53 year-old Village Oaks resident Keith Smith goes by "Smitty." Smitty has been very involved with the activities at Village Oaks.
I asked Smitty: "What is your favorite thing about Jesus?" His response: "He saves."
After a winding road from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to being homeless on the streets of Dallas for 3 years in bondage to addiction...Smitty was saved.
"Things are looking up now that I'm saved. It's a lot better." Smitty keeps it profoundly simple.
"God wakes me up in the morning. Then I pray before I get out of bed. Then I study." You like to study? "Oh yes! Absolutely."
I should have known the answer because I get texts from Smitty several times a week with lessons from his studies. For example, one day he wrote: "Spiritual armor for spiritual war" with a list of verses to read.
Smitty has shared parts of his story with our Real Men group. He is thankful to have his own apartment at Village Oaks. I recently asked him about his father. "I never knew him. Once my mother introduced me to him and he looked at me and said, 'I'm not your father.' That was like being carved with a knife. I struggled with it for many years."
What about now? "God is a Father who doesn't turn His back on you," he said. He told me his relationship with God has brought forgiveness toward his natural father. "When I forgive, the blessings start coming down."
And what about the future? "I could see myself becoming a preacher some day. In God's time."
I'd love to hear Smitty preach. And his life is preaching a profound and simple truth as we speak: Jesus Saves!
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If you haven't seen the new Behind Every Door video "Vigorous, Wonderful Change"... take a look! It is a look back at the last two years. Here is the link: http://youtu.be/edrZhcvy5vE
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
-- Behind Every Door Ministries
