Jesus Is Back: A New Generation's Search for a Real, Beautiful, and Lasting Faith

Summary

For decades, the data told a discouraging story: faith in decline, churches emptying, institutions closing. Christian commitment seemed to be slowly but steadily melting away.

But now, David Kinnaman and his team at Barna Group are seeing something new emerge in their research: Jesus is back. Since 2020, thirty million Americans have committed to Jesus. Even more surprising, younger generations are leading the way in this new commitment. What's driving this unexpected shift?

Jesus Is Back explores the spiritual renewal emerging today and the deeper forces that are fueling it, weaving original research together with Kinnaman's own story of grief, faith, and rebuilding after the death of his wife, Jill, from brain cancer. Drawing from both the data and his own journey, he shows how a resilient, resurrection-centered faith leads to real human flourishing.

This is not a book about returning to business as usual. It is a clear-eyed, data-rich, deeply personal case that the church is facing a genuinely historic moment—and an urgent invitation to seize it. Jesus Is Back is a call for listeners to recognize and respond to what God is doing now.