Sunday morning, Vic and Knut arrived early at Transcendental Community Church. Vic was there to continue his pursuit of Miriam; Knut, to hear Miriam play her violin. Both were well-dressed in impressive business suits. They attracted much attention from the greeters and were welcomed repeatedly by congregants streaming in to hear Dr. Angelo’s morning lesson. Knut enjoyed the attention. He struck up conversations with many in the bustling foyer. His Norwegian brogue elicited many comments and questions, and he offered answers with elfin smiles. But, Vic was less outgoing. He was a man on a mission. Despite many invitations, he refused to be escorted to a seat in the Sanctuary. He wanted to sit next to Miriam. However, when she arrived, she was flanked by Dan and Jan Diederman. After a round of cordial greetings, Jan was introduced to Knut and Vic.
“Knut is very personable,” she mused, “but Vic seems more aloof ... He’s very handsome, but, somehow ... he’s offputting.”
The group moved into the auditorium and sat down near the orchestra pit. Vic tried to get next to Miriam, but she was committed to sitting between Dan and Jan. Vic was relegated to a seat beside Dan, and Knut sat next to Jan. Immediately, he initiated a warm conversation with her. Vic was sullen.
Excitement bristled in the air. The hall was packed with eager attendees. As Dr. Angelo took up his position in front of the first pew, a boisterous round of applause greeted him. He grinned, somewhat sheepishly, as he placed his presentation notes on the oak rostrum before him. Only Vic was in a sour mood. Wicked spirits within taunted him, “Why is Dan sitting next to Miriam. You should be there!”
Dr. Angelo launched into his message. “As we noted in an earlier lesson, ‘God Made It All’: the stars, the moon, our planet, and all the living things we see around us. Today, I want to add this thought, ‘God Left His Fingerprints All Over His Creation!’. As scientists have studied our Cosmos, they have uncovered many ways God has tweaked the Universe to make provisions for mankind. We could spend days discussing esoteric details of the Galaxies, our Solar System, and planet Earth, but we only have a few minutes, here. So, I’ll mention just a few of the steps God took as He fine-tuned the Universe to make our planet a place where abundant flora and fauna could flourish.
“First, let’s look to the Sun. Some stars are redder, some bluer, but ours is just right. If it were redder or bluer, the processes of photosynthesis would be too weak to support our vegetation. Also, consider the distance from the Sun to the Earth. It’s just what we need. If it were longer, Earth would be too cool to empower a stable water cycle. If it were shorter, Earth would be too warm, and liquid water would be scarce.
“Then, there’s gravity. If it were stronger, our atmosphere would retain excessive poisonous gases such as ammonia and methane. If it were weaker, the water in our atmosphere would migrate to outer space.
“Next, think of the Earth’s rotational axis. It is tilted 23.5 degrees with respect to the Earth’s orbit about the Sun. Who decided that? God did! If the tilt were greater or smaller, surface temperature differences would be too extreme.
“Also, consider our 24 hour day. If days were longer, day and night temperature differences would be too great. If days were shorter, winds would be too strong.
“And remember, Earth is a giant magnet with a global magnetic field. If this field were stronger, severe electromagnetic storms would ensue. If it were too weak, the planet’s ozone shield would be inadequate. It would cease to protect us from stellar and solar radiation.
“How about the thickness of Earth’s crust? Probably, you haven’t worried about it, but if it were thicker, too much oxygen would be transferred from the atmosphere to the crust. If it were thinner, volcanic and tectonic activity would be too violent.
“And, there’s the delicate balance of oxygen and nitrogen in the air we breathe. Too much oxygen and advanced life functions would proceed too quickly. Too much nitrogen and advanced life functions would proceed too slowly.
“Also, we must have the right amount of carbon dioxide in our air. If it were too great, a runaway greenhouse effect would develop. If it were too little, plants would be unable to maintain efficient photosynthesis.
“And, the amount of water vapor in our atmosphere is critical. If it were too great, excessive greenhouse effects would ensue. If it were too little, rainfall would be too meager to support life on land.
“If we had too much oxygen in our air, flammable materials would catch fire too easily. If we had too little oxygen, advanced animal life would be unsustainable.
“And, did you know that our atmospheric pressure is just right? The pressure is the result of the fact that we are living at the bottom of a large ocean of air. If our atmosphere was less deep, water would evaporate too easily, and weather variations would be too great. If the atmosphere was deeper. insufficient sunlight would reach us.
“Also, did you know, we need seismic activity? Of course, if we have too much of it, excessive numbers of life-forms would die. But, if we had none of it or too little of it, nutrients that have been deposited on ocean floors by river runoffs would not be recycled to the continents, and not enough carbon dioxide would be released from carbonates stored in the Earth’s crust.
“And, the moon is more than a decoration in the night sky. We need its gravitational interaction with our planet. If the moon did not stir the seas by generating their large tides, the oceans would become stagnant and support far less life.
“And finally, thank God for Jupiter! It is placed into the Solar System in such a way as to shield Earth from asteroids and comets.”
Having made these and other assertions, Dr. Angelo continued, “Much more could be added to these points, but I hope you now see that God has left us many evidences of His loving care for mankind. Perhaps I have stirred thoughts in your minds as I recited these facts. Does anyone have a question?”
Several attendees asked Dr. Angelo to expand on one of his points. Others mentioned additional evidences of the handwork of God in preparing Earth for mankind. Then, a young lady, a reporter for the campus newspaper, “Transcendental Times”, spoke in a grating, accusatorial voice, “It seems, Dr. Angelo, that everywhere you look in the Universe, you see proofs that God made it all. Why do you think that scientists disagree with you? Why do you suppose that they espouse the idea that the things we see about us, even humans, are just a product of chance occurrences, like the Big Bang and Evolution?”
“My dear,” Dr. Angelo responded with a fatherly smile, “you have a misconception regarding scientists. I have worked with many who are devout Christians. I know, some of your professors deride the Bible and those who believe it. But, don’t think that all scientists reject it. Some do. Why? Well, have you heard of Satan? Have you heard of evil spirits? I know that Dr. Bandy is preaching on ‘spiritual warfare’ this morning, and I don’t want to steal his thunder. But, here’s my answer to your questions. Satan and his band of fallen angels are on a crusade to get people to deny the Bible. Remember, Satan asked Eve, ‘Did God really say that? Did He really say you will die if you eat the fruit of this tree? That’s not true. Why, if you eat this fruit, your eyes will be opened. You will be enlightened!’
“Throughout history, Satan has done his worst to deceive mankind, and he’s had a lot of success. Some very influential scientists have fallen for his lies. You see, if you throw God’s Word away, it’s very freeing. If you can get that pretty girl to believe she’s simply a chance offshoot of Evolution ... that God had nothing to do with her existence ... that the Bible’s rules against sexual immorality are a fiction ... well, she might yield to your advances. By trashing the Bible, many have sought to free themselves from all of its moral teachings.
“Over the years, the Bible-deniers have infiltrated our schools, revised our textbooks, and commandeered most forms of media. Remember, according to the Bible, Satan is the prince of this world until Jesus returns. With his help, anti-Christian thinking has become popular.”
Dr. Angelo paused, and then added, “I’ll leave it there for now. Stick around. Hear what Dr. Bandy has to say on this topic.”
With that, class was dismissed.
Vic was deeply disturbed by the lesson. “How could a genius like Dr. Angelo believe the Bible?” he pondered.
The swarm of demons within Vic screamed, “The Universe isn’t telling Dr. Angelo about God. No, Dr. Angelo is forcing his conception of God onto the Universe!” Vic was so captivated by this ugly thought that the words of the evil beings within him almost leaked from his lips.
He was so torqued by his dark thoughts that he failed to notice when Miriam left to assemble with the Church Orchestra. Dan tapped his shoulder and said, “No offense ... I’m moving over to sit next to Mom.” Vic regained his poise and followed suit.
Strangely, Dan felt uncomfortable having Vic next to him. Were the wicked spirits in Vic skirmishing with the Holy Spirit in Dan? Or, was Dan simply plagued by unanswered questions about Vic? Either way, Dan felt he was sitting next to Evil. He glanced at Vic, who was ravishing Miriam with his eyes and his thoughts. “He looks fine,” Dan concluded, “but I don’t like the way he is glaring at Miriam.”
During the ensuing worship service, Knut had his first chance to hear Miriam play her violin. Sitting just a few feet from the orchestra pit, he could see her and hear her well. Knut, who was a well-trained musician himself, was highly impressed by her music and her verve. He, too, noticed how Miriam seemed to melt into her melodies.
The musical highlight of the morning came when the choir and orchestra joined in a moving arrangement of an old, favorite hymn, “Wonderful Grace of Jesus” [1] , by Haldor Lillenas. Miriam played a vigorous descant while the rest of the orchestra carried the melody, and the choir voiced the lyrics with elegant clarity:
Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Greater than all my sin;
How shall my tongue describe it,
Where shall its praise begin?
Taking away my burden,
Setting my spirit free;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty, rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain,
sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient grace for even me.
Broader than the scope of my
transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame,
O magnify the precious name of Jesus,
Praise His name!
Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Reaching to all the lost.
By it I have been pardoned,
Saved to the uttermost.
Chains have been torn asunder,
Giving me liberty;
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty, rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain,
sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient grace for even me.
Broader than the scope of my
transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame,
O magnify the precious name of Jesus,
Praise His name!
Wonderful grace of Jesus,
Reaching the most defiled.
By its transforming power,
Making him God's dear child,
Purchasing peace and heaven,
For all eternity;
And the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.
Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus,
Deeper than the mighty, rolling sea;
Higher than the mountain,
sparkling like a fountain,
All sufficient grace for even me.
Broader than the scope of my
transgressions,
Greater far than all my sin and shame,
O magnify the precious name of Jesus,
Praise His name!
Knut was so moved, he wanted to stand and shout “Bravo!”, but he settled for joining the rest of the audience in a hearty round of applause. Vic was stirred in a wicked way. He lusted to own Miriam’s beauty, talent and poise. He had ignored the message of the song, as he studied every move Miriam made. Dan and Jan were thrilled with the presentation and proud of the fine performance given by their new, dear friend.
As Dr. Bandy stepped to the pulpit, he raised his hand and exclaimed, “Wow! What wonderful music! What a marvelous message! ‘Grace greater than all our sins!’ Well ... I’m going to take us in the opposite direction this morning. I’ll be focusing our attention on the greatest DIS-GRACE in the Universe ... Satan and his horde of fallen angels. Today, we call these wicked creatures ‘evil spirits’. From time to time, people ask me, ‘Do you really think there is a Devil? Do you believe there are evil spirits?’ Of course, the short answer is ‘Yes’.”
Miraculously, Vic’s attention was re-directed to the morning message. As Pastor Bandy spoke, the Holy Spirit pressed every word into Vic’s mind. Jesus was knocking on the door of Vic’s heart, seeking to save him from his wicked ways.
Dr. Bandy continued, “I believe there are billions of evil spirits in this world. I believe their god is Satan. And, I believe they all hate you. The Bible says they were thrown out of Heaven ... never to return. And, they know that you are going to Heaven, if you become a Christian. This makes them jealous, so they tenaciously strive to keep you from getting there.”
The preacher’s assertions seemed strange to Vic, but the Spirit made them plausible.
Dr. Bandy added, “The Bible tells us what Satan and his gang are like in First Peter, chapter 5, verse 8:
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.
Satan is your adversary. He and his fiendish team want to devour you. How do they do that? They take up residence inside your body. They dwell there and seek to pervert your thoughts and your deeds.
“Now, that’s scary. But, if you get saved, you’ll have the Holy Spirit living inside you, and none of these demons will be able to come in. Oh, you’ll still be tempted by your own flesh, by the charms of this world, and by evil spirits whispering in you ears, but they won’t be able to come in. I’ll even go so far as to assert this: if you are not saved ... if you don’t have the protection of the Holy Spirit ... then, you have one or ten or thousands of demons living inside you.”
A war erupted in Vic’s head. The pastor’s words were amplified by the Holy Spirit, but the evil spirits within him vigorously discredited them. “Isn’t that the craziest notion? How could you have invisible spirits in you and not know it? Have scientists ever proved the existence of the Devil or fallen angels? What a joke!” Vic was uncomfortable, but he felt compelled to resume listening.
At this point, the Holy Spirit began to put thoughts into Dr. Bandy’s mind ... thoughts that Vic needed to hear. The good pastor spoke extemporaneously from prepared notes and Scripture passages. He didn’t read his sermons. So, it was natural for him to add the promptings of the Holy Spirit into his message. With vibrant energy, he pressed on, “What do these wicked beings do? They urge you to curse ... to get drunk ... to get high ... to practice sexual immorality ... and worse. Who tells the abortion doctor it’s OK to kill babies? Who encourages the politician to sell his votes to the highest bidders? Who tells the pornographer that his merchandise is harmless fun? Who tells anyone it’s all right to euthanize Grandma?”
Vic’s heart jumped. His palms began to sweat. “Does this guy know something about me?” he asked himself.
The demons inside him tried to calm him, “This preacher is a simpleton! He doesn’t understand the complex choices you’ve had to make. Grandma Berkmann was in great pain ... You relieved her. Shelly would have been miserable as a single Mom ... You saved her from that. The world needs your scientific brilliance ... Those three girls died in a noble cause ... to save your important career.”
Vic wanted to shut his ears, but the Holy Spirit drew his attention back to the sermon. Bandy continued, “Recently, I read an article about the ‘Green River Killer’. He was a nice looking young man. He held a job. He seemed OK, but, probably, he killed more than one hundred females in the State of Washington during the 1980s and 90s. He was convicted of forty-nine murders, but he confessed to many more. Now, it’s easy to believe that he was possessed by evil spirits. His story got me thinking about the recent deaths of four girls from our University. Did some demon-possessed person poison them? We don’t know, yet, but it’s a theory the police are considering. In the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verse 44, we read:
... (The Devil) was a murderer from the beginning ...”
Vic wanted to run from the room, but he knew he couldn’t. That would be a tacit admission of his guilt. The nasty creatures inside him cried, “Cool it! No one knows anything. You had your reasons ... good reasons. Any truly intelligent person who knew the whole story would say you did the right thing in each of these cases.” Vic relaxed a bit. The demonic forces within had blunted the force of the minister’s message. Vic was not convinced that he was harboring wicked beings inside him. He judged their advice to be thoughts streaming from his own mind. With contempt, he blew off the rest of the sermon. Instead, he fastened his attention on Miriam.
Brother Bob concluded his address with an evangelistic appeal. “Certainly, we can all shame murderers and pornographers, but be careful, here ... We’re all sinners ... We’ve all been tarnished by Satan and his clan. Ephesians, chapter 2, verse 2 says:
... in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
How can we fight against this evil ‘prince’ that is working inside the children of disobedience? Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 11 and 12, offer this advice:
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
So you see, we live in a corrupt world ... a fallen world. We have ‘rulers of darkness’ arrayed against us. Until Jesus returns to rule this planet, we face ‘spiritual wickedness in high places’. There’s a war going on here. James, the brother of the Lord Jesus, offers this counsel in chapter 4 verse 7 of his book:
Submit yourselves ... to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Praise God! We are not without power. With the Holy Spirit abiding in us, we can resist the Devil and his evil army.
“So, you who are saved are OK. You have the Lord on your side, and if the Lord is for you, who can stand against you? But, what about the lost? How do we snatch them from the roaring flames devouring our present world system? First, we must acknowledge their plight. In Second Corinthians, chapter 4, verse 4, the Apostle Paul says:
... 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.
Isn’t that sad. Satan has blinded them. They don’t see what’s going on. Their souls are being devoured, and they don’t realize it. We’ve got to tell them the truth ... wake them up ... pull them from Satan’s clutches.
“When the Apostle Paul was converted, Jesus gave him this commission, recorded in Acts, chapter 26, verse 18:
(Preach to the lost) ... to open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith ...
“Friend, if you are not a Christian ... if you do not have a personal relationship with Jesus ... we pray that the Holy Spirit has beamed a light into your mind this morning. We pray that Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart. If so, please let Him in. Come forward as we sing our closing hymn, and spend some time with one of our trained counselors. Don’t leave here without giving yourself to Jesus and inviting the Holy Spirit to dwell in your heart.”
Vic regained his poise as the audience rose to sing the last hymn. Several congregants moved to the front to seek spiritual counseling as Vic searched for a way to woo Miriam away from Dan.
After the service ended with a closing prayer, the group moved to the lobby to wait for Miriam to appear. When she did, Knut took her hand and joyfully exclaimed, “Fabulous! You did very well, and the whole service was splendid. I even dropped a mite in the offering plate. I’m glad we came.”
Miriam chuckled as she locked arms with Dan. She replied, “Thanks Knut. You are a real encourager.”
Vic could see no way to gracefully grasp Miriam’s hand as she stood with Dan, but he moved in, face to face, showing his delightful smile, and said, “I’m taking Knut to a nice restaurant for lunch, and then, I’m taking him to the top of the St. Louis Arch. Would you like to tag along?”
Miriam smiled sweetly, even as her eyes darted from Dan to Jan. She replied, “Thanks for the invitation ... The three of us are going to lunch with Dr. Angelo. As a matter of fact, he’s giving me the ‘high sign’ right now. We’ve got to go. But, I’m glad you came. We’ll see you guys in the morning.”
Dr. Angelo had the trio follow him to “Charlene’s Grill” for lunch. It was a quiet venue. Nothing but soft, classical music in the background. So, it was a pleasant place to converse and enjoy good food. There were no awkward moments of silence at the table. Each of the four had endless curiosity. Each wanted to know more about others in the party. Questions and answers filled the air.
Suddenly, Miriam held up her hands to elicit attention and said, “Doc! ... Doc! ... My parents will be here Thursday evening. I’m so excited! And Jan and Dan insist that I have them stay in my cottage. Isn’t that nice?”
“Wow!” Dr. Angelo replied. “That’s neat. I’m eager to see them again. When can we get together?”
Dan offered some ideas. “We’re having a barbecue at our place on Saturday at noon. For sure, Doc, you’re invited to that. We’ll all be together for Church next Sunday morning. And, we’re all going to see the unveiling of Bo’s murals on Sunday afternoon.”
Dr. Angelo replied with vigor, “Why don’t I take us all out to a fancy restaurant on Friday night. Then, after Church next Sunday we can come here for lunch before we go to see Bo’s artwork.”
All present were pleased with the plan.
