Rodney Smith: A Very Brief Summary

Improved Essays
In 1860, a little boy was born to a gypsy couple, Cornelius and Mary Smith. This birth was not unusual, nor was it noticed by the public at large. After all, many gypsies were looked upon as trouble makers and thieves. No one expected them to amount to anything. However, the Lord had different ideas for this baby boy. Gypsy Rodney Smith would grow up to be one of the greatest preachers of the nineteenth century- thanks to God’s grace. This is his story.
Gypsies as a people are nomads. They travel around in wagons, and sell their wares to people who will buy them. The women may sell baskets, or tin goods, while the men make the goods, and are in charge of transportation. These people also tell fortunes because it brings them a lucrative profit.
…show more content…
During this time, he had to get used to what one might call a “civilized life”. That is, he had to learn to wear a suit, sleep in a house instead of a tent, eat with silverware…. etc. Reading and writing were still difficult for this new preacher, and he struggled a bit with it at first. Notwithstanding, the Lord enabled Gypsy Smith. He determined to go on with the work, and was richly rewarded for his efforts when his sister Tilly came to Christ.
Whitby was the first town that Gypsy Smith ministered in, and he was well liked by everyone. One lady name Miss Pennock liked him in particular. She liked him so well in fact, that she became his bride! Gypsy Smith continued to work with the Salvation Army until a sad misunderstanding caused him to be discharge from the organization.
The people of Hadley had given Gypsy Smith a gold watch, and his wife a small monetary gift of five pounds. Now, there was a rule forbidding the reception of gifts, but Gypsy Smith thought that rule referred to the giving of gifts within the organization. He did not realize that he could not receive presents from his congregation, and thus, got himself into trouble. The Salvation Army thought he was being insubordinate when he received the gifts, and dismissed

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Nate Saint Research Paper

    • 1341 Words
    • 6 Pages

    "People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as mission-aries. They forget that they too are expanding their lives… and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted. " -Nate Saint. Nate Saint grew up in a Christian family and was raised to pray, read the Bible and go to church. From a young age Nate felt called to serve the Lord in a mighty way.…

    • 1341 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jamestown Savior’s Did John Smith or John Rolfe save the Jamestown colony? There are many different beliefs on this topic; both leaders had their own impacts on the survival of Jamestown. The Jamestown settlers went through many struggling events and needed a leader to overcome them. Even in today's time a leader is still present and needed, it is always good to have someone take charge in daring times. Jamestown was a large step for man in the race to colonize the “ New World” however, in many times it was close to failing.…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Captain John and Bradford do have quite a few similarities, but in the books, I read about John and Bradford did show a few differences. Nearly all the settlers in Captain John’s colony died from starvation, John would keep all the nutritious food for himself, and wouldn’t share with the rest of the settlers. However Bradford’s colony would help each other out, and aid anyone in need, but they were not ready for the harsh winters that would soon kill the majority of settlers in Bradford’s colony. One of the major conflicts in Smith’s colony was the selfishness. They were furious and, did not want to work for themselves just to have food…

    • 388 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Based on the life of Alexis the spiritual values that are being celebrated or emphasized in this story are patience, humility, charity, moderation, and dedication. All of these emphasized in the story are shown to bring Alexis closer to God and show Alexis belief in him. Patience and dedication is shown several times throughout the story. One example is through the time he spent as a beggar in front of the church showing also his devotion to his beliefs.…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Before he found his calling to God this is how he lived, a life of lavish luxury and immature actions. He didn’t even give the poor of his city a second thought as he passed by them. He only cared about himself and how he could have fun that day. After he found God, however, he became the polar opposite of his former self. The book states, “Starting back, he put down his bags and pondered conscientiously what to do about the money.…

    • 1294 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    When addressing certain periods in history, historians are keen on focusing their attentions on a few key figures. Granted, those key figures will usually be the ones that stand out the most in era of study. Key figures usually express some or all of these characteristics: leadership, bravery, independence, and confidence. In the early 1600s, we see multiple figureheads with these characters, but John Smith and William Bradford are two who stand out. Both are remembered for their presence in Early America, but, of course, there is a varied view for both men.…

    • 670 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As a category of American religious history, African-American religious life and the history behind it has often forgotten or briefly summarized in most historians’ work. Prior to the 1970’s, most history written on African-American religion was vague, often just trivial paragraphs in textbooks and considered irrelevant to our nation’s religious history. But as time progressed, history was revisited to show African-American’s having a more prominent voice in America’s religious culture. One historian, Ulrich Bonnell Phillips wrote one of the earliest collections of slave history and life, American Negro Slavery. This book, written in 1918, shaped the perception of what slavery was like for most who did not experience the institution, but…

    • 1639 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Happiness is an emotion that people often feel but can never truly define. Being so caught up in the materialistic things, we get distracted from being truly happy. An article written by the Huffington Post, “Why Generation Y Yuppies are Unhappy,” gives a detailed explanation of how they lived. The author uses ethos by explaining the story in a very stern tone, he then uses pathos by making the audience angry on how he explains why being a “GYPSY” is so important, and finally uses logos by making the reader question if they were ever a “GYPSY” themselves. To start off, a GYPSY is an acronym for the Generation Y Protagonists & Special Yuppies, which is a label for the generation born between the late 1970s and the mid ‘90s.…

    • 919 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the early 1600’s, there were two settlers, John Smith and William Bradford who came from England. In William Bradford's and Johns Smiths journal, it talks about the difficult lifestyle and the struggles of making new life in America. Although both journals and colonies share some similarities, they both also came across some differences. John smith came to the new world to seek for money while William Bradford came seeking for religious freedom and worship.…

    • 642 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cajun Gypsy Growing up in a melting pot of culture, Lafayette has shown me how diverse and beautiful cultural identity can be. Even walking out of your front door can offer a blend of credentials required to be a part of a certain culture. This city, and surrounding areas, emit vibrant displays of what makes a person unique. From festivals celebrating food, to gatherings called specifically for international cultural appreciation, it is difficult to find another place so rich in culture.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Religious Experience of Native Americans The Native American religious experience from before the European presence to the 20th century underwent many transformations throughout its evolution. In the beginning, the Olmec and Mayan hierarchical civilizations believed their kings, who were also their religious leaders, were able to communicate with the Gods and ancestors. This demonstrated how the early Native Americans believed that supernatural forces existed. This belief in the supernatural led to the Native Americans developing a cultural relationship between themselves and nature, with the intent to maintain a harmonic balance between the spiritual and living world (Unit 1, Lecture 1).…

    • 1687 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” This commonly used saying, from Acts 20:35, is displayed numerous times in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Generosity is defined as “the act of being kind and generous.” Although each time generosity is displayed the motive behind the gesture is slightly different, each time someone wanted to bless another.…

    • 644 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    THESIS The black prophetic fire has become lost among African American individuals. In this book, scholar, philosopher, author, and black activist Dr. Cornel West exchanges dialogue with Christa Buschendorf about what the black prophetic tradition means to him and six African American historical individuals who are prime examples of what black prophetic fire should be. SUMMARY…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the “The Phenomenology of Gift Giving”, Helmuth Berking (1999), the author, explores the causes and mechanisms of gift – giving as a social practice. He maintains that the gift – giving is an essential part of reciprocal communication between individuals. Berking also suggests that both the gift and reciprocation to it corresponds to the established structure and character of human relations in a community. Berking (1999) starts by pointing out that gift – giving as a practice transferred from a political and economic sphere into the area of personal relations.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    While the female figurines showed that they did not have a wide range of economic activities. The figurines do not show an accurate description of how women lived in this time period. In most cultures women had a large variety of economic functions that contributed to the society (Hooker,…

    • 1099 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays