When he was a baby, they were so proud to take him to worship. Everyone “oohed and aahed” and played “kitcky-koo.” They never missed a service at church.<\/p>\n
As a little boy, they taught him to behave during worship. They helped him regularly with his Bible class lessons. When he turned eight, things changed a little. His father took a job that meant lots of extra money for the family, but less time for worship.<\/p>\n
His father always insisted on his going to Bible classes and worship with his mother. His son had to learn to love the Lord and hopefully would obey the gospel and be a fine Christian. But the father found it increasingly difficult to go with his family.<\/p>\n
At eleven, the father thought it was time for his son to be a great athlete and so introduced him to all the little leagues in football, basketball, and baseball. The boy did so well in sports that sometimes he had to play in a game or practice on Wednesday nights. Naturally, he needed to focus on athletics. He did.<\/p>\n
When he became a teenager he began thinking that one day he too would be successful like Dad. He would bring home lots of money, drive fine cars, and dress in expensive clothes. He learned by obser\u00advation how important these things were to his father. At fifteen, he still had not obeyed the gospel.<\/p>\n
By and by his father received several promotions and raises. He became a chief executive in his firm. Attending services at church became less important than meet\u00adings with clients, associates, and other businessmen. Soon Sunday found him at 8 a.m. on the number one tee at the local country club. His son always wanted to go and, if nothing else, caddy for his Dad. He really admired his father. By now his interest in Bible study was zero. He found excuse after excuse not to attend worship.<\/p>\n
Mother also felt the pressures of her husband’s new responsibilities. There were parties to attend — and organize. There were social clubs she was expected to join. She found that she actually enjoyed all of this immensely. She had important friends and was\u00a0very\u00a0popular in society. She also found less and less time to worship. She had turned down the opportunity to teach a class of children — no telling how many times.<\/p>\n
At eighteen he entered college. He never attended another worship. He never obeyed the gospel. One night during a frat party he took a “chug-a-lug” dare and became exceedingly drunk.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/05\/TeenFuneral.jpg\")
The story in the local newspaper began with, “A tragic accident involving several young people took the life of a prominent businessman’s …” It was a sad funeral. Family and friends from all over attended. One person pondered thoughtfully why the boy never was saved. He wondered, “Who was to blame?”<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Dudley Ross Spears Read this\u00a0little bit of fiction (or is it?) When he was a baby, they were so proud to take him to worship. Everyone “oohed and aahed” and played “kitcky-koo.” They never missed a service at church. As a little boy, they taught him to behave during worship. They helped him regularly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,1028],"tags":[665,29,107],"class_list":["post-61044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","category-parenting","tag-child-rearing","tag-parenting","tag-raising-children"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":40822,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-a-man-be-qualified-as-a-deacon-if-his-teenage-son-attends-denominational-services-with-his-friends-and-is-not-a-christian\/","url_meta":{"origin":61044,"position":0},"title":"Would a man be qualified as a deacon if his teenage son attends denominational services with his friends and is not a Christian?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: First, I would like to compliment you on your website. There have been many times I have included the phrase \"La Vista Church of Christ\" when web searching tough scriptural questions that I have. I am an elder in the church of Christ. We are in the process of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":66636,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-happens-if-someone-makes-a-mistake-during-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":61044,"position":1},"title":"What happens if someone makes a mistake during worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 17, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you so much. May God bless you for the amazing work that you do. I find it hard to switch from one act of worship to another, especially when I believe the one leading has made a mistake. For example, one Sunday, during the Lord's Supper, the one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1748,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-purpose-of-praise-and-worship\/","url_meta":{"origin":61044,"position":2},"title":"What is the purpose of praise and worship?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the purpose of praise and worship? Answer: The word \"worship\" means to honor and give respect to a divine being or supernatural power. God claims worship as His exclusive right. \"For it is written, 'You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.'\u00a0\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92961,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/fathers-raising-godly-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":61044,"position":3},"title":"Fathers Raising Godly Children","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Chad Carter Over the years - now having passed 62 of them - I've observed that the men who have raised godly children, though differing widely in personality and disposition, tend to share many of the same traits and practices. The most significant commonality among them is a clear\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26814,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-will-your-children-remember\/","url_meta":{"origin":61044,"position":4},"title":"What Will Your Children Remember?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 5, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Lowell Blasingame The Psalmist said that a man's children are \"a heritage of the Lord,\" (Psalms 127:4). Most admit that there is something badly wrong with parents who do not love and value their children as such. Parental love motivates us to be concerned about our children's welfare and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/family2-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18062,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/a-young-man-wants-to-attend-church-but-his-father-is-interfering-how-do-you-handle-the-situation\/","url_meta":{"origin":61044,"position":5},"title":"A young man wants to attend church but his father is interfering. How do you handle the situation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the youth Bible class, one of my students (an 18-year-old young woman) asked a question I wasn't sure how to respond to. She has a boyfriend, who's never been to the Church of Christ before and whom she's been with for a couple of years now, I believe.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}