have seen films of these places and of the horrors committed there. That is why God marshaled all of his forces to drive out these perverse creatures, just as he did against Benjamin.
“But, whenever Satan plans destruction, God turns it to good. Even though over six million Israelites died at the hands of Satan’s followers. This slaughter caused the recreation of the nation of Israel, which fulfilled the prophecy you have seen in the book of Jeremiah: `I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah... and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.’”
:6:05 a.m.
And as Timothy awakes to the alarm clock, he hears over and over again the verse, and so he looks it up to read it once again, and he looks up Jeremiah 30:3.
A Mystery
:February 17
:10:44 p.m.
After a hard day of work and helping Christa clean the house, for people that are coming to look at it the next day. Timothy fades into his dreams quickly only minutes after laying his head on the pillow.
Tim finds himself in what he feels is a police station. He is seated at one of the many desks in the large room as he notices one of the many officers approach him.
“Alan needs your help down at the mission. He’s having a problem investigating that murder,” the police officer says to Timothy.
The next thing Tim sees is a large group of officers standing around in an alley lighted by red and blue flashing lights.
“I’m glad you’re here,” a short balding man says.
“What can I do Alan?” Tim asks, and in response Alan takes him to a taped outline of a body.
“We were called by someone at the mission here, and they reported shots fired. A patrol car came to the scene, where they found a Reverend Michaels kneeling over the body of a Jeremy Daniels, a layman volunteer at the mission. The reverend was holding the murder weapon in his hand so the officers told him to drop it, which he did. He then identified himself. They searched him checked his ID, and found he was telling the truth. They then questioned him and found that he heard the victim talking to a known felon by the name of Marvin Fogerty, a black male, about two hundred and thirty pounds. Father Michaels said that Mr. Daniels requested that they meet so they could talk. Fogerty suggested the alley. The reverend was in the storage room off of the kitchen when he heard the shots, two, and immediately ran out. As he came into the alley, he saw the victim on the ground, with the gun lying beside him. He saw this Fogerty running out of the alley. Michaels then walked over to the body and picked up the gun. It was about then that the patrol car arrived on the scene.”
“Did they see the suspect then?”
“No.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“Go undercover. Live on the streets. Find Fogerty!”
Tim then finds himself walking down a street as well dressed people look his way and then cross the street or enter into buildings. He enters the mission a short time later and is greeted by a thin, dark, blond-haired man.
“Hello, my name is Reverend Michaels. How can we help you?”
“I was just wantin’ some dinner and a bed.”
“Well, you came to the right place. Follow me.” The man turns and leads Timothy into the cafeteria. Moments later Tim is sitting at one of the long tables, and he begins to eat.
“Jeremy was murdered this morning,” a dirty woman says.
“What? Why would anyone want to kill Jeremy?” an old, unshaven man says. He stops eating his soup, wiping some from his whiskers beneath his mouth.
“They say Marvin did it,” she answers.
“Marvin! They were friends. Jeremy was the first person to reach him. There’s no way Marvin would kill him. Ever since they became friends Marvin started acting different. You know he even said hi to me the other day,” replies the man.
“Nah. He did! That’s great. Jeremy could always bring out the best in people. It’s nice to think that he’s with Jesus now.”
“You know it. The love of God was with him.”
“What about this reverend?” Tim asks.
“Him!” The woman looks at Timothy as if he is insane.
“That man is here to just build his image.”
“Just because he’s a reverend doesn’t mean he’s a Christian,” the old man says.
“Thanks for the warning,” Tim says; and the three of them return to their food.
It is night and Tim enters into an alley where several other people sit upon the ground or in cardboard boxes. He comes to a chain-link fence and seats himself against it. Moments later he feels the presence of others about him. He looks up to see that he is surrounded by people.
“We hear you’ve been asking a lot of questions. What are you, a cop?”
“Yes, I am,” Tim says, causing two of the men to grab his arms and pins him against the fence as they thrust him to his feet.
“What do you want?”
“I want to talk with Marvin Fogerty.”
“You mean arrest him?”
“No! I just want to talk with him.”
“Well, you can’t.” The person that first talked to him moves closer to him, drawing back his fist as he prepares to hit him.
“Stop!” comes a deep voice as a large black man with a mustache walks out of the dark.
“He does want to talk. If he wanted to arrest me, he wouldn’t have told you he was a cop.”
“You’re Marvin Fogerty?” Tim asks as the two men reluctantly release him.
“Yeah. Now what do you want?”
“I just want to know what happened in that alley.”
“Well, I had this image I had made for myself as being this tough guy, ya see. So I asked Jeremy to talk with me in the alley.”
“Why?”
“I... I asked Jesus into my life, and I was afraid I would have ruined my image. If it became known, well you know.”
“Then why are you saying it now.”
“Because, I don’t care about my image now because Jesus is now in my life.”
“I understand,” Tim says as he walks up to Marvin and places his hand on the man’s shoulder.
“Please, tell me everything.”
“Well, I met him there, and we talked a bit. Then I asked the Lord into my life. I was filled with this joy and happiness. It made me feel so good, that I gave Jeremy this pistol that I had. I did this because I knew I shouldn’t have it since I was in jail a few times.”
“I see. Did you see anyone else in the alley or around it?”
“No, but I thought someone was in the kitchen of the Mission because I heard the back door move.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it creaked like someone was leaning against it.”
“Thanks,” Tim says.
Tim walks into the shelter with Allen, and they ask a lady that walks up to them what other volunteers were there the day of the murder.
Later the two men stand in front of a house as its door opens. A middle aged woman looks at the two men as they both show her their badges.
“Please, come in,” she says and they enter the house.
“Could you please tell me, once again, what happened that day, from the last time you saw Mr. Daniels until you heard the shots.”
“Well, I was in the kitchen when Jeremy walked through to go out the back door. A few minutes later the Reverend came in, with an inventory sheet to once again count the food goods in the storage room.”
“What do you mean once again?”
“Well, he seems to think someone is stealing the food, and at least once a day he counts it. That was the second time he counted it that day. I soon left after he came in. We don’t get along.”
“Did you see anyone else enter the kitchen?”
“No.”
“Have people given guns to members of the staff before?”
“Oh, yes, many times.”
“
What do they do with them?”
“Well, we give them to the Reverend, of course. He’s in charge of things like that. He gives them to the police or just to a pawn shop. He takes the money he gets and then buys something special for the dinner that night.”
“Thank you.”
Allen and Tim walk into the office of the Reverend Michaels.
“Good afternoon, Officer Allen, officer,” the pastor says, smiling as he shakes their hands. “I take it you’ve arrest the man that killed Jeremy.”
“No, not yet. We just wanted some more information.”
“What do you need?”
“Well, we need more information to make the case stick. Did you ever see Mr. Daniels have any arguments with anyone?” asks Officer Allen.
“Well, no not really, but.... Well, you see he never really got along with anyone. A few weeks ago I had to talk with him about his attitude.”
“Oh, so what did he say when he handed you the gun?”
“Well, he said...” Michaels looks at the two men in shock.
“Why did you kill him?”
“I was... was... a... jealous of him. You see everyone liked him, and he could make people listen to him in a way no one else could. When I saw him guide Marvin to the Lord I couldn’t stand it anymore. I watched as Marvin gave him the gun, and then leave. As Daniels turned to come in, I walked into the alley. He gave me the gun, as is our practice. I looked at it. I pulled back the hammer... I aimed it... and fired.”
“Reverend Michaels, you have the right to remain silent...”
Tim hears the alarm go off, and he awakens for another day. He sits in his bed a moment as he thinks about his dream.
“What happened, Timothy?” his spouse asks, and so he explains his dream.
“I think it shows an envy from members of the clergy towards their