1 © 2020 Josh Mcdowell Ministry 5.21.2020

1 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.
2020
www.josh.org
5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 2
www.josh.org
Introduction
Our global society has created an incredible, complex and destructive
scenario and environment that all Christians face in their everyday life
including within the Church in every culture of the World. Assembled in
this document are 10 crucial challenges that need to be addressed as we
go forward in our walk with Christ.
1. Please take these serious … much of our relevancy in the next few
years will depend on our correct response.
2. Get it into the hands of every pastor, missionaries, church leaders
and believers you know.
It is a large document (55 pp) but I narrowed it down from 120 pp.
You can forward this document or download it online at

www.josh.org/challenges
One of the most basic challenges, even with social media so prevalent, is
the devastating loneliness that permeates our lives and the lives of our
children. The following is a timely article on loneliness and the effects on
college students. Then we go in depth with the other 9 challenges that are
listed in the table of contents immediately following the article.
The Loneliness Crisis on U.S. College

Campuses
by
Varun Soni
Dean of Religious Life
at
University of So. California
LA Times Op Ed July 14, 2019
M.T.S. from Harvard Divinity School; M.A. from The University of
California, Santa Barbara; J.D. from the University of California, Los
Angeles; PhD from the University of Cape Town
3 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

www.josh.org
“When I arrived at USC 11 years ago as dean of religious life, my pastoral
conversations with students mostly focused on their quests for meaning
and purpose. They were striving to translate values into action, cultivate
joy and gratitude, live extraordinary lives.
“But over the last several years, these conversations have taken a
devastating turn. Whereas students used to ask, ‘How should I live?’ they
are now more likely to ask, ‘Why should I live?’ Where they used to talk
about hope and meaning, now they grapple with hopelessness and
meaninglessness. Every year, it seems, I encounter more stress, anxiety
and depression, and more students in crisis on campus.
“My colleagues at other universities say they are seeing the same
distressing trend, and research backs up our observations.
“According to the Center for Collegiate Mental Health, the increase in
utilization rates for counseling centers across the country over the last
five years has greatly outpaced the increase in student enrollment, and as
a result, schools have trouble hiring enough mental health counselors to
keep up with growing demand.
“The most recent Healthy Minds Survey, an annual report on mental
health on college and university campuses, found that one-third of
undergraduate students in the United States wrestle with some kind of
mental health issue, while more than 10% struggle with thoughts of
suicide.
“The Cooperative Institutional Research Program’s large annual survey of
college freshmen has noted a marked and steady downward trend in the
self-reported emotional health of students along with a large uptick in self-
reported feelings of being overwhelmed.
“What I have noticed in my work with students is that many of them face
the same hidden root challenge: loneliness. According to a recent survey
by the global health service company Cigna, the loneliest generation in
the United States today is not the oldest Americans but the youngest,
specifically young adults between 18 and 22 years old.

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“I never got the question in my first five years at USC that I now get
almost daily from students: ‘How do I make friends?’ Students may have
thousands of friends online, but few in real life; they may be experts at
talking with their thumbs, but not so much with their tongues. As a result,
many feel as though they don’t have a tribe or a sense of belonging. They
feel disconnected from what it means to be human.
“While it is now fashionable to refer to this cohort of college and university
students as a coddled generation of ‘snowflakes,’ the reality is they face
unprecedented challenges and circumstances.
“They are entering a world in which many of the career paths of their
parents’ generation no longer exist or have changed drastically. They
face escalating tuition costs with little sense of whether their future
opportunities justify the outlay. They have participated in active-shooter
trainings and campus lockdown drills for most of their lives.
“And according to the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and
Public Life, more than one-third of young adults are now disaffiliated with
religion, marking a dramatic generational shift away from religion and
from the comfort and community that it can provide.
“The convergence of these factors and realities has directly contributed to
a crippling sense of anxiety and alienation in students across the country.
“But today’s students are also creative and courageous, engaged and
empathetic, diverse and inclusive. They are hardworking and goal
oriented. It needs to be the job of colleges and universities to help
students develop resources that enable them to thrive and flourish
mentally, emotionally and spiritually, so that they may fulfill their academic
aspirations and achieve their professional goals.
“At USC, we’re trying a variety of things, including a dedicated
mindfulness training app and free mindfulness programs that reach more
than 7,000 people a year. A new, for-credit freshman course called Thrive
focuses on emotional intelligence, healthy relationships, self-care,
resiliency and human flourishing. In the fall, we will debut our new artificial

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intelligence well-being assistant, named Ari , which will guide students to
appropriate support resources and communities on campus.
“We also offer and host yoga classes, drum circles, friendship courses,
community teas, coloring sessions, laughing groups, sleep classes,
connection workshops, meditation retreats, campfire conversations and
primal scream opportunities. We’ve recently appointed our first director of
belonging , while our full-time wellness dog, Professor Beauregard
Tirebiter (affectionately known as ‘Beau’) strolls the campus daily.
“Colleges and universities have always had a responsibility to develop the
whole student so that our young people are able to make not just a living,
but a life. Today, that means examining a new range of challenges that
students face and developing a new approach to well-being on campus.
By doing so, colleges and universities can help empower students to
transform the world by transforming themselves.
“Varun Soni is dean of religious life at USC, where he also serves as vice
provost of campus wellness and crisis intervention.”
(Varun Soni, “There’s a loneliness crisis on college campuses”, LA Times,
July 14, 2019, https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-soni-campus-
student-loneliness-20190714-story.html)

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The Church, Culture and Evangelism
(Josh McDowell’s Research)
by
Josh D. McDowell
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 3
The Loneliness Crisis on U.S. College Campuses by D. Varun Soni ......................................................... 3
1. LONELINESS (BROKEN AND SHATTERED RELATIONSHIPS) ......................................................... 9
2. INCREASE IN DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, SUICIDE AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS ................. 16

3. AN IMPOSING AND SECULAR WORLDVIEW i.e. FACING A MORE ANTAGONISTIC CULTURE ... 28
4. LACK OF INTELLECTUAL PROCESS OR INTEGRITY ..................................................................... 31
5. EMOTIONAL TRUTH .......................................................................................................................... 32
6. CRITICAL RACE THEORY & SOCIAL JUSTICE ................................................................................ 34
7. LOSING ITS MORAL FOOTING ......................................................................................................... 34

8. A PORN SATURATED CLIENTELE ................................................................................................... 35
9. IS CHRISTIANITY GOOD? ................................................................................................................. 39
10. SAME SEX ATTRACTION (SSA), TRANSGENDER, LGBTQ+, GENDER ID ................................... 40
RESOURCES ......................................................................................................................................... 45
Alex McLellan Bio ................................................................................................................................... 47
Ben Bennett Bio ...................................................................................................................................... 49

Sean McDowell Bio ................................................................................................................................. 51
Josh McDowell Bio.................................................................................................................................. 53
Video Series ........................................................................................................................................... 55
Portfolios................................................................................................................................................. 56
Discover the Evidence ............................................................................................................................ 57
Gospel Chart........................................................................................................................................... 58

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10 Challenges facing the Church (and every Believer)
I Chronicles 12:32 says “men of Issachar understood the times in order to know what
Israel should do.” If ever there has been a need to apply this to the “Church”, it
is now. After 55 years of working with young people and 1,000s of hours of
research, I’ve concluded these are ten major challenges confronting the
Church, para-church organizations and believers today.
It’s so important to understand that these are not faults of the Church but rather
external challenges over the next 5-10 years that churches, para-churches,
mission groups and individual believers will face. Success or failure just might
depend on how we face these opportunities.
“35 million youths raised in Christian Families projected to disaffiliate from

Christianity by the year 2050. The 131-page report titled The Great Opportunity
(https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/4245467/The%20Great%20Opportunity.pdf) It is the largest
and fastest numerical shift in religious affiliation in the history of this country. …
churches in the U.S. outnumber high schools and middle schools by almost
five-to-one ratio … churches need to reach their peers with the Gospel. Young
people are longing for a cause that matters … equipped and youth leaders
need to be equipped to equip them.”
(Samuel Smith, “Report projects 35 million youth to leave Christianity by 205; Greg
Stier Responds”, the Christian Post, September 24, 2019,
https://www.christianpost.com/news/report-projects-35-million-youth-to-leave-
christianity-by-2050-greg-stier-responds.html)
This document contains my research notes. It is not a formal article. I

duplicated some quotes on purpose. It is my prayer and hope that my research
will serve you to be better equipped to make a difference.
If believers are going to be relevant in the 21st century, we need to grasp the
culture in which we labor and address the critical issues … NOW.
My father once taught me, “Son, a problem well-defined is half-solved.” That is

so true for these 10 challenges the Church and others are facing in the 21st
century.
Josh D. McDowell

www.josh.org
1. LONELINESS (BROKEN AND SHATTERED RELATIONSHIPS)
For more research on loneliness go to www.josh.org/mentalhealth/loneliness
The following research addresses the loneliness issue outside as well as

within the Church environment. The affects are tremendous both among
believers and non-believers and need to be addressed at this crucial time.
The growth of social media and waning person-to-person contact [caused]

former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to label “loneliness a worldwide
epidemic” and said, “it could be lethal.”
(Chris Weller, “5 Things That Are Almost as Deadly as Smoking, According to
Science”, Science Alert, July 24, 2018, https://www.sciencealert.com/5-little-known-
things-that-are-deadly-as-smoking-lonely-sitting-tanning-science)
“…a survey of 20,000 U.S. adults by Cigna, the loneliest members of

Generation Z (people roughly between ages 7 and 22) are evenly split
between those who use social media and those who don’t.”
(Kerry Banks, “Loneliness: the silent killer”, University Affairs, February 27, 2019,
https://www.universityaffairs.ca/features/feature-article/loneliness-the-silent-killer/)
• “A 2014 report by Canada’s National Seniors Council, … half of people

over the age of 80 report feeling lonely.”
• “If loneliness is a disease, it’s one that’s reached pandemic

proportions.”
(Jennifer Wolff, “Loneliness Is the Quiet Health Epidemic Impacting Your Heart, Brain
and Longevity”, Prevention, November 25, 2019,
https://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/a29873388/loneliness-epidemic/)
• “A 2016 survey by the American College Health Association of

Canadian cohort of 44,000 postsecondary students revealed that two-
thirds of them reported feeling ‘very lonely’ at some point in the previous
12 months.”

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• “An online U.S. survey of 20,000 adults conducted in 2018 by the health
insurer Cigna revealed that 40 percent of Americans said they lacked a
meaningful relationship and felt isolated from others.”
• Ohio State University has identified two traits often found in individuals
wrestling with especially bad dating app addictions: loneliness and
social anxiety.
(John Anderer, “Can’t Stop Swiping: Dating App Addiction Fueled by Loneliness and
Social Anxiety”, Study Finds, July 31, 2019, https://www.studyfinds.org/cant-stop-
swiping-dating-app-addiction-fueled-by-loneliness-and-social-anxiety-study-finds/)
• “A life coach remarked that many younger people, … get a coach to

not be alone…”
(Ammar Kalia, “It’s a safety blanket: Why more and more teenagers are relying on life
coaches”, The Guardian, July 31, 2019,
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/jul/31/safety-blanket-why-more-
teenagers-relying-life-coaches)
• “One of the most common questions Yatros receives from clients is

what their purpose in life should be.”
• “He thinks the increase in interest among young people is not only
down to the anxieties and loneliness wrought by social media…”
• “The New York Daily News (August 3, 2019) reports: More than 20%
of millennials surveyed in a YouGov poll released this week claimed
that they don’t have a single friend.”
(Tim Balk, “More than 20% of millennials claim to have no friends, poll finds”, New York
Daily News, August 3, 2019, nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-millenials-no-friends-
yougov-poll-20190804-ek5odkrxmvbfhex7ytvp2p6rwy-story.html)

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• “A lack of substantive community is a source of great pain for many in
modern American culture.”
(Kevin Van Lant, “What Every Pastor Needs to Know About Mental Health and the
Church”, https://www.biola.edu/blogs/talbot-magazine/2019/what-every-pastor-needs-
to-know-about-mental-health-and-the-church)
• “‘Strong social relationships support mental health, and that ties into
better immune function, reduced stress and less cardiovascular
activation’, Debra Umberson, a professor of sociology at the University
of Texas told Time Magazine in 2015.”
(Tim Balk, “More than 20% of millennials claim to have no friends, poll finds”, New York
Daily News, August 3, 2019, nydailynews.com/news/national/ny-millenials-no-friends-
yougov-poll-20190804-ek5odkrxmvbfhex7ytvp2p6rwy-story.html)
• “According to a survey in 2017 by the Royal Society for Public Health,

Britons aged 14-24 believe that Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and
Twitter have detrimental effects on their wellbeing. On average, they
reported that these social networks gave them extra scope for self-
expression and community-building. But they also said that the
platforms exacerbated anxiety and depression, deprived them of sleep,
exposed them to bullying and created worries about their body image
and ‘FOMO’ (‘fear of missing out’). Academic studies have found that
these problems tend to be particularly severe among frequent users.”
(“How heavy use of social media is linked to mental illness”, The Economist, May 18,
2018, https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/05/18/how-heavy-use-of-social-
media-is-linked-to-mental-illness)
• “…an experiment by five neuroscientists in 2014 concluded that

Facebook triggers the same impulsive part of the brain as gambling
and substance abuse.”
• “An obvious solution to the problem is to cut down on screen time.

Even the most obsessive users should be able to do so. The
neuroscientific study on Facebook found that the subjects’ cognitive
ability to inhibit their impulsive behavior was less impaired than for drug
or gambling addicts. And data from Moment, an activity-tracking app,
show that it is possible for light social-media consumers to be content.
Each week it asks its 1m users whether they are happy or sad with the
amount of time they have spent on various platforms. The Economist

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says, ‘Nearly 63% of Instagram users report being miserable’, a higher
share than for any other social network. They spend an average of
nearly an hour per day on the app. The 37% who are happy spend on
average just over half as long.”
• “…people under the age 20 registering as the loneliest of all,

according to the Cigna poll.”
• “Younger people get lonely when they don’t feel they have many social
connections; for them, it’s often a numbers game, and making more
friends is usually within reach.”
• “Nearly three in 10 people who are unhappy with their family life report
feeling lonely, pointing once again to the importance of relationship
quality. Neuroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo, Ph.D., of the University of
Chicago, is an ardent proponent of exercising, relying on deep
friendships, and practicing gratitude.”
• “A 2018 survey of 55,000 British citizens conducted for the BBC found
that a third of respondents often feel lonely.”
• “In a 2018 national health survey by Cigna, girls reported the highest
levels of loneliness on record.”
(Mary Pipher & Sara Pipher Gilliam, “The Lonely Burden of Today’s Teenage Girls”,
The Wall Street Journal, August 15, 2019, https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-lonely-
burden-of-todays-teenage-girls-11565883328)

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Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology at Brigham Young
University, has discovered in her research “that loneliness reduces
people's life spans by the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”
(Chris Weller, “5 Things That Are Almost as Deadly as Smoking, According to
Science”, Science Alert, July 24, 2018, https://www.sciencealert.com/5-little-known-
things-that-are-deadly-as-smoking-lonely-sitting-tanning-science)
“Why loneliness is so dangerous to your health: Studies show that “nearly

half of Americans say that they are lonely some or all the time. Social
isolation has been linked to higher risks of death and diseases like heart
disease and life-threatening events like strokes.”
(Natalie Rahhal, “Why loneliness is so dangerous for your health: Harvard doctor
explains the links and urges that ‘people are a medicine’”, Daily Mail, September 19,
2018, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6185391/Loneliness-bad-health-
Harvard-doctor-explains-urging-treat-people-medicine.html)
“‘Only around half of Americans say they have meaningful, daily face-to-
face social interactions.’ Loneliness, public-health experts tell us, is killing
as many people as obesity and smoking.
(Kay Hymowitz, “The Role of Family Breakdown in the Loneliness Epidemic”, IFS
Studies, November 7, 2019, https://ifstudies.org/blog/the-role-of-family-breakdown-in-
the-loneliness-epidemic)
“Dr. Waldinger explained further “what loneliness does to the brain and
hormonal systems - and why we need to spend time together.”
“Loneliness isn't just a detriment to their social lives and happiness;

loneliness is bad for their health.”
“The health dangers of loneliness are not new. A review of studies

conducted back in 1988 identified higher rates of mortality, illness, injury,
smoking, obesity and high blood pressure in lonely people, marking social
isolation a risk factor for all of the above.”

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“Despite all of our online connections the average person has 338
Facebook 'friends' – [yet] we are only getting lonelier.”
Former Surgeon General, Murthy wrote in the Harvard Business

Review that “we live in the most technologically connected age in the
history of civilization, yet rates of loneliness have doubled since the
1980s.”
“Recently in Great Britain, loneliness became so widespread that the

British government created a cabinet level position, a ‘Minister of
Loneliness’.”
(Peter Walker, “May appoints minister to tackle loneliness issues raised by Jo Cox ”,
LA Times, July 14, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/jan/16/may-appoints-
minister-tackle-loneliness-issues-raised-jo-cox)
“The University of Southern California in the last several years has seen
such wide spread loneliness and depression on campus that they
established a ‘Director of Belonging’ and has full-time wellness dogs that
roam the campus (these are for University students).”
(Varun Soni, “There’s a loneliness crisis on college campuses”, The Guardian,
January 16, 2018, https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-soni-campus-student-
loneliness-20190714-story.html)
“…lonely people have a 26% increased likelihood of early death. For

those who have little or no social contact, that rises to 29%, and it jumps
to 32% for people who live alone.”

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“But loneliness is not simply about being alone. What it really hinges on is
the quality of your relationships: The more satisfied you are with them, the
less lonely you are.”
“At the Finish the Task conference on global evangelism, Rick Warren
stated that, ‘loneliness is one of the greatest problems.’”
Do you think the above data about extent of loneliness epidemic is

exaggerated? Last week I had breakfast with two leaders of an
organization that gives leadership to 8,000 youth workers. I asked. “What
is their greatest challenge working with young people?” The immediate
answer was, “Loneliness!” That is a confirmation of all the above.
6 Ways to Feel Less Lonely and More Connected
1. “Look up old friends. They probably want to catch up too.”

2. “Talk to strangers. Even 30 seconds of friendly conversation with a
store clerk or cabdriver has a positive impact on mood.”
3. “Practice gratitude. Focus on things in your life that make you feel
fortunate: your pets, perhaps, or a nice place to live…even a sunny
day.”
4. “Exercise and get enough sleep. Both contribute to mood regulation
and overall health.”
5. “Take a class. Sign up for something you’ve never tried, like dance,
art, or meditation. Active learning exercises your brain, and you may
make some new friends.”
6. “Volunteer. It’s hard to feel sorry for yourself when you’re helping
improve the lives of others. Data shows that volunteering gives
people purpose, which raises their self-esteem, in turn making them
less lonely.”
(Jennifer Wolff, “Loneliness Is the Quiet Health Epidemic Impacting Your Heart,
Brain and Longevity”, Prevention, November 25, 2019,
https://www.prevention.com/health/mental-health/a29873388/loneliness-
epidemic/)

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“Three key lessons about happiness:”
1. “Close relationships - The men in both groups of the Harvard [80 year]
study who reported being closer to their family, friends, or community
tended to be happier and healthier than their less social counterparts.
They also tended to live longer.”
(Tanya Lewis, “A Harvard psychiatrist says 3 things are the secret to real happiness”,
Business Insider, December 29, 2015, http://www.businessinsider.com/robert-
waldinger-says-3-things-are-the-secret-to-happiness-2015-12)
2. “Quality (not quantity) of relationships - A 2015 study published in the

journal Psychology and Aging that followed people for 30 years found that
the number of relationships people had was, in fact, more important for
people in their 20s, but the quality of relationships had a bigger effect on
social and psychological well being when people were in their 30s.”
3. “Stable, supportive marriages - Being socially connected to others isn't

just good for our physical health. It also helps stave off mental decline.
People who were married without having divorced, separating, or having
‘serious problems’ until age 50 performed better on memory tests later in
life than those who weren't, the Harvard study found.”
“‘But over and over, over these 75 years, our study has shown that the
people who fared the best were the people who leaned into relationships,
with family, with friends, with community.’”
2. INCREASE IN DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, SUICIDE AND MENTAL

HEALTH PROBLEMS
For more research on loneliness go to www.josh.org/mentalhealth/depression
There is a definite increase in depression leading to anxiety, mental

health problems that sometimes culminating in suicide. We must consider

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this devasting challenge as we move forward in to affect change in our
congregations and beyond.
TIME magazine reports that, “There is a mental health crisis among

American teens and young adults.”
(Markham Heid, “Depression and Suicide Rates Are Rising Sharply in Young
Americans, New Report Says. This May Be One Reason Why”, TIME, March 14,
2019, http://time.com/5550803/depression-suicide-rates-youth/)
“An excess of anxiety, abuse and depression is why Gen Z [8 – 25 years]

scores the highest ever on the mental illness scale.”
(Jean M. Twenge, “Stop Debating Whether Too Much Smartphone Time Can Hurt
Teens, and Start Protecting Them”, TIME, March 21, 2019,
http://time.com/5555737/smartphone-mental-health-teens/)
“In fact, four large studies of teens from the U.S. and U.K. all show the
same thing: happiness and mental health are highest at a half-hour to two
hours of extracurricular digital media use a day; well-being then steadily
decreases, with those who spend the most time online being the worst
off. Twice as many heavy users of electronic devices are unhappy,
depressed or distressed as light users.”
A study published in The Journal of Abnormal Psychology reports that

“between 2009 and 2017 rates of depression among kids ages 14 to 17
increased by more than 60%. The increases were nearly as steep among
those ages 12 to 13 (47%) and 18 to 21 (46%), and rates roughly doubled
among those ages 20 to 21 … more than one in eight Americans ages 12
to 25 experienced a major depressive episode.”
(Jean M. Twenge, Thomas E. Joiner, Mary E. Duffy, A. Bell Cooper and Sarah G.
Binau, “Age, Period and Cohort Trends in Mood Disorder Indicators and Suicide-
Related Outcomes in a Nationally Representative Dataset, 2005-2017”, American
Psychological Association, 2019, https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/abn-
abn0000410.pdf)
“Around the world, more than 300 million people suffer from depression.
… Researchers proved that the benefits of a cohesive family during
teenage years can significantly lower the level of depression from early
teen years to midlife. Living in a loving home, having family members who

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understand and support each other, having fun, trusting each other is
extremely important in teenage years, especially for girls.”
(Elvira Barucija, “Strong Family Relationships Can Help Ward off Depression Later in
Life”, Gildshire Magazines, November 16, 2019, https://www.gildshire.com/strong-
family-relationships-can-help-ward-off-depression-later-in-life/)
“The relationship between technology use and well-being is even more

important in light of the increasing amount of evidence that teens are
suffering. From 2009 to 2017, rates of depression and emergency-room
visits for self-harm and suicidal thoughts in this age group also increased
sharply. According to the CDC, suicide rates among teen girls are at 40-
year highs. ‘Among young people, rates of suicidal thoughts, plans,
attempts all increased significantly, in some cases more than doubled,
between 2008 and 2017.’”
“A study of 600,000 people by the National Survey on Drug Use and

Health and also research by the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services and other research show that “[There are] more mental health
issues among American young people, says Jean Twenge, a professor of
psychology at San Diego State University.”
(Jean M. Twenge, Thomas E. Joiner, Mary E. Duffy, A. Bell Cooper and Sarah G.
Binau, “Age, Period and Cohort Trends in Mood Disorder Indicators and Suicide-
Related Outcomes in a Nationally Representative Dataset, 2005-2017”, American
Psychological Association, 2019, https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/abn-
abn0000410.pdf)
“A new study released this month found that teens and young adults are
facing epidemic rates of anxiety and depression, and psychologists fear
the effects of technological screens are to blame. … Major depression
among 20- to 21-year-olds more than doubled, from 7 percent to 15
percent, from 2009 to 2015.”
(Kiley Crossland, “Teens in Crisis”, World Magazine, March 29, 2019,
https://world.wng.org/content/teens_in_crisis)
“…depression among 16- to 17-year-olds increased by 69 percent, and

serious psychological distress among 18- to 25-year-olds jumped by 71
percent.”

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(Kiley Crossland, “Teens in Crisis”, World Magazine, March 29, 2019,
https://world.wng.org/content/teens_in_crisis)
“The study: Nearly 6,600 12- to 15-year-old Americans self-reported how

much time they spent per day on social media, as well as whether they had
any mental health problems. The researchers found that three hours of social
media correlated with higher rates of mental health issues, even after
adjusting for a history of such problems.”
(“Teens are Anxious and depressed after three hours a day on social media”,
Technology Review, September 11, 2019,
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614297/teens-are-anxious-and-depressed-after-
three-hours-a-day-on-social-media/)
“A study published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry suggests that

teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on social media are more
likely to develop mental health problems including depression, anxiety,
aggression and antisocial behavior.”
(“Teens are Anxious and depressed after three hours a day on social media”,
Technology Review, September 11, 2019,
https://www.technologyreview.com/f/614297/teens-are-anxious-and-depressed-after-
three-hours-a-day-on-social-media/)
“In May, the American Psychiatric Association reported that for the second
year in a row, two out of three Americans say they are ‘extremely or
somewhat anxious’ about their health, paying bills and keeping
themselves and their family safe. The problem is most pronounced for
younger adults—70 percent of those between 18 and 34 report anxiety
about paying bills and keeping their families safe, and two out of three are
also anxious about relationships (compared with 40 percent for those over
55). About one in five has sought professional care.”
(Adam Piore, “Scientists’ Understanding of Anxiety is Radically Evolving – But How
Long Will it Take for Treatments to Catch Up?”, Newsweek, September 5, 2019,
https://www.newsweek.com/2019/09/20/anxiety-medication-drugs-science-exercise-
brain-1457006.html)
“College graduates are the most anxious of all, surveys suggest. Last fall,
members of Generation Z (those born after 1996) reported the worst
mental health of any generation, with 91 percent saying they had felt
physical or emotional symptoms associated with stress, such as
depression or anxiety, according to the American Psychological
Association. Meanwhile, more than 60 percent of college students said
they had experienced ‘overwhelming anxiety’ during the previous year,

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and the number of students who visited campus counseling centers
increased by more than 30 percent between the fall of 2009 and 2015.”
brain-1457006.html)
“How can you relax when you have access to all the bad news that's
happening right at your fingertips?”
brain-1457006.html)
"Uncertainty is absolutely central to anxiety," says Jack Nitschke, a

psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin and a practicing
psychotherapist. "Anxiety is about being concerned about something that
might happen in the future." Often, this worry turns out to be impractical
and a waste of time—nine in 10 things people most frequently worry about
never come to pass.”
brain-1457006.html)
“A 2019 survey by the Pew Research Center found that 36% of girls
report being extremely anxious every day.”
“In 2011, the American College Health Association reported that 31% of
female freshmen said they had experienced overwhelming anxiety or
panic attacks; by 2016, that had shot up to 62%.”
“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 1993,

girls scored the highest levels of suicide ever recorded. From 1994
onward, rates of suicide steadily declined until 2007, when they started to
skyrocket.”

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“Public health initiatives should encourage family members, especially

parents, to nurture strong family relationships. We need programs that can
teach parents how to show understanding, affection, how to spend more
time together and how to resolve a conflict.”
A study reported in The Atlantic magazine states that “70 percent of teens
see mental health as a major struggle for their peers and that this may be
the survey’s most alarming result. About 20 percent of American
adolescents’ struggle with some kind of mental-health disorder, most
commonly depression or anxiety.”
(Manda Mull, “A New Sign That Teens Know They Aren’t Struggling Alone”, The
Atlantic, February 24, 2019, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/02/teen-
mental-health-worries/583531/)
“Pew Research reports that two major problems among youth 13 to 17

years old are the following:
1) Anxiety disorders. ‘7% of youths ages 3 to 17 had such a condition in

2016-17’, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health
(Drew Desilver, “The concerns and challenges of being a U.S. teen: What the data
show,” Pew Research, February 26, 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-
tank/2019/02/26/the-concerns-and-challenges-of-being-a-u-s-teen-what-the-data-
show/)
2) Serious depression. An ongoing study by the Federal Department of

Health and Human Services shows that serious depression “has been
on the rise among teens for the past several years. (the National
Survey on Drug Use and Health, an ongoing project of the federal
Department of Health and Human Services.)”
show/)

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“…18–25 appear to have the highest incidence rates of mental illness
(25.8%) among the adult population. … approximately 22% of adolescents
ages 13–18 suffering from some form of diagnosable mental illness…”
“Last year, 30.2% of 12th-graders and 18.6% of 10th-graders had

consumed alcohol in the past 30 days…22.2% reported using marijuana
in the past 30 days…among 10th-graders…16.7%... Marijuana was by far
the most commonly used drug among teens last year. It involved vaping,
of both nicotine and marijuana. … In 2018, 20.9% of 12th-graders and
16.1% of 10th-graders reported vaping nicotine in the past 30 days…”
show/)
Pew Research: Percentage of teens saying each of the following is a

problem among people their age in the community where they live:
1. Anxiety and Depression 96%
2. Bullying 90%
3. Drug Addiction 86%
4. Drinking Alcohol 84%
5. Poverty 87%
6. Teen pregnancy 78%
7. Gangs 71%
(Juliana Menasce Horowitz, “Most U.S. Teens See Anxiety and Depression as a Major
Problem Among their Peers”, Pew Research Center, February 20, 2019,
http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2019/02/20/most-u-s-teens-see-anxiety-and-depression-
as-a-major-problem-among-their-peers/)
“Another contributor of depression is bullying: “About a fifth of high school

students (19% in 2017) reported being bullied on school property. 14.9%
said they’d experienced ‘cyberbullying (via texts, social media or other
digital means)’”
show”, Pew Research, February 26, 2019, https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-
show/)

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“The suicide rate among children aged 10 through 14 has nearly tripled
from 2007 to 2017, while the suicide rate among older teenagers has
increased by 76 percent between 2007 and 2017, new federal data show.”
(Samuel Smith, “Suicide rate for kids ages 10 to 14 nearly tripled in last decade: CDC”,
Christian Post, October 22, 2019, https://www.christianpost.com/news/suicide-rate-
kids-ages-10-to-14-nearly-tripled-last-decade-cdc.html)
“In 2017, suicide was the second leading cause of death for children aged
10 to 14, teenagers 15 to 19, and young adults ages 20-24.”
(Samuel Smith, “Suicide rate for kids ages 10 to 14 nearly tripled in last decade: CDC”,
Christian Post, October 22, 2019, https://www.christianpost.com/news/suicide-rate-
kids-ages-10-to-14-nearly-tripled-last-decade-cdc.html)
“CDC … rates of suicide among young people jumped 56% between

2007 and 2016, after declining between 1999 and 2007.”
Americans, New Report Says. This May Be One Reason Why, TIME, March 14, 2019,
http://time.com/5550803/depression-suicide-rates-youth/)
“A survey of pediatric hospitals found that hospitalizations of 5- to 17-

year-olds for suicidal ideation or attempts doubled between 2008 and
2015; the CDC's research indicates that suicide has increased especially
among teenage girls.”
(Holly Hedegaard, M.D., Sally C. Curtin, M.A., and Margaret Warner, Ph.D., “Suicide
Mortality in the United States, 1999 – 2017”, CDC, November 2018,
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db330-h.pdf)
“While it is challenging to determine the causes of these trends, it is

difficult to think of another cultural change that has had as substantial an
impact on the day-to-day lives of the largest number of teens as
smartphones and digital media have.”
“There was one change that impacted the lives of young people more
than older people, and that was the growth of smartphones and digital
media like social media.”
Americans, New Report Says. This May Be One Reason Why, TIME, March 14, 2019,
http://time.com/5550803/depression-suicide-rates-youth/)

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“Technology is only a fraction of the problem. ‘The disconnect of the
family,’ writes Lisa Tiano, ‘is the bigger issue here.’”
(Lisa Tiano, “Recovering From the Disconnect With Your Teens”, Thrive Global,
February 21, 2019, https://thriveglobal.com/stories/recovering-from-the-disconnect-
with-your-teens/)
“These above teen issues increase ‘go hand-in-hand with a decline in

teen socialization. Forty-five percent of 12th graders now say that they
never go on dates, compared to 14 percent as recently as the early
1990s.’”
(Charles Fain Lehman, “Are Smartphones and Social Media Hurting Our Kids?”,
Institute for Family Studies, February 6, 2019, https://ifstudies.org/blog/are-
smartphones-and-social-media-hurting-our-kids)
“…survey from Common Sense Media showed 13- to 18-year-olds spend

an average of nine hours a day ‘using media for their enjoyment’; kids
eight to 12 spend about six hours a day on average.”
(Charles Fain Lehman, “Are Smartphones and Social Media Hurting Our Kids?”,
“Adolescents using electronic devices 3 or more hours a day were 34

percent more likely to have at least one suicide-related outcome than
those using devices 2 or fewer hours a day, and adolescents using social
media sites every day were 13% more likely to report high levels of
depressive symptoms than those using social media less often.”
(Charles Fain Lehman, “Are Smartphones and Social Media Hurting Our Kids?”, IFS
• “Stress is rising among teens. Teens are feeling more stressed, up 3

percentage points in 5 years. Those aged 16 to 17 are more stressed
than their younger peers.”
(Anna Noel Taylor, “Teenage Fears”, Insights/Viacom, March 21, 2019,
https://insights.viacom.com/post/teenage-fears/)
• “The mid-teen years are when stresses start to mount. Younger teens
(age 12 to 15) worry most about parents, phones, and school grades.
While these worries continue as they age, starting around age 16
concerns about the future also start to creep in – about their potential,
having enough money, and job prospects.”

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(Anna Noel Taylor, “Teenage Fears”, Insights/Viacom, March 21, 2019,
https://insights.viacom.com/post/teenage-fears/)
“A groundbreaking study,” reports CNN Anderson Cooper, “examines

effects of screen time on kids.” They followed more than 11,000 kids for a
decade and spent $300 million doing it.
(Anderson Cooper, “Groundbreaking Study Examines Effects of Screen Time on Kids”,
CBS News, December 9, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/groundbreaking-
study-examines-effects-of-screen-time-on-kids-60-minutes/)
“Smartphones gained widespread usage among young people by

2012. … four years that followed, the percentage of teens who
reported drinking or having sex fell. … But the percentage who
said they were lonely or depressed spiked … also, ER visits for
self-harm like cutting have tripled among girls age 10 to 14.”
(Anderson Cooper, “Groundbreaking Study Examines Effects of Screen Time
on Kids”, CBS News, December 9, 2018,
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/groundbreaking-study-examines-effects-of-
screen-time-on-kids-60-minutes/)
“8 to 12-year olds in this country use just under five hours’ worth of
entertainment screen media per day (4:44) … Teens use … seven and a
half hours’ worth (7:22) – not including time spent using screens for school
or homework. … By age 11, a majority (53%) of kids have their own
smartphone, and by 12 more than two-thirds (69%) do.”
(Victoria Rideout & Michael Robb, “The Common Sense Census: Media Use by
Tweens and Teens”, Common Sense Media, October 28, 2019,
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/uploads/research/2019-census-
8-to-18-full-report-updated.pdf)
“Teens with religious or spiritual upbringing may be protected from

‘big 3’ risks”
“… teens who attended religious services regularly were:”
• “12 percent less likely to suffer from depression”

• “33 percent less likely to use illicit drugs”
• “18 percent more likely to report high levels of happiness”
• “87 percent more likely to have high levels of forgiveness”

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“Teens who prayed or meditated frequently were:”
• “30 percent less likely to start having sex at a young age”

• “40 percent less likely to have an STD”
• “38 percent more likely to volunteer in their community”
• “47 percent more likely to have a sense of mission and purpose”
(Linda Carroll, “Teens with religious or spiritual upbringing may be protected from ‘big 3’
risks”, Today, September 13, 2018, https://www.today.com/health/religious-or-spiritual-
upbringing-may-protect-teens-t137350)
“…cross-sectional studies also showed on community and clinical

samples that being a part of a close family in teen years can alleviate
symptoms of depression for teenagers.”
“An acute observation – “I think people”, writes Rob Reimer, “are going to
come to faith in Christ today more because they know they are broken
and in need of a healer than because they know they are sinners in need
of a savior.”
(Rob Reimer, Soul Care: 7 Transformational Principles for a Healthy Soul)
“The good news is that there is considerable evidence to suggest that

church attenders experience significantly higher levels of mental health
and emotional well-being (Harvard Institute for Natural Healing, 2016).”
“Additionally, Protestants and Catholics (as well as those of other religious

faiths) have historically demonstrated a lower rate of suicide than the
secular community.”
“We now have causal data to suggest that frequent use of social media
platforms including Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram often result in
decreased well-being and increased levels of depression and loneliness
(Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 2018).”

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“…18–25 appear to have the highest incidence rates of mental illness

(25.8%) among the adult population. … approximately 22% of adolescents
ages 13–18 suffering from some form of diagnosable mental illness…”
“…the church is uniquely positioned to take a leading role in caring for

those who struggle emotionally and psychologically. Lifeway Research
suggests that 67% of Christians describe their church as supportive
relative to their mental health issues.”
“Researchers suggest that continuous social comparison and fear-of-

missing-out (FOMO) is particularly difficult for adolescents and young
adults to manage and suggest that a quick way to improve well-being is to
“put your phone down and be with the people in your life.”
About 15 years ago I met with Dr. Bill Bright in Orlando. I expressed to
him that within 10-15 years our CRU mission statement won’t be
complete, “Win, Build, Send.” To be culturally relevant we would need to
make it: “Win, Heal, Build, Send.” (He just chuckled.)
“One-in-three Americans have experienced high levels of psychological

distress at some point in recent months.”
(Fox News, Sunday, May 17, 2020)

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3. AN IMPOSING AND SECULAR WORLDVIEW i.e. FACING A MORE
ANTAGONISTIC CULTURE
Never before in the history of the Church have we faced such a pervasive,
imposing and antagonistic worldview. This topic affects our Churches in a
profound and harmful way which leads to so many leaving the Church.
Barna Research reports that “A growing secularization and a waning

interest in religious matters have contributed to tension in faith
conversations … almost half of practicing Christian millennials say
evangelism is morally wrong.’”
(“What Non-Christians Want from Faith Conversations”, Barna, February 19, 2019,
https://www.barna.com/research/non-christians-faith-conversations/)
Many today declare that evangelism is anti-multicultural and intolerance

(tolerance means that all values, beliefs, ideals to trust and all lifestyles
are equal.). So, when you evangelize you are saying your values and
beliefs are greater than theirs … that is anathema in today’s culture.
“Our society is experiencing the shrinking of nominal Christianity and the

consistent growth of secularism and pluralism. This shift from being a
nominally Christian society to a pluralistic, more secular society, has also
profoundly affected the way people perceived evangelism in our culture.
There’s been a growing sense of anti-proselytization. Sharing the gospel
is largely seen in our culture as an act of intolerance to people of other
faith groups, no faith, or those who hold other forms of spirituality.’”
(Ed Stetzer, “Headwinds in Evangelism: New Challenges Secularism and Pluralism
Add to Outreach”, Christianity Today, April 17, 2019,
https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2019/april/headwinds-in-evangelism-
pluralism-spirituality-mission.html)
“Did you know,” writes Pure Flix Faith and Family Alliance, “that if a child
is raised in church and attends every Sunday until they are 17 years old,
they will experience about 800 hours (33 days) of biblical teaching? Did
you also know that in the same time frame, that same child will
experience over 65,000 hours of media (2,708 days)? That is a
staggering difference in numbers that could potentially leave a drastic
impact on a child’s faith.”

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(Rev. Franklin Santagate, “1 Impact of Digital Media” Email to Josh McDowell Dated
July 17, 2019)
“Christianity Today’s ‘Headwinds in Evangelism: New Challenges

Secularism and Pluralism add to Outreach’, reports that, ‘We’ve moved
from a nominally Christian to a more pluralistic and secular society,’
writes Ed Stetzer, ‘and that’s a very important shift. In a sense, we’ve lost
our home field advantage.”
(Ed Stetzer, “Headwinds in Evangelism: New Challenges Secularism and Pluralism
Add to Outreach”, Christianity Today, April 17, 2019,
https://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2019/april/headwinds-in-evangelism-
pluralism-spirituality-mission.html)
The above imposing secular view has left to ambivalence … A whatever

attitude towards faith.
“This is mainly true of those 35 years and younger. A phrase so indicative

of culture is ‘so what!’ as stated earlier when 1,000 pastors were asked
what were the greatest challenges to the future of their church. Their
number three answer was, ‘Declining interest in matters of faith.’”
(Timothy C. Morgan, “Pastors Face Future of the Church with Optimism”, Facts and
Trends, LifeWay, February 13, 2019, https://factsandtrends.net/2019/02/13/pastors-
face-future-of-the-church-with-optimism/)
“They know there is no “right” way to live life. Teens are coming of age in
a world that rejects convention, authority, and tradition. They consider the
old traditional paths to be outdated or unrealistic and see that they can
create new options for themselves.”
(Christian Kurz, “For American Teens, Identity is on a Spectrum”, Viacom Global
Insights, June 5, 2019, https://insights.viacom.com/post/for-american-teens-identity-is-
on-a-spectrum/)
Fewer college age involved in Church.
“Church pews may be full of teenagers, but a new study says college
students might be a much rarer sight in the future on Sunday mornings.
‘The reality is that Protestant churches continue to see the new
generation walk away as young adults. Regardless of any external
factors, the Protestant church is slowly shrinking from within.’”

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(“Most Teenagers Drop Out of Church as Young Adults”, LifeWay, January 15, 2019,
https://lifewayresearch.com/2019/01/15/most-teenagers-drop-out-of-church-as-young-
adults/)
“The dropout rate for young adults accelerates with age: ‘While 69
percent say they were attending at age 17, that fell to 58 percent at age
18 and 40 percent at age 19. Once they reach their 20s, around 1 in 3
(i.e. 33%) say they were attending church regularly.’ Ben
Trueblood, director of student ministry at LifeWay, said those numbers
speak to the issue at hand. ‘We are seeing teenagers drop out of the
church as they make the transition out of high school and student
ministry,’ he said. ‘This moment of transition is often too late to act for
churches.’ ‘…there was nothing about the church experience or faith
foundation of those teenagers that caused them to seek out a connection
to a local church once they entered a new phase of life. The time they
spent with … church was simply replaced by something else.’”
(“Most Teenagers Drop Out of Church as Young Adults”, LifeWay, January 15, 2019,
https://lifewayresearch.com/2019/01/15/most-teenagers-drop-out-of-church-as-young-
adults/)
“Exponential LifeWay Research found 6 in 10 Protestant churches are

plateaued or declining in attendance and more than half saw fewer than
10 people become new Christians in the past 12 months.”
(Aaron Earls, “The Church Growth Gap: The Big Get Bigger While the Small Get
Smaller”, Christianity Today, March 6, 2019,
https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2019/march/lifeway-research-church-growth-
attendance-size.html)
A major implication of the lack of intellectual process in learning is truth

without context.
“With the internet and the eight-second attention span, we are learning
truth by ‘sound bites.’ Very seldom do you ever get the context of events,
issues or claims to truth or fact.” It has nothing to do with not being smart,
but rather adolescents are in information overload. The average
adolescent takes in more than 34GB of data per every 24 hours. The
equivalent of 2,202,588 pages of 8 ½ x 11 data passes an adolescent’s
brain every 24 hours.

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(Nick Bilton. The New York Times. The American Diet: 34 Gigabytes a Day. December
9, 2009. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/09/the-american-diet-34-gigabytes-a-
day/?_r=0. Accessed 6.6.19)
“‘Social media has the ability to take out a snippet of an entire presidential
speech that somebody gave and give you 30 seconds to two minutes that
can completely sway somebody's opinion on that candidate,’ Katy Foster,
21, a right-leaning college student in South Dakota, said.”
(Kate Taylor, “Gen Z is more conservative than many realize – but the Instagram-
fluent generation will revolutionize the right”, Business Insider, July 2019,
https://www.businessinsider.com/gen-z-changes-political-divides-2019-7)
“‘There's no time for most people in Generation Z,’ she added. ‘You're just
being so caught up with everything. Especially being a college student, I
don't have time to watch an hour-long debate. I will be swayed, honestly,
by a two-minute video, which is sad to say.’”
4. LACK OF INTELLECTUAL PROCESS OR INTEGRITY
The lack of intellectual integrity is a growing problem adding to confusion

as people don’t bother to search and study the truth.
“This goes hand in hand with emotions and feelings as truth. Those who
advocate tolerance and diversity only tend it to those with whom they
agree, i.e., ‘The freedom to tolerate the tolerable and give permission to
be intolerant of the intolerable.’”
(Derek Beres, “Should we Tolerate the Intolerant?”, Big Think, August 22, 2017,
https://bigthink.com/21st-century-spirituality/should-we-tolerate-the-intolerant)
“What is so crazy and inconsistent is that presidential candidate and

Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who strongly advocates tolerance and diversity,
verbally attacked (i.e., was intolerant of) VP Mike Pence for his Christian
faith.”
(Daniel Jativa, Mike Pence accuses Buttigieg of attacking ‘my Christian faith’,
Washington Examiner, April 12, 2019,
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/mike-pence-says-mayor-pete-buttigieg-is-
attacking-my-christian-faith)

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A thirteen-year-old daughter of a dear friend said to her youth pastor who
was encouraging her to study more and think through issues, “Why
should I study … I can just google it.” So true for a new generation.
“So many students who walk away from the faith didn’t learn to think.
‘The problem that Wilberforce diagnosed over 200 years ago is still with
us today. Many students lack critical thinking skills, failing to take what
knowledge is at their disposal to form their own beliefs and convictions.
We must continually create space for students to wrestle with the big
questions of life. College should not be the first time that students engage
in abstract or deep thinking. Critical thinking and Christian discernment
are spiritual disciplines that need to be developed. Like anything
worthwhile in life, the developmental process takes time and is difficult. A
youth group devoted to these activities may not draw the biggest crowds,
but if we are serious about preparing students for life after high school,
helping students to ‘learn to think’ will be a mark of our ministries.’”
(Derek Melleby, “Why Young People Abandon Faith”, College Transition Initiative,
February, 2014, https://collegetransitioninitiative.com/wp-
content/uploads/2014/02/cti_wilberforce.pdf)
5. EMOTIONAL TRUTH
This problem has been growing throughout the years culminating in the
reliance on emotions and how you “feel” at the moment. This creates an
unstable and confusing situation that is ever changing because it is not
based on the truth.
I (Josh) called my son, Sean about 18 months ago: “Sean, as far as I can
tell the same sex marriages debate is the first time, I’ve seen feelings
trump science.” There was a moment of silence, then Sean responded,
“you are probably right dad.”
Years ago, people would say, truth was objective … Truth was
objective...it was what you observed. Then Truth became subjective...it is
what you think. Now people think of truth … truth is emotional...it’s what
you feel. The same sex marriage debate had nothing to do with science
or biology, let alone Truth. It was the first time I recall that ‘FEELINGS

www.josh.org
trumped science...facts...truth.’ It all had to do with feelings. Today
many promote truth as emotions, i.e., how you feel. Barna Trends 2018,
again emphasizes that “Truth is increasingly regarded as something
FELT, or relative....”
(Barna Group, “Barna Trends 2018: What’s New and What’s Next at the Intersection of
Faith and Culture”, Barna, December 19, 2017, https://www.amazon.com/Barna-
Trends-2018-Intersection-Culture/dp/0801018641)
Barna Trends 2017, states “Morality ...says each person’s FEELINGS are
the measuring stick...” In 2016 the new word added to dictionaries was
POST-TRUTH, defined as ‘Relating to or denoting circumstances in
which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than
appeals to EMOTIONS and personal belief.’
Barna again admonishes that, “52% believe or suspect that the only
intellectual way to live is to make the best choices you can in every
situation based on your FEELINGS at the moment.”
“Katy Tur in interviewing Michael Wolff, author of Fire & Fury, about the
criticism he cheated on facts asked why he didn’t produce the evidence
… his response was, ‘my book is the evidence … read it.’ She
responded: ‘I read it...a lot of the stuff did read as … did FEEL true.”
(Erik Wemple, “Michael Wolff to MSNBC: If it rings true, it is true”, The Washington
Post, January 8, 2018, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-
wemple/wp/2018/01/08/michael-wolff-to-msnbc-if-it-rings-true-it-is-
true/?utm_term=.c9828651a473)
George Lucas explains of Star Wars: “to understand the Universe, trust
your feelings.”
(Bill Moyers. George Lucas. Time. Of Myth and Men.
http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,23298,00.html. April 18, 1999.
Accessed 9.22.17)

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6. CRITICAL RACE THEORY & SOCIAL JUSTICE
Probably two of the greatest and most difficult challenges for the Church is
maneuvering through these two major ideas.
A pervasive racial tension.
“Black adults are far more likely than whites to view racism, economic
inequality as major problems. 33% of whites and 75% of blacks view
racism as a big problem.”
(“Views of major problems facing the country”, Pew Research Center, Decmeber 17,
2019, https://www.people-press.org/2019/12/17/views-of-the-major-problems-facing-
the-country/)
The sad commentary is that the term ‘racial or racist’ has been used so
loosely that it has lost its significance and sinfulness (also the words
“hatred” and “diversity”). As a nation we seem to be losing our footing on a
proper understanding of equality and diversity. We need another Martin
Luther King, Jr., Dr. Pauli Murray or Tom Skinner. The Church still has the
opportunity to rise up and slay this evil dragon … racism.
*An excellent book; Enjoying Critical Theory and the Social Justice
Movement by Dr. Neil Shenvi and Dr. Pat Sawyer distributed by Ratio
Christi, 2019, https://ratiochristi.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/E-Book-
Engaging-Critical-Theory-and-the-Social-Justice-Movement.pdf
7. LOSING ITS MORAL FOOTING
“Morality is individual. It is personal not corporate. Scriptural morality is

losing its footing. Right from wrong has been overshadowed by tolerance,
diversity and political correctness.” (Josh D. McDowell)
“Traditional Judeo/Christian morality is being ushered out of American

social structures and off the cultural main stage, leaving a vacuum … the
broader culture is attempting to fill the void. 80% express concern about
the nation’s moral condition (Elders 89%; Boomers 87%; Gen-Xers 75%;
Millennials 74%)”

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(David Kinnamen, “The End of Absolutes”, Barna, May 25, 2016,
https://www.barna.com/research/the-end-of-absolutes-americas-new-moral-code/)
“Americans pledge allegiance to the ‘morality of self-fulfillment,’ a new

moral code that,” as David Kinnaman, President of Barna Research
Group argues, “has replaced Christianity as the culture’s moral norm.”
(David Kinnamen, “The End of Absolutes”, Barna, May 25, 2016,
https://www.barna.com/research/the-end-of-absolutes-americas-new-moral-code/)
“They’re open-minded about sex. A majority feel that it’s acceptable to

have sex (84%), and most have no problem with same-sex hookups
(69%) and open relationships (58%). Marriage is optional, with 83%
agreeing that it’s fine to live together before marriage and 68% believing
it’s okay to have a baby without being married.”
on-a-spectrum/)
Radical Autonomy i.e. very individualistic.
From the internet to cultural education and politics, the individual comes
before the corporate. One example how culture is catering to the
individual. Starbucks sells 87,000 different drinks designed to satisfy
individual desires.
"This generation wants — everybody wants — to have a say. Everybody

wants to be heard."
8. A PORN SATURATED CLIENTELE
“For 34-year-olds and younger, porn is normal/mainstream. It is no big

deal. One major secular analysis in describing Gen Z was one word …
PORN.” (Josh D. McDowell)
“… a 2004 study of Internet traffic … porn sites were visited three times
more often than Google, Yahoo! And MSN search combined.”
(Porn More Popular than Search, 2004, InternetWeek.com, June 4)

www.josh.org
“Pornconsumption for young adults … repeatedly reported to be
approximately 75% for men and 30% for women … [18+] [but new
extensive research indicates] porn consumption rates for men were
generally consistent (91-99%) across time frames … women’s
consumption varied more widely 60-92%).”
(Ingrid Solano, Nicholas R. Eaton and K. Daniel O’Leary, “Pornography Consumption,
Modality and Function in a Large Internet Sample”, Journal of Behavioral Addictions
(2018), The Journal of Sex Research (2018), https://tandfonline.com/doi/abs/)
“According to a survey conducted by the Barna Group in the U.S. in 2014

(Barna Group, 2014 Pornography Survey and Statistics,
https://www.provenmen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Survey-eBook-no-links-
Linked.pdf:
• “63% of adult men have looked at pornography at least one time
while at work in the past 3 months; 13% have done so more than
once.”
• “36% of adult women have looked at pornography at least one time
while at work in the past 3 months; 13% have done so more than
once.”
Three fundamental assessment issues of pornography research in the

above study were: “a) time frame-related, b) modality-related, and c)
function-related. … this study is the first to fully characterize these
measurement issues in a single sample with a wide age range.”
(Ingrid Solano, Nicholas R. Eaton and K. Daniel O’Leary, “Pornography Consumption,
Modality and Function in a Large Internet Sample”, Journal of Behavioral Addictions
(2018), The Journal of Sex Research (2018), https://tandfonline.com/doi/abs/)
“The following percentages of men say they view pornography at least

once a month: 79% of 18-30-year olds; 67% of 31-49-year olds; 49% of
50-68-year olds.”
(“Porn Stats 2018”, Covenant Eyes, Accessed December 11, 2019,
https://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/)
“I’m so puzzled,” writes a ministry director. “We are working with five
young men (2 CRU staff) all between the ages of 22-25 years old. Josh,
all five are into porn. These are the cream of the crop of young believers
and leaders.”

www.josh.org
“In a 2007 University of Alberta study, 429 students ages 13 and 14 from
17 schools across Alberta, Canada, were surveyed about how often they
accessed sexually explicit media content:” (Bev Betkowski, “1 in 3 boys heavy porn
users, study shows,” Eurekalert.org, Feb. 23, 2007. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_
releases/2007-02/uoa-oit022307.php (accessed June 7, 2018).)
• “90% of boys and 70% of girls reported accessing sexually explicit

media on at least one occasion.”
“…93 percent of boys and 62 percent of girls were exposed to online

pornography during their adolescence.”
(Nick Bilton, “Parenting in the Age of Online Pornography”, The New York Times,
January 7, 2015, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/style/parenting-in-the-age-of-
online-porn.html)
“Josh, I am a youth pastor at a large megachurch. We have our youth

leadership group of 25 students. I don’t know what to do … 24 of the 25
leaders watch porn. Your stats about students and porn are way too
low and unrealistic.” J.R.
“CHRISTIAN MEN and WOMEN who actively seek out porn on the
internet:”
• “47% (ages 36-60)”

• “65% (ages 25-39)”
• “81% (ages 13-24)”
• “28% active Christians (attend church & faith is very significant in
their life) of all ages seek out porn on the internet”
(David Kinnaman & Roxanne Stone, “The Porn Phenomenon – The Impact of
Pornography in the Digital Age”, Barna Group, April 4, 2016, http://barna
resources.myshopify.com/products/pornphenomenon)
“Pew Research Center’s 2018 findings of Mobile porn:”

• “9 in 10 Millennials”
• “85% of Gen xers (ages 38-53)”
• “67% of Baby Boomers (ages 54-72)”

www.josh.org
• “30% of Silent Generation (ages 73-90)”
CHRISTIAN WOMEN who actively seek out porn on the internet
• “56% (ages 18-24)”

• “The following percentages of women say they view pornography at

least once a month: 76% of 18-30-year olds;”
LEADERS:
• “57% pastors / 64% youth pastors have or are struggling with porn.”
“…90% of today’s college men and more than 60% of college women in
the US saw porn before the age of 18.”
(Luke Gilkerson, “Pocket Porn: Nearly a Third of Teens Carry Portable X-Rated
Theaters, Covenant Eyes, April 15, 2014,
http://www.covenanteyes.com/2014/04/15/porn-pocket/)
“Representatives of four missionary-sending organizations said to me

rather reluctantly that up to 90% of their staff applicants have watched
porn.” (Account as told to Josh D. McDowell)
“The stupidity of culture is displayed when a child needs an ID to buy a

pack of cigarettes but can freely go to the Internet and be consumed by
pornography.” (Josh D. McDowell, December 2015)
“One of the greatest sins today is the pastors and community leaders who
do not equip parents to biblically, medically, scientifically, culturally and
physically address porn with their children.” (Josh D. McDowell, November 2015)

www.josh.org
“Pastor, community leaders help your people so that the lies of
pornography will not be the legacy they leave their children…it’s up to
you.” (Josh D. McDowell, April 2015)
“Josh” a pastor exclaimed, “we will be at the Set Free Summit. At our
denomination’s national men's meeting I asked the men how many of you
are struggling with pornography? 90% raised their hands!” (Account as told to
Josh D. McDowell)
My personal observation is reinforced by Dr. Samuel Perry who stated,

“In every case, increases in pornography viewing are associated with
lower levels of religiosity and more religious doubts.”
(Samuel L. Perry & George M. Hayward, “Seeing is (Not) Believing: How Viewing
Pornography Shapes the Religious Lives of Young Americans”, Social Forces/Oxford
Academic, June 2017, https://academic.oup.com/sf/article/95/4/1757/2877697)
“Only 7% of churches have any type of program to help parishioners

struggling with porn. [and communities have even less]”
“The devastating impact of Internet pornography is a global phenomenon,

and not one church or one culture in the world is isolated from its reach.”
(Josh D. McDowell, December 2015)
“Over 10 years … every case of rape, sex abuse and sexual harassment,
there was pornography involved”.
(Set Free Summit by, Mary Ann Layden, PhD, Psychotherapist, Director of Education,
Center for Cognitive Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania, Director of Sexual
Trauma and Psychopathology Program. )
9. IS CHRISTIANITY GOOD?
Many people have put the cart before the horse in believing that the
Church must show their goodness instead of attempting to experience the
Love of Christ.
“This is critical. People want to know if Christianity is good before they

wonder if it is credible. The internet has raised awareness to many

www.josh.org
negative attitudes and behaviors of a few. An attitude persists that
Christians (especially evangelical) are mean-spirited, intolerant and
bigoted. The internet is amplifying these attitudes.”
(J. Warner Wallace, “Why the Case for Christianity Is More Important than Ever”, Cold-
Case Christianity, June 24, 2015, https://coldcasechristianity.com/writings/why-the-
case-for-christianity-is-more-important-than-ever/)
A police officer emailed me, “Josh, please help me … I am really

struggling with how God can be good.” August 26, 2019
Barna Research Group in their study, The Connected Generation, shows

that, “This Generation doesn’t just want to know whether Christianity is
True; they want to see that it is Good.”
(“The Connected Generation”, Barna Group, Accessed December 11, 2019,
https://shop.barna.com/products/the-connected-generation)
“A 2017 LifeWay study found that 66 percent of Protestants between age

23 and 30 said they stopped attending church regularly between age 18
and 22. However, some of these young people do eventually return.”
(Myriam Renaud, “Will Young Evangelicals Come Back to Church?”, Religion and
Politics, June 25, 2019, https://religionandpolitics.org/2019/06/25/will-young-
evangelicals-come-back-to-church/)
10. SAME SEX ATTRACTION (SSA), TRANSGENDER, LGBTQ+,

GENDER ID
This challenge has become a serious point of division and discord as this
becomes more accepted into our society’s norm.
“Many do not identify as straight and most have friends who are gay or
lesbian. More than 1 in 4 American teens (26%) do not identify as
heterosexual. Their peers have a variety of sexual orientations – 57%
have friends who are gay or lesbian, 52% have friends who are bisexual,
32% have friends who are still figuring out their sexuality, 23% have
friends who are pansexual, 18% have friends who are asexual, and 9%
have friends who are polyamorous.”
on-a-spectrum/)

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Can we as a “body of believers” and members of society learn to live a
life of truth and compassion? This issue can become a major “downfall”
for many churches and believers.
“We define a sexually faithful church this way”, writes Jim Weidenaar of
Harvest USA, “A church that disciples its members in a gospel worldview
of sexuality through education and redemptive ministry. The major point
in this simple but far-reaching statement is this: For a church to teach,
lead, model, and assist its people to live faithful lives within God’s design
for sex, sexuality, and gender, discipleship is the key. Discipleship is a
subset of the Great Commission, “making disciples of all nations,
teaching them to obey all that I have commanded.”
(Jim Weidenaar, “Characteristics of a Sexually Faithful Church”, Harvest USA,
Accessed July 17, 2019, https://www.harvestusa.org/characteristics-of-a-sexually-
faithful-church/#.XS-bEehKiUk)
“According to a 2014 Pew Research Center study, for instance, 45

percent of millennial evangelicals support same-sex marriage (compared
to 23 percent of previous generations); 51 percent (versus 32 percent)
believe society should accept homosexuality; 41 percent (versus 27
percent) favor stronger government involvement in providing services; and
45 percent (versus 36 percent) think aid to the poor does more good than
harm. On these issues, the views of Generation Z generally mirror those
of millennials.”
(Myriam Renaud, “Will Young Evangelicals Come Back to Church?”, Religion and
Politics, June 25, 2019, https://religionandpolitics.org/2019/06/25/will-young-
evangelicals-come-back-to-church/)
The implication of this is “individual morality.”
THE CONCLUSION TO THE ABOVE 10 CHALLENGES
The above are my observations of the world we are called to work in to

win, (heal) build and send laborers into the global harvest. This is just my
analysis. We need to be more cutting edge in our faith and in the Church.
Some of these issues were not critical just a few years ago but today are
trendsetting.

www.josh.org
These ten observations are true of the majority of all cultures in the world.
The internet has changed everything. I tell leaders from around the world
that their culture is irrelevant … there is now one culture for those 35 and
younger … Social Media.
“A study of 1,000 pastors shows that when asked the question ‘What is
your top concern about the future of their church? they answered,
‘Reaching the next generation.’ This had a 300% higher response than
any other pastoral concern. (#2 Lack of discipleship and #3 Declining
interest in matters of faith). The Body of Christ worldwide would answer
the same way. The Church has a marvelous opportunity to lead the way.”
(Timothy C. Morgan, “Pastors Face Future of the Church with Optimism”, Facts and
Trends, LifeWay, February 13, 2019, https://factsandtrends.net/2019/02/13/pastors-
face-future-of-the-church-with-optimism/)
“Cold-Case Christianity explains that the case for the credibility for
Christianity is more critical now, ‘nones’ have rejected their experience in
the Church rather than their belief in Jesus. Most churches are still
uninterested in making the case for Christianity, while more and more
Christians want to know why Christianity is true.”
(J. Warner Wallace, “Why the Case for Christianity Is More Important than Ever”, Cold-
“Now is the time to make the case for the reliability of the New Testament
… the reasonable, evidential case for Christianity is more important than
ever”
(J. Warner Wallace, “Why the Case for Christianity is more Important than Ever”, Cold-
“It is good to be reminded again of Rob Reimer’s cultural insight in Soul

Care: 7 Transformational Principles for a Healthy Soul: ‘I think people are
going to come to faith in Christ today more because they know they are
broken and in need of a healer than because they know they are
sinners in need of a savior.’”
(Rob Reimer, Soul Care: 7 Transformational Principles for a Healthy Soul)

www.josh.org
The above 10 challenges affect how we approach evangelism and
discipleship. Two major observations common to all the above
issues:
1) Relationships are the ground level issues to start workable solutions by

the Church;
“A lack of substantive community is a source of great pain for many in

modern American culture.”
Church”, https://www.biola.edu/blogs/talbot-magazine/2019/what-every-pastor-
needs-to-know-about-mental-health-and-the-church)
Robert Waldinger, a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical

School and the current director of a study, states, “The people who were
the most satisfied in their relationships at age 50 were the healthiest at
age 80. Strong relationships help to delay mental and physical
decline. Taking care of your body is important but tending to your
relationships is a form of self-care too. That, I think, is the revelation.’”
(Liz Mineo, “Good genes are nice, but joy is better”, The Harvard Gazette, April 11,
2017, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2017/04/over-nearly-80-years-harvard-
study-has-been-showing-how-to-live-a-healthy-and-happy-life/)
2) Knowledgeable truth and convictions need to be engrained into new

leaders if we are to see a lasting change. (Truth about the Bible,
Jesus, the resurrection and truth itself.) We need to not only develop
believers with a solid, biblically-based belief system, but we must
create true followers of Christ who have deep convictions why their
faith is true.
No longer can the Church remain relevant by promoting beliefs … we

must raise up a generation with not only healthy biblically-based beliefs
but also deep-rooted convictions that their beliefs are true and then live
those convictions out in relationships. Young people are looking for the
“whys” of their faith, not just the “what”, so let’s give it to them.

www.josh.org
“…the church is uniquely positioned to take a leading role in caring for
those who struggle emotionally and psychologically. Lifeway Research
suggests that 67% of Christians describe their church as supportive
relative to their mental health issues.”
“Well-known care ministries such as Celebrate Recovery, GriefShare,

DivorceCare, DivorceCare for Kids, Biola – Talbot Magazine, Fall 2019…”
The above 10 challenges plus the pervasiveness of “Tolerance”

throughout global cultures has had a profound effect on evangelism. The
research by Barna Research Group’s data reveals that, “…few Christian
Millennials today are willing to share their faith with others (and in fact
think it’s wrong to do so…” (Barna Group, “A Snapshot of Faith Practice Across Age
Groups”, Barna, July 23, 2019, https://www.barna.com/research/faithview-on-faith-practice/) It
will become more notable with GenZ.

www.josh.org
RESOURCES
• Gen Z Research Portfolio: www.josh.org/genz
• Porn Epidemic Research Portfolio: www.josh.org/epidemic
• Father Factor Research Portfolio: www.josh.org/fathers
• 7“A”s to Effective Parenting: www. josh.org/7As (Handout)
• Building relationships that transform: www.josh.org/7As (PDF)
• The Perfect Storm: www.josh.org/joshtalks
• The Evidence that Demands a Verdict (Revised 2017 Edition)
Sean McDowell’s:
• Same Sex Marriage – A Thoughtful Approach to God’s Design for

Marriage: https://www.amazon.com/Same-Sex-Marriage-
Thoughtful-Approach-Response/dp/080101834X by Sean McDowell
• So the Next Generation will know:

https://seanmcdowell.org/item/so-the-next-generation-will-know by
Sean McDowell
• Sean McDowell: https://seanmcdowell.org/blog
• Jim Dennison:
https://www.denisonforum.org/category/columns/daily-article/
• Chuck Colson Center: http://www.breakpoint.org/#SignUp
• Faithview by Barna Research Group, 2019, Digitized Data to

Navigate Culture
https://access.barna.com/faithview/
• William Lane Craig: https://www.reasonablefaith.org/

www.josh.org
• Rick McGough: https://www.localchurchapologetics.org/faith-reason
• Frank Turek: https://crossexamined.org/
• Ravi Zacharias: https://www.rzim.org/
• Alex McFarland: https://alexmcfarland.com/
• Alex McLellan: https://www.alexmclellan.com/
• Josh McDowell: https://www.josh.org/
After you read my research and conclusions on Gen Z and the 10

challenges facing the Church, if you think I may be an alarmist, carefully
read again at the beginning of this document (pp. 2-4) the LA Times
op-Ed July 14, 2019 by Dr. Varun Soni, Dean of Religious Life at
University of So. California.

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Alex McLellan Bio

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www.josh.org
Ben Bennett Bio

www.josh.org
www.josh.org
Sean McDowell Bio

www.josh.org
www.josh.org
Josh McDowell Bio

www.josh.org
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Video Series
To Order:
https://www.localchurchap
ologetics.org/faith-reason

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Portfolios

www.josh.org
Discover the Evidence
A very unique experience and opportunity for your church.
To impact your church and community, please call John Nettleton at 417-334-8056 for
more details on hosting Discover the Evidence.

www.josh.org
Gospel Chart

www.josh.org
2001 West Plano Parkway, Suite 2400  Plano, TX 75075
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The Loneliness Crisis on U.S. College

3 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 4

5 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 6

2. INCREASE IN DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, SUICIDE AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS ................. 16

7. LOSING ITS MORAL FOOTING ......................................................................................................... 34

Ben Bennett Bio ...................................................................................................................................... 49

7 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

“35 million youths raised in Christian Families projected to disaffiliate from

This document contains my research notes. It is not a formal article. I

My father once taught me, “Son, a problem well-defined is half-solved.” That is

5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 8

For more research on loneliness go to www.josh.org/mentalhealth/loneliness

The following research addresses the loneliness issue outside as well as

The growth of social media and waning person-to-person contact [caused]

“…a survey of 20,000 U.S. adults by Cigna, the loneliest members of

• “A 2014 report by Canada’s National Seniors Council, … half of people

• “If loneliness is a disease, it’s one that’s reached pandemic

• “A 2016 survey by the American College Health Association of

9 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

• “A life coach remarked that many younger people, … get a coach to

• “One of the most common questions Yatros receives from clients is

5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 10

• “According to a survey in 2017 by the Royal Society for Public Health,

• “…an experiment by five neuroscientists in 2014 concluded that

• “An obvious solution to the problem is to cut down on screen time.

11 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

• “…people under the age 20 registering as the loneliest of all,

5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 12

“Why loneliness is so dangerous to your health: Studies show that “nearly

“Loneliness isn't just a detriment to their social lives and happiness;

“The health dangers of loneliness are not new. A review of studies

13 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

Former Surgeon General, Murthy wrote in the Harvard Business

“Recently in Great Britain, loneliness became so widespread that the

“…lonely people have a 26% increased likelihood of early death. For

5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 14

Do you think the above data about extent of loneliness epidemic is

6 Ways to Feel Less Lonely and More Connected

1. “Look up old friends. They probably want to catch up too.”

15 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

2. “Quality (not quantity) of relationships - A 2015 study published in the

3. “Stable, supportive marriages - Being socially connected to others isn't

2. INCREASE IN DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, SUICIDE AND MENTAL

For more research on loneliness go to www.josh.org/mentalhealth/depression

There is a definite increase in depression leading to anxiety, mental

5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 16

TIME magazine reports that, “There is a mental health crisis among

“An excess of anxiety, abuse and depression is why Gen Z [8 – 25 years]

A study published in The Journal of Abnormal Psychology reports that

17 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 5.21.2020

“The relationship between technology use and well-being is even more

“A study of 600,000 people by the National Survey on Drug Use and

“…depression among 16- to 17-year-olds increased by 69 percent, and

5.21.2020 © 2020 Josh McDowell Ministry 18

“The study: Nearly 6,600 12- to 15-year-old Americans self-reported how