Authors: Russ Scalzo
Frank
looked around and said, “Well
,
no one has come up to you yet. Did he say how long you had
to wait?”
“No,
but I haven’t been here that long.”
Frank
motioned for the bill. “I g
ot this.
I had breakfast before you got here and all you had was a
coffee. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes at the office. Get me that report
today so I don’t have to hear
to my boss chew
me out again.”
“Yeah
, okay.
I think I’m go
ing to
wait here a little lo
nger. Y
ou know
,
just to be sure.”
Jack
caught Emily’s eye. He raised his coffee cup slightly
and she nodded with a smile
.
He looked up at Frank who was getting ready to leave and noticed
the
weird look
he had
on his face. He was
about to ask him what was up
,
when suddenly he felt a hand gently fall on
his shoulder. He quickly turned. I
t was a w
oman’s hand, and
then he saw it -
the ring with the
image of a small dove.
He
looked up at her. S
he was about fifty
years old, nicely dressed
,
and there around her neck was the gold cross. It was just
like the angel told him
,
but it wasn’t the ring or the gold cross that grabbed Ja
ck’s attention. It was her eyes. T
hey
sparkle
d
with incredible joy.
She looked at him apologetically and said, “Please excuse me for interrupting
but, I need to know, are you Jack Bennett?”
Frank
stood there in shock and disbelief. He slowly took hold of the back of his
chair
,
slid
it out
,
and
proceeded to sit
back down, his eyes
locked in on
the mysterious scene playing out
in front of him.
Jack
responded
, his heart pounding.
“Yes, I’m Jack Bennett. Who are you?
”
“My
name is Conni Riser,” s
he said with a smile.
“
I was told to come here
and ask for you by
…” s
he paused for a moment feeling a little more than nervous and
somewhat embarrassed.
The
pause was just
long enough for Jack to say, “An a
ngel?”
The
woman exhaled an
d broke into a wide
smile, “Yes! Y
es
,
an ang
e
l
. You saw him too?
”
“Yes,
h
e told me you would come and what to look
for. Where are you from?
”
“I
lead a large prayer group of believers in High Point
,
about twenty miles
from here. We have been praying for you
without
really knowing who you were. I guess we have
a lot to talk about.”
Slowly
coming out of his daze
,
Frank excused himself.
“I really have to go.”
Jack
stood up, “Oh
, sorry!
Conni this is my good friend
,
Frank
Lederman. He is a special agent with the
federal government.”
“Hello, Mr. Lederman. Nice
to meet you.”
Frank, still in a haze
of disbelief, said, “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Riser. Please, you can call me
Frank.”
“Mrs. Riser makes me
feel old. Conni works fine for me as well.”
He stood there
motionless for a second, and then quickly snapped out of it. He gave Jack a
questioning look and said, “Okay, then I’ll talk to you later.”
Jack gave him a halfhearted
wave and turned his attention back to Conni. They started talking immediately.
Frank started down the sidewalk, got about twenty feet away, pulled his phone
out of his jacket pocket, and began waving his arms frantically in the air,
motioning for Jack to call him. Jack just shook his head, nodded and got back
to his conversation with Conni.
As Frank walked away shaking his head, he thought to himself,
You gotta love that guy.
It had been a long
flight back to
Los Angeles
from his meeting with the society in Washington. Dante hated flying, at least
in the conventional way, but he knew it was important to do so, at least for
now.
He stayed busy during the flight back
,
making and confirming
his plans for the next phase
,
and
now he was back in his office. He loved sitting in his
luxurious offi
ce suite
,
stories above downtown
L.A. The
City
National Plaza
,
a twin tower
skyscraper
complex on South Flower Street
,
provided the view he was most use
d
to.
The rent was exorbitant
,
but that didn’t matter to Dante because he had
income streams
from
various sources
. There wasn’t a pie he
didn’t have his finger in
and
his connections didn’t end there. The worlds he dabbled in
were far more interesting than any mortal could imagine
. I
n fact
,
he had invited a long
time associate to meet with him in his office this morning. He also had had a
long flight. Dante leaned back in his chair and patiently waited for his guest
to arrive. He
knew he
did not have to wait long for he could now feel the atm
osphere changing all around him.
A
pleasant and
familiar feeling
,
he thought.
Dante
swung his chair around
,
anticipating his
associate’s
entrance. A murky mist began to fill the
room
. I
t
twisted and turned around every piece of furniture
,
falling
like a curtain over
the large glass window behind Dante’s
bulky
cherry wood desk. Only ghostly streams of light could be
seen through the green swirling mist
,
creating
an eerie scene that rivaled any sci-fi
movie.
Then came a sound of what
could
only
be described as damp bits of leather or vinyl unfolding. The
mist separat
ed around the figure
,
revealing his ten-foot
frame that bar
el
y fit in the room. The tips of his
jet-black
wings brushed
ever so slightly against the ceiling
. His
large, yellowish cat-
like eyes moved left to
right as he scanned the entire room.
Dante
welcomed his guest.
“Marduk
,
welcome to the city of
angels,” he said with a smirk.
“My L
ord.” His voice was deep and
throaty;
a menacing sound to most
,
but one Dante was familiar and comfortable with.
Dante
was eager
to hear all the
updates from Europe and the Middle East.
“Ho
w are things in Geneva at CERN?”
“Shiva
the Destroyer is keeping an eye on that for us. It was so good of them to put
his image right
in front of the
building
. Mortals are such fools.”
“We
are making progress in the Middle East
,
I see.”
“Things
are g
oing well for us there
. That pot is so easy to stir. Our plans to inspire an Arab
invasion of Israel are moving forward quite nicely and we are making headway in
many places in the U.S
, but
there are a few things you need to take note of.” He glanced
up and then back at Dante, “There has been an angelic incursion.”
Dante
did not flinch
. H
e
was not surprised. “Of course
. L
et me guess
.
Uriel, The Light of
God?
”
Marduk
winced. J
ust the mention of his name was
painful. “Yes. He has appeared to two humans.”
“What
was said?”
“We do
not know, but
there’s something else you should
know. Gadreel has been forcefully removed from Blackstone by a believer named
Jack Bennett.”
That
news took Dante by surprise. He was outraged and stormed around
the room
, going be
tween fits of rage
and
pouting
like a child
.
N
orma
lly he
could sense such things and the fact that he didn’t enraged him all the more.
“What!
How can that be? We haven’t seen that kind of thing done in a long time. He
must be stopped. We can’t afford to have faith like that spread to the others.”
As if
explaining, Marduk offered,
“You could not see
it coming
, M
y
L
ord
,
because there was a prayer cover over him and I fear it is
only growing stronger.”
“Fear!
Fear is what we should be putting into them!”
Dante
could barel
y control himself. He knew this
would put a kink in his plans and his abi
lity
to influence The Society, a
lthough his
promise to them was just a side bar in his overall goal and strategy.
Marduk
’s eyes glowed a little brighter.
“Do you want me to go to Blackstone tonight
, M
y L
ord?”
“No,
not right now
. I
t’s
too dangerous. First
,
we must discourage the prayer warriors. As long as they keep
praying
,
we
are vuln
erable. We must
create road
blocks at every
turn. We must do all we can to hinder them from getting together to pray. I
will send
the spirits of pride and envy -
they have proven to be very dependable in these situations.
After all
,
humans do such a wonderf
ul job tearing each
other apart, d
on’t you think?”
Marduk
bowed his head in co
mpliance, “Will that be
all, My Lord?
”
Dante
walked back to his chair and
,
looking out over the city
,
said, “Yes. So for now
,
go back to Syria
. Y
ou are doing well there
,
but you and the others must continue to influenc
e and inspire the weak and high-
minded. There is so much more we need to accomplish.”
Marduk
bowed his head and slowly wrapped his wings
around himself so all that
could
be
see
n were
his glowing eyes. In a
violent motion
,
he spun around and vanished. The mist that preceded him was sucked up behind
him like a long train on a robe. In a moment
,
all was back to the way it was before. Dante Adal
slowly
sat back down in his
chair
and
continued
to
stare out at the city, planning - a
lways planning.
T
he warm rays of the morning sun foun
d Jack at his desk banging out Part T
wo of his blog
s
series
,
“The
Growing Evil on Planet Earth.”
He would have
loved to share his experience with the angel
,
but he knew better.
That
would have to wait for another day.
Maybe
Part Twenty
, he thought with a
smile.
His
mission was to reach as many people as possible with the truth about paranormal
activity
,
and
he
had only just begun to scratch
the surface.
Part
Two: The Spir
it of Lawlessness and
Rebellion
By
Jack Bennett
We
read in
II
Thessalonians
2:3-7
that a spirit of lawlessness and rebellion is coming. It reads:
Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will
not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the
man doomed to destruction.
For
the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds
it
back will continue to do so until
he is taken out of the way
.
The
Greek word for rebellion is
apostasia
and is
actually the source of our English word apostasy. It
means the defection from truth or falling away from the truth.
In our
world today, we have a great rebellion underway. Our government is moving
further and further away from truth and has successfully removed God from our
schools and our workplaces. Others within our government are covertly
attempting to remove God from our currency and from all public buildings. But
the real issue is about us - you and me. Where are we in all this? Evil is
rising up all over the world. Are we praying? Do we believe in prayer anymore?
Does prayer really work or is it just a desperate attempt to console ourselves
when nothing else works?
Terror groups are
getting more ruthless, their attacks more brazen.
Every
few weeks, right when one extremist group is dominating the news with threats
of attacks, another surfaces with a different, more harrowing claim.
Al-Shabaab
released a video urging it
s sympathizers to attack malls in
the United States, the UK, and Canada. The same day, ISIS had one showing its
members parading caged captives down the streets of Iraq. This is only the
latest in its string of atrocious videos.
Then there's the
ever-present threat of al-Qaeda, the brutality of the Boko Haram, and the
looming Taliban. Did you know the United States has a list of
59 designated terror groups?
Folks
,
we need to pray. Prayer moves the hand of God. Join with me and let’s make a
commitment to ask God to help us tear down the strongholds of the evil around
the world and in our own country.
The apostle Paul tells
us that we have the power to demolish evil strongholds
,
so let’s get together and make a difference. Yes, prayer works
.
The problem is not God -
it’s you and me
.
Until next time,
Jack Benne
tt
Jack hit the enter key
and the update was posted. His
face
was still glow
ing
from his meeting with Conni -
it was wonderful and uplifting. He
was looking forward to meeting her prayer group later tonight. He was so blown
away that they had been praying for him when they didn’t even know who he was
or what
he was about to face. He thought that kind of
supernatural intervention
was so cool.
On the flip side of
things
,
he had been thinking about what Frank
had
said about the waitress at CJ’s, Emily. He had kept himself
so busy that he never gave dating much thought. The thought actually scared
him out of his mind. There had
been a few women over the years
but certainly nothing too serious. Of course there was one
,
but
that was years ago. He didn’t talk about that much
.
I
n fact he never talked about it. She would have been the one
,
if it weren’t for a cold rainy night fifteen years ago when a drunk driver took
her out of his life for good. After that
,
he buried himself in his work and if it hadn’t been for his relationship with
the Lord
,
he might not have made it at all. The
only good that came out of it was that it deepened his r
elationship
with his God and le
d
him
down
a path he might have never found.
Jack knew what prayer
could do and he was bent on teaching that t
ruth to anyone who
would listen, including
Frank, even though up
until
now
, he hadn’t had much success.
Emily
,
he thought,
H
uh
,
I wonder
.
Jack let his mind
wander for a minute
,
but it was short lived
.
His ringing cell phone broke the serene silence. I
t
was Frank.
Jack answered, “Hey
,
Frank
. W
hat’s up?”
“Hey
,
did you get a chance to look at those files I gave you?”
“Oh, no I didn’t. S
orry.
I’ll take a look right now. I just finished updating my blog
,
so
check it out.”
“Okay,
let me know what you think. The Oslows were into some bizarre stuff
,
man. I’m talking off the wall
. A
nd hey, you
never told me how things went with that lady
, Conni. How weird was
that?
I’m sorry I didn’t believe you at first
,
but you gotta admit, talking with angels
sounds pretty wild
.
I
’ll
tell you
,
Jack
-
you get involved with
the
weirdest shi... stuff.”
Frank always tried to
cut down a little on his cursing when talking with Jack. Jack never mentioned
it; it was just something Frank felt he should do.
Jac
k
smiled and said, “No worries. Y
ou don’t hear that kind of thing
too often
, right?
Anyway, I am heading
over to High Point tonight to meet with her prayer group.”
“Are you gonna tell
them about the angel and all that demon stuff?”
Jack laughed
out
loud, “I’m not sure exactly.
I’ll have to see how the Lord
leads.”
“Oh, okay. W
ell,
that should make for an interesting evening.”
While they were talking
,
Jack had been glancing through the files Frank sent over when something
caught his eye. Halfway down
the second page
,
the r
eport stated that Mr. Oslow had
meeting
s
with a Senator Wellsenburg in D
.
C
.
on several different occasions. The last time they met was two days before he
and his wife were found dead in their home.
After a few seco
nds
of silence, Frank noticed
J
ack was
pre
occupied.
“Are you still with me?”
he asked.
“Yeah, I was reading
this. W
hat’s up with th
e connection between
Oslow and S
enator Wellsenburg?”
“Not sure. D
o
you think he is part of the same secret society? They had no other con
nection
according to the report - n
o business or personal ties that
anyone discovered. Wellsenburg was a rookie se
nator at that
time. He was barel
y thirty years old. Of course
,
now he is one of the m
ost influential members of the S
enate.”
“Why wasn’t that
checked out?”
“I’ll look into it
,
but it won’t be easy. He is pretty
well
insulated
and I’m sure I will hit a ton of road blocks along the way.”
Jack smiled and urged
,
“That
’s
never stopped you before.”
Frank laughed.
“True my friend, very true. I’m heading back to Washington today anyway
,
so I’ll see what I can find out. You still owe me a breakfast
,
remember
! L
et’s get together tomorrow morning say
,
9:00 a.m
. I should be back by then.”
At the mention of
breakfast,
Emily
’s
face came racing across Jack’
s
mind. He
thought,
Wow where did that come from?
“Sure I can do that.
We will have plenty to talk about.”
“Okay, good. S
ee
you then.”
Jack placed his phone
on his desk and continued to read the report.