My Fourth Blog

This is my article this month for the church newsletter:

A recent article in the USA Today started out like this: “Most young adults today don't pray, don't worship and don't read the Bible, a major survey by a Christian research firm shows. If the trends continue, the Millennial generation will see churches closing as quickly as GM dealerships.”

This group surveyed 1,200 18- to 29-year-olds. Some of the results are as follows:
· 65% rarely or never pray with others, and 38% almost never pray by themselves either
· 65% rarely or never attend worship services
· 67% don't read the Bible
· Only 50% think that Jesus is the only way to get to Heaven

Among the 50% who do know that Jesus is the only way to Heaven:
· 68% did not mention faith, religion or spirituality when asked what was "really important in life."
· 50% do not attend church at least weekly
· 36% rarely or never read the Bible

And maybe the most disturbing stat of all: Only 15% of all 18- to 29-year-olds appear to be “deeply committed” Christians in study, prayer, worship, and action.

A 2007 study showed that 7 out of 10 Protestants ages 18 to 30, both evangelical and mainline, who went to church regularly in high school said they quit attending by age 23. And 34% of those had not returned, even sporadically, by age 30.

If these numbers don’t scare you then go back and read them again!! And do you think that the numbers behind the Millennial generation are going to improve???

One thing I see in these numbers however is opportunity. If a hundred young people stood before us and we could say that if they all died that 75 to 85 of them would end up in hell then we have much work to do church. We get mad at one another over having to stand during the singing of a song, or because the music might be too upbeat or fast, or because the way we’ve always done it is being discussed and potentially tweaked a little. I say instead of getting mad at each other, let’s get mad at Satan. He has captured an entire generation and has his sights set on many many more.

I’ll tell you one thing our church needs more than anything else, and that is more lost people. For some reason we’ve starting expecting the lost to get right outside the doors of the church and then welcome them in. That’s not right.

We are family. And one of the greatest days of my life happened in January of 2009 when my family grew by one. My favorite services are when one of our students gets baptized. The opportunity is ours to grow our family. The directive has been given to us by Jesus Himself in the Great Commission. So the question is, what will we do with this man called Jesus?

Until Next Time,
Keith

Source: Lifeway Christian Resources