CXXIV

TRICKY TRIANGLE

CHAPTER 4

SEPTEMBER 1964—APRIL 1965

Hal could feel his blood pumping in his ears. He swallowed nervously as he groped for what to say. Three faces stared at him as they waited for him to speak.

Dawn was glaring at him with her arms folded and her dark hair pulled into a bun.  She was still wearing the same jean shorts and checked blouse from earlier that day, making her seem to be a wholesome, yet sexy country girl. Yet her facial expression caused her to appear like a stern old school marm.

Wendy had a nervous, expectant look, but smiled happily as she twisted a strand of her long red hair between her fingers. Hal marveled at how stunning she looked. She had been like a scrawny plant that had blossomed into a beautiful flower. This change made Hal all the more tongue tied and confused.

His best friend Ed ran a hand through his blond hair, eyeing his buddy with a puzzled frown. He had felt an element of betrayal when Ed had made a pass at Wendy before him. After all, Hal had been the first to discover Wendy’s transformation from a skinny nerd with braces into a curvaceous vixen. She was now like something right out of the pages of a men’s magazine.

But Ed was doing his part to make things right, which made Hal both appreciative and annoyed. That’s why he was now in this difficult position. No matter what, someone was going to be hurt. He just needed to seize the opportunity and follow his heart. But how did he go about this delicate task?

“Does anyone believe in love at first sight?” Hal asked as he held up a hand, subtly urging his listeners do the same if they agreed. Wendy slowly began to raise her hand, but put it down when she glanced to the right and left, noticing that Dawn and Ed remained motionless.

“That didn’t come out right,” Hal said with a groan. He rubbed the back of his neck. How did he get in this mess?

An hour earlier, Ed had informed Hal that he and Wendy had decided that the two couples should switch. The previous night, the foursome had been on a double date together. Dawn had been paired with Hal, while Wendy was with Ed.

At the time, Dawn and Hal seemed to mix like oil and water. Whereas Wendy and Ed hit it off like two peas in a pod. However, the next day the two couples had two separate encounters. Hal had spotted Dawn out walking and followed her into some secluded woods. They shared a fiery exchange of words, before sharing a few passionate kisses. They then proceeded to have a long, deep conversation that ended with a single tender kiss.

Wendy and Hal had met that Sunday, going out for a sundae. As they ate their ice cream, talk of the future ensued. Although it was only their second date, they had gotten along so well that the prospect of marriage and children came up, causing their first disagreement.

Hal suggested that when the time came, they marry in his church. Wendy, on the other hand, insisted they marry in her church. Then a light bulb seemed to illuminate over Wendy’s head. She belonged to the same Catholic parish as Hal, and Ed’s family attended the same fundamentalist church that Dawn and her mother worshipped at.

Wendy conspiratorially suggested they switch dating partners.  Ed recalled seeing Dawn walking an hour earlier when he was on his way to pick up Wendy. Dawn had silky tan legs, a sway to her hips, pouty lips, and big brown eyes. He also recalled how she looked the previous night in a short skirt and go-go boots. He smiled wolfishly and agreed to the change up.

Oh, how fickle the young! Passionate one minute, over it the next. No wonder it’s suggested by experts that couples wait at least two years before tying the knot. Now pour Hal was feeling the brunt of their immature actions. He felt Dawn turn even colder and decided to be blunt.

“Wendy, you are beautiful girl,” Hal said. “And I’m honored that you would like to go out with me.”

“Thanks, I feel the same,” Wendy beamed.

“What, that Hal’s a beautiful girl?” Ed teased.

“No, silly,” Wendy replied, giggling and playfully slapped Ed on the shoulder.

“I know this is strange and awkward…” Hal said, and paused as he looked at Dawn.

She looked away from his gaze, fighting hard against angry, hurt tears. How could he! Just a few hours ago they had shared sweet kisses. Then two hours seemed like two minutes as they talked, mostly about a surprisingly civil debate over God.

Hal had suggested that a loving God could not exist in a world like ours. Dawn had countered with the origin of sin and the war in heaven, which led to our fallen world. Hal had then asked, ‘why, if God is all powerful, like the way He supposedly cast Satan and his angels out of heaven, could he not have saved his twenty year old cousin from being killed in Vietnam back in May?’

Hal had been ready to leave with their debate in a stalemate. Then Hal had asked his final question with a trembling lower lip and a quiver in his voice. “Tell me Dawn, where was God when my cousin, barely out of his teens, was killed in an explosion? His parents and little sister are absolutely devastated.”

Dawn didn’t try to stop the tear that leaked from her own eye as she replied softly. “The same place He was when His Son was tortured and then crucified for our sins.”

“I see,” Hal replied quietly, never considering before that God has enemies, even though the vast majority of humanity has heard of demons, devils, and Satan.

“But Jesus rose from the grave,” Dawn continued with a gentle voice. “He is the only person to defeat death. He’s also the only hope we have in a fallen world, a world that killed God when He came to save them.”

Hal had stared at Dawn, stunned. What she said was so simple, yet it resonated as true with him. She could see it in his eyes. He gave a little smile and nodded.

“I know there’s a lot of pain in the world,” Dawn continued. “But time is a deception. Our earthly life can seem so long, yet compared to eternity, it is literally like a blink of an eye.”

“How did you get so wise?” Hal asked with a chuckle.

“You should come to church with me and find out,” Dawn said, and then feared she might be pushing too fast.

“I think I might,” Hal replied. “I better go.”

Hal leaned in and gave her a feather light kiss. Then he pulled her in for a gentle, yet firm embrace. Dawn smiled sweetly at him. “Bye.”

“See ya at school tomorrow,” Hal said as he walked backward to his dad’s pickup truck.

“Okay.”

“Can I give you a ride home?”

“I’d like that,” Dawn beamed. Her heart soared as high the clouds as she watched her potential boyfriend drive away. A guy most of her female classmates dreamed of having as their own. Was he really going to be hers? What an answer to prayer!

But then a phone call from Wendy an hour later, telling her ‘no, he wasn’t hers.’ She knew very well that Wendy had been Hal’s first choice. Now something seemed to happen to reverse the weekend’s chain of events. It seemed the three of them conspired without her to change things up. Wendy was going to go out with Hal now, and apparently Dawn was expected to pair with Ed.

Well they had another thing coming. Not that Ed was so bad. He was strong, handsome, and polite. But he was no Hal. Hal was one of those boys, others just naturally seemed to follow. He was suave and cool, he also looked like he could be Paul McCartney’s younger brother. On the other hand, Dawn didn’t want to be left out either. Maybe she was being prideful. She had just read in the book of James after Hal left her house, that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

“The thing is what?” Ed demanded.

Hal  was staring at Dawn with a determined expression. “I think I’m falling in love with Dawn, and I don’t want to switch.”

Dawn’s jaw dropped, and she considered throwing herself in Hal’s arms. But Ed spoke and she stayed put.

“What?” Ed exclaimed, and then snorted a laugh. “You two looked miserable last night. Are you drunk? How can you go from never wanting to see someone again one day to falling in love with them the next?”

“All I know is today Dawn and I had a connection I’ve never felt with another human being before,” Hal explained as he recalled the way she felt in his arms, the way her lips felt against his, and the way time seemed to stand still when they conversed.

Hal looked at Wendy. “I’m sorry, Wendy. You’re a beautiful girl and all. As a matter of fact…” Hal then stopped himself from saying that he originally wanted to go out with her, thinking that might just make things more complicated.

“That’s cool,” Wendy replied with a casual shrug. “We were just trying to help. We had no idea you two got together today. Ed and I figured if religion became an issue with us, it had to be with Dawn. We also realized that Hal and I belong to the same church, and Ed’s family goes to Dawn’s church, that’s all. It just seemed logical to switch. But tell me something, Dawn.”

“Okay.”

“I know how serious you are about your faith,” Wendy said. “So how is it you two are, I guess, going to be seeing each other? And why did you go out with him in the first place when you knew he was Catholic, and also a bit of a wild child?”

“Hey,” Hal said with mock offence.

“I thought it could be possible,” she replied, and then cringed. “That he might convert and join my church.”

“Yeah, right,” Ed laughed. “I’ve invited Hal several times to church services and church activities over the years, and not once has he ever considered it.”

“I’m going next weekend,” Hal declared.

“You don’t say,” Ed said sarcastically, and then defiantly put his hands on his hips. “You’re going just because she’s prettier than me, that’s all.”

Dawn felt herself blush. It only deepened after Hal spoke.

“Well, she’s prettier than you to be sure,” Hal said. “But she’s also smarter, and, um, holier than you are, too.”

Wendy giggled, Dawn humbly cast her eyes downward, and Ed shook his head and laughed.

Hal then proceeded to convince Wendy and Ed to continue seeing each other. He reasoned that if they were still together at the end of the school year, they could then begin to decide what their future holds.

Talk of compromising spiritual matters made Dawn uncomfortable. Compromise had been what watered down the standards of the Christian faith over centuries. Yet her desire for Hal, coupled with her hope he would truly convert, led to her own series of compromising.

She felt encouraged that Hal did indeed begin attending church services with her. But then she became concerned when he began skipping occasionally due to late night, teenage shenanigans. She was delighted that Hal stopped smoking around her, but disappointed when Wendy began dabbling with the unhealthy practice.

Then came Christmas break. Dawn was delighted with the pretty gold locket Hal had given her. She gave him a leather bound Bible, which he seemed to genuinely like. Then she fought off jealousy over the promise ring Ed had given Wendy. But she was more disturbed when she asked Wendy what she had given Ed.

Even though they were alone in Wendy’s bedroom, her best friend put her mouth close to Dawn’s ear and whispered. “I gave Ed my virginity.”

“Wendy!” Dawn exclaimed as she felt the blood drain from her face.

“Shh,” Wendy responded with a finger to her lips and a frown on her brow.

“Wendy, I thought you were saving yourself for marriage?” Dawn whispered.

“Get with it, Dawn, this is the sixties,” Wendy seemed to scold. “I’ll tell you something you might not like to hear. You’re gonna end up losing Hal if you don’t start doing more than kiss with him.”

“I will not,” Dawn declared. “Hal’s known from the start that I’m saving myself for marriage, and he honors and respects that.”

“Yeah, well, he knows you intend to be a virgin your wedding day, but he didn’t know you wouldn’t even let him touch you, or, you know, do other sexual things besides intercourse.”

Dawn felt something grow cold inside her. Did Wendy know something she didn’t? Did Hal say something to Ed, and then Ed to Wendy? She inquired and found out Hal had complained to his best friend about sexual frustrations.

This put Dawn in the biggest spiritual battle of her life. Why hadn’t Hal talked to her about this? Maybe he was too much of a gentleman. It didn’t help when he missed the next church service. Dawn anguished over what to do, yet she prayed very little over the matter. It made her feel strange talking to God about sex, so she trusted to her own reasoning.

After all, her track record proved her to be a good, responsible, and moral person. But Wendy was right, this was the sixties. She couldn’t expect Hal to be content with just kisses for the next two years, or whenever it was they decided to marry.

The next time Dawn and Hal were alone, she let the explorations begin. Each time she let things go a little further. Hal was beyond pleased with the carnal pleasures he was now experiencing, and he always reassured Dawn that she was the girl for him. Then came Valentine’s day.

Dawn had never tasted alcohol before, and never intended to. But time and again she had watched Hal, Wendy, and Ed enjoying beers and laughing as she quietly sipped a coke. Ed had grown up in her church, which on record, forbade drinking and smoking. He had always seemed fairly devout, yet he easily downed beers and smoked cigarettes with no apparent violation of conscience. She also had witnessed her mother, one of the most stern people she had ever known, occasionally have a glass of wine on a special occasion.

Valentine’s day for a young couple in love was a very special occasion. No one was home at the Storm residence, so Hal invited the foursome for a little party. First the boys gave their girls flowers and presents. Wendy received earrings from Ed, and Dawn’s jaw dropped when Hal placed a promise ring on her finger. Wendy squealed and clapped, and Ed whistled and clapped.

Then Hal went to the kitchen and returned with four glasses, a bottle of wine, and a Pepsi for Dawn. Hal was about to pop the top on the can of soda when Dawn stopped him. “Can I have a glass of wine?”

Wendy and Ed grinned, but Hal frowned. His association with Dawn was convicting his conscience to give up smoking and drinking. Although he had cut back on both, he had not yet refrained. Maybe in the spring, he told himself.

But he didn’t like the idea of Dawn compromising her principles. She had already begun doing sexual things with him, even though he had been patient and respectful. He needed to become more like her, not her like him. She was worth the wait.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Dawn,” he told her.

“Just once, I want to see what it’s like,” she shrugged. “You guys drink all the time. I just want to celebrate this day, and mostly this ring.”

Hal’s jaw clenched as he poured wine instead of Pepsi into Dawn’s glass. But once a buzz was had, Hal’s conscience wasn’t nearly as bothered. He even liked how lighthearted Dawn became, and the cute way she giggled. But when she asked for a refill, Hal had the sense to tell her ‘no, she wasn’t used to it’ and needed to drink a soda now. However, when Hal went to the bathroom, Wendy refilled her best friend’s glass.

Not much later, Dawn found herself in Hal’s bedroom. It wasn’t a place unfamiliar to her, but the state she was in was. She felt light, uninhibited, and erotic. She wondered why she had always been so against drinking because she felt incredible, adventurous, even reckless. In a breathy voice she petitioned her boyfriend. “Hal?”

“Yeah,” Hal gasped, caught up in his own desire.

“Let’s make love for real.”

“Dawn, no!” he scolded.

“Dawn, no,” she repeated, and then giggled. “It sounded like you were scolding your dog.”

Hal laughed, but then became serious. “Dawn, let’s just keep doing what we’ve been doing. I can wait until marriage for, you know….”

“Please, Hal, I’m ready.”

“You’ve been drinking.”

“But I’m really in the mood.”

“We’ll wait until tomorrow then.”

“No,” Dawn whined. “Wendy and Ed have been doing it since Christmas.”

“You’ve been drinking, I don’t want to take advantage of you.”

She recited half of the alphabet backwards, and a big chunk of Hal’s resolve was gone. A half dozen pleading words, and a dozen kisses later, and Hal gave in.

The next morning Dawn didn’t feel so good. Two glasses of wine may not seem like much, but Dawn weighed just over a hundred pounds and had never drank before. How was it she felt so light and free last night, but now she felt thick and dirty? She recalled practically begging Hal to have sex with her. How could she face him now? She was never going to drink again! And she didn’t for more than a decade.

Facing Hal wasn’t as hard as she thought, he was extra lovey dovey and had shown up with flowers the day after. A dozen red roses and a promise ring on Valentine’s, and a dozen pink roses the day after. This relieved her anguished mind some.

But she knew Hal would expect them to go all the way on a regular basis now. She knew she should tell him it was a sin, that they made a mistake, and they should go back to waiting for marriage. But sin is easier to do when you’ve already done it once. Even easier when you’ve done it twice. Dawn justified giving in by the promise ring. They intended to be married one day, the only thing lacking was a future ceremony.

In mid-April, Hal was puzzled by Dawn’s melancholy mood. It was Saturday night, and when Hal told her that his parents went out with friends, he thought for sure she wouldn’t be in the mood. But when he suggested they go to his bedroom, she went without hesitation. Yet she just sat down hard on his bed, sighed heavily, and crossed her arms. Hal sat next to her, put an arm around her, and kissed her cheek. He pulled a condom out of his pocket and waved it. “Are we gonna take advantage of being alone? Isn’t this better than the backseat of my car?”

Dawn forced a smile and kissed him. Then she sighed. “Yes, we’ll take advantage of this opportunity, but you don’t need this.”

She grabbed the condom out of his hand and flung it into the trash can.

“Dawn, what are doing?” he chuckled. “You don’t want to get pregnant, do you?”

“Oh, I won’t get pregnant,” Dawn said sadly, then kissed him tenderly. “I already am.”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part 17)

Called by the sea. (See Luke 5: 1-11)

Night was the only favorable time for fishing with nets in the clear waters of the big lake. After toiling all night without success, it seemed hopeless to cast the net by day. But Jesus had given the command, and love for their Master moved the disciples to obey.

This miracle, above any other he had witnessed, was to Peter a manifestation of divine power. In Jesus he saw One who held all nature under His control. This presence of divinity revealed his own unholiness. Love for his Master, shame for his own unbelief, gratitude for the condescension of Christ, above all, the sense of his uncleanness in the presence of infinite purity, overwhelmed him.

Peter exclaimed, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man,” yet he clung to the feet of Jesus, feeling that he could not be parted from Him. The Savior answered, “Fear not, from henceforth you shall catch men.”

The imprisonment of John the Baptist had been to them all a bitter disappointment. If such were to be the outcome of John’s mission, they could have little hope for their Master, with all the religious leaders combined against Him.

Before asking them to leave their nets and fishing boats, Jesus had given them the assurance that God would supply their needs.

Apart from Christ, our work is fruitless, and it is easy to distrust and murmur. But when He is near, and we labor under His direction, we rejoice in the evidence of His power. It is Satan’s work to discourage the soul; it is Christ’s work to inspire with faith and hope.

Those fishers of Galilee were humble and unlearned men. But Christ, the light of the world, was abundantly able to qualify them for the position for which He had chosen them.

The first thing to be learned by all who would become workers together with God is the lesson of self-distrust; then they are prepared to have imparted to them the character of Christ.

In the common walks of life there is  many a man patiently treading the round of daily toil, unconscious that he possesses powers which, if called into action, would raise him to an equality with the world’s most honored men.

It is not the highest work of education to communicate knowledge merely, but to impart that vitalizing energy which is received through the contact of mind with mind, and soul with soul. It is only life that can beget life. What privilege, then, was theirs who for three years were in daily contact with that divine life from which has flowed every life-giving impulse that has blessed the world.

The weak, vacillating  character becomes changed to one of strength and steadfastness. Continual devotion establishes so close a relation between Jesus and His disciple that the Christian becomes like Him in mind and character.

CXXIII

TRICKY TRIANGLE

SEPTEMBER 1964

CHAPTER 3

Dawn was talking so low as she prayed, Hal could only make out about half of what she was saying. He thought it was probably a double sin to lust after a woman as she prayed. Then he smirked, he didn’t believe in God anyway so he continued to admire her backside. Then something she spoke caused him to tense.

“Please, if it be your will,  have him ask me out,” she prayed. “But only if it’s your will, all wise, all knowing Creator.”

Was Hal the him she spoke of? If he was, shouldn’t she have said again? He felt a pang of jealousy. But why, hadn’t he told himself he wanted nothing more to do with Dawn. Then a relieved thought came to his mind. He didn’t actually ask her out for last night’s date, Ed had arranged the rendezvous for the foursome.

Dawn rose suddenly, startling Hal. But he wasn’t half as startled as Dawn. Her eyes widened in surprise, and her breath caught as a hand flew to her chest. Then the stunned countenance turned to an angry one. “How dare you invade my privacy?”

“What do you mean? The county owns this property, I have as much right to be here as you.”

“Well, then, how dare you sneak up on me and spy?” she barked as she whisked past him.

He followed on her heels. “Who’s the him you want to ask you out?”

She stopped abruptly and turned. They collided, and then she shoved him hard in the chest. “Of all the nerve! Get away from me!”

“Who, Dawn?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Dawn began a brisk walk through the narrow trail with Hal once again on her heels. “Dawn, will you go out with me again?”

Dawn stopped abruptly, and Hal almost collided with her again. Her brain whirled in confusion. Her first instinct was to slap him. Then she realized that God not only answered her prayer concerning the guy she had prayed about, he had seemed to materialize as soon as her prayer ended. Was it a miracle? Coincidence? Fate?

Maybe she should be thankful instead of angry. Regardless, for some reason, she couldn’t seem to move. She felt Hal’s strong gentle hands on her shoulders. He guided her around to face him. “How about it, just you and me? We’ll go to dinner. At a nicer place than a drive in burger joint.”

“Why?” Dawn asked quietly.

Good question, Hal was asking himself that same very same thing. Then he shrugged. “Why not?”

“You’ve never liked me.”

“You’ve never been very nice.”

“And you think I am nice now?” She asked skeptically.

Hal refrained from saying nice looking. “That’s what I want to find out. Maybe I’m an optimist, and maybe it’s a case of opposites attract.”

“What makes you think I’m attracted to you?” Dawn asked coolly.

“You just prayed for me to ask you out,” Hal said with a coy smile.

“Did I?” Dawn replied patiently. His haughty attitude made her want to lash out, but she controlled herself. “Can you prove that?”

“I think I can,” Hal said.

“Oh, so you can read minds then?”

“No,” Hal replied, shaking his head. “But I have known you for over a decade. Granted, we never used to play at each other’s houses or anything. But you are the most honest, straightforward person I have ever known. So tell me then, if not me, who were you praying for?”

“That’s none of your business!” she barked. Yet she felt like what he had just said about her honesty was a compliment, and it thrilled her heart, even as his demand annoyed her. She was beginning to think the pursuit of love was the most confusing, anguishing endeavor known to humanity. At the same time it was the most exciting.

Hal went to his knees, and for the first time in years he prayed. Although, it was more for show than genuine communion with his Maker. “Dear Lord, whether I was the one Dawn prayed for or not, please inspire her to agree to an evening of fine dining and conversation with me. Amen.”

Dawn wondered if Hal was mocking her, but despite herself, she couldn’t help giggling as Hal rose. He grinned from ear to ear. The happy countenance on the most serious girl he had ever known was a beautiful sight.

“Are you even a believer?” Dawn asked, as her merriment slowly faded.

“I’m a confirmed member of the Catholic church,” Hal declared.

“I’m a citizen of the United States, but that doesn’t make me president. Are you a believer or not?”

“A believer in what?” Hal stalled.

“A believer in God, silly.”

“Not really.”

“The Bible says I shouldn’t be yoked to an unbeliever.”

“Going out on a date isn’t going to yoke us.”

“What’s the point then if a possible courtship is out of the question? I already told you that I’m saving myself for marriage, and you don’t seem like the type of guy that’s willing to wait.”

“That’s judgmental. The Bible says judge not, or else you will be judged.”

“I’m not judging you, I don’t know your heart,” she shrugged. “I’m just making an observation. You seem like the type of guy that wants a girl willing to fool around in the backseat of your car.”

“That’s just it, you don’t know me. I don’t want to use a girl just for sex. That’s why I’m suggesting we start seeing each other.”

“But like I said, I ultimately can’t be yoked to an unbeliever.”

“So make me a believer.”

She studied him for a moment. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah,” he said, spreading his arms in exasperation. “That’s part of getting to know each other. I want to understand what makes you such a spiritual person. Who knows, maybe it will make me one too.”

She chewed tentatively on her lower lip and gazed at Hal with her big beautiful brown eyes. He never wanted to kiss a girl more in his life.

“Listen,” he continued. “I don’t care if I was the one in your, you know, prayer. Regardless of that, I still want to go out with you. So how about it?”

“I’ll think about it,” she replied, folding her arms and eyeing him innocently.

“Oh!” Hal grimaced, clenching his jaw, and clutching her upper arms firmly. “Girl, you’re driving me nuts!”

Dawn didn’t really feel threatened by Hal, but on the other hand, she wasn’t used to being alone with a guy. Especially in a remote area. She kicked him in the shin and stepped past him, beginning a trek out of the woods.

“Ouch!” Hal bellowed and gave chase. “Why you little…”

Dawn squealed and began running down the narrow trail, laughing. But she didn’t get very far before her tender ankle began to bother her. Then a stab of pain brought her to her knees.

“Ya know, you should wait until your ankle heels before you go hiking into thick woods,” Hal scolded.

“Ow,” Dawn moaned as Hal helped her to her feet. “It was doing just fine until some lunatic started chasing me.”

“Here let me carry you,” Hal offered.

“No, I’m fine,” she replied. But Hal persisted and picked her up. “Put me down.”

“Oh, just be quiet,” Hal demanded. But Dawn continued to squirm in his arms as Hal walked them out of the woods. “Stop squirming.”

“Put me down.”

Hal stumbled, and their cheeks pressed together. He stopped walking, and Dawn stilled. She looked at him with her eyes looking extra huge and cute just inches from his. Without even thinking, he kissed her. Now they both looked startled, and he gently set her down.

Dawn gazed at him with a stunned expression, and then mumbled. “You kissed me.”

“I’m sorry, Dawn,” Hal said, lifting his hands in defense.

“You kissed me,” she repeated, touching two fingers to her lips and looking at them as if they might have come away bloody.

Hal remembered the previous night when Dawn licked a napkin and scrubbed dried catchup from the corner of his mouth. He put a finger where the moisture had been. “I’m sorry, Dawn, I had no right to steal your first kiss. I’m sure you wanted it to be with someone special, someone you love.”

“What makes you think it was my first?” Dawn asked with something like a coy smile on her lips.

Hal frowned. That was his first kiss, how could it not be hers?  “That wasn’t the first time you were kissed by a guy?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Yes, I would.”

“Well, I don’t kiss and tell.”

“I see, well, I’d like to rescind my offer of a date,” Hal said, as he began to walk past her. “I didn’t realize that you’ve been defiled.”

Dawn folded her arms, stuck her tongue in her cheek, and turned to watch walk away. “I hadn’t been defiled until just a minute ago.”

Hal stopped, turning to face her. “Once again, Dawn, I’m sorry.” He turned and began his trek out of the woods again.

“Hal,” Dawn called after him. “I accept your apology, and I also accept your offer of a date.”

Hal went back to her, placing his hands on his hips. “I just told you, I rescinded the offer.”

“Oh, I see,” Dawn replied, batting her eyelashes a little. She rose to her tiptoes, put her hands on Hal’s shoulders, and pressed her lips onto his. Then she attempted to brush past him, but he caught her hand.

“Dawn, I rescind my rescinding,” he told her with a grin.

“Too bad,” she said with a coy smile. “I rescind my acceptance.”

She turned and began a brisk walk out of the woods again. Hal took four quick, long steps, wrapped his arms around her waist, and whirled her around a couple times. “Oh no, you don’t.”

“Ehhhhh!” Dawn squealed and laughed as her shoe flew off. Hal set her on a nearby tree stump, and retrieved the black and white sneaker.

“Didn’t your mom ever teach you how to properly tie a shoe?” Hal teased.

“It was tied loose because I have a tender ankle. Now hand it over.”

“Not until you agree to go out with me.”

“Well, if that’s the only way I get my shoe back, I accept.”

“One more thing,” Hal demanded. “You have to kiss me again, too.”

“Oh, if I must,” Dawn replied with mock disgust.

Two hours later, Hal was shooting baskets in his driveway. He wore a satisfied smile as he thought about his encounter that afternoon with Dawn. Her feistiness, the kisses they shared, the long, deep conversation they had when he drove her home. Was this what love felt like?

“Hal, Ed’s on the phone,” his mother called.

Hal trotted into the house, anxious to tell his good friend about his afternoon encounter with Dawn. But Ed got in the first word, and it wasn’t good.

“Wendy and I got into a bit of a tiff today,” Ed explained.

“Over what?” Hal asked as his grip on the phone tightened.

“Religion.”

“Religion?”

“Yeah, but we were civil, we’re still friends,” Ed said, and then sighed. “As a matter of fact, she came up with a great idea.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“You’re gonna get your wish old buddy.”

“What’s my wish?”

“You know, Wendy.”

“Wendy, what are you talking about?”

“She and I both noticed how badly you and Dawn got along last night. Wendy and I also realized that she and I are ultimately not very compatible. So, she actually suggested we switch. You start seeing her, and I start seeing Dawn. How about that old pal?

“Yeah, how about that,” Hal mumbled.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part 16)

As Jesus traveled through Galilee, teaching and healing, multitudes flocked to Him from the cities and villages. Never before have there been such a period as this for the world. Heaven was brought down to humanity. Hungering and thirsting souls that had waited long for the redemption of Israel now feasted upon the grace of a merciful Savior.

“In the midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and oblation to cease.” (Daniel 9:27). In the spring of A. D. 31, Christ the true sacrifice was offered on Calvary. The veil of the temple was torn in two, showing that the sacredness and significance of the sacrificial service had departed. The time had come for the earthly sacrifice and oblation to cease.

The one week—seven years—ended in A. D. 34. Then by the stoning of Stephen the Jews finally sealed their rejection of the gospel; the disciples who were scattered abroad by persecution “went everywhere preaching the word” (Acts 8:4) and shortly after, Saul the persecutor was converted, and became Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

It was Gabriel, the angel next in rank to the Son of God, who came with the divine message to Daniel. It was also Gabriel who Christ sent to open the future to John the Revelator.

The words of the angel to Daniel relating to the last days were to be understood in the time of the end. At that time, “many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” “The wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand. (Daniel 12:4, 10)

The Savior Himself has given signs of His coming. (See Luke 21:31-36)

So today the kingdom of this world absorbs humanity’s thoughts, and they take no note of the rapidly fulfilling prophecies and the tokens of the swift-coming kingdom of God.

(See Luke 4:16-21) Upon this Sabbath Jesus was requested to take part in the service. He stood to read. And there was delivered to Him a roll of the prophet Isaiah. The scripture which He read was one that was understood as referring to the Messiah. Jesus stood before the people as a living expositor of the prophecies concerning Himself.

But when Jesus announced, “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears,” they suddenly recalled to think of themselves, and the claims of Him who had been addressing them.

Who is this Jesus? They questioned. He who had claimed for Himself the glory of the Messiah was the son of a carpenter, and had worked at His trade with His father Joseph. Although His life had been spotless, they would not believe that He was the Promised One.

Truth was unpopular in Christ’s day, and it is unpopular in our day. Do we not today meet theories and doctrines that have no foundation in the word of God? People cling as tenaciously to them as did the Jews to their traditions. Today, as then, as real piety declined leaders have become more jealous for their traditions and ceremonies.

In all ages, angels have been near to Christ’s faithful followers. The vast confederacy of evil is arrayed against all who would overcome; but Christ would have us look to the things which are not seen, to the armies of heaven encamped about all who love God, to deliver them. From what dangers, seen and unseen, we have been preserved through the interposition of the angels, we shall never know, until in the light of eternity we see the providences of God. Then we shall know that the whole family of heaven was interested in the family here below, and that messengers from the throne of God attended our steps from day to day

CXXII

TRICKY TRIANGLE

CHAPTER 2

REMEMBER NOW YOUR CREATOR IN THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH

ECCLESIASTES 12:1

The bell rang as Hal stepped into science class, and slumped into his chair at the lab table he shared with Wendy Lancing. He felt surprisingly uncomfortable sitting next to the pretty redhead. Yesterday at this time they had really hit it off. So much so that he began devising a plan to ask her out. But then, his so called best friend, Ed Parker, pulled the rug out from under him.

Initially, Hal had hoped to arrange a double date. He would escort his brand new lab partner Wendy, and his good buddy Ed would pair with Wendy’s best friend, Dawn Bird. But after school yesterday, Hal had suggested this idea to Ed as they walked to the school parking lot. He even gave Ed a visual as he pointed out the two girls as they made their way to a bus. That’s when Ed dashed off by himself and asked the preferred girl first. Leaving Hal with snooty, stuck up Dawn.

“Hey,” Wendy greeted Hal with a bright smile.

“Hey yourself,” Hal replied, then he forced the corners of his lips upward.

“Dawn and I are really looking forward to Saturday night,” she cooed.

He felt like saying ‘Ed is too,’ but instead replied, “We are too.”

Then she spoke low and conspiratorially. “I had no idea you liked Dawn.”

Hal felt like replying bitterly that he didn’t realize it either.

“Actually,” she continued and then giggled, scrunching her slim, elegant nose adorably. “When you guys came over to the bus stop yesterday, I thought for sure it would be me going out with you, and Ed with Dawn. I mean, you and I hit it off so well yesterday after we were assigned a lab table together. I just figured, you know…”

“Yeah, I know,” Hal replied as his brain scrambled to somehow turn the tables, putting him with Wendy, and Hal with Dawn. It seemed possible if he played it right.

“Can I ask you something?” Wendy asked with a whisper and excited giggle.

“Sure,” Hal replied with a shrug.

“How long have you had a thing for Dawn?”

Hal felt his eyes widen. Wendy put a hand over his hand. “Dawn and I are tight, yes, but I promise, cross my heart and hope to die, that I won’t tell her.”

“Um, well, the truth is,” Hal replied, then paused, and glanced toward Dawn. She was sitting one table up in the row of tables on the other side. She was wearing a dark blue skirt that rose a couple of inches above her knees. One leg was crossed over the other, and a pump with a one inch heel dangled from her toes. He admired the arch of her foot, and the shapely tan leg it was attached to.

“The truth is what?” Wendy asked eagerly.

Hal had considered coming clean about the double cross. It might end his and Ed’s friendship, but unlike Dawn who declared she was saving herself for marriage, Hal felt like Wendy would give in over time. Maybe even not very much time.

But he kept watching Dawn. Her hand went to a pencil on her table. The index finger slowly pushed it slowly to the edge, and it quietly clattered to the floor. When she leaned over to pick it up, Hal noticed the small, but pleasant form protruding from her snug, light blue turtleneck. After she secured the pencil in her fingers, she aimed a gaze at Wendy at Hal. When she discovered her eyes locking with Hal’s eyes, she quickly turned her head.

Hal chuckled. “The truth is… I don’t really know. It’s been kind of a recent development that I quite honestly am not sure of.”

“What aren’t you sure of?”

“Well,” Hal shrugged, then paused, choosing his words carefully, but unsuccessfully. “She’s always been, you know, a snot.”

“She’s really not, a snot,” Wendy said with sad eyes, but then giggled at the rhyme. “She’s really sweet when you get to know her. She’s just shy, and I know the way she handles her insecurities can appear to be bratty.”

“Dawn insecure?” Hal laughed. “She could run faster and climb a tree higher than most of the boys in our class. But she was also the quickest to nark somebody off if they, say, played basketball in the school gym when they weren’t supposed to.”

“Man, you really hold a grudge,” Wendy scolded with a lighthearted smile.

“I’m just saying,” Hal shrugged.

“I don’t know if you know, but her father had died not long before that whole incident. So her pain probably made her more prone to be, as you would say, a snot.”

“I don’t remember, to be honest,” Hal responded. “I don’t recall ever seeing her dad. I remember her mom having a heavy accent.”

“Her mom was born is Spain. She came to the states when she was a teenager.”

Hal nodded. “I also recall her grandfather dropping her off at school quite a bit.”

“That wasn’t her grandfather, silly. That was her dad.”

“That white haired guy that always drove that big black Cadillac was her dad?”

“Yeah, he was at least twenty years older than Dawn’s mother. And her mother was in her late thirties when Dawn was born. She was an only child, and her mom is, forgive me, a cold uptight neat freak. I’ve never seen her show Dawn any affection. As a matter of fact…”

“Alright, class,” Mr. Jackson ordered. “Open your textbooks to page twelve.”

Three days later, Hal was quiet and pensive as the two young men rode in Ed’s car to pick up their dates.

“You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?” Ed tried cautiously.

“I must not be too mad. I’m here aren’t I?” Hal replied.

“Why so down cast then?”

“If I need to explain, you’re not a very good friend. Which I’m already concluding.”

Ed sighed. “Look man, we’ll switch, alright? It’s not like I really premeditated what I did in asking Wendy out first. You’re the one who has always told me I need to be more spontaneous.”

“Alright, we’ll switch then. Do you want to tell Wendy to get in the back with me, or should I?”

Ed eyed his buddy a little stunned. He didn’t really mean they should switch, he was just trying to ease his conscience with some disingenuous words. But Ed knew his friend too well. He was certain Hal was playing him. “Would you mind telling them? You’ve always been a smoother talker than me.”

Hal grinned at Ed. “Calling my bluff, eh?”

“Oh, you were bluffing?” Ed replied with his own relieved grin.

Hal just wanted to get the evening over with. As soon as the band was done, he was done. But something took him a little off guard. Every time he saw Dawn lately, she seemed even more attractive than the last time.

 Both girls wore short plaid skirts. Dawn’s was red, while Wendy’s was green. Both wore go-go boots. Dawn’s were black, while Wendy’s were white. Dawn had a red button up sweater on covering a white blouse, Wendy wore a green turtleneck.

The four teenagers ate burgers and fries at a drive in restaurant with a waitress on skates serving them. Wendy and Ed chatted merrily, Dawn and Hal ate mostly in silence. Then Dawn wearied of the tension between them. “So, what do you plan to do after graduation?” she asked.

“Shoot, I don’t know. Graduation is a long way off with the school year just starting.”

Hal actually felt uncomfortable with how testy he sounded, and he asked Dawn with an upbeat tone. “How about you, do you have plans?”

“Wendy and I are going to college at UNI. We both want to be teachers.”

“What kind of teachers?”

“I hope to teach high school English, and Dawn wants to teach art.”

“Why don’t you want to teach elementary? Don’t you like little kids?” Hal asked and once again, regretted his tone. He was just trying to tease, but it sounded like a criticism.

Dawn just shrugged. “I love literature, and writing.”

Hal nodded, and they resumed silence.

The concert was outside. Wendy and Ed still seemed to chat nonstop. Dawn and Hal did their best at small talk, but it felt forced and awkward. Boy, did Hal ever want to get this night over. But then something shifted in their chemistry, ironically happening when the concert was over.

Wendy and Ed went to find a phone booth, and Dawn and Ed were walking back to the car when Dawn stepped in a rut, twisting her ankle. As she was falling, she clutched Hal’s arm. His quick reflexes and natural athleticism kicked in, and he caught her. She winced with pain, and Hal scooped her up effortlessly. She gave a little squeal of surprise as her arms went around his neck. He walked her to a nearby bench, sitting her down gently.

“Lets have a look,” Hal said. He knelt in front of her and unzipped her boot. He rubbed her ankle carefully, asking “Does that hurt?”

“Not too bad,” she replied a little breathlessly. Her anxious gasps weren’t from the pain, however.

“It’s not broke,” Hal said, and then seemed to go into a bit of a trance. He was mesmerized by the sexiness of this once nerdy tomboy. As his hands inched up to her calf, she exuded a nervous laugh. “I think I’ll be alright now. Thank you.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, you’re welcome.” Hal sat back on his haunches like a baseball catcher, a bit dazed by what he was feeling.

He watched her put her boot back on, to make sure she was okay, of course. After she zipped the boot back in place, she stood and did two laps around the bench, limping slightly. “I think I’m fine. It just really smarted when I first twisted it.”

“Okay, yeah, good,” Hal stammered.

Dawn giggled, and he felt his face flush. Did she know her beauty was disorienting him? But that wasn’t why she was laughing. She pulled a tissue out of her purse. “Hal, you’ve had something on your face ever since dinner, can I wipe it off?”

Now he felt not only embarrassed, but annoyed. She hasn’t changed after all. Little Miss Perfect. He wiped at his face with an irritated fury, but missed the catchup at the corner of his mouth entirely.

“Here,” Dawn said, rubbing it with her tissue. “You helped me with my ankle, I’ll help you with your messy mouth.”

But the catchup had dried. Dawn frowned, then licked the tissue to moisten it. She rubbed the corner of his mouth again, and the catchup transferred easily to the tissue. Hal felt the wetness from her mouth on his skin.

“What?” Dawn said with a startled expression.

“What do you mean what?”

“You’re looking at me funny.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I don’t mean to be,” Hal said, and then with out thinking, licked the spot where he felt her saliva.

It occurred to her that he was her date, not some child she was babysitting. She felt her face flush and looked away shyly. Thankfully Wendy and Ed returned.

“You cats ready to go?” Ed asked.

“Yes,” Dawn and Hal replied eagerly and at the same time.

In bed that night, Dawn retraced the evening in her mind. There were so many awkward moments, it was hard to feel optimistic. She had hoped Hal would ask her out again, or at least say he had enjoyed himself. Instead he simply said goodnight.

Why did she feel so drawn to him? It wasn’t just because he was cute, there were other handsome guys that were beginning to pay her some attention. He was actually kind of a rebel, but she knew he had a sweet side. Maybe that was it. She never forgot the time in fourth grade when she dropped her notebook and some mean boys began kicking at the scattered papers, Hal demanded they knock it off. He then helped her pick them up.

So why did she tell on Him and Ed a year later for playing in the gym when they weren’t supposed to be? It must have been a case of thinking negative attention is better than no attention at all.

Hal felt annoyed that Dawn wouldn’t leave his mind. He had trouble getting to sleep. How dare she wipe his mouth like he was a little kid? Yet the feel of the wetness of her tongue so close to his mouth was strangely alluring. And the way she looked. Dawn was no longer a tomboy, that’s for sure. But he bet she was still a fast runner with that lithe body, and sleek, strong looking legs.

The following afternoon, he had just finished running an errand for his father in his father’s pickup truck. He approached the back side of an attractive female walking on a foot trail just off the road and along a wooded area. She was wearing jean shorts, a white and blue checked blouse, and sneakers. Her brown hair was in a ponytail.

Then something about the young lady made his heart race with anticipation. She was limping slightly. After he passed, he glanced out of the back window. Sure enough it was Dawn. He looked at the road ahead, and then turned to look again. She was gone!

He pulled off the road and looked frantically for where she might have disappeared. Then he spotted her climbing carefully over a barbed wire fence, and then heading down a deer trail. Where was she going? The woods ended in a quarter mile at a bluff overlooking the river. It was thirty feet up from the water, you couldn’t fish there.

He parked the truck and began to follow her. He told himself it was because a hobo jungle was nearby, and she might need protection. The reality is, he was spying out of curiosity. Would he even be doing this he hadn’t just been on a date with her the previous night? Probably not. He would have admired the view of her walking and just kept going.

By the time he caught up, she was at the bluff, kneeling by a rock. What was she doing? He slowly, quietly, inched closer and closer. She was talking to herself. He got a little closer and heard her say “Lord.” She was praying.

Hal sat carefully, silently on a fallen log, eavesdropping on a prayer by a girl he told himself he wanted nothing to with. Yet she would not leave his mind ever since the date last night ended. There was no doubt she would discover him when she finished. He got the feeling if he didn’t leave immediately, this was going to end badly. Yet he couldn’t move.  

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part 15)

Imprisonment and death of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist had been first in heralding Christ’s kingdom, and he was also the first in suffering.

The life of John had been one of active labor, and the gloom and inaction of his prison life weighed heavily upon him. As week after week passed, bringing no change, despondency and doubt crept over him.

Like the Savior’s disciples, John the Baptist did not understand the nature of Christ’s kingdom. He expected Jesus to take the throne of David; and as time passed, and the Savior made no claim to kingly authority, John became perplexed and troubled.

To the desert prophet all this seemed a mystery beyond his fathoming. There were hours when the whisperings of demons tortured his spirit, and the shadow of a terrible fear crept over him.

John’s disciples came to Jesus with their message, “Art You He that should come, or do we look for another?” How short  the time since the Baptist had pointed to Jesus, and proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world.”

Jesus was keenly disappointed. If John, the faithful forerunner, failed to discern Christ’s mission, what could be expected from the self-seeking multitude?

The evidence of Jesus’s divinity was seen in it’s adaptation to the needs of suffering humanity. His glory was shown in His condescension to our low estate.

God spoke to the prophet by “a still small voice.” (1 Kings 19:11, 12) So Jesus was to do His work, not with the clash of arms and the overturning of thrones and kingdoms, but through speaking to the hearts of men by a life of mercy and self-sacrifice.

John had been called to reprove the sins and excesses of his time, and his plain dress and self-denying life were in harmony with the character of his mission. Rich apparel and the luxuries of this life are not the portion of God’s servants.

Understanding more clearly now the nature of Christ’s mission, John yielded himself to God for life or for death, as should best serve the interests of the cause he loved.

It is moral worth that God values. Love and purity are the attributes He prizes most.

The revels of one night cost the life of one of the greatest of the prophets.

The sinner’s own thoughts are his accusers; and there can be no torture keener than the stings of a guilty conscience.

Jesus did not interpose to deliver His servant. He knew that John would bear the test. Gladly would the Savior come to John, to brighten the dungeon gloom with His own presence. But He was not to place Himself in the hands of enemies and imperil His own mission. Gladly would He have delivered His faithful servant. But for the sake of thousands who in after years must pass from prison to death, John was to drink the cup of martyrdom.

“Unto you is given on the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake.” (Philippians 1:29)

Of all the gifts Heaven can bestow upon humanity, fellowship with Christ in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor.

CXXI

LET YOUR HEART CHEER YOU IN THE DAYS OF YOUR YOUTH

ECCLESIASTES 11:9

TRICKY TRIANGLE

CHAPTER 1

In the beginning there were four, two pairs of best friends, all four born in 1946, senior members of the post war baby boom. They had all known each other ever since they could remember. Unfortunately, premature death would eventually remove one of them from their small fellowship.

Petite, feisty brunette Dawn Bird, just over five feet tall, and leggy, redhaired Wendy Lancing, five foot eleven when she stopped inching upward, had become and stayed best friends ever since they were just toddlers, growing up next door to each other.

Hal Storm, dark haired, six foot one, lean and muscular, along with blond haired Ed Parker, one inch under six feet, broad shouldered with a narrow waist above powerful legs, had been best buddies ever since kindergarten.

The two sets friends loved each other like brothers and sisters. But if ever there was a case of opposite attracts, it was the two pairs of pals. Dawn was a diligent, straitlaced girl who got straight A’s. Wendy was a dreamer who hated school and tended to procrastinate. Dawn loved the Beatles, while Wendy preferred the Rolling Stones. Wendy was always bored at church and counted the minutes until it was over. Dawn felt a sense of peace in the sanctuary and felt a little pang of disappointment when the congregation was excused, filing to the exits.

Hal preferred Fords, while Ed chose Chevys. Ed was serious, studious, and orderly, while Hal was laid back, carefree, and mischievous. Ed worked out hard to excel at sports, while Hal’s natural athletic ability led him to start in football, basketball, and baseball with minimal effort. Ed was a Christian apologist, Hal was an agnostic. However, time and life events would flip flop their opposing world views.

Although the foursome all went to school together in a quaint little town called Mayfield, about thirty miles outside of the Twin Cities, the two sets of friends never paid much attention to each other. That is until they reached a certain age, that mysterious time when the opposite sex transforms into something very appealing, rather than simply annoying.

“Guess who’s my lab partner in biology?” Hal asked Ed as they both lit cigarettes while walking to Ed’s 55 Chevy. It was the end of the first day of their senior year in high school. Although it was sunny with a high of seventy five, there was a feeling of autumn in the dry air.

“Jane Mansfield,” Ed replied coolly.

“Even better,” Hal grinned. “Wendy Lancing.”

Ed stopped walking and aimed a sarcastic grin at his friend. “Okay, I give up, what’s the joke?”

“No joke,” Hal said, and then he drew deeply on his Winston, a dreamy look in eyes. “Man, did she ever fill out over the summer. Her shadow’s in the class too.”

“Dawn Bird?”

“That’s the word.”

“So how did you end up at a table with Wendy if Dawn’s in the class?”

“None of us had a choice,” Hal shrugged. “Mr. Jackson assigned the seats. By the way, Dawn’s not too shabby herself.”

“Is that right?” Ed drawled skeptically.

Hal lifted a chin to their right. “See for yourself.”

Ed’s mouth dropped open. “Wow, you weren’t kidding. What happened over the summer?”

“Dawn finally let her hair grow, and Wendy added some nice curves to her willowy frame,” Hal declared.

“Boy, I’ll say,” Ed said as he stared.

“Believe you me, I studied her pretty good during the whole class period,” Hal chuckled.

Ed felt a pang of jealousy over Hal being paired with Wendy. He had always felt drawn to her free spirited personality and pretty face. Now that she had, well, physically matured, he found her irresistible. It seemed his best friend did too.

“If I end up asking Wendy out, will you go out with Dawn?” Hal asked his buddy. “Those two are thick as thieves, so she’s more likely to go out with me if you go out with Dawn.”

Now the pang turned into a piercing jealousy, but Ed snorted coolly. “Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“What’d ya mean?” Hal frowned.

“I thought you preferred Mary Ann.”

“Mary Ann who?” Hal frowned deeper.

“From ‘Gilligan’s Island’,” Ed explained. “You’ve told me before that you preferred Mary Ann over Ginger. I, on the other hand, prefer Ginger over Mary Ann. Therefore, you should go out with Dawn, and me with Wendy.”

“That’s silly,” Hal laughed. But then he looked at the two young women and became still. “They are a bit similar to Ginger and Mary Ann, aren’t they?”

“Yeah, they are,” Ed tried. “Dawn’s always been a cutey, but that longer hair only enhances it. Look how nice and tan her legs are too.”

“Yeah, Dawn’s not bad, but there’s a big problem with the ‘Gilligan’s Island’ comparison,” Hal suggested.

“What’s that?”

“Part of Mary Ann’s appeal is her cheery personality. Dawn on the other hand is a prudish crank. You remember the time she narked us off for playing in the gym during recess?”

“Come on, man,” Ed protested. “We were in the fifth grade.”

“Yeah, well, you just had to write fifty sentences about not playing in the gym during recess. For me it was a third strike and I had to write about two hundred sentences in the principles office for an entire week during recesses.”

Ed felt a sense of defeat. But then inspiration struck. Without saying a word to Hal, Ed began a brisk walk to the two girls. Hal had always been the more bold and adventurous of the two buddies, but Ed was taking a page from Hal’s playbook. With a charming smile and a slight bow, he said, “Hello ladies, lovely day, isn’t it?”

“Quite,” Wendy giggled. Dawn just stared at him wordless and expressionless.

“How are you two ladies getting home from this fine educational establishment?” Ed asked, his eyes never leaving Wendy’s. Hal stepped up next to his friend, dumbfounded with his mouth agape.

“The bus,” Wendy replied with a shrug. “Neither of us has a car.”

“Would you care to join Hal and me?” Ed asked. “There is plenty of room for the four of us in my car.”

“That’d be great!” Wendy enthused. “How about it, Dawn?”

Dawn tried a smile, but it was weak. She lifted a shoulder with a slight shrug. “Sure.”

When the foursome approached Ed’s car, he quickly ushered Dawn into the back seat. She felt tense and uneasy as Hal settled next to her. She had had a crush on Hal for years, yet she overcompensated her secret by not only being aloof towards him, but downright cold. She also felt hurt that both boys seemed unable to take their eyes off Wendy.

Yes, her friend was gorgeous, but Dawn wasn’t bad herself. Especially since she had shed her tomboy image over the summer. Her big brown almond shaped eyes and small nose made her cute, but Wendy’s arctic blue eyes, high cheek bones, and long legs made her elegant. Her own legs, although not long, were very nice and very tan. Her skin was silky and feminine. She hiked her skirt above her knee and crossed her right leg over her left. Her black and white saddle shoe pointed toward Hal’s legs. She noticed his eyes lingering on her leg and felt momentarily pleased.

“My name is Hal Storm,” he said with a grin and offered of his hand.

“I know who you are,” she replied sharply and instantly regretted how snotty she sounded. He obviously was clowning around. They’d known each other since kindergarten. But this was the first time he had spoken to her since she had told on him and Ed for playing in the gym during recess more than half a decade ago.

Why did she do that anyway? Why did she always have to be such a brat? Some sense of power? Some feeling of being right? No wonder she was always so lonely. Except for Wendy. But now that Wendy had blossomed from a gangly nerd into a beautiful young woman, she feared their lifelong friendship would slip away. Most likely to a boy.

Hal withdrew his hand and folded his arms. He stared straight ahead, longing to punch his former best friend in the nose. It was a long ten minute ride as Hal and Dawn rode in silence, listening to Wendy and Ed chat merrily.

When they arrived at Dawn’s house, she anxiously waited for Wendy to move her seat forward so she could scrabble quickly out of Ed’s Chevy two door. But Wendy didn’t move under Ed’s command to “Wait a minute.”

Ed looked at Hal, who shook his head no. Then Ed turned his gaze to Wendy. He did his best imitation of Hal’s laid back grin and asked. “Would you fine ladies like to go on a double date with Hal and me this Saturday evening? There’s a band playing at Green Square Park.”

“Sure!” Wendy blurted. “That would be fun! How about it, Dawn?”

A surge of terror ripped through Dawn. Her heart started racing, and she glance at Hal. He was staring at Ed with a stunned expression. Dawn’s fright turned to an overwhelming sadness. She felt like she would never fit in, no matter how she tried to transform herself. Her lip began to tremble, and she fought against tears, especially when Hal turned his gaze upon her. “Oh, I…Um. I don’t think so,” she stammered

“Why?” Wendy asked with a frown.

She felt a tear pop out of her eye and she wiped angrily at it. She then tried to cover herself. “My allergies are bad, especially at night.”

“What allergies?” Wendy whined. “I’ve never known you to have bad allergies.”

Dawn felt betrayed. She needed to get out of this car before she actually started balling. She was about to bark a demand at her former best friend, but Hal spoke up.

“Why don’t we just go together, Dawn?” he said.

Dawn stared at Hal wide eyed. She couldn’t get herself to speak. Did one of the cutest boys in class, if not the cutest, just say he actually wanted to go out with her? Was this going to be a sympathy date? She didn’t care. She didn’t want to be home all alone, while Wendy and Ed went out on a date. Probably with Hal and a cheerleader.

“Really?” Dawn asked meekly.

“Yes, really,” Hal smiled.

“But you don’t even like me,” Dawn blurted, and then cringed. Why couldn’t she control her tongue? James 3:8 was absolutely right that a tongue is an unruly evil. Whether she was telling on someone or telling them off, her mouth had never done her any favors.

“Who says I don’t like you?” Hal chuckled.

“You haven’t spoken to me ever since the, um, the gym incident.”

“We were kids,” Hal shrugged. “Besides, I don’t remember us having many conversations before that anyway.”

Dawn folded her arms, but tried to gaze at him with wide, innocent eyes. “Are you going out with me just because Ed wants you to?”

“No, I heard you were easy.” Hal joked before he could stop himself.

Ed felt his toes curl, and Wendy’s mouth gaped open. Dawn’s feisty demeanor returned, and she barked. “I don’t think so! I’ll have you know, I’m saving myself for marriage.”

Hal laughed. Now Wendy’s toes curled, and Ed’s jaw dropped open. Dawn wanted to slap herself. Why could she not ever keep her mouth shut when she was angry or scared?

“Fair enough, let’s see if you’re worth waiting for then. Saturday will be a start.”

Dawn opened her mouth to tell Hal to take a flying leap. But then she closed it, intrigued. Was he serious? Could he actually be a gentleman who might want to court her properly?

“You never answered me,” Dawn asked mildly. “Are you going out with me because Ed wants you to?”

“No, I’m not,” Hal said and then he gave her a playful smile. “I want to see if the angry tomboy is becoming a sweet young lady.”

Emotions swirled in Dawn’s heart and mind. She didn’t know if she was being toyed with, or if Hal truly did like her. Her old protective nature tried to give him a hard stare. But he was so cute and fun she fought against a smile.

“Now what’s that playing at your lips,” Hal provoked, touching a corner of her mouth so lightly that it tickled. Dawn gave in and laughed, and Hal joined her. Ed and Wendy sighed inwardly with relief, grinning at each other.

Hal glared at Ed as they drove away from Wendy’s house. “Talk about a double cross!”

Ed looked at Hal, surprised. “You seemed to get along with Dawn just fine. At the end anyway.”

“Yeah, thanks a lot.”

“You would have done the same thing if you thought of it first,” Ed defended.

“That’s beside the point,” Hal said as he casually lit a cigarette.

“Are you really mad?”

“Naw, I meant what I said to Dawn,” Hal replied. “I will be mad if Wendy’s not saving herself for marriage too, though.”

“I just won’t tell you then,” Ed said with a coy smile.

“You won’t be able to help yourself.”

Both boys laughed. Then Hal frowned in thought. What if Dawn was still that angry tomboy inside, hiding behind that lovely, vulnerable, female façade? Oh well, it was worth finding out.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part 14)

Bethesda and the Sanhedrin.

Jesus was again at Jerusalem. At the pool of healing, Jesus saw one case of supreme wretchedness. It was that of a man severely handicapped for thirty-eight years. Alone and friendless, feeling that he was shut out from God’s mercy, the sufferer had passed long years of misery.

“Will you be made whole?” Jesus asked him.

“Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool. But while I am coming, another steps down before me.”

Jesus does not ask the suffer to exercise faith in Him. He simply says, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” But the man’s faith takes hold upon those words. Every nerve and muscle thrills with new life. Without question he sets his will to obey the command of Christ. Springing to his feet, he finds himself an active man.

Through the same faith we may receive spiritual healing. By sin we have been severed from the life of God. Our souls are palsied. Of ourselves we are no more capable of living a holy life than was the impotent man capable of walking. Let these desponding, struggling ones look up. The Savior is bending over the purchase of His blood, and saying with inexpressible tenderness and pity. “Will you be made whole?”

Do not wait to feel that you are made whole. Believe His word and it will be fulfilled. Put your will on the side of Christ. Will to serve Him, and in acting upon His word you will receive strength.

So utterly was Christ emptied of self that He made no plans for Himself. He accepted God’s plans for Him, and day by day the Father unfolded His plans. So should we depend upon God, that our lives may be the simple outworking of His will.

The spirit of life in Christ Jesus, “the power of His resurrection,” sets humanity “free from the law of sin and death.” Phil. 3:10, Rom 8:2. The dominion of evil is broken and through faith the soul is kept from sin. He who opens the heart to the Spirit of Christ becomes a partaker of that mighty power which shall bring forth his body from the grave.

The highest religious authorities of the nation were seeking the life of Him who declared Himself the restorer of Israel. The Lord of the Sabbath was arraigned before an earthly tribunal to answer the charge of breaking the Sabbath law.

The rulers themselves had felt deep condemnation as He had pressed their guilt home upon their consciences; yet this only made them the more bitter against Him. They were determined to take His life. They sent messengers all over the country to warn the people against Jesus as an imposter. Spies were sent to watch Him, and report what He said and did.

The precious Savior was now most surely standing under the shadow of the cross.

CXX

HUMBLE YOURSELVES IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD, AND HE WILL LIFT YOU UP

JAMES 4:10

TRICKY TRIANGLE

INTRODUCTION

SEVEN SALLIE

“Did you look everything over? Did you read it?” Destiny asked me, then glanced at Brock, who is her husband and my cousin.

Destiny was referring to some journals, pictures, and diaries we received from another cousin that Brock and I both shared. Hailey Storm is a successful doctor and the daughter of Hal Storm. Uncle Hal is the elder brother of my mother and Brock’s father.

“Yeah, it was pretty interesting,” I replied.

“Do you think you’d want to do it for your podcast?” she asked.

“It’s too long,” I declared. “Besides, it’s more of a tragedy than a story of redemption.”

“A tragedy?” Destiny responded. “Look how well Hailey turned out. Also how harmonious the three friends ended up getting along despite a complex love triangle.”

“I have to admit that part blew me away,” I replied. “Uncle Hal’s devout Christian character was one of the things that influenced me coming to Christ the first time, when I was eighteen. He was like one of those old fashioned T.V. dads. I had no idea he was embroiled in a strange love triangle for many years.

“Nobody did,” Brock said with a chuckle. “That’s why it was called a secret. Besides, aren’t all love triangles strange and complex? I’ll never forget the chaos in my mind as I was falling in love with Dee while I was still with Nora. And ours wasn’t actually a triangle since we did nothing untoward.”

“Untoward?” I repeated, Brock saying that word making me chuckle.

“We weren’t completely innocent,” Dee admitted. “Although it was extremely  complicated falling in love with another woman’s guy while at the same time coming to the Lord.”

“Right, that’s why I say we did nothing,” Brock paused, glanced at me with hooded eyes.  “Untoward.”

“What about the jumbotron kiss at the baseball game?” Destiny suggested.

“That couldn’t be helped,” Brock said. “We were put on the spot. Besides, it was just a quick, innocent peck.”

“Well, what about the tea incident? That was more than just an innocent peck,” Destiny insisted.

“Yeah, we did kiss passionately for a minute, but we stopped. We never became, um, intimate.”

“What tea incident?” I asked.

“I thought you read the e-book ‘Knight Storm,’” Destiny said with a frown.

“I did.”

“Bentley put Twisted Tea in a pitcher and we thought it was, you know, normal tea,” Destiny explained.

“Oh yeah, I remember now,” I replied and then chuckled. “That was also where Bentley jumped out at you guys wearing a hideous mask and you wet…”

“That’s right you remember then,” Destiny said, cutting me off and giving me a stern look. Then changing the subject, she said, “Can you imagine poor Hailey not finding out her true parentage until she just a month ago?”

“And the way she found out,” I added.

“Wait, I missed something,” Brock said. “How’d she find out?”

“You know, Sweetie. She found those pictures that were taken when she was a baby. She discovered them after her parents went into the nursing home last month,” Destiny said.

“That’s why she confronted Auntie,” I added.

“Then her mom unloaded the whole story as if being freed from a heavy weight,” Destiny said. “And your Uncle Hal even divulged his two cents worth during moments of clarity.”

Our Uncle was in the nursing home due to Alzheimer’s disease, and our Aunt had had a debilitating stroke. On the positive side, they were still together.

“So, how about you write it for the blog?” Destiny asked.

“Why not you?” I asked.

“It’s too long. There’s enough for a novella, if not more,” she replied.

“I know, that’s why I don’t want to write it,” I said. “I have enough irons in the fire.”

“How about we contact Johnathan Embers to write their story?” Destiny asked.

“That hack?” I blurted.

“Oh, you just don’t like the way you were portrayed early in this blog,” Brock said.

“But look how he depicted Sevenia,” Destiny said. “Who doesn’t love your daughter?”

“Yeah, I guess he’s okay,” I replied. “I’ll give him a call.”

So we passed the journals, pictures, and diaries over to Johnny. He also went to visit our Aunt and Uncle, as well as having conversations with Dr. Hailey Storm. He also talked to our other two cousins, Hailey’s much older brothers. As it turns out, they were her half-brothers.

Embers is going to post the first chapter next week. He was also adamant that Destiny keep posting her Bible study notes after each chapter, especially since this is a tale heavier on human struggle compared to spiritual inspiration.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part 13)

On the way to Galilee Jesus passed through Samaria. At the opening of a valley, the Vale of Shechem, was Jacob’s well. Wearied with His journey, Jesus sat down here to rest while His disciples went to buy food.

A woman of Samaria approached and seemed unconscious of His presence. As she turned to leave, Jesus asked her for a drink. The hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans prevented the woman from offering a kindness to Jesus; but the Savior was seeking to find the key to this woman’s heart. With a tact born of divine love, He asked, not offered, a favor.

The woman saw that Jesus was a Jew. In her surprise she forgot to grant His request, but tried to learn the reason for it. “How is it,” she said, “that You, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan?”

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that says, give Me a drink; you could have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

HOW MANY THIRSTY SOULS ARE TODAY CLOSE BY THE LIVING FOUNTAIN, YET LOOKING FAR AWAY FOR THE WELLSPRING OF LIFE!

He who seeks to quench his thirst at the fountain of this world will drink only to thirst again. Everywhere people are unsatisfied. They long for something to supply the need of the soul. Only One can meet that want. The need of the world is Christ. The divine grace which He alone can impart, is as living water, purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul.

Our redeemer is an inexhaustible fountain. We may drink, and drink again, and ever find a fresh supply.

Jesus desired to lift the thoughts of the Samaritan woman above matters of form and ceremony, and questions of controversy. “The hour comes,” He said, “and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus read the secrets of her life; yet she felt that He was her friend, pitying and loving her. While the very purity of His presence condemned her sins, He had spoken no denunciation, but had told her of His grace that could renew the soul.

To minister to a hungering soul and thirsting for the truth was more grateful to Him than eating or drinking. It was a comfort, a refreshment to Him.

The Pharisees despised the simplicity of Jesus. They ignored His miracles, yet demanded a sign that He was the Son of God. But the Samaritans asked for no sign, and Jesus performed no miracles among them, save in revealing the secrets of her life to the woman at the well.

Jesus had begun to break down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and to preach salvation to the whole world. Though He was a Jew, He mingled freely with the Samaritans, which set at naught the Pharisaic customs of His nation.

Those who call themselves His followers may despise and shun the outcast ones; but no circumstance of birth or nationality, no condition of life, can turn away God’s love from the human race. To every soul, however sinful, Jesus says, “If you would have asked Me, I would have given you living water.”

Wherever hearts are open to receive the truth, Christ is ready to instruct them. He reveals to them the Father, and the worship acceptable to Him who reads the heart.

Jesus was faint and weary, yet He did not neglect the opportunity of speaking to one woman, though she was a stranger, an alien from Israel, and living in open sin.

He who drinks of the living water becomes a fountain of life. The receiver becomes a giver. The grace of Christ in the soul is like a spring in the desert.

CXIX

OUT OF THE MOUTH OF BABES AND NURSING INFANTS YOU HAVE PERFECTED PRAISE

MATTHEW 21:16

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

Have you ever had special people come into your life, and the bond you feel is so strong that it seems like they’ve always been a part of your life? I’ve felt that with several people, but none so unique as with Oralee Knight-Storm. Our connection was so highly spiritual, yet she was so very young. I was in complete awe at times.

You may think I’m one to talk, being only eighteen and Pastor Samson’s assistant. Who knows, maybe Oralee will be an assistant pastor at ten. Anyhow, she and I had an experience that had to do with an angel Captain Kirk, aka Pastor Samson, claimed to have encountered.

The angel Melanchthon appeared to both of us in a dream. He assured us that everything would be fine with my stepmother, Zella LaStella-Sallie. She had been given a cryptic warning at the murder scene of Oscar Olney, my dad’s old friend. The fortunate thing was that this slaying took place a thousand miles away.

A great blessing was also that my dad’s cousin Brock Storm was guarding us. We therefore were staying as guests at the Knight-Storm residence, Oralee’s adoptive parents. This gave me a lot more time than usual to be with Oralee since we even shared a room. Maybe because of this temporary living arrangement and the surprisingly deep conversations I had been having with the precious nine year-old, we had the similar dream. I would say eerily similar, but it was actually awe inspiring, even as it sent chills up my spine.

“Sevenia, I had a really awesome dream!” Oralee had declared enthusiastically as she leapt off her bed and bounced onto mine. Her smile and twinkle in her big brown eyes caused me to grin. I had barely awakened from my own dream.

Recently, but before our exodus to the Knight-Storm home, I had been shopping with my stepmother. In one of the stores, a certain song caught my attention. It was actually about an adult beverage in a place called Margaritaville. And ironically, a line about a tattoo the person singing had received, apparently while inebriated, made me think of my cherubic young friend. My spiritual sister.

The lyric said, “But she’s a real beauty, a Mexican cutey, and how she got here I haven’t a clue.”

And in some ways I didn’t have a clue. God works in mysterious, wonderful ways. I didn’t fully understand how the beautiful young girl, along with the then sixteen year-old Marcella, seemed to just drop into our lives. When she was only four or five, Oralee’s immigrant parents had died. Oralee then passed through several relatives, and ultimately was sold to human traffickers.

Brave Marcella, who was trafficked from a different coast, under different circumstances, ended up crossing paths with Oralee at a den of iniquity. Unable to stand the thought of Oralee forced into pornography and prostitution, she fled with the little girl into the cold, midwestern winter. It was then that God, through his holy angels, gave me a night vision of the two girls seeking shelter under an abandoned railroad bridge.

Although the dream I shared with Oralee was awe inspiring, I don’t think any dream of mine will be as profound as being led to save the two runaway girls, and ultimately them finding an amazing home with their rescuers. Nonetheless, I get pleasant chills when I think about the parallel night vision I shared with Oralee.

The parts we both remembered weren’t very long, and they both had to do with the murder of Oscar, and the suspected murders of Stacey Porter and Felix Floyd. They also had to do with my family seeking shelter with Oralee’s family. It also had to do with my stepmother’s thumbs. This aspect wasn’t in my particular dream, yet as I watched my sweet little friend dialogue with Zella, I had the most profound DeJa’Vu of my life.

The thing that left me stunned, was that what Oralee said to Zella about her thumbs, she didn’t even know. There was a minor incident that left Zella with a couple of minor injuries. It happened a few days before Oscar’s murder. Zella was taking a batch of cookies out of the oven when she screamed and dropped the cookie pan, causing the oatmeal raisin delights to go scattering across the floor.

It turned out my dad had somehow burned holes in both of the thumbs of the potholder mittens and forgot to tell anybody. Instead of putting them back in the drawer where they were kept, he set them aside, thinking he would somehow mend them.

My stepmother accepted his heart felt apologies, but that didn’t stop the burns from forming blisters. She showed him several times throughout the healing process, causing sheepishness and renewed apologies from my father.

So Oralee and I shared our dreams with our housemates. When we finished, Oralee went to Zella and offered her hands. Zella placed her hands in the lovely little girl’s hands. Then Oralee gripped Zella’s thumbs in her fists, and declared, “By the healing of your thumbs, something righteous this way comes.”

Zella looked stunned, and then looked at me. “Did you tell Ora about my little baking boo boo?”

I shook my head, my face equally stunned. My dad too looked mildly shocked. Destiny, Brock, and Marcella just looked puzzled.

“Did you know I hurt my thumbs a few weeks ago, Princess?” Zella asked Oralee.

“Melanchthon told me to tell you,” Oralee said with a big grin. “He said you hurt your thumbs.”

Everyone looked dumbfounded. We may have even chocked it up to a strange coincidence. However, two days later FBI agent Nora Medora called Brock with some good news, and we knew Oralee’s comment was no coincidence.

“We arrested Carl Rutherford and his brother Chad,” the FBI agent explained. “Forensics found traces of blood in Chad’s car. After he was arrested, he confessed everything. It turns out he’s a major drug addict. His brother got him to help him with his dirty deeds through supplying him with heroin. Once he started geeking without fix, all we had to do was tantalize him with a little sample.”

“Was that ethical?” Brock asked lightheartedly.

“Was killing and threating people to get high ethical?”

And so, the Sallie’s and Knight-Storm’s lived happily ever after. For now, anyhow!

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part 12)

Nicodemus: Since hearing Jesus, Nicodemus had anxiously studied the prophecies relating to the Messiah, and the more he searched, the stronger was his conviction that this was the One who was to come.

In the presence of Christ, Nicodemus felt a strange timidity, which he endeavored  to conceal under an air of composure and dignity.

Nicodemus had come to the Lord thinking to enter into a discussion with Him, but Jesus laid bare the foundation principles of truth. He said to Nicodemus, It is not a theoretical knowledge you need so much as spiritual regeneration. You need not to have your curiosity satisfied, but to have a new heart. You must receive a new life from above before you can appreciate heavenly things.

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (John 3:3)

Surprised out of his self-possession, he answered… “How can a man be born when he is old?” (John 3:4)

The pride of the Pharisee was struggling against the honest desire of the seeker after truth. He wondered that Christ should speak to him as He did, not respecting his position as a ruler in Israel.

The Christian’s life is not a modification of the old, but a transformation of nature. There is a death to self and sin, and a new life altogether. This change can be brought about only by the effectual working of the Holy Spirit.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” (John 3:8)

The wind is heard among the branches of the trees, rustling the leaves and flowers; yet it is invisible. So with the work of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. It can no more be explained than can the movements of the wind.

By an agency as unseen as the wind, Christ is constantly working upon the heart. Little by little, perhaps unconsciously to the receiver, impressions are made that tend to draw the soul to Christ.

When the Spirit of God takes possession of the heart, it transforms the life. Sinful thoughts are put away, evil deeds are renounced. Love, humility, and peace take the place of anger, envy, and strife. Joy takes the place of sadness, and the countenance reflects the light of heaven.

It is impossible for finite minds to comprehend the work of redemption. Its mystery exceeds human knowledge; yet he who passes from death to life realizes that it is a divine reality. The beginning of redemption we may know here through personal experience. Its results reach through the eternal ages.

Jesus explained that His mission on earth was to establish a spiritual instead of a temporal kingdom.

How the are we to be saved? “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:14, 15)

So the Son of Man has been lifted up, and everyone who has been deceived and bitten by the serpent may look and live.

“Behold the lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29)

The light shining from the cross reveals the love of God. His love is drawing us to Himself. If we do not resist this drawing, we shall be led to the foot of the cross in repentance for the sins that have crucified the Savior. Then the Spirit of God through faith produces a new life in the soul. The thoughts and desires are brought into obedience to the will of Christ. The heart, the mind, are created anew in the image of Him who works in us to subdue all things to Himself. Then the law of God is written in the mind and heart.

“I delight to do they will, oh my God, and your law is within my heart.” (Psalm 40:8)

CXVIII

GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US A SPIRIT OF FEAR, BUT OF POWER AND LOVE AND OF A SOUND MIND

2 TIMOTHY 1:7

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

From our living room, Brock and I kept glancing at FBI agent Nora Medora and his cousin’s wife Zella LaStella, talking at our kitchen table. It occurred to me that both women had recently confided a secret to me. I was left with a sense of unease. Not that I was harboring their secrets, but concern for the two women and what their secrets meant.

Nora, who also happened to be my husband’s ex, had disclosed that she recently came very close to ending her own life. On the same day she entrusted me with this information, my husband’s and Nora’s old friend Benito “Tito” Bonnano showed up at our house. His presence seemed to work like an anti-depressant on Nora. The three old friends talked, laughed, and reminisced. Then Nora and Tito spontaneously decided to vacation in Florida together.

Yesterday, former model and fortune teller, Zella LaStella-Sallie, acknowledged previously having an association with the most evil person I have ever personally known, Jezebel Black. Although this news was unsettling, by the grace of God, I did not hold it against her. No, I sympathized with her shame, and now feared that Jezebel was somehow out to get her.

I had first became acquainted with Jezebel more than fifteen years ago when we were both exotic dancers in the Twin Cities. Brock was a bouncer at one of the clubs we both frequented. Jezebel had helped a small time mob boss get into my apartment, where he attempted to rape, and possibly murder me. Thankfully, Brock somehow had become privy to their scheme and saved me.

Brock and I had gone our separate ways after that. He moved to Florida after being hired by a high end security firm. I moved to California to become a model and actress in adult entertainment. Then a decade later, Brock and I crossed paths in a small church in Iowa. Coincidence? I don’t think so. God works in marvelous and mysterious ways!

(Brock’s and my romance is chronicled in the e-book ‘Knight Storm’ by Johnathan Embers.)

Right about the time Brock and I became reacquainted, the mob boss got out of prison, and he and Jezebel sought revenge. It was also around this time that Jezebel laid plans to sacrifice her young, virgin sister in a satanic, pagan ritual. Nora Medora had caught wind of Jezebel’s intentions and solicited the help of Brock and me.

Nora wiggled her finger at Brock and me in a nonverbal communication for us to join her and Zella at the kitchen table.

“Okay, so,” Nora began, and then looked around. “Where’s Seven, he should be here?”

“I’m here,” came Seven’s voice from just outside the kitchen. “I was putting the baby to sleep.”

“What, did you play him excerpts from your podcast?” Brock joked.

“Of course not,” Seven replied. “I wanted him to sleep, not be riveted with interesting content from my show.”

“Where are the girls?” Nora asked, inquiring about Oralee, Marcella, and Sevenia.

“They’re up in one of the bedrooms playing dominos,” I replied.

“That’s good,” Nora said. “No need to spook them, after all, we are dealing with at least one psychopath, probably two or more. Which could work in our favor.”

“Why would more psychopaths work in our favor?” Seven asked with a frown.

“It’s similar to the old adage,” Nora said with a little smirk. “Can three people keep a secret? Yes, if two are dead.”

“In other words, it will be harder for multiple people to continue covering their tracks,” Brock said.

“Bingo,” Nora said. “Plus, Zella has helped me develop a lead.”

“Is that right?” Seven asked, glancing at his wife. Zella looked away from him and began to fiddle nervously with a rubber band.

“Brock and Destiny, you know I was undercover in Jezebel’s cult,” Nora said. Brock and I acknowledged that we did, and she continued. “And Zella here has admitted dabbling with Jezebel’s cult herself.”

“She what!” Seven barked as he looked at his wife in stunned disbelief.

Zella’s lips pursed and her eyes remained downcast as she watched the rubber band whirl around her fingers.

“You didn’t tell him last night?” I asked Zella quietly.

“I wanted to,” she said. “But the time never seemed right for one reason or another.”

“You dabbled with satanism?” Seven asked incredulously.

“No, I did not,” Zella said defiantly. “I thought Jezebel was into magic and witchcraft, which I know is bad enough. But as soon as I perceived she was into devil worship, I did a complete about face.”

“You were into witchcraft?” Seven frowned. “Like casting spells on people?”

“Babe, you knew I worked as a psychic before my conversion,” Zella said gently. “Do you really think I was consulting the Bible back then? And no, I didn’t intend to cast spells on people.”

“Tell them the other part of the lead,” Nora petitioned Zella.

Zella glanced nervously at me, then Brock, and then back to her husband. “Babe, do you remember when you saved me from that knife wielding lunatic two years ago?”

“Let’s see,” Seven said with a frown, scratched his head, and then widened his eyes. “Oh, you mean when I was almost stabbed to death? Yes, I do believe I recall that.”

“Do you have to joke about everything?” Zella asked with a sad, rather than angry expression.

“I don’t have to, I guess, but jesting just comes to me and I let it flow.”

“Well, hold it in once in a while,” Zella replied, more angry than sad this time.

“I’m sorry, Honey,” Seven said, seeming sincere as he took his wife’s hand. “I’m also well aware you lost Free in that chaos.”

Zella nodded and appeared to be holding back tears. Free was her dog, a beautiful chocolate Lab that was rescued from an abusive situation.

“Now, what about the lunatic that attacked us?” Seven urged.

“His name is Carl Rutherford,” Zella said. “He wasn’t simply a client of mine. We got to know each other when I attended some of Jezebel’s meetings. I didn’t realize he was obsessed with me when I took him on as a client.”

“When he was arrested after attacking you guys,” Nora interjected. “Typical of psychopaths, he had a room devoted to Zella.”

“Isn’t he still in prison?” Seven asked.

“Interestingly, he was released just a couple weeks before Felix and Stacey were killed,” Nora informed us. “The catch is, he has to wear a tracking device for his probation. He can’t leave the area, so he probably couldn’t have been directly involved with the killings.”

“You say probably,” Brock said.

“Well, it would be extremely difficult to find a way around a tracking device,” Nora shrugged. “But who knows.”

“What’s next?” Brock asked. “Do you have a plan?”

Nora sighed. “Until we know more, I’d like you to keep the Sallie family on high security. My next step is to locate Rutherford, and bring him in for questioning.”

The FBI agent left a half hour later. Not long after her departure, the girls came downstairs and joined us in the kitchen for supper. After our meal, Sevenia and Marcella helped me with the dishes. I perceived that something was on Sevenia’s mind.

Sure enough, when we finished, Sevenia lingered after Marcella left to join the others in the living room.

“Dee, can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course you can, Sweetie,” I replied cheerfully. “My ears are always open to you.”

I figured she wanted to talk about concerns with the case. Instead, she told me about a dream she had the previous evening. The night vision did have to do with the ordeal we found ourselves in.

“The thing is, Dee, Oralee had the same dream.”

I felt my pulse quicken. “You and Ora had the same exact dream?”

“Well, not exactly the same, but similar,” she replied uneasily. “The most interesting thing was the main character in both of our dreams.”

“Who was that?” I asked earnestly.

“The angel Melanchthon.”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part XI)

The Temple: The money changing in the temple gave opportunity for fraud  and extortion, and it had grown into a disgraceful traffic, which was a source of revenue for the priests.

The dealers demanded exorbitant prices for the animals sold, and they shared their profits with the priests and rulers, who thus enriched themselves at the expense of the people.

As Jesus came into the temple, He took in the whole scene. He saw the unfair transactions. He saw the distress of the poor, who thought that without the shedding of blood there could be no forgiveness for their sins.

Among them unrecognized and unhonored, stood the One symbolized by all their service.

As Jesus beheld the scene, indignation, authority, and power are expressed in His countenance. The attention of the people is attracted to Him. The eyes of those engaged in their unholy traffic are riveted on His face. They feel this Man reads their inmost thoughts.

Looking upon Christ, they behold divinity flash through the garb of humanity. The Majesty of heaven stands as the Judge will stand at the last day. Slowly descending the steps, and raising the scourge of cords, He bids the company to depart from the temple.

With a zeal and severity He has never before manifested, he overthrows the tables. Coins fall, ringing sharply on the marble pavement. None question His authority or stop to pick up their ill gotten gain. Jesus does not smite them with the whip of cords, but in His hand that simple scourge seems as terrible as a flaming sword.

Even the disciples tremble. They are awestruck by the words and manner of Jesus, so unlike His usual demeanor.

In cleansing the temple, Jesus was announcing His mission as the Messiah, and entering upon His work.

In cleansing the temple from the world’s buyers and sellers, Jesus announced His mission to cleanse the heart from the defilement of sin. From the earthly desires, the selfish lusts, the evil habits, that corrupt the soul.

“Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Corinthians 3:16, 17)

Why did the priests flee from the temple? Why did they not stand their ground? After all, He who commanded them to go was a carpenter’s son, a poor Galilean, without earthly rank or power. Or so they thought.

It was because Christ discerned their thoughts that they hated Him. His public rebuke was humiliating to their pride, and they were jealous of His growing influence with the people.

Jesus had shown them a sign. In flashing light into their hearts, and in doing before them the works which the Messiah was to do, He had given convincing evidence of His character. Now when they asked for a sign, He answered them by a parable, showing that He read their malice, and saw to what lengths it would lead them. “Destroy this temple,” he said, “And in three days I will raise it up.”

In these words, His meaning was twofold. He referred not only to the destruction of the Jewish temple and worship, but to His own death, the destruction of the temple of His body. This the Jews were already plotting. As the priests and rulers returned to the temple, they had proposed to kill Jesus, and thus rid themselves of the troubler.

The entire plan of sacrificial worship was a foreshadowing of the Savior’s death to redeem the world.

When Christ was crucified, the inner veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, signifying that the great final sacrifice had been made, and that the system of sacrificial offerings was forever at an end. (The veil was also several inches thick)

While Jesus ministers in the sanctuary above, He is still by His Spirit the minister of the church on earth.

“Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25)

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:14-16)

CXVII

THE LORD IS FAITHFUL, WHO WILL ESTABLISH YOU AND GUARD YOU FROM THE EVIL ONE

2 THESSALONIANS 3:3

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

“I suppose Brock’s FBI agent friend is gonna want to talk to me,” Zella LaStella-Sallie declared as I helped her settle into her room. Her normally calm, pleasant face looked forlorn. Her striking ebony cheekbones almost seemed to droop under her lovely dark eyes.

Her husband’s friend Oscar had been brutally murdered, and the killer, or killers, left a cryptic message warning that Zella may be in danger herself. One small consolation was that the heinous crime happened one thousand miles away. Another comfort was that there seemed to be no sign of danger when Oscar was being protected by my husband Brock, a former professional bodyguard. The Sallie family were now under his watch care themselves and taking up temporary residence in our home.

“Yes, I suppose she will,” I said light heartedly. “But you needn’t worry, you are a potential victim, not a perpetrator.”

I winced at calling her a potential victim, but she didn’t seem to bat an eye.

“There is something…” Zella began, then stopped and gazed at me cautiously.

“Something?” I gently pushed.

“It’s probably nothing,” Zella said, and then emitted a nervous chuckle.

“What’s probably nothing? Do you think you might know something about Oscar’s murder?”

“No, no nothing like that,” she stammered, then looked at the floor and scratched her temple with one finger. Then she looked up at me. “Well, maybe. Can I tell you something in confidence?”

“Okay.”

“No, not okay,” she responded with agitation. This took me by surprise. Zella was one of the most calm, dignified people I have ever known. “Yes or no, can you keep a secret?”

I wanted to tell her yes, but my husband and I were very open and honest with each other. I feared keeping secrets due to the risk of slippage. Then again, if anyone can tick a lock, it was Brock.

“Oh, I’ll just tell you,” she snorted. “I intend on being forthcoming with the FBI lady anyway.”

“I won’t tell anyone, Zella. My hesitancy was just a fear of letting something slip to Brock.”

“Brock is anything but a blabber mouth,” Zella said, and thankfully smiled. “Now MY husband on the other hand would probably make it known on his podcast.”

“Seven doesn’t know this secret of yours?” I asked.

She shook her head. “If he ever would have asked, or it would somehow have come up, I would have been honest. Oh well, it’s just something I’m not proud of. I didn’t commit a crime or anything. I guess if I would have accepted a certain invitation, I might have been an accessory to murder.”

“Murder! What murder?”

Zella’s dark brown eyes looked startled as she gazed into mine. “The murder of Bentley Bonnano.”

A chill ran up my spine, and I could feel hairs prickle on my neck. “You almost attended Jezebel Black’s attempted satanic sacrifice of her own sister?”

(This incident occurred in Johnathan Ember’s e-book ‘Knight Storm’. Amy Autumn was kidnapped by her sister’s satanic cult, and Brock, his friend Bentley, and Amy’s future husband Dirk endeavored to rescue her. In the process, sweet, goofy Bentley Bonnano was mortally wounded.)

“I had no idea that she intended to sacrifice a virgin,” Zella responded emphatically. “All she had told me was that it was a special black mass.”

“I don’t understand,” I replied with a frown. “Were you a part of Jezebel’s cult?”

Zella vigorously shook her head. “No, but she and I did have a brief… I don’t know, what were we? We weren’t exactly friends, yet we did become, briefly, more than acquaintances. And yes, I did attend a few of her meetings.”

“So you actually dabbled with satanism?”

“No, I did not. It’s hard to explain.”

“I’m listening,” I said, and then cringed inwardly as I reminded myself of Frasier Crane.

“I met Jezebel at a new age shop,” she explained. “We were both looking at tarot cards. She struck up a conversation with me. I was quite knowledgeable about tarot cards, and she was just learning. She was quite knowledgeable about ancient paganism, pagan rituals, spells, and such. These were things I was interested in, but I didn’t know too much about.

“So we started to hang out. I taught her about tarot readings, and she taught me about sorcery. I was interested in magic and wanted to become, I don’t know, spiritually enlightened, or powerful, or something. But then she started to bring up devil stuff, and strange rituals drinking blood, so I began to distance myself. Then the whole thing went down with that attempted satanic sacrifice, and Bentley Bonnano getting killed, and I dropped her like a hot potato. Which wasn’t too hard since she ended up in jail.”

“What about Lexi Gomez?” I asked, inquiring about her affiliation with Jezebel’s sister during her fortune telling days, and then Lexi’s subsequent deliverance from demon possession.

“It was more than a year after the satanic ritual incident when Lexi came to me for a psychic reading for the first time,” Zella replied.

“Did you know each other from your association with Jezebel?” I asked.

“No,” she responded shaking her head, her shoulder length braids swaying back and forth. “But the truth came out pretty quick when she first consulted me. First of all, she and Jezebel looked quite a bit like sisters. Second, she told me that she had been involved with the cult that killed Bentley, and that her sister was in prison. Pretty easy to put together.”

“But you never told Lexi that you knew her sister?”

“Nope.”

“She never asked.”

“Nope.”

“So she doesn’t know then?”

“If she does, she never let on to me.”

“What about Amy?” I asked, inquiring about the third and youngest of the half-sisters, and the one Jezebel intended to kill in a satanic sacrifice.

Zella bit her lower lip and shook her head, then softly muttered. “Oh no.”

“What’s the matter?”

“This is all gonna come out at some point,” Zella said. “Amy and Lexi are gonna hate me.”

“No, they are not,” I consoled. “They are both genuine, walking in the Spirit Christians. They’ll understand.”

“You’re sort of right, hate is a bit strong. They’re gonna dislike me, though.”

“Well, I don’t feel one bit different about you,” I said as I took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“I appreciate that,” Zella replied with a forced smile as she returned a gentle squeeze. “But it wasn’t your twisted sister I got chummy with, and then kept it secret.”

“Zella, I would have done the same thing as you,” I reassured her. “Who wants to admit to hanging out with a psychopath?”

“But I’m supposed to be converted, and I’ve been harboring a lie of omission,” she lamented.

“Is it a lie of omission?” I asked sincerely. “Are you required to acknowledge everyone you’ve known?”

Zella frowned. “Well, I think if you become friends with someone. Not only friends, but sisters in Christ, you should probably admit to having known their sister. Especially a sister that tried to kill you.”

“Zella, Amy has been something like a daughter to me. Her kids are even unofficially our grandchildren. I know if you explain everything to her, she will love you even more than she already does. Besides, whatever friendship you had with Jezebel in no way harmed either Lexi or Amy, right?”

“You’re right,” she responded with something close to a relieved smile. “I guess everything is just churning around in my head right now.”

We were quite for a long moment before Zella spoke. “You know, when we were dealing with Lexi’s demon possession ordeal, I couldn’t help thinking demons probably had a hold on Jezebel multiple time stronger than Lexi. Yet at times it seemed like Lexi was going to be destroyed as she struggled to be free.”

“Yeah, the same thing has crossed my mind, too.”

“Do you think it’s possible for someone like Jezebel to come to the Lord?”

“All things are possible with God,” I replied. “Mary Madeline had seven demons and ended up being the first to see Jesus after His resurrection. But Jezebel would have to want it. God doesn’t force Himself on anyone. He draws us, and it’s up to as to whether we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit or not.”

“Good points,” Zella nodded.

“Zella, why do you think Jezebel’s going to come up in this Oscar investigation? She’s still in prison, but do you think she is somehow involved?”

Zella shrugged and said. “I’m not one hundred percent certain, but I do know this much.”

She paused, and chewed her lower lip as she contemplated. I prodded her on. “What do you know?”

“That picture of me with the tarot cards at the crime scene,” Zella said and then sighed. “Jezebel took that picture of me the second time we got together.”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part X)

The Victory

The tempter thought to take advantage of Christ’s humanity, and urge Him into presumption. But while Satan can solicit, he cannot compel to sin.

Not all the power of earth or hell could force Jesus in the slightest degree to depart from the will of His Father.

The tempter can never compel us to do evil. He cannot control minds unless they are yielded to his control. The will must consent, faith must let go its hold upon Christ before Satan can exercise his power upon us.

But every sinful desire we cherish affords him a foothold. Every point in which we fail of meeting the divine standard is an open door by which he can enter to tempt and destroy us. And every failure or defeat on our part gives occasion for him to reproach Christ.

God had already testified that Jesus was His Son; and now to ask proof that he was the Son of God would be putting God’s word to the test, tempting Him.

We should not present our petitions to God to prove whether He will fulfill word; but because He will fulfill it. Not to prove that He loves us, but because He loves us.

“Without faith it is impossible to please Him. For they that come to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Presumption is Satan’s counterfeit of faith. Faith claims God’s promises, and brings forth fruit in obedience. Presumption also claims the promises, but uses them as Satan did, to excuse transgression.

God will preserve all who walk in the path of obedience. But to depart from it is to venture on Satan’s ground. There we are sure to fall. The Savior has bidden us, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. (Mark 14:38). Meditation and prayer would keep us from rushing unbidden into the way of danger, and thus we should be saved from many a defeat.

Satan does not appear as a hideous monster with cloven feet and bat wings. He is a mighty angel, though fallen. He avows himself the leader of rebellion and the god of this world.

Jesus gained the victory through submission and faith in God, and by apostle He says to us. “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” (James 4:7, 8)

Jesus had endured the test, greater than we shall ever be called to endure. The angels now ministered to the Son of God as He lay like one dying. He was strengthened with food, comforted with the message of His Father’s love and the assurance that all heaven triumphed in His victory.

Warming to life again, His great heart goes out in sympathy for humanity, and He goes forth to complete the work He has begun, to not rest until the foe is vanquished, and our fallen race redeemed.

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.” (Revelation 5:12)

CXVI

THE LORD WILL BE A REFUGE FOR THE OPPRESSED, AND A REFUGE IN TIMES OF TROUBLE

PSALM 9:9

BROCK STORM

“Hey Dad, can I tell you something?” Marcella asked as she entered my shop. My seventeen year old adopted daughter had only recently started calling me Dad, and the name made my spirit soar. It was still new enough I had to refrain from asking her to say it again.

“Of course you can tell me something, Marcella,” I replied cheerfully. However, my cheeriness would be short lived.

“Oralee had a dream,” she told me with a wince. “It’s probably nothing. But considering the dream Sevenia had about Ora and me almost a year ago, well… And since Ora is kind of a mini me of Sevenia. And considering one of the subjects of the dream is the guy you are sort of protecting. And considering her dream insinuated he was, um… hurt… badly…”

“You’re talking about Oscar,” I said as my adrenaline began to spike.

“Yeah,” she said with a shrug, as she twisted her long blonde hair nervously. “I just thought you should know. Then you could, I don’t know, watch him a little closer or something.”

“Well,” I said, sighing heavily. “That might be a little tricky.”

“How come?”

“He’s a thousand miles away.”

“Huh? How can that be? I just saw him this morning.”

“He flew back home to New Jersey early this afternoon.”

“Oh no, Daddy, do you think he’s in trouble?”

Normally I would have relished Marcella calling me Daddy, but I felt a growing apprehension with the direction of our conversation.

“I don’t know, Honey,” I replied with a calmness I didn’t feel. A year ago I would have scoffed at a dream indicating real trouble. But after Sevenia’s dream about Marcella and Oralee living in a ramshackle tent under an abandoned railroad bridge, I needed to take my daughter’s nightmare seriously.

“Why did he go home, how come you aren’t guarding him anymore? I thought he was in danger.”

“Well, Oscar was getting restless, and nothing dangerous seemed to be happening. I consulted Agent Medora, and she said to go ahead and let him go if he wanted to go. She said to just make sure he knows that a risk still exists, and to be careful.”

Marcella began to chew on her lower lip, and her eyes looked concerned.

“Why don’t you tell me Oralee’s entire dream?” I petitioned.

She did. When she finished, she asked, “Do you think you should contact Agent Medora?”

“Yeah,” I replied somberly, but I was already reaching for my phone to do just that. When I saw I had a missed call from Nora Medora almost an twenty minutes previous, my toes curled. I pushed dial on the missed call and ten seconds later my ex-girlfriend’s voice was in my ear. She spoke without a greeting, as if we were in the middle of an intense conversation.

“We should have never told Oscar he should go home,” she said heatedly. “You need to have Seven Sallie and his family stay with you ASAP, in particular his wife.”

I could feel the blood drain from my face. “What do you mean?”

“I’m on my way to New Jersey right now, and it’s not good.”

“Is Oscar hurt?”

“I’ll say. He’s dead!”

It now felt like the blood drained from my entire body. “How?”

“Murdered, brutally murdered. There are more than thirty stab wounds.”

“I understand why Seven, and even his family could be in danger. But why did you say in particular Zella?”

“I’ve been told that Oscar’s arms were spread and nailed to the floor, as if he’d been crucified. Nailed to his hands were erotic pictures of Zella LaStella-Sallie. Apparently she had been an adult model around ten years ago. Written in Oscar’s blood over one hand was the word ‘phony,’ over the other was the word ‘hypocrite.’”

“Oh my,” I muttered. Then I glanced at Marcella. Her mouth was agape, and her eyes were wide and frightened. My protective instinct kicked into high gear. “Hang on a second, Nora.”

I held out an arm to Marcella. She made a little squeak and slammed her body into mine, her slender arms wrapping around my body and squeezed tight. She began to whimper. I hugged her to myself, and said, “Nobody’s gonna hurt one of my daughters, okay?”

She sniffed, and with a small, girlish voice said, “Okay.”

“Brock, did one of your daughter’s overhear us talking?” Nora asked.  

“Yeah, Marcella.”

“Let me talk to her,” Nora demanded. I handed Marcella the phone and the two exchanged tense greetings. Then Nora endeavored to comfort my daughter. “Listen, your dad was a professional bodyguard for more than a decade. Not only that, he was the best of the best. You may not realize it, but that big farmhouse you live in has tighter security than a bank. So take courage, and trust your dad, okay?”

The word “was” echoed in my head.

“Okay,” Marcella said, and smiled at me fondly, even as a tear came from her eye. “But I’m still gonna feel sad for Oscar.”

“That’s understandable,” Agent Medora said. And, not one for strong sentiment, said, “Can you put your dad back on?” Then she said to me, “Hey, I need to let you go for now, an agent on the scene is calling me. I’ll get back to you later.”

Needless to say, my cousin Seven was beyond upset. Not only to find out that his good friend had died, but was brutally murdered. Not to mention the disturbing fact of photographs of his wife, not only at the crime scene, but violently attached to the victim. Plus, the cryptic two word message, phony and hypocrite.

Thankfully, we were able to get the Sallie family settled into our home as smoothly as could be expected. Oralee was delighted to have her hero, Sevenia, staying with us indefinitely. Even though she had something like a prophetic dream about Oscar’s demise, she was mostly, and thankfully, oblivious to the reality of what actually took place.

My wife and Zella were upstairs getting a crib ready for Zella and Seven’s baby. I handed Seven a cup of Relaxed Mind tea and we sat at the kitchen table. I bobbed the bag up and down in my own cup of tea as I groped for something to say. My usually talkative cousin was eerily quiet. You never know how someone is going to handle grief and stress.

Marcella grabbed a sparkling water from the fridge and asked to join us at the table. I looked at Seven. This was his party, even though it was at my house. He shrugged and said, “I have nothing to keep secret. It’s up to you whether you want her to hear what might be said though.”

“Have a seat, kiddo,” I told my daughter.

“Sevenia wanted to join you guys,” Marcella told us with a reluctant smile. “But Oralee is kind of her shadow right now, so Sevenia wanted me to be her ears. If that’s okay?”

“It’s okay with me,” I said, then opened my palm at my cousin. “One more time?”

“Like I said, I have nothing to hide,” Seven said, and then snorted bitterly. “The more the  merrier I guess.”

Marcella averted her eyes and gazed at the table. I took her hand, squeezed gently, and told her, “Under the stress of this situation, Seven may revert to his old obnoxious, sarcastic self, so don’t take anything personally.”

Seven looked at me with startled, angry eyes, then soften as he turned his gaze to Marcella. “He’s right. Under my current mental state, my flippant proclivities may get the best of me. You’re a fine, sweet young lady, Marcella, and your presence at the table here is truly a comfort.”

“Thanks,” Marcella replied shyly.

Our trio at the table was quiet for a long minute, before Seven spoke again. “I just don’t get it. Oscar couldn’t have been home for more than an hour or two when he was attacked. How could his killer have acted so fast?”

“Obviously, they had been keeping tabs on him,” I replied. “Tapping in on someone has come a long way since bugging land lines.”

“You said they,” Seven said. “You think there are more than one involved.”

“I do. I think there was at least someone here, and someone out there. Most likely even more involved.”

“But they never got to him here.”

“I’ve got cameras all over the place, and they must know it.”

We were silent for a short minute when I half asked half commented, “I didn’t know Zella was an adult model.”

“Didn’t you read the e-book, ‘Billy Bob Booker and the Hooker’?” Seven asked.

“I did.”

“Don’t you remember, she and Willa met out on the west coast when they were both modeling.”

“I knew Willa posed for a magazine in her birthday suit, but I didn’t know Zella did.”

“They both did,” Seven shrugged. “Their erotic modeling was mild by today’s low standards, and brief.”

My phone sounded, and it was Nora. Before I answered, I asked, “Speaker?”

Seven nodded. After abrupt greetings, Agent Medora didn’t pull punches. “Put your security on highest alert.”

“Why, what else did you find?” I asked, and I could hear Nora sigh heavily.

“Phony and hypocrite were not the only words written with Oscar’s blood,” she informed us. “His thumbs were cut off, and shoved into his mouth.”

She paused and I asked, “You said something more was written?”

“Yeah,” she said, sighing heavily again. “By the severing of his thumbs, something wicked this way comes, with an arrow pointing at a photo of Zella reading Tarot cards.”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part VIX)

When Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted, He was led by the Spirit of God. He did not invite temptation. He went to the wilderness to be alone, to contemplate His mission and work. By fasting and prayer He was to brace Himself for the bloodstained path he must travel.

Mighty issues for the world were at stake in the conflict between the Prince of light and the leader of the kingdom of darkness. After tempting man to sin, Satan claimed the earth as his, and styled himself the prince of this world.

At the birth of Jesus, Satan knew that One had come with a divine commission to dispute his dominion. Satan well knew the position that Christ had held in heaven as the Beloved of the Father. That the Son of God should come to this earth as a man filled him with amazement and with apprehension. He could not fathom the mystery of this great sacrifice. His selfish soul could not understand such love for the fallen race.

Many look on this conflict between Christ and Satan as having no special bearing on their own life; and for them it has little interest. But within the domain of every human heart this controversy is repeated. Never does one leave the ranks of evil for the service of God without encountering the assaults of Satan.

The enticements which Christ resisted were those that we find so difficult to withstand. They were urged upon Him in a much greater degree as His character is superior to ours. With the terrible weight of the sins of the world upon Him, Christ withstood the test upon appetite, upon the love of the world, and upon that love of display which leads to presumption.

For thousands of years the human race had been decreasing in physical strength, and moral worth; and Christ took upon Him the infirmities of degenerate humanity. Only thus could He rescue man from the lowest depths of his degradation.

As by the indulgence of appetite Adam and Eve fell, so by the denial of appetite Christ must overcome.

Satan sought to instill into the mind of Eve the thought that God would not do as He had said. That the withholding of such beautiful fruit was a contradiction of His love and compassion for man. So now the tempter seeks to inspire Christ with his own sentiments. “If thou be the Son of God.”

Would God treat His own Son thus? Would He leave Him in the desert with wild beasts, without food, without companions, without comfort?

When Satan and the Son of God first met in conflict, Christ was the commander of the heavenly hosts; and Satan, the leader of revolt in heaven, was cast out. Now their condition is apparently reversed, and Satan makes the most of his supposed advantage.

One of the most powerful angels has been banished from heaven. The appearance of Jesus indicates that He is that fallen angel, forsaken by God. A divine being would be able to sustain his claim by working a miracle. “If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.”

It was in this time of greatest weakness that Christ was assailed by the fiercest temptations. But Jesus met Satan with words of Scripture. “It is written.”

In the same way, Satan has taken advantage of the weakness of humanity. He attacks our weak points of character. He seeks to shake our confidence in God, who suffers such a condition of things to exist. He hopes to discourage the soul, and to break our hold on God. If we would meet him as Jesus did, we would escape many a defeat.

“The prince of this world comes,” said Jesus, “and has nothing in Me.” (John 14:30). There was in Him nothing that responded to Satan’s sophistry. He did not consent to sin. Not even by a thought did Jesus yield to temptation. So it may be with us.

By what means did Christ overcome in the conflict with Satan? By the word of God. And every promise in God’s word is ours.

“Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11)

CXV

BE RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND

EPHESIANS 4:23

MARCELLA KNIGHT-STORM

“She did what!” Destiny barked. “How dare she show you an adult video! What’s wrong with her? I trusted her!”

I had never seen Destiny, my adopted mom, actually get angry before. It unsettled me, yet strangely, it made me feel loved.

“Mom,” I pleaded. “I pushed her into it. I threatened to leave, maybe for good, if she didn’t let me see it.”

Right after I called her Mom, her countenance changed to something closer to her typically peaceable face. I had only recently begun referring to my adoptive parents, Destiny and Brock, as Mom and Dad. I couldn’t blame her for her outrage though. It was she who had talked me into seeing the psychologist, Jamie Northrup in the first place. And it was indeed pretty unconventional, yet I feel trustful, for my counselor to allow me to see her in a compromising video.

“Well, good for you,” my mom said calmly. Yet she folded her arms and gazed intensely into my eyes. I averted my gaze under the scrutiny of the stare. “And do you feel benefited now having looked at filth?”

“Actually I do,” I replied meekly.

She snorted. “Well, that sure is interesting therapy, watching porn.”

“That’s not what I watched.”

“Oh yeah? Well, what did you watch then?”

“A human tragedy,” I replied, unable to stop a tear from squirting out of my eye. Mom’s eyes widened, and her mouth opened and then closed. I continued. “Jamie let me witness the most shameful, humiliating experience of her life. Not only do I trust her completely now, I…I love her and feel a real kinship with her. The way she has overcome and become such a stellar human being inspires me, especially us being equals in being used and abused.”

“I see,” my mom said mildly. She then bit her lower lip and stepped toward me for a hug. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” I told her. Then as our bodies separated, I added, “I know your response was because you love me.”

“To the moon and back,” she smiled, her own eyes watery. She took hold of my hand and continued cautiously. “Sweetie, I’m glad she inspires you and all. But how do you see her as an equal in your experiences? I mean, yes, what that boy did to Jamie was awful. But it was one incident that she easily escaped compared to your own situation. You were a prisoner, a slave, for an extended period of time.”

“She didn’t easily escape her ordeal, Mom,” I replied. “It still haunts her to this day. And probably always will. Just like me. Plus, what happened to her ended up on the internet, viewed by thousands. For a long time she feared someone from her family or church would see it, or become aware of it.

“Another aspect was our family situations. Until you, Brock, and Oralee, I never knew what a loving family was like. Jamie grew up with loving parents, values, and goals. One of the values she had as a girl growing up was also a goal. For years she thought she would lose her virginity on her wedding night to a wonderful man as they started a family. Instead it was a deceptive, womanizing creep who not only stole it, but broadcast it, and gave her an STD in the process.”

“I didn’t know about her getting an STD,” my mom said with a concerned frown.

“It wasn’t something permanent,” I told her. “It was cured with a shot, but it still added insult to injury.”

“Or also injury to insult,” she added with a sad smile.

I responded with my own sad smile. “I knew the second she told me that only two people at Cotton Creek Cove knew about her incident, that you were one of them.”

My mom nodded. “Not long after I joined the church, she wanted to talk to me about my having done porn. She had been tormented about countless people seeing her not only naked, but… Well, you know.”

“Were you able to help her?”

Mom shrugged. “Yes and no. We became extra close friends because of me knowing her secret. But even though I had regret for my past, I had intentionally put myself in that position at the time. Even with my regrets, I can never fully understand how it must feel to be tricked, and taken advantage of like she had been. Then to have it go viral in the porn world on top of that.”

I nodded and looked at my shoes. Mom lifted my chin, and I saw her smiling warmly at me. She said, “Once again, Sweetie, I’m sorry. Given what I just told you, I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about what Jamie did.”

“I understand, Mom,” I smiled back.

“You’re really something, you know that,” she said with a little laugh. “I figured that as your mother, I was your guide and teacher, and here you are giving me a life lesson.”

Mom and I were quiet for a moment as we gazed fondly at each other. Then the sweet, sing song voice of Oralee startled us both. It made us both jump because we were concerned with what she might have overheard after we discovered her sitting on the steps leading to our bedrooms.

“Is STD what Daddy puts in the car?” she asked innocently as she skipped over to us.

“No, Ora,” I couldn’t help saying without a little giggle. “It’s STP Daddy puts into the car.”

“Oh, what’s STD then?” she asked naively, a frown above her big dark brown eyes.

“Uh,” Mom stammered, her startled eyes searching mine, possibly for a way to explain without lying. “It’s…”

“M, will you come swing with me?” my little adoptive sister asked as she took my hand. The look of relief on our mother’s face was palpable.

“Sure thing, Sweetie,” I chuckled.

“Good, I want to tell you about a scary dream I had,” Oralee said as the nine year old tugged at my hand.

Mom’s look of relief vanished and was replaced with one of concern. I winked at her reassuringly. Thankfully, Oralee’s nightmares were typically along the lines of dreaming one of her favorite stuffed animals was missing.

I followed Oralee as she skipped to the swing set. It was a nice day for winter, but still chilly. I hoped she didn’t want to swing long. Yet it was good to be getting a good dose of fresh air when we normally could be cooped up in the house this time of year.

I pushed Oralee on the swing for a little while. She seemed to have forgotten about her dream, so I simply enjoyed the childish joy of my little sister. I pondered our life at the Knight-Storm residence over the las ten months. We had truly been blessed. Although, Oralee had settled in much quicker than me. However, she was younger and far more innocent. Thank the Lord for that!

Oralee began to swing on her own, vigorously pumping her little legs. She put so much effort into getting maximum height, her sneaker flew off. I retrieved it and crouched to put it back on her foot after she stopped. I smiled at the way she tended to mimic her hero, Sevenia, in the way she dressed. Denim skirts, converse sneakers, and sweatshirts that usually had a positive saying on them.

“Alright, do you want me to get you started again, or do you got it?” I asked.

“No, I want to tell you about my dream,” she said, then pointed at the swing next to hers. “Will you have a seat, Big Sis?”

“Why certainly, Little Sis.”

She ran a hand through her short black hair, and then looked at me with a frown. “Do dreams come true a lot?”

“Not usually, but sometimes,” I replied. “Like when Sevenia dreamt about us under the bridge. Then she and Mom and Dad came out and found us.”

“I see,” she frowned and then she watched her feet as she kicked them in a rotating manner. “I’m afraid my dream is gonna come true.”

“Was it a bad dream?” I asked, suddenly feeling anxious for some reason.

“It didn’t start out that way,” she said. “You know that car you and Daddy are fixing up?”

“Yeah,” I replied. She was referring to a 1963 Ford Ranchero our dad bought for him and me to restore together.

“You, Daddy, and me were riding in it,” she said, and then began to twist her fingers nervously. “It was really, really fun. We were going down a road and the trees made a tunnel. But then a woman dressed in all black stepped in front of us. Her eyes were glowing red, like a couple of Christmas tree bulbs. She held a big ax thingy that was as tall as she was. Then she ran into the trees and Daddy said he had to catch her. We ran, and ran, and ran. Then we came to a really wide, spooky tree. The lady in black’s ax was leaning against it and there was blood on it. Daddy said he needed to call the FIB lady.”

“You mean the FBI lady, Nora Medora.” I corrected, and then realized my leg was bobbing nervously.

“Yeah, her,” Oralee said with wide, serious eyes. “Cause Mr. Sallie’s friend Oscar was hurt.”

A chill ran up my spine, and I began to shiver.

“Then you pointed out to Daddy that something was carved on the strange tree, and he read it to us.”

Oralee looked at me wide eyed, and with concern as she licked her lips.

“What did it say?” I asked.

She swallowed and said, “By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes.”

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

(The LIFE and MINISTRY of JESUS Part VIII)

The voice in the wilderness.

It is through faith that spiritual life is begotten, and we are enabled to do the works of righteousness.

To the question of Zacharias, the angel said, “I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God, and am sent to speak unto you, and to show you these glad tidings.”

Five hundred plus years before, Gabriel had made known to Daniel the prophetic period which was to extend to the coming of Christ.

Before the birth of John the Baptist, the angel had said. “He shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” God had called the son of Zacharias to a great work!

Such a messenger must be holy. He must be a temple for the indwelling of the Spirit of God. In order to fulfill his mission, he must have a sound physical constitution, and mental and spiritual strength. Therefore it would be necessary for him to control the appetites and passions.

In the time of John the Baptist, greed for riches, and the love of luxury and display had become widespread. Sensuous pleasures, feasting and drinking were causing physical disease and degeneracy, benumbing the spiritual perceptions, and lessoning the sensibility to sin. John was to stand as a reformer.

In the natural order of things, the son of Zacharias would have been educated for the priesthood. But the training of the rabbinical schools would have unfitted him for his work. God did not send him to the teachers of theology to learn how to interpret the Scriptures. He called him to the desert, that he might learn of nature and nature’s God.

In solitude, by meditation and prayer, he sought to gird up his soul for the lifework before him.

He saw the people deceived, self-satisfied, and asleep in their sins. He longed to rouse them to a holier life. The message that God had given him to bear was designed to startle them from their lethargy, making them aware of their great wickedness.

Before the seed of the gospel could find lodgment, the soil of the heart must be broken up. Before they would seek healing from Jesus, they must be awakened to their danger from the wounds of sin.

John’s singular appearance carried the minds of his hearers back to the ancient seers. In his manner and dress he resembled the prophet Elijah.

Jesus and John the Baptist were cousins, and closely related by their circumstances of their births; yet they had no other direct acquaintance with each other. The life of Jesus had been spent at Nazareth in Galilee; that of John, in the wilderness of Judea. Amid widely different surroundings they had lived in relative seclusion, and had no communication with each other. Providence had ordered this. No occasion was to be given for the charge that they had conspired together to support each other’s claims.

When Jesus came to be baptized, John recognized in Him a purity of character that he had never before perceived in any man. Never had he come in contact with a human being from whom there breathed an influence so divine.

As Jesus asked for baptism, John drew back, exclaiming, “I have need to be of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”….. And straightway coming up out of the water, Jesus saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him.

The glory that rested upon Christ is a pledge of the love of God for us. It tells us of the power of prayer.

Our Redeemer has opened the way so that the most sinful, the most needy, the most oppressed and despised, may find access to the Father.