Heaven's Gold
Resurrecting Faith in Today's Youth
by
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For those who aren’t aware of the magnitude of this phenomenon, the exodus of young people from the church seems like nothing the church has ever seen before. Young people are leaving the church in staggering numbers because they either think the treasure of God we talk about every Sunday doesn’t exist or that it doesn’t have much value for them. After all, nobody just walks away from a treasure.
How can kids go to church their entire lives but then run away from God as fast as they can once they are free to do so? That happens for one of these two reasons: either the Bible is not powerful enough and pertinent enough to sustain the faith of today’s young people or we are teaching the Bible’s truths the wrong way. It is one or the other. How in the world can something so strong and so powerful be so ineffective? How can something so valuable be discarded by those who could benefit from it the most?
Because God is certainly not the problem, the process of elimination tells us young people leave the religion of their youth because of the way we interpret the Bible—the map leading to God’s treasure. As it is, young people are not just walking away as they go off to college or go live on their own. They are being driven away by a religion set in its rigidity, having made no significant adjustment to its theology or ability to interpret the treasure map for nearly two thousand years. Jesus’ teachings are timeless; the methods by which they are taught are not, or at least they ought not be unchanging, regardless of the times.
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About the Book
Young people are leaving the church in staggering numbers as they go off to college, and church leaders do not know how to stop this exodus of youth. This study outlines why young people are leaving and what it will take to resurrect their faith, offering a foolproof plan how to accomplish that. Heaven’s Gold takes the reader on a treasure hunt through Scripture from a fresh point of view that will attract young people, rather than drive them away. By turning the church into a spiritual fitness center, the fire of faith can be rekindled in each of us.
About the Author
David McMurtry has been a lifelong Bible student, having spent tens of thousands of hours studying Scripture and having read through the Bible hundreds of times. While making his living as a sales professional traveling around the country, David researched the paradigm of young people leaving the church by talking to leaders of youth groups and visiting churches during those travels. David taught high school and adult Bible classes for years with the emphasis being long-term retention of the lessons presented. David and Kathy, his wife of thirty-six years, live in Brentwood, Tennessee. David was a two-sport athlete in college and also is an instrument-rated pilot. He graduated from David Lipscomb College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management.