From the article:
Quote:
A number of years ago, I received a hysterical phone call from a mother living in Long Island. She had just found a New Testament hidden between her daughter's mattress and box spring. There was a terrible confrontation. The daughter stormed out of the house, and the mother knew she desperately needed help.
We spoke for quite a while. It turned out that her daughter was involved in a local Messianic congregation on Long Island called Olive Tree. I explained to her that if I were going to help, I had to meet with her daughter, so we set a date and time to meet. Elizabeth was not happy about meeting with someone like me, but after some well-placed motherly prodding and pressure, an appointment was arranged.
When I first met Elizabeth, she seemed friendly. Within five minutes, she began to tell me all about her new faith. She described how, when she attended Boston University, her roommate gave her a pocket-sized New Testament as a gift. She didn't read it at the time, but just tossed it aside.
She told me how one night she was feeling depressed after an unexpected breakup with her boy friend and decided to look for some solace from her little New Testament. "I began to thumb through it, and I came upon a verse that moved me in a very special way," she said. "It penetrated my soul to the point that I knew that this New Testament had to be the word of God."
She quoted words of the New Testament that touched her so -- these words were first spoken by Moses.
I asked her to tell me which verse she read that was so inspiring. She picked up the Bible from the table, and her index finger began to flip through the pages. Suddenly she said, "This is it!" She began to read this verse from the Book of Mark, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might... "
This young woman had no idea that this sacred phrase is the most precious and celebrated creed of the Jewish people and is written in the Five Books of Moses. It wasn't long after this memorable meeting with Elizabeth that she returned back to the faith of her ancestors. Less than a month later Elizabeth left for Israel to study at a women's college for one year.
We spoke for quite a while. It turned out that her daughter was involved in a local Messianic congregation on Long Island called Olive Tree. I explained to her that if I were going to help, I had to meet with her daughter, so we set a date and time to meet. Elizabeth was not happy about meeting with someone like me, but after some well-placed motherly prodding and pressure, an appointment was arranged.
When I first met Elizabeth, she seemed friendly. Within five minutes, she began to tell me all about her new faith. She described how, when she attended Boston University, her roommate gave her a pocket-sized New Testament as a gift. She didn't read it at the time, but just tossed it aside.
She told me how one night she was feeling depressed after an unexpected breakup with her boy friend and decided to look for some solace from her little New Testament. "I began to thumb through it, and I came upon a verse that moved me in a very special way," she said. "It penetrated my soul to the point that I knew that this New Testament had to be the word of God."
She quoted words of the New Testament that touched her so -- these words were first spoken by Moses.
I asked her to tell me which verse she read that was so inspiring. She picked up the Bible from the table, and her index finger began to flip through the pages. Suddenly she said, "This is it!" She began to read this verse from the Book of Mark, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might... "
This young woman had no idea that this sacred phrase is the most precious and celebrated creed of the Jewish people and is written in the Five Books of Moses. It wasn't long after this memorable meeting with Elizabeth that she returned back to the faith of her ancestors. Less than a month later Elizabeth left for Israel to study at a women's college for one year.
How sad...more than ever I can understand why the word "stiffnecked" was used thousands of years ago. Very, very stiffnecked.