by Al Diestlekamp<\/p>\n
A gospel song that has recently become a favorite of mine is “Room in God’s Kingdom,” the lyrics of which acknowledge the value of “the small things that you can do.” While we need citizens in God’s kingdom who can tackle the “big” things, there’s a place for those who will do the lesser things.<\/p>\n
The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30) confirms the truth that God recognizes the potential as well as the limitations of individuals. The Master doesn’t expect a one-talent man to live up to the abilities of the five-talent or two-talent servants, but He does expect something from him. The apostle Paul quoted from Psalms 68:18 to make the point that Christ “gave gifts to men<\/em>” with abilities in various measures. “for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ<\/em>” (Ephesians 4:7-16).<\/p>\n Of course, this cannot rightly be used as an excuse to be satisfied with doing the least you can get away with or not seeking to do the most you can do; but just as in physical life, a child is not expected to do everything an adult can do, the same is true of new Christians. Just as we don’t expect the aged to be able to do all they once did, this is sometimes true of “old soldiers” in the Kingdom.<\/p>\n As I write this, I am just a few days away from another one of those pesky annual reminders of why I can no longer do as much as I used to. I am disappointed that I have lost some of my abilities, but I am not ashamed to admit it. For this reason, I’m pleased to report that the church in Sycamore, Illinois, where I have worked for 35 years, has asked Jackson Sneed to take on the full-time work here beginning May 21. Jackson was born and raised in northern Alabama and has since been living in Florida. We commend him for being willing to step out of his comfort zone to work in the North. He is married to Cassie (formerly Miller), who was raised in central Illinois.<\/p>\n Of course, I will continue to do what I can, supporting the truth from my front-row seat. I am reminded of brother Robert’s lyrics of another song we sing.<\/p>\n by Al Diestlekamp A gospel song that has recently become a favorite of mine is “Room in God’s Kingdom,” the lyrics of which acknowledge the value of “the small things that you can do.” While we need citizens in God’s kingdom who can tackle the “big” things, there’s a place for those who will do…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1543],"class_list":["post-60672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-good-works"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":66002,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/using-our-god-given-abilities\/","url_meta":{"origin":60672,"position":0},"title":"Using Our God-Given Abilities","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bret Miller Think on These Things, Vol 55, No. 1, January-March 2024 In Matthew 24, Jesus is asked about the signs of the end of the age. Jesus then spoke for a long time on many different subjects, answering what the kingdom of heaven would be like in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":42447,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/potential-is-not-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":60672,"position":1},"title":"Potential Is Not Enough","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer \"It is a most mortifying reflection for a man to consider what he has done, compared to what he might have done\" (Samuel Johnson, 1770). Potential has to do with something that can happen but has not yet happened. It has to do with possibilities: unrealized and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83587,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-little-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":60672,"position":2},"title":"The Little Things","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer People often seem prone to wanting big things out of life. If we are going to accomplish anything, we want it to be big, fancy, and impressive. Culturally, we tend to think in terms of big names, sports, and movie stars, or heroic action. Famous people get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34068,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/measuring-acceptability\/","url_meta":{"origin":60672,"position":3},"title":"Measuring Acceptability","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Whit Sasser In II Corinthians 8:12 we read, \"For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.\" This principle of God's word is to be respected, as well as all others. Sadly, there\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29067,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/worry-worry-worry\/","url_meta":{"origin":60672,"position":4},"title":"Worry, Worry, Worry","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 28, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"by Joshua V. Best Everyone knows the signs: sleepless nights, sick stomachs, mental breakdowns, deep depression, hiding away, high blood pressure. turning to drugs and alcohol, etc... These are indicators an individual has fallen victim to his own worry. Worry eats people alive, and Christians are not immune. It touches\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/worry-150x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92313,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/coming-up-to-our-potential\/","url_meta":{"origin":60672,"position":5},"title":"Coming Up to Our Potential","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Morris Norman via\u00a0Sentry Magazine, Vol. 18 No. 4, December 1992 Every normal child born has a potential that needs to be tapped and pointed in the right direction. God determined before the foundation of the world to have a people that are holy and without blame. In Christ, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60672\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}“Our elders, long in battle years,
\nAlas, begin to fade;
\nBut from the ranks, young men appear,
\nAnd lead their first crusade”<\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"