How to Reach Baby Boomers

With all the fuss I've heard lately about trying to reach Millennials, Gen Z, etc, I was thinking about how we might reach the Baby Boomers in our communities with the same philosophy of ministry that we use to reach Millennials. (And of course, pardon the verbal irony.)

(1) Sing old songs of the church. Everyone knows the new ones are watered-down anyway. Since they are an aging generation, make sure you sing aged songs. The worst thing you can do is make them uncomfortable by singing newer songs. Who likes to sing songs they are unfamiliar with? Or you could take a cue from Sonseed's great worship band.

(2) Flannel boards and chalk boards are a must. The church is seeing the Boomer generation continue to decline in attendance and participation. The message never changes, but the method has. If it worked for the Boomers before, why did we stop? Did we get tired of winning the Baby Boomer generation? I say: "Bring back flannel boards and hymnbooks." (Digital is overrated.) Why not have "leisure suit Sunday?"

(3) Refer often to Boomer cultural moments. Feel free to question the Apollo moon landing as a Hollywood stunt. Make arguments against the Vietnam war for the hippies you might be trying to reach. Revisit the civil rights arguments (on either side depending upon your Boomers). Make frequent references to the Lawrence Welk show.

(4) Give them positions of leadership & power. Want them in the church? Give them something to do. Stop letting the young people have all the leadership positions. Want Boomers back? Give them some power. After all, most church income comes from this age bracket.

(5) Preach hard... about the sins of others. Boomers will support you taking a stand against those who sin in different ways than they do. Just do not step on their toes. Check out every survey that comes out about what they care most about morally and preach on it!

(6) While the craze for Millennials might be Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and other social media; Boomers like advancements like the use of telephones and cassette tape players. There is no MP3 player or Spotify play list that beats watching the two little wheels of a cassette tape turn! Heard of an 8-track? Put your sermons on cassette tape to draw them in to listen again.

(7) Have the Pastor dress in bell bottoms, a Leisure suit, and/or have long side burns/ afro. Nothing says you are welcome to a Boomer than their era fashion styles being show-cased by the Pastor. (Nothing alienates a Boomer more than a pastor wearing current fashions.)

(8) Integrate 50's, 60's, and 70's cultural fads into your ministry slogans. For example: "Make Christlike love not, war." "Jam with the church serving Daddy-O since 33AD." "The Old Man wants to make you Righteous!!" "Off the Hook in more ways than one!" Also throw in terms like groovy, bummer, split, mellow, and gnarly to season your sermon and make it relevant to the Boomers you are trying to reach.

(9) Steer clear of denominational affiliation. Boomers have been anti-establishment since Kennedy was assassinated and Armstrong landed on the moon. The quickest way to scare them away from finding a home in your church is to find out you are actually part of a denomination. Hide this fact at all costs.

(10) Most Baby Boomers are quickly approaching that scary time of their life called 'retirement.' Preach often and with emphasis on tithing as a means of retirement. We do believe God provides for us. Make many references to a tithing person as a fulfilled person.

So, it is your choice. Will you choose to loose the Baby Boomers?

Coming soon: How your church can reach Generation Z.

Note: Please keep in mind that orienting the church around the perceived preferences of any generation seems a bit ridiculous. Navigating cultural shifts and changes across time is difficult. It takes wisdom and the leading of the Holy Spirit. 

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Artificial Intelligence and Relationships

In recent years it seems that there are more and more things that make genuine relationships difficult. Ironically, social media can do more to damage or prevent relationships than it does to foster them. In an ever-increasingly technologically connected world, it seems like more and more people are relationally disconnected.

More people are seeing therapists than ever before, but mental health still seems to be in decline. Certainly COVID19 pandemic isolation contributed to much of this, but so have other factors. I believe that many people, who are seeing therapists, really just need authentic relationship and accountability with someone else. In our disjointed and isolated cultural context, we are starved for caring, loving (non-romantic) relationships.

Now comes artificial intelligence (A.I.). As all technology advances there are both people bemoaning advancement and also those embracing it without consideration of the long-term price tag. Already there are projections that many people will lose their jobs due to AI. This should not be surprising as every technological advancement eliminates the need for some job previously done by a person. It is inevitable in some ways, though unfortunate for those who must re-train for a new occupation.

One ethical issue is the involvement of AI in the church. Some are having AI write prayers and sermons claiming that it is espousing truth and right on target. They are not considering that even AI has biased instilled from its programmers and "big tech" is anything but supportive of holiness and biblical truth. However, AI can be a helpful tool to do research for a sermon, locate a passage of Scripture, define words, locate biblical places on a map, create sermon slides/images, or even gain illustrations from news media. All these things obviously need to be verified outside of AI, but it can be a helpful tool. AI, however, is no replacement for the work of the Holy Spirit.

While there are no doubt great advantages and usages of AI as a tool for us to be more efficient or find information more quickly, it can also be used by some to replace things in our lives that will harm society long term. Already some social media companies, like Meta, have introduced fake profiles that are actually AI without recognizing them as such. In other words, some people, who may believe that they are interacting with a real person, are in actuality interacting with an AI account.

A search for artificial means of relational satisfaction is not something that is necessarily new. Pornography has long been a counterfeit replacement for authentic marital relationships. Even secular society is discovering the harm of this reality. The problem lies in the fact that people are searching for relational or sexual satisfaction without responsibility or obligation upon themselves. "I want something for nothing." "No strings attached." All these things sound good to those searching for satisfaction without commitment, but it is a shallow promise fraught with painful consequences (both short term and long term). 

Will AI serve as the next iteration of these counterfeit relationships? While lust is a driving force for pornography, what if that is compounded by the desire to dominate another "AI person" or to always insist on your own way (an antithesis of love)? After all, AI can be trained to do and say exactly what you want it to. It won't ever disagree with you, it won't ever be in a bad mood, it won't ask anything in return, it never requires you to sacrifice your time or resources, and it won't ask you to give anything in return. To some, that seems like an ideal relationship, but it is a hollow promise of fulfillment and satisfaction devoid of authentic love. In a world that has already perverted the word love, we can easily slip into an even more self-centered definition. 

Relationships that are fulfilling are not found in receiving gratification of every desire. Fulfilment is found in committing yourself to someone despite the cost. Relational fulfilment is fidelity in the face of other choices; even those that could be more sexually fulfilling. Relationships that have meaning require sacrifice and commitment over a long period of time. When you remove the relational price tag, you make the relationship little more than a cheap counterfeit trinket.

I hope we refuse to sell ourselves to the emotional and relational bankruptcy that is found all around and commit anew to live lives of commitment and sacrifice for the sake of real love. May we practice hospitality and accountability as we endeavor to be the body of Christ in the world today.

So what do you think?

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Dear President Trump

Dear President Trump,

I am praying for you as I have prayed often for every president previous. I do not say that in a flippant cliche way, but sincerely. As we are exhorted to do in 1 Timothy 2:1-4.

Many are still in shock that you were elected the 47th president. While I mentioned to my wife that I believed you would be elected shortly before the election, I did not expect for you to take the popular vote along with every "swing state." The reality of the pressures, critique, and power you wield is hard for me to imagine. Some say that the president of the United States of America is the most powerful person in the world. My counsel should be taken for what it is worth. (That might not be much.)

I would ask a few things...

1. Look to authentic faith in Jesus. To walk as a faithful disciple of Jesus in your position would be incredibly difficult. The political pressures at home and abroad require you to be careful who you trust and rely upon. Many pastors are political opportunists who would use your position to elevate themselves (either by supporting or attacking you). However, not everyone who bears the name of Jesus is actually promoting themself. Lean into the Bible as a source of truth and allow the Holy Spirit to guide you into that which is true. Find authentic Christians without an agenda of self-promotion to counsel you.

2. Thank you for keeping a previous campaign promise to appoint judges to the supreme court that are prolife. This will no doubt be one of your most significant historical contributions. A nation that does not protect the most vulnerable and value the gift of life, will soon suffer the devaluing of life in all areas of society.

3. Please choose not to seek revenge on your political opponents. I cannot fully imagine the shameful things that have been said and done to you. Unwarranted FBI raids on your home in which they pilfered through your personal belongings. Lawsuits without substance have been prolific. They call it lawfare. The temptation will be to retaliate in kind to those who have abused their power. Choose a higher way allowing the justice system to pursue its duty without interference or influence from your office. This is the noble way on integrity.

4. Be cautious in your usage of executive orders. It is a privilege of the office, but seems to be more and more abused in recent years to bypass the US congress for a short term solution. The problem is that is often rescinded by the next president with differing ideological views. Executive orders are short lived. The Department of Justice website says: "Although executive orders have historically related to routine administrative matters and the internal operations of federal agencies, recent Presidents have used Executive Orders more broadly to carry out policies and programs." By using this privilege some presidents have abused their power. You can end that trend by simply rescinding previous executive orders without proliferating the misuse of executive orders.

5. Please do not try to end birthright citizenship. While the right has been misused at time, to reject it is to embrace a principle that a right can be rejected when someone abuses it. This is a dangerous precedent. Violent illegal immigrants and the chaos at the Southern border need to be addressed for sure, but be cautious in how your words can potentially harm those who are coming to our nation in the right way. "The U.S. has more immigrants than any other country, including the next four countries combined" according to this article. For that I am thankful.

6. Do not capitulate common sense. Moving to embrace a merit-based system of promotion is important. Thank you. Rejecting a person solely because of their skin color is unacceptable. Thank you for requiring government departments to recognize only two genders. This is not hateful, it is an embrace of reality. Thank you for labeling the drug cartels what they are: terrorists. 

7. I hope that your protection of those who are earnestly seeking to live lives pleasing to God continues. Sin never justifies its existence, but it always seeks to eliminate those who would embrace righteousness. There is no greater source of good in our nation than the Christian church. Thank you for letting the church be the church and not trying to muzzle or hinder the desire of millions of people to serve Christ and live in holiness.

8. It would benefit everyone if you abstained from profane language. While broadly accepted in society I do not think that it befits the office of president or your ability to lead all people. Not even people who use cursing as a linguist norm, demand more of it. However, there are many people who grow weary of the incessant stream of profanities we face at every turn in our culture. Families would like for their children to be able to listen to the president of the United States without worrying about the language he uses.

9. As families are the backbone of any society, thank you for placing a priority on preserving the authority of parents, the sanctity of marriage, and the strength of the home. May you continue to encourage through example, legislation, and advocacy these things. Enabling educational choice for families of all income levels would be a great benefit as well.

10. I have spent time wondering what might happen if you became a passionate follower of Jesus committed to living by the power of His Holy Spirit. Your life has been a success in every way that our culture says is successful. But there is more, and it is better. Walking in fellowship with God is an experience that cannot be comprehended nor explained. It is costly, but it is always worth it!

In Expectation,
Pastor Jared K Henry


What counsel would you give President Trump as he begins his final term?

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Reclaiming Christian Higher Education

I recently shared about how to transition from Christian to secular in the academy. It certainly had a good dose of verbal irony, but it was an attempt to identify a historic problem of the drift away from Christ centered education to humanism and secularism. Forbes shared an article a few years ago about religion and education that identified this same problem.

So if it is indeed a problem, then the real question is, what does one do about it?

How does a University President or a Board of Trustees direct an institution back to the place where Jesus is again the foundation? Here are a few ideas though they come with a high price tag and painful process.

1. Make sure the President and the board of Trustees are all on the same page with the problem and the painful process of moving the school in the right direction. If there are a number of Trustees or a president who are not interested or concerned about the direction of the school, no changes will be successful or lasting.

2. Call a faculty meeting. Publicly and clearly identify the core beliefs and essential mission of the institution. Give every faculty member time to process the change of emphasis away from secularization and back to a Christian foundation. If part of a denomination, include the beliefs, lifestyle covenant, and historical values of the denomination. 

3. Build strong relationships with the churches making up your constituency. Meat with groups of pastors to hear about their concerns, values, and needs. Make it clear that you are seeking to reclaim the institution for the kingdom. Seek out ways to benefit the local churches you serve. If the academy serves the church, the church will provide for the academy. This relationship must be nurtured for future students and financial support.

4. Know the place of the academy in the work of God in the world. The academy serves an important role of training clergy to be faithful and fruitful workers in the harvest field. Being Spirit filled is essential in this capacity. To educate the mind without quickening the spirit is to do little more than create an educated devil.  

5. Know the place of the academy in the work of God in the world. Universities are also tasked with training people for all kinds of occupations in a Christian context. This is rooted in a biblical morality, emphasis on evangelism, and fulfillment of the Great Commission. Academic excellence is important (and should be emphasized), but to establish students in righteousness is indispensable. 

6. Hire faculty who are in alignment with the values, beliefs, mission, or ethic. These are the kind of employees who will build the team and be fruitful. They will go out as faithful servants of Christ and His church. The ministers the academy produces will then love the doctrines of the church and seek to fulfill the Great Commission. This results in churches sending their young people and donors writing checks. 

7. Fire faculty who are not in alignment with the values, beliefs, mission, or ethic. They will only serve to distract, discourage, and be an ongoing source of detriment to the mission of the school. They may insist on their "academic freedom" or rely on their "academic reputation" but these things are always trumped by mission & purpose. (Note: Freedom always has boundaries so that it does not become licentiousness.)

8. Speak with orthodoxy and in clarity on controversial issues. Do not use double speak or ambiguity to confuse your constituency (this lacks integrity). Real leadership is willing to make sacrifices for truth. Walking in the Spirit requires us to "lose" some temporary things so that we may "gain" those things which are more enduring and valuable.

9. Remember why God raised up the institution. Read the founding documents, charter, speeches, and sermons given. Read any historical document you can find to be reminded of why the academic institution was put on the hearts of the men and women who started it, provided for it, worked at it, etc. God blesses an institution as they recall what He placed on the hearts of the founders and fulfil that mission.

10. Maintain accountability for spiritual vitality, academic excellence, and faithfulness to the core values/doctrines of the institution. The temptation to compromise these standards will be consistent, but to reclaim the school, standards must be raised, not lowered. The academy must be accountable, not so much to the larger academic community, but to the church from which it has been birthed.

11. Walk in the Spirit. People will attack, darkness will seek to envelope, and you will lose friends. Be faithful to the Lord, humble yourself before Him, and at the right time He will bring the victory. Truth and love are not mutually exclusive values for those who walk in the Spirit.

This is hard and costly work, but worth it. I wonder if there would be some in our generation who would pay the price on their knees for God to bring a great victory in this area!

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Some Things I Plan to Do in the New Year

 Here are a few things I plan to do in the New Year... (in no particular order)

1. Every year I commit to lead at least one person to Jesus outside of the pulpit. The greatest blessing I have ever experienced is participating in introducing someone to a walk with God. All Out For Souls

2. I want to become more generous with the resources I have. Though I would certainly not consider myself rich, wealth is not necessary to live generously. Buying fewer things for myself and giving more gifts will be the first step.

3. To love "unlovable" people more. Have you ever heard "hurt people, hurt people"? I want to show love to hurt and broken people wherever I go. Not the "easy to love" folks, but the down-and-out.

4. Spiritual growth is a priority for me. To spend more time fasting and quiet in the presence of the Holy Spirit. To listen to the Holy Spirit. To mature in my relationship with Him.

5. This coming year I want to be a better encourager. There are plenty of discouragers and critics in the world. I want to find someone doing good things and encourage them!

6. May the fire in my bones burn with a greater passion. Monotony, discouragement, disappointments, and things like these can take away our zeal. May I continue to be zealous for good works.

7. Continue to walk in holiness. My desire is to live above reproach a life that is pure and pleasing to God. And to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit.

What about you? What things are you planning to do in the New Year?

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How to Transition from Christian to Secular in the Academy

It would seem to me that many colleges & universities started by churches have, over time, parted from their Christian roots and eventually divorced themselves from the church all together.

Forbes says: "In the beginning, most universities in the U.S. were established as institutions of faith: the colonial colleges – such as Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth (Puritan), College of William and Mary (Church of England), Princeton (Presbyterian) and Rutgers University (Dutch Reformed Church) – were Christian schools in mission or affiliation. For almost all of these and similar elite schools, the answer to grow with the times and the country was to leave their religious legacy in the microfiche files." (emphasis mine) (Read the whole article here.)

I'd like to propose a few ways to change a Christian school into a secular school (and there is a difference between the two). I make these proposals not because I actually recommend them, but as a warning to those that may be tempted to follow the path...

1) If you have chapel services five days a week; change it to three. If you have it three days a week; change it to one. Too much "church" is a turn-off to unbelievers (not to mention the fact that it could hurt enrollment/finances to require chapel). Finally make chapel optional before being a good steward of the school's finances and doing away with chapel all together. (Remember, do it slowly in a long process so that no zealous Christians will cause a fuss.)

2) Strive for intellectual and academic excellence to the neglect of the spiritual state of the campus. Certainly you could probably focus on someone's spiritual health and academic performance, but their spiritual state is just another thing to be juggling and the 'academy' has a different function than the church. You are, after all, a college/university!

3) When you advertise on TV, billboards, or secular periodicals make sure you do not mention your Christian foundation. It is a turn-off and you will lose many prospective students that way. (They might find out if they come to your school anyway, so why mention it?). Even if they don't ever realize they attended a Christian school, you've just done a great job of helping them be Christians even though they may not realize it!

4) Lower the standards for your sports teams. If it makes you feel better, you can convince yourself that having a winning basketball team will make a better name for Jesus than a mediocre basketball team that lives a holy life.

5) Hire faculty, staff, & administrators that are not Christians. As long as they do their jobs well, who really cares? And what about diversity?

6) Create a false dichotomy by mischaracterizing Bible believing, faithful Christians who desire for their children to be given an education from a Christian world view and pitting them against sincere ideologues who are simply trying to "minister in an ever changing world." Consistently claim that both conservative bible believing Christians and leftists are complaining. This gives you credibility when it comes to claiming you are a "middle way" or "different way" or abstract way. We know that you are following the historic shift from Christian to secular, but let's continue to live in denial.

7) Do away with any kind of rules or standards you might have on your campus. Those include curfew, expectations for dress, required chapel attendance, alcohol prohibition, and any other rules students often complain about. You certainly do not want to be viewed as legalistic. If you have any rules and, for denominational reasons, are not able to do away with them, just leave them in print but ignore them in practice.

8) Change your school motto from something like: "Christlike in all we do" to something that uses some Latin and is translated to say something more general like: "We are nice and we like everybody." The shift of your statement should move from God's holiness to the practical benefits of students graduating with a degree from your school.

9) Take down all crosses and religious imagery from your campus. It was all probably graven images any way. Put up peace signs, lots of posters on what we can do to help the environment, BLM, and other left leaning political rally points. Remember the goal is that secular humanists would find your school enticing.

10) Replace some of the religious requirements (required Bible & theology courses) with community service. It will fool the Christians into believing you are still a part of the Christian church as long as it is a good deed and convince the rest of the world you want to make a difference without "pushing your beliefs" on anyone else.

11) In your Bible, Theology, or religion department hire professors who are most adept at promoting cultural ideology rather than biblical truth. Have them promote critical race theory, philosophy, universalism, and process theology. Bonus: you can probably receive grants from secular organizations that want to influence your students with their causes like integrating "climate science" into the theological education. You can justify this to your faithful constituents by explaining that you want to be inclusive of all viewpoints for the academic benefit of your students. (Just do not actually include anyone more theologically conservative.)

12) Finally, measure your success by how much money your graduates make or how many books they publish. If someone becomes a denominational leader you can take credit for it within the denomination but do not talk about it outside of the church. (You may be able to take credit for sports stars who thought about coming to your school too.)

Extra note: If part of a denomination, you may want to continue to tap into the enormous amount of financial resources available from the many lay people who have no earthly idea what is really going on at your school. To do so, talk a lot about what God is doing at your school (even if you have to exaggerate or even make things up). All some lay people care about is whether or not the young people are serving the Lord and living for Him (how short-sighted they must be)!

What might you add?



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Let's Reach People!

A few things that need to happen for you to reach people for Jesus.

1. Fall in love with Jesus. And let love motivate you in every endeavor to minister to the world around you.

2. Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Apologetics, methodologies, psychology, talents, resources, and friendly personalities might be helpful but none of those things can change a heart. We need Holy Spirit power to minister.

3. Refuse to quit. Do not give up on people. They might reject you. They might reject your message. They may mistreat you. They may discourage you. Do not give up on people; there's too much at stake.

4. Be steadfast in prayer. The amazing thing about the New Testament church was not their technology or fashion sense, but that it was evident they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13)

5. Learn how to be a friend. In the current world of smart phones, artificial intelligence, and social media we are less social than ever before. Having in person, face to face conversations is a skill set few have. Work on putting down your phone, turning off your television, and finding someone to engage.

6. Don't throw away truth from the Bible. Many have a disdain for biblical truths (such as 'hell') that make them uncomfortable. No one likes the reality of hell. But I have found many people who reject its existence make little to no effort in reaching people for Jesus. 

What else might you include?




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