Clergy Call

To his surprise, on Monday at 7:30pm, Steve and Sandy received a personal call from Dr. Abrams.  "I just want to personally thank you brother and sister Jenkins for you generous support of our ministry. It was wonderful to have you in worship service and I sincerely hope you enjoyed it and were blessed." 

Steve replied, "Oh we used to be regulars but 3/3/12 really shook us up.  We saw your TV program last Saturday and decided to go back and we REALLY enjoyed ourselves.  You guys have made great progress over there and we were blown away by the music and lights!"

Dr. Abrams spoke again, "we understand your feelings over 3/3 and that is why we worked very hard to get our DRA certification. The Bible even says "obey them that have the rule over you" so we got ourselves into full compliance with both the DRA and the 501c3 law.  Our non-judgemental approach to faith helped us to obey the government edicts and in order to be the ministry we are called to be and fulfill our destiny, and avoid violating any of the Hate-Speech laws. " 
He continued "we are about love, encouragement, and hope and that is why I am calling you. Perhaps you would like to join us next Thursday night for a Member Appreciation Banquet in the Community Room at LLF?"

Steve was very flattered by the invitation and Sandy, who was listening on the speaker-phone, smiled and vigorously shook her head "YES!" at Steve. This was EXCITING! Steve affirmed they would attend, and the following ten days were filled with anticipation as they looked forward to the banquet, and meeting not only Dr. Abrams, but also his wife, Pastor Sharon, and the leadership team. 

On Thursday night, they joined 50 other specially selected people for a sumptous dinner banquet. Everyone who had given $1,000 or more the previous week had been invitied for recognition and there were small place-cards with their names printed which indicated where they were to sit.  Tuxedoed waiters served wine, appetizers, a hearts of romaine salad, delicious creamed asparagus soup, with a choice of prime rib or halibut fish (Sandy's favorite). Dessert was an exotic raspberry parfait with fresh whipped cream, fresh raspberries, and a layer of torte cake. Every table which sat 12, had a bottle of Merlot and Chardonnay.

Steve and Sandy felt fortunate to be seated one table away from Dr. Abrams and his wife Pastor Sharon, they were also able to observe them more closely.  There were twelve others seated with Dr. Abrams and Pastor Sharon who Steve and Sandy later found out, were called "The Twelve Disciples", and functioned as lieutenants who oversaw a number of visible and not-so-visible "assignments" both at LLF and in the community.

Dr. Abrams was also observing THEM more closely too, especially Sandy who he noticed had a very cute "figure" and intriguing smile.

Towards the end of the banquet Dr. Abrams gave a short thanks and appreciation message, mentioning there were lots of "opportunities to serve and help the kingdom here at LLF." He went on to "cast his vision" for where he wanted to take the ministry and mentioned TV, satellite, radio, and internet" communicating "Our Message of hope, faith, and love', and of course, how "God REALLY wants to bless you".   Steve and Sandy were in total agreement with what they were hearing and there was just "something" about this place that drew them.  Steve did not even notice Sandy was on her 4th glass of Chardonnay, he thought the glow on her face was from the happiness they were feeling at the thought of being a part of this WONDERFUL ministry!

Everything just FELT so right and Dr. Abram's focus on a "positive message" was exactly what they needed.

After the meal, Dr. Abrams and Sharon (prophetess Sharon) made the rounds to each table shaking hands, hugging, and "loving everybody like the Bible says."  When they came to Steve and Sandy, Dr. Abrams introduced himself and said "I am SO glad to meet you, as his eyes lingered on and swept over Sandy. Steve did not notice but spoke up and said "Dr. Abrams, if there is anything we can do to help, please let us know".

Dr. Abrams replied "Please, call me Pastor Phil, and yes, we do have a few ideas for you."  (He glanced quickly and smiled at Sandy making eye contact). "If you will give your names to Brother Mark over there at the VIP desk, he will give you a list of ministry job opportunties at LLF.  We are sure there are positions that fit your skills and giftings in the Body"  

"Wow" Steve thought, "things are moving fast" and it almost made his head spin as he envisioned he and Sandy being directly involved with a man like "Pastor Phil"  and the ministry team at LLF.  They both signed up to volunteer and Sandy put the ministry-opportunity booklet into her purse.

Back at the mic, before they were dismissing, Prophetess Sharon began to "prophesy" over the attendees. She seemed to have more words directed toward the women whom she encouraged to "explore your spiritual authority" and "discover who you are in the kingdom".  Sharon herself spoke with authority and power, it was rumored that she was even friends with some powerful people in the Democratic Party. Sandy overheard a snippet of conversation between the expensively dressed couple sitting across from them and heard the names "Hillary, Nancy, and Sharon.......", "Bilderbergers"......"China". 
Sandy could not quite make out the gist of the conversation, only that it sounded like there was some kind of relationship or aquaintance between them.     

At last life seemed to be taking a positive turn for them, Steve had even gotten a surprise salary bonus-dividend of $12,000 from his State admin position as a result of the latest "Stimulus" package from the Federal-State-Partnership government to management level employees!  This enabled them to pay off all of their nagging credit card debt, pay down the 4Runner balance, and have some "fun" money.  Sandy reminded Steve "DON'T you dare forget to tithe to LLF!  They are the ones that caused us to be blessed like Dr. Abrams always says :God wants to bless you!"

As they left LLF's building for the second time in 5 days, while they were walking past the beautiful Living Waters fountain in the lobby, Steve noticed a vaguely familiar figure standing behind Dr. Abrams, or rather, Pastor Phil. He thought he had seen the man somewhere before but could not put his finger on where it had been.  While Steve was thinking about that, Sandy was already making her own plans to return the next day.

Another still small voice brought something to Steve's mind that in all of the excitement, and in all of the new activity, he had not paused to really consider: "where is Jesus?"  Not giving that little thought any more consideration, his mind quickly moved on to other things, his job, their software business, Little Louis, the oil change on the 4Runner. 
He also made a mental list of people to call and tell them about church and what had happened to them the previous Sunday. 

They had already shared with a few close friends that they could trust. You had to be careful these days about what you said and who you said it to.  With all of the complex "Hate Speech" laws, everyone was learning to guard their words very carefully and not mention anything having to do with the latest "Forbidden List" of politically incorrect words.  Steve and Sandy subscribed online to the government's website where the latest "revisions and updates" were published. To be safe and help remind themselves, Sandy would print out the updates and stick them to the refrigerator.  They noticed the Official US government website now included the  name "The Federal Government of the Unified States of America", and wondered about that as it was not reported in the mainstream news.    The logo was the same, the contact numbers and websites were the same, only the name was "morphed" although it was very close to what they had heard all their lives.  Only the slight variation on the old term "United" States of America" was now becoming ubiquitous as "the Unified States of America".  

The latest "VERBOTTEN!" list contained many words they once considered safe: "TEA Party", "recall", "protest", "petition", "patriot" "patriotic" "talk radio", "911 truth", the phrases "God and Country",  "call you senator" "call your representative", "pray for you", and many others containing any hint of government criticism.  They were already well conditioned regarding words relating to firearms and criticism of any of the newly empowered groups under the categories of gay, lesbian, gender-sensitive, and sexual deviant sub-groups. Anyone using those terms or references to them in any electronic media were automatically "flagged" by the CARNIVORE monitoring computers for further and closer analysis by the expanded Homeland Security Citizen Protection administration.  Level 1 people who violated the statutes enacted by Congress and signed by President Obama were fined $100 for each violation, and their E-Fund Account was automatically reduced by the amount of the fine, a fact which enraged millions of Americans who now had no power or recourse to "change' the law. 

Anyone accumlating 3 violations was subject to imprisonment and if it could be proved they were Level 2 "ring leaders" or "organizers" of any form of "anti-government" group OR a "fundamentalist Christian" group such as home churches or cell groups meeting outside of the official DRA/501c3 churches, they were subject to imprisonment and their homes and assests forfeited to the government.  This made it profitable for the DRA to operate as a financially self-sustaining agency and thanks to the "bonus for information" rewards, many citizens and sometimes a family's own children turned in their neighbors or parents in order to collect the $2,500 bounty.

The Underground City

These draconian laws drove many Bible-believing Christians "underground" and paranoia ruled North America. You had to be extremely careful what you said over the phone, internet, to your neighbors, on the job, or in any public place.  Cameras and concealed microphones were in abundance, and especially in the workplace of the government-private "partnerships".

Since the merger of all Fortune 500 corporations, and all publicly owned companies that had their stock trading in any Stock exchange, with the new, "Unified States of America", the government owned all retirement accounts, investment accounts, and overseas branches of every company.  This also gave the President the the ability to expand the enhanced spying powers of the newly merged FINA (FBI-NSA-CIA) both electronically and on the ground in foreign countries.   

The majority of "Christians" consisting of the majority of denominational churches either fell away their faith, or joined one of the DRA "churches".  Others went "underground" and their gatherings were very small.  The underground churches were devoid of the fancy trappings, buildings, glitzy stages, growth programs, TV shows, personal jets, Italian suited or robed clergy. 
They were hard to find and when you found one, there was nothing outwardly appealing. 

Their simple "gatherings" were spontaneous for security reasons in order to avoid the chance of exposure by those who would denounce them for the $2,500 reward.  Word of mouth and handwritten notes were employed as a means of communication in order to avoid electronic detection and surveilance. Their assemblies were tiny compared to the DRA churches, usually 3-4 families. Under these challenging conditions however, the "underground" churches began to function as singular bodies of Christians, unified in love, and total sharing of their possessions with each other as they had need.  There was an "equality" among them that had not been seen since the days of the first Christian disciples.  Because of the widespread unemployment, loss of homes and businesses to government confiscation, there was no shortage of people in need, yet somehow through miraculous multiplication of what they did have left, none of these disciples went hungry.  Another characteristic of these folks is that the majority had become 100% dependent upon God for everything.  The hardships brought on by the growing persecutions had driven these believers into a level of spirituality and faith that had been lost long ago to the majority of what they remembered back in the days of "church".

They had no medical insurance, they had no Social Security, they had no access to the services of hospitals and doctors, and even food was difficult to obtain under the eyes of the regulatory agencies that strictly monitored food distribution and sales. In fact, many of the "survivalist" Christian types had not lost their "food storehouses" to government confiscation, but there were continuing attempts by the government to infiltrate the various militias, patriot, and "God and Country" Christian groups.  The net effect was there were now many true disciples now walking in the steps of Jesus Christ and doing what He had commanded his original disciples to do. They were fearless in their faith and free of worldliness.

They walked in the promises of The Book and the miraculous was commonplace whether it be for physical healing, the repair of broken mechanical devices and vehicles, or even the supply of fuel in gas tanks.  They were thus enabled to proclaim the true kingdom of God which was also confirmed through signs, wonders, and answered prayer.  Because they could walk in full assurance and confidence in what was written in The Book, their evangelistic outings were remarkable events. Many of them were sent to places where people gathered such as parks, shopping malls, and food lines at the distribution centers.  The ones who were sent by God to go out and minister were supported in prayer by others who stayed in the "gathering-homes".  What was different about them from the government DRA-501c3 churches, was that no one had titles or hierarchial authority over others. Yet there was a dynamic functioning of ministry gifts including teachers, pastors, prophets, apostles, and evangelists.  The men who walked in those giftings never asserted carnal authority or boasted of their gift to others.  Their gift made room for them.  They were all older and mature men of faith who truly walked in The Promises and knew how to live the faith they proclaimed.  In fact, if you were in one of the "gathering houses", you would not even know who they were because of their humble appearance and manner.  It was only when they prayed, spoke, or ministered that the evidence of spiritual maturity, faith, and power became evident.  None of them carried business cards, and none of them sought recognition.

Brother Ralph.
For the past 4 years in Steve and Sandy's California hometown of 400,000 souls, small groups of "believers" had ministered randomly as they were sent. Small evangelistic events took place as sidebars to sporting events, rock concerts, in the neighborhood parks, shopping centers, and hospitals.  These were usually small groups of two to ten disciples who would fervently seek to be "led of the Spirit" regarding who they would speak and minister to.  On some occassions, they would make bold appearances at large public gatherings such as the AC/DC reunion concert or the professional football games.

It was at this type of "outreach" effort where brother Ralph and the fellowship group he was part of would be encountered.
On a gorgeous day in early fall, Sandy was at River Park walking and enjoying little "Louie-Louie"  as he played on the parks graffitied playground equipment.  While she sipped on her bottled water, suddenly she noticed two people standing near her, it was brother Ralph and his wife Cayla. 

"Don't we know you?", Cayla said as she spoke first. Sandy stared back trying to remember who these people might be but could not place them.  Steve spoke up, "aren't you married to Steve Jenkins and have the software business?  We bought that wonderful Bible study program from you 5 years ago" he added.  Something made Sandy's skin crawl when she heard that, but they had so many customers over the years, she did not recall Ralph or Cayla. "uhh, That's nice, thank you" Sandy said as she hoped to quickly disengage from further conversation, but Ralph continued by asking "What a beautiful boy you have" as little Louie had run over to see who was talking to "mommy".  "Is he your only child?" Ralph asked. Before Sandy could reply, Cayla spoke and said "You have yet another in your womb, in fact not one, but twins".  Sandy laughed out loud and said "you're crazy! -I'm not even pregnant nor do I intend to be! HOW can you say such a thing?"

But Cayla looked her in the eye and said "The Lord told it to me and it is the truth". 
"Who are you again?" Sandy demanded. "Ralph and Cayla, and your husband Steve will remember us from when I invitited him to a home fellowship meeting of the disciples", Ralph answered.  This touched a faint recollection of Steve mentioning something about "one of those little pseudo-church, "wannabe"  misfit, lone-ranger group-lets" as he disdainfully referred to them as. Convinced she was speaking with two nut cases and the growing feeling of nausea in her stomach, she made an excuse that it was time to go home so Louie could watch the Cartoon Network.  "GOD BLESS YOU in the Name of His Son Jesus!!" Ralph and Cayla said as Sandy and Louie walked away. Sandy visibly flinched when she heard that.

When Steve arrived home from his regular job with the State that evening at 6:30, Sandy was waiting to give him the full report of her day and her encounter with Ralph and Cayla. Still troubled by her morning and even somewhat angry because of the intrusion into her morning by those "religious creeps", she asked Steve if he remembered Ralph. "Yes, sure, but I gave him the brush-off. It happened right before our first visits to LLF.  I remember telling him "we were going to a REAL church that was going somewhere and not to some Christian Halfway-House."   Sandy chuckled and said "those people never get IT. They're just a bunch of "lone wolf Christians" like Dr A, I mean, Pastor Phil says."  Sandy continued, "hey, let's eat dinner and go out for some Bob and Terry's ice cream. I have a craving for some Chico-Cherry flavor."

A week later, Sandy woke up feeling mildly sick.  That morning she found out she was pregnant and a few days later the doctor told her "you are having twins".  She did not know whether to be happy or cry, but she did resent that it was Ralph and Cayla that had told her about it before anyone, including herself, had known. 

Unknown to her, Ralph and Cayla had kept calling Steve, Sandy, and now 3 year old Louis in prayer almost every day as the Lord gave them instruction. They prayed for God "to remove the spiritual blindness from their eyes, give them the gift of repentence and faith, and grant them a desire to read The Word and to prove the truth.  They also prayed "to bind the spirits at Loving Life Fellowship from deceivng them". 

 The same day they had encountered Sandy and Louie in the park, God had directed them to go speak to a middle-aged couple sitting on a park bench. The man and his wife were sitting on a steel bench shaded by one of the magnicent 100 year old oak trees, and eating some crackers and cheese from a grocery bag.  They were a bit on the thin side and the man sat with a walker next to him. He looked about 45 years old.  Ralph and Cayla heard the Lord speak to them "I want you to testify to this couple", and in obedience, they appraoched them and started a conversation.

Ralph began by asking them "how are you?" and the couple, whose names were Richard and Jeanie, looked up and said without enthusiasm "OK, for people who are losing their house and can't work" as he nodded in the direction of his walker.  
Wasting no time, Ralph said, "The Lord God sent us to speak healing to you.  May we pray for you right now?"

Richard and Jeannie both nodded their heads yes, and Ralph spoke "in the Name of Jesus I command your legs and bones to be strong and made whole", he turned to Jeanie and  said "I command the spirit of fear, torment, and despair to leave YOU now!"  Immediately Ralph put out his hand to Richard and pulled him to his feet, and Richard said "the PAIN IS GONE!" as he took his first pain-free steps in 3 years.  Meanwhile, Cayla was holding Jeanie as she was exclaiming "WHAT was THAT?!! Something went out of me right throught the top of my head! I felt it GO!"

Both Richard and Jeanie both had tears of joy in their eyes and Ralph said "would you like to know your saviour and healer?"  When they both said yes, Ralph showed them a passage from The Word "And it shall be, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." from Acts chapter 2.  In the minutes that followed, both of them called upon Jesus to save them, and after a quick instruction from Matthew 28 and Acts 10, the four of them walked down to the riverbank where there was shallow place, and Ralph baptized Richard and Jeanie. After their baptism, Cayla got their address and told them someone will contact you and gave them a code name for one of the other disciples. 

Withing 3 weeks, Richard and Jeanie were meeting for prayer, Scripture study, and fellowship with the other disciples in one of the "gathering houses".  Three months later after their home was foreclosed, Richard and Jeanie sold off all of their possesions and had moved in with one of the other families in the "Underground City of Faith."   For them, faith had become very real and as they were now dis-possesed of almost all worldy "stuff', they were enjoying the freedom they now had from physical ailments, stress, worry, and fear.  They now focused their life on Jesus Christ and wondered why they had never experienced this joy and faith in the various churches they had been to for most of their lives.  The Word was becoming real to them as they now read the scriptures daily and believed what they read. Richard was quickly becoming a man of faith that not only served others, but was seeing miracles as he acted in faith upon what he read.  After his own miraculous physical healing his faith in The Promises enabled him do for others what God had done for him, especially after he and Jeanie had both been baptized by the Holy Spirit. For the first time in their lives, although they had always thought of themselves as "Christian", they were now doing what they had read of others doing in the Book of Acts.  "How could we have missed so much and settled for so little?" they wondered, but they both intended to make up for lost time in bringing The Truth to others and serving the Lord. 

In late October 2012, there was more falling than just the leaves. The stock market was at 2,777 points and there were only 35% of the companies left that had been on the Board back in 2008.  Many had gone bankrupt and no longer existed, even mighty ones like General Electric had been sold off or absorbed by foreign buyers.  Thousands of companies had also been "swallowed up" by mergers with larger or stronger companies, especially those with access to the deep pockets of government funding and "stimulous" money.  Even smaller industries such as construction trades and services such as carpet cleaning outfits were either eliminated or merged into the more dominant centrally controlled "Mega-Corps".  These were much easier to regulate and make to conform to the new monetary laws, however it did away with the great majority of smaller firms, mom-and-pop businesses, and the smaller, private businesses. it was commonly said "merge or die".

  The jobless rate was at an astonishing 29%, a figure without historical precedence.  The middle class that had once thrived in the USA, now the UNIFIED States of America, which included all of North America under its' administration, was a ghost of its' former self.  Families that once had all the toys and a car in each of the their three garages, now struggled to buy food and pay their utilities. Most of the existing jobs were low wage, minimum wage, and could not support the remembered American lifestyle of the early 2000's. 

Of course, the newly emergent wealth of the Executive Class, Banking, and Government job sectors were doing very well if you were upper level management, which Steve aspired to. One more promotion at his position with California Division of Land Resource Protection would put him in the top 8% of earnings at $140,000 per year!  Coupled with their $60,000 (net) income from the software business which Sandy help direct, Steve and Sandy were some of the few that were able to to keep their stand of living the same, and even get their deb paid down.  They both attributed that to the blessings of their support and involvement with LLF and "Pastor Phil".   

Steve had come up with some remarkable ideas for maximizing income from former State property to foreign entities.  Under the department heading of "Land Resource protection", Steve designed a plan to replace State workers with foreign workers.  Under his plan, these foreign workers were to be brought in and paid by the countries who had purchased everything from parks to highways. They would be supervised only by American overseers untill foreign mangement level personnel could be trained to take over administration of their own workers.  Income from the electronic-mileage toll roads, all bridges, parks, Motor Vehicle Departments, CAL-MED, and a host of other departments would be transferred to those foreign owners and 15% of the gross revenues would be retained by the State to fund administration overhead. 

Maintenance costs would also be transfered to the foreign owners who would be responsible for upkeep and repairs. (This part backfired badly when countries like China failed to spend their collected funds on the required maintenance).  But  at the time, Steve's proposals were called "brilliant!" and implemented in the Western Division of the Unified government.  

 In the following years, quality of service plummeted due to language difficulties, needed maintenance was deferred or canceled, and thousands of State workers joined the unemployed in the private sector.  Steve was even introduced to and received a public commendation from the Governor, Henrietta Waxman, who was also friends with Dr. Abrams and pastor Sharon at LLF.

Even though she was pregnant, "with TWINS!", Sandy had become very involved at LLF, and Steve gave about 8 hours per week from his busy schedule and he and Sandy were "faithful" tithers and supporters of LLF. 

Sandy had become an assistant secretary to Dr. Abrams Administrative Secretary, in charge of travel scheduling for Dr. Abrams and his guests.  Sandy helped book plane flights, hotel reservations, car rentals, and restaurants for church staff and guest speakers.  Dr. Abrams had also allowed her to set up an office space for their software business in her new 400 square foot space which was about the size of a two car garage. "Pastor Phil" became a frequent visitor to her office and he enjoyed his "little chats" with Sandy, and even began seeking her opinion on different matters.  Little Louie was shuttled off to the church Daycare Center and Sandy would collect him around 5pm. 

Even though she was pregnant, after 3 months, she was barely "showing'.  One day, Pastor Phil, in one of his little visits, asked Sandy if she would join him for lunch and to bring some scheduling paperwork with her for a "working lunch".  One of the "12 disciples" from Dr. Abrams staff drove them over to "The Golden Pheasant", a five-star restaurant.  For Sandy, this was a head-spinning place to go, as it was where Steve had taken her twice during their courtship. 

When they entered, the hostess greeted them with "welcome again, Dr. Abrams" as she smiled and noted Sandy. As they were escorted to a quiet table, Dr. Abrams greeted by name several prominent-looking men who in turn, responded with friendly greeting.  One of those aquaintances that spoke to "Phil" as they passed by, appeared to give Dr. Abrams a quick wink of the eye and slight grin which Sandy just caught out of the corner of her eye.  But she gave it no thought and quickly they were seated at a white table-clothed table with fine china.

 Sandy had her laptop and as Pastor Phil discussed his vision for the next 18 months, Sandy made notes.  Once when she interrupted him with a question, "Pastor Phil, I think I can negotiate a better rate with the Hyatt if we give them an exclusive....". But Dr. Abrams broke in with "please, please, just call me Phil. I don't want any title to come between us".  Swept up with the headiness of the moment, and her Chardonnay, she replied "yes PHIL", and that strange sensation she first felt in the service with Brother Hugo manifested itself.  For a few moments she felt as if she were in a dream, the thoughts of Steve, family, Louie, and the twins were from another world as she looked at Phil's green eyes from the other side of the linen-covered table. 

Ministry Team  

Ralph and Richard had been on a four day prayer and fasting break as they sought the Lord for direction.  On the fifth day, the Lord spoke to them both through one of the prophets and confirmed what Ralph and Richard had sensed in their spirits. Through the prophet, the Lord instructed them to go to West Valley Mall and the Lord would show them who they were to "help".  This would be on Saturday. 

 West Valley mall was located at the base of the the Mt. Diablo foothills.  Further up the hill, a curving road wound its way through the very upscale neighborhood called Diablo Hills, where Dr. Abrams also lived in a gated community.  Following the signs, 1 mile past  Diablo Hills, and 3 miles from West Valley Mall, was where Loving Life Fellowship was located which was up higher in the undeveloped oak and pine studded hills. On clear days, both Diablo Hills and LLF had panoramic views of the valley below, the inland waterway, and even the Sierra mountains 80 miles away on the other side of the valley.

It was a gorgeous September day and there was a pretty good crowd of people headed toward the mall, many of the folks with the purpose of picking up bargains at one of the "going-out-of-business" sales.  Steve and Sandy had decided to go as they both needed some new business attire.

 With Steve's promotion and Sandy working at LLF, both of them were rubbing shoulders with upper management and othe influential people.  Sandy was coming into contact with a number of Celebrity Preachers and Ministers in her role at LLF.  She even had a few "Thank you" letters on the wall from famous celebrity ministers.  It was typical for Sandy to arrrange hotel accommodations and provide fruit baskets, floral arrangements, any special requests for beverages, transportation, golf games, restaurant dining, and air travel.  Dr. Abrams, "Phil", believed in EXCELLENCE and God's servants were to be treated like "royalty", and he insisted the staff at LLF treat them accordingly. This included how Staff dressed, acted, and how they represented LLF to visiting "royalty".  In staff meetings and church services, people were addressed with titles: DR. Abrams, PASTOR Sharon, ELDER Jenkins (Steve), MS. Jenkins (Sandy), DISCIPLE Yehuda (one of the "12" of Dr. Abrams, and which they discovered much later was not his real name). 

That day at the West Valley Mall, after parking their recently purchased black Lexus (Sandy's Christmas gift), they gathered up little Loius and walked toward the entrance of the mall. Sandy, now at five and a half months pregnant with twins, was excitied about purchasing furnishings for the babys future room. They had been making plans, and as usual, Steve was at his organizational best in designing a monthly schedule of preparations. 

Just inside the entrance doors, seated at a lounge area facing Sees Candy, was a small group consisting of brother Ralph, Cayla, Richard, and Jeannie. Another couple from the group was seated on a bench outside the mall entrance. This couple were the "lookouts" for the authorities and if there was trouble, they would signal with a small mirror which would reflect the sunlight as a flashing signal to the four witnesses inside.

Steve, Sandy, and Louis entered the mall and The Spirit whispered to Richard "go speak to them of this life".  Richard stepped up to Steve and asked him if "he needed directions".  Thinking he was a mall employee from his blue shirt and jeans, Steve said "thanks, but I know the way".  Richard replied, "did you know the way to eternal life is a straight and narrow way that follows the Words of Jesus Christ?"  Steve and Sandy's faces both turned red with embarrassment and Steve stammered, "We are Christians and we go to LOVING LIFE FELLOWSHIP, excuse us!".  But Richard pressed him, "sir, do you know Jesus?". Again Steve said "WE GO TO CHURCH, OK?" Sandy, who was becoming visibly agitated, said a mild expletive under her breath at this intrusion into their day. Although she did not say it loud enough for hearing, Richard said "Jesus told us that we would give account for every idle word that we speak, and that we are not to take the Lord's name in vain, for we will not be held guiltless for doing so", which she had just done.  Stung by his words, Steve looked around for the security patrol, but instead, brother Ralph walked up with a smile and offered his hand in greeting.

Caught off guard by him, Steve looked at him trying to recall the mans face, whom he seemed to know but could not place. "Remember me, RALPH?  We bought a program from you and invitied you to our home fellowship? I know it was a few years back, but I never forgot you and Sandy. In fact, my wife Cayla told me she bumped into Sandy at the park about 6 months ago and gave her a prophecy. Didn't she tell you?"  

"uh yeah, I think she might have", but uh, we gotta go", Steve said. As Ralph began to speak again, Sandy asserted herself and said "WE ARE GOING, GOOD-BYE!", and she jerked Louis' hand and walked away with Steve nodding and following her.  Ten minutes later Sandy was still fuming over the incident. "I thought when they cleaned up the "Church Situation" that kind of stuff was gone. Can you believe those idiots, breaking the law right here in public?"  Steve agreed and picked out a Security Guard at one of the kiosks.  Deciding to obey the law, and report Ralph and Steve to the authorities, Steve and Sandy told the guard about the two witnesses back at the entrance.  The Guard took down Steve and Sandy's information, phone, and address in case an arrest was made so they could collect the $2,500 reward. 

But when the agent got to the area where Ralph and Richard had been, they were gone. The guard did a radio call for backup through the entire mall and the parking lot, and the mall security camera monitors alerted.  The police were also called and a police patrol "net cirlced the Mall for a two block radius. Afterall, they could only get so far in ten minutes, and with the Facial Recognition ID cameras, they would not be safe even inside of a car.  One hour and 45 minutes later, the search was called off, no one matching the description of Ralph and Richard could be found either by looking at the camera recordings or by visual contact.

 Unknown to the authorities, being warned by The Spirit, Richard, Ralph, Jeannie, Cayla, and the other couple had all simply walked right through the mall, right under the noses of both Security and the camers, and were never recognized by any.  They never even used the signal mirror.  When they arrived "home" later, they all agreed what a tremendous thing the Lord had done for them, "Just like when they tried to arrest Jesus in Luke 4:30 'But he passing through the midst of them went his way'" -Richard exclaimed!

That evening at the Hideaway Restaurant, Sandy was still agitated over the incident, but she took some satisfaction in the hope there would be an arrest and they would get the $5,000 reward for a "double", i.e. a two-for-one arrest. As Sandy sipped her third glass of Merlot, she thought she felt a bit of discomfort inside but thought it was the growing babies within her.  "Three and a half months to go" she thought.  Steve was a bit uncomfortable too and said "Babe, don't you think one glass is plenty, considering..."  But Sandy emphaticaly shot back "I KNOW WHAT I AM DOING".  Steve, taken aback by the sharpness of her tone, became quiet and would have reasoned it away as fatigue, except he had noticed Sandy was not as compliant and giving Steve the respect she once did, which was one of the reasons he had fallen in love with her.  When she mentioned "Five grand if they nail those radicals" Steve wondered "where did THAT come from?"

At work Monday, Sandy casually mentioned the incident at the mall with the "radicals" to "Phil", Dr. Abrams, who reacted to that with more questions. "REALLY?" he asked, "Were they local?".
 
Later that day, Sandy got a call from Agent Jerry Banning with FINACA. Agent Banning, whose voice seemed vaguely familiar, wanted to "interview" Sandy and find out more information about those "radicals". Agent Banning reminded her of the $2,500 per-person reward paid by the Government for the arrest and convicition of any anti-government, non-registered "church" people which Sandy acknowledged, as she felt that small ache inside her tummy. Agent Banning said he had already contacted Security at West Valley Mall but was unable to confirm a description and wondered if Sandy could give him more information on the "subversives".

Sandy did the best she could at describing the two men her and Steve had seen that day, but she only knew of "Ralph and Cayla" if she "recalled correctly". A small spasm moved within her body. The agent let her know they were working on this case and this was not the first time they had become aware of a "Ralph and Cayla" operating in the area and that they were on the "Red List".

 (Red-List people were subject to immediate arrest and no-trial imprisonment in one of the high security regional "camps" rumored to exist. "Red List" people often included their entire families and to achieve Red List status you need be identified as a "Fundamentalist Christian", "Take Back America patriot", "Constitutional loyalist", "terrorist", "Moslem Radical", "anti-government critic", "non-approved "organizer", non-DRA approved religious group, anyone with weapons, anyone with ammo, anyone demonstrating publicly against government policy, and many other sub-categories. 

At home that night, Sandy was not feeling well, she was feeling nauseous and had no appetite. Troubling thoughts swirled around her head.