Fast Facts
Teens and Substance Abuse Of high school seniors polled for a 2004 University of Michigan study sponsored by the National Institute of Drug Abuse:
70% reported using alcohol within the last year.
48% reported using alcohol within the last 30 days.
34% reported using marijuana within the last year.
19% reported using marijuana within the last 30 days. More than
45% reported having used marijuana/hashish at least once.
58.4% of students have tried smoking cigarettes, and
21.9% are current smokers (1 or more in past 30 days)
6.7% of students reported use of smokeless tobacco in the past 30 days (11.0% male and 2.2% female)
44.9% of students are current alcohol users (1 or more drinks in past 30 days)
40.2% of students have tried marijuana at least once;
22.4% are current users
8.7% of students have tried cocaine at least once
11.1% of students have taken ecstasy at least once
More than 150,000 Southern Baptists were mobilized through volunteer missions in 2007.
70% of Americans have said that the church is not meeting their needs. Here is six needs that they said were not being met
1. To believe life is meaningful and has purpose.
2. To have a sense of community and deeper relationships.
3. To be appreciated and respected.
4. To be listened to and heard.
5. To grow in faith.
6. To recive practical help in developing a mature faith.
As young people transition from high school into the workforce or college life, they are faced with many choices----including whether or not to continue attending church. Seventy percent of Protestants age 18 to 30 drop out of church before age 23, according to a recent survey by Lifeway Research. By age 30 about 34% had dropped out entirely. That means about one in four Protestant young people have left the church. Unfortuantely, at many churches, when you graduate from high school there's a lack of opportunity for connection with the church---a frustration felt by many young adults.
WHY THEY LEAVE
27% Wanted a break from church
26% Found church members judgmental or hypocritical
25% Moved to college
23% Tied up with work
22% Moved too far away from home church
22% Too busy
20% Felt disconnected to people at church
28% Disagreed with church's stance on political/social issues
17% Spent more time with friends outside church
17% Only went before to please others
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TOP FIVE THINGS TEENS ARE LOOKING FOR AT CHURCH
71% Understand better what I believe
66% Worship or make a connection with God
65% Volunteer or help others
63% Spend time with close friends
62% Get encouraged and inspired
Source: the Barna Group
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"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." Psalm 51:17
Focus on the Family reports that a child in Africa loses a parent to AIDS every 14 seconds.Give Satan an inch & he'll be a ruler.
Why are so many Christians so often defeated?
Because they pray so little.
Why are so many Bible teachers, children’s workers and other servants for God so often discouraged and or disheartened?
Because they pray so little.
Why do churches see so few or none except Christ as their savior?
Because they pray so little.
Why aren’t our churches on fire for God?
Because there is so little real prayer.
Mark 6:1-6 KJV
And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
And when the Sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? And what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and Juda, and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.
And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them.
And he marvelled because of their unbelief, And he went round about the villages teaching.
We need to start believing in prayer.
We can have weekly prayer or weakly prayer. It is our choice.
Put God to the test. Pray for a healing of your own spiritual life, your relationship with Jesus Christ. For failure in your prayer life is directly related to failure in your spiritual life. I thank God for those who believe in prayer. They are the ones that say "Stop!, we need to kneel down and ask Jesus to intervene."
Without faith, prayer is vain. We usually have faith in something because we have seen that it is worthy of our trust. Take a chair for example, we see people placing their trust in the chair because they have faith that it will support them. Our faith can be influenced by the faith of others. God has given us many examples in his Holy Bible and hopefully someone in your own life who has faith in God. We start trusting more and more in Jesus as we trust Him more and more. So, are we trusting Him to answer prayer if we are hardly even praying?
Here is a good question found in "The kneeling Christian"
"If no one on earth prayed for the salvation of sinners more fervently or more frequently than I do, how many of them would be converted to God through prayer?"
Do our prayers have meaning or are they the same old phrases that have become meaningless as your thoughts wander to and fro.
"Friends are God's way of taking care of us."
The content found on this web site and any linked web sites may not represent the beliefs of all or part of the membership of Faith Baptist Church. The purpose of this site is to provide information and helps for those wishing to live daily for Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Your comments pro or con are welcomed especially those out of love.
The topics that can be found at LifeAction.org
Complete Spiritual
Conquering Money
Evaluation for Wives and Husbands
Freedom through Forgiveness
Grace
Just a Wife and Mother
Living Giving
Lord, teach us to pray
Overcoming Sensuality
Put On Put Off
Revival with Husband and Children
Spiritual Pals
What God Hath Joined
What you really love