Global missions, like attendance, is easy to promote, easy to fundraise, and celebrate!

But Jesus sent the disciples to Jerusalem first (Acts 1:8), to their own homes and neighborhoods. Global outreach is good, but what if we pass over our neighbors and relatives, who also need Jesus, to go abroad?

Worse yet, what if we spend 50 weeks of the year "preparing" to do missions, solely knowing God and only two doing it, making Him known?

What if a racecar driver spent 95 laps in the pit box and only went out on track for 5?

#missions #discipleship #holyhypocrites

Everybody talks about making disciples.

Churches want to make disciples. Parents want to raise disciples. Youth pastors want to disciple students.

But before we can build a process, measure success, or decide what matters most, we have to answer a more basic question:

What is a disciple?

In this episode, I begin developing a working definition that will shape everything that follows: "A disciple is saved by Jesus, is transformed by Jesus, and lives to know Him and make Him known."

We'll explore why Jesus is the actor in salvation and transformation, why behavior is evidence rather than the cause of salvation, and why following Jesus demands everything while being worth everything.

This is the guiding point, the North Star we're pointing our kids, students, and new believers towards...

In this episode:

• Why definitions matter before methods

• A working definition of a disciple

• Grace, transformation, and purpose

• Matthew 9, Matthew 16, James 2, Titus 1

• Why discipleship is about progress, not perfection

Next Episode: Based on that definition: What is discipleship?#HolyHypocrites #Discipleship #GenAlpha

Last week, we asked whether we’ve optimized youth ministry for attendance rather than discipleship.

This week, we ask a more important question: How did Jesus actually make disciples?

When you look closely at the Gospels, Jesus’ ministry follows a surprisingly simple rhythm: He taught. He loved. Then He sent His disciples to do the same. He didn’t wait until they were “finished.” He involved them in ministry while He was still training them.

In this episode, we explore what that means for churches, parents, and student ministries today. If Jesus discipled people through ministry—not just for ministry—what might need to change in the way we raise the next generation of disciple-makers?

As part of the Playbook project, I’m also sharing one practical tool we’re using in our own youth ministry: our Calvary Youth Outcomes—a framework for measuring spiritual growth beyond attendance. If you’d like to adapt it for your own church, feel free to download it, improve it, and let me know what you’d change.

Next week: What is a disciple? Before we can make disciples, we need to define what Jesus meant by one.

Resources:* Calvary Youth Outcomes (PDF) - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jNOQXNLm4awa28n6kg_B2llJuRCcGHLZ/view?usp=share_link

* Luke 9* Luke 10* Matthew 4* Matthew 5–9* John 1

Since I was in youth, the big question has been… “Why are students leaving the church after graduation?”

That’s been the game since I was in youth group. I’m a millennial. We’ve blown through Gen Z and most of my students are now classified Gen Alpha.

Everything about their lives is different. But we generally haven’t changed how we reach them.

I think those are the wrong starting questions.

The better question is: “What kind of disciple are we trying to produce?”

Countries must be governed.

Order must be established.

People must be protected.

"For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." (Rom. 13)

Politics is not evil - at its core, just a tool for ordering society - but the pursuit of power for its own sake often is.

I’m part of the last generation to remember life before social media. My first brush with it was Myspace, late in high school. Facebook launched in 2004, but it didn’t really take off until I was in college. 

That means my generation didn’t grow up with it — we grew up into it.

We had to incorporate this new, magical tool just as we were figuring out adulthood, relationships, politics, and what we believed about the world. We were digital toddlers trying to run with digital fire.

Part 3 of the series: Is [it] Evil?

Part 1: Is [A.I.] Evil?
Part 2: Is [Yoga] Evil?

Let me start here: I don’t believe it’s a sin to drink alcohol. 

But I do believe it’s a risk — one that requires wisdom, discernment, and a heart that genuinely wants to follow Jesus more than anything else.

If you’ve spent any time in the modern wellness world — or just passed by a gym in the past decade — you’ve seen it: yoga mats rolled out, people barefoot, breathing slowly, moving intentionally.

And for many Christians, the question bubbles up: Is this okay? Is it dangerous? Is it evil?

Whether you’re fascinated by artificial intelligence or slightly spooked by it, one thing’s undeniable: it’s powerful.

Power without wisdom is dangerous. But power with discernment? That’s potential.

Jesus said that those who are given much will be held accountable for what they do with it.

That principle doesn’t just apply to money or influence — it applies to tools, knowledge, and yes, tech.

What if…

Luke 6, “And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.”

Not what they have already done; not what we would like to do.

But what if we - his people, whose name we claim, by whose sacrifice we identify, by whose death we live - do what Jesus Christ specifically, repeatedly told us to do?