Losing Our Children Deuteronomy 12:29-32

Have you noticed? Very few families can claim all faithful children Most have sad stories to tell

A Sad Story “On Wednesday, July 4, 2007, my wife and I lost our oldest son. He was 20 years old. We saw the symptoms and tried to address them, but it was too late. He was gone before we could even recognize the danger. Today our oldest son is 26 years old. No he didn’t die (physically) in 2007. It is much worse than that.

Sad story (Continued) His soul was completely devoured by a wild, ravenous beast! (1 Peter 5:8) .. Here’s the confusing part. My son did not leave the Lord to pursue a life of fornication, an obsession with drugs and alcohol, a way of thievery, or even an ungodly relationship. He left because he didn’t believe that he (and logically my family and I) had the Truth. He was not convinced that the …

Sad Story (Continued) Bible contained all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3) He felt that “our faith” was too restrictive and there must be other truths out there to be discovered. He abandoned God and went into the world to find meaning in life. During this search, he attended various worship services in a community church…”

Sad Story (Concluded) “and other various denominations, before settling on the Greek Orthodox Church. He was drawn by the mysticism behind every ritual that made him feel closer to God. He had exchanged the Truth of Christ for the fleeting feelings of man-made religion.” (Bruce Key, Truth Magazine, September 2013)

What is so enticing? Are we doing such a poor job as parents? Are there signs of trouble along the way?

Usual Reasons False teaching Problem from the beginning (Genesis 3:1-5) Numerous warnings (Galatians 1:6-9; 1 Timothy 1:3, 4, 18, 19; 1 John 4:1)

Usual Reasons Worldliness Appeal of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21; Titus 2:11-14) Peer pressure (Proverbs 1:10, 11, 15)

Usual Reasons Materialism Polls reflect the desire to become wealthy Pay heed to what is written (1Timothy 6:9-11; Hebrews 13:5, 6)

Usual Reasons Influence of an unbelieving mate Not a wise decision to make (1 Corinthians 7:12, 13) What will the children be taught? (Ephesians 6:4)

Worldly Philosophies Not content with his place in creation Satan’s appeal to be like God (Genesis 3:5) Part of Mormon doctrine to become god Accept God as Creator and benefactor (Romans 1:18-25)

Worldly Philosophies Many “isms” which take men captive Warning (Colossians 2:8) Lead to eternal separation

Worldly Philosophies Modernism Arose in the nineteenth century Acceptance of what can be explained scientifically and rationally (Romans 1:18-21) The Bible, miracles, the deity of Christ, etc. are all rejected

Worldly Philosophies Humanism No objective truth; man is the measure of all things (Judges 21:25) Tenets set forth in Humanist Manifestos I & II (1933 and 1973) World began with a big bang and morality determined by each person

Humanist Manifesto II (1973) “As nontheists, we begin with humans, not God, nature, not deity … Humans are responsible for what we are or will become. No deity will save us; we must save ourselves.” (p. 16)

Ashley Montagu (Evolutionist) “Absolute truth belongs only to one class of humans– the class of absolute fools.” (1981) “We must now be prepared to abandon the god hypothesis and its corollaries like divine revelation or unchanging truths, and to change over from a supernatural to a naturalistic view of human destiny” (1965)

Aldous Huxley (Atheist) “I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning; consequently, assumed it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption…”

Aldous Huxley (concluded) “The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and from a certain system of morality.” We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.” (1966)

Tim LeHaye “Our present society is in a state of moral decay, not because the majority of Americans love degeneracy, but because the influence of humanism has been greater on our culture than the influence of the church” (The Battle for The Mind, p. 189)

Postmodernism Influence in the classroom Unlike the modernist who “finds” truth through science, a postmodernist would say it is not “the truth” The conflict with those who believe in objective, divine truth

Postmodernism Signs to look for in our young people Bothered by lessons on the exclusive nature of the church? (Ephesians 4:4-6) Unwilling to accept the Bible as “the Truth” (John 8:32)

Postmodernism Signs to look for . . . (Concluded) Tolerance of other religions (John 14:6) Unwilling to affirm that such things as abortion, homosexuality, same sex marriage, etc. are sinful (Romans 1:26-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

Israel and Postmodernism A common thread Pagan gods didn’t mind sharing their worshipers Exclusivity was not tolerated So it is with postmodernism The only real “sin” in postmodernism is intolerance!

Conclusion Must act quickly to save our children There are things we can do