From The President’s Pen

The Truth About Change

In 1964, Bob Dylan composed and sang a folk song that resonates with each of us living today — 60 years later — in 2024.

It went like this:

Come gather ‘round, people, wherever you roam.

And admit that the waters around you have grown.

And accept it that soon you’ll be drenched to the bone.

If your time to you is worth saving

And you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone

For the times, they are a-changing.’

This has never been more true. I can’t believe the changes that have taken place since the year I came to America as a young boy. A desktop or laptop computer was not even an imagination; an iPhone or any mobile phone was the stuff of science fiction; the only thing close to social media was a transistor radio! Even cassette tapes and CDs were in the future; we were still listening to vinyl LP records. VHS or DVD movies were non-existent, much less digital streaming services. Yes, the times, they’ve certainly been “a-changing!”

And not just technology has changed, but also the way we think, work and act in society. Common ideas and thoughts have shifted dramatically, even in the past few years. But friends, we can be so grateful that there are some things that have never changed.

I’d like to share with you four fundamental precepts from the Word of God — four truths that you can count on to never change.

1. God hasn’t changed. In Malachi 3:6, the Bible records God’s voice for us to read: “I am the Lord, and I do not change. Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights. Unlike them, he never changes or casts shifting shadows.” James 1:17

2. The Word of God hasn’t changed. Isaiah 40:8 tells us that “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”

3. The Law of God has not changed. Take a look at the words of David in Psalm 19:7-8. David emphasized that point over and over. The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.. and in verse 8, he states that the commandment of the Lord is pure. Something that’s pure doesn’t need refining. Again, in Psalm 111:7-8 David states that all his commandments (sometimes translated as precepts) are sure. They stand fast forever and ever. My favorite version of the Bible is the New Living Translation: Here it states: “All he does is just and good, and all his commandments are trustworthy. They are forever true to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity.”

4. God’s faithfulness has never changed. Again it was David who proclaimed about the Lord when he said: “Your faithfulness endures to all generations (Psalm 119:90). Even during the saddest and worst of times, the prophet Jeremiah could look up — filled with hope and full assurance — and say those words recorded in the book of Lamentations,  “His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; So Great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3: 22-23)

The greatest need of each of us during this New Year of 2024 is to let Jesus change our hearts. Then — no matter what changes may occur in this world during this year, no matter what tragedies tear us apart with sadness, or no matter what triumphs we may celebrate with joyful delight — our lives can be built on the unchanging eternal God.

Your servant leader,

Leslie Louis

Carolina Conference President