July 6, 2021 (Tuesday)
Dwight and I had visitors over the weekend, Alex and Sarah Hamm, my grandson and granddaughter-in law. They drove from Houston to Rockport in their new Tesla. We rode with them to a local restaurant and were thrilled with the ride. At one point, Alex showed me what zero to sixty means. When we accelerated, I felt the back of my seat pressing against me with unbelievable force. A touch pad computer screen on the dashboard controls just about everything, even telling the car to take charge of driving itself. We had a silent trip to Fulton for lunch and a return trip to our house that was just as quiet.
We have come a long way from the horse and buggy, although I had a professor in college who described the trip home from a party with his girlfriend. “All we boys had to do was tell old Dobbin to go home.” smiling as he spoke of the ‘self-driven vehicle’ in the good old days.
Then came the Model T, and after that, the Model A, then many brands and designs, and the new world of automobiles was off and running. The Tesla is no doubt the ultimate vehicle on the road today, but what does the future hold? Will future automobile showrooms feature automobiles that drive themselves as the ultimate way to get from point A to point B? In some places we have already arrived there, but systems have not yet become perfect, and a good old fashioned human being is still needed in case of emergency.
Who knows what future cars will be like? What fuels will they use, if any? Will they be bigger, or smaller? Will they require human drivers? What will speed limits be on superhighways? Which technological developments will be responsible for the most basic changes in transportation? These are only a few of our questions about the future.
Now, about the church. What changes can we expect? We are already seeing the advent of the “contemporary” worship service, the presence of praise teams and the absence of choirs in some places. We are experiencing the retirement of hymns and the advent of new songs of praise.
But what about the main thing? What about the message that will be presented in the future? Will it change? The following song expresses the feelings of many people these days:
I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY
Arabella K. Hankey
1866
I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love;
I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true,
It satisfies my longings as nothing else would do.
Refrain:
I love to tell the story,
’Twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story
Of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story, more wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams;
I love to tell the story, it did so much for me,
And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.
Refrain
I love to tell the story, ’tis pleasant to repeat,
What seems each time I tell it more wonderfully sweet;
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.
Refrain
I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest;
And when in scenes of glory I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.
Refrain
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