April 8th, 2024
by John Kelley
by John Kelley
O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
Psalm 130:7
“That was it. Laramiun was gone,” Mary Johnson said. “I’ll never see him graduate, I’ll never see him married, him have children. It seems unnatural for a parent to have to bury her child.” On February 12th, 1993 Mary Johnson’s only son Laramiun was killed by four gunshots, during a gang-related altercation. With the help of eyewitnesses, detectives found a prime suspect two days later.
“I think began hatred set in right then,” Mary said. During a police investigation, 16-year-old Oshea Isreal, confessed to killing Laramiun. After two years of hearings and appeals, he was tried as an adult and convicted of 2nd-degree murder. Mary addressed him during her impact statement in court.
“I said, ‘You know what, if my son had taken your life, I would expect him to have to pay the cost,’ Mary said. “And then I ended up telling him that I forgave him. The Word says in order to be forgiven, you must forgive. So I said, ‘Okay, I have to tell him.’ But I wanted him locked up, caged, because he was an animal and that is what he deserved.” Oshea was sentenced to 25 years in prison. “The grieving process, I think it began for me, after the trial,” Mary said, “wave after wave after wave--the tsunami--of just ‘stuff.’ Hatred. Here I am a Christian woman and I hated this 16-year-old boy. And I never ever thought I would be put back together.”
After the trial, Mary went through the motions of life. She visited friends and stayed active in her church. But it would be ten long years before her emotional turmoil would end. In 2004, her pastor asked her to teach a class on forgiveness. As they studied the class book, Mary says she took a hard look at her heart. “I’m hearing, ‘Mary, you need to repent. You need to repent for all these things that you’ve said about this young man. All these feelings that you’ve had for him,’ And, I’m like [puffs] ‘I have a right to have these feelings.’”
“Then I heard, ‘Mary, pray for him like you pray for yourself,’ I’m praying for him! ‘Okay,’ so I prayed for him like I pray for myself. Then I heard, ‘Every time his name comes up, every time you hear it within yourself, say, ‘I choose to forgive.’ So, I repented and I really believe it was a true repentance. It was for real. It was for real.”
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Romans 5:6–10
Redemption is a word that doesn’t get used a lot outside of the Church. It is, however, fundamental for us to understand, because it is through redemption that we have hope and a future. According to Oxford Languages, a simple definition of redemption is, “the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.” In the Garden of Eden we lost something huge. We lost the ability to be with God. When that first sin was committed, Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden and God’s presence. This also meant that death was the only future hope for humanity. Christ’s death and resurrection changed the narrative. Our hope was purchased back and gave us a future that had been lost.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11–14
That redemption doesn’t just give us back our hope. It changes us, and it changed Oshea Israel…
As Mary started to change, so did the person she was praying for. “I started coming into myself,” Oshea Isreal said. “I started maturing. With maturity, I decided that I wanted to hold myself accountable and be responsible for my actions”
In 2005, Mary took another courageous step toward healing. She contacted the Department of Corrections and requested a face-to-face meeting with Oshea. “I have to make sure I have truly forgiven him, that I don’t have all that hatred,” Mary said. “I can honestly say that from the moment I walked in the room, the energy level was like, peaceful,” Oshea said. “We had a conversation; he admitted what he had done. He told me that if he could have communicated that night, things would have been different,” Mary said. “I said ‘Look, I told you in court that I forgave you. But today, from the bottom of my heart I want you to know that I forgive you,’ Mary said. “And he was like, ‘Ma’am how can you do that?’ I said, ‘Because of Who is in me.’”
Oshea was so young, and he had his life taken away by his own actions. Through Mary’s forgiveness, Oshea started getting back his life. He started to see the possibility of a future. God wasn’t just redeeming Oshea through Mary’s forgiveness. He was preparing Oshea for action.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
1 John 3:16
Sometimes, we get so caught up in the idea of a “free gift” that we miss the fact that our redemption calls us to action. We aren’t to sit on our hands and just revel in our salvation. Once we have been redeemed, we are then called. That’s the beauty of the cross. The cross doesn’t just give us eternal hope; it gives us purpose. Mary and Oshea both understood that.
Mary and Oshea continued to meet and they eventually began speaking in prisons about forgiveness and reconciliation. “The more and more we spoke, the more and more our bond started to grow,” Oshea said. “And, Mary has turned into one of my biggest supporters. She worries about me even when I’m not worried about myself. And that is something a mother does.”
Oshea was released from prison in 2010, and Mary arranged his homecoming party. “I walked in and saw all of these people that I didn’t know, who only knew of me because of the pain and the hurt I caused. But I walk in and get hugs. I walk in and get smiles,” Oshea said. “That is another part of the forgiveness, the community forgave me, her friends were able to forgive me.”
Today, Oshea and Mary are next-door neighbors. They speak all over the country about the power of forgiveness. “I am so grateful for who I am today in God, that I am not that person that I used to be, full of all that junk,” Mary said.
Without redemption, we have no hope. Redemption is necessary. Redemption buys us back through the blood of Jesus, and once we are back in His care, we are called to live out the life that God wants for us. We get to really understand what the good life is. That’s the beauty of redemption.
Psalm 130:7
“That was it. Laramiun was gone,” Mary Johnson said. “I’ll never see him graduate, I’ll never see him married, him have children. It seems unnatural for a parent to have to bury her child.” On February 12th, 1993 Mary Johnson’s only son Laramiun was killed by four gunshots, during a gang-related altercation. With the help of eyewitnesses, detectives found a prime suspect two days later.
“I think began hatred set in right then,” Mary said. During a police investigation, 16-year-old Oshea Isreal, confessed to killing Laramiun. After two years of hearings and appeals, he was tried as an adult and convicted of 2nd-degree murder. Mary addressed him during her impact statement in court.
“I said, ‘You know what, if my son had taken your life, I would expect him to have to pay the cost,’ Mary said. “And then I ended up telling him that I forgave him. The Word says in order to be forgiven, you must forgive. So I said, ‘Okay, I have to tell him.’ But I wanted him locked up, caged, because he was an animal and that is what he deserved.” Oshea was sentenced to 25 years in prison. “The grieving process, I think it began for me, after the trial,” Mary said, “wave after wave after wave--the tsunami--of just ‘stuff.’ Hatred. Here I am a Christian woman and I hated this 16-year-old boy. And I never ever thought I would be put back together.”
After the trial, Mary went through the motions of life. She visited friends and stayed active in her church. But it would be ten long years before her emotional turmoil would end. In 2004, her pastor asked her to teach a class on forgiveness. As they studied the class book, Mary says she took a hard look at her heart. “I’m hearing, ‘Mary, you need to repent. You need to repent for all these things that you’ve said about this young man. All these feelings that you’ve had for him,’ And, I’m like [puffs] ‘I have a right to have these feelings.’”
“Then I heard, ‘Mary, pray for him like you pray for yourself,’ I’m praying for him! ‘Okay,’ so I prayed for him like I pray for myself. Then I heard, ‘Every time his name comes up, every time you hear it within yourself, say, ‘I choose to forgive.’ So, I repented and I really believe it was a true repentance. It was for real. It was for real.”
For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
Romans 5:6–10
Redemption is a word that doesn’t get used a lot outside of the Church. It is, however, fundamental for us to understand, because it is through redemption that we have hope and a future. According to Oxford Languages, a simple definition of redemption is, “the action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange for payment, or clearing a debt.” In the Garden of Eden we lost something huge. We lost the ability to be with God. When that first sin was committed, Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden and God’s presence. This also meant that death was the only future hope for humanity. Christ’s death and resurrection changed the narrative. Our hope was purchased back and gave us a future that had been lost.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Titus 2:11–14
That redemption doesn’t just give us back our hope. It changes us, and it changed Oshea Israel…
As Mary started to change, so did the person she was praying for. “I started coming into myself,” Oshea Isreal said. “I started maturing. With maturity, I decided that I wanted to hold myself accountable and be responsible for my actions”
In 2005, Mary took another courageous step toward healing. She contacted the Department of Corrections and requested a face-to-face meeting with Oshea. “I have to make sure I have truly forgiven him, that I don’t have all that hatred,” Mary said. “I can honestly say that from the moment I walked in the room, the energy level was like, peaceful,” Oshea said. “We had a conversation; he admitted what he had done. He told me that if he could have communicated that night, things would have been different,” Mary said. “I said ‘Look, I told you in court that I forgave you. But today, from the bottom of my heart I want you to know that I forgive you,’ Mary said. “And he was like, ‘Ma’am how can you do that?’ I said, ‘Because of Who is in me.’”
Oshea was so young, and he had his life taken away by his own actions. Through Mary’s forgiveness, Oshea started getting back his life. He started to see the possibility of a future. God wasn’t just redeeming Oshea through Mary’s forgiveness. He was preparing Oshea for action.
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
1 John 3:16
Sometimes, we get so caught up in the idea of a “free gift” that we miss the fact that our redemption calls us to action. We aren’t to sit on our hands and just revel in our salvation. Once we have been redeemed, we are then called. That’s the beauty of the cross. The cross doesn’t just give us eternal hope; it gives us purpose. Mary and Oshea both understood that.
Mary and Oshea continued to meet and they eventually began speaking in prisons about forgiveness and reconciliation. “The more and more we spoke, the more and more our bond started to grow,” Oshea said. “And, Mary has turned into one of my biggest supporters. She worries about me even when I’m not worried about myself. And that is something a mother does.”
Oshea was released from prison in 2010, and Mary arranged his homecoming party. “I walked in and saw all of these people that I didn’t know, who only knew of me because of the pain and the hurt I caused. But I walk in and get hugs. I walk in and get smiles,” Oshea said. “That is another part of the forgiveness, the community forgave me, her friends were able to forgive me.”
Today, Oshea and Mary are next-door neighbors. They speak all over the country about the power of forgiveness. “I am so grateful for who I am today in God, that I am not that person that I used to be, full of all that junk,” Mary said.
Without redemption, we have no hope. Redemption is necessary. Redemption buys us back through the blood of Jesus, and once we are back in His care, we are called to live out the life that God wants for us. We get to really understand what the good life is. That’s the beauty of redemption.
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2024
January
What Is Prayer?AdorationConfessionThanksgivingSupplicationScripture Is The Word Of GodGod’s Word Guides UsGod’s Word Convicts UsGod’s Word Connects UsGod’s Word Encourages UsWhat Is Worship?Worship In Our WorkWorship In Our FamilySunday WorshipWorship Even When You Don't Want ToWhat is Fasting All About?Giving God Our Meal TimesEmptied of Ourselves and Filled with ChristFasting Develops FocusFood Is OverratedGod Is NOT In The FireJesus Sneaks OffWe Make Our Own Noise
February
We All Need SpaceGod Is Not Santa ClausWith Great Blessing Comes Great ResponsibilityCan Stewardship Be Scary?Filling the Need When We See ItIt's All His AnywayTime Is NOT On My SideWe Need Each OtherDevoted To The WordBreaking Bread TogetherGroup Conversations With GodFour Hands Are Better Than TwoLet’s Keep It SimpleOnly Take What You NeedSlow DownThe Great PurgeA Simple MessageGod’s Word Is A WeaponDo You Have A Game Plan?What You Remember Most Matters MostStart With the Basics
March
April
Sin Is RealDistraction Leads to Cover-UpWandering In DisobediencePride Comes Before the FallI Do What I HateThe Beauty of RedemptionRedemption Has A PriceWe Need To Claim Our PrizeYou Gotta Have FaithEven When You Look Like a Fool….God Will ProvideTrust the ProcessI Forgive YouGrace Is Free, But It Isn't CheapI Was Wrong, You Were RightThe Mob
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