God’s Movement Among Gen Z

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to Missionize with the Missions Guys, a podcast of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention, offering biblical and practical insight and strategies designed to equip and encourage missions leaders to carry on mission work. The goal is to fulfill the great Commission from a church's local community to the ends of the earth. That is why we missionize. Now, here are your hosts, the Missions. [00:00:26] Speaker B: Guys, Sam Roberts and and Clint Ritchie. [00:00:31] Speaker C: Welcome to Mission Eyes. I am Clint Richie, here with my co host, Dr. Sam Roberts. Dr. Sam, glad to have you back after missing the last episode. [00:00:39] Speaker B: Hey, it's good to be back, Clint. And thank you for not messing up the podcast too much. That's what I'm about to say. We did a pretty good job. [00:00:47] Speaker C: We didn't get us canceled. [00:00:49] Speaker B: Yeah, well, we don't know that just yet, but. [00:00:52] Speaker C: Well, it may just go to prove that no executives at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention listen to our podcast. [00:00:59] Speaker B: And it may prove that nobody listens to the podcast. [00:01:02] Speaker C: It very well may. But hey, if you are one of our faithful or our one faithful listener, we've talked about cycles in the life of a church, seasons in a church, and we are at one of those changes in season. The end of the summer with the passing of Labor Day now, churches began to look at fall events. And so I encourage you to go back about a year and look at the episode we did last year on fall outreach events and how you can use the normal fall events in your church to be very missional and with an outreach focus there. Dr. Dr. Sam, since we last recorded, there's been a major change in my life and my family. We moved my oldest daughter to college, much to the difficulty of her mama. But I heard you've done it three times, that it gets easier every time. [00:01:55] Speaker B: Well, I'll say this. Yeah, I think it does get easier, but the first one was probably the easiest because we were ready to get rid of him. It was like, see you later, brother. Have a good life. And we partied going back, you know, from Jonesboro to. To Stuttgart. Now, the Princess was the last one, so that was a little more difficult for us, but it's kind of in reverse order there for us. But it does get easier, and life after that is incredible. So you've got something to look forward to. [00:02:34] Speaker C: Well, not that we're counting down the next three years or anything, but how. [00:02:38] Speaker B: Many days is it? Yeah, I know you're counting down. I know you are. [00:02:44] Speaker C: You know, as we made that transition, I held on to the fact that Addison was excited about the change. She's A mature kid, I had threatened her greatly, all those things. But what really helped me in the transition is how I hear the work of the Lord or how I hear the Lord is working on college campuses. [00:03:04] Speaker B: Among generation Z. Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it, Clint? You know, this generation, some 70 million, and we are just seeing an incredible movement, blessing of God among that generation. And to help us kind of walk through that, because I know that's something that listeners, they've got their ear toward. They're seeing these reports, they may be hearing from kids in their church that are on the college campus or they're hearing what's happening in other contexts around the country. They get on social media and they can see it. It's right there, you know, with major universities all across our nation where thousands and thousands of kids are coming together and God's just setting his spirit down there among them. So to help us kind of walk through that and think through that some, we have a first time guest with us today. To mission eyes. He's not a stranger to us, not a stranger to Arkansas Baptist. We have the one and the only Warren Papa Gas away. Glad to have you with us, Warren. [00:04:23] Speaker A: Man, it's great to be with you guys. Do you have an applause track or a cheering track that you can insert at that point? I'd really appreciate that. [00:04:30] Speaker C: We need a button bar. [00:04:36] Speaker B: Hey, Warren, take just a few moments and introduce yourself to listeners. You as well. I think along with me that kids are out of the nest. So just take a few moments there and introduce yourself. [00:04:55] Speaker A: Sure. Warren Gasaway, service team leader for evangelism and church health here at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. Been here almost 12 years, December 1st. [00:05:04] Speaker B: Wow. [00:05:05] Speaker A: 1212 years. And first started in student ministry work here and then assistant team leader now team leader. Yeah, married to Melissa for 30 years. We just celebrated 30 years last year. [00:05:16] Speaker B: Awesome. Congratulations. [00:05:17] Speaker A: Yeah, thank you. More for her. And then three kids, all young adults now a 28 year old, a 25 year old and a 22 year old and all three as of this last May have graduated college and moved into the workforce and are paying their own insurance. And it is awesome. [00:05:34] Speaker B: So, yeah, you've got two of those kids that are in this generation that we're talking about, right? [00:05:39] Speaker A: Yeah, no, they've been a part of this and sort of a part of the run up to this. And so they're very excited. As a matter of fact, my youngest, my daughter, she couldn't help but go to the BCM this last Monday night because she just wanted to see and be a part of it. Even though she's graduated, moved on, has her RN job in a local hospital, she had to go, and she. She was very, very excited for what the Lord's doing now. [00:06:06] Speaker B: Usually when I introduce Warren, I introduce him as Warren G is what I always have done. But most recently, it's Papa G. Papa G, tell everybody. [00:06:16] Speaker A: Yeah, kind of fun. I used to be Orangey, which is an old rapper from the 90s, and you can be my Nate dog anytime. Dr. Sam. [00:06:26] Speaker B: Come on, let's do it. [00:06:27] Speaker A: But. But now it's Papa G because we have a new addition to our family. Our oldest kid and his wife, they adopted in December. Little Kingston came into our family. We're very excited. He is much loved. And then found out after the adoption that they're pregnant, which we didn't foresee. And so we've got another one coming here in November. So the tribe is increasing, Is increasing. So are the Christmas presents. [00:06:56] Speaker B: Yes, sir. But you're going to have such joy purchasing those Christmas presents. [00:07:02] Speaker A: You mean when I see them open and up and go, oh, yeah, yeah. [00:07:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, that, that. That's when you're gonna have the joy. [00:07:09] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. Purchasing. [00:07:10] Speaker B: Now, you know, when. When kids leave, of course, one of the blessings is you don't spend as much money, you know, on the kids. But when grandkids come, oh, yeah, I get the checkbook out, get the card out, because, dude, you're going to spend some money. Yeah, we. We go probably every couple of weeks and try to see a couple of hours up in northwest Arkansas, or they come down and every time Martha has. Here's the two sacks, you know, little bags, pink bags, and they are full, you know, of stuff. But it's a pleasure. It is. Welcome to this. [00:07:53] Speaker A: Thank you, man. Good to be with you guys. [00:07:55] Speaker C: Hey, before we jump into the content, though, of your three kids, which one is most likely to listen to this podcast? [00:08:05] Speaker A: I'm going to go. My daughter, my oldest couldn't care less about things like this. I mean, he loves the Lord, loves the church. They all three love the Lord serving church, but this is not his speed. My middle son is a coach. I don't think he cares much about it either, so let's go, girl. [00:08:23] Speaker C: Yeah, there's no doubt that's who I figured. [00:08:25] Speaker A: She's probably the only one that we'll see it on social media. The other two. Yeah, I doubt they even notice. [00:08:30] Speaker C: Well, Elise, thanks for listening, for being our fan. Please, like, like, comment, share all those things. So, Warren, let's Talk about ministries on campuses throughout our state. Arkansas Baptists have a huge footprint in ministry on colleges, both four year and junior colleges across Arkansas. What does this look like? How many campuses does that include? [00:08:57] Speaker A: Yeah, so full time campus ministers. Arkansas Baptists have missionaries, for lack of a better term, in nine of our bigger state schools. So University of Arkansas, University of Arkansas, Fort Smith, Arkansas Tech University, UCA Conway, all of Conway schools, Little Rock, and then you've got uapb, you've got Monticello, and you've got Southern Arkansas University and then Arkansas State University. Yeah. And that's just counting the full time campus ministers. Then we have several volunteer type folks who work in some of our smaller schools. And man, when you start numbering those, that's going to be up there a little bit huge. Yeah. People who just love to love on college students. [00:09:46] Speaker B: Yeah. One thing we really love, Warren, is getting the reports from you quite often here at the beginning of semester of just what's happening on those campuses across the state through BCM and also through other churches that have an impact there upon the college campus. Now we don't have time to look at each one of those individually and I think here in a couple of weeks we're following this, this podcast up with conversation with a couple of those BCM guys to look a little more specifically and kind of get, get them to speak into what they see happening, especially on their campus, but across the state as well. But no doubt we're hearing just God stories, you know, come out of our campuses. What are some of those highlights that you can give us of what's been happening on college campuses in Arkansas at the beginning of this fall semester? [00:10:55] Speaker A: Yeah, really difficult not to talk on this for quite a while. So you guys are going to have to cut me off. But all of our folks are very excited because they are seeing the attendances, let's start there, that are just very, very strong. Matter of fact, in some cases record attendances. We know up at Arkansas State, for example, they had 150 or so for their first back to campus service and that's more than they've seen in 10 years. Wow. So that's a big, big group that's gone there. We've got, you know, UCA or Conway, sorry, all of Conway campuses are represented there. They had 415 at their first campus service. And so you've just got really strong attendance. Fort Smith is having some of their biggest attendances that they've ever had just across the board. I can't pick on everybody here but they're all, they're all seeing strong, strong attendance. Now with that comes a lot of gospel sharing. Because we're Arkansas Baptists, we love to share the gospel. And our campus ministers, I'm going to make the contention they're some of the best evangelists that we have, and they are. And so they share the gospel and they've seen several, several salvations. Think about Pine Bluff. Our guy Matthew hall down there, he is having to follow up with 20 or so slips of paper of indications of, hey, I want to know more of what it means to follow Jesus. [00:12:29] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:12:29] Speaker A: And that's a big deal. [00:12:31] Speaker B: That's incredible. That's huge. [00:12:32] Speaker A: I could go on and on about these stories and then, you know, talking about campus ministries. I also want to mention our local churches as well, because that's what we do is we are the point of the spear, being a missionary on campus. We funnel them in, get them to where we kind of know who those students are, and then we're able to share and help with our collegiate engaged churches. And we're seeing a lot of good things. You know, church up in northwest Arkansas Cross Church had an on campus outreach event. 3400 students showed up, 70 or so salvations. What was interesting, of course, all of that's a massive celebration. Interesting in that is that 700, well over 700 of those students actually filled out the information for local church follow up. They want to be connected to a local church. And that's massive. [00:13:22] Speaker B: That's massive. [00:13:23] Speaker A: Last night in Jonesboro, 600 students showing up at Central Baptist Church. You know, just. And you've got all these college students who are looking in Russellville. Chris Russell, Second Baptist, Russellville, seeing a lot of great things happen. So the Lord's just on the move, mentioned Chris Russell. [00:13:40] Speaker C: You know, he told me about the whole Arkansas Tech football team coming to service. [00:13:45] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:45] Speaker C: And players responding at the invitation and the head football coach weeping at the sight of that. [00:13:54] Speaker A: That's awesome. [00:13:55] Speaker C: You know, and then commenting later about this, the best thing I've, I've ever seen and that. [00:13:59] Speaker A: Great. [00:13:59] Speaker C: Yeah. It's just amazing. [00:14:01] Speaker A: And then you've got some significant things that maybe aren't attached so much to numbers. But for the first time, I think we actually started a campus ministry at South Arc Community College in El Dorado where I spent four years in ministry, commuter type school. Never really had that presence, an established presence on campus. So we started one this last week and in that room there were 50 or so folks that showed up to hear more about this Ministry the gospel and what's going to happen moving forward. And that's huge. That is really big for a first time ever. And so just a lot of kudos to the churches down there, the associations that are involved. Wait, Toddy and Liberty and man, Lord's just doing great things. [00:14:52] Speaker C: Yeah. You mentioned Matthew hall, the Matthew hall and Pine Bluff. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Every time you say Matthew hall, it brings a smile to everybody's face. [00:15:01] Speaker C: Yes, it does. [00:15:03] Speaker B: And maybe a head shake too. [00:15:08] Speaker A: Love that guy. [00:15:09] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, man. [00:15:10] Speaker C: The next question is, which of our campus ministers is most likely to listen to this? No, we won't go there. [00:15:16] Speaker A: 100%. [00:15:17] Speaker C: Matthew Hall. Yeah, Matthew Hall. 100%. Yeah. So he posted this on Facebook and we'll quote this right now. On college campuses in Arkansas, we are seeing things on campuses that apart from the grace of God, are unexplainable. He requests prayer for all those that serve in bcms. He says, we don't want a manufactured religion. We desire God to move in power and make lost college students his children. You know, one of the things as we talk about what God is doing in this movement, one things that stands out to me is the authenticity and the substance that is there. Is this different or what is the difference in what we're seeing now versus what was happening even four or five, ten years ago? [00:15:58] Speaker A: Yeah, that's an interesting question. You know what's funny about this generation is we've given them monikers while they were growing up. This generation is distracted. This generation is lazy. This generation is digital. All of these caricatures that we put on this generation and what I love about them is that they're blowing us out of the water. When it comes to religion and spirituality, Gen Z is surprising us. And by the way, this is not hypothetical. This is happening. If I can't convince you with a few stories, I can keep going. There are stats upon stats of where this is actually happening. But let me give you something about this generation that I find just to be fascinating. Lifeway Research has come out with a new report in church attendance. So here's the deal. From 2020 to 2024, October of 24, the percentage of religious participants in various age groups has really not changed. Okay, so if you look at the 30 to 49 age bracket, 37% attending in 2020, 38% in 2024, the 50 to 64 age bracket, 46% versus 46% flatline, no change. 65 and older, very, very similar, 50, 52%. However, among 18 to 29 year olds since 2020. There's been at least an 8% increase in church attendance. So that's number one. They are actually attending church, looking for church type community. And then here is the other thing, Clint. In answer to your question, Gen Z Christians are way more likely to share their faith than any other of our generations that have come through. 58% indicated that they had three plus spiritual conversations in the last year. Okay. That's over half of Gen Z Christians have shared their faith. You know what the stats are for most normal church attendants? It's like 2% have shared their faith. So they are very spiritually courageous, which goes against all the monikers that we gave them as they were growing up. Just another thing that you might find interesting, Bible sales in 2019, 9.7 million. Okay. So we can look to the marketplace to help us understand this. In 2024, that figure has gone up to 14 million. So Bibles are being sold, conversations are happening, seeking out of churches, a very bold witness from Jesus followers. Okay. And it's not just national, it's actually global. Yeah, exactly. The uk, which most people have counted dead. Yeah, yeah, okay. Church gone cold. The quiet revival is a report that the American Bible Society issued just here in the last. Just a little bit. In England, 18 to 24 year olds attending church has quadrupled. It was dead flatline 3%. Now it's 16%. Okay. In Wales, church attendance has gone from 8 to 12% among that age group. But now listen to this. And this is where secular media has picked up on this. Young men in that country has gone from 4% church attendance. So if you have 100 people in a room, four of those guys maybe going to church to now 21%, 21 folks. Now that's a clear indication of movement and revival. And so they are. Their faith is trending up. And we can talk a lot if you want about why that may be. But it's really exciting to see what the Lord's doing. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Well, that's the next question we have. Oh, great. And that is simply this. And before I ask this question, let me just make this statement. I've got it in my notes for a little later on. But Carrie Newhoff is somebody that each of us listen to. And Carrie has a great five part series right now, most recent that he's completed. It's a five part series on Gen Z and revival and this awakening and outpouring of the spirit. One of those episodes was indeed with three of the guys in England, in London. Yeah, it's great. One a college Campus guy, a couple of pastors just talking about that and what's happening in New Zealand and Wales and, and other places where young guys are just showing up. And I think the reason that, that Kerry kind of jumped on this is that, see there, at the end of last year, beginning of this year, Carrie came out with his trends. We talked about this, and we use that Rainer's trends on one of the, the podcast episodes at the. I think at the very beginning of the year, this year, one of the things that Kerry said in, in that here's some trends for the coming year was Gen Z is in revival and retreat at the same time. And he talked about this kind of movements going on on colleges. But then he said the stats that we have at this point show that Gen Z are going away from the church. Well, he retracted that when all of this that you're talking about has come out and said, hey, we've got to kind of put our finger on this. We got to follow this. We got to figure out what's going on. Because what I said then is not right. Yes, there's revival, but Gen Z is not retreating. They're flooding the church. And in many places, these single young guys are showing up in church with no church background whatsoever. I mean, they're responding to a dream, you know, that, that, that they had. And the response was, I need to go to a church and find out what repentance is, you know, those sort of things. So it's amazing, you know, what's happening. So with that, with that whole landscape. And I know that you follow this, Warren, you know, you've been a, you've been a student minister, you've been involved now with collegiate ministry in this role, with the combining of the teams, in your opinion. And I know that, you know, we can't just put our finger on it and say, hey, it's happening because of this and this. How do you define, you know, a movement of God apart from the sovereignty of God, you know, that God just chooses to do this. But in your mind, what might be some of those factors that has contributed to this movement among this generation especially. [00:23:03] Speaker A: Yeah, I think a couple of things obviously are contributing to it. Number one, in response to the retreat and the revival sort of contrast there, what I find interesting is that darkness does exist and it's all around us. There is a great darkness still. We are spiritually bankrupt, okay? But in a way that is actually helping us, because when the dark is darkest, the light is brightest. Darkness contrasted against light, the light really shines and so I think there is an awakening that's happening where Gen Z especially is taking a look around at the bankruptcy of morality. They're taking a look at secular humanism, which has driven a lot of who we are in America over the last couple of decades. And they're saying it doesn't work. Matter of fact, it leaves us wanting. It's not satisfying. We're taking a look at secular humanism, I think Gen Z is saying, and going, man, it is empty at the end of the day. And I think that's leading to some things like the mental health crisis that we hear a lot about and the loneliness that we hear a lot about. And at the end of the day, we crave relationships and we crave significance. That is the core questions of who we are. And so a lot of Gen Z are going, well, secular humanism doesn't answer it. The society doesn't answer it. So maybe the church does answer this. Let's actually try. And so they're kind of gravitating that way. There's a lot of artificial that's out there in the world today. You know, we can go artificial intelligence to, to artificial. And by the way, I'm not talking about you, Clint, when I say that. [00:24:57] Speaker B: We'Re, we're talking about the technology is actually a robot. [00:25:02] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:03] Speaker B: Designed by Elon Musk. [00:25:05] Speaker A: But in the midst. [00:25:06] Speaker C: There's no intelligence. [00:25:09] Speaker A: In the midst of looking at all the artificial that's out there, they, they, they sense an authentic kind of love in the church. When we do church. Right. And when we follow Jesus closely, there's an authenticity that is attractive because there is a steadfast love that emanates from the heart of God. And if we are close to that, not just do in church and putting on the faces and trying to hit some sort of morality threshold when we're really searching authentic love. Gen Z is very much attracted to that because of the emptiness and the artificial that they see so many other places. Something's got to be real in their lives. And we're saying there is a living God and you need to know him responding to that. [00:26:08] Speaker B: One thing that I heard recently, I think is Luke LeFevre. Luke's really involved Gen Z guy, really involved in all of this, as God's using him in some major, major churches across our nation of kind of stewarding this movement from college campus to the local church. And one thing he did point out, a caution for his own generation. I think it's worth us mentioning at least when we start talking about this movement and what's behind it. And there's always the tendency to say, hey, the only reason this is happening is because this is a generation that's really seeking God and they're the ones who have brought this, you know, have caused this to happen. And one from the own. From that generation has kind of said, hey, guys, let's kind of pump the brakes just a little bit on that to make sure we remember that behind that there's a body of believers that have been praying for generations for God to move. Yes. And we're seeing fruit of. So just as an encouragement to those folks who may be listening, that, man, you've been praying for a long time for some movement of God among this generation. Prayers are being answered. [00:27:58] Speaker A: Sure. The prayer movements keep praying that we've seen over the last decade or so. We've all been involved in prayer gatherings and all sorts of different things where it has been the prep for a lot of what's happening here. So, absolutely, there is a generation of faithful believers who have invested in this and are willing to do a lot of different things and change a lot of different things in order to reach folks. [00:28:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Kind of going back to the Carrie Newhall podcast with the five. Five episodes there, I would really encourage our listeners to go take a listen there, follow through. Great stuff. One of those is with Zach near Krebs. Creebs. Near Creebs. He's the guy who preached the sermon at Asbury where it all kind of that outpouring that occurred there. Pretty cool stuff there. You know, there's one with John Tyson, there's the guys from England, and I think the last one's JP that he interviewed as well. Just some great stuff. I'd encourage folks to go and look, take a listen there. Here's the question that I got for you. What we see happening on college campuses in Arkansas. And you've answered this somewhat, but let's dive into it just a little bit more. Are we seeing that translated to the local church? And how are we seeing that impacting the local church? We see that in uk, in New Zealand, these areas we've already mentioned where. Man, what was the percentage again? 21%. Yeah. Of young men. Incredible. Are we seeing that movement from the college campus? And I know that's the direction that we want to take our BCM ministry that everything funnels to the local church. What are we seeing in the local church? [00:30:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Outside of the stats that I mentioned earlier, where church attendance obviously is way up, just from anecdotal type stories, I'LL give you a couple of examples. So yes, it is happening. Let's take this last week at Arkansas Tech University where they had another large attendance for their first gathering of the semester. 140, I can't remember. 150 students showed up. Six churches showed up with their folks. [00:30:47] Speaker B: Awesome. [00:30:48] Speaker A: Wanting to engage and connect with college students. And so you know that's going to pay dividends when you have churches that are ready and willing and wanting to build relationships with college students. And so yes, it is obviously affecting the local churches. Let me give you a personal story that I think is a great illustration of it. I'm an interim pastor in hot Springs Village. Dr. Sam Hot Springs Village is largely known as a retirement community. Largest gated community in North America. 17,000 folks in the village. Supposed to be a church that is largely made up of 50, 60, 70 year olds. Okay. What is happening in revival among these students is spilling out into the churches. We actually have seen several students and college students that are a part of that church and that church is engaging in college students. There's not a local BCM nearby. But what do they do? They go up to Conway and they cook for these kids and they, they go to Beach Reach, the mission trip that happens over spring break to Panama City, Florida and they cook and they're the prayer team that goes with these college groups. They're the ones that are going outside their walls to engage. Well, it's being noticed by folks in that community. And so the college students, and especially the young students, we baptized nine teenagers just three months or so ago, they're trickling into the church. So absolutely, I think God blesses faithfulness and obedience. I really do. We try to make a lot out of how we're supposed to do church faithfulness and obedience. God is going to bless. And so when you start looking at ways to engage college students, I just tend to think that he's going to bless that and send folks your way. [00:32:47] Speaker B: Let me follow up with another, another question here. For those church leaders that, that are listening right, right now and, and they long to see Gen Z, younger adults, you know, showing up, be being present. What are some steps that a church can take to prepare for that? Because you, you said a. Authenticity, honesty, relationships, those are things that are really important with this generation. What can we do as church leaders to prepare the church? If what happens is happening in the UK in these areas all of a sudden, if 21% of the congregation is 18 to 24, you know. [00:33:44] Speaker C: How do. [00:33:45] Speaker B: We prepare for that as Leaders in the church. [00:33:48] Speaker A: Yeah, well, let's hit for just a second on the authentic piece of that because I think that's where a lot of this is coming from. They're not drawn, the Gen Z's not drawn by Christian hype or celebrity. So just putting together a big event where you're going to hype it up and hope for a big crowd, they can find that in the world. And as a matter of fact, the world does it better. So we don't have to worry so much about celebrities and events that are just enormous. And we want to do those. Those are outreaches. Obviously we want to have front porch experiences where they can get to know our church. But that is not what is going to draw and keep Gen Z, in my opinion. And from what we're seeing in some of the behaviors, we have to have a mindset shift where we are moving away from transactional church to transformational church. Now, some have already done this and at the core of us, we all want this, but we really need to talk about it because transactional church is this. It's just like a transaction in a business. You come and I get to count you as a number. And in your counting as a number, then I'm going to give you a bunch of information about the Bible, God, etc. Etc. That is transactional way of viewing church. And it's driven a lot of our attitudes and who we are. That's not what this generation is looking for. They're looking for true transformation. Can Jesus really change my life? Is there such a thing as a living God? And so in our minds and hearts as church leaders, we have to kind of go back. We got to go back to what got us into ministry in the first place. Do you remember believing that God can actually take a life and change it? That is what got us into ministry in the first place. It's probably where we spent a large part of our time in those first days, praying God, would you reach this family? Would you reach this person by name, knowing who they are, praying for them specifically because I believe God, you can put them on an absolute different trajectory through your gospel. That's transformational type of living and functioning and it actually shades how we do church. So this whole transactional versus transformational thing, we've got to have that in mind. We've got to understand that they are dealing with some particular things. Loneliness, mental health, struggles, those emptinesses that I was talking about other. Otherwise, we've got to figure out how to build relationships that matter, whether that be through mentoring, discipling, whatever it could be, so that they can experience authentic love. I know your name, you know my name. It's authentic type of love. You know, I get very, very encouraged when I go into a local coffee shop, especially in, like, the Conway area. I'll go sit in a local coffee shop. And every time I go in there, bar none, there will be a group of students in there with their Bibles open, sitting across the table from one another and just talking about the Lord and how to follow him better. And that is an authentic type of. They don't need us anymore for information. They have information at their fingertips. They can have it immediate and they can have all sorts of ideas. They have so many voices in their lives that it's good for us just to take a moment and help them filter, that they need us to be navigators more than they need us to be information dispensers. [00:37:33] Speaker B: Okay, so with that, that's great. I mean, that's gold. But here's the question, as pastors, standing in front of congregation, thus says the Lord, how does that change our preaching? How does that change the proclamation? [00:37:47] Speaker A: I don't know that it changes our preaching, because preaching is, if it's my opinion, right? And good preaching, it's always, of course, going to be biblical. And that's not an opinion, that's a fact. But it's always going to also be relational. I know you guys are like me when you're standing in front of it. How is this going to land? How does this work? I am not just giving a lesson or a study. I am proclaiming truth, hoping and praying that the spirit of God takes that truth penetrates a heart and actually brings about transformation. To me, that's good preaching. Otherwise, it's just a lesson. And so I think it doesn't really change a lot of the proclamation other than we begin to understand how to take truth and love and marry those together. Okay. Because some of us tend a little bit more towards the true side, our personality, our background, etc. And so we can be a little bit harsh, those kinds of things. Some of us tend a little bit more towards the love side, and we can be a little bit more emotive, and we can be a little bit more on the positive realm of things. Okay? What really, really is to benefit for us is when we take some time and think through truth and love together and how those combined can influence this particular generation. Because they do want truth. There's so many voices, but they also want love at the same time. Because that's where the authenticity comes from. So I think it's a marriage of the two. [00:39:26] Speaker B: I think one thing, especially with Asbury that we've noticed and this was the same back in the 70s as it is the most recent, is that the polished stuff, it wasn't polished, you know, I mean it wasn't, you know, a lot of, if you look at what happened at Asbury this last go around a couple of years ago and you see videos, a lot of that we, we may say, you know, on the music, on all, but, but it's that authentic, genuine from the heart. And I think that's where I was getting at with the question that, you know, the relationship aspect, the not, not, not so much the content of, of message, but the delivery of that, you know, needs to be more in a relational, you know, that, that we don't have to be super polished, you know, to speak truth into this particular generation. [00:40:37] Speaker A: And participatory. Yeah. If you think about Asbury in particular, you see a lot of participation from the actual students. They're confessing their sins, they're, they're leading out. That's actually what this generation is used to. They grew up in educational environments where it was peer to peer teaching. That's what they're used to. And so when they get into a church service, if there's not some element of participation, somehow that can be a little bit of a hurdle to get over. I think about Super Summer this last summer. Our speaker took Thursday night and went off script for just a second and said, hey, I just sense that it's time for us to have a few words shared by those in the room. And I'm going to give our seniors the opportunity to do that. If a couple of you would come up, a couple turned into a line down the aisle who wanted to speak truth and speak encouragement and be a part of the service. So you have to understand this is a highly participatory generation. And so what are their. This is a key word here, key word. We can't get into it, we're running out of time. But, but access. What are their access points? Access to the pastor, access to the service and participation. Those are the things that we need to be thinking through. [00:42:03] Speaker B: Awesome. That's good stuff, man. [00:42:04] Speaker C: You know, and you talk about, you're telling stories from the 70s, Warren and I have to read about those in history books. But you know, sorry, I couldn't resist. But I say that to say, you know, let's fast forward 50 years and imagine, you know, Warren Your grandkids talking about what happened in their early years that they, they just heard about, they've read about it in history, they've seen the change, you know, from their, their friends, parents, and you know, I just think it reminds us that we don't know what the Lord's doing. We see what he's doing, but we don't know what the impact is going to be on history. Just the way we talk about what happened in the 70s and during the Jesus movement. I think we're getting to witness that now and you know, just, I don't know that we can fathom what it's going to be, what the complete impact is going to be. When we look back at this time, you know, we don't have time to jump in. But as we talk about attendance and, and evangelism, the salvations that are happening, there's discipleship occurring, there's mentorships that are taking place, leadership development, both on college campuses and in churches. It is just great to see. And so maybe the next time we invite you back. Well, we can jump into some of that. [00:43:25] Speaker A: Absolutely. [00:43:25] Speaker C: Before though we wrap up, we need to ask you some very deep questions. [00:43:31] Speaker A: Oh boy. [00:43:33] Speaker C: Just some rapid fire questions that we ask all of our guests. We won't ask you your favorite child, your favorite BCM, missionary, those things. But just wrap up here, get to know Warren G. A little better. Favorite meal. [00:43:48] Speaker A: Ooh, man, if you do anything Cajun, I'm in. I love Cajun meals. [00:43:55] Speaker B: I love you love Matthew Hall. [00:43:57] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love crying craw, crawfish etouffee. If that were going to be like My Last supper, maybe something like that. [00:44:06] Speaker C: I think we even heard Lynn Riley shout right there. If he listens. You know, when you compose yourself. Favorite restaurant. [00:44:18] Speaker A: Oh my goodness, man. Oh, I'm gonna have to say because of seminary and going down and we were dirt poor, but I would go down to Fort Worth, Dallas Area Southwestern and I would finish up a week of an I term. My celebration would be going to Papa Doughs and getting crawfish etouffee. So all this is coming together. Yeah, yeah. [00:44:50] Speaker B: Have you had shrimp and grits at Faded Rose? [00:44:53] Speaker A: Not yet. I've heard, I've heard, I've heard they should be sponsoring you guys. Yes, I can think of some other restaurants that could be sponsoring you too. [00:45:04] Speaker C: Your go to relaxation spot My Bed. [00:45:09] Speaker A: That are the, the golf course. I love to get out on the golf and just not think about anything but how bad my golf game is. [00:45:16] Speaker C: That'll erase every Other memory. [00:45:18] Speaker B: Right? [00:45:18] Speaker C: Yeah. Besides the Bible, what's your favorite book? [00:45:22] Speaker A: Oh, man, Growing up I would lay in my grandparents bed and read Louis Lamour books. So that tells you a little bit of how old and how sheltered I was growing up. But probably like Spiritual Leadership by Henry Blackaby. That was a very, very transforming book for me. Yeah. [00:45:41] Speaker C: Great question. Favorite podcast. [00:45:44] Speaker A: Oh, Mission Eyes with. What's this called? [00:45:49] Speaker B: You notice he didn't say Lead and Defend. [00:45:51] Speaker C: No, no, he did not. [00:45:52] Speaker B: He said Mission. That's. It's on record. [00:45:54] Speaker C: Yes. Nordy's All Baptist Women. [00:45:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Sorry, ladies. [00:45:59] Speaker C: Yes. [00:45:59] Speaker A: Yeah. Big women's podcast. [00:46:01] Speaker C: Yes. Favorite genre of music. [00:46:06] Speaker A: Man, our kids, I drive them nuts because when we traveled, I'm so eclectic in my music. I literally am all over the map. Except for opera. I won't listen to opera. Everything else is on my playlist, so that's a difficult one. But my dad was in a country western band, so a genre called Western swing means a lot to me. Not a lot of people know about it. It's good stuff. Yeah. [00:46:34] Speaker C: First concert you attended. This ought to be good with your dad. [00:46:37] Speaker A: That's my dad. Yeah. That's going to be Bob Wills. Texas Playboys. Old, old school country stuff. [00:46:44] Speaker C: Favorite place to visit. [00:46:46] Speaker A: National parks. We're big on those. Anything that's outdoors, hiking, just out and about, stuff like that. We had a great trip one day to Maine and that was really, really nice. But yeah, just anything. National parks. These are hard, man. [00:47:05] Speaker C: Last one. This is actually. [00:47:07] Speaker A: Should have actually looked at this stuff before. [00:47:09] Speaker C: I came in here up with three pages of notes but didn't answer these questions, you know, favorite sport. [00:47:20] Speaker A: I am. Gosh, I love all of them. And I'll go. I'll go. Football. Just because it's football season. [00:47:28] Speaker B: It's time. [00:47:29] Speaker A: It's time. We're going to go on. All the way, fellas. [00:47:32] Speaker B: Come on. [00:47:32] Speaker A: All the way. National championship. [00:47:34] Speaker B: Undefeated national championship. [00:47:36] Speaker A: It's happening for us. Yeah. And I'm talking about the Razorback. [00:47:39] Speaker C: That's what I say. We should be clear here. [00:47:42] Speaker B: Which school do you root for? [00:47:44] Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, yeah. [00:47:45] Speaker C: All right, Warren, thanks for joining us today. Been some great content and appreciate your leadership in this area among our state. And we've laughed a lot and always do that together. But what God is doing is far from laughable. Matter of fact, it's just what leaves us in awe. [00:48:03] Speaker A: That's right. [00:48:03] Speaker C: Just to see how he's working and appreciate your leadership there. [00:48:07] Speaker A: Amen. [00:48:08] Speaker C: Hey, thank you guys for listening. Just want to end as a reminder to you that registration is open for our one day mission trip October 4th in Jonesboro, so encourage you check out absc.org one day for information there and to learn how to register. Look forward to seeing you in Jonesboro and look forward to being back with you in a couple of weeks as we continue this conversation of what God is doing, how he's moving among Gen Z. [00:48:34] Speaker A: Thanks for joining the Missions guys today. If you liked what you heard, rate and review us on your favorite podcasting platform. And to keep up with what is happening in Arkansas missions, visit absc.org missions.