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.”

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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 ©