Spitfire,

Perhaps her healing occured because she made a connection that others who are ill failed to make.  That connection may have been with her conscious will expressing itself on the universal subconscious or an encounter with what she felt was divine.  It was not a desire to be well for selfish purposes, or just out of fear of disease or death.

Perhaps there is much to learn from this girl about her thoughts and spiritual connection associated with the healing.  You are looking for fairness from a man with a long flowing white beard.  I agree, that is unlikely to be found.  I believe that she connected to something vast that we all have access to, but don't often truly connect with.

I have no problem in agreeing with your statement that you see suffering and pain and don't see a divine being being fair.  But this bigger power that we can all connect with, that is hard to define, this spark of divinity in each one of us may be God.    So keep an open mind.


Matthew

Spitfire,

Ah the ultimate expression of the New Age cultic mentality!  Simply dismiss testimonies that conflict with your viewpoint as a lie.  I will shortly report an analogous healing based on another life-changing personal testimony.

Don

Quote:


Ah!  berserk, the perfect example of a religous bon bon, never ask for evidence, for first you must have faith, or god will not have faith in you, REPENT, REPENT NOW OR GO STRAIGHT TO HELL, DO NOT PASS GO, DO NOT COLLECT 200 BUCKS GO DIRECTLY TO JAIL!.

answer my questions, and i shall come around to believing it.

1. why did no one bring camera's? video camera's?

2. why would "god" heal this girl, and not the millions of others in need?

3.why does a god need worship?

4.god has only existed for a few thousand years, we never worshipped any god for the rest of our exist, why should we now?

5. everything you understand about god, comes from 1 book, a few scrolls and thats it, "god" cant love all his children equally as it says in the bible, for he killed the eygption kids because they would'nt let the isralites go. either god does'nt love all his children, or the book was created purely by man, for man to keep control over the mass's.

You talk about "god" doing a miracle, yet the proof that god exists, was made 2000 years ago on a few scraps of paper. no new proof has come forth in all that time.

amazing claims, require amazing evidence. a few words which sound like a movie script, aint amazing evidence.

MIRACLE IN A PHONE BOOTH:

My next miracle rivals Nita Edwards's healing in its inspirational power.   I share it because my parents have confirmed it with Ken Gaub's daughter who was present on the scene.  Ken Gaub is a minister with a local TV program.  As Ken tells it:

"I was driving on I-75 near Dayton, Ohio, with my wife and children.  We turned off the highway for a rest and refreshment stop.  My wife, Barbara, and children went into the restaurant.   I suddenly felt the need to stretch my legs, so I waved them off ahead saying I'd join them later.  I bought a soft drink, and as I walked toward a Dairy Queen, feelings of self-pity enshrouded my mind...I felt drained, burdened.  My cup was empty.

Suddenly, the impatient ringing of a telephone nearby jarred me out of my doldrums.  It was coming from a phone booth at the service station on the corner.  Wasn't anyone going to answer the phone?  Noise from the traffic flowing through the busy intersection must have drowned out the sound because the service station attendant continued looking after his customers, oblivious to the incessant ringing.  

"Why doesn't somebody answer the phone?" I muttered.   I began reasoning, "It may be important.  What if it's an emergency?"  Curiosity overcame my indifference.  I stepped inside the booth and picked up the phone.

"Hello," I said casually and took a big sip of my drink.  The operator said, "Long distance call for Ken Gaub."  My eyes widened, and I almost choked on a chunk of ice.  Swallowing hard, I said, "You're crazy!"  Then, realizing I shouldn't speak to an operator like that, I added, "This can't be!  I was walking down the road, not bothering anyone, and the phone was ringing..."  "Is Ken Gaub there?"  the operator interrupted, "I have a long distance call for him."   It took a moment to gain control of my babbling, but I finally replied, "Yes, he is here."   Searching for an explanation, I wondered if I could possibly be on Candid Camera!

Still shaken, perplexed, I asked, "How in the world did you reach me here?  I was walking down the road, the pay phone started ringing, and I just answered it by chance.  You can't mean me." "Well, the operator asked, "is Mr. Gaub there or isn't he?" "Yes, I am Ken Gaub," I said, finally convinced by the tone of her voice that the call was real.

Then I heard another voice say, "Yes, that's him, operator.  That's Ken Gaub."  I listened dumbfounded to a strange voice identify herself.  "I'm Millie from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  you don't know me, Mr. Gaub, but I'm desperate.  Please help me."  She began weeping.  

Finally, she regained control and continued, "I was about to commit suicide.  I had just finished writing a note, when I began to pray and tell God I really didn't want to do this.  Then I suddenly remembered seeing you on television and thought if I could just talk to you, you could help me.  I knew that was impossible because I didn't know how to reach you:  I didn't know anyone who could help me find you.  Then, some numbers came to my mind, and I scribbled them down."

At this point she began weeping again, and I prayed silently for wisdom to help her.  She continued, "I looked at the numbers and thought, `Wouldn't it be wonderful if I had a miracle from God, and He has given me Ken's phone number?'  I decided to try calling it.  I can't believe I'm talking to you.  Are you in your office in California?'  

I replied, "Lady,  I don't have an office in California.  My office is in Yakima, Washington."  A little surprised, she asked, "Oh really, then where are you?"  "Don't you know?"  I responded.  "You made the call."   She explained, "But I don't even know what area I'm calling.  I just dialed the numbers that I had on this paper."  "Ma'am, you won't believe this, but I'm in a phone booth in Dayton, Ohio!"   "Really?" she exclaimed.  "Well, what are you doing  there?"  I kidded her gently, "Well, I'm answering the phone.  It was ringing as i walked by; so, I answered."  

Ken then counsels the woman, her acute depression lifts, and she becomes a radiant Christian.  I've shared this account here once before.  Only later did my parents talk to Ken's daughter and confirm this miracle.

Don  

You should write another form of fiction your quite good at it.

Reminds me of people saying they have been probed by aliens.

A MUSLIM IS HEALED OF AIDS BY JESUS:

A missionary named Brian shared his friend Ahmed's story in a sermon in my parents' church in British Columbia.   My parents later talked to him to gain updates on Ahmed's progress.   Brian has now returned to his missionary duties in Ethiopia. 

Ahmed was a Muslim mullah who was dying of AIDs in a hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.   A young Christian couple were visiting the sick in the hospital and decided to pray for Ahmed.  Ahmed  would later say that he despised Christians and wanted to kill them.  But the advanced stage of his AIDs made him too weak to react. 

Then after dark, a robed being entered his room.  Through telepathic communication, Ahmed realized to this horror that it was Jesus.   He was soon overwhelmed by the love emanating from this man.  Unlike Nita Edwards, Ahmed was not instantly healed.  But he felt well enough to leave the hospital and was able to track down the Christian couple.   They prayed for him again and this time he was completely cured of his AIDs.  His healing was soon verified by a battery of tests. 

This miracle transformed Ahmed into a zealous missionary to his Muslim brethren.  His testimony converted enough Muslims to transform 3 mosques into churches.   Many of his converts were drawn to hear his testimony by visions instructing them to attend his services to experience God's presence.

But Ahmed's friend Brian admits that Ahmed's zeal is not entirely wise.   His wife is divorcing him not because of his conversion,  but because he spends so much time in the street sharing his faith with Muslims that he has neglected his marriage.   Brian is trying to get Ahmed to enter marriage counseling.  Also, the members of his 3 new churches (former mosques) are being intensely persecuted.   Ahmed is being sued for defrauding Muslims out of their mosques.   I imagine the court has now settled this.  But I'll have to wait till Brian returns again from Ethiopia to find out for sure.

I've shared these stories to demonstrate the miracles still do happen and sometimes in ways just as spectacular as biblical miracles.  I hope some find these accounts inspiring.

Happy New Year,
Don
*****************
Pardon my cynicism, Don... but that story sounds a
bit like the classic chain letter which states something like this:
"A plumber named Fred B. discarded this letter which has been around the world 37 times. Two days later he died."
How about a LAST NAME for "Brian", at least, or even (Heavens to Murgatroyd!) CONTACT INFORMATION? "A missionary named Brian" has an urban-legendy sound to it (if not the ring of a total fabrication.)
You can do BETTER than this, Don...
BTW - will I find THIS one on Snopes.com (like your "Acme mountain moving company" story?)

Happy aught-six,
B-man

Justin,

You are too much! Oh btw, are there female aliens? Are they humamoid? Do they like probing? Turnabout is fair play, as they say.  : - ) .

Spitfire,

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Christianity as a dying religion. It has proven itself adaptable in the long term. Even the Catholic church isn't quite what it was at its beginning. Btw, the Catholic Church is the oldest continuously existing institution in the world. It may appear to be dying in western countries but it's thriving and expanding elsewhere.
Ditto for the Anglican Church and others. Oh yeah, let's not forget those pesky Mormons. They've been consistantly growing in numbers all over the world.

Your logo is loud and obnoxious. But that's you, isn't it? You seem to identify with the Spitfire identity. Are you your own man or do you really need to prop up your personality with artificial identities such as this?

I don't think atheism is a tenable position. The existance of God cannot be proven, true, but neither can it be disproven. It would seem the agnostic position is more logical, unless your personal experience demonstrates the existance of God, which in your case clearly does not.

I have gotton on Don for what I perceive as his arrogance and other things, but I don't think he is the type of Christian you characterize him as being. Far from it. His beliefs would get him excomunicated from most, if not all, of the Christian churches/denominations. You are not doing yourself or anyone else any true favors by such fallacious exaggerations such as those you try impose on him.

Rob