So often we hear that young people are leaving the church in droves. I believe this true.Of my entire pathfinder group of ten only three of us are going to church and only two are baptized members. Five of the ten were brothers and their whole family left the church when they went through a serious family crisis. This happened before the oldest was 16. The other two were siblings and I'm not sure what happened I just know they don't come to church anymore. But I'm writing this not to reflect on why they left, though that may be important at some time and place, instead I want to state why I stayed. I can only say that this is my personal experience and it may or may not be a reflection of anyone else's reasons for staying.
1. The number one reason I stayed in the church is because i have found a personal saving relationship with Jesus christ. If i did not know jesus there would be little to keep me here because church is empty outside that framework.
2. I believe that the bible is the inspired word of God and because of that i believe that the Seventh-Day Adventist church is the remnant church.
3. If I am really living the Christian life then any wanderlust or thirst for adventure will be satisfied by God. When I read about Paul he didn't have a feel good fuzzy religion. He had a dynamic walk with God. Truly how can I sit around going through the mundane routine of life when there is a world to be warned-i mean Jesus is coming soon and we live in perilous times. (I'm not really sure how al that relates to the topic at hand except that I believe jesus is coming soon and I need to get out there and tell people- preaching to myself)
4. There are people in the church who showed me jesus when my faith was so weak that I wanted to give up and walk out. Never has God forsaken me. He has given to me a precious few who have been close friends and loved me despite my flaws and shown me the love of jesus no matter what (they didn't always say what I wanted to heat but weren't afraid to say what I needed to hear).
I guess my list would boil down to relationship with Jesus, relationship with people, and a deep belief in the word of God and he had given us a special message for these last days.
I'm still looking for a place to call home but I don't expect the church to be that place (maybe to a degree because it is a foretaste of heaven). This is just a reminder that heaven is our home and this world is temporary. We are nomads in this world .
