LXXVIII

THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, IF HAPLY THEY MIGHT FEEL AFTER HIM, AND FIND HIM, THOUGH HE BE NOT FAR FROM EVERY ONE OF US

ACTS 17:27

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“In many ways the war was harder when I returned from it than when I was actually in a combat zone,” Captain Kirk declared. “I failed so many times, Kiddo, so many times.”

“You are most definitely not a failure,” I told him. “You are the most Godly person I have ever known.”

“Sixteen,” he muttered and stroked his long white beard as he shook his head.

I thought he was referring to my age, my youth and mt inexperience. “I’m seventeen, almost eighteen, Captain Crunch.”

I hadn’t called him Captain Crunch instead of Kirk in quite a while, and I hoped to lighten a rare dark mood for him. Thankfully, he snickered. In return, he referred to me by the pet name my dad and Brock often called me.

“I wasn’t talking about your age, Sweet Pea,” he said. “After I returned to the states, sixteen people I had counseled with died by their own hand. Half of them were by suicide, while the other half were drug related.”

“Sir, that’s not your fault.”

“Isn’t it?” he replied in such away that I couldn’t tell if he was being humble and meek, or sarcastic. But sarcasm wasn’t becoming of the good Pastor.

“How many times have you told me most people don’t want to hear truth?” I asked. “In the recent prophecy lectures I gave, you told me at the start to look at the effort as planting seeds and not to expect anyone to accept the truth right away. In a similar fashion, your Chaplinian influence probably benefited hundreds.”

“Chaplinian?” Captain Kirk said and then chuckled.

“You know what I mean,” I giggled.

I wanted to keep the pastor talking. Like a lot of war veterans, Captain Kirk rarely talked about it. I wanted to understand more of what he went through. I wanted to know why the most Godly person I have ever known, a man who led countless souls to the Lord, felt like he failed.

“Let’s pray, Kiddo,” the Pastor petitioned.

For the first time ever, I felt something like disappointed to pray with him. The reason being, when he and I prayed, a back and forth exchange always ensued. He would think of someone to pray for, then I would, then he would, then I would. Plus we would also pray for situations, strength, stamina, and wisdom. I felt we would get sidetracked, yet I knew in my heart that praying was far more important than satisfying my curiosity.

When we finished praying, the good Captain glanced at his watch, and I felt myself tense. Marcy had rode with me to church, and I told her I would be chatting with Captain Kirk for only a few minutes. It had been almost an hour. With Pastor being so troubled, I lost track of time. I dashed to the window. Only the pastor’s car and mine remained.

“What’s the matter, Sevenia?”

“Oh no!” I groaned, putting my face in my hands for a couple seconds before I walked briskly to the door. “I forgot about Marcy!”

As I stepped from his office and into the corridor, I saw Marcy at the end of the hall. Her finger was on a painting. I stopped in my tracks, and Captain Kirk bumped into my backside. The painting she was looking at was a beach scene. In the middle of the picture was the famous poem called ‘Footprints.’ At the heart of the poem is the fact that Jesus takes our burdens, and often even carries us.

Judging by where her finger pointed, it was at a single set of footprints in the sand, representing Jesus carrying us. She knelt, bowed her head, and silently prayed. I turned to look at Pastor. He smiled and nodded. When she finished, the good Captain and I walked toward her.

“Oh, hi,” she said, smiling sweetly.

She looked so much like a younger version of Destiny that it always gave me pause. To see her smiling sweetly, her long blonde hair in a French braid, and wearing a gingham dress, she was such a vision of wholesome innocence that you never would have guessed that she had recently escaped from a life of forced prostitution. A victim of human trafficking.

“Marcy, I’m so sorry,” I told her, aiming a warm smile at her. “The Pastor and I have a way of losing track of time when we get together for a talk.”

“Oh, that’s okay,” she said with a chuckle. “I actually fell asleep on that comfy sofa over there. I just woke up a few minutes ago.”

“We couldn’t help noticing you looking at that painting of a beach with the ‘Footprints’ poem,” Captain Kirk mentioned. “Do you like it?”

“I love it!” Marcy cooed. “As a matter of fact, I was looking at it before my nap, and it triggered the most wonderful dream. That, along with recently reading the e-book ‘Knight Storm.’”

“Really? Do tell,” I said with a grin. She suddenly looked embarrassed, so I said something and instantly regretted it, thinking Captain Kirk wanted it kept between him and me. Not only that, but Marcy also played a role in our dreams. “The Pastor and I were just sharing dreams we had with each other.”

“Do you want to tell us about your dream?” the Pastor interjected so quickly, I was certain he didn’t want me mentioning our own dreams.

“I guess so,” she said shyly, as she twisted her fingers nervously. “Well, you know the role that old railroad bridge played for Oralee and me.”

“We do,” I replied, answering for Captain Kirk and myself.

“So, Dee let me read ‘Spoiled produce’ and ‘Knight Storm’ on her phone. I’m sure you both are acquainted with those stories, and the role the bridge played?”

“We sure are,” Pastor said cheerily. “Jack and Mary Gold Weston have been part of Cotton Creek Cove fellowship for 35 years.”

“So tell us about your dream, Marcy,” I said.

“Well, it was strange and wonderful at the same time,” Marcy began timidly. “Destiny, Brock and me were at the bridge. It was like, three times higher than reality, and I was super freaked. But Destiny was insisting we needed to cross to the other side where it was safe. Safe from what I don’t know. I was super scared, so Brock had me climb on his back. When we reached the other side, there was beach and ocean on both sides, but it was really cool. I looked back and saw just Brock’s footprints, and no sign of Destiny. I panicked and called out her name.”

Marcy snickered and hung her head bashfully.

“Did you find her?”

Marcy nodded. “When I didn’t see her, Brock told me to call her Mom. So I did, and I saw her. She was smiling at me as she stood at the gate of a garden. It looked like the garden right behind this building. She told me to come join her. I know there are just a bunch of weeds in it now, but in my dream there were all kinds of pretty flowers mixed in. You and the pastor were there, Sevenia. You asked me to come and help separate the flowers from the weeds.”

“Wow, like the wheat and tares of the Bible,” I interjected.

“Yeah,” she said with a shrug. “But I was hesitant to help. I was worried I would pull up flowers by mistake. But then Pastor Samson insisted, in a nice way, that I come in and help. So I did, and the funny thing… I was…”

Marcy blushed and hung her head. I petitioned her to finish, but then regretted it, fearing it might have been something perverse, stemming from her time in sex slavery.

“I was calling Pastor Samson Grandpa,” Marcy concluded quickly, and meekly.

“Oh, dear child, that’s beautiful,” Captain Kirk declared. “I’d love it if you called me Grandpa.”

“You would?” Marcy asked hopefully.

“Indeed I would! That is, as long as you feel comfortable doing so.”

“I guess so,” Marcy said with a sweet smile and a shrug. “I mean, I’ve never had parents, let alone any grandparents. But I would like you to be my, um, grandpa. If you would have me, that is.”

“Of course I would be honored to have you as a granddaughter! Splendid! From here on out call me Grandpa.”

For a few seconds, I was tempted to be jealous, childishly thinking, Captain Crunchy Bunch is mine! But by the grace of God, I was beyond happy for Marcy. She was such a sweet, troubled soul who had been through more hardships than was fair for many lifetimes. Besides, I had four real grandparents. That’s why I never thought to call Captain Kirk Grandpa, even though I had become closer to him than any of my biological GP’s.

Then the green eyed monster briefly reared its ugly head one more time with what the pastor said next.

“I was about to explain one of my most difficult war experiences to Sevenia. It was a devastating period in my life, but you’re welcome to join us if you would like.”

“I’d like that,” she replied quietly.

I knew that the Pastor had a twofold intention with his invitation. He wanted Marcy to feel she belonged to something, like a real granddaughter. Plus he wanted her to have an example that she wasn’t alone in experiencing horrific circumstances in life.

I smiled warmly at her, took hold of her hand, and gave a little tug. She smiled back and followed.

(FOOTPRINTS)

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him, and the other to the Lord.

When the last scene of his life passed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. “Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you, you’d walk with me all the way. But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don’t understand why when I needed you most you would leave me.”

The Lord replied, “My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering, when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES and QUOTES)

Prayer does not bring God down to us, but brings us up to Him.

Jesus endured struggles and torture of soul. His humanity made prayer a necessity and a privilege. He found comfort and joy in communion with His Father. And if the Savior of men, the Son of God, felt the need of prayer, how much more should feeble, sinful mortals feel the necessity of fervent, constant prayer.

What can angels of heaven think of poor helpless human beings, who are subject to temptations, when God’s heart of infinite love yearns toward them, ready to give them more than they can ask or think, and yet they pray so little and have so little faith?

Prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse. Without unceasing prayer and diligent watching, we are in danger of growing careless and of deviating from the right path.

The heart must be open to the Spirit’s influence, or God’s blessing cannot be received.

Another element of prevailing prayer is faith. “He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

If we come to God, feeling helpless and dependent, as we really are, and in humble, trusting faith make known our wants to Him whose knowledge is infinite, who sees everything in creation, and who governs everything by His will and word. He can and will attend to our cry, and will let light shine into our heart. Through sincere prayer, we are brought into the mind of the infinite.

Perseverance in prayer has been made a condition of receiving. We must pray always if we would grow in faith and experience.

Unceasing prayer is the unbroken union of the soul with God, so that life from God flows into our life.

There is necessity for diligence in prayer, let nothing hinder you. Make every effort to keep open the communion between Jesus and your own soul.

It is impossible for the soul to flourish while prayer is neglected.

We should have the door of the heart open continually and our invitation going up that Jesus may come and abide as a heavenly guest in the soul.

We need to have more distinct views of Jesus and a fuller comprehension of the value of eternal realities.

We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun.

You cannot burden Him, you cannot weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of your head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. “The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” James 5:11.

Take to Him everything that perplexes your mind. Nothing is to great for Him to bear, for He upholds worlds.

There is no chapter in our experience to dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity to difficult for Him to unravel.

“He heals the broken in heart, and binds up their wounds.” Psalm 147:3

The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watch care. Not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.

LXXVII

YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHECY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS

ACTS 2:17

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“I have recently had a couple of dreams about an angel named Melanchthon,” Captain Kirk, aka Pastor Samson, had told me. “But how did you know?”

“Just a hunch,” I shrugged.

The Pastor and I were in his office chatting an hour after his Sabbath day sermon and a half hour after the fellowship meal.

“A hunch?” Captain Kirk asked with a slow, low voice, his clear blue eyes peered at me above his bifocals.

“You’ve told me about Melanchthon before,” I replied with another shrug. “You know, how he warned you about my dad.”

“Yes, that,” the pastor replied with a neutral tone. “The thing with Seven could be a coincidence.”

“A coincidence? You know my dad’s soul was being destroyed by his own broadcast and everything that went with it. Yet it is what he lived for. The Seven Sallie Showdown had millions of listeners. But after my dad’s miraculous conversion, he changed the content of the show and now it has a fraction of the audience he once had. Yet he’s never been happier.”

“Yes, a clear conscience can do that. And he’s still making a decent living, isn’t he?”

“But now you’re doubting your encounter with Melanchthon in that regard?”

He frowned, grunted, and waved his hands above his head, making him look like a nutty professor. I couldn’t help giggling, even though I was somewhat dismayed at his skepticism. It was so unlike Captain Kirk. “I’ve never known you to doubt.”

“I don’t doubt scripture, Deary. But the Bible instructs us to try the spirits to see if they’re from God (1 John 4:1). So what I do doubt is my senses, especially now that I’m of a ripe age. Getting close to the bone yard is me.”

I laughed, and then he did too. However I hated the thought of him dying and said told him so. Then I urged him to talk about Melanchthon.

“The dreaming about angels is not the dream I wanted to talk to you about,” he told me.

“It’s not?” I frowned.

“Why such a disappointed look?”

“Because I had a dream about angels myself last night,” I replied. “I was hoping our two dreams might have been in synch.”

“What was your dream? Was the angel in it called Melanchthon?”

“Not that I know of,” I said. “The angel in my dream was nondescript. The whole dream was pretty vague, and I guess chaotic, except for one small part where I was with a band of believers. But I didn’t know most of them. An angel was leading us up a mountain trail. There was a sharp drop off on the right side. As we climbed higher and higher, the path became narrower and narrower. Then the trail dropped off on both sides. People complained, but the angel encouraged us on. Even so, most of them turned back. The trail became so narrow, it was as if we were on a steel girder high up in the sky. The angel pressed us on, but we could only scoot on our hands and knees.”

“Who exactly is we?” Captain Kirk asked, with wide curious eyes.

“The only two I recognized in the dream were Marcy and Oralee. They were just ahead of me. Oralee started to cry and wailed that she was gonna fall. Marcy put her on her back and continued on, but very slowly. I asked her if she was okay. She turned to look at me and tears were coming out of her eyes. Only the tears were blood.”

The pastor gazed at me as if in awe, as he handed me a tissue. It was then I realized a couple of tears had popped out of my own eyes. Fortunately, mine were clear liquid.

“What happened next?” the Pastor asked.

“The angel picked the three of us up, and we soared toward a bright light. I was relieved that all of the blood seemed to be off of Marcy’s cheeks and she had a smile that lit up her face.”

Captain Kirk and I looked at each other for a long moment.

“What next?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I shrugged. “I jolted awake. I guess the sensation of flying woke me up.”

“At least it seemed to end well,” he said and then stroked his beard a few times before continuing. “Marcy was also in my dream. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Wow, really?”

“Yes.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Okay, well, you know I met Marcy for the first time a week ago, give or take.”

“Yes.”

“Now I haven’t had a dream or flash back about the Vietnam war in quite some time. Thank God! But I think seeing Marcy’s eyes triggered them.”

“What about her eyes?”

“They’re haunted. I mean, they looked better today, thank the Lord. But they’re still haunted in the same way as soldiers with PTSD. The same way as… Sherry Drummond.”

“Who’s Sherry Drummond?”

The Pastor didn’t answer. He pinched the bridge of his nose and bowed his head. He sat stone still for twenty or thirty seconds. Then his shoulders began to shake as he sobbed. I felt myself go ridged. I had seen the Pastor shed tears before, but not like this. I sat quietly and gave him time.

“Well, that was embarrassing,” Captain Kirk said meekly as he composed himself.

“It’s just me,” I said softly, as I took his hand and squeezed.

“Thanks, kiddo.”

“Do you feel like telling me who Sherry Drummond is?”

“She was the fiancée of one of the men I was Chaplain for during the war. Tim Williams was his name. Wonderful man, brave, loyal, conscientious. He confided in me more than the average soldier did. We talked of his fears and anxieties, as well as his hopes and dreams. One of the dreams he talked about was marrying his girlfriend as soon as his hitch was up. His main fear about dying was Sherry. He had told me on more than one occasion that she was a very sensitive soul.

“A couple months after I returned to the states after my second and final tour in Vietnam, Timmy was killed in battle. Oddly, the same day I found out about his death, I received a letter from him. It was short, but to the point.”

Pastor opened a drawer of his desk, pulled out an old, yellowed letter, and handed it to me. I opened it and looked at the handwritten page.

“Dear Chappy,” I read. “The fighting here the last couple days has been intense. I’ve got a feeling I probably won’t survive the war. Sir, you are the only person I feel I can tell this to. If I don’t make it, please, please, please, go to Sherry! Tell her to love again. Tell her to go on with her life. Tell her that dreaming of her got me through many lonely nights, and fearsome battles, and I love her more than words can describe. Explain to her that in heaven, people neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God. So it doesn’t matter if she loves again, and she has a lotta love to give. She’ll be an amazing mother some day! But she is so loyal, I’m afraid she’ll never move on. Tell her regardless of loving again, she and I will still be in eternity together. I’m sorry to ask this huge favor of you, but I didn’t know who else to turn to. As I’ve told you before, Sherry is very fragile. But you have such a gift, Sir, of putting people at ease. So I thank you! I also miss you, Sir! Your friend, Corporal Timothy Williams.”

(The Bible reference in the letter was from Matthew 22:23-30)

I looked at Captain Kirk. He was leaned back in his desk chair, his hands interlaced and resting on his midsection, his head turned as he stared blankly out of the office window.

“So what happened with Sherry?” I asked, with a croaked voice. I also realized tears were streaming down my face. Pastor sighed and then slowly turned his gaze toward me.

“Well,” he said, sighing again as he handed me another tissue. “I went to see her. We spent a whole afternoon talking. Although she was consumed with grief, by the time I left, she had seemed composed. When we parted, she even smiled and thanked me. But her eyes were still haunted. Maybe even more than when I had first arrived. That’s how Marcy reminded me of Sherry. When I met Marcy, she gave me a genuine smile, and a soft, pleasant hello, so eerily similar to Sherry’s smile and soft goodbye. Yet they both wore that same contradiction in their  countenance. Friendly smile and haunted eyes.”

“So, did Sherry eventually end up getting married?” I asked quietly.

“No, kiddo, she didn’t,” Pastor said, and then sighed yet again. “When I arrived back where I was stationed on the east coast, my assistant informed me that Sherry had ended her life just an hour or two after I left her.”

(DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

Our Savior’s joy was in the uplifting and redemption of fallen humanity. For this He counted not His life dear unto Himself, but endured the cross, despising the shame.

The spirit of Christ’s self-sacrificing love is the spirit that pervades heaven and is the very essence of its bliss.

The Savior’s life on earth was not a life of ease and devotion to Himself, but He toiled with persistent, earnest, untiring effort for the salvation of lost mankind.

If the love of God is in the heart, it will be manifested in the life. The sweet savor of Christ will surround us, and our influence will elevate and bless.

No tears are shed that God does not notice. There is no smile that He does not mark. If we would fully believe this, all undue anxieties would be dismissed. Our lives would not be so filled with disappointment as now.

“Subject to like passions as we are.” (James 5:17) With the history of patriarchs and prophets, we see how they struggled through discouragements similar to our own. How they fell under temptation as we have done, and yet took heart again and conquered through the grace of God.

“Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” Jesus explains Himself by saying, “The words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:53, 63)

Fill the whole heart with the words of God. They are the living water, quenching your burning thirst. They are the living bread from heaven.

The theme of redemption is one that angels desire to look into. It will be the science and song of the redeemed throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. Is it not worthy of careful thought and study now!

The infinite mercy and love of Jesus, the sacrifice made in our behalf, call for the most serious and solemn reflection. We should dwell upon the character of our dear Redeemer and Intercessor. We should meditate upon the mission of Him who came to save His people from their sins.

If we allow others to do our thinking, we shall have crippled energies and contracted abilities.

If God’s word were studied as it should be, people would have a breadth of mind, a nobility of character, and a stability of purpose rarely seen in these times.

But there is little benefit derived from a hasty reading of the scriptures. One may read the whole Bible through and yet fail to see its beauty or comprehend its deep and hidden meaning.

We can’t obtain wisdom without earnest attention and prayerful study. Prayer is the better half of study.

Angels will be with those who in humility of heart seek for divine guidance.

The Spirit of truth is the only effectual teacher of divine truth. How must God esteem the human race, since He gave His Son to die for them and appoints His Spirit to be man’s teacher and continual guide!

LXXVI

ON MY SERVANTS AND ON MY HANDMAIDENS I WILL POUR OUT IN THOSE DAYS OF MY SPIRIT; AND THEY SHALL PROPHESY

ACTS 2:18

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Good news,” Brock declared as he lowered his phone from his ear. “Marcy and Oralee are officially our foster kids.”

“Yaaaaay!” Eight year old Oralee cheered as she leapt into Brock’s massive arms. He laughed as he caught her and hugged her. “Next step is adoption,” he added.

Sixteen year old Marcy put her hands to her face and gently wept grateful tears. Destiny rubbed a hand on her back. Marcy turned, allowing mother and daughter to hug tightly. I smiled from ear to ear as I swallowed a lump in my throat. I prayed Marcy would relax now and feel at peace in her permanent home.

It had been a few weeks since we had discovered the two girls seeking shelter under an old, abandoned railroad bridge. They had been on the run from human traffickers. Marcy had been forced into prostitution for the previous two years, and Oralee had been a new arrival,  whom Marcy felt compelled to rescue.

Destiny and Brock had opened their home to the two orphans. Not only that, with the help of FBI Special Agent Nora Medora’s “friends,” they were seeking a fast track to adopt. In the meantime, they had been granted legal guardianship through foster parentage.

Life had hardened Marcy, but not in a way you might think. Even though she is very pretty, you would only have to spend a few minutes with her to realize that the only way she could have ever been a prostitute was through force against her will. If ever a human being had their innocence stolen, it was Marcy. If ever their was attempted murder on a person’s soul, Marcy experienced it. If ever a child grew up without love, Marcy had.

It amazed me that Marcy was as well-adjusted as she was, given her circumstances. That said, you could tell she was both hungry for, yet frightened, of affection. When I had previously hugged her, she felt stiff, still, and awkward. Yet the way her hands clutched my back, it was as if she was communicating to please not let go. She needed to feel loved, wanted, and clean.

Destiny and Brock insisted she make herself at home. Yet when she moved about the house, opening the cupboards and the refrigerator, her demeanor was as if she had no right, like she was snooping or something.

When she had been invited to go to church with us, she seemed scared that her polite refusal might get her kicked out of the Knight-Storm home. When we prepared to leave for fellowship, and Marcy offered to leave and come back later, her aloneness broke my heart. Destiny reassured her that she did not need to leave, that they trusted her.

A couple days after Destiny and Brock officially became the girl’s foster parents, Marcy wanted to talk to me in private.

“I feel like I should go to church with you all,” Marcy told me with a pained expression. “But the last time I was involved with a church, I ended up kidnapped and forced into prostitution.”

“No one expects you to go to church if you don’t want to,” I assured her.

“I mean, I really appreciate what Brock and Dee are doing for me and Ora. I really do! But I don’t want to be fake either. Sevenia, the truth is, I think I’m an atheist.”

“I am, too,” I replied.

“What!” Marcy declared with wide eyes. “But you not only go to church and participate in Bible studies, Dee told me you’ve given sermons and stuff. I’ve heard that people even refer to you as the girl prophetess. No offence, but if you’re an atheist, you’re also a major phony.”

“Well, if you don’t believe me, why don’t you tell me why you don’t believe in God, and then I’ll explain why I don’t believe either.”

Marcy proceeded to give me some of the reasons she didn’t believe. The main reason being the false concept of eternal torment, which a large percentage of Christianity embraced.

“See, I told you I’m an atheist,” I smiled at her and gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Huh?” she replied with a frown.

“I don’t believe in that God either,” I said, as I grabbed my Bible. I proceeded to give her a quick study. I explained that, although the earth will be destroyed by fire, everything will be burned up, and God will make a new heaven and a new earth. (Revelation 21:1-4)

I also clarified that the Bible clearly teaches that the souls of unrepentant sinners die. They are not languishing in a place called hell with the devil as the gatekeeper. Only the righteous have eternal life, and the wicked experience what’s called the second death. I showed her Romans 6:23 and Revelation 20:14, 21:8.

“Wow,” she replied quietly, as she gazed intently at the scriptures. “But what about where the Bible calls hell everlasting or eternal fire? The church I went to with former foster parents loved scaring people with those verses.”

I showed her Jude 1:7, how the verse says Sodom and Gomorrah suffers eternal fire.

“Is Sodom and Gomorrah burning today?” I asked.

“No,” she said slowly, and then frowned.

“Eternal and everlasting simply means the punishment is permanent,” I explained. “Not the means or element by which the punishment is inflicted. Do you follow?”

“Yeah,” she said in awe. “How come so many people believe God is a cruel tyrant?”

I shrugged. “To be honest, a few years ago before I joined Cotton Creek Cove, I belonged to a church that held to the doctrine of eternal hell as a place. I guess I didn’t think about it too much back then. It did bothered me, though. But I just shrugged it off as one of life’s mysteries we couldn’t understand. It was Captain Kirk who set me strait. And having my perspective radically change, made me fall even deeper in love with Jesus than I already was.”

“Captain Kirk?” Marcy giggled. “You mean like Star Trek?”

“Sorry, no,” I laughed. “Pastor Kirk Samson. He was a captain in the army, so he got the nickname Captain Kirk. The funny thing is, he’s never even watched Star Trek.”

“Is he the guy with the long white beard?”

“He does have a long white beard,” I replied. “Did you meet him?”

“Yes, I met a man they called Pastor Samson. He stopped by Brock and Destiny’s one night. He reminds me of an old Bible prophet, like Moses or someone.”

“That’d be him,” I said, and then we both laughed.

“Something Captain Kirk taught me not long after we became friends,” I told Marcy. “He showed me how in the first two chapters of the Bible, in Genesis, God created a paradise. Then he showed me the last two chapters of the Bible, in Revelation, how God recreates a paradise, at the end of time. Then he explained that everything in between was God’s dealing with fallen humanity. Especially the Gospels, when God came to earth as a man and not only redeemed fallen humanity, but gave us an example of how to live.

“There’re many things I love about appreciate about Jesus, especially how he died so that you and me might have eternal life. But there’s one aspect that particularly fascinates me. It’s that when God walked the earth, the religious leaders and rulers hated Him so much that they murdered Him. The amazing thing is, He could have easily stopped it. Jesus even said to a disciple that tried to stop them from killing Him. Don’t you know that I could call twelve legions angels? (Matthew 26:53)      

“Also as He walked the earth, sinners and the downtrodden sought Him for healing and deliverance. Children were drawn to Him out and sat on His lap.  One of His most devout followers was a former prostitute, Mary Magdalene. It was she that washed His feet with tears at a social gathering. Those at the gathering frowned upon this, even His disciples. Yet Jesus rebuked them, and praised Mary for her love and devotion.”

Marcy hung her head and twisted her fingers nervously. I assured her that God loved her personally, as much as He has ever loved anyone. To my delight, she asked me to pray with her. When we finished praying, Marcy declared that she wanted to go to church.

Marcy and I sat at fellowship together with two other teenage girls, who were good friends of mine. I wanted Marcy to know she had companionship besides her new family of Brock, Destiny, and little sister Oralee. I noticed Destiny stealing glances at us periodically from across the sanctuary, checking on her daughter. What an instinctually, caring mother! I love her so much!

When we were standing in line to greet Pastor Samson after the service, I felt my inwards cringe. There was a cold, uppity couple that had been attending Cotton Creek Cove off and on for a year or two right in front of us. Forgive me if this sounds judgmental, but the last thing I wanted them to do was start talking to us and ask Marcy a bunch of questions. But I needn’t worry, they whispered heatedly back and forth to each other.

“I didn’t care for this morning’s worship service,” the man told Captain Kirk in a bizarre greeting.

“That’s okay, son,” Captain Kirk replied happily, as if he had just paid the pastor a compliment. “We weren’t worshiping you.”

The woman gave a little gasp, and the man’s expression looked incredulous.  

“Well, I guess you don’t care if you see any checks in the collection box with our names on them anymore,” he told the Pastor sternly.

I’m sure they were sizable checks since she drove a new Lexus and he drove a BMW.

“I do not,” Pastor Samson replied calmly, yet bold as a lion. “God supports this fellowship. Frankly, you insult me if you think I am even a little bit interested in your money. I’m only interested in souls, yours included. God is my support right down to every breath I take. If you want to discuss any grievances with me further, please make an appointment during office hours.”

Without a reply, the couple walked briskly away with a disgruntled air.

“Hey, kiddo,” Captain Kirk greeted me, as if what had transpired seconds ago had never happened. “And hello there, Marcy, I’m so glad you could make it. Thanks for coming!”

“Thank you sir,” Marcy said shyly, but then smiled mischievously. “I thought it was a wonderful service and a fantastic sermon!”

“Well, thank you, my dear,” Captain Kirk chuckled, and then gave his long white beard a stroke.

The Pastor tugged at his ear lobe, which was a signal to me that he wanted to talk. I tugged my ear lobe to let him know I saw. I was a little like an assistant pastor of his, and he sought to council with me quite often. This was humbling for me when you consider his ministry extended a whole decade beyond a full century. I wasn’t even eighteen years old yet. It was almost an hour later, after a potluck lunch, that Pastor Samson and I snuck into his office.

“I had this really profound dream last night,” he told me. He inflated his lungs and prepared to continue speaking when I interrupted.

“Did it have to do with the angel Melanchthon?” I asked.

Captain Kirk gasped and his bright blue eyes bulged in surprise.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES and QUOTES)

The change of heart by which we become children of God is spoken of in the Bible as a birth.

The plants and flowers grow not by their own care or anxiety or effort, but by receiving that which God has furnished to minister to their life. The child cannot, by any anxiety or power of its own, add to its stature. No more can you, by anxiety or effort of yourself, secure spiritual growth.

Jesus teaches the same thing when He says, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in Me…Without me you and do nothing.” (John 15:4, 5)

You are just as dependent on Christ, in order to live a holy life, as is the branch upon the parent stock for growth and fruitfulness. Apart from Him you have no spiritual life. You have no power to resist temptation or to grow in grace and holiness.

It is by communion with Him, daily, hourly, that we abide in Him and grow in grace.

Each morning consecrate yourself to God for that day. Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ.

Let the mind dwell upon His love, upon the beauty, the perfection, of His character. Christ in his self-denial, Christ in His humiliation, Christ in His purity and holiness, Christ in His matchless love—this should be the subject for the soul’s contemplation. It is by loving Him, copying Him, depending wholly upon Him, that you are to be transformed into His likeness.

Jesus says, “Abide in Me.” These words convey the idea of rest, stability, confidence.

When the mind dwells upon self, it is turned away from Christ, the source of strength and life.

Let us keep our eyes fixed upon Christ and He will preserve us. Looking unto Jesus, we are safe. Nothing can pluck us out of His hand. In constantly beholding Him, we “are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

Jesus prayed for us, and He asked that we might be one with Him, even as He is one with the Father. What a union is this!

LXXV

THERE IS NO FEAR IN LOVE; BUT PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR

1 JOHN 4:18

BROCK STORM and then MARCY SMITH

“Hey, Marcy,” I said quietly as I switched on a light. “What cha doin?”

She jumped about a foot, and Sevenia’s phone clattered to the floor.

“Nothing!” she blurted, and then realized the absurdity of her declaration. “I mean… I wasn’t trying to steal nothing.”

It was ten minutes before three in the morning. Sevenia, on spring break from high school, had been staying at our place all week and sleeping in the same room with eight year old Oralee. It had been almost a week since we had found Oralee and sixteen year old Marcy seeking shelter under an old railroad bridge. Both girls had been enslaved in a house of prostitution, but had escaped.

“Are you gonna hurt me?” Marcy asked with a terrified look in her eyes.

“No, of course not, Marcy,” I replied trying to sound as much like Mr. Rogers as possible.

Sevenia had left her phone in our kitchen to charge overnight. I had been lying in bed awake when I heard a notoriously squeaky stair creak ever so gently. It sounded like someone being sneaky. I snuck downstairs myself to investigate. That’s when I discovered Marcy messing with Sevenia’s phone. I didn’t believe she was doing anything malicious. But what I did suspect was nonetheless heartbreaking.

“Please sit down, Marcy,” I said soothingly as I sat at the kitchen table.

She eyed me cautiously as she sat. It was as if she expected me to suddenly start to pummel her any second. The sad thing is it had likely been her reality with the vile wretches that had been her captors. So I couldn’t blame her at all. What I needed to try to do was put her at ease. To let her know we loved her.

“Listen, Marcy, we certainly don’t want to force you to stay here,” I said gently. “I’ll even help you get to wherever you might prefer to be, simply to ensure that you are as safe as possible. That said, we would love for you to stay here with us and make it your home. Personally, I would like to see you live with us until you are into adulthood and ready to transition to life on your own, whenever that may be.”

Marcy was chewing on her lower lip and avoiding looking me in the eye. She snorted and shook her head.

“Would you mind telling me what’s on your mind?” I gently asked.

“You don’t know me,” she replied so quietly, I barely heard her.

“I want to,” I said. “I mean in a fatherly sort of way.”

“No real father would want me for a daughter.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“You do know what I am, right?” she said with the same hostility as the other night when she hurled a barrage of punches into my midsection.

“I know what you were,” I replied softly. “But even if that’s what you still want to be, it doesn’t change how much I care about you.”

“Why? Tell me why you would possibly care about me?” she asked, wiping tears from her eyes. “Is it because I’m outwardly pretty and look like your wife?”

“To be honest, that is a small part,” I said, patiently lacing my fingers together and resting my hands on the table. “I mean, you do remind me of a young version of Dee. But there’s other more important reasons. Namely, we just plain like you for you.”

“After what happened the other day with me wigging out and punching you repeatedly? Now you just caught me messing with Sevenia’s phone. You really expect me to believe you like me?”

“Would I be sitting here trying to talk you into being our foster daughter, and hopefully adopted daughter, if I didn’t?”

She chewed nervously on her lower lip and stared intently at me for about ten seconds before she averted her eyes. She shook her head, wiped more tears, and quietly said. “I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.”

“Your name, Marcella, means strength and warrior,” I told her. “You proved that just by what you did for Oralee.”

“My name, how did you know that?” she asked quietly.

“Dee told me,” I said, and then we looked at each other for a long moment. I sensed she wanted to look away again, but she didn’t. “We value your soul, just like you valued Oralee’s.”

We gazed at each other, and her eyes appeared, I don’t know, hopeful. “You know, it would absolutely break Dee’s heart if you left. Ora’s too.”

“What about you?” she inquired uneasily.

I took a chance and reached across the table for her hand, and she let me hold it. What  I said to her, I could tell she didn’t expect.

“Marcy, do you know how to check the oil in a car, or how to change a flat tire?”

She frowned and shook her head.

“I want to be able to teach you those things,” I said. “I want to be one of the people in your life that you can’t wait to share your achievements with, or simply your hopes and dreams.”

“You mean like a dad?” she asked with a small voice.

“Not just a dad, your dad,” I replied, and then felt myself tense as I prayed I was saying the right things. “The way I see it, a father should be of use to a child, and not the other way around. That’s what I want to be for you and Oralee.”

Marcy put her hands in her face and began to cry. I worried that maybe I shouldn’t be trying to talk and reason with her. She was psychologically wounded, and I was no psychologist. Yet, Dee and I had love. I believed love trumped being articulate. Destiny and I were unable to have kids of our own, yet we were still on the young side of adulthood. God put Marcy and Oralee into our lives for a reason. When she stopped crying and removed her face from her hands, I decided to go out on a limb.

“How about it, Marcy, would you do me the honor of becoming my daughter?”

“Our daughter?” Destiny asked as she stepped from the staircase wiping tears from her eyes.

Marcy and I turned in surprise to look at Destiny. Then Marcy began nodding her head emphatically, and then blurted, “yes!”

MARCY SMITH

Have you ever experienced something that seemed too good to be true? A fellow sex prisoner told me one time, ‘if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.’ What I’m trying to say, is if we can’t hope, what do we have?

All I know is that it seemed that one minute I was in the pit of hell, preparing to end my life. Then I was homeless, and desperate to live and find a better life for a little girl, if not for myself. I was beyond skeptical about our situation. I can’t say that I had any hope because as we shivered and our stomachs growled, I found myself longing for my room at the brothel.

Yet the little girl’s faith eventually overruled my doubts, and then we found ourselves experiencing a little taste of heaven. This bit of paradise was a cozy old farmhouse known as the Knight-Storm residence. And the saints that lived there welcomed us in. I wondered if the little angel’s bright light hid my darkness. Sooner or later they would discover that I was unsavory.

Then I lost control of my emotions and wigged out on Brock. This shined a light on my darkness. The cock roaches infesting my soul were exposed. They ran and hid when I broke down and cried. But they had been there for everyone to see. It was time for me to flee.

As nice as everyone was to me, I couldn’t handle the shame. Every time they, especially Brock, looked at me, I felt like phantoms of the countless men who had violated me were swirling all around me, keeping my whole being in a state of filthy disgrace. My soul was beyond dirty. Even though Destiny and Sevenia had tried to scrub it with industrial strength spiritual detergent, it still wouldn’t come clean. It was tattooed with demons.

But then Brock found me and brought a laser. He had caught me with Sevenia’s phone, but I wasn’t trying to do anything dishonest. I was simply trying to contact someone I knew in Boston. He knew what I was up to, and that I was only trying to bolt, nothing more.

It was then that his words began to erase the devils from my being. I saw Brock in a new light. Not that I saw him in a bad light before; he was just a hard guy for me to read. All guys were! I think that’s because he’s not like the men I was used to. Especially for a guy built like Hercules.

His laser was love. I couldn’t believe such a cool, awesome couple like Destiny and Brock would want me for a daughter. After sixteen years of never having real parents, was it even possible to have REAL parents?

But a father is exactly what he felt like when he told me he wanted to teach me things, and share my hopes, dreams, and sorrows, even as an adult. Most of all I sensed the love of a father in his countenance, and not an ounce of male lust. I recalled watching him with Amy, who he and Dee refer to as their spiritual daughter. The way he taught her karate, the fun, lighthearted rapport between them, and mostly the deep affection I could tell they both have for each other. I wanted some of that!

My biological mother abandoned me when I was between three and four years old. She literally left me on the doorstep of a church parsonage. I have no pictures of her, only a vague memory that I don’t even know for sure is real. From the few pictures of me as a child, I know I didn’t look happy. Maybe that’s why nobody ever adopted me. Maybe that’s why the foster parents I had were always so cold. I never had a taste of a mother’s love until I was sixteen and Destiny became my destiny, so to speak.

It was the way Dee held me after I had that mental breakdown. The gentle words she spoke into my ear. I relished it as if I were five years old. It gave me a glimmer of hope. Ironically, having hope also frightened me and compelled me to flee. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is.

Supposedly, that which doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s only partially true. Life, loneliness, anxiety, depression, frustration, and desperation can wear you down until it kills you. Often by one’s own hand, even if it’s something like an accidental overdose, or simply being reckless.

I was incredibly hardened by the world. Oralee, Sevenia, and Destiny didn’t quite soften me up enough to trust and stay. Then Brock threw it over the top. It was his demonstration of love that completed softening me, opening my heart to not only accept love, but give love.

I not only gained amazing parents, but I also met many incredible people along the way and made what I hoped were lifelong friends. There were two bonds I made with individuals that almost equaled the bond I had with Destiny, Brock, and Oralee. They were the psychologist Destiny set me up with, Jamie Northrup, and Pastor Kirk Samson. In a short time I would be calling Captain Kirk, Grandpa.

Although he became one of my many blessings, I feared I had become his curse. Unfortunately, my past conjured up dark memories from his own past. Long buried memories from his days as an Army Chaplain in Vietnam.

DESTNY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES

A person may not be able to tell the exact time or place, or trace all the chain of circumstances in the process of conversion. But this does not prove them unconverted.

Like the wind, which is invisible, yet the effects of which are plainly seen and felt, is the Spirit of God in its work upon the human heart.

While we must not at all trust to ourselves or our good works, our lives will reveal whether the grace of God is dwelling in us. A change will be seen in the character, the habits, the pursuits.

A selfish heart may perform generous actions. By what means, then, shall we determine whose side we are on? Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to converse? Who has our warmest thoughts and best energies? If we are Christ’s, our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are of Him. All we have and is consecrated to Him.

There is no evidence of repentance unless it works reformation.

The loveliness of the character of Christ should be seen in His followers. It was His delight to do the will of God. Love to God, zeal for His glory, was the controlling power in our Savior’s life. Love beautified and ennobled all His actions. Love is of God.

If our hearts are renewed in the likeness of God, if the divine love is implanted in the soul, will not the law of God be carried out in the life? And if the law is written in the heart, will it not shape the life? Obedience—the service and allegiance of love—is the true sign of discipleship.

“This is the love of God that we keep His commandments.” (1 John 5:3)

“He that says I know Him, and keeps not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” (1 John 2:4)

We do not earn salvation by our obedience; for salvation is the free gift of God, to be received by faith. However, obedience will be the fruit of true faith.

If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our feeling, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions, will be in harmony with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of His holy law.

The so called faith in Christ which professes to release men from the obligation of obedience to God, is not faith, but presumption. “By grace are you saved through faith.” (Ephesians 2:8) But “Faith, if it has not works, is dead.” (James 2:17)

We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to Him, and accept Him as your Savior, then sinful as your life might have been, for His sake, you are accounted righteous. Christ’s character stands in the place of your character, and you are accepted before God just as if you had not sinned.

More than this, Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure.

We have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. We have no ground for self-exaltation. Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us.

If we should be overcome by the enemy, we are not cast off. We are not rejected and forsaken of God! No, Christ is at the right hand of God, who makes intersession for us.

The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own eyes.

He that has begun a good work in you will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ. Pray more fervently; believe more fully.

LXXIV

THE SPIRIT OF A PERSON IS THE CANDLE OF THE LORD, SEARCHING ALL THE INWARD PARTS OF THE BELLY

PROVERBS 20:27

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM and then MARCELLA (MARCY) SMITH

My whole body tensed and my toes curled when Marcy asked if she could hit Brock in the stomach, as Amy had just done to Brock playing their little game of teasing. Only I sensed with Marcy that it wasn’t a game.

It had been only a few days since Sevenia’s prophetic dream of two girls on the run, hiding out under an abandoned railroad bridge. Marcy was sixteen and had been forced into prostitution for the past two years. Oralee, aka Ora, was only eight and had been on the verge of being forced into child pornography as well as prostitution. Marcy had rescued Ora. Then Sevenia, Brock and I rescued the two sex slave escapees.

The two girls had been staying with Brock and me since we found them. Oralee took an immediate shine to my husband. She was fascinated with his big muscles and multiple scars. She somehow perceived that Brock is the kind, loving, Godly man that truly he is.  

Marcy, on the other hand, seemed to dislike Brock. Maybe it’s because at a casual glance, Brock can appear to be rough, macho, and even mean. But I’m sure the big picture had to do with her history with the male population. She had pretty much known nothing from men her entire life except use and abuse.

Marcy had been watching an impromptu self defense class that my husband was leading. His pupils were Oralee, Sevenia, our spiritual daughter Amy, and me. After we finished, Amy and Brock were teasing each other as they typically did. As usual, Brock got the feisty young woman’s proverbial goat. As their custom was, Amy wanted to hit Brock in the solar plexus. He placed his hands on his hips, braced himself, and she struck her blow. Marcy, witnessing this exchange, asked if she could try.

“Sure,” Brock had told Marcy. But I could see concern in his eyes.

Marcy took Amy’s place in front of Brock. With a look of determination in her eyes and pursed lips, she hurled her fist at Brock’s mid-section with everything she had. She said, “ouch,” and then shook her fist. Her countenance turned to pure anger, and her fist flew to Brock’s mid-section again.

Brock, having relaxed some, grunted. Then, as though she were in front of a punching bag, she began to hurl a barrage of punches. Left, right, left, right.

“Stop it!” Amy shrieked.

“No!” Brock ordered. “Let her be!”

The effort of talking when he was being bombarded with punches caused him to go to one knee. She connected solidly with his nose, and blood spurted onto his lips, chin, and shirt.

“Oh, no!” Marcy said in surprise, as a hand went to her mouth. She dropped to her knees, shrieking. “No, no, no! I’m so sorry!”

Marcy not only began to sob, but she also wailed in absolute misery. I soon discovered that Matthew 10:19 not only applied when you were talking to rulers. Although I was paralyzed with shock and concern over what happened, I found myself moving toward Marcy. I knelt behind her and wrapped my arms around her, spooning her into myself. I had no conscious thoughts of the words that came out of my mouth. It must have been the Holy Spirit speaking through me.

“It’s okay,” I said gently, yet firmly. “You’re gonna be okay. You have a home here as long as you need. Actually, we’d like to do whatever it takes to make you our daughter. If you will have us.”

Even as I spoke those words, I worried I was rushing things with the teenager. Was I insane asking a severely broken girl that we barely knew to be a part of our marriage, making us a unique family? Maybe from a worldly perspective. But just as God knows our hearts, down to every thought, He also knows every circumstance. He knew Marcy had never in her life experienced human love. Her life had been a continual string of anxieties and loneliness. She had never had a real home, a safe place.

She broke from my embrace, turned, and looked at me astonished. Her eyes were haunted but hopeful. “After what I did, you would still have me?”

“Of course,” I replied with what I hoped was a warm smile.

“I want to be your daughter, too!” Ora declared, as she ran to me and hugged me from the side.

I laughed through tears and put an arm around the little girl. “Of course, you too, Sweetie!”

I looked at my husband. We had only briefly discussed the possibility of adopting, or at least foster parenting the two girls. So I already knew he would be okay with the idea. Sevenia had given him a paper towel for his nose, which along with his hand, covered the lower half of his face. But I could tell by his light brown eyes crinkling in the corners that he was smiling.

“Wow, you want to be my daddy?” Oralee asked Brock right after she broke away from me. Brock was sitting on the floor with his legs splayed out in front of him. Ora bounded into his lap, and he hugged her as he laughed.

“There’s nothing I’d like better,” he said, and then kissed the top of her head. “Except if Marcy was also your sister.”

I was already cringing inwardly as I still wondered if we were taking things too fast. But I loved how Brock phrased it. Saying he’d love Marcy to be Ora’s sister rather than his daughter or father to her. Marcy stared at Brock trancelike and completely dumbfounded. Then she spoke with a small voice. “I’m sorry about what I just did, Br… I mean, Mr. Storm, Sir.”

“I understand, Marcy,” Brock said mildly, and gave her a reassuring smile. “And I’ll give you all the space you need, for as long as you need it. Also, please just call me Brock.”

“Okay,” Marcy replied, snorted a laugh, sniffed, and said, “Thanks.”

MARCY SMITH

I had an encounter with an angel and she saved my life. This cute, sweet human being was a little Hispanic girl, and her name is Oralee. “My Light,” that’s what Oralee’s name means. If she hadn’t come into my life in that pit of hell, I would most likely be dead. I had a suicide plan that I was on the brink implementing when “My Light” entered my darkness.

Ironically, her saving me was in the form of her needing me. When she showed up that fateful day, she had become the youngest girl I had ever seen Sinbad bring in. I guess you would call Sinbad my pimp. Anyhow, he was the guy that controlled me after I was initially kidnapped, or you could say sold to a guy I only knew of as Mr. P. In my mind, the P stood for pervert.

I suppose the best way to describe the brothel where I lived is a minimum security prison. We, the inmates, spent most of the time locked in our rooms. Even when we were “working.” But there were opportunities to escape. Nobody ever did because we were heavily brainwashed. Plus, material wise, our accommodations were pretty decent. I had a big comfy bed, a big screen TV, and the food was okay. We had no phones or computers because we weren’t allowed access to the outside.

It seemed pretty foolish to run off with Oralee Yet I just couldn’t stand the thought of that sweet innocent little girl being violated. I didn’t want her to experience the life I had for the previous two years, especially when she was so incredibly young. I suppose I was operating by faith, rather than by sight, even though I didn’t realize it then.

I don’t even know how we ended up under that bridge. Once out of the mansion of filth, we just went. We stumbled upon an area that was used for bonfires during warmer times. It was there we found old tarps that we used for a makeshift structure. Not far from that spot, we saw the old bridge. The underneath was already set up as most of a shelter. The tarps we hung were sort of like doors.

But I’m not gonna lie. Only minutes after we fled, I thought, what have I done? This thought only escalated as minutes turned to hours, and hours to days. Why didn’t I go to the authorities? It might have been the brainwashing, or the simple fact that I didn’t trust “authority.”

But Oralee never lost faith. She made us pray for strength and help at least once an hour. I went along, but not necessarily out of belief. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings. Plus I didn’t want her to lose hope.

When Sevenia, Destiny, and Brock showed up, I was beyond amazed! I consciously realized that Ora’s prayers were likely answered. Yet the bitter cynic and pessimist in me would not believe. Something in my subconscious told me they were likely predators. But then moments after seeing and talking to Sevenia, I knew she was akin to Ora. By that I mean a true child of God, filled with, well, light. Unlike the dark demon girl I felt like.

But then I looked at the man she was with in the fading twilight and my defenses went right back up to high alert caution. In the partial light, he looked beyond menacing. Yet something in Sevenia’s eyes, her whole demeanor, tipped my scales to the side of trusting them. What choice did I have? Our little hut barely kept us warm, and all we had to eat for three days were corn nuts and fruit rollups. All we had to drink was snow melted over our campfire.

It was like a taste of heaven entering Destiny and Brock’s home. Not that I was confident such a place really existed. But this was a step in the right direction. As was Brock. By that, I mean, he began to show me that not all men are creeps. Not all men are violent, controlling, sex freaks. I’m not gonna lie. I’m a man hater. I’d never met a good man. So how could I trust Brock who was, well, all man?

If you’ve never seen Brock, which I’m sure you haven’t, he’s built like a pro wrestler or NFL football player, or something. And he sort of looks like a movie actor, kind of like George Clooney. But he’s got a few scars on his otherwise pretty face. They’re not gross, but this one curls from his left lip like a hideous half grin. It’s kind of cool and freaky at the same time.

But for such a rugged, scary dude, he’s got really nice eyes. The nicest I’ve ever seen on a guy. They are light brown, warm and friendly. They also seemed to look at me with, I don’t know, compassion or something, rather than lust or anger. I think that’s why they were the key in making me start to trust him. Especially after I wigged out on him and went kind of nuts throwing punches.

I couldn’t believe I did that! But when I saw how relaxed the other girls were around him, I knew he was different from any guy I had ever been around. I was blown away when Amy asked to hit him, and he let her! I had hit a guy once. He was a Jon who tried to do something extra vile to me. Sinbad, my slave master, took something like an electric cattle prod to me afterward. I never misbehaved again. That is, until I split with Oralee. My Light.

Poor Brock! I stepped up to him, seething with anger over every guy who ever wronged me. Amy was definitely only teasing him with her comment on his six pack abs getting soft. That first punch hurt my wrist. This only fueled my anger, and in a fit of madness, I unleashed a volley of punches, welcoming the pain. Somebody freaked out. Brock told them to let me be. Then he went to one knee, and I accidently hit him solid in the nose, causing blood to spurt.

This was like a switch, turning off my anger. Remorse quickly took its place, but for selfish reasons. These people had been so incredibly nice to me and Oralee, and I repay them by spazing out. As I had been enjoying their hospitality, it not only was in the back of my mind, but solidly in the front, that this wouldn’t last. Then I realized my actions were only gonna speed up the process.

I’m not gonna lie. When I lost it and went to my knees balling, it was purely selfish. What was going through my head was that I had blown it. They would kick me out. Would Sinbad find me and kill me? I guess I would have to find a new pimp, one that could protect me from Sinbad. Maybe being a whore would be better if I did it willingly. What choice did I have?

I felt somebody behind me. Part of my brain warned predator! But I didn’t care. Destiny’s arms wrapped around me and she pulled me snuggly into herself. It felt wonderful! I felt loved and valuable! I had grown up not knowing parental affection. Couple that with the vast majority of my human contact being perverse, you might think I would shy away from a display of love. Not so, I relished it!

Destiny uttered reassuring words into my ear. They were nice and all, but then she said something that flabbergasted me. She said she wanted me to be their daughter if I would have them. If I would have them? I said as much, mentioning what just happened. Destiny just simply replied ‘of course.’ Then My Light spoke up. “I want to be your daughter, too!”

Destiny laughed and put her arm around Ora and said. “Of course, you too, Sweetie.”

Then the little angel ran to Brock and asked him if he would be her daddy. The way he laughed and hugged her broke down another big chunk of the defensive wall that I felt toward him. As a matter of fact, I felt jealous, but I think in a good way. But then he said something that broke down even more of the wall. He told Oralee, the only thing that would be better is if Marcy was her sister. That’s me!

I couldn’t believe it! After the way I just behaved toward him. Treating him like a punching bag and then bloodying his nose. He could have knocked me into oblivion. In the world I knew, all men would have. It occurred to me that it took a great deal of trust for me to assault him like that, even if it was twisted thinking.

Yet he didn’t retaliate at all. He didn’t even try to block my punches. He treated my hostility with patience. My ingratitude with kindness. My hatred with love. Did these people really love me? How? I didn’t believe it. They didn’t know me. If they did, they wouldn’t love me. And they eventually would find out I’m unlovable. I’m just a pretty shell hiding an ugly soul.

How does one understand one’s own feelings? Especially when one’s psyche has been severely damaged. They were beginning to make me have hope, and that just wasn’t a good idea. The higher my hopes, the further the fall.

Now that precious little Ora was safe, I needed to find my way back to Boston. I’m gonna miss her, Oralee, My Light.

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES and QUOTES)

“You shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13)

By nature we are alienated from God. The whole heart must be yielded to God, or the change cannot be wrought in us by which we are restored to His likeness.

God desires to heal us, to set us free. But since this requires an entire transformation, a renewing of our whole nature, we must yield ourselves wholly to Him.

The warfare against self is the greatest battle that is ever fought. The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a struggle. But the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in holiness. Holiness is wholeness for God.

God does not force the will of His creatures. He cannot accept an homage that is not willingly and intelligently given.

Man is doing the greatest injury to his own soul when he thinks and acts contrary to the will of God. (See Proverbs 8:36)

Many wonder, How am I to make the surrender of myself to God? You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are weak in moral power, in slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Your promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your thoughts, your impulses, and your affections. The knowledge of your broken promises weakens your confidence in your own sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you. But you need not despair.

What we need to understand is the true force of the will. This is the governing power in the nature of humanity, the power of decision and choice. Everything depends on the right action of the will. The giving of our affections to God.

Through the right action of the will, an entire change may be made in our lives. By yielding up our will to Christ, we ally ourselves with the power that is above all principalities and powers. We will have strength from above to hold us steadfast, and thus through constant surrender to God we will be enabled to live the new life, even the life of faith.

Jesus loves to have us come to him just as we are, sinful, helpless, dependent. We may come with all our sins and weakness and fall at His feet in penitence. It is His glory to encircle us in the arms of His love and to bind up our wounds, to cleanse us from all impurity. Here is where thousands fail; they do not believe that Jesus pardons them personally, individually. They do not take God at His word.

God does not deal with us as finite men deal with one another. His thoughts are thoughts of mercy, love, and tenderest compassion.

Do not give ear to the tempter, say to yourself, “Jesus has died that I might live. He loves me, and wills not that I should perish. I have a compassionate heavenly Father; and although I have abused His love, and squandered His blessings. I will arise, go to my Father, and say, ‘I have sinned before heaven and before You and am no more worthy to be called Your child: Make me as one of your hired servants.’ The parable tells how you will be received. “When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck, and kissed him.” Luke 15:18-20.

“I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.” (Jeremiah 31:3).

With the rich promises of the Bible before you, can you give place to doubt? Our heavenly Father hates the sin, but loves the sinner. He gave Himself in the person of Christ, that all who would, might be saved.

Whenever you are doubting and fearful, look up. Jesus lives to make intersession for us.

As you read Bible promises, remember they are the expression of unutterable love and pity. The great heart of Infinite Love is drawn toward the sinner with boundless compassion.

As you draw near to Him with confession and repentance, He will draw near to you with mercy and forgiveness.

LXXIII

IT WERE BETTER FOR HIM IF A MILLSTONE WERE HANGED ABOUT HIS NECK AND HE WAS CAST INTO THE SEA, THAN THAT HE SHOULD OFFEND ONE OF THESE LITTLE ONES

LUKE 17:2

BROCK STORM (DESTINY KNIGHT STORM’S HUSBAND)

“My mind is spinning so much,” Destiny declared, as she walked into our bedroom clutching her head with both hands. “I feel like my head is going to come flying off.”

“Is that why you’re holding on to it?” I replied, trying a little levity.

“Oh stop,” she said, giving me a playful slap and grinning briefly. “I just can’t believe it Brock. Those poor girls.”

A few hours ago, we had rescued a couple girls that were temporarily living a mile into some woods and under an old railroad bridge. How did we know they were there? Sevenia had dreamt that a couple girls were taking refuge under the abandoned railroad bridge that had a unique significance at Cotton Creek Cove Fellowship. (This bridge is the setting for two significant romantic events in two of Johnathan Embers e-books, ‘Spoiled Produce’ and ‘Knight Storm.’)

Many of us refer to Sevenia as the girl prophetess, due to her uncanny knowledge of scripture as well as church history. Yet as far as I know, this dream of the two girls under the bridge was the first actual prophetic episode Sevenia has ever had. I have to admit that I was skeptical. Sevenia even doubted herself, yet she couldn’t shake the overwhelming urge to go out there and make sure.

Low and behold, there were in fact a couple of scared and cold girls out there. Marcy, who appeared to be in her upper teens, and Oralee, who clearly looked to be under ten years old, abiding below a bridge in the winter! Sevenia and Destiny talked them into coming to our place for food and shelter. Until Destiny entered our bedroom clutching her head, that’s all I knew about the two girls.

“Are you gonna tell me what you found out?” I asked.

“So Marcella, aka Marcy, was forced into prostitution when she was fourteen. She was originally from the Boston area. She has no idea who her biological parents are, other than a vague memory of her mother. She spent her childhood going back and forth from foster homes to orphanages. She suspects that her last foster parents sold her to the man who would force her into prostitution. He was supposed to be taking her to a summer camp held by the church her foster parents attended. But she ended up forced into prostitution instead.

“How old is she now?”

“Sixteen. She has been in eastern Iowa for about three or four months. You probably noticed, despite her hard life that she’s quite striking.”

“As a matter of fact, I did,” I admitted. “I also noticed she bears a striking resemblance to you.”

Destiny stared at me with a troubled gaze. Tears began to stream from her eyes, and I wondered if I said something wrong.

“I thought that, too,” she said quietly. “At times, talking to her was like looking at myself in a mirror when I was a teenager. But there was a huge difference.”

“What’s that?”

“When I was her age, I was fresh and cocky. Marcy’s haunted face looks as though she’s been to war. And she has! Only she’s not gonna get a metal for valor.”

“In God’s eyes, she already has,” I said.

Destiny stepped toward me, looped her arms around my neck and kissed me ever so gently. Then she said, “There’s one more thing. Marcy would be about the age my aborted child would have been.”

Destiny began to gently weep as she pressed her cheek against my chest. I stroked her hair and gave her a couple minutes before I spoke.

“What about that little angel, Oralee?” I asked softly. “They don’t appear to be sisters. What with Marcy’s blonde hair, blue eyes and fair complexion, and Ora’s black hair and big dark brown eyes.”

“She’s a little beauty, isn’t she?”

“She is.”

“She’s such a little sweetheart, too,” Destiny said and then grinned, her eyes glistening. “Do you know what she said about you?”

“Oh no, is it good or bad?”

“Mostly good. She said that you have big muscles, and I agreed that you did. Then, this was sad, she asked me if you were my pimp.”

“Oh Lord, please don’t tell me that little girl was forced into prostitution.”

“She was intended to be. That’s why they are on the run,” Destiny replied. “That’s not all. They were gonna use her in child porn. Can you believe it? Right after I found out what happened to my dad when he was a boy, I’m introduced to another example not even a week later.”

“During all your years in adult entertainment, you never came across somebody that was abused that way?”

“I didn’t. I mean, I knew of underage girls, you know sixteen, even fifteen. But in the circles I worked, I never knew of anyone being outright forced. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I was always stoned. But I did know of countless cases of abuse as children. Most in the biz were. So indirectly, you could say those girls did it against their will. I mean when their will and psyche had already been severely damaged when they were children.

“Anyway, Marcy said when she saw them taking Oralee to do a ‘photo shoot’, her little skirt was all bunched in the back. She thought of her favorite movie, ‘The Hunger Games.’ When she saw what was going to happen to Ora and the bunched up dress, it reminded her of what happened with Catness and her sister in the movie. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“I think so,” I replied. “When Catness’ sister was selected to be in the hunger games, Catness saw her little sister’s shirt similar to what you described and realized her sister’s helplessness. So then she volunteered to go in her place because she knew that her sister wouldn’t last very long before she was killed.”

“Right,” Destiny nodded. “So, the human traffickers had taken nude photos of Oralee. When Marcy saw how upset Oralee was afterward, she couldn’t stand the thought of her being made to participate in actual sexual contact. She decided she needed to get Ora out of there posthaste. But the only way they could escape was with the clothes on their backs, and the few dollars Marcy had stashed away.”

“How did Oralee even end up in a house of ill repute?”

“I’m not sure,” Destiny replied. “I talked privately with Marcy, and Sevenia was talking privately with Ora. So I haven’t found out yet myself. By the way, Sevenia is spending the night. She’s gonna share a room with Oralee.”

“Okay, good,” I replied as Destiny picked up her phone and vigorously typed a text to Sevenia. In less than a minute, she knocked on our bedroom door.

“Ora is suuuuch a little sweetheart,” Sevenia gushed. “When we were done talking, she was so tired, but she thanked me and hugged me. When she wasn’t letting  go of me, I eventually pulled her away from me.” Sevenia paused to giggle. “She was sound asleep. Part of me just wanted to hold her all night.”

“How old is she?” I asked.

“Eight,” Sevenia answered.

Destiny groaned. “Does she know what her captors intended to do with her?”

“She told me they made her take off her clothes, and they took pictures.”

“That was only the start of their intentions,” Destiny told her.

Sevenia gave a slight nod and then looked at Destiny as if to say, I don’t need to hear anymore. I get the ugly picture.

“How did she end up in that house of horrors?” I asked.

“It sounds like her biological parents were illegal immigrants from Mexico. They were killed when Ora was only three in some type of accident while employed as migrant workers. She was passed between relatives and friends for a year or two, and then ended up with a retired schoolteacher in Omaha.

“She said the woman, her name was Grace, was wonderful to her, and they went to church every week. When she died about a month ago, a couple from their church took her in briefly. She said they weren’t very nice, and she was only with them a couple weeks before a man they knew, ‘took her for a ride.’”

“And that’s how she ended up with Marcy,” Destiny said disgustedly. “And unknowingly was intended to be a human toy for perverts.”

“Yes, so, she and Marcy have actually only known each other for about a week.”

Sevenia asked about Marcy. After Destiny filled them in, we discussed what the future might hold for the two girls, and what we could do to help. I suggested we contact my former girlfriend, and current FBI special agent Nora Medora, and hopefully have Marcy tell her and her colleagues where this horror house of sex slavery was located.

The next day it became clear that the two girls viewed me in completely different ways. Oralee seemed to find me utterly fascinating. Who wouldn’t? Apparently Marcy. She, on the other hand, continued to look at me with cold skepticism. But it was understandable. All she’d probably ever known from men is being used and abused.

After Destiny and Sevenia had a lengthy conversation with Marcy, she agreed to let me talk to Nora Medora. Nora was based in Chicago, and I figured that she would set me up with some local agents. To my surprise, she showed up herself six hours later. It turned out, she had gotten a promotion and has quite a bit of clout. She’s also passionate about human trafficking. When we met a decade ago, she was a vice detective for the Miami police department.

(Nora Medora is one of the side characters in Destiny and Brock’s story, ‘Knight Storm’, an e-book by Johnathan Embers).

Nora is of Hispanic decent, and she really took a shine to Oralee. But Oralee is simply a sweetheart, so I don’t think that ethnicity even played a role. However, Nora was a bit cool toward Marcy. I don’t know whether it had to do with Marcy’s hard, cynical attitude, or because she bears a striking resemblance to Destiny. Although my ex-girlfriend and wife now get along on the surface, their personalities clashed. Nora’s brash, aggressive demeanor and Destiny’s timid nature mixed like oil and water. Not to mention whatever jealousy issues lingered on their psyches.

The day after Nora’s arrival, we got some good news and bad news. Apparently, Marcy and Oralee running away caused the bad guys to go on the run themselves. The house of ill repute was empty. This news terrified Marcy. She was afraid some guy called Sinbad, apparently the leader and or pimp, would eventually find her. Marcy seemed on the verge of tears and, in anger, she glared at me with even more intensity than before.

“Relax, you are safe here with Brock,” Nora told her. Then Ms. Medora looked at me as if she spoke out of turn. “I mean…”

“They can stay here as long as they need to,” I interjected.

“Yaaaaay!” Oralee exclaimed. She ran to me, threw her little arms around my neck, and hugged me. “Thanks, Uncle Brock!”

“Uncle Brock?” I inquired with a laugh.

“Yeah, that’s what Sevenia calls you.”

I laughed some more as I felt a strange, liquid pressure behind my eyes that I kept in check.

“You promised me you would arrest Sinbad and the other creeps if I told you where they were,” Marcy barked. “And lock him up for a long, long time.”

“That was our intention,” Nora replied diplomatically. “And we would have if they were there, that was the promise. Since they weren’t, they likely fled town, even the state.”

“Likely, but you don’t know that!” Marcy scolded.

“You’re safe here, though,” Nora said, as gently as I have ever heard her speak. “I’ve known Brock for years. Not only was he a professional bodyguard, but he was also among the very best of professional bodyguards.”

“Yippee,” Marcy scoffed. “I suppose he’s faster than a speeding bullet, too. Cause that’s what he’s gonna have to be if Sinbad and company find us.”

“No, I admit he’s not,” Nora said and then sighed as she put her hands on her hips. “But I guarantee you, that he’s the type of man that will put himself in front of a speeding bullet if it means protecting you.”

Marcy bit her lower lip and glanced at me, her eyes softening ever so briefly. It was a start. Sevenia started something later that day that would ignite passion in both girls. Some of it positive, and unfortunately, some negative.

“Can you start teaching me self defense again?” Sevenia asked me.

“Of course, when?”

“Now.”

She was a wise little lady. Oralee immediately wanted to participate. Even though Marcy feigned indifference, Destiny reported to me that she actually watched pretty closely. The next day Amy joined us and Destiny even participated. Although Marcy declined our invitation, we had ourselves a little martial arts class.

After we finished, Amy and I began teasing each other. As her custom was after a back and forth with me, she wanted to hit me in the solar plexus. I braced for it, and she gave me a wallop to the midsection. She often shook her hand afterward and complained that it hurt. This time she flipped her long red-gold hair over her shoulder, smirked and said, “Your gut isn’t as hard as it used to be.”

“I just wasn’t bracing hard,” I replied with a shrug. “I don’t need to with your weak little punch.”

“Alright, fella,” Amy grinned, her one blue eye and one green eye twinkling. “Brace yourself again.” She threw another one at me, smiled and shook her head. “Still didn’t hurt.”

“Can I try that?” Marcy asked, surprising everyone.

“Sure,” I replied hesitantly.

I felt uneasy as she stepped in front of me, taking Amy’s place. I wasn’t worried about being hurt. What concerned me was the hard, mean look in her eyes and what her motive was.

(DESTINY”S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

Only the love that flows from the heart of Christ can truly heal. Only He in whom that love flows, even as the sap in the tree, or as the blood in the body, can restore the wounded soul.

If our lives are to be healthy, and our spirits are to grow, we need dedication to the truth. Superficially, this should be obvious. For truth is reality. That which is false is unreal. The more clearly we see the reality of the world, the better equipped we are to deal with the world.

How shall a person be just with God? How shall the sinner be made righteous? It is only through Christ that we can be brought into harmony with God. But how are we to come to Christ?

On the Day of Pentecost when the multitude cried out, “What shall we do?” Peter’s response was “Repent.” Acts 2:37, 38. At another time shortly after, he said. “Repent… and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.” (Acts 3:19).

Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We shall not fully renounce sin, until we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life.

There are many who fail to understand the nature of repentance. They sorrow that they have sinned, and even make an outward appearance of reformation. But they lament the suffering sin has caused, but not sin itself. One of the most extreme examples is Judas Iscariot, when he exclaimed. “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” (Matthew 27:4). He was in fact sorrowful, but instead of repenting, he hung himself.

Christ must be revealed in the heart to the sinner as the Savior dying for the sins of the world. As we behold the Lamb of God upon the cross of Calvary. The mystery of redemption begins to unfold to our minds and the goodness of God leads us to repentance.

Through influences seen and unseen, our Savior is constantly at work to attract the minds of people from the unsatisfying pleasures of sin, to the infinite blessings that may be theirs in Him. To all these souls, who are vainly drinking from the broken cisterns of this world, the divine message is addressed. “Let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” (Revelation 22:17). “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; If anyone hears My voice, and opens the door, I will come into them, and will sup with them, and they with Me. (Revelation 3:20).

How many there are who think they are not good enough to come to Christ. Do you expect to become better through your own efforts? We can do nothing of ourselves, we must come to Christ just as we are.

The drunkard is despised and is told that his sin will exclude him from heaven. While pride, selfishness, and covetousness to often go unrebuked. But these are sins especially offensive to God; for they are contrary to the benevolence of His character, to that unselfish love which is the very atmosphere of the unfallen universe.

The love and suffering and death of the Son of God all testify to the terrible enormity of sin and declare that there is no escape from its power, no hope of the higher life, except through the submission of the soul to Christ.

What we do not overcome, will overcome us, and work out our soul’s destruction.

Christ is ready to set us free from sin, but He does not force the will. He stands at the door and knocks. (Revelation 3:20). It’s up to us to let Him in.

“Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10)

As you see the enormity of your sins, as you see yourself as you really are, do not give up to despair. It was sinners that Christ came to save.

No earthly parent could be as patient with the faults and mistakes of his children, as is God with those He seeks to save.

When we see the length of the chain that was let down for us, when we understand something of the infinite sacrifice that Christ has made in our behalf, the heart is melted with tenderness and contrition.

He that covers his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)

Confession of sin, whether private or public, should be heartfelt and freely expressed. The confession that is the outpouring of the inmost soul finds its way to the God of infinite pity. The psalmist says, “The Lord is close to them that are of a broken heart; and saves such that be of a contrite spirit.” (Psalm 34:18).

However, confession will not be acceptable to God without sincere repentance and reformation. True repentance will lead a man to bear his guilt himself and acknowledge it without deception or hypocrisy. Those who do acknowledge their guilt will be justified, for Jesus will plead His blood on behalf of the repentant soul.

The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will appreciate something of the love of God and the cost of Calvary. And as a son confesses to a loving father, so will the truly penitent bring all his sins before God. And it is written, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).

LXXII

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

MARK 10:14

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

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

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

“Yeah,” I replied curiously.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Look,” he whispered and pointed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We waited in silence for several long seconds.

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

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

“Hi,” Sevenia said cheerfully.

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

“What’s your names?” Sevenia asked.

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

“Are you homeless?”

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

“Where are your parents?”

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

“Is there anyone else in there?”

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

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

“About three days.”

“Where were you before this?”

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

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

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

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

“Ssshh,” Marcy said to the smaller girl.

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

“Ora, I said quiet.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Not me, Marcella,” Oralee said boldly.

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

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

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

(DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES AND QUOTES)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LXXI

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

JOHN 16:33

BROCK STORM (DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S HUSBAND)

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

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

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

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

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

“But what?” Belle inquired.

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

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

Destiny shrugged and nodded.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Absolutely.”

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

“I understand.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Nothing about you is gross.”

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

She became quiet. I gave her time.

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

“Jason Parnell?”

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

“Sorry.”

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

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

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

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

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

“He molested your dad too?”

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

“What!”

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

“How did she find out?”

“The guy was caught and arrested.”

“Good!”

“She found out when some detectives questioned her.”

“So he went to jail I hope.”

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

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

“Not by appearance.”

“What do mean?”

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

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

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

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

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

She and Destiny held each other and cried.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES

(Written with the finger of God. Part two)

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

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

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

Answer: Yes, and very clearly so.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The law of God in the Old Testament.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(Consider the following contrasts.)

MOSES’ LAW                                                                                 GOD’S LAW

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A few questions that came up.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LXX

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

PSALM 34:4

BROCK STORM (DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM’S HUSBAND)

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

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

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

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

“Time is such a deception,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

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

“Of course.”

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

“Your pet name?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“So smokin dope made you a dope?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“1 John 4:18,” she replied.

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

“Ephesians 4:32.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah?”

“Can we pray?”

“Of course.”

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

“Told him what?”

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

I felt a chill go up my spine.

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

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

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

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

“I hope not. But still.”

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

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

The two women continued to embrace as they cried.

“What happened?” Aunt Belle finally asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

DESTINY’S BIBLE STUDY NOTES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

                              GOD IS                                               THE LAW IS

Good                    Luke 18:19                                        1 Timothy 1:8

Holy                      Isaiah 5:16                                        Romans 7:12

Perfect                 Matthew 5:48                                  Psalm 19:7

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

Just                       Deuteronomy                                   Romans 7:12

True                      John 3:33                                          Psalm 19:9

Spiritual               1 Corinthians 10:4                          Romans 7:14

Righteousness    Jerimiah 23:6                                   Psalm 119:172

Faithful                1 Corinthians 1:9                             Psalm 119:86

Love                     1 John 4:8                                         Romans 13:10

Unchangeable    James 1:17                                        Matthew 5:18

Everlasting          Genesis 21:33                                  Psalm 111:7, 8

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LXIX

FOR WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS, THEREWILL YOUR HEART BE ALSO

MATTHEW 6:21

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM

God works in mysterious ways!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“You have.”

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

“I do.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Eight or nine.”

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

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

“Are you going to see him?”

“Aunt Belle said he wants me to.”

“But are you?”

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

“Of course.”

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

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

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

“But he didn’t ask.”

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

Brock nodded.

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

“No.”

“What if I would have asked you to?”

“You wouldn’t have.”

“What if I did?”

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

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

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

DESTINY”S BIBLE STUDY NOTES

SUBJECT: HELLFIRE PART 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

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

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

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

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

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

HISTORIC NOTE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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