Can I share my little bird story? Ah...This is so out of character for me, but I'm tellin' ya. I'm gonna tell you what happened. And I tell it before the throne room of God. And you that don't believe; and you that are always lookin' for somethin'; you'll say, 'Well, prove it.' Well, we'll know it in heaven. We'll know about it in heaven. You'll know about it in heaven. :) I was Christmas shopping. And I went to an area outside of Los Angeles. And I went to a play store and brought some little toys for the kids. When I came out I was walkin' down the sidewalk in front of a Warehouse Records. I looked down and there was this little bird lying on the sidewalk, as I was walkin', with his wings out and its beak laying sideways. And it was a sparrow. And it was broad daylight. And I looked at this bird, and I thought, Oh, a dead bird. And I just immediately thought, Well, it had been hit by a car or somethin'. I looked, and then I saw its wings flutter a little bit, but it didn't move off the pavement. So, I leaned down and I picked up this little sparrow. And I looked at it. And I started thinkin', What do you do with a sparrow?

First of all, before I was saved, I would have probably thought, Ah, Put it out of its misery. You know, [twist its neck], you know. But I pick this thing up and I'm lookin' at it. I felt bad about this little sparrow. And as I was holdin' it, its eyes were open. Then it closed its eyes. Its beak was open. It curled its feet up and its wings folded in. And it looked as if there was no life. Now, I'm not a medical whatever. I couldn't have performed CPR on the sparrow or massaged its heart. Or whatever you want to say. But, it looked to me like the bird was dead. [Reeni: You couldn't get a pulse.] I couldn't get a pulse. :)

This is a true story, by the way. We're makin' it a little silly here. And Jan Crouch, if no one else on the face of the earth believes me, Jan will believe this. And I put this little bird down. And I layed it down on its back. Its feet were stickin' up [straight up], like that. And then a Scripture hit me. And I don't know the Scripture word for word but it said that, God cares about the sparrow. Isn't there somethin' in the Scripture about a bird doesn't fall to the ground without God seeing it? Without the Father knowing it? And if a bird means this much to the Father, how much more do those of us who love God mean to Him? And I started thinkin', God sees this sparrow. And I got this feelin'.... And you guys will think, Well, probably some drug residual or somethin' left over from the old days. But, I, in Jesus' name, before the throne room of God, I'll tell you what I did.

I knelt down [laughing], put my finger on the chest of this little sparrow. And I said, 'In the name of Jesus, the Word of God says that you see every bird, every sparrow. That you care for the sparrow. And I can't remember the exact prayer, but I prayed that life would come into this bird. With Jesus as my witness, I don't sware by anything; but I tell you, with God as my witness, the bird flipped over. Took off so fast that, it sounds like a Woody Allen movie now, but it hit the window of this Warehouse Records. Hit the window, and stopped, landed in the corner, looked a little stunned for a second. And I stood there, the bird [whosh!] took off and flew, man, Gone!

I looked up and these young ladies, one in particular, where standing at the window and had been watching me. I forgot to mention, that the one woman had been lookin' out. And she looked at me and she went...[raised her hands in a what's that pose]. And I yelled through the window. It probably looked strange because I was wearing leathers and stuff, as I recall. I don't really remember. But I probably didn't look like a person who, you know, whatever, was going to stop and pray over a sparrow. And I looked at her, and I said, 'I prayed for it. Look.[hands moving for emphasis] I prayed!' I was yellin' through the window. 'I prayed. Look.' And she looked at me, and she went [eyes skyward, and shaking her head]. :) And she kinda walked off.

I went home. And I told Reeni. Didn't I call you into a special place, sat you down. And set the whole scenario for this. And told you, this is one of the sweetest things that the Lord had ever done for me? Didn't I?

Reeni: Well, you decided at the dinner table. We were sitting at the dinner table with the whole family.

Oh, That's right. That's right.

Reeni: And all the kids. And you decided that you just wanted to sit at the head of the table and tell them his sparrow story. And he did.

And the kids loved it, didn't they?

Reeni: Oh, yeah! Jesus, loves the little birds!

Yeah! Praise my Jesus!

My Deepest Love,
Jeff
Studio, January 8, 1992