Reference June Men's Meeting minutes: you reported the concept/problem of how to get younger age group involved and interested in Bible school and in church was introduced. Not sure what younger age group is being considered but a good number of older local members are likely targets also.
The purpose of this email is to suggest you consider the possibility that I am not the only one who does not believe what is taught.
All of my life, at least to this point, I have been taught that God answers prayers. I remember as a teenager observing it looked like the only way folks got off the prayer list was to die.
I remember asking God for help making decisions guidance etc and I remember never being aware of any responses. For over 40 years I have asked preachers, authors of articles, etc questions relating to things they had said or written and not receiving answers. I used to thank God for our inheritance and asked him to help Foster make sound business decisions. God did nothing, Foster went to prison, we went bankrupt and a 73-year-old grandmother is working at a minimum wage job instead of visiting her grandchildren.
During our time at GSMCOC I have noticed public prayers are never answered do not make sense or ask God to do something he has already done or cannot do. I used to ask people what specifically they expected God to do in response to their public prayer. I was told by a respected member of GSMCOC that he did not expect anything. When I asked why he prayed he said he is commanded to so he does. Is God weird or what?
As a result of my experience and observations I have concluded God does not answer prayers and is not involved in our lives. When the opportunity for coincidence is eliminated prayers are never answered. Coincidence comes when prayers are spoken for a sick person and the sick person is medically treated for the sickness. If the person is healed it is impossible to know if God healed, the individual's immune system healed, or the treatment healed.
I believe historically as well as currently most of what is taught as Christianity is intended to keep the laity dependent on the clergy. First to get their attention you have to scare them and then comfort them that they will be OK if they listen to you and contribute financially..
When the Littleton's asked their grandson be removed from the prayer list Al announced the man will spend the rest of his life in a wheel chair and that "prayer works," whatever that means. Al's comments were an attempt to convince the congregation that God had done something he had not done but that Al had told them God would do. I doubt any prayers were for the man to live in a wheel chair. God did not answer any of those prayers.
The reason the younger age group are not involved and are not interested in Bible school and in church may be they do not believe what they hear. You have not convinced me but you have given me reason to doubt a lot of what is taught and God has given me reason to doubt. Paul said it is reasonable to believe God exists because of what we can see in nature. Everything else we believe because we take the word of someone we trust. When people advocate something to be true that is easily verified to not be true the people advocating lose credibility.
When talking with the people you might be alert for indications they reason they are not involved is they just do not believe you or trust you.
John Jenkins
865-803-8179 cell
Gatlinburg, TN
Email: jrjenki@gmail.com
Blogs: http://littlepigeon.blogspot.com/
http://alumcave.blogspot.com/
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