A Picture Share!

uywi

A Picture Share!

Dad goes to surgery @ 8:30 to remove gall bladder

about 29 hours ago, Dad said the words that made Mom know this was serious... "Take me to Hospital!" Dad will not ever ask to go to hospital for casual needs. This had to be serious! Well, it's now diagnosed as gall stones. He's scheduled for surgery this morning sometime after 9am. The hope is for laser process which will only require 4 small stabs in the lower abdomen and some butterfly stitches to close it up. With God's favor, and no duties to serve our fellow man here at the hospital, Dad should be able to go home and rest in his recliner this evening!

Aunt Gussie just called at 7:30 and others have called through the night, including emails that I read this morning. Thank you for what you are doing in joining your faith with ours for believing in the hand of a Mighty God to work in my pop's life.

I love dad, and I appreciate my sister letting me ride along with her last night to come and relieve Mom and Jonathon's vigil.

Mac:iBook entry

A Picture Share!

Thanks for praying for my dad and mom.

What a wonderful night of prayer! God visited the hearts of willing young people who joined in worship and openness to the Holy Spirit of God. It's awesome to see what God is doing in young people today. From leading worship to expounding on God's Word on how to have "Victory in Jesus," this was a wonderful time together with the body of Christ. Hope you are sensing God's leading in your life. Please feel free to comment if you have any prayer requests or anything you would like to contribute.

En Cristo,
RMT


Mac:iBook entry

Urban Youth Workers - ReLoad

Hello everyone... Can you see yourself in the midst of hundreds of
urban youth workers next week in the Houston Area getting encouraged,
equipped and ready to roll? Come ready to receive the best we can find
from around the country.

El Tabernaculo Assembly
(Houston's North Side)
10020 Bauman (between Tidwell & Parker)
713-694-0361 for directions
713-927-3800 for info!

C Ya There Soon!

October 23, 2004

Evangelism Is Most Effective Among Kids

Evangelism Is Most Effective Among Kids

October 11, 2004

(Ventura, CA) - The presidential election has focused
attention on the born again population of the country.
Currently representing 38% of all adults and one-third
of all teenagers, there are an estimated 98 million
adults and children who have accepted Jesus Christ as
their savior. A substantial majority of the people who
accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before
reaching their 18th birthday. This insight comes from
a new research study from The Barna Group, based on
interviews with 992 born again Christians nationwide.
The survey also revealed that young people respond
more positively to different outreach influences than
do people who embrace Christ later in life.

Most Christians Were Young When Saved

For years, church leaders have heard the claim that
nearly nine out of ten Christians accept Jesus as
their savior before the age of 18. If that statistic
was accurate in the past, it no longer depicts U.S.
society. The current Barna study indicates that nearly
half of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their
savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (43%), and
that two out of three born again Christians (64%) made
that commitment to Christ before their 18th birthday.
One out of eight born again people (13%) made their
profession of faith while 18 to 21 years old. Less
than one out of every four born again Christians (23%)
embraced Christ after their twenty-first birthday.
Barna noted that these figures are consistent with
similar studies it has conducted during the past
twenty years.

The survey data show that Catholics who become born
again are even more likely than Protestants to do so
before reaching high school. Among those currently
associated with a Catholic church and who are born
again, two out of three (66%) accepted Christ before
age 13; one-fifth (21%) did so from 13 to 21; and the
remaining 13% made that decision as an adult. In
contrast, born again people aligned with a Protestant
church make that choice at an older age: 40% did so as
children, 35% during the 13-to-21-age span, and
one-quarter (25%) as adults.

Means to Salvation Vary By Age of Commitment

The precipitating event for someone to accept Christ
as his or her savior varied by the age of the
individual making that spiritual commitment.

For instance, among Christians who embraced Christ
before their teen years, half were led to Christ by
their parents, with another one in five led by some
other friend or relative. Comparatively few accepted
Jesus in response to a minister’s personal prompting
(7%) and only one out of eight cited a special event
as the turning point in their journey. Among those who
mentioned events, about half identified a church
service. Just 1% mentioned media evangelism or other
special situations as being responsible for their
conversion.

Among people who accepted Christ when they were age 13
through 21, the process was much more diverse. One out
of five credited a friend with bringing them to
Christ, and a similar proportion said their parents
were responsible for their decision. One-fifth also
recalled an event as the trigger for their commitment.
One-sixth of the people saved as teens (16%) listed a
relative other than their parent as the primary
influencer. Ministers were cited by one out of every
ten Christians who accepted Christ during the
13-to-21-age bracket, while media and special personal
situations were listed by only 1%.

Adults who accepted Christ as their savior generally
responded to different stimuli than did younger
people. The most common precipitant was a friend
(19%), followed by mass media experiences (14%), a
live event (14%) or a relative (13%). Ministers were
responsible for leading one out of every ten adult
converts to Christ while parents of adults were named
as the evangelistic influence by one in twelve (8%) of
these believers.

Age of Acceptance Impacts Faith

The research indicates that the age at which a person
accepts Christ as savior is related to various
attributes of their spiritual life.

People who become Christian before their teen years
are more likely than those who are converted when
older to remain “absolutely committed” to
Christianity. However, they are also less likely to
believe that a profession of faith in Jesus Christ is
the only way to get to Heaven and they are less prone
to watch Christian television. While they are just as
likely as other believers to share their faith in
Christ with non-Christians, they are less likely to do
so through exploratory dialogue with their friends.

Americans who embraced Christ during their high school
or college years (i.e., ages 13 through 21) are less
likely than other believers to describe themselves as
“deeply spiritual.” They donate substantially less
money to churches than do other Christians, are less
likely to be charismatic or Pentecostal, and are less
likely to engage in lifestyle evangelism. Hispanics
are much more likely than are people from other ethnic
groups to come to Christ during these years: half of
all Hispanics who are born again made their commitment
to Christ during this time frame, compared to just
one-third of all whites and blacks.

Those who accepted Christ as savior during their adult
years are notably different from their younger-faith
peers. Theologically, they are a mixed bag. They are
less likely to have a biblical view of God, less
likely to believe that divorce without an instance of
adultery is sin, and more likely to believe the Bible
is accurate in its teaching and that both Christians
and Muslims believe in the same God.

Further, individuals who embraced Christ after their
21st birthday are only half as likely as other
believers to be unchurched. These people are not only
more likely to contend that they have a responsibility
to share their faith, but use a wider variety of
methods to convey the gospel message. They are also
more likely to consume Christian media, are more apt
to attend church services and read the Bible in a
typical week, and are more likely than other
Christians to be politically conservative.

Sharing the Christian Faith

The survey discovered that slightly more than half of
all born again adults shared their faith in Christ
with others during the past twelve months. That
represents roughly 43 million evangelizers. A series
of studies conducted by Barna regarding evangelistic
efforts portrays those efforts as a mixture of methods
designed to reach different people in different ways.

The most popular methods of evangelizing are praying
for others’ salvation (undertaken by 43%), living in
such a way as to encourage questions about their faith
(40% engaged in “lifestyle evangelism”) and
interactive conversations about moral and life issues
that hopefully lead to spiritual conclusions (38%).
Less common approaches included bringing
non-Christians to church services (27% had done so),
challenging a non-believers’ behavior on biblical
grounds and suggesting alternatives (27%), bringing
non-believers to evangelistic events (24%) and handing
out evangelistic literature (19%). The least widely
used forms of outreach included sending letters or
e-mail that encourage readers to accept Christ (sent
by 11% of believers) and public preaching (6%).

Perspectives on the Conversion Process

George Barna underscored some significant insights
from this research. “Just as our nation’s culture
has changed dramatically in the last 30 years, so has
the way in which people come to Christ,” he
explained. “The weekend church service is no longer
the primary mechanism for salvation decisions; only
one out of every ten believers who makes a decision to
follow Christ does so in a church setting or service.
On the other hand, personal relationships have become
even more important in evangelism, with a majority of
salvation decisions coming in direct response to an
invitation given by a family member or friend.”

The California-based author also pointed out some of
the challenges faced by those who come to Christ later
in their life. “Notice that when someone is born
again during their adult years, their beliefs are an
inconsistent blend of biblical and non-biblical ideas
that lead to some unusual lifestyles and some
questionable evangelistic explanations. However, those
adult converts are also more likely to be involved in
church activities and to be serious about sharing
their faith with non-believers.”

Perhaps the most significant outcome of the research,
in Barna’s eyes, is the prevalence of decisions made
during childhood. “Families, churches and parachurch
ministries must recognize that primary window of
opportunity for effectively reaching people with the
good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection is during
the pre-teen years. It is during those years that
people develop their frames of reference for the
remainder of their life – especially theologically
and morally. Consistently explaining and modeling
truth principles for young people is the most critical
factor in their spiritual development.”

Research Methods

The data described in this report are based on two
nationwide telephone interviews conducted earlier this
year by The Barna Group (in January and May) and a
national online survey (also in May). In total, 2632
adults were interviewed, of which 992 qualified as
“born again Christians.” The maximum margin of
sampling error associated with the aggregate sample of
adults is ±2.0 percentage points at the 95%
confidence level. The maximum sampling error
associated with the 992 registered voters is ±3.2
percentage points.

People in the 48 continental states were eligible to
be interviewed and the distribution of those
individuals coincided with the geographic dispersion
of the U.S. population. The data were subjected to
minimal statistical weighting to calibrate the survey
base to national demographic proportions. Households
selected for inclusion in the telephone sample
received multiple callbacks to increase the
probability of including a reliable distribution of
qualified individuals.

“Born again Christians” were defined in these
surveys as people who said they have made “a
personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still
important in their life today” and who also
indicated they believe that when they die they will go
to Heaven because they had confessed their sins and
had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents
were not asked to describe themselves as “born
again.” Being classified as “born again” is not
dependent upon church or denominational affiliation or
involvement.

The Barna Group, Ltd., and its research division (The
Barna Research Group), is a privately held, for-profit
corporation that conducts primary research, produces
visual media and books, and facilitates the healthy
development of leaders, children, families and
Christian ministries. Located in Ventura, California,
Barna has been conducting and analyzing primary
research to understand cultural trends related to
values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors since 1984.
If you would like to receive free e-mail notification
of the release of each new, bi-weekly update on the
latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may
subscribe to this free service at the Barna web site
(www.barna.org).

Copyright Disclaimer: All the information contained on
the barna.org website is copyrighted by The Barna
Group, Ltd., 1957 Eastman Ave. Ste B, Ventura,
California 93003. No portion of this website
(articles, graphs, charts, reviews, pictures, video
clips, quotes, statistics, etc.) may be reproduced,
retransmitted, disseminated, sold, distributed,
published, edited, altered, changed, broadcast,
circulated, or commercially exploited without the
prior written permission from The Barna Group, Ltd.



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Mr. & Mrs. Tony & Mayra Lara - 5year Rededication!

Mr. & Mrs. Tony & Mayra Lara - 5year rededication
After 5 years of marriage, Tony and Mayra wanted to celebrate with a renewal of the vows they made before the civil authorities by sharing with the church family. What a beautiful day, what a beautiful family!
Praise the Lord!