EVIDENCE OF A DECAYING CULTURE

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8.3 million minors in the USA received mental care in 2023, highlighting a ‘Decaying Culture’.

The family unit, social interaction, and politics are a few of the many variables that impact a developing adolescent. When a child’s family unit is broken, social life is in shambles, or the political public square becomes unavoidable, it can have consequences on who they become as their worldview takes shape. As evidenced by previous reports, as well as one published last month, mental health concerns are exploding in the younger generation.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) conducted a July survey that analyzed the amount of counseling, medication, or other forms of mental health therapy minors underwent in 2023. According to the results, 8.3 million youth ages 12 to 17 received mental health care, which The Epoch Times noted “is equivalent to nearly one-third of the adolescents in the U.S. undergoing treatment for mental health issues.”

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which is the title of SAMHSA’s annual survey, found that the results were in line with the trend they’ve seen since 2009, namely, that “the percentage of teenagers who receive treatment for mental health has climbed practically every year.” As ET highlighted, “Authorities from SAMHSA said that they considered the increase to be a positive development, highlighting efforts to mainstream and remove the stigma associated with getting treatment for mental health issues.”

The survey included statistics concerning the underage and their use of alcohol and drugs, as well as the rates of suicidal thoughts, plans, and attempts among adolescents. To accompany those statistics in greater detail are countless other studies accentuating what causes children to engage in such harmful behaviors and acts — all of which often lead to mental health issues.

For instance, The Washington Stand highlighted a report from last year “that compared dozens of studies conducted between 1987 and 2022,” emphasizing the way fatherlessness impacts children. In analyzing the results, the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) noted there were “clear correlations between children raised in fatherless homes and developmental challenges ranging from bad grades, anxiety, and suicide to violent behavior, drug use, and criminality.”

Additionally, the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study from 2022 examined 7,111 children “who did not identify as anything other than their biological sex, as well as 58 transgender-identifying children between the ages of 9 and 10.” As the report emphasized, “Children who identified as transgender at this young age were more likely to experience depression … anxiety … conduct problems … and suicidality.” The study also pointed out that trans-identifying children were more likely to have endured “significant psychological trauma” such as “exposure to domestic violence, mental illness, alcohol or drug use in the home, physical or emotional abuse or neglect, sexual abuse, and parental divorce.”

Needless to say, there are many factors involved in the “recipe” of “despair, hopelessness, nihilism, [and] disaffection,” as Marlo Slayback, national director of Student Programs at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, previously shared with The College Fix. According to Slayback, Generation Z is surrounded by a “decaying culture,” which inevitably affects them as they try to navigate through it. But to further break down how this all relates to the most recent findings, Joseph Backholm, Family Research Council’s senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement, shared his insight with TWS.

“It’s beyond dispute at this point that social media is harming the mental health of young people,” he said. Especially among the youth, the technological realm is “creating constant comparison which leads to a lack of contentment.” Not to mention, he added, it’s replacing real-life relationships with the appearance of virtual relationships.” But beyond social media, Backholm urged that our analysis should consider that “the way we talk and think about mental health may explain some of this as well.”

He continued, “We have destigmatized mental health in ways that are good, but we have almost glamorized certain mental health ways that make young people want a diagnosis.” Numerous instances prove that “adults are rushing children into mental health treatments in ways that have never happened before.”

“Abigail Shrier does a good job documenting this in her recent book Bad Therapy,” where she “argues that the problem isn’t the kids — it’s the mental health experts.”

It appears, Backholm stated, that “in an attempt to make sure we don’t ignore a child’s struggles, adults may inadvertently be encouraging children to fixate on them which could make things worse.” In addition to that, “if children receive special attention for having a mental health challenge, we inadvertently encourage children to have them, or at least claim to.” According to Backholm, “Mental health challenges are real, but they are also invisible, which makes diagnosing them more difficult and more susceptible to cultural and personal factors rather than scientific ones.” 

From a biblical worldview, Backholm explained how “a sinful world is full of challenges,” and really, “Christians understand why.” Ultimately, “When we live and think the way God intended, in relationship with Him and others, our minds will be better for it.” But the truth is, Backholm contended, “We live in a broken world, and no one escapes the consequences fully.” As a result, we are incapable of living completely as God intended us to live.

A major influence is that most young people have been taught in schools and universities that God does not exist, they evolved from monkeys and therefore there’s no meaning or purpose to life. They have no hope. God’s commandments have been jettisoned: homosexuality, gay marriage, transgenderism, and abortion are acceptable. Christians who hold to God’s standards are bigots, homophobes, and worse.

The true history of the world is no longer taught even by our Bible Colleges. Due to the acceptance of evolution, they have abandoned Genesis, its creation account, and the worldwide flood of Noah’s day. Fortunately, God’s Word, the Bible tells us that this would happen in the last days before Jesus’ second coming.

“Knowing this, first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.” 2 Peter 3:3-6

Christians know how the story of this world ends. Jesus in his Olivet Discourse, given in three of the Gospels, provides a lot of detail as does Revelation. In the O.T. the revelation given to Daniel was for the end times. Three times Daniel was told, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.” Daniel 12:9

Daniel, like no other book, reaches all the way back to Israel’s beginnings and outlines the whole sweep of Israel’s history of crisis and covenant discipline, reaching its glorious resolution in the kingdom that has come on earth as it is in heaven. Daniel is the key to organizing the whole of scripture around the main themes of kingdom, covenant, and mystery. But it is Jesus’ Olivet prophecy in particular, and the emphasis He puts on one centermost event (abomination of desolation), that becomes the key that opens not only Daniel but also sets all the prophecies spoken concerning the coming day of the Lord in clearest covenant context.

We must remember that the NT revelation of the mystery of the gospel is built around Christ’s first coming, His departure, and His return to Israel, specifically to the Mount of Olives from whence He ascended. He must return to the place where He was crucified under the placard that said, “This is Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

Why end the age just there, in that physical locality? Why has God constructed the end of the age around an ancient land dispute that is divinely calculated to plunge the nations into an insoluble crisis from which none will be able to extricate themselves? (Zech 12:2-3). Why would God bind together the issue of the mystery of the gospel with the mystery of Israel?

Part of the answer regards His deliberate intention that both comings would be surrounded by an element of mystery is to elude the pride of self-reliance (Mt. 11:25-26), just as Paul warns in Ro. 11:25. Just as the mystery of Christ’s twofold coming so deeply searched and tested Jewish hearts, just so, the mystery of Israel is designed to test and sift the hearts of the nations, even gentile believers.

But there is one important difference: The mystery of Christ’s cross and twofold coming was not only hidden from Peter and the disciples (Mt 16:22; Lk 18:34); it was hidden even from the angelic powers (1 Cor 2:7-8). Not so the mystery surrounding the Lord’s return.

Those well-marked days will only come “as a thief” upon the unregenerate church and the unbelieving world, but not upon the faithful children of the light (1 Thess. 5:4). We know this because Daniel’s prophecy is clear that the vision will be unsealed and known to the wise at the time of the end. They will be doing great exploits, instructing many, and turning many to righteousness. A countless number will be saved out of, “the great tribulation (Rev 7:14).

But the larger answer to the question has all to do with the completion of an ancient covenant promise. It is the age-ending climax of the “everlasting covenant” that forms the framework of the future. In the larger context of God’s eternal purpose in Christ, this is what defines how and why the age ends just as the prophecy of both testaments so fully describes.

Reggie Kellie of Mystery of Israel (www.mysteryofisrael.org) says, “Towards the goal of seeing the big picture, I believe the Lord Jesus Himself has given us the key to establish what I like to call a “plumbline of simplicity” that will align and pull many of the strands together into a coherent clarity. The object will not only be to know what is most important to know, but how best to show others how to make the case from scripture without getting bogged down in details, in a way that will equip others to equip others.

If observed, God has given us an amazing, and now especially timely, provision to equip the body, not only to escape the manifold forms of end-time deception but to have the Lord’s own, personally commended key of interpretation that will enable them to “instruct many” and “turn many” to righteousness” (Dan 11:32-33; 12:3, 10).

Much of the back end of this post is extracted from an article by Reggie Kelly The Olivet Key to Daniel’s Prophecy of the End

GENDER TRANSITION SURGERIES DRASTICALLY INCREASES RISK OF SUICIDE

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An extensive study published last month entitled “Risk of Suicide and Self-Harm Following Gender-Affirmation Surgery” evaluated patient data from nearly 60 U.S. healthcare organizations, comprising millions of patients. The data analyzed covered a full 20 years, from February 4, 2003, to February 4, 2023.

Over 1,500 patients, called “Cohort A,” were “adults aged 18-60 who had gender-affirming surgery and an emergency visit”; nearly 16 million patients, called “Cohort B,” were a “control group of adults with emergency visits but no gender-affirming surgery”; while almost 150,000 patients, called “Cohort C,” were “adults with emergency visits, tubal ligation or vasectomy, but no gender-affirming surgery.” A fourth group, called “Cohort D,” were examined to “validate the results from cohort C.”

The study concluded, “Individuals who underwent gender-affirming surgery had a 12.12-fold higher suicide attempt risk than those who did not…” Those who had undergone gender transition surgeries were nearly five times more likely to attempt suicide than those who had undergone tubal ligations or vasectomies. The study warned, “Gender-affirming surgery is significantly associated with elevated suicide attempt risks, underlining the necessity for comprehensive post-procedure psychiatric support.”

The study’s findings align with the conclusions of numerous other studies. For example, research published in the BMJ Mental Health journal earlier this year found that gender transition procedures such as hormone drugs and surgeries have “not been shown to reduce even suicidal ideation, and suicidal ideation is not equal to actual suicide risk.” An extensive 30-year-long study from Sweden concluded that suicide rates increase after gender transition surgeries, rising to at least 20 times the suicide rate of the general population.

Countless other studies have shown that gender transition procedures are actually harmful, especially to children. A study published in March suggested that puberty blockers have numerous harmful effects on children, including an increased risk of cancer in boys.

What is driving this madness? The Bible gives us the correct answer:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Ephesians 2:1-3

They are blinded to the truth by Satan “the prince of the power of the air“, “carrying out the desires of the body and the mind“. Godless people will make up their own rules to satisfy the lusts of the flesh regardless of the consequences.

Thankfully, because of Jesus, Christians have been given the Holy Spirit who leads us into all truth as our counsellor and teacher.

“But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace… and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility… For through Him, we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God. Ephesians 2: 13, 14, 16, 18-19

How wonderful it is to know God, our Creator. To know He loves us enough to send His own Son to pay the price for our rebellion against God brought about by our distant relatives, the first man and woman, Adam and Eve.

EVIDENCE OF A WORLD WITHOUT HOPE

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Suicide rates in the United States reached a record high last year, with nearly 50,000 people ending their lives in 2022 alone, according to provisional data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease and Prevention.

“The suicide rate among males in 2021 was approximately four times higher than the rate among females,” the CDC reported. “Males make up 50% of the population but nearly 80% of suicides.”

Society continues to remove God from the picture when only He can satisfy humanity’s “core needs.” 

The acceptance of the theory of evolution and the subsequent removal of any consideration of the supernatural in science has meant children are taught in our schools and universities that God does not exist and the Bible, God’s Word is a book of myths and fables.

Dr. Scott Todd, an immunologist at Kansas State University, said the following: “Even if all the data point to an intelligent designer, such a hypothesis is excluded from science because it is not naturalistic.” Correspondence to Nature 401, num. 6752 (September 30, 1999):423#

No wonder suicide rates are increasing as there is no meaning and purpose in life and we are not as God’s Word tells us made in the image of our Creator. The same Word tells us that God created us to be in a relationship with Him. Moreover, He has provided the means (JESUS) for restoring the broken relationship that occurred when the original man and woman rebelled against God.

Let us get about telling our family, friends, and neighbours the GOOD NEWS of the Gospel of Christ. Start living your eternal life Now. Hope you don’t mind me putting a plug for my book Living Eternal Now. It is available on Amazon. Get the ebook I update that regularly.

HARVEST RIPE: THE GOSPEL WELCOME NEWS TO THE YOUNG

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A recent study from Barna that found that two-thirds of teens and young adults (65%) agree that “many religions can lead to eternal life” compared to 58% of teens and young adults surveyed in 2018. Additionally, 31% of teens and young adults “strongly agree” that what is “morally right and wrong changes over time, based on society,” compared to just 25% in 2018.

A 2018 study from Barna similarly characterized Gen Z as the “first truly ‘post Christian’ generation,” with only 4% adhering to a biblical worldview. “Moral relativism hasn’t just crept into the worldview of Gen Z,” said Jonathan Morrow, director of cultural engagement and student discipleship at Impact 360 Institute. “It is now the majority opinion.”

whosoevers.com – MAINSTREAM STATS AND QUOTES ON 25 OF SOME OF LIFE’S TOUGHEST TOPICS TEENS STRUGGLE WITH TODAY, AND THE BIBLE’S RESPONSE TO THEM.

Ryan Ries, co-founder of The Whosevers, a movement that seeks to deliver the message of the Gospel to schools and empower students to live boldly for Christ, told The Christian Post that these recent statistics reveal how important it is for young people to have a positive, biblically-grounded influence in their life.

“Anxiety, depression, suicide, identity issues, all of these things are at an all-time high right now,” he said.

“We are seeing it across schools, we’re seeing across the country. “Parents, youth pastors, and anyone who works with teens and young people need to “be honest about the statistics and really let them know what’s going on,” Ries stressed. “Kids know they are depressed, suicidal, and struggling, and when you try to sugar-coat the Gospel and avoid hard issues, they aren’t going to know there is freedom that can take place,” he explained. “We’ve got to have good conversations and address these things because otherwise, we’re missing an opportunity to have a high impact and disciple these kids.”

Thanks to social media, young people are able “to sin in the most radical ways,” Ries said, adding: “When we were young, we had to figure out how to sin. We are now living in a whole different time, where kids who are 9 years old have the mind of teenagers because of the content that they’re exposed to. They’re getting immune to it, callous to it, and corrupted by it.” But as a result, Ries said, the “harvest is ripe” for the Gospel. He said that he’s seen an unprecedented increase in teens and young people dedicating their lives to the Lord in recent months. “The fruit is so ripe that it’s literally falling off the trees up to this point,” he said. “Everyone is giving their life to the Lord. You’ve got to have a conversation with them, be genuine with them, let them know that you love them and that God loves them. They are so eager for the freedom and truth the Gospel gives.”

Time is short so take this opportunity to present the greatest good news ever told to all in your circle of influence. If you are available the Holy Spirit will bring people to you. God loved us sufficient to send His Son to die for us that we have the opportunity to get back into a son/daughter relationship with Him. Not only that, but also to be assured of eternal life with Him on a new earth and heaven with an end to pain, suffering and death.

Embrace LIFE not DEATH.

SUICIDE EPIDEMIC IN THE USA

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America is in the midst of a suicide epidemic, reflecting deeper problems that go beyond mental illness. Youth suicide has increased 56% in the last decade.

Suicide and homicide rates have increased in recent years among young people in the U.S., according to a new federal report. The suicide rate among people ages 10 to 24 years old climbed 56% between 2007 and 2017, according to the report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Youth suicide rate has increased 56% in the last Decade

Suicide rates in general have increased in the U.S. across all ages and ethnic groups, rising roughly 30% from 1999 to 2016. In 2017, suicide was the second-leading cause of death among those ages 10 to 24,

Within the decade 2007 to 2017, suicide deaths increased from 6.8 deaths per 100,000 people to 10.6 deaths, with 2,449 more suicides in 2017 than in 2007. While the 10- to 14-year-olds had by far the lowest rate of suicides, that rate nearly tripled from 2007 to 2017.

Despite concern over the rising suicide rates, researchers aren’t sure of the exact causes. A rise in depression among adolescents, drug use, stress and access to firearms might all be contributing factors, experts say.

Some mental-health experts suggest that social-media use among teens might be fuelling the increase in mental-health conditions and leading to greater suicide risk, and some early studies have linked smartphone use to anxiety, depression and sleep deprivation among adolescents. The recent visibility of suicide in the media and online might also increase suicide death rates, experts say.

The reality is our culture denies that life has any transcendent meaning, or that God has sovereignty over life, so we can’t be shocked when people take that message to heart. Hope is the opposite of despair. If anything, the latest data reflect a nation in desperate need, not for escape, but the hope that is only found in Jesus Christ.

Reversing the deadly cycle

Christians find a message of eternal hope in the person of Jesus Christ, and the Bible is filled with verses that describe the hope we have in God.

Billy Graham’s daughter, Anne Lotz Graham described how her Christian faith has been an asset in her efforts to help those seeking peace, hope, and relief amid feelings of despair.

“My Christian faith in the foundation of my counselling theory and approach,” she told Faithwire. “Even though I work in a non-Christian treatment facility, I strongly believe that I am in a position to show acceptance, patience, and care to my clients in a way that hopefully helps them feel safe enough to work on their core emotional challenges.”

TRUE FACE OF ISLAM

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Rita Chaima radiates with joy. When you see her face, you can tell she’s filled with deep happiness and contentment.  But that’s the opposite of the way she used to feel. Chaima was raised a Muslim, and from an early age she struggled with suicidal depression.  She tells her powerful story in a new documentary called “In His Footsteps” by a ministry called The Last Reformation.

Rita Chaima 2

“I just saw a cruel world and I didn’t want to be a part of it,” she recalls.  Chaima says she tried to kill herself three times. “I was doing drugs, I was smoking, I was smoking anything… I just wanted to destroy myself.”  At one point she became so angry that she made up her mind to join ISIS in Syria. “I hated people who weren’t Muslim. I wanted to kill them,” she says. The videos by ISIS-inspired her. “I loved to see them bleeding. I was seeing videos of decapitation and loved it.

But then something else happened. Her mom got a bunch of free books for her, and there was a Bible among them. That’s when Chaima met Jesus.

“I started to read the Bible to prove to Christians that they were wrong,” she says. “But I was wrong! And the grace of Jesus Christ started to touch me.”

“I was reading things like ‘pray for your enemies,’ ‘love them,’ and I was someone who wanted to kill them. Intellectually, I didn’t want to accept Jesus, but Jesus started to do a work in my heart,” she says. She couldn’t resist the love of Jesus anymore, so she decided to follow Him.

When she told her family what she had done, they rejected her. She says they stopped talking to her, and for months she was alone in her room. “It was like a prison.”

She says in the past, depression would have overtaken her. But not this time. She started to read the Bible a lot. “Jesus was there with me. He was encouraging me. The Holy Spirit was really there. I felt it, I knew it.”

Her Muslim family has now totally abandoned her, but her story doesn’t end there.

When it was time for Chaima to be baptized, something supernatural happened.

“I don’t even remember what I did. I had to see the video of my baptism. I was completely crazy, the demon was crazy, it wasn’t me. I kicked Jon. He baptised me. I kicked him.” But as she flailed and screamed, Jon continued to minister over her, telling the demon to go until peace finally came over her body. She was finally set free and baptised in the Holy Spirit.

“After the baptism I felt like the heavy weight completely disappeared. And I was so excited to go and make disciples,” she said.

“I started to want to talk about Jesus to everyone, even to the people who led me to terrorism. I wanted to go and see them, tell them that they are wrong, and that love is waiting for them.”

And that’s just what she now does, traveling with gospel minister Peter Ahlman and other Christians, she shares her testimony wherever she goes.

You can watch her testimony below through an excerpt from the “In His Footsteps” documentary by The Last Reformation.