"FREEDOM, ONE GENERATION FROM EXTINCTION"

 The famous quote by Ronald Reagan, "Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction."   as profound as it was, still rings in our ears today. "One generation away from extinction....Reagan goes on to say that "it is not guaranteed".  Why do some churches grow and other's don't, because some fail to hold on to the next generation. They assume because their kids grew up in Children's Church and have memorized John 3:16 that they will automatically convert and be part of the Church as they grow older. Freedom is a fragile thing, and no more fragile is anything, than our spiritual freedom. We can have experienced a great deliverance in our own lives, only to watch are children caught up in some hideous sins.
     I saw a whole generation wiped out from our church.  Where did they go?  Some moved away, some married non-Christians, some got caught up in career and making money, some turned away from the faith, some joined the military, before we knew it they were all gone, literally, a whole generation.   This left a tremendous gap in our Church.  The 40 & 50 year olds were left to carry the brunt while waiting for the next generation to rise up.
     We cannot simply dismiss that we are losing our youth and say, "let's press on". It is like taking a bullet and trying to press on as if you have not been shot. When a church fails to hold on to it's youth it suffers a severe blow.  Not only has that generation been lost, but also all the people/souls that would have been touched and brought in to the church by that generation. It is also a deterant to visitors that come and see no youth that are alive in your church, for Christ.  A church that fails to hold on to it's youth can be giving itself the "kiss of death".  A larger size church may be able to carry on the shoulders of the pillars in that church; as the next generation grows, but a small to mid-size church could implode right there.  We can also add to that that when a church fails to hold on to the next generation, it demoralizes the church, whether they want to admit it or not.  You can't help but wonder, "what's wrong with us?" "What's wrong with our church?"  "Had we been in another church would are children have stuck?"  A church that has watched the next generation go extinct will also have to deal with the ramifications of that. This will play out in the lives of the parents and grand parents as they are dragged through major trials and set backs that those children who have wandered will bring in to their lives.  Rather than concentrating on the church and the new members God is bringing in, they will be consumed with the problems of their children, ie: Divorce, spousal abuse, drug addiction, violence, 911 calls and so much more.
     Why do some churches grow and others don't, simply put, some do a much better job of retaining that next generation.  Remember, "Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction."  Is there a program we can implement that will guarantee us success, of course not. However the first step is in being aware, "we are one generation away from extinction". What ever happened to the Salvation Army, the YMCA?  Ask any young person what YMCA stands for and they will not know.  I recently ask one of the teenagers in our group if they had received a bible when they went to the YMCA.  They didn't get the joke.  I said, "you know YMCA stands for Young Men's Christian Association" and that it was started as an OUTREACH PROGRAM to save souls."   It would behoove us the invest ourselves in our Children and not make them feel like they are second fiddle as we reach the world for Christ.  If we have failed to reach those that God has put right under our nose, than we have failed. If our Christianity isn't working at home, it is not working period. While it is true that every man and woman has a "freewill" and some of the best raised kids have gone rogue for reasons unknown to us. It is also true that many children have felt unwanted and unappreciated through some of the most crucial and critical years of their lives.  One teen told his father, "dad I wish I was a sinner" His dad asked why he would say such a thing.  The son's answer was, "because you'll do anything, go anywhere and always seem to have time for them, but never for me?"  Can we be so busy "reaching the World for Jesus" that we are failing to reach those that are right in front of us crying out, craving for our attention and this love that we preach so often?