THE ROOM

Received via Email ^ | Unknown | Brian Moore

[newgeezer]

Thanks for the ping. I remember seeing this a few years ago. It's a good story, with a good point. It's just too bad someone along the way took the liberty of framing it in a lie.

On the bright side, I trust the liar will be reminded of this at the Judgment Seat or the Great White Throne. :-)

Thanks again, Mom!

[P-Marlowe]

Thanks Delbert, I've used that story in preaching. It really affected the people who heard it.

One of the problems that I've seen from the pulpit is that a lot of Urban Legends are used as sermon illustrations. My pastor does it, and he ends up spreading these urban legends all over the world, as he has a worldwide radio ministry. When it happens I can only cringe.

I think before a pastor uses a story as a bible illustration he should do a little fact checking. In the past, before the internet, it was difficult, but with the birth of the internet it is pretty easy to fact check a story before using it as a fact to support some biblical point. It took me all of about 1 minute to find out that this story was not exactly true.

[newgeezer]

Now that I read the Snopes.com findings, I see the "liar" was the late Brian Moore himself. According to Snopes, all of the facts in the article above are true, with one glaring exception. Seventeen-year-old Brian Moore penned "The Room." He died, it was read at his funeral, etc. However, it turns that Brian Moore was a plagiarist!

Sad.

[P-Marlowe]

Let us all praise the story as an excellent piece of Christian prose. But let us not forget that the real author of this most excellent essay was:

Joshua Harris.

[RobRoy]

>>On the bright side, I trust the liar will be reminded of this at the Judgment Seat or the Great White Throne. :-) <<

I think it's written down on a card somewhere...

[Delbert]

This was not framed in a lie, as stated in post 3#, Its not about who wrote it and underwhat circumstances...it's the message folks...lighten up a bit shhhheeeesshhhh....
The Truth: "The Room" was actually written by speaker and author Joshua Harris and is in his book "I Kissed Dating Goodbye." He says it was something that he put on paper as the result of a dream he had while in Puerto Rico for the 1995 Billy Graham Crusade and published in his magazine the same year. Interestingly, Brian Moore was also real. He did attend the high school described in the eRumor and lost his life as the result of a traffic accident shortly after having presented "The Room" for the meeting of Christian athletes. His friends and family believed that he had written it and the story about Brian was passed along to others sincerely. <----Hello?

[RobRoy]

I really haven't gotten the impression anyone is really getting down on the urban legend part of this other than to address it's reality. I am not getting the sense anyone is making a big deal about that aspect. It is an awesome story, that is for sure. I've already emailed the html to this thread to quite a few non-freepers.

[ksen]

Oh, I didn't mean I used the story behind "The Room", I just used "The Room" itself. I told the congregation that someone had forwarded the story to me and that I wanted to share it.

I agree with you about checking things before spreading them from the pulpit.

[Doomonyou]

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, "Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver, and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the
beauty."
Then the second tree said, "Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull."

Finally the third tree said, "I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.. "

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree, he said, "This looks like a strong tree. I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter." and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.
At the second tree a woodsman said, "This looks like a strong tree, I should be able to sell it to the shipyard." The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship. When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew
that if they cut him down, his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsman said, "I don't need anything special from my tree so I'll take this one" and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying
kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark.
The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and women came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man
wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do.

The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.
Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and he stood and said "PEACE" and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the king of kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the
top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, He will give you great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted,
just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

[Delbert]

From Snopes: However, it's the little known story behind the story that proves most worthy of comment. You see, it turns out the deceased was a plagiarist. The piece he'd claimed authorship was actually the work of Joshua Harris, and it appeared in a book Harris published before Moore died. It had debuted two years earlier, in the Spring 1995 issue of New Attitude magazine, which was then edited by Harris.

Moore's parents had no reason to suspect the work in question was not their son's, and it was read at the boy's funeral. They and other relatives and friends subsequently broadcast the essay as his work, sincerely believing that it was. Only after the piece was published in The Columbus Dispatch on the anniversary of Moore's death did the truth about its authorship become known, when readers responded with corrections that pointed the newspaper to Harris and his book.

It's ironic that an essay describing the author's sense of shame over his personal accumulation of sins would be used by another to add a few file cards to his own stash. The dead boy not only stole someone else's work but also presented it as his own before a Christian fellowship he was part of and lied to his parents about it. That's three of the ten commandments right there (stealing, not honoring parents, and bearing false witness).

Looks like Brian was perhaps guilty of a few sins does it not? Looks like his actions got the story a lot more exposure than it would normally have found, maybe?, maybe not? Let those of you without sin, cast the first stone.

[P-Marlowe]

I just used "The Room" itself.

Did you send Mr. Harris his royalty fee? :-)

[Delbert]

This does make me want to check out any other writings by Joshua Harris.

[P-Marlowe]

Lets just hope that Jesus wrote his name on Brian's "Things that I Plagerized" card before he parked himself permanently into the tree.

BTW, let he who has never plagerized cast the first wooden Alphabet Block.

[ksen]

Did you send Mr. Harris his royalty fee? :-)

Ummm, what? *hiss* *hiss* you're bre*hiss*king up. Are you *hiss* logged in?

[philman_36]

But let us not forget that the real author of this most excellent essay was: Joshua Harris.
The published author of this...
Such an assumption on your part. Do any of us actually know what someone really writes and what is ghosted?
We take the published author at their word that they wrote the item.
Would they ever admit if something was ghosted? I think not.

[Delbert]

BTW, let he who has never plagerized cast the first wooden Alphabet Block.<--Thats pretty funny : )

[RnMomof7]

BTW, let he who has never plagerized cast the first wooden Alphabet Block.

I never presented the full body of anothers work as mine..but like most students I surely "lifted " words , phrases and thoughts as my own..

My heart breaks for these parents..I will be praying for them this holiday season. The sum of a mans life is not found in one sin...or else we would all be in the minus column