Over the years we who have known the Lord intimately have experienced many miracles. We have been blessed by His deliverance from great trials and temptations.Decade after decade we have proven God faithful in the midst of dire circumstances. We have known Him as our source of strength; we have been touched often by Christ’s healing hand; we have known the comfort and guidance of God’s Spirit at all turns. We have great knowledge of the Lord’s many precious promises because we have seen Him fulfill them to us faithfully over the years.THE UNTOUCHED YOUTHYet, the fact is, our preaching and experiences have not touched the youthful generation behind us. These young ones haven’t been enamored by the beauty of God’s Word because they haven’t heard it preached in purity. Instead, they have mostly been enticed into church with the lure of flesh-centered activities and entertainment. Once inside, the only gospel they hear is one that is easy, noncommittal. And that easy message has totally failed them.I know there are a few churches reaching young people in significant numbers. But by and large the upcoming generation has not known, seen or experienced God’s miracle-working power. Tell me, to whom can they turn? To me, their plight is captured in a recent newspaper headline THE WORLD HAS LOST ALL TRUST.GOD HEARS OUR CRYThe prophet Isaiah spoke of a coming day when the world would be eating “the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction” (Isaiah 30:20). Isaiah predicted that out of this adversity and affliction a cry would arise. And when God hears that cry, “He will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, He will answer thee” (Isaiah 30:19).
_________________SI Moderator - Greg Gordon
"Yet, the fact is, our preaching and experiences have not touched the youthful generation behind us. These young ones haven’t been enamored by the beauty of God’s Word because they haven’t heard it preached in purity. Instead, they have mostly been enticed into church with the lure of flesh-centered activities and entertainment. Once inside, the only gospel they hear is one that is easy, noncommittal. And that easy message has totally failed them."Young people are not any different today than they were 50 years ago. They are looking for something that is real, and they have been looking for reality in all of the wrong places. They are literally bored to death by church as it is today. They need to see and experience the real power and fire of God through a relationship with Jesus Christ and a Baptism of the Holy Spirit. They need spiritual fathers and mothers that will love them, speak the truth to them and disciple them. In the 60's there was much rebellion among the young people even as it is now, and God heard the cries of His people and poured out His Spirit mightily on the young people what was known as the "Jesus Movement". How we need another Jesus movement among our young people. Our prayer is that God would break out in all of the confusion and chaos and that there would be another Jesus revolution in our campuses and schools.
_________________Mike
