{"id":9045,"date":"2021-04-27T10:47:26","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T15:47:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/?p=9045"},"modified":"2022-05-27T21:23:35","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T21:23:35","slug":"what-samson-taught-me-about-church-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/04\/what-samson-taught-me-about-church-community\/","title":{"rendered":"What Samson Taught Me About Church Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div>\n<p>My friend Samson [i] was a profoundly abused little boy, and in 2005, he came to us at Hope Community Church a strong but extremely angry young man. The love of Hope\u2019s believers brought Samson to Jesus\u2014but he landed in federal prison anyway, where today he\u2019s still following Jesus as he walks down his time. A year into Carla\u2019s battle with cancer, Samson sent her a handwritten prayer via prison mail:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>Dear Lord<\/p><p>I come to you as a broken man for my friend Carla who have a upcoming cancer scan. I pray deep from my heart that nothing shows up their and it\u2019s gone for good. If I can ask for anything . .&nbsp;. take me instead of her . . . I been through so much already in my life I willing to go through the pain and scare for Carla. I willing to give my life up to save hers like Jesus did for me on the cross. If I can remove my name out of the book of life for someone Carla would be one of the persons I can do this for\u2014for my lord and savior, in all things, Jesus Christ. Amen.<\/p><p>Samson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3et5Ndy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/Free-tDM-Article-Banner-1024x205.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8930\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Carla is twenty years older than Samson. She was raised in small-town Indiana; Samson grew up deep in urban Detroit. Samson is African American; Carla is Caucasian. Samson\u2019s doing a long stint in prison; Carla\u2019s a retired teacher. But here\u2019s the power\u2014Samson and Carla are brother and sister in Christ, two people who know the love of Christ and who love each other in Christ. Before Samson went to prison, they didn\u2019t just sit in the same sanctuary, listen to the same Bible lectures, or wave to each other in the same parking lot. They took the time to know each other. They shared jokes\u2014they both love to laugh\u2014and shared meals. They had a relationship. When Samson went to prison, he didn\u2019t forget. Carla told me, <\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\"><p>\u201cIn all my years as a pastor\u2019s wife\u2014no one has ever said anything to me like Samson said in his letter. In fact, I\u2019ve been so hurt by church\u2014but this brother is willing to give his life for me? God used the University of Michigan medical team to heal my cancer physically, but he used the love of Jesus in Samson to help heal deep wounds in my spirit.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In other words, Carla couldn\u2019t make it without Samson and the Jesus who dwells in Samson. If you don\u2019t have these kinds of relationships in the body of Jesus Christ, you\u2019re struggling. Or coasting. Or hiding. Or trying to hang on through sheer will. But you\u2019re not healing. And you\u2019re not free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author\"><figure class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__avatar\"><img alt=\"Kevin Butcher\" class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__avatar-img\" src=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/BUTCHER-Author-Photo-bordered.png\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__content\"><span class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__name\">Kevin Butcher<\/span><p class=\"wp-block-coblocks-author__biography\">was a lead pastor for 35 years\u2014the last 17 in urban Detroit\u2014and is now the founder and executive director of Rooted Ministries, Inc., a nonprofit designed to come alongside isolated, wounded, discouraged pastors and their families. Butcher is the author of\u00a0<em>Choose and Choose Again: The Brave Act of Returning to God\u2019s Love<\/em>\u00a0(NavPress, 2016). He has written numerous articles and has shared the message of the Father\u2019s love in 12 different countries.<\/p>\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link\" href=\"http:\/\/thedisciplemaker.org\/tag\/kevin-butcher\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">More from Kevin<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/bit.ly\/3et5Ndy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img src=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/wp-content\/uploads\/Free_3D-833x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8926\" width=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:9px\"><strong>Sources<\/strong><br>[i] For more on Sampson\u2019s story, see J. Kevin Butcher, Choose and Choose Again: The Brave Act of Returning to God\u2019s Love (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2016),&nbsp; chap. 4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My friend Samson [i] was a profoundly abused little boy, and in 2005, he came to us at Hope Community Church a strong but extremely angry young man. The love of Hope\u2019s believers brought Samson to Jesus\u2014but he landed in &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"What Samson Taught Me About Church Community\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.navpress.com\/sites\/thedisciplemaker\/2021\/04\/what-samson-taught-me-about-church-community\/#more-9045\">Read more<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">What Samson Taught Me About Church Community<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9050,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[212,307],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ 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