Great emails....wanted to share them

Chuck Norris on Oprah's Religion by Diane Singer


In an article titled 'Oprah's New Easter,' Chuck Norris has weighed in on the Eckhart Tolle book and Oprah's related online course called A New Earth.

Chuck nicely summarizes the tenets of Tolle's belief system, with this evaluation:

Like most self-help spiritual texts of this type, it is a blend of half-truths and half-fabrications. One easily could save the purchase price of 'A New Earth' -- and subsequently avoid its misleading remarks -- by reading the Bible, which gives a much more thorough and accurate picture of life's purpose and the methods for overcoming its obstacles.... The reason Tolle's psychology and spirituality is marketed so easily is that it is an eclectic mix of conventional and unconventional wisdom, and Western and Eastern beliefs, presented in a tolerant, non-threatening and nonsectarian way. In other words, it's Religion Light, in which one can be spiritual with little down and no credit.

I have long thought that Oprah Winfrey is one of the most dangerous women in America She's intelligent, funny, charming, charismatic, dynamic, persuasive, and generous, but she is using those qualities to promote a worldview that is anti-Biblical to the core. Every time I see her on TV, I think of how the devil disguises himself as an angel of light. If it's true that she once believed in Christ, then I can only lament how she has fallen away from her first love, and how she is leading so many others astray. She needs our prayers that she will return to Jesus, and then turn her considerable talents back to serving Him instead o f a false teacher like Tolle.

There are 12 months/ 12 disciples/ 12 tribes of Israel . There is nothing attached. Just send this to twelve others. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost, just a lot of reward. Make sure you pray, and pray believing God will answer. May today be all you need it to be. May the peace of God and the freshness of the Holy Spirit rest in your thoughts, rule in your dreams tonight, and conquer all your fears. May God manifest himself today in ways you have never experienced. May your joys be fulfilled, your dreams be closer, and your prayers be answered. I pray that faith enters a new height for you; I pray that your territory is enlarged. I pray for peace, healing, health, happiness, prosperity, joy, true and undying love for God. Now send this to 12 people within 5 minutes and remember to send this back.... I count as 2, you'll see why. Suggestion: copy and paste rather than forward.



Much love to you all,

A Voyaging ship was wrecked during a storm at sea
And only two of the men on it were able
To swim to a small, desert like island.
The two survivors, not knowing what else to do,
Agree that they had no other recourse
But to pray to God.
However, to find out whose prayer was more powerful,
They agreed to divide the territory between them
And stay on opposite sides of the island.


The first thing the first man prayed for was food.
The next morning, the first man saw
A fruit-bearing tree on his side of the land,
And he was able to eat its fruit

The other man's parcel of land remained barren.

After a week, the first man was lonely
And he decided to pray for a wife.
The next day, another ship was wrecked,
And the only survivor was a woman
Who swam to his side of the land.

On the other side of the island,
There was nothing.

Soon the first man prayed for a house,
Clothes, more food.
The next day, like magic,
All of these were given to him.

However,
The second man still had nothing.



Finally, the first man prayed for a ship,
So that his wife and he could leave the island.
In the morning, he found a ship docked
At his side of the island.

The first man boarded the ship with his wife
And decided to leave the second man on the island.
He considered the other man unworthy
To receive God's blessings,
Since none of his prayers had been answered.

As the ship was about to leave,
The first man heard a voice from Heaven booming,



'Why are you leaving your companion on the island?'


'My blessings are mine alone,
Since I was the one who prayed for them,'
The first man answered.
'His prayers were all unanswered,
And so he does not deserve anything.'



'You are mistaken!'
The voice rebuked him.
'He had only one prayer,
Which I answered.
If not for that, you would not have
Received any of my blessings.'

'Tell me,' the first man asked the voice,
'what did he pray for that I
Should owe him anything?'

'He prayed that all your prayers be answered.'

For all we know, our blessings are not
The fruits of our prayers alone,
But those of another praying for us.

When Jesus died on the cross
He was thinking of you!

If you are one of the 7%
Who will stand up for him
Forward this with the title
'I am one of the 7%'.

93% of people won't forward this.

Passing this on, author unknown..

I was very dismayed when, recently, a family member of
mine said to me with great resignation that Obama will
take the presidency. These words came from someone
that in the past has been a great prayer warrior.
What is happening was my question??? Why are we
Christians settling and not issuing a battle cry and
falling to our knees and taking our country back? We
allow ourselves to be stripped of the right to pray at
school functions and in school, we have the 10
commandments removed from government places and are
told we cannot pray in school all the while providing
public prayer places for Muslims.

What in the world
is going on and why are we being apathetic? Why
aren't we praying? Our God is a mighty God who is
waiting patiently for us to raise our voices to heaven
to stop the tide of the anti-Christ actions in our
world today. Now we find we have a charismatic
candidate for president that does not respect our flag
and refuses to wear one on his lapel except when it
becomes politically expedient and whose own wife and
pastor that he loves profess to have strong anti-white
feelings and we sit back and say 'it is a given, we
can do nothing.' There has never been a time in 2000
years that we can do nothing, never a time that we
must sit back and allow the evil in men's and women's
hearts to take over our world. We should be afraid,
very afraid because our apathy is leading us to
perdition
It is time for all Christian Americans to raise the
battle cry and take our nation back. Maybe McCain on
his own cannot defeat Obama but our God can and He
will if we take to our knees in prayer and raise a
mighty cry to the heavens to 'Save us O Lord'. We
have the power to change the course of this election
and to keep a man as suspect as Barak Obama from
leading our country to who knows where with his
message of 'change' = a change which I fear will be
away from our Christian ideals and away from Christ
and further away one nation under God to one nation
under Allah.

We are great at passing stories and pictures around
the internet but where are our prayers and prayer
warriors praying to stop this tide of Barak Obama?
God parted the red sea, Jesus raised himself from the
dead and we can bring our country back to its
Christian roots and stop the move to the rise of
Muslims in our country. We can stop our country from
being 'under Allah' but we must begin to pray, to pray
as our country and our lives depended on it because
they do. We can stop all these atrocities against
God's commands that have taken root in our country
through something as simple as sincere prayer, a call
to God to deliver us, to forgive us our sins of apathy
and to protect us from the evil that is upon us.


Okay prayer warriors, here is your challenge, start
those prayer chains. Get the spiritual power working
on our behalf and stop Barak Obama the proper way, by
calling on our God to save us from the deception that
charismatic preaching is using to lead us on the wrong
path. Stop those who would take God out of our
country and our government. Raise up good men to lead
us and protect us. George Bush is being buffeted
because he has fought a holy war against the evils
that attack us...and we should not be surprised
because a prophet is not honored in his own country.
But we should not rest on our laurels and allow
ourselves to be taken further off the path of
Christianity and to have God removed from our presence
in our schools, courts, government and businesses.


Invite God into the fray. Ask that His power rest
upon us and give us the victory. Ask him to raise up
a might army to defend us and to protect our country
as he did in days of old. Let us be victorious
beginning NOW. The battle is His but we must call on
Him without ceasing and unite our voices and hearts in
prayer and fasting.


Please pass this around to all people of prayer that
you know and maybe, just maybe a more eloquent person
of prayer will write something better and more
inspiring and even the rocks will shout that Jesus is
Lord and our Mighty God is with us and bringing the
victory for us and ultimately for Him.

Cell phone vs. Bible

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat
our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several time a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?

What if we gave it to Kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing.
Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being
disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

Makes you stop and think 'where are my priorities? And no dropped calls!

P.S. DO WHAT YOU THINK GOD WOULD WANT YOU TO DO WITH THIS EMAIL

Trust in the Lord and *ASAP (Always Say A Prayer)

Have a blessed and wonderful day!

Knock, Knock I knocked at heaven's door this morning. God asked me...'My child, what can I do for you?' And I said, 'Father, please protect and bless the person reading this message.' God smiled and answered...'Request granted'. If you believe, send this to seven people and the one who sent it to you. By doing this, you have succeeded in praying for eight people today. 'Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.'
THIS IS PRETTY NEAT,

below and Place your mouse on the Edrag to the U.
Even though you can't see Him, GOD is there for yo U
When Jesus died on the cross, he was thinking of you!
If you are one of the 7% who will stand up for Him, forward this.
93% of people won't forward this.

In the year 2008, the Lord came unto Noah, who was now living in the United States , and said:
“Once again, the earth has become wicked and over-populated, and I see the end of all flesh before me.
Build another Ark and save 2 of every living thing along with a few good humans.”
He gave Noah the blueprints, saying: “You have 6 months to build the Ark before I will start the unending rain
for 40 days and 40 nights.”

Six months later, the Lord looked down and saw Noah weeping in his yard - but no Ark.
“Noah!” He roared, “I'm about to start the rain! Where is the Ark ?”
“Forgive me, Lord,” begged Noah, “but things have changed.”

“I needed a building permit.”

“I've been arguing with the inspector about the need for a sprinkler system.”

“My neighbors claim that I've violated the neighborhood zoning laws by building the Ark in my yard and exceeding the height limitations. We had to go to the Development Appeal Board for a decision.”

“Then the Department of Transportation demanded a bond be posted for the future costs of moving power lines,
and other overhead obstructions, to clear the passage for the Ark 's move to the sea.
I told them that the sea would be coming to us, but they would hear nothing of it.”

“Getting the wood was another problem. There's a ban on cutting local trees in order to save the spotted owl.
I tried to convince the environmentalists that I needed the wood to save the owls - but no go!”


“When I started gathering the animals, an animal rights group sued me.
They insisted that I was confining wild animals against their will.
They argued the accommodations were too restrictive, and it was cruel and inhumane
to put so many animals in a confined space.”

“Then the EPA ruled that I couldn't build the Ark until they'd conducted an environmental impact study on your proposed flood. I'm still trying to resolve a complaint with the Human Rights Commission on how many minorities
I'm supposed to hire for my building crew.”

“Immigration and Naturalization are checking the green-card status of most of the people who want to work.”

“The trades unions say I can't use my sons. They insist I have to hire only Union workers with Ark-building experience.”

“To make matters worse, the IRS seized all my assets, claiming I'm trying to leave the country illegally with endangered species.”

“So, forgive me, Lord, but it would take at least 10 years for me to finish this Ark. ”

Suddenly the skies cleared, the sun began to shine, and a rainbow stretched across the sky.

Noah looked up in wonder and asked,
“You mean you're not going to destroy the world?”

“No,” said the Lord.
“The government beat me to it.”

Absolutely amazing!
Beauty of Mathematics !!!!!!!

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321

1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 + 10= 1111111111

9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888

Brilliant, isn't it?

And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321



Now, take a look at this...


101%



>From a strictly mathematical viewpoint:



What Equals 100%?
What does it mean to give MORE than 100%?

Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%?

We have all been in situations where someone wants you to
GIVE OVER 100%.

How about ACHIEVING 101%?


What equals 100% in life?


Here's a little mathematical formula that might help
answer these questions:


If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.


If:


H-A-R-D-W-O- R- K

8+1+18+4+23+ 15+18+11 = 98%


And:

K-N-O-W-L-E- D-G-E

11+14+15+23+ 12+5+4+7+ 5 = 96%


But:

A-T-T-I-T-U- D-E

1+20+20+9+20+ 21+4+5 = 100%



THEN, look how far the love of God will take you:



L-O-V-E-O-F- G-O-D

12+15+22+5+15+ 6+7+15+4 = 101%


Therefore, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that:

While Hard Work and Knowledge will get you close, and Attitude will
get you there, It's the Love of God that will put you over the top!

It's up to you if you share this with your friends & loved ones just
the way I did..

Have a nice day & God bless!!



Amen to this one

"Blue Rose"

Why do I always have to be the one that starts to do laundry and
there's no detergent? I guess it was time for me to do my 'Dollar
Store' run, which included light bulbs, paper towels, trash bags and Clorox.
So off I go.

I scurried around the store, gathered up my goodies, and headed for the
checkout counter only to be blocked in the narrow aisle by a young man that
appeared to be about sixteen-years- old. I wasn't in a hurry, so I patiently
waited for the boy to realize that I was there..

This was when he waved his hands excitedly in the air and declared
in a loud voice, 'Mommy, I'm over here.' It was obvious now, he was
mentally challenged, and Also startled as he turned and saw me standing so Close to him, waiting to squeeze by. His eyes Widened and surprise exploded on his face as I said, 'Hey Buddy, what's your name?' 'My name is Denny
and I'm shopping with my mother,' he responded proudly.
'Wow,' I said, 'that's a cool name; I wish my name was
Denny, but my name is Hal.' 'Hal like Halloween?' he asked.
'Yes,' I answered. 'How old are you Denny?

'How old am I now Mommy?' he asked his mother as she slowly came
over from the next aisle. 'You're fifteen-years-old Denny; now be a good
boy and let the man pass by.' I acknowledged her and continued to talk to
Denny for several more minutes about summer, bicycles and school. I watched his brown eyes dance with excitement because he was the center of someone's
attention.

He then abruptly turned and headed toward the toy section.

Denny's mom had a puzzled look on her face and thanked me for taking
the time to talk with her son.

She told me that most people wouldn't even look at him, much less
talk to him... I told her that it was my pleasure and then I said something I
have no idea where it came from, other than by the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

I told her that there are plenty of red, yellow and pink roses in
God's garden, however, 'Blue Roses' are very rare and should be
appreciated for their beauty and distinctiveness. You see, Denny is a 'Blue
Rose' and if someone doesn't stop and smell that rose with their heart
and touch that rose with their kindness, then they've missed a blessing from
God.

She was silent for a second, then with a tear in her eye she asked,
'Who are you?' Without thinking I said, 'Oh, I'm probably just a
'daffodil or maybe even a dandelion,' but I sure love living in
God's garden.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please the next time you see a BLUE ROSE don't turn your head and
walk off - take the time to smile and say Hello. Because by the grace of GOD
this mother could be you. This could be your child, grandchild, niece, nephew.
What a difference a moment can mean to that person or their family.
From just a daffodil.

Read the whole email prior to going to this site.

http://www.crossroad.to/articles2/007/smith-oprah.htm or

"Oprah and Friends" to teach course on New Age Christ

Jesus Christ being reinvented, redefined, and blasphemed and, this false New- Age Christ teaching is about to make huge inroads into the world, with the help of the queen of television talk shows, Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah Winfrey, beginning January 1, 2008, on her daily radio program will offer a year-long course on the New Age Christ , in a lesson a day and completely cover the 365 lessons from the Course in Miracles "Workbook."

Listeners will be encouraged to buy A Course in Miracles for the year-long course, and an audio version, recited by Richard (John Boy
Walton) Thomas will be available on compact disc.

Those who finish the Course will have a wholly redefined spiritual mindset-a New Age worldview that include the beliefs that there is no sin, no evil, no devil. A Course in Miracles teaches its students to rethink everything they believe about God and life, and, bluntly
states: "This is a course in mind training" and is dedicated to "thought reversal."

The Course in Miracles -in reality-is the truth of the Bible turned upside down.

Oprah told her television audience that Williamson's book, A Course in Miracles was one of her favorite books, and that she had already bought a thousand copies and would be handing them out to everyone in her studio audience. Oprah's endorsement skyrocketed Williamson's book to the top of the New York Times bestseller list .

A Course in Miracles is allegedly a "new revelation" from "Jesus" to help humanity work through these troubled times. This "Jesus"-who bears no doctrinal resemblance to the Bible's Jesus Christ-began delivering channeled teachings in 1965 to a Columbia University Professor of Medical Psychology, Helen Schucman.

One day Schucman heard an "inner voice" stating, "This is a course in miracles. Please take notes." For seven years she diligently took spiritual dictation from this voice that described himself as "Jesus."

Here are some quotes from the "Jesus" voice of A Course in Miracles :

· "There is no sin . . . "

· A "slain Christ has no meaning."

· &n bsp; "The journey to the cross should be the last ' useless journey."

· "Do not make the pathetic error of 'clinging to the old rugged cross.'"

· "The Name of Jesus Christ as such is but a symbol... It is a symbol that is safely used as a replacement for the many names of all the gods to which you pray."

· "The recognition of God is the recognition of yourself."

· "The Atonement is the final lesson he [man] need learn, for it teaches him that, never having sinned, he has no need of salvation."

Popular author Wayne Dyer told his PBS television audience that the "brilliant writing" of A Course in Miracles would produce more peace in the world.

The Course in Miracles-based book, Forgiveness, continues to be sold in Robert Schuller's Crystal Cathedral bookstore as Schuller prepares to host a January 17-19, 2008, "Rethink Conference" at his Crystal Cathedral.



2 Timothy 3 (King James Version)

King James Version (KJV)

2 Timothy 3

1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.


Christians.....Take heed!!

And PLEASE pass this one on.....if you never forward anything else!

From Beth Moore, Published by Pastor Joel on July 7, 2008 08:12 am under Revival.

Dear Ones,
On June 27th and 28th I attended a conference in Atlanta called Deeper Still. Internationally known speakers Kay Arthur, Beth Moore and Priscilla Shirer were there and I looked forward to a special time of worship and having God convict me of my sins and lead me to areas in my life where I need to change. I have been to similar conferences for years, although none this large and with so many well-known speakers. There were over 20,000 women in attendance at the Phillips Arena in Atlanta - they said it was the largest crowd ever.
I had an idea of what to expect from the conference, but nothing prepared me for what actually happened. I feel led to share my experience with family and friends. This is important, so stay with me!
When Kay Arthur took the stage you could just tell that her spirit was heavy and there was a certain 'heaviness' in the atmosphere even before she started to speak. She said that she had been literally physically sick to have to bring us this message and right out the gate she said, 'We are in grave danger.' She said that God had revealed to her that a literal famine is coming to America.. Physical, not spiritual. She said that God is moving in judgment against our nation. I know I can't describe this well enough, but the atmosphere was ominous.
Kay is a seasoned speaker and she had to BATTLE to get through her message. She stumbled over scriptures and had an extremely difficult time. At times I was almost expecting her to collapse. At one point she just had to stop and pray. There was no person, myself included, that I could see who did not have tears streaming down their faces. As you may know, Kay Arthur is normally a very confident, composed speaker, but she was literally in a spiritual battle and it was taking place right before my eyes. I have never seen anything like it.
She went on to give 7 things that Christians must do during this time and I am going to give those to you now:
1. Jer 4:3- Break up the fallow ground- return to Me. Repent.. Get on your face before God and ask him to break your heart with the things that break His heart.
2. Mourn- Jer. 9:17-18 and Ezekiel 9. It is time to weep
because our nation's sin is incredible.
3. Pray- Jer 36:7- Pray fervently, passionately for America.
4. Love God's Word- Jer. 20. You MUST love the Word of God and be in the Word of God. I was particularly convicted here because I know I have not been as deeply in His Word as I need to be. She said we must get serious about this.
5. Love others as Jesus loved them. Jer. 31:3 and John 13:34.
6. Introduce people to Jesus Christ. It's time to get serious about this. This is no time for timidity. Jer 31:31; Jer 33:1-9 and 15 and 17.
7. Rest. If you will do these things, then rest in the fact that you have done God's will. She said that it is going to be vitally important for us to get enough physical rest. She went on to say that God has not given us a spirit of fear and that if we are obedient to Him, we will be protected. She said to read Ezekiel 14 over and over until you understand it. This is what God will do if a country turns against Him. She said that this is going to be a calamity (she used the word calamity in such a way that you knew this is going to be no small thing for our country), and gave many more scripture references, but what I have given you are the main points that she made.
I hope you know that I would not have sent this to you if I had not been profoundly affected by it and feel it is of great importance to share it. Thank you for taking the time to re ad this and I hope you will do with this information what yo u feel led by God to do.

Love in Christ Jesus, Beth

For those of you who do not know Beth Moore, she is an outstanding Bible
teacher, writer of Bible studies, and is a married mother of two daughters.

This is one of her experiences:

April 20, 2005, at the Airport in Knoxville, waiting to board the
plane, I had the Bible on my lap and was very intent upon what I was
doing. I'd had a marvelous morning with the Lord. I say this because I
want to tell you it is a scary thing to have the Spirit of God really
working in you.


You could end up doing some things you never would have done otherwise.
Life in the Spirit can be dangerous for a thousand reasons not the least
of which is your ego.

I tried to keep from staring, but he was such a strange sight. Humped
over in a wheelchair, he was skin and bones, dressed in clothes that
obviously fit when he was at least twenty pounds heavier His knees
protruded from his trousers, and his shoulders looked like the coat
hanger was still in his shirt. His hands looked like tangled masses of
veins and bones.


The strangest part of him was his hair and nails. Stringy, gray hair
hung well over his shoulders and down part of his back. His fingernails
were long, clean but strangely out of place on an old man.

I looked down at my Bible as fast as I could, discomfort burning my
face. As I tried to imagine what his story might have been, I found
myself wondering if I'd just had a Howard Hughes sighting. Then, I
remembered that he was dead. So this man in the airport... an
impersonator maybe? Was a camera on us somewhere? There I sat; trying
to concentrate on the Word to keep from being concerned about a thin
slice of humanity served up on a wheelchair only a few seats from me.
All the while, my heart was growing more and more overwhelmed with a
feeling for him.

Let's admit it. Curiosity is a heap more comfortable than true concern,
and suddenly I was awash with aching emotion for this bizarre-looking
old man.

I had walked with God long enough to see the handwriting on the wall.
I've learned that when I begin to feel what God feels, something so
contrary to my natural feelings, something dramatic is bound to happen.
And it may be embarrassing.

I immediately began to resist because I could feel God working on my
spirit and I started arguing with God in my mind. 'Oh, no, God, please,
no.' I looked up at the ceiling as if I could stare straight through it
into heaven and said, 'Don't make me witness to this man. Not right here
and now. Please. I'll do anything. Put me on the same plane, but don't
make me get up here and witness to this man in front of this gawking
audience. Please, Lord!'

There I sat in the blue vinyl chair begging His Highness, 'Please don't
make me witness to this man. Not now. I'll do it on the plane.' Then I
heard it...'I don't want you to witness to him. I want you to brush his
hair.'

The words were so clear, my heart leap into my throat, and my thoughts
spun like a top. Do I witness to the man or brush his hair? No-brainier.
I looked straight back up at the ceiling and said, 'God, as I live and
breathe, I want you to know I am ready to witness to this man. I'm on
this Lord. I'm your girl! You've never seen a woman witness to a man
faster in your life. What difference does it make if his hair is a mess if he is
not redeemed? I am going to witness to this man' Again as clearly as
I've ever heard an audible word, God seemed to write this statement
across the wall of my mind. 'That is not what I said, Beth. I don't want you to
witness to him. I want you to go brush his hair.'

I looked up at God and quipped, 'I don't have a hairbrush. It's in my
suitcase on the plane. How am I supposed to brush his hair without a
hairbrush?' God was so insistent that I almost involuntarily began to
walk toward him as these thoughts came to me from God's word: 'I will
thoroughly furnish you unto all good works.' (2 Timothy 3:17)

I stumbled over to the wheelchair thinking I could use one myself. Even
as I retell this story, my pulse quickens and I feel those same
butterflies. I knelt down in front of the man and asked as demurely as
possible, 'Sir, may I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?'

He looked back at me and said, 'What did you say?'

'May I have the pleasure of brushing your hair?'

To which he responded in volume ten, 'Little lady, if you expect me to
hear you, you're going to have to talk louder than that.'

At this point, I took a deep breath and blurted out , 'SIR, MAY I HAVE
THE PLEASURE OF BRUSHING YOUR HAIR?' At which point every eye in the
place darted right at me. I was the only thing in the room looking more
peculiar than old Mr. Long Locks. Face crimson and forehead breaking out
in a sweat, I watched him look up at me with absolute shock on his face,
and say, 'If you really want to.' Are you kidding? Of course I didn't
want to. But God didn't seem interested in my personal preference right
about then. He pressed on my heart until I could utter the words, 'Yes,
sir, I would be pleased. But I have one little problem. I don't have a
hairbrush.' 'I have one in my bag,' he responded.

I went around to the back of that wheelchair, and I got on my hands and
knees and unzipped the stranger's old carry-on, hardly believing what I
was doing. I stood up and started brushing the old man's hair. It was
perfectly clean, but it was tangled and matted. I don't do many things
well, but must admit I've had notable experience untangling knotted hair
mothering two little girls. Like I'd done with either Amanda or Melissa
in such a condition, I began brushing at the very bottom of the strands,
remembering to take my time not to pull. A miraculous thing happened to
me as I started brushing that old man's hair. Everybody else in the room
disappeared. There was no one alive for those moments except that old
man and me. I brushed and I brushed and I brushed until every tangle was

out of that hair. I know this sounds so strange, but I've never felt that kind of

love for another soul in my entire life. I believe with all my heart, I - for that

few minutes - felt a portion of the very love of God. That He had overtaken

my heart for a little while like someone renting a room and making Himself

at home for a short while.

The emotions were so strong and so pure t hat I knew they had to be
God's. His hair was finally as soft and smooth as an infant's.

I slipped the brush back in the bag and went around the chair to face
him. I got back down on my knees, put my hands on his knees and said,
'Sir, do you know my Jesus?'

He said, 'Yes, I do' Well, that figures, I thought. He explained, 'I've
known Him since I married my bride. She wouldn't marry
me until I got to know the Savior.' He said, 'You see, the problem is, I
haven't seen my bride in months. I've had open-heart surgery, and she's
been too ill to come see me. I was sitting here thinking to myself, what
a mess I must be for my bride.'

Only God knows how often He allows us to be part of a divine moment when
we're completely unaware of the significance. This, on the other hand,
was one of those rare encounters when I knew God had intervened in
details only He could have known. It was a God moment, and I'll never
forget it.



Our time came to board, and we were not on the same plane. I was deeply
ashamed of how I'd acted earlier and would have been so proud to have
accompanied him on that aircraft.

I still had a few minutes, and as I gathered my things to board, the
airline hostess returned from the corridor, tears streaming down her
cheeks. She said, 'That old man's sitting on the plane, sobbing. Why did
you do that? What made you do that?'

I said, 'Do you know Jesus? He can be the bossiest thing!'

And we got to share.

I learned something about God that day. He knows if you're exhausted,
you're hungry, you're serving in the wrong place or it is time to move
on but you feel too responsible to budge. He knows if you're hurting or
feeling rejected. He knows if you're sick or drowning under a wave of
temptation. Or He knows if you just need your hair brushed. He sees you
as an individual. Tell Him your need!

I got on my own flight, sobs choking my throat, wondering how many
opportunities just like that one had I missed along the way . . all
because I didn't want people to think I was strange. God didn't send me
to that old man. He sent that old man to me.