Can the Family Survive?

The family is in trouble in America in 2009.  The signs are all around us.  I came across 15 signs recently that confirm the family is in dire need of resusitation in America. 1. 60% of children born in the 1990's have lived in single parent homes at least part of their childhood.  2. 1/4 of girls and 1/10 of boys have been sexually abused.  3. 3 out of 5 teens have tried illegal drugs.  4. 10% of adolescent boys and 18% of girls have attempted suicide.  5. 72% of teens have sex by their senior year in high school.  6. Boys on average are 13.3 years of age, girls 14.6 years of age when they lose their virginity.  7. 1 million girls, that's 1 in 10 under age 20 become pregnant every year.  8. 40% of 14 years old girls beocme pregnant at least once before age 20.  9. 2.5 million new cases of adolescent sexually transmitted diseases are reported every year.  10. 9 of 10 have tried alcohol by their senior year and 39% get drunk at least once every two weeks.  11.  72% of adolescent murders are from fatherless homes.  12. 70% of all long term prison inmates come from fatherless homes.  13.  25 million children grow up in a home without a dad.  14. 40% of adults have no contact with children.  15. The average mother spends less than 17 minutes a day, and fathers less than 7 minutes a day with their teenage children.  The family is broken and if we dont' "fix" it, things are only going to get worse.

How do we "fix" it?  By going back to the original intent of the family.  God designed the family as a man and a woman bringing children into the world. Teaching them the things of the world and then sending them out into that world to live and to start the process all over again.  That's is how God first designed the family and put it into place in the Garden of Eden.  Unfortunatley satan came along one day and changed all of that.  He tempted man to take things into their own hands and now in 2009 the family is in the mess it's in.

Now don't get me wrong the family is not dead.  There are great examples of what the family is supposed to look like all around us.  There are some who are still fulfilling God's original plan and are raising children to follow in their footsteps.  There are no perfect families but there are millions of families in Amercia who with God's help are raising their children and teaching them to continue to be the family as God designed it.

I believe God wants you to have a family that honors Him and that meets your needs as well.  The family certainly looks different than ever before.  We have the traditional family with a husband and wife and children.  But we also have single adult families with children and without.  Each of them have their own unique strengths and weaknesses and each meet the needs of those involved in different ways.

I believe it is the responsibility of the church to build families that thrive.  To equip husbands and wives to have marraiges that stand the test of time, that survive through the storms of life.  It is the church's responsibility to teach parents how to raise their children to be responsibile adults and raise their own children.  All of the answers for how to do that are found in the Bible.  God doesn't leave us out in the cold and ignorant on how to have a family that thrives.  Instead the Bible is full of tools and principles that will help you to have the kind of family that "makes it" in 2009. 

On Sunday mornings in October and November we are learning some of those Biblical principles.  "Buiilding Families that Thrive" is our theme.  We are spending four weeks on marriage and three weeks on parenting.  If you live in the Denton area I invite you to join us on Sunday morning at 9:30 or 11:00 if you don't go to our website at http://www.firstdenton.org/ and you can listen to these messages about the family.

As the family goes, so goes our country.  If the family is thriviing our nation will as well.  But as long as the family is not what it was intended to be our country never will be either.  Let's put the family back where it was created to be, at the very center of our lives and our community.  We can do that if we listen and follow the principles found in God's Word!