Is It a Lost Cause?: Having the Heart of God for the Church's Children

I just finished Is It a Lost Cause? by Marva Dawn and would heartily recommend it to any who desire a greater biblical understanding of children and how they fit in God's kingdom. This book does a great job of parsing out the obstacles and worldliness that confront children and those seeking to raise them in the Lord, i.e. technology, consumerism, sexual immorality, and violence. It has as one of its main themes - Being the Church - by which Dawn means creating an alternative parallel society as compared to the world ruled by the "principalities and powers" in various idolatries. In that vein, it is a great book to read if you are a parent, youth minister, mentor, or someone else who works with youth or has a heart to do so. Dawn writes in a way that winsomely self-revealing and challenging to some typically untouched notions such as the presence of a T.V. in the home. Whether you agree or not with some of her notions, you will be challenged to think more deeply about why you do what you do. Enjoy!

This book is excellent for Christian educators and youth ministers who are feeling burntout and discouraged over the state of children in the church. Dawn goes beyond the recommendations of pre-packaged youth minstry programs and addresses the need to CHALLENGE youth in order to make them disciples. Dawn offers several examples of her own experiences in which children and teens embraced difficult teachings and sophisticated music in favor of things that supposedly cater to kids. This books is also a wake-up call to Christian parents who are too quick to embrace popular culture in their own homes and who may mistakenly believe that youth ministry is doing its job correctly.

This is a great book for parents, pastors, worship leaders, as well as lay persons. She explains worship, educates on why the church does what it does how it does, and challenges churches of all denominations and leanings (traditional to contemporary) to re-examine the way they approach youth involvement in church.

I enjoyed the hymns at the beginning of each chapter and the discussion questions at the end of each chapter. This would be a great book for a group to read together in that sense. Marva Dawn comments on a whole range of subjects, from worship to the media and the meaning of work. It doesn't have much of the "fluffy" stuff that I find in a lot of so-called "popular Christian books," and I find it bracing and refreshing, good tonic for the spirit and mind. Wish I could get some people in my church to read and discuss and act together on the ideas brought out in the book.

Written from a Christian perspective, this book has something to say to both Christians and non-Christians who are seriously concerned at the way our children are being raised (or more aptly destroyed) by modern "post-Christian" culture. Marva Dawn correctly assesses the threats to the well being of our children and offers the best way to counteract such influences. Mrs. Dawn rightly focuses on the Biblically rooted, Christ centered Christian community of faith as the key to saving our children from the influences of a dying culture. This book is a must read for the pastor, parent and educator (Christian or not) seeking alternatives to the way modern society has tried and failed to "raise" our kids. This work is insightful and at times heart wrenching in the statistics offered as examples. Be prepared to "dog-ear" pages and highlight passages at will! The information and insight in this book is worth coming back to again and again. (Chapters I believe Christian leaders should take special note of are 3-6 and 10)