumes older men and women teaching younger believers how to live.

A church that honors the generations—listening both upstream and downstream—stops some overcorrections before they start.
Wisdom and zeal need each other.

We need people to ask questions, not point fingers.

There needs to be a culture of curiosity from older pastors to younger people and younger leaders to old people.

3. Measure More Than Attendance

If all we measure is:

• attendance

• volunteers

• giving

we continue to miss some of the deeper spiritual realities going on in our people.

The statistics are sobering:

• Lifeway Research has repeatedly found that about two-thirds (66%) of young adults who attended a Protestant church regularly as teenagers drop out for at least a year between ages 18–22. research.lifeway.com+1

• Barna and others have described a crisis of biblical literacy and worldview, with some research indicating that only about 1 in 5 Christians in the American church today have a consistently biblical worldview. outreachmagazine.com

• Studies of religious change in America show significant net losses among Catholics and mainline Protestants, especially among younger adults, even where overall Christian identification has recently stabilized. PRRI+1

Paul thanks God not for the Thessalonians’ attendance, but for their “work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope” (1 Thessalonians 1:2–3).
He labors until “Christ is formed” in his spiritual children (Galatians 4:19).
Hebrews says leaders will “keep watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (Hebrews 13:17).

Attendance counts bodies.
Formation counts souls.

If a church is serious about obeying the Great Commission, it needs to measure things like:

• biblical literacy

• habits of prayer and Scripture

• community and confession

• meaningful pastoral connection

• emotional and relational maturity

• resilience under suffering and pressure

• genuine spiritual fruit and obedience over time (John 15:8)

Otherwise, we are just counting heads in a room rather than lives being shaped into the likeness of Christ.

Conclusion: This Is Not Innovation, It Is Accuracy

None of this is novel.
It is simply the Great Commission, applied accurately.

Reach the lost.
Form the found.

When we confuse those tasks, we fail at both.
When we clarify them, we strengthen both.

Future-proofing the Church is not about reinvention.
It is about refining what Jesus already commanded—and refusing, by God’s grace, to overcorrect again.

Where have you seen overcorrection in the Church today? I would love to hear your thoughts.

I believe the greatest sin of the modern church is creating strategic ambiguity in the name of “making people feel welcome.” Oh, and you’ll have to read to the end to get my thoughts on the names and topics above.

In the age of Brainrot - Ambiguity at church and from Pastors not only pushes people farther from church as a trusted source of Truth but I think it’s at the center of why so many Christians turn to Brainrot and not the Bible to interpret current events and their day to day lives.

We’ve seen a huge reaction to this in culture as people both inside and outside the church are seemingly vomiting lukewarm Christianity just as Jesus promises to do in Revelation 3.

“I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

Revelation 3:15–16 (NIV)

This is how Andrew Tate became popular and even considered “conservative.”

This is how Joe Rogan became a spiritual guide to many men.

This is how Jordan Peterson became known as a theologian.

This is also why Charlie Kirk was, and is, so popular.

When the church is consistently silent about issues that Jesus and the early church were constantly clear about, it creates distrust and disinterest in the comings and goings of the “TED Talk,” “Pep Talk,” Enneagram class, everything’s-gonna-be-okay-as-long-as-you-have-faith-ism of many large churches and Christian platforms.

The rise of the Based Believer is in full swing.

I’ve spent my entire adult life, 15 years, working with Gen Z boys now men, and it’s always confusing to me when people are confused about why pastors like Mark Driscoll are so popular.

Simply put, it’s obvious to me because I also know how popular creators like Asmongold and Nick Fuentes are, and how few pastors or parents even know who either of those guys are. That makes me sad in a way I can’t fully explain.

The rise of the Based Believer is also why Forest Frank continues to be popular, because whether through genuine sincerity, brilliant market awareness, or a mix of both, he understands that “mainstream” is extreme.

Yes, Tom Cruise and his vanilla plots are still selling movies better than anyone, but that’s movie theaters. A dying, if not dead, industry, at least compared to its former place at the top of culture.

Here’s a breakdown comparing money spent or generated on social media ads versus box office sales.

2010 snapshot:

• Social media ads (global): ~$3.3B

• U.S. theaters (domestic box office): $10.6B

→ In 2010, U.S. theaters were materially larger than global social ad spend.

Mid-2020s snapshot (2024–2025):

• Social media ads (global): ~$250–280B per year

• U.S. theaters (domestic box office): $8–9B per year (post-COVID recovery)

→ By the mid-2020s, social media dwarfs U.S. box office by 25–30×.

And who’s winning on social media? Highly clear, super controversial voices.

Vanilla opinions get buried online. They both reveal the current human appetite for “truth” and shape human nature to view the world in an extremely narrow way.

So what are we to do?

Yes, I do blame pastors for, in the name of being “welcoming and accepting,” giving away the spot of Cultural Prophet and Bastion of Truth to idiot podcasters, meme lords, and Reddit trolls.

Ambiguity in a binary world doesn’t work, doesn’t sell, and doesn’t resonate.

So when it comes to church, I actually respect pastors who stood on stage and disparaged Charlie Kirk more than those who said nothing and let their congregation get their worldview from CNN, Fox, or AI TikTok political commentary.

But is Based and Binary the Christian response to ambiguity?

If you don’t know what Based means, go look it up. You’re welcome. And welcome to 2025.

I’d submit that the Based Church will fall into the same extreme pitfalls as the Ambiguous Church.

A word we are desperately in need of is Nuance. Let’s compare the definitions of these two words.

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Ambiguous

Oxford Languages:

Adjective: open to more than one interpretation; not having one obvious meaning.

Example: The wording of the agreement is ambiguous.

Merriam-Webster:

1. Doubtful or uncertain, especially from obscurity or indistinctness.

2. Capable of being understood in two or more possible senses or ways.

In short: Something ambiguous is unclear, open to multiple meanings, or can be interpreted differently depending on context.

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Nuanced

Oxford Languages:

Adjective: characterized by subtle shades of meaning or expression.

Example: The artist’s work is finely nuanced and sensitive.

Merriam-Webster:

1. Having subtle distinctions or variations.

2. Made or done with extreme care and precision to express slight differences in meaning, feeling, or tone.

In short: Something nuanced isn’t confusing or unclear, it’s clear but layered, showing careful attention to subtle distinctions and complexity.

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Ambiguity leaves things up to interpretation.

Nuance leads us to the clearest interpretation.

My fear for the merely Based Church is that we’ll fall prey to algorithms, sell our souls to charlatan content creators, and pledge our ultimate allegiance to political parties and power.

Nuance is the thoughtful, anointed, Spirit led pause that thinks before we speak and listens as much as we talk.

It doesn’t adopt the outrage of the age, and it doesn’t succumb to toxic empathy.

Christian Nuance isn’t the journey around truth, it’s the faster journey to truth.

The Based Bros have no emotional or intellectual space for nuance and will call it the coward’s way forward.

The Love Only Liberals will apply nuance without a moral compass and bring us back to circling ourselves, lost in the muck of the flesh.

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An Example of Nuance in Scripture

Jesus and the woman caught in adultery (John 8).

He’s teaching in the temple, probably with some real Charlie Kirk at a college campus energy, and right in the middle of a sentence, He’s interrupted by His opponents throwing a disheveled woman into the crowd.

The Pharisees and teachers of the law quote the Law to Him. So the Law must be a weapon, right? An outdated part that slipped out of God’s mouth? Jesus defends and protects the woman caught in sexual sin but condemns the hypocritical religious figures. So that must mean Jesus loves LGBTQ+ people but hates pastors. Right? Grace triumphs over the Law.

Who’s wrong? Both of them.

Who does Jesus stand with, Grace or Law?

Both.

Jesus doesn’t condemn either group but corrects them both.

We preach this as some great slam dunk over the religious leaders, but it’s actually a moment of brilliant Nuance. Christ shows us that sin is sin.

It’s worth noting that many assume this woman was saved, but from what we can tell, she walked away just like her accusers, both considering their sin.

We don’t know how any of them ultimately responded to Jesus’ rebuke. Have you ever considered how much grace Jesus showed the religious leaders here? He could have called out their sins one by one, embarrassing them, but instead, He shows the same grace to them that He shows to her.

There was no ambiguity in His grace. They all left knowing they were sinners and that this man from Galilee had divine authority to communicate it.

Nuance leads us to focus more on the Cause of Christ than the Factions of Man.

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Okay, there’s my imperfect attempt to show how often Nuance appears in Scripture and how it leads us to truth.

So here’s some of my Nuance in action.

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ICE: I’ve got friends whose families have had to literally hide in their own cities, and I’ve got nonwhite Christian friends from other countries who’ve told me how badly they wish their country had ICE.

Bad Bunny: I think he’s morally reprehensible and a terrible role model for young people, but no more so than pretty much every other Super Bowl performer. Is Kid Rock more Christian than Bad Bunny? I’m not so sure.

Forest Frank: I don’t hate the takes people are giving him responding to his departure from award shows. I’ve been suspect of Forest Frank this whole time, cause it’s like WHO IS HE? Does he have a pastor? Is he worthy of being the role model he is? But my suspicion has made me lean in more, not less. And in general, I am very pro Frank. I don’t love his music. To be honest I’ve never really liked “Christian” music. But as a father and a pastor I’m thankful people are listening to his music and I am proud of the way he is, from what we can tell, leaning in hard to trying to live life approved of God. I’ve been to Christian Music Awards parties and ceremonies…they’re a little weird. But so is selling merch with the name of Jesus on it.

Jimmy Kimmel: I think what he said was absolutely disgusting, and he meant it. I don’t think his apology was sincere either. But I also don’t think we should be impugning his free speech. It’s hilarious how liberals act like Trump invented cancel culture, forgetting how many people were canceled for saying things far less harmful than what he said.

Charlie Kirk: Too many examples to choose from. I don’t want to get in trouble, okay fine, I’ll say this. Let’s assume Charlie Kirk is everything his worst enemies claim he is. Nuance asks what biblical figure other than Christ didn’t have an asterisk next to their name? What living person do we look at who has no blemishes? Who would have been more worthy of Christians’ unmitigated celebration and mourning? And the big one. To all who think he’s fake, evil, or racist, what do we make of the fact that God is miraculously using his life and testimony to bring people to Himself?

And those churches who have or still do employ Strategic Ambiguity? Well, I think I still have love for them and that God is still using them. Talk about a head scratcher.

So here’s to leaning away from ambiguity, avoiding outrage, and embracing Nuance as a path towards pleasing God and leading people to truth.

If ambiguity in the church is the root cause of Brainrot…then what’s the root cause of ambiguity? I’ll write on that next.

Christian Nationalist and Culture Wars

We are not monks in the wilderness.

Disconnected from the world.

Nor are we to be pawns of the Empire.

If there is a Nation, it should be Christian.

If there is a Christian, he should be a Citizen.

If there is a Culture, there will be a war.

To suggest that a Christian Nation is inherently problematic is to suggest that the way of Christ, the design of God, is a poison to culture and the practicalities of day-to-day life.

If not from God, where else should we be looking for the principles to shape our policies?

To suggest that being “in a culture war” is inherently wrong is to suggest that all Christians do is retreat, running away from the frictions of reality, proclaiming a gospel neutered of any helpfulness in the day-to-day lives of people.

This assertion, I believe, is inherently Gnostic.

One of the original heresies the church fathers and apostles sought to combat.

Which determines the physical as holistically un-Godly and concludes that we are but spiritual beings waiting to be freed from this accursed shell.

It says Christians can’t do politics because we have to go hide away and pray.

It says prayer is merely mutterings to God and a crossing of our fingers that maybe He might do something.

Many who believe we should not engage in our Nation or its “culture war” are typically pacifists. Individuals who would let someone do violence to the innocent and stand by passively claiming “Christ’s will.”

They would err on the side of St. Augustine’s initial observations of the Visigothic sack of Rome and not his eventual adaptation of “Just War Theory.”

War, in any form, is a tragedy. A necessary tragedy, to, as Augustine puts it, restrain evil to protect the sacred and the innocent.

These pacifists in combat are seemingly pacifists in culture, ceding ground to evil while preaching an ethereal Christ. Letting the barbarians ransack the land, claiming it is God’s will.

If conquest and colonization are the evil fruits of a hijacked Christianity, so too are cowardice and complacency, standing back for fear of conflict.

Certainly, our allegiance is not to the Empire.

Of course, our church fathers started out as persecuted citizens scattered throughout a hostile land.

But the primary shaping force of modern society and technological advancement was not monks in a desert holding hands and hoping. It was the activated life, the veritas of Christ coming to life in the lives of people, taking shape in nations.

To love your neighbor well means we would infuse our nation with laws and systems derived from the Word of God.

Those who claim Christ’s supremacy but would have Him far away from politics and policies ironically proclaim a message of apathy at best and hatred at worst to the “neighbors” they so desperately claim to prioritize.

Just like the brainrot at the center of a Christian pacifist who claims to love their children but would let the robber in the house unabated.

One of the strongest forces to withstand the Empire and protect our children is a Nation.

One of the strongest forces to Love our Neighbors is a strong Nation built on Kingdom Principles.

While no man can be forced by man to follow Christ, eating the fruits of Christ’s principles alive in their society will entice them towards servitude and allegiance to the One True God.

It is Christ’s will that “none should perish” (2 Peter 3:9).

And yes, Jesus resisted and reversed the sword of Peter the Zealot in the Garden, but He did so not because He was sending a zen message of passivity, but because any act, tool, or service that is not expressly in line with the will of the King will be rejected and deemed unnecessary (John 18:10–11).

The same Christ that rebuked the sword in the Garden will be coming back with one in His hand (Revelation 19:15).

Jesus rebuffed the Zealots because His ultimate aim was not to liberate a nation but to establish His Kingdom (John 18:36).

That is why, in the end, Nations and Wars are tools we use temporarily and begrudgingly and should always bow to the ultimate purposes and rule of our King and His Kingdom.

Does our relationship with a president outweigh that of our King Jesus?

Does our allegiance to our Nation take precedence over our commitment to the Kingdom of Heaven?

I will assign a charitable definition of those warning Christians from entanglement with politics and “culture wars.”

Their fear is that over the last 30 years we have been over-involved and it has cost our witness to Christ dearly.

After the events of September 2025, I am starting to wonder if, as Christians, we have not been involved enough.