Lifeway Research just summarized a study of Millenials (those born between 1980 & 1991: currently 19 to 30 years old) that shows what is most important in their lives.
The findings... (permitted to list more than one priority)
61% place family at the top of their priority lists
25 % Friends
17% Education
16% Careers/jobs
13% Spouses/partners
13% Spirituality/religion
12% Finances
12% Happiness
11% Raising kids
10% Health
9% Activities
9% Well-being
5% The future
5% Nature/pets
4% Use of time
Some concerning aspects of this study:
"two-thirds of those who indicate they trust Christ as Savior mention nothing about faith, religion or spirituality when asked to name what’s really important in their lives"
“For many Millennials, Christianity is a family heirloom rather than a faith commitment. The Christian faith in America is being passed to a generation that is slow to embrace a relationship with Jesus Christ and even slower to treasure it.” - Thom Rainer
Family, friends, education, jobs, health, marriage, children, etc. are all good things to value. Unfortunately, when those areas of our life take priority over Jesus, they become god-things: idols.
Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me."
May we be a generation that treasures Christ above all else.
Got an idea today while talking to some Ministers of Education/Discipleship Pastors from across Kentucky about how we train and encourage our teachers and leaders. Since we can't meet weekly together, I thought maybe I could send out a short (1-2 minute) video via email and my blog. In these videos I'd share some short Scripture, ideas, resources, and encouragement as you prepare for your Sunday lesson. Please let me know if this is something you'd actually use and appreciate!
"I believe in the doctrine of election, because I am quite certain that, if God had not chosen me, I should never had chosen Him; and I am sure He chose me before I was born, or else He never would have chosen me afterwards; and he must have elected me for reasons unknown to me, for I never could find any reason in myself why He should have looked upon me with special love." -Charles Spurgeon
"Do all the good you can by all the means you can in all the places you can at all the times you can to all the people you can as long as ever you can." John Wesley
"Salvation is from our side a choice; from the divine side it is a seizing upon, an apprehending, a conquest by the Most High God. Our accepting and willing are reactions rather than actions." - A.W. Tozer
David Powlison, of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, has written a book (The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context) that seeks to explain the growth of the Biblical Counseling movement over the past few decades. It is important to understand in light of the many "Christian Counseling" practices that uphold man-centered truths and methods in place of God-centered Truth and methods when seeking to advise the hurting.
"What Is Biblical Counseling? In principle, Christians believe that knowing Jesus Christ is the original and abiding "cure of the soul." But in practice, the church’s provision of personalized care and counsel has often been unthoughtful and unskillful. Psychiatry and psy- chotherapy (transliterations of two Greek words for "cure of the soul") claim to offer the deep truth that explains a human being. Beginning in the late 1960s, a biblical counseling movement sought to reclaim counseling for the church and provide a Christian alternative to mainstream psychiatry and psychotherapy. The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context is an informative and thought-provoking account of that movement. This book is an invaluable resource for those who want to understand the biblical counseling movement." - Publisher's Description
This video is a short interview with David Powlison about his book.
“It is difficult to overestimate the importance of this book. The ‘counseling wars’ of the past half century have ignited passions often characterized by labels rather than by careful analytic thought. This is the first broadly comprehensive history of these developments. Although Powlison is one of the important players, he takes extraordinary pains not to misrepresent those with whom he disagrees. Above all, while trying to be open to truth and insight whatever their source (after all, the reaches of common grace are vast), Powlison faithfully argues that the Christian faith must play a constitutive role in building a robust model of Christian counseling. Amen and Amen.”- D. A. Carson, Ph.D., Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School; author of The Gagging of God, Christ and Culture Revisited, and An Introduction to the New Testament
“I have watched with much interest the developments in Christian counseling over the past forty years. The issues discussed here are still very important, and this book is a good introduction to them. Even readers already familiar with this movement will learn new things. David’s book is entirely judicious, careful, and balanced in its treatment of Adams, his opponents, and the events affecting the biblical counseling movement. I hope the book attracts a large readership.”- John M. Frame, D.D., Professor of Systematic Theology, Reformed Theological Seminary; author of The Doctrine of the Christian Life
HT: Justin Taylor
"We are all theologians, the question is whether what we know about God is true." -Josh Harris, Dug Down Deep
"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." - A.W. Tozer
This short, unique video gives you a picture of how we all ultimately have theological beliefs and why what we believe about God is incredibly important.
