We needed a survey, a poll, or a report conducted by an organization to tell us this? Really?

“Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6

“You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” – Deuteronomy 6:7

What is the way to go? What to teach them diligently? Why the way of the LORD, the Word of the LORD.

It’s Biblical. It’s a no-brainer. It’s logical. It’s rational. It’s rarely done in these times. Sound doctrine, Bible-believing, Bible-fluent, Bible-teaching, Bible-following parents, a two-parent, father [a man] and a mother [a woman] abiding in the Word and teaching their children well.

The Word of God clearly tells us this is how it will be in the last of the last days.

I pray that all parents and grandparents finding themselves here are the exception. That they are truly God’s people, born again, of sound doctrine, Bible literate and believing, and they pass the faith of the LORD Jesus Christ, and all of God’s Word on to their offspring, their grandchildren. No matter what resistance may come.

Eternities are at stake. Much more important than feelings, relationships here, or upsetting someone here who, if upset, offended, don’t like it, well, those would be the darkness, the lost, those serving the prince of the air, the god of this world for a season.

What is better? To serve and obey the LORD or this world and its feelings and beliefs, which are disbelief and utter rubbish compared to the Truth, the Way, to Life in the Light of the LIVING WORD OF GOD?

Oh, and while you’re here — also teach them they aren’t the center of the universe, it’s all created just for them, that they are the most gifted, special person on earth, that they can behave however they are led to behave. Teach your children and grandchildren well. Respect for others. Courtesy. Manners. Good behavior. How to behave in public. How to speak to people. Oh, trust me, you will not be stifling the truly creative or stunting them, causing them anything unpleasant in doing so. To the contrary.

Special to God, special to you, but not so much to the person in the checkout line listening to the screaming, the tantrums, the sheer banshee screams and hissy fits because they didn’t get to hold the candy they threw a fit for on aisle 9 that you bought for them, along with everything else you’ve given in to them for and about.

Who is leading whom? Who is in control? The adult or the child?

The erosion of behavior, manners, courtesy, and respect is evidenced in the overwhelming majority of adults these days. Because they were never taught by their parents or grandparents. Anything goes. Be however you want. However, you’re moved. The decline, the erosion of society, began a generation or two ago and continues.

As we are in the days of Noah and Lot, and it behooves all parents, all grandparents who profess to know the LORD to teach their children, their grandchildren differently than the world is NOT taught, to be reared in the fear of the LORD, to have the Word instilled within their hearts and minds, and to walk as good citizens while here. Makes sense, doesn’t it?

Just look around. Listen. Because that hasn’t been the understanding or the way for a long, long time.

We have what we have because we have strayed from the Holy Bible. Turned from God to our own ways, our own teachings and beliefs to suit us rather than fearing and obeying God.

There are consequences for such behaviors.

Read on…

Ken Pullen, Friday, June 12th, 2026

Parents Remain Essential to Instilling Authentic Faith in Next Generation

June 8, 2026

By Dan Hart

Reprinted from The Washington Stand

With the rate of religious practice among young people in the U.S. at levels significantly below older generations, concerns are growing over a likely future America of diminished church attendance and a higher proportion of morally ungrounded citizens. A new report released last week identifies ways that parents can help mitigate a continued decline in religious practice by passing their faith on to their children.

According to data compiled by the Pew Research Center last December, Americans in the youngest age bracket (18-30) surveyed the lowest of any other age bracket in response to four questions about faith, including the percentage identifying with a religion (57%), those that pray daily (32%), those that say religion is “very important in their lives” (33%), and those who attend religious services at least monthly (tied for second lowest at 31%).

“While belief has not disappeared, it has become more individualized and less connected to church life,” write sociologists Jesse Smith and Jane Lankes Smith, who authored the report “Passing the Torch: How Faith Moves Across Generations” published by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) and Communio. “As a result, many religious communities now face a sustained pattern of generational decline rather than temporary fluctuation, raising concerns for churches and church members alike about the long-term vitality of their congregation.”

The authors go on to note, “Research consistently shows that families are the single most important factor in whether children adopt and maintain faith into adulthood.” They argue that regular church attendance when children are young is key to attendance as adults, observing that “when parents reported attending church weekly while raising their children, a predicted 26% of their children did the same in their 30s and 40s, compared to only 12% whose parents were not weekly attenders.”

Additionally, they highlight data showing that “when parents identified religion as being very important in their lives, nearly two-thirds of their children were predicted to say the same as adults, compared to less than half of those whose parents did not affirm the high importance of religion.” What’s more, “parents who prayed daily had a 47% chance of having children who did the same as adults, compared to less than one-third when parents did not pray daily.”

Another key aspect identified by the report is the importance of parents regularly discussing faith amid their daily lives. The authors point out that many Christian parents in today’s culture have tended to shy away from emphasizing religious discussion with their kids for fear of pushing them away from the faith by “jamming it down their throats.” But “according to the data, efforts to pass on the faith are more often undermined not by parents laying it on too thick, but by taking too light a touch,” they highlight. Since Christianity is rarely uplifted and often denigrated in modern society, Smith and Lankes Smith urge parents to “set a tone in the household where talk of religion is normal and to prepare for the hard theological or moral conversations, especially as their kids get older.”

The strength of the marriage of the mother and father was identified as another key factor in children’s faith formation. “Parents in troubled marriages are likely to have more difficulty coordinating the time and effort needed for effective faith formation,” the authors explained. “When children see loving, harmonious marriages preached at church but witness marital strife at home, this creates cognitive dissonance that makes Christianity harder to internalize.” Data analyzed in the report showed more faith-related conversations with their kids happening per week and a higher probability of their kids praying daily with couples who reported being in happy and satisfying marriages.

But faith transmission cannot rest solely upon the shoulders of moms and dads, the report noted. Smith and Lankes Smith also underscored that an engaged church community is similarly integral to forming the faith of children. They write that pastors must minister to families by offering ongoing religious education to parents (not just to children), expand marriage ministries, create space for community, and invest in youth ministry. This will foster congregational involvement for both parents and adolescents, which “is linked to higher levels of faith commitment when children reach adulthood.”

Experts like Family Research Council Senior Fellow Joseph Backholm say that the IFS/Communio report further proves the principle that faith is primarily passed on through lived witness, not merely through words and exhortations.

“These results seem to communicate that children are watching their parents’ lives and deciding whether they like what they see,” he told The Washington Stand. “If we enjoy being with our parents, and believe their marriage is something we’d like to have ourselves, it makes sense that we’d be more interested in what they tell us about the purpose of life and what we should believe. Of course, the gospel is true despite the fact that people are hypocrites, but there’s little doubt that a life in which actions match words is more compelling to those who are watching. That includes our children.”

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand

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