{"id":4331,"date":"2011-07-17T21:34:12","date_gmt":"2011-07-18T01:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/news\/?p=4331"},"modified":"2011-07-19T19:06:43","modified_gmt":"2011-07-19T23:06:43","slug":"josh-mcdowell-as-never-before-in-history-parents-must-counter-bad-influences-on-today%e2%80%99s-kids","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/07\/josh-mcdowell-as-never-before-in-history-parents-must-counter-bad-influences-on-today%e2%80%99s-kids","title":{"rendered":"Josh McDowell: As never before in history, parents must counter bad influences on today\u2019s kids"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Atheists and skeptics now have as much access to our children as we have, says bestselling author Josh McDowell.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat has changed everything?\u201d asked McDowell as he spoke at the Billy Graham Center in Asheville, N.C., Friday evening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Internet has given atheists, agnostics, skeptics, the people who like to destroy everything that you and I believe, the almost equal access to your kids as your youth pastor and you have\u2026 whether you like it or not,\u201d said McDowell, author of scores of Christian books, including the bestselling <em>More than a Carpenter<\/em> and <em>New Evidence that Demands Verdict.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Our children\u2019s beliefs and their worldview, McDowell said, form values, which in turn drive their behavior.<\/p>\n<p>Their perspective of the world, he said, \u201cis where we are falling down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What is it today?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere is no truth apart from myself,\u201d said McDowell. This removes authorities from young Americans\u2019 perspective. They lack a moral compass since the only thing driving them is their own feelings.<\/p>\n<p>This makes them easy victims for emotional appeals.<\/p>\n<p>In 1994, an alarming 62 percent of evangelical Christians did not believe in absolute truth. In 1999, it jumped to 78 percent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know what it is now?\u201d asked McDowell. \u201cOne of the most staggering statistics in history of the church\u2026 91 percent said there is no absolute truth apart from myself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/on_the_front_lines_of_the_culture_wars\/josh-mcdowell-as-never-before-in-history-parents-must-counter-bad-influences-on-todays-kids.html\/#ixzz1SMqy9jBb\">CLICK HERE to read more<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Atheists and skeptics now have as much access to our children as we have, says bestselling author Josh McDowell. \u201cWhat has changed everything?\u201d asked McDowell as he spoke at the Billy Graham Center in Asheville, N.C., Friday evening. \u201cThe Internet has given atheists, agnostics, skeptics, the people who like to destroy everything that you and&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":270,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,100],"tags":[1128,1127,97],"class_list":["post-4331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian","category-commentary","tag-internet","tag-josh-mcdowell","tag-youth"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Josh McDowell: As never before in history, parents must counter bad influences on today\u2019s kids<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2011\/07\/josh-mcdowell-as-never-before-in-history-parents-must-counter-bad-influences-on-today\u2019s-kids\" \/>\n<meta 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