Authors: Russ Scalzo
The
time had
finally
come to make the call
. I
t was
2:30 p.m. and
he figured Emily had had enough time to get home by now
,
so he picked up the
phone and
dialed her number. It rang once…
twice
…
three times. He felt nervou
s
and stupid for feeling anxious
all at the same
time.
Then
,
she answered. “Hi
,
Jack.”
“Hi
, Emily. H
ow was work?”
“It
was okay.
Glad to be home. How was your
day?”
“Oh, j
ust catching up on a few things,
”
h
e tried to sound nonchalant.
They
were both searching for assurances
,
not knowing how to get there. Jack wanted so bad
ly
to ask her out tonight
,
but he knew it was
important for him to spend time with Frank
. He
also wanted her to know that he wasn’t just blowing her
off.
“I was
hoping we could catch a movie tonight and spend some more time together
,
but something came up
that I really have to do. Are you working tomorrow?”
“No, I
don’t work Sundays any
more unless they really
get jammed up. What did you have in mind?”
“
Well, I know you have your own church you go to
, but
I was wondering if you
would like to
go to church with me tomorrow.”
“Sure,
I would love that. What time?”
Jack
was relieved and excited by her response.
“We
could go to first service at
9 a.m.
and then come back to my place
.
I
could fix you something to eat for a
change.”
Emily
l
aughed and responded,
“That sounds wonderful. You cook?”
“Well,
I make an awesome breakfast
. B
eyond that
,
it can get a little dangerous,
”
Jack said
,
smiling.
Em
ily laughed a little louder. “Okay, breakfast it is!
What time should I be ready and what do people wear at your
church?”
“We
meet in the high school right now. We just starte
d
this church four years ago, but
we already have
over three hu
ndred people. It is very casual. No
one gets too dressed up. I’ll pick you up at
8:30
?
”
“Alright,
I’ll be ready
,
and by the way, I had a wonderful time last night.”
Jack’s
smile grew wider and wider. “I am so happy to hear that. I did too. I’m
really
looking forward to
seeing you again
,
Emily.”
Emily
was beamin
g on the other end of the phone.
“Not as much as I am
,
Jack Bennett. See you at
8:30.
”
“I’ll
be there. Have a good night.”
Jack
put his phone back in his pocket
,
walked out onto his front porch and plopped down in his
favorite chair. That smile would linger on his face for hours.
* * *
Jack
could hear Frank’s car coming up the driveway. He looked at his watch and
smiled
. I
t was
exactly six o’clock. He knew how pumped Frank was going to be and that made him
feel good even though Emily was still on his mind. The newness of Frank’s
experience with the Lord reminded him of his own experience and how blown away
he was when he found out how much God loved him.
It was
still a
pleasant spring evening so Jack
left the front door open
. The
fresh spring breeze
blew
through the screen door. Frank came bursting up the front
steps. “Hey
,
Jack! How are you
,
bud? Great day
, huh?
I love spring!
”
Jack
wasn’t used to seeing
Frank
this happy. He gave him a big hug and said, “Doing great
,
my friend
. A
nd I see
,
so are you.”
“Unbelievable
is all I can say. I can’t get enough
, you
know?
I’ve been reading like a maniac. I have
experienced so much with you
,
especially the other night
. I
feel like I’m living the B
ible in real
time.” Frank
’
s
eyes were open wide and gleaming with new life.
Jack
laughed out loud.
“
I
’ve never heard it put that way.
That is awesome. Come in the kitchen
, my friend.
I ordered a pizza
…
it came a few minutes
ago. I knew you would be hungry and on time.”
They
walked into the kitchen with Frank talking a mile a minute.
“Thanks
, man. S
o here I am one of
those born again Jesus freak
s I used to think
were so weird,
you know
?
I mean
,
before I met you that
is.”
Jack
just kept smiling.
“Glad I could help.”
They
both sat down at the table
.
Jack open
ed
the pizza box and said, “What do y
ou say I pray before we eat?
”
“You’ll
get no a
rgu
ment
from me.”
Both
men bowed their heads. Jack prayed,
“Father
, we thank Y
ou
for br
inging us together and for all Y
ou have
done for both of us.
We thank Y
ou for this food
. B
less our time together
,
in Jesus
’
name amen.”
Frank
and Jack dove into the pizza and Frank started with his first question.
“I
read in the gosp
el of John that Jesus
said
no one can see the kingdom of God unless he
is born a
gain. That is so real to me now.
I understand it because I can sense and feel
H
im in my life. Before
it was just a story to me
,
you know
? L
ike I us
ed to say to you
all the time, ‘
W
hatever works for you
.’
I
t didn’t seem real or
even possible.”
Jack
couldn’t believe the words that were
coming out of Frank’s mouth. I
t was so cool to
hear him talk like this.
“It i
s personal. You can’t have my experience and I can’t have
yours.
There are s
even
billion people on earth and God has a personal experience waiting for
each one if they would turn to H
im and receive it.”
Frank
was just warming up.
“I also read about
Jesus casting out demons. That’s what you do
,
right?”
“Well
,
yeah. I don’t do it
myself
, though. I
t
is the power of God
i
n me that does it. Jesus said, ‘
A
nyone who has faith in
Me
will do what I have
been doing and even greater things
,
because I am going to the Father.
’
When he rose from the
dead
,
he
gave us power over the darkness and the world.”
“Why
doesn’t every Christian do what you do?”
Jack
took a deep breath and pi
cked up another piece
of pizza.
“Frank, I want you to know that I’m
not anything special. All I do is try to stay
close to the Lord and do what He says. A
nybody
who does that can do what I have done. Jesus walks beside me and without that
,
I have nothing. Jesus
said
‘
I have
given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the
power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
’
But H
e reminds us that we
should not rejoice that the spirits submit to us, but
rather
rejoice that our names
are written in heaven. That’s the most important thing.”
Frank
’s eyes grew wide.
“That
demon thing the other night knew who you were. I mean
,
he knew your name.
That is way too freaky man. When I heard that
,
I was blown away. You say you’re nothing special
,
but what’s up with
that?”
Jack
smiled and opened
his B
ible to the book of Acts
, C
hapter
19
. “There is a story about seven sons of a chief priest who
went around trying to cast demons out of people. I guess they thought that they
were special because of their father’s position. They used to use the name of Jesus
and the name of the apostle Paul to do this
,
but one day the evil spirit answered them and said,
‘
Jesus I know, and I
know about Paul, but who are you?
’
Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them
and
gave them such a
beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. The point is the d
evil and his demons know who is t
he real deal and who is just going through the motions. We
are all special to God
and,
as long as
we stay connected
and close to H
im
,
we have the power over the darkness.”
“Why
wouldn’t all Ch
ristians want to stay
close to H
im?
”
Frank asked.
“
I‘ve never felt better in my whole life?”
“Things
happen to people, you know that. We get busy and centered in on our own lives,
and the cares of this world can overcome us
.
Sometimes
God gets crowded out. I don’t
think anyone
does it on purpose. M
ost of the time we don’t even know it
’
s happening.
The other night, y
ou saw
how powerful the darkness is. The enemy is sly and deceitful and
,
if we stop praying
,
we lose touch with the
real reality and begin to lose our way. It’s a battle
,
but it is a battle we
can win.”
Frank
sighed with relief.
“That’s an awesome
story. I still can’t believe this is all happening. I feel like the guys in the
Matrix
movie. It’s like a world that has been hidden from me and
,
all of a sudden
,
I can see into another
dimension
or something
.”
“It is
pretty wild. We have to watch what we say to other people
, though. Y
ou know
,
like the agency. They
have been a great source for me over the years. God has used the
m to point me in the direction H
e has wanted me to go. I would say you should share your new
found faith in Christ
,
but for now
,
we should stay away from talking about demons and angels.”
Frank
laughed.
“I get it. They would lock us up and throw
away the key. How weird is it that here we are
,
a new covert agency centered on the study of paranormal
activity
,
and
we have to be careful not to
mention what the
real answer is?
”
Jack
shrugged his shoulders. “I know. I
n
God’s timing
,
we will have our opportunity
,
but for now
,
they would label us religious fanatics and we would be out
of the loop and out of a job. Until then
,
we
share our faith in
Christ and tread
carefully.”