Well, I'm sad today, friends, because I just
got the news of the death of a
21-year-old boy, whom I knew since
he was a young teenager.
He grew up in church and went to
a private Christian school, and he died of
a drug overdose.
My heart breaks, my heart bleeds for his
family, and my heart grieves for this generation
of young people today who grew up in
church and post pictures of themselves on their
media sites hugging their homosexual lover or their
live-in girlfriend as they're smoking their blunts
and flipping off the world.
I'm saddened by this lost generation of church
kids that slipped out of our grasp and
out of our church door while still being
on the membership roll, but without ever having
their name written in the Lamb's Book of
Life in our churches today.
Our kids don't need a denominational program.
Our kids don't need pizza night and movie
night.
Our kids don't need loud rock music or
laughter or entertainment.
Our kids need Jesus.
We gave them substitutes, everything they wanted, but
we didn't give them what they needed.
They needed Jesus.
So instead of having Jesus, they have turned
to this world and its enjoyments, and they've
gone to the devil as quick as they
could.
They left our churches that they grew up
in, have gone into a Christ-hating world
without knowing the Christ of the Bible.
We gave them a shot in the arm
of our so-called religion and inoculated them
against the claims of Christ upon them.
Our kids need Jesus.
They need the Jesus of the Bible who
can take a heart of stone and make
it a heart of flesh and transform a
life for the glory of God.
Our kids don't need to repeat a prayer.
Our kids don't need to walk an aisle
or to make a decision.
They've all already done that a long time
ago, and that's the problem.
We watched them grow up in vocation Bible
school, and we watched them learn Bible verses
in Sunday school.
We talked them into swallowing a formula that
we thought was evangelism and told them they
were now Christians, and they grew up being
familiar faces at church, but strangers to Christ
Jesus as their Savior from sin.
Our kids need Jesus.
Even though they're not kids anymore, they still
need Jesus.
What can we do now as parents when
we missed our chances to mold them for
Christ when we told them, Do as I
say rather than lead them.
We're the do-as-I-do godly example
in the home.
Is it too late now?
Have they all gone to the devil?
Sadly, many of them have.
Oh, what can we do for our kids
is to turn off our TV and go
into the next room and get down on
our faces and stay there until the carpet
is wet with our tears and God has
heard our broken-hearted petitions unto him over
the sake of our kids' souls.
Never give up praying for a loved one,
friend, for there is no expiration of a
prayer, for a prayer once made has wings,
a life, and a force that reach far
into the future and into eternity, all for
the glory of God.
Our kids need Jesus, and we need to
spend more time in intercession and prayer for
them.
We need to change our prayers somewhat and
quit praying for our kids to stop their
backsliding and come back to the Lord.
Instead, we should pray for the Lord to
save them.
My Bible declares in John 3.36, He
that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life,
and he that believeth not the Son shall
not see life, but the wrath of God
abideth on him.
This is a serious matter, friends.
The hour is late.
This generation of young folks today don't give
a flip about your Jesus.
Nevertheless, our kids need Jesus.
Let us pray.