When we lived in Mills County there was a disease that could spread through oak trees leaving these magnificent trees dead. The disease was called oak decline. When we moved from that area Texas A&M was working hard to try to figure out ways to control the blithe. There is another decline in America that should cause us more concern. That is the decline of Religion. In the publication THE SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, Allen Downey wrote an article based on some rather astounding facts and statistics. From 1970 up to 2018, there is a 20 % decrease in membership in the protestant churches. Yet, during the same period of time there has been a 35 % increase in the number of people that does not embrace any religion. The graph shows that by the year 2035 there will be just as many “unchurched” individuals as those who are affiliated with a church.

This dilemma has religious leaders scratching their heads. Each generation has become less involved and committed than the one before it. The last generation was more involved and faithful to the work than the present. In fact, as the millennials have come along, church involvement and attendance is decreasing at an alarming rate. What have we learned from this? The generation before has failed to adequately teach the importance and necessity of being an active faithful Christian. There is no doubt that this trend will continue. As Moses prepared the children of Israel to enter the land God had given them, he taught them saying, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one!  You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up” Deu 6:4-7. One cannot teach what one does not know, therefore God’s word must be in our hearts and then we teach them to our children. What happens when we fail to teach them to our children? Decline! The word teach in the Hebrew is an interesting word. It is when one takes a knife and sharpens are whets the blade. Teaching is sharpening the minds of others. In Psalms 78:2-4, Asaph writes, “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us.  We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.” The negligence in religious training has far reaching affects. But truly the end result will be the same as in the time of the judges, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” Jdg 17:6.