Chapter 12
Get Set, Get Ready
Cole’s church was in the middle of Sunday morning worship when Aaron and Isaac walked through the front doors. The congregation had been talking about seeing angels for quite some time, and many volunteered to help, hoping they would. There were a lot of cameras in purses and sports-coat pockets. Those who saw Irish with Ernie Jacobson did so without the wings and glory, not the same. The church was packed, although many walked or carpooled to get to church, still trying to save on gas for the big trip. Cole was preaching, sweat pouring off his forehead, one hand waving his Bible in the air, the other banging the pulpit heartily to accent each dramatic point.
"It’s Jesus who saves, and Jesus who keeps us!"
Amen's came back to him in chanting unison and rattled the church windows. Cole stopped in his tracks. He was the first to spot Aaron and Isaac coming up the middle aisle. As they reached halfway, their wings burst forth and flowed like giant, feathery tresses around and behind them. This was all for effect, and it worked. As Aaron and Isaac marched up the center aisle, a couple of women swooned and passed out on the spot—too much excitement. In their case, it wasn’t the soft-pillow Holy Ghost landing, but they fell with grand thuds and crashes. Other church women rushed to help them up while another woman kept coming to, then passing out again. They eventually gave up and covered her legs with a couple of donated suit coats, just for modesty’s sake.
Everyone in the church rushed forward and followed them to the front to get a closer look. There was thunderous clapping as for an outstanding performance, and it was a performance. It was Aaron and Isaac’s show time. Aaron and Isaac finally stood behind Cole at the front podium with their hands on his shoulders. Cole was so excited that he could barely speak. He was so proud and so filled with the passion of this special moment.
His God and His Lord gave his church these two wondrous gifts. He couldn’t express how much they all needed to see them. The church felt the power of this physical, visible confirmation. These two canceled every hidden doubt and slight disbelief in their hearts. As they looked upon these creations of heaven, their faith became immediately and exceptionally more real. Cole felt the power of the Holy Spirit rippling over his body in waves, and the congregation felt it too.
Someone started singing an old hymn, "When all the legions of hell march in to lay a second claim, they'll all march out again at the mention of His name." They sang it repeatedly, each time stronger and louder. Aaron and Isaac raised their hands in the air to worship, and that did it. It sent everyone into a joyous march up and down the aisles. They circled around and met in the middle aisle and broke into separate groups while meeting back again at the front altar. They marched around again, singing and waving their hands in the air. There were some Sudanese families that rejoiced with the celebration-high "tongue-trill." They all finally stopped at the altar, praising and glorifying God.
What they didn’t know was why Aaron and Isaac were really there. It was more than to make them feel good or give them a sense of the real thing, but to tell them it was time, and that it was almost too late.
Road Blocked
The local hunting lodges were getting primed to help Alex. They were staking out the exits and sticking their heads into car windows. They stopped everyone, including the truckers. They strutted up to car and truck windows with their guns slung over their shoulders with their favorite pickup trucks and jeeps blocking traffic, and made it more like an outing. They had special vans poised for Sunday noon beer runs when their own supply of tailgate beverages ran out.
The Eucharist
The angels were betting that the local roadblocks would get delayed, and that’s why Aaron and Isaac were at Cole’s church. After a bit, the church started calming down, then Cole offered the Eucharist, and Aaron and Isaac helped administer the bread and wine. It was a special sight to see two, immense angels giving out the “The Body of Christ, the Bread of Life; Blood of Christ, the cup of salvation."
Their eyes sparkled like bright-white, molten embers in the excitement. It was a special time for them. It wasn’t often the Lord’s angels got a chance to participate in something created only for His believers. They were thrilled to watch God’s flesh and blood salvation working so mightily.
The singing of the praise hymns during and after the Eucharist filled the church with a great sense of peace and comfort while Aaron and Isaac felt it too. They were reminded of quieter days in heaven in between the battles when their own heavenly fields and
pastures were filled with the melodies of praise. The reverence of the songs wove their way into the fabric of their souls, matching the harmony only God can create. They too sang the Psalms like Cole’s church. It was the moving hymn "Let Us Break Bread Together" that brought tears to their eyes.
"Let us break bread together on our knees
Let us break bread together on our knees
Let us drink wine together on our knees
Let us drink wine together on our knees
Let us praise God together on our knees
Let us praise God together on our knees.
When I fall on my knees, with my face to the rising
sun, O Lord, have mercy on me."
This worship was important to the angels because it strengthened the people for what they needed to do. It also was something that would stay with them the rest of their lives.
Aaron whispered something to Isaac, and Isaac nodded, then tapped Cole on the shoulder to ask him something. Cole looked surprised, then turned and hugged Isaac. Cole motioned to two children on the front pew to come to him. He whispered something to the boys, and they grabbed their mom on the way out of the chapel.
They came back minute later carrying a basin and some towels while their mom carried a silver pitcher full of water. Once a year, the church could count on a foot-washing service. Aaron and Isaac wanted to participate in this one. Aaron also wanted to bless the families in the church for their journey.
Aaron said, "We are going to have a foot-washing service. This is a time you need to reflect on your own forgiveness while searching your hearts and allowing God to break your hearts like He
has been broken for you. If there is any unforgiveness in your hearts, you need to leave it in the pew. This is a time to prepare for
our journey. We need to prepare for battle. By sanctifying yourselves, you can be set aside for God’s holiness and receive the special protection that holiness provides."
Several members were hesitant, and Aaron sensed their uneasiness; but knew that the Holy Spirit was handling it. The reluctant ones hung back as the rest went forward from opposite sides of the church. Aaron and Isaac asked each member to come forward and sit on a small wooden stool in front of them. They took each person’s feet and poured water on them while they prayed over them.
"Bless and strengthen this child of Yours, in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit." They carefully dried their feet and kissed each one on the forehead.
The stragglers nervously came forward, looking pensive and scared. As Aaron reached for one of the lady’s feet, she pulled back from him. Aaron looked at her and asked, "Is there something you want to do, first?"
"Yes," she said, tears streaming down her face. She turned and ran over to another lady saying, "Please forgive me, please. I’m so sorry. I don’t want to fight anymore. Please forgive me."
The other lady burst into tears saying, "No more fighting. I’m sorry too. Please forgive me."
Cole came over to the angels and told them, "Those two have been feuding for years." They came forward together, arms around each other’s waists.
As the angels finished washing their feet, they said, "Now, you two wash each other’s feet."
The church came around and laid hands on them the best they could. Those who couldn’t directly lay hands on
them, laid hands on those near. Finally, every believer was touching. The church
could almost hear their hearts mending and healing. The service wasn’t quite over because the angels had an announcement to make.
As everyone returned to their seats, Aaron started talking. "I recently made a decision that escalated the need to move the children to God’s Mountain sooner than expected. This is why you needed a service like this today. We are going to need all the grace we can get."
Aaron came down from the pulpit and walked slowly in the middle of the church aisle while speaking. "We just recently rescued 15 children from a motel run by a man named Casey. When we did, we tipped our hand to Apollyon of our special interest in Nashville children. Apollyon has sent another legion of his angels to middle heaven, but we have still been able to keep them back, except for Dar-Raven. Search parties have been formed to roadblock the children. Fortunately, because of the human trait of procrastination and very heavy enforcement schedules, most blockades can’t be fully operational until later this week, except for a few farther out of Nashville. We have a very small corridor of time in which to get safely to Sanctuary. I’m sure you saw the TV news broadcast that showed a man called Commander Dar with the new governor. For your own information, Commander Dar is really Dar-Raven, a dark angel, who is the commander for Apollyon for this part of the country."
Instantly, a ripple went through the women in the church. They had seen Dar-Raven and carried on about what a hunk he was. Now, they were acting like someone who drank poison. If they had, they would be spitting; but instead, they shamefully dropped their heads, and Aaron saw their lips moving in words of contrition and embarrassment.
"This is the angel I fought and defeated when I entered this region of Tennessee. We've held him back for the last six weeks. The only reason Apollyon didn’t send in reinforcements was because he didn’t notice what we were doing. We've been very discreet. As far as
he was concerned, I was only checking everything out, and there was no reason for him to pay attention. He knows that I’ve had a personal grudge against Dar-Raven for thousands of years. He may have thought it was personal, but I believe he knows the children are somewhere in Nashville by now. The time is now, and I need everyone to get ready to be back here in one hour. We aren’t sure what kind of roadblocks we’re up against. We’ve sent out some scouts to see what’s going on. We have approximately 95 miles to cover. There is good news, however. We've been able to bring in one more legion, half to counter balance the middle heaven battle and the other half to assist us on the trip in various ways. We can only have the latter for about four hours. Once it becomes obvious how many children we have and where we are going; Nashville will be right in the middle of a small Armageddon."
One of the parishioners spoke hesitantly, "Why that mountain you talked about? What’s so special about it? What difference does it make?"
Isaac stepped forward to answer, "Some places are after God’s own heart. They are places, which He has chosen to sanctify, set apart as holy ground. This is the way He feels about Sewanee on Monteagle. It’s the mountain with the big white cross on the top. You can see the white cross from far away. It's a place of His great sacredness. When God sanctifies a place like this, it falls directly under the palm of His hand, and it’s a safe place. Dark angels can’t come into its borders without being destroyed.