Rick and Julie have three children. They all grew up in the same home with the same Christian atmosphere. They all went to the same school, the same church youth group and the same Christian camps. All three of them professed faith and were baptised in their late teens. But now the contrast could not be more stark. One of their sons is following Christ and serves in the church; their daughter attends church but is only nominal in her faith; their second son has drifted away from the faith entirely and lives with his girlfriend.
How do you explain the difference? What went wrong?
George and Stella had a daughter called Kate. She seemed a happy little girl, but when she started secondary school, things fell apart. She was bullied and eventually developed an eating disorder. People at church prayed for her, but it seemed to get worse. After school she went through a series of toxic relationships. One day she told her parents that she was a lesbian. She said that if they didn’t affirm her chosen life, she didn't want anything more to do with them. They pleaded with her, trying to find a way to maintain the relationship, but she was adamant. At the time of writing, George and Stella have not seen Kate for over two years.
