Jesus Could Be Bald

By Phil Scovell



     Recently, my wife and I experienced a disagreement.  After
almost 33 years of being married to the same person, you pretty
well have covered just about everything at least once in your
marital arguments.  It is always the nature of argumentation,
however, to cover old ground repetitively.  Why?  Because it
increases the level of intensity each person is trying to express,
or inflict upon the other, whichever the case may be, and
repeating old stuff, especially old stuff you have seen work well
in the past, gives you the edge.  Well, at least it seems that way
at the time.  Later, it never seems that way, of course, but now
is what we are discussing and not later.  So, as I was saying,
Sandy and I were in a disagreement over something.  Frankly, I
cannot honestly recall how it began but this is often true of
arguments.

     Before continuing, let me give you a tip.  If you can't find
a soft spot upon which to hammer on while arguing, drag up your
in-laws and their obvious lack of good character.  This always
works in raising your point average because, as we all know,
winning the argument, any argument, is the name of the game.  No,
we don't care if we are truly right; we only care that we end up
on the winning side and bless God, if you have to toss in your
mate's family and sacrifice them to win the argument, by all
means, do so.  No, it doesn't matter if your in-laws are already
dead; you can use them as part of the argument.  If you want to
win, that is.  Now, back to what I was saying.

     So Sandy and I are deep into this disagreement.  Both of us
were making some fairly good points and to be honest, neither of
us tossed in our families as fighting elements.  Well, at least
not this time.

     At this point, I want to clearly state that my wife was 100
percent correct.  Well, maybe it was more like 98 percent.
Truly, there was nothing wrong with the feelings she had about
the issue she had raised.  Strangely enough, I freely admitted she
was right and that I understood why she was bringing this up and
why she felt hurt and frustrated.   Being right, however, doesn't
always win an argument.  Let me try and explain what I mean.

     In this case, as I stated, not only was my wife right but I
admitted she was.  I made my admission for a couple of reasons.
First, she was right, I'm not for sure why I keep saying that, but
secondly, and most importantly, the truth wasn't causing me any
concern.  You see, over the years, such things would have done
exactly that; cause me concern, that is, or discomfort.  In fact,
it likely would have literally hurt my feelings.  It always would
not be uncommon for me to go away feeling depressed because of
the feelings stirred up within me during the argument.  In this
example, no such thing happened.  Why?  Because I was able to
admit my wife was right and that I, furthermore, understood why
she felt the way she did, but this time I felt different.
Literally, what she said wasn't stirring anything up that would
cause me emotional discomfort, consternation, or pain.  Why not?
There is only one answer.  In the last two years, I have
experienced an unmeasurable amount of healing in my life.  In
fact, through healing prayers, the Lord has touched areas of my
life which used to bring me discouragement and depression and even
anxiety.  Let me make up a story to explain what I am saying.

     Let's say the issue is a good friend hurt your feelings.  You
had decided to go western but you weren't quite certain you wanted
to go all the way in case somebody called you a cowboy.  So you
buy, for the first time, a nice pair of cowboy boots.  No western
shirt, no spurs, no horse, no saddle, no cowboy hat, and no
rawhide stringed tie with a turquoise clip.  Just boots.

     You and your closed friend meet up at a local coffee shop and
split a cinnamon bun.  You are feeling good so you pop for the
coffee and the bun.  During your coffee date with your best
friend, he comments on your boots, making no unfavorable remarks,
but simply commenting that he never figured you to be that sort of
a guy.  You suddenly feel uncomfortable and conspicuous, too, but
you don't know why.  You are definitely bothered, though.

     Upon leaving the doughnut shop, and just before climbing into
your car, your buddy says, staring down at your new shiny boots,
"Nope.  I never would have figured you to be a guy who would wear
boots.  I wouldn't personally be caught dead in them myself."  You
both laugh, shake hands, and go your separate ways.  His words
touched something deep but after spending three days thinking
about and even awakening in the middle of the night once, due to
your emotional discomfort, you still can't figure out why his
joking remarks bother you.

     One day, after the morning service, you are visiting with
your pastor.  Everyone has left the building by this time so you
comment on this experience to your pastor because it has caused
you a great deal of anxiety, for some reason, and you don't like
how you are feeling.  He invites you into his office and you both
take a seat.  Your pastor begins to pray and says, "Lord, Tom has
been stirred up in his emotions about what brother Frank said at
coffee the other day.  Would you show Tom where these feelings
first began?"

     After a few moments of quiet, suddenly you remember.  You
and your bald headed father are walking down a city street one
evening.  You are four years of age and your dad his holding your
hand.  Coming to a street crossing, you both stop and wait for the
light to change.  Some scruffy looking teenage boys are smoking
and leaning up against the building.  You turn and see them
laughing and pointing.  At first you don't understand but your
father says, "It's ok, Tommy.  Let's go."  The light has changed
and your dad starts walking you across the street.  The boys,
braver now that distance has been put between you, call out and
make fun of your dad's bald head.  It feels scary to you and for a
minute, you sense a strong feeling that the mean boys might
follow and try and hurt you.  It feels like a sharp stick was
poked in your back as they mocked and derided your father for
being bald.  You hear your dad speaking again.  "It's ok, Tommy.
They can't hurt anybody.  Just don't bother looking back."

     Now you are 48 years old and feeling stupid that you
purchased a pair of cowboy boots.  Why?  As you pray the prayer
of agreement with your pastor, the Holy Spirit reveals to you that
first the boys scared you.  Then you hear Jesus saying, "It is ok
now, Tommy.  Besides, I was there, too, and I won't let anything
happen to you."  The anxiety you've been having vanishes as if it
had never really existed.  The relief, although incomplete, is
instant.

     "What else Lord does Tom need to see about this memory?" your
pastor prays.

     Now you see it easily.  You were embarrassed due to your
dad's bald head and you say as much to your pastor.  You know how
foolish that seems now as an adult but as a four year old, you
were simply too small to comprehend the cascading thoughts
tumbling through your mind at the time.  Besides, the fear was
their and that made everything feel real to you.

     "then what does Tom need to hear from you, Lord," you hear
your pastor praying quietly.

     A few short silent moments pass and then you begin laughing.
It starts out as a soft chuckle but with each passing moment,
things begin to snowball on you and you find yourself totally
helpless to stop it.  The wheels suddenly come off your normal
self controlled demeanor and you are irreversibly and recklessly
laughing hysterically.  Tears begin running down your cheeks and
throwing your head back and opening your mouth wide, you bay at
the ceiling; releasing the loudest laughter you have ever
experienced in your life.  Your laughter is so infectious, your
pastor is now laughing as hard as you are.

     After a good fifteen minutes of stopping and starting up
again, you both finally have regained a measure of control.
Still, a burst of laughter escapes from one or the other as you
both sit lost in your own thoughts.

     Finally, after blowing your nose, you ask the pastor what he
was laughing about.  Instead of answering your question, he asks
you to go first.  "Well," you say, "like I told you.  Dad and I
are walking across the street when the light changed and these
punks are making fun of dad's bald head.  I was seeing this in my
mind's eye as you prayed, when all of the sudden, I realized the
person walking next to me and holding my hand wasn't my dad but
was the Lord."  At this point an entire new fit of explosive
laughter, volcanic guffaws, and knee slapping howls fills the
pastor's study; shared by both men.

     Eventually, after a Herculean efforts, you both regain
control.  "So what did you see, Tom," the pastor said; holding his
aching temples.

     "Pastor," you reply with the most powerful smile you have
ever had, "I saw Jesus holding my hand and walking across the
street with me."

     "Tom," your pastor says, trying to keep from laughing, "You
are repeating yourself.  What is so funny about seeing Jesus
walking you across the street instead of your dad?"

     "Because," you detonate with atom splitting laughter, "Jesus
was bald."

     In my fictitious story, which I have seen repeated endlessly
in similar prayer sessions, the man with the new cowboy boots was
trigger by a totally harmless comment by his best friend.  Through
prayer, the source of this woundedness was discovered, the fear
was eliminated, the personal embarrassment exposed, and truth
applied.

     First, let's identify the lies.  The little boy was afraid.
That was natural.  What wasn't natural about is that the fear
followed him through his entire life and was constantly being
triggered in various ways.  The literal lie was, "Those boys are
going to come and get you and hurt you."  Jesus exposed this for
what it was, a lie, and because the man heard Jesus say the He,
Jesus, was with him, the lie lost its worth as a threat and the
fear disappeared.  What was the purpose of the fear?  It masked
the demonic lie, that is, the embarrassment the little boy had
about his father.  Once the fear was eliminated by the healing
power of the Lord, the lie was easily exposed and removed.

     Secondly, the little boy was embarrassed by the baldness of
his father.  Again, not an uncommon situation for any child.  I
can't tell you the number of times I was embarrassed by things my
mom and dad did when I was growing up.  The lie, in this memory,
was not that it was wrong for his father to be bald but that he,
Tom, was somehow apart of this ridicule.  Furthermore, the little
boy took it personally.  From that point onward, he was always
sensitive to what others said and thought of him.  In my
illustrative story, Jesus used His sense of humor to bring healing
to the little boy by showing him that the one who was walking with
him now and holding his little hand in his big hand, was the King
of the universe.  Additionally, Jesus showed the little boy that
baldness, to Him, was no big deal.   The little boy, and therefore
the grown man, were healed and the lies never would effect him
again.

     About this time, I hear someone saying, "How could all that
be true?"  Call me on the phone and let's pray together.  I'll
let Jesus prove to you it's true.

     Furthermore, I have had many such personal healings in my own
life and literally seen hundreds of other memories healed in the
lives of other Christians through the prayer of agreement.

     Concerning the argument with my wife?  Well, since what she
was saying was true, there I go again admitting it, and since I
had been healed in so many areas related to inferiority, a
worthless self image, and personal embarrassment, what she said
didn't hurt and could not trigger the lies I once had believed.
The same thing can happen to you.  Just call me and find out how
easily you can be healed and your mind renewed.


I Flew Kites With Jesus
www.SafePlaceFellowship.com