New Research Explores What’s Replacing Religion For Young People

By
Pastor Dewey Moede
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The Church must pray for the Church….We are losing our young people…..and pray for our young people, listen to them……I love our youngsters, so many give them a bad rap…….Christians behaving badly has a lot to do with this as far as I am concerned. So many set a bad example for your young people. The Church is also failing to carry out The Great Commission, it is not a suggestion, it is a command. Too many pep rallies, not enough substance and accountability. My daddy taught me to look at myself when something was failing, the Church needs to look in the mirror before it is to late. Gotta preach Heaven and Hell in love. We need to Baptize people and help grow them up in Christ. Too many are baptized and then get no guidance afterwards, Sunday School is a key…..Veteran Pastor Don Kimbro of Albuquerque told me years ago that the Church was in trouble, “Dewey, the Church is not baptizing people, not training them afterwards..helping them grow up in Jesus.”  By the way, so many Christians get upset when there is talk of the removal of the Ten Commandments from a public place….why do not they not do the same when there is no posting of the Ten Commandments in their own Church or home????? Do Pastors even preach the Ten Commandments anymore? Do you follow the Ten Commandments? Are they posted in your home? We have them posted in my office here at home. How awesome would it be if Christians would follow the Ten Commandments? Be an awesome Godly role model for our young people! I have patterned my sermons from the works of Billy Graham, Adrian Rogers and Charles Stanley. I for years have listened to, read their messages and read their books, but most of all, all my messages are from the Holy Spirit. ……FGGAM is blessed by Dr. Stanley in gifts of study material. I also have around 25 Pastors that I seek wisdom from……I talk to them from time to time, I watch or listen to their sermons, I watch what they write on Facebook….I am in the classroom of God everyday and loving it! I love to learn everyday!!! God has blessed me and Sharon with so many mentors!

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 
By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.
–John 13:34-35

All you have to do is watch social media and see that too many Christians speak hate.

Jonathan Edwards lived by two resolutions above all others: “Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will.” And he became America’s greatest theologian and one of the catalysts of the First Great Awakening.

In The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer issued this invitation: “Let every man abide in the calling wherein he is called and his work will be as sacred as the work of the ministry. It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, it is why he does it. The motive is everything. Let a man sanctify the Lord God in his heart and he can thereafter do no common act.”

God is not a God of hate.

Study explores what’s replacing religion for young people

38 MINUTES AGO
A new research institute has been launched in Minnesota specifically to explore this question, focusing on where 13- to 25-year-olds — from all religious backgrounds — are finding the support often offered at religious institutions.

 

  •  Fastest growing religion in Minnesota and around the country is ‘none’
  •  Minnesota churches are sowing the seeds for a future revival

  • An Epidemic? Why Millennials Are Abandoning the Church

  • Pray for America Team Jesus: Christianity Continues Sharp Decline in U.S.

    The Daily Jot
    News analysis from a prophetic Christian worldview
    Christianity continues sharp decline in US

    NOTE: When writing about God and Jesus, The Daily Jot means YHVH as God and Yeshua Ha Mashiach as Jesus–the actual original names and the true nature and character of them.
     
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    Friday, October 18, 2019
    The sharp decline in Christianity is continuing in the US, according to new information provided by Pew Research Center. Pew reports that “telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009.” This speaks to the very fact that how the “Church” is perceived, is relating to people, and the approach toward making disciples, if any, is failing and things need to change.
    Pew reports, “Both Protestantism and Catholicism are experiencing losses of population share. Currently, 43% of US adults identify with Protestantism, down from 51% in 2009. And one-in-five adults (20%) are Catholic, down from 23% in 2009. Meanwhile, all subsets of the religiously unaffiliated population – a group also known as religious “nones” – have seen their numbers swell. Self-described atheists now account for 4% of US adults, up modestly but significantly from 2% in 2009; agnostics make up 5% of US adults, up from 3% a decade ago; and 17% of Americans now describe their religion as “nothing in particular,” up from 12% in 2009. Members of non-Christian religions also have grown modestly as a share of the adult population.”
    Pew says that “The data shows that just like rates of religious affiliation, rates of religious attendance are declining. Over the last decade, the share of Americans who say they attend religious services at least once or twice a month dropped by 7 percentage points, while the share who say they attend religious services less often (if at all) has risen by the same degree. In 2009, regular worship attenders (those who attend religious services at least once or twice a month) outnumbered those who attend services only occasionally or not at all by a 52%-to-47% margin. Today those figures are reversed; more Americans now say they attend religious services a few times a year or less (54%) than say they attend at least monthly (45%).”
    The Daily Jot has been reporting for quite some time that the contemporary “Church” is failing. We as Christians can try to justify this sharp trend by saying we are in the end times and this is part of the “great falling away” prophesied in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a great falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” While this may be part of a great falling away, it is not likely “the” great falling away, as the prophecy is speaking of the day of Christ’s return. What we have here in the United States is a time when the relevancy of the church is in question. The way we have been doing church isn’t working. People don’t want to attend and are turning away from Christianity. Let no man deceive you, something needs to change.
    Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
    Bill Wilson
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     Gray
    For the children in rural Ghana, the need is great

    By Pastor William Agbeti
    “Father, we have a huge challenge!” That was the alarming prayer that sprung up in my heart when we registered the 181st child that showed up for our feeding program this month, against an invited number of 150! The makeshift auditorium of the local rural church, Bread of Life Sanctuary, that we are supporting and where we fed the children, was packed to full capacity by both invited and uninvited rural children. These started showing up in their numbers, with great excitement, hours before the announced time of 1:00 pm! They came from poor rural communities spread miles apart.
    As a result, we were compelled to set up an overflow area outside the auditorium to contain the extra numbers that kept pouring in! Many were reported to have come very early in the morning to survey the area to assure themselves that the feeding program was for real! We ran out of rented chairs and could not get any to rent in the whole of the Kojonya community where the program was held, forcing us to go for benches and other types of chairs for the children.  An hour before the official start of the program, which was held under the theme, JESUS – OUR BREAD OF LIFE!, we had 200 rural children on our hands to feed with both spiritual and physical food! 
    Naturally, I started panicking! How could we possibly feed all these needy children? And we were still counting! Just then, definitely by divine intervention, a volunteer stepped up unto the platform where the musical instruments were and started singing: “We serve a Miracle working God who never fails!”
    Immediately, the spirit of panic left me and I dashed down to where the cooks were. I asked the chief volunteer cook if we have enough to feed all the children. She reported they had noticed the situation and had reduced the size of the fried chicken by half, thereby creating 300 pieces! Thankfully she confirmed also there was going to be enough rice for all, if the intended portions were also reduced by half! Thank you Father, I exclaimed silently! Half a portion is better than no portion at all! I tried to convince myself!
    It turned out to be a
    The Daily Jot supported ministry in Ghana feeds, clothes and provides clean water for hundreds of children
    first-time experience for the 200 children.  Many of these had never eaten fried rice! They were treated to a popular nutritious local drink called SOBOLO, made out of the hibiscus flower. They also had popcorn and a received donations of clothing. Our regular musical chairs and dancing competitions were held and the winners were presented with Bibles. At the tail end of the program, majority of the children took decisions to accept Christ and were invited to attend church. These were given summarized lessons about the Old and New Testaments. They learned there are 66 books in the Bible, with 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New. 
    The need for them to have their own Bibles and carry them at all times was emphasized. We had a head count of the children who had Bibles and it turned out only a handful of them had bibles. Well over 150 had no Bibles. We promised to organize Bibles for distribution to them. 
    As usual, I observed four developments that greatly humbled me and brought tears to my eyes! First, the portions of meals were obviously not enough for some of the children!  Secondly, many did not have popcorn to eat and were openly disappointed! Thirdly, when we assembled to have a group photograph, scores of children came over to cling to me, and will not let go; making me almost fall down! I had to control the tears welling up in my eyes! Lastly, after it all, a small boy aged about four walked to me and pointed out to something on a table somewhere. 
    It was another child’s pair of shoes! I checked his name on the register of names, asked a volunteer to find out where he came from, and promised to bring him a pair of shoes! How can I ever fail to deliver on this promise?  Meanwhile, I am still thinking about how to address the overwhelming food needs of the children, with a regular monthly, if not weekly, feeding program for at least a year! This is my newest burden I have chosen to carry, so help me God!
    Against above backdrop, we have purposed to have follow up activities to help establish the children in local churches, give them Bibles, supply some of their personal needs and win them and many more away from the reach or influence of Islam, traditionalist and other pagan and oppressive religions!
    Hopefully, with a rippling effect and impact on our target children and rural communities, we would make a profound mark on rural Ghana with the feeding program! On the whole we had two local rural churches and two local NGOs supporting the program with children they bused to the venue, biblical literature and volunteers! To God be the Glory for a power-filled program like this!
    William D. Agbeti

    The Daily Jot is totally reader supported. My wife, Chris, and I do not take a salary or receive any remuneration for this work. Your gifts go directly to assisting us in maintaining this column, the website, outreach, and the Lord’s work we do in Ghana, West Africa. Thank you for your prayers and support.

    Have a Blessed and Powerful Day,

    Bill Wilson
    The Daily Jot
    The Daily Jot, 5257 Buckeystown Pike, #314, Frederick, MD 21704

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