I wanted to share a view after reading the article, “Researcher studies why teens leave the faith – and what can be done about it,” by Michael Foust, in the March 29 Courier.
There are two other resources I would recommend when looking at why teens leave the faith/church and what can be done about it. A very detailed study was done by Britt Beemer and America’s Research Group as commissioned by Answers in Genesis. The result of this study was put into a book, “Already Gone,” published by Master Books. It is a wakeup call for the church. One alarming statistic revealed when doubts began concerning the events of the Bible in the minds of those who eventually left the church. The study showed that 39.8 percent first had doubts in middle school, 43.7 percent had doubts in high school and 10.6 percent doubted during college. This reveals partly why the book is called “Already Gone.” Part 1 of the book describes the “Epidemic on Our Hands.” Part 2 gives the “Solutions Within Our Grasp.”
Another book to help with “what can be done” is “Disciple Like Jesus For Parents,” published by Calvary Press. Alan Melton and Paul Dean reveal four ways we should disciple our children as Jesus discipled his followers. One noteworthy observation was that, of the home-schooled adults who responded to a survey by Dr. Brian Ray (“Homeschoolers Grown Up: What do the Facts Show,” 2004), 93 percent of them continued to attend church. The author says the issue is not homeschooling, but discipleship.
Both of these books are revealing, convicting, and challenging. The books are worth our time in reading. Our children are worth our time in responding.
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