Executive Order 16661- 7:53 am

Lindsey was there when we arrived at the station; she looked as incredible as ever. Lindsey Sinclair was my brother’s girlfriend, but to be honest he didn’t deserve her; I knew all about what he thought about her, or rather what he thought about her with. Just a few minutes earlier Enoch had informed me that Lindsey had told him that she loved him; his response?

Nothing, he didn’t say a word; he hung up on her.

That is my brother; the real class act.

 “You could have at least acknowledged that she said something, I mean she did tell you she loved you.” I was trying not to sound too upset or bothered by his reaction.

“Look, I froze and I panicked…it was not what I was expecting, ok. Back off.”

Why don’t you back off from Lindsey if you can’t commit?

I have to be honest; I  had a secret crush on Lindsey ever since we first got to the church. It was with great reluctance that Mr. Sinclair let us hang around his daughter and only after a severe prodding from his wife. We had become good friends despite the fighting that often took place between our parents. We never went to each other’s houses, so we had to find a neutral spot to hangout.

My tale with girls is the opposite of Enoch’s, who will date any girl that is physically attractive and bats on eyelash at him. His tastes are real simple and real shallow. My parents had tried to teach him the necessity of choosing and appreciating something more in a woman except her physique, but largely they had failed. Enoch dated some really wretched girls before I told him that Lindsey liked him. Of course, when he found out he went after her like she was like any of the other girls; she was not like the other girls.

He had tried to “hook me up” several times with various females from school, all who cared only about my looks. Yeah, we were both pretty good looking guys, but while Enoch ate it up like some Greek demigod, I preferred to focus on the other, more important aspects of my character. These girls he kept trying to fix me up with only wanted the prestige of going out with me and some wanted me to push my boundaries, which I refused to do. There were girls that I liked, but they were always interested in jerks like my dear brother; something about the kind of attention they got. I took my faith and convictions seriously and a lot of people (even at church) did not. I was out to protect my purity. The biggest hindrance though had been that I had fallen in love with Lindsey Sinclair.

I was in love with my brother’s girlfriend and neither of them had any idea.

Why, Lindsey? Oh, let me count the reasons! She is beautiful, brilliant, humble, and she loves God more than I do. We used to sit and talk about what we wanted in a future spouse and even read various dating books. We never went into any details, nor were we inappropriate but we did share some of our struggles with loneliness and waiting for the right person.

“So, what do you think the odds are that I will find a girl with all of that?” I laughed after reading to Lindsey my impossible list that no spouse could ever meet.

“I think, Eli, that you have as much a chance of finding her as I have of finding a knight on a white horse.” We both laughed; her laugh was intoxicating.

“No, I am serious, Eli, and then he will recite Shakespeare and describe his quest for the Holy Grail or something, that incidentally led him to me!” the laughter continued to where we are on the ground.

Ask her, you dolt. Ask her out!

“Do you ever think that I will find that kind of guy, Eli?”

“Well, I don’t know. Do you have any in mind? I said too much with that statement. Lindsey looked at me quizzically, but then smiled and nodded.

“Actually, Eli, I do have someone in mind. In fact, you know him quite well.”

Are you freaking kidding me? Is she about to ask ME out?

Every nerve in my body was on ends and I was almost dying with the anticipation. After ignoring and fighting the desire, I was going to ask Lindsey out this time; I was going to take the leap.

I smiled, “Oh, really? And who might that be?”

“Eli, you know that for a long time…” yes, keep going, “…I have had this really huge crush…” 

wow, this is actually happening, “…on your brother Enoch…” WHAT!? “…and I was hoping you could help me…” oh, you have got to be kidding me. “…get his attention.”

My heart sank and everything inside that had been so vibrant with life seemed to lose all of its chatoyance and die. A shroud veiled my mind; I was hurt, jealous, and angry. I did not know what to say or do; yes I did, I am not my brother. I would be noble and I would do the right thing.

“Do you think your brother is like the guy I am looking for?” was her sincere question.

No. no I really don’t.

“Enoch, is a good guy; I mean he is better than a lot of the guys you meet at school. He is kind of hard to get to notice…”

“But would you help me? You could say a good word for me! Please, Eli, it would mean the world to me. Your brother seems like such a great guy, especially now that he has stopped dating  from the school trash bin. I see so much improvement in his life; he is seeking God now…that is what I want, Eli.”

Lindsey, how could you do this to me…

“Yeah, of course I will say something to him for you; what are friends for, right?”

I did say something to Enoch and all the change that was starting to happen because he stopped chasing skirts ended and poor Lindsey was already sucked in. But I wanted her to be happy; I wanted to speak well of my brother; I wanted to help a friend. I am not my brother; I am Elijah Emmanuel Sinclair and I am a knight-errant of the Modern Age.

And for that I lost the girl.

“There she is too; don’t say a word about it…if she mentions it I…I will come up with something.” Enoch seemed almost terrified to get out of the car.

“You are going to have deal with this sooner or later, bro.” I got out of the car first; Enoch immediately followed.

“You guys are late.” Lindsey walked up to us without any smiles; she was angry, I could tell, because of the stress you she was holding in her eyelids.

“Eh, oh sorry babe, I had to wait for Elijah to finish getting dressed.” Oh, so it is my fault; thanks brother.

“It’s ok. I have been watching the church for a few minutes, nothing seems to be happening. But look at the Starbucks over there,” she pointed to the Starbucks across the street, “there is a huge truck parked in the back and I watched a guy get in the back of the truck where the cargo would go; it might be nothing but it is weird.” We both nodded in agreement, “What has been fun to watch is the animated conversation between the guy in that car and the woman that showed up not too long ago. They are yelling about something, but I can’t really hear any intelligible words. The guy she was with went into Starbucks and hasn’t come out yet.”

Lindsey had the amazing ability to track details and it is one of the things I loved about her mind. I tried not to look too impressed with her mental powers and instead feigned interest in what she was pointing at. Enoch just stood there, awkward and nervous, waiting for the explosion that was sure to take place.

She is not that kind of girl; she is not going to blow up at you in public.

“Is there any more news from your dad?” Lindsey asked to neither one of us specifically.

“Well, no…” Enoch tried to start and I could tell he was trying to avoid causing more anger. Very well I will save you again, brother.

“Dad really does not want us to leave the house, but I insisted that we should at least find out what is going on. Besides, dad is not\ doubt talking to the church staff as he told us he was planning to do about 7:30ish.”

“You insisted you guys come out here? That is not like you, Eli, to blow off your dad. I guess you do have a little bit of Enoch in you.” Ugh, why don’t you just slap me with a rotting fish.

“Yeah, haha, Eli will surprise you sometimes!” Enoch was nervous and it was making him sound weird and awkward.

Lindsey’s brow arched, “What is the matter, Enoch, you look tense? Why would you be tense, Enoch?” 

Lindsey was letting him know he was in trouble without making a scene and I could tell my brother did not want answer the question. So, I saved him again.

“Hey, instead of waiting in this smelly parking lot, let’s go get some coffee. You guys in?” I started walking that direction to indicate that it really was not an option.

“Yeah, sure,” was the response both of them gave.

What is wrong with you Eli? Why don’t you let him get shredded to bits? He certainly deserves it!

Because I am Elijah McAllister, that’s why.

I walked to get away from them, because what I wanted to do was call my brother’s bluff, make him look like the letch that he is and then confess my undying love to Lindsey Sinclair. That sounded pretty good in my head and the fantasy that I indulged was tempting to bring into reality…but it would not end like I wanted it to. Lindsey would never talk to either of us again and my brother would beat me senseless.

Neither of those things was good.

As we got to the door the guy that came with the screaming female walked out of the store; he was a stout, intimidating guy; yet, something in his body language said it was all posing and that he was actually a pushover. He smiled at us as he hurried out to the car where the female was obviously getting close to murdering the guy in the other car.

There is not telling what all of THAT is about; just keep walking.

We ordered our coffee and sat down. I was pretending to be preoccupied with the scene unraveling in the parking lot, Enoch was doing everything but making eye contact with Lindsey, and Lindsey looked as if she wanted to hurl her Non-fat Caramel Latte in his face. I am not sure I would attempt to stop her, Enoch. We all sat in a tangible, awkward silence; we all knew there was not just an elephant but a whole herd of them in the room, but no one had the guts to say anything.

Outside, the man we passed had managed to drag the woman back to their car and was now having a conversation with the guy in the other car. He was trying to be nice, but I could tell by his stiffness that the guy in the car was getting on his nerves.

“Why did you hang up on me, Enoch?” the question came out of nowhere and I suddenly joined the table I was sitting at.

Enoch was stricken white, “Lins, I…”

“No, Enoch. I told you that I loved you and you hung up on me! Why would you do that?”

I was starting to worry that our tense table talk would soon end like the brawl that we had just witnessed in the parking lot; not that I would mind Lindsey beating the crap out of Enoch and then ending their relationship for good. He would so deserve that for treating her like a car he drives around town. No, he would’ve taken much better care of a car.

“Lins, the truth is that…the truth is that I was kind of shocked and overwhelmed; it was just not the right timing…”

“Not the right timing? Are you saying that I can only love you at certain times? Why were you shocked, don’t you have similar feelings for me?” Lindsey went from angry to hurt in like two seconds.

And that is what it all boiled down to: feelings. It did not matter if he ever showed a scrap of actual love for her because she was trapped in their emotional enmeshment caused by their careless physical enmeshment. I had tried to warn her that this would happen; I tried to save her but she would not listen.

“He wants you to do what?” I could not believe that she was telling me this.

“He wants me to whisper dirty things to him and touch his…parts through his clothes.” Lindsey looked embarrassed and ashamed; I wanted to castrate my brother.

“Lindsey…why are you even considering this?” I was incredulous to how this beautiful, God-honoring woman was about to compromise herself in this manner, for my brother.

She was going to do this for my brother, the son of my father the pastor of our church.

“Because, I love him, Eli. I love him and I want to make him happy. I mean, it is not like we are having sex.” 

Her answer was sincere and my heart broke for her.

“But how long is it going to be before he wants that too, Lindsey? If he loved you, like you love him, he would protect you and not make you do this.” I was getting angrier as the conversation continued.

“But he does love me, Eli! I can see it in his eyes, the way he holds me, the promises he makes about the future.” Her smile broke my heart more than her earlier sadness.

Lies, Lindsey, all lies.

“Have you ever thought that he is just telling you what you want to hear? That he is using you just like he used the other girls?”

“Eli, you told me that he had changed; I believe that. Could he be compromising me? Sure, but I think he will see that I am uncomfortable with it and will protect me. He just needs some more time to continue to mature; I can help him to change.”

He needs a swift kick in the genitals.

“Lindsey, I cannot make your choices for you. But please, consider what this will do to your purity and your relationship with Christ; please consider all that you will be giving up.”

She nodded and looked struck, but then gathered herself up.

“Well, I have to go Eli. Please pray for me and it was good talking to you.”

The conversation ended and not too soon after I went to find Enoch; I was going to make sure he decided to change.

“Eli, hey bro, I was just…”

“Enoch, you need sit down and listen to me, now.” He stared at me with an expression of defiance and curiosity; I was rarely intimidating so he sat down.

“Whoa, hey what is this about?”

“You. It is about you, Enoch. Just like your relationship with Lindsey is about you.” I was so angry I think smoke was coming out my nostrils.

“What are you talking about?” and then revelation dawned on his face, “She told you, didn’t she?”

“Yeah, you bet she told me, and she should; who else is going to protect her purity and her godliness! It certainly is not you; all you have done is use Lindsey as a daily make out appointment. Well, I am tired of your blatant disregard for her spirituality.” Enoch looked genuinely scared.

“Oh yeah, and why do you care so much? What business is it of yours? What are you going to do? Tell Dad? Are you going to snitch on me?”

That is when I did something I rarely do; I rushed of forward, extended my forearm, and pinned Enoch by the neck onto the bed.

“No, brother; if you don’t listen, I am going to make sure that you regret every day you have laid eyes on Lindsey. She is my best friend and you will treat her like you actually care about her. Is that understood?” 

Enoch was struggling to get up but for some reason I had supernatural strength.

I continued, “This sick, perverted thing you want her to do; you will drop it. And if I hear you want her to do anything beyond what you already do, then I will make you wish you were born a woman. Are we clear?”

Enoch glared at me but when I matched the intensity; he nodded through my arm and I released him. He coughed a little as I began walking out of the room.

“It was your idea that I should date her! You remember that, Eli.” Is what he yelled back as I walked down the hall.

I will never forget that for as long as I live, brother.

I stared at Enoch and he knew exactly what I was communicating; he looked at Lindsey and back at me and I could tell he was rat who had sprung his own trap.

“Lindsey, I love you too. I just…I just did not know how to say it considering all that is going on.”

Surely, she would see through this smokescreen; surely she would tell he was lying and end the relationship right then and there. Surely, she is not buying this load of crap.

Then she smiled. She really is buying a whole ton of this crap!

“Really, Eno? Do you really love me?” Lindsey had all of sudden forgotten her anger or what had occurred; it is like the mentioning of those words cured everything.

“Yeah, haha of course I do, babe. I have known it for some time now…I just did not know how you felt; so you can understand why I was scared?” Enoch showed that cheating grin of his.

I could not believe it; my brother could probably lie himself out of a treason charge even if it was recorded on national television. Lindsey was  half laughing and half crying at the news that her feelings were reciprocated and all I could think was perhaps they deserved each other.

“I knew you did, Enoch! Especially when you started listening to me about our physical intimacy; I just knew God was breaking through to you and teaching you how to love me! Wow, I am so happy…” and then she leaned over and kissed him.

I wanted to die.

Executive Order 16661- 7:40 am

I was not the first to arrive at the restaurant; a lonely Cracker Barrel off of Exit 45. Several of our staff members were already present and accounted for all that were missing were…


Todd Blackentosh, Mike Freeman, Katie Yeager, and Melodie Parker.

Todd was our Director of Evangelism and Discipleship and Mike was our Director of Assimilation and Small Groups. Both of these men were my personal friends and our families had been through a lot together since Pastor Nick died. Katie Yeager was our Director of Children’s Ministries and Melodie Parker was the Financial Secretary. They had not been at the church earlier when I had the unfortunate confrontation with George Sinclair, but I notified them to meet with us at the Cracker Barrel as soon as they could manage to get there.

Who was present? Everyone who had been in the office earlier: Liz and her husband, David Richards, Chris Arndts our Youth Pastor, and Julio Hernandez who was the Worship Leader. Both Chris and Julio were single, which drew a lot of attention and whispers from various church members. It was still not cache to be single and in ministry and it certainly was not wise to let single people minister in places that left opportunities for indiscretion and scandal. I thought it was seriously unfair and uncalled for to keep these guys from serving; especially seeing how much they genuinely loved Christ and others. It was Neil’s decision to bring them on, one of his many controversial decisions I liked. Up to that point, I had been able to back and courageously advocate most of Neil’s “crazy” decisions.

Until that morning.

What is really sad is that this normally would not be a “crazy” decision; the church is being threatened, so we don’t have services; open and shut case, right? Well, this time, for some reasons not known to me and because of the nature of the threat, it was different. I had been on the phone with Neil all morning trying to make sense of the situation while my wife, Lorraine, was left to deal with the many angry lay leaders who demanded to know, “why the house of God was not going to open on Sunday.” It did not matter that there was a perceived and credible threat; they were going to worship in that building, being blown to glory.


I wouldn’t mind some of them going right on up there.

As soon as the thought came, I rebuked it. What kind of minister are you, Kurt? Why on earth would you wish something like that on someone? The response was immediate, because they would be with God, that’s why. Of course that would mean that we would have to be sure there were not any non-believers in the building…on second thought, it would be way too complicated. Then the thought occurred, Can we just get rid of George Sinclair? On second thought, that is a problem I was not sure even God could handle and once again I rebuked myself for not “loving my enemies.”

“So, you are telling me that George threatened to open the doors anyway? Why is he being so insistent? Did he give a reason?” Pastor Neil was more curious than annoyed by the news that the head deacon of the church had just threatened to bring the police to open the church.

“No, does George ever have a reason? Neil, he has been waiting for an opportunity like this for quite some time…” I sighed exasperated, “Do you really want to give him the opening he wants to bring you down?”

“Kurt, I thank you for your concern but this bigger than any of us. I just got off the phone with several other pastor friends of mine. Some of them knew immediately what I was talking about; they got the text too. However, some knew about it from a pastor they knew who got the text and a few of them did not know about the text at all. I am not sure what links us together, but this is much bigger deal than we realize.”

The news that many other pastors had received the text was both reassuring and disconcerting, “But Neil, how do you know this is not some massive prank. Normally, I would say go with caution on this…but George is about to bring down all of our heads and this time I won’t be able to stop him. There is enough anger and resentment in this church to fuel ten French Revolutions.”

“I know,” Neil paused on the other side,” but I want to make sure our people are safe. Do you really want to protect your job and put our people at risk?”

“No, I don’t. Like I said, I agree with your decision; it’s just the consequences are dire.” My temples were pounding from the exertion…it was all too much too fast.

“I know that as well; assemble the staff someplace public and let me talk to them, maybe I can head off any confusion or misconceptions. And Kurt,”

“Yes, Neil?” Neil did not mind being called by his first name, something I really liked about him.

“Thanks for all of the work and support; it is good to know someone has my back. Pray for all us.”

“Ok, I will do that. Give me some time to make the arrangements. I will talk to you soon, oh and, no problem, Neil.”

I had made the arrangements and shortly Pastor Neil was going to address a confused and beleaguered staff.

“Kurt, how bad is it?” David asked while trying to calm Liz down.

“Well to be honest, Dave, Lorraine has been texting me constantly…informing me that an unruly mob is forming to remove all of our heads.”

“But why?” Chris asked from across the old, beat up table, “Why is George so up in arms about us taking a security precaution to protect our members? Why are we even having this discussion?”


That is a good question, Chris and in a rational universe…

“I honestly don’t know, Chris. Lorraine is trying to find that out. If we knew that information we could know how to more effectively deal with it.”

As I finished, Katie walked in with her husband, Leo looking rather frazzled. “What on earth is going on here, Kurt? I wake up this morning and the whole world has flipped upside down; just what is going on?”
Leo and Katie Yeager had just married a month ago. They were the newest addition to our church staff and not without controversy; Katie was our first female staff member who was not a secretary. Even though she was a “director” (actually everyone but Neil and I were technically “directors”) she had the same essential function as a “pastor.” Church members, especially traditionalists, caught on to this and caused more fuss than was necessary, but we managed to vote Katie in. I had not regretted it either; Katie and Leo were an awesome asset to our team and terrific people.

“Katie, to be honest, I don’t know much about what is going on. Pastor Neil is going to address the staff in a few minutes.”

“Kurt, c’mon, you’re the Administrative Pastor for crying out loud! How do you not know what is going on?” Leo’s question was legit and I kind of wondered the same thing myself.

“The information I am going on is coming exclusively from Neil; he is the one who received the threat or warning, or whatever it is. I am just as frustrated at my lack information as you are.”
Leo was satisfied with my answer and pulled out a chair for Katie to sit down. We had hastily reserved a large section of the restaurant (which was not really an issue considering its declining patronage) so that we could have the necessary privacy necessary to hold this ramshackle meeting. We were given a wall of privacy with plenty of seating and buffers between us and trickle of a crowd that was in the restaurant that Sunday morning.

Not too long after that, Todd and Mike arrived, without their wives, both of them looking angry and somewhat nervous at the same time.

Todd addressed me, “Kurt, what the heck is going on man? Do you have any idea what kind of phone calls I have been getting? The church is going nuts, Kurt, and all I can say is, ‘I am sorry, but I don’t know anything.’ Well we had better start knowing something, Kurt.”

Todd and Mike had both been with me when Pastor Nick was the pastor of our church until his mysterious and untimely death. All of three of us had stuck our necks out for Neil, because we believed that he was the kind of pastor our church needed. However, it soon became clear that we would pay a heavy price for looking after the best interest of the church. Neil’s ideas and initiatives were great, but they were controversial and they drew a less…material crowd to the church. All of it looked great when you saw the fruit, but on paper…especially calculator ribbon, it was a nightmare.

“Kurt, George Sinclair is about to have us all arrested! You picked a fine day to decide to shut down the church, what were you thinking?”

“Mike, what are you talking about? Do you why George is so upset?” I was ready for the answer.

“Yeah, I do and I understand his anger; the mayor is looking for a church and he is very interested in ours. However, the mayor has already planned to look at many other churches and he will simply pass us over if we cancel services today. Just think of all the more,” Mike was trying to choose his words carefully, “financially stable members that he could bring to the church. We could get out of the red ink for the first time since Neil became pastor!”

“I understand the frustration with the budget problems; but what do you expect from a church filled with people who were making mostly minimum wage or less?” I replied with the most honest question I could muster.

“Are we supposed to put the safety of our people at risk for a few extra tithe checks?” Julio’s tone was accusatory and I was even taken aback by it.

“Well, Julio, it is more than a few tithe checks; think more about the quality of the check rather than the quantity. And of course, if there is a credible threat, then we need to protect our members” Mike tried to not talk down to Julio, but Mike did not like Julio or Chris for that matter; it was not a race issue…it was an age and marital status issue. Mike figured they were a liability to the church; he and Todd both took a lot of convincing to hire both of them (they came within four months of each other).

I could not keep asking Todd and Mike to take flack for Neil.

Melodie finally arrived proclaiming, “Sorry, I am late! Oh, what did I miss?”

“Nothing at all, Pastor Neil is about to address the staff about the current situation.”

“What can you tell us, Kurt?” Todd asked obviously still phishing for facts.

“Not much. I received a call from Pastor Neil this morning informing me there was credible threat to the safety of this church. Liz and I immediately headed down to the church where we completely gutted all of the network computers and shredded all of our printed rolls.”

Silence.

“Wait, whoa.” Katie piped up, “You did what?”

“I think he just told us that he gutted our computers and destroyed the church rolls…is that right?” Mike was suddenly alarmed.

“You did not destroy all the financial records did you?” Melodie was now fully engaged in the discussion.

“Ok everyone, calm down.” I was trying desperately to keep my composure, “All paper records were destroyed and Pastor Neil will explain why when he talks to you. All of your hard disks and flash drives have been removed from the premises but they were not wiped, again, Neil will explain why shortly. That is all I am allowed to tell you.”

“You just let this happen?” Todd was the one losing his composure, “We have put our jobs on the line from day one for Neil. Why on earth would you do something as desperate as that without first consulting the rest of the staff?”

“George Sinclair is trying to get us all fired, Kurt! The least you could have done is tell us about the threat and heard our input! Since when do you rule this church? Just because you have the word, administratorin your title does not make you dictator! I am tired of backing this lunacy; enough is enough.” Mike was talking a bit too loud for the quiet restaurant.


You know, Kurt, they are kind of right.

“Look, I am sorry I did not consult you. In this case, we had to make a quick decision based on the facts presented to us. I will take the fall for it, if I must, but I will not let the materialistic motivations of an ornery member of our church jeopardize the safety of its members.”

“But who gives you the right to make unilateral decisions?” Katie was being surprisingly uncooperative,

“Neil could not even make a decision like that without some sort of backing and affirmation…you just did it and did not care whether we agreed or not.”

“Look,” Chris joined the conversation, “Kurt and Neil and everyone else trying to look out for this church are just trying to be responsible and good stewards of our people. What is the worse that could happen? We lose our information and have to spend a few days typing or printing? Or maybe it would force us to go out and make fresh contacts,” he looked at Todd, “either way if it was necessary and for the safety of the church…we should not even be having this discussion!”

“There is more to it than that, kid,” Mike always pointed out his youth, “you have to be aware of the politics involved in such a decision and how certain people in the church hold too much power as it is. We just gave George Sinclair the power to get all of us canned. He has no qualms about it either. So, let’s see if you think it’s the right thing when you don’t have a job come Monday morning.”


Mike has got a point; it is the coward’s way out but dang if it is not appealing…

Chris was cowed but still looked resolutely certain; way too certain.

“Just how credible is this threat?” Dave spoke up and even he was getting slightly uneasy by all of the “execute the staff” talk.

“Yeah, I would like to know that myself.” Todd seconded and every one began murmuring and nodding in agreement.


Why on earth did you call me to this, Lord? Neil, you had better be able to convince these people or they might just kill me for acting as your envoy.

“Neil is going to call in just a few minutes and when he does, he will answer all of your questions. I simply do not know any more than what I have already told you.” The answer was not satisfactory but it was all
I had at the moment.


Neil, why in Hades have you left me to deal with this…



“He will change everything about this church! He will disgrace the ministry of Pastor Nick; whom we all love even though he was suddenly taken from us. No! We must not allow this hipster-novice to ruin our home! His ministry “ideas” will end up bankrupting this church and our beautiful new sanctuary will sit empty, EMPTY I tell you! Do what you know is right; keep this church from being massacred by a young hooligan who lacks the wisdom God gave a horsefly! Thank you.” George’s voice rang with emotion; he was sincere, but sincerely wrong. He sat down and put his arm around his wife while his daughter kept eyeing our prospective pastor’s sons, Enoch and Elijah.

I could not believe what was taking place.

The congregation had overwhelmingly voted for a change in venue; as much as we all loved Pastor Nick, his way of ministry was not reaching our neighbors with the Gospel. It was tough, but we had all agreed that it was time for a change. We had gone through several candidates; none of them gave us a good vibe. Neil and Katherine had changed all of that; we were almost certain that God wanted them to come and give our church a breath of fresh air. The pulpit committee was unanimous on the calling, but the old guard showed up in force.

“Kurt, I don’t know if we can keep this up.” Mike leaned over to me as another member of the church began to express their opinion, “If George manages to rally enough troops and we come out on the losing side…”

“Since when did it become about being on the ‘winning’ side? I thought we were doing this for the future of the church, not so we could squeeze by with our jobs.” I was feeling the same way, but I did not want to appear without confidence; I was the leader.

“You say that now, but wait till your job is on the line; wait until you have to make the decision between your family’s livelihood and saving the church.” Mike was adamant but I could tell he wanted to do the right thing.


We need a good outcome, then don’t we?

Todd only looked out me worriedly the whole time; it was clear that he could sense the end was near. His wife, Haley, glared at me from around her husband’s torso; she did not want her family to go down with the ship. Maybe I am pushing too hard; maybe I am being foolish. I had been so sure, perhaps too sure; Lorraine and I both went through the qualifications and what we believed that church had been praying for and Neil and Katherine fit the description.


Then why are we about to have a church split?

Neil and his wife sat in on the proceedings, at their request, and much to the dismay of those who wished to slander them without them being present. They sat there almost motionless, listening to the warring factions come riding to their defense or unleashing a volley of brutality directed at their hearts. Some of the comments had been quite personal and there were a couple of times where I had to ask a member to hold their peace in order to keep things “Christian.”


All we need to do is make them see that defeat is inevitable and make them leave; then we’ve got them.

The current member speaking was actually rather sensible, carefully weighing the pros and cons and reminding the congregation of its commitment to a change that could be risky. They also challenged the congregation to make sure we continued to adapt, lest we find ourselves with more people in the cemetery than in the pews. Good poin;, who are you again? The next member totally dismissed this speech as naivety and urged the congregation to hold on to its traditions and what has always made it great. That got me thinking a bit.


I have had some good times here, but I have never considered us great. Great in what sense? Great in that we have catered to everyone’s comfort and ease? We certainly are not great in our impact for the kingdom of God. Does this guy even know what he is talking about?

The more the church member talked; the more agitated I became. He was adamantly defending the status quo; he did not care a bit about the neighborhood around the church that was not being reached and that people were living and dying without Christ just a few doors down. All he cared about is the coziness that he has always felt. God help us that is has come to this.

The member finished talking and the discussion ended; I looked at Todd and Mike who both nodded their approval. To know that these men were on board gave me the confidence and backing to call for a final vote. But before I could do so, Neil asked to address the congregation.

“Kurt, if you would I would like to say a word.”

What are you doing, man? Just let us handle this.


I knew it was not a good idea, but something told me to let him speak anyway. “Of course, Brother Neil, please go ahead.”

“Thank you,” he checked his bearings, “I know you all loved Pastor Nick and I know that I can never replace him,” there were a lot of murmurings and the shaking of heads, “but I do not intend to replace Pastor Nick,” some looks of interest and the turning of heads, “I intend to build upon the firm foundation and legacy he left for this church. He was a good man who loved all of you dearly, of this I am sure. He would want that love to burst out of these doors; to burst out into the streets of our neighborhood that is increasingly becoming more and more alien to this church. These people need what we have; no, they are not our kind of people,” he paused seeming to lose his train of thought but continued, “but these are the kind of people Jesus loves and God wants to reach, and if we are honest, we are not too much different from them. Were it not for the grace of God, we too could be where they are; we too could be pushing drugs, prostituting our bodies, and killing our enemies. They need us because we carry Jesus with us wherever we go; if you will let me be your pastor, I will show you just how far God wants to carry Jesus through this church. Thank you so much for your consideration, God bless you all, regardless of your decision.”

It was nothing remarkable or extraordinary, but the room was silenced and many had begun to nod their heads and a few people rose to applaud. Suddenly, the room burst out into a cacophony of applause, cheering, and all out praise to God. It was an amazing sight and after that, I knew we had won the battle; Neil was called by an overwhelming majority of the congregation.

But now all of that seemed like smoke on the wind.


I owe these guys; I got them to back Neil and put their necks in a noose. I owe them an explanation, if only I had one.

My thoughts were interrupted by the phone call; the phone read 8:22 and it was Neil.

“Hey Neil, are you ready?”

“Ready as I will ever be, man. Is everyone assembled?”

“Yeah, we’re all here.”

“Ok, go ahead and put me on speakerphone.”

I took a breath; one of many I would take that day, “Ok, everyone listen up. Neil is on the phone and he is going to give us all the information that we have been waiting to hear,” everyone got quiet and turn to face the phone, as if Neil were standing right there. If only Neil were standing right here. “Ok, go ahead Neil.”

I put Neil on the speakerphone.


Here we go; I hope you know what you are doing.

Neil’s voice boomed out, “Good morning everyone, I wish I could speak to you under better circumstances, but we have to deal with what comes to us. So, if I could have your complete attention, this is what we are faced with…”

Executive Order 16661: 7:31 am

I had never been so humiliated and insulted in my life
There were days when my word was law, people did what I said because I knew what I was talking about. I still know what I am talking about; we should never have hired that beat-knick yuppie of a pastor. Ever since we hired that arrogant, sorry I almost forgot who I was, we have had nothing but grief and we have seen nothing but trouble.
Before you pass judgment, you need to understand what I am trying to say and then maybe you will understand the way I felt at the time.

Before Neil came to our church we were averaging a good number of folks and our membership rolls were on a slow, steady incline. This was unusual considering that most churches in our area were suffering severe declines due to a change in the population demographics in our area. However, we managed to assure our members that what was going on outside of our walls, would never penetrate our fortress of safety. We had several people who were law enforcement officers and we encouraged them to carry their guns to the services; we were not going to have any martyrs on our hands. We were not really afraid of that, but we were afraid of the church getting broken into and robbed; thus, we hired some security guards to make rounds at night to ensure the miscreants were not messing around or in the Lord’s house.

It was a wonderful time for the whole congregation; I had never been more proud to serve as the head deacon for our church. I had been made a deacon almost twenty years ago, and I was appointed head deacon a little over a decade ago. It was proud moment for my wife and I, and our three children. My dad was still alive at that point and he came to my selection service; never did I feel more humbled than I did watching my dad congratulate me for my service to God. Our old pastor, Nicholas Bradford, was a personal friend of mine; I have many fine memories of the man who mentored me through some pretty difficult times in life.

At one point in my stint as a deacon, my wife and I had an issue arise in a marriage. We were fighting over the sorrow our oldest child Zachary was giving us. We could not decide what to do and our lack of agreement caused us to become bitter toward one another. I am pretty sure if I had not gone to Pastor Nick for help that our marriage would have come to an end. I remember the day I went in to his office:
He reached out and shook my hand; it was not hard but firm and comforting. I sat down not sure how to begin.

Pastor Nick began for me.

“George, the talk we are about to have does not concern you as a deacon, it does not concern you as even a member of this congregation; it concerns you as a child of God. I am here to help you George, because I love you as a child of God.”

After that, any worries that I had about him making me step down from the deacon board or humiliate me in front of the church were erased. Through the counseling that Pastor Nick gave to my wife and me, we were able to work through our parenting conflict and resolve for it not to affect the bedrock of our marriage; we even reaffirmed our love for one another. It was an amazing time in our lives and transformation that occurred launched me into the head deacon position once Horace Getty, our church’s oldest member and head deacon since the days of Moses, suffered a stroke and had to be hospitalized and then placed in hospice care.

I will forever be grateful to Pastor Nick.

Pastor Nick preached like an old grandfather telling his grandchildren a bed time story. He had a knack for being able to bring peace and calm to any and every situation, to every troubled heart. He spoke often of heaven and how glad he would one day to be there. He spoke of good ole-fashioned family values and how brokenhearted he was that the country was heading in the direction in was heading. He often told us that the best way to survive the changes, even in our own neighborhood, was to huddle together. We were family and Pastor Nick acted like our spiritual father, always admonishing us to love each other and to be available to help a hard working brother or sister in need.

So, considering the strong emphasis on family and solid values, our church drew the upstanding and good people from all over our city into its doors. Those were the days you were greeted with a firm handshake and a polite hello. Men and women dressed in their best Sunday clothes and wore the customary smiles of those eager to fellowship in the house of God. Every once in awhile one the riff raff from the neighborhood and we would politely but firmly direct them to the back of the sanctuary away from the more decent folks. If it were up to me, we would have thrown them out, but Pastor Nick insisted that our doors by open to such folks, so we did what we could to protect everyone from them.
We enjoyed our lovely church with its lovely people; it seemed that we were going to be blessed forever.
But then tragedy struck.

Pastor Nick had a heart attack at home one Wednesday night after bible study. His wife, Kitty, had long since passed away and pastor Nick insisted on being able to live by himself. One of our deacons, Jeff Foxworth, found him on the floor, when he came by to give a dessert him wife had made him the next morning. The coroner estimated that he had been dead since about 9:30 that evening. He was found within a foot of his telephone, one hand outstretched, the other clutching his heart; his KJV Bible lay open on the other side of the couch where he must have been studying. The passage it was opened to?
Revelation 3; eerily highlighted was verse 17:

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:


We gave Pastor Nick the best funeral a church could afford; countless members stepped up to the pulpit and shared stories of how Pastor Nick had touched their lives. Every moving testimony was a golden tribute to an amazing man; someone we will miss dearly until we see him again, in that golden Heaven he loved to preach about. We said our goodbyes and paid our respects and then put Pastor Nick in the ground. I have never seen such a touching display of church unity and I was confident that the church was more than prepared to choose a successor worthy of his legacy.

I was a fool.

I slammed the door as I entered the house, enraged that I had just been told to leave my own church; the church that I had served in as head deacon for over ten years. I was the one who was overreacting? I was the one who was out of control? They wanted me to trust them after what they did to our church, to mychurch. They were all puppets of that snake charmer, even Kurt; Kurt was the one man whom I thought would have some sense left up in his skull. Kurt was like Pastor Nick’s Timothy; everything he learned about the ministry came from him! What would he say if he knew this was how Kurt Armstrong had decided to repay him? I tell you what he would do; he would run that ungrateful son of witch out town, that’s what he would do. As far as I was concerned, Kurt was a traitor unworthy of the title “pastor,” and he was a coward; the one opportunity he had to succeed and continue Pastor Nick’s legacy he abdicated for change.


Well, change ends today; all of you are about to feel the wrath of Almighty God.

I was through trusting idiots.

“Lindsey! Lindsey!” I roared as I crashed into my house, blood pressure reaching dangerous levels.
“LINDSEY!...”

“What, dad? I was on the phone with someone. Is everything, ok?”

“NO!” I was letting my anger boil, “No, everything is not ok. I need to talk to your mother; has she gotten back from work yet?”

My wife Vicky worked at the hospital a few blocks down from the house; she often worked nights. She walked to work; otherwise I would have known whether she had returned. I had advised against her walking alone, especially at night, but she assured me that she would be fine and that she needed the exercise. I knew when I could put my foot down; that was not an issue that I wanted to die over. Still, it made me slightly anxious for my wife’s safety and when she was a few minutes late, I would often worried. There was one night when an inmate had broke out of the city jail and was reportedly in the area around the hospital, around the time Vicky was on her way home. I called her and asked her to stay at the hospital until someone could come and get her, but she refused insisting that she had ways of defending herself. While I knew my wife a black belt in jiu-jitsu and could defend her; but even the best defense fails when someone has a gun. I had worried myself senseless right up until the moment she had walked into the door.

“I haven’t heard her come in; I told you I was on the phone. What is going on dad?”
I debated about whether I should inform Lindsey about these things; she was a little too close to Neil’s brats.


Like father like sons.

“Our pastor,” the words wreaked and tasted horrible coming out of my mouth, “has gotten spooked and decided to cancel our church services. Cancel our church services on the very day that the mayor and his family are supposed to make a visit.” I let the words linger in the air, hoping I would have to as little explaining as possible.

“Ok, so the mayor had planned to come today? He can reschedule and come next week.”

My daughter, bless her heart, was such a simpleton.

“No, dear, the mayor is a very punctual man and he has already scheduled visits to other competing churches. If we do not entertain him today we will not ever get to entertain him. He is very interested in our church, for whatever reason, and need him to stay that way.”

“Why is it so important that the mayor come to our church? I mean, you act like something awful will happen to us if he doesn’t.” Lindsey’s questions were becoming more probing and they were making me uncomfortable.

Lindsey had not seen the church’s recent financial statements, another testament to the “blessings” bestowed on us by Neil. When Neil arrived we were way in the black; saving most of our money for a rainy day or if something awful were ever to happen to the church. The first thing that Neil did when he took over was to propose ways to spend it because, “a church that does not use what is entrusted to it, is not living by faith and is not being a church.” So, we spent it all, every last blessed cent, we spent on Neil’s various “community enrichment” programs. Now we were left with nothing and the church’s budget was sailing deeper and deeper into the red. It did not help us any that there was a new crowd joining our church in massive numbers; a significantly poorer and sketchy crowd. Many of these folks did not have more than a part time job and could not support the kind of initiatives we were trying to take on. While we were falling behind in the bills we were just supposed to “trust God and live by faith.”


I am going to trust God and wring your neck.

“Lindsey, our church has been growing a lot lately, and that is good,” but was it really? “However, these folks don’t make as much money as we would like in order to support all of the,” ugh, why must I say this, “wonderful programs and ministries that Neil has started.” I took a breath to recover from the treasonous statement, “Therefore, if the mayor were to start attending our church, he would attract a more influential and,” had to choose the words carefully, “a more willing crowd that would have funds to invest in our church’s many projects.”

I was hoping that this would satisfy her curiosity; I was wrong.

“Wait, dad, so you are telling me that you want the mayor to attend our church because of the money you can get out of him? You want to draw a snootier, affluent crowd to the church because you are more worried about finances than getting the Gospel out?”

Her words knifed me in the heart, but I was not undaunted.

“I want our church back, Lindsey! Don’t you miss the good ole days when church felt more like home than some sort of freak-show circus? Look at the people that..”

“Yeah dad, look at the people; look at the people that Christ gave his life for. Look at the people coming off the streets, out of their drug addictions, escaping prostitution, and who are being set free from demon possession, yeah, dad, look at those people.” Lindsey was getting angry but I pushed forward.

“Yes, that is all great, but where are the morals? Where is the respect? Should we have to worry for our lives every time we go to the parking lot that we’re going to get mugged or killed by some deranged homeless bum? Oh, and fine thing our pastor did by joining this conference of churches; it appears he has made us a target of pranksters as well; probably some of the same people who sit in our…”

“ENOUGH, dad!” Lindsey was shaking now, “Enough! I have heard enough of how you hate the very people God has such a heart for! You’re the head deacon for Christ sake! How can you say these things? Our pastor is trying to protect us and you are more concerned about getting the Mayor’s tithe!”

I would not let my daughter speak to me that way.

“Now you listen here, young lady! You have been spending way too much time with those demon spawn children of Neil’s; they have turned you against me, against your own family! I will not have my daughter questioning my spirituality. I am your spiritual head, not that feral wolf that is ripping apart our church and you will respect me that way! Do I make myself CLEAR?” I had put her in her place, I was sure of it.

“The only thing clear, dad, is that you have no love in your heart; you do not care about the Gospel at all.” with that soft, stinging rebuke, she left me staring at her back as she closed the door to her room.

I did not know what to say; for a minute I just stood there shaken.


Do you understand the Gospel at all George? Do you?

It was a strange sensation; almost like a voice was shouting at me from far, far away. I could not hear what it was saying but it was a sweet and almost pleading sound. Why is it pleading? Why all of this begging; what does it want from me? This was not the first time I encountered the dark siren and its mournful cry; there had been many times, many moments where it stopped me in my tracks and forced me to listen.


You are lost, George, you have no idea where you are going or where you need to go. You’re drifting, George, straight into the abyss.


“No, it cannot be! I know the right way; I exemplify the right way! If it were not for people like me, there would be no right way! Leave me alone foul, tempter…leave me be!”

“George, George dear; are you alright?”

I snapped out of my confusion; out of the trance that had engulfed me.

My wife, Victoria, stood in the door with a look of love and concern. She was in her nurse’s uniform with her satchel strapped across her chest; she was definitely a sight for sore eyes; and a savior from the phantom,

“Oh, uh Victoria, I…well, I uh…”

“George, what is the matter; you’re as pail as my mother’s lace curtains! Here honey, why don’t you sit down?” She made her move toward me but I stopped her with an upturned hand.

“No, I am fine, Victoria. The events of today have just gotten me a little riled up.”

“What events?” Then she looked me worriedly, “George, your blood pressure! Remember what Dr. Smith said…”

“I will be fine, Vicky, really; once I have taken care of that pastor of ours. He has decided to cancel services because of text message! A text message, Victoria!” My temper was rising again, “Not only that, he has turned my own daughter against me! I tell you, Vicky, she has been hanging around those two brats of hisway too much. I have half a mind to make sure she never talks to those two again.” I was once again fuming and I could feel the blood squirting.

“Well, George Sinclair, you would have half a mind if you did something as ridiculous as that! Your daughter is smart enough and spiritual enough to be able to tell when she is getting fed garbage, I mean you should have heard…”

“Wait, did I just here you say that my daughter is more spiritual than I am? I was the one who she defied, openly defied; she just spit into the face of everything this family and our church has held dear! At least we used to before that viper began poisoning people’s minds!” I was enraged then; my own wife had turned against me.

“George, what are you talking about? I am not sure you are making sense…”

“SENSE? I AM MAKING PERFECT SENSE!” my volume went up way too high and Victoria gave me the warning she always gives me when I have gone too far, so I stepped down my tone. “The mayor is supposed to come to the church this morning and because of a threat from some prankster, Neil is cancelling the service! We need the mayor; we need more people like the mayor! We need them to invest in our church or it is going to go under! I would not be surprised if he staged this whole incident just so…”

“George, that is enough.” She did not yell, but I could tell Victoria was getting angry. “I loved Pastor Bradford as much as you did, but he is gone. It is time that you start examining your motives; if Pastor Neil is in the right, then God will let us know; if he is not, then God will let us know. Do you really want to find yourself fighting against God?”

“No, Victoria. I am fighting for God and that is why I am going to get the deacons to get rid of this man once and for all. Not only that, we are going to have church this morning, even if I have to call in the State Police.”

“George, you really should…”

But I had already shut her out; I pushed passed her and headed out the door. Revved up the ignition and peeled out of my driveway, headed for the direction of Daniel Kitting’s house.


I am going to stop that man once and for all; he has played god with our church long enough. It is time to show him who is really on God’s side.

Executive Order 16661: 7:21 am

It was the day humankind would change forever.
We had received our orders earlier that morning:
You are given full clearance to round up and detain all individuals who attend the targeted houses of worship. Any resistance will be met with force. All pastors are to be executed in front of their congregations as an incentive toward full cooperation.

It was about time those bible thumpers were dealt with. Ever since I went to my first philosophy lecture at college, I knew the only way to effectively deal with religious freaks was to force them to recant or exterminate them. I was big fan of Harris, Dawkins, and my favorite, Nietzsche, all who were serious advocates of the complete public eradication of religion. Their books inspired and enhanced my beliefs and gave voice to all my deep frustrations. I had plenty of them too, mostly involving my religious nutcase parents, my snake-handling church, and the many judgmental glances and comments I received for loving to think, and speak my mind. Such a crime to be able to think; if I think I might not need faith. I might not need them. College was a refuge where I could run to and indulge in my desire to learn. I enrolled in every “thinking course” I could. During those courses, I felt like I was being liberated from years of superstition much like Medieval Europe was delivered by the Renaissance. Still, with all of my great learning I was still constantly bombarded by people and events that just intensified my hatred of religion and its adherents. I was starting to believe that all of my desires would never be quenched or used to make a difference, until I was approached my last semester of college.

I was sitting out around one of the many common areas, when I was approached by an middle-aged, nicely dressed, but inconspicuous man who sat down, smiled, and asked,

“You are Roger Armond, no?”

I looked up, slightly surprised, “Yes, I am…and you are?”

“Oh, my apologies! My name is Gregory, Gregory Bell, but you can call me Greg.”

“Ok, how do you know me, Greg?” I pretended to be annoyed, but I was really curious and wanted the man to keep talking.

The man smiled and gave a small laugh, “Oh, Roger, I have been keeping tabs on you for quite some time. Ever since you published your paper on religious tolerance, I have been extremely interested.”
My curiosity was now raging out of control; who was this guy and how many of my papers had he read?

Why was he keeping tabs on me?

“What is it that you want to discuss with me?”

“Opportunity, Roger, simply opportunity,” he gave another smile, “The world is changing Roger; I was wondering if you wanted to be a part of it?” The question lingered in the air as I stared at Gregory Bell.

“What are you talking about?” I leaned closer to hear the answer that my heart was burning for…

“A world without religion Roger, a world where science and reason are the only faiths men look to for meaning.” Gregory Bell was smiling now and seemed to anticipate my response.

“Wow, that sounds great, but there are billions of problems with that.”

Gregory Bell laughed a different, almost heinous laugh.

“You don’t eat an elephant whole, Roger; you have to eat it one bite at a time. Things have been in motion for quite some time; we have been very patient. You will be surprised to know that we have infiltrated the government and that it won’t be long before we are in the highest reaches of power. I am here…” he paused, and my breath caught, “I am here, Roger, to offer you a job, no, more than a job, a calling.”


“Mr. Armond; we’re almost to the site; eta, about 10 minutes.”

I acknowledged the Lieutenant’s report and continued to ponder the moment that was about to occur. We were one of many teams being dispatched to the churches; the first bite of the elephant of religion was about to be relished. This particular group was the most dangerous type; evangelical Christians who claim they were tolerant and seeking to be of benefit to society. How many religions had claimed to be tolerant and beneficial and would later end up controlling the masses with their irrational, unsupportable dogma. No, there was no “tolerant” religion; especially of the monotheistic type; especially evangelical Christianity. The only religions that were worse were radical Muslims and Mormons.

“Are you sure this is the right decision, sir? I mean, are these people really terrorists?”


“Roger, this is too much.” Christina looked at me with a look of despair, as if there were no hope for me…I hated when she did that.

“Christina, this would be a huge opportunity for me! You just don’t understand the once in a lifetime opportunity that was just offered to me! We would be able to start our lives right!”

Christina was my fiancée of six months and a psychology major; her desire was to work in experimental psychology especially dealing with possibilities in telekinetic manipulation. She was a genius and she was beautiful; I loved both of those qualities.

She was also a Christian, or at least that is what she claimed; I despised that about her.

I had successfully managed to get her to go out with me, despite my anti-religious rhetoric. Her parents did not like me and I honestly did not care; I entertained hopes that I would finally dislodge her from her religious trappings. I did manage to keep her away from any dangerous churches and to get her to attend a Unitarian Chapel down the street from the college. While not overly fond of religion, I knew the Unitarians believed in everything and therefore, believed in nothing at all. If it meant pacifying Christina’s religious leanings; I would attend the meaningless service where the topics were often world peace and kumbiya. I figured with enough time she, like me, would see the stupidity and polarization that was emanated by religion.

I was sure she would choose me.

“Roger, these people actually want to do what you have been ranting about for the last three and half years; they want to eradicate religious people! In case you don’t realize it; that means me!”

“Christina, I don’t think you are as religious as you claim. I mean, hasn’t the Unitarian church’s absurdity helped you to realize just how stupid religion is? I mean, your own parents will tell you the Bible says we should not be married, but you chose to marry me anyway. Stop living a lie Christina, you don’t really believe in God at all.”

Christina gave me a really nasty look.

“You know what, Roger, I have really started to miss going to church. I went to my church back home when I visited my parents last weekend and it was great. There is so much about being in a community with believers that I long for and miss. The Unitarians don’t believe in anything and stand for nothing; I am tired of going to that place.”

My heart sank and I became angry…too angry. My fist pounded the counter.

“Christina, you are not going to one of those churches; my god, why did you go back to that place? Don’t you know that part of their mind control is centered around nostalgia! You are a cognitive specialists, you above all should be aware emotional manipulation! The ‘community,’ you experienced was their way of capturing you with relational bonds and baggage… ”

“Wait, did you just tell me that I am not going back to church? Just who do you think you are?”

Christina’s anger was now matching mine.

“Yes, you will not go back to that church! No wife of mine is going to be involved with a bunch intolerant, fundamentalists snake handlers! You are too smart and…”

“FIRST OF ALL,” Christina was at full volume now, “I am NOT your wife. Second, my church is not intolerant, fundamentalists, and we don’t handle snakes. You are always talking about how ignorant religion is, but have you ever stopped to think that maybe YOU are the ignorant one?”


“Oh, I am sure, soldier. These people are worst than terrorists; they seek to control and terrorize people’s minds and thus deceive them into believing in some god or gods that not only do not exist, but who hamper our existence. You aren’t having second thoughts are you?”

The soldier turned white, much to my pleasure.

“No sir, I know how to follow orders without my conscience. I was just posing a question.”

“Some questions are too dangerous to inquire, remember that.”

The soldier turned white again and nodded. I was satisfied that I had cowed him. If you hesitate even a second to follow your orders, I may have to deal with you rather harshly; that would be…unfortunate.
It was not long before we reached the staging grounds where we would wait for the opportune moment to ambush the assembling believers. Dr. Bell thought it would be best to give the believers a false sense security before crashing their hopes; Dr. Bell was a true Nazi. What a better way to tear apart the illusion of define safety, than by letting the believers think that it was all a hoax and that nothing was amiss. Where will your god be then, hmmm?

“Lieutenant, what time is it?”

“It is eight o’clock sir.” This news did not make me happy.

“Eight o’clock? I thought you said we were ten minutes out?”

“Well, we were sir, but we ran into an accident on the interstate that hampered our progress.”

It was annoying, but I could not fault him for the traffic conditions; I just nodded and headed off to get coffee from the Starbucks we had parked at. I loved a good pumpkin spice latte; coffee was a thinking man’s drink and my heart would ascend to the heights when I partook of it. I walked into the Starbucks; ordered my coffee and went to sit at one of the tables.

Someone had left a newspaper and I picked it up and began to read the day’s headlines. Something about a volcano eruption in Ecuador; thousands of lives lost. There was some sort of new spat between Israel and Hamas on the West Bank; the result, a loss of three Israelis and about a hundred Palestinians. A new malaria epidemic was spreading through the Congo and the death toll was reaching the thousands.


If there is a god, then it is doing a crap-chute job.

I took smug satisfaction knowing that I was about to shatter the faith of so many believers; I was going to show them just how much their god cares about them. Will he stop me from killing their pastor; will he keep me from detaining the faithful? Will he come down from heaven and deliver them out of my hands? Shall the Almighty actually come to the rescue of his faithful for once? Shall the cries of thousands of believers be heard in the throne room of heaven, and if they are, will god even care?


No he won’t.

I took great pleasure at the power that I held in my hands; no the lives I held in my hands.
No, even better, the destinies I hold in my hands.

The latte was just the right temperature and I smiled contentedly. I watched the early morning traffic move lazily down the street; every once in awhile a car would go through the drive-thru and I would stare at the driver as they passed by. They had no idea that they were staring at greatness; that I was about to change the world.

They were ignorant of the glory that was about to be revealed to them.
The massive truck I arrived in was parked around back; we wanted to be as inconspicuous as possible. I made sure that the soldiers remained in the truck until it was time for us to move across the street. We would stay and wait until the majority of the congregation arrived before we embarked on our mission. It would catch everyone completely by surprise and it would give us an extra element of fear and trepidation.


Just wait until I execute their minister.

I looked out of the window and saw a young man sitting with his engine idling staring at the church. Not too long after that a man and woman arrived; the man went into the Starbucks and the woman seems to have known the young man in the other car. They seemed to have a heated conversation. I glanced at her license plate


That is a government plate; must be the FBI,

How did I know that? It was just the intuition I was born with. I had been told that someone had leaked the details of the mission to several of churches’ pastors. Well, isn’t that nice; someone had the heart to warn them. Too bad that means they will be arrested and charged with treason as soon as we find them. I smiled with satisfaction at the thought; it would only be a matter of time before we discovered the identity of the mole, no, the rat.


How unfortunate for the FBI to step in the way of this operation; they must think that it is some sort of terrorist threat.

I did not care if they were government agents; if we had to “remove” them as obstacles, I would have no qualms.


This is a war and in war there is collateral damage.

I continued to savor the pumpkin spice latte; watching as the woman (likely an agent) seemed to rave at the guy in the car, waving her arms wildly. Why was he here, staring at the church? My curiosity was somewhat alerted by the young man being out of place, but I shrugged it off. I wondered what kind of relationship they had; the intensity of her passion seemed to indicate that they had been intimate, maybe by mistake. I just love watching people’s relational drama unfold in public. Her partner, a handsome young man, was ordering coffee, completely oblivious to the situation unfolding in the parking lot. I wondered whether they had been intimate and then smiled as I thought of the “Jerry Springer-like” fiasco that could soon consume the Starbucks.

That is when my phone vibrated.

I looked down at the time; now about 8:13; I smiled realizing that the moment was fast arriving. Service time is at 9:30; I just cannot wait. The message was from Dr. Bell and it read as follows:


Dear friends, today is the day we fire the opening volley in our war against religion. We are so fortunate and lucky to be living in an hour such as this. I trust you will act valiantly, but with discretion and good judgment. Remember all that we have worked for; remember that you hold our future in your hands. – Dr.B

I closed the phone and smiled. Indeed the future is in my hands.

I took one more sip of the pumpkin spice before heading back out.