"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?
 

THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB: SEPTEMBER 21 "THIS ONE THING DO RIGHT"

THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB: SEPTEMBER 21 "THIS ONE THING DO RIGHT":      IF there's one thing King Hezekiah did right, was HE PRAYED.  Twice in our text today we read, in response to Hezekiah's prayer...

THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB: SEPTEMBER 20 "SATAN'S TESTIMONIALS"

THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB: SEPTEMBER 20 "SATAN'S TESTIMONIALS":      I WAS not around approx 3000 years ago when this situation took place with the King of Assyria, but I sure do recognize the voice and t...

THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB: SEPTEMBER 19 "DID PAUL SAY HE WISHES THEY WOULD ( ...

THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB: SEPTEMBER 19 "DID PAUL SAY HE WISHES THEY WOULD ( ...:      DID Paul really write/say that he wishes they would emasculate themselves? The Message translation writes, " Why don't these a...

THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB: SEPTEMBER 19 "DID PAUL SAY HE WISHES THEY WOULD ( ...

THE ONE YEAR BIBLE CLUB: SEPTEMBER 19 "DID PAUL SAY HE WISHES THEY WOULD ( ...:      DID Paul really write/say that he wishes they would emasculate themselves? The Message translation writes, " Why don't these a...

Church Growth: IS MORALE A VIRTUE OF GROWTH?

Church Growth: IS MORALE A VIRTUE OF GROWTH?: I was reading recently about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coming off one of their worse seasons ever. What struck me most about the article i...

IS "MORALE" A VIRTUE OF GROWTH?

I was reading recently about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coming off one of their worse seasons ever. What struck me most about the article is one of the players describing the morale in the locker room. He said it was unbearable.  It was one thing to lose, but to have to deal with the atmosphere in that locker room was worse.  It made me think, here is a locker room full of qualified, super athletes, they have excelled past the best in high school, excelled past the best in College, now they are in the Professional Football League, the best of the best, but yet, they can do nothing right.  A room full of high caliber men, reduced to nothing, but losing; and not for lack of talent or ability but due mainly, to low morale.  It made me think of why some Churches struggle and seem to have a very hard time putting together a game winning plan, the reason, low morale. You can have the best athletes on your team, but if the morale is low, you will have a loser team. You can have a church full of talented and gifted men/women, but if the morale is low, they will be unproductive and will hardly have the heart to get involved and engage their talents and abilities. I was always taught in business, always bring out the negative and finish with the positive.   Never correct without also telling someone what they are doing right. If all people’s efforts ever brings them is correction, condescension and criticism, people will give up and stop trying. I don’t care if you’re 5 years old or 50 years old, this principle applies. Many Pastor’s, Leaders & Laymen are destroying the very work they want to build, by this action. Proverbs speak about the foolish woman, who tears down her house instead of building it. Well, the Church is the Pastor’s House (so to speak), the Pastor’s Baby, he is travailing to give birth to that Church and nurture that congregation and it can very well be, that he is tearing down the very thing he’s trying to build up, unknowingly, ( I hope) by creating an atmosphere of very low morale.  If you find yourself in an atmosphere where nobody wants to rise up, get involved and venture out to do something, then you have to sit back and ask yourself, why? It is either you have landed yourself a congregation full of misfits, rebels and sloths or more realistically, you have a church where morale is low and then you have to ask yourself, “why is the morale so low?” The answer to many Pastors, according to statistics, is take the next flight out, to another Church, ascribe to the fallacy that the grass is greener on the other side, rather than stick it through and task yourself to bring morale back to that congregation. Most Pastors, who leave one Church to go to another, will find themselves dealing with the same issues they left in their previous congregation, only to find, they uprooted their families and lives, in search of a greener, easier pasture, and did not find it. Perhaps, we get a quick surge of adrenaline and testosterone surge when we “go off” and “let them have it!”,  “I’ll show them who’s in charge” but often times, the only person leaving that meeting feeling good is the one that “vented all his anger, disappointment and frustration”. One thing, Pastor’s, Leaders & Laymen must never forget;  The Church of Christ exists solely on a “volunteer army”.  It is not a corporation where you are paying a high profile executive with expectations of high profit and output from that individual, otherwise he’s out and on with the next. The Church of Jesus Christ functions by the free will offering of the Saints, their time, energy, talents and money.  And although, most Pastors understand their members aren’t going anywhere because the members are too intertwined in the congregation, by extended family, children & friends, a Pastor should never take that for granted and exploit that.  And if it is exploited or manipulated enough, the unthinkable can happen. The Church that grows is a Church that has high morale in the locker room (so to speak).  It is a Church where you are not afraid to try, not afraid to fail, not afraid to mess up or do something wrong. It is a Church where efforts are encouraged, people are uplifted and edified when they come to Church, not put down and condemned.  What atmosphere is in your Church? What atmosphere, Pastor, Leader, Laymen are you creating in your Church, ministry or Youth Group?  Is there no desire for anyone to rise up, take risks, get involved? Then perhaps you ought to take a thermostat out and take a reading to see what level the morale is at, in your Church, Ministry or Youth Group.