SPIRITUALITY AND FAITH
HOW TO GET YOUR TEENAGER & HOME CLOSER TO GOD
Article by Pastor Philip Nissley,
New Hope Assembly of God, Taylor, MI
The summer is almost over, and soon it will be time for children to go back to school! Jeremiah 8:20 is God’s wake-up call to many parents and homes at this time of year. (NASB) “Harvest is past, summer is over, and we are not saved.” As parents, it would be well to ask ourselves, in light of peer pressure and secular influences, “How can I get my Teenager and Home Closer to God?”
In the book, SEDUCED: Grooming of America’s Teenagers by Opal Singleton, she says, “Parents give teens devices that open the door to a million predators that can influence a child’s thinking on morality, spirituality, and sexuality. Apps, social media, and online gaming allow access, grooming, recruitment, and exploitation of our young people by total strangers. iPad, computers, and other technology have gotten youth hooked on sexual trash and Technology overuse. Based on a Bristol University study, this is the cause of rapidly rising rates of child depression, anxiety, attachment disorder, attention deficit, autism, bipolar disorder, obesity, psychosis, and problematic child behavior. Girls have turned from the love of home and parents to pursue illicit sex,
money, and false love…”
I.
BY EARTHLY THINGS
A. Things have caught our eyes, our attention, our minds, and our hearts causing us to lose sight of what should be our priority. David said in Psa. 119:37, “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things, and revive me in Your way.” He knew that families tend to follow the example of fathers and mothers. Hope for our home depends on our getting our eyes off the world and getting them on Jesus! Roman Centurion Cornelius (Acts 10) examples this. Concerned about his home, Bible says:
1.