My Friend Sammie

Sammie got up at The Love Corner recently and quietly read his story.

Here it is:

My name is Sammie Lotts and in 1977, when I was twenty-two years young, I was arrested, tried and convicted for a murder and attempted murder I did not commit. As a result of those convictions, I received 75 to 150 years for the attempted murder, and for the murder, I was sentenced to 175-500 years. For the first ten years, I was very bitter and plotting revenge on everyone who played a part in sending me to prison. After being locked up for about 3 years, I got into the Word of God and after about 10 years, I realized that I no longer felt the bitterness. God gave me a peace of mind, heart, and above all, a peace of spirit.

I started going to the parole board in 1987. And for the next 22 years of going to the parole board, I never once received a “yes” vote.

My blessings from God, in this particular matter, came in 6 stages, which I refer to as days, like in Genesis when God was creating the world.

It started in ’02, when then Governor George Ryan, on his last day in office, commuted all death row sentences to life in prison. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

In ’05, I was transferred from Statesville C.C. to Galesburg C.C. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

In ’08, I met Darryl Simms, a former death row inmate, who was and is, as I am, an artist. Darryl admired my art work so much that he said he wanted me to meet this female attorney who worked for the John Howard Association, She sponsored art exhibits every year, for inmates in Springfield, Illinois. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The lawyer came to Galesburg to visit Darryl and pick up his artwork for the exhibit, which was about two weeks away. He told her about my art, and she called me up for a visit also. I only had one piece of art, but was working on another piece, and didn’t expect much. The first question she asked me was not about my art, but whether anyone had ever represented me at my parole hearings. When I said, “No,” she said she would…for free. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

When the art exhibit was over, she went to work on my case as if her life depended on it. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

My parole hearing was held in Springfield. At that time, I was a “C-number” inmate, because I was sentenced under the old law, before 1978. This meant I needed the majority of the votes to make parole. There were 13 board members, so I needed 7 of the 13. When the layer was done presenting my case, I received all thirteen votes… a unanimous decision. A week later, on March 20, 2009, I was released from prison, a free man. And God saw everything that He made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

And on the seventh day, God, ended His work which He had made. And He rested on the seventh day from all his work He had made.

I am a traveler

More and more I know this deep reality that I am a created being- and I am just beginning to understand the nature of what the Creator put together. As far back as I can remember I looked at the horizon and dreamed. I was joyful when I wandered to new places. I wanted to find out what was on the back side of the woods. I ran places.

Just last night here in Mexico City I wandered about looking for something to eat but it wasn’t the food. It was the place, the people, the history.

So I am in the perfect job. This Authentic Mexico Travel deal is not just a business. It is an expression of a passion poured into me and it is a reflection of a design. Perfect.

Last week two little groups went through Copper Canyon and loved it- wrote and told me how they loved it.

And today three people (thank you Bishop Gwin) will show up here and as we wander about Puebla next week they will rant and rave about the wonders of the place.

And I will go to Chiapas in 8 days and begin the proces there and many people will light up with joy as they travel there over these next days and years.

The BIG BOOK of AA talks of a “broad highway” and I have every sense of being on it.

On the broad highway in Mexico City today.

Cancer Girl

She sang and danced and wept.
God made me.
God saved me.
I’m a believer.
I’m an achiever.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
My soul says yes.
She is full of the Holy Ghost.
And cancer.
Love Corner.
March, 2012.

On the train in Philadelphia

Starting to get it..

For years I was involved in evangelical church work at every level. There are some basics that I was overjoyed to discover. The I studied them, loved them, began to learn and apply them, taught them, defended them.

Then I began to GET them.

Very simply they are:
1. I am deeply loved. Preferred, thought of, defended.
2. I am designed. And I am good at what I do.
3. I am the light of the world. Not my idea. Somebody way smarter than me stated this. I always took it to be a job. But it is more of an infusion of energy.

Let me say that I am just beginning to get some handle on these.

“reJesus” the Church

 

 My son Luke sent this poem to me from a friend, Nathan Brown.

My exact sentiments…

Verb PlayWhen I’m forced to spend time around zealous minister types, I keep hearing the necessity of reaching out to the “unchurched.” The obvious implication being: we need to “church” the “unchurched.”

Now, this particular verbish usage of the word “unchurch” does not appear in my fairly large dictionary. What I do see is the transitive verb that means excommunicate. This definition is clearer to me. And it helps me organize my response:

Dear friends, our deepest need is not to “church” the “unchurched,” but to “dechurch” the “enchurched” — that is to say, the excessively “churched.”

God Save Me from Your Followers

has ceased to be a humorous bumper sticker. It is now a genuine fear for many of the “unchurched” to which you refer.

And as we look for solutions, a good place to start would be to “depolitic” “enchurched” leaders. But, in the end, [and while we’re in the practice of verbing up nouns] nothing — and I reiterate — nothing supercedes the desperate need for Christians to “reJesus” the church.

Nathan Brown nub@ou.edu

Bill Hybels

Just recieved this…

Shortly after I became a Christ follower an older man challenged me to find key verses in the Bible that might speak to specific situations that I would find myself in through the course of a normal day.  After identifying those critical verses and linking them to the challenges that may come my way, I decided to memorize the verses so that I could have them at my command.  Here was my early list:
 
When I needed wisdom to make an important decision….James 1:5, Proverbs 3:5-6.
When I was tempted to do wrong…1 Corinthians 10:13.
When I was running out of strength…Philippians 4;13
When I was getting anxious…Philippians 4:6-7
When I was getting short tempered…Ephesians 4: 32
When someone hurt or betrayed me and I wanted revenge…Romans 12:17
When I needed courage to point wandering friends toward faith in Christ…Colossians 4:2
When I wanted to live for eternity and not just for the temporal offerings of this world…Colossians 3:1
 
This is merely a partial list of Biblical weapons that I pack with me everyday.  Though I do not use all of them everyday, I use all of them enough that they stay fresh in my mind.  I honestly don’t know how I could make it through the rough patches that come my way without the fortification these truths offer me.  Are you packing too?

I am going through huge transitions now filled with opportunity to be fearful, angry, need for wisdom, etc.

I am packing!

Rivers of light

James 1:17 is a famous verse aimed at comvincing us that God is not fickle. The message renders the heart of the truth as

“The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. “