

THE DARK VISITOR

A Christian Horror Story

BAV GELA
2nd Edition

Copyright © 2020 SURETY

This book is for the use of all Seventh-day Adventists anywhere with almost no restrictions. You can not amend it but you may duplicate it, give it away or reuse it under the terms of the Surety7 licence available at: suretyseven@outlook.com
DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to Br Neil.

From the first day that I walked into this church he took me under his wing in friendship and readily offered me support, education and encouragement. I'm grateful to have been blessed with such a mentor who holds firmly to biblical principles. Having this grounding early on has really equipped me to recognise the standard required to walk the narrow path.

Thank you – see you on that great and dreadful day.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I owe a sincere depth of gratitude to my wife,

Christina Gela, for her encouragement during the development and completion of this book.

Her support during the turbulence of getting all this information into book-form was really valuable.

Also, a message to Janice Naiken for being a real great sister and friend to me. No matter where I am and what I am doing, I can be sure she is praying for me.

All Bible verses are written in the King James Version.

Introduction

A young man, sitting with a group of friends at a wedding party in full swing, decides to get up and collect his jacket to the shock of those around him. They are curious as to why he is leaving so soon, when there is still a whole evening ahead of them full of fun and celebrations. He tries to explain that as a Christian he has to spend some quality time with God since the Sabbath hours are fast approaching. The friends look on in confusion and one asks, 'Why is Saturday so important when the rest of the Christian world dedicates Sunday for worship?' He explains the biblical importance in honouring God on His holy day. Still confused but trying to justify their cause, they attempt to encourage him to stay for the party's sake. Regardless, he puts his jacket on and buttons it up, but rather than the support one hopes to receive from their friends, he hears annoyed voices, mocking and goading him. The more reasonable of the group try to persuade him that God wouldn't mind him staying for a few extra hours, after all he knows the groom personally and any other day of the week will be fine to make up for the lost hours. However, he is convinced of the Sabbath's importance, and there will be no budging so he walks away after saying all his goodbyes.

Questions arise all the time about this weekly time period that the man reserves for God, from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. People who have known him his whole life still cannot comprehend why he has embraced this staunch new dedication to a particular time period. The man, who is the author of this book, has seen a lot of experiences in his life but one incident, one real-life experience, stands out, as it convicted him of how important it is to stay faithful to God on the Sabbath, no matter what. It jolted his life in such a way that this book has been written to share his experience with you.

We can see all the poverty, hardship, violence and corruption in the world increasing on a daily basis. The destruction of the things which were once important seem to be long gone, basic human values and morality seem to have been replaced with a selfish personal interest. The Bible warns us of this.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

Ultimately, those who have indeed studied the Scriptures know that the wheels are in motion for things to be in place so that Satan can make a grand entrance onto the world scene as the remedy. His objective is to remove the Sabbath and lull the world into a false day of worship. Time is short. So short in fact, that every once in a while he has to rear his evil head to put a halt to anyone messing up his plans. Especially, if it involves someone stepping out in the Lord to reveal the truth behind the fourth commandment.

This book is about the eventful day that took place when the aforementioned author decided to go out in faith to witness about worshipping Jesus and his real end-time church. This shocking true story will blow you away.

The Dark Visitor

Dusk had fallen quickly, what little warmth the day had contained was now just a memory, and the clouds, which had looked grey and ominous, finally opened up. Within seconds, I was driving through a downpour. With such a great force, there it was, finally unleashed and hammering onto the shell of my car. My only consoling thought was that it would clean off the stubborn dirt from the paintwork and leave my trusty(ish) Peugeot looking in a slightly less shabby condition than it had been, so I wouldn't have to turn to it on the weekend with a bucket of hot soapy water, a task of which I am not a fan.

Up until that point, the journey home had been relatively smooth and free of bumps, if one was to ignore the typical condition of the British roads. The only annoyance had been the delay turning off the motorway at my usual junction. I discovered soon after that it had been caused by road works, although there seemed to be precious little sign of work going on, just the usual orange and white cones standing to attention, shepherding the passing motorists into a single line of slow moving traffic.

It had been quite a long and peculiar day and I really wanted to be at home reflecting on what had happened a few hours earlier, but a sign informing me that the road I wanted to take was closed and that I'd have to follow an alternative route soon put an end to that dream. Sadly, the alternative route signs soon petered out, or perhaps I just missed them in the deepening dark, so I had to put trust into my out-of-date Sat Nav, as well as my own personal inbuilt compass to get me where I wanted to go. That wouldn't have been so bad, but then it started to rain differently. It was more like a fine drizzle; the type that covers your windscreen slowly, challenging you to consistently turn the wipers on and off, and when you have them on, you end up with a smear all over the glass from the accumulated dust and leftover grease, and you barely see a thing. I was concerned as I wasn't sure how full my windscreen washer bottle was from the heavy use and also, more importantly, because I didn't even know if my wipers would handle being switched on and off so often. I'd been meaning to have them looked at for ages, honestly, but somehow I'd never got round to it. Now it looked like it was time to check if my neglect had caught up with me.

As the rain grew heavier, I held my breath and flicked the wiper stick upwards. I exhaled, yet another sigh of relief as the blades rose and swept across the windscreen. It had come at the right time, because with just a couple more swishes, the glass cleared and I could see; not that there was much to feast my eyes upon in the darkness.

I guess I must have driven four or five miles by that stage and had left civilisation well behind. Cars were few and far between, and as I headed into what I thought must be the countryside, the light rain soon turned into a thick mist or fog, bringing visibility down to little more than ten or so feet. Being cautious, I slowed down even more to avoid having an accident. After all, I reasoned, it's better to be getting home alive than not at all.

With that thought in mind, I drove on like that for an hour or so, passing through small villages and by farms and isolated cottages. Then the fog just lifted. My joy was short-lived though because it was soon replaced by the monsoon-style rain again. I continued driving on into the night, taking a turning here and a turning there, trusting my sixth sense as my Sat Nav had long since decided enough was enough for the night and was refusing to tell me where I was. There was just the little diagram of the car driving out into an unrecognisable field off course.

What had started out as an irritating diversion, which I'd assumed would have had me back on the right road in next to no time, was turning out to be a real mission, and I freely admit that with one eye nervously checking the petrol gauge, I was getting worried. Something felt off, but other than the paranoia of earlier events taking over me, I couldn't put my finger on what it was that was beginning to disturb my composure. However, my fears were allayed when I saw the glow of red tail lights ahead of me. As I drew closer, I realised they were not moving, and when I drew to a halt, I ascertained that it was the last car in a short queue that was waiting by a temporary red light – more road works!

I sat there on that narrow, dirty farm road for about five minutes before deciding to turn off my wipers and engine to save fuel, although I left my sidelights on so that anyone driving up behind could see me. Still, the wait went on. Then it occurred to me that no cars were coming by in the opposite direction, which struck me as odd, especially as the wait was so prolonged, and I started to feel spooked again. All I could see, apart from the glow of tail lights and the red traffic signal some little way ahead, was blackness and shadows.

The lights had changed. I unrealistically hoped that beyond these ones was a major road that was familiar to me, so I re-started the car, but when I flicked the wiper leaver, nothing happened. All the vehicles in front of me moved off into the night, leaving me alone with just the traffic light for company. I felt a moment of blind panic, I became very afraid and realised I was in a very dangerous situation...

*

Mid-winter 2010. The weather had turned quite cold and the early morning, whilst fresh, greeted all and sundry with frost and the familiar sight of motorists scraping the overnight ice from the windscreens of their vehicles. Still, at least we'd been spared snow. With the weak winter sun doing its best to spread some good cheer, I turned on the radio to check the traffic conditions. The presenter appeared to be remarkably upbeat, and other than one or two very minor tailbacks on a couple of B roads, he didn't have anything negative to say. Most people would be overjoyed at such a report, but to me it was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, I wanted the roads to be clear because I was about to set out on a journey to Nottingham to visit Amanda, an old friend of mine, who I hadn't seen in ages, but on the other hand, my subconscious was looking for an excuse to stay put. It wasn't that I didn't want to see Amanda, because I did, it was just that in my state of health at the time, I felt safer being in closer touch with my everyday creature comforts.

But with the weather set fair and the roads clear, I had no choice. Perhaps it was just what I needed to confront the guilt I felt at having played the hermit for such a long time. So, leaving my fears behind, I climbed behind the wheel of my car and set off.

Nottingham holds a special place in my memories, as it was there that I went to university, even though I didn't stay on the course and dropped out sometime during my second year. While I drifted away to chase my dreams elsewhere, Amanda, like many of the other students I befriended during my short sojourn, stayed on in the city and made it her home. Leaving university is always a major decision-making time. Do you return to the bosom of your family or strike out alone? Most decisions are made off the back of work opportunities, with many opting to plump for local vacancies in a place they have come to know and love over the years and now consider their own, while others stay on for precisely the reason they left home in the first place – they don't see eye to eye with their families. That happened to a friend of mine, although in his case, it was tainted with sadness because his parents had passed away and the relationship he had with his sister; his closest remaining relative, was non-existent. Such is the rich pageant of life.

I was actually living a couple of hours drive from Nottingham, and despite my initial worries about the journey, it was a pretty simple drive, following a route that was L-shaped in geographical terms. Amanda had been on at me for months to go and visit her, but I'd always managed to come up with some excuse or reason why it hadn't been possible. However, being the true friend she was, I simply couldn't keep declining and so there I was, cruising along at a steady pace looking forward to a long awaited catch-up.

The last time I'd seen Amanda had been shortly after her graduation. It had been a very brief one-time catch up when I'd returned to Nottingham to help my friends celebrate the completion of their courses. How time flies. Since then, I'd gone my own way, finding employment, and life had just taken over. Operating in two different worlds, our schedules just never seemed to match as we prioritised different things in our own little worlds.

Amanda and I originally became friends when she started dating one of my friends at the time and came along with him to my birthday bash. We got on well from the off, having much in common, and even after she and he split up, we remained friends, meeting for coffee or lunch during lesson breaks. Giving off a very positive, non-judgmental vibe, she also has a very sunny disposition and is tolerant of all types of people, which is a refreshing change in a society that seems to be becoming more and more polarised and entrenched in its attitudes towards others.

The enjoyment of her company stemmed from the fact that I was able to speak freely and openly about things that mattered to me without any fear of being rebuffed, patronised or made to feel unwelcome. At the time, I wasn't a Christian, but looking back, I can see quite clearly how her openness towards me and my incessant chatter about the Universe helped me to gear up for my own spiritual walk. It would have been the easiest thing in the world for her to have humoured me for a short while before turning our conversations towards the more mundane and transient subjects that occupy most youthful minds, such as dating, music, parties and sport, but she didn't. Instead, she not only listened to my chatter, but also posed salient questions and added her own input.

As I said earlier, after university we lost touch, but then we became reacquainted through social media. I'd always been wary of these types of websites because I worried about the volume and type of information the operating companies accumulated, but now, although I still don't like that aspect, I realise that it's a good medium to use to connect with the rest of the world. Anyway, because of my misgivings I was nonchalant on the scene and was somewhat pedestrian in the way I ran my accounts.

After being told one too many times that I was missing out on the latest life updates, I revisited my account and quickly found an overwhelming number of "friend" requests that I had received, which in a sense was very pleasing, but it also gave me quite a headache. I ploughed through the list trying to remember who the person was, how I knew them and whether or not I still wanted to be a part of their circle and for them to be a part of mine.

By that time, I had become a Christian, and so much of my outlook and attitude towards certain things had changed. What had happened was that I had begun to view certain aspects of life differently, and as a result, some of the friends that I had had back in my earlier years were no longer people I had much in common with. I knew most of them from my old partying lifestyle and so I was unsure whether or not to continue the friendships. I was trying to make a massive statement in my life so I had to ultimately protect myself, meaning the list underwent a certain amount of culling.

Ephesians 4: 22-24. "That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

However, I digress. In the middle of the long list of requests was Amanda. I was delighted to hear from her and immediately "friended" her and got in touch, thereby beginning a back and forth exchange which rekindled our old friendship. At the time, I was working at a UK film studio on big budget Hollywood movies, and my colleagues had posted lots of fun and exciting posts on my wall so people always had something of interest to read, ask questions about and make comments on, although funnily enough, Amanda never delved into the superficial side of my job, instead she would comment on the fact that I was doing alright for myself and hoping that I was having fun with the experience. I could see by the tone and content of her messages that she was still the same outgoing, happy-go-lucky person I had known all those years ago, and I looked forward to her cheerful texts, which served as an antidote to so much of the moaning I heard around me every day, not just at work but through life circles in general.

I was happy to befriend anyone who had something positive to say about the world, and it was because of those endearing personality traits of Amanda's that I finally agreed to drive to Nottingham to visit her.

It had become a really bad habit of mine to provisionally agree to meet up with people only for it to not materialise. Amanda, I am ashamed to say, was no exception. I put it down to the fact that I had a very demanding job and such a huge friend circle, leaving me no time after work or on the weekends. Any free time there was, something would always come up. Quite why it did, I don't know. All I know is that I was burning the candle at both ends and not getting any time for myself. As a result, one day I became violently ill through food poisoning and that led me to leave my London lifestyle.

I was having lunch with friends at the studio and had just finished my meal when I suddenly felt nauseous. I knew it had to be the seafood element of the dish. None of my friends had had it, so they weren't affected, but I felt awful. The effect was immediate. My windpipe seemed to become constricted and I was very soon gasping for air, so I excused myself and went outside. After a few minutes, I felt ever so slightly better, and wanting to look professional, I walked back in with a smile on my face, shrugging off the incident as if nothing had happened. But it didn't go away completely, and during the afternoon, I had to keep stepping outside for some fresh air every ten minutes or so. My friend, Antonio, who I was working with at the time, became concerned and asked me if I was alright. Again, I shrugged it off, but it became so bad that I had to tell him I needed to go home. He understood and covered for me, while I went straight back to my parents' house, knowing that it was serious.

Strangely enough, I never heard of anyone else being affected, but I was very badly stricken. Taking a course of antibiotics, I recovered sufficiently to go back to work, but then I began to experience fever, violent bouts of sickness and cramps, to the point where I was keeled over and as a result suffered a lot of internal damage. From there, the illness morphed into other things, and while the doctors investigated, I was prescribed a series of different tablets to help me live with the symptoms, although they wouldn't cure me.

Looking back now, I can see how I was not adhering to Godly principles or diet, so it was inevitable I would become sick.

Leviticus 11:9-12 "These you may eat of all that are in the water: whatever in the water has fins and scales, whether in the seas or in the rivers - that you may eat. But all in the seas or in the rivers that do not have fins and scales, all that move in the water or any living thing which is in the water, they are an abomination to you. They shall be an abomination to you; you shall not eat their flesh, but you shall regard their carcasses as an abomination. Whatever in the water does not have fins or scales - that shall be an abomination to you."

Life became intolerable and I was forced to quit work and move out of London, back to my parents' home, and it was ten months after that that I felt I was in a fit enough state to be able to start stepping out again. However, if truth be told, physically I was in a worse position because I was under constant medical supervision while my doctor carried out his wide-ranging investigation. I spent two years in recovery, and even then, nobody could say I was cured. Physically, I felt shot, and mentally, it was a struggle because I was watching my world slip through my fingers right before my eyes, even though there were minimal signs of progress in the right direction, albeit painfully slow. The one thing that really kept me going was my new-found faith in God, and I know it was that belief which pulled me through and out of the lowest depths, during the time when I was convinced I was in a struggle for life.  
Throughout the darkest days of my illness, I was, of course, socially removed. Not being available for parties and other functions saw me either having to turn down or (inadvertently) ignore many invitations, and that in turn led to people, not unnaturally, concluding that I didn't want to be a part of their lives any more. It wasn't true, but I can see how it played out. As a result, many friends and acquaintances disappeared from my life, which was sad, but to be honest, I was too ill to get upset. However, throughout it all, a core group of close friends, as well as Amanda, supported me. She stayed in touch during the painful process of me quitting the job I loved, and thereafter, she messaged me constantly, enquiring as to my well being. Even when I wasn't up to answering, she'd send another text, always supportive and positive.

Her loyalty and encouragement made me want to go and see her that day, I suppose to say thank you for being a true friend, but regardless of that, I also had an overwhelming feeling that I should go. It had been coming to mind quite often, mainly after prayers. I just knew that God was encouraging me to visit her, and that it had to do with much more than spending a couple of hours eating biscuits and drinking tea, while we laughed about old times and caught up on each other's news.

On the morning I was due to go to Nottingham, I thought about the journey across country in a car for two hours, it was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn't feel great that morning, and I was paranoid about what might happen if I was taken ill on the way there or the way back. It might sound to you like I was making a mountain out of a molehill, but given my circumstances, even such a relatively straightforward and easy journey loomed in front of me like an impossible mission.

My mind ran through an arsenal of negative thoughts and dubious rationale, in its attempt to keep me at home and put it off for another year; I'd be in a better position physically and get so much more enjoyment out of the day, but the overwhelming feeling to go visit had become too intense to ignore any longer. In the end, I decided I had to go, even though I wasn't up to it. Besides I had been promising Amanda a visit ever since I'd moved home and to let her down at the last moment would not be cool.

A lot of my friends at the time didn't realise the extent of my illness. I think they saw me as someone who was pretty indestructible due to my social positioning and lifestyle, and consequently, they always expected me to be there, wherever 'there' happened to be. I'd had a large crew and various subgroups in my past that had been primarily occupied with the lighter side of life; entertainment and enjoyment, with not so much as a nod towards spirituality, but the fact of the matter is that we are all vulnerable to illness and even more so if we do not follow Godly principles or diet – of which I was guilty as charged.

2 Corinthians 4:4 "In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."

In fact, an old school friend who was in one of my social groups at the time, paid me a surprise visit at my parents' house while I was suffering in the throes of my sickness. He had started to wonder what was going on because I'd not only shut down my social media accounts, but I hardly ever looked at, let alone answered, my phone. Feeling he had no other options, he just showed up out of the blue. I still remember the look on his face when he saw me. I'd lost a great deal of weight and his jaw nearly hit the floor before he recovered his poise. He later confessed that he had come because the fact that I had declined invitations to so many parties had caused him to become worried.

I did have a third reason for going to see Amanda, and that was because my primary objective in life had become speaking about my new faith, ill or not. Anyone reading this who has not found God will probably not understand, but when you become a Christian, you feel a compulsive need to share the teachings and joy of the gospel to others in your life.

1 Peter 3:15 "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear."

I was up bright and early on the morning I went to Nottingham. Early? Yes, for me. It was six o'clock. Bright? Not so much, as you have read, and being winter, the weather didn't exactly fill me full of cheer either. After a certain amount of 'Shall I, Shan't I?' and 'Should I, Shouldn't I?' I finally decided to go, and spent some considerable time in prayer, asking for God's support throughout the journey. I consoled myself with the thought that as I was travelling by car, if at any time I felt I couldn't go on, I could turn around and go home, or if I found it all too much when I reached my destination, I could simply make my apologies and excuses, jump in the car and return. After all, not only was I free to do so, neither did I have the constraints of a public transport timetable to worry about.

My one big and tangible worry was the state of my car. I hadn't even turned over the motor, let alone driven it, for a fair few months, and it was a genuine concern that something might go wrong. I was naturally nervous about asking it to perform after so long on the sidelines. However, when it comes to routine maintenance and checking the obvious I complied, so I opened the bonnet and quickly ascertained that both the water and oil levels were okay. That was good enough for a start, and my next action was to drive to the nearest petrol station to add a few litres of fuel and pump up the tyres. As there were no strange noises emanating from under the bonnet, I could find no further reason to delay my departure, so off I went. As I drove along, I made a mental note to have the car serviced sometime during the next couple of weeks, although I knew that if I cared to check further down that list 'must have car serviced' would appear several times over. I suppose the reason I'd put it off was because I never used it and had been thinking about selling it so someone else could get some use from it.

I actually began to relax, enjoying the change of scenery and the fact that I was doing something different with my day. Then I remembered that the car had an intermittent wiper fault. That quickly brought the grey clouds in the distance scudding back into view. With a bit of luck, I wouldn't have to use them, but being winter in Britain, the weather could show up with anything and everything during the space of twenty-four hours, from sunshine through hail and heavy rain to snow and ice. The problem as I remembered it was that the wipers would start well enough, but then decide after just a few wipes that it was time for a rest before starting up again some thirty seconds or so later, if I was lucky. That random behaviour would then carry on for as long as the journey lasted. On a good day, they'd go for thirty minutes or more before taking their coffee break, but overall, they were somewhat reliable. On a bad day, they refused to work at all. A mechanic friend of mine had diagnosed the problem as being a fault with the wiper motor, which would need to be replaced, but just like the car service, it had been added to my list of things to do, only to be forgotten, until that particular day. I justified my inertia by remembering that I'd been working away at the time, and as I hadn't taken my car with me, there had been no rush, but no amount of post-rationalisation could hide the fact that I'd been careless to neglect such a basic necessity in a country like England, where it can rain for days on end.

Doubts as to the wisdom of my trip surfaced again. I was sick and I shouldn't have started out on such a foolhardy mission. What would happen if I suffered from another bout of sickness? Even though the major symptoms had been relegated to a back seat, I still felt physical pain and lived with the constant fear of the whole thing coming back onto the scene. I was also low on energy due to the fact that I wasn't eating much, so even driving; something that I used to love doing, seemed like a hard work chore.

To make matters worse, I also began to question my intentions. I was on my way to visit a really good friend who was eager to see me and hear about everything I'd been up to in my life since we'd last properly met several years ago, and all I was thinking about was the present, sharing God and my recent experiences. Even my old job, working on movies that starred celebrities and cost millions of dollars to produce, had shrivelled to an insignificant speck in my mind, as I had absolutely no interest in it whatsoever anymore.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

After what didn't seem long at all I had arrived on the outskirts of Nottingham. My first feeling was one of relief that I'd made it without any personal or mechanical problems, while my second thought was to wonder why I'd made such a fuss in the first place. The journey itself had been quite stress free (apart from my own internal wrangles), traffic had been light and the sun had put its bobble hat on and graced us with its presence, even though a few clouds had tried but failed to spoil the party. My return to Nottingham took me right back to my university days. I'd not been there since the graduation celebrations, so it was very pleasant to let my mind meander down memory lane, occasionally stopping to remember the fun and laughs I'd had with friends. As I did, the years just fell away, and I couldn't help but smile to myself.

Amanda had supplied me with very good directions, and it wasn't long before I found myself turning into a fairly modern and clean-looking housing estate. She actually lived in a small semi-detached house, which I located with ease, pulling up outside and turning the engine off before saying a prayer to thank God for my safe arrival and asking Him to grant me the wisdom and strength to make the next few hours all that they should be. Again, I had that sixth-sense feeling that I was there for something more.

With my prayer over, I took a deep breath and got out of the car, being careful to lock it before taking the short walk up the path, from the pavement to the front door. Another deep breath and a silent prayer, then some firm knocks on the door.

Either Amanda had seen me arrive, or she just happened to be in her hallway, I don't know (and for some reason, I never asked), but the door opened almost instantaneously. The look on her face was a picture to behold; a massive smile with joy radiating far and wide.

"Bav!" she exclaimed. "You're here." She stepped forward and gave me a big hug, which I returned. "Wow, it's been an age. I can't believe it." I smiled, also feeling happy I arrived. "Come in, please. You must be tired after your drive."

She gestured for me to walk ahead of her, and while she closed the door behind us, gently urged me to go on into the lounge, telling me which of the three door frames I should go through. Her house was small, but very clean, neat and tidy. My first impression was that she had made it into a very snug home, and I could feel the love and care that she put into it.

"This is a lovely place you have here," I said, as I looked around. "I'm really pleased for you."

"Thank you," she replied. "It isn't very big, but it suits me and it's easy to look after. Plus, it's very convenient for the shops and school."

She had not long since landed herself a new job at a local school and was clearly getting on in life.

"Anyway, don't just stand there, sit down." She indicated a very comfortable-looking sofa behind me, and I did as I was bid. As I tried to relax, she looked at me. "You poor thing, Bav," she said. "I can see now that you've been really ill... not that I ever doubted you... and you've lost such a lot of weight."

"I'm afraid so. It's just as well that you're looking at me square on, because if I stand up and turn sideways, you'll think I've disappeared."

We both laughed. There's nothing like a joke to break the ice.

"Right," she said. "You must be ready for something to eat and drink after your drive. What would you like? Tea? Coffee? Juice? I could open a bottle of wine, or I've got some beers in the fridge."

"I'm fine, thank you," I responded.

"Are you sure? I'm going to have something, so it's no trouble."

"No, thank you. I'm fine. Honestly. But please don't let that stop you."

"How about a glass of water?"

I couldn't help but smile. "Sure, go for it."

Because of my illness and the effect it had had on my eating and drinking habits, I had decided to make sure that upon reintroducing foods into my body, I'd learn as much as I could about what we are consuming as a race. I had been studying up on proven health practices as promoted by my church and reading various independent articles and reports, which highlighted dangerous foodstuff that humans had accepted into their lives as regular routine. Drug-injected meats, fruit and vegetables sprayed with harmful chemicals and toxic fluoride in our water, were just a few things which had really struck a chord with me due to the overwhelming science and testimonies, so I decided to integrate these practices into my life. Perhaps it was being a bit overcautious, but at the time my focus was on the detriment caused by mercury amalgams and fluoride. I was really disappointed at how we as a society had embraced these things and were readily ingesting ourselves with such poisons. As a result I had even stopped myself from drinking water from a tap, no matter how thirsty I was. Plus at the back of my mind, the paranoia reiterated that if I was to risk getting sick then I'd be better off in my own home, amidst all of my familiar effects, and where my bed was directly accessible. Furthermore, I didn't want to impose all the palaver that a recurrence of me feeling unwell would entail on anybody else.

Amanda looked concerned. "Would you like something to eat? A biscuit? A piece of cake?"

Once more I had to play the role of the party pooper and turn down her well-meant offerings.

"I can obviously see you don't eat very much," she said, "but I was hoping you'd stay for lunch. If you tell me what you do eat, I can prepare something later on."

"You're very kind," I replied. "I'm afraid my diet is rather limited to small plain portions of fruit, salads and soups, which I have twice a day."

I think I saw a touch of sadness in Amanda's eyes, so I tried to lighten the situation with a quip. "Besides, I have to watch my waistline." She responded with a laugh, but it was more out of politeness than anything else. She's a very sensitive and aware person, and I could tell that she was shocked by the appearance of the new me, even though she tried not to show it. I could immediately tell that she was feeling great empathy towards me, but I didn't want her wasting her time on something she could do nothing to improve, no matter how pure her intentions. It was my problem and the solution would only be found with the help of God via the skill of my doctor. It was bad enough that I was devastated by what had occurred to me, I'd lost a lot of opportunities in my life since the illness had taken hold, and I can tell you that spending my 30th birthday in bed with stomach cramps was a truly unforgettable experience and one I wouldn't wish upon anybody else in a million years.

The moment quickly passed.

"We have so much to catch up on," Amanda said. "You must tell me all about your film studio work. From what was posted a while back on social media, it all sounds so glamorous and exciting. Rubbing shoulders with the stars..."

"Not exactly rubbing shoulders," I replied. "Yes, the work was in a glamorous setting, but at the end of the day, it was just work. Same place every day, talking to the same faces. But you and all that travelling you did... that's what I call exciting and glamorous, and now you're teaching every day. It must be so rewarding seeing the progress of the next generation and knowing that you're really making a difference to the future of society. All those impressionable young minds eager to take on new knowledge and looking to you to help them. It's amazing!"

"They're not all like that," Amanda stated, "I can assure you. But, yes, it is rewarding when you see how far they've come over the period of a school year."

"Tell you what," I said. "Why don't we take turns? You go first and tell me all about what you've been doing, and I'll talk about me after."

"Well, if you're sure."

"I am. Anyway, I'm the guest and it would be rude to refuse me."

That made Amanda laugh again. The truth was that, as I mentioned earlier, my old film studio life, while being great fun at the time, as well as being financially rewarding, held absolutely nothing for the new me, and I didn't want to talk about something in which I was no longer interested in; I didn't even watch movies anymore. Laced with ideas that influence the mind negatively, even the minor details of a movie have been tailored to destroy you. In fact I was once at a meeting with a famous writer who had been asked to pen the adaptation of a famous novel into a screenplay. That person confirmed that the script that they wrote was completely different from that which was acted out on the screen, but they still got credited for it. Satan's time is short, therefore releasing movies and TV shows which are aimless would be absolutely pointless to his cause. Instead camera angles, lighting, words and phrases used, have all been analysed and conveniently placed into the project.

No, it's fair to say that talking about films and stars were not appealing to me anymore, especially when I had so much new stuff to tell her about my journey into Christianity. However, I was aware that not everyone would share my enthusiasm, so I resolved to bite my lip as far as that was concerned for the time being and play the polite guest by talking about the things she wanted to hear about.

Amanda had always been interested in different cultures and the way in which other people lived, and for as long as I had known her, her burning ambition in life had been to experience as many different countries and cities as she could. She's a very go-ahead person, and when she puts her mind to something, there's literally no stopping her. As a result of her commitment, she had managed to see a fair amount of the world, certainly more than most people and definitely more than I'd ever seen, even though I had travelled a lot. Whenever she landed in a new place, she didn't waste time by hanging around on beaches and in restaurants like tourists do (not that I'm saying those activities are a waste of time for people on holiday) and would thoroughly explore wherever it was that she found herself. That might have involved the occasional pool, beach or restaurant, but they were never the primary focus of her visits. She was a traveller, not a tourist. She had no qualms about trying to communicate with the local people, even if she didn't speak their language, and being the resourceful type of person that she is, she enriched her experiences by doing so because they were always more than happy to show her things and places that were off the beaten track and which the average tourist would never even know existed. I really admired her ability to do that, and looking around her lounge, there were signs of places she had been to – photos, ornaments and other pieces.

I, on the other hand, had at some point switched to the opposite end of the scale. I now wore my tourist t-shirt with pride, although after listening to Amanda, it was tinged with a little shame, as my travel plans over the years had changed and consisted of visiting the party capitals of Europe and spending most of my time either sitting on a beach or hitting the bars and clubs until my two weeks were up. Amanda's stories were far more wholesome than mine, and had a content and depth that I could only reminisce at. She really showed me how shallow my approach to travel was and how I should have been embracing this world.

She started on her trip to Thailand. "I went there for six weeks, made a base and travelled the length and breadth of the country". Starting from her first day, she told me about her many and varied experiences, each one of them positive and happy. She bonded with the local Thais so well that many of them invited her back to their homes for dinner and conversation, if they could speak sufficient English. Being Amanda, she picked up some Thai, the native language, but really not much more than that which was useful to be polite, make greetings and order food and drink in a shop or bar. But the Thais loved her for it, and she was befriended by many who would assist her on her journey by telling her such things as which routes were safe and which were not. Amanda certainly took advantage of her long summer school holiday, and given the hard work I know that she and others put in between terms, I don't begrudge her and them not one little bit. In fact, teaching is one of the professions I considered in my younger days because not only does it seem to be the ultimate job with regard to satisfaction and fulfilment, but you do get a good slice of time off every year when you can go away and really indulge yourself with no rush to get back to work.

As the conversation continued and she touched upon more and more adventures, I got the feeling that her break-up with my friend was still something of a sore point. She said that going away on such journeys always gave her an opportunity to get away from the stress of her everyday life, referencing on more than one occasion the pressures that had been building between her and my friend just before they finally parted ways.

"Okay," she said, breaking the moment, "I don't know about you, but I could do with another drink. Are you quite sure I can't get you anything else?"

Feeling quite chilled out, I relaxed further into the back of the sofa. "No thank you, Amanda. But really appreciate the offer."

She got up and smiled. "I'll just be a few minutes."

As she bustled around in the kitchen, I sipped some water and sat back. I felt good. I was safe and comfortable away from home and in the company of someone I'd been meaning to catch up with. Could this scenario get any better? I reclined a little further, all the while taking care not to appear too slobbish, and felt myself unwind a little more. Feeling more at ease and much calmer than I had done for a while, I thought about how far I'd come; not in terms of mileage, but in terms of achievement. It had been some considerable time since I'd ventured outside my own four walls and sitting within someone else's, two hours from safety, made me realise just what I had accomplished. I felt a wave of confidence wash over me.

As I looked about the homely room, with all the mementoes that marked it out as Amanda's and gave it the unmistakable stamp of her personality, my eyes landed on the clock. Was that the time? I was surprised at how fast the day was going. It was in that moment that I realised why the Lord had wanted me to visit her. I very much had the impression that Amanda valued me as a friend, and a good one at that, regardless of what had happened between her and my friend, and that she accepted me for who I was, not who I associated with. I felt that she classed me as part of her inner circle, and that made me glad that I'd overcome all my objections and made the effort to come.

My thoughts were interrupted by Amanda returning with a mug of tea and a biscuit. "You can have one if you want," she said.

I smiled. "Cheers."

She resumed her position in the armchair opposite me. "Right, we've spoken about me long enough, now it's time for you to tell me about you."

I chuckled.

"I want to hear all about how you got into the film world and what it was like."

I stretched my body once more, gathering my thoughts to talk about a subject that's long since been banished to the recesses of my mind.

"Well, as you know, I was doing a degree in business studies, but my interest in it waned as the boredom factor grew, leading me to throw in the towel and drop out during my second year."

Amanda supped her mug of tea and nodded. I wasn't telling her anything she didn't already know. I set the scene so everything built methodically and followed on logically from the previous point.

"As you no doubt remember, at first, I stayed here in Nottingham while I got everything together and put in some serious thought about what I wanted to do with my life and where I wanted to go. I suppose, if I'm honest, I was also putting off the moment when I'd have to inform my dad that his son had turned out to be a major disappointment to him because I could have gone more or less anywhere to sort myself out. Also, the other plus factor about being here in Nottingham was that it was where my social circle was. I liked the people and found it kind of premature just to cut the cord. Whatever, I had a lot of thinking to do. Having blown one big opportunity, I had to be certain that my next step was the correct one because my fear of not wanting to let my dad down was matched only by the fear of not wanting to spend the rest of my life doing something I didn't want to do."

Amanda was listening closely, sipping at her tea. "That's why I feel so lucky," she said. "I'm doing a job I love and one that has great career prospects."

"To say nothing of the never-ending holidays," I joked.

"We teachers work hard," she responded with feigned annoyance. "There's a lot of prep to be done every evening and during the hols. It isn't all wine and dine."

I smiled. "But you wouldn't rather be doing anything else, though, would you?"

"No, I wouldn't."

"Exactly," I replied. "That's just the point I was making. I needed to be sure that whatever I did after dropping out was right for me, so that I would not only stay the course, but also want to. After a lot of deep thinking, I decided the best place to start was by going home and fronting up to my folks, making sure I stopped off to buy a flak jacket on the way." Amanda smiled.

"I must admit that I felt very apprehensive, but surprisingly, both my parents were very supportive. Of course, they insisted on talking everything over, but that was more for my benefit to see if there was any part of me that regretted the decision and wanted to go back. It soon became clear that there wasn't and that my heart was definitely no longer in it, and so with no stone left unturned, they more or less left it at that, although my dad did say that I should get some kind of job while I was deciding on my next move. That wasn't a problem because I was running short of cash and was only too happy to oblige and see my bank balance topped up."

"That was the only negative about being a student," Amanda said. "The lack of cash. Now I have a steady income, it's just so good to be able to buy what I want and not have to worry about being able to afford to eat out on the weekend."

"I couldn't agree more," I replied. "But we managed. Although looking back, I sometimes wonder how."

"Me, too. I suppose our expectations change with our new-found wealth and what was acceptable then, now ceases to be."

"I guess you're right. Budgeting's okay if you don't really have to do it," I said. "Before I went to University, I always had some kind of job or other, so I was used to having spare cash to spend on clothes and going away. University budgeting came as quite a shock to the system, so I was glad to at least be able to get back to some semblance of financial normality."

"What did you do?"

"Nothing very enterprising or exciting I'm afraid. I became an office drone for a large insurance company. And that is an experience I hope I never have to repeat. It was regular work with a steady pay check at the end of each month, which is what I suppose got me into staying, because I was completely bored out of my brains within a few weeks, but just fell into the old rat-race trap and went with the tide. Before I realised it, two years had gone by and I was no further on with my life. What a waste! I hadn't chucked in University for a lifetime of office drudgery. That was when I woke up and decided that something had to be done. The question was 'what?'"

I paused to consider how I was going to tell the next bit because it had been a while since I had even thought about it, let alone voiced it.

"Go on," Amanda urged. "Don't leave me in suspense. You're just getting to the good bit."

"That's one way of putting it," I said, giving her a smile, "but I suppose how I got into movies is quite a strange story. It all started when I decided to attend a short filmmaking course to update my knowledge of making films and to get my creative thought process flowing once more. It was very much a corrective to my daytime slog at the insurance treadmill. I don't know if I ever told you, but when I was a young lad, my friends and I used to make short films with our parents' VHS camera. We used to go out with other friends and film us doing all sorts of daft things... just mucking about, like kids do. I became very interested but as it happens, life and school stuff got in the way. Anyway, when I received an email with this filmmaking course advertised, I just went for it. Home moviemaking has moved on apace since the days of bulky VHS tapes... to think they were state of the art... and the digital era has really changed the landscape, so I saw the course as an opportunity to resurrect an old hobby, especially as I could now afford to buy myself a reasonable digital kit. I could reacquaint myself with the basics and upgrade my knowledge and skills. The very thought of it gave me quite a boost, so I guess I must have been missing it more than I realised. In fact, I never even consciously thought about it, and then out of the blue, an advert caught my attention."

Amanda nodded in agreement, but didn't say anything, so I continued.

"Anyway, an old school friend, who lived a few streets away and who I hadn't seen in a while, somehow found out that I was doing this course and asked me if I'd like to go to London with him to meet a couple of his friends who were running a company within a movie studio. As you might imagine, that piqued my interest and imagination, so I said that I'd love to, and he fixed it all up.

I had a fabulous day out and we all got on really well, and then just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, they offered me a job."

"Wow! That's incredible."

"I know. If I hadn't been there myself, I wouldn't have believed it."

"Did you accept, there and then?"

"Well, to be honest, I was a little reluctant because it meant relocating to London and I like living close to my family. I'd missed them quite a bit when I was at University and wasn't totally convinced I wanted to go through all that again. But when they said that my first job would be working on a major motion picture, my head was definitely turned. I'm not denying that there was a bit of stardust in my eyes, but the biggest factor was that it made me realise the potential of the opportunity I was being offered. From then on, it was a no-brainer."

"Some guys get all the luck, eh?"

I shrugged. "Perhaps, I just think it shows that you never know what's around the corner and you should never get too comfortable."

"So what was it like?"

The experience was now nothing more than a few embers at the back of my mind, so I found it hard to display any of the enthusiasm or joy that I had once felt.

"Oh, it was lots of fun," I said. "I met some lovely people and experienced a lot of things that I wouldn't have, doing what one might call a regular job. The amount of money that gets thrown at those things really is something amazing. It's a well-oiled machine that's for sure."

I was deliberately light on detail and heavy on generalities. Amanda's a smart woman, so she may well have picked up on my reluctance to be over expansive, but she's also very sensitive to the feelings of others, so she didn't pry or ask any awkward or delving questions. I felt a bit of a heel because I knew she was excited for me and wanted more of a "glamour" tale, but for me, the past is a different place that I have no wish to revisit, so I just stuck to basics.

"Do you miss it at all?" she asked.

That was my cue to launch into my new life and tell her all about my conversion to Christianity and how it had changed the focus of my life, it brought me a peace of mind and purpose that I had never experienced before, but instead, I concluded with, "Not at all. Yes, it was all very stimulating and I suppose glitzy at the time with all its associations, but that was then. Since becoming sick, I've realised that it probably wasn't the best thing for me in the long run. Besides, my focus in life has completely changed since then, so I just look back at it as a chapter in my book of life that is now closed. To be perfectly honest with you, Amanda, I never even think about it. Today is the first time since... I can't remember when... that I've talked to anyone at length about it. For me, it's gone. I'm now in a place where I need to be doing something else."

All the while I was saying that, I was wondering if I should start speaking about my true experience involving God, how He had appeared to me and completely changed my life around. After all, hadn't Amanda just given me the green light? Okay, it was not deliberate or intentional, but it had happened, so perhaps it had happened for a reason. But I held back. I don't know what it was exactly, but the circumstances just didn't seem to be right. It wasn't the appropriate time or place. My situation had changed dramatically from when I had first known her. My habits and lifestyle were now totally different, and people don't always react that well to change at the best of times, let alone when it has to do with religion and someone's conversion to Christianity. I didn't want to upset Amanda by blurting out what was on my mind on our first get together in years, so I quietly shelved the idea and decided that that day would just be the first of many such social occasions.

Isaiah 43:10 "Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me."

My catch-up tale took quite a while to relate, and by the time I'd finished, Amanda suggested that another cup of tea might be in order, at least for her, as I once more had to decline her hospitality. While she popped back out to the kitchen to boil the kettle, I thought it was as good a time as any to phone home and tell my mum that I was okay, because since I'd moved back home, my illness had worried her immensely and she now worried about me ten times more than she ever did when I was away. She cried a lot about it, and I felt it was the least I could do to put her troubled mind at rest for a few hours and at the same time show her some respect, acknowledging that I was aware of her feelings and grateful for everything she did for me. As it was, she'd been anxious and worried before I set out for Nottingham that morning, but hadn't tried to interfere or hold me back, understanding why I had felt the need to go, even though I'd been confined to my bed the previous day.

She was pleased to hear from me, and we had a brief chat, during which she asked me to say 'hi' to Amanda and reminded me that as it got dark early and the weather was unpredictable, I should be sure not to leave it until too late before beginning my homeward journey. I told her I'd make sure that I was on the road by four o'clock and for her not to worry. If I had any problems, I'd call.

I'd just ended the call when Amanda came back into the room, this time laden with a tray. "I know you said earlier that you didn't want anything, but I've got you a plate of assorted biscuits, including a few plain ones."

"That's very kind and sweet of you," I said. "Thank you. I've just been talking to my mother. She said 'hi'."

Amanda put the tray down on to the coffee table. "That's nice. Say 'hi' back to her from me when you see her tonight. By the way, how is she?"

"Very well, thank you."

Taking a couple of biscuits, Amanda sat back down on her chair, putting her feet up under her as she sipped her tea. "You said that your life focus had changed since leaving the film job. Do I get the impression it's a relationship of some kind?" She smiled encouragingly. "Care to share?"

There she was again, giving me a cue, albeit unwittingly. What she had said was actually correct, although she obviously thought it was a female partner.

I hesitated. How should I play it? She'd now given me two solid prompts. Perhaps that was a message that the time was right after all. I hesitated slightly before replying.

"Well... it is kind of..." I said, making a decision to go with the flow and live with whatever direction the conversation decided to take.

"Go on, then. Who's the lucky lady? Though I don't suppose I'll know her."

But my nerve failed me. I just didn't think that the time was suitable to talk about my new faith and God. I had heard about experiences with the way some people react to Christ when it's spread on too thickly, and understandably much of it hadn't been particularly complimentary. I knew Amanda wouldn't react like that, but I was concerned about how I presented my new beliefs to her. She was, after all, an old and valued friend that I'd not seen in a long time. I think that deep down I knew that if I said anything at all about it, she would want to know everything then and there, down to the last detail, including my conversion and how God had blessed me with some really wonderful and unbelievable testimonies. It would have been too much too soon, there's just a right way to approach these things and ultimately I thought it would be best to let God create the perfect situation, so I was happy to wait.

"It's your turn to take the floor," I said. "You tell me about your relationship status and I'll tell you about mine after. I'm sure that now you've got university out of your system, you're on a professional career trajectory and with you buying this fantastic little home, you must be thinking about someone to share it all with."

It was a pretty weak gambit but it worked, shifting attention away from me and fairly and squarely back on to her.

Amanda shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure about that at the moment. I'm just taking things as they come and enjoying myself. Probably in the long term, though. We'll just have to see what life brings. I'll admit that it is nice to have someone who's a little bit special in your life, but at the moment, there isn't anybody. I've been on a few dates, but nothing's come of them. The problem is finding a person who has the same interests and outlook on life that I do. So many men I meet seem to think they like to travel and experience cultural things in life but when it comes to it they don't really want to go anywhere other than the local pub, which, as you know, doesn't fit my frame at all. Yeah, sure I like to do the bars, but it's all about finding the right balance and any long-term partner will have to feel the same way. The big question is: Does that sort of man still exist?"

Her voice took on a wistful tone, and the undoubted sorrow that she felt, because of the situation, saddened me. Amanda's a lovely person; intelligent, hard working, thoughtful, caring, generous in both spirit and nature, with a fantastic personality and gentle sense of humour; who likes to live a moral, upstanding life, yet the world keeps presenting her with a stream of potential partners who don't value who she is or what she does and who are not after anything long term. I felt it my duty as a friend to say something cheerful and positive.

"Of course, they do, Amanda. I'm quite sure there's a young man sitting alone somewhere, not too far away, thinking exactly the same as you, with his passport in his hand and his suitcase at the ready. If you keep looking, you'll find him, and he you."

Amanda smiled. "I know you're right, but the wait can get so frustrating. It's incredibly disappointing to go out with someone and find the evening's just a washout. All that anticipation and expectation for nothing. Still, I mustn't complain. At least guys do ask me out."

"That's more like it."

"There was one guy who stands out, though. I met up with him while I was in Thailand. It was during my first week there. His English wasn't great but better than my Thai, although in spite of that, we got on very well. We'd actually first met during a previous trip, and although communication had been a problem, we found that with a mixture of sign language and facial expressions we started to understand each other. It was pretty cool... just like playing charades."

I pictured the scene in my mind and laughed.

"He took me to some incredible places and helped me explore sites I would never have known existed without his local knowledge. Without him, my trip would have been so much less than it turned out to be. I really liked him, and I think he felt the same way about me, but I couldn't stay there forever and he didn't want to come to the UK, even though I asked him."

She paused for a couple of seconds, taking a sip of tea, while her mind momentarily flittered across what might have been.

"It was very sad when the time came for me to leave. There were lots of hugs and tears, but we had to accept the fact that we were from two very different cultures, and that neither one of us would be entirely happy living in the other's one hundred per cent of the time. I can't in all honesty say that I blame him for his decision because his backyard was like a paradise and he had no real reason to leave. Also, of course, all his friends and family were there and they'd probably not be able to afford to visit him in the UK."

"A bittersweet tale indeed."

She went on to tell me about other suitors that had been presented to her since she had had returned. A couple of "prospects" had come about via work colleagues and friends, who saw it as their "duty" to help her along the road to true love and happiness, but nothing had come of them.

"Believe me, Bav," she said, "guys out there these days are very weird. I'm sure they didn't use to be, but it seems to me, based on my admittedly limited experience, that this culture we live in, where everybody is expected to have someone in their life, seems to make people act very desperately and in the craziest of ways. I've got this one friend who's got herself into such a really strange situation that I just want to grab hold of her and give her a good shake."

Her last comment intrigued me. Amanda is a gentle person, so the very idea of her shaking anyone, even metaphorically, was unheard of. "Go on," I said.

"Well, she desperately wanted to be in a relationship... don't ask me why... and had been trying to find someone for ages... without much success... and finally came up with a plan... to go speed dating." Amanda paused and gave me a wide-eyed look of despair. "Okay, perhaps I shouldn't judge something just because it isn't the type of thing I'd do, but I think it gives you an idea of how desperate she'd become."

At the time, speed dating wasn't really a mainstream method that it is today and there was a perception about it being a desperate thing to do, goodness knows what our old selves would think of today's dating techniques.

"Her first evening was quite successful; she met a guy and started dating. I was pleased for her, and she invited me out for coffee so I could meet him and tell her what I thought. Why she sought my approval, I have no idea and I didn't ask, but I was quite flattered and went along, expecting the worst. However, I was very pleasantly surprised. He was an alright, normal guy. He looked fine, dressed okay and seemed comfortable when it came to socialising. We all had a chat and, not wishing to be the third wheel; I said my goodbyes and left them to their own devices, feeling that she had really landed on her feet."

"Everything between them swung along very nicely for a few months, and I could see she was developing some strong feelings for the guy. She believed she had found her match and wanted the relationship to work, and I could see she was putting in a lot of effort. I was very happy for her. It was then that things started to go a little strange."

"What happened?"

"He told her that he was a member of a New Age group and she was upset that he'd kept it from her all that time."

My ears immediately pricked up. I hadn't been expecting that, especially off the back of an everyday conversation. I could hear the alarm bells going off in my head in much the same way a fire siren wails when there is a conflagration and danger afoot. Since Christ had first come into my life a year previously, I had spent my time learning about The Great Controversy, and here was a manifestation of it being presented to me as surely as night follows day.

Many of you reading this will be familiar with The Great Controversy, but for those of you who are not, let me briefly explain what it is.

Basically, humanity is involved in a battle between Christ and Satan over God's character, His law and His sovereignty over the Universe. It all began in heaven when a created entity furnished with the gift of free choice became God's enemy and stoked a rebellion using some of the angels. That created entity was Lucifer. He jealously accused God of being unfair and has introduced his spirit of rebellion into the world, starting with Adam and Eve. Since that time, the rebellion has grown, leading to a distortion of God's image and disorder and chaos all over the world, as we can see today. The world has become the arena for the conflict that Lucifer initiated. It is a war of Good versus Evil, and Satan will use whatever trick he can, no matter how low and underhand, to undermine God's Word and Law. Good and love will ultimately win out, but in the meantime, Satan lurks in the most unlikely of places, tempting people to turn against the Lord. But it is not a fair fight. On one hand, there is God, whose hands are tied due to the choices our ancestors have made –

Genesis 3:6 "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."

\- And on the other, there is Satan, who mixes up both truth and deception and will stop at nothing to get people to join him in damnation.

1 Peter 5:8 "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour"

New Age movements are just one deception in Satan's pool of many. Even though I still had to hear all about this particular movement, I had a pretty shrewd idea of what was coming next.

I motioned for Amanda to continue.

"My friend was very wary about it at first, but given the way she felt about this guy, she wanted to show some interest in the things he liked and so tagged along with him when he went to a New Age seminar that talked about the movement and its practices. Her initial thought had been to just go along to humour her boyfriend... to keep the peace, so to speak, however, while the speakers were lecturing, she couldn't help but listen to what was being said, and she started to take an interest."

I could see Satan's subtle hand at work, but said nothing, allowing Amanda to go on with her tale.

"She told me after that she had found it all rather farfetched and spooky, but felt strangely drawn in, almost against her will. I told her it was probably best to walk away and leave it alone, but she began to get more and more involved. She and her guy started going away to different events, and whenever she spoke to me after, I could tell that she was really getting into it, embracing the philosophy and so forth. I felt she was changing a lot. She has been trying to get me to go along to a meeting with her. Apparently, the founders of the movement were coming over to give a talk, and it was to be a very special occasion, but I declined. Since then, she has got in even deeper, and to be perfectly frank with you, Bav, I'm very worried about her."

So was I. It was a typical pattern. "Do you know what they believe in?" I asked. Coming from a family background of idol and spirit worship I had seen some unusual things in my life, so I thought nothing could faze me.

"Yes, because she's told me quite a lot about it. It all sounds really weird and off the wall to me. Anyway, they believe there is an angelic entity called Kryon, which is currently somewhere in outer space, on the other side of the moon. They say it wants to make contact with humans, but is worried we will reject its message, so Kryon and the sub-angels in its group have set up this movement that my friend has been enticed into, with the task of spiritually awakening the world by gaining many members and preparing people for their arrival in the near future".

I was now on the edge of my seat, both literally and figuratively speaking.

"And so how do the members make contact with this Kryon?"

"According to my friend, that's the whole purpose of these seminars. They basically teach people how to channel into them. They say that by clearing your mind you can tune into their frequency and they can speak to you clearly. She herself has been given messages by these angels and they have instructed her to do many things."

I'd heard a lot about "clearing of the mind". Back in the creative world, within the film industry, people were actively encouraged to clear their minds in order to present a blank canvas, so that they could pull out greater performances and/or allow a higher power to take over for communication. You also hear about athletes doing similar, but having spent the last couple of years studying and learning about Jesus and what He wants from us, I knew full well that clearing of the mind was not on the list and was actually seen as dangerous.

This was getting worse by the minute, but I let Amanda continue. I wanted to hear it all.

"There's a channel called the Abrahamic Channel, which is what people connect to, and they speak to the angels through that. She says that the voices are implanted into the mind and are crystal clear. It's really strange, yet somehow has a certain allure. They also believe in the whole reincarnation thing and say that Kryon and its followers are members of the family that is the Archangel Michael."

Abraham? Michael? Did I hear her correctly? The mentioning of those two names knocked me back a little. Things were definitely not looking good. When I became a Christian, I did things in a rather round about manner. Instead of going in through the front door, as it were, and learning all about the Cross and Jesus, I was, because of my experiences in life, taught all about the warnings and deceptions that I should be aware of, and there I was on that winter's afternoon in Nottingham being presented with all those warnings and deceptions in my friend's story.

It started to dawn on me then just why I had had such an overpowering desire to visit her other than for a simple yet pleasant catch-up chat. I'd been sent to warn her and her friend about the situation they found themselves in. Satan already had his grip well and truly on her friend, but Amanda was still unscathed. I had to drag her further away from it, and somehow get the message across to her friend that she was messing with the dark forces. It's never too late, and by my wanting to come and talk to Amanda and share information about Christ, I had arrived just as Satan was trying to mess with her heart and soul. It was without any doubt the signal for me to stop being so hesitant and to stop hiding my light under a bushel.

Amanda's revelations left me feeling dumbstruck, and I didn't know how to react or what to say. I was also feeling annoyed and sad that so many Christian truths had been diluted within a sea of lies. For example, the way that group used the moniker of Abraham to name their channel and then compound the whole thing by invoking the name of the Archangel Michael to set up a smokescreen of religious elements.

One thing I did know was that my burden was heavy. Where on earth was I to even begin with it all? All of a sudden, it just happened. I knew exactly what I had to say while recognising the need to tread carefully, because at the end of the day, where was the proof that any of what I was going to say was the truth. It's all too easy to think that just because you've had an experience with the Lord, everyone else will immediately see the light and jump aboard onto your way of thinking. I had laid everything on the line and sought the truth earnestly, which is why what happened to me happened, but I had to remember that not everyone was at that same place in their life. I knew there was a lot of talking to be done. In the moment, I secretly prayed. It was my only weapon in the fight in which I unexpectedly found myself.

I decided that the best thing to do would be to start telling Amanda what I had experienced and hope that I would receive some divine guidance to enable the words of my Saviour to flow from my mouth.

It was now or never. "Amanda," I said, looking and feeling serious, "I have something I must share with you."

At that moment, she looked nonplussed at the change of tone in my voice and the fact that I had in a sense cut across what she'd been saying, without ascertaining, in a socially conversational way whether or not she had finished.

"You really must get your friend out of there," I said. "I'm not kidding about. It's imperative. She's in great danger."

Amanda's lower jaw dropped slightly, in response to my bald statement. The sudden turn of events in what had been to her a fairly innocuous conversation, clearly had their effect. "What do you mean? What's this all about, Bav?"

"As I said, your friend is not in a very good place. She is putting herself in the way of evil. You have to stop her."

"But I don't understand."

"Okay, I'll explain. What your friend sees as a bit of harmless and interesting fun is actually incredibly dangerous. I'm already very worried about her, because from what you've told me, she's already been pulled a good way into it. The group at its core is Satanic, whether they see that or not, it's a deception. It is Satan at work, doing his best to steal innocent people."

Those last few words really hit home. I could see Amanda's posture change as she sat up to take notice. The room also underwent a definite mood change.

"Whilst working on the film sets," I continued, "I spent much of my time deep in prayer, awaiting answers from God."

That one sentence acted like a bolt from the blue. It confirmed to Amanda that I had changed, like I said I had, and hinted very strongly at what I had meant when I had told her earlier, that I was now in a place where I needed to do something else. Her attention was total.

"I had become somewhat disillusioned with life and wanted something a little more. The prayers and seeking continued, even after I had returned to my parent's house. I was distraught with being sick and leading a life with no sense of spiritual fulfilment, so had ramped up my effort. In my darkest hours by myself, I pondered upon how short and fragile life really was with the distractions laid out for us from birth, ultimately the clock on Earth was just ticking on by, and I wasn't content with just passing through. The question was simple; if God is real then He can hear me, so I asked. I wanted to prove I was genuine, so I asked earnestly and wholeheartedly and pleaded and begged with God to show me. He heard me Amanda."

Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened."

I then proceeded to tell Amanda how God had appeared in my life and how through a series of events He had shown me the way forward and fulfilled my desires by bringing closure to all my questions. I detailed all my experiences, highlighting how God had finally shown me the group of people who He saw as His true followers - the Seventh-day Adventists.

Revelation 12:17 "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

"You may find it strange," I said, "but despite suffering from this illness, my life has become wonderful and deeply joyous for the first time ever. It's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't gone through what I have, but I now possess knowledge that makes me feel so much more complete and whole than I could ever be with any material objects that I could ever be given in life. It's like I've been handed the key of the door. I now realise that material goods are no more than objects to gratify a passing whim, while the knowledge God has bestowed upon me is a tangible gift that has filled my heart and soul, and never leaves me wanting for anything else. I don't know if you can understand that."

It was meant to be a rhetorical question, and so it proved. I was laying a whole lot of new stuff about me on Amanda in a very short space of time, and she hadn't been prepared for any of it. She had a lot to compute and come to terms with.

As the words poured out of my mouth, it came upon me that I was reaffirming my standing and faith. I became so energised by it that I went on to tell Amanda that through Adventism I was learning so much about life. I told her how supportive and very kind my new church had been to me, and how I wondered how my old religious community would have coped with me in my ill state. There, everything had been very secretive, and any requirement of support had been seen as a sign of weakness and something that is dealt with by you and your family only.

"I don't miss being a part of it at all," I said. "The Adventists have their own philosophy which makes much more sense to me. For example, they place a lot of focus on good diet and lifestyle." I then quoted her some statistics that highlighted the fact that Adventists, on the whole, were blessed with brilliant health enjoyed by anybody in the world. "The National Geographic recently released an article with a list of the longest living and most healthy people on the planet, which are regularly reviewed. While there are always some new ones added and some old ones removed, the one group that always remains on the list is the Adventists. What's so great is that anyone can join the church, irrespective of their colour, creed or geographical location, and gain this health benefit, whereas it can be difficult to join any of the others on the list, as they are all centred in different parts of the world and often carry a certain lineage or heritage. When you stop and think about it, it's only logical that God would want his people to live a long and healthy life, so the Adventists are the perfect choice."

I'd been speaking about my experiences for what seemed an absolute age. Amanda had been listening intently, never interrupting and just allowing me to talk, and I contemplated taking a breather and giving it all a chance to sink in over another cup of tea, but I felt that as it was all appearing to be well received, and I had one more topic I wanted to mention – the Sabbath – I just carried on.

I kept it light and didn't delve too much into the hows, the whys and the wherefores, just speaking briefly about Saturday being the true day of worship for God.

Genesis 2:2-3 "And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."

I pointed out to Amanda that it was clearly written in the Bible and that there could and should be no argument. "But," I continued, "something had happened which made the world start worshipping on a Sunday instead, and that continues, even though biblical scholars belonging to Sunday-worshipping churches have confirmed that Saturday is the true day of worship. For me, admittedly somewhat of a new member arriving late from the outside world, albeit with a divine lead, it's always been obvious that Saturday was the day of the Sabbath, and having read and heard a lot of the discussion surrounding the debate, I can't seem to see why some people have found it difficult to grasp and get their heads around it. The waters have become muddied, and tradition and convenience also seem to play a large part in the way they think."

That was just about me finished. I hoped I hadn't overdone it, but I had seized the moment and spoken out like I believe I was meant to, thereby legitimising my visit. As I sat back on the sofa looking on, Amanda's expression, which had been serious throughout, changed in an instant, her face lit up with a huge smile. She looked just like someone who was really happy that I had found a joy in my life. And that was good for me because I knew that she was still my friend and would not judge me as so many had before and still do.

In my head, I thanked God for the words. I thought that once again Jesus Christ had proved himself to be relied upon. He is the most famous man from the dawn of time. Was the truth of life such a mysterious conundrum? I could see in Amanda's eager face that she had a thousand and one questions she wanted to ask, and as luck would have it, she started with the very one I hoped she wouldn't.

"But why Saturday? You say it's strange that most Christians worship on a Sunday, but I've never heard of Saturday being the day of worship. Can you tell me more about..." Her face went blank, just as if she'd gone out and suddenly remembered she'd forgotten to turn the iron off. Then she surprised and startled me by shouting, "OH... MY... GOD!" Questions flashed through my mind. Where had that come from? What was it about? What was happening?

Then she started shaking with fear.

I was sitting bolt upright by then. "What's up? Are you okay? Can I get you anything?" I asked, ready to make a dash for the kitchen or telephone the emergency services.

But she just sat there repeating over and over. "Oh. My. Goodness." Then she leapt out of her chair and started pacing around the room, still muttering those three words. To say I was worried and concerned would be an understatement, but I had no idea what was going on with her or what I should do.

"Amanda" I said, taking a firmer tone "What's the matter? Talk to me. I can help."

She stopped pacing and turned to face me, a semi-wild look in her eyes. "Something's just happened and I can't believe it! I really can't believe it!" Then she continued pacing.

She was still making no sense at all, so I went over to her, placed my hands gently on her shoulders and got her to stand still and calm down. She was shaking more than I had realised, so I sat her back down on her chair, giving her time to recover, but never moving more than a few paces away. I was worried that my revelations and information about the Sabbath, The Great Controversy and Christ might have been too much too soon and produced some kind of overload, but reasoned that this was Amanda. If anyone could take it, she could. Besides, hadn't she just told me all about her friend's involvement with an angelic alien called Kryon? If she could handle that, she could certainly handle what I'd told her. No, there had to be something else.

With my initial fears allayed, I tried talking to her again. "Amanda, you have to tell me what's going on. If you don't, I can't help you." That was quite heavy, so I tinged it with a lighter comment. "What's more, you're freaking me out."

She picked up her cold mug of tea and took a shaky sip. Then, she began to talk. I edged my way back to the sofa, giving her some space, but never taking my eyes off her for a second.

"Last weekend, my sister Jenny visited. I hadn't seen her since leaving for Thailand, so I was really looking forward to seeing her."

It was currently Tuesday, two days later.

"She particularly wanted to visit me on the Sunday and we'd planned it weeks in advance because there was a big fair taking place at a nearby country park, not far from here. It's an annual event, and in spite of living here for years, I've never heard of it. Anyway, I thought, why not? It would be a good opportunity to check out new things, and it would be nice to have Jenny's company at the same time. It should be a good, fun day out, or so I thought."

She paused for another sip. I was eager for her to continue, as I wanted to know where the story was going. She was still spooked.

"Jenny's into crystals, glass pyramids and dream catchers... you know the sort of thing." Indeed I did, and I was not happy with the way the tale was unfolding. "This fair caters for the mystique and the occult." There it was, the flashing warning light. "Jenny had never been to it either and had been dying to go for years, so as it was on a Sunday, she thought it would be a good time to make the effort and turn the trip into a long weekend by coming up to see me on the Friday evening."

I nodded to show that I was listening and wanted her to continue.

"Being a weekend, there were large crowds of people, so we decided to park the car a short walk away, as the official parking was not only busy, but they'd also decided to increase the parking charges for the day. After we found a parking space, which wasn't easy because so many people had the same idea as us, we strolled down to the fair. It was a nice day for the time of year and the place was quite lively considering it's more of a niche. We had to pay to get in, but it wasn't too much, and we wandered around, having a good look at the stalls and stands, many of which were selling all sorts of unusual items.

"Then we came across one specialising in crystal figurines, and Jenny, being into those kinds of things stopped to have a closer look. I can't say that they did anything for me, but they were nicely presented. Jenny's eye was taken with an unusual crystal in the shape of a prism. She picked it up and showed me. 'I've got to have this,' she said. 'I've been looking for something like this for ages and it'll go nicely with my collection. It's just the perfect size.' I told her there was no price on it, and my comment was overheard by the stallholder, who moved towards us and said that it was sixty pounds. Jenny shook her head and said she thought forty was all it was worth. The stallholder insisted that sixty was a bargain for such a fine piece and started his sales chat, trying to convince her. That was the signal for the haggling to begin. I didn't want to get involved as it wasn't me who was buying and I wasn't that interested anyway, so I wandered off around the rest of the stall and looked at the various other items he had for sale, such as puppets and books. By the time I'd finished browsing, they were both still haggling, the stallholder then turned to me and tried to get me involved by asking me to convince my sister to pay the asking price. I was not really in the mood for it all, so after telling Jenny which direction I was going in, I wandered a bit further down the parade.

I passed many different types of stalls, all individually quirky but as for where I ended up, I swear to you, Bav, I have no idea of how I got there or how it all happened. It's not something I'd ever even contemplated of doing before, but after walking along, I just remember finding myself sitting down... in front of a Clairvoyant!...It had all happened so quickly. She had my hands in her hands while she was in a trance. Then slowly, she started speaking in a voice that was definitely not hers. It was really scary and strange."

I was riveted on the end of my seat.

"So this voice then said, 'You are soon going to be visited by a tall man who has quite broad shoulders, but is very slim. He has a dark complexion and is from an ethnic background. This man travels to you in the near future with news of Saturday worship...and you are to ignore it!"

At that point, my heart skipped a beat and I could feel it thumping away in my chest. The mood changed completely. It was very odd. I distinctly remember there being an eerie chill. It wasn't anything ghostly, but there was a definite change in the atmosphere.

"I didn't think anything of it at the time. In fact, even though it was an unusual situation I kind of shrugged it all off, but after what you've told me today, I can see she was warning me against you." Amanda continued.

This was really weird, I was really unnerved and baffled by it. Had the enemy been personally predicting my movements? The more I thought about it, the more it started to worry me. I decided to throw some humour out there to remove the horrible mood and silence that was currently in charge of the room. "That description could suit hundreds of people, maybe it's just a coincidence."

Amanda missed the joke, she was in a deeper emotional state than I was.

"No, no," she insisted. "It is you! It's definitely 100% you! The dots have all been joined and I know it's you. I just know it."

We stared in each other's direction for a few moments.

"Besides," she added, "I haven't mentioned that she also told me that this dark visitor would have the letters B, H and V in his name."

Her look, as she threw down the final piece of the jigsaw was one of 'game, set and match', and in all honesty, I couldn't disagree. The question was: What to do next?

I admit that I was a little lost for words, my full first name has the letter H in it, how on earth would the clairvoyant know all this? So I said the following in response.

"Wow, that is weird! Very, very weird."

In truth, I was feeling extremely alarmed. I was now involved in something huge. The joyous truth that I walked around with was being seen as a weapon by the enemy and his evil agencies which lurk in the shadowy darkness, although I knew from my Bible that God would protect me.

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord: and because of these abominations the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee."

I regained my composure while being prayerful in my mind.

"This is The Great Controversy in action, Amanda. It is very real, as you have observed."

I glanced up at the clock, thinking about nothing but the psychic medium that had warned Amanda against accepting my testimony. "It's really late," I said. "I don't know where the time has gone, but I'd better go".

While we said our goodbyes, I prayed for us. I felt bad about leaving her because I was pretty sure she didn't want to be left alone. Who would after that experience? I had the shoulder of God to lean on, but as a non-believer, she would be well and truly stuck. But I had to go and Amanda assured me that she would be fine, so off I went. As I drove along, I could think of nothing else but the strange experience I had just found myself involved in. I was still finding it hard to take in what had happened and I wondered if The Great Controversy was usually so obvious. I'd been under the impression that Satan stayed hidden, casting doubt upon his very existence, and having watched Roger Morneau's testimony, I thought his was a one-off situation where Satan may have let his guard down.

I was confused and a little spooked, so to try and make some sense of it all, I called my good friend and church elder, Neil. He had been giving me Bible studies for the past year, and like me, he had also been out in the world before divine providence led him to become a member of the church. As such, it made good sense to call him. He'd taken me under his wing from the moment I'd first joined the church a year prior and he had seen and experienced many different things.

Fortunately, Neil was available to talk, so I began by explaining everything that had happened to me that afternoon. He was startled. "We need to pray, brother," he said, and as he prayed for me, I felt the warm glow of comfort that you experience when you know that God is watching over you and everything you do, and that is all that mattered. As we were speaking, I realised I was driving even slower because the traffic on the motorway was slowing down, which was quite unusual. I looked at the speedometer and it was hovering around the thirty miles per hour mark, which, I didn't mind too much because it made it easier to drive and talk. That carried on for a few miles and we spoke at great length and in a lot of depth about my experience and related matters. Neil's friendly voice certainly helped to soothe my troubles and he made many supportive offers to talk to me in person as soon as I felt up to it. That made me feel a whole lot better again, and it was with an easier mind that I approached the junction where I needed to turn off.

With the traffic now slowed to a snail's pace, I ended the call, but not before I'd thanked Neil for his prayers and arranged to call him the following day. The cars on the slip road were literally bumper to bumper, and every now and then we'd halt completely. As I made my tortuous way along the tarmac, I saw signs warning of a diversion. At least that explained the state of the traffic.

Slightly annoyed about having to divert from my normal route, I dutifully followed the signs, but they soon began to run out, eventually disappearing from view altogether. Maybe I just didn't see them in the rapidly deteriorating conditions. I don't know. But I soon found myself driving through a fine drizzle, which turned into a fog as I twisted and turned along a maze of country roads, going past farms and through villages that I knew were well away from where I was headed. However, no matter how hard I looked, there seemed to be no way to correct my course. There were no major signs or turn-offs pointing me towards a larger town or place that I knew were closer to home. The road works, which had given rise to what had now turned out to be a wild goose chase, were nothing more than a fast retreating dream; a dream that had since been replaced by a nightmare.

It was quite a claustrophobic experience being confined in a small metal box that was being propelled slowly along narrow, potholed, one-vehicle-wide country lanes with the occasional passing place, while surrounded by an opaque sheet that prevented me seeing anything further than a couple of meters away. The concentration required to navigate such a journey was also making me very tired, and I was almost beginning to despair of not seeing home any time soon, when suddenly the fog lifted. However, my joy was short lived, as the heavens opened and the monsoon-like rain began. It was after battling my way through that for a while that I came upon the short queue of cars halted at some temporary traffic lights in the middle of nowhere.

As I sat there, wipers and engine turned off to save fuel, my thoughts turned to Amanda. I wondered what she was doing and what she was thinking. Was she turning it over and over in her mind in the same way I had done immediately after I'd left her, and was beginning to do again now? I'm sure she would have thought about it quite seriously.

If nothing else, my thoughts drifting around the afternoon's experience certainly kept my mind occupied and off the dullness of waiting in the pouring rain, so perhaps that was a very small silver lining in what was a very black cloud. However, when I saw that the lights had changed and we were good to go, I was greatly relieved.

The other cars started to move off and I turned the key in the ignition to re-start my own vehicle. Dipping my headlights, I released the handbrake and flicked the wiper switch... and that's when it all started to go wrong. Thoughts of the afternoon crowded back into my head and I became very afraid. I was in real danger.

The other cars had gone. It was just me, in the rain, in the middle of who-knows-where, on a dark and eerie night. My heart thumped loudly, not for the first time that day, but I forced myself to remain calm. Whatever I chose to do next was important. It was vital that I made the correct decision.

I looked into my rear-view mirror and noted there were still no cars behind me, so I had at least a few seconds in which to make my decision. I quickly ran through my situation and available options, which were pitifully few.

I could wait and hope that my faulty wipers would start again, but if I did, I'd have to pull off the road to avoid anything careering into the back of me. However, the rain was relentless and I couldn't be sure where the side of the road was, and even if I could have seen clearly, I had no idea whether or not the bank was safe and was not obscuring a ditch on the other side. No, that was too risky. And that was it, my only option. I couldn't drive anywhere because the sheer volume of water pounding against the windscreen made vision impossible. I was a sitting target. If I got out of the car, I would be drenched immediately, so that wasn't a realistic option either. Seeing as how no cars had joined the queue behind me for what was going on to be twenty minutes, the chances of anything coming now, especially in such atrocious conditions, had to be negligible. I decided to stay where I was, keeping my lights on, so I was visible to any other motorist who might have ventured out onto this dirt track in such appalling conditions. After all, no matter how inclement the weather, there's always one. You see them on the news every time there's flooding or blizzards.

I put my hands together and prayed. I knew that whatever else happened that night, God would be looking after me. The events earlier in the afternoon, as well as my discussion with Neil, had made me really confident in knowing that Jesus was with me. Shortly after praying, the rain began to slow, so much so that it practically stopped. I tried the wiper switch again, but to no avail, although I could now see ahead much more clearly than I had before. It wasn't perfect by any means, but if I drove carefully, I knew I could make it so long as the rain held off. I slipped the car into gear and moved forward, past the green light and into the night. In spite of my weariness, brought about through lack of food since breakfast and the day's events, I kept plugging on. The rain ceased entirely and the roads started getting wider. I grew more confident by the minute that I would make it home in one piece. If the rain did start again, I was now in a position to pull off the road safely, a thought which brought me a great deal of comfort.

After a short while, I came to a junction at a road which looked vaguely familiar, and realised that I had arrived, by some miracle, on the edge of my home town. The sense of relief that swept over me was palpable. Although the wipers still refused to budge, my Sat Nav was working again, not that I needed it anymore because I knew where I was, and I started to release the tension. I had noticed that I was sitting in a very upright manner and fully focused. I tried to ease back into my seat but I just couldn't get that comfortable yet, as there was too much that had happened and was still happening.

I can't even begin to describe my feelings as I turned into my street and coasted up to my house, where I parked outside the front door. With the engine and lights turned off, I suddenly remembered my prayer by the temporary traffic light, for my wiper to work again and for me to arrive home safely. I offered up a prayer of thanks to God, for it was He who held off the rains instead. That evening the downpour recommenced as I unlocked my front door and stepped foot into my house.

Philippians 4:6 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God."

'Grateful' doesn't even begin to convey the emotion I felt.

The following Sabbath, I went to church, where I related a full account of my experiences to those who were gathered. It provoked a lot of discussion, and we all shared our viewpoints and opinions before praying for Amanda. People were very surprised with the blatantness of the situation but after we discussed what was at stake, we concluded that Satan's time is short and therefore, desperate situations call for desperate measures. We agreed that he probably wouldn't have reared his head from the shadows if I had talked to my friend about Jesus alone. Sharing the truth about the Sabbath, alongside our beloved Saviour, caused a reaction in such an extreme way. Satan knows The Great Controversy and it is important to him that humans fail to uphold the broken commandment. As we fast approach Earth's final closing moments, he wants to continue to deceive humanity and cause people to lose out with him and his fallen angels, for eternity.

That Sabbath at church, it was really great fellowshipping with other believers and giving up praises and thanks to the Most High. I felt joyous and completely at ease knowing that Jesus is watching over me and representing me. I often wondered, at times, how people without faith deal with any situation, be it pain, strife or turmoil and in that moment my thoughts were on Amanda who in essence was Godless. How was she dealing with this whole thing? I know earlier in the week she had said she was okay, but I could tell by her voice that it had really shook her up and bothered her. She had told me that she decided to sleep with a Bible she had laying around her house. This kind of act is something that is typical with horror movies or TV shows; hugging the Bible to sleep for protection, but the truth is that we know in order to have the peace and protection we should be studying the words. Ultimately, seeking the truth and accepting Jesus in our hearts along the way. A relationship with Jesus is a great thing to have in your life as it's completely personal and that within itself is a remedy of comfort.

The one thing I learned from the whole episode is that no matter how strong one may feel the devil to be, Jesus is stronger. To have Jesus in your life is to have everything.

John 14:1 "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me."

Epilogue

A fair few weeks had passed before I could fully grasp what had happened that day. Did Satan really warn my friend against me from preaching about Jesus and the soon coming National Sunday Law? It was most certainly a strange event. Although I've accepted it, it is the complexity and the intricate nature which still draws my attention. It is one thing reading or hearing ghost stories but when there is one involving you personally, all of a sudden your attitude changes. I had already seen strange things in my life, yet all of a sudden I was in the middle of something and I hadn't quite realised what I had signed up to.

Through the months and years that have followed, I have given talks about this experience and highlighted that representing Jesus is more that just a badge that you wear. And if we are to venture forth and evangelise for Him, then there's more going on than we may think.

I decided to research information about the group that had been trying to draw Amanda in and what I learnt brought great sadness. Lots of people were getting involved with them and their practices. I even stumbled across a few videos of people communicating with these alien beings in space. To the average onlooker it is some kind of comedic quackery, where people with nothing better to do with their time are undertaking weird things to draw attention to themselves. Unfortunately, it is all very real. The sheer volume of centres practicing this, as well as other similar beliefs, is a testament to its legitimacy. The enemy can really destroy people's lives with this stuff. I have met countless people who have been involved in some kind of occult practice, and many innocent people are drawn into these deceptions. This is just another of the same falsity dressed up in a different garment.

We are warned in 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness..."

The situation reminded me of my dear friend Will Baron who had joined a New Age group where they used similar techniques of mind clearance to allow the spirit entrance to talk and offer guidance. His book 'Deceived by the New Age' is an amazing exposé of his experiences.

I'd like to end this book with these departing words, pray constantly and study, study, study your Bible alongside The Spirit of Prophecy. Study it carefully every day and don't let the evil one deceive you.

Isaiah 28:8-11 "Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little: For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people."

Appendix a

The new age movement

The New Age movement started in 1875 with the teachings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a leading occultist and spirit medium and continued in the 1920s with the teachings of her follower, Alice Ann Bailey. Alice wrote numerous books on many spiritual topics including, psychosynthesis, neopaganism and ceremonial magic. These two women both had a major impact on the growth of the New Age movement and were championed by influential supporters during their time. They both claimed that their teachings were revealed by "spirits" who had told them to wait for the appearance of Maitreya which they equate with Christ.

Years later, in around 1982 a series of adverts appeared in newspapers around the world declaring 'The Christ is now here'. Benjamin Creme the Scottish artist and author who took out the adverts fearlessly spent thousands on them. A prominent esoteric who closely followed the works of Alice Bailey, was a part of a New Age movement that shares strong beliefs with other new agers - that "Christ" is to appear very soon. This long awaited "Christ" will be the fulfilment of every religion that is eagerly awaiting someone. For the Christians it will be Christ, for the Hindus it will be a fulfilment of Krishna, for the Jews it will be the Messiah, for the Muslims it will be Imam Mahdhi and for the Buddhists it will be the fifth reincarnation of Buddha, known as Maitreya. Benjamin Creme has repeatedly predicted the imminent appearance of Maitreya. He was the founder of the organisation Share International which has built up a very large and loyal following.

Creme claimed that he first began receiving telepathic messages from a spirit being called "Maitreya, the Christ, Head of our planetary Hierarchy" in January 1959. Benjamin wasn't always alone when he received these messages. In 1974 Creme, along with 14 other occultists launched a meditation group where they too received messages from Maitreya. Maitreya told Creme about his soon reappearance and instructed him to make recordings of his messages. Like Maitreya, the alien being Kryon, which was instructing Amanda's friend, had also told his followers that he would be coming to Earth in the near future.

Many people love the idea of aliens, and movies are making them more and more appealing. I believe the main aim of them doing this is to prepare the world. To anyone who is accustomed with basic filmmaking, this kind of familiarisation is known as foreshadowing. It is used to implant an idea early on so you are desensitised to the said idea and not taken by surprise when it occurs. Whether good or bad, just as long as our minds start accepting that these beings exist, when they do eventually appear we will be more accepting of them. Ultimately, they are being portrayed as our "friends" or heroes out to save our planet, to encourage people, and even more so to embrace them as good rather than evil. Just like Amanda's friend eventually accepted Kryon. Likewise, the superhero phenomenon is still taking Hollywood by storm. Superman, Batman, Spiderman and Thor; everyone knows who they are. Superheroes are being glorified and held on a pedestal. Every child and adult has enjoyed hearing about and watching fantastical tales of heroes that are here to save humanity from all types of horrifying evil. This is the Devil's ploy to blind mankind from recognising Christ's Second Coming by confusing the world with these counterfeit ideas. Playing with people's emotions, films with aliens or superheroes prepare them to accept false prophecies endorsed by these appealing characters.

Just like the New Age group, that Amanda's friend was involved in, channelled the angelic entity Kryon, Benjamin Creme did the exact same thing except with Maitreya. It is said that Creme and his followers invented and practised Transmission Meditation. This new technique would allow Maitreya and other spirit masters to "over-shadow" Creme. Over-shadowing is exactly the same as when a spirit speaks through a medium or psychic. Through this communication Creme wrote and published 'The Reappearance of the Christ' and 'The Masters of Wisdom'. This can also be related to Amanda's other celestial encounter that was with the clairvoyant who obviously was being overshadowed by a fallen angel. These communications have been displayed by psychic mediums for centuries and have recently grown in popularity, especially with the increase of television psychic medium shows. One such program is 'Crossing Over with John Edward'. Crossing Over involves Edward questioning audience members with information being communicated by their deceased friends or relatives. He says that he receives clues and images from "the other side", which the audience member must assist him in deciphering, but it is clearly stated in the Bible that the dead know nothing.

Ecclesiastes 9:5 "For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten."

Fallen angels or Satanic demons, however you wish to address them, can and will provide factual information about our deceased loved ones to psychic mediums. They have been watching over us our entire lives and know everything about us. One thing they love to promote is necromancy, the belief that our deceased loved ones are happily hanging around in Heaven (or "the other side") while we are here suffering on this cold and lonely planet, which is completely unbiblical and contrary to the character of God. The objective of them is clear, to remove the personal reading and studying of God's Word. Hence the growing number of groups which claim that the Bible has been corrupted over time and therefore, we have to either read other things or use that group's prophet to decipher the future. It sounds peculiar that God cannot protect his own book which he refers to as the Word, which is also the name given to Jesus. As Jesus said in John 5:39 & 43 "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me...I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."

Another reason why fallen angels would like for you to believe in the dead being alive somewhere is that by imitating them they can "visit" us and influence us into keeping non-biblical practices.

A friend once told me that they were visited by a ghost of a child. They found some real comfort in this supernatural experience. Now on the surface there appears to be nothing wrong with this encounter, in fact it seems to be offering ease, which is a good thing, right? Unfortunately, it is now nigh on impossible for him to accept the biblical standard of the dead being asleep until the resurrection. Those that are familiar with biblical principles know that showing kindness to your family and friends is not enough to get you into the Kingdom of Heaven (Luke 6:32-33). What further impact this may have on his life is beyond my guess, but what is evident is that the concept of the dead being alive is being embraced, which has now had a knock-on affect of him embracing all other movements that hold on to the belief that the dead are alive somewhere.

Revelation 16:14 "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty"

Like television, countless books have been used to deceive people. 'Jesus Calling', written by Sarah Young, is an extremely concerning book that implements a number of New Age practices and concepts being presented as the norm for Christians. 'Jesus Calling', which was released in 2004, currently ranks No. 1 on numerous lists and has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide! In the book, the "Jesus" it mentions, deviously introduces occult/New Age channelling, meditation, spiritual dictation, creative visualisation, divine alchemy and co-creation with God, like they are acceptable Christian practices. It also includes New Age terms and concepts, and indirect references to a pantheistic poet and two classic New Age books, along with a strong endorsement of 'God Calling' – the channelled book that moved Sarah Young to endeavour to receive her own special messages from Jesus to use in her book. The language used by the "Jesus" of 'Jesus Calling', is also unusual and disturbing to those who read the Bible. On the whole, 'Jesus Calling', seems to be an attempt by our Adversary, the Devil, to get an even further foothold on Christians. We need to ask the question, is the "Jesus" of this book the biblical Jesus Christ, or is it a false Christ deceiving scores of people? Given the fact that millions of copies of 'Jesus Calling', have already sold, the answer to that question is imperative. The Bible helps us reach the conclusion that this book isn't from God.

2 Corinthians 11:4 "For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.".

Don't let your guard down. Don't be easily deceived. Know the Bible. Satan via Young, has mixed truth with error and millions are embracing her views which don't do much to draw people to Bible study.

Nowadays, you don't have to look too hard to notice that many of Hollywood's elite have embraced the New Age movement. Hollywood is full of actors and actresses who have, in one way or another, adopted and/or promoted New Age practices and philosophies, as a means to acquire their celebrity status and self-actualisation. These "stars" are very vocal about their new-found beliefs and lifestyle practices. For instance, Oprah Winfrey uses her international talk show to promote many New Age teachings by having New Age teachers as special guests, including Betty Eadie and Marianne Williamson.

Moreover, actor and Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan was involved in Zen Meditation. Ex-Beatle George Harrison, actresses Laura Dern, Elizabeth Taylor, and fashion designer Calvin Klein all practice Transcendental Meditation. This dangerous practice of meditation opens your mind directly up with evil angels posing to be intergalactic friends. Will Baron (whom I have mentioned earlier) was involved in this exact practice of Transcendental Meditation. Regarding his spirit guide (fallen angel) Will said, "He would communicate with me, maybe two to three times per week initially, during the practice of eastern transcendental meditation. I would hear this voice inside my mind and it was very clear as if you were hearing my voice or I'm hearing your voice and he would give me practical instructions." Unfortunately, once Will stopped assisting the fallen angel, he decided to torment him.

The celebrities who are channelling with the spirits are nothing more than puppets being used to bring people into their false beliefs, just in time for Earth's closing moments. Will Baron was heavily involved in the New Age movement, so much so that on many occasions he was personally visited by the famous spirit "Djwhal Khul". This experience was one of the highest honours to him, as this entity had not only been mentioned by Blavatsky but was also the being that had telepathically transmitted information to Alice Bailey. Will states that the New Age movement does not believe in an evil being called Satan or the Devil, so therefore all manifestations, communications, messages etc come from the realm of God. He describes this mode of thinking as "Terribly deceptive". Eventually things turned unusual when Djwhal Khul stopped visiting him and was replaced by another entity professing to be "Jesus Christ". Reluctantly Will embraced this new "Jesus" that was visiting him, even though the whole situation seemed rather strange to him as his experiences had been contrary to the practices and teachings of Christ which he grew up knowing. Unfortunately, he didn't think to study the Bible for himself but would simply take on the information this spirit guide gave him.

It really is quite remarkable that a being claiming to promote one thing would want to instigate a change and allow the promotion of Jesus, but it's evident, when we ponder on it, that just as long as they are non-biblical belief systems, then the loose ends are being tied together in preparation to deceive the world into the false coming, for it's easier to manage a few larger groups than many small groups. The messages for the preparation can then be a one size fits all. During a conversation, Will concluded with me that looking back he believes both entities were in fact the same being just under a different guise.

2 Corinthians 11:14 "And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."

In 1995, musician Terrence Trent D'Arby had a string of dreams where he was prompted to change his name to Sananda Maitreya. Subsequently, after spending some time meditating for a new identity in his life, he decided to follow what the dreams had suggested and legally changed his name in the hope for a better life.

It should be obvious to you now that people are being deceived by these New Age movements, which are counterfeit religions. They tap into people's mindsets and get them to go by feelings. For instance, meditation to make one feel relaxed by emptying their mind and psychic mediums speaking to deceased loved ones to draw people away from Bible truth.

It's no wonder that Satan has spread his counterfeit religions far and wide. Thousands of organisations work independently under the New Age banner, advocating their own variety of teachings. Therefore, we must be prepared to stand on the Bible and the Bible alone. It has the truth, given directly to human-kind by our Creator God. By having a solid understanding of the Bible we will develop a closer walk with God and just like Jesus we can rebuke Satan and his false teachings by quoting Scripture, saying "It is written..."

Matthew 4:10 "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve."

The Bible is full of warnings so that we know the difference between the genuine Second Coming of Jesus Christ in comparison to the soon coming, grand appearance of the false Christ. It says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Notice that at this climax in The Great Controversy, the dead in Christ rise and together with those who are still alive meet our Lord Jesus in the air. The fact that Jesus DOES NOT touch the ground at His Second Coming because people meet Him in the air, shows that anyone who proclaims to be Christ, yet walks on this earth, is a fraud.

Appendix b

mind clearance

Similar to the New Age practices of mind clearance/meditation I had alarmingly seen identical techniques being used by actors and actresses in the movie industry. For them, they were simply using a system that had been passed down by coaches and teachers so that they could employ the best performance on camera. What could they think was taking over them, I am unsure. For some, I guess, it was an unexplainable force which brought out the best in themselves, for the more self-proclaimed, astute, it was a system of hacking into a kind and generous higher power that was freely giving out spirits to enter their body, in order to activate the most perfect performing art. Unfortunately, these spirits are demons of the Devil.

A young man I had met one day on the set of a movie was waiting for his cue to walk onto the stage and deliver his lines. I noticed that he was doing a very peculiar but subtle practice. He was standing right by me so I struck up a conversation with him that would continue between takes. We exchanged the usual pleasantries and then got talking about show business. He was quite a nice chap and mild in his manner. During this time he continued to prep for his scene using this bizarre ritual, becoming more and more confident to match the character he was playing. He eventually became rather unrecognisable and detached but the performance he delivered was quite something, earning him high praise from the cast and crew around us. Only until after the scene had been wrapped up did the humble and somewhat shy guy return again. I didn't know it at the time but he was actually clearing his mind to allow a spirit to enter him. Back then, I wasn't so familiar with the practice he was using so I laughed wondering why he was continuing with this silly process. 'Why not just deliver the line? He only has a couple of simple sentences to speak.' I thought to myself. The actress he was going to be acting opposite was quite prominent so I thought speaking to her on camera may have been the reason he was getting so worked up.

That situation had been forgotten about until just very recently. I could not believe my eyes when I was watching a series of documented interviews. One involved a very famous British magician who was discussing his life and his "magic". During a cut sequence to one of his performances he did the exact same technique whilst standing half off camera and talking to an unsuspecting member of the public. The trick involved mind reading. The whole trick was actually very logically impossible. We know when we see magicians doing their entertainment that there is an element of 'working things out' as to how they could accomplish such a feat but on further analysis it's clear to see that a lot of the tricks are in fact sorcery. Communicating with demons, metaphysics, mysticism, psychoanalysis etc is now prominent and slight of hand and other basic illusions have now been pushed to the back.

Mind clearance techniques are being employed in various other art forms as well. A technique called automatic writing is another similar act. The artist (be it a musician, author or screenwriter) will clear their mind and a spirit will be dispatched to enter the person. What they may or may not know is that what comes out will be a contribution to Satan's ultimate agenda. Musician Carlos Santana was very candid with Rolling Stone magazine in March 16 2000, when he revealed how he receives his music. He confirmed with the journalist that he clears his mind and taps into a spiritual entity named Metatron that will then move the pen to write songs for him. His chart toping hits and fame are no coincidence. It's no wonder that his renowned album, appropriately entitled 'Supernatural' sold 7 million copies! Interestingly, before becoming a Christian, Seventh-day Adventist evangelist, Mark Woodman asked for the help of a white witch who communicated with Metatron to try and release Mark of his financial blockages. This paranormal activity can be compared to that of Alice Bailey who claims that the majority of her work had been telepathically dictated to her. Similar confessions have been made by many celebrities who have credited their success to possession by a spirit entity, be it actors such as, Denzel Washington, Johnny Depp, Robin Williams or even Oprah Winfrey to rock musicians, such as, the Rolling Stones, Jim Morrison to even the Beach Boys. Musician Ozzy Osborne famously once said "I don't know if I'm a medium for some outside force or not. Frankly, what ever it is I hope it's not what I think it is, Satan." (Hit Parader, Feb. 1978, p.24). The list is quite expansive and the influence is vast. The method is simple, heed to the spirits and let them guide you.

It's not limited to art either. Believe it or not, sport and spiritual practices have implemented the same methods of clearing one's mind. This includes the popular practices of yoga, meditation and martial arts. All of this is just a different form that is under the same umbrella.

appendix c

the mark of the beast

Revelation 13:16, 17 "And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."

The Mark of the Beast is without a doubt one of the most misinterpreted prophecies in the entire Bible - yet it is critical that this subject is correctly understood. People have debated it for many generations, believing it to be anything from a tattooed number or a barcode to a computer chip under the skin. The problem with these ideas is that there is no biblical support for them, they are simply illogical ideas from faulty thinking. The Bible says we need to use the Bible to interpret itself and not to have our own private interpretation of Bible prophecy.

2 Peter 1:20 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation"

Satan's Counterfeit

Satan's purpose is to counterfeit God in all things with the sole intention of deceiving humanity into following Him instead of God. Satan knows that most people wouldn't intentionally follow him so he has set out to make people believe that he is God!

2 Thessalonians 2:4 "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

The Mark of the Beast must be a counterfeit of something that is from God.

The Mark of God!

In the Bible, God explicitly states that keeping His Sabbaths is a sign that He is our Lord. It is so important to Him that He repeats it twice in the same books and chapters.

"Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them." (Ezekiel 20:12)

"And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God." (Ezekiel 20:20)

"Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, verily my Sabbaths ye shall keep: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am the Lord that doth sanctify you." (Exodus 31:13)

"It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth." (Exodus 31:17)

These verses confirm from God Himself that if we are to keep His Sabbaths we are officially signifying that we worship and follow God alone as He is our Lord forever. This covenant is God's reminder that He gave us His Sabbath as a magnificent sign of His power to create and sanctify us.

Whenever we study the Bible we have to keep in mind that modern versions are not in the original Hebrew and Greek, and are only translations. Sometimes to understand the true and exact meaning of a Bible verse we have to go back to the original Hebrew and/or Greek and study the definitions of the original words. In this case, we need to look at the word 'sign' which I've made bold in each of the previous verses. In the original Hebrew it is 'Owth', pronounced 'oath' which has many different definitions, including sign, token, ensign, miracles, mark, signal, a distinguishing mark, as well as others. The earliest Bible translator used the English word he thought sounded the most accurate, so we can conclude that the Hebrew world 'Owth' just as equally means "mark". Subsequently, we can replace the word 'sign' in the aforementioned verses with the phrase "a distinguishing mark" to get a clearer understanding of what God is saying. Therefore, God's Sabbath is His "mark".

One of God's Ten Commandments is the keeping of His Sabbath, which also carries His "mark". Since keeping the true seventh-day Sabbath (Friday sunset to Saturday sunset) holy is God's mark, it makes sense to conclude that the "mark" of God's Adversary, the Devil, will have a counterfeit involving this special day. With an all-knowing God it doesn't come as a shock that He knew that Satan would try to change His holy day. The antichrist described in Daniel 7:25, would "think to change times and laws." Today, the majority of protestant churches worship on a Sunday. True Sabbath-keeping proves that a person has fully surrendered their life to Jesus Christ and wants to follow His plans and purpose for their life.

Heads and Hands Marked, Literally?

As I've mentioned earlier, there has been much confusion surrounding the fact that Revelation 13:16 says people will receive the Mark of the Beast in the forehead or in the hand. Modern society thinks it could be an implanted chip, a barcode or a special tattoo. In Judaism, a phylacteries (or tefillin) are two small black leather boxes, that are worn by practicing male Jews, on their left arm and forehead during all weekday prayers, except on the Sabbath. The leather boxes of the tefillin contain scrolls of Torah passages, specifically Exodus 13:1-10, 11-16 and Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21. These passages command Jews to bind the Word of God on their bodies. However, we know that God sometimes uses symbols in His Word. So now let's look at the Bible verses as to where God says we are to place His mark. Read and compare the three Bible verses in the table that follows:

EXODUS 13:9 | DUETERONOMY 6:6-8 | DUETERONOMY 11:13-20

---|---|---

"And it shall be for a SIGN unto thee upon THINE HAND, and for a MEMORIAL BETWEEN THINE EYES, that the LORD'S LAW may be in thy mouth..."

 | "And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart. And you shall carefully teach them to your sons...And you shall BIND THEM FOR A SIGN UPON YOUR HAND, and they shall be as FRONTLETS BETWEEN YOUR EYES." | "And it will be, if you will listen carefully to MY COMMANDMENTS which I command you today,...Take heed to yourself that your HEART MAY NOT BE DECIEVED, and you turn aside and serve other gods, and worship them,...Therefore you shall lay up these my words in your hearts and in your souls, and BIND THEM FOR A SIGN UPON YOUR HAND, so that they may be as FRONTLETS BETWEEN YOUR EYES."

Notice that in all three verses we are told to have God's Law and Commandments "for a sign upon [our] hand" and as "frontlets between [our] eyes" and the same is said with the Mark of the Beast. Since no one walks around with universal markings on their hands and foreheads to show if they follow God or Satan, it makes more sense that these verses in the Bible are symbolic.

To have God's law or Satan's mark on our hands and foreheads is a symbol of having it inside our foreheads, or more accurately in our minds, which is the process of thinking and deciding.

Hebrews 10:16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;"

Whereas, the hand symbolises the act of willingly and actively working or doing something. By choosing to keep Sunday, the first day of the week, as a holy day of worship, an individual is receiving the Mark of the Beast on their forehead, and at the same time is being "marked" in the hand by working and doing their own things on God's holy Sabbath day instead of keeping it holy and honouring Him. Alternatively, God's mark or seal is when we keep His true Sabbath day holy and not giving in to Sunday law by worshipping Him on Sunday instead. The mark, for either God or the beast will be invisible to us but the decision and action will be known to our all-knowing, omnipotent God. You will, inadvertently be marking yourself by accepting to keep either God's sign, seal or mark; the Sabbath, or the beast's mark; Sunday.

A Warning and a Blessing

God warns the world's religious leaders against causing people to stumble by reducing the worth of His laws by saying that some commandments aren't important to keep in their entirety.

Malachi 2:7-9 "For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law."

For instance, some ministers teach, "It doesn't matter which day you keep holy", but the Bible makes in clear that all commandments must be followed if you love God.

John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."

The fourth commandment even begins with the verb, 'Remember'.

Exodus 20:8-11 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it."

God's law is being attacked, specifically His Holy Sabbath day. Christians have slowly been duped into believing that the Sabbath has no importance and has been done away with. Isaiah 66:22-23 concludes that it will continue to be kept even in the new Heaven and the new Earth.

There is also a blessing from God for those who keep all His commandments.

Revelation 22:14 "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

What is the Real Issue?

The "mark" isn't given until Sunday worship becomes a matter forced by law. "The dignitaries of church and state will unite to bribe, persuade, or compel all classes to honour the Sunday. The lack of divine authority will be supplied by oppressive enactments. Political corruption is destroying love of justice and regard for truth; and even in free America, rulers and legislators, in order to secure public favour, will yield to the popular demand for a law enforcing Sunday observance. Liberty of conscience, which has cost so great a sacrifice, will no longer be respected. In the soon-coming conflict we shall see exemplified the prophet's words: 'The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.' Revelation 12:17." (White, E G, Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1950 'The Great Controversy' p.592)

When this occurs, those who decide to follow the false teachings of the beast by worshipping on Sunday will receive the Mark of the Beast. Whereas, those who follow Jesus and obey His Word will keep His Sabbath day holy and receive His mark or seal. Those who want to reject the beast's mark when it comes, must keep Jesus' Sabbath now and always.

Isaiah 66:22-23 "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord."

God clearly states that He requires all people to worship Him on the Sabbath from now and forevermore. Jesus and His disciples, as well as Paul, Timothy and other new Christians all worshipped God on the Sabbath day, even after Jesus' death and resurrection.

"If the believers in the truth are not sustained by their faith in these comparatively peaceful days, what will uphold them when the grand test comes and the decree goes forth against all those who will not worship the image of the beast and receive his mark in their foreheads or in their hands? This solemn period is not far off. Instead of becoming weak and irresolute, the people of God should be gathering strength and courage for the time of trouble" \--4T 251 (1876).

Not all people will give in to receiving the Mark of the Beast. We all have been blessed with free will to choose. You can decide to obey God or follow mere man. Unfortunately, as we fast approach a cashless society, where our money will be electronic and the powers that be gain full control, they will be able to dictate what we can and can't do. Revelation 13:17 informs us that buying and selling will be impossible for those that choose to obey God by following His commandments. Similarly, in Matthew 19:23 Jesus confirmed that it would be very hard for a rich man to get into the kingdom of Heaven, however, God gives the Holy Spirit to those who sincerely obey Him and with Christ, all things are possible.

Open Secret

The following statement is one of many that have been released over the years which confirm the truth origin and history of the Sabbath.

I ask you as the reader, to really consider each sentence of what is being said in the following.

"Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. 'The day of the Lord' was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the (Catholic) Church's sense of its own power...People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become 7th Day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy." _St. Catherine Church Sentinel_ , Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995.

Question: Which is the Sabbath day?

Answer: Saturday is the Sabbath day.

Question: Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?

Answer: We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday.

Rev. Peter Geierman C.SS.R., The Convert's Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, P50 (1957)

But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.

Cardinal James Gibbons, The Faith of Our Fathers, P89 (Ayers Publishing, 1978)

If Protestants would follow the Bible, they should worship God on the Sabbath day. In keeping the Sunday, they are following a law of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Albert Smith, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Baltimore (letter dated February 10, 1920)

Question: Have you any other way of proving the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?

Answer: Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her, she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the 1st day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the 7th day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.

Rev. Stephen Keenan, A (Catholic) Doctrinal Catechism, P174 (1857)

Practically everything Protestants regard as essential or important they have received from the Catholic Church... The Protestant mind does not seem to realize that in accepting the Bible and observing the Sunday, in keeping Christmas and Easter, they are accepting the authority of the spokesman for the church, the Pope.

Our Sunday Visitor (February 5, 1950)

The observance of Sunday by the Protestants is a homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the (Catholic) Church.

Louis Gaston Segur, Plain Talk about the Protestantism of To-Day (London: Thomas Richardson and Son, 1874)

The Catholic Church, for over one thousand years before the existence of a Protestant, by virtue of her divine mission, changed the day from Saturday to Sunday.

The Adventists are the only body of Christians with the Bible as their teacher, who can find no warrant in its pages for the change of day from the seventh to the first. Hence their appellation, "Seventh-day Adventists."

The Catholic Mirror (September 23, 1893)

It was the holy Catholic Church that changed the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday, the 1st day of the week. And it not only compelled all to keep Sunday, but at the Council of Laodicea, AD 364, anathematized those who kept the Sabbath and urged all persons to labour on the 7th day under penalty of anathema.

Catholic Priest T. Enright, CSSR, Kansas City, MO

I have repeatedly offered $1000 to any one who can furnish any proof from the Bible that Sunday is the day we are bound to keep...The Bible says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," but the Catholic Church says, "No, keep the first day of the week," and the whole world bows in obedience.

Catholic Priest T. Enright, CSSR, lecture at Hartford, KS (February 18, 1884)

The [Catholic] Church is above the Bible, and this transference of the Sabbath observance is proof of that fact.

Catholic Record (September 1, 1923)

Of course the Catholic Church claims that the change was her act...And the act is a MARK of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters.

Letter from C.F. Thomas, Chancellor of Cardinal Gibbons (October 28, 1895)

Not the Creator of the Universe in Genesis 2:1-3, but the Catholic Church "can claim the honour of having granted man a pause to his work every seven days."

S.C. Mosna, Storia della Domenica, P366-367 (1969)

The (Catholic) Church changed the observance of the Sabbath to Sunday by right of the divine, infallible authority given to her by her Founder, Jesus Christ. The Protestant claiming the Bible to be the only guide of faith, has no warrant for observing Sunday. In this matter, the Seventh-day Adventist is the only consistent Protestant.

"The Question Box," The Catholic Universe Bulletin (August 14, 1942)

You may not be aware of it, but there is a strong push being made within countries worldwide to implement a National Sunday Law. What you may be little more familiar with is the fact that nations are slowly embracing a cashless society. Both will both in tandem to enforce the Mark of the Beast.

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"The Sabbath will be the great test of loyalty, for it is the point of truth especially controverted. When the final test shall be brought to bear upon men, then the line of distinction will be drawn between those who serve God and those who serve Him not. While the observance of the false sabbath in compliance with the law of the state, contrary to the fourth commandment, will be an avowal of allegiance to a power that is in opposition to God, the keeping of the true Sabbath, in obedience to God's law, is an evidence of loyalty to the Creator. While one class, by accepting the sign of submission to earthly powers, receive the mark of the beast, the other choosing the token of allegiance to divine authority, receive the seal of God." (White, E G, Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1950 'The Great Controversy' p.605)

Recommended Resources

Other books by the author:

_God, Where are you?_ – Bav Gela

_The Demons of Ayahuasca_ – Bav Gela

Books I really like:

_Charmed by Darkness_ – Roger Morneau

_Deceived by the New Age_ – Will Baron

_Escape from the Black Hole_ – Ivor Myers

_The Richest Caveman_ – Doug Batchelor

_Daniel and Revelation_ – Uriah Smith

Videos I've enjoyed watching:

_A Trip into the Supernatural_ – Roger Morneau

_Hollywood Unmasked 2_ – Jason Kovar

Online presentations I recommend:

Walter Veith – _Total Onslaught_

Steve Wohlberg – From Hollywood to Heaven

David Gates – _The Second Coming (The Final Game-plan)_

Mark Woodman – _Gods Temple of Truth_

Stephen Bohr – _Secrets Unsealed (Anchor School of Theology)_

Dwayne Lemon – _Satan's Hindrance Plan_

Websites I suggest:

http://amazingdiscoveries.org

https://www.amazingfacts.org

<https://egwwritings.org/>

<http://www.sabbathtruth.com/>

https://www.whitehorsemedia.com

