Dear Friend,

Here's the next issue of Ministry Excellence, a newsletter is designed to equip and inspire you to grow in your ministry effectiveness.

Continuing THE MASCULINE REVIVAL OF FAITH series:

From TikTok to the Tabernacle:
Inside the mind of a Gen Z Convert

Joseph Bratsztein is a Gen Z young man who traveled from atheism into Protestantism, then felt drawn to the Eastern Orthodox Church but turned instead to Catholicism. Why? Here's his story.

"My faith growing up was broadly Protestant with some Judaism from my father’s side. When I became a teenager, I subscribed to atheism due to a lack of trust in Christianity's foundations." Ironically, because the Catholic Church goes back to Christianity's foundations, Joseph eventually found himself drawn to his first Catholic Mass. It happened in November of 2023; he was at 25 years of age.

His journey began in 2020 because COVID exposed the worship of science as a danger to society: "The graph gods demanded we shut down society and obey their prophets in lab coats." It disturbed him that this mentality permeated various governments and promoted "the sacrificing of our youth's early lives to attain a fantastical viral mitigation policy, and the brandishing of anyone critical of any COVID policies as being 'heretical' to scientific doctrine."

He says, "Alongside the secular man's idolatry of science was the idolatry of identities we saw parallel with the science cult (the BLM and LGBT movements)." This caused him to make a major turn in his journey: "I realized that religion was a vacuum and that, without Christianity, either 'The Science' or the radical identitarian movements would become the common faith. The young atheist me thought, I’d rather be Christian than live under the tyranny of these revolutionary movements.”

Joseph Bratsztein proudly holds a statue of St. Joseph
that was gifted to him when he became Catholic.

The app TikTok pushed him toward his next breakthrough. He felt appalled by its content of degenerate behavior for youths alongside its purpose of perverting children for the sake of geopolitical (Chinese) gain. He realized that it's "much akin to ancient tales of sacrificing children to gods for good harvest and fame." And then: "It's what Satan desires!"

That brought a complete end to his atheism. "I came to the revelation of the very intelligent design and what it implies: God is real. I reverted to Protestantism and after two years of Protestant church-going, I decided to try the original Christianity -- Catholicism -- by attending my first Mass."

He explains: "What attracted me to Catholicism was the history of Christianity as well as the faith itself, which can really be intertwined." Like many Gen Z young men, he found tradition very appealing.

He says, "Christ only bequeathed ONE set of keys to ONE Apostle, Peter. I thought, Would I be betraying Christ by choosing another church over the Church He established and promised that the gates of Hell would never prevail against?"

Zzzap! ⚡

The uncertainties of the secular world that his generation grew up has affected him as it does for other Gen Z men. He wanted to find a place to belong where religion offered certainty in doctrine and tradition. He says, "The Catholic Church is the oldest Church and has survived some of the greatest upheavals in history. Additionally, Catholicism has a more thorough understanding of sin, Heaven, and Hell than the Protestant faiths -- mortal and venial sin, Confession, Purgatory, etc.. The Church’s doctrine on these topics answered many questions about Christian concepts that I'd had as a Protestant."

Joseph's story shows us that, in our dealings with Gen Z men, we should not shy away from talking about religion. Older generations of atheists wanted no such conversation. Today's young adults -- especially young men (see my previous article, The Masculine Revival of Faith) -- are very interested in learning about Catholicism. Introduce them to Jesus in the tabernacle. They're ready!

P.S. My book on The Father's Heart offers a lot of what people today are seeking. Find out more about it @ https://tothefathersheart.com/.

Blessings of Peace and Grace
as we serve Christ together,
Terry Modica

Spiritual Coach, Author, Speaker,
Executive Director
Good News Ministries
GNM.org