She writes,

    “But I wonder how much these are carefully considered as being sufficiently accurate compared to what Scripture is saying or are the sermons, resources and teachings automatically received simply because it rings of Christian truth?”

 She continues,  

      “I could be wrong, but I do believe there is a concerning lack of discernment in the body of Christ today.  It is not obstinance, although with some that may be the case.  It is not ignorance, because I think there is just way to much information out there.  No, I think the problem is what I will call a theology of indifference. It is simply taking at face value a teacher or teaching as solidly Christian simply because they may teach about Christ, use the Bible and may even have large crowds and popular products and settling for a superficial knowledge of what constitutes our Christian faith.”

The whole post can be read here:

http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2009/01/a-theology-of-indifference/

He writes,

   “…Don Whitney’s Family Worship: In the Bible, in History & in Your Home is a great little book. The book is aimed at Fathers primarily, but it also has a target on any believer that is the spiritual leader of their home. The basic thesis of the book is that Christian families should be worshiping together on a daily basis. Every family, Whitney argues, should set aside time to read the Bible, pray, and sing together.”

As I state in one of the comments on his post, I think this is a good idea, but……setting aside a specific time may be helpful, but finding teachable moments, and displaying discipleship in the midst of the average day and night seems to be lacking the most. We need to stress that following and thinking of Christ is not just for a certain time of the day, or day of the week, but is 24/7.

He states, “it makes perfect sense that people can lie, cheat, and steal and still be “satisfied” with their ethics. After all, they are not answerable to God or the community, only to themselves. The question isn’t, “How shall we live?” but, “How do I feel about it?”

The full article can be found here:  

http://www.crosswalk.com/news/commentary/11596694/

“Second, when Jesus made disciples of young men (and John was called “a youth and almost a boy” by one early church father), He challenged them to “Follow Me.” Teenage discipleship in Jesus’ day meant spending time with an adult. Initially, that was with a parent who worked your tail-end off on the farm while talking about Deuteronomy (see Deuteronomy 6:4-9). If you were blessed enough later in life to receive teaching from a rabbi, it meant attaching yourself to the teacher and learning adult lessons with adult methodology. There were no cool websites, lock-ins, hip-hop bands or youth organizations pulling out the stops to come up with neat, new (actually, frequently gross) games to capture attention before a quick three-point Bible study and then pizza. ”

http://www.crosswalk.com/1416070/

“Parental Religious Beliefs: It is a “given” that parents influence their children’s outcomes. However, a 2000 study from the Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology explains just how very important both doing and explaining are when it comes to influencing our children toward our own values and beliefs. The author of the study, Lynn Okagaki, reported that children are more likely to adopt their parents’ beliefs when they have a clear understanding of exactly what the parents believe and what are their values. ”

http://www.crosswalk.com/1394540/

However, Michael Spencer (the widely read Internet Monk), brings up an interesting point in regards to some of those Bibles.  In an post reviewing various Bibles, he writes:

     “I have not had much to say about the packaging of Bibles for young people, but as one who is surrounded by teenagers all the time, I have an opinion. Take it for what it’s worth.

I believe the constant packaging of scripture to make it appear “relevant” achieves the exact opposite effect. It makes the Bible appear to be another passing trend. Such packaging implies that the Bible is boring and must be made interesting by the packaging, graphics and presentation. In fact, young people are often embarrassed to be seen carrying a Bible that telegraphs “Look at my cool Bible!”

Michael goes on to say:

     “ But even more mistaken is the reading of the mood of contemporary Christian young people: they are not impressed by the marketing of the church, Jesus and the scriptures as evangelicals have been led to believe.

    The Bible should be packaged and presented seriously. Muslims would never do to the Kopran what we do to Holy Scripture in the name of marketing. My advice to Tyndale is to make serious editions of the Bible and market them to young people seriously; make the product for “grown ups,” not for the imaginary adolescent of American marketing.

     The Bible isn’t the latest skater magazine, and frankly, I’m not sure if those making many of these editions grasp that the more you try to appear relevant and “cool,” the less you are perceived as being either.”

You can read his whole post here. 

One paragraph is a great description on how we all (pastors, parents, mentors, etc…) should handling youth in regards to the faith.  He writes:

“I am heading home today after being at the wonderful as always Youth Specialties Convention here in Nashville. I taught this year about theological topics to address with youth prior to their graduating. Having been a youth pastor for many years and then transitioning to young adult ministry, I have learned some lessons I didn’t quite grasp while I was serving specifically with youth. The seminar I taught was why I believe we need to  teach youth about some of the tougher theological issues while they are still in high school. So when the graduate, they perhaps won’t be caught off guard when they go to college and not know how to respond to varying viewpoints that they will discover and be challenged with. ”

The full post can be found here: http://www.dankimball.com/vintage_faith/2008/11/wonderful-time-at-youth-specialties-in-nashville-.html

Here is the post and list: http://www.buzzardblog.com/buzzard_blog/2008/12/20-books-to-rea.html

HT: Justin Taylor

“Research from a number of angles says the same thing: 20 somethings are not attending church. There is nothing less than a crisis in the church, a crisis that is far greater than most church folk know about and care to confront with the energies and focus that are needed. …..If something isn’t done about it soon, the church will be facing a crisis in the next twenty years unlike anything the American church has ever seen. …The more pressing issue is speaking the gospel to a new generation.
What will we do about it? Call for a conference. What are we doing about it? ”

Scot goes on to say:

“I just read Mike King’s new IVP book called Presence-centered Youth Ministry: Guiding Students into Spiritual Formation and I like it.
This book won’t tell you everything, and it won’t give you a new-fangled “program” that will solve all your problems. It aims to get to the heart of what youth ministry is all about: leading the youth (I still mean 35 and under) into a spiritually formative relationship with God, into following Jesus, into spiritual practices, into centering life where God would have us center it. It aims at authenticity. Instead of looking to the immediate fix — invite some special speaker or a hot band — Mike King looks to the long haul. “This takes commitment,” Mike says, “to a lifelong journey of faithfully seeking the face of God and living in the way of Jesus.”

Mike King is old enough to have washed ashore with all the trends in the last 40 years or so in evagelicalism; he’s been there and he’s already done that. He’s tired of the programs and the catchy theories. He calls us back to the center, to knowing God, to being known by God, and living — and ministering to youth — out of that knowing and being known. And because he’s washed ashore with all the trends, his analysis of evangelicalism is deadly serious and alarmingly insightful.
With pastors like Mike King we’ve got glimpses of changes that will speak the gospel into the next generation.”

The full post can be found here:

http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/2008/11/what-will-we-do-about-it.html

“The church writes some things in pencil—they are easily erased by the nest generations. Other things are written in ink—they are hard to erase because our church believes them so strongly. The creeds, however, are written in blood. The martyrs died for these beliefs. We would too. The creeds do not change with the winds and whims of the times. If thousands of martyrs have died for these beliefs, we at least can take some time to study them…..The creeds affect how we live. They are not merely boring doctrines. Studying the creeds will change the way you live.”

With that in mind, how can we not be sure to pass that along to others growing in the faith.  Mentors, coaches, parents- please don’t neglect this  important part of the faith.  It is a simple way to cover much of the faith for those new in Christ, yet it also has almost endless depth for a believer at any maturity level.

Prof. Drury’s full take on “Why study the Apostle’s Creed”, which introduces his book, Common Ground, can be found here