If you or other family members are rearing young children in your home, I have some thoughts to share with you today that could make a real difference in your life. As you know, times have changed since the days when I grew up, back in the 1940s and 1950s. Outside of school, our young people are faced with so many more challenges as to who they know and with whom they spend their time.

What got me to thinking about this column is one Sunday sitting in church I looked up to the front of the sanctuary and saw about 75 young people sitting in the first three or four rows. In fact, I guess they were there all the time, but I had just not noticed them, as Janis and I usually sit on the other side of our sanctuary.

            We have a fantastic preacher, and he tells it like it is. From time to time, he also talks just to the young people. With everything going on in the world today, especially the mass shootings, car jackings, and just plain violence, I said to myself, the vast majority of the young people in our church are not going to get into trouble. We also have a great children’s pastor, and they have television screens in the children’s department where our children can also see and hear the pastor’s sermon.

            The Bible says that the Word of God is more powerful and quicker than a two-edged sword. In other words, it cuts right to the heart of a matter and tells the truth in a way that keeps us on the straight and narrow. We won’t go wrong if we live the way the Bible teaches us.

Now, what I have just described for you is the life of a Christian family. The church services and time in other church activities are only a small part of their week as their career, work, and other activities make up the bulk of it. Being a Christian family is a lifestyle and has a bearing on every activity that is a part of their life.

            Now, here is the point of what I am saying: if you have young or school-aged children, and you don’t give them spiritual or religious training, in most cases you are headed for trouble. If you don’t believe me, if you are not directly affected, just visit a juvenile court sometime. As I have said many times, I don’t know how I could make it without my church family. As you may know, church attendance across our nation has been declining for the past several years. In fact, thousands of churches across America have closed their doors. Could declining church attendance be the reason for several hundred mass shootings each year?

This seems like a good time to give you a heads-up on a new book my wife Janis and I are planning to write in the next several months. It’s titled “Building a SAVE YOUR FORK Kind of Society.” Back in the day, when more families got together for family meals, at the end of a great dinner Mom or Grandma would say, “Save Your Fork” which meant there was some cobbler, pie or cake coming for dessert. In a very real way, we can also have a better society by doing certain things, like going to church every Sunday. Oh, I forgot to mention, Janis is also going to include several of her very best recipes from the four cookbooks she has written.

—(Jim Davidson is an author, public speaker, syndicated columnist, and Founder of the Bookcase for Every Child project. Since its inception in the Log Cabin Democrat in 1995, Jim’s column has been self-syndicated in over 375 newspapers in 35 states. For a personalized copy of “Your Future Begins Today” send $20, which includes postage and handling, to Jim Davidson, 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034.)