Many Bible manuscripts omnit verses Jn 5:3b and Jn 5:4 that speak of 
an angel of the Lord being involved and the stirring of the water.

God Bless,
Doris

At 04:23 PM 5/29/2009 -0600, you wrote:
>Curses Via Email
>
>By Phil Scovell
>
>
>     Now, don't become offended, or take it personally, as you read 
> this article.  It is something I have been prayerfully considering 
> for a long time.  Now just seems to be the time to write about it 
> because I believe it is a spiritually important topic.
>
>     I know everyone with an email address has received Christian 
> related email messages which tell a wonderful story.  I have read 
> these for years.  These messages are often clones of the secular 
> type which normally end with a tag line which reads, "If you don't
>forward this to your 10 best friends within 5 days, you will
>experience bad luck for a month."  Sometimes it will say just the
>opposite, that is, you will have amazingly good luck for a week. The 
>Christian ones, or those that appear Christian in nature,
>normally have a kinder and gentler suggestion that you won't be a
>very good Christian if you don't forward the message.  The
>variables on this theme are endless and I have literally seen 
>hundreds of them.
>
>     The Christian stories have always intrigued me.  I mean, they
>sound true, they feel good, they are often stories of miracles, or
>cute innocent reminders of a big God somewhere up in the sky that 
>loves you, but when you hit the tag line, wham!  You are belted with 
>a threat.  For example, "If you believe in prayer, forward this 
>message to your friends."  So if you don't, you aren't a
>believer in prayer?  "If you want to really experience  God's
>love, forward this message."  Meaning, of course, if you don't,
>you won't experience God's love?  "Forward this message and don't
>break the circle,"" Meaning, if you don't send it to others, you,
>you and you alone, have broken the circle?  Again, they vary
>limitlessly but  they all sound somehow threatening.  The question
>is not, "Is the  story real," but what is behind the message tag
>line.  I do believe it is a curse, of sorts,  which is very
>likely, in most cases, initiated by someone who  doesn't believe
>in the salvitic message of the Bible and wants to  see their own
>message come back a couple of months later to get a  good belly
>laugh at Christians.  At the very least, it is a passive form of
>control, or manipulation, and those who participate are engaging
>in acts of superstitious beliefs.
>
>Note.
>Definition of Superstition.
>1. An irrational belief that an object, action, or circumstance
>not logically related to a course of events influences its
>outcome. 2. a. A belief, practice, or rite irrationally maintained by
>ignorance of the laws of nature or by faith in magic or chance.
>b. A fearful or abject state of mind resulting from such
>ignorance or irrationality.
>c. Idolatry.
>(The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
>Edition copyright -2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in
>2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company).
>End of note.
>
>
>
>     More sinister, in my opinion, is the  curse that is delivered
>with the good old Christian story for  which I have already stated
>examples.  Is it really a curse?  Good  question.  Those who
>fiddle around with the unseen world have no  problem believing it
>is a curse that works.  Christians, on the  other hand, think it
>is just good Christian works playing itself  out on the global
>internet and reaching millions of souls for  Christ.  I consider
>them a story with a curse.  Yes, I have  forwarded them on myself
>over the years so don't get your tail in  a knot because I am not
>criticizing anybody.  The question that comes to my mind asks, "Is
>it wrong to forward the message?"  I believe it is more than
>possible that the suggestiveness of the tagline is a passive form
>of executing a curse.  The harsher ones, those that threaten bad
>luck and the like, may fall into more spiritually harmful
>categories such as hexes and spells.  Then again, as Christians,
>we don't believe in such evil things today, so what do we do?  We
>forward the message right on.
>
>     Let's look to the Bible for confirmation of what I am saying.
>
>John 5:1-9
>1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to
>Jerusalem.
>2  Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is
>called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
>3  In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind,
>halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
>4  For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and
>troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of
>the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
>5  And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and
>eight years.
>6  When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long
>time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
>7  The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the
>water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am
>coming, another steppeth down before me.
>8  Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
>9  And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed,
>and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
>
>     Many years ago, it was discovered that there was an
>underground spring which fed this pool of water.  Occasionally,
>therefore, the water passing beneath the pool released air into
>the pool and the water appeared to be mysteriously moving by an
>unseen hand.  A religion developed out of it, a superstition, if
>you will, that whoever made into the water the second it began to
>move, would be healed.  There is never any Biblical confirmation
>that a single person was ever healed at this pool in this manner. 
>Yes, it is possible, that God Himself did send an angel down to
>this pool occasionally in order that people could be heal, too, so
>I am not eliminating that possibility but if God was doing that,
>then why did Jesus need to come an intervene?  Yes, it says that
>the man reported, "I have no man to put me into the water," but
>you will note, Jesus didn't offer to assist him; Jesus healed him
>outright.  The only question Jesus asked the lame man is if he
>wished to be made whole.  Likely the man thought, "Finally. Someone 
>to help me into the water."  He was wrong.  Jesus healed
>the man by His own spoken Words.  The Biblical truth is clear; it
>is in the Lord, and in nothing else, we should believe.  If you
>don't believe the Enemy works consistently in attempting to gain a
>foothold in your life in any way possible, you have just exposed
>yourself as a willing target for deceitfulness.
>
>     With this in mind, people then ask me what I do.  If I think
>the story sounds legitimate, or is an encouragement, I may forward
>the message to someone I think would benefit from it.  First,
>however, I removed the tagline and refuse to forward that part of
>the message.  I also pray against, bind and remove, any curses
>associated with the tagline or message.  So, I'm crazy.  What else
>is new?  You may do as you like and believe as you wish.
>
>     Many years ago, I was running a bulletin board.  This was
>long before most of us were on the internet.  I received a message
>sent to me directly, that is, the person was on the east coast
>and he literally dialed up my computer's telephone number and sent
>me a message.  It was short, had a nice little story with it, but
>a very ominous tagline.  The tagline basically said, "If you
>forward this to 5 or 7 or 10 of your friends, you, and they, will
>have good luck come to you, lots of extra money that comes into
>your hands, good health," and several other such things were
>promised.  "If you don't forward it," so it read, "you will have
>bad luck come your way."  So, the tone of the tagline sounded
>evil.  I just laughed it off and deleted it because I in no, way,
>shape, or form believed in such things.  The next three weeks were
>hell on earth for me.  You can't believe the things that happened. I 
>was even notified by the IRS I was being audited.  I did not
>know how to pray against such curses back then, nor was I even
>certain I believe in such things.  I do now and I know how to pray
>against such passive suggestiveness.  I trust you do.
>
>4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
>through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
>5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth
>itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity
>every thought to the obedience of Christ;
>6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when
>your obedience is fulfilled, (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).
>
>The Curse That Works Is The One We Believe.
>www.SafePlaceFellowship.com