MARTHA VANCISE

Writing for 21st Century Pilgrims

We Won’t Be Going Back

We Won’t Be Going Back

by | NovWed2013 | SIGNPOSTS

At the close of World War II, Paul Rees, minister, and writer, told his congregation, “You must have the grit to face the truth about our age.” He said that they could not ignore the changes that had come:  women working outside the home, rising divorce rate,  declining moral standards, increasing national debt (300 billion dollars). He emphasized that they could no longer ignore the reality of change in their world. Life would never again be as it was before the War. He said, “When the old is shaken down, that which endures stands out in bold relief and is more important than before.”

 ***

We must face the realities of the 21st century.  Family units, education, politics, medicine, sports, entertainment, and the church will never return to the normal we knew in the past. No matter how we may rant and rave against the changes and grieve over lost ideals in government, education, families, and churches – we won’t be going back.

We must stand firm and find God’s path forward through current realities.

Paul Rees’s advice given 85 years ago is applicable today. He said, “We must get a grip on these unshakeable things. One God. Our need of a Savior. The Word of God.  We must have the courage to be changed to conform to God’s pattern and not the world’s pattern.”

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.( I Corinthians 16:13)
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal … (Philippians 3:13b-14)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
(Romans 12:2)

Martha VanCise ©

 

Earth!

Earth!

by | JulTue2013 | BLAZES

Christian, there is but one place you will ever learn to

follow Him,

to worship Him,

to obey Him,

to love Him.

Only one opportunity to be changed into His image.

The place is here…

The time …

Your 70 years.

 Gene Edwards: The Inward Journey

http://www.geneedwards.com

Martha VanCise©

 

Care of Our Time

Care of Our Time

by | MarMon2013 | SIGNPOSTS

Many consider lack of time for prayer and Bible study as the greatest obstacle to their spiritual growth.  Christians of all generations have struggled with time management. In 1650 Jeremy Taylor left simple, common-sense advice on time management that is worth considering in the 21st century.

Care Of Our Time

  1. God has given every person enough work to do, so that we do not have too much free time on our hands.  Yet, He has so ordered the world that there will be time for devotion. 
  2. Never complain that your work keeps you from devotion to God.  God provides for our needs and gives us the good things of life through commerce and labor.  Regard your employment as a means of serving God.  If you work sensible hours and use good judgment in your business affairs, there will be adequate time for prayers and devotion. 
  1. Don’t let your recreations eat up your time.  Choose recreations that are healthful, transient, and apt to refresh you.  Do not make your recreations the focal point of your life.  It is good to relax and unbend our bow, but we should not allow it to be unstrung. 
  1. Make sure you are employed in such a manner as is fitting for a sensible person.  Don’t spend your life in work that is fitting for children or distracted people.  Choose employment that is fitting for your age and understanding.  A person can be frivolously busy and spend a lifetime working for no purpose.

“Care of Our Time,” from Jeremy Taylor’s work titled The  Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, 1650.  Adapted and revised by Martha VanCise

The Chalice

The Chalice

by | MarTue2013 | SIGNPOSTS

When I pass Your Truth to the next generation, there must be no “me” to contaminate the message. There can only be the faint print of my unique perspective on the chalice as I hand it on.

My prints must be so faint, that only those who study the chalice will notice. The masses must see only the life-truths within the vessel.

Help me hold these truths tightly enough to keep them from slipping from my grasp, but loosely enough that desperate truth-seekers can ease them from my hand.

 Watchman Nee said, “Our great danger may be to hold dogmatically to some “thing” associated with the divine plan for us. Every cup, however divinely appointed, should be held to very loosely. It is not that which claims us supremely, but the present will of our Father.     (A Table in the Wilderness:  October 26; Watchman Nee) https://www.watchmannee.org/

Image Credit: Dreamstime.com

Martha VanCise ©

 

Channel Markers

Channel Markers

by | MarFri2013 | SIGNPOSTS

 

 

  Your plan flows through all my years,

 not in a well‑defined, man‑dredged canal,

but in a meandering God‑made channel.

At first I confidently set my course

and followed the gleaming glory ships of the “old salts.”

But I’ve learned that the draft of my soul

is not quite the same as others

and that cultural tides have shifted ancient landmarks.

I must take soundings to find the channel you have marked for me.

That God-gouged channel is not a straight-lined passage

that allows me to set my soul on automatic pilot.

Safe passage requires constant course correction

to stay between the markers of your

Spirit and your Word.

Martha VanCise ©

Image Credit:  © Can Stock Photo Inc.