Tag: spirit

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 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.”