PathLights Press

Producing Devotion Books and CDs for the Christian Family

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We seek to promote Biblical literacy among young people through the production of books and CD's.
We also publish web articles on a variety of subjects: religion, culture, book reviews, etc.

Family Devotions book now available!

CD coming soon.

More info about the book More info about the CD

Family Devotions: Why Christian Parents Should Do Family Devotions

Sean McDowell, son of Josh McDowell, in his 2005 article entitled, Why do Christian kids leave the faith? says, “Denominational leaders indicate that between 69% and 94% of their churched young people are leaving the traditional church after high school…and not returning.”

In the article, Sean says his greatest fear is that his son and the kids he works with, will leave the faith. He quotes a survey given to teenagers that asked the open-ended question, “Why did you fall away from the faith in which you were raised?” Those conducting the survey grouped answers like, “Some stuff was too far-fetched for me to believe in,” “I think scientifically there is no proof,” and “There were too many questions that can’t be answered” into one category called “intellectual skepticism.” This category made up 32% of the responses.

Sean believes that the best way to address this problem is to make sure children develop a Christian worldview.

Ravi Zacharias is an excellent apologist for the Christian faith. He says that the only faith that makes sense of the world is the Christian faith. He speaks with passion and very convincingly. However, his talks make little sense to young people because his primary ministry is to adults and young adults; many times he debates on college campuses.

So how do young people receive training in the Christian worldview? That duty is primarily the responsibility of parents. An often quoted scripture verse, Deuteronomy 6:6-7, says, “These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Who is better equipped than parents to teach their children about the God they love?

A blogger talks about how her 17-year-old is hardly teachable anymore. She said the teenager is almost an adult and doesn’t want to listen to her advice. Therefore, she is making all the more effort to concentrate on her 4-year-old, who listens to everything she says. George Barna in his book Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions makes this case as well. He says children are basically morally developed by age 9, and most of them make their decision to serve God by age 13. If that is the case, then parents should be pouring their lives into their childrens’ early years.

Many parents ask the question, “Why should we do family devotions?” What you’ve just read should give you ample reason. But the next question someone might ask is, “How do I lead family devotions?” For an answer to that you can read the article, Family Devotions: Should Fathers Lead Family Devotions?