Exodus House
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV, Cycle A
So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh - for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, "Abba! Father!" it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. (vv. 12--16)
Marilyn Cherry was not raised in a Christian home. She went to church a few times when she was younger. Her grandmother was a good woman, who sent Marilyn and her siblings on a church bus. Her limited time in church didn't make a lasting impression. She chose a harder life.
She was arrested in Texas for manufacturing methamphetamine in 1996. She had a vision her first night she was incarcerated. Perhaps nightmare is a more apt description. In her dream, a monster was chasing her through a shopping mall. He was so close, she could feel his breath on her neck. She also sensed someone running alongside her. She couldn't see who it was, but she knew he was there.
Every time she ran past a window at the mall, she could see a huge church across the street. She felt that if she could just make it there, she would be safe. The person running beside her kept fending off the monster. As she was running, she noticed that she was covered in blood - but she was not bleeding. She finally came to an open door and made it across the street. She fell exhausted on her knees at the foot of the steps, and the church doors opened up. She looked around and noticed that the monster had disappeared. Then she woke up. She knew then that Jesus was running alongside her in her dream as her protector. The blood she had seen was his, as he had given his life to spare hers.
She then started attending all the chapel services in prison. She asked questions and learned how to pray. She read all the literature that she could get her hands on. She was feeding a hunger--related spiritual starvation and was determined to turn her life around. God was leading the way.
She was released from a drug rehabilitation center in October, 2000, and went to the Salvation Army Substance Abuse Aftercare facility in Dallas, Texas. She immediately went to work at a deli. She also helped at a nearby facility that assisted the disabled in the work force.
Marilyn eventually moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to live at Exodus House - an apartment ministry of the United Methodist Church for ex--convicts. She was accepted with open arms there and began to thrive. She felt loved and wanted. But most of all they gave her a taste of the kind of new life she could lead as a Christian. Their support kept her from returning to the only life she had ever known - the underworld of drugs. They provided her with a family of people who had similar backgrounds and obstacles - a community of people helping each other. She discovered that she had a family because we are all God's children.
(Details taken from a testimonial in the April 2003, Volume 5, Issue 2 edition of The New Gate.)
Marilyn Cherry was not raised in a Christian home. She went to church a few times when she was younger. Her grandmother was a good woman, who sent Marilyn and her siblings on a church bus. Her limited time in church didn't make a lasting impression. She chose a harder life.
She was arrested in Texas for manufacturing methamphetamine in 1996. She had a vision her first night she was incarcerated. Perhaps nightmare is a more apt description. In her dream, a monster was chasing her through a shopping mall. He was so close, she could feel his breath on her neck. She also sensed someone running alongside her. She couldn't see who it was, but she knew he was there.
Every time she ran past a window at the mall, she could see a huge church across the street. She felt that if she could just make it there, she would be safe. The person running beside her kept fending off the monster. As she was running, she noticed that she was covered in blood - but she was not bleeding. She finally came to an open door and made it across the street. She fell exhausted on her knees at the foot of the steps, and the church doors opened up. She looked around and noticed that the monster had disappeared. Then she woke up. She knew then that Jesus was running alongside her in her dream as her protector. The blood she had seen was his, as he had given his life to spare hers.
She then started attending all the chapel services in prison. She asked questions and learned how to pray. She read all the literature that she could get her hands on. She was feeding a hunger--related spiritual starvation and was determined to turn her life around. God was leading the way.
She was released from a drug rehabilitation center in October, 2000, and went to the Salvation Army Substance Abuse Aftercare facility in Dallas, Texas. She immediately went to work at a deli. She also helped at a nearby facility that assisted the disabled in the work force.
Marilyn eventually moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to live at Exodus House - an apartment ministry of the United Methodist Church for ex--convicts. She was accepted with open arms there and began to thrive. She felt loved and wanted. But most of all they gave her a taste of the kind of new life she could lead as a Christian. Their support kept her from returning to the only life she had ever known - the underworld of drugs. They provided her with a family of people who had similar backgrounds and obstacles - a community of people helping each other. She discovered that she had a family because we are all God's children.
(Details taken from a testimonial in the April 2003, Volume 5, Issue 2 edition of The New Gate.)
