Recorded

Gen Z is the most secular generation on record—the least likely to believe in God, go to church, or have a religious affiliation. One reason for this is their parents—Gen Z is also the generation least likely to have grown up in church, attended Sunday school, or prayed over a meal with their family.
But Gen Z hasn’t been hostile to the faith. They’re not protesting Christian speakers or telling stories of how Christianity hurt them. Instead, they’ve been largely apathetic.
Until now.
This past fall, we began hearing from campus ministry staff about packed-out gatherings, rapidly growing Bible studies, and unexpected numbers of conversions.
“When we hear the gospel—that somebody loved us even when we were wretched and sinful—that's what really draws our attention,” one University of Illinois Chicago student told me. “That's what really drew me in. And I feel like that's what's going on with Gen Z as well.” 

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Can you trust AI?
Mike Graham, program director for TGC’s Keller Center, decided to find out. He asked seven major AI platforms seven basic questions about the gospel. Since AI platforms largely rely on the same technology and draw from the same body of information, he figured the answers would be similar.
He was wrong.
Not only were the answers different, but only two platforms nudged a searcher toward Christianity.
In this episode of Recorded, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra asks Mike, Keith Plummer, and Gavin Ortlund what the experiment revealed, why it matters, and whether Christians should be concerned.

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Thirteen years ago, pastor Alton Hardy planted a church in an underresourced African American community near Birmingham, Alabama. Alton worried about the crime, poverty, and lack of education he saw around him. But more than that, he worried about families.
And most of all, he worried about fathers.
In 2023, the CDC recorded that 70 percent of African American babies were born to single mothers. Overall, 40 percent of all births in the United States are now to unmarried moms, a number that doubled between 1980 and 2010.
Alton got to work, preaching the gospel, teaching God’s design for our lives, and calling young black men to become strong leaders of their churches, homes, and communities.
I can’t tell you he's witnessing a wholesale revival. But Alton’s church is growing. And for the first time in decades, couples with baby strollers are walking the sidewalks in his community.
This is the story of how the gospel can change a life, a family, and a neighborhood. But it’s also a story that can change the way you think about your parents, your kids, and why God loves you.

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Two and a half years ago, a plane went down in a Texas pasture. On board were five men—the lead pastor, the executive pastor, an elder, and two faithful members of Harvest Church near Memphis, Tennessee.
Four of the men were killed instantly—experts later determined the chances of survival were zero percent. But one of the men—lead pastor Kennon Vaughan—lived.
This is his story. But this is also the story of what happens when a church of disciple-makers walks through their darkest hours together. And this is the story of what God can do when lives—and deaths—are surrendered to him.
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• This episode includes audio provided by StoryTellers Live, Harvest Church, and Gracepointe Church. We're thankful for their generosity and support in telling this story.
• This episode is sponsored by Dordt University. To learn more, visit dordt.edu

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Over the past few years, we’ve been hearing rumblings of revival on college campuses. To chase down the story, Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra headed over to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, to see what was going on with the largest campus ministry you’ve never heard of—the Salt Company.
Salt Company does a lot of things you’d expect—large worship gatherings, small group Bible studies, and summer mission trips. But they also do some things you wouldn’t anticipate, such as talking about sin, taking kids through Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology (the abridged version), and requiring student leaders to be members of a local church.
In today’s sensitive, selfie-obsessed culture, you might wonder if discussions of sin or of robust theology would be a good on-ramp to Christianity. But over the last 40 years, Salt has grown to 12,000 students on 33 campuses (and churches!) in 16 states.
What is drawing the most anxious generation to the gospel?

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