Sorry I’m running a little late this month on my blog. I’m heavily into composing a new CD tentatively titled “?”. That’s right. Just a question mark. Again, it will be kind of an epic endeavor running about an hour long. The theme of Part 1 will be the world’s secular view of God (and lack of belief). Part 2 will focus on the answers to the questions posed in Part 1 (God’s mercy, justice and power). I plan to do something a little different. I’d like to incorporate some of my favorite hymns and choruses Progressive style.
A QUICK SURVEY QUESTION: I would appreciate it if you would post a comment on this blog: My friend thinks the quality of my vocals distracts from the quality of my compositions. So, tell me, what do you think?
If you don’t mind, I’d like to once again delve into a fairly heavy spiritual topic that concerns me – that is, the direction the universal church is headed. The Lord has put it on my heart to spread this word. From what I understand, large, popular churches are beginning to change the way they teach the Bible to young people. They feel this is necessary, because the youth of today are living in a social media, sound byte world. In other words, a typical young person has the attention span of about three minutes. If you don’t engage them with your message in that amount of time, you’ve lost them.
Obviously, this means if you are trying to teach the Bible to such a person, even a young Christian person, the depth of the conversation is going to be very shallow. The problem is, the Word of God begs to be pondered, meditated and prayed over. It needs to be studied carefully in order to see its truths. And those truths are the only thing that brings salvation. It does no good to be impatient with or distracted from God when He’s trying desperately to show us who He is, what He does for us and why He does it.
God is amazing. He can show us His undying love in those three minutes. He can tell us about giving His Son to die on the cross for our sins and promise of everlasting life in those three minutes. But it is up to us to give Him all the time He needs to teach us to be obedient; to convict our hearts of our sins that are holding us back from having the relationship He desires to have with us, and to set in motion those situations in our lives that build our faith in God stronger with each passing day. That is the true path to salvation, and the true path takes a lifetime.
Unfortunately, new church programs are being designed to cater to the deficiencies of a generation of new students whose focus is more on the social aspect than the spiritual aspect. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with planning a Christian social event to get the youth together to enjoy fellowship. But what I am talking about are programs that hide mere social get-togethers under the guise of actually learning something about the Bible or the Lord, because that’s what the churches seem to think will hold the people’s attention. And I don’t doubt that in most cases, they’re correct.
We are on a slippery slope with our young Christian people. We need to be assertive and make sure we feed them meat instead of milk. If you read the lyrics to my music, you will know what I’m talking about.
Do you understand why I write such strong words? Because we have an enemy that is working 24/7 to make sure we lose our souls to the distractions of the world. He loves it when a young person would rather play video games for hours instead of reading one verse from the Bible. And he relishes in the new church’s approach in reaching out to kids the way that the kids want to be reached rather than the way God wants to reach them. Now, I don’t live in a bubble. Though I don’t have children, I deal with younger people all the time. I understand the psychology of social media, though I choose not to be part of it. I’m very aware of all the distractions humans have created to try to fill the natural void God has purposely placed in our hearts to seek Him out. I see Satan busily at work, manipulating and all out erasing portions of the doctrine of the Bible.
And who do you think would be his most vulnerable prey? Those who have simply not lived enough life to make responsibly mature spiritual decisions for themselves. These poor young souls have enough problems as it is with hormonal shifts and identity crises! Let’s face it. Young people want to have fun. So, as I have said, the idea is for churches now to style their programs and even Sunday School classes to “FUN TIME”. Sorry, but following Christ, even for a young person, should be serious business. The presentation of the scripture can be inventive and fun, but when those kids leave, they should have learned a little more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
If you are a Christian parent, you are asked by God’s Spirit to raise your children in the ways of the Word. If I were you, I would take heed. You may very well be helping to save their soul. Pray for them as often as you can. They are constantly facing obstacles to keep them from God’s provision and protection. Ask the Lord for wisdom in times of chaos and trouble, and have the faith He will answer in His time. Also, kids are smart. Make sure you practice what you preach. Be the best example for them you can be. If you do these things, you can have a clear conscience before all, and have peace of mind. For it is important to remember He gave your child free will to reject your words and actions, even though you’ve taught them the Truth. If it is difficult to find peace, you can pray for that too!
God bless. Dave
A QUICK SURVEY QUESTION: I would appreciate it if you would post a comment on this blog: My friend thinks the quality of my vocals distracts from the quality of my compositions. So, tell me, what do you think?
If you don’t mind, I’d like to once again delve into a fairly heavy spiritual topic that concerns me – that is, the direction the universal church is headed. The Lord has put it on my heart to spread this word. From what I understand, large, popular churches are beginning to change the way they teach the Bible to young people. They feel this is necessary, because the youth of today are living in a social media, sound byte world. In other words, a typical young person has the attention span of about three minutes. If you don’t engage them with your message in that amount of time, you’ve lost them.
Obviously, this means if you are trying to teach the Bible to such a person, even a young Christian person, the depth of the conversation is going to be very shallow. The problem is, the Word of God begs to be pondered, meditated and prayed over. It needs to be studied carefully in order to see its truths. And those truths are the only thing that brings salvation. It does no good to be impatient with or distracted from God when He’s trying desperately to show us who He is, what He does for us and why He does it.
God is amazing. He can show us His undying love in those three minutes. He can tell us about giving His Son to die on the cross for our sins and promise of everlasting life in those three minutes. But it is up to us to give Him all the time He needs to teach us to be obedient; to convict our hearts of our sins that are holding us back from having the relationship He desires to have with us, and to set in motion those situations in our lives that build our faith in God stronger with each passing day. That is the true path to salvation, and the true path takes a lifetime.
Unfortunately, new church programs are being designed to cater to the deficiencies of a generation of new students whose focus is more on the social aspect than the spiritual aspect. Don’t get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with planning a Christian social event to get the youth together to enjoy fellowship. But what I am talking about are programs that hide mere social get-togethers under the guise of actually learning something about the Bible or the Lord, because that’s what the churches seem to think will hold the people’s attention. And I don’t doubt that in most cases, they’re correct.
We are on a slippery slope with our young Christian people. We need to be assertive and make sure we feed them meat instead of milk. If you read the lyrics to my music, you will know what I’m talking about.
Do you understand why I write such strong words? Because we have an enemy that is working 24/7 to make sure we lose our souls to the distractions of the world. He loves it when a young person would rather play video games for hours instead of reading one verse from the Bible. And he relishes in the new church’s approach in reaching out to kids the way that the kids want to be reached rather than the way God wants to reach them. Now, I don’t live in a bubble. Though I don’t have children, I deal with younger people all the time. I understand the psychology of social media, though I choose not to be part of it. I’m very aware of all the distractions humans have created to try to fill the natural void God has purposely placed in our hearts to seek Him out. I see Satan busily at work, manipulating and all out erasing portions of the doctrine of the Bible.
And who do you think would be his most vulnerable prey? Those who have simply not lived enough life to make responsibly mature spiritual decisions for themselves. These poor young souls have enough problems as it is with hormonal shifts and identity crises! Let’s face it. Young people want to have fun. So, as I have said, the idea is for churches now to style their programs and even Sunday School classes to “FUN TIME”. Sorry, but following Christ, even for a young person, should be serious business. The presentation of the scripture can be inventive and fun, but when those kids leave, they should have learned a little more about what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
If you are a Christian parent, you are asked by God’s Spirit to raise your children in the ways of the Word. If I were you, I would take heed. You may very well be helping to save their soul. Pray for them as often as you can. They are constantly facing obstacles to keep them from God’s provision and protection. Ask the Lord for wisdom in times of chaos and trouble, and have the faith He will answer in His time. Also, kids are smart. Make sure you practice what you preach. Be the best example for them you can be. If you do these things, you can have a clear conscience before all, and have peace of mind. For it is important to remember He gave your child free will to reject your words and actions, even though you’ve taught them the Truth. If it is difficult to find peace, you can pray for that too!
God bless. Dave
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