Studies have shown that 70% of Christian raised young adults walk away from their faith shortly after graduating from high school. That means that only 30% continue their walk with Christ as young adults.
We are informing people about this problem, and challenging parents of preschool, elementary, junior high and high school students to intentionally prepare their children for the ultimate day when they graduate from high school—a time when they will be on their own, and will be responsible for their own decisions. Will they be among the 70% that walk away from God, or the 30% that stay in a relationship with Jesus Christ? What are you as parents doing right now to prepare them for that ultimate day?
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it." What does it mean to "Train up a child in the way he should go?" As a parent, what steps can you take now, when your child is young, to prepare them?
Young Adults of Worth Ministries is bringing awareness to the issue, and we are challenging parents to intentionally train their children starting at a young age, in "the way they should go." We are calling them to parent in a Biblical way, not just on Sunday mornings, but all of the time.
We hope to help you in this journey, by providing Biblical guidance on what you can do to increase the chances of your child ending up in the 30%. No one can give you a magic formula or a guarantee; however, God gives us lots of parenting principles in His word. He does let us know what it means to "Train up a child in the way he should go."
raisedUP Articles
Below are recent articles from our blog to help you parent your child toward being part of the 30% that continue to walk with Christ as young adults.
The Big Game
After the first Super Bowl in 1967, it became very important to Americans. This football game originated from the National Football League to determine the best team for that year. They pull their teams from two different conferences, the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference. Each conference consists of 16 teams from the North, South, East and West areas of the United States. These teams then play others from their division. After an entire season of football games, the best team from the AFC, and the best team from the NFC challenge each other to be the Super Bowl Champs. Not everyone’s team goes to the Super Bowl, but
Sowing Seeds of Kindness
I just came back from a mission trip to witness to the lost in another country. Handing out candy seemed to be a very minute act of kindness, that anyone can do. At least that is what I thought. Then I saw how the children responded, and how it allowed for conversations with their parents. Was this what a missionary really does to build relationships? Could I have done more? After all
The Greatest Showman
This review is rated S for spoilers. This is your final chance to look away… Ok, still with me? Good. Everyone seems to be watching this and listening to the soundtrack. My barista was flabbergasted that I hadn’t seen it. The youth choir I play for screamed excitedly when I asked them about it. Several of my friends fessed up to listening to the soundtrack nonstop. So, after the second week of it being out, I went to see it. I have a few problems with it, and
Heaven
Do we long for Heaven? Do we have a biblical view of where we, as Christians, will live for eternity? Isaac Asimov said “I don’t believe in an afterlife, so I don’t have to spend my whole life fearing hell, or fearing heaven even more. For whatever the tortures of hell, I think the boredom of heaven would be even worse.” An evangelical pastor once said “Whenever I think about heaven, it makes me depressed. I’d rather cease to exist when I die. I can’t stand the thought of endless boring tedium. To me, heaven doesn’t sound much better than hell. I’d rather be annihilated than spend eternity like that.”
Encouraging Young Adults, Part II
In trying to help our adult sons and daughters, we may inadvertently discourage them. This is particularly true when we hold them to an ideal, a notion of how they ought to be. Perhaps unconsciously, we expect children to fulfill our aspirations and make us happy. Parents unwittingly try to press children into a prescriptive mold and are disappointed when teenagers select divergent paths. We must be cautious and vigilant of our motives when conversing with adult sons and daughters.
Worry or Faith?
Lately my faith has been tested. It has caused me to spend a great deal of time thinking about how we as Christians should handle worry, and what we should trust in.
Christmas – What’s on the agenda?
Well, I need to look at my schedule for Christmas… This month has walked right by me. Wonder where all of those days for shopping went to and how many great sales I missed. I could have saved some money. Ken would have been so pleased with me. Sunday: Dec. 17th: 1 week until Christmas. […]
Have you tried lying?
This suggestion is not only for parents but also for preachers and teachers. You should lie to your kids. Now that I have your attention with that click-bait title, let me clarify.
Training to Fight? Or Not?
Our world is hostel to Christianity and to the Gospel. You don’t have to look far for example after example of this world attacking everything we as believers hold dear. As a result, the world is a dangerous place for our Christian raised children, as they leave home, enter college, the military, or the workforce. It is not a matter of if their spiritual beliefs will be challenged and ridiculed, but when and where it will happen. We know that it will happen not just once, but many, many times.
Encouraging Young Adults
As parents of young adults, our parental roles change when children mature. The primary responsibility of teaching children how to love and make responsible choices remains. However, the methods we use must be different. We no longer establish and enforce the rules, nor discipline our adult children. We don’t prescribe directions or make their decisions. […]