ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 8

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

DEPART FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD. SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT (Psalm 34:14)

            I could tell Vermillion felt sense of defeat. But fallen angels don’t hang the proverbial head. No, they go about like a roaring lion seeking who they may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Defeat only makes the roar louder and their hatred of truth seekers more intense.

            The good news is that God and his legions of angels are more powerful than the Satanic realm. The bad news is humanity’s fallen nature. People need to, in a very real sense, rebel against their sinful natures. ‘Submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.’ (James 4:7, 8)  Seek the Lord, for He is not far from anyone. (Acts 17:27) He stands at the door and knocks. (Revelation 3:20) A person just needs to open the door and let him in.

            Jimmy Stetson was beginning to seek truth, and he was bringing Jenny Oakley along with him. But Vermillion knew guys. He knew Jimmy. He started working on him as a child, making him extra intrigued with the differences between boys and girls. As a preadolescent, he had helped him discover his father’s hidden stash of erotic magazines.

            So Vermillion figured his best weapon was Lexi Bennet. She was an eighteen year-old beauty who would not look out of place as one of the centerfolds in those dirty magazines Jimmy perused. His weapon with Lexi was her pride in vanity.

            Until Jimmy she had never been rejected by a guy. She had been homecoming queen, prom queen, and head cheerleader. She had had two different quarterbacks for boyfriends. Danny Mattel when she was a junior, and Brent McGraw as a senior. She had a fling with a prominent college basketball player in between her quarterbacks. So who was Jimmy Steson to reject her!

            But my opponent caused this rejection to cause her to desire Jimmy all the more. It was a challenge to her ego that she couldn’t resist. She also could not understand why. She knew what guys wanted, and she knew Jimmy’s type. So it just could not be possible that he would refuse her. She saw herself as not only above average, but WAY above average.

            At the pool party, one hour went by, then two, then three, and Jimmy was a no show. As Jenny sulked at the possibility of being stood up, one wine cooler went down, then two, then three, then four. As the third hour marched toward a fourth, she asked Amy for a ride to Jimmy’s place. They stopped a ways back from his mobile home and analyzed the scene.

            By a dim porch light, she made out Jimmy sitting on his deck in a lawn chair with feet propped up on the railing. Jimmy lazily smoked a cigarette as he watched Jenny. She was leaning against the railing, facing him and her hands moved animatedly as she spoke. Lexi was disgusted! Was she actually being stood up for a woman that looked Amish compared to herself?

            Both Jenny and Jimmy had been intrigued by the meeting they went to together. So it triggered a discussion of life, liberty, and the pursuit of Godliness afterward. The evening’s topic at the seminar had been entitled, ‘Why Were Sin and Suffering Permitted?’

            With his long salt and pepper beard, Pastor Kirk Samson reminded Jenny of Moses. Jimmy, who enjoyed watching Star Trek reruns as a youth, was intrigued that he went by the nickname Captain Kirk. This was due to his being a former Army Chaplain who held the rank of Captain. They both liked that he seemed to be the polar opposite of the money soliciting televangelists.

            Jenny’s mother had become a Christian when she was twelve. By default of her mother’s convictions, she had become one as well, and the mother and daughter were baptized together. Although Jenny went along with it, and studied her Bible fairly regularly, some things troubled her. One of the two things that troubled her the most, Captain Kirk had cleared up that first night.

            He taught mostly from Isaiah chapter fourteen, Ezekiel chapter twenty-eight, and Revelation chapter twelve. These all dealt with Lucifer’s fall and the rebellion in heaven he instigated. This culminated with him being cast out with a third of the angels. (Revelation 12:4)

            I mostly kept an eye on Jimmy and Jenny, intently watching their reaction to things. Vermillion didn’t like any truth seeking. But the rebellion in heaven was an especially sore spot. Particularly when Captain Kirk’s last half of the presentation dealt with the Son of God becoming a man to redeem fallen humanity. So he mostly kept an eye and a hand on the pool party.

            Jenny was even more excited about the second night’s subject, hellfire. She had always struggled with the subject. Her church was very much into preaching fire and brimstone. But she could never get paired in her head a loving God with eternal torment. It seemed a more unlikely mixture than oil and water. For Jimmy, the subject of hell was why he kept his distance from religion in the first place. He wanted no part of a God that would torture a person just for not believing in Him.

            Upon conclusion, the Pastor offered a teaser about the subject for the next night. It was called, ‘Hellfire, a Twisted Truth Untangled.’ He said, “If only the saved in Christ have eternal life, how can the wicked be alive eternally in a place called hell? Romans 6:23 states that the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. So how can a wicked person be alive in eternal flames if they’re dead?”

            The Holy Spirit was working on Jenny and Jimmy as they left the seminar. Jimmy asked Jenny more questions about her own faith and religious background. Jimmy in turn explained that he did not grow up going to church, but that his sister had turned religious not long after she graduated high school.

            Since Jenny was going to borrow Jimmy’s pickup truck, they had to drive to his place after the meeting. Jenny had asked to use his bathroom. As they considered saying goodnight, other words kept spilling out of each of their mouths, coving a wide range of topics. Time seemed fly by. Before they knew it, they had conversed for a couple hours.

            Vermillion and I were not the only ones interested in the couple. My counterpart was instigating an intrusion.

            “Go park next to Jimmy’s truck,” Lexi ordered her friend. “If you see me go into his trailer, go ahead and take off.”

            Lexi’s buzz removed any awkwardness or nervousness she might have otherwise felt by crashing the little party of two. She eyed Jenny cooly and rolled her eyes at Jenny’s bland tan and white gingham dress but quickly aimed a seductive smile at Jimmy. “Hey.”

            “Hey, Lexi,” Jimmy replied as he lowered his feet to the deck floor, took a last drag of his cancer stick and flicked it over the edge of the deck.

            “We were making a beer run,” she lied. “And I thought I would swing by and make sure you’re okay.”

            “I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be?”

            “You tell me,” she said, a little of the hostility she felt slipping through. “You said you’d be less than an hour, now it’s going on four.”

            “Something came up. Sorry, I didn’t know it was that big of a deal.”

            “I thought we had a date.”

            “A date? I figured you just swung by to see if I wanted to go to a party. I ended up not feeling like a swim.”

            “Swim?” Lexi giggled. She licked her lips and eyed him like some type of prey. “The pool is just an excuse to not wear very much, have a few drinks, and have some fun.”

            “Um, I better go Jimmy,” Jenny interjected. “Thanks again for helping me and the use of your truck. Sorry I messed up all of your plans.”

            Lexi ignored her, but Jimmy said, “No problem.”

            As Vermillion and I looked on, I tried to get Jimmy to thank Jenny for going to the seminar with him. My opponent inspired his eyes to keep taking in Lexi’s chest, covered with what seemed like only an ounce of material. He also took in the tight gym shorts. I suppose it was an attempt at modesty as she used them to cover her bikini bottoms.

            Trying to minister to fallen humanity is often like a person trying to roller skate up a big hill. Freewill coupled with a sinful nature was a challenge. But without freewill, you can’t have love. Love can’t be forced. Hence Jesus declared that if you love Him, keep His commandments. (John 14:15) In other words, obedience should be motivated by love to God. But sin is a philosophy of force. Rape, robbery, murder, abuse, for example, are all forces of evil.

            Jimmy was considering calling after Jenny and thanking her for going to the seminar, but Lexi interrupted his thought. “Can I use your bathroom?”

            “Sure,” he said, leading her inside and pointing directions.

            “Thanks,” Lexi smiled sweetly after she returned from the restroom. “So, do you want to come with us back to the party?”

            “Thanks Lexi, but I just feel like staying home tonight.”

            A couple things occurred to Jimmy while he awaited Lexi. This was the first Saturday night since he was in high school that he hadn’t consumed adult beverages. Another was the way both women went about using his restroom.

            Jenny had removed her tennis shoes upon entering his home and seemed to glide down the hallway. Lexi didn’t even wipe her sneakered feet and sauntered with swaying hips on her way to the commode. Sometimes the small things matter and give insight.

            Lexi stepped right up into his space, stuck out her bikini clad chest, smiled, bit her lower lip and ran a finger across his jaw. “Is there anything I can do to persuade you?”

            “Come on, Jimmy,” Vermillion urged with a malicious grin. “Can you get a clearer sign, a greener light, a prettier face, a hotter body?”

            I recalled to Jimmy’s mind when Jenny had returned from the restroom. He was out on the deck, and she exited his house with her two sneakers hooked on her fingers. She sat in a lawn chair and elegantly crossed a leg over the other as she returned a shoe to her foot. Her skin was as pale and smooth as a baby’s. From her head, with her sandy hair pulled back with a hair clip and loose strands crookedly framing her face, down to her feet, covered in lace ankle socks, she was a vision of feminine loveliness.

            It was so different from the brazen, albeit hot, women he was used to. Just like the one seducing him now with her windblown blonde hair and hard, tanned body. “Lexi, there’s something I should tell you.”

            Lexi felt a flare of frustration mixed with jealousy. She knew it was going to be something about Jenny, but she forced her smile to stay on her face as she said, “Okay.”

            “A few weeks ago I had a one night stand with Jenny,” he confessed. “Today she informed me that she’s pregnant.”

            “Oh,” Lexi frowned, truly surprised. Jenny, who looked like she walked off the TV show ‘The Waltons’ had a one night stand! But Lexi was undeterred. Jimmy was a conquest, maybe even a summer fling. Then they would part ways for good when she left for college. “You don’t need to worry. I’m on the pill.”

            Jimmy’s heart raced. Vermillion and I did a back and forth in Jimmy’s mind. I lust her… I lust her not… I lust her… I lust her not… Look at her cleavage… She’s your sister’s neighbor… Look at those long tan legs… She often completes sentences by saying, ‘like ya know.’

            “Listen, Lexi, you’re a beautiful woman. A stunningly beautiful woman. But I think I’m in love with Jenny. After all she’s carrying my child. So I just can’t… You know.”

            “In love with her? From one, one night stand?” Lexi laughed sarcastically.

            “No, we knew each other before that, in high school. And like I said, she’s gonna have my baby.”

            Vermillion poked him with jealousy. “Carrying your child is she? Having your baby? She admitted that it was most likely the other guy’s, remember?”

            I reasoned with him. “When is the last time you had an hours long deep conversation with a woman? Try never. The closest you ever came was actually with this same young lady when you were in high school. Consider how much her pleasant personality adds to her low key attractiveness. The combination makes her the most beautiful you have ever known.”

            “Oh well, your loss,” Lexi said with a casual shrug. She opened his door as if to leave. Then she stopped and aimed wide, phonily innocent eyes at him and said, “Oh no, my ride left! What am I gonna do now?”