637: Your Church is Too American with Steve Bezner

The Holy Post

Steve Bezner, a pastor in Houston, had a troubling realization—his people were being shaped more by social media, YouTube, and cable news than by the Bible, and their views of money, sex, and power looked more American than Christian. He talks with Kaitlyn about his new book, “Your Jesus Is Too American,” and how being more relational than organizational may be the first step toward healing our churches. Also this week, are American evangelicals going through the five stages of grief? If so, what does it mean to accept our loss of cultural influence? For the first time, new data says Gen Z men are more religious than Gen Z women. Why are young women leaving the church and why are young men coming? Plus, now even gorillas are addicted to smartphones.

0:00 - Intro

1:46 - Show Starts

2:52 - Theme Song

3:14 - Sponsor - Zondervan - The NIV, Upside-Down Kingdom Bible helps you flip earthly wisdom on its head - Go to https://www.upsidedownkingdombible.com

4:20 - Sponsor - BioLogos - Go to https://biologos.org/podcast/language-of-god/ and check out the Language of God podcast!

5:20 - Kohl’s Makes Decisions Easier

6:28 - Gorillas Getting Too Much Screentime at the Zoo!

11:42 - Accepting Lost Evangelical Influence

18:07 - Collaborating as Political Minorities

31:42 - Are Young Men Taking Over the Church?

51:39 - Sponsor - The National Association of Evangelicals - Listen to the Difficult to explore how Christians can become peacemakers. Go to https://www.nae.org/introduction-difficult-conversations-podcast-series/ to check it out!

53:37- Interview

59:10 - How We’ve Failed to Disciple People About Sex

1:06:48 - Prophetic Politics

1:13:50 - Church Pain

1:19:36 - Community Service in the Church

1:28:38 - End Credits

Links Mentioned in the News Segment:

Gorillas and Screen Time

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/zoos-gorillas-screen-time-phones-videos-e88531a7

The Acceptance Stage of Lost Evangelical Influence

https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/09/the-acceptance-stage-lost-influence-evangelicals-diverse-democracy/

America’s Young Men Are Falling Even Further Behind

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/young-american-men-lost-c1d799f7

Other resources:

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