World at War. David T. Maddox
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Taking the paper, the Bookseller paused to pray as he prepared his response for return delivery to the unknown brothers in Iran. He marveled at how God used them to encourage him and hoped that the day would come when he would meet them in this life.
The note read:
My dear brothers, please pray as Epaphras in Colossians 4:12 that I be as the man described in Jeremiah 23:22.
Once again, Carl Varvel was off for the return trip to Iran.
Preparations for the Morrow
In the physical world, those under the influence of the competing powers moved for good or ill accordingly. What was seen in the Bookseller and others with the light inside was contested by the actions of those whose minds were directed by Keepers for the forces of darkness. From Cambridge, Massachusetts and major US cities, the leadership coordinators for MD made their way to Phoenix, Arizona. They traveled under the cover of the American Teachers Society’s annual convention which was being held at the Kierland Resort in Scottsdale. There, in a secret gathering, final plans would be made for the March 11th attacks.
In Washington, the president had made his final plans for the secret trip to Williams for the memorial service. The Secret Service had objected with all the authority and influence they could muster, but the president had reminded them who was president, and that was the end of the discussion. Covertly, David Barnes and Tom Knight were to travel with the president and Janet under the cover of darkness. The president was strangely at peace as the journey began, looking forward to an opportunity to finally meet the Bookseller, yet still unsure what he was to say at the memorial service.
In Williams, another kind of final plan was being made. The three surviving terrorists from the original group of eleven were preparing themselves for what they hoped would be a series of attacks beginning in the morning at Kingdom Daycare. As they readied themselves to kill and die, darkness descended upon them, and anger and hate flooded their hearts. Their motivation was no longer their reward — they wanted only to hurt and kill and cause pain. Had they known of the president’s plans to attend the memorial service, they would have shifted their target, but they were ignorant even as the rest of America. Pastor Scribes, the Bookseller, and Paul Phillips had felt a strong compulsion from the light inside to guard their knowledge that the president was coming to Williams. The secret had been kept, and that alone would preserve the president’s life in the coming day.
Elsewhere, Susan Stafford still could not sleep. It was that sound again, the crying of the children. She could not shut it off. She had heard it before and knew what it meant, for The Curtain again had opened briefly, and she heard the sound of the children’s angels crying out to the Father for their protection. In her compulsion, she had called the office of the Citizen’s Militia and begged to be assigned to guard Kingdom Daycare. She sensed the risk was there, and that was her assignment from above. After much argument, Sam Will gave in and authorized her to be a part of a two-person team in the morning assigned to Kingdom Daycare. Knowing the physical limitations that resulted from her wounds, he assigned himself as the second member of the team and arranged to pick her up so they could travel together.
Susan had finished her letter. She sealed it in a plastic bag, then placed it carefully in an inside pocket of the new red jacket she had been given to replace the one in which she had been shot. She felt a sense of peace that was absurd when she considered her circumstances. She was a woman with no hope; a killer who now understood the full measure of the evil that had so dominated her existence in those months of the shooting spree. She deserved nothing but a slow and cruel death for all the pain she had caused. That she knew, but she no longer feared the second death, for she had come to believe that even she could be forgiven and be born again — and she did — the light glowed brightly in her heart.
In the invisible, there had been great rejoicing among the forces of light when God did that which only He could do and changed Susan’s heart by the new birth. “These humans do not understand God’s holiness or God’s love,” Barnabas began. “Because God is holy, all sin merits the second death, but when Jesus died, it was to offer the opportunity of forgiveness even to the vilest of all sinners.9 Remember Saul of Tarsus who became Paul. He was a lot like Susan. He killed and imprisoned innocents simply because they were believers, and yet God forgave and used him.10 God did the same for Susan because she, like Paul, came to the place of understanding her sin and God’s choice.11 She chose wisely.”
“Glory,” Lucius replied. “Even now I am still overwhelmed at God’s mercy which is available to all.”
“Yes,” Manaen replied, “but she still faces the earthly consequences of her sin. I wonder how God will allow that to play out?”
“We may see tomorrow,” Barnabas answered.
Another post had been completed earlier that day and was uploaded to the Together We Pray website. It had taken some time, but the Bookseller finally completed a short piece to send to the believers of the world. As he prayed and wrote, he was mindful of everything the Iranian brothers had said and the verses they had directed him to. He felt insufficient because he was insufficient, but he knew God was more than sufficient and that if he had been called, he would be enabled. So he released what he had done, and had peace resting in that knowledge.
The Defining Question
There was great activity in Heaven this night as the great cloud of witnesses joined with brothers and sisters on earth in bringing America in prayer before God. Their prayers were directed by the light within and paralleled the prayer offered by Daniel, who while living in captivity in Babylon had stood before the Lord and prayed for himself and for his nation. The prayer in the 9th chapter of the Book of Daniel had been the subject of the Bookseller’s posting. Daniel had prayed:
O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name…12
Daniel’s conclusion is the reason God was able to answer the prayer, for Daniel’s request reflected the truth that they were not worthy of an answer. He closed by praying,
Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant… We do not make requests of You because we are righteous but because of Your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your Name.13
America, the “Christian” nation, whose people had proclaimed to the world to be “one nation under God,” desperately needed to repent. The only question was, would they? America’s future hung on the balance just like the Jewish nation living in the Babylonian captivity, dependent upon their answer to that single question.
Chapter 2
Kill the Children Now
Thursday, February 14–MD minus 25 days
It was a very straightforward plan. All they were to do was steal a car and drive to Kingdom Daycare, arriving around 7:45 AM after most of the parents would have dropped off their kids on their way to work. Two would storm the front door, and one would go around to the backyard to eliminate the teachers and kids in the playground area. They had five minutes to kill as many as possible, then race back to the car. Then they would drive to the designated drop zone — where it would be abandoned — so they could escape on the hiking trail. This path surrounded the city, and ultimately went all the way to Chicago. Returning to the house, they could rest in preparation for Saturday’s attack on the Jews.
There were no second thoughts that day. The second thoughts had come earlier as the forces of light attempted to open their eyes and draw each of the terrorists away from the evil that dominated their hearts. But free choice reigns in human hearts because God allows it to be so. Thus, they knowingly chose hate and death.
Ackmid Hasine spoke with cold dedication,