Surely you speak in jest oh travelling clown.
Posted on 06/26/2014 5:40:23 AM PDT by Gamecock
The nation’s capital is filled with huge, sanctuaries waving rainbow-colored banners outside proclaiming the congregations’ affirmation of homosexual lifestyles. Yet they are, largely, empty on Sunday mornings. On the other hand, new conservative churches-some with liturgy and others with praise bands-are busting at the seams with Millennial attendants. Trying to uncover the reason for this disconnect between affirming liberal churches and welcoming conservative churches, IRD is interviewing pastors of these new conservative churches. Our biggest question raised to each pastor is, “How do you balance traditional Christian teaching with a youth culture?”
In case you missed it, there is a hilarious Tumblr blog floating the web that depicts “Why Millennials Don’t Go to Church” in LOLCat format. One picture featured twirling cats and the words, “We can haz liturgical dance to attract the youngz” and another showed a cat lounging on top of a guitar asking, “Maybe u would like a praise band?”
OK, I realize that you might not be laughing, but I sure was. While some might consider the format utterly ridiculous, it is undeniable that these silly pictures’ messages capture a hunk of truth. Christian denominations are trying to crack the code when it comes to attracting Millennials to their congregations. But as recent news suggests, the successful formula has little to do with popular Christian trends.
This week I learned that the church denomination I was raised in, Assemblies of God, is booming. According to an Assemblies of God (AG) press release, denominational membership increased 1.4 percent to 1,805,381 and major worship service attendance grew 2.0 percent to 1,918,686. More hopeful is that Millennials encompass of 21 percent of growth over the last decade.
Keep in mind the Assemblies of God tradition is not known for bending conviction to culture for the sake of attendance. Believe me, the AG is anything but squishy on hot topic issues like same-sex “marriage” and abortion.
Many liberals among the Religious elite would prescribe the AG denomination to that harsh “fundamentalist” category. Remember back in the spring when World Vision made its flippant choice to embrace employee’s same-sex “marriages” and later reversing the decision after contributors expressed their outrage? It was the Assemblies of God General Superintendent, George O. Wood, who encouraged AG members to “begin gradually shifting their support…to Assemblies of God World Missions, and other Pentecostal and evangelical charities that maintain biblical standards of sexual morality.”
I suppose by combining the following two passages:
2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
1 Corinthians 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
The plain fact of the matter is that no matter if you DO THAT ... it’s not going to work. Faith on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is waning and will continue to wane. And that is what is going to provide the open door for the Anti-Christ to come on the scene.
SO ... continue doing that for the FEWER AND FEWER who will come and don’t be disappointed when you see that.
When the Messiah of a Israel arrives ... he will kill and get rid of all those people who won’t have anything to do with him!
John 6
66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69 and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
“Where do millennials Attend Church?”
They don’t - they are at home ‘churching themselves’ every Sunday along with their parents.
For the Greater Glory of God
They attend Church? Never seen a one of ‘em.
Liberals never seem to understand that actions have consequences, they think they can change something, yet everything else will continue as it had before. They are consistently shocked by consequences. This applies to tax law, to foreign policy, and any number of other categories.
If you “reform” a church to the point that it no longer follows Christian doctrine, don’t be surprised if folks stop coming. LOL!
There are plenty of millennials at my Scripturally solid church.
Surely you speak in jest oh travelling clown.
So maybe we should just focus on preaching the Word of God.
That part is true ... and thus the point would be to NOT change the preaching of the word despite the decline which will continue. The problem is not with “the Word of God” ... it’s with the people of today.
Is a Millennial someone in their 20’s? We have those at our church, which is a conservative fundamental Baptist church. However, it is like clockwork: they graduate high school, go to military or college, stop going to church. I believe this is a function of several things, but mostly the “Youth Culture” in our churches.
It’s almost as though they can’t endure sound doctrine.
Come to my church, you’ll see a bunch there.
bookmark
That has been going on for ages.
Then they get married, have kids, and start going to church.
My old high schoolmates on Facebook show that trend. Some of the hardest partyers are now posting all sorts of things about church (some have emailed me that they are trying to repent).
About 100 millenials received the Sacrament of Confirmation at our parish this Spring. I don’t know how many are really going to be devout as they mature, but I’m guessing about 30. They will do so because they had a chance to discover prayer, in the form of adoration of the Eucharist, and because they feel they are a part of the parish community, I think. I wish they did so because they were knowledgeable about the Bible, but that will be a product of their interest, not the cause. (Unfortunately, the weekly teen Bible study starts after Confirmation, not before.)
What changes Liberals now make can be furthered based on the precedents already established in making the original changes - this is the rule of law or consequences. Therefore, it is possible to push the envelop beyond what liberals conceived when fighting for their “current” changes; by being advocates of pushing the change beyond their goals, it can nullify their gains and give them pause to seeking Laws for Changes.
Gotta move that Overton Window back a few notches!
While that may be true, we can still save many and STILL be in the minority, due to the burgeoning world population that will increasingly fall under the domination of the tyrannist. So keep trying to save souls, even to a shrinking demographic, so that you will fare well at Judgment.
You've heard that old story about a man walking on a beach filled with hundreds of stranded starfish who were left behind when the tide ebbed, to die a miserable death baking in the sun. He sees a boy effortfully throwing some of them back, one at a time.
"Why are you bothering?" he says to the boy. "There are so many, you can't possibly make a difference!"
"I can make a difference to this one," replied the boy, throwing another one back.
That’s true ... but while doing this people just have to realize that the problem is not the message - in terms of the continually waning numbers - but it’s the people who are receiving or not receiving the message.
So, don’t say, “No one is coming to church; we’ve got to change the message of the Word of God!” Just realize that fewer and fewer are going to come.
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