by Mark Goodwin
The Days of Noah
Book 2
Persecution
Mark Goodwin
Technical information in the book is included to convey realism. The author shall not have liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or allegedly caused, directly or indirectly by the information contained in this book.
All of the characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, places or events are entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 Goodwin America Corp.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote short passages in a review.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc™. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.
ISBN: 1503207498
ISBN-13: 978-1503207493
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to Bessy Mae, my precious little cat who has been by my side for all of my previous books. She was with me for the first four chapters of this book, and then God called her home. This world is a more sorrowful place without her, but heaven is ten times sweeter.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
Revelation 5:13b
A special thanks to my beautiful wife for her devotion and constant encouragement and to the tireless warriors who make up the alternative media.
I would like to express a note of gratitude to my fantastic editing team, Madeleine Swart, Nancy Halseide,
and Stacey Kopp.
Thank you to Dana Morrison for consultation on accuracy regarding technological information in the book. To learn more about Tor, Tails OS, and reducing your vulnerability to surveillance, visit Dana’s site at www.eprepper.net
CHAPTER 1
Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Matthew 24:9-13
Late Friday afternoon, Noah Parker checked the time on his phone and stuck it back in his pocket. “Isaiah said he’d be here in half an hour.”
David Ray nodded. “Good. I’ll be interested to see what he has to say about the troops in the University of Tennessee stadium.”
Cassie Parker walked into the Rays’ living room where the two men were talking. “Becky is making coffee. Do you two want regular or decaf?”
Noah gave a quick answer. “Regular, please.”
“That works for me,” David said. “Sounds like you need some caffeine.”
Noah nodded. “I had decaf before court this morning. The trial had me pretty edgy. I had one cup of regular at the café while we waited for the verdict, but I still have a slight headache.”
David smiled. “I totally understand.”
“I’m sure you heard about the action in the commodities market,” Noah said.
David took a seat in his chair near the door. “I did. I guess you and Cassie don’t think it’s a coincidence that the activity in the markets happened on the same day as this so-called military drill in Knoxville.”
Noah sat down on the couch near David. “Cassie suspected the two events were connected right off the bat. She called her friend at Channel 10 to see if she’d heard anything about the military’s presence. She wouldn’t say a word. Sounds pretty suspicious.”
David leaned in close to Noah. “What’s your plan? Are you thinking about buying any gold and silver?”
Noah folded his hands. “We bought a little a couple weeks ago. I don’t know if there’s any to be had at this point. We’re heading over to Kroger when we leave here. Cassie and I are planning to stock up on some dry goods. These commodity price spikes won’t have hit the grocery store shelves yet, but they will soon.”
David put his finger over his mouth as if he were contemplating what was transpiring. “Yeah, I guess you’re feeling like a genius for buying that gold and silver. I thought about buying some, but I still have quite a bit of cash tied up in that pallet of ammo.”
Noah winked. “You might be the real genius when this is all said and done. Lead could be worth more than silver and gold. I’m sure the individual components in your ammo will appreciate with the rest of the commodities market, but the utility of a bullet will be priceless when the stuff hits the fan. Cassie is pretty sure the government will clamp down on firearms and ammo sales once it hits. Even with the wild swing in the gold and silver price today, I’m second-guessing myself for not buying more ammo instead.”
David patted Noah on the shoulder. “If you need any more 5.56, I’ll be happy to trade for silver or gold. Did you buy that AK-74 for Cassie yet?”
“Not yet. I was waiting to get through the trial first. If I’d ended up in jail, Cassie wouldn’t have needed two rifles. I’ll probably head over to Tim’s tomorrow to see if he has one. I wonder if the ammo is going to be expensive.”
“I’ll call around and see if anyone has any they might want to trade for silver or 5.56 ammo. I’ll give you a call if anything comes up.”
Noah nodded. “Thanks, I appreciate it.”
“You know, stocking up on dry goods is probably a good idea. Maybe we should ask Sharon about buying through her restaurant supplier.”
Noah glanced at the ceiling. “Hmm. I hadn’t thought about that. Do you think she’d be willing to do it?”
David looked at Noah out of the corner of his eye. “We’ll get Isaiah to ask her. I know she’ll do it for him.”
“Maybe we should try to come up with a big order for everyone, so she can put it all in at once. If Isaiah agrees to your little scheme, we’ll call Jim and Benny and get them in on it too.”
David dropped his eyebrows. “My little scheme? You’re the one trying to bring the whole town in on it.”
Noah patted him on the leg. “It’s just the folks in our Bible study. When things go south, we’ll be depending on each other. If we don’t get the rest of the group on board, we’ll be feeding them out of our supplies.”
“When you put it that way, it does make sense to bring everyone in.”
Cassie came into the room with the coffee, and Becky followed close behind carrying a tray of cookies, crackers, and sliced cheese.
Noah took his coffee from Cassie and kissed her on the cheek. “Thank you.”
Lacy and Lynette came into the room.
“Can we please take some cookies into my room, Mommy?” Lynette asked.
Becky replied, “Of course you can, sweetie. Come in the kitchen, and I’ll make a little plate for you two.”
The girls followed Becky back into the kitchen.
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and David got up to let Isaiah in.
“Congratulations!” Isaiah walked in and took off his coat.
“Thank you,” N
oah said. “It wouldn’t have happened without your help.”
Isaiah smiled. “God would have found a way to get you through the trial. I’m just glad He chose to use me to help out.
“Now, what’s this I hear about US troops in Knoxville?”
Noah shrugged. “We don’t know any more than what Cassie told you over the phone.”
David said, “It’s not very good intel. We don’t know how many vehicles or troops are there or what type of equipment they have. Carlton claims the stadium was full, so I’d guess somewhere between ten and fifty vehicles and 100 to 500 troops. That would be assuming we’re not including the stadium parking lot. If they’re in the lot, we can add another zero to all those numbers.”
Isaiah found a seat next to Noah and Cassie. “The big questions are why they’re here, and is it just Knoxville or all over the country?”
“Do you know anyone at the college who would do a little recon for you?” Noah asked.
Isaiah tilted his head from side to side. “I do, but I’m concerned about communications. If Cassie’s friend is too afraid to say anything over the phone, maybe we should be leery as well.”
“Perhaps a couple of us should take a drive down there and see what’s happening,” Cassie suggested.
David shook his head. “If whatever is being planned happens while you’re there, you could get stuck in the middle of it.”
Cassie nodded. “Good point.”
“I’ll call Jim and see if he can pick up better intel over the law enforcement channels.” Isaiah took out his phone and walked into the dining area to make the call.
David nudged Noah. “Are you going to ask Isaiah about ordering some dry goods through Sharon’s restaurant?”
“It was your idea. You do it.”
“Yeah, but then it sounds like I know they’re an item.”
“You were ready to embarrass them at the homecoming. Why did you suddenly become so conscientious?”
David replied, “Because now we’re asking for a favor.”
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“What’s all this chatter about?” Cassie asked.
Noah explained the plan regarding Sharon’s restaurant supplier.
Cassie rolled her eyes, took out her phone, and called Sharon. She told her about Noah’s court victory, gave a brief synopsis of what was happening in the markets, and asked if the group could place an order through the Country Kettle. Then she hung up the phone. “She’d be happy to. She’ll be here in a bit.”
David looked at Noah. “See how easy that was?”
Noah punched David playfully in the arm. His phone rang and he answered it. “Pastor Mike, we won the case! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support.”
“Praise God!” Pastor Mike said. “I wish I was calling with better news.”
“Oh?” Noah got up from the couch and walked outside to talk.
“You remember the civil suit filed against the church last summer?”
“Yes, you refused to perform the wedding ceremony for that gay couple. The insurance company settled the case, right?”
The pastor replied, “Right. But after the insurance company paid the damages awarded, they dropped our coverage. I turned down two more gay couples back in September. I’ve just been served with papers. Both of those couples are suing us. I don’t think either of them really wanted to get married at Faith Church; I believe it’s just a way to force us to capitulate to their demands or to make us suffer the consequences if we don’t. I’m sure you’re aware of all the lawsuits around the nation against churches. Several have been forced to shut their doors. The LGBT community has effectively weaponized the legal system. Once the insurance companies drop the churches, the next step is bankruptcy.
“This all started several years ago when florists, bakeries, and photographers were sued for not providing services for gay weddings. I’m not saying it’s all gay people, but the ones who are doing this want their choice to be validated. And it’s a one-way street because they don’t recognize other people’s right to their beliefs.
“I’ve caught a lot of flak from members of the congregation, especially the older ones, on my stance concerning gay marriage. I’ve always preached that the government has no business telling folks who can and can’t get married. To ask for the government’s approval or disapproval is to put the state in the place of God. That is statism, and it’s a form of idolatry. Churches have sat idly by while power has been given to the great and holy state to divinely decree what is and what isn’t marriage. Now, we’ll be forced to comply with the latest edict or close our doors.
“We’ve been fighting the wrong fight. Rather than fighting to get the government to define marriage in accordance with the Bible, we should have been fighting to get the government out of our private lives altogether.”
Noah could hear the pain in his pastor’s voice. He wanted to do something to help out, something to right all the wrongs, especially after Pastor Mike had been so supportive of Noah throughout the trial. But he was powerless to change the circumstances. “I’m so sorry, Pastor Mike. What can I do to help?”
“You can press on. You can pray. You can remind the folks in your home Bible study group that God is always faithful and that He always makes a way.
“I encourage you to start looking for another source of income. If we lose this case—and the precedent has been well established in the civil courts—Faith Church will cease to be a going concern. Also, keep an eye out for Benny. He’ll be out of a job as well if we have to close the church.”
Noah felt horrible for Pastor Mike. “I had understood that my stipend would end after my trial was over. I don’t expect anything else from the church.”
Pastor Mike said, “Whatever is left in the general fund when the lawsuits end will go to the plaintiffs, unless we spend it. Please accept your paycheck as long as we can pay it.”
Noah was torn. “Well, okay. What will you do?”
“The Lord always provides.” Pastor Mike’s voice was filled with confidence in his God. “I’ll address the church Sunday, but feel free to give everyone a heads-up.”
The two men said their goodbyes, and Noah returned to his friends inside.
“Did you tell Pastor Mike about the troops in Knoxville?” Becky asked.
“No, Pastor Mike has enough to worry about right now.” Noah filled everyone in on what Pastor Mike had just told him.
“Is it people from Sevierville? What attorney would represent someone in a lawsuit like that if there’s no insurance?” Cassie asked.
Noah looked at the floor. “He didn’t give me any other details. He said he would address the congregation on Sunday. He seems pretty convinced that this is the end of Faith Church.”
Isaiah shrugged. “Well, it’s been happening to churches all over the country. Several have caved in and agreed to perform gay weddings. The ones that don’t are going broke from damages awarded and litigation costs.”
“What do we do if Faith Church closes its doors? Where will we go to church?” Becky asked.
Isaiah said, “Bible study will always be open at my house. At least till they lock me up or send me home to heaven. That’s how the early church got started. Even today, in countries like China, Saudi Arabia, and North Korea, folks meet for church in each other’s homes. We could add a little praise and worship time to Bible study. That’d make it more like a church service.”
David gave a nod to signal his approval. “If it gets too big for Isaiah’s and we have to split it up into two groups, I’d be happy to host a study here.”
Becky put her hand on David’s shoulder. “Why don’t we just start Sundays here? Isaiah can still host Thursday night. Two days a week might be a bit much for him.”
Noah sipped his coffee. “All in favor of continuing to meet at Isaiah’s on Thursdays and having a Sunday meeting at the Rays’, if and when Faith Church is shut down, raise your hand.”
It was unanimous.
N
oah turned to Isaiah. “What did Jim say about getting info from Knoxville?”
Isaiah raised his eyebrows. “He hadn’t heard anything about the soldiers, but he said he’d see what he could find out and head on over here.”
The conversation of the group bounced around from the turmoil in the markets, to the possible closing of Faith Church, to the military presence in Knoxville.
Half an hour passed, and Sharon Beck arrived. She handed Cassie a printout of the daily order form she used for the restaurant and took off her coat. “Noah, I’m so happy to hear that you won your case.”
Noah stood to take her coat. “Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help. We’re especially grateful to you for keeping Lacy.”
Sharon took a seat next to Isaiah. What had started as a discreet romance was slowly emerging from the shadows. Sharon put her hand on Isaiah’s leg. “I’m happy to help any way I can, but I’m not sure why you’d want to buy all of this food. We’ve had tough economic times before, but that’s never disrupted the supply chain.”
Isaiah’s cheeks turned slightly rosy, but he left Sharon’s hand where it lay. “Besides the huge jump in the silver and gold prices, commodities prices also shot through the roof today. Even if this doesn’t turn out to be a complete currency collapse, grocery prices are going to spike. Buying a few staples that we’ll use up anyway is a good investment. And if this really is a major event, storable food is the best possible insurance we could buy.”
Sharon shook her head. “But commodity prices could correct as soon as the markets open Monday morning.”
Isaiah smiled at her. “Even if that happens, it’s likely to be short-lived. The Fed had to print $2.5 trillion to buy the bonds China dumped three weeks ago. It’s that same $2.5 trillion that triggered the gold and silver price jumps today. China didn’t want to get stuck with that much wealth tied to a failing currency, so they converted it into precious metals. They pretty much cleared out the physical market. Since there’s no gold or silver left for dollar-holders to use for shelter, they’re piling into any hard asset they can find.”