Tag: hell

ANGELS AT WAR – PART 2 – CHAPTER 1

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

PART 2

CRICKET KARR AND THE ROCK STAR

CHAPTER 1

CRICKET

HERE IS THE PATIENCE OF THE SAINTS; HERE ARE THOSE WHO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND THE FAITH OF JESUS. (Revelation 14:12)

             “It’s Sully!” My sister shouted.

            A dozen of us gathered on the shore of the lake and watched anxiously as Sully paddled a kayak furiously. Three fast powerful boats were chasing him. My hands were steepled in front of my lips as I murmured in prayer.

            All of a sudden the water parted that the boats were skimming on top of  and the speeding vessels momentarily became like air planes. Seconds later the water closed back up. Then the large body of liquid became a boisterous tempest, as if it were a giant pot of boiling water. The wind and the waves roared. But only for a minute.

            “Oh Lord, save them, they parish,” Pastor Samson could be heard above the storm. “Maybe some will be convinced now.”

            The tempest suddenly calmed and a dozen bright orange forms bobbed in the tranquil water. A minute later another boat pulled up and rescued the unintentional swimmers. Several geysers began to spew about twenty feet in the air between us on the shore and the people giving chase. Sully’s one person skiff skimmed off the water and skidded to a stop on the sandy shore. We rushed to greet him.

            Three days earlier Sully had been arrested. His crime? Defying the national Sunday law. He had used his notoriety as a very famous musician to join God’s people in the loud cry of the third angel’s message. The loud cry being the warning message of the three angels from Revelation 14:6-13.

            The Sunday laws had begun as a simple ordinance carried out by numerous states. They were reminiscent of the Sunday blue laws of old. The government mandated that businesses close and civilians limit activity on what most Christians considered their sabbath. Most religious leaders, especially Christian nationalists, were on board with these government legislations, feeling it would bring the country back to God and a sense of morality.

            Then many non-Christians surprisingly came on board, viewing the push for a day of rest as an environmental reset for the planet. It also ensured that people forced to work by their employers on Sunday were fairly compensated. It became a requirement for companies to pay their workers double time.

            All of these reasons sounded good on the surface. What worthy employee doesn’t deserve fair compensation? What decent person doesn’t want to take care of the environment? Most important, people should come back to God. However, you can’t force genuine morality. Jesus said if you LOVE me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15). Therefore He doesn’t force His way in with governmental religious mandates. He stands at the door and knocks. (Revelation 3:20) It’s up to us to open that door and invite Him in.

            So the Sunday mandates escalated quickly from local ordinances into state laws, and then federal law. The reasons issued by the newly formed church-state were several. The out of control immorality, wars and rumors of wars, natural disasters to name a few.

            These were the main aims of mandatory worship. They imposed economic sanctions on those who disregarded them, thereby fulfilling the prophecy in Revelation 13:17 regarding buying and selling. This only strengthened the mindset of taking the country back for God. But I digress, back to Sully’s arrest and escape.

            Being timid and shy I stood back and watched a dozen members of my church family greet Sully enthusiastically. He received hugs, handshakes, and pats on the back as he was questioned how he escaped from a high security prison.

            Sully was in a state of disbelief himself with hands motioning and head shaking as he explained. “It was an angel of the Lord. I didn’t believe it at first. I thought he opened the door with a code or a key. I even wondered if he was taking me off to be executed, so I drew back. But he said, ‘Fear not, I am Jack Querida. I’m a friend of Cricket’s.’”

            Sully’s gaze turned to me. He was so handsome, so talented, so brave. My heart often fluttered when he gazed into my eyes. After Sully swiveled his head in my direction, twenty some eyeballs aimed at me as well. I shifted uneasily, but smiled and shrugged. Sully walked toward me and was followed by my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. My biological sister was by his side, mouth agape, her lovely eyes wide as they looked into mine.

            I knew what she was thinking. She and I were very close. So I knew she was wondering, who is this Jack Querida, friend of Cricket’s? How did I tell her I didn’t know myself? It was just then, with Sully’s harrowing escapade, that finally confirmed in my own mind what I suspected. That the man I had encountered numerous times over the years was actually a ministering spirit. (Hebrews 1:14) In the beginning of our, what? Friendship? Acquaintance? I had ministered to him, unaware of his angelic status. (See Hebrews 13:2)

            Sully continued to gaze at me with an expression of wonder. “How do you know him, Cricket? Who is he? He helped me get out of that prison as if we were teleported. Then he said he left a kayak for me at such and such and to hurry.”

            Cricket isn’t my legal name. My parents were expecting a boy, and I was to be named after my father, Jim. When I turned out to be a girl, they still called me Jim, but combined it with my mother’s name, Elena. So I became Jimena. Before I was old enough to even remember, my grandmother started calling me Jimena Cricket after the cartoon, Jiminy Cricket. People followed her lead, and to this day most people don’t even know my legal name.

            “I don’t know him that well,” I shrugged.

            “You must,” Sully said. Then seemed a little jealous as he added, “I guess I failed to mention he not only called you his friend, but precious friend.”

            “I don’t know what to tell you,” I shrugged again, even though I felt a little thrill. Yet I didn’t know what precious meant. Although Jack intrigued me, I wouldn’t call my feelings for him romantic. Now Sully on the other hand… But I suppressed those desires for the man standing before me. He was more suited for my sister. Even though she was a man hater, Sully had broken through her shield.

            In a strange way, Violetta and I were like Racheal and Leah from the Bible. But only as far as looks go. My sister was beautiful. More than once I heard her referred to as drop dead gorgeous. She had long wavy red-gold hair, large blue-green eyes, and flawless skin, with a lithe athletic body that still held desirable female curves.

            As for me, one of my blue grey eyes was called lazy. My reddish brown hair was straight and limp. And my frail body was clumsy and twitchy. Chronic allergies also kept my nose frequently red, highlighted by my pale skin. But I was otherwise healthy, so praise God!

            “How don’t you know what to tell us?” Violetta inquired, her own demeanor seeming a little jealous. “You’re apparently his precious friend.”

            I shrugged again, but now pulled nervously on my fingers. “I don’t know where Jack is from, I don’t know how old he is. Only that he seems older than me. Until Sully called him Jack Querida, I didn’t even know his last name.”

            “God works in mysterious ways,” Pastor Kirk Samson, also known as Captain Kirk, said.

            “Yes, he does,” Sully agreed, nodding emphatically.

            “Why I noticed a few Bible stories come to life in miniature,” Captain Kirk added. “The parting of the lake reminded me of the parting of the Red Sea. The sudden tempest for a minute or two reminded me of Jesus calming the storm on the lake. Plus an angel prison break like in the book of Acts.”

            “Praise God,” Sully said as he put his right hand on my shoulder and his left hand on Violetta’s. “What a privilege to be the Lord’s instrument. When I was in jail, I was sure I’d never see you all again.”

            I observed Violetta gaze fondly at Sully and bite her lip. It reminded me of the first time I witnessed Violetta bite her lip over Sully. Which also happened to be the first time I saw my sister bite her lip over any guy.

            A year or so before we watched Sully wash up on the shore of the lake in a kayak, Violetta and I had watched a biography of him on YouTube. It was the day after our cousin introduced us to Sully’s cousin. He was her current beau, and had joined us for Thanksgiving dinner at our grandmother’s house.

            Callie had never brought a boyfriend to a family dinner before, so I was intrigued. I figured they must be pretty serious. Violetta, on the other hand, was skeptical. At one point Callie had taken my sister and me aside, whispering excitedly, “Jeremey’s cousin is Sully Sage.”

            I had leaned in eagerly, excided by my cousin’s excitement. But the name meant nothing to me, so I asked, “Who’s Sully Sage?”

            Callie looked stunned at my ignorance, but Violetta appeared slightly annoyed as she said, “Come on, Cricket, even I know who Sully Sage is.”

            “Well, who is he?” I asked, curious over this supposedly very important person.

            “He’s a drug addled reprobate that sings about loose women, drinking, and drugs,” Violetta declared.

            “Come on, Vi,” Callie replied. “Why do you have to be so negative? Yes, his early career was, I guess, pretty raunchy. But he became a super star singing about lost love and feelings of hopelessness.”

            “Oh boo hoo,” Violetta replied. “Poor pampered rock star. Takes countless women to bed and then cries over his main squeeze dumping him. Then profits off it with sappy songs.”

            Callie looked disappointed. “Vi, you shouldn’t be so judgmental. Sully’s wife was killed in a car crash three years ago. Despite his wild stage persona, Jeremey claims Sully was faithful and loyal to his wife. They were high school sweethearts.”

            “Well, like I said,” Violetta responded with a shrug. “I know who he is, just not much about him.”

            “Well then maybe you ought not judge people you don’t know,” Callie rebuked. “You certainly didn’t like people judging Jimmy.”

            I felt my toes curl. Violetta’s and my brother was a sensitive subject, especially with my sister. He was the reason Violetta despised macho guys, even though she was attracted to manly men. Jimmy was a bit effeminate, and thought to be gay by his peers. He was bullied by the type of guys Violetta loathed. His death was ruled a suicide, but I considered it to be an accident. Violetta believed it was murder.

            Callie’s eyes widened as Violetta’s narrowed. Trying to correct the mistake of bringing up Jimmy to Violetta, she tried, “You should take a page out of Cricket’s book. We all ought to.”

            “I don’t follow a book of my own,” I meekly replied. “I live by the Bible.”

            “Yes, you sure do,” Callie responded with a nervous laugh.

            As different as we were, my sister and I loved each other deeply, and our cousin knew it. By mentioning me, and thereby bringing to mind my devotion to God, Callie quelled the savage beast in my rebellious sister. Violetta forced a smile as she turned her gaze on me and nodded.

            The next day Violetta and I watched the documentary on Sully Sage in her apartment. The first quarter of the program dealt with his early life and a difficult, dysfunctional upbringing. It also covered his becoming an item with Poppy at sixteen, the woman who would later become his wife.

            The next part covered the young lovers running away from home at the age of seventeen when they were both in between their junior and senior year of high school. Then Sully as a struggling musician in LA the next three years. The making of his band, and their first block buster hit, which was a tongue and cheek song about a break up and how much the woman hated her ex.

            The program then covered Sully’s band continually on the road the next three years. It chronicled the personal and legal troubles that accompanied the seemingly never ending travel. There was only a brief six week break to record their second album. The long stint on the road ended with a heart breaking tragedy.

            Poppy, who was a constant companion of Sully’s on the road, was very pregnant and spent the remaining couple weeks of the tour resting at a friend’s LA home. At eight thirty one evening, Poppy left to meet another friend at an In and Out Burger. One block from the restaurant, a speeding drunk driver ran a red light in his hopped up pickup truck. He hit Poppy’s car broadside, killing mother and child instantly.

            The last part of the program dealt with the aftermath of Sully’s terrible loss. It detailed the songs that came from his pain. The biography described his relationship with Poppy. Bandmates and friends talked about the differing natures of the young couple before the tragedy. Poppy, a vibrant light to Sully’s dark brooding personality seemed to somehow balance the pair.

            Now, after the calamity, some music journalists predicted Sully would end up a member of the twenty-seven club. But, at only twenty-four years of age, most didn’t think he’d make it that far. It was already known that he struggled with addiction, depression, and volatility. Throw in the loss of his greatest love in the world, and you had a recipe for human destruction.

            I watched three expression come over Violetta’s face as we watched the biography. The first was neutral as it covered Sully’s childhood. Then she sneered in disgust when they showed clips of him early in his career as a cocky, feral, tattoo covered, shaggy haired rock star.

            Then her face softened when they showed excerpts of his tender relationship with Poppy. They showed him explaining some of the lyrics describing Poppy and the pain he felt. One of the names of endearment he had for his wife was Sunshine. That was what was behind the wording of a song that described how quick the sun could drop away.

            The lyrics of the song described him as he laid in bed all alone, unable to get over his grief. The next few lines described the suicidal despair he felt. Yet the last line held out hope for a better tomorrow. That is when I watched Violetta’s eyes well up, followed by me observing her biting her lip over a man for the first time.

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 23

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 23

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

BE KIND TO ONE ANOTHER, TENDERHEARTED, FORGIVING ONE ANOTHER, EVEN AS GOD IN CHRIST FORGAVE YOU. (Ephesians 4:32)

            Vermillion approached me as I watched Jenny and Jimmy exchange a brief hug. “What are you up to?”

            “What do you mean?” I asked as I refrained from giggling. The merriment I felt wasn’t in any way trying to gloat over my adversary. I was pleased because the arrangement I assisted on  worked out better than I hoped.

            “I know you impressed Jimmy to go to that night club. Isn’t that against your principles?”

            “It wasn’t for the sake of self-indulgence. Jimmy hasn’t had an adult beverage in more than a quarter century. He simply went with some business associates to support their friend in his new band. He stayed for the first set and now he’s leaving.”

            “I don’t get it. You knew Jenny was going to be there with her latest fling.”

            “Jimmy wasn’t all that jealous. It’s been four years since Jenny moved out.”

            “I notice you qualified it with ‘all that.’

            “I know you had the green eyed monster give him a slap. But I followed up with feelings of fondness for her.”

            “Why?” Vermillion snorted sarcastically. “She’s become nothing but a whore, only she doesn’t get paid. Why she’s gotten down to her birthday suit with as many partners as Jimmy did as a swinging single playboy. Only she’s done it while legally married.”

            “That’s why I had her cross paths with Jimmy. Deep inside she wants the stability and peace she once had with him.”

            My opponent looked surprised, then irritated. “Do you really think this encounter is gonna initiate a reunion? You gotta be kidding. They only spoke for a couple minutes.”

            “It wasn’t the duration of the brief conversation, but the spirit.”

            “Bah,” Vermillion replied and then laughed spitefully. “Her date had his hand on the small of her back the entire time. Other than when the man she’s gonna go to bed with tonight shook her HUSBAND’s hand.”

            “She initiated the hug.”

            “Only because Jimmy brokered peace between Jenny and their son the other week. But you noticed that didn’t stop her from meeting a guy online.”

            “We’ll see,” I replied as we both watched Jimmy leave. Jenny watched the familiar gait of her husband until he disappeared through the door. She bit her lip as she noticed he had lost weight and was looking rather fit. She had a surge of remorse over ruining things between her and Jimmy.

            Jenny had been surprised when a familiar voice said, “Hey there, Grandma.”

            She looked to her right and into the beaming face of her husband. The twinkle in his eyes she remembered even from their high school days caused a grin to grow onto her own face. “Hey yourself, Grandpa.”

            Two weeks earlier their son Jason had called her to tell her that he and his wife were expecting their first child. It was the first time they had spoken since her infidelity had come to light. The birth of two children by their daughter had somewhat repaired the breach between them. However, Kelsey not once had asked her to babysit.

            “Thank you for Jason,” she said sweetly, and that’s when they shared a brief hug. “He told me you put him up to calling me.”

            “It’s nothing,” Jimmy shrugged.

            “No, it’s something, something pretty special,” she  replied. Then she glanced at her date. “Oh, Jim, this is Tim. Tim, this is my ex-husband, Jim.”

            “Nice to meet you, Jim,” Tim lied.

            Jimmy, not wanting to lie, repeated his wife’s paramour’s name as pleasantly as he could muster. “Tim.”

            The next day Jenny picked up her phone a half a dozen times as she thought of Jimmy. Then it came to her mind that Jimmy approached her last night, so she should make the first move now. She texted. ‘It was nice to see you last night. It’s been a while.’

            ‘Good to see you, too!’

            His exclamation point inspired her to shoot another text. ‘You look well.’

            ‘So do you.’

            She waited a few minutes, not wanting their dialogue to end. ‘Thanks for not refuting me calling you my ex-husband.’

            After she hit send, she scolded herself. What a stupid thing to say!

            ‘What’s to refute you are my ex?’ he replied.

            ‘Technically we’re still married.’

            ‘I haven’t shared a bed with you in almost a half-decade. I think that constitutes us as ex’s.’

            She typed, ‘Would you like to change that?’

            Her thumb hovered over send. Then she shook her head, deleted it and typed instead, ‘How come you never filed for divorce?’

            Instead of answering her question, he posed his own. ‘Jenny do you want to go have lunch? Call me old fashioned but I prefer a face to face conversation.’

            ‘Sure I’d like that!’

            After they agreed on a time and place, Jenny hurriedly shoved her sexy skirts and dresses aside in her closet, digging out an old denim skirt that fell just below her knees. She put on a conservative long sleeve black blouse with lace trim, black tights with black boots that reminisced the 1800’s. She applied subtle makeup and secured her shoulder length hair with blonde highlights with a hair clip.

            A half hour later Jimmy’s breath caught when he saw Jenny get out of her car in the Olive Garden parking lot. She looked like the woman who accompanied him to church hundreds of times during the first two decades of their marriage. It was a far cry from the hot to trot attire she wore on her date the previous night of leggings that were painted on and enough make up to decorate a clown.

            Rather than going in right away, they stood by Jenny’s car and talked. Jimmy asked with a sly smile. “I hope your boyfriend doesn’t mind you having dinner with your ex.”

            She snorted. “He’s hardly my boyfriend.”

            “How long have you been seeing each other?”

            “Just since last night, but never again.”

            Jimmy couldn’t help feeling pleased that her date didn’t go well. “Where did you meet?”

            Jenny felt her face flush. “On a dating sight.”

            “So what went wrong?”

            “Let’s just say we had a chemistry problem,” she replied quickly and then sought to change the subject. “So Jimmy, you didn’t answer my text when I asked why you haven’t divorced me.”

            He shrugged. “Why haven’t you filed for divorce?”

            She shrugged. “To be honest, I figured the longer we stayed married, the more money I’d get when you did file. You’re rather astute at business… Now your turn. Why haven’t you divorced me?”

            “I always hoped you would repent and return to me.”

            Jenny was stunned as she stared wide eyed at him “You would have taken me back after all I have done?”

            “Yes.”

            “Why?”

            “I love you.”

            “You love the woman that betrayed you and made a spectacle of herself on the internet?”

            “I love the woman, not the behavior.”

            “But how?”

            “You’re the mother of my children, the grandmother of my grandchildren. We had a good life, a happy marriage before you went astray.”

            “I don’t even know how it happened,” she said and then laughed without humor. “I asked myself a hundred times, how did I get in this cycle? Now I’m, I don’t know, stuck. I’ve tried reading my Bible, but I only end up feeling lost and ashamed and end up putting it back on the shelf.”

            “He that began a good work will in you will complete it until that day of Jesus Christ,” Jimmy told her, quoting Philippians 1:6.

            “Then why do I feel so empty?”

            “I suppose you haven’t fully repented and surrendered yourself to Christ.”

            “I’ve tried,” she said and then frowned. “Well, sort of.”

            Jimmy smiled kindly and gently said, “Sort of isn’t a full commitment. Jesus said take up your cross and follow Me.”

            “Yeah,” she said with a sad smile and looked at her husband with longing. “I wish I could go back and stop myself before I got started down this road of rebellion.”

            Jimmy took hold of his wife’s hand. “You might not be able to go back and change the beginning. But you can start where you are and change the ending.”

            Jenny put her hands in her face and wept. Jimmy began to do circles on her back. As the tears began to subside, she went into his arms and quietly asked, “Can I change the ending with you?”

            “Absolutely.”

            “So you forgive me?”

            “One hundred percent.”

            “So if you forgive me, does God?”

            “One hundred percent. God tells you so in 1 John 2:1. If anyone sins we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

            By the grace of God, Jenny indeed changed her ending. She repented, was rebaptized, and she and Jimmy renewed their wedding vows. She also retained the good graces of her children. Thus making for one of her and Jimmy’s favorite activities going forward as grandparenting together.

(Writer’s note: Dear Reader, I am posting early because I will be unable to write this weekend as well as the following week. The Lord willing, my next post will be Sunday evening August 22 with something fresh. I’m still deciding on three different stories, most likely with Querida once again. Thank you for your interest! May God Bless!)

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 22

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 22

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

YOU SHALL NOT MURDER (Exodus 20:13)

            “Pretty gruesome, huh, Querida?” Vermillion said and then chortled. “I didn’t know if Jill had it in her, but she performed remarkably well. Even if she wasn’t very thorough. Can’t blame her though, that was quite the blood curdling scream emitted from Jenny. Plus she had the wherewithal to not only use Jimmy Stetson’s axe, but track some of the blood with a pair of his shoes.”

            I had righteous indignation flare up. I aimed it at my former friend, and he fled from my presence. He and I had been opponents in the same cases numerous times over six thousand years. But you could count on one hand the number of times I had chased him off.

            This world is an odd situation. It is fallen, which means Satan and his demonic realm are largely in control. But because humanity’s first parents failed the test of loyalty and obedience, their descendants were born with dispositions to follow Satan. Because of their disobedience, they inadvertently invited the arch foe to, as Jesus proclaimed, become the ruler of this world. (John 14:30 NKJV)

            As a result, humans murdered God’s own Son when He chose to become one of them. They put to death God’s prophets before Him. The reformers were martyred after Him. Throughout the course of human history, only a minority actually sought to truly follow God. The majority to this day follow church tradition rather than searching the scriptures for themselves.

            The Savior of the world, precious Jesus, even declared, “In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:9)

            Here’s a few examples. Only eight people were saved on Noah’s ark. Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego were the only ones to not bow down to Kind Nebuchadnezzar’s idol. Only a few anticipated Jesus’s birth. All forsook Him and fled at His death. The Bible itself says many will live by way of the broad road, with only a few traveling the narrow road. (See Matthew 7:13, 14)

            Poor Jimmy Stetson was the one to discover the crime scene. To add to the horror of his discovery, he was initially arrested for the murder of Justin Phillips. To add salt to his wounds, when his wife recovered sufficiently from her shock and blow to the head, she told the police she awoke to discover Jimmy violently chopping at Justin with his axe.

            But there are no perfect crimes, only imperfect investigators. Jill Phillips made a couple mistakes. Her primary mistake was believing a woman would not be suspected of such a brutal crime. This despite having muttered the poem based on Lizzie Borden, ‘Jill Phillips took an axe and gave her husband forty whacks.’

            She also believed she had adequately framed Jimmy for the crime. Having been neighbors for several years, she had acquired the knowledge that he kept the key to his shed under a brick behind the small building. Then when she stole the axe a the day before her crime, she discovered the handle of a snow shovel wearing Jimmy’s fluorescent yellow ski mask. She also spotted greasy coveralls he wore when working on his cars. What luck!

            Then to put a period on the frame up, she put on a pair of Jimmy’s oversized shoes that she found in the foyer the night she crept in. She correctly assumed that there would be a lot of blood, and she left numerous footprints. But what she hadn’t anticipated was Jenny’s screams, or the decibels emitted.

            In Jenny’s haste to escape the predator, her foot became entangled in the sheet, and she fell backwards out of bed. Although Jill had only counted six whacks to her sleeping husband’s head and torso, she figured she needed to take care of his mistress.

            But as she began to move around the bed toward Jenny with raised axe, she noticed the neighbors across the street turn on their porch light. She needed to get out of there post haste! She dropped the axe and fled from the house.

            In her haste to flee the crime scene, and with adrenaline combined with passion eliminating common sense, she did a sloppy job of discarding Jimmy’s shoes, coveralls and ski mask. She threw the bloody shoes in the creek behind their houses. She returned the ski mask and coveralls to the shed. She foolishly expected her actions to incriminate Jimmy.

            But long time detective Sargent Francis Folkenflicker immediately saw things didn’t add up, even though his Lieutenant ordered Jimmy Stetson arrested. First, he did not exhibit the behavior of someone who had just committed a crime of passion. He was clearly in horror filled shock, coupled with distress.

            Also, why would he so carelessly discard his shoes into a creek not even large enough to float a paper boat? And why hang his blood spattered coveralls on a nail in his shed?

            The next viable suspect was Justin’s wife. But when located at her sister’s home, after she successfully snuck back in, she seemed to have a solid alibi. Plus, sleep deprivation and anxiety helped her give an Oscar winning performance of a distraught wife.

            But before Detective Folkenflicker left Jill’s sister’s home, his phone jangled in his pocket. It was the lab. “Hey Sarge, we found a couple long blonde hairs in the ski mask.”

            Folkenflicker informed Jill of this. A switch was flipped in her psychopathic mind, especially when Folkenflicker suggested a DNA test. Jill’s demeanor changed from distress to cold paranoia as she declared she wanted a lawyer. Folkenflicker’s jaw clenched, and his eyes narrowed as he nodded.

            But there was nothing a lawyer could do to stop a DNA test. The truth came out, and Jill was arrested for murder in the first degree for the slaying of her husband. She was also charged with attempted murder in the case of Jenny. The first charge would stick, while the second wasn’t sufficiently proven.

            What followed Jill Phillips’ arrest was the aftermath of two destroyed marriages and the ripple effect on their families. The Phillips children located to another state and were raised by Justin Phillips’ parents. Although the Stetson’s son and daughter were adults, the news of their mother’s affair and the brutal murder of her lover caused severe damage to their maternal relationship.

            But Jimmy sought reconciliation. The ordeal only caused him to draw closer to God. He felt compassion for his wife and the horror she witnessed. He also tried to repair the breach between Jenny and their children. To top it off, he forgave her infidelity. Love for God caused him to focus on her potential, not her failure.

            But the ordeal led Jenny the opposite way from God as her husband. She felt anger for the trauma she endured. Sure, she was unfaithful to her husband. But did having a little sinful fun on the side merit such a violent, diabolical result? She unwisely tended to blame God rather than the adversary of souls.

            She did agree to marriage counseling. But the atheistic psychiatrist she saw for her personal problems had more influence. Four months after the horrific murder of Justin Phillips, Jenny announced to Jimmy that she was moving out.

            She moved in with a scoundrel. She had met a good looking charmer, who talked her into capitalizing off her fifteen minutes of fame. Although the crime was horrific, her life and the affair didn’t have enough juice to merit a book, let alone a movie.

            But with much persuasion, he talked her into starting an erotic website. She figured why not. She was estranged from her kids, and separated from her husband. The charmer assured her, there would be no sex, just revealing lingerie and glimpses of nudity.

            It was initially very successful due to her notoriety. Her vanity surged to its highest peak. But when the views began to decline, the charmer suggested they get more risqué. She said no. He insisted they needed to. She put her foot down. After all, she had her principles. Please note, she had HER principles, not God’s.

            But she was in love, or so she thought, so she compromised. After all, a little more risqué wouldn’t hurt. Then a little more became a little more. Their website became more popular than ever. But their relationship was always up and down with excitement, but volatile.

            Then a phone call from Jimmy upset the apple cart of her current life. Although their occasional communication had been consistently civil on Jimmy’s part, the last time they had talked she had received a stern rebuke from him. So her jaw clenched and her body tensed as she answered with a bark, “What!”

            “Wow, I see you’re glad to hear from me,” he said mildly.

            “Not if you called to play self-righteous again.”

            “I wasn’t being self-righteous that last time we talked. I was observing that your behavior was an embarrassment to your children.”

            “They disowned me, remember? So what does it matter?”

            “They didn’t disown you; you drove them away.”

            “Goodbye!”

            “Jenny, wait. That isn’t why I called you.”

            She paused before hanging up, pursed her lips and once again said, “What?”

            “Kelsey wanted me to relay some news,” he said, referring to their daughter.

            Her pulse quickened, but it was also disheartening that her own flesh and blood didn’t want to tell her something herself. “Okay.”

            He gently said, “You’re gonna be a grandma.”

            For some reason this news threw her for a loop. Her daughter and her husband had been married for four years and were very much career and travel minded. As she absorbed this, the news began to break through the walls regarding her family that she had put up. She felt a lump form in her throat. “Why didn’t she want to tell me herself?”

            He paused. “I’m not being self-righteous or judgmental, you asked… She feels awkward about your drastic lifestyle change.”

            The last time she and her daughter talked, Kelsey had asked bitterly, “Why did you weird out so bad?”

            “Are you there?” Jimmy asked.

            “Yeah,” she croaked.

            “Jenny, I’m sorry.”

            She is the one that betrayed him, yet he said he was sorry? For what? That he was stuck in the middle of the mess she made with her family? Once again she croaked, “Yeah.”

            “It’s not too late?” he said softly.

            “For what?” she asked hopefully.

            “To get back in good graces with the kids.”

            “I see,” she said bitterly. “Why don’t you give me a list of do’s and don’ts then. Then I can shove it…”
            “Jenny, stop it!” Jimmy interrupted. “You burned the bridges by your behavior. All I’m doing is telling you that the bridges can be rebuilt. What happened to you? I thought we had a good life together. I was willing to forgive you for, you know.”

            “Oh were you?” she said and then snorted. “And what, hold it over my head the rest of my life?”

            “When we were trying to work things out, what did I do to lead you to believe that I would hold it over your head?”

            She felt tears burn her eyes, and self-reproach force an admission. “Nothing. I was bored, and I was vain. You know I was a nerd and a late bloomer. Now I’m this hot fifty year old, and guys numbering in the thousands have actually paid to see all of me.”

            “You’re a spectacle,” Jimmy mildly.

            “Am I? Well you can…” she swore at him.

            With great patience, he asked, “Please answer me. What happened to the sweet God fearing girl I married?”

            “She’s dead, Mr. Stetson. And the real me is alive and living life to the fullest.”

            For the first time since the murder of Justin Phillips, Vermillion approached me. “How the mighty have fallen, Querida. Once a head deaconess that everyone looked up to. Now someone with a niche in the dirty world of adult entertainment. It’s also interesting she does the opposite of being dead to self and alive to Christ. She calls the God fearing Jenny she once was dead, and the harlot she now is alive.”

            “You are noticing her defiance,” I told my former friend. “But I believe you are now gonna see what’s truly been working inside her.”  

            “Are you truly happy, Jenny?” Jimmy asked.

            She almost lied, but then said, “Goodbye, Jim. Thanks for telling me about Kelsey.”

            She hung up and broke down sobbing. The charmer had been wanting her to get even more vile in their videos. Instead of agreeing, they got into their biggest fight yet. Instead of passionate make up intimacy, they broke up and she moved out.

            After Jenny and Jimmy’s conversation, I put a dream inside his head that night. Jenny wanted back in his life. He struggled with whether to take her back or not. But dreams are often strange. In familiar, yet foreign settings, he was reminded of what a philanderer he was before he was married. Although they went way off the deep end, I made him feel she deserved a second chance.

            When he finally woke, feeling discombobulated, he turned on a light and reached for his Bible. I manipulated the page he opened to and the verse his eyes landed on. It was Hosea 1:2. After reading the verse, he got a red pen and underlined a portion. “Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry.”

            “You can’t be serious,” Vermillion said with a smirk.

            “We’ll see,” I shrugged. “Time will tell.”

ANGELS AT WAR – CHAPTER 20

Posted on by Johnathan Embers

ANGELS AT WAR

CHAPTER 20

ARCHANGEL QUERIDA

YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY (Exodus 20:14)

            “Are you disappointed she didn’t confess?” Vermillion asked. His tone was surprisingly neutral from what he usually spoke to me when he wanted to gloat or boast.

            “If you don’t have expectations with sinful humanity, you’re not disappointed,” I replied.

            “Is that why you’re side rejoices over one sinner that repents?” he asked with a mocking tone as he referred to Luke 15:7 and 10.

            “Why do you seem disappointed?”

            “I’m not. You know my side prefers sin and secrecy over truth and honesty.”

            “You must not be confident that there will be a second indiscretion.”

            “Oh, it’s not that at all. Now that she didn’t confess, she, I should say they, are gonna disregard the warnings of Proverbs chapter five about adultery. I just felt the confession would have been interesting to watch.”

            Now I knew why he was neutral. To use a human expression, he wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted to see the possibility of marriages destroyed with the adultery coming to light. At minimum marriages damaged. But he also wanted to see his prediction of rinse and repeat come to fruition.

            It had not even been an hour since the woman defiled herself with a man who wasn’t her husband. To add severity to the sin, the man she went to bed with was married as well. He was also the father of three young children. To make the iniquity yet more precarious, he was her next door neighbor.

            She had scrubbed herself aggressively in the shower after the encounter. Not only did she wish to scrub the sin away, she wanted to make sure any possible scent of her paramour’s cologne was gone. Then, facing her husband less than a half an hour after she dried off, he had leaned toward her and asked, “What’s that smell?”

            Her guilty conscience warned her that he suspected. In an effort to get her sin off of her chest, she blurted, “I have something I need to tell you.”

            He walked past her to the gas stove. “You didn’t turn the burner all the way off. So what did you need to tell me?”

            “How careless of me,” she said, looking at the stove with a frown as her brain scrambled for something to ‘tell’ him. “Um, there’s a light bulb burned out in the bathroom.”

            “Okay,” he said laughing. “You made it sound like something more urgent than a burned out light bulb.”

            “I just didn’t want to forget. You can reach it, but I’d have to get the little step ladder from the shed.”

            The next day, the woman got a text message from her young lover about going for a run. She made an excuse to not go. The following day the same text and made the same excuse to not go. The third day he called. As she looked at caller ID, she sighed and decided she couldn’t evade him forever. She might as well face the music. Yet she didn’t push answer in time. It went to voice mail, and he left a brief message. “Please call me within the next few hours. We need to talk, and Jill and the kids won’t be home until at least seven thirty.”

            She paced the living room nervously biting her thumb. Why was she hesitating? Did she actually want another tryst, even though she felt compelled to tell him their fling was a mistake? She wanted them to get back to normal. But what was normal? Flirting and lusting had become normal, and then that led to the point where they crossed a line!

            No, she determined to not only tell him it was a mistake, but that they needed to stop seeing each other altogether. Their relationship needed to be strictly a wave across the fence followed by a ‘hello neighbor, nice day.’ Then maybe their indiscretion would fade over time. She sighed heavily and picked up her phone. She might as well get it over with.

            “Hey,” she greeted softly, rather than her usual perky attitude.

            “Hey,” he replied with his own low tone. “Were you trying to avoid me?”

            “Why would I try to do that?” she asked, half joking and half serious as she tried to dial up a more lively vibe.

            “Because something pretty big happened between us the other day.”

            “Yeah, Justin, about that. We… ya know… made a mistake.”

            “I thought we made love.”

            “But we are both married.”

            “I know.”

            There was a long awkward pause. “Justin, I can’t have an affair. I love my husband… I think we need to stop running together, hanging out together.”

            “I completely understand. I felt terrible as well. But I do not want to lose our friendship.”

            She didn’t either. She hated the thought of their relationship being reduced to ‘sure could use some rain’ over the fence.

            “So, how about it? Let’s go for a run and try to get back to normal.”

            “Okay,” she replied with both a grin and a frown. “But I only have about a half hour, then I need to get supper started.

            “That’s fine.”

            As Vermillion and I watched, my opponent became giddy despite the woman putting on loose sweat pants instead of her usual painted on spandex shorts. She also pulled a large t-shirt over her head, covering the tight sports bra.

            Despite a resolve to just be friends, she felt a sense of skepticism. How could they go back to normal? Before their sin, they had a mutual attraction and a playful flirtation. Now that they gave in to the desires that resulted, would that just go away? Was it possible? They had opened a door. The question was, could it be shut before the illicit winds of lust opened it wider.

            But it seemed to work! Their playful banter was still present, but the sexual innuendos that had evolved over the previous months were absent. The chemistry was still there but held in check. Maybe just friends could work. They were well behaved and polite, and this seemed to give Vermillion great delight. He told me. “It’s the little things, Q, that build up to bigger things.”

            As their run ended, Justin followed her into her garage. He held out his hand to shake. With a boyish grin he said, “Thank you for accompanying me, Mrs. Stetson.”

            “Thank you for escorting me, Mr. Phillips,” she replied with her own grin. But then for some reason, she spontaneously winked at him.

            Their hands were still joined and Justin’s grin faded as he contemplated that wink. Then for some reason he spontaneously pulled her hand toward his face. With eyes locked on hers, he kissed it. Her pulse began to quicken, but so did her conscience. She jerked her hand from his but smiled coyly. “Are we gonna be able to remain just friends?”

            With a suggestive low tone, he growled. “You tell me.”

            “We have to,” she declared and gave him a playful shove. “Now, I think we both need a shower.”

            “So, are you suggesting we take a shower together?”

            “Justin!” she said with hands sternly on her hips, but a little smile curled on her lips. “I mean you in your house and me in mine. We can’t go down that road!”

            “We already did.”

            “Well, we need to realize that it’s a dead end.”

            “So let’s park and stay there awhile.”

            “Look, Justin, I don’t think running together and hanging out is gonna work. There seems to be just too much chemistry between us, and now that we, you know, got to know each other in a way reserved for our spouses. I mean, don’t you feel guilty? I know I do.”

            She hoped bringing up their partners would deter him, but it only added fuel to his fire. “I do, but there’s another side of the coin. Both of the spouses you mention are terribly out of shape. And ironically, trying to initiate sex with mine is like trying to pull her teeth. And you admitted that yours has recently developed certain problems. Which is also ironic since his wife has to be the hottest fifty something on the planet.”

            His compliment made her suddenly wish she was in her usual attire rather than frumpy sweats. He was clearly willing to pursue an affair, and she found this prospect both alluring and disturbing. Determined to focus on disturbing, she said, “Justin, it just isn’t right. We both took vows.”

            “True enough, but you were willing to break them the other day. How come then but not now?”

            She shrugged. “I gave into desire.”

            He grinned and took hold of her hand. “So give in again.”

            “I can’t.”

            “But why? I thought the other day was absolutely amazing! Forgive me, but you seemed to thoroughly enjoy yourself as well. So why am I now repulsive?”

            “Trust me, you are anything but repulsive.”

            “If that’s the case, I still don’t get it.”

            “Don’t you feel guilty, Justin? I mean, not just for our own spouses either. I don’t know if I could look Jill in the eyes right now.”

            “You’re over thinking this.”

            “You didn’t answer me. Don’t you feel guilty?”

            He shrugged. “Of course I do. But you’re worth it. The guilt will fade with time. We are both just freaked out by the newness of our secret love.”

            He loved her! Did she love him? Why were there so many mixed feelings? She realized they were still holding hands and she pulled hers away. She tried a different approach. Although she skipped church more often than she went these days, she said, “I’m a deaconess in our church; I was head deaconess for more than a decade. Do you realize how humiliating it would be if we got caught? Look, I’m already late getting supper going and I need to shower first.”

            “Run tomorrow?”

            She bit her lip and looked at her watch. “We’ll see.”

            Vermillion couldn’t keep silent. “Do you see why we usually win with fallen humanity, Querida? She is clearly more concerned with getting caught rather than the sin itself. But I guess that should be obvious since they’ve already done the dirty deed. Watch what happens next.”

            I knew what his team had in the works and it wasn’t good. The thing that made it all the more despicable was they were using the good heart of the adulteress’s husband. He was one of those people that many others rely on when in need. The type of guy that would give the shirt off his back when someone was in need.

            The adulteress’s mind was completely absorbed with her paramour and their dialogue. So she gave a little start as she dried off from her shower when her phone sounded off. Then she recoiled for a second as she reached for it and saw her husband’s name on caller ID. It was as if he knew her thoughts. It was as if he knew about her fling. But he couldn’t, could he? The guilty mind sure can be paranoid.

            “Hi, Honey,” she said cheerfully, yet her hand trembled slightly.

            “Hey, Babe,” her husband cooed lovingly, calming her instantly. “Have you started supper yet?”

            “I was about to. I was just drying off from a shower after a run.”

            She bit her lip. Every once in a while he asked if she ran with Justin. Never out of jealousy, always simply conversational. But he didn’t ask about their neighbor; he went right into the reason for his call. “Jared Anderson forgot to turn his lights off on his car when he got to work this morning, so I’m going over to his office to jump start him. By the time I drive over there and get him going, I won’t be home until around eight, give or take.”

            “Oh, okay. I’ll wait an hour to start supper.”

            “Thanks, Babe, love you.”

            “Love you, too,” she told him.

            Her heart pounded with excitement. She scrolled her contacts for Justin’s number. She was about to hit send, when my team pricked her conscience. She groaned and tossed her phone onto the bed. But she had freewill, and sometimes when carnal desire gets rolling, it’s hard to stop. Us trying to influence the conscience then becomes like trying to stop a Mack truck with a butterfly net.

            My team’s job becomes easier to a large degree when people stay grounded in the Word of God, coupled with prayer. It’s been said, and I agree, that prayer is the better half of study. When this is practiced, humans experience a very high success rate with victory over sin.

            Spiritual things have been compared to food and water. Jesus said if anyone thirsts let them come to Him and drink. (John 7:37) He also called Himself the Bread of Life. (John 6:35) How often does one need to eat and drink their physical food? As with physical nourishment, so with the spiritual sustenance. One needs it multiple times a day.

            On the other hand, beware. The enemy does double down on those that are serious about God. The Bible warns that those who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. (2 Timothy 3:12) The demons don’t need to work hard on the people that already don’t care about following God.

            Unfortunately the adulteress, someone still considered a church leader, had back slidden from devoted prayer and study. Her daily devotion had become reduced to a halfhearted thirty second prayer before bed. But her mind did anguish and wrestle with her dilemma over her potential lover for almost five minutes. But time was waning, she needed to make a decision.

            Having forfeited her strong connection with God, Vermillion’s team was able to harness her carnal desires. One of the first things they did after taking a hold of the reins was convince her that another dalliance was meant to be. Justin was right about them deserving each other. But was there still time?

            Almost frantically she picked up her phone. Justin’s name was still up and she hit send.

            “Hey, Jenny, what’s up?” his voice said into her ear.

            “Jimmy won’t be home until around eight… Do you want to come over?”