I attended the Prince concert in Nashville on Thursday night and Friday morning I travelled to Evansville, Indiana to be with my brother who was having surgery. While at my sister's house I picked the "Mini Mag," it is a local newspaper. While flipping through it I ran across an add that read Evangelist Denise Matthews and it had a pic of her. After further reading, I discovered that she was in town for the whole weekend speaking at a church called New Birth Christian Church and that the events were free to the public. I finally got to attend the one on Sunday (Mother's Day). I arrived about 20 minutes late and we were let into the santuary atfer the prayer was over. We sat on the left side of the church on an aisle. The minister was talking but, I saw no one else in the pulpit area. About 5 minutes later a couple of ladies walk right past me. One was dressed in a black skirt and jacket. It was Denise Matthews. She proceeded to the pulpit area where she sat down. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she held a black scarf in her hand with gold crosses on it and her Bible in the other hand. The choir started to sing and she clapped along with them very energetically. Later she put on her glasses and opened up her Bible. After that she removed her glasses and then put on a microphone headset. She was introduced by the minister. She wanted to be called just Denise. So, she began her sermon. She did not speak from the pulpit but, rather from the pew area. I can recall that she addressed the congregation as "saints" and she sang the song "Hallelujah." She has a beautiful voice. It was okay before but, I think it has improved now. She is a very, very energetic speaker. She smiled a lot. And like Rhondab mentioned on another thread...she can recite Bible verses from memory on the drop of a dime. That was one thing I noticed. She talked about her past life and gave a nice speech. She spoke for approx. 1 hr. and 15 mins. When she left, she walked past me again and looked our way. She is a very beautiful woman. Good to see that all the abuse that she put her body through did not affect her beauty. And I did noticed that Mani has a slight uncanny resemblance to Denise but, not too much.

Thanks for sharing your story.

I wish Denise/Vanity well and hope she's happy these days. She's been through a lot in her life.

She seems like a very nice person. and like you said, she's still such a beauty.

yeah i liked your story, very descriptive and observant u were. i've always like vanity, oops i mean denise. i'm glad she has turned her life around for the positive and is doing what is making her happy. which reminds me, what in the hell is appollonia doing with herself nowadays....hmmm...

I'm very curious what she said about her past life !
Can you recall ?
I'd realy like to know !

I wish she would come speak in DC, I'd love to see her.

SquarePeg said:

I know... I have invited her to our women's conference at my church but never received a response. I told her that she could come and participate or just come as a registered woman. No answer though...

Hey peeps,
Finally back home at my own computer in Tennessee! I can say that it was mentioned that Ms. Matthews will be on speaking engagements until December. I can recall that Atlanta was mentioned. As far as, what she spoke about, there was no mention of Prince... sorry folks
She talked about her cocaine problem and how millions of people were in love with her but, she did not love herself. That she looked so bad, in her own words...tore up from the floor up, that she covered up all of the mirrors in her home because she did not want to look at herself. She just wanted to die. She locked herself inside her home. She said that she did not want to talk to anyone and she did not answer the phone or the door. She would not eat. She said finally a female friend of hers, came by and knocked on the door. She was telling Vanity that she knew she was inside and for her to open the door. Vanity had said that she was laying on the floor. Finally, she made it to the door. Her friend came in and saw Vanity in such bad shape that she just laid down on the floor beside of her. The friend got Vanity to the doctor where they gave her 3 days to live. She had a stroke/heart attack, loss of eyesight, hearing loss and kidney failure. She said that her hearing was gone but, she had just enough left to hear God say that he was not ready to take her. She was suppose to receive a kidney transplant but, the medicine made her very sick and i think her body rejected the organ. She has been on her current path for 12 years now. She talked about her childhood alittle. She mentioned that her father was very physically abusive to her. That if she could not recite her multiplication tables, he would punch her in the face. She said she wanted him dead. And God took him from this earth eventually. She also mentioned her ex-husband, I am guessing the football player...I cannot remeber his name but, that he had left her for another member of the church and remarried this individual. And that it hurt her really bad. That's all that I can remember.

Thanks for sharing. Denise is a beauty, inside and out! I'm so happy for her.

npgmplsTN said:

Oh, very good cuz she was supposed 2 join Mani & Jill, but was too tired & went 2 a peep show instead. I guess she was going home 2 sleep when u saw her.

dearlybeloved said:

That's odd because the few times I've contacted her office, they responded quickly.

missfee said:

Great for Denise. I am happy she turned her life around. See people can CHANGE.....that would include Prince and Manuela also....

preciosa863 said:

npgmplsTN said:

I'm glad Denise is doing well. God bless her. Did she mention her health at all? She was waiting for another kidney. Was she still thin?(weight). From your description, it sounds as if she is letting her hair grow back.

npgmplsTN said:

Dave Chappelle's "Wrap-It-Up" Box suddenly comes to mind.