Has it been three years already? Yep, three years ago today, I started my new job at Truth For The World, in a new state and hundreds of miles away from home. The week before that I spent in Texas packing my earthly belongings into the back of my pickup, and the weeks before that I was busy taking finals, graduating, and taking a road trip clear across Texas with my parents and friend. Sometimes I feel like I haven’t slowed down since!
A lot has happened in the past three years. There have been both victories and disappointments. Times when I felt very stressed out, and times when I have been at peace. Friends have been lost, and friends gained. It’s been a time of growth, and although I haven’t accomplished everything my ambitious and naïve mind had planned before I started life on my own, all in all it’s been good. Read More
At the Duluth Church of Christ this coming Sunday morning, Thomas Reid will be speaking to us about two brothers in Christ who were very special to the apostle Paul: Timothy and Epaphroditus. As we look at the characters of these two special men, we can learn how we can model our character after them.
The following songs are from the book Praise for the Lord.
Seek Ye First – 883
The words to this song come straight from Jesus’ mouth, quoted from Matthew 6 and 7. And although you might not think of this as a song of praise, notice that each phrase ends with the word “Alleluia,” a Hebrew interjection meaning “Praise the Lord!” As we think about the providence of God, we can praise Him for taking care of us as we seek His kingdom first, just as Timothy did: “For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:21 NKJV)
God’s Family – 855
This spiritual song was written in the 1970s, shortly after “Seek Ye First,” and paints a beautiful picture of what Christians should be as children of God. Paul may not have been married, but he knew his true family was his brothers and sisters in Christ. “When a brother meets sorrow, we all feel his grief.” This is how the Christians in Philippi felt when they heard that Epaphroditus was sick: “he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick.” (Philippians 2:26 NKJV) In the same way, Paul knew they would rejoice to see him again. As children of God, we are family, and we should act like it!
There’s a Royal Banner – 671
Before the sermon, we will sing this rousing spiritual song from the 1880s that encourages us to serve as “soldiers of the king.” One of the descriptions Paul gives Epaphroditus is “my fellow soldier” (Philippians 2:25), and when we realize that being a Christian means being at war, and that it is a matter of life and death, things suddenly become more serious! As a soldier of Christ, Epaphroditus understood this, and almost died as a result of his service to God (Philippians 2:30). We should follow his example and “For Christ count everything as loss.”
Come Unto Me (O Heart Bowed Down With Sorrow) – 107
We will sing this song after the sermon to invite those who are burdened with the sin and troubles of the world to come to Christ and make their life right. This song emphasizes what Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30, that the way of salvation is so much easier than the life of sin. “His peace is like a river, His love is like a song…”
Oft We Come Together – 511
As we begin turning our minds towards the Lord’s Supper, we will sing this beautiful spiritual song by brother Tillit S. Teddlie. Notice the first line: “Oft we come together, oft we sing and pray.” This should be true for all Christians, but sadly, for some it might be more accurate to say “Sometimes we come together, every now and then we sing and pray.” Let us be more devoted to worshiping our God and being with the saints every time the door is open!
God Will Take Care of You – 191
Before the closing prayer, we will return to the thought introduced by the first hymn, that God will take care of us if we seek Him first. And although not specified in this song, one of the ways that God takes care of us is through other Christians like Timothy and Epaphroditus. As we go through life, let us always “beneath His wings of love abide.”
There was a tap at my door, and, upon opening it, I found a visitor. At first I thought it was a demure little maiden, not quite five years old, with whom I am well acquainted; but when I saw the company air and the gayly-flowered clothes bag pinned around her, I knew she must be a stranger, so I seriously invited her in.
“What is your name?” I asked, after we had said “Good morning” and remarked upon the coldness of the same.
“My name is ‘Miss Happy Land,’” she answered; and, looking into the guileless face, the trusting, innocent eyes, I believed her.
A few judicious questions loosened Miss Happy Land’s tongue, and she told me the following remarkable story:
“I have a baby,” she said, airily, patting a bang which fell too low on her forehead—“a very beautiful baby, two years old. It can walk, but it can’t talk—can’t say a word—just hollers and bawls all day long. It can cut paper dolls; it sits on the floor and cuts paper dolls all day long. Its name is ‘Cobanjo.’”
When asked who was caring for Cobanjo in her absence, she said she had a good negro woman to look after her, that the woman was real careful and was quite a help to her, and was named “Camangy.” The baby’s papa, she said, was dead—had died only the day before with neuralgia or something. She had a good doctor with him, she told me, and the doctor’s name was “Ninkumgoo.” She didn’t know he was going to die, and he didn’t, either—he just died. Read More
Did you know that you can learn to speak a language in only three simple steps? As a language nut myself, I’ve learned a few things about learning languages, and I want to share those with you, the aspiring language learner. I won’t call these “secrets,” because they’re hardly hidden, but I would guess that a lot of people have overlooked them.
I know you’re dying to know what the three steps are, so before describing them in more detail, here they are:
Study.
Practice.
Repeat.
Well OK, I guess it’s more than just three steps when you start iterating on #3, but you get the point. Learning a language can be boiled down into these three parts, and if you leave out any one of them, you’re bound to be disappointed. Now then, let’s look at each one in detail! Read More
Everything seemed to be going according to plan. We had finished worshiping with the church in Dublin, caught the city tram, taken the train down to Cork and made it to the airport in good time. By this time my sister and I fancied ourselves old pros at flying, and as we found our gate and heard people around us talking in Spanish, I was daydreaming about how nice it would be to arrive in Spain. Ah, the sunny homeland of my second language—I couldn’t wait to get there! And yet as we stood in line to board the plane, I was suddenly brought back to reality.
“I can’t let you on” the stewardess said, after looking at our boarding passes. We were incredulous. Whatever had we done wrong? “You didn’t get your passports checked, so I can’t let you on the flight.” We frantically asked if there was time to run back and do that before the flight left, but there was no way—by that time the Ryanair plane would be well on its way, aiming to land ahead of schedule amid classical music and applause by the jostled passengers. Read More
