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  • Teens leave churches in droves

    http://www.usatoday.com/news/religio...htm?csp=34news

    This is a very sad commentary on our society.

  • #2
    Yes it is, they are the future

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    • #3
      This is unfortunate, but true. We have seen this in our own church. What we've noticed over the last few years is that kids are getting the wrong messages about the church from both their parents and from public schools. As parents we have to show our kids how important Jesus is to us in our everyday life. When parents drop their kids off at the Wednesday night kid's program at church and then don't head over to the adult service themselves, their kids know that and the message gets across to them that their parents don't have to/ don't want to go. Then why should they have to? Subconsciously or consciously they think, "When I get old enough I don't have to go anymore if I don't feel like it". At school, they are barraged by messages that there is something wrong with religion because it's outdated/not proven by science. Unfortunately, the scientific world has done a great job in presenting their evolutionary theories as fact even though they are easily proven otherwise when looked at in the light of Scripture. Evolution is presented as fact and the kids think that it IS fact because "science proves it". This presentation of evolution as fact has torn many people away from the Bible. Sunday schools and other children's education programs at church have done a poor job of refuting these lies. They have not given our children the Biblical facts about geology, biology, astronomy, etc... We as a church should have been vigilantly defending our faith in Genesis 1:1-11 in this matter all along. Also, too many people rely on the church itself to teach their children everything they need to know. Deuteronomy 6:7 says "And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up." In short, it is our job to teach them and to guide them in Bible study. The foundation of Sunday school programs and others was inherently good, but has lost its way and has not kept up with what we're facing today.
      We believe in being involved in church as a family. We've found that most programs have the family split up by ages or sexes. How can the children see their parents faith and involvement if they're in another class? Most kids will never really know what their parents even believe this way. Whenever our son gets involved in something at church we volunteer to be there to help. We like to know what messages our son is being presented with (just because it's a church program doesn't mean it jives with our beliefs) and we are there to answer any of his questions, talk with him about what he is learning, show him that we care about being there, learning, etc... Using a Christian home school program also helps us reinforce the Bible as the Authoritative Word of God on every subject there is. Not watching regular TV also takes out a lot of the evolution messages that would be pinging our brains as well.

      Answers in Genesis put out a DVD called Already Gone about this very topic. It's also available as a video download. Here's the link: http://www.answersingenesis.org/Publ...,6587,355.aspx

      And the product description:
      The trends are frightening, but this DVD shows how to win back our families, our churches, and our world!

      The next generation is already calling it quits on traditional church. Next Sunday, look around, two thirds of the young people in your church are already disengaged from the message they are hearing. And it’s not just happening on the nominal fringe; it’s happening in the most solid “Bible-believing” churches.

      In this important DVD, Ken Ham discusses the profound cultural changes taking place in our Western world, as God’s Word is rejected and man’s fallible ideas are welcomed. Ken relates some of the shocking statistics presented in the book Already Gone that reveal the reasons why young people are leaving church and abandoning the faith of their parents.

      The church is failing to give children real answers to their questions. We are losing our kids long before college. But this is far from a hopeless situation. Ken explains how we can fight back for our children, and what we can do to ground our children in the faith and prepare them for the challenges of the secular world.
      Thank you Monkeybird for getting the word out on this most important topic! Great thread :)

      Comment


      • #4
        In my own church (small enough that most of us know each other)... We had a kid go off to college last fall. Before she left, she was a bright and happy kid, highly involved in the church. She came back dark and disinterested - and clearly disenchanted with the church (to the extent that she barely speaks to anyone, let alone participate in the service). This is sad on two counts: 1) That she was deeply indoctrinated during her time there by professors and/or friends, and 2) That she lost her faith and became a dark, brooding person says a little something about the pessimism of atheism. Just sad...
        "He that lives upon hope will die fasting." - Benjamin Franklin

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        • #5
          We should be praying over our youth before they leave for college. Like my Financial Adviser says "Prayer Really Works!!". We as parents have a responsibility to arm our children with the knowledge of the word to defeat the attacks against their faith. Just like we have a responsibility to teach our kids how to handle money so they don't need a bailout later on.
          "It's a trap!!!!" -- Admiral Ackbar

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          • #6
            Amen, elittle! You hit the nail on the head there. Prayer can keep them from being led astray and bring lost ones back into the fold. We took an Answers in Genesis class at our church earlier this year. The basic premise was to give people the Biblical answers they need to defend their faith in the world. Our 9 year old son went with us to the classes and really enjoyed it. I saw the fruit of what he learned when he debated my mother on the issue of evolution during a sleepover. She has been indoctrinated through tv among other things about the supposed "facts" of evolution. She told me about it the next day and said, "I quickly realized that this wasn't going to be a typical 9 year old's conversation. We were having an adult conversation and I was very impressed with the depth of his answers. He brought up points I never even thought of before but that he clearly understood." The thing that ultimately won her over in that conversation was his passion for what he believed and his understanding of it. I've noticed a lot of churches offering these classes now and I will urge you to go if you have the opportunity.

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            • #7
              Well, some of this falling away is brought about by the "Church" itself, by promoting "traditions" for doctrine, for claiming "infallibility" for things with holes that need deeper study...

              For example, many may birth DOUBT when they learn that the Church cannot count to THREE...

              By the Messiah's own testimony, He told us that only ONE SIGN would be given to prove His claim as the "Son of God," that being the "Sign of Jonah." Just ONE SIGN... We know that Jonah was in the belly of the beast for THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS, so too, He was in the grave THREE DAYS and THREE NIGHTS... But the Christian Church's own testimony declares him to be a FALSE Messiah!

              They declare him FALSE by teaching and celebrating GOOD FRIDAY to EASTER SUNDAY MORNING... No matter how you count it, using western or Hebrew methods of day and night beginnings, you will NEVER get 3 & 3 from Good Friday ~ Easter Sunday Morning...

              Moreover, December 25th, by those confronted with history and facts by evil, deceived Professors, will learn that there is no way Messiah was born on December 25th, yet by the Church's own testimony and traditions, they are told this is the day of Messiah's birth. They are also shown that it is the birthday of Mithras (Roman sun god) and Ra (Egyptian sun god), and early church history (Constantine-era) shows that these dates were adopted to foster easily assimilation of the masses of pagans that were forced into the Church... or die.

              But we now know that early FALL was his birth date (Tishri 15, 3998 / Sept. 26, 3 BCE to be exact) and can be proven by history, astronomy and weather.

              I could go on, but my web site and other web sites document it all more throughly... This is why I now follow the HEBRAIC-based Faith of Messiah, like that followed by the Disciples and early Church...

              So some of the blame lies directly on every Church, teacher and Pastor that teaches these traditions for doctrine...

              Rmpl
              -=> Rmplstlskn <=-

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              • #8
                Good points there Rmplstlkn. We have to delve deeper in order to gain a better understanding. We've never held back any of these truths in order to conform to the church. It was a little odd for people at first, but I know it got some of them thinking. You can't except everything the church says or accepts just because it is the church. You have to check it out against the Word of God for yourself and teach your children to do the same.

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                • #9
                  What I see happening is that young people are looking around and seeing the hypocrisy that's going on and leaving in disgust. They see many church "leaders" who are in it for the money, or the prestige, and deciding to have no part of it. Because of that, I practice a spirituality that promotes a direct, personal relationship with God, that doesn't depend on anyone else for fulfillment. I have taught it to my children, and then left them alone. I occasionally reinforce it with pertinent observations, and they get it. That, and I live my spirituality. Every single day. They can see that, and understand that I have an inner peace that a lot of people don't have. I have bad days, just like anybody else, but they don't happen very often. Kids respond to that. It doesn't work to hand them a book and tell them to learn it then live it. It doesn't have any context for them. Teach them how to connect with God, and let him do the rest.

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                  • #10
                    When I was a teenager I hated going to church. It had nothing to do with when Christmas was, or other superficial things, it had more to do with the church 'rules'. Now in the South back in the 60's, small Southern Baptist Churches had all kinds of beliefs that I could not believe in. Like playing "Old Maid" was the same as gambling and therefore sinful. i wasn't allowed to play cards. The No alcohol rule was another issue. I never drink because I don't like it, not because of a religious rule. It was beyond my reasoning that if Christ turned water into wine, why was alcohol so bad. Divorce was possible, but then the individual couldn't remarry again. The rules go on and on and on. The biblical references to explain these rules was never mentioned.

                    It seems to me, ignorant as I am of theology, that if people knew who Jesus really is, would need no rules. I've read his words over and over again, and I believe everything people need to live Godly lives is there.

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                    • #11
                      Know what you mean MB.

                      It's interesting that the Lord gave the Law, but by the time Jesus came to earth the Pharisees and Saducees had added so much ritual to it that it probably would not have been seen as the same thing. The Lord Jesus was always having run in with "religious" types of that day.

                      We have a new breed of "Pharisees" today, they are usually the types that just want to "play church." While they will complain about someone using a cuss word or having a beer, they know nothing of compassion, mercy, forgiveness. They are full of pride and ego.

                      Pride of course being what brought Lucifer down from being the "annoited cherub" over God the Father's thrown to getting cast out of heaven. Proverbs talks of "six things the Lord doth hate, yeah seven are an abomination to him." What tops the list? PRIDE.

                      It's interesting to look up the word "pride" in a concordance or through something like www.ebible.com and look up all the references to it. They are pretty much all bad in the context of Scripture.
                      www.homesteadingandsurvival.com

                      www.survivalreportpodcast.com

                      "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed..."

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Lowdown3 View Post
                        It's interesting that the Lord gave the Law, but by the time Jesus came to earth the Pharisees and Saducees had added so much ritual to it that it probably would not have been seen as the same thing. The Lord Jesus was always having run in with "religious" types of that day.
                        Yes, He was! Back in His day, and even now among Rabbinical Jews, they call this "Ma'asim" and "Takanot." Takanot are "reforms that change biblical law" and Ma'asim are "acts or deeds that serve as precedent."

                        Messiah was ALWAYS rubbing their noses in their man-made doctrines and laws... One of the BEST is when He healed the man born blind (the #1 sign of the Messiah)... Here is a list of the man-made laws He broke doing it...
                        1. Healed on the Sabbath
                        2. Made mud
                        3. Put spit in the eyes (really, there is a Rabbinical law against this on Sabbath)
                        4. Told him to carry his bedding
                        5. Told him to walk farther than a "Sabbath's Day walk"
                        6. Told him to wash his eyes

                        The religious leaders were PI$$ED!!!!! The only one to ever heal a born blind person, the sign of the Messiah, was one that BROKE almost every takanot they had...

                        Messiah's greatest teaching about these man-made laws, now known as "Rabbinical Laws," was the teaching on "Moses' Seat." Without hijacking the thread, I will say that what we now read in our Bibles about Moses' Seat is mistranslated and I think I can prove it. If one wants, read more here: Moses' Seat

                        Rmpl
                        -=> Rmplstlskn <=-

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                        • #13
                          We just heard this discussed on a Christian radio station today. It was a good discussion. I hope it really got people thinking.

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