LVIII

BUT EVERY MAN IS TEMPTED, WHEN HE IS DRAWN AWAY OF HIS OWN LUST AND ENTICED.

JAMES 1:14

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA GIRL PROPHETESS)

I was so pleased with my daughter. She was such a natural teacher. Although she does physically look her age, you otherwise never would have guessed she was only seventeen years old as she taught the class. Other than the road bump at the beginning, her first Bible prophecy study/lecture couldn’t have went better.

After my daughter closed the study with prayer, my heart began to slam against my chest as I pondered the level of awkwardness that would ensue between Zella, Salena, and myself. The two women I had been platonic friends with for the last two years. I currently was experiencing a degree of romance with both! Or I was? Regardless, changes would definitely be in the works after the strange happenings of the previous day and night.

Zella is a beautiful, lithe African-American woman. She was the first to rise and go to my daughter. I couldn’t hear what she said, but I read Sevenia’s lips as she thanked her. Then Zella turned, and without giving me a glance, walked briskly out of the door. I was both relieved and disappointed. Yet I desperately needed to talk to her about last night. I rose to go after her, but as I did, I looked at Salena. She was giving me a sad smile. This caused me to sit back down.

Salena was beyond lovely, voluptuous and of Mexican-American decent. She was also my first love. She broke my heart by marrying another man right after we graduated high school. I had harbored hidden jealousy and resentment for years. These jealous feelings surfaced again after she had a brief fling with my twin brother. She became pregnant from this tryst.

At the time of conception, I was in the process of transferring my feelings for Zella from friendship over to romantic. Yet envy ate at me over Salena and my brother. When Salena and I dated, we were saving ourselves for marriage. The deepest intimacy we had ever shared was kissing.

I know what my brother experienced with her was fornication, but it still bothered me that my brother actually enjoyed becoming one with her in the most intimate sense. Even if it was a lapse of temperance and judgement on their part.

However my brother, having recently lost his wife, was not fit for a new relationship. Years of a secret hedonistic lifestyle also played a role in him telling me I should be with Salena. I should play the role of father to his child. In my head it was the biggest “yeah right” of my life. But then something changed in my thinking.

As I prayed earnestly over my love for Zella, I increasingly became convicted that we would not ever be a spiritual match. She did not embrace Christianity. Even after the powerful experience of Lexi Gomez’s deliverance from demon possession. If that wouldn’t change her heart, what would?

Then something happened. Although I had long harbored feelings of jealousy, I also had never stopped loving Salena. It occurred to me that our spiritual beliefs were more in harmony than were Zella and me. Plus, my brother made a couple profound points.

Biology shouldn’t matter, it was pride that made it an issue. Salena made a mistake by becoming drunk and then sinned by having sex with my brother. She in no way had cheated on me because we were not romantically involved. My brother even asked my permission to pursue her affections. At the time, I told him to go for it, never thinking he would succeed. Even though I was wrong, I wasn’t wronged by either party.  

Salena’s baby needed a father. My brother Six pointed out that I would be raising my own nephew. I’m ashamed to say, the thought of raising blood kin was a turning point for me. It shouldn’t have been, but it was. I’m definitely not somebody you would want to pattern you life after. My daughter, maybe, but the only sure bet is Jesus.

Plus I liked feeling needed.  Another thing my brother told me as I balked at pursuing a woman he knew I cared for. He said my German heritage makes me stubborn. I asked him what his German heritage made him. He replied industrious. We both laughed. Yet he was right. I had strong tendencies toward stubbornness. Not only that, but pride and arrogance, among other things. Conversion doesn’t mean you’ve arrived, but you better be growing.

So, I told Salena I was interested in pursuing a deeper relationship than just friends. I asked her if she was interested, and she was. Then yesterday, for the first time in two decades, Salena and I kissed passionately. After a few minutes of this, I told her that I needed to have a talk with Zella. I needed to let Zella know that we weren’t going to be a good fit, and that I was exploring a relationship with Salena. That evening I met Zella at her place.

“I get the feeling this isn’t gonna be good,” she said with a hesitant smirk after we sat down together on her sofa. She crossed one long jean clad leg over the other. She propped an elbow against the back of the couch and leaned her jaw into a closed fist. Would she be punching me with that fist when I told her the truth of my feelings?

I bluntly told her in a nutshell what was what. Rather than burst into tears, she stared blankly at me and lazily said, “okay.”

“Let me explain,” I stammered. “I, um, I, I…”

“Let me get into something more comfortable first,” she said casually and coolly. “Can I get you a raspberry tea?”

“That’d be great,” I said with a nervous smile.

She smirked and disappeared into her kitchen. I frowned. I dreaded the thought of tears, but selfishly, her nonchalance hurt. She returned a couple minutes later with a glass of iced tea. She knew that since I had quit drinking, Lipton raspberry tea was my drink of choice. I know it’s not the healthiest beverage, but better than the whiskey I had been drinking. The fact that she brought it in a glass instead of the plastic bottle it came in, which is how I usually drank it, should have been my first clue I was being set up.

“I know you prefer Lipton,” she said matter of fact. “But this off brand cost more. Trust me, it’s tasty. If you like it, there’s a full pitcher in the fridge.”

This should have been my second clue. She went into her bedroom. I downed the whole glass in about a minute. She was right about it being smooth and tasty. But I frowned and sniffed the glass. This should have been my third clue. Was there alcohol in this? I sniffed again. Keep in mind I was used to straight up whiskey. No, Zella wouldn’t give me anything with alcohol in it because she knew my struggle with addiction.

I retrieved another glass. Halfway through it, I thought, am I getting a buzz? But this is where Jeremiah 17:9 (The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it) kicked into full gear for both Zella and me. I now suspected that the tea was tainted, yet I played Barney Fife and pretended, even to myself, that I was blissfully unaware.

I looked at the time and frowned. Zella had been gone more than ten minutes. How long did it take to change into a pair of sweats? I retrieved a third glass of tea, feeling really good and telling myself, there’s no way Zella would be giving me alcohol.

“It’s about time,” I chuckled when I heard her bedroom door open.

 I turned to look at her and my jaw dropped to the floor. Then I bolted to a standing position. “Zella! What the!”

She was wearing a seductive grin. The smile she wore was more than the negligee that barely reached her thighs. I think it was pink, but it was so sheer, I wasn’t sure.

“Don’t you like it?” she asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

“I thought you were changing into something more comfortable,” I stammered as I fought to keep my eyes on hers. They desperately wanted to roam downward.

“This is more comfortable.”

“Zella, what kind of tea was that?”

“Raspberry.”

“I mean, was there alcohol in it?”

“You talk too much,” she replied and kissed me.

I was done. Not only did I not resist, but she also proceeded to seduce me and I let her. I don’t know how much time elapsed, an hour, more like two. I was dozing when I heard my phone. I scrambled out of Zella’s bed and ran to the living room to retrieve it. It was Salena!

She asked if I had talked to Zella. I told her that I did, and then I began to ramble. I had to have sounded guilty as the sins I had just committed, but she perceived it differently.

“I can tell it was really difficult for you,” she said sympathetically. “I’ll let you go and talk to you tomorrow.”

I stood in Zella’s living room and stared numbly at nothing. I heard her pad up behind me, her arms snaked around me, and she hugged my back side. Her voice was sultry when she spoke. “Salena I presume? Did you tell her you decided on me rather than her? Did you tell her that when we became one, you declared your love for me?”

I honestly couldn’t tell if she was being serious or disingenuous. I gently, yet firmly, released her arms from me and dashed back into her room, dressing hastily. She leaned against the door jam, her arms folded under her bare chest and watched me with a blank expression.

“So you lied then?” she asked blandly.

I didn’t know if she meant when I had just talked to Salena, or when I proclaimed my love for her when I was consumed in lustful passion mere moments ago.

“Let me ask you something,” I said boldly. “Did you spike that tea?”

“No,” she barked.

“So you’re gonna stand there and tell me that there was no alcohol in that tea?”

“No, I said I didn’t spike it.”

“So there was alcohol in it?”

“You tell me. Does Twisted Tea have alcohol in it?”

“You know it does.”

“Then yes it did.”

“How could you do that? You know I’m a recovering alcoholic!”

“Oh, give me a break. A few glasses of tainted tea isn’t gonna make you an out of control drunk again. If it does, this so called faith you want me to share and you dumping me because I don’t have it to your standards, it’s pathetically fragile.”

“Well, addiction is fragile.”

“So is playing with somebodies heart,” she declared with a quivering lip and tears beginning to spill from her lovely almond shaped eyes.

This wasn’t fair, was it? I questioned.

“Come on Zella, you owe me an apology, not drama,” I mistakenly said. Talk about poking a beast. Her lip stopped quivering and her teeth clenched. Her teary, blood shot eyes now glared daggers at me. She took three quick steps toward me and pointed a finger in my face, the tip of her nail grazing my nose.

“I’ll have you know mister that all’s fair in love and war. Until tonight, I haven’t been intimate with a man in nearly half a decade. I spent two years with a growing attraction toward you. Just when I’m convinced we will be nothing more than friends, you insinuate more. We start cautiously talking of a future together. You start holding my hand, and kissing my cheek in greeting and goodbyes. Then shortly after that you move it up to pecks on the lips. Then tonight you come waltzing in here and tell me that you’re better suited for another woman!”

I didn’t know what to say. I ran a hand through my hair and looked at my feet, unable to look Zella in the eyes. Then my brain told my mouth to say something without me really thinking about it. “I can’t believe you gave me alcohol.”

“Get out of here,” she said with menacing calm. “Go back to the woman that more closely shares your beliefs. You know, the woman that left you twenty years ago for a man old enough to be her grandfather. A woman with such strong faith she chose old money over young love. A woman, your apparent spiritual peer, who is such a rock of faith that she got drunk and is now pregnant by your brother.”

I just stood there, my brain in a muddle. I felt so many things. Love for two women. Betrayal by two women. Confused over my affection for two women. Forgiveness for two women. “Everyone makes mistakes.”

“Thank you for that,” Zella said sarcastically as she nodded her head. “Now, please go.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I barked. “Some friend you are. What kind of friend sneaks alcohol to an alcoholic?”

Even though I felt bad about the look of surprise and regret on Zella’s face, I slammed the door behind me.

(Destiny Knight-Storm’s notes from Sevenia’s 2^nd lesson: Can We Believe the Bible?)

Oh taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8)

You can remain skeptical about an idea or a philosophy. But God became a person.

No one can understand God completely no matter how much you’ve studied, prayed, or how long you have been a Christian. It will always be a growing, learning process.

‘For now we see through a glass darkly.’ (I Corinthians 13:12)

The story is compelling. God became broken, to heal human brokenness. Even if it wasn’t real, can you think of a more intriguing story than that of Jesus?

What you call defeat I call a miracle: for to make things which are not itself and thus to become, in a sense capable of being resisted by its own handiwork. Is the most astonishing of all the feats we attribute to Deity. (C.S. Lewis).

The story is experientially persuasive

‘And there was a war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not; and neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth. (Revelation 12: 7-9).

Conflict lies at the very heart of reality.

Even with the fascination with superhero’s like Batman, Superman, and Spiderman etc. At the heart of this phenomenon of entertainment is that human beings know we are in trouble and need a deliverer.

We are all going through a war, an internal struggle with self and sin.

‘For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing.’ (Romans 7:18).

It’s as if we are prisoners in our own bodies.

Anger: at injustice and pain

Confusion: over the state of things

Helplessness: to bring about change

Desire/hope: for something better

Frustration: over repeated failings

Shame/guilt: from awareness of our sins

Despair: a sense of resignation

Fear: I’ll never be all that I should or ought to be

Dysfunction: in our relationships

Conflict is at the heart of the way we see ourselves and our world.

‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world give I to you. Let not your heart be troubled; neither let it be afraid. (John 14:27).

Jesus is the most influential person in human history.

The new Republic December 4, 2013 ranked the most influential people in human history along one dimension: Significance. The following is the top ten. 1. Jesus 2. Napoleon 3. Mohammed 4. Shakespeare 5. Abraham Lincoln 6.George Washington 7. Hitler 8. Aristotle 9. Alexander the Great 10. Thomas Jefferson.

Jesus, number one on the list, an obscure carpenter/rabbi who lived 2000 years ago said in John 12:32. “If I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to me.” Jesus is in fact worshipped all over the world to this day.

All of the rulers and kings in history put together have never affected mankind like Jesus has. His is a story and a life worth orbiting your own around.

Bible prophecies are accurate. Historians tell us the past. Journalist are supposed to tell us the present. Only the Bible can tell us the future. It told of Israel’s failures, judgment, and captivity. The destruction of Jerusalem. Messianic/Jesus prophecies. Daniels many prophecies. The end time prophecies of Revelation.  

(FYI: Destiny’s notes are based off of ‘5 reasons’ seminar videos by David Asscherick which can be found on YouTube or The Hope Channel).

LVII

IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. THE SAME WAS IN THE BEGINNING WITH GOD.

JOHN 1:1, 2

DESTINY KNIGHT-STORM (WIFE OF BROCK STORM)

(THEIR STORY IS TOLD IN THE E-BOOK ‘KNIGHT STORM’ BY JOHNATHAN EMBERS)

I have been doing lay ministry for more than three years now. I mostly help my Aunt Belle with the ministry she started over thirty years ago helping girls escape the sick, slippery world of adult entertainment. She probably never guessed she would one day help her own niece in the aftermath of her own career in porn. Especially after I had been an embarrassing mark on her ministry.

But she did just that four years ago now. She herself had been an exotic dancer for almost 20 years. She like me almost ended her own life. She like me followed some still small voice that told her not to do it. She like me had a profound spiritual occurrence soon after that. She like me experienced a Christian conversion not long after that.  I like her began to minister, mostly to young women.

(My Aunt Annabelle Knight’s story is briefly told in the e-book by Johnathan Embers titled ‘Spoiled Produce.’ A quirky little love story that took place in the mid 1980’s while the main protagonist worked for a wacky produce company.)

Recently I found myself doing just that, helping and guiding two young women who were possibly in the process of conversion. I was at Sevenia Sallie’s Bible prophecy study with two former exotic dancers. One thing I’ve learned doing ministry, whenever God’s people are at work, the dark side is there to disrupt, harass and get in the way.

I noticed immediately, right after we sat down, that there was a strange dynamic going on with Seven, Sevenia’s father, and two women I thought were just his friends. One of the women, Zella LaStella, who I really liked and wanted to get to know better, talked of spiritual struggle at the beginning of class.

The other woman, Salena, who I had only met once but thought was really nice, actually became rather snarky. She complained that we weren’t immediately getting to the subject at hand. She also seemed to belittle people struggling with faith.

Zella got up and stormed out. Then to my surprise, Salena followed after her. Seven followed her but stopped just outside the door and watched them. Apparently he was making sure a cat fight was not about to ensue. Especially since Salena appeared to be about six months pregnant.

I felt horrible for Sevenia. She’s such a sweet, Godly young lady. I love her immensely! She appeared so confident and filled with energy before the study began. After this incident, she looked like a deer in headlights. I hopped up and went to stand beside her.

“Everything will be alright,” I whispered to Sevenia with what I hoped was a relaxed smile. Then I spoke to everyone. “Why don’t we sing a hymn or two while this little disagreement gets settled?”

“Thank you,” Sevenia whispered back to me.

By the time we decided on the first hymn and sang it, the two women and Seven came back in. It was clear on the countenances of the two ladies that they had made peace. However Seven looked forlorn. The two women apologized for the disturbance. Especially Salena, insisting she was to blame.

Sevenia welcomed everyone again and opened her study lecture with prayer. Then she introduced us to the outline of her study. She said it would take at least eight to ten sessions to get through her various topics. She said that although our group was relatively small, all of our places in our spiritual journey were different.

Sevenia said that the first couple of lessons were going to deal with the question of God’s existence and whether or not we can have faith in the Bible. She said that although some of us have been over these topics many times, it never hurts to have spiritual realities reinforced. Yet if anyone chose to leave, she said she would understand completely and take no offense.

Sevenia paused briefly and glanced uneasily at Salena. Salena didn’t budge. But looking humble, even embarrassed, she smiled apologetically and nodded. Sevenia smiled back and began. As my custom was at a sermon, lecture, or study, I began to furiously take notes.

My husband Brock often teased me about my note taking. He never took notes himself. His usual comment was something like, ‘are you trying to write down every word they’re speaking?’ Well, my diligent writing didn’t go unnoticed at the study. So I was asked to write this addition to Seven’s blog, and to also include my notes at the end.

I politely declined, saying no one could probably understand my scribbling. They laughed and said it would be on the computer, not my own handwriting. I replied that I wasn’t just talking about penmanship. Then my husband, who had shown up late to the study due to a conflicting engagement spoke up.

“I think you should do it, Dee,” Brock said. “You don’t how much reading your notes after a sermon has helped me process the teachings.”

My mouth dropped open in surprise. The man who often teased me about being a note nerd read them! I couldn’t help teasing him a little and punching him playfully in his midsection. “You cheater!”

Brock put a hand to his stomach and doubled over as if my punch actually hurt his massive, bulging bicep. Then he looked up and grinned. “Not so sweetheart. There’s never been a test on a sermon, so how could it be cheating? Just the opposite as a matter of fact. Your notes might shed light for somebody in the ultimate test, the test of life and how we live it.”

“Point taken,” I said as I hugged and kissed my husband.

So, even though it makes me feel somewhat self-conscious, here are my notes if you’re interested.

(DESTINY’S NOTES ON THE EXISTENCE OF GOD)

The universe and time itself had a beginning: Genesis 1:1

My argument is that the best data we have are exactly what I would have predicted had I nothing to go on but the 5 books of Moses, the Psalms, and the Bible as a whole. (Arno Penzias: Physicist and astronomer.)

Sir Fredrick Hoyle, the cosmologist who proposed a “steady state” a universe with neither a beginning nor an end, was compelled by Dr. Penzias to abandon his theory. (New York Times 1978).

There could not have been an infinite number of days before today, or we could not have arrived at today. The data seems to indicate that it is open, this is precisely the universe that the Bible tells of.

David Berlinski: Author of books on mathematics and science: “The hypothesis of God’s existence and the facts of contemporary cosmology are consistent.”

Robert Jastrow: Astronomer, physicist, and NASA scientist: “For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance. He is about to conquer the highest peak. As he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.

It’s not that the universe is astonishing, beautiful, and unlikely. It’s that we know it is.

Life comes from life, comes from life, comes from life…

Anthony Flew: western philosopher and long time atheist changed his mind after studying DNA.

Something about DNA proved to him that a higher intelligence must have been involved in getting these extraordinarily diverse elements together. The enormous complexity with which the results were achieved. The intricate ends, self-replicating capabilities, and coded chemistry.

Even before DNA was discovered. People always knew that children often resembled their parents.

John 11:25: Jesus said, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”

The best explanation of a mind is a mind.

Albert Einstein: “The most incomprehensible thing about this world, is that it is comprehensible. The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility. The fact that it is comprehensible is a miracle.”

C.S. Lewis in his book ‘Mere Christianity.’ “If the world had no meaning, we wouldn’t know that it had no meaning.”

The human brain is the most complex organism in the world.

The human brain is made up of 100 to 200 billion neurons. An average of 7000 connections/neurons. More potential neuronal connections than electrons in the universe.

There are actual universal ought’s and ought not’s.

‘The Golden Rule’ of the New Testament. (Do as you would be done by). Is a summing up of what, at bottom, had always been known to be right. (C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity).

The moral law tells us the tune we ought to play. Our instincts are merely the keys. (C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity).

If God does not exist everything is permitted. (Fyodor Dostoevsky).

God’s love can be known personally and certainly.

Jesus answered and said unto them, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and my Father will love her or him, and we will come to her or him and make our home with her or him.” (John 14:23).

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (1 John 4:8).

LVI

THERE SHALL COME IN THE LAST DAYS SCOFFERS WALKING AFTER THEIR OWN LUSTS

2 PETER 3:3

ZELLA La STELLA (FRIEND and ROMANTIC INTEREST OF SEVEN SALLIE)

“I have a confession,” I heard myself say and instantly regretted it. I could feel Seven squirm behind me. He didn’t deserve it after the despicable thing I did to him the previous night. I’m sure he thought I was about to reveal what happened between us. It did play a big role in the desperation I was feeling, but I wasn’t going to throw him under the bus. What happened was my fault, not his.

I was at an informal gathering, a study on Bible prophecy. There were not quite two dozen people congregated. Seven’s daughter Sevenia Sallie was holding court just as beautifully as the young woman she was.

“Okay, Zella,” Sevenia said sweetly.

“I fear I’ve blasphemed the Holy Spirit,” I said, and then bowed my head, not knowing what to say. I lifted my head and looked at Sevenia. She gazed at me with such love and compassion that I couldn’t stop my lower lip from quivering and a tear leaking out of my eye.

“Do you know why I don’t believe that’s true?” she asked with a pleasant smile.

“Why?” I asked with a frown.

“Because you wouldn’t be here if you had truly done that.”

“How do you know I haven’t come here as a scoffer?”

“Have you?”

“Well, no. Maybe sort of though. I mean, nothing seems to penetrate my hard heart.”

“This may be a dumb question, but have you given your heart to Christ?”

“That’s just it,” I replied. “I can’t seem to get myself to believe like you all do. Every time I do, doubts creep in. So called sin creeps in. I guess that’s why I’m here. I’m hoping your study will enlighten me. Cause me to truly believe and have faith in the Bible. But I fear that I won’t and I will go away an even bigger skeptic. If I do, I fear I will permanently slip back into the darkness of my nihilistic beliefs that I’ve held most of my life.”

“See!” Sevenia blurted cheerily. “You said slip back. That means you’re still searching, and active searching is the place we need to be, whether we are a new seeker for truth or a long time believer.”

Her optimism was contagious. I felt the more hopeful than I had in a long time, and it was only one day after I had done possibly the most appalling thing of my life. I turned to look at Seven. He was looking at me with a shell shocked countenance. But then he managed a smile. This gave me another boost of hopefulness. I feared I had ruined our friendship. Not only had Seven become a dear friend of mine, he had saved my life two years ago.

Seven and I also were both in attendance at the demon possession ordeal of Lexi Gomez. What we witnessed had a big impact on our lives. It awakened our minds to spiritual realities. First the extremely dark side, and then overwhelmingly light and love.  As a result, Seven became a born again Christian, and I was frightened into giving up my psychic reading business.

However, Lexi’s ordeal wasn’t my first go around with a, for lack of a better word, miraculous life change. I was housemates for several years with a beautiful woman named Willa Waconia. Willa and I first met on the west coast when we were both aspiring models. I was in an abusive relationship at the time, and her personal life wasn’t any better.

After Willa lamented posing incredibly nude in a famous magazine, the only advancing results being that she should do porn, she decided she wanted to go home. At the same time I was severely stressing over being the subject of a boyfriend control freak I could never satisfy. So I fled with her two thousand miles away to a state where she had relatives, Iowa.

She and I then went in together, buying an old Victorian house. I opened an herb store on the first floor with a psychic reading room in the back. Willa got into a strange form of prostitution. Her notoriety as a centerfold had given her a decent internet following. She became a dominatrix and developed a rather lucrative clientele of well to do men that wanted to be, well, punished by a hot, sexy, semi famous centerfold.

I never had a problem with any of her customers. I often thought that they were sick, perverse, and twisted. But they were always polite and respectful for the most part. Then a man named Billy Bob Booker entered her domain. He was definitely not her typical Jon.

When I say I did psychic readings, I should clarify that I’m not clairvoyant. I don’t even believe in it, just like my current struggles with the opposing belief system. As a psychic, I was mostly a con. Yet I justified it by believing I was highly intuitive. What I intuited about Billy Bob was that he was different. Very different! (The story of Willa and Billy Bob can be read in the e-book ‘Billy Bob Booker and the Hooker).

I volunteer at an animal shelter. I also had a chocolate lab of my own that had been traumatized by a man or men. Anyway, my dog Free hated men. When Billy Bob was a new client of Willa’s, I didn’t think much of him. Except he seemed to be more, for a lack of a better word, more peaceable than the average man. I thought he had a great aura.

As he waited for Willa in my store, he wandered toward the back room, which was actually off limits unless I was doing a reading for someone. Willa and I had personal pictures on the wall back there. He asked about one of Willa on a horse when she was quite young. At the time I couldn’t remember what I told him because my dog Free growled at him. He wanted to pet her, but I emphatically warned him to keep his distance. I told him that she didn’t like men and would bite.

I get busy with something and the next thing I knew, he was scratching Free’s belly! He was talking softly to her as if he was an angel or something. When he and Willa finished their business and he left, I asked her about him. Willa was absolutely stunned! Not only that I asked about one of her guys, which I had never done, but because Free let him scratch her belly. Like I said, Free hated men! And Billy Bob Booker is a big, muscular guy. Not quite as ripped as Brock Storm or as handsome, but at a glance, tough looking.

Willa told me that he wanted to hire her to go to a wedding his ex-fiancée and her current beau would be attending. She told me that she had declined. I explained to her in more detail about what transpired between Free and Billy Bob. She looked at my beloved chocolate Lab that hated men with awe. She ended up calling Billy Bob and telling him she would go with him.

Willa became close friends with Billy Bob, even though he had second thoughts about using her services. Billy Bob ended up rekindling his romance with his ex-fiancée. But even more surprising, his influence led Willa to become a born again Christian. Willa gave up her practice as a well-paid dominatrix. She is now a mother and a committed, conservative Christian. She traded her leather and whips for long dresses and a Holy Bible.

Fast forward to Seven and me. Like I said, after the Lexi deliverance ordeal, Seven became a Christian convert himself. I floundered as I searched and stumbled. But he and I still became good, close friends. We also had an attraction that began before the Lexi Gomez ordeal and wouldn’t go away.

Seven and I would have these amazingly deep spiritual discussions. Yet he tended to be on the side of faith while I was on the side of doubt. We also had deep personal conversations. With these, I tended to be vague while Seven was quite revealing. I also made it known that when it came to romance, I would be moving at a snail’s pace. Seven made it known that any future intimate partner of his would have to share his spiritual beliefs.

Since he told me everything, I had known that he had strong feelings for his first love, Salena. The previous night he told me regarding Salena that he was overcoming his feelings of jealousy and rejection. He said that she was also beginning to embrace his spiritual beliefs. He told me that since it was probably never going to work between him and me, he was considering marrying Salena! The moderate jealousy I had always felt over Salena turned extreme and became overpowering.

That’s when I did the biggest con job of my life. Afterwards Seven knew it. His words of rebuke still echoed in my head. Yet right here, right now, a day afterwards, he had just given me a reassuring smile. I was so pleased with this that I forgot my secret arch nemesis was part of this group. Then she spoke and forgive me, but my skin crawled.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Salena said coldly. “But is this meeting going to be about Bible prophecy or personal problems?”

Poor Sevenia looked as if she had just been slapped. Her mouth opened, and then closed. I, in turn, wished I could crawl under a rock. I hadn’t felt this embarrassed since I had an incident as high school freshman with my menstrual cycle. Sevenia’s mouth opened and closed a second time. She looked at her father with anxious eyes. Seven stood, and this man that became famous and well to do by speaking began to stammer.

“We, ah, I, ah, see no reason why we can’t, um, do like Sevenia had said at the start,” he managed to say. “Understanding prophecy isn’t gonna do us much good if our souls aren’t nurtured in the process.”

“Right,” Salena said with a phony smile and a fake calmness to her voice. “So maybe you could have two separate studies. One to iron out the love of sin, and one to analyze so called prophecy.”

My embarrassment was replaced by anger. If this woman was beginning to share Seven’s spiritual beliefs, I had him all wrong. I wanted nothing to do with these Pharisees. I realized that my hand had reflexively gone into my purse and my thumb was stroking the smooth worry stone I had in there.

I stood and tossed the worry stone to Salena. “Let she that is without sin cast the first stone.”

I then walked briskly from the room. I heard even faster footsteps behind me. Was it Sevenia? Destiny? Please, oh please, Lord, let it be Seven I thought. Let him tell me he forgives me, loves me, wants me to not leave.

“Zella,” Salena said with croak. I turned and looked at the pregnant woman. Tears spilled from her pretty brown, almond shaped eyes. “I’m sorry. Your point was taken, and well deserved. If anyone should leave, it’s me.”

She put her face in her hands and sobbed. I stepped toward her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I forgive you.”

She lifted her head and her lower jaw stretched as she delicately wiped tears with both index fingers. She looked at me and forced a sad smile. “It’s just women’s intuition kicked in. I noticed the way you and Seven were looking at each other, and I became overwhelmed with jealousy.”

“I know the feeling,” I replied, forcing a sad smile of my own.

“Even though I’m pregnant by a brief, foolish, sinful fling with his brother,” she explained “He admitted to me the other day that he was in love with both you and me. He also said that my spiritual beliefs were more in line with his than yours are. He said he chose me if I would have them. I told him I would indeed have him.”

Suddenly, Salena looked horrified and pressed her hands to her cheeks.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, thinking maybe she was having a problem with her baby. She wasn’t exactly young to be having a baby.

“I assumed you already knew this right?” she asked.

“I did.”

“Good,” she said, letting out a breath with relief. “I thought so. That’s why I became so jealous. Seven said he needed to talk to you. That he needed to tell you his feelings and intentions. He was supposed to call me before the study tonight. He never did. Then I see the looks going on between you two.”

“What  kind  of  looks?” I asked slowly, not realizing how obvious the tension between Seven and me must have been. Did Sevenia and Destiny pick up on it as well?

“I don’t know,” Salena said with a shrug and a sigh. “It was like a look between forbidden lovers.”

I was thankful for my ebony skin. I could feel my face and neck get hot.

“It was, wasn’t it?” she inquired.

I cleared my throat. “Excuse me.”

“I think the opposite of him telling you he chose me over you happened,” she said softly.

“No, he told me. But to be honest, I tried to make a claim on him. But he rejected me. Angrily even, and I don’t blame him.”

“What happened?”

“I’m not saying,” I said with a sigh. “He’ll have to tell you.”

“Do you love him?” she asked.

“I do,” I groaned. “Immensely.”

“Me too,” she said with a sigh and a sad smile. Then to my surprise she offered her hand for me to shake. “May the best girl claim his affections. With no hard feelings?”

“Actually, I concede,” I replied humbly. “After what I did last night, I’m sure he’s more confirmed in his decision for you.”

“What happened?” She asked again, frowning.

“Like I said,” I replied calmly “That will be up to him to tell you. If he does, then I’ll tell you my side of the story. If you want to hear it, that is.”

“Okay, fair enough,” she said nodding, but looking confused. “But will you please come back to the study? I intend on apologizing to you in front of the rest of the group. I’d like to blame my behavior on pregnancy changing my hormones. But your rebuke hit home. I simply felt like a woman scorned.”

“You know, I didn’t like you just because, but you’re actually really awesome,” I laughed. “It’s no wonder Seven chose you over a wishy washy former psychic.”

“Are you kidding?” She chuckled nervously. “You’re gorgeous! You look like a combination of Halle Berry and Naomi Campbell.”

“You weren’t exactly wacked with an ugly stick,” I replied giggling.

We had a brief moment of enjoying our truce. Then before awkward silence ensued, Salena petitioned with a smile and a second offered hand, “Friends?”

“Friends,” I replied affectionately, ignoring her hand and gently hugging her.

“Will you come back in with me then?” she asked me. “I’ll apologize to the group and take blame for the drama.”

“Yes,” I croaked.

We turned to go back in. She took my hand in hers, and we grinned at each other and took a step toward the study room. We had only taken three steps when Seven came out the door. He stopped in his tracks. Looked at Salena and me hand in hand. He looked beyond confused as he ran a  hand through his hair.

“I don’t know if this is good or bad,” he mumbled almost to himself.

“It’s all good,” Salena and I said at the same time.

“But probably not for you,” Sevenia said sympathetically as she stepped beside her father.

LV

BEING CONFIDENT OF THIS VERY THING, THAT HE THAT HAS BEGUN A GOOD WORK IN YOU WILL PERFORM IT UNTIL THE DAY OF JESUS CHRIST

PHILIPPIANS 1:6

FATHER AND DAUGHTER

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA SALLIE GIRL PROPHETESS)

My blood pressure must have been through the roof as my heart pounded against my chest! A dozen human beings were assembled in the church basement as my lovely daughter prepared to begin a study of Bible prophecy. However, it wasn’t her being the master of ceremonies that had me beyond nervous to just short of a panic attack. It was my own guilt, shame, and confusion.

Over the last two years, I had developed two platonic friendships with two different women. One was my first love and teenage girlfriend, Salena. Not quite two decades ago, Salena had broken up with me to marry an older, wealthy man for the sake of her impoverished family. A year after she became a widow, we became reacquainted.

The other woman was a former fortune teller by the name of Zella LaStella. She and I began an intense friendship after she and I witnessed the demon possession and deliverance of Lexi Gomez. I call our friendship intense due to the physical attraction and chemistry that simmered between us. Yet we remained platonic due to her extreme caution with romance and my religious conversion. Zella believed in the supernatural, but not the God of the Bible. Zella believed Jesus was a great man, teacher, and prophet. Although I believe those things too, I also believe Jesus is God. Zella did not.

Over the previous months, Zella had softened her stance against romance. I had relaxed my belief that we needed to share the same beliefs. But then I changed my mind. I saw too much turmoil in marriages that differed in belief systems. About the same time, I realized I had been denying a desire for Salena due to pride and jealousy.

Pride because she had dumped me to marry another man. Jealousy because she had a fling with my twin brother that led to her current state of pregnancy. But as I realized that Salena and I shared the same spiritual beliefs, I also realized my pride and jealousy were forms of self-love. I pushed self aside and began to rekindle my love for Salena. My new attitude became confirmed after hearing the story of Jack and Jill Griffin. Jack had waited several uncertain years for his wife to return to him after leaving him for another man. Jack’s situation was far more grueling than mine.

There was one element to my situation that was seemingly more difficult than their situation. Salena was pregnant by another man. However, that other man was my twin brother. So I would be raising my own nephew. My brother also suggested that I should be with Salena. That she loved me. That she needed me rather than him.

After weeks of consideration, I decided to ask Salena to marry me. The thought of finally consummating a marriage with Salena after all these years excited me. But first I felt that I needed to explain things to Zella. So last night I went to her house and explained the situation to her. She seemed to take it well. But then things went awry in a way I hadn’t expected. They went amiss in such a way that I couldn’t ask Salena to marry me right now. Maybe ever.

The Bible study was due to start at 7 pm. It was five minutes till 7. Both Salena and Zella had not arrived. There was no way I would pray that anyone would not show up for a Bible study. Yet as I heard the door open, I felt myself tense. Then I relaxed some when Destiny walked through the door with two young women. Then I re-tensed when Salena walked into the room right behind them.

We smiled and waved at each other, then I kept myself busy fiddling unnecessarily with the slide machine my daughter asked me to operate. I just couldn’t face Salena right now. The strange, unexpected happenings with Zella the previous night was too fresh on my mind

At 7:05 pm, there were sixteen of the roughly thirty people that had shown interest in the study. Zella was not one of them. At 7:07 pm, Sevenia welcomed everybody and I prematurely breathed a sigh of relief. Then the door opened and Zella stepped into the room.

“Sorry, I’m late,” she said as she gave Sevenia a warm, apologetic smile.

“No, you’re fine, Zella,” my daughter said happily. “This is just an informal gathering of friends.”

Zella eyed a dozen available chairs and chose one. As she made her way to it, our eyes met. Her eyes narrowed and seemed to glare at me for a few minutes, even though it was only a couple seconds. Then I think she smirked as she sat and crossed one shapely leg over another.

Zella looked like she could be Naomi Campbell’s daughter. She also didn’t subscribe to our church’s conservative tendency on dress. She was wearing form fitting leggings and a tight athletic top that was glued to her healthy form. Even though said top had long sleeves, the bottom of it rose several inches above her jeans revealing a flat muscular abdomen.

I glanced at Salena, who was staring somberly at Zella. She had a hand on her ever expanding belly, and forgive me, looked a little frumpy in a maternity dress that was a bit too big for her. Zella turned and looked at her. I felt my toes curl. I feared my night was about to become a nightmare. Were these two women aware of some confusing romantic competition between them that I didn’t understand?

Since the evening became an anxiety riddled blur for me, I will now turn this story over to my precious daughter.

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

How ironic! I had just done an interview for my dad’s podcast on how a couple managed to save their marriage from a love triangle. Now at the beginning of what we hoped would be a regular Thursday night Bible prophecy study, my dad unintentionally had brought his own love triangle to the meeting.

Moments after Zella LaStella arrived, I noticed a strange look pass between her and my father. It was an odd combination of both hostility and affection. Then I saw Salena staring at Zella. Then Zella looked at Salena. Then the expression on my dad’s face looked like he was about to face a firing squad.

“Shall we open with prayer?” I asked loudly, snapping the strange aura between Salena, Zella, and my father. After I prayed vocally, I begged God silently that he would dispel any discord. So few of the human population thirsted and hungered after God, I knew Satan would be here trying to disrupt this quest for truth.

“Once again, welcome,” I said. “Thanks for coming. I believe I have at least met everyone of you here. I also know that many of you are new students of the Holy Bible. I also know that a few of you have doubts about believing the Bible. If our study accomplishes anything, it is my hope that it instills faith that this centuries old inspired book of books can be relied upon as the ultimate life guide.

“When I first joined Cotton Creek Cove, something Pastor Samson said to me has stuck with me ever since. He told me when this fellowship first began, he wanted the worship to be more of the format of an AA meeting rather than a religious service. That said, at any time you have a question, a comment, a concern, a struggle, a prayer request, please, please, please break in and make your need known.

“Okay, so we’re going to study Daniel and Revelation. Most evangelical churches teach that these prophecies are futuristic, as in haven’t been fulfilled yet. But we’re going to examine scripture and history and discover that much has actually already been fulfilled. We’ll also see the roll the United States will play.”

“Daniel and Revelation mention the United States?” Chloe, one of the ladies Destiny brought asked. “Like, by name?”

“Not by name,” I replied. “Much of Daniel and Revelation is symbolic. But as we examine the symbolic meanings, hopefully you will be able to see the various representations.”

“Why symbols?” Chloe asked. “Why didn’t God just come right out and say this is this and that is that?”

“Good question,” I replied. “My personal opinion is that God used symbols to protect His followers from the very antichrist system it warns us about. It is a persecuting power and the main reason the dark ages were called dark. In the early days of Christianity, the Bible was actually withheld in a large degree from non-clergy.”

Chloe nodded, along with a few others.

“Oh, before we get going, does everyone have a Bible?” I asked. Everyone nodded, except Zella. “Does anyone need one?”

Zella meekly raised her hand, and I handed her one.

“Please turn to Revelation Chapter one and verse one,” I instructed. “Revelation is the last book of the Bible. Destiny, could you read that for us?”

“Sure,” she replied merrily. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to Him, to show to His servants, things which must shortly come to pass; and He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.”

“Thanks, Dee,” I said cheerily, and then my face fell. I noticed Heather, the other girl Destiny had brought with her. She looked as though she were on the verge of tears. I couldn’t very well ask her if anything were wrong in front of everybody, so I made myself smile and pressed on.

“At the center of the prophecies we will be studying is Jesus and the law of God,” I continued. “The entire Bible itself is a Revelation of Jesus Christ. I find it fascinating that in the first couple chapters of the Bible, God creates a paradise. Then we have the fall of man. Then in the pages following, we have how God deals with fallen man. Most predominately the life, death, and resurrection of His Son for our salvation. Then in the last couple chapters of the Bible, God creates a new heaven and a new earth.

“But the central theme of the entire Bible is Jesus! The old testament looked forward to Jesus coming, and the new testament looks back. The two books go hand in hand. A lot of Christians just want to use the new testament and forget the old. Yet when Jesus quoted scripture, the scripture he quoted was obviously the old testament.

“Take the book of Matthew, the first book of the new testament. It has at least 129 references to the old testament. Many of those are prophecies concerning Jesus. When…”

A sob barked followed by a gasp. It was Heather. “I’m sorry. I don’t belong here.”

“Oh, Honey,” Destiny said as Heather picked up her things and began to rise. Destiny gently grasped her arm as Heather began to cry. “No matter what is going on in your life you are most certainly welcome here. You definitely belong here.”

“Would you like to talk in private?” I asked.

“No,” she said shaking her head. “You said we’re all friends. I don’t want to be fake. I gave my heart to Jesus a few weeks ago. Destiny was going to baptize me the day after tomorrow. But a few days ago, I had a drink with an old boyfriend. Actually a few. Then one thing led to another.”

She began crying again

“Heather,” I said softly as her tears brought tears to my own eyes. “Have you ever dropped the soap when you were taking a shower?”

“Of course,” she replied with a puzzled frown.

“What did you do?”

“I picked it up,” she shrugged.

“Did you stop showering?”

“Of course not.”

“What we’re doing here,” I said happily. “When we study and pray, it’s like we’re taking a spiritual shower. If you give in to sin, you don’t stop trying to get clean. You use more soap and water.”

“By soap and water, do you mean Bible and prayer?” She asked with a surprisingly shy smile for someone who used to be an exotic dancer.

I nodded. “And fellowship with your fellow fallen human beings. Philippians 1:6 tells us to be confident that He who began a good work in you will finish it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

Heather walked rapidly to me, hugged me and whispered, “Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“Destiny was so right about you,” she grinned and wiped at a stray tear. “I guess I’ll stay then.”

“Praise God!” I replied cheerily. “Please let me know if you ever want to get together and talk.”

“You’re so sweet,” she said as her eyes filled again. She returned to her seat.

I was about to continue when Zella spoke. “I have a confession.”

I looked from her to my dad. He looked as if someone had just shot him with a taser.

LIV

LORD, HOW OFTEN SHOULD SOMEONE SIN AGAINST ME AND I FORGIVE THEM? 7 TIMES? JESUS SAID TO HIM, I SAY NOT 7 TIMES, BUT 70 X 7 TIMES.

(MATTHEW 18:21, 22)

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

My dad pulled me aside with a look of anguish on his face as he ran a hand through his dark hair. “I shouldn’t have had you do this interview.”

“What do you mean? Why?”

“For one thing, I don’t like you discussing ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’”

“Dad, if anything, this discussion with the Griffin’s is only gonna make me less inclined to read something like that.”

“You mean you’re somewhat inclined to read something like that?”

“No, not at all,” I laughed. “I’m just saying.”

My dad and I went back and forth for a couple minutes. I had been in the midst of an interview with Jack and Jill. They were a couple whose marriage had survived a long love triangle. I must have reassured Dad that the graphic content would remain at ethical levels, because we resumed recording.

“Jill,” I began. “You were saying that if you hadn’t developed a habit of reading sexually explicit books, you don’t believe you ever would have entered into an adulterous relationship. Would you mind explaining?”

“Not at all,” she replied, even though she seemed stiff and uncomfortable as she forced a smile. “I had never really been the flirtatious type. I had never been the type to dress all that sexy. But even the year before my affair with Will began, I had started to wear tighter and more revealing clothes.”

“Jack,” I said. “Did you notice these changes in Jill during this period?”

“Well, like they say, hindsight is 20/20,” Jack said with a forced chuckle. “I noticed, but I actually liked what I was seeing. During the time she was indulging her secret hobby, she was also exercising like never before. Our intimate life increased to the frequency that it was when we were newlyweds. Even when she was in the midst of her affair, I was somewhat oblivious. Once again, in hindsight, I was in denial. I choked up her behavior to feeling healthy, rather than, um, feeling amorous.”

“So, how long was it after you started working for Will before the affair began?” I asked Jill.

“It was probably three or four months before we were physical for the first time,” she replied. “But flirtations began right away. It was subtle at first. He would simply compliment my looks and I would thank him with a sultry smile. Then his compliments slowly became more suggestive.

“He would verbally admire specific body parts. Instead of discouraging him, I would giggle, smile seductively, or even make my own suggestive comment. Then he began touching and groping. The me from a year previous would have slapped him and quit on the spot. But the new, naughty me encouraged him by rubbing up against him instead. It wasn’t long after the touching began before we kissed for the first time. Once we kissed we, ah, what’s a tactful way to put this?”

“There isn’t one,” Jack said somberly as he stared at the table, and I could see his jaw muscles tighten.

“I think we get the point,” I said, laughing uneasily. “So how long was the affair a secret, and what brought it out into the open?”

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds. Keep in mind we were recording an interview. So a few seconds felt like a few minutes for me as the hostess. I was about to say ‘I am sorry if that was too blatant of a question’ when Jill thankfully spoke.

“It was secretive for about three years, because we were careful and not as frequent as you might imagine,” Jill said quietly. “We weren’t alone often, but we always waited until we were. But then we eventually began to get reckless. There was even an illicit thrill with being careless. But then we got caught by Will’s wife in an extremely compromising position, and it all came crashing down.”

Jill took a deep breath and sighed. She began to stare off into the distance and appeared to be holding back tears.

“Jill woke me up at three in the morning very distraught,” Jack said. “She was crying and her mascara was smeared around her eyes. At first I thought there had been an accident, or somebody had died. Then I spotted her purse on the nightstand. I saw a foot of her pantyhose dangling out and I instantly knew what was going on. I was actually relieved because I knew that whatever happened to make Jill so upset, it meant her affair must be over.”

“So you actually did know Jill was having an affair with Will?” I asked.

Jack sucked in a deep breath and looked at the ceiling. “I did and I didn’t. I had plenty of clues to indicate she was. But I was also in denial. I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.”

“Can you tell us some of the clues, or is that too personal?” I asked.

“The biggest clue was on the days she closed at the bar. In the beginning, she would get home about 2:30 am. Then it became 3:00, then 3:30 and 4:00. Also, I discovered her books of erotica in a drawer. I figured if she was reading about sexual adventure, she was probably partaking of her own.”

“Did you ever think about confronting her?” I asked.

“No, I have occasionally looked at porn, so I couldn’t very well chastise her for reading it.”

“Actually, I meant confronting her about the affair,” I said, hoping I wasn’t blushing.

“Oh, sure I did. Yet I didn’t want to appear the jealous husband.”

“Can you explain why you actually felt relieved when you pretty much had it confirmed that your wife was romantically involved with another man?”

“Well, like I said, because it also appeared to be over. Then through her sobbing, she confessed everything. Even details I didn’t really want to hear.”

“How did you react to her confession?”

“He couldn’t have been more loving,” Jill whimpered. “He hugged me, told me he forgave me, told me he wanted to get our marriage back on track. He wiped my tears. We even made love.”

“But if I’m doing my math correctly, this wasn’t the end of the ménage a’ trois, was it?”

“No,” they said in unison, both shaking their heads.

“So how long did the reconciliation last before the affair resumed?” I asked.

“A few months,” Jack said. “We were even going to marriage counseling.”

“What happened?”

“I was still in love with Will,” Jill said, and then looked apologetically at Jack. “And absence made the heart grow fonder for both Will and me. I also missed the illicit thrill of our, um, escapades. The lust and desire was like some kind of drug.

“Then Will and his wife separated after she filed for divorce. He wanted me to move in with him. Even though I still loved Jack, what I had with Will was newer and fresher. Well, that’s the way I saw it at the time. So, I did the hardest thing I ever had to do in my life. I told Jack I was leaving him. It ended up being the biggest mistake of my life. I’m so sorry, Jack.”

Jill began sobbing. Jack rubbed her back. and I looked at my dad. He whirled his hand to keep recording. I thought about shaking my head, but looked at Jill. It appeared to be a brief shower of tears.

“Jack,” I said gently. “Would you mind telling us how you responded to this?”

“I was devastated,” he replied somberly. “I was never much of a drinker. But within the hour of her saying her last goodbye, I headed to the store to buy a bottle of Jack Daniels. My mantra was get drunk, get divorced. Get drunk, get divorced. Then a song by Sting came on the radio. He sang that if you love somebody, set them free. Free, free, set them free. Free, free, set them free.”

I almost started laughing at the unmelodious way he spoke the lyrics. But I had it under control until I looked at my dad. His head was bowed and his shoulders were jiggling. I looked away quickly as I clenched my stomach to hold in a burst of laughter. I spoke abruptly to avert my mind and to stop Jack from speaking anymore lyrics.

“So did this song have a profound affect on you?” I asked.

“It did,” he replied. “I realized I still loved Jill despite her treatment of me. I knew she still loved me, and that the woman that married me was still there deep down in her heart. I thought maybe if she lives with him for a while, she’ll see that the grass isn’t necessarily greener on the other side.”

“If I would have only known,” Jill said sadly as she shook her head.

“So instead of getting a bottle of whiskey,” Jack continued. “I decided to go see a guy I met through work. Billy Bob Booker is his name, and he experienced his fiancée’ leaving him for another man. He too forgave her, and took her back.”

“Yes, I read his story in the e-book by Johnathan Embers,” I said.

“Right, Billy Bob Booker and the Hooker,” Jack replied, nodding. “Just think. If his fiancée’ hadn’t left him for another man, Willa, the hooker, might never have come to the Lord.”

“Amen,” I responded, as Jill replied with an amen of her own. “So did his story and friendship inspire you?”

“It did. It showed me anything is possible. I also decided that I would not be the one to dissolve our marriage. I also decided that I would remain faithful to my wedding vows, even if my wife hadn’t.”

Jill hung her head in shame. I felt bad for her, yet I had no words of comfort in the moment. I needed to just proceed with the interview.

“Jill, I noticed you said if you had only known when Jack mentioned he was waiting to take you back,” I said. “What did you mean?”

“Within a month of living with Will, I knew I had made a terrible mistake,” Jill replied. “Not that I was necessarily miserable. But it wasn’t like living with Jack. Maybe I should say I simply liked living with Jack better. Before I lived with Will, I idealized him. But my fantasies didn’t live up to realities.”

“So why didn’t you repent and ask Jack to take you back?” I asked.

“Well, Sevenia, I had already badly hurt Jack by the initial affair,” Jill said. “But Jack found it in his heart to forgive me. When I actually left him to shack up with Will, I figured I had completely burned the bridge back to him. Even when I considered approaching him, I felt too ashamed.”

“Okay, so now you two are quite reconciled,” I said with a smile. “So what happened?”

“Well,” Jack grinned. “For the next three years I went to church with Billy Bob Booker. I didn’t date or hook up with other women. I grew up in a  nominally Christian household, but for the first time in my life I became spiritually reborn. As hard as Jill’s infidelity was to accept, it taught me to depend on God rather than another person. Until Jill left me, I didn’t realize how dependent I was on her for my happiness and contentment.”

“How about you, Jill?” I inquired. “Tell us about the previous three years and your reconciliation with Jack.”

“It wasn’t worth it,” she said emphatically and sadly as she shook her head. “It was bad enough hurting Jack to satisfy my lusts of the flesh. What I stupidly didn’t anticipate was how negatively our kids responded to my behavior. Although I still managed to maintain a relationship with them, their disappointment and disrespect was palpable.

“Anyhow, Will ended up proposing as we were enjoying a romantic get away,” Jill said and then glanced uneasily at Jack. “I was caught up in the moment and happily said yes. During the three years I lived with Will, he only asked if I filed for divorce a couple times. After I accepted his proposal, he insisted I file within the week.

“In the days after accepting Will’s marriage offer, I was beyond regretful. Not only for saying yes, but for leaving a good man three years earlier for a cheat and a selfish slob. Don’t get me wrong. Will had his charms, I wouldn’t have fallen for him if he didn’t. I guess it took almost ruining my life to see that Jack was a diamond and Will was cubic zirconia.”

Jack smiled and humbly bowed his head.

“Okay, so how did you two reconcile then?”

“Our son called me with the news that Jill and Will were engaged,” Jack said and then sighed. “Not long after I talked to him, Jill called and asked if she could come and see me. I told her of course, and thought, well, this is it. She’s coming to present me with divorce papers or something.

“When she arrived on my doorstep, she took my breath away. Her hair was held back with a clip, just the way I liked it, and she was in a dress she used to wear to church back when our kids were little. I invited her in and we exchanged awkward small talk for about five minutes. Then I couldn’t stand it anymore. I asked her if she had something for me to sign or anything. She got wide eyed and almost looked frightened. That’s when she threw me a curve.”

Jill giggled. “I told him that I hadn’t filed for divorce yet. He asked me why I wanted to see him then. I told him that before I filed, I wanted to ask him why he had never filed. He told me he always held out hope that I would come back to him. I asked him if he meant even now after three years. Without hesitation, he said even now after three years.”

Jill pinched the bridge of her nose and began to whimper. Jack rubbed her back, and she put her face in her hands and cried.

“I wanted to make love with him right then,” Jill said. “But he told me I needed to end things with Will first. So I went back to what I considered home for three years and threw Will a curve. I told him I had changed my mind. I gave him his ring back. I also told him Jack took me back.

“He threw a fit! We argued, and he almost hit me. This told me all I needed to know about the only two romantic partners in my life. Jack never even raised his voice due to my shenanigans. Yes, I knew I hurt him and he was disappointed. This hurt me too, but not enough to stop my selfish desires. Yet he forgave me! I then went back to what I had called home for more than twenty years, and that’s where I plan to stay until death do us part.”

“Jesus said in Matthew 6:14,” Jack said. “That if you forgive people their trespasses, your heavenly father will forgive yours. Without the love and forgiveness of God in my heart, my love and forgiveness for Jill wouldn’t have existed. Therefore I wouldn’t be experiencing this fresh start.”

Jill wiped a tear before she spoke. “If Jack wouldn’t have exhibited this extreme act of love, patience, and forgiveness, I wouldn’t be experiencing my own spiritual revival right now. I would have ended up yoked with a man that was my legal husband, but not truly my spiritual husband. Or even an okay husband if he was tempted to hit me. Thank God his Son intervened in Jack’s life! And as a ripple effect, mine as well as our kids!”

“Amen!” my dad and I said at the same time.

LIII

BUT I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT WHOSOEVER LOOKS ON A WOMAN (MAN) TO LUST AFTER HER (HIM) HAS COMMITTED ADULTRY WITH HER (HIM) ALREADY IN HIS HEART.

(MATTHEW 5:28)

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA SALLIE GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Dad!” my daughter had said a week ago, running an exasperated hand through her short auburn hair before putting fists on her hips. But a little smile played at her lips and her big lovely emerald eyes twinkled. “It would be nice if you would have asked me first. What if I don’t like doing this interview stuff for your podcast?”

“But you do, don’t you?”

“Well yeah, sort of,” she shrugged. “But it would have been courteous to talk to me before you announce something regarding me to your audience.”

“But I got a text from Jack while your interview was recording. He and his wife Jill would be willing to share their testimony on how their marriage went from nearly ending to becoming revived in a powerful way. They just renewed their wedding vows last week on their 25^th anniversary.”

“Wow, it does sound interesting,” Sevenia said. “I didn’t even know Jack Griffin was married. His wife’s name is Jill? Like Jack and Jill went up the hill?”

“To fetch a pail of Chili,” I said nodding.

“What? Don’t you mean water? Then Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after.”

“This little ditty quite literally happened to their marriage,” I told Sevenia. “You just have to change some of the wording.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, Jack will explain. It has to do with a restaurant his wife went to work for and the guy that she fell love with.”

“Okay. Obviously, I know Jack. He’s been at Cotton Creek Cove fellowship ever since I’ve been going. But have I ever met his wife Jill?”

“I don’t know, have you?” I asked. “She’s been coming with him the last few weeks.”

“That woman he’s been coming with is his wife? I thought she was his sister.”

“Yeah, they do sort of look alike. Brown hair, brown eyes, narrow noses, thin lips.”

Seven days later I eyed my daughter as I prepared to record another interview. She talked with Jack and Jill. As often happened, affection for her swelled in my heart. She was so mature, wholesome, and had a way of putting people at ease. Her being part of my podcast was already boosting ratings.

“Are you all ready?” I asked. My daughter and Jill sat six feet across from each other at a table and Jack sat back and in between them, facing me. As I gazed at the ladies profiles, I decided to tease a little. My asking if they were ready had put a frightened look into Jill’s eyes. “Did you ladies decide to dress alike for the photos later?”

The three laughed. Then Jill and Sevenia look at each other, realizing that their light blue blouses looked similar. They were also wearing what I sometimes thought of as sort of a uniform for women who belong to our fellowship. Women tended to wear dresses on Sabbath, but long denim skirts otherwise. It wasn’t a rule or anything. But more women than not seemed to prefer this attire.

They also were both wearing navy tights. But Jill wore blue flat shoes while my daughter wore black converse sneakers. It was cool for early October, and it was the first I’d seen Sevenia in tights since May. It was a sad sign that summer was over.

I began the podcast by welcoming Sevenia back and introducing our guests to the audience. I explained that by calling the interview, the Seven Year Switch, it had nothing to do with my name. Rather, it signified the seven year period that a third party was involved in Jack and Jill’s legal marriage. With their marriage on the brink of ending, it suddenly and quickly turned around. I turned it over to my daughter to extract the details.

“We were talking about the famous Jack and Jill ditty before we got started here,” Sevenia said with a giggle. “Jack, would you explain the significance of the wording change you implemented. It would be a good way to get your story rolling.”

“Sure,” Jack replied and then cleared his throat. “Seven years ago, Jill and I had both gotten home late and we didn’t feel like making any supper. We lived in a small town, and I recalled having recently run into an old friend and former co-worker, Will. He told me he had opened a bar and grill in a neighboring town six miles away. The place was called Willie’s Chili and More Bar and Grill. I suggested we have supper there.”

“The town is kind of hilly, and after parking, you need to climb about dozen stairs or walk around on a ramp to get to the entrance. So we had a burger and a bowl of chili. Since it was late, we ended up being the last customers to finish eating. My old friend came over to sit at our table to ask us how our meal was and to catch up a little.”

“So this Will or Willie,” Sevenia said to Jill. “Is he the man you, ah…”

“Yes,” Jill interrupted quickly, followed with a nervous laugh. “Until that night, I hadn’t seen Will in years. It had been around ten years previous that he worked with Will. I had only met him a few times, but the irony is that I didn’t like him at all back then. Sure he was good looking, but I found him disgusting. He was a big blonde rowdy redneck. He always had a big wad of tobacco in his mouth and didn’t seem to be able to complete a sentence without a swear word. He was the type of guy that whistled at women passing by construction sites.”

“Was that the type of work you guys did back then?” Sevenia asked Jack.

“Still do, I’ve been a carpenter my whole life,” Jack replied.

“Okay. So Jill, you said you didn’t like Will back then, what had changed?” Sevenia asked.

“I guess the first thing I noticed was he aged well,” she replied. “For a big man approaching fifty, he still had more muscle than fat. He still had most of his hair and it was now a distinguished silver. But most importantly, he seemed to have matured. He seemed more sophisticated.”

“He also flattered Jill,” Jack interjected with a frown. “He mentioned she was pretty and fit.”

“That was after you suggested I work for him,” Jill replied, with a seemingly forced smile.

I felt myself go rigid. Was this interview, barely under way, about to go sideways? Was this interview going to cause their reconciliating to go the other way? I simply thought their story was inspiring. Thankfully, my smart girl kept them on the right path.

“Jack, I’m curious now,” Sevenia said. “Tell us your ditty.”

Jack and Jill looked at each other and chuckled. I felt myself relax a little.

“Just a little more background before the ditty,” Jack said with a sigh. “Jill’s right, I suggested that maybe she should waitress for Will. He had mentioned that he was hurting for help. Jill had worked part time at the county as a clerk, but due to budget cuts, she got let go. Before and just after we married she had waitressed for a couple years. She was hesitant with my suggestion, but that’s when Will said that with her good looks, she’d make nice tips.”

“But I was concerned about being on my feet for long periods of time,” Jill explained. “I remembered being exhausted when I was nineteen. How would I be at forty something? That’s when Will said I looked really fit to him. He also told me to please give it a try, and I could quit anytime, no hard feelings. Then we shook on it.”

“Right about that time, I excused myself to use the restroom,” Jack said. “When I came out, I didn’t like the way they were looking at each other, all googly eyed. Then I had gotten a text from a guy that worked for me. He said he was sick and wouldn’t be in the next day. As I was texting back, Will’s phone rang behind the bar. As he went to answer it, I noticed Jill didn’t take her eyes off of him. I thought, uh oh, what did I just do? Then I laughed to myself thinking, Jill’s never given me a reason not to trust her.”

“I’ll admit it,” Jill interjected. “It’s part of the healing process. I was smitten with Will. I didn’t believe then that I would ever actually cheat on Jack, but I was trusting to myself. When Jesus said that whoever looks on a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery in his heart (Matthew 5:28). It doesn’t just apply to men. But with women, it’s more in the mind, the feelings.”

Jill and Sevenia both chuckled politely. My daughter opened her mouth to proceed with the interview, but Jack spoke.

“So the ditty,” He said with a sigh. “When Jill actually left me and moved in with Will, I wrote her a letter. I recalled that first meeting when we went for that fateful late supper. So I concluded  the letter with a P.S. It was a little poem. Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a bowl of chili. Jack turned around, and then he frowned, because he saw that Jill had eyes for Willie.”

“So Jill,” Sevenia said. “You mentioned the warning Jesus gave in the book of Matthew, yet you also mentioned trusting to yourself. Can you explain?”

“I’ll try,” Jill chuckled nervously. “Jack and I were both raised in religious homes. We both grew up in the same church. We were married in this church, and we were both virgins when we married. Well, I mean, technically. But until I left Jack for Will, we attended church regularly.”

I noticed Jack blush when his wife informed the audience about their level of being chaste when they married.

“We had two kids, and I was a stay at home mom until both our children were in school full time. I ended up getting a part time job with the county as a clerk. Over the years my prayer life and devotional life slowly dwindled. About a year before I started waitressing at Willie’s Chili, I was let go by the county. I ended up at a temp service. At one of the offices I worked at, I met and became friends with someone who raved about the book Fifty Shades of Grey.

“When she offered to loan me her copy, I had resisted at first. Up to that point in my life, I had mostly just read Christian fiction for recreational reading. To make a long story short, I gave it a try, and I couldn’t put it down. I was curious, tantalized and intrigued. All three in the trilogy had been out by then and within two weeks I had them all read.

“Just to be clear. I’m not into BDSM. Yet reading about it aroused me on some level. I went in search for something similar. I found myself at a used bookstore. The only other person there besides myself was a middle aged woman who was the cashier. I told her what I was looking for, and she led me to a small section labeled erotica.

“I spent the next hour reading the backs of twenty or thirty novels of erotic fiction as well as supposedly true stories. I purchased about a half dozen that intrigued me the most. I’m ashamed to say that I became addicted to erotica.

“Girl porn was the main reason for my downfall. Jack was a wonderful husband and father, we had a great marriage. But if it weren’t for my fascination with tantalizing sexual stories, I don’t believe I ever would have entered into an affair. Like it says in the book of James. Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.” (James 1:14).

“Then when lust has conceived,” Jack said mechanically. “It brings forth sin. And when sin is finished it brings forth death.” (Verse 15).

Jill began sobbing hysterically.

“I’m sorry, Jill. I didn’t mean it that way,” Jack said soothingly. Then he spoke something into her ear and patted her back. She kissed his check, but then only sobbed the harder. Sevenia put an arm around her and looked at me. I whirled my hand to keep recording. Sevenia scowled and shook her head. I nodded and we took a break.

LII

FOR WE WRESTLE NOT AGAINST FLESH AND BLOOD, BUT AGAINST PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS, AGAINST THE RULERS OF THE DARKNESS OF THIS WORLD, AGAINST SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS IN HIGH PLACES

(EPHESIANS 6:12)

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” my dad said with an old English accent. We had just taken a break in recording the interview I was doing with Lexi. She needed a drink of water and a few minutes to collect her bearings.

“What?” Lexi and I said in unison.

“Oh, nothing,” my dad replied, looking slightly surprised. “Lexi had just been saying her deliverance was both the best and worst time of her life. That old quote just popped into my fertile brain.”

“I know what your brain was fertilized with,” Lexi said laughing.

“I said fertile, not fertilized,” my dad said with both a grin and a scowl. “Anyway, are you guys ready?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Lexi replied.

“So, Lexi,” I began, and then continued as gently as possible. “At one point during your deliverance, in a fit of rage, you started to choke your sister. Can you tell us what was going through your mind at that time?”

“My mind was in such chaos, so much is so confused in my memory,” she replied as she shook her head. “I’m totally sorry, but I can’t tell you why I choked my sister. I remember having an unreasonable feeling of jealous anger toward her. Then I blacked out and went into an extremely vivid dream state.

“In this dream state, first I saw the real Satan. Not the malevolent, mythical portrayal with horns, all red, and a pitchfork. But the real dark force that appears as an angel of light from 2 Corinthians 11:14. Verse 15 also tells us that Satan’s ministers will be transformed as the ministers of righteousness. If someone is going to poison someone., the poison is usually mixed with something good.

“I believe these dark forces preach self-help fluff in thousands of churches. They preach legalism through tradition and politics in thousands of other churches. In our societal culture it preaches freedom and fun through rebellion in sex, drugs, music, and other entertainment.

“So after that I saw Jesus before the crucifixion, praying and sweating as it were great drops of blood. He was in anguish over His mission to save sinners from eternal death. A death I was in that moment facing. Then I saw Jesus on the cross, bloody and beaten.

“As I beheld Him, He looked at me with such love, compassion, and forgiveness. In that moment I gave my heart, mind, and soul to Him. The demons that possessed me fled and I was consumed by bright light for about ten seconds. The first thing I saw when my vison cleared was my little sister. She was looking at me with the same love and compassion our Lord had been looking at me with in the vision.”

Lexi sniffed, gasped, and then tried unsuccessfully to choke back a sob.

“It’s okay, Lex,” I said softly, but I think my sympathetic words caused her weeping to intensify. I looked at my dad. To my surprise, he pinched the bridge of his nose as he bowed his head. I assume he was attempting to hold back tears of his own. Yet he spun his hand in a circular motion, indicating to keep recording.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a final sniff. Thankfully after only twenty seconds. “I kind of lost it there.”

“That’s completely understandable,” I said.

“It’s just I‘ve seen so many broken people,” she said with a quivering lower lip. “Especially in my former profession as an exotic dancer. The sad thing is Jesus is right there for the taking. Yet most people don’t look for Him. They don’t see Him.”

“Because He doesn’t force an entrance into anyone’s life,” I said. “He stands at the door and knocks. (Revelation 3:20). It’s up to us to let Him in.”

“God promises that if we ask, it will be given to us,” Lexi said quoting Matthew 7:7. “If we seek we will find, if we knock it will be opened.”

“Right,” I agreed. “He continues the promise with verse 8 with everyone that asks receives.”

“Proverbs 8:35 tells us that whoever finds God, finds life,” Lexi said. “In Jeremiah 29:13 the Lord says you shall seek me, and find me, when you search for me with all your heart.”

I felt myself well up with love for my sister in Christ. I had seen pictures of her when she was known as sexy Lexi. She appeared so hard and mean looking. Now she overflowed with love for the Lord and her fellow man.

“Lexi, you’ve been such an inspiration for me over the last two years,” I told her. “It’s a privilege to call you my Christian sister.”

“Thank you, I feel privileged as well,” she said with a sweet smile as she wiped a tear from her eye. “You’ve been such a blessing to me, Sevenia. Nobody has taught me about primitive Godliness like you.”

“That’s kind of you to say, Lex, thank you. And thank you for doing this interview with me.”

“Thank you for making me feel so comfortable when I talked about difficult things.”

I looked at my dad, and he gave us a thumbs up. He began talking and my gaze returned to Lexi. Then when my dad spoke, my head snapped back to him.

“Next week join us as Sevenia interviews a couple that nearly divorced due to a love triangle. Find out how their marriage not only survived, but how they became spiritually revived in the process.”

This was news to me!

LI

PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOUR OF GOD, THAT YOU MAY BE ABLE TO STAND AGAINST THE WILES OF THE DEVIL.

EPHESIANS 6:11

SEVEN SALLIE (FATHER OF SEVENIA GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Daddy, what do you think you’re doing?” my daughter asked me with a whisper, but her teeth clenched. She had been about to sit back down and continue the interview with Lexi on the occult. But before she sat, she had taken a couple quick steps toward me and clutched my arm.

“What do you mean?” I asked dumbly.

“You know what I mean,” she replied as she looked at my phone, which was still recording a video. She grabbed it from my hand, pursed her lips, and pushed stop. “Shame on you.”

“Sorry, I just did it reflexively. It’s not like I’m gonna post it or anything.”

“Well, watch it or you’re grounded,” she said with a mischievous grin.

I grinned  back and pulled her in for a hug. I kissed her forehead and ruffled her short, mildly spiky, auburn hair. It occurred to me that she had never even been under consideration to be grounded. I needed to thank God more often for blessing me with a saintly daughter.

“What’s going on?” Lexi asked.

“Just exchanging some instructions with dear old dad,” Sevenia said.

“Hey, watch the old part,” I said. “I’m not even forty yet.”

“Pretty close,” my daughter said with a wink.

“Oh wow,” Lexi said. “I thought you were like 43 or 44.”

“Gee thanks.”

“Oh, no, I mean like, I thought you looked great for your age. But aren’t you and Brock the same age? I guess I keep thinking you and he are twins rather than you and that Six fella.”

“Six and I are several months older than Brock.”

“So he’s not in his forties, he looks like it,” Lexi joked.

“Too many fights, I guess,” I replied. “And too many years in the Florida sun. Anyway, are you two ready to resume?”

“Yes,” they replied in unison.

I didn’t know if I was. Lexi mentioning my brother got me wondering how he was. Plus I couldn’t stop thinking about the upcoming Bible study in a couple days. It sounded like both Zella as well as Salena would be there. Like never before, I didn’t understand my feelings for either woman. I was distracted. Then Lexi snapped me out of it with her testimony regarding her sisters.

“When Jezebel fully intended to kill our little sister in a satanic ritual, it opened my eyes like never before to her true colors. I was technically a member of her organization, even though I didn’t take it as serious as most. I went to the cops. But after what had transpired with the attempted gang rape on Amy, and the role I had played in it, they did not take me seriously at all.

“Thankfully, Brock, Dirk, and Bentley Bonnano came to the rescue. Poor Bentley ended up losing his life in the mission to save my little sister,” Lexi wiped at a tear and her lower lip trembled as she continued. “Right there is a sobering example of the ripple effect of sins we take so casually.”

Lexi choked on a sob and pinched the bridge of her nose. I could tell she was truly sorry for her sins. Sevenia gave her a moment to collect herself. I hoped the viewers took note of the love and compassion in my beautiful daughter’s eyes as she prodded Lexi on.

“What did you mean by ripple effect?” Sevenia asked.

“Well, if I wouldn’t have sicked those guys on Amy, the police might have taken my warnings more seriously. Therefore Bentley Bonnano would still be alive.”

“You had mentioned your eyes being opened like never before on true colors,” Sevenia said. “What did you mean?”

“Up to that point, I had resented Amy and admired Jezebel,” she replied. “You see, Amy was mostly raised by her father’s parents, whereas Jezebel and I were raised amongst the revolving door of men in our mother’s life. Many of whom felt inclined to attempt inappropriate things with little girls. I credited this as the reason Amy was wholesome and her two twisted sisters were the opposite.”

“But now that I know Amy better, I can see in hindsight that she didn’t exactly grow up in a bed of roses. Her dad was killed in Iraq when she was still little. Then as a teenager she was pretty much a caretaker for her cranky grandfather. This kept her from experiencing typical teenage girl stuff. Yet it also helped keep her wholesome. The responsibility and what not.”

“What exactly caused you to admire your older sister, but then have your eyes become opened?” Sevenia asked.

“Like I kind of mentioned before, some of our mother’s boyfriends were apparently pedophiles. Yet I noticed after initially showing interest in Jezebel, they steered clear of her and focused on me. When I asked how she did it, she told me that people tend to steer clear of crazy Satanists. Then she explained.

“At the time I had consulted her on the problem, our mother had brought the biggest, meanest, most pathetic creature into our home thus far. When he tried to get Jezebel to preform a sex act on him, she bugged out her eyes, waggled her tongue, and made a hideous screech. Then she bared her teeth, chomped down hard, and asked him to repeat what he wanted her to do. He said if she did that, he’d slap her across the house and back. Then she showed him a switch blade knife and told him he better be a light sleeper.

“He then called her a crazy female dog and said he would turn his attention to her sister, meaning me. She then told him he would have a hard time doing that with a slit throat and being newly castrated. It explained why he not only left me alone, but also didn’t stick around our dysfunctional home very long.

“From that day forward, my older sister was my hero. Even though I didn’t take her dark theology all that serious, I respected and admired her. I thought she was tough, smart, and worldly wise. But then she talked about how a virgin sacrifice would complete her violation of all the commandments of God. I suspected that she meant our youngest sister, Amy.

“That was when the first tiny glimmer of light penetrated my own dark mind. I was appalled at the thought of Amy being killed in a ritual sacrifice. Yet at the same time I had plans to make her a porn star. That’s how twisted the human condition can get.”

“You said the first glimmer of light,” Sevenia said. “By first, I assume there were more glimmers of light or maybe it expanded.”

“This is where it gets tricky,” Lexi laughed without humor. “So thanks to me, Amy almost gets raped. Then not much later, she gets kidnapped by Jezebel’s cult. Then she barely escapes being murdered in a ritual sacrifice. In the aftermath, Jezebel was no longer my hero. But gradually, my little sister became my new hero.

“You see, for all my life I had hated Christians and Christianity. I thought of them all as hypocrites, phonies and people that simply needed to be in a herd. The preachers seemed to be begging for money, even though they wore thousand dollar suits.

“Then I began observing Amy and her Cotton Creek Cove church members. It was different than most churches. They seemed Amish, but without, or maybe I should say with, modern conveniences. I wanted what they had. But something else was also happening. When I tried to, I, um, I, I…”

“When you tried to come to the light, you were controlled by demons,” my daughter interjected solemnly, yet soothingly.

“Exactly! It was like I had a split personality. There was this side of me that was slowly learning about the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. And there was this other side that was consumed with hatred, cynicism, and just plain selfishness. It was like the fire I had against Christianity before, against humanity in general,  was suddenly doused with gasoline. I didn’t understand it and I couldn’t escape from it.”

“Yes, but you did!” Sevenia said. “Yet so many people, without necessarily being demon possessed, can’t seem to escape demon oppression,” Sevenia said.

“Yes,” Lexi replied meekly.

“Praise God!” my daughter enthused.

“The need to put on the whole armor of God is very real,” Lexi said emphatically. “And don’t be deceived. If you are a church going Christian and don’t have, not just the armor, but THE WHOLE ARMOR, the demons are happy to just leave you alone. If you’re not all in, you’re serving their purpose, not God’s. If anyone knows we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, it’s me.” (Ephesians 6:11, 12).

“Lex,” Sevenia said softly. “What was it like when you were being delivered from the demons? I mean when you were laid out on that bed writhing and choking your sister?”

“Stop!” she barked, and then sighed heavily. She bowed her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m sorry. It’s just that that moment in time was both the best and worst of my life.”

“That’s okay, we don’t need to go there,” my daughter told her gently.

I knew it would be better to have Sevenia interview her rather than me. “Let me ask…”

“No,” Lexi said, lifting her head, her eyes blazing with intensity.

I was at her deliverance. Her countenance was similar, but now there was a huge difference. Back then, her eyes looked supernaturally crazed. Now they were filled with righteous indignation. “No, I have to do this. I need to tell what my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ did for me!”

L

NOW THE SPIRIT SPEAKS EXPRESSLY, THAT IN THE LATTER TIMES SOME SHALL DEPART FROM THE FAITH, GIVING HEED TO SEDUCING SPIRITS, AND DOCTRINES OF DEVILS

! TIMOTHY 4:1

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“I’m really sorry about earlier, Lex,” my dad said as Lexi and I sat and prepared to do an interview for my dad’s podcast. He was referring to the intro music he used to begin his podcast. ‘Hells Bells,’ by the rock band AC DC, which caused Lexi major discomfort.

“I’m sorry for freaking out like I did,” she replied. “It’s just that I try to bring every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5). Even though you didn’t actually play the words, you see, the music still triggers them in my head.”

“Well, I should have known better,” my dad said. “You weren’t the first to point out that it’s an evil song. You just came across in the most powerful way.”

“It’s okay, I should have known better myself,” Lexi said with a shrug.

“What do you mean?” my dad frowned.

“Well, I’ve known that you have a history to be smarmy and fickle,” Lexi said with another casual shrug.

“Gee, tell me what you really think,” my dad replied, laughing without humor.

“I just did,” Lexi said matter of fact and slightly impatient.

I felt my toes curl. I was the middle person between two people known for abrasive personalities. Word had it that after Lexi’s conversion, she was truthful to the core. That’s a good thing. However, instead of exercising discretion and keeping certain things to herself, she tended to always speak her mind. She also was inclined to mild volatility. But she was not only a fairly new Christian, but a formerly demon possessed new Christian. She was still beginning to grow in grace.

I noticed my dad’s mouth begin to open again, and I cut him off. “Time out. Don’t sweat the small stuff, it’s all small stuff. Let’s just get the interview started.”

Moments later the new music played. Lexi smiled at my dad and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled back and returned a thumbs up. The music faded out, and my dad told his audience about Lexi’s demon possession ordeal, her involvement in the occult, and then explained that his daughter was about to interview her.

“I should clarify,” Lexi began. “Although I’ll be speaking about various spiritual dangers, it will be more of a testimony rather than as an expert on the occult. But that’s the point. I simply dabbled with the occult, and it led me to almost lose my mind and soul.”

“Are there any key components you can tell us about that put you on that dangerous road?” I asked.

“Oh my, where to begin?” Lexi said with a nervous laugh. “I guess I’ll start with one of the biggest deceptions. It’s a growing plague within both Christian churches as well as occult organizations. That’s the concept that the devil doesn’t really exist.”

“Wow,” I blurted. “I knew that was becoming a belief in new age Christianity. But how is it possible to be a devil worshipper and not believe in the devil?”

“A large percentage of Satanists actually claim to be atheists,” Lexi explained. “They are simply angry or disgruntled with religionists. Or wink, wink, they are profit seeking. So in the name of music, protest, or art, they do the opposite and worship the devil. I have read this about both Anton Levey, the founder of the Church of Satan, and the rock singer Marilyn Manson.”

“Strange,” I replied.

“Another element for some occultists is the hedonistic lifestyle. The erotic, self-indulgent aspect.”

“So, what drew you into it?” I asked.

“I would have to say,” she said, looking at the ceiling in contemplation. “That my first memory of seeking the dark side was playing with a Ouija board with my sister.”

“I’m good friends with your sister Amy,” I said laughing. “It wasn’t her, was it?”

“Oh, heavens no,” Lexi replied with a chuckled. “I have two sisters. One’s older and one’s younger. Amy, the younger one, is like an angel. If it weren’t for her, I would probably still be steeped in a life of sin and degradation. Maybe even dead. My sister Jezebel is like, well, a fallen angel.”

“Isn’t it true that your sister Jezebel tried to kill your sister Amy in a ritual sacrifice?”

“Completely true,” she replied. “As a matter of fact, you can read about it in Johnathan Embers e-book, ‘Knight Storm.’ My younger sister’s ordeal with my older sister was actually the first thing to kick me in the rear concerning spiritual matters.”

“Tell us about it.”

“First, I have a confession,” she said. “Before Amy’s ordeal with our oldest sister, she had lived with me for a few months. She was a cute, subtly sexy, and virginal seventeen year old at the time. I had big plans to get her into adult entertainment. I thought she had potential to become one of the biggest porn stars in the country.”

“Why her and not yourself?” I asked.

“Amy was like the perfect girl next door. Cute and with a naturally great figure. Both great legs, and a nice rack. Oops, sorry if that was crude. But as for me, I have enhanced boobs, regrettably so, and I was more of a gaudy hot. That type is a dime a dozen. However, my ticket to prime time porn money was snatched from my grasp.”

“I didn’t know porn was in prime time,” I said without really thinking.

“I was just saying. But girl, have you ever seen porn?” Lexi asked in such a way that I couldn’t tell if she was serious or mocking.

“I haven’t.”

“At all?”

“No.”

“Have you ever seen a naked man?”

“Lexi!” I replied blushing.

“Well, have you?” she asked with such deadpan seriousness that I felt comfortable replying.

“Only in a medical book,” I replied, trying not to whisper as my face had to be flushing crimson.

She looked at me with wonder. I looked at my dad who stared back at me wide eyed. I turned my gaze back to Lexi as my mouth seemed frozen.

“You are truly a blessed child of God,” she said happily with love in her tear rimmed eyes. “Thank God you haven’t experienced a minute of my life.”

I was surprised by her words and felt so much love for Lexi. I was still groping for something to say when she saved me.

“Anyway,” Lexi continued. “Somebody who’s now a dear friend of mine and her husband rescued my sister from my clutches. Destiny Knight-Storm and her husband Brock took her in.”

“However, Amy ended up returning to my place at a time when she thought I wouldn’t be there to retrieve some of her things. I happened to show up with four pretty rough male acquaintances. I told them to go have a little fun with her. I tell myself that I just wanted them to scare her. But I was in such a dark place that I don’t really know what I was thinking. I was just so filled with hatred and vengeance.”

“Anyway, it was late at night. She escaped, but the four guys gave chase and caught her. They were just about to gang rape her when a brave young man that was out for a late night run spotted them and interrupted their lustful fun. He attacked the four men by himself, and although badly beaten, he held them off long enough for help to arrive. The thing I most admired about his actions was that he had no idea that there were men in the vicinity looking for Amy that saw the commotion.”

“That story is also in the book you mentioned by Johnathan Embers.” I said.

“Yes, it is.”

“Let’s go back to your very first dabbling with the dark side. You mentioned playing with a Ouija board. How old were you?” I asked.

“Eight or nine.”

“That’s pretty young. What do remember about it?”

“Sorry, but my recollection of what actually transpired is pretty vague. I just remember my sister asking some dead person questions, and the little gizmo we had our fingers on seeming to move. I don’t remember the specifics of what was asked, but I remember feeling both afraid and exhilarated.”

“How often did you play with a Ouija board?”

“That was my only time. Shortly after that, my sister went to live with her father for a while. My two sisters and I have the same mother, but we all have different fathers. The next time I was around my older sister, she was into Tarot cards.”

“So did you dabble with that too?”

“No, but she did readings for me. It was during one of these when she predicted I was destined to be a dancer and in the spotlight. I was so dense that when I became an exotic dancer, I marveled that Jezebel had predicted it when I was only thirteen. At the time she told me that, I was thinking along the lines of ballet or something. But I guess doing stretches on a pole isn’t far off, right?” Lexi chuckled without humor and dabbed at a stray tear.

“In hindsight,” she continued. “It wasn’t a big stretch to predict that a poor, dumb, attractive teenager who was already dressing sexy and was sexually active would become a stripper.”

“So would you say that your sister’s influence played the biggest role in becoming involved with the occult?”

She looked at the ceiling again in contemplation. “Yes and no. Without my interest in secular music, I don’t think I would have been interested in my sister’s cult involvement.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, marveling at my great interviewing technique. Not!

“Because I had a feeling my sister was a loose canon,” she replied. “But rock stars were my idols. I remember watching Marilyn Manson in concert ripping pages out of the Bible and mockingly using the pages as toilet paper. I thought at the time, wow he gets it. So does my sister!”

Lexi stopped, pinched the bridge of her nose, and bowed her head. Being the brilliant offspring of a famous broadcast personality, I said, “Ah… Lex, are…”

“People don’t get it!” Lexi wailed and then shouted. “These cultural icons that act like they know everything just because they’re famous. Just because a large percentage of sheep follow them. They’re arrogant idiots! Pride comes before the fall.

“Think about Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane! He didn’t die because of the physical torture of the cross, you fools! They didn’t break His legs because He was already dead. Crucifixion was meant to last for days. He died because of the mental anguish of dying for our sins! He carried the weight of all of our sins! He couldn’t see beyond the portals of the tomb!”

Lexi began sobbing frantically. “All of my sins! He died for all of my sins which are too many to count!” Then she clutched her head and toppled to the floor.

“It’s okay, Lex,” I said soothingly.

“I still make so many mistakes,” she whimpered. “Like wigging out at your dad over the music.”

“There was nothing wrong with that,” I said. “My dad shouldn’t have been starting his so called Christian program with an evil song.”

“I’m so weak,” she whispered.

“For when I’m weak, then am I strong,” I replied. (2 Corinthians 12:10).

“But I keep rubbing people the wrong way. I keep coming off as a crazy person.”

“We’re all flawed, Sweetie. I can tell you are trying to follow God and do the right thing. If people aren’t mature enough, patient enough, or secure enough to handle your personality, so be it.”

“So I’m okay then?” She asked meekly.

I went to the floor and knelt next to her and cupped her face in my hands. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Romans 8:1) And that’s what I see you doing, Lex.”

“I love you, Sevenia,” she whimpered.

“I love you too, Lex,” I replied as we hugged.

Over her shoulder, I saw my dad filming us. I frowned at him. Lord help me to obey the fifth commandment!

XLIX

ABSTAIN FROM ALL APPEARANCE OF EVIL

(1 THESSALONIANS 5:22)

SEVENIA SALLIE (GIRL PROPHETESS)

“Are you ready, Sweet Pea?” my dad asked after he kissed the top of my head and then ruffled my short nest of unintentionally spiky, naturally auburn hair.

“Sure,” I giggled.

“How about you, Lex?” he asked our companion in his studio.

“Aren’t you gonna kiss me on top of my head, too?” Lexi Gomez asked with a slightly seductive, yet serious tone. I saw my dad try to conceal the stunned expression that came onto his face. Then Lexi laughed, and a relieved look washed over my father’s face before he chuckled along with her.

“I’m just kidding,” Lexi said happily. “Yeah, I’m ready as I’ll ever be. I guess.”

I first met the former exotic dancer known as Sexy Lexi two years ago. It was shortly after she was delivered from demon possession that we became friends. Her ordeal was the final straw in my dad’s own hesitation to follow Christ fully. As frightening as the experience was for him, he said her transformation was beautiful and miraculous. It was also a blaring alarm that awoke him to the facts of spiritual realities. He said it was like witnessing when Jesus casted out demons, and the delivered was clothed and sitting in his right mind. (Mark 5:15).

Although Lexi experienced an amazing deliverance, it didn’t free her from being human. She still had immense struggles and temptations. After giving birth to a healthy baby boy more than a year ago, she had suffered from postpartum depression. She also still had an abrasive personality. As she and I settled into my dad’s studio to do an interview, her aggressive nature was on display before we even got started.

My dad is a podcaster and broadcaster, mostly known for his former show, The Seven Sallie Showdown. At one time he had millions of listeners and social media followers. For a long time, his topics were culture events, along with political and religious corruption. He was often crude, obnoxious, and mean spirited.

After his conversion, my dad’s personal character changed, as did his approach to his broadcast subjects. Crude was replaced with kind, obnoxious with patience, mean spirited with spiritually instructive. He rapidly lost his fan base, causing his partners to dump and replace him.

So he began again with his own podcast. He called it, The Seven Sallie Lowdown. But human beings tend to prefer the carnal over spiritual. Although over the last two years he had gained new followers, it was a fraction of his heyday. Yet I had never seen my daddy more content.

There was one hold over from the old days that he still had kept. It was his introductory theme song. Whereas Rush Limbaugh’s signature start to his broadcast was The Pretender’s song ‘My City Was Gone’, my dad’s was ‘Hells Bells’ by some hard rock band named after an electric current. AC DC, I believe they’re called.

To me it was dark, so I never cared for it. Yet I didn’t pay it much attention. I know it did create controversy when my dad’s topic became more spiritual and Christian based. Yet my dad simply explained it away as it was just music. He said he saw nothing evil with guitars and drums. He proclaimed that after the haunting church bells, sinister guitar play, and progressive drums, he faded out and began talking before the singing began. Something was about to happen that would cause him to change his introductory music forever.

The interview I was about to do with Lexi had to do with the dangers of dabbling with the occult, and how dark forces have permeated our culture and entertainment. Our session was thankfully going to be prerecorded. Because as soon as my dad’s theme song began to play, things quickly went awry. As soon as the first gong of the church bell rang, I noticed a stunned look Lexi’s face. Then when the guitar began, she bolted up from her chair.

“Stop!” she barked. My dad spilled and spit up the sparkling water he had been sipping.

“Lexi, what’s wrong?” my dad asked with a concerned look on his face.

“What are you doing?” she asked. Her expression revealed both disgust and confusion.

“We’re starting the broadcast, I thought you were ready.”

“I mean that music,” she barked as she haphazardly pointed at the sound board.

“It’s introductory. It will fade out after a minute and I’ll start talking. Then I’ll…”

“It’s evil!”

“Um, well, It’s just the music. I fade out several seconds before any singing begins.”

The drums began and the song picked up speed. Lexi slapped her hands over her ears and a squeak emanated from her throat. My dad stopped the song.

“It’s gonna be in my head,” she croaked, on the verge of tears.

“I don’t understand,” my dad said with spread arms. “It’s just music.”

“I’m gonna get ya, Satan get ya,” Lexi said desperately.

“Huh?” my dad replied.

“It’s part of the lyrics,” she said as tears now ran down her cheeks. “I’m not going back there. Lord help me!

“It’s okay, Sweetie,” I said, reflexively doing a Destiny imitation as I put my arm around Lexi. She put her arms around me and whimpered. It was so pitiful that I began to cry myself, and I didn’t even fully understand what was going on. My dad stared dumbfounded at us.

“I need my sister,” Lexi said with a quivering lower lip. This once hardened, worldly woman now seemed so childlike and vulnerable. “I can’t do this right now.”

“That’s okay. I’ll call Amy,” I told her.

“Okay,” she said meekly. Then she hugged me so tight I struggled to get to my phone. But I managed, and Amy said to come right over.

Lexi and her younger half sister Amy had become extremely close over the last two years. Amy had been instrumental during Lexi’s demon possession ordeal. A year or two before that, Lexi had put Amy in a situation where she was almost gang raped. Yet Amy not only forgave her, but now helped her get her life together. Johnathan Ember’s tells of this twisted situation in his e-book ‘Knight Storm.’

“Do you want me to drive you?” I asked Lexi as I walked her to her car.

“No, I’ll be fine,” she said as she put a hand on my forearm and winced. Her long dark ponytail had flopped around to her front side, and she began to stroke it with both hands. Her intense brown eyes looked sorrowful. “I’m so embarrassed. It’s just, well, I have occasional nightmares about my old life and that song just, it just set me off I guess. Plus I was really nervous about our interview. I like to keep my old life out of my mind as much as possible.”

“Lex, you don’t have to do this interview,” I said softly.

“No, I want to,” she said insistently. “I need to warn people about the dangers of the occult. I think I just didn’t have enough time to get my head around doing this project. I should have counseled and prayed with Amy in the first place. Nobody understands me like her. Tell your dad I’m sorry. Maybe I could come back later today even.”

“You just take care, Sweetie,” I said. “And don’t feel pressured to do this interview thing, okay?”

“Okay,” she said with a forced smile.

I prayed with her, and then I returned to my dad. He was praying with an open Bible in front of him. He got up when he heard me enter the studio. He had a stricken look on his face.

“Daddy, are you all right?”

“How could I be so stupid?”

I didn’t say anything. I just gazed at him sympathetically.

“I used to love it when religious people complained about my intro song when I was on The Showdown. Then when I started The Lowdown, I got even more complaints, even though I had a fraction of the listeners. I just found it annoying, all the complainers, busybodies and legalists. Then Lexi’s reaction, especially given her background. It was, well, it was…”

“A wake up call?” I asked mildly.

“More like a fire alarm actually,” he said and then chuckled without humor. Then he picked up a post it note with his chicken scratches on it. “I looked up the lyrics. Here are a few that stuck out to me. Won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives. Nobody’s put up a fight. Got my bell, gonna take you to hell. Here’s the part Lexi quoted. I’m gonna get you, Satan get you, hells bells. Here’s a couple more lines. I’ll give you black sensations up and down your spine. If you’re into evil, you’re a friend of mine. If goods to the left, I’m sticking to the right.”

“So are you changing it then?”

“Yes, I’m never using it again.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Well, after Captain Kirk became the latest to rebuke me for using it, I found a song I liked and had it in reserve. I’m ashamed to admit, if it hadn’t been for Lexi, I probably wouldn’t have considered it.”

“What’s your new song?”

“Boom by POD.”

I nodded.

“Have you heard of it?”

I shook my head. He played it. I nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard it before. They’re a Christian band, aren’t they?”

He nodded.

“So, when did Pastor Samson rebuke you?”

“A few weeks ago.”

“What’d he say?”

“He told me a lot of people he respected, had expressed concern about my intro music. He said he knew nothing about hard rock music other than he didn’t personally like it. I told him what I had told you and Lexi. I fade the music out before any lyrics start. He said to beware, music is powerful and that the music could trigger the lyrics in peoples minds. Then he said to please pray over it.”

“Did you?”

“No,” he said quietly as my typically bold father meekly hung his head.

“I Thessalonians 5:22 says to abstain from all appearance of evil,” I said softly.

“I know,” he nodded solemnly. “I was also thinking about Romans 14:13 instructing not to put a stumbling block or occasion to fall in a brother or sister’s way.”

My phone chirped, as if on cue, with a text from Lexi. She wanted to come back and do our interview. She said she was sorry for bailing, and being so weak and wimping out. I called her and told her that when we are weak we become strong (2 Corinthians 12:10), of course,  through the power of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I also told her that my dad had changed his intro song permanently because of her influence. I told her he had changed it to ‘Boom’ by POD. She blurted a praise God so loud it startled me. But in a wonderful way!