The breakdown can’t easily be explained away by placing blame on specific elements that modern-day men and women are wont to do. First, it should never be about organized religion, or religion at all. It should always and only be about Jesus.

The Jesus of the whole Holy Bible. Not a modern made up to please Jesus.

Forget about relating. Relate the Word. Relate the truth. Relate what Jesus did and Who Jesus is. Relate heaven and hell. Sin. The consequences of. Stop projecting about “the church of the future,” and start confronting the spiritual warfare and battles escalating by the day.

Don’t shy away from calling sin sin and evil evil.

Put all the late 19th century, 20th century, and 21st century psychology and worldly philosophies, all the “self-help” dung on a big pile. Light it all. Let it burn and turn to ash.

Speak the language of the Holy Bible.

Being a living example of a born again, Spirit filled true believer living our the faith in Jesus, working out their salvation, speaking the truth, being real to others is much more important than attempting to “relate” to someone. Relate the Word. Relate Jesus. Relate eternity. Relate those truths and relate the hope and life that is only found in, with, through, and by Jesus.

The breakdown is in large part due to the apostasy, the massive breakdown in churches over the past 50 plus years — but parallel to that taking place was the utter breakdown of the family, of marriage, of morals, of every foundation within society.

Because evil is in its last gasp push as the days grow short, leading to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to gather His to Him and the emergence of the Antichrist, his false prophet, the Holy Spirit, the Restrainer allowing this to occur.

It’s all about God.

It’s all about Jesus.

It’s all about the Holy Spirit.

It’s all about the whole Holy Bible.

It isn’t at all about religion, denominations, church numbers, or any of that. Only if and when getting priorities straight and turning everything over to the Lord, trusting, can we be effective instruments serving Him. Not our will be done. His will be done. Always.

Realizing from the parable of the sower that the vast majority of seed sown will not fall on good ground and take root, prosper, grow, and bear fruit. The majority never makes it. For one reason or various reasons.

Leave it all up to the Lord after sowing the seed. While being there, tending to the seed sown, if possible, but not believing for an instant if it takes root, grows, and bears fruit, it’s due to us. It’s always and only between the individual and the LORD.

There is no time to waste. Regarding teens and everyone. No time to waste. Sopt attempting to relate in worldly 21st century terms and being false, being contrived, and trying to be their friend — what every person, young, adult, old that is not born from above, born again needs now is to confess their sin, repent, humble themselves before the Lord and become one of His, having the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lord of their life, their Savior, and their Friend unlike anyone could ever be.

Be love. Be light. Yes, be that friend but it isn’t any of us who save a person, we’re not winning souls to Christ, we’re to be beacons of light in this dark world so that those seeing us see the Father in us. Living examples. Mere instruments, true disciples, spreading the true whole gospel from the Word, making more true disciples.

It isn’t about quantity. It’s about quality. It’s about REAL TRUE conversion and not mere lip service. Going through the motions.

Speak reality to others. Boldly. Firmly. With love. That is possible. Really, it is.

Every life is too valuable to not take the gospel to them. Children, youngsters, teens, adults, and old folks — any and all who do not know or have a personal relationship upon being renewed of mind and spirit, born anew by faith in and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ, having the Holy Spirit begun a good work in them.

Read on…

Ken Pullen, Monday, March 10th, 2025

Why teens are more open to Jesus than we think

March 7, 2025

By  Stephen Cutchins

Reprinted from The Christian Post

Despite declining church attendance, 77% of Gen Z is open to learning about Jesus. The Church has an opportunity — if it is ready to change its approach to engagement.

A generation searching for more

Lena sat in church every Sunday. She knew the Bible stories. She went to a youth group. But deep down, she wondered, “Does any of this really matter?”

By college, she left. She never saw how faith mattered.

Lena is not alone. Millions of young people feel the same way. Yet, they are not rejecting Jesus. According to Barna’s Gen Z Vol. 3 research, 77% of teens say they are at least somewhat motivated to learn about Jesus, with 52% reporting they are very motivated. Only 20% of teenagers said they were unmotivated to learn about Jesus, while 7% were unsure.

This is not just a Gen Z trend. A 2022 survey of 2,000 U.S. adults found that 77% believe in a higher power, and 74% want to grow spiritually. The problem is not that young people aren’t interested in faith. The problem is that the Church isn’t engaging them in ways that feel relevant, real and transformative.

The curse of knowledge: Why we’re losing the next generation

Have you ever been in church when the pastor starts talking about justification and sanctification — and everyone just nods along like they totally get it? (Meanwhile, you are silently hoping there is no quiz afterward.) That is the curse of knowledge in action.

The curse of knowledge happens when experts forget what it’s like to be a beginner. A Stanford study demonstrated this with a simple experiment. Participants were split into two groups: “tappers” and “listeners.” The tappers were asked to tap out the rhythm of a song, while the listeners had to guess what song was being tapped. The tappers assumed that the listeners would guess correctly 50% of the time. In reality, the listeners got it right only 2.5% of the time. Why? Because the tappers could already hear the melody in their heads — but the listeners only heard random beats.

This is exactly what happens in the Church today. Many assume young adults understand faith, but for many, faith is like a song with missing notes. We talk to them instead of walking with them, then wonder why they leave.

The real reason young people leave church

Christian affiliation among young adults has dropped significantly over the past 50 years. In 1972, 85% of 18 to 35-year-olds identified as Christian. By 2022, that number had fallen to 45%. Meanwhile, those claiming “no religion” have risen sharply. In 1972, only 5% of young adults identified as religiously unaffiliated. By 2022, that number had increased to 35%.

Most “Nones” aren’t atheists or even agnostics — they are simply spiritually disengaged. Research shows that 63% say they are “nothing in particular.” Only 20% are agnostic, and 17% are atheist. They aren’t rejecting faith — they just don’t see why it matters.

Part of the problem is that the Church has largely shifted from Jesus’ multiplication model of discipleship to an assimilation model. Success is too often measured by attendance and program participation rather than by disciple-making. Many churches have unknowingly replaced Jesus’ Great Commission with a functional Great Commission that sounds more like this:

“Go into all the world and make worship attenders. Baptize them into small groups. Teach them how to serve a few hours a month.”

But this is not what Jesus commanded. Jesus didn’t say, “Gather crowds and measure success by how many show up.” He said, “Go and make disciples.” The biblical Great Commission isn’t about filling church buildings — it’s about filling the world with disciple-makers.

The future church: a vision for what’s possible

The church of the future won’t be built on attendance — it will be built on disciple-making. It won’t just be a place we go; it will be a movement we live out. Instead of measuring success by how many people show up, we should measure it by how many people are trained and sent out.

Imagine a church where believers don’t just listen — they are trained to disciple others. Imagine small groups that multiply faith. Imagine evangelism that builds lifelong disciple-makers. That’s the church Jesus envisioned. That’s the church the next generation is searching for. That’s the church we must become.

But how do we get there?

A call to action for everyday Christians

If you are reading this, chances are you care deeply about the next generation. Maybe it is your child, your grandchild or someone you mentor. They are not too far gone. They are searching. And you can be the one who helps them find answers.

The Church is not just a building — it is you. It is the way you live out your faith at home, at work and in everyday conversations. If we stay silent, they’ll seek answers elsewhere. But if we engage, if we invest, if we disciple — We won’t just see them stay. We’ll see revival.

The question isn’t whether young people are searching. The question is whether we will show them the way.

We must decide.

Will we rise to the challenge? Or will we stand by and watch them walk away?