It is important to remind ourselves that we have an unfair disadvantage when it comes to ministering to children. Throughout the week, the children are under the influence of the school, the media (television, movies, DVDs, radio, etc.), the internet (email, social networks, chatrooms, etc.), and friends (both local like neighbors, school mates, etc. and global friends through text messaging, Twitter, etc.). Then, there are those few fortunate children who have parents that are influencers. We on the other hand have only an hour to an hour and a half each week to provide a spiritual...

I'm in the process of reading Ken Ham and Britt Beemer's book Already Gone. For years, I've shared the statistics showing some 70% to 80% percent of our youth abanding the church after high school graduation. But, Already Gone gives some fresh insight to this mass exodus.These authors and pollsters surveyed some 1,000 20-somethings that had abandoned the church seeking to discover the when and why of their departure. Without going into a lengthy overview of their study, the one fact that absolutely startled me was that some 40% of those leaving the church left after moving up from the...