After eight decades of tracking the religious practices of Americans, the most recent Gallup poll shows that less than half our country belongs to a church of any kind. This is heart-wrenching, to say the least. While there are many reasons for this decline in church membership, I’m going to focus on the growing trend among older teens and young adults to stop gathering for corporate worship, to start redefining their faith, or to deconstruct their faith altogether. This trend is not only heartbreaking but should cause us all to ask ourselves some serious questions. Why is this happening? What could we, as the church, be doing differently? What could we, as…

1 Peter 5:8 tells us that our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. We know the enemy wants our children; he wants to pull them away from us, from their faith, and from the one true God. We also know that Satan is crafty, and he tries to pull our children away in a variety of ways: by temptation, distractions, deception, etc. Thankfully, we serve a God that invites us to pray, to talk with Him about the longings of our hearts. He has also given us His Word, full of wisdom and promises that can guide us in our prayers. When we…