by Robin M Helm
Whoever reared these men certainly knew their grammar. It’s as if they’re all from another century. All of the angels in the arena heard Elizabeth’s thoughts.
And on that note, I think we should exit, stage left, thought Michael.
Excellent idea, replied Gabriel.
I concur. You did very well, my brothers. Thank you. Xander turned to Jonathan. “I am pleased that you were here to meet some of my family.”
“So am I,” answered Jonathan. “Will we ever meet your father?”
“I expect so, though it may be years from now.” Xander took Elizabeth’s hand as a chilling thought occurred to him. It will be after you are dead. Sadness washed over him. One day, Elizabeth will die. What will happen to me? Am I mortal enough to die?
Do not think of that now. Michael’s voice was kind, and his green eyes were somber.
If you die, Xander, you will go to heaven, added Gabriel.
What an odd thought – never to be an angel again, mused Xander pensively.
“I enjoyed meeting you very much, Elizabeth,” said Gabriel, reaching out to shake her hand, and then Jonathan’s. “And you, too, Jonathan.”
“Take care of our little brother,” Michael said as he shook hands with Jonathan and Elizabeth.
“Only you would call Xander little,” chuckled Elizabeth.
Michael flashed her a smile that was as bright as his shining, blond hair.
I heard your earlier thought about Charlotte, and I agree. Gregory may go after her while we are gone. I have sent extra guards, warriors, for Elizabeth’s parents, for Charlotte, and for Janna and Chance, but I think it is better to have Charlotte with us. She is very good about coming between Elizabeth and Gregory, should he choose to take human form, thought Michael.
I will arrange it, replied Xander.
Michael and Gabriel turned and walked away from them, stopping to wave just before they left the arena. Within a few seconds, they were back with Xander and Elizabeth, again wearing the garb of warrior guardians.
~~oo~~
After Xander and Elizabeth had spent the morning rehearsing all of their music for the evening, they grabbed a quick lunch from the catered buffet in the arena while their opening band, Thorncrown, practiced and did their sound check with the tech crew. The couple then joined Jonathan, Dave, and other members of the SoulFire team in visiting the south Atlanta area with a police escort. Jonathan had arranged to have tables set up with water, food, and hygiene items. SoulFire Ministries had sent people ahead to train two hundred counselors from area churches to be available at the arena every night, and most of those people also joined the evangelistic team in the burned-out neighborhoods for the afternoon.
The big story of the day was breaking as they prepared to leave the area. Jonathan’s van had a television, and the group with him gathered around when he called them over to hear the news. A young newsman, Mark Goodman, was reporting that none of the churches in the area had been so much as scorched. Furthermore, all of the houses that had not burned were inhabited by Christians. His interviews of Eileen Watts and other Christians were shown, as well footage of several churches and houses with brilliantly glowing forms on their roofs.
“It appears, my friends, that we are seeing our God at work in a mighty and miraculous way here in Atlanta,” said Jonathan with a big smile. He took his cell phone from his pocket and made a few calls. “We will have a special guest this evening at SoulFire. You’re going to love her.”
We love her already. Am I right, Michael? asked Xander.
You are, indeed, brother, answered Michael with a smile.
And, later this evening, we may have more guests that will surprise Elizabeth even more, added Gabriel.
Chapter 12
“As for me, I baptize you in water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not even fit to remove His sandals; He Himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 3:4
June, 2008
Xander and Elizabeth waited with their guardians in their separate dressing rooms that evening as the arena filled to a full capacity crowd of 21,000. People were waiting outside an hour before the doors opened, forming a constantly moving line of humanity. Jonathan had arranged for buses to run to all the college campuses to pick up the campers, as well as to the troubled area of Atlanta, to transport all who wanted to attend. In addition, he had decided several months earlier to open the rallies to the public, holding the number of seats necessary to seat the teenagers; consequently, SoulFire would be packed every evening. Churches from all over Atlanta were bringing their young people, and adults of all ages were coming as well. Families had bought tickets together, and Life Groups from area churches were using the conference as a summer retreat, planning their own activities for the morning and afternoon hours and coming to the rallies in the evenings. SoulFire had been well-publicized across the country and was a main event of the summer for many people. There were eight week-long events planned in different major cities across the United States, and thousands of people who did not live in those cities traveled for several hours to attend. Some stayed in hotels, and others found housing with friends who lived in the chosen metropolitan areas.
The rallies were advertised as “come as you are,” both in dress and in life circumstances. The masses of people wore everything from jeans and flip-flops to shorts and T shirts making a collage of color as they poured into the arena, laughing and greeting each other. All throughout the areas surrounding the halls and entryways, huge screens were set up, showing videos and pictures of the ministry activities in which the teens had been involved during the day. Crowds gathered, inspired by the images of the young people landscaping, painting, and doing construction for people in impoverished areas of Atlanta. There were films of teens working in soup kitchens; mowing lawns; conducting day camps with children; visiting in nursing homes, reading Bibles and singing with the elderly; washing cars; and participating in many other ministries. The images were filled with laughter and joy as the teenagers put feet to the message of God’s love.
Local church leaders were behind tables at each video area, signing up people to participate the next day. Helpers handed out flyers with schedules and locations, directing workers to areas of need. There were also signs telling participants what they could bring the next evening if they were unable to leave their jobs for the week of ministry. Areas were set up to take clothes, canned food, water, and other needed items to be distributed throughout the economically depressed areas of Atlanta in addition to the neighborhoods affected by the fires.
Those leading the rallies also dressed down. Xander wore black jeans and a white, collared shirt, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His muscled forearms and large, beautiful hands always drew more attention than he wanted, but that was something he could not help. He had purposely tried to avoid wearing anything that would cause anyone in the audience to look at him rather than to listen to the message of the music he would be playing and singing.
Elizabeth’s white, sleeveless top flowed over her black jeans, fluttering softly about her form as she moved. Her jewelry was simple – silver loop earrings, an over-sized turquoise ring her mother had given her, and several chains of varying weights and thicknesses with gold and silver beads randomly scattered on the necklaces. From one chain hung an antique cross her aunt Grace had brought her from Italy and on another was a delicate sand dollar charm that had been given to her mother by her grandfather, affectionately known as “Papa.” Her garnet cross, a gift from her father, was on a shorter, finer chain. She always kept her family close to her by wearing jewelry or clothing that they had given her. Unlike Xander, who could hear the thoughts of those around him, Elizabeth did not worry about what people thought of her appearance. She had never thought of herself as particularly attractive, and it did not occur to her that people might focus on her beauty rather than on the words she sang. Her choices in clothing, although fashionable, w
ere modest rather than showy, and they suited her personality.
Shortly before Xander and Elizabeth were to go on stage, crew members came to alert them, and they made their way backstage, followed closely by Gabriel and Michael. As Elizabeth came into his view, Xander smiled.
“You look wonderful, Elizabeth. More than that, your inner beauty shines from your face.” He quoted Proverbs 31:30 to her. “‘Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.’ I am so glad that you asked me to come with you and share this summer in ministry.” He reached for her hand.
“I’m so happy that you accepted the invitation, Xander.” She looked down at their joined hands. “‘O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.’” She looked into his eyes and returned his smile.
He held her eyes with his gaze. “Psalm 34:3 has always been a favorite verse of mine, but I never thought I would have someone like you to share it with me, Elizabeth. I thank God every day for bringing you into my life. There are ways in which this journey to bring us together has put me through the fire, and one day I will tell you all about it, but right now I want you to know that it has all been worth it, and I would gladly do it all again.”
She looked a little puzzled by his statement, but she accepted it. We don’t have time to talk now. He’ll tell me what he meant later.
He took both of her hands in his. “Shall we pray together before we open the conference?”
She nodded, and they bowed their heads. Michael and Gabriel put their hands on the shoulders of their charges as they spoke to God and asked for His blessings on their offerings to Him.
As they raised their heads, crew members were motioning to them. Thorncrown, the opening band, had been playing for the past hour as the people filled the arena, and they were preparing to leave the stage. When they stopped playing, the house lights went down and videos of various ministries which had been ongoing during the day played on the screens around the platform.
Xander thought through the words and music of their first song as sound technicians gave Elizabeth and him ear buds so that they could hear the other musicians. The wireless microphones were already on the stage on stands.
Elizabeth quickly put in her ear bud and reached up to pull his head down for a quick kiss. She held his face between her hands, mere inches from hers. “I love you, Xander Darcy. You are everything I’ve ever dreamed of in a man.” Then she kissed the tip of his nose, turned, and ran onto the stage with Michael right behind her.
He was momentarily struck dumb. She chooses this time and place to tell me that I am all she has ever desired in a man? And then she runs away? How am I supposed to think straight after that? Xander’s blank expression lasted only a second before it was replaced with one of sheer joy. He turned his head to look at Gabriel who stood beside him. She loves me as much as I love her! Gabriel, she knows me well, and she still loves me!
Gabriel laughed aloud at him and the lightning speed at which his emotions could change.
Go, man! Do not leave her alone out there. Gabriel gave Xander a little push.
Xander headed toward the stage, but stopped as a familiar, loving Voice spoke into his mind. I Am well-pleased with you. You have shown yourself to be worthy of her love, and she has given it freely. Now feed My sheep together.
Breathless with happiness, Xander raced after Elizabeth; every trace of fatigue from the long night and day had vanished with her declaration followed by God’s affirmation. Xander felt the same exultation that he had known the night that Jehovah had given him a dual nature. The Almighty had freed him to love Elizabeth, and her love had liberated him to be all that God intended for him to be. His Father was pleased with him. All was right in Xander’s world for that wonderful moment.
Elizabeth was already at the piano, playing the opening song with the band, when Xander hurried into the stacked keyboards. He faced the audience with stands of keys in front of him as well as to both his left and his right and immediately joined the other musicians on the introduction, riffing as the audience began to clap. Gabriel, Michael, and the other guardians stood behind their charges, emitting a soft glow that grew as people joined with Elizabeth and Xander in singing “Life on Fire.” Before they had reached the end of the first verse, everyone was on their feet, waving their hands in the air, singing as they read the words from the giant screens on the sides of the stage. Cameramen focused on Xander and Elizabeth, showing them on screens across the top of the stage.
After the first song, Xander strapped on an acoustic guitar and Elizabeth picked up her flute before they came to the mikes at the front of the stage. He played the opening bars of “Watching You,” setting the tempo for the rest of the band before a few of them joined him in playing the quieter song. As he began to sing of the way God watches over His children throughout their lives, Elizabeth played a countermelody that wove through his words, bringing to mind the gentle laughter and quiet sobs that people experienced during their happiest and darkest moments. Parents held their children a little closer to their chests, and tears trickled down the cheeks of those who had recently experienced life-changing events, such as losing loved ones to sickness or tragedy. Many were present whose homes had burned the night before; some had even lost family members in the fires. They were hungry for the message imparted by the song. Xander sang as one who really knew what it meant to be cared for and loved by God. His face reflected his Father’s glory, and all over the arena, people knelt to pray with him as he led them after he finished singing.
The thousands of guardians present knew that there were many hundreds of humans there who had never accepted Christ. One man had even come in who was indwelt by demons, and he began to mutter as God’s name was lifted up. The man who was possessed got progressively louder during the hour that the singing continued. Michael dispatched warriors to stand around him, protecting the people who were in seats near the large, disruptive man. Eventually, he drew so much attention that security personnel for the arena came to lead him to a quieter place so that he could calm down. He fought with them, and five guards had to carry him out, kicking and screaming, to a secure area containing monitors with several different views of the stage via a closed circuit feed. They searched the man, but they missed the knife he had secreted in his boot. He sat with the security guards and seemed to become quieter away from the crowd, watching the monitors in front of him and scratching his own arms until they bled.
The last song before Jonathan spoke was “I Burn for You, Lord,” sung as a duet by Xander and Elizabeth with only their acoustic guitars as accompaniment. He sat on a stool at the front of the stage with one long leg extended and the other bent in order to rest his guitar on his thigh. Elizabeth stood beside him, her guitar supported by a shoulder strap. The building was darkened except for a spotlight focusing all eyes on the two of them. The song was based on Psalm 66:8-12, and before they began to sing, Elizabeth quoted the passage. “Bless our God, O peoples, and sound His praise abroad, Who keeps us in life, and does not allow our feet to slip. For Thou has tried us, O God; Thou hast refined us as silver is refined. Thou didst bring us into the net; Thou didst lay an oppressive burden upon our loins. Thou didst make men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet Thou didst bring us out into a place of abundance.” The chorus of the song was simple. “You have refined us as silver, Lord. We went through the fire, and You delivered us.” As they repeated the chorus several times, the crowded arena filled with the voices of God’s people raised in song, thanking God for the trials that had refined them into useful vessels, and praising Him for His deliverance from those dark times. Both angels and humans lifted their hands in praise to God, and the angels hummed the melody as their Chief sang.
And God received the worship of both humans and angels with a smile.
When the last strains of the music faded away, there was a hush throughout the huge building. Jona
than, shadowed by Lexus, walked onto the stage, holding the hand of an elderly African-American lady as they approached a microphone. Xander and Elizabeth, followed by Michael and Gabriel, left the stage as Jonathan introduced his guest. Stagehands removed the stools and replaced them with a clear stand.
“Hello, Atlanta. We are so glad to be here with you for SoulFire 2008, and I want to introduce you to a new, very special friend of ours. You may have seen her on the news earlier today. Mrs. Eileen Watts has agreed to tell you what happened at her house and in her neighborhood last night as a large portion of this city burned. Welcome her now.”
The young preacher began to clap and the audience joined him as Mrs. Watts smiled and took the microphone he offered to her. As her guardian stood beside her, Mrs. Watts told of God’s protection throughout the long night as the riots and fires surrounded her house. She held her worn Bible and quoted Romans 8:35-39, emphasizing that nothing had been able to separate her from the love of God. She told of her neighbor’s call in the night, alerting her to the fires and telling her about the glowing men on her roof who had stopped anyone from harming her. Her faith was so strong and real that every Christian present wanted a faith like hers, and every unbeliever who heard her testimony felt God’s power flowing from her. When she finished, Xander, who was waiting in the wings with Elizabeth, came back onstage to escort her off. After he made sure that Mrs. Watts was comfortable, he returned to the wings to listen to the sermon with Elizabeth. Stagehands handed them bottles of water which they accepted gratefully.
Jonathan moved to center stage and rested his Bible on the plexiglass stand. Lexus stood to his right as he opened the Word to I Peter 1:6-7 and began to read. “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of our faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”