In my day, the summers were warmer, the snow was whiter in winter, people were kinder and didn’t need to lock their doors, neighbours were friendlier, school produced better citizens who could spell and read, times were tough but we were survivors, friends stuck together, and the list could go on. It often does.
Then there’s Church. Church was better, more active, more members, with better hymns and not these too loud modern songs, lots out midweek, piano and organ, no guitars and certainly no drums, lives changed at an altar of prayer, great saintly examples, a church board of stalwarts, pastors called, who preached and visited on a very low wage, tithes and offerings given freely for growth of the Kingdom, and again the list could go on. It often does.
It is important that I don’t fall into the ‘grumpy old man’ trap, where everything old was good, and everything new is bad. One sure way to turn folks off at any age, is to be a know-it-all, and try to make things look better if seen through my eyes. It doesn’t work. In fact, Jesus was, is, and always will be truth, so what was done in the past will remain if it is of God, and this is also true of today. The good will persist, and the bad will fall away like ‘snow aff a dyke’ as we say in Scotland. You and I need to be sure we are on the right side of truth. That’s all. It’s that simple, so let’s not get hung up on what the youth are doing in church today, and take more care over our own example and up to date testimony. God will be our judge, and theirs, in all things old or new!
Leave them alone. If their plan is something they thought up, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You might even be fighting against God himself! Acts 5:38,39
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