LXXII

LET THE CHILDREN COME TO ME, DO NOT HINDER THEM; FOR TO SUCH BELONGS THE KINGDOM OF GOD

MARK 10:14

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

When Brock and I pulled into our long driveway, there was no mistaking Sevenia’s Maroon Volvo parked up by our old, but refurbished farmhouse. Seven, Sevenia’s father, referred to the car as “the tank” due to the make and model’s safety reputation. She was waiting to discuss a dream she had the previous night with Brock and me.

“Wow, whatever dream she had must have been intense,” Brock said. “We’re fifteen minutes ahead of the ETA you gave her.”

“Yeah,” I replied curiously.

Sevenia was bright, intelligent, and deeply spiritual, but rarely irrational. Whatever her night vision was, it had to be significant. We exchanged pleasantries with Sevenia, went inside, and I brewed us all a cup of herbal tea.

“You guys are probably gonna think I’m crazy,” Sevenia said with a sheepish smile.

“Your dad is my cousin, Sweet Pea,” Brock said with a coy smile as he put a hand over hers. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t think it’s possible for you to say anything crazier than hundreds, yes thousands of things that have come out of his mouth.”

Sevenia giggled. “I don’t know if that helps or not.”

“Just go ahead and tell us, Sweetie,” I told her with a reassuring smile.

“Okay,” she said and then sighed as she ran a hand through her short, auburn hair. Her green and hazel eyes were wide with concern. “I don’t know if Amy and Mary Gold joining our little Bible study had anything to do with me having this dream. But do you remember the old railroad bridge from their stories?”

“Sure I do,” I replied as I glanced at Brock. He nodded.

In the e-book ‘Spoiled Produce’, by Johnathan Embers. He wrote the silly, but sweet love story of Mary Gold and Jake Weston. The setting for this tale took place in the 1980’s. The abandoned railroad bridge was the key place where Mary and Jake’s friendship turned romantic. I don’t know a single person in our church who isn’t acquainted with their love story and the bridge.

Amy and Dirk Easton began attending Cotton Creek Cove fellowship more than a half century later. When they became aware of the bridge, and its fairytale like significance, Dirk took Amy there. Their relationship also transformed into romantic there, albeit a bit more clumsily.

Amy and Dirk’s story is told in the last part of Brock’s and my story. It is found in the e-book ‘Knight Storm’, also by Johnathan Embers.

Sevenia continued. “So I had this vivid dream that I was out there. I saw a couple of frantic girls go underneath the bridge. Then I heard screams of ‘help me!’ I tried to get to them, but I kept going nowhere, and then the trail kept getting narrower. I started to slip off the narrow way, but I pressed on, crying to Jesus, ‘Lord save me I parish. And so do they…’ Then I woke up in a cold sweat.”

I didn’t know what to say. I glanced at Brock, as he glanced at me.

“This is where you’re gonna think I’m crazy,” she said, shyly. “I feel an overwhelming desire to go to the bridge and look. A need really. Will one of you go with me?”

“Sweet Pea,” Brock said mildly. “There’s more than a foot of snow on the ground, and that old bridge is almost a mile off the road.”

“This wasn’t a typical dream, though,” Sevenia urged. “I believe the Holy Spirit is leading me out there. I don’t really want to go alone, but I will.”

“It’s a wild goose chase, Sweet Pea,” Brock said patiently. “And a difficult one at that, what with all the snow and the sunsetting in about twenty minutes.”

“My dad and Zella said the same thing,” Sevenia said as she rose abruptly. She went toward the door. “I have to go though. I have to know there is no one out there.”

“I’ll go with you, Sweetie,” I told Sevenia as I grabbed her arm before she could exit the house.

“Oh, thank you Dee!” she said as she hugged me fiercely.

“Lets have a little common sense here,” Brock said. “It’s too cold and snowy for a couple girls to be out at that bridge. Ask yourself why a couple girls would possibly be at that bridge in the midst of winter.”

“My life was ultimately saved by a dream,” I replied with a shrug. “Not just my physical life, but my eternal life as well. Besides, what will Sevenia and I lose by looking? We’ll only gain a little exercise.”

“Hang on, I’m coming.” Brock said, rising and going for his coveralls and coat. I concealed a little smile. I actually didn’t like the thought of going out there without my muscle bound martial artist.

The bridge was back in some thick woods, but there was a narrow parting where the railroad tracks used to be and a trail made by deer. Between the animal tracks and the trees, the trail was easier to navigate than if it had been completely in the open.

With the tree cover and the sun lowering, it was rapidly getting dark and creepy! Sevenia and I followed Brock. When we were fifty feet from the bridge, Brock stopped and signaled for us to be quiet. In the stillness, we could here a faint murmur of voices. We eased another ten or twenty feet. It was really getting dark fast. Brock stopped us yet again.

“Look,” he whispered and pointed.

“What?” Sevenia and I whispered at the same time.

“See that glow? I think it’s from a fire. Let’s move, slowly, quietly.”

When we were almost to the bridge, there were clearly low voices and a faint sliver of yellow, orange light on the snow, coming from underneath the bridge. Brock signaled that he would go approach whoever was in a ramshackle little fort, consisting mostly of old plastic tarps, cardboard, and garbage sacks. Sevenia stopped him as he began to step down the slope to go under the bridge.

“It might be the girls I dreamed of,” she whispered. “No offense, but you will probably scare them if they see you first.”

Whoever was in the little shelter must have heard us. It became quiet, and the fire glow disappeared. I now could smell wood smoke, though. Brock and Sevenia made their way down the slope. I stayed on top of the bridge and looked down at them. I could have put a foot on top of Brock’s head.

“Hello in there,” Sevenia said with a friendly, clear voice.

It was eerily quiet for ten seconds before Sevenia spoke again. “Listen, I had a dream about you. Are you on the run from something bad? We want to help.”

More quiet. If it weren’t for the smell of wood smoke, it would have seemed the voices and faint glow of light hadn’t even existed a minute before.

“My name is Sevenia. Sevenia Sallie. Some people call me a girl prophetess because I teach Bible prophecy. But I think I actually had a prophetic dream about you. Are you on the run from something bad? My uncle is with me. He used to be a professional bodyguard. He looks pretty tough and mean, but he’s really a teddy bear. He won’t let anybody hurt you, I promise.”

Brock glanced up at me as if her comment hurt his feelings; but I know it didn’t. His face was becoming a shadow, but I could see the whites of his eyes and arched brow. I would have giggled if I weren’t so tense.

“I guess I should clarify, Brock is actually my dad’s cousin; but I love him so much I like to think of him as Uncle Brock.”

Brock glanced up at me and in sign language indicted he loved Sevenia. Then after a few seconds, he signed that he loved me, too. His lightheartedness during such a nerve racking time helped me to relax some. This in turn allowed me to giggle quietly.

“Can we come in?” Sevenia asked. “Or better yet, could you come out and talk? Your shelter doesn’t look very big.”

We waited in silence for several long seconds.

“We won’t tell anyone about you, I promise,” Sevenia continued. “You can come to my house and have something to eat and a warmer place to sleep.”

I felt my toes curl at her promise and offer. We didn’t even know who we were dealing with yet! Brock shone a flashlight at the entrance of the makeshift tent. Out came a young girl who looked about seventeen or eighteen. Following behind her was a girl of around eight or nine.

“Hi,” Sevenia said cheerfully.

“Hi,” said the older girl. She spoke so quietly I wasn’t sure I heard her. She eyed Brock skeptically, then gave me a quick look, glanced all around her, and then focused back on Sevenia.

“What’s your names?” Sevenia asked.

“I’m Marcy and this is Oralee,” the older girl replied.

“Are you homeless?”

“Sort of,” Marcy replied. “Well, yeah, I guess so. For the time being.”

“Where are your parents?”

“We’re both orphans,” Marcy said with an edge to her voice, as if she was not liking being questioned.

“Is there anyone else in there?”

Marcy shook her head. “Just me and Ora.”

“How long have you been staying under there?” Sevenia continued.

“About three days.”

“Where were you before this?”

“Are you all from social services?” Marcy asked angrily, looking at Brock. “I guess I should have not come out.”

With her raised voice, I detected an eastern accent, maybe Boston.

“Oh, no, no, nothing like that,” Sevenia said. “Like I said, I had a dream that there were two girls down here who needed help.”

“This is an answer to my prayers, Marcella,” the younger girl said. “See, I told you God is good.”

“Ssshh,” Marcy said to the smaller girl.

“Marcella got us away from some bad guys,” Oralee said

“Ora, I said quiet.”

“Please, you can trust us,” Sevenia said. “I believe Oralee is right. We may be an answer to your prayers.”

Marcy snorted and then eyed Brock skeptically again. I noticed both girls started to shiver. They weren’t wearing coats, they only had on sweatshirts, and it was well below freezing.

“Listen, everybody,” I spoke up. “It’s cold out here. Let’s go back to Brock’s and my house and I’ll make some soup, sandwiches, and hot chocolate. Then Marcy and Oralee can tell us what’s going on. Or not. But for the time being we just want to make sure you two are fed and have a warm place to spend the night. What do you say?”

“Please, Marcella, can we?” Oralee begged.

“Marcy, we promise we won’t tell a soul about you,” Sevenia said. “We’re Christians, and we just want to help.”

“Christians are the reason I ended up under this bridge anyhow,” Marcy said bitterly.

“Not me, Marcella,” Oralee said boldly.

“Shut up!” Marcy barked, and Oralee hung her head and began to whimper. Marcy crouched beside her and spoke softly. “I’m sorry, Ora.”

“I’m tired and hungry,” Oralee said. “Can I at least go with these nice people? You can stay if you want.”

“Oh sure! That’s the thanks I get for getting you…” Marcy stopped speaking and glared at Brock as if to question whether we were nice people. But then she looked at Sevenia and gave her a little smile from the corner of her mouth, and then spoke quietly. “Okay, we’ll go.” Then barely audible, she said, “thank you.”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

In explaining His earthly mission, Jesus said. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised.” (Luke 4:18)

The world, though fallen, is not all sorrow and misery. In nature itself are messages of hope and comfort.

Satan has led men to view God as a being whose chief attribute is stern justice, a severe judge. It was to remove this dark shadow, by revealing to the world the infinite love of God, that Jesus came to live among humanity.

In all humanity, Jesus saw fallen souls whom it was His mission to save. He lived to bless others!

It was to redeem us that Jesus lived, suffered, and died. He became “a man of sorrows,” that we might be made partakers of eternal life and joy.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). It was the burden of sin, the sense of its terrible enormity, of its separation of the soul from God. It was this that broke the heart of the Son of God.

The Father loves us, not because of the great sacrifice, but He made the great sacrifice because He loves us. Christ was the medium through which God could poor out His infinite love upon a fallen world. “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.” (2 Corinthians 5:29)

The price paid for our redemption, the infinite sacrifice of our heavenly Father in giving His Son to die for us, should give us exalted conceptions of what we may become through Christ.

Such love is without parallel! It’s a theme for the most profound contemplation and meditation. The infinite love of God for a world that did not love Him!

In Eden, man was originally endowed with noble powers and a well balanced mind. But through disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place of love. Such is still the condition of the unrenewed heart. It is not in harmony with God. It finds no joy in communion with Him through prayer, Bible study, and fellowship.

It is no random decree on the part of God that excludes the wicked from heaven. They are shut out by their own unfitness for its companionship. Their own supreme love of self.

The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7). There must be a power working from within, a new life from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power id Christ! His grace alone can quicken the faculties of the soul, and attract it to God.

The Savior said, “Except a person be born from above, they cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3).

“Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) Such is the cry that has gone up from burdened hearts in all lands and in all ages. To all, there is but one answer. “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29).

Through Christ, earth is again linked with heaven. With His own merits, Christ has bridged the gulf which sin had made, so that the ministering angels can hold communion with humanity. Christ connects fallen man in his weakness and helplessness with the source of infinite power.

In vain are men’s dreams of progress, in vain all efforts for the uplifting of humanity, if they neglect the one source of hope and help for the fallen human race. There is no true excellence of character apart from Him. And the only way to God is Christ. “I am the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6).

The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love stronger than death. In giving up His Son, He has poured out to us all heaven in one gift. Let us contemplate the amazing sacrifice that has been made for us! Let us try to appreciate the labor and energy that Heaven is expending to reclaim the lost, and bring them back to the Father’s paradise.

LXXI

IN ME YOU MIGHT HAVE PEACE. IN THE WORLD YOU SHALL HAVE TRIBULATION: BUT BE OF GOOD CHEER; I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.

JOHN 16:33

BROCK STORM (DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S HUSBAND)

I’ve discovered in life that it is more difficult to observe people you love suffer hard things rather than endure them yourself. Not only was my precious wife dealing with the imminent death of her father, but she was also processing deep, dark, family secrets along with her beloved Aunt Belle.

“Who’s Jason Parnell?” Destiny asked her aunt. “I’ve never heard of him. It doesn’t ring a bell.”

Aunt Belle looked, not only troubled, but deeply pained. “How about I tell you some other time? After we deal with your father’s, um, situation.”

“I can tell this is hard for you, Auntie,” Destiny said sympathetically. “But I’d really like to know what he was talking about before he, you know… Anyway, he refused to tell me anymore than this name I’ve never even heard of. He said it was better for you, not only being a woman, but…”

Destiny stopped speaking, and now she chewed her lower lip in anguish as she studied her aunt.

“But what?” Belle inquired.

“Well, he said since you took over parenting duties, you should be the one to tell me.”

“Parenting duties?” Belle frowned. “Did he mean with you?”

Destiny shrugged and nodded.

“I could probably count on one hand the number of times I saw you when you were a child,” Belle said, and then she snorted a non-humorous laugh. “It’s not my fault he drove your own mother to drink herself to death, and he was an overbearing jerk. I mean, as an adult, I didn’t see you at all until you were what? Twenty-eight?”

Destiny shrugged, and then nodded meekly. Belle sobered, and gazed fondly at her niece, putting a hand to Destiny’s cheek. “I’m sorry for that rant. This has been a stressful and confusing time for both of us.”

“Yeah,” Destiny said, forcing a smile and putting a hand gently over her aunt’s.

“You know what though,” Belle continued smiling lovingly at my wife. “Over the last few years you’ve been like the daughter I never had.”

“Oh, Auntie,” Destiny cried as she hugged her. “I love you like a mother.”

“You may not feel that way when I tell you about…” Belle said and then made a face like she might vomit. “I can’t even say his name. I haven’t said his name in more than half a century.”

“Why?” Destiny asked, and then demanded with a stomp of her foot. “Who is he?”

Belle looked at me, and I hated the look of pain and anguish on her face. “Brock, Honey, can you leave Destiny and me alone?”

“Absolutely.”

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t spoken to anybody but God about this person in, well, half a century. I promise she can tell you everything I tell her. I just can’t…”

“I understand.”

Destiny was like a zombie when we left the hospice and drove to our hotel. I was dying to know what Belle told her about this Jason Parnell guy. But I needed to give her space, time to process whatever it was that Belle told her. When we got to our room, Destiny sat down hard on the bed and became stone still.

“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked after a minute.

“No,” she replied quietly, and with a quivering lip.

“Okay,” I replied softly as I went on one knee in front of her. I pulled off her shoes and started to massage a foot. She fell back on the bed and sighed heavily. Five or ten minutes later, I switched to her other foot. She was so quiet that I wondered if she had fallen asleep. Suddenly, she sat up and the words began to spill out of her.

“The man Belle spoke of,” Destiny began. “I don’t even want to say his name. I want to forget his name. I wish I never heard his name. I wish I never heard what he did to my aunt and my father. Yet on the other hand, because I know, I have such compassion for both of them. I see my dad in a brand new light. Now I can not only love him, but like him as well. That poor man! That poor little boy!”

Destiny put her face in her hands and sobbed. I sat next to her on the bed and put my arm around her.

“You don’t have to tell me anymore, Dee,” I said gently.

“No!” She said, shaking her head violently. “I need you to know. You are my soul mate, and just being with you right now is like a warm comfy quilt when I’m freezing cold.”

I kissed her on the temple. She clutched my face in her hands and kissed my lips. When she pulled away, she choked on a sob, and a stream of snot came out her nose. I pulled on my sleeve, stretching it to her face and wiped the mucous from her face.

“Brock, gross!” She said, softly slapping my chest as a laugh broke through like a quick burst of sunshine on a cloudy, rainy day.

“Nothing about you is gross.”

“You’re sweet,” she said as she leaned her head against my should. “But I sure feel gross after hearing what Belle had to say. Beyond dirty.”

She became quiet. I gave her time.

“This guy was apparently their stepfather,” she finally said.

“Jason Parnell?”

“Please don’t say his name,” Destiny winced, and put her hands to her ears as if the name hurt. Actually, it probably did. “After I tell you what transpired, I hope to lock it in some deep, silent vault in my brain and throw away the key, or combination, or whatever.”

“Sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry for being so melodramatic.”

“You’re not. It’s clear what she told you is painful.”

Destiny nodded and continued. “This guy molested and psychologically manipulated Aunt Belle from the time she was thirteen until she was sixteen.”

“Wasn’t she sixteen when she ran away from home?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s how her abuse ended. Or maybe I should say changed. What happened to my dad might have been worse. How do you compare evil with evil though?”

“He molested your dad too?”

“Well, yes, but it was different,” she said with a wince. “He used my dad in child porn.”

“What!”

“Yes, starting before he was even ten, and lasting a few years. Belle was racked with guilt when she first found out.”

“How did she find out?”

“The guy was caught and arrested.”

“Good!”

“She found out when some detectives questioned her.”

“So he went to jail I hope.”

“He did, but he didn’t last a month. He was shanked, or something, and died from the injuries. Belle was devastated that she didn’t protect her little brother from him. When she left home, she thought my dad would be safe since he was a boy. She said the guy wasn’t prone to be violent, and she didn’t realize the depths of his perversion.”

“Wow,” was all I could quietly respond. “What a low life.”

“Not by appearance.”

“What do mean?”

“The guy was fairly wealthy, and he was politically connected.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t get out of it somehow.”

Destiny just shrugged. “No wonder my dad was so upset when I got into adult entertainment. I mean any decent father would. But I mean, with his own sick experiences on top of it.”

She fell back on the bed exhausted. In the morning, the phone woke us up at half past six. Destiny answered it, said ‘I see’ a couple times and then thanks. The hospice said we should come right away. We dressed hurriedly and left to go see her dad. Belle met us outside his room with a tear streaked face.

“He passed away about five minutes ago,” Belle told us.

She and Destiny held each other and cried.

“You were the last thing on his mind,” Belle said when they came apart. “He was trying to say ‘tell’, but was too weak to say any more. So I asked, ‘tell Destiny you love her?’ He smiled, and a couple minutes after that he was gone.”

A few days later, as we headed toward home, Destiny quietly sang along to an old time gospel CD I found at a thrift store. Her phone chirped. When she looked at the caller ID, she emitted the first truly happy smile I had seen from her in days. It was Sevenia. “Hi, Sweetie.”

“Yeah, it was a tough few days,” Destiny said with a big sigh. “Thank you… Yeah, I’m okay, thanks… Uh huh… I see… No, that’s not crazy, you know my testimony and the role a dream played… We’d be glad to… Sure, I’m sure… Listen, we’re about an hour away from home, why don’t you come over… Sure I’m sure… Okay, we’ll be seeing you then, bye.”

Without a word, Destiny turned up the music, and began to quietly sing along again.

“Aren’t you gonna tell me what that was about?” I asked.

“Aren’t we nosy?” Destiny asked with a coy smile.

I couldn’t help laughing. It felt good to be getting my cheerful, playful Dee back.

“Sevenia said something about a profound dream she had last night. She just wanted to discuss the meaning of it with us. She thought we might have already been home by now.

“Oh,” I replied casually, not realizing Sevenia’s dream was going to lead us into a horrific, ugly situation on par with the abuse Destiny’s father and Aunt Belle had endured.

DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES

(Written with the finger of God. Part two)

Isn’t a Christian who has faith and is living under grace freed from keeping the law? “Sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin (break the law) because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” (Romans 6:14, 15). “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).

Answer: No! The scriptures teach the very opposite. Grace is like a governor’s pardon to a prisoner. It forgives him, but it does not give him the freedom to break another law. The forgiven person, living under grace, will actually want to keep God’s law in his or her gratitude for salvation.

Are the Ten Commandments of God also affirmed in the New Testament?

Answer: Yes, and very clearly so.

1. “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve” (Matthew 4:10).

2. “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (1 John 5:21). “Since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising” (Acts 17:29).

3. “That the name of God and His doctrine may not be blasphemed” (1 Timothy 6:1).

4. “He has spoken in a certain place of the seventh day in this way: And God rested on the seventh day from all His works. There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His” (Hebrews 4:4, 9, 10).

5. “Honor your father and mother” (Matthew 19:19).

6. “You shall not murder” (Romans 13:9).

7. “You shall not commit adultery” (Matthew 19:18).

8. “You shall not steal” (Romans 13:9).

9. “You shall not bear false witness” (Romans 13:9).

10. “You shall not covet” (Romans 7:7).

The law of God in the Old Testament.

1. “You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:3).

2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and forth generation of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6).

3. “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain” (Exodus 20:7).

4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it” (Exodus 20:8-11).

5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

6. “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13).

7. “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14).

8. “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15).

9. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16).

10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbors wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s” (Exodus 20:17).

Are God’s law and Moses’ law the same?

Answer: No—they are not the same. Moses’ law contained the temporary, ceremonial law of the Old Testament. It regulated the priesthood, sacrifices, rituals, meat, and drink offerings, etc. All of which foreshadowed the cross. The law was added ‘till the seed should come,’ and that seed was Christ (Galatians 3:16, 19). The ritual and ceremony of Moses’ law pointed forward to Christ’s sacrifice. When He died, the law came to an end, but the Ten Commandments (God’s law) “stands fast forever and ever” (Psalm 111:8). That there are two laws is made clear in Daniel 9:10, 11.

(Consider the following contrasts.)

MOSES’ LAW                                                                                 GOD’S LAW

Called “the law of Moses” (Luke 2:22)                                   Called “the law of the Lord (Isaiah 5:24)

Called “law…contained in ordinances” (Ephesians 2:15)   Called “the royal law” (James 2:8)

Written by Moses in a book (2 Chronicles 35:12)                Written by God on stone (Exodus 31:18)

Placed in the side of the ark (Deuteronomy 31:26)            Placed inside the ark (Exodus 40:20)

Ended at the cross (Ephesians 2:15)                                       Will stand forever (Luke 16:17)

Added because of sin (Galatians 3:19)                                   Points out sin (Romans 7:7, 3:20)

Contrary to us, against us (Colossians 2:14)                          Not burdensome (1 John 5:3)

Judges no one (Colossians 2:14-16)                                        Judges all people (James 2:10-12)

Fleshly (Hebrews 7:16)                                                               Spiritual (Romans 7:14)

Made nothing perfect (Hebrews 7:19)                                   Perfect (Psalm 19:7)

How does the devil feel about people who pattern their lives after God’s Ten Commandments? “The dragon (devil) was enraged with the woman (true church), and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God” (Revelation 12:17). “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God” (Revelation 14:12).

Answer: He hates those who uphold the law of God. He even uses religious leaders to deny the Ten Commandments, while at the same time upholding the traditions of men. No wonder Jesus said. “Why do you also transgress the law of God because of your tradition… In vain they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:3, 9).

A few questions that came up.

What does Galatians 3:13 mean when it says we are redeemed from the curse of the law?

Answer: The curse of the law is death (Romans 6:23). Christ tasted death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9). Therefore He redeemed all from the curse of the law (death) and in its place provided eternal life.

Romans 10:4 says that Christ is the end of the law. So didn’t that end it?

Answer: End in this verse means purpose or object, as it does in James 5:11. The meaning is clear. It’s to lead people to Christ—where they find righteousness—it is the goal, purpose, or end of the law.

Why do so many people deny the binding claims of God’s law? (The girl who asked this had people calling her a legalist because she began keeping the Biblical Sabbath).

Answer: “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those serving the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone has not the Spirit of Christ, he is not His” (Romans 8:7-9).

Why worry about the law? Isn’t conscience a safe guide?

No! The Bible speaks of an evil conscience, a defiled conscience, and a seared conscience—none of which is safe. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). God says, “He who trusts to his own heart is a fool” (Proverbs 28:26).

LXX

I SOUGHT THE LORD AND HE HEARD ME, AND DELIVERED ME FROM ALL MY FEARS

PSALM 34:4

BROCK STORM (DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S HUSBAND)

Destiny giggled, and I glanced at her with a raised eyebrow. This in turn caused her to laugh. We were only minutes into our trek to Minneapolis. I was driving her pale yellow Volkswagen Bug, complete with a flower on the dashboard. For some reason, Destiny always found my rather large form piloting this less than large and somewhat dainty car amusing.

Her amusement always amused me, and right now it did my heart good. She had recently found out her father was dying. She then confided a childhood secret to me that only her Aunt Belle had been aware of. Her father, an outwardly religious man, had behaved inappropriately toward her for a period of time. It played a role in their strained relationship over the years. Yet the abuse was subtle enough that I got the feeling her dad was unaware of how deeply it affected his daughter.

Destiny is a woman of strong faith and an inspiration to many. Yet, with the closeness of our relationship, I knew she had brief periods of fragility and vulnerability. She especially had regret over her years as an adult entertainer. In the last couple days since she had found out her dad had an aggressive form of cancer and likely only a week or two to live, she was as troubled as I had ever seen her.

After her two minute period of merriment, she quickly returned to a quiet and subdued demeanor. I gave her space to think. To be honest, I didn’t know what to say. Soft jazz played quietly on the radio. It was the only sound for about twenty minutes before Destiny spoke.

“Time is such a deception,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“I was just thinking,” she continued. “You know what I told you the other day. You know about my dad and me and watching ‘Baywatch,’ how creepy it was, and how it ended?”

“Of course.”

“It occurred to me that after that final, um,  incident I told you about. My dad never called me by the pet name he used for me ever again.”

“Your pet name?”

“Yeah, like you know how you and most of my close friends call me Dee. Well, when I was little, Daddy called me Chickadee. I mean, usually my dad was a stern, serious man so mostly he called me Destiny. ‘Destiny, did you do your homework?’ ‘Destiny, you need to clean your room.’ ‘Destiny, you’re gonna be late for school.’ But when I was little, on rare occasions of lightheartedness, he’d be like, ‘Chickadee, do you want to go fly a kite?’ ‘Chickadee, do you want to go to the park?’ I loved my daddy when I was his Chickadee.”

Destiny shook her head, and then she became quiet and still. It was odd hearing Destiny refer to her father as daddy, I racked my brain trying to recall if she had ever called the man she loved, but disliked, daddy.

“What did you mean by time is a deception?” I asked.

She shrugged, kicked off her shoes, and put her feet on the dash. “I’m mean, in one sense, Daddy calling me Chickadee seems like yesterday, and, like, where did the time go? Like flying a kite as a little girl. It’s as if I can still feel the crisp spring air on my cheeks, and the puffy white clouds in a bright blue sky. I remember the thrill of the kite soaring up with the breeze, and fluttering so intensely I hoped it wouldn’t break. When I think about it, sometimes it feels like it could have been yesterday. Yet other times it seems like a really long time ago, like a couple lifetimes.

“I’d have to say, flying kites is probably my best childhood memory. I often imagined I was flying, too. As a matter of fact, the first time I heard and read about the second coming of Christ in 1 Thessalonians chapter four, I recalled the feelings I had flying kites. We shall rise up into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Completely restored to innocence. There’s nothing like the innocent wonder of being a child.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” I replied with a sentimental smile. “I’ve thought the same thing about playing in the creek, the woods, riding bikes and go carts. Six and Seven’s dad building us a tree fort when we were kids. The world seemed open to infinite possibilities, and the weekend was like a big adventure. Then Monday would come with the sad reality of back to school.”

“I was the opposite. I loved going to school.”

“I thought you told me you barely graduated high school.”

“That’s because in high school I was a major stoner and skipped school a lot. In elementary school I got straight A’s, most of middle school, too.”

“So smokin dope made you a dope?”

She giggled. “Let’s just say, it was a main ingredient. You never indulged, did you?”

“Not really, I mean I tried weed and drank a little, but I got into too many fights as it was. I didn’t need to become one those belligerent drunk guys actually looking for a fight. I had Seven’s obnoxious personality doing enough of that. I always felt like I needed to have my wits about me. I never knew when a fight would break out, and I was usually part of it when one did.”

We were quiet for a minute, then Destiny quickly became subdued again. “I’m scared, Brock.”

“Yeah?” I replied sympathetically as I placed a hand on her thigh. She took hold of it and squeezed.

“What if this visit goes really ugly?” she asked.

“Nothing can go really ugly with how beautiful you are.”

She gave a polite chuckle, and then sighed. “You know what I mean.”

“Dee, it’s time you took your own advice.”

“Huh?” She replied meekly, with wide eyes. She looked so cute. Her honey blonde braid was draped over her left shoulder, and a stray lock hung above an eyebrow like a crescent moon. If I weren’t driving, I would have leaned over and kissed her.

“I can’t count how many times I’ve heard you encourage someone with a variety of quotes. Like, you will keep Him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him, because you trust in Him. Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”

“Isaiah 26, verses 3 and 4,” Destiny grinned, and I knew I was headed down the right path.

“Another one you use as much if not more. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment.”

“1 John 4:18,” she replied.

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

“Ephesians 4:32.”

“And one not directly from the Bible. Be kind to unkind people, they need it the most. Kindness has converted more sinners than zeal, eloquence, or learning.”

“I have one for you,” Destiny said, smiling sweetly, as she leaned over and kissed my cheek. “The thing that counts most in the pursuit of happiness, is choosing the right traveling companion. I’ve done this!”

“Me, too,” I replied with a grin. She kissed my cheek again.

A couple hours later, google maps told me to take a right and that we had arrived at our destination. Destiny sighed. “Wow, a hospice rather than a hospital. I guess he’s really not coming out of here alive.”

She asked me to pray. After I finished, we walked into the building hand in hand. A nurse led us to a room, lightly knocked. She then told another nurse that Mr. Knight’s daughter was here and asked if it was okay to come in. She said it was.

Destiny gave a little gasp when we caught sight of the frail, gaunt man lying in the bed. He was so thin, his eyes seemed to bulge from his skull. “My little girl,” he croaked.

“Hi, Daddy,” Destiny greeted with a warm smile. I had never met Destiny’s dad, I had only seen pictures. He was a mere shell of a man, and barely recognizable.

“You came,” he said with a big grin. The smile seemed so odd in such a gravely ill man. Despite what Destiny had confided to me about her father. It did my heart good to see how much her visit meant to this man who was clearly knocking on death’s door.

After Mr. Knight gazed adoringly at his daughter for a minute, his eyes shifted to me. Destiny turned and looked at me. Then back to her father. “Daddy, this is my husband, Brock.”

“Nice to meet you, son,” Mr. Knight said, barely audible.

Given what Destiny told me about him, I didn’t know if I liked him calling me son. I recalled what Jesus said about his murderers. ‘Father forgive them, for they no not what they do.’ “Nice to meet you too, sir.”

“My sister tells me you’re a good man,” he croaked. “A brave, man. You’re certainly a big man. She says you take really good care of my daughter.”

“I love her more than life itself, sir,” I said, and then winced at saying that to a dying man.

But he actually chuckled and then told me. “It seems you take better care of her than I ever did. Bellie said. Oops. Oh, hey, never call Annabelle, Bellie, she don’t like it.”

As if on cue, Destiny’s Aunt Belle came in. She had come up the night before, and was staying with Destiny’s father until he passed. Destiny hadn’t yet decided what her intentions were. “Hi kids, when did you get here?”

“About ten minutes ago,” I told her, and then put my mouth close to her ear. “Aunt Bellie.”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m gonna owe you a punch to the gut for that.”

I refrained from laughing. Everyone we were close to knew about the little game I play with my spiritual daughter Amy. I like to tease her, and she likes to retaliate by punching me in the stomach. Hard too, but she does give me fair warning before she strikes, that way I can brace myself for her feisty little fist.

Mr. Knight went on a frightful coughing spree. Before Aunt Belle could push the button for a nurse, one came rushing in. So far the staff here really impressed me.

“We better let you rest, Dad,” Destiny said.

“No,” he groaned, and made a motion as if to grab her hand, but it was buried beneath the covers. “I need to talk to you, alone.”

Destiny looked at her aunt, then me, and nodded. Belle and I went to a private waiting room. I could tell she was agitated, which was a strange site concerning Belle. She and Destiny are so much alike. They have become so very close, it seemed more like they were mother and daughter.

“In all seriousness, can I punch you in the stomach?” Belle asked so politely that it was as if she asked me to carry something to the car for her.

I chuckled, and then said. “Have at it.”

Her tongue curled onto her upper lip, and she reared back and hit me.

“Ouch,” she said, frowning. She gazed at me as if I had struck her. “They’re not necessarily kidding when they say you have rock hard abs.”

I shrugged. Belle’s lip began to quiver, then she put her face in her hands and sobbed. I pulled her into an embrace. After a minute, she composed herself and said my name so quietly, I wasn’t completely sure I heard her.

“Yeah?”

“Can we pray?”

“Of course.”

When Belle finished praying for Destiny and her father, she said, “I told him.”

“Told him what?”

“That Destiny was well aware of what transpired between them when she was a little girl.”

I felt a chill go up my spine.

“Did I make a mistake?” she asked. “Will Destiny be mad at me?”

“First of all, I can’t imagine Dee ever being mad at you. Second, you’ve never been shy about speaking the truth, Biblical or otherwise. But truth can be hard. Ultimately, I think it is healthier for both of them for it to be out in the open. What do they call it? Closure, I guess.”

“It felt so cruel confronting a dying man with that ugly situation.”

“I doubt you went about it in a cruel fashion.”

“I hope not. But still.”

“Listen, I feel sorry for him and all. He looked pitiful lying there. But, on the other hand, you reap what you sew.”

Belle and I sat, and I quietly listened to her tell favorable stories about her brother. Then the door suddenly burst open, startling both of us. Destiny rushed to her aunt, and hugged her. “Thank you, Auntie, I love you. Thanks to you, I feel like I got my daddy back.”

The two women continued to embrace as they cried.

“What happened?” Aunt Belle finally asked.

“Daddy told me that you told him that I told you about what happened when I was little,” Destiny explained. “It was awkward and painful. He said he assumed I was unaware, yet he had carried the guilt and shame around for years. He tearfully asked for my forgiveness. I granted it. We prayed.”

Destiny choked on a sob and put her hands in her face. I put my hand on her back and gently rubbed. She took hold of my hand, kissed it, and held onto it, gripping it tight.

“When we finished praying, he was so happy,” Destiny said, smiling through tears. “I could tell a heavy burden was lifted. Then he said, now I can die in relative peace. But…”

Destiny cried some more. After a minute, she finished. “He said, ‘but now that my Chickadee has returned, I don’t want to go.’ He called me Chickadee!”

Destiny and her aunt cried, and hugged some more. Then Destiny spoke again. “One more thing. Before he fell asleep, he said something you’re gonna have to help me with Auntie.”

“Okay,” she replied hesitantly. “I’ll do what I can.”

“He said, ‘not that I’m making excuses for my behavior. But since you are exposing deep, dark secrets, has your Aunt told you about our stepfather?’ I told him no. Then he said, ‘ask your Aunt Belle about Jason Parnell.’”

A look of alarm entered Belle’s eyes, and she began to chew her lower lip.

DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES

Subject: Written with the finger of God (part one)

Did God really write the Ten Commandments Himself? “He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God…Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets” (Exodus 31:18; 32:16).

Answer: Yes! The God of heaven wrote the Ten Commandments on tables of stone with His own finger.

What is God’s definition of sin? “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4).

Answer: Sin is the breaking of God’s Ten Commandment law. The law of God is perfect (Psalm 19:7), and its principles cover every possible sin. Keeping the commandments “is the whole duty of a person” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Why did God give the Ten Commandments? “Happy is he who keeps the law” (Proverbs 29:18). “Keep My commandments; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you” (Proverbs 3:1, 2).

Answer A: As a guide for happy, abundant living. God created us to experience happiness, peace, long life, contentment, accomplishment, and all the other great blessings for which our hearts long. God’s law is a road map that points out the right paths to follow in order to find this true, supreme happiness. “By the law is a knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). “I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, you shall not covet” (Romans 7:7).

Answer B: To show us the difference between right and wrong. God’s law is like a mirror (James 1:23-25). It points out wrongdoing in our lives much like a mirror points out dirt on our faces. The only possible way for us to know we are sinning is to carefully check our lives by the mirror of God’s law. Peace for a mixed-up world can be found in God’s Ten Commandments. It tells us where to draw the line. “Hold me up, and I shall be safe, and I shall observe Your statutes continually. You reject all those who stray from your statutes” (Psalm 119:117, 118).

Answer C: To protect us from danger and tragedy. All good laws protect, and God’s law is no exception. “By this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments” (1 John 2:3).

Answer D: It helps us to know God. The eternal principles within God’s law are written deep in every in every person’s nature by the God who created us. The writing might be dim and smudged, but it is still there. We were created to live in harmony with them. When we ignore them, the result is tension, unrest, and tragedy—just as ignoring the rules for safe driving can lead to serious injury or death.

Why is God’s law exceptionally important to each of us personally? “Speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2:12).

Answer: Because the Ten Commandment law is the standard by which God examines people in the heavenly judgement.

Can God’s law (The Ten Commandments) ever be abolished? “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail” (Luke 16:17). “All His precepts (Commandments) are sure. They stand fast forever and ever” (Psalm 111:7, 8).

Answer: No. The Bible is clear that the law of God cannot be changed. The commandments are revealed principles of God’s holy character and are the very foundation of His kingdom. They will be true as long as God exists. The Ten Commandment law is actually God’s character in written form—written so that we can better comprehend God. It is no more possible to change God’s law than to pull God out of heaven and change Him. Jesus showed us what the law—that is, the pattern for holy living—looks like when expressed in human form. God’s character cannot change; therefore, neither can His law.

                              GOD IS                                               THE LAW IS

Good                    Luke 18:19                                        1 Timothy 1:8

Holy                      Isaiah 5:16                                        Romans 7:12

Perfect                 Matthew 5:48                                  Psalm 19:7

Pure                      1 John 3:2, 3                                     Psalm 19:8

Just                       Deuteronomy                                   Romans 7:12

True                      John 3:33                                          Psalm 19:9

Spiritual               1 Corinthians 10:4                          Romans 7:14

Righteousness    Jerimiah 23:6                                   Psalm 119:172

Faithful                1 Corinthians 1:9                             Psalm 119:86

Love                     1 John 4:8                                         Romans 13:10

Unchangeable    James 1:17                                        Matthew 5:18

Everlasting          Genesis 21:33                                  Psalm 111:7, 8

When Jesus is in the heart, keeping the law becomes not only possible, but also pleasurable!

Did Jesus abolish God’s law while He was here on earth? “Do not think that I came to destroy the law… I did not come to destroy but to fulfill… Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17, 18).

Answer: No, indeed! Jesus specifically asserted that He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill (or keep) it. Instead of doing away with the law, Jesus magnified it (Isaiah 42:21) as the perfect guide for holy living. For example, Jesus pointed out that ‘You shall not murder’ condemns anger ‘with out a cause’ (Matthew 5:21, 22) and hatred (1 John 3:15), and that lust is a form of adultery (Matthew 5:27, 28). He said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments (John 14:15).

The cross reveals just how much God cares about His law!

Will people who knowingly continue to break God’s commandments be saved? “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

Answer: The Ten commandment law guides us into holy living. If we ignore even one of the commandments, we neglect an essential part of the divine blueprint.

Can anyone be saved just by keeping the law? “By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight” (Romans 3:20). “By grace you have been saved by faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

Answer: No. Salvation comes only through grace, as a free gift of Jesus Christ, and we receive this gift through faith. The law serves as a mirror that points out sin in our lives. Just as a mirror can show you dirt on your face but cannot clean your face, so cleansing and forgiveness from that sin come only through Christ.

Why then, is the law essential for improving a Christian’s character? “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s whole duty” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20).

Answer: Because the full pattern, or whole duty, for  Christian living is contained in God’s law. Like a child who made his own ruler and told his mother he’s ten feet tall, our own standard of measure is never safe. “By this we know Him if we keep His commandments. (1 John 2:3).

What enables a truly converted Christian to follow the pattern of God’s law? “I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts” (Hebrews 8:10). “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13). “God did by sending His own Son…that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Romans 8:3, 4).

Answer: Christ not only pardons repentant sinners, but He also restores in them the image of God. He brings them into harmony with His law through the power of His indwelling presence. God will not, does not change His moral law, but He made a provision through Jesus to change the sinner so we can measure up to that law.

LXIX

FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THEREWILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO

MATTHEW 6:21

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

God works in mysterious ways!

The first time I saw my future husband, he was working security at my place of employment. I was wearing only shoes and socks, and virtually nothing else. I was on a stage in a sleezy, yet supposedly classy, nightclub for alleged gentlemen. The thing that struck me about Brock was every time I discovered him looking at me, it was at my face and not my body, with his amazing light brown eyes.

A lot of girls had a crush on him. Except for several scars, with a couple being on his face, he looked like a male model who happened to be built like a linebacker. Yet he was always aloof to any flirtations induced by the exotic dancers he protected. This caused a few to whisper about his sexual preferences. I was actually only mildly interested in him. Until he saved me from being violently raped.

Some have called it a hero complex or some such, and I’m not gonna deny that it played a role. But it was those gentle light brown eyes that looked into my own windows to the soul that made my heart do flip flops. Just as significant was his steady, calm voice saying “I got you,” as I melted into his safe, incredibly strong arms.

Not long before I began stripping, I discovered that I was bisexual. When I witnessed how men behaved at the so called ‘gentlemen’s club,’ followed by an attempted rape, I found myself pursuing intimate relationships with other women exclusively. Yet over the years, my reoccurring fantasy was of Brock. His gentle words, “I got you,” became “I love you,” and then happily ever after in a variety of ways.

I never in my wildest dreams thought it would actually come true. Especially when we went our separate ways after my attack. Then one year became two, then three and four. Then I became monogamous, other than intimacy required for work, with a wild, yet beautiful girl named Sofi. One year became two, two became three, and I was convinced she and I would live somewhat happily ever after.

I’m surprised we lasted as long as we did given the circumstances. We met on a porn set. We both had dysfunctional backgrounds. We both heavily smoked weed. We both had jealousy issues because our jobs required us to have sex with other women.

We both reached a point where we needed to either break up or get out of porn. We chose the latter. We also chose to leave southern California for Iowa City, Iowa. Not just because it was LGBT friendly, but it was also the halfway point of both of our hometowns. Sofi was from the St. Louis area, while I was from Minneapolis.

Sofi insisted that we needed to start our new lives sober. My heart wasn’t into it, but I tried. Once clean, I became regretful of my career in adult entertainment. I also became resentful of Sofi, and to some degree, uncomfortable in a lesbian relationship. But I felt like she was all I had, and I loved her.

Ironically, it was she who left me, declaring gay sex to be an abomination. She had been in contact with her very conservative, religious parents, and expressed regret. They requested she repent, and return a prodigal daughter to the family that had disowned her half a decade earlier. She moved back to St. Louis, and to the people she had always declared to be abusive and fanatical.

I was completely alone for the first time in my life. I was depressed, and completely relapsed into heavy drugs and alcohol. I became suicidal. One night I fully intended to fatally overdose. I didn’t know what stopped me. At the time, I chocked it up to a good buzz, and decided to wait one more day. I now believe it was the Holy Spirit. That night, I dreamt about my Aunt Belle. The next day, instead of ending my life, I looked her up.

I had known she had a ministry for women in adult entertainment. She had tried to contact me a few times over the years, and I knew I must have been an embarrassment to her. I didn’t care because I hated religion! My dad was outwardly pious and an elder at his church, yet a flaming hypocrite. Sofi had told me about her strict religious upbringing. She spoke of being beaten by her father after getting caught wearing a miniskirt. Then banished to her room to copy scriptures into a notebook until it was full.  

I felt compelled to research my aunt. To my surprise, I discovered she lived only twenty miles away from me. I decided to go see where she lived, but hadn’t made up my mind whether or not I would stop. I saw her! She happened to be outside, cooling down from a run. As nervous as I have ever been in my life, and with my tail between my legs, I pulled into her driveway and approached a woman I hadn’t seen in over a decade.

I was blown away by her welcome! She was so excited to see me, and hugged me like a long lost daughter rather than a niece she barely knew! It was her kindness that led me to tell her everything. She listened with patience and compassion. Then she told me she too had almost ended her life thirty years previous. She too was saved by a dream, albeit not her own.

(This  Annabelle Knight incident is told toward the end of Johnathan Embers’ e-book ‘Spoiled produce’).

Right off the bat, my Aunt Belle began sharing scripture with me, but most importantly, the love of Jesus. She quickly became like a mother to me. In just days I accepted Christ as my personal Savior. Some people, after hearing my testimony, are astounded that my life turned around so quickly and drastically. But I almost literally died to self at my own hand. So it may have been easier for me than most to die carnally and be risen to newness of life spiritually in Christ Jesus.

Although, having a new life in Christ and a new perspective, it didn’t leave me free from temptation. And the first temptation came in the way of one of the biggest surprises I’ve ever had in my life. Granted Iowa does border Minnesota, so its not like Brock and I ran into each halfway around the world in Melbourne, Australia. But seriously. I never thought I’d run into Brock in a modest size church in rural Iowa a decade after I last saw him in Minneapolis. At the time I thought, ‘wow, what a coincidence.’ Now, as I took comfort in his arms for about the thousandth time, I’m convinced it was the Lord’s leading, the Lord’s blessing.

“I know you’ve never fully understood why my dad and I clash,” I said to Brock as I reluctantly pulled away from his comforting embrace.

“I get the big picture,” he told me with a reassuring smile as he patted my knee. “The way he treated your mom, the divorce, the evil stepmother, the step siblings you never liked, becoming a stripper, and then porn, coupled with him being a modern day pharisee.”

“That’s pretty much the puzzle,” I said and then sighed. “But you’re missing a crucial piece, and it’s my fault for not telling you. But it’s actually the most painful and puzzling piece of my life’s puzzle.”

“Sweetheart,” Brock said sweetly. “We’ve gotten along pretty well without me knowing about this puzzle piece.”

“No,” I replied, and hated how harsh it sounded. “Given the situation, you know, with him dying and all, I need to tell you. I need your support and understanding.”

“You’ve got it,” he said, giving my knee a squeeze.

“I’ve told you before, when I was in elementary school, that I took dance lessons.”

“You have.”

“So, when I would get home with my mom, she would immediately fix herself a drink and go to her room. My dad would typically be watching the television show ‘Baywatch.’ You know ‘Baywatch,’ right? Hot actresses in swimsuits.”

“I do.”

“So before I could change out of my leotard, my dad would insist I watch the last fifteen minutes or so with him. At first, I was so happy about the attention and eagerly climbed onto his lap. My dad was my hero, and I wanted to please him.”

I paused and looked at my husband. His eyes were still warm and compassionate, but I noticed his jaw tighten. The main reason I had never told him this before is because of his own past. His oldest brother was molested by a priest, and years later, Brock took revenge. He took such a perverse joy in it, becoming a vigilante became sort of a hobby with him. He gave up his “hobby” before his conversion, and before we became reacquainted. His faced relaxed some and he smiled as if to tell me to continue.

“At first I sat on his thigh and he would sometimes stroke my hair. Then he started pulling me more, um, centrally located. This made me uncomfortable, but I didn’t really understand why. On the back side of my leg, and my, you know, behind, I could feel his, um, excitement. I didn’t really understand sexual things yet, but something, even at that young age, made me know what was happening was inappropriate. Yet, he never touched my privates, and I never directly touched his.”

I was unable to look my husband in the eyes. Now my lips trembled so much I was unable to continue speaking. I put my hands to my mouth and discovered they were shaking. Then I looked at Brock, feeling ashamed. He looked at me calm and steady, but tears were running down of both his cheeks. When I saw his compassion, I lost it and began sobbing. He pulled me into an embrace. I love him so much! What a gift from God my husband is!

When I finished crying, he spoke softly into my ear. “I get the point, Dee, I understand.”

I pulled away, shaking my head. “I need to finish. So, it got to the point, I told him, ‘Daddy, I want to just go to my room.’ He would say something like,’ it will be over in a couple minutes.’ Then the last time, he was breathing heavy through his nose, and kind of wiggling. I told him I wanted to go to my room and started to cry. He told me to stop crying, then he told me just one more minute. Then he practically shoved me off of himself and told me to go to my room. Before I left the living room, I turned to look at my father. He was muttering to himself and wiping at a wet spot on his pants.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and bowed my head. Brock took my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. I couldn’t speak, nausea had made my mouth water and now it was clogging my throat. My soulmate handed me a bottle of water.

“I’m almost to the finish line,” I said, and then forced a smile. Brock patted my knee, and forced a smile of his own. “So my dad looks at me looking at him. I’d never seen him look so startled. Then he looked mad and then barked at me. I was so confused, I don’t even remember what he said. What are you looking at, or maybe go to your room.

“But he never asked me to sit on his lap again,” I said, and then snorted a non-humorous laugh. “Our relationship changed after that day, too. He had been the hero that took me to the zoo, flying kites, and teaching me to ride a bike. Then he became a dictator that left my mother, told me I was too young to get earrings, or my skirt was too short.

“The thing is, after getting into adult entertainment, what happened with my dad and me seemed pretty insignificant. I mean, three fourths of the girls I got to know endured more than I did. So many were directly violated by their fathers, stepfathers, uncles, brothers, cousins, or neighbors.”

“Dee,” Brock said ever so softly. “You too were violated. Yes, maybe it was less, um, intense than the people you mentioned. But no little girl should be sitting on her daddy’s lap while he lusts after women in swimsuits.”

“I feel so ugly sitting in front of you right now,” I told him as I tried to shrink into myself.

“Hey, no,” he replied soothingly, and then going to one knee in front of me and taking both of my hands in his. “You’ve never seemed more beautiful to me, sharing that painful part of your life with me took a lot of guts.”

His lower lip quivered ever so slightly and a tear rolled out of his left eye. Seeing my big strong man become so vulnerable because of my pain made me overcome with emotion. I pulled my hands from his and cupped his face before I kissed him. “I love you so much!”

“I love you, too,” he replied with a gentle smile. “How old were you when this lap thing happened with your dad?”

“Eight or nine.”

“And you’ve never discussed it with him?”

“You know,” I said, and then snorted another laugh without humor. “I mostly blocked it from my mind. Things got so bad between him and my mom, then the divorce. I didn’t really think too seriously about it again until I started stripping and did a lap dance for the first time. It’s the main reason I switched to porn so quickly, and exclusively with women.”

“Are you going to see him?”

“Aunt Belle said he wants me to.”

“But are you?”

“Yes, I feel I need to. You’ll come with me, right?”

“Of course.”

“I don’t just mean to Minneapolis. I mean to see my father?”

“Of course, if that’s what you want. Are you gonna bring up what you told me?”

I shook my head. “I’ve already forgiven him.”

“But he didn’t ask.”

“Jesus said ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,’ when he was being crucified. His murderers didn’t ask.”

Brock nodded.

“Let me ask you something,” I petitioned. “What if I would have told you what I did right after we married. Would you have sought vengeance on my father?”

“No.”

“What if I would have asked you to?”

“You wouldn’t have.”

“What if I did?”

“I wouldn’t have killed him. Maybe roughed him up, or scared him.”

“What if I asked you when you were unconverted and in the midst of your vigilante spree?”

A hard look flickered through his eyes, and the scar by his lip twitched.

DESTINY”S BIBLE STUDY NOTES

SUBJECT: HELLFIRE PART 2

Will hellfire eventually go out? “I saw a new heaven and a new earth… And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1, 4).

Answer: Yes. The Bible specifically teaches that hellfire will go out. The Bible says that in God’s new kingdom all “former things” will have passed away. Hell, being one of the former things, is included, so we have God’s promise that it will be abolished. An eternal hell of torment would be hell for God also, who loves even the vilest sinner.

What will be left when the fire goes out? “Behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up…That will leave them neither root nor branch… You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I shall do this; says the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 4:1, 3).

Answer: Notice the verse does not say the wicked will burn like asbestos, as many today believe, but rather like stubble, which will be burned up. The little word UP denotes completion. Nothing but ashes will be left when the fire goes out. In Psalm 37:10, 20, the Bible says the wicked will go up in smoke and be completely destroyed.

Will the wicked enter hell in bodily form and be destroyed both soul and body? “It is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell” (Matthew 5:30). “Rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20).

Answer: Yes, real people enter hell in bodily form and are destroyed both soul and body. The fire from God out of heaven will fall upon unrepentant people and blot them out of existence.

Will the devil be in charge of hellfire? “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:10). “I turned you to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all who saw you… You shall be no more forever” (Ezekiel 28:18, 19).

Answer: Absolutely not! The devil will be cast into the fire, and it will turn him into ashes.

Does the word “hell” as used in the Bible always refer to a place of burning or punishment? No. The word “hell is used 54 times in the Bible (KJV), and in only 12 cases does it refer to “a place of burning.” It is translated from several different words with various meanings.

IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

31 times from “Sheol,” which means “the grave.”

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

10 times from “Hades,” which also means “the grave.”

12 times from “Gehenna,” which means “the place of burning.”

1 time from “Tartarus,” which  means “a place of darkness.”

HISTORIC NOTE

The word “Gehenna” is a transliteration of the Hebrew “Ge-Hinnom,” which means the “Valley of Hinnom.” This valley, which lies immediately south and west of Jerusalem, was a place where dead animals, garbage, and other refuse were dumped. Fire burned constantly, as it does at modern sanitation sites. The Bible uses “Gehenna” or the “Valley of Hinnom,” as a symbol of the fire that will destroy the lost at the end of time. The fire of Gehenna was not unending. Otherwise, it would still be burning southwest of Jerusalem today. Neither will the fire of hell be unending.

What is God’s real purpose in hellfire? “Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). “Anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). “For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more… The enemies of the Lord… shall vanish. Into smoke they shall vanish away” (Psalm 37:10, 20).

Answer: God’s purpose is that hell will destroy the devil, all sin, and the unsaved to make the world safe for eternity. Any vestige of sin left on this planet would be a deadly virus forever threatening the universe. It is God’s plan to blot out sin from existence for all time!

Isn’t the act of destroying the unsaved foreign to God’s nature? “As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die?” (Ezekiel 33:11). “The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them” (Luke 9:56). “The Lord will rise up… that He may do His work, His awesome work, and bring to pass His act, His unusual act” (Isaiah 28:21).

Answer: Yes—the work of God has always been to save rather than destroy. The work of destroying the wicked in hellfire is so foreign to God’s nature that the Bible calls it His “unusual act.” God’s great heart will ache at the destruction of the wicked. He works diligently to save every soul! But if one spurns His love and clings to sin, God will have no choice but to destroy the unrepentant sinner when He rids the universe of the horrible, malignant growth called “sin” in the fires of the last day.

God will be deeply saddened when He must destroy those His Son died to save!

What are God’s post-hell plans for the earth and His people? “He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time” (Nahum 1:9). “I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind” (Isaiah 65:17). “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain” (Revelation 21:3, 4).

Answer: After hellfire goes out, God will create a new earth and restore it to His people—with all the beauties and glories of Eden before sin entered. Pain, death, tragedy, tears, sickness, disappointment, anxiety, depression, sorrow, and all sin will be banished forever.

Sin will not rise again. God promises that sin will never rise again. His people will be filled with perfect peace, love, joy, and contentment. The mind can’t imagine, and words can’t describe!

LXVIII

GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH, A VERY PRESENT HELP IN TROUBLE

PSALM 46:1

BROCK STORM (DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S HUSBAND)

“You have to see this chick. She’s right up your alley,” A fellow bouncer and friend, Brett Hill, told me when I came in for my shift at the strip club I worked at fifteen years ago.

Typical of most human beings, Brett only partially understood what I was about. He thought I had a thing for the cute, innocent, young girls, rather than the hot, experienced girls that danced exotically at the club we did security for. I’m not gonna deny I noticed their physical appeal. But that’s not why I followed Brett to the main stage. He was a buddy, and I simply didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

However, my interest in the cute innocent ones was mostly brotherly. I hated noticing how insecure, even scared, they were masked in strange stew of  sensual, seductive female bravado. It ate at me knowing they, more often than not, came from broken homes. Many of them had suffered various kinds of abuse or were just plain desperate. It sickened me watching girls going off to do a “private dance” for the first time. They were so naive. I’m surprised I lasted almost a year at that wretched, paradoxically labeled  ‘gentleman’s club.’   

After following Brett to the wings of the main stage, I laid my eyes on Destiny Knight for the first time. I could see pretty much all of her. Her routine was almost over, and all she was wearing were Mary Jane shoes and white knee high socks. Her honey blonde hair was tied up in two braids that hung on the sides of her head. She was the cutest, most innocent seeming girl I had seen to date.

Although she had been making a valiant attempt at a seductive smile, her large blue eyes flitted about nervously. When she came off the stage on a set of stairs by where Brett and I were standing, a man’s hand reached to grope her. My hand instinctively knocked it away.

“Hands to yourself,” I barked.

Destiny mouthed thank you, and I nodded once. I rarely talked to the girls, and that’s probably one of the reasons Brett didn’t know my interest in the inexperienced ones was more than carnal.

“Pay for a private dance if you want to touch,” Brett instructed.

I cringed inwardly and noticed Destiny’s eyes looked alarmed. Over the next few weeks, I began to experience something I had never experienced with any of the other strippers before. It went beyond feeling sorrow or pity. When it came to Destiny, I got downright jealous. I wondered how many other clubs she worked. I wondered how much she let guys get away with during ‘private dances,’ aka ‘lap dances.’ I wondered if she had a boyfriend. If yes, was he a creep?

I kept my eye on Destiny as much as I could. But it was my, okay, I’ll say it, obsession with her that likely saved her life. I had noticed that a certain guy had taken a strong interest in her. I didn’t know his name at the time, but I did know he was some type of gangster. Not only had he taken an interest in Destiny, but he had also seemingly struck up something with another stripper who went by the name Jezebel Black.

Jezebel was the opposite of Destiny. Her persona was dark, witchy, and I noticed occult symbolism on her jewelry. On one particular night, I noticed her talking covertly with the gangster. Then I noticed the gangster leave. Then I noticed Jezebel getting chummy with Destiny. When I watched them leave together, I knew something was up and I knew it wasn’t good.

Due to my interest in Destiny, I knew where she lived. Jezebel and Destiny walked to Destiny’s apartment. I know this because I followed them. Destiny lived on the third floor. I wasted several precious minutes contemplating what to do. Not being completely sure that something untoward was happening, I couldn’t exactly knock on her door. What would I say? For all I knew, Destiny agreed to prostitute herself for the gangster.

I decided to climb the fire escape in the back and do a little window peeping. What I discovered sent adrenaline racing through me. The gangster had Destiny on the floor, cutting and ripping her clothes off with a knife as big as, if not bigger, than Crocodile Dundee’s. Destiny was panicked and crying. I tried the window, and fortunately it was unlocked. Jezebel Black was nowhere to be seen.

I quickly, yet covertly, made my way to the active crime scene. The gangster was seconds away from consummating his rape when I gave him a hard round house kick to the side of his head. It knocked him out cold, and he toppled to the floor like a side of beef falling from a hook.

Destiny looked at me with terror stricken eyes. As soon as recognition kicked in, she flung herself at me. Her arms went around my neck, and she squeezed as though we were on a thousand foot precipice. She was shaking uncontrollably, and I hesitantly wrapped my arms around her naked flesh an. “I got you,” I said softly.

She squeezed a little harder if possible, and barely audibly whispered, “Thank you.”

I related this story to the writer Johnathan Embers for his e-book ‘Knight-Storm.’ But that would come after Destiny’s and my life came full circle one fateful day at Cotton Creek Cove fellowship ten years later.

I had been attending C.C.C. for quite some time before Destiny showed up. I had been living in Florida when I happened to read a fascinating book by Pastor Samson, aka Captain Kirk. I decided to stop by and visit his church in Iowa on a trip back to Minnesota. I became so enthralled with the pastor, the people, and the rural setting that I pretty much never left the area.

I was beyond surprised when I discovered Destiny’s aunt had been attending C.C.C. for decades. I never told her that I was acquainted with her niece. That is, until Destiny herself showed up there. My first thought was that just maybe Destiny was somehow my destiny. But I immediately snuffed out the thought.

At that time, I had been involved with a woman who didn’t share my spiritual inclinations. Yet we had been together, more or less, for a half decade, and then some. She even moved from Miami to the frozen lands of the Midwest. My relationship with her was both exciting and a thorn in my side. Our intimate life was the main obstacle keeping me from committing to Christ at the time. That and a very violent past that loomed in my conscience.

What was strange about seeing Destiny at church was her appearance. Her persona in adult entertainment had been the good girl next door going bad. She had played a schoolgirl, a cheerleader, a librarian, a secretary, a nun, an Amish girl, and a braided beauty right off the Swiss Alps. Her look that day at C.C.C. was something between Swiss Alps and Amish. Plus she had a Bible she was diligently searching.

Please understand, I was usually not a consumer of porn, even before I was a Christian. However I did follow Destiny’s career. Closely. Not long after the rape incident, she gave up live performance for film. The way she looked that Sabbath morning confused me. Even as I watched her thumb through a Bible, I half expected her to start getting naughty with another attractive woman.

Destiny was so surprised when I approached her after services, I at first thought I had done a bad thing. But then her face lit up, and we hit it off, becoming instant friends. Not long after she showed up, the man that had attacked her a decade earlier was released from prison and looking for revenge.

Did I mention my girlfriend at the time was a detective with the Iowa Bureau of Investigation? Anyway, when Destiny received a pretty serious death threat, she stayed with me at my modest home in the country. My girlfriend roomed with her as her protector. A major upheaval of my life ensued as we kept Destiny safe from those that sought to harm her. Since Johnathan Embers detailed that story in the e-book ‘Knight Storm’, I’ll now skip to the present.

After finding out her mostly estranged father was dying, Destiny was quiet on our drive home. I left her alone with her thoughts until she was ready to talk. When we arrived home, I put two cups of water in a kettle and turned on the stove. I pulled a box of Traditional Medicinals herbal tea from the cabinet and made us both a ‘Cup of Calm.’ I went to the sofa where she sat with a leg tucked underneath her. She smiled sadly and thanked me.

“Well,” she said after around five minutes of silence.

“Well what?”

“Aren’t you gonna tell me about the scar by your lip?”

“Sure,” I said with a shrug. “I was just waiting for you to go first.”

“If you don’t want to tell me about it, that’s okay. I’ll still tell you about my dad and me. Actually, given the current situation, I feel I NEED to tell you about my dad and me.”

“I don’t mind telling you,” I replied, shrugging again.

“Then how come you never have?”

“You’ve never asked.”

“I asked you once, and you said some other time.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, you told me how you received your other scars though.”

“Received?” I questioned, and then chuckled.

“You know what I mean,” she laughed half heartedly as she threw a pillow at me. “Why the reluctance with your lip scar?”

“You know, I really didn’t realize I was withholding from you,” I said, turning serious. “All of my other scars had come in the heat of battle. This one by my lip was acquired when I was held hostage.”

“Held hostage!”

“Yeah,” I replied, wincing. “You could actually say the scar by my mouth was due to Seven’s big mouth.”

“Huh?” Destiny responded with a deep frown.

“It started with one of the many times Seven’s obnoxiousness got us in trouble,” I explained. “He mouthed off to a few gang bangers that were struttin’ their stuff. I took care of it, and in the process broke their leader’s nose. But a week later I had let my guard down and they kidnapped me at gun point. They took me to some crack house and tied me up. They pulled my pants down and were gonna have one of their STD riddled prostitutes  violate me. They paraded her in front of me naked. The guy whose nose I broke said to me, ‘Now doesn’t that bring a smile to your face?’ Then he began to carve a smile onto my face.”

“Wow,” Destiny replied, wide-eyed. “How come he didn’t do the other side?”

“He was about to when his knees buckled!”

“His knees buckled?”

“Seven had snuck in and hit him behind the knees with a baseball bat.”

“Wow! Really? How’d he get past the other guys?”

“Six had a gun trained on them.”

“Didn’t they have guns too?”

“They had let their guard down in the excitement of me being tied up and tortured. So Six got the drop on them.”

“So they never gave you trouble again?”

“Well, we, mostly me, convinced them that it would be in their best interest to leave us alone going forward. I guess you could say my humiliation put me in a rather vengeful mood. Plus, after that experience, I learned my lesson and developed eyes on the back of my head.”

“I’m sure they deserved what you did to them,” she chuckled without humor. “But I don’t think I want to know.”

“Good, I don’t want to tell.”

“Vengeance is mine says the Lord?”

“Something like that,” I said, smiling and touching the scar on her own cheek. A scar she acquired a couple years ago trying to protect pregnant Amy from a violent attack.

She looked at me for a long time and then sighed heavily.

“Dee, you don’t have to tell me,” I told her.

“No, I need to,” she replied quietly. “But you know about the abusive background some of the girls that have come through my aunt’s and my ministry have endured. You’ll probably think I’ve made a mountain out of a mole hill in my own head.”

“You know better than that, Dee.”

“It’s funny, though,” she said and then paused.

“Funny strange or funny ha ha?”

“Definitely funny strange,” she said, smiling ruefully. “I mean, here I am trying to live a straight, primitive Bible truth life. Yet I’ve often lied to myself.”

Destiny adjusted herself in her seat. She brought her other leg up and sat cross legged. She often laughed about how flexible young Sevenia was and remembered when she was that pliable. Yet, as much as I was into fitness, I winced at the thought of sitting in the position my wife was now in.

“Where do I begin?” Destiny said with another heavy sigh.

She looked at me as if I were to provide an answer. I waited. She sighed again. Her pretty big blue eyes that were usually so filled with love, peace, and joy were now tear rimmed and filled with sorrow. I took her hand. “Remember, no matter what, Dee, I love you with all my heart and always will.”

“I love you, too,” she sobbed, and threw herself into my arms. Then in a barely audible whisper said, “Where do I begin?”

A NOTE FROM DESTINY

(Sadly, Sevenia’s lectures are over. However, Sevenia, Zella, Heather, and I are doing a table talk type Bible study. Both of the new converts, Zella and Heather, want a deeper understanding of Bible subjects and concepts. Also an understanding of the misconceptions of society and mainstream religion on Bible truths. We decided to begin with the subject of hellfire. Although a much smaller group, Sevenia will be leading out. And once again, I was asked to share my notes at the end of the weekly story. Also, with the new much smaller study format, there is more discussion, making for longer lessons and more drawn out note taking. Therefore each study topic will be in two parts. May God bless you! Sincerely, Dee.)

Nearly the entire world holds to very unbiblical views about hell. We owe it to ourselves to know what the Bible really says about the topic. What you believe about hell likely impacts what you believe about God.

How many souls are being punished in hell today? “The Lord knows how to deliver the Godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the DAY OF JUDGEMENT” (2 Peter 2:9).

Answer: There is not a single soul in hellfire today. The Bible says that God reserves, or holds back punishing the wicked until judgement day.

When will the lost be cast into hellfire? “So it will be at the end of this age. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire” Matthew 13:40-42). “The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).

Answer: The lost will be cast into hellfire at the great judgement at the end of the world—not when they die. God would not punish a person until his or her case was tried and decided in court at the end of the world. Does it make sense that God would burn a murder who died 5,000 years ago. 5,000 years longer than a murderer who dies today and deserves the same punishment for the same sin? (See Genesis 18:25)

Where are the unsaved who have already died? “The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation” (John 5:28, 29). “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction?…Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb” (Job 21:30, 32).

Answer: The Bible is specific. Both the unsaved and the saved who have died are in their graves “sleeping” until the resurrection day. (What happens at death will be studied in the near future).

What is the end result of sin? “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). “Sin when it is full grown, brings forth death (James 1:15). “God gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Answer: The result of sin is death, not everlasting life in hellfire. The wicked “perish,” or receive “death.” The righteous receive “everlasting life.”

What will happen to the wicked in hellfire? “The fearful, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).

Answer: The wicked die the SECOND death in hellfire. If the wicked lived forever being tortured in hell, they would be immortal. But this is impossible because the Bible says God “alone has immortality” (1 Timothy 6:16). When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden, an angel was posted to guard the tree of life so that sinners would not eat of the tree and “live forever” (Genesis 3:22-24). The teaching that sinners are immortal in hell originated with Satan and is completely untrue. God prevented this when sin entered this earth by guarding tree of life.

THE BIBLE SAYS THE WICKED ARE OBLITERATED

NOT ETERNALLY TORMENTED!

The wicked…suffer “death”                        Romans:6:23

Suffer “doom” (destruction)                        Job:21:30

Will “perish”                                                    Psalm 37:20

Will “burn up”                                                Malachi 4:1

Will be “destroyed”                                       Psalm 37:38

Will “vanish away”                                        Psalm 37:20

Will be “cut off”                                                            Psalm 37:9

And will be “slain”                                         Psalm 62:3

God will “destroy” them                              Psalm 145:20

Fire will “devour” them                                Psalm 21:9

When and how will hellfire be kindled? “So it will be at the end of this age The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will…cast them into the furnace of fire” (Mathew 13:40-42). “They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them (Revelation 20:9).

How big and how hot will hellfire be? “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).

Answer: Hellfire will be just as big as this earth because it will be the earth on fire. This fire will be so hot as to melt the earth and burn up all “the works that are in it.” The atmospheric heavens will explode and “pass away with a great noise.”

How long will the wicked suffer in the fire? “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work” (Revelation 22:12). “He will reward each according to his works” (Matthew 16:27).

Answer: The Bible does not tell us how long the wicked will be punished before receiving death in the fire. God does specifically state, however, that all will be punished according to their works. This means some will receive longer punishment than others, based upon their deeds.

LXVII

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD

PSALM 46:10

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

“I suppose you all are wondering why I invited you here for lunch,” Zella said with an excited smile as she addressed the four of us ladies sitting at her kitchen table. There was her best friend Willa, Amy Easton, Sevenia, and me. She placed a platter of sandwiches and a pot of vegetable soup on the table. Then she nervously spread her hands. “I guess the best way is to just come out with it. I said yes to Seven last night.”

“Yes to what?” Willa asked. Willa looked a lot like the actress Megan Fox. She was a former adult model and dominatrix prostitute. Although we have become really good friends over the past few years, she wasn’t one my girls. By that I mean it wasn’t my aunt’s and my ministry to women in adult entertainment that brought her to the Lord. It was an amazing young man named Billy Booker.

(Willa and Billy’s story is told in the e-book by Johnathan Embers called ‘Billy Bob Booker and the Hooker.’)

“To marrying my dad!” Sevenia exclaimed with a look of awe on her face. She sprang to her feet, grinning, and hugging Zella. “You’re actually gonna be my step mommy.”

Zella hugged her tightly, laughed and pressed her lips into Sevenia’s short tangle of auburn hair.

“When’s the big day?” Amy asked as she flipped a pile of her red-gold over a shoulder. Her one blue and one green eye twinkled with excitement.

“This Sabbath,” Zella said.

“What?” I heard myself say.

“You’re getting married in four days?” Willa laughed. “You’re almost eloping.”

“I guess a little,” Zella shrugged. “That’s why it will be a pretty low key and informal event. You know me, Willa. I don’t like to be the center of attention.”

“As pretty as you are, I never understood why,” Willa joked.

Zella smiled shyly and waved a hand at Willa.

“What about your baptism?” Sevenia asked.

“Actually we’re gonna do like Willa did a few years ago,” Zella explained. “You weren’t here then, Sevenia, but Willa was baptized during the morning service and then married that afternoon.”

“How exciting,” Willa declared. “I’m so happy for you, Zee. Until my kids were born, getting baptized and then married was the best day of my life.”

“So, here’s the thing,” Zella said with a smile. “Willa has been my best friend for many years now. She was also the first person that showed me what a transformed life looked like. In the time that followed between Willa’s conversion and my own, I have become close friends with you other three ladies as well.

“Until I agreed to marry Seven, I thought it would be appropriate to have Willa baptize me since she was my first introduction to Christ. Even though I left Him knocking at the door of my heart for a few more years. But now, Willa, I’d like to ask you to be my matron of honor instead.”

“Yes,” Willa replied with an ear to ear grin. “I’d be honored to be your matron of honor.”

“And Amy,” Zella continued. “Would you be my honorary bridesmaid?”

“I too would be honored,” Amy replied with a huge smile.

“Sevenia and Destiny, would you both baptize me, like you did Heather?”

“I’d be delighted,” I grinned.

“Yes, of course,” Sevenia, said, going to Zella and hugging her again. “Mom.”

“Daughter,” Zella whimpered. “I love you. I love each and every one of you.”

Zella received a chorus of ‘I love you’ in return.

On a cozy winter sabbath, Captain Kirk (AKA Pastor Samson) gave an extraordinary sermon on surrendering one’s life to Christ. He made such a tremendous point of reminding everyone that Christ is alive! He spoke eloquently of Jesus as mankind’s High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary, making intersession for us at this very moment. He quoted several passages from the book of Hebrews.

Since I always have my note pad with me at fellowship, I wrote them down. (Hebrews 2:17, 3:1, 4:14-16, 5:5, 7:25, 8:1-6, 9:11-14, and 24-28, 12:2, 8). After his sermon, Sevenia, Zella, and myself climbed into the church’s baptistry. There was a chorus of Amens, along with clapping, as Zella emerged from the water. This act symbolizing Christ’s resurrection and His follower’s newness of spiritual life.

After church and a meal, we prepared for the wedding. Boys will be boys. Seven and his best men, Brock and Dirk, returned to the sanctuary wearing tuxedo t-shirts. All of our jaws dropped.

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Zella said sternly with hands on her hips, even though a smile played at her lips. “I know this is informal, but I’m not marrying you in this beautiful wedding dress while you’re wearing a tuxedo t-shirt.”

Zella and Willa were virtually the same size, and Willa insisted Zella wear her wedding dress for this mostly impromptu wedding. I noticed Amy’s and my husband snickering. Seven put on a suit jacket and asked. “Is this better?”

Brock and Dirk about fell over themselves laughing. I noticed Zella having major trouble keeping a straight face even as she declared. “No, fool, it’s not!”

“Okay, we’ll go get our proper clothes on now,” Seven said before he kissed Zella. “By the way, this was Brock’s idea.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Brock defended. “I was joking when I suggested it,. You were the one that knew of a place that sold them and insisted we go buy a few.”

The guys returned in proper suits ten minutes later. The ceremony went off without a hitch, and I’d never seen Seven so happy, or Zella for that matter. I was overflowing with happiness myself until we prepared to leave Cotton Creek Cove. My Aunt Belle stopped Brock and me before we climbed into our car. A look of concern was stamped on her face. “What is it, Auntie?”

“It’s your dad,” she replied, referring to her younger brother. “He’s dying.”

“What!” I replied, dumbfounded as an electric sensation coursed through my body.

“Your stepmother just called me,” Aunt Belle said as a tear popped from her eye and rolled down her cheek. “A few weeks ago he was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He only has at the most a couple weeks, but more than likely only a few days.”

“Wow,” was all I could manage as my legs suddenly felt weak.

“Honey,” she said softly. “He’d like to see you.”

I hadn’t seen my father in years. I could count on one hand how many times I had spoken to him via phone in the last decade. My Aunt Belle was the only one that was aware of the ugly secret between my dad and me. To be honest, I don’t think my dad even knew I was aware of the diabolical thing he did to me when I was a little girl. He thinks my anger and distance over the years had to do with his treatment of my mother and their subsequent divorce. Then his anger over me becoming an adult entertainer. But he was wrong.

“I don’t want to see him,” I whimpered as I hugged myself. I felt my legs get weak and wondered if I should sit down. Then I felt that incredible man I married put his strong arms around me and spoon me into himself.

“I got you,” Brock assured me when he whispered into my ear.

“Yes, you do,” I replied quietly, relishing the comfort of his reverse embrace.

It had been almost fifteen years since he had spoken those words to me for the first time as he engulfed me in a snug embrace. It had been moments after he rescued me from almost being brutally raped and likely murdered. In seconds that day, I had gone from supreme terror to overwhelming relief and comfort wrapped in his arms, saved from sexual violation and possibly an extinguished life.

Afterward, we ended up going our separate ways. The authorities suggested we leave the Twin Cities if possible. My attacker had heavy gang ties. Not just street gang, but mob or drug cartel or some such. So Brock ended up in Miami, and I ended up in Los Angeles. Coincidentally, we ended up crossing paths at a church in Iowa ten years after my attack. We have been in each other’s lives ever since that fateful day at Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship.

“Honey,” Aunt Belle said as she lifted my chin to look her in the eyes. “Does Brock know about your situation with your father?”

“Just my Heavenly Father,” I replied, forcing a smile. “Not my earthly father of lies.”

My precious Aunt Belle forced her own smile. “Don’t you think it’s time you do? Then you can discuss with him how you want to handle your current situation with your dad. But keep in mind what Jesus said to those that were crucifying Him. ‘Father forgive them, for they know not what they do’.”

“But I have forgiven him,” I replied, defensively.

“In here?” Aunt Belle asked as she tapped my chest at my heart.

After considering her council for a moment, I reluctantly squirmed from my husband’s arms and looked at him. I always marveled at his warm, gentle, light brown eyes. They were such a contradiction to his powerful body and all his scars, especially three prominent facial scars. He would have had a pretty boy face similar to his cousin Seven if it weren’t for the scars.

I touched the scar that curled from his lips like a ghoulish smile. He had never told me how he got it, just as I had never fully explained my relationship with my dad. Don’t ask, don’t tell, I guess. I looked into his eyes again. He nodded. You know you’re soul mates when you can communicate without speaking. I gave him a genuine smile, grateful that I had been blessed with a spouse I considered the better half. Then I too nodded.

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S NOTES FROM SEVENIA’S 11^th LESSON

AN AMAZING HEAVENLY CITY

“In my Father’s house are many mansions: If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you. I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, you will be also.” (John 14:2, 3)

Who is the builder of this amazing city? God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

The Bible says God is building a city for His people.

Where is this incredible city? “Then I John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” (Revelation 21:2)

How does the Bible describe this colossal city?

1.Name: The city is called “New Jerusalem.”

2.Size: “The city is laid out as a square; it’s length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs.” (Revelation 21:16)

The city is perfectly square. Its perimeter is 12,000 furlongs—equivalent to 1,500 miles. It is 375 miles long on each side.

3.Walls: “The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of solid jasper.” (Revelation 21:17, 18)

This wall is 216 feet high and surrounds the city. The wall is made of solid jasper, with a radiance and beauty beyond description. Imagine that! Nearly 20 stories high and solid jasper.

4.Gates: “It had a great high wall with twelve gates…. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west… The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.” (Revelation 21:12, 13, 21)

5.Foundations: “The wall of the city had twelve foundations… decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth an emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.” (Revelation 21:14, 19, 20)

This city has 12 full, complete foundations—each one made of precious stone. Every color of the rainbow is represented, so at a distance the city will appear to be resting on a rainbow.

6.Streets: “The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.” (Revelation 21:21)

7.Appearance: “The Holy City, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband, shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it is wide..” (Revelation 21:21)

The city, with all of its precious stones, gold, and shimmering beauty, will be lighted with the glory of God. Its breathtaking majesty and purity is compared to “a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

What phenomenal feature of this grand city assures every citizen eternal life and health?

“In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” (Revelation 22:2)

The tree of life bears 12 kinds of fruit, is in the middle of the city, and brings unending life to all who eat from it. Even its leaves contain wonderful sustaining qualities. This tree will yield a new crop of fruit each month.

Will this amazing city actually descend to this earth? “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (Revelation 21:2)

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5)

“The righteous will be recompensed on the earth.” (Proverbs 11:31)

Yes, this regal city will come down to this planet to become the capital of the earth made new. All the saved will have a home in this city.

What will happen to sin and the unsaved? All the proud, yes, all that do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming will burn them up. (Malachi 4:1) The elements shall melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10) You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet. (Malachi 4:3) Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13)

God will cleanse the earth from sin; he will also, with deep sadness, cleanse the earth from those who would continue in sin. Then God will make a perfect new earth. The holy city will be earth’s capital. God has promised that sin will not rise up again. (See Nahum 1:9)

What exciting promises has God made to the people who enter His new Kingdom?

1.The Lord, in person, will live with them. (Revelation 21:3)

2.They will never become bored. There will be pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:11)

3.There will be no more death, pain, tears, sorrow, sickness, hospitals, operations, tragedy, disappointments, trouble, hunger, or thirst. (Revelation 7:16, 21:4, Isaiah 33:24, 65:23)

4.They will never get tired. (Isaiah 40:31)

Every person will be physically whole. The deaf will hear, the blind will see, and the paralyzed will run. (Isaiah 35:5, 6, Philippians 3:21)

5.Jealousy, fear, falsehood, hatred, envy, impurity, cynicism, worry, and all manner of evil will not exist in God’s kingdom. (Revelation 21:8, 27 22:15) People will no longer be burdened with the worries and cares which damage and distract them. There will be no more anxiety and depression. Time will become eternity, and the pressures of deadlines will be gone forever.

How will the earth differ from the earth today?

1.Vast oceans as we know them today will be gone. (Revelation 21:1) Today, oceans cover about 70% of the earth’s surface. This will not be the case in God’s new kingdom. The whole earth will be one huge garden of unsurpassed beauty, interspersed with lakes, rivers, and mountains. (Revelation 22:1; Acts 3:20, 21)

2.Deserts will be replaced with gardens. (Isaiah 35:1, 2).

3.Every animal will be tame. No creature, wolves, lions, bears, etc. will  prey upon others, and little children shall lead them. (Isaiah 11:6-9, 65:25).

4.There will be no more curse. (Revelation 22:3). The curse of sin, as detailed in (Genesis 3:17-19), will be no more.

5.There will be no more violence of any kind (Isaiah 60:18). This includes no more crime, storms, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, injuries, etc.

6.Nothing defiling will be found (Revelation 21:27). There will be no more drunkenness, taverns, alcoholic beverages, brothels, pornography, or any other impurity of any kind in the new kingdom.

When loved ones are reunited in heaven, will they recognize one another? “Then I shall know just as I am also known.” (1 Corinthians 13:11)

The Bible clearly teaches that the saved who have died will be raised to life, and join the saved who are living, and enter God’s new kingdom together (Isaiah 26:19; Jerimiah 31:15-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). It also teaches that loved ones in God’s new kingdom will know one another, just as people recognize each other on the earth today.

How will people spend their time in the new kingdom?

They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; and they shall not plant and another eat… And my elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands (Isaiah 65:21, 22).

The saved will build their own homes in the new earth. (Each person will also have a city home built by Christ—see John 14:1-3). Real people do real things in heaven, and they will thoroughly enjoy it all.

What else will the saved do in paradise?

1.Sing and play heavenly music (Isaiah 35:10, 51:11; Psalm 87:7; Revelation 14:2, 3).

2.Worship before God’s throne every week (Isaiah 66:22, 23).

3.Enjoy never fading flowers and trees (Ezekiel 47:12; Isaiah 35:1, 2).

4.Visit with loved ones, ancestors, Bible characters, etc. (Matthew 8:11; Revelation 7:9-17).

5.Study the animals of paradise (Isaiah 11:6-9, 65:25).

6.Travel and explore without ever becoming weary (Isaiah 40:31).

7.Listen to God sing (Zephaniah 3:17).

8.Experience their deepest desires (Psalm 37:3, 4; Isaiah 65:24).

9.And the greatest joy of all! Enjoy the privilege of being like Jesus, seeing Him face to face, and even traveling with Him! (Revelation 14:4, 21:3, 22:4; 1 John 3:2).

Can human language fully describe the glories of our home in paradise? “Eye has not seen, nor heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Not even in its wildest dreams can the heart of mankind begin to comprehend the wonders of God’s eternal kingdom. The paradise that Adam and Eve lost will be restored. (Acts 3:20, 21).

Is this kingdom being prepared for you personally? “Whosoever desires, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17). “To an inheritance incorruptible… Reserved in heaven for you (1 Peter 1:4). “I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).

How can you be assured of a place in this great and glorious kingdom? “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in.” (Revelation 3:20).

Not everyone that says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matthew 7:21).

“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates of the city.” (Revelation 22:14).

“As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12).

“The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7).

Give your life to Christ and abide in Him so that He can cleanse you from sin and the desire to sin. It’s that simple! When you abide in Him, Jesus gives you the power to do His will and to keep His commandments out of loving obedience.

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things.” (Revelation 21:7).

A person is prepared for heaven when heaven is in the heart.

LXVI

AS YOU KNOW NOT WHAT IS THE WAY OF THE SPIRIT, OR HOW THE BONES DO GROW IN THE WOMB OF HER THAT IS WITH CHILD: EVEN SO YOU KNOW NOT THE WORKS OF GOD WHO MAKES IT ALL

ECCLESIASTES 11:5

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA, GIRL PROPHTESS)

“How are you, Honey?” I quietly asked my daughter in the foyer of Cotton Creek Cove fellowship.

Sevenia shrugged, tried unsuccessfully to smile, and shrugged again. I put my arm around her and she leaned her head against my shoulder. We had just attended the funeral of a 22 year old young lady. She had been attending my daughter’s lecture/studies on Bible prophecy with Destiny Knight-Storm and her friend Heather.

Chloe had seemed to be making great spiritual progress, both she and Heather. Heather ended up getting baptized a week earlier. But recently, Chloe had backslid into her former life. She had been clean from drugs for almost a year. But she relapsed and supposedly made a mistake common among addicts. She gave herself a heroin dose in proportion to when she had formerly been using. It was too much for her cleaned up body.

“Are you Sevenia?” asked a young woman that looked eerily like Chloe. She had the same long, braided, black hair. She also had the same large close set dark eyes, heart shaped face, ebony skin, and petite build. “I’m Chloe’s little sister.”

I almost blurted wow. She looked rough. If I guessed her age, I would have to put her around thirty. Yet she was apparently younger than Chloe’s 22.

“You must be Brianna,” Sevenia said warmly as she took her hand.

Brianna nodded and began to whimper. Sevenia began to gently weep as well. I turned my head from the scene before I started to cry.

“Chloe speak favorably about you,” Brianna said. “She been sharin’ stuff about the Bible with me the last month. She help me get off smack a few week ago. That why it odd she die of it last week.”

“Yeah, that is ironic,” Sevenia said with frown. “Suddenly she takes up with that guy and starts using again.”

“The guy is not why,” Brianna replied, shaking her head. “Yeah, he an old boyfriend, but it because her baby died.”

“Her baby?” Sevenia scowled. “I didn’t know Chloe had a baby.”

Brianna nodded. “He lived in Chicago with our Aunt.”

“How’d he die?”

“SIDS.”

“I wish she would have told me or Destiny. I’m so very sorry.”

Brianna nodded and looked on the verge of losing it. My smart girl seemed to perceive this. “Let’s go somewhere private and talk.”

“Thank you,” Brianna whimpered.

I watched Brianna and my daughter slowly walk to Pastor Samson’s office. I was numb thinking about the fragility of life. A hand on my back gave me a little jolt. I turned and looked into the pretty face of Zella LaStella. She smiled at giving me a start, but I could see sadness in her large, dark eyes.

“Hey,” she said softly.

“Hey,” I mimicked.

“What a sad situation,” Zella said.

“Yeah,” I sighed.

“I can’t believe she returned to drugs,” she said quietly. “She seemed more grounded spiritually than me. I guess you can’t underestimate the power of addiction.”

“Yeah,” I sighed again. “But there was more to it than that.”

Zella frowned and tilted her pretty face as if to ask what I meant.

“That young lady Sevenia is with,” I told her. “She’s Chloe’s sister. She just told Sevenia that Chloe’s infant son died from SIDS a couple weeks ago.”

Zella’s eyes got wide, her hand flew to her mouth, and she sucked in a breath. “Oh No!”

“Yeah, so she must have been overwhelmed with grief and desperate. Even ashamed since her best friend Heather didn’t know he died.”

“I didn’t even know she had a child,” Zella said, a hand reflexively, protectively going to her pregnant midsection where our tiny baby abided. “Even Heather didn’t know?”

“Heather knew she had a child, but not that he had died. As far as I know, though, nobody else knew about her baby. He was being cared for by Chloe’s aunt in Chicago.”

We had a long moment of somber silence.

“Well,” Zella sighed. “There was something I wanted to talk to you about, but now I think I’ll wait. I’ll talk to you later.”

“No, wait,” I replied as I grabbed her hand, stopping her retreat. “Now I’m curious.”

“It’s no big deal,” she said gazing at her feet before looking me in the eyes. “It’s just that the last couple time I saw you, you wouldn’t even look at me. I’m used to you practically staring at me. I just wanted to know if it had something to do with the racist things your dad said about me. Sevenia told me about it.”

I had to look away from her. “I guess I felt ashamed and hurt.”

“Don’t,” she said squeezing my hand. “I know you’re not racist. You wouldn’t have proposed marriage to a black woman if you were. But does your father not accepting me change your offer of marriage?”

“Not at all!” I declared, looking her right in her lovely, sad eyes. Now she looked away from my gaze. “Are you considering it?”

“No, Seven, I’m not,” she replied, returning a decided gaze to me. Now I looked away, disappointed. “I do want us to be friends though. And I do want you to be part of our child’s life if you so choose.”

“I definitely so choose,” I answered. “As a matter of fact, I have a little request regarding our little gift from God.”

Zella pursed her lips and looked away.

“I take it that’s a no?”

“Oh, no,” she replied, touching my arm. “I mean I want to hear what your request is before I agree to it. It just makes me feel like a hypocrite hearing you call him our gift from God when he was conceived in sin and deceit.”

“You know it’s a boy?”

“Not really. I just have a feeling.”

“Don’t feel like a hypocrite Zella. What happened was before your conversion. I’m the one that played a hypocrite.”

“I’m the one that deceived and seduced you, though, regardless of my spiritual state at the time.”

“I promise you, the Twisted Tea had absolutely nothing to do with me giving into your enticements.”

Zella smiled shyly and looked away for a few seconds, and then asked. “So what’s your request?”

“When I was back home in Minnesota over the holidays, I found an old set of Bible stories. You know, those blue ones that used to be in doctor’s office lobbies and such when we were kids.”

“Oh yeah, I remember those.”

“Anyway, when my ex-wife was pregnant with Sevenia, I used to read them to her belly. I mean when she was a child, too, of course. But I started in utero.”

Zella raised her eyebrows, puckered her lips, and looked up, rotating her eyes as she thought. I badly wanted to kiss those puckered lips. The she shrugged and sighed. “Sure, I see no harm in that. Come to think of it, after observing how Sevenia the girl prophetess turned out, absolutely you can read to my belly! When?”

“How about this evening?”

“This evening? Seven, I’m barely showing.”

“Neither was Brit. Plus there are ten volumes.”

“Oh, alright. I don’t have any plans anyway. How about my place around seven then?”

“Seven will be there at seven,” I grinned.

“Look at you, going third person.”

At 7 o’clock sharp, I rang Zella’s doorbell. As she promptly opened the door, I stepped in with the first volume tucked under my arm. I stopped short and metaphorically stuffed my tongue back into my mouth. I had gotten used to Zella wearing conservative skirts and dresses. In the privacy of her own home, she was back in black leggings and a form fitting hot pink spandex top.

She wasn’t necessarily showing, but she had that healthy glow that pregnant women often exhibited. She had also filled out slightly and never looked more alluring; other than the one time I saw her in her birthday suit.

“Something wrong?” Zella asked.

“No, no,” I said, trying not to stammer and forcing a smile. “The last time I was in here, you know…”

“Oh, yeah,” she responded with an embarrassed expression.

“Well, you ready to get started?”

“Sure,” she shrugged. “How do we go about this?”

“How about you sit with your back in the corner of the sofa and stretch out your legs? I’ll sit on the floor.”

I read for fifteen or twenty minutes. I placed a book marker in the appropriate place and closed the book. I gently kissed Zella’s belly. “Good night, little one. God loves you.”

I smiled happily and looked at Zella’s face. She gazed at me as if in awe. Then she spoke quietly. “Yes.”

“Yes what?” I frowned.

Before I could comprehend that her face was coming toward me, her lips were on mine. They definitely lingered longer than a friendly kiss.

“Yes, you’ll kiss me?” I grinned, dumbfounded.

She laughed uneasily, bit her lower lip, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

“Huh?” was all I could manage.

“I mean if you still want to.”

“Yes, yes I do,” I said quickly, dropping on my knees and taking her hands in mine. “What changed your mind?”

“Oh, Seven,” she said, getting to her knees in front of me and hugging me.

Her embrace felt sooooo good! Too good. Inappropriately good. I couldn’t let what got her pregnant happen again, no matter how gorgeous she was. I separated and my knees helped me scoot away from her, as I chucked nervously. “That’s great Zella, but what changed your mind?”

We were still close enough that she took both of my hands in hers. “I can’t stop loving you, Seven. As I watched you read, it occurred to me that YOU ARE going to be a big part of our child’s life. I think my love for you is only going to grow. And I was already thinking how nice it would be if you read to our child in bed. And how nice it would be to snuggle afterward.”

“And also, uh, um, nevermind.”

She laughed, smiled seductively, and took hold of my chin with her fingers. “That too, big fella.”

Something occurred to me. “Wait a minute. If you’re talking about me reading in bed, when exactly were you thinking we’d get married?”

“You know my friend Willa.”

“Of course I do. I’ve been attending church with her for two years now.”

“Well, she got baptized and married the same day. I’d kind of like to do the same.”

I felt my toes curl. Sevenia said Zella wanted to be baptized soon. Real soon. “When were you planning to get baptized?”

“This sabbath.”

Married in five days! How can this be? I had practically begged Zella to marry me. She emphatically said no. Now that she said yes, she seemingly wants to get married instantly! This now made me hesitant. Like the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for.

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S NOTES FROM SEVENIA’S 10^th LESSON

REASONS TO FOLLOW JESUS

Jesus loves you dearly and deeply and will transform you into the best possible version of yourself.

Jesus said unto them, come after me and I will make you to BECOME fishers of men. (Mark 1:17)

Become= A process, a journey.

Jesus wants to take what you already are and make you the best you can be. He values you!

Jesus said unto him. If you will be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven: And come and follow me. (Matthew 19:21)

Perfect means complete, not that you need to be flawless.

Jesus says COME with urgency and love, but he does not insist.

And He ordained twelve that they should be WITH Him, and that He might send them forth to preach. (Mark 3:14)

Jesus wants to be WITH you, He really does. His name is Immanuel, which means God with us.

The thread of the Bible is God WITH fallen humankind, redeeming them. (See Revelation 21:1-5)

Jesus wants to make you new today, not just at some point in the future.

FORGIVNESS

When Jesus had lifted Himself up, and saw no one but the woman, he said to her. “Woman, where are your accusers? Has no man condemned you?” She said “No man Lord.” Jesus said to her, “neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” (John 8:10, 11)

(See Romans 8:1—4) What we couldn’t do, GOD DID!

Jesus takes your condemnation and offers you forgiveness and righteousness instead.

And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying. “Drink you all of it; for this is My blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:27, 28)

Keep in mind Judas was present.

“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34) These were Jesus’ last thoughts as He is being crucified. It is not just true then. It is true every time a person sins. We don’t know what we are doing. (Proverbs 8:36 says He that sins wrongs his own soul).

Jesus is the promised messiah the old testament prophets looked and longed for.

ELEMENT                                          PROPHECY                                        FULFILLMENT

Birthplace                                          Micah 5:2                                          Matthew 2:1

Mother                                              Isaiah 7:14                                        Matthew 1:18-21

Tribe                                                   Genesis 49:10                                  Hebrews 7:14

Family                                                Isaiah 11:1                                        Revelation 22:16

Time                                                   Daniel 9:25                                       Mark 1:14, 15

His message                                     Isaiah 61:1-3                                     Luke 4:16-21

His entry                                            Zechariah 9:9                                   Matthew 21:1-11

Betrayal                                             Psalm 41:9                                        John 13

Betrayal price                                   Zechariah 11:12                               Matthew 26:14-16

Spat upon                                         Isaiah 50:6                                        Matthew 27:30

No broken bones                            Psalm 34:20                                      John 19:36

With criminals                                  Isaiah 53:12                                      Mark 15:27, 28

Mocked                                             Psalm 22:7, 8                                   Matthew 27:41-45

Resurrection                                     Psalm 16:10                                      Acts 2:30-32

Timing                                                Daniel 9:26                                       Matthew 27:45-50

For all the promises of God in Him are YES and in Him Amen. (2 Corinthians 1:20)

Old testament promises in Jesus fulfil or fulfilled. Matthew 1:22; 2:15,17, 23; 3:15; 4:14; 8:17; 12:17; 13:14, 35; 21:4; 26:54-56; 27:9, 35.

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but fulfil. (Matthew 5:17)

The earliest gospel anticipates a wounded deliverer. (See Genesis 3:15 and Isaiah chapter 53.)

The prophecy says that He bore the sins of many. Will you let Him bear your sins?

Jesus rose from the dead and thus permanently defeated sin, death, and fear.

There are only two essential questions: One, has anyone ever cheated death, and two, is it available to me? Let us survey the historical record: Buddha’s tomb, occupied. Mohammed’s tomb, occupied. Confucius’ tomb, occupied. Jesus’ tomb, empty. (G.B. Hardy)

“I am He that lives, and was dead; and behold, I am alive evermore, Amen, and have the keys of hades and death.” (Revelation 1:18)

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil. And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. (Hebrews 2:14, 15)

The resurrection of Jesus acquires such decisive meaning, not merely because someone or anyone has been raised from the dead, but because it is Jesus of Nazareth. If this man was raised from the dead, then that plainly means that the God whom He had supposedly blasphemed had committed Himself to Him. (Wolfhart Pannenberg)

Jesus is the Creator and Redeemer of the world, so there is no better person to follow.

This overwhelming display of love and mercy is not merely the greatest story ever told; it is the greatest story that ever could be told. The reason this story is the greatest story ever told; is because Jesus is the greatest person to ever live!

LXV

BEHOLD, NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME; BEHOLD, NOW IS THE DAY OF SALVATION

2 CORINTHIANS 6:2

DESTINY-KNIGHT STORM

It had been a few days since Zella’s pregnancy announcement, Seven’s declined marriage proposal, and then his declaration that he was ending his romantic interests with Salena. I assume due to the Christmas holiday following right on the heels, I hadn’t heard any more news on the drama.

My husband Brock half teased and half rebuked me that I was hungering after gossip. I begged to differ. I just wanted to know what was going on in the lives of people I loved and cared about. I had no intention of passing any “gossip” on. Nonetheless, to avoid any appearance of evil, I didn’t contact anybody to inquire. However when one of my favorite people on the planet knocked at the door, my first thought was surely she had information.

“Hi, Sweetie, come in, come in,” I told Sevenia.

“Hi, Dee,” Sevenia said with what seemed like a forced smile as she hugged me. “Did you guys have a good Christmas?”

“We did,” I replied. “It was kind of quiet. Amy and Dirk came over with the kids so it was just the six of us. That’s why it was only kind of quiet with little Kirk just learning to walk and Ella is a little pistol, just like her mom.”

“Yes, she is,” Sevenia replied. “But she’s also sweet like her grandma.”

“Oh, that’s nice of you to say. Thank you, honey,” I replied. Brock and I weren’t technically their grandparents. I was only 32 and Brock was 37. I was only ten when Amy was born. But both Amy and Dirk’s parents had died when they were very young. Both were raised by grandparents, all of which are now deceased. So Brock and I had unofficially adopted the beautiful young couple, thereby making us Ella and Kirk’s grandpa and grandma. “How was your Christmas?”

(Amy, Dirk, Destiny, and Brock’s story is told in the e-book ‘Knight-Storm’ by Johnathan Embers)

 “It was okay,” Sevenia shrugged. “My dad and I went to Minnesota and I saw all of my grandparents. I’m blessed to still have all four. But something pretty ugly happened with my dad and his dad that left a rather dark pall over our visit. Grandpa is developing, I guess, something like dementia. We didn’t find this out until we arrived for the visit. Grandma told us not long after we got there. He ended up calling Uncle Six queer. And when my dad told his parents about Zella being pregnant and showed them a picture of Zella…”

Sevenia’s lower lip quivered, her eyes welled, and she pinched the bridge of her nose. I caught the vibe of where this was going and told her she didn’t need to tell me, that I understood.

“He called Zella the n word right to my dad’s face,” Sevenia blurted anyway. “He said he wanted nothing to do with a black grandchild. Only he used the offensive word again. Then he said to my dad, first you take up with Mexicans and now, well, the offensive word again. I know he’s not all mentally there, but I’m part Mexican. So, ya know, it makes it hurt all the more.”

“Sweetie, I’m so sorry,” I told her, wiping my own tears.

“That’s why I love talking to you, Dee,” Sevenia laughed sadly. “You truly listen and feel other people’s pain.”

I bowed my head, not knowing what to say to that, and feeling humbled by her compliment.

“The thing I can’t help wondering, Dee,” Sevenia continued. “Is did Grandpa always have these prejudicial feelings, and now his declining mental health is bringing them out? Or is he simply not himself anymore, and just saying random things?”

“I don’t know if that’s possible to know,” I said and then frowned at how weird that sounded. “I think it’s simply a case where you need to let go and let God.”

“Yeah,” she said quietly. Given what she had just told me, one of the reasons I was glad she showed up had slipped my mind. But Sevenia reminded me. “Did you hear about Uncle Six and Salena?”

“No, what?”

“She’s going back to Florida with him, and they’re gonna get married at the church Uncle Six has been going to.”

“Wow you’re kidding!” I said and then my phone chirped.

“It’s Heather,” I told Sevenia, and then braced for a big disappointment. “Hi, Sweetie. What’s up?”

Heather was one of the two girls I had been bringing to Sevenia’s study/lecture. Chloe, the other gal, had not come to the last one, and ended up telling me later that it just wasn’t for her. Now I feared Heather was going to tell me the same thing, even though she really seemed to be making great spiritual progress. Her life appeared to be transforming for the better right before my eyes.

“Sure, you can stop by. I’m here with Sevenia. No, no, we were just having some friendly chit chat. It’s no bother at all. Okay, see you in a bit.”

I told Sevenia about my reservations.

“Captain Kirk (AKA Pastor Samson) told me before I began these study lectures,” Sevenia explained. “That typically, more people end up rejecting the truth than accepting it. Sometimes nobody accepts it. He advised me that it’s best to just look at trying to save souls as planting seeds. Even if the harvest doesn’t come right away, it may come someday by some other means. Kind of like what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:6. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.”

“I know right, but it’s still hard though.”

“From what I’ve seen, you’ve got a pretty good track record.”

I shrugged and smiled. “Are you really only seventeen?”

She smiled shyly, shrugged, kicked of her sneakers, and crossed her legs on the kitchen chair. Watching her contort her legs into a pretzel made me wince, even though I myself often sat with my legs crossed, just not as limberly as Sevenia. I noticed her big toe peaking through a hole in her black tights. I had heard Seven tease her about razor blade toenails and having continuous holes in tights and socks. He said it also reminded him that she is still his little girl.

“Okay, so, I assume your dad ending things with Salena went well?”

“Yeah, I suppose it went as well as it could have,” Sevenia said with a shrug. “Salena actually had told me my presentations didn’t sit well with her either. She confessed that she had mostly been coming so she could be with my dad. She hoped it would bring them closer and bring healing. She said after he, um, gave in to temptation with Zella, she ultimately couldn’t get over it. Especially with her attending the studies as well.

“Then when Uncle Six showed up professing newfound faith, she felt it might be a sign from God. But she didn’t know how to end things with my dad, and start things with his brother. It seemed impossible. But when my dad ended things with her, she then became convinced it was a sign from God that she be with Uncle Six.”

“Wow,” I replied, wide eyed. “Anything new with Zella then?”

“Well, when my dad told Zella about ending things with Salena, she, well, still rejected him,” Sevenia said and then got a mischievous grin.

“Why do you look like the cat that swallowed the canary?” I asked.

Sevenia frowned. “I don’t think I like that analogy. Anyway, I saw Zella before I came over here. I told her what happened at my grandparents. She shared some personal examples of racism that she had dealt with. Then we talked about this and that. I ended up asking her about Dad. She told me she had made a vow to herself never to be in a relationship again.”

“She told me the same thing,” I said.

“I detected her heart wasn’t in it, though.”

“I did too.”

Her mischievous grin appeared again. “So I said to Zella, if you change your mind about Dad, would you mind if I called you Mom, along with my little brother or sister?”

“What did she say?” I asked, touching her arm, and wearing my own mischievous grin.

“Her eyes kind of welled, she bit her lower lip, she hugged me and said of course.”

I bit my lower lip as a knock sounded at the door. “Hi, Heather, come in, come in.”

“Hi,” she greeted with a big smile as she walked through my door. “Hi, Sevenia.”

“Hi, Heather,” Sevenia said with a smile as she stood and hugged her.

“I had a little experience this morning,” Heather told us. “I was wondering if one of you would baptize me today.”

“Okay,” Sevenia and I said at the same time, and then looked at each other.

“What was your experience that is making you feel the urgency to be baptized today?” Sevenia asked.

“Well,” she said and then blushed. “Now that I’m about to share it, it seems kind of silly.”

“Sweetie, trust me, nothing that draws you to the Lord is silly,” I told her.

“You might change your mind after I tell you.”

“Try me.”

“Okay, so, you know Chloe stopped coming to Sevenia’s studies.”

“Unfortunately, yes,” I replied.

“So, she hooked up with an old boyfriend, she fell off the wagon and started drinking again. I fear she’s gonna relapse back to heroin again, too. I’ve tried to talk sense into her, I really did. I even pleaded. But like you said in your lectures, Sevenia: You can’t drive someone to the Lord, they must be drawn.”

“Yes, I believe that’s true,” Sevenia said.

“Anyway,” Heather continued, as she tucked a strand of long bleach blonde hair behind an ear. “Chloe let this guy move in with her. He didn’t like her two Guinea pigs, so she asked me if I would take them. I said I would.”

“How can you not like Guinea pigs when they’re such sweet little creatures?” Sevenia asked.

“One of them in particular tends to chirp and squeal when you walk by, hoping for food or a treat. I guess he found it annoying. Anyway, I was cleaning their cage this morning. They don’t like to be picked up. Now, this is where you’re gonna think I’m silly.”

“We won’t think you’re silly, I promise,” I reassured her.

“Okay, well, one of them in particular gets rather frightened. When I was putting her back in the cage, I was petting her and talking really lovingly to her. I told her that I wasn’t going to hurt her, don’t you know that I love you? That’s when it occurred to me that I had always been like my little Guinea pig with God. I was always frightened of this supreme being that I figured was really disappointed with me. But you guys introduced me to the real God, the God that died for my sins on the cross. The God that had always been like me with my Guinea pigs, loving and taking care of me, drawing me to Himself.”

Heather put her face in her hands and sobbed. I gently rubbed circles on her back. “That was beautiful, Sweetie.”

“She lifted her head and wiped tears away from her light brown eyes, her thin lips trembled. “You don’t think that was corny?”

“That was one of the most heartwarming testimonies I have ever heard,” I told her.

“Yes, it was!” Sevenia added.

“That’s not all,” Heather said with a shy smile. “Dee, do you know how you told me you like to  randomly open your Bible and see what verses your eyes go to?”

“I sure do.”

“So when I was done with the piggies,” Heather explained. “I prayed, and then randomly opened my Bible. In only about ten seconds I came to 2 Corinthians 6:2. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. I reread it a half a dozen times. I felt not only a desire, but a need to be baptized.”

We called Captain Kirk and he met us at Cotton Creek Cove. He must have started a call chain because a dozen other church members showed up.

“Which one of you is gonna do the honors?” Captain Kirk asked Sevenia and me.

“Can Dee and I do it together?” Sevenia asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Captain Kirk shrugged and then grinned.

After Heather came out of the watery grave, symbolizing new spiritual life, we celebrated her ceremony with singing. It was a truly joyous event on a Monday afternoon that I will never forget. Especially with the tragedy that came on its heels.

Three days later late in the late afternoon on New Years Eve, I found myself standing on Seven Sallie’s front porch. I was completely numb and grief stricken. I must have looked it too.

“Dee, what’s wrong?” Seven asked by way of greeting.

“Is Sevenia here?”

“Yeah, come in.”

Sevenia entered the living room and as soon as I saw her, I burst into tears.

“Dee, what’s wrong?” Sevenia asked, running up to me and taking my hand in hers, a look of concern in her pretty hazel-green eyes.

“You remember the girl that was coming to your presentations with Heather and me?”

“Of course I do, Chloe.”

“She was just found a couple hours ago, dead from an apparent heroin overdose. She was only 22 years old.”

“Oh no!” Sevenia choked as she squeezed my hand and wiped at a tear with her other. “How did Heather take it? I know they were pretty close friends.”

“She was pretty broken up,” I replied. “She wondered why Chloe turned her back on the truth and returned to her old lifestyle. But she’s resilient and has learned quickly to rely on God. She even quoted James 4:14 to me.”

“Whereas you know not what shall be tomorrow,” Sevenia recited.

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away,” we said together.

Then Sevenia and I cried in each other’s arms.

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S NOTES FROM SEVENIA’S 9^th LESSON

IS THE U.S.A. IN BIBLE PROPHECY?

The book of Revelation is built on the Old Testament and the book of Daniel in particular.

Daniel chapters 7 and 8

Lion with eagles wings = Babylon

Bear with three ribs = Medio Persia

Leopard with four heads = Greece

Beast with ten horns = Rome

Little horns = The medieval church

Judgement scene = Divine intervention

The church actually becomes the biggest enemy of the true gospel.

“The little horn” Persecutes the saints (7:25) Changes times and laws (7:25) Rules for 1260 prophetic days (7:25) Exalts himself to Christ’s place (8:11) Took away daily ministry (8:11) Cast down God’s sanctuary (8:11) Cast truth to the ground (8:12) Prospered and grew (8:12)

In Revelation chapter 13- Not literal beasts, they represent powers and kingdoms.

THE SEA BEAST

Composite of Daniel 7’s beasts

Receives mortal wound but healed

Worldwide popularity

42 months/1260 days

Blasphemes God and heavenly tabernacle

Makes war against the saints

Global authority

Ultimately destroyed by divine intervention

The book of Daniel was written approximately 600 years before Christ.

Church history in four segments: 1.Formation (Primitive Godliness) 2.Deformation (The Dark Ages) 3.Reformation (With reformers like Martin Luther) 4.Restoration

The two beasts of Revelation 13 work together to coerce conscience and force worship.

THE EARTH BEAST

Exercises authority of the first beast. Causes all to worship the sea beast. Great signs; fire from heaven. Deceives earth by signs and wonders. Makes image of “the first” beast. Gives breath to the sea beast. Threatens death for non-compliance. Enforces mark of loyalty. Employs economic threats and means.

A UNIQUELY WEIRD VERSE

Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon Revelation 13:11, 12.

Lamb represents Jesus.

Why weird? It is only place in scripture where Jesus and the dragon are together.

Verse 12: And he exercises all authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those that dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.

A REMARKABLE FIT

The timing of the arrival of the sea beast is critical

A.D. 538—-A.D. 1798 this fits the 42 months or 1260 days or 3 and a half years.

On January 11, 1798, a definite order was issued by the French Government to its troops to march on Rome and occupy it.

French general for Napoleon, Berthier, commanding in Italy occupied Rome in February 1798. French forces reached the outskirts of Rome on February 9, 1798. Six days later they occupied the city itself without opposition.

On February 20 Pius VI was carried into exile at the hand of the French, signaling the long period of papal dominance in European affairs.

This significant event was intended by the enemies of the church to represent the final triumph of the French Revolution over the Christianity of the west. (Cedric Ward)

The earth beast arises at about the time the sea beast receives an apparently deadly wound.

The earth beast is in some significant sense, lamb like in its character.

DOES JESUS HAVE A PHONEY TWIN?

1.Both come up out of the water. (Jesus began his public ministry after his baptism)

2.Both resemble their father.

3.Both have horns and crowns. (Horns are a symbol of power. Crowns represent royalty)

4.Both receive authority from their “father.”

5.Both have 3 and a half year careers. (One literal, the other prophetic years)

6.Both slain, then resurrected.

7.Both worshipped after resurrected.

8.Both given universal dominion.

John in Revelation depicts this power as seeking to APE the ministry and identity of Jesus.

“Antichrist” doesn’t just mean in opposition, but to usurp.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

1.Arises in a new area.

2.Lamb like principles. No crown/king

3.Arises around 1798. (When old beast is going down, new beast is coming up)

4.Grows up (It’s a young power)

5.Has global military influence.

6.Has global economic influence.

7.Devolops close bond with the sea beast.

8.Comes to speak like a dragon.

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (JULY 4, 1976)

We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among me, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government. Laying it’s foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form.

1^st CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION MAY. 23,1787

Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the FREEDOM OF SPEECH, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievance.

Royalty=Subjects. The “New World” created a “Middle Class.”

2 PRINCIPLES

1.Freedom from a king=Republic

2.Freedom from a pope=Protestantism

The U.S. Spends more money on the military than the next seven nations combined.

It’s a terrifying concept that war is a lucrative business.

PRESIDENT DWIGHT D EISENHOWER’S FAREWELL SPEECH 1961

This injunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. Total influence, economic, political, even spiritual, is felt in every city, every statehouse, every office of the federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications.

Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society. In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists, and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic process. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals so that security and liberty may prosper together.

The prophecies of Revelation are fulfilling right before our eyes.

Tragically “the church” often bore very little resemblance to or connection with Jesus.

Here is the patience of the saints; here are they who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. (Revelation 14:12)

(For a more in depth study of Bible prophecy, check out on YouTube, Amazing Facts with Doug Bachelor, David Asserick, or Taj Pacleb.

LXIV

COME NOW, AND LET US REASON TOGETHER

ISAIAH 1:18

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

It had been ten days since Salena had given birth to a healthy baby boy. Seven had never seemed to recover from being up all night when she was in labor. His dark brown hair, which was typically a stylishly gelled tangle, was now just a tangle. His usually clean shaven face was unshaven with a surprisingly generous amount of salt sprinkled in. Normally, Seven looked ten years younger than his mid-thirties. He now looked ten years older.

However the most unsettling change was his demeanor. Seven was typically a motor mouth with strong opinions. The three times I saw him over the last week and a half, he was subdued, quiet, and  even melancholy. Yet he smiled frequently, albeit with a sad, resigned quality to it. When he agreed without protest to a change I wanted to make with the direction of the interviews I conducted, I had to check with him three times just to be sure we understood each other. He had come over to Brock’s and my house to discuss who I would interview next. I made us each a cup of relaxed mind herbal tea as we prepared to dialogue.

“Seven,” I had said. “These love triangle type stories are too much. You know, you’ve also received plenty of special, simple, sweet stories of unexpected romance without the mess.”

He had just stared at me wordless and trance like. It was creepy. Knowing Seven, I was sure of getting a ‘yeah but.’ Yet none of that was forthcoming. Just this weird blank stare.

“I know you think the messy ones are more tantalizing,” I continued. “I admit, the betrayals coupled with astounding examples of love and forgiveness are intriguing. But there are heartwarming stories of pure love and couples not only coming together in romantic love, but a shared love of Christ.”

“You’re right,” he simply replied so quietly I asked him to repeat.

“You’re right,” he responded only slightly louder.

“So you like the idea?”

“I do,” he replied, nodding. “Like you said, maybe messy stories are okay once in a while. I mean the redemptive quality to the triangles are nice, but the betrayal part that comes first can be quite depressing.”

This made me wonder what was going on with Seven’s own triangles. I didn’t want to ask, but it seemed to have shifted. First it was Seven, Salena, and Zella. Now Zella was rapidly vanishing from the picture, and Seven’s twin brother Six had re-entered it. Six was the biological father of Salena’s baby, but he had petitioned Seven to step up to the plate and raise the child. However, he was still back from Florida, and by all appearances, looked to be staying put. I had to ask.

“Seven, it’s none of my business, but is everything okay between you, Salena, and your brother?”

“You’re right, it is none of your business,” he replied so coldly, I gasped and a hand reflectively went to my chest.

“I’m so sorry, Seven,” I said quickly. As I began to hastily rise from my chair, Seven grabbed my hand and pulled me back to my seat.

“No, I’m sorry, Dee,” he said with a quiver in his voice, and then put his face in his hands and groaned. “It’s just been so complicated and frustrating. Three days ago, Six had said he was going back to Florida at the end of the week. Two days ago Salena and I actually discussed getting married in two or three months. I detected her heart wasn’t all in, but chocked it up to me fighting off feelings of jealousy.

“Then yesterday, Salena was nursing the baby in her recliner. Six was sitting on one of the arm rests rubbing Salena’s upper back. Whatever they were saying to each other was making them both smile. Then Six kissed Salena on top of her head. She then gazed up at him affectionately and they kissed on the lips. Not a lingering kiss, but nonetheless, full on lip to lip. Then Six got up, spotted me watching them, and his face fell.”

Seven became still and silent.

“Did you guys say anything to each other?” I asked.

“Well,” Seven said with a sigh. “I turned and walked away. Six followed me and retold me he was going back to Florida.”

“What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

I frowned. Hearing something like Seven not saying anything didn’t seem to go together. It was something like oil in water. There was a long moment of awkward silence when a knock at the door made me jump.

“Zella, hi!” I greeted. “Come in, come in.”

When I looked at Seven, he had stood with a startled expression on his face.

“Hi, Zella,” he said.

“Hello, Sebastian,” Zella replied sarcastically, using his first name, rather than the middle name he went by.

“Listen, Dee,” Seven said. “I better get going. Just let me know who you want to interview, and I’ll contact them. Good to see you, Zella.”

Seven’s eyes ran up and down the length of Zella’s tall, lean frame. Her outfit was very seasonal for December. A green and red plaid, knee length skirt. Red sweater, green tights, brown boots, and a plaid beret that matched her skirt.

“Seven, please don’t go,” Zella said touching his arm and smiling sweetly at him. It was kind of odd because it had been quite obvious over the past several weeks that Zella was avoiding Seven. “I was going to come see you after I talked with Dee anyway.”

“You were?” he replied dumbly.

“Yeah,” she nodded. Her large dark brown eyes wide and expressive. The beret made her seem extra cute. “I went to the doctor yesterday.”

I felt myself stiffen, and Seven’s face seemed to freeze. Zella looked at her feet, gave a little kick with a foot, and then hugged herself.

“Sweetie, what is it?” I asked as I gently rubbed her back. “I think we both want to know.”

She looked at me with a frightened expression, bit her lower lip, and then a hesitant smile spread across her face, her ebony check bones pronounced like a super models. “I’m pregnant.”

I heard a thump and noticed Seven had sat down hard onto his chair, a stunned gaze trained on Zella.

“Who’s the father?” Seven asked, panting a little.

Zella put her hands on her hips and gazed at him sternly. “I’m lookin at him, fool.”

I couldn’t help chuckling.

Seven gave one snort of a laugh and asked. “Are you sure?”

“One hundred percent,” she replied. Her hands still defiantly on her hips. “You’re the only man I’ve even kissed in the last half decade.”

“I think more than a kiss had to happen to result in your condition,” I blurted, regretted saying it and then bit my thumb with an embarrassed smirk.

Zella gazed at me under her brows as if to say, “Oh please girlfriend.”

Seven gazed at Zella’s midsection with a gaped mouth. If she were showing, you couldn’t tell due to her sweater.

“Look, Seven,” Zella said calmly. “I don’t expect anything from you. I just thought you had a right to know you were going to be a father. That Sevenia is going to have a sibling.”

“This could be an answer to my anguished prayers,” Seven said, seemingly to himself. Zella and I glanced at each other and then looked at Seven. He suddenly grinned from ear to ear and bolted to his feet, grasped Zella’s hands, and declared. “Zella, I’m in love with you. Let’s get married.”

Zella yanked her hands from Seven’s and scowled at him. “Um, last time I checked, you intended to marry Salena.”

“I know but that just doesn’t feel right,” Seven said shaking his head. “I think she and I have been doing it out of some misguided loyalty, or somehow trying to rekindle what we had when we were kids. I don’t know. But I do know this. You and I are going to have a child, part me and part you. I need to be with you. I choose you.”

“Oh, lucky me,” Zella snorted. “The guy I’m in love with has been trying to decide over me and another woman. Now for the time being he chooses me.”

“You’re in love with me?” Seven asked in awe, not seeming to pick up on her sarcasm about him deciding between her and another woman.

“Duh,” Zella replied with her hands still on her hips and a pained expression on her lovely face. “What do you think caused me to behave so desperately when I seduced you? Do you honestly think I would do something so utterly foolish, especially sneaking you alcohol, if I didn’t have very strong feelings for you?”

“You know,” Seven said, scratching his head. “I spent so much time feeling guilty for fornicating, hurting Salena, and feeling I betrayed by you, I never saw what a flattering, backdoor compliment your seduction of me was.”

“Gee, thanks,” Zella snorted.

“So what do you say, will you marry me?” Seven asked sweetly, grasping her hands again.”

“No, Seven!” she replied heatedly as she yanked her hands away from his again.

“What, why?” he responded with a baffled expression. “You can call me Sebastian if you prefer.”

“Right now I’m focused on my spiritual rebirth, and getting baptized by either Dee or your daughter. You on the other hand; need to work on your situation with Salena. If in the end you find yourself completely unattached, I will consider with much prayer your lame proposal.”

“Lame?” Seven asked with hurt puppy dog eyes. He glanced at me and I bit my cheek to suppress a giggle.

“Yes, lame,” Zella continued and then did a goofy imitation of Seven. “Oh, hey, will you marry me? You blurt this in Dee’s kitchen as Dee looks on. No offense, Dee.”

“None taken,” I replied as I chuckled.

“I look at it as a spontaneous declaration of love. Something that I just couldn’t keep inside. It just burst forth from my vocals cords like an arrow from cupid’s bow.” Seven seemed to sing.

“Oh, please,” Zella said, but I could tell she was suppressing a grin.

“Look, I need to get this thing moving,” Seven said as he grabbed his coat, and then looked earnestly at Zella. “It’s all become clear to me. Six needs to be with Salena, and I need to be with you, Zella. I’ll be the most devoted husband and father you can imagine.”

Zella and I watched him dash through the door. I rotated my eyes toward Zella. She sucked on her lower lip and a tear rolled down her cheek. Then she spoke so quietly, I barely heard her. “Oh, I’ve really done it, Dee.”

“What do you mean?”

“When I did that atrocious thing a few months ago, my real hope wasn’t to necessarily snag Seven away from Salena. I just wanted his baby. I wanted my own Sevenia. After my last awful relationship, I vowed to never be involved with a man again. But over the last couple years, I’ve been longing more and more for a child. Especially after watching my dear friend Willa with her two adorable kids. Also Amy and Dirk with theirs.”

“Are you saying you’re not going to marry Seven?” I inquired.

“I can’t, I made a promise to myself,” she said wiping at a tear. “But tell me something, Dee. Why did I tell him I might consider it? Why didn’t I stop him just now?”

I opened my mouth, closed it, smiled sympathetically, and shrugged.

(Destiny Knight-Storm’s story is told in the e-book ‘Knight Storm’ by Johnathan Embers. Zella has a small role in her friend Willa’s story told in the e-book ‘Billy Bob Booker and the Hooker’ by Johnathan Embers.)

DESTINY KNIGHT STORM”S NOTES FROM SEVENIA’S 8^th LESSON

WHY TO BE SKEPTICAL OF THE CHURCH

According to Bible prophecy, religion will be largely fallen in the last days.

Numerous Biblical passages anticipate the church’s departure from God and the truth.

Now the spirit speaks expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. (1 Timothy 4:1).

Many of the warnings of Jesus and the New Testament writers are based on Daniel’s prophecies.

Jesus admonished in Matthew chapter 24 to understand the book of Daniel.

The Apostle Paul warned of a widespread departure from the faith. (See Acts 20:27-31 and 2 Thessalonians 1-12)

The essence of deception is that you are unaware that you are being deceived.

Jesus warns of religious deception. (Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Matthew 7:15).

THREE CRUCIAL DATES IN CHURCH HISTORY

Resurrection/Pentecost A.D. 31

Constantine’s conversion October 28, 321

Martin Luther’s protest October 31, 1521

Whatever Constantine’s motives for adopting the Christian faith, the result was a decline in Christian commitment. The stalwart believers who Diocletian killed were replaced by a mixed multitude of half converted pagans. The Christian movement started the fourth century as a persecuted minority; it ended the century as the established religion of the empire.

The advantages for the church were real enough, but there was a price to pay. Constantine ruled Christian Bishops as he did his civil servants and demanded unconditional obedience to official pronouncements, even when they interfered with purely church matters. There were also the masses who now streamed into the officially favored  church.

Prior to Constantine’s conversion, the church consisted of convinced believers. Now many came who were politically ambitious, religiously disinterested, and still half rooted in paganism.

This threatened to produce not only shallowness and permeation by pagan superstitions, but also secularization and misuse of religion for political purposes. (Bruce Shelley)

The church had survived adversity, but could it survive popularity?

Christianity grew mostly to the north and west in the early centuries.

Christian centers of influence

1.Jerusalem/Antioch 2.Alexandreia 3.Rome 4.Constantinople

In A.D. 330 Constantine moved the seat of the empire to Byzantium/Constantinople.

Roman Supremacy

1.The use of Matthew 16:17-19 2.Apostolic succession 3.Martrdom of Peter and Paul 4.Population of Rome 5.Imperial capital 6.Latin language 7.Location 8.Missionary outreach 9.Barbarian invasions 10.Muslim conquests 11.Leadership of Leo 1 and Gregory 1 12.Justinian’s code and the “plucking up.”

After the fall of western Rome in 476A.D. the most powerful binding force was religion, of the Roman Christian variety.

Constantine bestowed on the successor of Peter power, and dignity, and vigor , and honor imperial and supremacy as well as over the four seas, Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Constantinople, as also over all the churches of God in the whole earth. (The Donation of Constantine)

The noon of the medieval church was the midnight of the whole world (JA Wylie)

Unam Sanctum November 18, 1302

It is absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject to the Roman pontiff. Therefore, of the one and only church there is one body and one head, not two heads like a monster. (Bontifus the VIII)

Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the holder of it. (Lord Acton)

Every element foretold in Daniel’s prophecies came to pass in the church during these dark times.

The Eve Of Reform

A mass—the medieval church

A message—Sola scriptures (scriptures alone)

A man—Martin Luther

A means—The printing press

In 1521 Luther stood for trial before the king.

“Since your most serene majesty and your high mightiness require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this. I cannot submit my faith to the pope or to the councils because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other.

Unless I ‘am convinced by the testimony of scripture or by the clearest reasoning, unless I ‘am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me.

The book of Revelation foretells of the rise of something like the medieval church.

You can be driven by a frightening God, but you can only be drawn by a desirable God.

Oh taste and see that the Lord is Good. Blessed is the person that trusts in Him. (Psalm 34:8)

LXIII

A DOUBLE MINDED MAN IS UNSTABLE IN ALL HIS WAYS

JAMES 1:8

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA, GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Hey, little brother,” Six greeted me after Sevenia’s study/lecture was over. I was born ten minutes after my fraternal twin.

“Hey, big brother,” I replied. “What brings you back from the sunshine state?”

“The birth of my child,” he replied with a shrug. “The due date is only three days away.”

I felt a twinge of unexpected jealousy. “I guess you’re lucky he didn’t come early.”

“I quit drinking,” he told me. “I’ve been running every day.”

“You do look tan and healthy.”

“I feel healthy. I’ve even been going to a church.”

“Get out!”

“Well, they’re not as strict and rigid as yours. They focus on grace.”

This concept drives me nuts. Of course we are saved by grace. Just because my fellowship practices obedience to the law of God, some religionists act like we are trying to be saved by works. That we’re legalists. No, no, no! True, faith without works is dead (James 2:17). We obey the law of God, not TO be saved, but BECAUSE we are saved. Obedience needs to stem from love for God; otherwise it is in vain. But I had been over this before with my brother so now wasn’t the time to quibble.

“Well, hey there, Six,” Salena greeted with a smile before she gently hugged the father of her unborn child. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“You knew he was coming?” I asked with a bigger prick of jealousy from the green eyed monster. The smile left her face and a cautious look came into her eyes.

“He called me yesterday,” she explained. “I haven’t talked to you until now. Otherwise I would have told you.”

“I drove straight through,” Six said and then yawned.

“Oh!” Salena said sharply as she put a hand on her stomach.

“What is it?” Six and I said at the same time.

“Oh, nothing,” Salena said with a sigh and then a smile. “Excuse me, I need to use restroom.”

We watched her waddle away. Then Six said. “So, I understand you and Salena have truly become an item.”

“I guess so,” I replied.

“You guess so?” he inquired with an arched eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you know so?”

“I guess so.”

Six chuckled. “Salena thinks you might be wavering in your affections for her.”

“Huh?” I replied, dumbfounded. “When did she tell you that? Why did she tell you that?”

“Yesterday when I told her I was coming. We actually talked for quite a while. She thinks you are smitten with Zella’s newfound faith and look.”

I felt my face flush. I glanced around for Zella, but didn’t see her.

“Miss LaStella left already,” Six said with a chuckle. “She bolted as soon as the class was over. I felt a vibe that she wants to steer clear of you. Also, I heard about your brief fall off the wagon that resulted in a roll in the hay with Zella. I doubt Salena let on to you just how much that hurt her. Especially when you were supposed to be paying Zella a visit to end things.”

“I know I hurt her.”

“I mean you REALLY hurt her.

“I know, believe me I saw how upset she was.”

“Okay, well, did you know that even now she has reservations about you and her? She told me so yesterday.”

“Huh?” I replied with a puzzled frown as I wondered why she wasn’t upfront with me regarding this.

“Dude, I realize there might have been extenuating circumstances,” Six said and then talked slowly. “But you still had SEX with ANOTHER woman.”

I’m sure Six saw me as a hypocrite, and I deserved it. I wondered if that’s why he made such an emphasis on grace. I felt like I was a stumbling block to my own brother. Why couldn’t I be a better example of faith? Like Captain Kirk (AKA Pastor Samson), Destiny, Brock, and my own daughter.

“I have no excuse,” I said as I hung my head.

“But I thought she plied you with alcohol?” Six asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Three glasses of Twisted Tea isn’t the main reason I gave into temptation,” I acknowledged. “It was seeing her virtually naked that did me in.”

“So did making love with her change your feelings for her?”

“It did,” I nodded. “But probably not in the manner you would expect. At first I was really angry that she snuck me alcohol. I was also angry that she tempted me with lust by unexpectedly walking out in a see through negligee. On the other hand, I was secretly glad. I’ve never been in such a bittersweet situation. I mean, being intimate with her was so incredible after two years of desiring her. It ignited such powerful feelings of passion. I couldn’t stop myself, didn’t want to stop myself. Then when it was over and I snapped back to reality. The guilt and remorse were overwhelming.”

“Do you realize how similar our circumstances were?” Six asked.

“What do you mean?”

“We both pined after a certain woman for a couple years. We both ended up having relations with the woman due to the influence of alcohol. We both felt guilty afterwards. Most significantly, we never stopped pining after the women.”

“You still desire Salena?” I asked as I felt the green eyed monster’s arms snake around me. What he left out is the fact that I had pined for two women, one of them being the one he pined for.

“More than ever,” he said with sentimental sadness. “The last couple months especially. I’m not gonna lie, I was hoping you wouldn’t have taken me up on my suggestion before I left.”

“You mean that I take up with Salena and play daddy with your child?”

“Yeah,” he replied, nodding. “There’s something about a woman carrying your child that is extra special. We created a human being together. There is going to be a person that is half me and half her. I didn’t fully realize the significance when she was first pregnant. I guess it took a while to sink in. ”

Even though I felt the green eyed monster squeeze, I understood how he felt. The love and bond I felt for my now deceased ex-wife when Sevenia was born was what caused me to forgive her adulterous behavior multiple times. “Is that why you came back, to reclaim Salena?”

He shook his head and looked at his feet. “I can’t do that to you, or her. I bailed on her, and I indirectly asked you to raise my child. I can’t undo that.”

“I think that should be up to Salena.”

He peered up at me with his head still mostly bowed. “Do you actually want me to pursue her affections?”

“Huh?”

“So you’re free to pursue Zella’s?”

I opened my mouth to protest, but nothing came out. Did I? If so, why did I feel threatened by my brother’s presence? Why did I feel an ache when I saw how delighted Salena was to see him?

“Guys,” Destiny said with a sense of urgency as she rushed up to us and gripped the crook of my arm. “Salena’s water broke!”

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S NOTES FROM SEVENIA’S 7^th LESSON

REASONS TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT RELIGION

Americans are becoming less religious judging by such markers as church attendance, prayer, and belief in God. This trend is most pronounced in young adults.

Yet, religions usually get God wrong.

Many people have distorted views of God because religions have misshaped God’s character through erroneous doctrines. One of the biggest being the concept of hellfire and eternal torment. Only the righteous have eternal life! The lost are not tortured throughout eternity! Those deemed wicked experience the 2^nd death, or eternal death. Revelation 20:14.

(Amazing Facts Ministries have many Bible study guides on REAL Biblical truth such as the false concepts on hellfire and other Biblical misconceptions. Just google them, or YouTube Doug Bachelor’s many sermons. He is the main speaker.)

He that loves not, knows not God. (1 John 4:8).

If God is not lovely and lovable, then He cannot be loved.

Another area that’s been misconstrued by a superficial reading of scriptures is animal sacrifice. It was religionists before Christ that went nuts with these. God says, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” (Hosea 6:6).

To actually know God is to live a merciful life.

“Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.” Says Jesus. (Matthew 5:7)

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain. (Isaiah 11:9).

“I will have mercy and not sacrifice.” Says Jesus. (Matthew 9:13 and 12:7)

(See Micah 6:6-8)

Religion is probably the number one place to hide from God.

Jesus said. “Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? And in your name cast out devils? And in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess to them, I never knew you; depart from me, you that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:21-23)

God is not an idea, concept, or philosophy. He is a person.

Time           Truth           Trust

These are all important in a relationship. Whether it is with your significant other, or God. You need to spend time to get to know. (With God in prayer and Bible study) You need to be completely open and honest. (With God in prayer, knowing He already knows the deep secrets of your heart) And you need to develop trust in reliability. (With God in His promises!)

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the BEAUTY of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple. (Psalm 27:4)

Jesus was indisputably a beautiful person. Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen God.”

Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 34:7)

When God gives you the true desires of your heart, He gives you Himself!

And I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come: and I will fill this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. (Haggai 2:7)

“And I, if I be lifted up from the face of the earth, will DRAW all people to me.” (John 12:32)

You can be DRIVEN by a frightening God. But you can only be DRAWN by a desirable God.

To be truly, completely, Biblical , our picture of God must have Him as beautiful and desirable.

(How can we not when we examine how Jesus lived and treated people! He was so kind and compassionate to those he healed and encountered. If you’ve seen Jesus, you’ve seen the Father. He also was cruelly treated as He suffered and died for our sins! Completely innocent and voluntarily! Thank you precious Savior!) Dee

Jesus Himself resisted religion. (See Matthew 7:28, 29 and John 7:45, 46)

It was the religionists of Jesus’ day that hated Him and eventually killed Him.

“For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:20)

Jesus, not religion, is the Savior! (See Romans 10:9-13)

According to Bible prophecy, religion will largely be fallen “in the last days.”

JESUS WARNED OF

“False Christs” Matthew 24:24

“False prophets” verse 24

“Miracle workers” verse 24

“Wolves in sheep’s clothing” Matthew 7:15

“Persecution by religion” John 16:2

NEW TESTAMENT WARNS OF

Coming antichrists (1 John chapters 2 and 4)

Wayward religious leaders (Acts 20:30)

A great religious apostasy (2 Thessalonians chapter 2)

A man of sin acting like as God (2 Thessalonians chapter 2)

A Judas like betrayer (2 Thessalonians chapter 2)

REVELATION WARNS OF

Enforced religious practice (Chapter 13)

A fallen and persecuting church (Chapter 17)

A massive church-state alliance (Chapter 17)