They Won't Come to Church Anymore

[newbie]

the draw of the world is so strong right now... and getting stronger

[Ed Sutton]

Two wolves fight, the one's that keeps getting fed, gets stronger and wins.

Galatians 6:7  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 

Don't come to God daily, then the weeks suffer, as the weekday's go, so goes the Sabbath.  reaping > sowing

  As we near the close of this earth's history, we advance more and more rapidly in Christian growth, or we retrograde just as decidedly.--Letter 1f, 1890.  {3SM 407.4}   

How we treat personal & united prayer ='s how we treat God,  how we treat others = how we treat God, how we treat Bible & SOP & Sabbath='s how we are treating Father God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Ghost.

God's Church books and our church books have different numbers.

Sony Bono wrote it,  Cher sang it, but what if it was transposed with The Holy Spirit singing it to Mother Earth and humanity ?

You better sit down kids, I'll tell you why, kids
You might not understand, kids but give it a try, kids
Now how should I put this, I've got something to say
Your mother is staying but I'm going away

No, we're not mad, kids and it's hard to say why
Your mother and I, kids, don't see eye to eye

Say your prayers before you go to bed
Make sure you get yourself to school on time
I know you'll do the things your mother asks
She's gonna need you more so stay in line

Keep in mind your mother's gonna need your help
A whole lot more than she ever did before
No more fights over little things
'Cause I won't be here to stop 'em anymore

I know you don't want this and neither do we
But sometimes things happen that we can't foresee
Now try to be calm, kids and don't look so sad
Just cause I am leaving, I'll still be your dad

Just remember I love you and though I'm not here
Just call if you need me and I'll always be near

Say your prayers before you go to bed
Make sure you get yourself to school on time
I know you'll do the things your mother asks
She's gonna need you more so stay in line

Keep in mind your mother's gonna need your help
A whole lot more than she ever did before
No more fights over little things
'Cause I won't be here to stop 'em anymore

Well, I have to go now, so kiss me goodbye
My eyes are just red, kids, I'm too big to cry

[ColporteurK]

"Are we more interested in getting into heaven than we are of fitting into heaven ?" 

Found that on  slip of paper as I was doing some heavy duty cleaning. Not sure if I heard that here or somewhere else.

[Ed Sutton]

If getting is prime, then fitting is behind, and going - forget it .

[dedication]

In the past couple years I've been thinking more and more what it means to "fit into heaven".


What makes us really "fit for heaven"?
Heaven is a place where there is no fighting, no evil surmising, no gossip, no back biting, no lording it over one another, no strife --   a place of love, peace, joy, happiness, perfect harmony.

It's far more then simply following the letter of the law
not stealing, not killing, not bearing false witness, not committing adultery, or even keeping the Sabbath
-- people need a full character personality change to "fit into heaven".

The greatest need is to replace selfishness with genuine love.
Oh -- the world has it's counterfeit love, that's not what I'm talking about.  And sometimes we are even afraid to teach about love, because of the counterfeit, which isn't love at all but based on self fulfillment or simply tolerance of evil.

What we all need, what I need,  is the love which comes from God.

Lord, plant your love in my heart, that it may grow and fill my life that I may fit into your kingdom that is based on love, the  foundations of it's government are on the very principle of love.

1 John
4:7   Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. 
4:8   He that does not love, does not know God; for God is love. 
 4:9   In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 
 4:10   Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 
 4:11   Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 
 4:12   No man has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwells in us, and his love is perfected in us. 
4:13   Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 
 4:14   And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. 
 4:15   Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. 
 4:16   And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him. 
4:17   Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. 
 4:18   There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love. 
 4:19   We love him, because he first loved us. 
 4:20   If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? 
 4:21   And this commandment have we from him, That he who loves God love his brother also. 

[dedication]

often young people leave the church simply because they have chosen darkness rather than light. Even perfect modeling would not retain all of and perhaps even most of our youth.

Yes, often they make that choice.
I know families that were very conscientious Adventist Christians whose children chose darkness when they reached their teenage years.   
It's heartbreaking for the parents.  What do they do, what does the church do?

It's true that simply "exalting the standard" in the wrong way, just drives them further away.
How do we "exalt the standard" without "shooting the wounded" and killing them for eternity?

Sometimes young people will deliberately do strange things to get attention, or to test you.
How one reacts can have eternal ramifications.

There was one girl -- suddenly started wearing clothes she knew were "against the standard"-- makeup, jewelry.  The general reaction of church members -- critical looks, distain, condemnation.
One person sat down beside her (privately) and asked kindly, gently, ___ what's wrong, something must be troubling you.  It turned out her parents were fighting and thinking of splitting up and she was feeling rejected and unloved.  She was doing it for attention, to see if anyone valued her as a person in an unconditional way. 
By showing love and compassion and being genuinely interested in her as a person, this church member was able help this young girl feel the love of Christ for her, and the unsuitable exterior fell away.

Of course it isn't always that easy.  We had a guest speaker just a little while ago who had rebelled against the church during his teen years.  His father was a pastor, and as PK of course his father and the church in general expected him to follow the standards.   As he rebelled he found himself seriously estranged from his father.  But there were two men in the congregation who would reach out to him, and tell him -- "son, Jesus loves you, He loves you more than you realize" or "son, Jesus is preparing a place for you in heaven, He wants you to be with Him,  and will miss you very much if you are not there."
The speaker related that at first this irritated him, and he totally left the church, but the words stuck in his mind.  Through other experiences that shook him into realizing that God was still taking care of him, those words would come back, he realized that yes, God still loved him, and wanted him in His kingdom, and he came back to the Lord. 

So, while we must not encourage sin, we need to have the same love for the sinner that Jesus has.
While we were yet sinners Christ died for us.

It's something I'm still learning -- it's not always easy to genuinely love a rebellious young person and walk the fine line of encouraging them to turn from sin in a way that shows genuine love for them as a person.
Yet that is our mission.