I talked to Althea at Emanuel A.M.E. Church who went through her last email from the Bible Study group's leader, Myra Thompson, who also received her license to preach the night she was killed.
"Little Bit" was Thompson's nickname, and she asked that 15 copies be made of the verses to be studied which included Jesus' teaching on sowing seeds and being lamps.
Please reflect on this in memory of the victims.
Mark 4:13-25, New International Version (NIV)
13 Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14 The farmer sows the word. 15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20 Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown.”
21 He said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear.”24 “Consider carefully what you hear,” he continued. “With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25 Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.”
I got word from another A.M.E. minister that they also talked about Hebrews 10: 23 (New International Version (NIV)
23 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful."
DV says: Tomi, Thank you for posting this. The senseless violence fills me with sadness. This is a very powerful passage. Unfortunately, the wisdom and love of the Gospels is misunderstood by so many people. The worst cases are when people justify their evil and hateful acts with out of context religious passages. I was very impressed that the family members of the victims were able to forgive the killer. I don't know if most people realize the level of spiritual strength it takes to forgive such a vile act. The members of AME Church have been tested and they really understand and live by the message of Jesus.
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