In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a phenomenon that has been with us since the beginning of human creation. It's impacted people in every country and every time period, young and old, male and female - it's our dreams. They can scare us, they can delight us, they can confuse us, they can inspire us. Although they are commonplace, there is little agreement about what to make of them, and particularly whether God can speak through them.

One of the biggest concerns when it comes to our dreams are the means people use to try to interpret them. This is where people can begin to dabble in the world of the occult. Whether through fortune tellers or astrology, tarot cards or horoscopes, we've touched on the potential dangers and pitfalls of this in past podcast episodes. We'd encourage you to go back and listen to: CCP151: On Spirits and Ghosts, CCP77: On Angels, CCP58: On Your Horoscope and Starbucks and CCP45: On Superstition and God's Will.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

Once again, Alexis Drye is joined on the podcast by a guest - this time Pastor Zach White, Zach is the pastor of the creative arts ministry (known as Meck Creative) at Mecklenburg Community Church. The topic for discussion for today's episode is on leading and equipping Gen Z in the workplace, and so we thought he would bring a unique perspective, as the majority of his team falls into this cohort.

Alexis mentioned an article written by Tessa West in The Wall Street Journal that prompted today's discussion. Titled “A New Lost Generation: Why Gen Z Is Unprepared for the Workplace,” this article - along with others like it - explores the important role that leaders need to play in helping their Gen Z employees navigate their organizations. Zach mentioned a helpful resource for people who may interact a lot with Gen Z. It was written by Dr. White, and while primarily written for the church to know how to reach them for Jesus, it also can serve to help understand what marks this generation. It's called Meet Generation Z and you can find it HERE.

Zach also mentioned the depressing findings of a recent survey from Instructure, which found that 87% of Gen Z workers feel unprepared to succeed in the workforce. You can read the full article in Campus Technology for more results of the survey HERE. It's in helping them to overcome feelings like this where leaders need to step in and guide them.

To help fill that type of leadership role, Zach has a podcast leadership community that you can find on YouTube at @ZachWhiteLeadership. The purpose is to serve leaders looking to grow, thrive and last in leadership. Every week, he releases new research-driven content that's designed to help you have a truly meaningful and lasting leadership journey.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the incredibly important role that money can play in a marriage. While many couples focus on the wedding and the checklist of what needs to get done before the wedding day, few realize the importance of discussing personal finances and how they view and value money.

At the top of the episode, Alexis mentioned an article written by Jake Hays for the Pew Research Center titled “8 facts about divorce in the United States.” The purpose of the study was to look at causes for the very high divorce rate in the U.S. and, in particular, why so many divorces happen so quickly - often within the first five years of marriage. Money was the reason behind many of those failed marriages.

Dr. White referenced a recent string of articles from The Wall Street Journal that are related to today's topic of marriage and money. They discuss things like financial infidelity, why men and women choose to often have separate finances, and how what we value when it comes to money can be a factor. You can find those articles below. You can also find the National Endowment for Financial Education study that Dr. White mentioned HERE.

Julia Carpenter, “What We Fight About When We Fight About Money.”

Gunjan Banerji, “Inside the ‘Financial Infidelities' That Tear Marriages Apart.”

Allie Jones, “She Almost Lost Everything in Her Divorce. Now Women Are Learning From Her Mistakes.”

Finally, for those interested in some pastoral wisdom when it comes to both marriage and money, we'd encourage you to check out the many marriage and finance series that Dr. White has delivered at Mecklenburg Community Church. You can find the various series on marriage and family HERE, and the series on finances HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.