My wife and I have a lot of conversations that I wish could be broadcast to everyone. One of the most recent had to do with a statement I made in a sermon recently. I said, “Some of you are setting your children up for failure”. I haven’t changed my mind and I can’t get this off my mind. What we see happening in America is a national tragedy.

People often wonder how the world got in such a mess, but it is no wonder—the answer should be obvious. Considering the way the average child is raised today it is a miracle that it’s not worse. Most of them don’t stand a chance. During the most formative years of their life they grow up in homes without natural affection, discipline, or godly instruction. Then they are sent off to a public school where they are exposed to everything under the sun. How do you expect them to turn out? Why do we wonder why they lack a work ethic, sense of responsibility, respect for others, and moral standards?

The seriousness of this problem is something I can’t stop thinking about and it literally moves my wife to tears. How can we not think about it? I realize that we can’t control every area of their lives, but we most assuredly can control what they get in the home. And, that goes a long way in helping them overcome the other forces at work in their lives. If they don’t get what they need in the home, all the government programs and church ministries in the world won’t help.

If you are a parent, or a grandparent raising children, you need to understand that you are the most important person in the world to those children. Their best chance of becoming a decent person and productive citizen is you! If you fail the chances are nearly 100% that they will fail. It should be your desire to be the best parent possible, and that means giving them what they need. That doesn’t mean give them everything they want! We have too much of that already. That’s a big part of the problem today–children are running the households.

Speaking of what children need, I’ll never forget hearing Bill Rice preach a sermon entitled “Love Em, Lick Em, Learn Em”. Well, you can outline it anyway you please, but there are some basic things that all children need and Rice’s sermon dealt with the big three. Children need love, discipline, and direction. The problem is that you can give people all the information they need to become great parents, but it won’t do any good unless they commit themselves to it. That’s the biggest roadblock. We keep asking , “What in the world is wrong with these kids today?”, when we should be asking “What in the world is wrong with parents today?”What we’re seeing is pitiful, criminal, and sinful.

Certainly none of us are perfect parents, but we all could and should do better than we do. Our children didn’t ask to be born. We brought them into the world and we ought to prepare them for it and help them through it. Too many parents just sit back watching their children grow without making any serious effort to “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4)—that is a sin. It you are a parent you owe your children and some of you are way behind on your payments. Think about it!

I often hear/read phrases like,”I love my church”, “Great church!”, “Wonderful church”, “I’m so proud of my church!”, etc. Really? Why? What makes a church good, great, or wonderful? Have you ever thought about that? Saying it’s so doesn’t make it so.

Why you like a particular church is an important question. Is it because of the pastor’s powerful preaching, or the sensational singing, or the friendly folks, or the camaraderie of the congregation,or the beautiful building? Sadly most folks don’t have a clue when it comes to determining whether a church is good or not. Most people make that determination based on whether or not they enjoy the services– without any consideration for what it believes.

While this could lead to a discussion about numerous doctrines, let’s just stick with one– what does your church teach about salvation? Do you really know? Does it teach that that baptism, or works of any type are necessary for salvation? Does it teach the doctrine of eternal security– that you can never lose your salvation? Naturally we could go on and on with this line of questioning, but if a church is wrong about this there is nothing good about it. Any church, regardless of it’s name, that teaches that which is contrary to what the Bible teaches about salvation is not a place where you ought to be. Those who are guilty of this are condemned in the strongest possible language in Gal. 1:8-9 “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any [man] preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.”

We hear a lot of talk about joining the “church of your choice“, but you better be careful about the choice you make! It could be fatal. Religion is the biggest enemy on the face of the earth. Those who teach a false gospel deceive people into believing a lie that leads to their eternal damnation. This is a matter that you cannot afford to be wrong about. And being sincere about your beliefs or dedicated to your church is not good enough. If what you believe about salvation is not according to the truth you will spend eternity in a devil’s hell, separated from God forever. Only the truth will set you free, and the truth of the matter is found in Eph. 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:Not of works, lest any man should boast.”.

Dear friend, don’t assume that you are hearing the truth because the pastor is eloquent, or because grandpa and grandma were members of the church, or because it is the most popular church in town. There is too much at stake for you to be wrong. Do as the Bereans did, they “…received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11). If you have a Bible in you hand there is absolutely no reason for you to be confused in you head or troubled in your heart about the way of salvation–God has made it perfectly clear. Here was Paul’s answer to the jailer’s question, “what must I do to be saved?”— “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved..” (Acts 16:31). Any church that adds or takes away anything from that statement is guilty of heresy and you ought to get away from it as fast as possible. Think about it.

It is common to have people ask, “How are you?”, or “How is the church doing?”. I fear we are often deceptive in our answers. I don’t want to accuse anyone of lying, but I suspect that some do. Many are more concerned about saying what they want people to think than they are about the truth. Their pride causes them to distort the truth and put themselves in the best possible light. But probably the biggest problem about this is our ignorance. We tend to think everything is fine when it isn’t.

So how are we doing—for real? Well here are some things you need to consider. Surveys show that more than 4,000 churches close every year. There is less than half the number of churches today than there were only 100 years ago, and 3,500 people a day leave the church. Understand— the word “church” is used loosely here, so let’s narrow it down to the Southern Baptist. In 2014 1,000 Southern Baptist churches closed! That is sad, but no surprise when you consider that 25% of all Southern Baptist churches had zero baptisms! 60%baptized no one between the ages of 12-17 and 80% averaged less than one baptism of young adults (18-29). That is shocking!

In addition to the ever increasing immorality everywhere and the declining churches, there is another problem that needs to be considered. I just read that “On this planet, there are about 7,000 living languages. 1,860 of them do not have a single word of Scripture. 4,500 languages do not have a full Bible. That’s more than 1 billion Bibleless people.” So let’s go back to our question– how are we doing? I would say, to put it mildly, not very well! After all these years we have yet to make God’s Word available to this vast multitude. Why?

I raise this question because until we see the need for it there will be no improvement. As long as we think all is well when it isn’t we won’t do anything to change things. O how easily we deceive ourselves! Even as we look at these facts and figures there is a tendency to compare our church with others and assume that we’re doing very well, when the truth is we could be doing a lot better. We aren’t doing as we should, “doing well”, until we’re doing all we can. God demands our best and if we give less than that we need to improve. So how are we doing?

That question ought to raise the other question—“How are you doing?”. How the church does is determined by what the individual members do. No church can be expected to be better than then members who make it up. If you want the church to be at its best you have to be at your best. It is unfair to complain about the faults of the church and to excuse your own. How are you doing? Think about it !