Hey guys!!! Long time no blog, huh? Life seems to get more tedious by the day and blog time has been limited to say the least. Lately, the only time I have had to blog has been after everyone is in bed, and I have to admit that sleep has won over blogging every time.
This past weekend, our church sponsored a "Parent Connect" weekend. The guest speaker was Steve Wright, the Student Minster at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, NC. Our student pastor heard Steve on the radio with Dr. Dobson and decided our church family needed to hear what he had to say. And we did.
Did you know that 70% of teens who are involved in a church youth group will stop attending church within two years of their high school graduation? SEVENTY PERCENT. That means that only 30 percent of the youth in your church's youth group will not "graduate from God" when they graduate from high school. A sad fact, but a true one.
Steve Wright contends that the reason for this is that parents are not discipling their own children, but depending on a couple hours a week with a youth pastor to do the work for them. Unfortunately, I think he is right. The problem is that most parents are not equipped to disciple their kids because they don't spend enough time with the Lord OR with their kids. Many parents cannot disciple their children because they are not spiritually mature enough to do so. Again, sad, but true.
Mr. Wright says the key to discipling your kids is simple: Treasure Christ above everything else. Our kids know what is most important to us....they know what we value most and statistics say that parental influence is greater than any other influence on children. What does that mean? If we value Jesus most in our life, our kids are more likely to value Him most in theirs.
What I want most in life is for Jesus to be first in my kids' lives....which means I need to let them know He is undeniably first in mine.
So, with that in mind, I chose Deuteronomy 6:5-7 as my new LPM memory verses:
Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up
13 comments:
Amen sista!
So true! My hubby and I were youth leaders for 6 years and I think Steven Wright is correct. We need to be the first models of Christ followers our kids see.
Thank You for sharing this!
Blessings - Lisa
Completely true. Completely scary.
I'm a momma to 3 boys and can't imagine them not moving on with God. Getting back to the basics.
Love ya girl,
Fran
Sad statistics, but Mr. Wright is RIGHT. I've experienced it firsthand. I have a 19yo who recently stated in a fb note...
"13. i believe in God, Jesus, and the Bible. but it doesn't always saturate my life. it's more just a belief than anything. and i would never force it onto someone else. everyone has a right to their own beliefs. i just think i'm right. :-P"
Even in spite of discipleship (not nearly enough), she is lukewarm, at best. How my heart prays that the Lord will grab her by the heart and nullify that statement. I WANT her relationship with Him to saturate her life and be something she can't help speaking about. I know He can do it, because once upon a time, I was HER... I just hope it doesn't take for her, what it took to bring me to my knees.
Great post, Beth! I'm inspired to be more proactive with the children I have left at home.
Great post. (BTW a couple from my church attended this conference at your church and really liked it)
Anyway, I pray everyday for my children's hearts to burn for Jesus. We have a church in our community called the "bridge". My daughter asked me why it was called that and I gave her a short and simple explanation of how Jesus is the "bridge" between God and man. She said "well if its up to you mom, everything is about Jesus"
Oh Lord, Let it be true.
ps. I have no idea why that church is called that....I was just guessing
That passage has been in front of me and in my heart for several months now.
As a ministry family I'm doubly afraid of that statistic; I think it's even harder sometimes for DH and I to help our boys see that our faith is central to our lives; it's not about DH's job, although on a day to day basis I'm afraid that's how they'll see it. Thankfully they're young, but I definitely feel the urgency of helping them take Christ "to heart" and committing to living out their faith in a daily, intentional way. If only it happened based on how much we want it...
Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he/she should go, and when he/she is old he/she will not depart from it.
Anna, Mari, Lisa, Fran, HeatherC,
Kelly S, RefreshMom, allow me to add my 2 cents worth. The writer of this blog is my daughter. I know that from the time she was born, her mom and dad took her to church, taught her at home about Jesus, God's Word (the Bilbe) was very important. In other words we did much (not all)the right things. In fact as parents we failed our children in so many ways, but we did honor Christ in our home, most of the time. Now, both Lisa and Beth grew up and to be honest, they sowed as some would say a few wild oats. But I say all this just to say how faithful our God really is. Both Lisa and Beth are awesome wives, awesome moms and certainly awesome daughters, but what is most important is they both are awesome Christians. Yes they didn't do all the right things, neither did their parents, but God who is faithful to His word allowed them in their adult ages come to acknowledge that all they heard, seen and done as little children is an active part of their adult life. Neither their mom nor their dad can take credit for being blessed young Christians, but only God because He promised it.
So hang in their if you have troubled chilren, Do what scripture says, Give them Jesus when their children and when they get older, they may never be all you want them to be, but Godly training will never leave them for one minute and they will be drawn to obedience by the HOly Spirit of God. Beth and Lisa are true examples of this and for that, I thank them both, but most of all, I thank my LOrd Jesus.
Great one!
good stuff, my friend!
We didn't make it Saturday, but Friday was great. This past year I have grown so much closer to God and one thing He continues to teach me is that my only responsibility is to seek HIM with all my heart and HE does the rest!! It truly is a green pasture and still waters that He wants to lead us to...I'm trusting that if I keep doing this...He will hold up His end with my child. The reality of my relationship with Christ WILL AUTOMATICALLY produce the fruit required to enable me to disciple my child. I'm not saying it requires no effort on our parts...we must SEEK HIM...but after that...after HE becomes our treasure...HE shines so brightly that no one...including our children...will be able to resist HIS light. This is my faith and my hope!!
Great post!
I've been one of those 70%, and I thank God for not leaving me.
I believe that's why Christians need to be on the internet where the young people are...stay in touch with them.
Oh how I wish my love for the Lord was enough to mold my children!! Watching your child make choices that you know are destructive and against what they used to believe - it is heartbreaking.
I turned away from the Lord as a teen. I KNOW that God is faithful, but wow it's hard to watch.
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