I meet up with two guys from church most Friday nights for a drink and a chat about the week, life and what God is doing around us and also to have a laugh. The conversation usually meanders from anywhere between work, family issues, money and church life to the finer points of Nottingham Forest promotion chances. On our last meet up together we found ourselves talking about our children and their generation; what their lives would be like, what challenges they will face and the world they will grow up in.
Having been doing a little reading around this next generation, this was a really interesting and thought provoking conversation. Looking back over the last 60 years or so of history there have been several clearly marked generations - The first that springs to mind were the baby-boomer's who lived with a fresh hope after the end of the war and raised children born in the fifties and sixties with a sense of true optimism. The baby-boomer's grew and had families of their own bearing a generation born around the seventies and early eighties known as Generation X. These GenX kids who are now in their mid to late thirties have seen the world change and move away from Christian morals and undeerstandings.
We are now seeing their children sometimes labeled as Generation Y starting to have an impact of their own on the world in which we live. Children of the late nineties and 2000s are growing up as teenagers ready to step out into the world in many cases with no basic knowledge at all of Jesus, the Bible, the churches beliefs or any of the Gospel's truths.
It would be so easy to simply write off this generation, as some people do, as a lost cause and a waste of energy. But I would urge you please to pray for these kids and young adults as they are not only our future but also God's. Look at your children today, their friends and the kids you pass in the street - they are part of God's future. Who is going to lead our churches in ten, twenty or thirty years? Who is going to lead our Country, make our laws, lead companies and set policies in place?
Generation Y is going to need God in such a strong way; to stand strong against changing attitudes in a changing world. And they will only get to know God if we share His love with them now! Pray for God to make this generation into His Generation!!
Have a great day
God Bless
Chris
