(By: Geoff Brown)

In the summer of 2016, the annual Crusaders Charge into Summer Reading campaign introduced us to Russ Miller, a storied and established Biblical creationist who lives, believe it or not, off-the-grid in a crater in northern Arizona.  If that were not crazy enough, during that summer, Miller introduced us to his book, “The Cost”, and he made two audacious claims.

First, Russ Miller claimed that the universe and all of creation was established by God in six 24-hour days, less than 10,000 years ago.  He claimed he had scientific and scriptural evidence to back up his claims.

Second, Miller claimed that if our nation continued to deny God the creator and the concept of “Imago Dei” — that we are created in the image and likeness of God, on purpose, and for a purpose — our culture would go into a freefall, losing all concept of right and wrong, falling into chaos and disorder.

Now, ten years later, Russ Miller is back and his warnings and worries have exploded into reality.  Our country and our culture are mired in confusion about truth, life, gender, marriage, race, identity, spirituality, and more.

We are paying what Miller called “The Cost” of losing track of who we are and whose we are.  Permit some examples.

Approximately 40 million American adults who used to attend church at least monthly have ceased attending in the past 25 years. This trend, often called “The Great Dechurching,” represents the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history, with around 15% of the population stopping regular attendance.  When we step away from church, the perils are clear.  According to research from the Barna Group, 42% of American adults report that they have deconstructed “the faith of their youth,” a statistic highlighting the prominence of the deconstruction movement among younger generations.

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v Hodges decision did not redefine marriage.  Marriage cannot be redefined.  But, the decision did seek to strip the church of the very first ordinance that God established after creation, ushering in broader cultural acceptance of same-sex relationships and introducing the prospect of prosecution for “hate crimes” for any that would hold to that ordination within either their personal or professional lives.  As of June 2025, an estimated 823,000 same-sex couples are “married” in the U.S., more than doubling the 390,000 married same-sex couples in the US as of June 2015.  This represents approximately 1.3% of all married couples in the U.S, meaning that 1 in 75 marriages in the US is a same-sex union.

In the last decade (2016–2026), the institution of marriage has undergone significant “deinstitutionalization,” with social norms shifting toward personal autonomy, emotional fulfillment, and diverse relationship configurations. New types and categories of marriage have emerged, moving away from traditional lifelong, monogamous, cohabitating roles to include more flexible and unconventional structures.  All of this has produced a menu of options for young men and women open, at least, to the concept of marriage:  open marriage, same-sex marriage, poly-amorous marriage, self-marriage, living-apart-together marriage, and friendship marriage.

Today, approximately 2.8 million people (1.0%) in the U.S., aged 13 and older, identify as transgender. This means that 1 in every 100 people you meet will describe themselves as transgender.  Youth identification is particularly high, with 3.3% of 13-to-17-year-olds identifying as binary or transgender. Data indicates a rapid rise in individuals seeking gender-affirming hormone therapy, with related diagnosis codes increasing by over 30% annually between 2014 and 2021.

By age 44, approximately 95% of Americans have had premarital sex.  As of 2021, 67% of Americans view having a baby outside of marriage as morally acceptable, up from 45% twenty years prior.  While premarital sex is highly normalized, weekly sexual activity among adults aged 18-64 dropped from 55% in 1990 to 37% in 2024.  In 2004, 78% of young adults reported high casual sex activity; by 2025, only 23% of Gen Z reported frequent casual hookups.

The “great sex recession” refers to a significant, decades-long decline in sexual activity, particularly among young adults and men in the US. Since the 1990s, the share of adults having weekly sex has dropped from over 50% to roughly 37% by 2024, with Gen Z having sex less and later than previous generations.  What are the causes?  Increased time spent on phones, social media, and with pornography and video games reduces real-world interaction and displaces physical intimacy.  “Digital connections” offer controlled, safe alternatives to real-world intimacy.

All of this has produced significant concern regarding the declining birth rate in the US, which reached a record low of approximately children per woman in 2024, far below the replacement rate required for population stability.

Increased presence sexual identity themes in schools, media, and corporate messaging

According to CDC data, nearly 25% of U.S. public high school students identified as LGBTQ+ in 2023.

About 59% of adults aged 18 to 44 have lived with an unmarried partner, and 80% of recent marriages (2020-2022) were preceded by cohabitation.

Total legal abortions in the U.S. have increased in the years following the 2022 Dobbs v Jackson decision, despite widespread bans in many states. Data shows an estimated 11% increase in abortions in 2023 compared to 2020, with high numbers sustained through 2025 due to surging telehealth, medication abortions, and travel to states where abortion remains legal

Assisted suicide (medical aid-in-dying) has seen a steady,, long-term increase in the U.S. states where it is legal, with rising utilization rates in established jurisdictions like Oregon and Washington. While total national figures are difficult to aggregate, public support for legalizing it reached a high of 69% in 2021.

Miller’s latest book is “Consider the Cost” — an updated and expanded version of “The Cost” that is available at no cost in the three offices of Northwest Christian School — and his message remains the same:  we must understand that we were created by God on purpose — we are not biochemical happenstance — and we were created for a purpose.  We are loved and valued.  Life is sacred.  The truth is knowable.  There is a morality which originated outside of us and it is meant for the public good.  We each have a reason.  We all have a mission.

This summer, we’re going deep into creationism.  We are going to spend time with audacious individuals who believe in Young Earth, Old Earth, Theistic Evolution, Geocentricity, and, yes, a Flat Earth.  We are going to have fun considering the multiplicity of perspectives. Our journey will be anchored in God’s word as we enjoy some pretty amazing conversations.

But, at the end of the day, diverse positions aside, every moment and every word of the KingdomCultureConversations.com episodes that we will hear this summer (between May 11th and September 28th) will be rooted in one truth:  You were created on purpose and for a purpose.

Geoff Brown is the Superintendent of Northwest Christian School located in Phoenix, AZ. Northwest Christian School is one of the largest private Christian schools in the state of Arizona and an ACSI Exemplary Accredited school.

This post is sponsored by NCS Online. NCS Online is a fully online K-12th grade Christian school providing an online education that is rigorous, affordable, and rooted in Biblical worldview. To learn more about NCS Online, visit NCSonline.org.