My Introduction: One Generation Commends Him to Another

“One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts.  They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works.”   Psalm 145:4-5

“And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead“.  Hebrews 11:4

I do wish you were able to know my grandfather.  Rev. Morley J. Durost was born in 1894 and called home to heaven in 1981.  He was a man who loved his Lord and lived his faith. Like Noah my grandfather “was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). For those who knew him, he was a model of what it means to walk with God.

Though only Christ is our perfect model, on this side of heaven we see in people of faith like Morley Durost how Jesus demonstrates Himself in someone fully yielded to Him, and by their example we may become motivated toward a closer walk with God. This is the effect my grandfather had on me.

As a Shepherd of God’s flock I came to appreciate the importance of having godly models to disciple us, showing us the way by demonstrating in life the faith they treasure and proclaim. We all need examples from whom we can learn and be inspired; and my grandfather knew that. He wanted to pass on to others the faith he was privileged to live.  He wanted to tell how Christ had blessed him. So in his later years when friends and family encouraged him to put in writing some of his experiences with the Lord, he did so. He wrote with evident faith of various times and ways that God worked in his life, and of things the Lord taught him along the way, hoping and praying that thereby someone might be drawn closer to Jesus.

Like all of us, he faced many challenges in life.  His challenges included military service in France in the 1^st World War where he was wounded, shot in both legs. But God was with him, and through the various chapters of his life he learned and enjoyed God’s faithfulness. My grandfather was sixty years old when I was born, so in the years that I knew him he enjoyed the perspective that comes from having walked with God many years, a perspective I now enjoy.

After his death in 1981 I received a rough copy of my grandfather’s writings and through them I was blessed.   Knowing that he had wanted others to be blessed too, I edited and printed what my grandfather wrote and then distributed it among family and friends.  What you will read here are some stories of grace as told by my grandfather.

Here you may learn from Rev. Morley J. Durost, a man who walked faithfully with God in his generation, and whose witness still speaks. In some of the incidents he describes you will receive a taste of his wit, a dry sense of humor reflecting the joy in his soul.

Most importantly, my prayer is what he prayed, that his testimonies might in some small way help you draw closer to the Lord Jesus whom he loved, and who loved him and also loves me and you. I pass on to you what my grandfather wrote from his personal walk with the Lord, knowing full well that he would approve.

As you prayerfully read these testimonies of grace, I hope you too may reflect on the wonderful promises of God, and offer to Him your response of faith. We can all claim the promises of God and trust Him fully! Some day when by God’s grace we are together in heaven, I would love to introduce you to my grandfather in person, but until then the following serves as a brief introduction.