Podcast appearances and mentions of john plake

Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today we're joined by John Plake, Chief Innovation Officer and Editor-in-Chief of the State of the Bible research at the American Bible Society. With decades of experience as a pastor, missionary, professor, and researcher, John brings a unique perspective on how people are actually engaging with Scripture and what we should do about it. The “movable middle” is growing. // One of the most significant insights from recent research is the rise of what John calls the “movable middle”—millions of people who are open to the Bible but not yet engaged with it. This group has grown by approximately nine million people in recent years. They are curious, interested, and even positive toward Scripture, but they lack the tools, confidence, or guidance to engage it meaningfully. This represents a massive opportunity for churches willing to step in and help. People want a guide. // Through focus groups and research, John discovered that many people in the movable middle feel intimidated by the Bible. They struggle with language, context, and navigation. But perhaps most striking is they want help. Contrary to what some leaders might assume, they are not rejecting the church as a guide. In fact, many say, “If we can't trust the church to help us understand the Bible, what good is it?” This creates a clear invitation for churches to step into a more relational, guiding role in discipleship. A surprising discipleship gap. // One of the most sobering findings is that nearly half of weekly church attenders are not regularly engaging Scripture on their own. While churches invest heavily in preaching and programming, many people are not developing personal habits of Bible engagement. John suggests that churches often focus on delivering content rather than equipping people to engage Scripture themselves. The result is a gap between what happens on Sunday and what happens in everyday life. From teaching to equipping. // If churches want to close that gap, they must shift from being primarily content providers to equipping environments. This means helping people develop the skills, habits, and confidence to read and apply Scripture on their own. It also requires understanding the real barriers people face, like time constraints, confusion, or lack of community support, and addressing those barriers with practical solutions. A new tool for churches. // To help leaders take action, the American Bible Society has developed the “Next Step for Church” assessment. This free tool allows churches to measure spiritual health, Bible engagement, and key leadership behaviors within their congregation. Within a few weeks, leaders receive a detailed, data-driven report highlighting strengths, challenges, and suggested next steps. Data that leads to discipleship. // John emphasizes that data is not an end in itself; it's a tool for better shepherding. By listening to their congregation at scale, leaders can identify patterns, confirm instincts, and prioritize what matters most. The assessment surfaces both what's working and where growth is needed, giving churches a clear path forward. It also connects individuals to personalized Scripture engagement resources, helping them take their next step spiritually. Why Scripture engagement matters most. // Nothing has a greater impact on spiritual growth than a person's relationship with the Bible. In fact, Scripture engagement accounts for a significant portion of overall spiritual health. When people consistently engage with God's Word, transformation follows—affecting beliefs, behaviors, and relationships. Signs of hope for the future. // Despite broader cultural challenges, John sees encouraging trends, especially among younger generations. Millennials and Gen Z show increasing openness to Scripture, even if they are still exploring. While overall trends may appear flat, meaningful change is happening beneath the surface. For churches willing to engage this moment, there is real opportunity for impact. To explore the research further or access the free church assessment, visit church.nextstep.bible and begin discovering how your church can better equip people to engage Scripture every day. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Risepointe Do you feel like your church’s or school's facility could be preventing growth? Are you frustrated or possibly overwhelmed at the thought of a complicated or costly building project? Are the limitations of your building becoming obstacles in the path of expanding your ministry? Have you ever felt that you could reach more people if only the facility was better suited to the community’s needs? Well, the team over at Risepointe can help! As former ministry staff and church leaders, they understand how to prioritize and help lead you to a place where the building is a ministry multiplier. Your mission should not be held back by your building. Their team of architects, interior designers and project managers have the professional experience to incorporate creative design solutions to help move YOUR mission forward. Check them out at risepointe.com and while you’re there, schedule a FREE call to explore possibilities for your needs, vision and future…Risepointe believes that God still uses spaces…and they're here to help. Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. I am so glad that you have decided to tune in today. This is one of those episodes that there’s a great resource in it that going to want to make sure you engage with. There’s super helpful content. Plus it’s about an area that I know so many of us are thinking about, we’re wondering about, we’re asking questions about. Rich Birch — So super excited to have John Plake with us today. He is the chief innovator ah innovation officer and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible Research Series, which comes from the American Bible Society. And they’re on a mission to make the Bible available to every person in a language and format each can understand and afford so that all may experience its life-changing message. ABS has really a whole bunch of different tools and approaches, and we’re excited kind of expose a little bit more about that today. John has been in ministry over 30 years. We’ll just call it over 30 years. And it served as a pastor, missionary, professor, researcher. John, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here.John Plake — Thanks so much for having me today. It’s great to be with you.Rich Birch — Why don’t you fill in the picture a little bit? Tell us a little bit about your background. You know, what brings you to your current work?John Plake — Yeah. Closer to 40 years now. Rich Birch — Nice. Yeah, yeah. That’s great.John Plake — It’s a little uncomfortable to talk about that.Rich Birch — That’s great.John Plake — Yeah. You know, I start out like a lot of people in ministry. I grew up in a home that ministry was central. Actually, both my grandfathers were ministers. My father was a minister. Ministry is kind of the family business in a way, but I really did sense a direction from God when I was about 15 years old to to pursue full-time ministry.John Plake — There was some detail around that. Ended up going to Bible college and and then started what turned out to be about nine years of full-time pastoral service. And I hadn’t been in that for very long before I realized that everything I learned in Bible College was preparing me to serve a generation that no longer existed in a culture that was gone. John Plake — And I thought, my goodness, I know God’s word pretty well. And mean, I’m a lifelong learner of God’s word. I love the Bible. And yet, didn’t really know culture very well. And I didn’t develop those tools until just years and years of practice, some missionary service, wonderful teachers at at Wheaton College and graduate school and and just a lifelong journey of learning.John Plake — So at American Bible Society, when I got here, the State of the Bible, program or this research project was already underway. And we’d been helped out by the Barna Group, which does some wonderful foundational work. And eventually it just kind of grew up and it got to a place where we had an internal team that was running it ourselves, now in collaboration with the National Opinion Research Council or NORC at the University of Chicago. We just do, I think, what is the largest ongoing study of Americans’ relationship with the Bible and faith and the church. And we get to talk about it all the time. Rich Birch — Yeah, I love it.John Plake — So, I mean, this is the best job in the world.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s so good. It’s it’s great research, something that I think should be on the kind of list of things that we need to be paying attention to. It’s been a gift to the church for so long and something that we should continue to to pay attention through. Now, let’s talk about you specifically. You spent three plus decades. I didn’t want to say almost 40. You know, I’m not saying that. I’m not saying that. I could say that, you know, a couple years ago, I clicked across one of those numbers with a zero on the end as my birthday. And ever since then, I’m a little sensitive about the the age thing. Rich Birch — So anyways, As a ministry, missionary professor, researcher, you’ve done a lot. How does wearing all of those hats, what do you what does that bring to you as you come to the data? How does that impact you as you think about really the state of the Bible research?John Plake — Yeah, you know, I think research can be dull. You know, it can sound like it’s all about writing questions or it’s all statistics and numbers. But for me, the research is all about the people. Rich Birch — So true.John Plake — It’s all about the people in our communities and in our churches that we’re trying to understand better so we can serve them well with the gospel. I, for years, I’ve used the analogy that that being in gospel ministry is like being a human bridge across a river. I grew up not very far from the Mississippi River in the St. Louis area, and there was a big 100-year flood when I was early on in ministry. And I mean, none of the bridges worked anymore. You couldn’t get from one side to the other.John Plake — And I thought, you know, that’s a tragedy that I encountered sometimes in ministry where maybe I was deeply rooted in one bank of the river, the text, but I wasn’t necessarily deeply rooted in the other bank of the river, which was the context.John Plake — And it’s this lived experience of the people that I was I was serving. And that I wanted to serve in my community, but I needed to understand them better. So I wasn’t just spouting you know Aristotelian logic to them. Or I wasn’t just coming at them with the pat answers that I’d learned. Like I’d never heard anybody in my life walk into my office and say, Pastor John, you got to tell me, what can you describe hamartiology to me from. You know like I had to learn that in school, but that’s not what people struggle with. Rich Birch — That’s so true. Yeah. John Plake — They had totally different questions and I needed to love them and honor them enough to understand their questions and answer them responsibly and reliably from the pages of scripture.Rich Birch — Yeah, love it. Okay, well, we’re going to dig into a little bit of just a couple of the findings just to kind of, we’re trying to whet your appetite, friends, to take steps towards this. So the 2025 data showed, and we’ve seen this, a real bump in Bible engagement, particularly among millennials and men. If I’m reading it correctly, though, we saw 2026, a shift happen, maybe back down. And so what’s going on? Actually, I heard another sociologist in a kind of a related field that was about church attendance talked about the dead cat bounce, that it was like, you know, which I thought, oh, that’s a, but there’s a similarity going on here. Pull this, this finding apart. Help us understand this.John Plake — Yeah, apologies to cat lovers out there.Rich Birch — Yes, exactly.John Plake — We were we were hoping, you know, I think we were really hoping. We looked at 2025. We saw that men in particular were leaning into the Bible in ways we hadn’t seen recently. Millennials doing the same thing. There there were some interesting numbers in 2025. And so when the 2026 numbers came to my desk in late January, I thought, I hope we’re extending I hope it’s going to be a trend. But it wasn’t. It was a blip.John Plake — And there’s more to it, though, than just the fact that scripture engagement didn’t go up. It also didn’t go down. And the level of people in America who are Bible disengaged, meaning they never pick up the Bible on purpose at all, that actually didn’t go up either. What grew was this kind of curious explorer group in the middle that we call the movable middle. And over the last two years, it’s grown by 9 million American adults. Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — And so what we do see is there’s there’s openness to the Bible. There’s experimentation with the Bible. But people are jumping in and they’re trying it and they’re not being able to get hold of it. And I think that’s largely because of us.John Plake — Because Bible people who are around them aren’t saying, please come do this with me. Let me help you. Let me honor you enough to to respect your questions, to ask what you’re dealing with, and help you explore those issues through the pages of Scripture.Rich Birch — I love that movable middle, man, that feels like the kind of group we want to connect with and reach out to in our community. Any other, when you, when you’ve been thinking about this movable middle, what are some other kind of characteristics of those people or other things that, you know, are kind of telltale signs of this group as we’re thinking about them as it, as it pertains to Bible engagement?John Plake — Yeah, they’re an amazing group, and we’re going talking more about them all year, but they are probably my favorite subject in America. There are 74 million American adults that are in the movable middle.Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — 74 million of our neighbors who are like…Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — …and here’s what they tend to say: They love the Bible. They think it’s a great idea. But if you handed them a Bible, they don’t know how to find what they’re looking for. They don’t know how to navigate it. They get confused by the language in in Scripture.John Plake — I remember doing a a focus group with a bunch of people in the movable middle. I was in Chicago. it was an area I was really familiar with. I used to pastor in that area. And we got them talking about their experience with the Bible. And we said, hey, does anything ever stop you or kind of you know make you check out because you’re struggling with what’s going on? John Plake — And one young lady at the table said, yeah, you know the language of the Bible is really really hard for me to understand. It’s it’s a really old book. It uses expressions I don’t understand. And a gentleman sitting across the table from her just kind of chuckled and said, yeah, what the hell’s a mustard seed? And everybody laughed.John Plake — I was behind the glass and I just about fell out of my chair because they didn’t teach me to talk like that in a Assemblies of God seminary.Rich Birch — Yes.John Plake —Things like that, you know, that’s just not the way we roll.Rich Birch — Yeah, yeah. Yes.John Plake — But it was so authentic and he wasn’t being mean.Rich Birch — No.John Plake — He was just saying, boy, I don’t I don’t get it. And then they said, you know, we really want a guide. Rich Birch — That’s good.John Plake — And so we pushed on that a little bit. At the time, there were some clergy abuse scandals that actually there were billboards up in Chicago about clergy abuse scandals that all of us lamented. And so we’re like, OK, listen, do you trust the church to be your guide? Because ee saw these billboards, you know, and it’s your city. And so what what do you think?John Plake — And they said, well, of course we do. I mean, it’s terrible when people in the church abuse their position and abuse others. And that’s not what they’re supposed to do. But if we can’t trust the church to help us understand the Bible, what good are they, really? And so, yes, we’re looking to you, church, to help us connect more deeply with the Bible, understand what it meant to the original hearers and readers and how we apply it to our lives today.Rich Birch — Okay, that’s yeah, that’s really cool. I look forward to hearing more about the movable middle in this coming year. Another thing that jumped out to me, which I feel like, man, I’ve seen this in my church. This is like you you named a group that I see, but it’s surprising, at least it’s surprising on its face. So nearly half of weekly church attenders, weekly church attenders, which is, that’s like really engaged, you know, are not regularly engaging, engaging scripture on their own.Rich Birch — Man, what, so what should we do about that? That’s an interesting, how does, how should that impact our discipleship strategy? What are you encouraging us to be thinking about? And these people that are with us all the time, but they’re not engaged with scripture.John Plake — Well, I think the first thing to do is to just recognize it. Rich Birch — Right.John Plake — You know, a lot of pastors that I’ve talked to, when we talk about scripture engagement, they tell me things like this: Everything we do is scripture engagement. I spend my whole week preparing a scriptural message. I’m, you know, we’re preparing small group curriculum and Sunday school curriculum and all of this stuff. It’s all about the, everything we do is about the Bible. John Plake — Well, okay. But I had a I had a young youth pastor come to me not that long ago and he said, John, look, you were me once a few years ago. If you knew then what you know now, what would you do differently?John Plake — And the answer is I would do everything differently, than the way I ought to do it. Because what, in my tradition, there was a lot of emphasis on the preaching event, and I put a lot of effort into those communication events, but what I didn’t put as much effort into is empowering people in my church to do what I was doing, which was dig into scripture, understand it for themselves, giving them the tools to do that.John Plake — And then in May, we’re going to be releasing a chapter, just in a few few days now, we’re going to be releasing a chapter all about parents. And one of the startling things is the time pressure that moms are under. I mean, it’s incredible. And so we need to understand where they’re coming from and where they have barriers, but also have some compassion on them and help to support them when they’re really facing struggles. Like they don’t have enough time. They don’t have the resources or the community coming around them to help them to engage God’s word ah more fulsomely, more transformatively.John Plake — We know how to do this stuff, but we’re not connecting the dots to everybody that’s coming to hear us talk every…Rich Birch — That’s good. That’s good. I know I’ve in my seat as an XP, um you know, I’ve overseen a lot of what we do on the programming side and what we do on the weekends. And I’ve, you know, it’s like, that i don’t think I’ve ever said this publicly. It’s like the kind of behind the scenes conversation. I’ve sometimes wondered, I’ve said, you know, like, what we do on the weekend to try to make the Bible understandable is so completely different than Tuesday morning in someone’s life. Rich Birch — Like, we pull out all the stops to make it interesting. We get like world class communicators, incredible graphics, you know, emotional music, all of this to try to… But then the question is, okay, so now on Tuesday morning when you’re tired and you haven’t had your coffee yet and you’re just about to go read scripture, man, like that feels like a long ways away. There’s like a gap there that I sometimes wonder maybe we’re making it worse. You know. Maybe we’re making it harder. I said that. You didn’t say that. Rich Birch — So maybe there’s pastors that are listening here and they read this kind of report. They read this kind of finding and they’re like, hey, that’s interesting. But like, how what do I do in my church specifically? So you know we want we don’t want to just leave people with a tough stat.Rich Birch — I think we see that in our church. There’s people in our church that are here all the time. They’re not that engaged. But you’ve actually developed a new tool or ABS has developed a new tool to help us think through that. Why don’t you walk us through it? Tell us a little bit about it. How’s it work? Talk us how it can help us.John Plake — Yeah, so recently we developed two tools that kind of work together. One of them you can find on the internet at nextstep.bible. And it’s just for anybody who’s like, hey, I’m on a spiritual journey. I’m kind of stuck. I don’t really know what to do next. Maybe you’re just getting started exploring what it means to be a Christian. Maybe you’re Jesus’ little brother or sister. Wherever you are in that journey, there’s always a next step for us.John Plake — And so what we’ve done is analyzed along about a million spiritual life surveys. Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — And from this huge quantity of data, we’ve learned that people are at different places in that journey. They’re at different points on the map. And we want to make sure that they’re equipped to have the right thing at the right time. I think currently there are 21,000 scripture engagement resources available there.Rich Birch — Wow.John Plake — They’re absolutely free. They’re in English, Spanish, and French. So go check it out, nextstep.bible.John Plake — But if you’re a pastor or you’re a church leader, you’re probably wondering, well, what’s going on in my church, right? So I see all the national data, but I think our tendency is to say, well, we’re the exception, right?Rich Birch — So true. Well, that’s not our people. John Plake — I know I know everybody else is struggling, but we’re doing okay.Rich Birch — Yes.John Plake — And and so it’s good to check our assumptions a little bit. They used to say a really sad statistic that 10 o’clock on Sunday morning was the most segregated hour in America, which makes me sad. What makes me sad also is that 12 o’clock noon in America is the most dishonest hour in America. That’s the hour when pastors tend to start greeting their people after the church service closes and they hear all these comments: oh, Pastor, that was the best sermon I’ve ever heard. And it wasn’t. It just wasn’t. All right, let’s face it.John Plake — There’s somebody out there who preaches better than you do and better than I do. They’re available on YouTube. People don’t need you to be the best Bible teacher in the world. They need you to be the best pastor for them. Rich Birch — That’s good.John Plake — And the tools that are all about focusing on their relationship with the Bible, their holistic spiritual formation, and our leadership behaviors. And so for that, we built the Next Step for Church Assessment.John Plake — It’s actually standing on the foundation or built on the engine block, if you want a different metaphor, of the old reveal research that the Willow Creek Association had come out with. It’s no longer available. And we were able to acquire all of their historical learnings, but also add in things like human flourishing and e-pastoral leadership behaviors that lead to churches really being missionally effective and strong. Excellent stuff on Bible engagement and spiritual formation. John Plake — So the the big challenge we had, I was talking with Dr. Ed Stetzer about this because he was at LifeWay Research when the Transformational Church Assessment was being built. And it was always hard because analyzing this kind of data required a lot of human intervention. It’s very expensive to do. It’s very complicated to deliver. And even a small cost can be a barrier for churches that have strained budgets. It doesn’t matter if you’re a church of, you know, 2,500 25,000 or 250. There’s always more places to put your money than there are dollars that are available to do it.John Plake — And so at American Bible Society, we said, you know what, as a gift to the church, because we love the church, we need to make it completely free. And so you can go to church.nextstep.bible and you could sign up today. Literally, we’re recording this on a on a Thursday. You could go there today and by Sunday, you could be launching your survey. Two weeks later, you’d automatically have results in your own online dashboard. You’d get key highlights emailed to you. There’s a place for custom questions. There’s just all kinds of really, really rich information.Rich Birch — So good.John Plake — And it it doesn’t take the place of the kind of learning that you have as a pastor. You learn deeply in relationship with others. You’re observing what’s going on. You have a team that’s around you. But what it does is it provides this valid, reliable sift and sort function. It’s based on well, I don’t know even know how many, well over 3000 churches, well over half a million survey responses went into building this and making it a tool that that is a good benchmark for you to say, you know what, if we want to move from where we are today to where God is calling us, here are the things we need to focus on.Rich Birch — It’s so good. And friends, I want to encourage you to to go there. Just church.nextstep.bible. I know many of us have a heart for saying, listen, we want to measure more than just nickels and noses. The number of people that show up and revenue that comes in. And this a great way to kind of inject at something that’s at the core of what we’re supposed to be doing as a church. So why don’t we just give a little bit more detail?Rich Birch — What is it? You know, what’s it actually measuring? How is it? You know, how could it be helpful? How how could it kind of dovetail with some of the things we’re already tracking? Maybe give us, you know, what kind of insights are we going to gain from this if we if we put our people through this?John Plake — Yeah, maybe it’s worthwhile to just back up and say it’s based on a congregational assessment. So really this kind of work is all about just listening to your congregation at scale. So if you have 25 people coming to church, you can probably have this conversation with them if you know how to ask the right questions. Rich Birch — Right.John Plake — You can go to the website. You’re like, what’s in the survey? There’s a button you can click. You can read the whole survey. It’s fine. We’re not going to try and surprise you with anything. But really simple stuff. How’s your relationship with Jesus? How often are you interacting with Scripture? What difference is that making in your life? We ask the standard Harvard human flourishing questions. We ask about um how the pastoral team or the senior pastor, him or herself, is doing at actually modeling Christlike leadership for you. Rich Birch — It’s so good.John Plake — And all of that reporting then gets brought into a database. It’s all anonymous. So individuals don’t, they don’t have to tell you who they are. They can’t tell you who they are other than by characteristics. And you’re going to get this really good, robust picture of what’s going on at the church. John Plake — Now, what does it take for somebody to do that? It takes about 20 minutes of their time, and time is expensive, right? People always have too much to do. So in return for that investment, at the end of their survey experience, they will have already told us everything we need to know to match them to great resources at nextstep.bible.John Plake — And with their permission, not without it, they can click a button, pass that data over to the individual nextstep.bible platform. They can create an account and right away, they’re going to be finding things like YouVersion Bible reading plans that are just for them.John Plake — If you’ve got people in your church and they’re outliers, they’re they’re way more spiritually advanced than everybody else, or they’re just getting started and everybody else is way ahead of them, these kinds of tools create bespoke pathways for them so they know what to do next. All the while, the church leadership can sit back and say, okay, here’s our results. And as a team, now what do we need to do to serve the whole congregation well?Rich Birch — I love this. You know, this is what incredible tool that you’ve put together here for our churches to wrestle through and to, you know, not only help us as a church as we’re thinking about these issues, but then help individuals in our church. What what would be some of the ways that churches might use the data that’s generated to impact what we’re doing in our programming? How how could we use this to improve what we’re doing?John Plake — Sure. There are really three things we want everybody to do. First, just discover what’s going on. Just just check your assumptions at the door and and say, okay, what do the data tell us about what’s going on in our church life and in our people’s lives? That’s the first thing.John Plake — Second thing is it’s going to surface for you the top three things that you’re doing great. And it’s going to give them to you in the report. And you need to throw a party. Like there are people who make these things happen for you. No pastor is doing this all by themselves. And so plan a party, celebrate what’s going well.John Plake — The third thing it’s going to do is it’s going to give you suggestions about, okay, here’s where your congregation is today. It won’t surprise you, but it might inform you. I’ve never seen a pastor look at the report and go, ah you guys got it wrong. Rich Birch — Sure, right.John Plake — Usually they they see the report and they go, yeah, okay, yeah, you got me.Rich Birch — Yeah. Confirmed some hunches I’ve had. Yeah. Yeah.John Plake — Right? But we don’t we don’t have time. We don’t have the resources. We don’t have the expertise to be able to sit down and and kind of scientifically walk through this process. So we do that for you. We deliver the report. And then we’re going to give you two key action items that we think churches like yours in a similar place have done that have helped move them toward spiritual health and missional effectiveness.John Plake — And that’s really what it’s all about. We want your congregation to be spiritually healthy. We want your your church as a whole to be missionally effective. And when that happens, often there’s numerical growth. Often there’s financial growth. But there’s certainly more missional impact that’s coming through your congregation and its work.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool. So if I’m like a church of a thousand people, let’s say, and just round number to picking out of the sky, how how what kind of percentage of my congregation would I need to take this to give me a reasonable, you know, statistical, you know, feeling good about the data for it? What what kind of number um should I be thinking about?John Plake — Well, the first thing is we’ve built in a tool that will tell you how to get to a margin of error of plus or minus 3%. Rich Birch — Love it.John Plake — And that does vary depending on the adult attendance that you have. So let’s say you’ve a thousand adults. And by adults, I mean anybody in high school or older can probably take this survey. Rich Birch — Yep.John Plake — And you can cut the data like by gender or by age. All of that live filtering is in the online platform. Rich Birch — Oh, that’s so good.John Plake — So if you’re the you’re the youth pastor and you’re like, well, wait, tell me about the young people that took the survey. You can just look right at them and compare them to the rest of the congregation, which I bet will be enlightening. But nevertheless, how many do you need if you’re a church of 1,000, it’s about 275.Rich Birch — Okay.John Plake — If it’s a smaller church than that, then you’re still going to need a pretty significant percentage. So if I roll that all the way down to a church of 100, you need 80.Rich Birch — Okay.John Plake — And if you roll that up to a church of 5,000, well, you don’t need that many more than 275.Rich Birch — Interesting.John Plake — So you’re going to report that out to you. It’s very, very doable. And, you know, I’ve pastored at large churches and I pastored a small church. And I’ll tell you, when I pastored a church of under 100, I could have gotten a census of the people, like everybody, to do a survey like this. They would have been glad to tell me these things. Rich Birch — Right.John Plake — And it’s not that I couldn’t have had a conversation one-on-one with most of the adults in the congregation. It was something different in that case. I actually didn’t know what to ask. I used to run into this when I was a campus pastor at a Christian university. And I would have young people walk into my office and I was like, I know I should be able to help them, but the challenge they’re facing is different than anything I’m familiar with. I don’t have any analog for this in my personal experience. And so this sort of takes the mystery away. We don’t ask fluffy questions. We ask research proven questions that are going to give you the information you really need so you can take action.Rich Birch — That’s amazing. That’s think this is such a great tool for people. I can see how, you know, it’d be so helpful for folks that are listening in to, you know, might be be able to plug in grab this experience for their people, help their church, help the folks that are attending. That’s, that’s incredible.Rich Birch — So, you know, you’ve picked an interesting vocation to be connected with the American Bible Society. And because, you know, this is such a critical and important part of developing people’s relationship, obviously, with Jesus; its core to all of it. And we have seen a long historical downward trend, and you’re pushing against that, which is amazing. But what gives you hope in the middle of all of that? What would it when you look at the church around you know, the country, where do you see flashes of just good things going on that are like, you know, when it comes to the relationship with scripture that even, you know, even when we see maybe the overall numbers are not as great as we want them to be, what are some kind of flashes of hope we should, that we could encourage folks with today?John Plake — Well, I’d like to maybe point to just three things that leap to mind. Rich Birch — Yep.John Plake — The first of them is I never talk to anybody in the church who says the Bible is a bad idea. Rich Birch — Sure.John Plake — Everybody likes the Bible. We’re all trying to figure out how to communicate its message better, to understand it more deeply. It’s transforming our lives, and we want to be able to share it with others. John Plake — And that’s great because, number two, there’s nothing that makes a bigger difference in somebody’s spiritual life than their relationship with the Bible. I mean, absolutely nothing. And I’m saying this as a researcher. I’ve tested it. I can’t find anything that makes a bigger difference. John Plake — In fact, when we looked at Christian college and university students, 60% of their overall spiritual health across lots of domains—beliefs, practice, putting faith into action, loving God, loving others, all these things, 60% of the variance in their spiritual health is solely accounted for by their relationship with the Bible.John Plake — So if we can help people have a dynamic relationship with scripture, we win. That’s all there is to it. It’s just that simple. And so that is really encouraging.John Plake — And then the third thing, ah the third thing is how I say this nicely? I'm I’m from Gen X and so to my Baby Boomer friends, I’m sorry, but you guys don’t have the influence that you once did.Rich Birch — Yeah, it’s true.John Plake — And that’s a good thing because there’s new openness among Millennials, and Gen Z and even younger Gen X um that we just don’t see among Baby Boomers. It’s like Baby Boomers made up their minds in the 60s and early 70s and said, this is what I believe and I’m not changing. And they haven’t. John Plake — That’s not to say that someone who’s a Baby Boomer can’t have a a spiritual experience and transformational experience. It does happen. But on the population level, like when we looked at the Bay Area of San Francisco, if you look at the scripture engagement, church engagement, love God, love others data in the Bay Area, it looks like what you’d expect, until you strip out the Baby Boomers. And then suddenly it looks better than every place else in America.John Plake — You’re like, what’s going on? Well, looks like all the unreconstructed hippies that moved to the Bay Area are actually holding a lid on the population numbers. And when you remove that and you go, oh, wait a minute, let me look under the headline and say what’s happening. There’s more going on than is easy to see. And I think this happens in big national trends.John Plake — Oh, is Scripture engagement up or down? Is you know church attendance up or down? Whats what’s going… big national trends. Yeah, okay, those are helpful, and we want those to change. But what’s changing first is below the fold. Things in Gen Z, things among Millennials, things in young men, those things are starting to change, and I think those are the first glimmerings that God is at work in a new way in America, and I can’t wait to see it.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s that’s a great word. And that lines up with what we’re seeing, even just experientially talking to churches across the country. You know we’re so we’re seeing there is something going on with younger generations, which is great to see. I was I was born in 1974, the lowest birth rate year of the 20th century. I am classic Gen X. Like you know I am like statistic I’m the statistical average Gen X and has spent a lot of my time trying to hand stuff from the Boomers to the Millennials. And, yeah, there’s lots of encouraging news there, particularly with the younger generations. Rich Birch — I also want to speak to on the the work I’ve done in the church growth stuff that I’ve done and coaching I’ve done with churches, one of the things that’s just undeniable is churches that have a high view of scripture, that is, they’re trying to get people engaged with scripture. They they talk about it like it’s actually true. How do we say don’t know what’s the best way to talk about that? Those are the churches that are prevailing, and that actually works out statistically. You see that time and again. Talk to us about that dynamic, which is kind of co-related to the things we’re talking about today. From your perspective in the stats and all that, how how have you seen that work out as you’ve looked at churches across the country?John Plake — Yeah, I think you’re exactly right. The churches that are the healthiest in America, that are growing, that where where people are spiritually healthy, have a really dynamic relationship with Scripture. And it kind of it cuts across tradition. Rich Birch — Yep.John Plake — There are some traditional things going on. I was listening to Justin Brierley and his surprising Rebirth of Belief in God podcast, and it was from last season, and he he had someone on, he was interviewing, and what she was saying was there are the parts of the church that seem to be thriving are kind of the, the the older, the ancientness traditions, whether it’s Catholic or Orthodox, that what she called somewhat irreverently, the smells and bells side of of the church.Rich Birch — Sure, sure.John Plake — And on the other side, kind of my end of the swimming pool, I’m, from the Assemblies of God, so the Pentecostal and Charismatic side. And she said, what’s going on is that both ends of that spectrum are totalizing. John Plake — They’re saying, you know what, the the Bible places certain expectations and demands on people. Christ places certain expectations and demands on people. And these parts of the church aren’t sort of shy about talking about that from a biblical perspective. She said, what’s what’s dying is that part in the middle where we’ve reduced church to a PowerPoint and you know an Excel spreadsheet. And she said, that part of the church seems to be dying and no one’s coming to the funeral. Rich Birch — That’s good. John Plake — And I thought, you know okay, right?Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, that’s good.John Plake — So if we revitalize our relationship with God through scripture, there’s a next step for every church. It doesn’t matter what, you know whether you’re mainline or evangelical or, you know, Pentecostal or Orthodox or whatever it is, but but reviving our relationship with God through Scripture is really where it’s at.Rich Birch — That’s so good. i Yeah, I call that middle group the just because it rhymes doesn’t mean it’s true group. You know, like the, you know, were just like, it’s all my thoughts. No one wants to come and find us. They want to find God ultimately. Well, I don’t want to pick any fights with anybody that’s listening in, but I really appreciate today’s conversation, John. This has been great. So we want to send people to church.nextstep.bible.Rich Birch — The the promise of in two weeks, your church could have a comprehensive report on spiritual health, on where your church is, spiritual health is at, that’s a huge promise. And so again, this is go to church.nextstep.bible. Any kind of final words as we wrap up today’s episode?John Plake — You know, you might be familiar with Cally Parkinson. Cally was the co-author of all of the Reveal books, every single one of them. She was head of communications for the Willow Creek Association when they were running this. She’s probably had more conversations with pastors and church leaders about survey results like this than anybody I know, maybe than anybody alive. And Cally likes this so much. She said, John, I want to have a personal consultation with the first hundred churches that go through this.John Plake — And so if you want to be in that group, she’s going to offer to spend an hour with you and just walk through your results and help explain it. There are videos throughout the platform that will explain it as well. And you can’t beat talking to Cally. She loves pastors. She says you’re the salt of the earth. And she just really wants to serve you because the work that you do to save people is just so valuable to her. So anyway, just wanted to offer that. And I know you’d probably love to meet Cally.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s fantastic. Well, appreciate you being here today. Thanks for the great work you do at the American Bible Society. John, appreciate you being on today. Thank you.John Plake — Thank you.

Gale Kragt, author of the "Heart of Healing:  6-Week Dovotional & Healing Journey," addresses the many lies we believe about God and ourselves and how that affects our lives and behaviors.  Replacing these false identities with your real identity in Christ:  "you are loved, you are treasured, you are a child of God!" can change your life!  John Plake of the American Bible Society opens up another chapter of this year's State of the Bible Report, looks at the challenges many parents have in helping their kids engage with the Bible.  While the main reason may be "finding the time," there are ways building time as a family to engage Scripture.  The Reconnect with Carmen and all Faith Radio are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

The Washington Stand's Casey Harper explains why the Senate parliamentarian struck down the White House ballroom security funding in the reconciliation package, the announcement of a new leader of the FDA, and provides an update on the situation in

Are there disagreements and disputes in your family?  In your community?  Everyone's Wilson's Daryl Crouch talks about how we can set the table for peace summit and lead the way in peacemaking.  John Plake of the American Bible Society start open up this year's State of the Bible Survey.  How much of the Bible have you read?  For many Americans, it's not much?  Many are flirting with God's Word, but don't seriously engage it.  How can we encourage more deeper and meaningful engagement? The Reconnect with Carmen and all Faith Radio are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

EEM's Dirk Smith, author of "The Impossible Dream," shares about the dream getting God's Word into everyone's hands, and he shares accounts of how God's Word transforms lives of those who read it.   John Plake of the American Bible Society gives a summary of the State of the Bible 2025 report, and tells us what to look foward to in the 2026 study.   The Reconnect with Carmen and all Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Bill English of Bible and Business and On Path Coaching responds to an article talking of retiring business leader Warren Buffett, calling him a "Zen master."  Is this largely secular person really a religious leader?  Why the use of this language?   He also talks about ethical decision-making.  American Bible Society's John Plake helps us dig more into the State of the Bible Report 2025, looking at the issue of trust in the Bible and in people and institutions.  He also addresses how Bible engagement impacts generosity.   The Reconnect with Carmen and all Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Brian From welcomes John Plake from the American Bible Society to unpack the latest State of the Bible survey and what it shows about faith, flourishing, and identity across generations. Plake explains why Bible-engaged people report dramatically higher well-being, how church community strengthens personal identity—especially for Gen Z—and why young adults are showing renewed curiosity toward Scripture. The conversation offers surprising data, hopeful trends, and practical encouragement for anyone wondering where Americans stand with the Bible today.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the second part of the conversation, Tracy Reynolds and Chris Maxwell dive deeper with Dr. John Plake into the urgent cultural questions raised at the end of Part 1. As editor-in-chief of the annual State of the Bible research, John brings clarity to what people really believe in today's society and how those beliefs are shaping the church. More than statistics, his reflections highlight the importance of leaders listening closely to the people they serve. He challenges pastors and Christian leaders to interpret the cultural landscape with wisdom, compassion, and biblical truth—so they can guide others toward spiritual formation in Christ. This episode offers both practical insight and hope for navigating ministry in a complex world.https://www.americanbible.org/the-mission/leadership/https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohnplake/https://x.com/johnfplakehttps://www.amazon.com/Missionary-Expatriate-Effectiveness-Competencies-Missionaries/dp/9004313818/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20J9341IW9URP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.f_KlDuBrPkFNli_9v3VeQg.Y9EkCgabou2X_lvJXm64CM1eljM3LExYbic6yOX-JgA&dib_tag=se&keywords=john+plake&qid=1759573391&s=books&sprefix=john+plake%2Cstripbooks%2C96&sr=1-1

In this first conversation, Tracy Reynolds and Chris Maxwell welcome Dr. John Farquhar Plake, Chief Innovation Officer at the American Bible Society. John begins by sharing his personal journey—more than three decades of ministry as a pastor, missionary, professor, and researcher—and how those experiences shaped his calling to connect research with ministry. Listeners hear about his heart for innovation, discipleship, and equipping leaders to understand how people grow in Christ. The episode closes with a crucial turn: John unpacks current cultural realities and what people today actually believe about life, faith, and Scripture. His insights as editor-in-chief of the annual State of the Bible research offers a wake-up call for leaders seeking to shepherd well in a rapidly changing world.https://www.americanbible.org/the-mission/leadership/https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohnplake/https://x.com/johnfplakehttps://www.amazon.com/Missionary-Expatriate-Effectiveness-Competencies-Missionaries/dp/9004313818/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20J9341IW9URP&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.f_KlDuBrPkFNli_9v3VeQg.Y9EkCgabou2X_lvJXm64CM1eljM3LExYbic6yOX-JgA&dib_tag=se&keywords=john+plake&qid=1759573391&s=books&sprefix=john+plake%2Cstripbooks%2C96&sr=1-1

It's Wednesday, November 12th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Chinese Communists arrested and detained three Christians Communist authorities in central China arrested and detained three Christians from a house church this month. Two of the Christians are pastors. They are facing trumped up charges of “fraud” and had previously spent over two years in custody. Officials often use such charges against house church leaders for simply receiving tithes and offerings. ChinaAid noted, “In recent years, the charge of ‘fraud' has increasingly been used by local governments across China as a common tactic to suppress pastors of house churches systematically.” Psalm 14:1, 4 says, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. … Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up My people as they eat bread, and do not call on the LORD?” Japanese soldiers address attacks by bears Japan deployed troops to the northern part of the island country last week to deal with a string of deadly attacks—from bears. Since April of this year, bears have killed at least 13 people in Japan and injured over 100 more. That's the most fatalities on record. Experts are blaming the attacks on a poor acorn harvest this year. Bears are now leaving their natural habitats and wandering into urban areas to find food. In one incident last month, a bear attacked shoppers at a supermarket 80 miles north of Tokyo.   Supreme Court affirms Trump's call for biologically accurate passports In the United States, the U.S. Supreme ruled in favor of the Trump administration in a case involving so-called gender identity.  The ruling allows the State Department to require passports to list the holder's biological sex at birth. The court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines.  The ruling stated, “Displaying passport holders' sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth—in both cases, the government is merely attesting to an historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment.” Nebraska defunded Planned Parenthood Nebraska became the latest state to defund abortion providers like Planned Parenthood.  The state's Republican Governor Jim Pillen  signed an executive order last Thursday to end Medicaid funding to abortion providers. Nebraska made the move after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed South Carolina to defund Planned Parenthood.   Listen to comments from Nebraska State Attorney General Mike Hilgers. HILGERS: “Today is a culmination of years of work to ensure that Nebraska taxpayers no longer have their tax dollars going to fund abortions in the state of Nebraska. It's a fight that has gone on even from my time in the legislature.  “When we first got Title X funds, we stopped Title X from going to abortion providers, and now, thanks to [Nebraska] Governor Pillen's leadership, we have finally gotten to a place where taxpayer funds will no longer support abortions.” Age of first-time home buyer has increased to record high of 40 The National Association of Realtors released their 2025 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. The share of homes being bought by first-time buyers dropped to a record low of 21% over the last year. Meanwhile, the typical age of a first-time buyer climbed to an all-time high of 40. Jessica Lautz, Deputy Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, said, “The historically low share of first-time buyers underscores the real-world consequences of a housing market starved for affordable inventory.” Regular Bible readers are more generous The American Bible Society released a new chapter from its State of the Bible USA 2025 report. The research found people who read the Bible regularly are more likely to be generous. Among Christian denominations, Evangelical Protestants have the highest percentage of givers and the highest median amount given. John Plake with the American Bible Society said, “The correlation between Scripture engagement and loving behavior and generosity is undeniable. The more people engage with Scripture, the more likely they are to give of their time, talents, and treasures and to act lovingly toward their neighbors.” In 1 Corinthians 9:7, the Apostle Paul wrote, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” Florida's first search-and-rescue otter And finally, officials in Florida are deploying their first ever search-and-rescue otter. Splash, the two-year-old otter, is now helping the Martin County Sheriff's Office in search and rescue missions. Splash uses a unique bubble technique to detect scents underwater. This allows him to find missing bodies more effectively than dive teams can.  Listen to comments from Sheriff John Budensiek to CBS12 News. BUDENSIEK: “We see a lot of innovative things with technology [Artificial Intelligence], but we're going back to the basics of using an animal to do what they do best, and that's to go in their own environment and detect things that don't belong there.” A rescue otter.  What a brilliant way to employ one of God's creatures to rescue those made in God's image! Close And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, November 12th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

On today's Quick Start podcast: NEWS: Mystery surrounds Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's sudden order calling hundreds of generals and admirals to Quantico — officials raise security concerns as speculation swirls. Plus, Sean McDowell's son describes a chilling encounter with what he believes was a demonic manifestation while evangelizing in NYC. FOCUS STORY: We were on the ground at Virginia Tech as Turning Point USA rallies kicked back off. What was the mood, the message, and the impact? MAIN THING: Dr. John Plake from the American Bible Society joins Billy Hallowell to talk about revival in America and the stunning spiritual impact of Charlie Kirk's death. LAST THING: Psalm 119:154 — “Defend my cause and redeem me; preserve my life according to your promise.” PRAY WITH US! Faithwire.substack.com SHOW LINKS Faith in Culture: https://cbn.com/news/faith-culture Heaven Meets Earth PODCAST: https://cbn.com/lp/heaven-meets-earth NEWSMAKERS POD: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/newsmakers/id1724061454 Navigating Trump 2.0: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/navigating-trump-2-0/id1691121630

Jermaine Wilson, Justice Ambassador for Prison Fellowship, shares his story of how God redeemed his life from crime and drugs through Prison Fellowship, how he went on to be mayor of Leavenworth, KS.  Now he serves as with Prison Fellowship.  The American Bible Society's John Plake talks about the crisis of identity that has gripped our culture, especially with younger people.  How do we help people strengthen their indentity, especially the one God's offers.  The discussion is based on the latest release from the State of the Bible Report 2025.   Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Dr. Tiffany Schatz of the Christian Medical and Dental Association helps us look at back to school and a good checklist for heading into the Fall months.  She also address concerns around vaccines, plus a look at the legal arguments in Colorado's Medical Assistance in Dying law being contested in court.  The American Bible Society's John Plake offers the latest insights for the 2025 State of the Bible Report, focusing on the importance of being engaged in an active faith community for your spiritual wellbeing.   Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

On today's program: Dr. Greg Murphy, U.S. Representative for the 3rd District of North Carolina, offers insight into the impact of the war between Russia and Ukraine on China, and the use of U.S. destroyers to deter drug cartels. Dr. Jerry Regier,

It's Wednesday, August 20th, A.D. 2025. This is The Worldview in 5 Minutes heard on 140 radio stations and at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus. (Adam@TheWorldview.com) By Jonathan Clark Muslim Nigerians killed 7,000 Christians this year A Nigerian-based nonprofit reports Islamic extremists have killed over 7,000 Christians in the country so far this year. The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law also found that nearly 8,000 Christians were violently seized and abducted.  The report notes this translates into “an average of 30 Christian deaths per day and more than one per hour.” Since 2009, Jihadists in Nigeria have killed over 125,000 Christians and destroyed nearly 20,000 church buildings.  Please pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ in Nigeria. The country is ranked seventh on the Open Doors' World Watch List of the most difficult countries to be a Christian.  Psalm 14:4 asks, “Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on the LORD?” Absurd charges dropped against Scottish pro-life grandmother Authorities in Scotland dropped charges against a 75-year-old grandmother who was arrested for holding a sign near an abortion mill.  Back in February, Rose Docherty held a sign that read: “Coercion is a crime, here to talk, only if you want.” Officials arrested her for violating a “buffer zone” law that restricts free expression near abortion mills. Docherty reacted to her case being dropped. She said, “This is a victory not just for me, but for everyone in Scotland who believes we should be free to hold a peaceful conversation.” Conservative Canadian Pierre Poilievre wins election In Canada, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre (pronounced PAH-lee-ev) won a special election in the province of Alberta on Monday.  Poilievre heads back to Canada's parliament after losing his seat earlier this year. He will continue his work as the opposition leader against Canada's ruling Liberal Party. Listen to comments from Poilievre. POILIEVRE: “We will work together. We will fight together. We will sacrifice together to restore the opportunity that our grandparents left for us, so that we can leave it for our grandchildren, so that we can once again restore a country that is strong, self-reliant and sovereign. That is why we stay united. That is why we go forward. May God keep our land glorious and free.” Trump wants to end mail-in ballots In the United States, President Donald Trump said Monday that he wants to end mail-in ballots as well as voting machines. Listen to comments from Trump.  TRUMP:  “You can never have a real democracy with mail in ballots. We, as a Republican Party, are going to do everything possible that we get rid of mail-in ballots. We're going to start with an executive order, that's being written right now by the best lawyers in the country, to end mail-in ballots because they're corrupt.” Trump wrote on Truth Social, “With their HORRIBLE Radical Left policies, like Open Borders, Men Playing in Women's Sports, Transgender and ‘WOKE' for everyone, and so much more, Democrats are virtually Unelectable without using this completely disproven Mail-In SCAM.” Bank of America will stop "debanking" conservatives The New York Post reports that Bank of America scrapped a rule used to “debank” conservatives. Major banks have also used the rule to deny services to religious groups, especially Evangelical ones.  JP Morgan Chase dropped the rule last year. Bank of America finally followed suit.  Jeremy Tedesco with Alliance Defending Freedom said, “Over the past two years, ADF and our partners in both the private and public sectors have repeatedly engaged with Bank of America's leadership to advocate for this change.” Fewer Americans are moving The Wall Street Journal reports that U.S. domestic migration rates are down. Only 7.9% of Americans relocated to a new town or city last year, down from about 20% in the 1950s and 60s. The rate has been steadily declining since then. People are also moving less within their own county. That rate is down 47% over the past three decades.  The falling domestic migration rates are associated with high mortgage rates, dual-income households, an aging population, and remote job opportunities.  Church-engaged Christians have less stress, anxiety, and loneliness And finally, the American Bible Society released the fifth chapter of its State of Bible: USA 2025 report. The chapter measured church engagement as the level of a person's involvement in the life, mission, and community of a local church. Only 34% of self-identified Christians attend church weekly. In terms of generations, Gen Z had the lowest levels of church engagement. Women, married people, Evangelicals, and people in small cities were more likely to be highly engaged with their church. John Plake with the American Bible Society said, “Our survey shows that church-engaged Christians have significantly less stress, less anxiety, less loneliness, and more hope.” Hebrews 10:24-25 says, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Close And that's The Worldview on this Wednesday, August 20th, in the year of our Lord 2025. Follow us on X or subscribe for free by Spotify, Amazon Music, or by iTunes or email to our unique Christian newscast at www.TheWorldview.com.  I'm Adam McManus (Adam@TheWorldview.com). Seize the day for Jesus Christ.

Dirk Smith of EEM talks about their work to get Bibles into the hands of people, including Muslims.  The main reason Muslims come to Jesus is because they actually read God's Word.  American Bible Society's John Plake offers some new insights from this year's State of the Bible Report engaging God's Word and letting it shape you had a strong correlation to emotional wellbeing.    Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Carmen spends some time looking at the current conflict between Israel and Iran.  There are so many symbols and symbolic language around it.  What does it all mean?  John Plake of the American Bible Society offers more insights from the State of the Bible 2025 report. In particular, the finding that the more people personally engage the Bible, they higher they rate on the human flourishing scale.  This is especially pronounced for Gen Z and Millennials.   Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

Plugged In's Adam Holz looks responds to an accusation that Facebook would monitor teen girls' account activity, like deleting their photos and use of certain words, then selling that information to cosmetic companies.  He also addresses how teens are self-diagnosing themselves with ADHD based on social media influencers.  John Plake of the American Bible Society talks about a survey of citizens of Western European and American countries regarding how relevant they see the Bible in their lives.  While most Europeans see the Bible as irrelevant, more Americans do.  Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here 

Science writer and bio-ethical analyst Heather Zeiger of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity looks at a report about the planet K2-18b that might have some signs pointing to potential life.  She also helps us look at claims some animals are rational.  John Plake of the American Bible Society starts cracking open this year's State of the Bible Report with the exciting news that more Americans, especially men and young adults, are engaging with the Bible!  Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

This episode dives deep into the latest research from the American Bible Society's "State of the Bible" report. John Plake shares surprising statistics about Bible engagement across different generations and demographics in America, discussing trends like "religious churn," the plateauing of the "nones," and how churches can effectively connect the gospel with today's culture. The conversation offers practical insights and challenges church leaders to innovate based on current data. Full Show Notes

On today's Quick Start podcast: NEWS: Trump's Easter Message – President Trump released a bold Holy Week statement declaring “He is Risen!” and announced a White House worship service led by Franklin Graham, Greg Laurie, and Jentezen Franklin. California Earthquake – A 5.2 magnitude earthquake rattled San Diego County Monday. No major damage or injuries reported, but schools evacuated as a precaution. Sudan Refugee Crisis – CBN's George Thomas reports from Chad as USAID cuts threaten clinics and food programs serving refugees fleeing war in Sudan. Full story on CBNNews.com Katy Perry Goes to Space – The pop star was launched aboard a civilian rocket flight as part of a promotional mission for a luxury space tourism company. She shared Scripture and a prayer mid-orbit. FOCUS STORY: A new law in Australia's Victoria state bans certain types of prayer and pastoral counsel when it involves “changing or suppressing” gender identity or sexual orientation. Penalties include fines and jail time—even for clergy. THE MAIN THING: Dr. John Plake of the American Bible Society joins Billy Hallowell to break down major shifts in Bible engagement among Americans—and what it means for the church moving forward. TODAY'S VERSE: Mark 10:43–45 – "Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant… For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” SHOW LINKS JESUS AND THE PROPHECIES OF CHRISTMAS : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jesus-and-the-prophecies-of-christmas/id1783607035 NEWSMAKERS POD: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/newsmakers/id1724061454 DC DEBRIEF POD: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/d-c-debrief/id1691121630 CBN News YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CBNnewsonline CBN News https://www2.cbn.com/news Faithwire https://www.faithwire.com

On today's Quick Start podcast: NEWS: Daylight Saving Time Debate – Lawmakers from both parties, including Sen. Ted Cruz, say DST may no longer make sense. Health concerns and business benefits clash as Congress pushes to “lock the clock.” Tariff Tensions Escalate – Trump concedes early trade transition issues but says talks are underway. U.S. tariffs on China hit 145%; China retaliates with 84% tariffs and film import restrictions. Kentucky Church Leveled by Tornado – Christ Community Church's sanctuary was destroyed, but no one was injured. Members are praising God for protection and holding services in their youth center. FOCUS STORY: New research shows Americans are reengaging with the Bible, especially among Gen Z and Millennials. John Plake says this presents a unique opportunity for the church to connect, disciple, and engage like never before. THE MAIN THING: Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. is taking aim at chronic disease with his "Make America Healthy Again" push—targeting food dyes, additives, and more. Jenna Browder has the latest on today's Main Thing. TODAY'S VERSE: Psalm 119:105 – Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. SHOW LINKS JESUS AND THE PROPHECIES OF CHRISTMAS : https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jesus-and-the-prophecies-of-christmas/id1783607035 NEWSMAKERS POD: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/newsmakers/id1724061454 DC DEBRIEF POD: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/d-c-debrief/id1691121630 CBN News YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CBNnewsonline CBN News https://www2.cbn.com/news Faithwire https://www.faithwire.com

On today's program: Suzanne Bowdey, Editorial Director and Senior Writer for The Washington Stand, breaks down Thursday's surprise victory for House leadership on the Senate budget bill. Dr. John Plake, Chief Ministry Insights and Innovation

Collin Hansen of The Gospel Coalition helps us look at the past year and what jumps out to him as the top news stories with definite theological importance.  The American Bible Society's John Plake continues to unpack the findings of the State of the Bible 2024 report helps us look at problem of loneliness, especially in younger generations, the problem of unforgiveness, and how the Bible engagement can help bring the heart change needed to overcome both.  Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Carmen LaBerge opens the mailbag to answer questions about how Saul the persecuter became the Apostle Paul, and looked at the disciples Jesus chose.  John Plake of the American Bible Society looks at the findings released from the State of the Bible report showing how religious nones have lower levels of flourishing, and possible reasons why. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

Bill English of Bible and Business talks about how to avoid being scammed by emails, texts, and even AI generated calls by those seeking to steal your money.  He also talks about praying for your co-workers, even the difficult ones. John Plake of the American Bible Society address how the anxious generation, GenZ, become less anxious when the regularly engage the Bible and are cared for by loving Christians.  Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Science writer Heather Zeiger of the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity shares about the ethical issues when it comes to effective computing and why tech companies are investing in nuclear power. The American Bible Society's John Plake outlines why in-person connections are still highly valued by Gen Z and the need for Christians to practice hospitality. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

On today's program: Mark Alford, U.S. Representative from the 4th district of Missouri, provides an update on the ongoing congressional debate regarding the continuing resolution. Rich Baris, Director of Big Data Poll, discusses what the latest

Security expert Elizabeth Neumann talks about how we respond to the security of our personal data being affected and election hacking that takes place around the world. The American Bible Society's John Plake shares how relationships change when you're engaged with the Bible and the social behaviors to step into when it comes to loving your neighbor. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

The American Bible Society's John Plake offers more insights from the 2024 State of the Bible report, showing how those who engage regularly with God's word have lower levels of stress and are more resilient.  Youth pastor Ken Castor, editor of the "Make a Difference Youth Bible," talks about today's young people and how we can help them better engage with God's word as they grow in these more anxious times. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here  

Today on Karl and Crew Mornings, we begun a new topic for the week: flourishing. To flourish means to grow, thrive, or prosper. Spiritual disciplines are crucial for us to flourish in our faith, positioning us to bear fruit and walk in close proximity to God. We heard from listeners about their own spiritual disciplines and how they are helping them flourish today. We also talked with special guest Dr. John Plake, Chief Innovation Officer at American Bible Society, about key findings in the newly released third chapter of the 14th annual State of the Bible Report. You can hear all the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

American Bible Society’s 2024 State of the Bible report highlights the impact of forgiveness and frequent Bible engagement on improving the overall quality of human life. On Monday's Mornings with Eric and Brigitte, John Plake, American Bible Society's Chief Program Officer, joins us to talk about Gen Z, 18-27 year olds, who are less connected with the church and Bible than older generations. They experience more stress and less hope, but those Gen Zs who engage in Scripture and can forgive another person with or without apology, score higher on the Human Flourishing scale than other young adults who don't read the Bible--but they also have the highest score of any generation. Engaging with the Bible Provides Hope Amid Decrease in Mental and Physical HealthSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How would you define human flourishing? And based on that definition how are you doing? Dr. John Plake, American Bible Society’s Chief Innovation Officer and editor-in-chief of the State of the Bible Series is a researcher with a pastor’s heart and based on recent research shared in the recently released third chapter of State of the Bible 2024 scripture engagement has a huge impact on how we’re doing. As we implement Biblical principles like forgiveness and live with the hope of Christ deeply planted in our hearts we flourish as people. And if you look at the obstacles that Gen Z is facing and worry about our future you should know that Gen Z’ers who engage with scripture are flourishing more than any other generation. Also, in today’s conversation, if your thoughts lead to your actions than what you think about matters. Scripture gives specific instructions on what to think about.Support the show: https://give.moodyradio.org/fall-share?v=def&appeal=MRWM&_gl=1%2a142i9we%2a_ga%2aNTE4MTE5MmUtY2U1Yy00YmQ3LWU4MmUtNjEwYTQ5YzAyODRj%2a_ga_4WH1937046%2aMTY5NTExODEwMS4yOTkuMC4xNjk1MTE4MTAxLjYwLjAuMA..&_ga=2.197426156.215784306.1695059984-1182841406.166859587See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Carmen LaBerge asks, "how do you respond when you hear someone say something that seems crazy?  For that matter, how do you respond when you read some of the seemingly crazy stuff Jesus said?"  American Bible Society's John Plake talks about how people view AI when it comes to engaging the Bible and spirituality. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

John Plake, Chief Program Officer at American Bible Society, joins Nils Smith to discuss insights from ABS's annual State of the Bible report on AI and online church trends.  They explore public perceptions of AI in relation to spirituality and the Bible across generations. John shares how research found differences between general and religious views, and concerns about jobs. Insights are provided on AI's potential to expedite Bible translation and how organizations like ABS are cautiously exploring responsible AI integration.  Listeners are encouraged to download the free State of the Bible resource to learn more about understanding various audience segments for effective outreach.   Show Notes: Connect with Nils Smith:  Nils Smith WebsiteNils Smith Facebook Nils Smith Twitter Nils Smith Instagram Nils Smith LinkedIn   Connect with John Plake: John Plake LinkedIn  John Plake Twitter   American Bible Society  Social Media Church Discord Amplify Social Media, your trusted partner in navigating the ever-evolving landscape of social media marketing.   This episode is brought to you by Donorbox. Thousands of churches trust Donorbox MinistryMatters to increase tithes and offerings. With comprehensive tools like a lightning-fast donation form, donor-managed recurring giving, the powerful Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app to collect in-person donations, crowdfunding and peer-to-peer functionality, and more, raising more for your church or ministry has never been easier. Discover how Donorbox MinistryMatters can elevate your ministry's impact today.

The American Bible Society has recently released its State of the Bible report and we'll look at the key trends and observations discovered by the results of their research. Chief Program Officer of the American Bible Society John Plake joins Seth and Deb to discuss the current findings on how the Bible shapes decisions, our approach to the Bible, and what they discovered about AI and online church attendance. Learn how this information can provide direction and encouragement for sharing the gospel in today's world.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Plake, of the American Bible Society is back to present us with the State of the Bible report for 2024. Stats tell stories, the question is, what story are the stats telling us right now? What is the state of Bible reading in America? What does that tell us? What does it mean for our churches? What does it mean for the different ethnic groups? What about different generations? There is some bad, but there is some hope as John shares with us what the data reveals about where God is working.Informative, challenging, and enriching, this is a conversation that will help you think through what God is doing, what He is calling us to do, and how we can join the opportunities He has created for us. Check out the American Bible Society.Download the State of the Bible Report.Sign up for the Apollos Watered newsletter.Help support the ministry of Apollos Watered and transform your world today!

Christian Medical and Dental Association's Dr. Tiffany Schatz shares the significance of marijuana potentially having its status reclassified and the pursuit to avoid burn-out. John Plake of the American Bible Society talks about the most encouraging takeaways from the State of the Bible 2024 report and how to determine if you're Scripture engaged. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

Americans Are Hungry For God’s Word! How do we know? The research tells us so. Dr. John Plake is a researcher with a pastor’s heart. As the Chief Program Officer at American Bible Society he joins us to share data from first chapter of their 14th Annual State of the Bible report. He shares that Americans are interested in what the Bible has to say, especially our young adults. Dr. Plake says, “Last year, 50% of Gen Z adults (ages 18-27) agreed that the message of the Bible has transformed their lives. This year, that number rose to 54%. If this trend continues, we have good reason for hope.” Then, when you share your faith it’s OK to say, “You know what, I don’t have the answer to that. But I’ll find out and get back with you!” Perry had to do this the other day in a conversation with his Muslim friend and it was so humbling cause he wanted to have an answer! “What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near?”– Laura Story. Pain takes us deep into relationship with God. And Perry and Shawna talk about how they wrestle to surrender to the way of the cross. Last, serving, at times, can feel like a box we need to check off our Christian to-do list. But that’s not how Jesus approached it. Serving wasn’t something he did, it’s who He is. What would it take for you and me to love and serve others like Jesus?Support the show: https://give.moodyradio.org/fall-share?v=def&appeal=MRWM&_gl=1%2a142i9we%2a_ga%2aNTE4MTE5MmUtY2U1Yy00YmQ3LWU4MmUtNjEwYTQ5YzAyODRj%2a_ga_4WH1937046%2aMTY5NTExODEwMS4yOTkuMC4xNjk1MTE4MTAxLjYwLjAuMA..&_ga=2.197426156.215784306.1695059984-1182841406.166859587See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Plake of the American Bible Society shares that while fewer teens and young adults, GenZ, are not engaged in the Bible, but they still have an interest what the Bible teaches. During this National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, TheHopeLine's Jennifer DeJong talks about the ministry's over 30 years of helping young people deal with mental, emotional, and spiritual issues; helping those who connect find hope in Jesus. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

Dr. Mark Jobe, president of Moody Bible Institute, pastor, author, and host of Bold Steps, shares about his background to getting into ministry work, what it means to be a movement church, and stepping up to work with at-risk youth in Chicago. John Plake of the American Bible Society talks about how we measure the abundant life and having persevering hope. Faith Radio podcasts are made possible by your support. Give now: Click here

On today's program: Pat Fallon, U.S. Representative from the 4th District of Texas, shares the latest on the indictments against former President Trump and unpacks how the FBI was weaponized against him. Phill Kline, Associate Professor of Law at

Chris Mitchell, CBN News Middle East Bureau Chief, reflects on Good Friday and contrasts that with the current societal turmoil in Israel. Dr. John Plake, Chief Ministry Insights & Innovation Officer at American Bible Society, shares the newest installation of their State of the Bible report. Dr. Kenyn Cureton, FRC's Vice President for Christian Resources, reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus Christ, even in the midst of a dark world. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/loving-liberty/support

On today's program: Dr. George Barna, FRC's Senior Research Fellow for the Center for Biblical Worldview, answers the question: why does the Bible matter? John Plake, Director of Ministry Intelligence at American Bible Society, highlights the