“Let me talk to Hector and see if he’s with us. Only have a small window of time to work with. After we steal them, I’ll call the cops about the break-in. Just hope no one asks to search my car after we place the vases inside.”
“Be careful, Nick.”
“Yep. See you later.”
The call ended.
As anticipated, the offer of five-figures was more than enough to motivate Hector to help uproot and steal as many brass vases—provided by the cemetery to hold flowers left there by loved ones—as they could. After 90 minutes, they managed to stuff 230 of them inside the trunks of their cars.
Before calling the police and the cemetery superintendent, Nick and Hector placed a vase near the desecrated grave site of Samuel E. Washington, another one by the grave of Joshua Hampton—where Nick found the woman who’d desecrated the other grave hiding—and another one outside the cemetery fence where she escaped, to show further cause.
After rehearsing their story until both men were confident they could pull it off, Nick called the police. When the cemetery superintendent arrived, his two night security guards were already being interviewed by New York City detectives.
Two hours after wrapping up their investigation of the desecration of Samuel E. Washington’s grave site, the police were called back to the cemetery.
This time for a more serious matter: grand theft in the amount of $45,000. Tamika Moseley didn’t know it yet, but her troubles were just beginning...
21
PRESIDENT JEFFERSON DANFORTH WAS rocked with dreams again. Much like his first dream, it went on for three straight nights. He even saw the same two men, only they weren’t alone this time. There were many others.
It looked like a UN gathering, in that the men and women represented all nations and tribes. But these people weren’t world leaders or dignitaries; they were common folks. And the locations certainly weren’t world-renowned. They looked clandestine at best.
The President woke with a nagging hunger inside that not even his great love of politics could quell. Interestingly enough, this second round of dreams started the night he stumbled upon a website he felt particularly drawn to, a website he hadn’t visited since: www.lsarglobal.org.
As the First Lady lay sleeping next to him, President Danforth powered up his netbook and logged onto the site. He kept hearing the same seven words from his first round of dreams over and over again: “This is your last shot at redemption!”
With “LSAR” being an acronym for “Last Shot at Redemption”, the President couldn’t help but wonder if the two men in his dream had anything to do with this particular website. It was a definite possibility.
Jefferson Danforth ignored the 22 individual links at the center of the homepage for the time being, and clicked on the CLICK HERE FIRST link at the top of the page. The deep, booming voice was identical to the one in his dream.
What in the world? Why am I dreaming about this man?
He listened, as the voice explained why he thought this long-foretold time wasn’t meant for the Church, but for the Jews, beginning with his theory that Jesus needed to remove His Church from the planet—via the Rapture—before His Father could once again deal with His chosen people, the Jews.
The voice quoted 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 to further support his theory, “‘And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way.’”
“That’s the Church, y’all,” the voice said with conviction. Regarding Daniel 9:24, he explained how 483 of the 490 years of judgment God had levied upon the Jews had already come to pass, but the final seven years wouldn’t happen until after the peace treaty between Israel and the Antichrist was signed.
The voice quoted Jeremiah 30:7 to further validate his point: “‘That day is so great there is none like it; it is a time of distress for Jacob; yet he shall be saved out of it.’ Who is Jacob?” said the voice. “Jacob was the son of Isaac. Isaac was the son of Abraham. Jacob was later renamed, ‘Israel.’”
The voice then explained that while the seven-year tribulation period was described in vivid detail in Revelation—chapters 4-18—the Church was never mentioned during this time. Only before and after the fact.
But what really got President Danforth’s attention was the voice’s take on the 144,000 preachers God would soon raise up. After explaining that they were 12,000 Jews from each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, he asked, “When was the last time you heard one-hundred and forty-four thousand Jewish preachers causing multitudes from every nation and tongue to turn to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior?” the voice asked. “I’ll tell you when,” he answered, “never!”
President Danforth couldn’t help but be impressed by this man. So clear and precise was his knowledge on these times that, if true, all signs really did point to Israel and the Jews, not the Church of Jesus Christ.
Regarding this present time, the voice convincingly explained how this was simply an in-between period the Antichrist, whom he was certain was Salvador Romanero, would use to gain the support of many world leaders. He also warned that everything they were rebuilding would be destroyed again.
The voice referred to the 22 links on the homepage, laid out to form a cross as a visual, so to speak. The first 3 links had a crimson red shadow cast over them, signifying everything prophesied in chapters 1 through 3 in the Book of Revelation had already come to pass.
A lighter shade of red covered chapters 4 and 5. The explanation given for this was that chapters 4 and 5 took place in Heaven. The site creators were certain it was taking place now but dared not speculate on the actual timing. Only those in Heaven knew.
Chapters 6 through 22 were ominous gray in color and were yet to come. Whenever prophecy was fulfilled in the future, the crimson red shadow would be extended, allowing new believers to know exactly where they were, prophetically speaking.
Chapter six had four black blinking arrows pointing at it, signifying what was next to come for Planet Earth. President Danforth almost didn’t want to click on it but did anyway. Revelation 6:1-2, I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a loud voice like thunder, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
Is this really Salvador Romanero like so many Christians think? President Danforth did not know. How could he when this topic was mostly foreign to him?
As President of the United States, he had access to the kind of intelligence no one else on Earth had. Yet nothing in his daily briefings ever included the Word of God, unless it somehow threatened U.S. security. Another thing his daily briefings could never pinpoint with great accuracy was what the future held.
Did this man really know?
Whether he did or not was unclear. But one thing was certain: the voice had to believe what he was saying. Why face so much potential danger all for nothing? The level of contempt to which he held Salvador Romanero was brave, but it was also foolish.
Once the Miracle Maker got wind of this website, it could surely spell danger for everyone connected to it.
The voice ended with these words, “If you’re listening to my voice and you don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, wake up! Now’s the time to repent! The day of salvation is at hand. Don’t put it off another moment! Seek the Lord while He may be found. The tribulation we now face is nothing when compared to being thrown into hell for all eternity! Again, I say, repent!”
Everything within President Danforth quaked with fear. Who is this man?
At 3:16 a.
m., he quietly got out of bed, careful not to wake his wife. He carried his netbook to his private study so he could further investigate this soul-luring website.
With his life spiraling deeper and deeper into chaos and obscurity, now more than ever President Danforth wanted that same peace and assurance the man behind the website obviously had. He couldn’t imagine life getting any worse, but if it did, was there a Source he could fully trust to see him through?
According to this man, and many Christians like him, the answer was a resounding yes.
The President had no trouble believing the disappearances were Christian in nature. That point had all but been settled two months earlier. What still remained unknown, at least to President Danforth, was why it happened in the first place and where everyone went.
He thought about his daughter and son-in-law. Both were among the missing after vanishing at Camp David on that fateful day. After investigating so many world religions and comparing them to Christianity, the President kept coming to the same conclusion—they weren’t doomed as many were saying, including the Pope.
According to their beliefs, they were in Heaven now. With that justification, President Danforth felt it was time to give the last Book in the Bible his undivided attention.
He clicked on the first link. As the prophetic words of the Book of Revelation were being dictated to him, it’s like his eyes were being opened for the first time. The few times he skimmed through this prophetic Book, the many metaphorical descriptions had him so confused that he had more questions in the end than answers.
But this man—whoever he was—seemed to have a firm grip on things. If so, Salvador Romanero really must be the Antichrist of the Bible. No wonder I feel so powerless against him! I never even had a chance...
First Lady Melissa Danforth woke at 7 a.m. to find her husband in his study, deep in reflection. After sharing his dream with her, Melissa shrugged it off. It was of little interest to her.
But after mustering the courage to share it with the three men in his administration President Danforth knew he could trust most—Vice President Everett Ashford, Chief of Staff Aaron Gillespie and National Security Adviser Nelson Casanieves—his shock matched theirs, as all three confessed to having similar dreams.
“Let’s find out all we can about the founders of this website, gentlemen. And let’s keep it between ourselves for now.”
“Yes, Mister President,” came the reply of all three men in unison.
22
FIVE WEEKS BEFORE THE PEACE TREATY SIGNING
“I HAD THE MOST AMAZING dream last night,” Brian Mulrooney said to Charles Calloway.
“About the Catholic Church again?
“No. It was entirely different.
“What kind of dream then?” Calloway was en route to Atlanta to meet with Clayton Holmes and Travis Hartings. He was among a handful of others asked to come two days early to assist with whatever still needed to be done before the official launch of the End Times Salvation Movement.
“Hard to explain, actually. Most of it was fuzzy. You were addressing a fairly large crowd, but I don’t think you were in a church. It was being streamed because I saw you on a monitor from a different location. Hundreds of others were with me. Jacquelyn was there too.”
“I see. Go on.” Calloway turned on the cruise control. He didn’t want his excitement to result in a speeding ticket or perhaps even an accident
“I don’t believe you were the main speaker. You were clearly introducing someone else.
“Anything else?” Calloway said into his cell phone
“Yes. Jacquelyn had the very same dream if you can believe that. Only hers led to a safe house of sorts, one that provided shelter for exiled Christians. According to her, she and I were put in charge of it. Does this have anything to do with your dream?
Charles felt a charge surging through him. “I believe it might, Brian.
Wouldn’t that be great. “Oh, one more thing about the dream.”
“Yeah, what is it?”
“Jacquelyn and I believe it has something to do with the people in charge of the website you introduced me to…”
“Why’s that?”
“The voice on the website was the same one we both heard in our dream, only we couldn’t understand anything he was saying. It was too muffled. Even his image was clouded. It was rather strange. Even so, we’re convinced he’s the man you were there to introduce.”
“Thanks for sharing this with me, Brian. Let me make some phone calls. Get back to you as quickly as I can.
“Okay, Charles.
The call ended. Charles pulled to the side of the road and sent a private text message to Travis Hartings: Please call me. It’s urgent!
Hartings replied: Call you in 5 minutes...
Waiting for two trucks to pass, Calloway prayed that God would open this door for his good friend.
The phone rang. “Hey, Charles, what’s up?”
“Just received a call from Brian Mulrooney,” Calloway said, reentering the highway.
“And?”
“He had a dream. Not only him, but a woman he’s grown very fond of lately.”
“Jacquelyn Swindell?”
“That’s her.” Charles wasn’t the slightest bit surprised that Travis knew about her.
“Tell me about the dream.” The urgency in Travis’ voice made it evident that he was short on time. He had a mountain of paperwork on his desk, much of it legal documents pertaining to dozens of fictitious companies and shell corporations he formed under the ETSM umbrella; the main conglomerate being TH Corporation.
According to the U.S. government, TH Corporation was an upstart automobile sales company based in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, formed by Travis Hartings. Hence, the “TH”. But to Holmes and Hartings, the “TH” stood for Tribulation Harvest.
“Basically, they both dreamed about a large gathering of people. Neither knew where it was or how many were there, only that they were at a different location than me. Probably would have chalked it up as nothing worthy of your attention had it not been for what he said before ending the call.”
“What’s that?”
“They both saw me addressing a large group of people. But I wasn’t the main speaker. I was introducing someone else. More precisely, Clayton. Brian didn’t mention him by name, of course, but said he and Jacquelyn believe the voice they heard was the same one on the LSAR website. Only they couldn’t make out any of his words or see his face.”
Travis Hartings raised an eyebrow. Charles had no idea they were going to ask him to open the event in prayer before introducing Clayton Holmes. This was confirmation. “Interesting. What do you know about Jacquelyn Swindell?”
“Not much. Only that she lost her husband and unborn child on the day of the Rapture, not to mention her brother and sister-in-law. Her husband was killed. Everyone else was Raptured. She became a Christ follower a few weeks later. Brian says her faith is legitimate. I also know his feelings for her are quite strong.”
“Yeah, we gathered that much from the few calls Braxton overheard. Sounds promising. Let me discuss it with Clayton. I believe Braxton’s already in the process of conducting a thorough background check on her. Do they have the funds to attend?”
“Not sure. But if not, I’ll gladly pay the ten-grand for them. The twenty-five grand from the sale of my house was wired into my account the other day, so it won’t be a problem.”
“That’s very kind of you, Charles.”
“I really want Brian to attend. And since Jacquelyn’s dream included the two of them being put in charge of a safe house somewhere, I think it would be best if she attended too. That is, if everything checks out with Braxton.”
“She dreame
d that?”
“Yes, sir, that’s what Brian said.”
“What’s your ETA to Atlanta?”
“I’m about halfway there. So roughly three hours. You?”
“We’re leaving in an hour or so. Let’s continue this conversation at the hotel.”
“You got it. Be careful driving.”
“You too, Charles.”
The call ended.
Charles called Brian back. “Just got off the phone with my source. Won’t know anything until tomorrow. Please don’t ask any questions. That’s all I can say for now.”
“Understood. It can wait until tomorrow.”
“Until then, keep praying for God’s favor.”
“Okie dokie then.”
“Oh, and Brian, one more thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Keep fighting the Good fight. Pray for me as I pray for you. God is with us.”
“Wow! Thank you, Charles. I’ll surely keep praying for you,” Mulrooney said, ending the call.
He couldn’t help but smile.
23
THE FOLLOWING DAY
“HEY, CHARLES! TO WHAT do I owe this honor?”
“I call bearing good news, my brother.”
“Oh yeah?” The anticipation in Brian Mulrooney’s voice was evident. He sat straight up on the couch.
“Just got permission to inform you of a meeting taking place this weekend. Can’t talk about it on the phone. All I can say for now is that it lines up with the dream you and Jacquelyn had.”
“This weekend? Hmm. As much as I’d love to attend, I’m scheduled to work. Perhaps I can go when my shift’s over.”
“It’s not the kind of meeting where you come and go as you please. But believe me when I say, it’s definitely worth calling out sick for. The only reason you’ve been invited is because of your dream. You’ll be back home on Monday.”
The Countering Page 12