Geared to the Times Anchored to the Rock

We live in a day of “sayings”

Sayings about this and about that,

They’re heavily utilized in advertising

Sometimes more lies than facts.

Let’s capture it in a sentence

One that’s attractive and appealing

And whether there is substance or not

There is an instant following.

Too blessed to be stressed

Too appointed to be disappointed

Winning the lost at any cost

These three are often highlighted.

Now I am not knocking “sayings”

Although some deserve attacking,

I just want to highlight a special one

So let me do some fast-tracking.

Geared to the Times

But Anchored to the Rock,

This was the Youth For Christ theme

That no church could knock.

Youth For Christ was a movement

That came alongside the church,

It reached out to the then youth

Identifying with their needs and hurts.

More informally set than the church

It was attractive to the youth

But its basic teachings and focus

Were founded on the Bible's truth.

Yes, it was “Anchored to the Rock”

Its bedrock was the Word of God,

Jesus was central to its evangelism

Its mission was to spread this abroad.

Some churches took great opposition

To their youth that got involved

But over time they saw the need

And the matter was eventually resolved.

  

They did things a little differently

For they were geared to the times,

They were making use of the facilities

The church had mistakenly defined.

The guitar and drums were prominent

With an appealing film ministry,

YFC was the Saturday night place to be

For the entire family.

More and more churches came around

And began to give great assistance,

They made use of YFC’s film ministry

And considerably reduced their resistance.

As I look through the churches today

I can still see prominent YFC personnel,

They have withstood the test of time

And are still serving their churches well.

They were anchored to the Rock

While being geared to the times,

They had used the available technology

But Christ Jesus their message defined.

“Anchored to the Rock”, Christ Jesus

But “geared to our present times”,

As we propagate the Gospel message

This should be foremost in our minds.

Stewart Russell © May 2019