I have read many books on this subject. Here are my findings:
by Ken Ham Already Gone· 60+% of children raised in Bible believing homes leave the church by the time they are 20.
Baptist Convention
· 80% of Bible believing parents send their children to public school.
· 75-85% of their children leave the church by their first year of college.
Homeschool Legal Defense· 80% of homeschool parents are Bible believing Christians.
· 96% of homeschool graduates are the same or almost the same religion as their parents.
[Family Integrated Church book I don't remember the name of at the moment] Studied those who chose to stay in church. They were more likely to have been part of the “regular” congregation and work in the church during their youth (i.e. choir) They were in the main service, not Sunday School or children’s church.
Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna
Families who kept their children in church (as opposed to Sunday School and Youth Group) were:
· Joyful
· Talked openly about the Bible
· Attended regularly
· Discussed apologetics
Michael Pearl’s observations· Non-joyful families loose their children, no matter where they are schooled and what kind of church they go to.
· Parents with bad marriages are more likely to loose their kids.
· Over controlling parents loose their kids.
My take on all this:
· "We cannot continue to send our children to Rome for their schooling and be surprised when they turn out Romans." -Voddie Bauchman. The teaching of evolution and especially an old earth directly undermines the Bible’s authority. Evolution is taught subtly in every subject (even many teachers don’t realize they are teaching it). “When the education is finished, the student will be just like his teacher (which includes the textbooks).”
·
· We cannot continue to allow our children heathen entertainment (TV, movies, video games, websites, music, etc) and be surprised when they turn out Heathens. “Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” and all that.
THESE TWO ARE UNARGUABLE
· We cannot continue to treat children like nuisances to be babysat by mere volunteers on Sunday morning. We either must bring them into the main congregation or we must quit letting mere volunteers and new converts teach. Sunday School teachers must become as highly trained as ministers…because they are.
·
o Not undermining their morals.
o Teaching them to handle the hard questions we are all asked.
(and it is easier and more effective to do it yourself than to monitor what other people do)
o Full of love.
o Full of peace.
(Since the Bible commands this, it is hypocritical to say you believe the Bible and have otherwise.)
Creationism teaches: God made a perfect world. Man rebelled. The world is degenerating. All have sinned. The wages of sin is death. We are all in need of a savior.
Evolution teaches: Chaos made the world. We are progressing towards perfection. There was no Fall. There is no such thing as sin. We don’t need a savior.
Compromise theories (The Gap, Day-Age, Progressive Creation, Theistic evolution) teach: God can not be trusted to tell us the truth about worldly things such as how the planet got here, He is too powerless to keep our Bible pure, He speaks in confusing words that we can’t really understand without way more study than most people have time for. Scientists have all the real knowledge and the Bible must be interpreted by science, not the other way around. When science and the Bible clash, we must change the Bible to fit science.
by Ken Ham Already Gone· 60+% of children raised in Bible believing homes leave the church by the time they are 20.
- · 1000 interviewed.
- · 40% doubted by the end of middle school.
- · 90% by end of high school.
- · Only 10-11% fell in college.
- · The 1/3 who went to Sunday School were more likely to NOT believe the Bible to be true, think the church irrelevant, never go on Easter or Christmas, and never intend to return.
- · The 1/3 who did not go to Sunday school, didn’t like the hypocrisy (adultery, self-righteousness, and legalism), were more likely to believe the Bible to be true, attend on Easter and Christmas, and intend to come back when they have children.
- · When asked what they missed most, 1% said the music, Most said worshiping God and the preaching.
Baptist Convention
· 80% of Bible believing parents send their children to public school.
· 75-85% of their children leave the church by their first year of college.
Homeschool Legal Defense· 80% of homeschool parents are Bible believing Christians.
· 96% of homeschool graduates are the same or almost the same religion as their parents.
[Family Integrated Church book I don't remember the name of at the moment] Studied those who chose to stay in church. They were more likely to have been part of the “regular” congregation and work in the church during their youth (i.e. choir) They were in the main service, not Sunday School or children’s church.
Revolutionary Parenting by George Barna
Families who kept their children in church (as opposed to Sunday School and Youth Group) were:
· Joyful
· Talked openly about the Bible
· Attended regularly
· Discussed apologetics
Michael Pearl’s observations· Non-joyful families loose their children, no matter where they are schooled and what kind of church they go to.
· Parents with bad marriages are more likely to loose their kids.
· Over controlling parents loose their kids.
My take on all this:
· "We cannot continue to send our children to Rome for their schooling and be surprised when they turn out Romans." -Voddie Bauchman. The teaching of evolution and especially an old earth directly undermines the Bible’s authority. Evolution is taught subtly in every subject (even many teachers don’t realize they are teaching it). “When the education is finished, the student will be just like his teacher (which includes the textbooks).”
·
· We cannot continue to allow our children heathen entertainment (TV, movies, video games, websites, music, etc) and be surprised when they turn out Heathens. “Whatsoever a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” and all that.
THESE TWO ARE UNARGUABLE
· We cannot continue to treat children like nuisances to be babysat by mere volunteers on Sunday morning. We either must bring them into the main congregation or we must quit letting mere volunteers and new converts teach. Sunday School teachers must become as highly trained as ministers…because they are.
·
· Parents MUST take responsibility for their children’s religious education (which includes EVERY subject in the curriculum). They MUST monitor each aspect of their child’s life to make sure it is …
o Not undermining the Bible.o Not undermining their morals.
o Teaching them to handle the hard questions we are all asked.
(and it is easier and more effective to do it yourself than to monitor what other people do)
· Parents must provide a truly godly home life…
o Full of joy.o Full of love.
o Full of peace.
(Since the Bible commands this, it is hypocritical to say you believe the Bible and have otherwise.)
· Everyone who teaches (parents, school teachers, preachers, etc) must actively teach the Bible itself and the “reasons for what we believe (the science of creation and the logic of belief).” Apologetics must begin in early elementary.
·· We must quit undermining the Bible with compromise theories. If our children can’t trust the plain spoken words of Genesis 1-11, they can’t trust the plain spoken words of John 3:16.
Creationism teaches: God made a perfect world. Man rebelled. The world is degenerating. All have sinned. The wages of sin is death. We are all in need of a savior.
Evolution teaches: Chaos made the world. We are progressing towards perfection. There was no Fall. There is no such thing as sin. We don’t need a savior.
Compromise theories (The Gap, Day-Age, Progressive Creation, Theistic evolution) teach: God can not be trusted to tell us the truth about worldly things such as how the planet got here, He is too powerless to keep our Bible pure, He speaks in confusing words that we can’t really understand without way more study than most people have time for. Scientists have all the real knowledge and the Bible must be interpreted by science, not the other way around. When science and the Bible clash, we must change the Bible to fit science.
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