DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to my Lord who saved a wretch like me from the grasp of the enemy of our souls and chose to use me as a tool by which to bring forth His purpose. I hope that this book blesses you and brings forth a passion to seek His Spirit diligently.

         It all began as nothing more than a few friends taking a well deserved vacation from the daily pressures of running a construction business. What it became, in reality, was a nightmare, in which they would encounter forces from the dark side and have their lives changed ... Forever.

       It was about Noon, when Brandon and his friends left that hotel, still refusing to end their "vacation" ... Maybe it was pride, or maybe just ignorance. They just would not surrender their vacation time to some freak show. They watched for being followed on the way to the next hotel. They even took back streets to be certain that they were not being "tailed." They checked into the Red Lion Hotel. When they first arrived, everything seemed to be tranquil. They ordered up room service, ate and were watching television. The movie "Distinguished Gentlemen" was playing. Brandon went to the bathroom and noticed that the toilet paper roll was spinning back and forth by itself. Wanting to assure himself of what he was witnessing, he called Mark and asked him to go into the bathroom and tell him what he saw. He would always do this when he saw something strange, as to confirm, in his own mind, that what he was seeing, was really happening. He would not tell them what he saw and then would ask them what they saw. It ALWAYS matched. Mark replied, "I see the toilet paper roll spinning by itself." They tried to figure out how it was doing it, but to no avail. They just could not accept any "supernatural" explanation.

       About this time, Anthony came in and the three watched as the floor show of the previous nights began again. Drilled holes, beams of light penetrating through the holes, mumbling, shadows, knocking on walls and ceilings and other incidents, were in full force. All three sat in a fearful awe as they bore witness to the terrifying sights. After watching this for hours, in fear, Brandon's friends drifted to sleep as to escape the horrifying sights. Brandon, left alone, decided it couldn't be much worse in his own room and went two doors down to his own hotel room where he entered what would prove to be ... Even more frightening events.

       After only a few seconds, he could hear that all-too-familiar drilling sound exposing holes in the ceilings and walls which emitted so many streams of light from the holes, that it looked as if it were a laser-light show. He screamed out loud, "What is that noise?" Suddenly, he heard a voice, as though a whisper, say that it was a "looking-in device" which enabled the viewer to see inside the room. He then saw those same shadows, that he had seen at the other hotel, walking back and forth underneath the entry door. Brandon looked out the peephole and this time he saw many orange shadowy figures walking to and fro in the hallway, as though wandering aimlessly, and, there was one lime green shadowy figure standing on the outside of his hotel door. These figures were somewhat transparent, but were definitely shaped as humans. The colors were florescent in nature. There was something moving all through their bodies, like the TV screen when the television station is off the air, but it was moving left and right in a wave as it traveled up and down their shapes. Brandon then went and sat down on the edge of the bed, pondering on what he should do.

       Suddenly, a set of clothes that he had changed out of, when he entered the room which were laying beside him on the bed, literally began to rise up off the bed and dance around. Brandon was frozen with fear, at what his eyes were beholding. The clothes that hung in the closet began moving back and forth through the clothes rack like someone was sifting through them. Not believing his eyes, Brandon arose and without getting any of his belongings, hurriedly went back to his friends' room to get them to come bear witness to the phenomena. As he traveled down the hallway, he noticed that he did not see the orange  or lime green colored entities, that he had seen earlier, when he looked out of the peephole. It took quite a while to wake his sleeping friends, and when they finally awoke, they had a dazed looked on their faces, which would stay upon them for several hours. They reluctantly agreed to go view the strange things that were happening, which Brandon had told them about.

       As they all three entered Brandon's room, the drilling of holes was still in progress. What appeared to be spittle was falling from the ceiling in many areas of the room. As they approached the bed, where the clothes had been dancing earlier, the clothes were resting quietly on the bed. Brandon told them that the clothes had been dancing about earlier, and after all they had seen over the past few days, his friends did not find it difficult to believe what he was telling them. About that time, the clothing rose again. They did not dance about as they had before, but stood up as though someone was wearing them. All three confirmed with one another that they were seeing the same thing. Brandon moved his hand back and forth above the clothing to be sure that this was not being done by wire or twine, by the entities. The clothing in the closet began to rock and roll again, swaying back and forth. The humming from the drill became louder. The holes were being drilled at a more rapid pace, and all this became too much for them to bear. It was then that Brandon knew that this entity was not only of a supernatural nature, but potentially dangerous and he just wanted to leave and go to his house. The vacation ... was officially OVER.

       They gathered Brandon's things and they all left the room and went to the other hotel room to gather all of Mark and Anthony's belongings. However, they could not find the coil wire which was taken out of the vehicle daily, because of an incident which had taken place about a week before. Someone had stolen the truck and driven it over to a friend of Brandon's house. The strange thing was, that the vehicle was not broken into, but appeared as though the thief had used a key, but only Brandon had a key. At the time, they assumed that it was just some thief with a master key for that vehicle make and model. As they pondered on this, they wondered if that event had anything to do with the eerie events that were now taking place. Where was the missing coil wire which was seen seconds before while gathering everything together? They turned the room upside down looking for it because they just knew it was there. But ... It was not there. Did the entity take it? Was the entity trying to keep them there? Whatever ... They were not staying.

       It was seven thirty in the evening. They decided to go buy a new coil wire so that they could leave and escape these strange events. Mark stayed and took all of their personal effects to the lobby, on the hotel cart and checked out of the hotel while Brandon and Anthony went in Anthony's vehicle to get a new coil wire. They agreed to meet out in front of the hotel. For some strange reason, when Brandon and Anthony had passed a pawn shop, they decided to purchase two 9 MM guns. As if they believed this would somehow be a defense against the entities. Anything was better than the insecure feeling they had. They returned to the hotel to pick up Mark and put the new coil wire on the truck. They decided to leave Anthony's car and just take the truck and have other employees pick up Anthony's car later that evening. They left the hotel and headed for the secure feeling of Brandon's house, vowing never to return, in hopes that this entity would just go away. But would it? 

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

       It was approximately nine thirty in the evening when Brandon, with his friends, finally returned to Brandon's home. It was quite a distance to his house and Mark and Anthony had fallen asleep in the truck and would not budge when Brandon tried to awaken them. He knew that they were exhausted from the events of the past week and felt that they were safe on his property. He decided to let them sleep a while, before waking them. He entered what he called, his castle. He was glad to be in a place that he was familiar with and felt safe. But that sense of security soon departed when he heard that all too familiar sound of what the "entity" called his looking-in device. Its loud humming seemed to echo through the house. He could not believe that it had followed him to his own home. He felt a sense of righteousness or power, since this was HIS home. He said aloud, thinking that somehow this entity was a part of him, by the way it was able to follow him from place to place so quickly, "What do you want?" The distinct voice responded with one word ... "YOU."

       Just then, sparks of light started emanating through the newly drilled holes in the walls, as the voices started becoming louder and the words they spoke became more and more fierce. Brandon tried to escape the voices that he heard and left the master bedroom and went into the master bathroom. As he watched, items such as towels, rugs and the shower curtain started turning from their original colors, to a light shade of red and becoming a darker shade of red with each passing moment. He left the bathroom and returned to the master bedroom where the same things occurred, as almost everything in the room started turning blood red. He left the master bedroom and entered the living area to find that the walls in this room were already blood red. The light fixtures also appeared to shine a glowing red, though there were standard clear bulbs in the fixtures. He repeatedly heard the threatening voices, with promises of pain and anguish to him and all those that he knew. A plant which was hanging from the ceiling, in the living room, came alive and spun and shook as he passed by. It then proceeded to extend one of its green branches and move slowly toward him. He quickly walked away from the planter as to avoid the branch, which was growing longer as if to reach him. As he made his way through the entry hall where family pictures hung, large red X's suddenly appeared over the faces of the individuals in the photos, as the voices repeated their threats.

       Suddenly, the front entry door started to shake and rattle violently, as if someone were trying to break the door down. It all became too much for him to bear. He swung the door open with no idea what he expected to find, waiting outside the door. To his surprise, there was nothing there. He walked outside and his friend Mark, was sleeping in the truck while Anthony was standing alongside the vehicle, looking very spooked. Brandon spoke to Anthony, but he would not respond. As though, he had seen a ghost. Brandon looked up in the sky, at the dark night. In defiance, he said aloud, "You cannot turn the sky red." Suddenly, the entire sky turned blood red and the voices started repeating their horrifying words of doom. A fire hydrant, was casting its shadow upon the ground. The shadow suddenly turned into the shadow of a young child and then the voices said, "We want the child ... The child shall be ours" and then the shadow of the child, grew horns. Brandon could not take any more. His mind was so full that he felt like he was going to pass out. As fear overtook his mind, he fell to his knees and said, "Help me, God. I don't know what to do.

       As he knelt there helpless, begging for God's help, suddenly a massive storm from the West with the strongest winds he had ever seen blew in and the red skies immediately vanished. As Brandon looked around astonished at what was happening, looking up at the sky, he asked aloud, if this was God. The skies lit up with lightning, like he had never seen before. Thousands of single lightning bolts flashed in the sky. A hard rain began to fall, which he would later find out, that the rain, was some sort of spiritual baptism. He stood there in the pouring rain with his eyes gazing into the heavens. Every time Brandon would ask a question of God, the heavens would fill with lightning, but only when a question was asked.

       Anthony approached Brandon and as Brandon looked into Anthony's eyes, he could see that he was back to normal. He and Brandon stood and watched the power of God. The strength of the winds was able to bend the trees over enough for the tops of the trees to touch the ground, yet they felt no wind. The two woke up their sleeping friend, Mark, and all three went inside the house. The walls which were red before, had become as white as snow and seemed to glow brilliantly. Any of the light switches, which were in the off position before, were now on and the bulbs glowed as though they were beacons. The televisions, which were also off before, were now on and each had a Religious show on them. A crucifix with Jesus on it, which had been hanging on a wall, was now hanging by a string, at the sliding glass door. But, who put it there? Brandon went out the sliding glass door and was standing on the back porch gazing into the heavens.

       Brandon continued to ask questions of why this took place and the skies would continue to light up, as he asked the questions, in response to his questions. Suddenly he heard a new voice, unlike the other voices he had been hearing for the past few days. This voice was gentle, and the voice said that one-third of man belonged to satan and that one-third belonged to God and that the remaining third were undecided. The voice said "there is a battle for souls going on" ... The voice began to share many other things with him. At one point, a train whistle blew in the distance. The voice said, "Get them to the train; you are the gatherer." As he stared into heaven, a lime green glowing face appeared in the East sky. It looked like what you would picture Jesus as looking like, from most of the paintings one might see in a Church.

       After a few more minutes of communing with his new friend, Brandon returned into the house. He went throughout the house looking for anything new or different. When he got to the master bathroom, he heard the gentle voice again, and it said ... "Look." He looked up at the ceiling and a transparent, lime green colored hand with outstretched fingers proceeded towards him and when he was touched by it, he felt a jolt go through his entire body. The voice said, "Do not fear; I am with you." Then, two things he always believed were corrected; the voice said "it is okay for a man to cry" and then said "the heart and the mind are two separate storage places" ... He had no idea why the voice would feel this was worthy to share, but he understood what was being said.

       Brandon went into the living room and the cross which was hanging at the back door was now atop an old family Bible. Brandon was then told by the voice that whenever Brandon felt a certain feeling inside of him, after asking a question of God, the answer from God was YES. But, that if he did not feel this feeling, the answer was NO. Just then, he experienced the feeling that was being referred to. It was the same intense chill, that he had experienced when the lime green hand touched him, in the bathroom. He was then told not to trust anything else, either from his mind or of man. The voice also told him that this new gentle entity lived in Brandon's stomach, which Brandon thought strange. Had the voice said heart or mind, it would have seemed more logical, but who was he to debate logic with his new friend?

       This continued on until the sun rose and Brandon went outside and walked through a puddle of water. He noticed that as he walked, there were two sets of footprints coming out of the water and he truly knew ... He was not alone. As he walked, he pondered on the events of the past week and he remembered the lime green transparent figure, which stood at the door of the hotel room while the orange figures roamed the halls and discerned that it must have been a good entity of some sort, perhaps an angel or good spirit watching over him. Because the lime green hand in the bathroom, the lime green image of Jesus' face in the east sky and the lime green transparent figure at the hotel door were the exact same color.

       As he listened, he seemed to be able to hear all sorts of sounds he normally would have just ignored or missed. He then saw two bright lights inside of a bluish-green bubble which came from the sky. He suddenly heard the voice again and it repeatedly said, "He who is first will be last, and those who are last will be first." After hours of listening to, and learning from this new friend, he returned inside and went to sleep. As he lay there drifting off, he wondered if it was over. Would this new friend abandon him now that he was safe? No, this was just the beginning ...

       In the weeks that followed, Brandon and his friends opened a Church, as he was told to do by his new friend. They filled it with new furniture, appliances, desks and even built an awesome altar. The walls of the Church were draped with Religious and spiritual pictures. They worked very hard getting this building to be exactly what it was supposed to be, which was a spiritual sanctuary and finally, it was ready. The gentle voice also told him to open a business called "New Genesis Miracle Workers" and to advertise in the newspaper that the service would try and help anyone with any problem, from missing children to financial donations to healings. Brandon did as he was instructed and the calls poured in.

       During the first few days, there was a fog like mist that filled the building causing a cloudy haze. They could not figure out what it was. It was not smoke, but similar to that fog that one encounters in that state of mind between sleep and awake. It had a pure scent to it. They decided to take pictures of the new office and noticed that in a few of the photos, there was also a haze on the photographs, just as it was in the office, only it was lime green on the photo. Brandon was all too familiar with this color and was excited about its presence being in the Church. It would blur the picture somewhat as though something was in between the camera and the item being photographed. They examined the pictures for quite some time, but could not figure out what it was. They wanted to be sure that it was not just the film, so they went out and purchased more film. It happened again with the new film. They decided, that to be certain that this lime green glow on the photos, was indeed something spiritual, that they should purchase another camera. So they purchased a new camera thinking this might solve the mystery of the photographs, one way ... Or another. The new camera revealed the same lime green glow in the photographs. He was now sure that the lime green shadowy haze on the photos was definitely spiritual, by nature. He also knew, that it was a good thing, because of the color representing good, in the past days.
       
       With the Miracle Workers business blossoming into a popular service, it required Brandon to hire more people to answer phones and document the callers request for Brandon to take care of. Brandon was sitting in the computer room, still pondering on the pictures that they had taken the night before. He decided to take even more pictures around the office, to see if the lime green haze, would be on these new pictures. The first few photos were normal. They had nothing out of the ordinary on them. Then he suddenly felt that intensive chill feeling, that the voice had told him to be aware of, and to trust in. The feeling was coming from his right side. He took a picture of the area, to his right, where he felt the feeling emitting from and when the photo had developed, the photo came out with the lime green haze, as it had the previous evening. He called his friends into the main room and had them watch as he would take a picture of one area, show the picture to them and show them that it was "normal"... But, then he would seek out the origin of the "feeling" which felt like an intense chill, and told his friends "now watch" and would take another picture of that area and the lime green shadowlike haze was on the picture.

       This took place for hours. At one point, he took two pictures of the same area which was in a corner of the office above the receptionist desk. When the two photos had developed, Brandon heard the word "difference" in his head. He looked at the two photos and there was a difference in the photos. One had a lime green circle on the acoustic ceiling tile above the desk. He showed his friends the photos and they all looked up at the ceiling where the lime green circle was on the photo. They were astonished to see that there was a cross being formed, without hand, right before their eyes. They stood in awe. It was exciting and even a bit scary at the same time. They continued taking pictures and everywhere that he would sense that spiritual chill, he would turn and take a picture.

       One time, Brandon took a picture of Mark and when the photo developed, there was a figure of a man standing behind him. They looked closely at the picture and a very peculiar feeling overtook them as they watched as it fully developed and saw it change into an orange shadowlike entity with deep eye sockets and pale skin. They freaked out and ripped the picture up and threw it outside the building. They could not help remembering the eerie events which took place just over a month ago in the hotels and feared it was about to start again. It was at that time, that the voice of his new friend taught Brandon how to pray for the evil entities to be removed from a specific place or even a person. It was very confusing to him at first, as he did not understand everything and he then understood the true meaning of these words ... Some things are hard to understand and even harder to believe.

       He sometimes questioned it all himself, but could not doubt what he had seen and felt and the gentle voice and how it helped him when he was so very afraid. About this time, Anthony said, "Hey, it is hailing outside." They went outside and saw a beautiful rainbow extending to the earth from a large white cloud. As they took pictures of this rainbow, they saw a large dark black cloud racing towards the large white cloud from the west. Empty film containers were being tossed about like crazy, as they photographed the whole event. As the black cloud neared, the white cloud sent out a single lightning bolt and it hit the black cloud, which appeared to cause the black cloud to retreat a bit, only to continue on its path toward the white cloud. A massive display of lightning occurred as the black cloud touched the white cloud. They seemed to entangle one another and what appeared to be fists proceeding from the white cloud were seen and photographed. After a brief period of time, the black cloud literally retreated to the south, but the white cloud stayed stationary. Brandon asked aloud if the war was over and a single lightning bolt came from the white cloud.

       Suddenly, there appeared a lightning bug which blinked off and on, in front of Brandon's face. An eerie feeling came over him as he heard the gentle voice from within say, "They seek the child." He asked aloud "what child and where is the child?" A single bolt of lightning appeared in the east sky. He felt a tugging in his soul to follow the bolt of lightning. He thought how crazy it sounded, then figured that it was no more crazy than anything else that he had experienced over the past month, and decided to pursue his belief. He asked aloud if he should head towards the bolt of lightning, in the east and a single bolt of lightning from the large white cloud, confirmed his belief. Brandon, Mark and Anthony piled into a vehicle and headed east, having no idea where they were going.

      As they traveled, Brandon would ask which direction they should go. He would ask "do we turn here" and Mark and Anthony would watch for the lightning. If a bolt of lightning was seen, he would then ask, which direction they were to turn and await an answer. A single bolt of lightning would appear in the direction they were to travel. The strangest thing of all, was that during the entire ride, there was NEVER any lightning, unless Brandon asked a question. He did not know if this was some wild-goose chase or not, but he felt compelled to find out. This method of giving directions took them south on Lamar, east on Highway 183 and south on Cameron. As they came to Highway 290, he asked if he should turn east on Highway 290; nothing happened, so they continued down Cameron. He asked if he should go as far as fifty first street and nothing happened. He asked if he should turn on Glencrest Street and the lightning bolt appeared and the thunder rang out. As they traveled down this street, there were trees which covered their view of the sky, which kept them from seeing any lightning, so he asked aloud what he should do.

       Suddenly, a firefly, like the one back at the office, came in front of the windshield and appeared to dance and spin, as it blinked off and on. It then sped away and turned left onto Belfast Street, and of course, Brandon was hot on its ... wings. The firefly finally stopped and hovered over a certain house and then literally exploded, sending bright lights emanating from itself. They pulled up to the house and turned off the engine. It was dark, about 9:30 PM. What were they to do? Brandon asked if he was to go up to the door. Both Mark and Anthony yelled out, as they both saw the lightning. Brandon, having no idea what to say to these people, once he got to the door, proceeded up the walk, and upon arriving at the front door, he saw a bunch of baby things such as a stroller, crib and things of this nature. This gave him more confidence as he remembered the words of the gentle voice earlier, "They seek the child." ...

       He rang the doorbell. A few seconds later a short, dark-haired man came to the door. Brandon, not knowing what to say, blurted out, "There is a child that is in danger. I do not know how to explain it, but I was sent here to help." The man looked at Brandon with confusion and fear and said, "There is no child here," as he slammed the door closed. Glad that it was over, Brandon hurriedly went back to the truck and pulled away. Feeling very incomplete, he asked, "I am supposed to go back to that house, aren't I?" The skies lit up ... He said, "But not tonight, right?" Nothing happened and he knew the answer and asked, "You mean now, don't you?" The skies lit up. They pulled into the Capitol Plaza parking lot, which was a few blocks from the house that he had just left, for Brandon to be able to think of what he should say to these people when he would return. They must think I am a nut, he thought. He started begging not to have to return, but the reaction was clear ... He was going back.

       He pulled back up to the house on Belfast, and he slowly exited the vehicle and walked once again up the narrow path to the front door. He rang the door bell and the man returned, but this time he left the chain lock on the door, as he opened it, just enough to see his visitor. Brandon asked, "Do you believe in God?" The man said "I don't know, just go away, I am calling the police." He then shut and locked the door. Brandon yelled through the closed door, "I mean no harm. I was just sent to warn you." Then whispered to himself, "I think." He felt compelled to put one of his business cards on the door and asked aloud if he could leave now and the skies lit up. "Finally," he thought to himself, as he briskly walked toward the truck.

       As he opened the door to the truck, he noticed an ominous looking van that was sitting across the street from the house where he had just been. There were at least two people in the van. The driver was looking directly at Brandon, just staring at him. Brandon stared back at the man, thinking how strange it was for them to just sit there at that hour. The men in the dark van started the vehicle and squealed their tires as they drove off. Brandon thought to himself, was this the danger that he had come all this way to prevent? Was it this simple? He headed back to the office both confused and drained from the night's events.  

       The ride back to the office was quiet. They pulled into the office parking lot, and another friend of his came to his mind and he felt that eerie feeling once more. He thought, "oh no, not again." He asked God if there was a problem with this person and the skies lit up. Keep in mind, there had been no lightning since they left the stranger's house on Belfast, and not so much as a single bolt crossed the sky unless Brandon had asked a question. That is what made it so hard to ignore and is the reason he followed it then and was going to follow its instructions now. Not to mention the fact that he knew that the gentle voice inside saved him from the terrible events a month ago and had no intention on failing his new friend. Brandon got on the phone to call this other friend that he sensed was in trouble. Mark stood in the hall and Anthony stood at the front door making a physical chain of communication among the three, as to be able to know if the lightning struck. While Brandon was talking to his friend, as to be able to know what the skies were doing while way back in the back office, Anthony would yell out when the lightning occurred and Mark would yell out and Brandon would hear. As silly as it sounds, it would prove to save Brandon's life that night.

      Brandon asked his friend Gidget, "What's up, anything new?" As he listened for the yelling out of Mark and Anthony, she replied "No, not really." He told her of the evenings events and how he had a bad feeling about her. Knowing of the incidents that had occurred to Brandon as of late, she recounted her day to him. She told him of how she had went to the grocery store and gotten some chicken for a surprise meal that she was going to bring to Brandon and his friends that evening. Suddenly Mark yelled out and Brandon asked God if it was something to do with the chicken. Again Mark yelled out. Brandon listened as Gidget told him about the rest of her day. Finally she said, "you know what is weird, I was about to sample the chicken, a minute ago, but had this thought that I was not to eat any of the chicken until you had eaten some of it." Brandon, thinking that a very strange thought, asked her where she got the chicken at. She answered " HEB" which is a grocery store chain. Thinking that something must be wrong with the chicken, for some voice to tell her to have Brandon eat the chicken first, Brandon asked God if the chicken was poison. Mark yelled out. It was now certain ... The chicken was poison. He asked her to return the chicken to the store and ask them if there was something wrong with it. She reluctantly agreed. They hung up and Brandon told his friends of the event.

       About 40 minutes later, Gidget called back, from the HEB crying, and explaining that the people in the meat market had told her that the chicken was no good, because it and many others were in a refrigerator that was not working properly and had spoiled. They apologized and replaced the tainted chicken that she had purchased, with fresh. Brandon was shocked at her words and said that he believed that he would pass on the chicken dinner. He hung up the phone and praised God aloud for saving him from that. He started thinking about the child again and knew that if those bolts of lightning told of this matter, that the "child incident" was certain as well. He started thinking of the lightning bug, the infants stroller and playpen and could not believe that he had ever even doubted the voice, especially after all he had seen over the last month or so. He started remembering the hotel events and shook his head as to remove the horrifying thoughts, of his past encounter, from his mind and went to tell his friends of this latest information. This would be the point where Brandon would seek to improve the communication between he and the gentle voice that lived inside him ...

       A few days later, Brandon answered a call at the Church from a bank in another state, asking for a reference on a past employee named Sarah Johnson. (Her real name is being concealed for obvious reasons) Brandon knew the name of every employee he ever had and was about to say that there was never any employee here by that name, when that familiar voice said "listen." His thoughts began to be changed to the night he and his friends went to the house on Belfast and of the child. He then asked the bank representative, what street address the individual gave as a home address, as for him to confirm that this was a legitimate call, for security purposes. Brandon was astonished at the young man's response. He said "Belfast street in Austin Texas." He thought to himself, How did the mother of the child get this phone number? Then he remembered that he had left a business card on the door of the house on Belfast. He told the bank representative that Sarah was a very good employee and that he recommended her highly. The man said thank you and hung up. Brandon sat and wondered. Why did she leave the state in the last few days? How did she know it was ok to use me as a reference? Did she also hear the gentle voice? He knew nothing and would never hear anything about her again.

CHAPTER FIVE

MUST BE ABOUT OUR FATHER'S BUSINESS
 

       There was to be a full moon that same evening. Brandon thought that perhaps the old superstition of the full moon bringing out evil was true, so he had warned all of his friends of the upcoming evening. That evening, many calls were made to Brandon regarding abnormal activities in their homes. One in particular claimed that it was very cold in the house and that strange occurrences were happening. Brandon decided to go and check it out. Upon entering the home, he found that it was freezing cold inside. He asked, "Why don't you turn off the AC?" She replied, "The AC has not been on." On the wall thermostat, the temperature was turned to 85 degrees, but there was no way that it was 85 degrees in that home. It felt closer to 40 degrees. Brandon opened both front and rear doors to allow the warm air outside, to increase the room temperature.

       There was a small dog in the house. As Brandon stood and watched, the dog continually barked towards the corner of a room. He just stood there barking at thin air. After being there for about ten minutes, Brandon began to walk around inspecting the house. He saw a plant begin to turn back and forth by itself from the still position, reminding him of that awful evening one month ago. He went into one of the bedrooms and looked around. As he stood beside the bed, he felt something reach out from underneath the bed and touch his leg. He knew something was there. The residents of this home were very frightened and asked Brandon not to leave. He would end up staying awake and watching the house all night while they slept. Bad thoughts continually attempted to enter his mind. He found the only way to ignore them was to talk with the voice inside.

       Morning finally came and all was back to normal. In his mind, he understood that thoughts are truly things and that what you believe in, good or bad, will come to pass. He realized that he had planted a seed of fear in the minds of others when he warned his friends of the night of the full moon, which had caused them to worry. Worry turns to fret; fret turns to evil. We should not be ignorant of evil being an existing force, but evil has no power without giving it power by way of thought, which opens its realm. He was truly sorry that he misinformed his friends, by telling them of the full moon and its ability to increase evil activity, but he did ask God the night before to take their fear from their minds and give it to him, and God did.

       Brandon went to a local Christian store in search of more books, pictures, etc. for the Church. When he would touch certain books, he would get that certain "feeling" in his soul that the voice promised he would get. Several books gave him this "feeling," so he decided to purchase all of them. As he gathered the books to take them to the counter, an old man who was limping and carrying a cane approached him. He asked Brandon to assist him in finding something with the "Ten Commandments" on it, assuming that Brandon worked there. The man had a speech impediment making it difficult for Brandon to understand him. The gentleman explained that he was looking for a page marker for his Bible that had the Ten Commandments on the border so that every time he opened his Bible, he would see them. The old man turned to Brandon and said that he had experienced a stroke and that since that time, this was the only way to put something into his mind on a permanent basis. He told Brandon that if Brandon wanted to put anything in his mind permanently that he should do the same. He also told Brandon that there was a special plan for Brandon. At the end of the conversation, Brandon offered to purchase the book marker for him, but the man rejected his offer and said, "Never forget this, young man: "What God gave you freely, give freely." Brandon thanked his new friend and watched him as he hobbled away.

       That evening, Brandon tried to start reading one of his new books and could not comprehend one single sentence. He thought that perhaps he was reading the wrong book first, since he had received that "feeling" when he touched each book, so he asked which book he should read first and touched each book. After the fourth book, he came across one that sent that "feeling" ringing through his body. So, he started to read it and the contents were amazing. It explained in great detail of the "feeling" that God had promised him when he asked a question. The book was about a young boy that had befriended the Holy Spirit. The information in this book not only told him who it was, but why the Holy Spirit was there. The Holy Spirit was sent by God after Jesus rose to Heaven, to be a comforter to believers. It went further to say that the Holy Spirit would speak to those who were believers, IF, they would listen. (Hebrews 3:7) and Brandon believed that the voice he had been hearing was of this Holy Spirit. But was it?

       As he thought on this, he became aware that perhaps the lime green haze that had been appearing on the pictures he had taken at the Church, on the hand that came from the ceiling and the face in the east sky, might also be the Holy Spirit. The book had said to ask the Holy Spirit to come and sit with you and that the Holy Spirit would do so. He decided to test this and asked if the Holy Spirit would come and stand beside him. There was a cool breeze-like feeling beside him immediately. It was the same feeling that he had days before as he watched the cross being made on the ceiling of the Church. Brandon took a picture of a chair sitting next to his desk. The picture developed and looked normal. He then asked the Holy Spirit to come sit in that chair. The tingle in his soul answered yes. He took another picture. As it developed, that familiar lime green haze appeared in the picture, but only in the chair. In the area around the chair, the pictured developed normal. He asked if this was the Holy Spirit, and the intense chill feeling inside of him went crazy. Brandon read the book aloud to his friends, and afterward they discussed what they had learned and eventually fell asleep on the floor of the Church. When they awoke, the Miracle Workers business was in progress around them. 
 

       He took several people to breakfast, as he had always done. One of them asked Brandon if it was going to rain, as if to test him, because he had just told them all about the Holy Spirit. It was a partly cloudy day with no rain clouds in sight. Brandon asked aloud if it was going to rain. That feeling inside of him tingled, so he told this individual, yes ... It will rain. As they left the restaurant a few minutes later, it began to rain right as they opened the door. He sent the others back to work and he, Mark and Anthony drove to the Christian bookstore that they had been purchasing pictures and books from, to pick up a gold ring with the inscription, "Jesus" on it that Brandon had special ordered weeks earlier. While there, Brandon saw a beautiful Bible that he purchased. After making their purchases, they departed from the store, and his friends told him of an event that had taken place while Brandon was making his purchases.

       They explained that a book had fallen out of a man's hand and almost hit the man's child, then several books proceeded to fall off the shelf onto that child. By this time, Brandon had learned not to believe in coincidence and asked the voice inside him, aloud, why this event would have taken place. The Jesus ring he had just picked up came to his mind and he started to believe that perhaps because this ring was gold it would appear haughty, and he knew that God hated pride. He asked his friends where they saw Brandon standing when the books had fallen on the child. They said, "You were trying on that ring." Brandon removed the expensive gold ring from his finger and threw it out the window as they were driving down the road. Like the pictures, books and trinkets, he believed that items could be evil or cause people to think bad thoughts.

       That night, they decided to read more from their new book. Brandon would read to them as they listened intently, however, the words began to make no sense. It spoke of evil spirits and such. Brandon decided to go back and reread the prior pages to them from the previous night to refresh their memories, but they could not get into it and the desire to recapture the feelings of the previous evening turned into a quest to see the Holy Spirit again. So they grabbed the camera and took pictures of the room. One particular picture had a fog-like haze, however, that picture was not lime green; it was orange. Similar to the one they took before and destroyed. Brandon got a bad feeling and asked if the entity in the picture was evil, remembering the night he looked out the peephole and saw the orange, shadowy figures. The "feeling" in his soul said yes. They took the picture to the rear of the building, cut it up and burned it until there was nothing left of that photograph.

       There was still a bad feeling in the Church, and remembering the night that they had thrown all of those items into the dumpster, he asked if they had accidentally brought something bad into the office that day. The answer was yes. They got every item that they had purchased that day and put it into a pile in the middle of the office. He would ask one by one if the item was bad. The answer was yes to each one of them. After breaking and throwing several items into the dumpster, Brandon could not help himself but question why these items were bad, since they were Religious in nature, so he asked aloud, "Can inanimate objects possess evil of themselves?" The answer was NO. He remembered his readings in Revelation a few nights earlier, in particular Chapter 13, of Antichrist's image being set up. He then asked, "Can an evil spirit get inside of an inanimate object?" The answer was YES. Brandon wondered how inanimate objects which possessed no life could hold evil spirits. This answer "came to his mind,"  ... The items are alive in this office because of faith. In order not to throw away everything in the Church, Brandon had to figure out another way to rid the place of unwanted "guests."

       He then remembered that the next chapter in the book that they had been reading which they could not discern while reading, explained about evil spirits and spiritual warfare and exorcisms. It also explained of how to keep your house and family safe and free from unwanted spirits. After the past few hours, he now felt they would better comprehend what was written, in the book. They returned to the book and read the chapter again and this time, it made perfect sense. The words really hit home. The book said to say these words aloud, "Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit, please remove any bad spirits from this dwelling."

       They returned to the main office and said these words aloud three times with every bit of faith they could muster. They could literally feel the room change. They grabbed the camera again and took a picture of the area where the orange shadowy figure had appeared and it was now clear. Now it was time to put the good back in, so Brandon read the Bible to them. Brandon started to figure out that the Holy Spirit would talk to him not only in voice form or in the spirit, with the intense chill feeling ... But also through old men at Christian book stores and books written by other spiritual souls. BUT ... He remembered the voices warnings that crazy night ... Trust nothing but the intense chill feeling. He wondered why he should not trust voices in his head and then remembered that there had been other voices in his head. He would trust the gentle voice and request the "feeling" as to confirm ... As he was told to do.

       That night, the Holy Spirit told him that he could also "ask in the Word." The procedure was simple. He said to ask anything you wanted in Jesus' name, open God's Word (the Bible) and point, and that with faith, God would answer. The very first time he tried this, he asked inside himself, "What is Your purpose for me?" He opened God's Word and pointed. The scripture was Isaiah Chapter 11, Verse 12. It read, "And He shall set up an ensign for the nations and shall assemble the outcasts and gather together the dispersed from the four corners of the earth." Brandon reflected back to the night God had saved him and when he had asked God what his purpose was and God had told Brandon that he would be the gatherer. In addition, this chapter was mentioned in the picture titled, "Do You Wonder Where We've Gone," and Brandon had highlighted that particular chapter. That was the only place in his entire Bible that he had highlighted a few nights ago and this was the first time that he ever "asked in the Word" ... He pointed right at the same verse out of all the possible verses in the Bible. Now that's awesome.

       Brandon loved to read the Bible and some of their new books and he loved to commune with the Holy Spirit. From that point on, Brandon decided that he would never make a decision without first consulting the Holy Spirit. Brandon received a call from a reporter from the city newspaper because they had heard of Brandon's "unique" business practices. Brandon's first instinct was to allow the reporter to interview him, but to keep secret about the things that he knew and that had been happening because people would think he was nuts and put him away. But, the Holy Spirit told him to tell the reporter what he knew, and as Brandon knew, you don't say no to the Holy Spirit. He told the reporter that he was available to be interviewed a little later that morning and they set an appointment. He was very nervous and hoped that he did not say anything to cause problems for the Church. He could not wait for it to be over with.

      "What is your business about," came the reporter's first question. "We provide a service where we help others that cannot find help anywhere else," Brandon responded. "What type of services," the reporter asked. "Helping people financially, find missing children or lost relatives, removing evil spirits, healings, etc." he explained and added that his newest idea was a Christian match-making service. The reporter's next question was the one he dreaded, "Where did you come up with this very strange idea?" Brandon, remembered the Holy Spirit's urging to tell the reporter what had happened. Brandon told the reporter of all the events that had occurred from the hotel rooms, to date. The reporter listened as Brandon told him this story without saying a word. Brandon told him everything hesitantly at first but became more at ease, as the story went on. When Brandon finished, the reporter was silent for a few moments and then finally asked, "Are you serious?" He also asked if Brandon would allow him to write a story in the newspaper about these events. Brandon said he did not know and would have to get confirmation. The reporter asked from whom? With reluctance, Brandon responded, "The Holy Spirit." The reporter replied, "This is too wild," and asked to interview Brandon again. He said that he could not agree to another interview at that time and would have to set up an appointment later, if it was to be allowed.

CHAPTER SIX

BUSINESS AS UN-USUAL

       That evening, they had a call about a missing ten-year-old child. Brandon felt for the mother and asked of the child's whereabouts of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit told Brandon to get a map. He laid the map out on the desk and would run his finger along the map until he felt that "feeling" which guided his finger to West Texas, to the area where the Rio Grande was located. He was also told that a captain of an Army was involved. The next day, Brandon called the mother of the missing child and told her his findings. The mother replied, "My ex-husband lives in El Paso and is in the Army." She was then able to be reunited with her child.

      That night after having read from the Bible and the spiritual books with his two friends, Anthony and Mark, Brandon looked over at Anthony who was staring at a certain picture of Jesus on the wall. Anthony was beginning to cry. Brandon asked him why he was crying and Anthony said that the eyes in the picture of Jesus were moving. When Brandon looked at the picture, the Holy Spirit moved inside of him so much that he felt as though he would black out. As Brandon continued to look at the eyes of Jesus in the picture, the eyes literally turned from the direction they were looking and looked at him. The entire room, which was well-lit, became dark and a bright light emanated from Jesus' face. The "feeling" that the Holy Spirit had promised him was rolling like crazy, and though he did not understand this, there was no fear and the "feeling" was sensational. All three saw the same thing, which meant it was no illusion, but in fact, real. Jesus smiled at Brandon and something entered the minds of all three people. It was described by one as a thought entering so fast that you could not catch it, then it continued. Before they knew it, all three were on their knees, head bowed down and each speaking to God in private.

       Brandon had never really pondered on Jesus, but instead he focused on God and his new friend, the Holy Spirit. Brandon would soon learn that they were all three, really ONE, called the Trinity. The sense Brandon received from Jesus was somewhat different. It was more gentle and calming. As he was praying, Brandon asked, "Jesus, are you going to stay with us?" Instead of the "feeling" he would usually get, he heard the gentle words of Jesus say to him, "I'll be with you forever." and then Jesus said louder, "Preach," and Brandon promised that he would. Brandon understood a new truth ... Jesus, was the voice he had been hearing in his head, all along (Jesus is the Word of God) and the intense spiritual chill that he felt, was the Holy Spirit. They sat there another few hours just listening and thinking to themselves, never speaking a word amongst themselves. All three were glassy-eyed and shocked that all that they had been studying in the Bible was now alive before their eyes.

       After quite a while, they began to talk to one another and each spoke with a renewed faith and a desire to learn. Misty-eyed and full of life, the three sat and discussed the events that had taken place. Brandon left the room and went to look at another picture of Jesus in the office and found that it did the exact same thing and knew from that moment on that it was not the pictures. He asked about this and heard Jesus tell him that the pictures were alive because of Brandon's faith. The room that they were in was called the "Jesus Room" from that day forth. The other two drifted off to sleep with peaceful looks on their faces, while Brandon wrote of the events of the evening in his journal, as he had always done. What an awesome night. Then Brandon said, "Goodnight, Holy Spirit" and went to sleep.

       The next morning, the three of them and a close friend who had been a professor at the University of Texas at Austin went to the courthouse. Mark was in trouble with the law for his third D.W.I. that he had committed several months prior. While in court, the individual that was being judged, just prior to Mark, had only two D.W.I.s and the judge sentenced him to three years in prison. The individual was crying as the bailiff handcuffed him and escorted him away to ship him off to prison. The court then took its recess and the four of them and Mark's attorney went downstairs during the recess. Mark said, "Well, since that guy only had two D.W.I.s and I have three, it is certain that I will get at least three years in prison." Brandon looked at Mark and said, "like I told you a few days ago, do not worry, you will not stay one day in jail." Mark's attorney told Brandon not to give his client false hope, because it did not look good and that Mark was looking at some serious time in prison.

       Mark found it difficult to believe that he would not serve any jail time with the incident that had just taken place in the courtroom and said, "maybe I can get out on a work release program." Brandon, shook his head and said, "I say again, you will not stay one day in jail" ... Then Brandon said "Time will tell." After a few minutes, they returned to the courtroom where the bailiff called Mark up to the bench to appear before the judge. Mark and his lawyer stepped up and took a seat at the empty defense table. The prosecuting attorney began to recite to the judge of how Mark had two D.W.I.s from a few years ago, was on felony probation and had just received another D.W.I several months earlier. She spoke with contempt in her voice, as she reflected the young man's past history of mischief. When she had finished talking, the judge sat there for a few seconds in silence.

       Then suddenly, a change overtook that courtroom and the judge looked at Mark and said, "Keep up the good work," and commended him on his progress. (Keep in mind that Mark was present before the court for violation of felony probation.) The judge said that he recommended a continuance of the remaining six months that Mark had left on his probation, and then asked the prosecuting attorney if dropping the case was acceptable. The prosecuting attorney answered cheerfully, "Sure, why not." The judge slammed down his gavel and said, "Next case." Both Mark and his attorney returned to the area with astonished looks on their faces where Brandon, Anthony and Larry were sitting. Mark's attorney returned a one-thousand dollar check that Mark had paid for his services and said, "I have no idea what just happened and because of the turn of events, I am returning this portion of the retainer." Mark looked at Brandon and said, "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" Yes, Brandon knew ... That courtroom had been Holy Spirited.

        Brandon returned to the office where Anthony had received a call that his grandfather had two days to live. Anthony requested time off to go see his grandfather before he passed on. Brandon was told by the Holy Spirit that his friend's grandfather was not going to die and told Anthony what was said. Anthony believed him and called and told his mother the good tidings. His mother told Anthony that the doctors had already diagnosed the man's condition and the outcome was certain and that he needed to come and visit. Anthony decided not to go and instead held onto his faith in the Holy Spirit that his grandfather would not die. The next day, his mother called with a tearful voice and said, "A miracle, a miracle, your grandfather is going to live," giving credit to the doctors, but Brandon and his friends gave credit to God.

       The next day, a good friend of Brandon's asked him to pray for her friend who was very ill with an incurable disease. Brandon found out more information about the disease and asked the Holy Spirit in the Word if this woman was able to be healed. The answer was ... Yes. He asked how and the voice said, "Touch her with compassion and it will be done." Brandon doubted his own ability to do this and feared he would fail and tried to forget all about it. He decided to go back outside to think about what he was going to do. Two large lightning bolts went across the sky. He looked over at Mark who looked curious because he did not understand why the lightning was sounding off and Brandon was unable to explain it. Brandon did not want Mark to stop believing, or think that Brandon did not know why this was occurring, so he moved his lips pretending to be talking to the Holy Spirit ... This would prove to be one enormous mistake on Brandon's behalf. The two got in the truck to go see a friend, and as they drove, hard rain moved in quickly and it became impossible to see out of the windshield. They pulled the vehicle into a Luby's restaurant parking lot. Brandon asked aloud "What is wrong?" No answer was forthcoming. But when he asked if God was mad at him, the thunder rang out so loud that it shook the truck.

       Thinking that this must be a mistake, Brandon repeated his question, and the thunder immediately shook the truck again even harder. Fear overtook him as he asked what he had done wrong. He remembered the two lightning bolts and suddenly he remembered about his doubt in touching that woman to heal her and then again he remembered his act of pretending to talk to God in front of Mark and suddenly he knew that he was wrong. The two lightning bolts represented his two mistakes. He asked God to forgive him. No response. He suddenly became very tired and wanted to sleep because he hadn't slept much lately and literally started to doze off during God's floorshow. A very loud thunderous bang awoke him and the left side of his body went numb. He asked God if He was still angry with him and the sky lit up with lightning. Brandon tried to make excuses, but God was not buying. Over and over again, the lightning would cross the sky when Brandon would ask, "Are you still mad at me?" Mark was sitting on the other side of the front seat, dealing with his own issues of his lack of faith.

       Earlier that day, Brandon had told Mark that something appeared wrong with Mark and that he should tell him what it was. Mark told him that his faith kept fading in and out. Although he believed everything, he would go to sleep and wake up with negative thoughts. Brandon said that there must be something that he was not telling him. Mark replied, "There is something." He began to tell Brandon a story of his youth and that once he had read a satanic curse book and had put a curse on a man and that the man became ill, near death. Brandon told him that God forgives all but felt that there must still be more. Mark proceeded to tell him that one night long ago, two devil-worshiping friends came to see him in a vision. Brandon wanted to know what else there was. Mark said that he could not remember and Brandon explained to him that the mind was like a computer and that you had to open the door and think about the subject you were talking about and the mind would look it up. Mark then said, "Oh, yeah, in the vision, the two devil-worshiping friends told me that they were going to kill all of my family and me, because I wanted out of the group." Apparently that scared Mark enough to bury the memory so deep, that three years later it would come out in his dreams and haunt him enough to mess with his newfound faith. Brandon told him that he had to face his fears or they would haunt him forever.

       Meanwhile, as Mark was dealing with those fears in the vehicle, Brandon was still being rejected by God. Suddenly, Brandon asked Jesus to ask His Father to forgive him and immediately the numbness went away. The rain stopped and the thunder did as well. It was an awesome display of Grace. Jesus had saved Brandon from the wrath of His Father. Brandon and Mark decided to talk about it and afterward they knew what the fear of God meant. Brandon and Mark became closer, for they had been through hell and now the wrath of God together and all in two months. Anthony, who was supposed to have met them at the friend's house where they were originally headed, was hindered when the storm hit. He showed up at the Church, just after Brandon had returned and said that somehow he had gotten lost which was very rare for Anthony. Brandon knew that this had nothing to do with Anthony, and that God delayed his arrival to have His "talk" with Brandon. Being punished by God is like being punished by a good parent. When it is over, there is no more anger. Brandon did as he was told, concerning the woman with the disease.

       A few days later, a man named Jerome who worked at the Church was watching the rain along with two other individuals, when Brandon overheard them say that the rain was unstoppable. Brandon stepped out the door and the rain quit. Brandon stepped back inside and said, "Is that better?" Jerome laughed aloud and said, "Are you trying to tell us that you stopped that rain?" Brandon re-opened the office door, and the rain started once again. As he walked back inside he said, "What do you think?" Brandon told Jerome that he had little faith and that God would show him a sign. He suggested that Jerome go to the Jesus Room for a while.

       A short time after, Jerome entered Brandon's office with tears in his eyes and looked as if he had seen a ghost. He did, the Holy Ghost. He explained that his left leg went numb. Brandon told him that numbness was God's sign of lack of faith (Remember that Brandon had experienced the same numbness earlier for his own lack of faith.) After a few minutes, the numbness went away, and Jerome talked like it was a coincidence. Brandon told him to go back into the Jesus Room and when he did, his leg went numb again. Brandon entered the Jesus Room and said, what do you think now?" This was the beginning of Jerome's faith.

DISCERNING TRUTH

        
        That night, Brandon received a call from a woman that he had been talking with about God. In their earlier conversations, this woman had explained to Brandon that she was miserable, thinking of suicide and that everything in her life was going wrong. The Holy Spirit revealed to Brandon that she had a hidden problem. After continual prompting by Brandon, she finally confessed to him that she had been seeing a married man. He then told her that if she would simply end this relationship, that things in her life would go back to being good again. She was hesitant about ending the relationship. However, she was calling Brandon that particular evening to tell him that she had ended the extramarital affair and a few days afterward, the married man's wife had called her to thank her for ending the relationship and for giving her husband back. The wife knew all along. Her ending the relationship had saved a marriage and family.