Tim Samoff // Weblog (old)

June 09, 2005

 33

Last night at small group, God spoke to me in two ways that are helping me more this morning than I ever could have imagined (for reasons that I don’t feel free enough to disclose right now). And, last night, I didn’t even recognize that He was speaking to me…

During small group, Willy Abraham (who many of you know from way back) shared his “life story.” But, he didn’t do it in a typical way. No, last night, Willy led us through a journey from who he was before he knew God to where he is now. He did it by reading scripture and giving glimpses of what used to be hate and what now is love. You see, Willy is an African-American who’s family was born from an affair between a German slave-owner and one of his slaves. Not only did this spark hatred and a long-running strain of abuse in Willy’s family, but years later, Willy would find himself growing up in a poverty-stricken inner-city, miles from his family’s birthplace of South Carolina.

While Willy didn’t tell us much about the actual events in his life, he did tell us how much the scripture he was reading impacted him — scripture about God’s love, the Holy Spirit’s guidance, and Jesus’ commands to love our enemies. Willy can look back and see the patterns of his life transition from hatred to love; from denial to acceptance.

Later in the evening, I excused myself to the restroom. While washing my hands, I found one of those daily bible verse calendars. There was a quote on it, but I can’t seem to recall what it was or who it was by. The verse, though, for yesterday, June 8, 2005, was this…

Collossians 3:12-14 (NLT):

Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other’s faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Posted at 08:19 am

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And, thank you, Adele!

timsamoff () (URL) - June 09, 2005 at 12:18 pm

Thanks, Wheat & Dennis… I appreciate it! (And, Dennis, how’d you know about the ferret? And, your puns are still bad. And…)

timsamoff () (URL) - June 09, 2005 at 3:34 pm

Thanks, Jason, John, and Christine!

timsamoff () (URL) - June 10, 2005 at 07:49 am

Awesome, Sivin… Thanks!

timsamoff () (URL) - June 10, 2005 at 11:38 pm