This article (link at end) has some overlap with the last one I posted. Here is a quotation that strikes way too close to home: ""I felt so badly about what I had done. The last place I felt I could turn was to God and the church." Rebecca ran away from God and from the church just when she needed them most."
I have to wonder how many "Rebecca"s I have known, and how many times I have let them down.
I'm not placing all the blame on the church or my church, but I know we can't escape all guilt.
Let's be looking for ways to reach out in meaningful ways.
Here is a place for we oldsters to start. Let's make sure that we let young people know we care.
Young and old, I would appreciate hearing your thoughts on this.
http://blog.christianitytoday.com/women/2011/11/why_teens_drift_away_from_fait.html
2 comments:
tHIS IS WHAT MY GRANDCHILDREN HAD TO SAY.
tHEY TELL THEM WHAT THE TEENAGERS ARE DOING WRONG.
tEENAGERS LEAVE BECAUSE THERE ARE RULES IN CHURCH THAT ARE ESTABLISHED,AND IF THEY LEAVE THEY ARE FREE FROM RULES.
MANY TEENS FEEL CONVICTION OF THEIR SINS WHEN THEY ARE IN A GODLY ENVIRONMENT, SO THEY WOULD LEAVE CHURCH TO ESCAPE THE CONVICTION.
Thanks, Gail for posting your grandkids' thoughts.
It is unfortunate when we major on telling one particular group of people what is wrong with them. To any who read this, teen or otherwise, whom I have wrongly singled out for condemnation, I ask forgiveness.
We ought to be seeking to reduce rules. All of us are accountable to God and His standards. I ought to be willing to abide by the same standard I put on others. (Matt. 7:1-4) My goal is teach God's truth, not add to it.
If we try to avoid God's standards/truth we will eventually find ourselves in the same fix (probably not fish) as Jonah.
Psalm 139 has some thoughts on our inability to escape God.
Churches ought to be so Bible-centered and God's-presence-saturated that anyone who is seeking to avoid Him would find themselves uncomfortable there. Yet we ought to be so warm with Christ's love and compassion that folk of whatever age would be drawn to what is offered when God's people gather together.
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