Dialog Between Angel and Man

John Walker and pals Pete and James are having their mandatory weekly gathering deep within the far corners of the pub. John, a smart mouthed researcher on all things otherworldly and controversial but making a living as a cashier was recounting his usual series of misadventures to humour his pals and help them to destress. Pete a cleaner and James a concert pianist were listening attentively to John when the Pub entrance flew open and a handsome, strong figure strode inside like light cutting through the darkness. Short blond hair and attired in a curious light blue costume more fitting in a cosplay parade. Standing out among the crowd like an anomalous geyser in the middle of the sea, yet for some reason besides John no one else seems to notice the prominent stranger. There’s something unnatural about the bugger, he noted. Snapping out of his trance and finding himself halting in mid-sentence in the middle of one of his stories, he continued.

John: Er, anyway there was once I attended a party in the ballroom of the Hilton hotel…what? Of course I was invited, I invited myself so there. I check to see that there are no muscular macho guys before I make my move. Moving to the entrance of the ballroom and peeking inside… and what do you know it’s an all bitches’ party! Now don’t get me wrong for I am there to eat not to interact.

Spotting the buffet table I walked briskly to it. At once almost all of them spotted me but I did not hesitate, I was helping myself to the food before even one of them could open her mouth. But protest they did, it appears that this is an undergraduate party strictly for well educated women. Wait a minute I am well educated as well, they excessively. Anyway they demand my immediate

departure but I say,” Hey. All of you talk about eradicating poverty and such crap

but leave a mountain of leftover and untouched food for every gathering such as

this. I daresay that the wasted food for you lot in this room combined alone

would amount to the junk heaps of developing countries. Leave me alone and you might seem less the hypocrites that you are.” That shut their traps but that did not stop them from staring daggers behind my back.

These people here think that they are so smartass but truly smart people in my opinion knows how to handle knowledge, not so smart people devotes roughly 20% of their knowledge to practical use while the remaining 80% would be used to puff themselves up and look down on people like me. For this lot my opinion is obvious. Each one of them has a way of looking through me but with an air of malice like they think that guys like you and I should be thrown into the furnace the day that science comes out with a way for humans to reproduce without the help of men. The scientist who implements this should go first but anyway what they think is no concern of mine, I do my eating, they do their socializing and networking.

Before long they are used to me enough to tolerate my presence and I figured that the party would pass uneventfully. After three rounds and several fruit punches, I think it’s time for me to leave them to their devices. At that moment a spectacled geek quoted the infamous question,” To be or not to be, that is the question” for no apparent reason at all. That got me flared up and I retort,” Oh so you quoted the line which makes Hamlet so famous, so what? You think you are so big shot because of that? No! People like you are destined to look down on lowlifes like me and lick the boots of those higher-ups. Well I am going to make this clear, I am not one of your cringing curs, all of you can go play with your baubles and trinkets and find yourself another dog to kick!” By now I am as welcomed as a fart in an elevator but I am more than prepared to leave anyway. I shot out of there like a bullet loosed from its gun, nothing like an exercise after a meal.

James: Ha ha! That’s funny sure you didn’t make it up yourself?

Voice: Hmmm. Excuse me.

James: Huh? Where did you come from? How could you pop up from nowhere like an

illusionist?

Pete: Must be a modern day ninja. Look at his clothes, no seams at all.

John: Quiet, he must have cast a Sanctuary spell on himself to make himself invisible to

the notice of others even when he is really in plain sight. Can’t fool me though, I

saw him clear as day when he first entered.

Stranger: Do not overestimate yourself man. The reason that you can notice my presence is

because you were meant to for you are the reason that I have come.

John: You must be from the fairy kingdom, save your proposal for I do not want

anything that you have to offer.

James: Aren’t fairies supposed to be three inches tall?

John: That’s pixies and sprites, fairies are like normal human beings with magic powers,

but their deviousness can shame the devil himself.

Stranger: I see that you are familiar with occult lore and you sit very well with the existence

of supernatural entities. You are indeed a rare person in this age of modernism

and skepticism. Your friends as well, they did not think you crazy or childish,

indeed I must commend all of you.

John: That’s to be expected, or my name’s not John.

Stranger: Surely not! That story about the mocker of a magician…

John: Nope. That’s fiction. My name is John Walker not John Constantine. What’s

more I do not dabble nor engage in magic, I merely research and read up that is

all. My style however is influenced by that character.

Stranger: Then that is bad enough for I am no fairy but rather one who serves in the courts

of my heavenly Father.

John: You are an angel? One of those self-righteous prigs? Stormtroopers with halos?

Stranger: Stop mocking what you do not know. The Bible speaks of filthy dreamers who

slander celestial beings and…

John: Pleeasse give me a break. Does not the Bible say that the imagination of man is

evil from his youth? What difference do my statements make except make you

lot look like fools in the process?

Pete: You must pardon my heathen friend, he does not know what he is talking about.

Stranger: Granted. From my experience thinkers who are directly opposed to God are very

bold or another way of defining it stupidly provocative.

James: Er, what is your name if I might be so bold?

Stranger: You may call me Zero.

Pete: Zero? Have you heard of Megaman?

Zero: Yes. I know very well what that is, especially since it is giving me loads of

trouble back home.

John: So your Father is jealous eh? But back to the point you say you came because of

me. What do you want of me, I can’t think of anything unless… you have a bloody minded purpose?

Zero: I am a warrior but I am no murderer. Believe it or not I have come so that I may

attempt to beat you at your own game; we are going to have an angel to man talk.

John: You are not an angel of death? Pete’s definition of you as a ninja is quite wrong.

You are more like a samurai. Do you have some sort of rivalry with the angelic

assassins? Just kidding. Now about our talk…

James: Sorry but I have got to go, just remembered I have got to practice my fugues for the concert tomorrow.

John: Damn your fugues. Just now you are brave enough to ask for his name but now you are running away? Some friend you are.

James: Sorry John but this matter suddenly popped into my mind. This angelic fellow has nothing to do with it I swear.

John: Oh all right since you like your fugues so much you can go fugue off. What about you Pete? Are you with me or not?

Pete: My… my legs are cramped!

John: Sod it mate, you don’t have to be so bloody honest but that means you are staying with me. Good for you!

Zero: So you are a researcher of the occult? Are you actually paid for doing so?

John: Oh no! My vocation for my dough is as a mundane cashier in an equally mundane store.

Zero: Astonishing! You are not one of those dedicated to running the money race. You are indeed full of surprises. But wait every man has an ambition and even you must have one. Do you have any idea what it is?

John: Be a rat? No way, even if I become a rat which would garner the adoration of beautiful women, the ultimate fate of a rat is to be taken and fried by cats with their twitching whiskers atop their shining spires. There are two kinds of poverty that afflicts people today. The poverty of food and poverty of time. Both forms are just as bad as each other. Today people either have no food or no time, either busy or hungry, one way or the other, no way about it. I intend to be in the best of both worlds by taking what many consider a lowly job so I may have enough money and time. That’s how me and my pals always have time for each other like Pete here being a cleaner and all except that buster James who left us recently. I also have time to pursue my passion which is what I am not paid for doing, as you mentioned; researching the macabre and the bizarre.

Zero: Excellent. You are steps ahead of the atheists and the rationalists which means there is more hope for you than for them. Occult materials cannot give you the peace that your soul desperately need, only strife and confusion for your soul. What is hidden is thus so for a reason, opening what is meant not to be revealed only make things worse.

John: Okay. Yeah I am leagues ahead of the skeptics. These sods are the next-gen religious fundamentalists. Usually fundamentalists tell people what to believe in but these people tell people what not to believe in and I have loads which I knew to be true that they disbelieve. If they declare me to be mad I jolly well am. If there is a next inquisition it would be the inquisition against the mentally or supposedly mentally insane. As for you, I would recommend against you presenting yourself to them in an attempt to prove the existence of angels. Upgrading yourself from nonexistence status to officially existing status is complicated as any immigration law. You would have to fill in your particulars and then they would perform their experiments on you like taking your blood samples to create super soldiers or analyzing the contents of your wings to see whether they has its origin from birds. Remember throughout that time you are still deemed not to exist until proven to exist. At the end of it all, there are two main possible outcomes. One is they grudgingly acknowledge your existence but mysteriously refrain from disclosing the breaking news to the public. The other is that they announce the findings to be inconclusive and call for more experiments in the future. Either way they would keep you in a cage for an as yet undetermined purpose and you would need your pals to bust you out. Be sure to put the scientists out of their misery if it comes to that. Take that close minded buggers!

Zero: That’s the problem when a particular belief system or in this case nonbelief system is given too much power and laws are enacted in favour of it. It starts to control people and eventually steal their freedom.

John: Got you. Don’t think I am a sucker for history. Throughout the centuries, the church has executed countless millions and even more are thrown into dungeons with unimaginable conditions to rot.

Zero: What can I say? The grievous damage is done and will haunt the church for the rest of the church age. People at that time claimed to fear God but they are superstitious and their fear of the devil is much greater. Therefore they are prone to paranoia and things get blown out of proportion. One of their mistakes is getting obsessed with witchcraft but downplaying other sins such as hatred, murder, bloodlust, malice and giving false witness.

John: Yeah. That’s one of the reasons why I believe in God but regard him as an enemy.

Zero: You regard Him as what? When you know how much He desires to be your friend, you would surely weep blood!

John: You make me feel bad…almost. Enough of the lengthy introduction and warm-up, let’s start the talk proper.

The problem with the world

John: Let’s start with the overall picture. Basically what is wrong with this world can be summarized with this harsh truth: The world is split into two halves, one half consists of the have-nots whining or merely looking stoned for lack for food and the other half consists of the haves whining over and despite their filled bellies. That basically sums it up.

Zero: Your statement describes every age. There has always been a wide gap between the rich and the poor. In countries with famine and constant crop failure everyone starves but in developed countries such as this the rich indulge while the needy are left to fend for themselves, hardly fair at all. Just go from here a few steps and you would see a mother begging to feed her baby.

John: For Great Britain this is consistent with her long term goals, a return to the great Victorian values eh? By the way I placed your Lord at the latter half of my equation and that’s still letting Him off too lightly.

Zero: Ha ha! Nice try John but my Lord laughs at and denies the efforts of mortals to group and classify Him. God does what is best, not what others think is best.

Pete: John, I don’t think it is such a good idea to provoke this fella here unnecessarily.

John: Relax. He is representative of the Holy Spirit which means he should have loads of self-control. See how he graciously accepts that last statement of mine and throws it back at me just as gracefully. I have found a dream sparring partner!

Zero: I give you my assurances, I will try my best to bear with your emotional outbursts but you better not push it too far. I try as far as possible to edify in my statements, I did not rebuke casually or out of spite like sinful man. Still my patience is still limited but it requires lots of effort to drain it, so if in the unlikely event you make me angry, you probably deserve it. Enough of this, by the way I trust that you factor yourself into your equations as well.

John: Well…umm…I…what I have in mind would be the buggers constantly on the covers of Cosmopolitan, Time, Fortune and especially the world bankers. About these world bankers their money would be enough to build the a towel of Babel with stacks of 10k bills but yet they constantly demand free things, free high-end things like business class travel, gourmet food, six star accommodations, internet access etc for their last meeting about ahem helping the needy. It’s just an dignified oral and presentation skills exam I tell you, saying much they want to fork out money for the betterment of the poor. If they talk and present well enough to convince the masses, they would pass and that’s all to it. Want to know what they spend the money on? Just watch the pubs, massage parlours, brothels and such establishments of the night and you’d have seen their true colours. The sight of undergraduates with doe-like eyes treating them as if each one of them were an incarnation of Christ Himself rattles me no end.

Zero: The world worships the rich. This age is an age of cheap talk. In my view the problem with this world is simple, it is sin. No matter what human sin is the origin of most of the world’s problems. Do you know of any ills which did not come from the roots of man’s doing? Even the natural disasters have its roots in greed.

John: Ah yes the global warming crap, back at my workplace we give plastic bags for everything from pampers to lollipops. Destroying the world one plastic bag at a time, take that Gaia!

Zero: This world is given as a stewardship for man, after man rejects God everything else falls apart which would ensure that even those with noble intentions would not make things any better but worse if they leave God out of their plans. You heard of the antichrist right? Perhaps the antichrist even started out noble with the purest of intentions but when he sees the futility of setting a world government without God, he resorts to the brutal tactics of Chinese emperors and you can read all of it in the Bible.

John: Well I never liked the government anyway but would a government under God hit it where the efforts of thousands of rulers could not? Look friend the church has been given 1.5 thousand years to try, but it only covers itself with the blood of hundreds of millions, a number Hitler would only dream of. Wanna know the laws of this country when it was run by the church? Let’s see the laws at that time makes it legal to hang beggars and needy young mothers who steal handkerchiefs, and the oh so loving Christian judges does not hesitate to do so and go for fellowship lunch afterwards. Like ants, that’s the attitude the world bankers probably really have for the poor, oh well suits and singlets can never mix. Now as you know, even executing an unrepentant serial killer throws up quite a fuss, talk about from a frying pan into a freezer. This is madness, can you counter this?

Zero: No mortal is worthy enough to hold the reins of power. Kings were not the norm in God’s original plan. When God led the Israelites out of Egypt, He was to be their undisputed and absolute ruler. Moses, Joshua and eventually the judges are to be His representatives but the final decision lies with God alone. Unfortunately the people wanted a man-centred government namely a human king. God gives them what they want and at first kings were another form of judges with their authority based under the sovereignty of God but later these kingly folks become the first to do crazy, evil things and actually getting away with it. In my view only a government under God Himself would suffice.

John: Oh but this God specifically commands the slaughter of entire population centres! You cannot fool me.

Zero: Look, do me a favour by researching the histories of the people in the land at that time, their customs and their bestial gods and see if your impression is still a horde of bloodthirsty barbarians pillaging a town of warm fuzzy wuzzy people who loves their neighbours and live carefree lives. No! For everything God commands there is a good reason for it. The cancellation of debts and declaring the freedom of slaves during the time of Jubilee, allowing the soil to rest for one year after certain years of sowing, reaping and leaving the gleams which dropped out while the men are walking towards the barn where they are for the poor to pick up. That’s God laws for ensuring that everyone’s needs are met. If you take the spirit of this law and apply it to today, you would have solved the problem of poverty. It’s not wise to ignore this and declare:” Ho! God did not give us the answer to poverty, which means He could not be a good God.”

John: Oh okay so let’s hear about the government God is going to establish in the future and find out what’s so good about it.

Zero: You heard of the Millennium, the rulership of Christ on Earth for one thousand years? The secular commercials sing of it, do you notice it? Do you remember the financial commercials about people living a blessed life and succeeding in all that they set their hands to do? The penthouse commercials about young people living a life even ancient relics are hard pressed to afford or the one about people doing gardening in an of all things a mobile phone commercial? All of these things are impossible in this age where toil and sweat is cursed and the products advertised only bring more longing and dissatisfaction. In the Millennium all these wonderful things will come to pass and this present age would seem like the harsh and unforgiving Old Testament times for the people living under Christ’s reign.

John: Interesting! I am intrigued. If what you say is true than it is surely a utopia on Earth indeed.

Zero: You can be part of it too, if you confess Christ with your mouth and believe with your heart that God has raised Him from the dead…

John: I already know all of it already, you shall be saved right? I am an avid reader remember? Just that my doubts are legion and I hope that you would clarify them before I make any decision.

Zero: Please continue.

John: What’s the hurry? The night is still young. Since we are talking about governments, let’s talk about the main ideologies of Capitalism and Communism. Frankly I despise both. Capitalism and its corporate culture people smiling, offering hands in friendship and calling each other colleagues but not hesitating in backstabbing and blackmailing each other. Communism with its adherents calling each other comrades, a much dearer word than colleagues but treat each other in the same spirit as the rats. One ideology is profit driven and the other is I am not sure, community driven? Is it not the excessive adoration of one man for the reds? I though socialism should elevate the people but it’s just the opposite. Come and let’s hear your view.

Zero: Capitalism and Communism are two sides of the same coin. Capitalism is the worship of money, pure and simple. In its heart Capitalism favours free will and individual freedom even less than Communism. The ideology of Communism is conceived in the midst of poverty and tyrannical dictatorship to solve both these problems. It proposes that everyone should share what they have with each other and that there should be equality between peasants and aristocrats. Unfortunately the proponents are hypocrites since they cannot practice what they preach, in other words back to square one. Worse, after the revolution, the Communist leaders enjoy the fruit of Capitalism by hoarding foodstuffs and accumulating wealth and yet demand that the farmers share what they have with each other. Since the farmers have nothing and the unlucky ones that do really need it, this would result in anarchy and state sanctioned loot and murder. Men thinks that Capitalism is liberation and Communism is oppression. Do not be fooled both are as anti-God and anti-freedom as each other. The reason why Capitalism seems to be cast in a good light this day is because Capitalism has fused with democracy resulting in a mismatch marriage. That is why there is lots of talk about giving and helping the poor, yet many times millions of dollars are spent for the mere amusements of the few who already have excessive. Based on this, we can deduce that the Communist countries actually have an ideology that is akin to Capitalism fusing with fascism. A country that follows Communism to the letter does not exist and doubtfully ever would since man is greedy by nature.

John: Oh, if that’s the case it’s not Capitalism versus Communism, the true battle is democracy versus fascism.

Zero: Enough of all these isms and whatnot. All of these are but man’s vain attempt to

establish a government apart from God. Any government without God as its head would fail, period. Despite this, man would continue to try and the antichrist himself would be the consummation of the attempts to run the world without God.

John: Than there’s Nazism and Imperialism, the ideologies which cause the Capitalist and Communist powerhouses to band together and come against their common enemies. World War II is regarded by many as a clear cut war; a battle between good and evil. Sorry to pop their bubble but like most wars that are fought it is a struggle between evil and evil, the only difference is that the “good” side has the world’s media under control and if you can control the media, you are forever the hero. First we have Stalin, the leader of Communist Russia, one of the most underrated villains ever. Has a body count as many as Hitler, worse is they are his own people, those he recently promised a better quality of life without the need to worry about lack of food anymore. In the end all Stalin can offer is death. Even Hitler treated his people like his own children. Stalin is a monster all right and an unnatural monster at that. Now about the super duper good guys, the US and UK. They boast of their many operations in beaches and city centres, yet I have never heard of an operation which involves the liberation of a concentration camp, not even a rumour. The heart of Nazism is the so-called death camps but there is not a single glorious war story regarding those except some about prisoners uprising and escape attempt. This is not about flawed intelligence, something tells me that the camps are overlooked… deliberately. Warplanes constantly flew over such camps to bomb the urban areas instead, the focal points of most operations, reeks of fishiness don’t you think so? When the war is won, attention is finally directed towards the concentration camps though the bloody wankers sure took their time. You as well, when that Aryan bastard’s been doing his mass murdering, what is your Lord doing especially since He claims to be constantly working? Out with it if you have an answer.

Zero: The sheer scale of the holocaust has the world community aware of the plight of the Jews, therefore an movement was created to bring the Israelites from all over the world back to the promised land of times past, thus reestablishing the nation of Israel and fulfilling one of the major biblical prophecies. You can file that under mysterious ways. Men expect God to reveal Himself in major ways but more often then not He shows Himself in little ways which the enemies of Christ constantly trip over. Little things like the Israelites doing things a bit better then everyone else, the resiliency of the Israeli race, the existence of a missionary ship which is in tip top condition even though it’s as old as the cruiser which supposedly God Himself could not sink, the Bible being an all time bestseller yet universally despised, archaeological discoveries here and there which validates the Bible etc. These are the things which are thorns in the sides of the adversaries of Christ which pricks them when they least expect it.

John: Work in mysterious ways… that’s it! Now I know why I loathe giving my life to God, it’s because of this working in mysterious ways attribute of God. When He works in mysterious ways, the recipient usually have to wallow in shit and feel a negative range of emotions which are as negative as anybody could ever feel. Oh I know why this has to be done; to make me stronger, to humble me, to imbue empathy into me, to make a point to the devil, for someone else to step over my broken self en route to their intended destinies etc. This is crazy! Do you think anyone with a right mind would consent to this?

Zero: I am sorry John, this is sinful and broken world and even I do not know the specifics of God’s ways. Pain is assured in this world but the joy and peace of the Lord would suffice for any trial.

John: Yeah yeah more generic answers, I have heard them a thousand and one times already. But you lot must see all of this as a joke, an episode of Mr Bean for the divine spectators of this universe, am I right? How you must laugh at us when we dug a pit in front of us so that we may walk forward and fall into it. You should, I would as well. Make no mistake I am not bitter nor am I blaming you but people sometimes actually behave like fools but their brains convince them that they are intelligent and wise above all else. You can’t reason with such people, one can merely laugh. Wait a minute I may respect you but still I haven’t let your Lord off my hook.

Zero: Man prides himself in his reason. Reason is indeed a powerful tool able to make white look black and vice versa. On the other hand it is still a woefully inadequate tool. Is reason useful against addictions? If people are reasonable they would not smoke nor get drunk, two forbidden fruits which are far from sweet. If they are able to calculate the pros and cons, an attribute which man also boasts of, they would break free of their shackles easily. But no, base desire always triumph over reason. Is reason an effective weapon against temptation? No. The fool fall as well and hard as the wise, once again base impulses prove to be the victor. Does this apply to you as well?

John: Okay you got me, that is a personal attack with class. This is getting depressing, let’s change the subject. Let’s take the seat of the spectator, let’s talk about the movies!

The Movies

John: Oh yeah, my favourite movies are superhero movies. We have the X-men with Wolverine the embodiment of the director’s wet dream. A guy you can hurt and mess up badly but you can never kill him. When he is wounded, the audience would feel for him but seconds later he would be up and running again, good as new. A cheap and effective way indeed to bring the audience up and down the emotional roller coaster. There’s the Fantastic Four, who is hotter John Walker or Johnny the Human Torch, yes? The caped crusader Batman is no pushover either. What about you? What think ye of digital pictures and the like? Amazed? Or are you with the old farts who constantly rant about movies and entertainment as a whole detrimental to the moral values of young people and promote the occult?

Zero: Mythmaking is a characteristic of most great civilizations, just that this generation especially enjoy doing so and has quite an imagination. Unfortunately people being religious beings would come to worship superheroes and follow in their footsteps by painstakingly making costumes to put on and imitating the personalities of their idols. The figurines which are sold in most comic book shops are very suspicious, I would not directly say what their purpose are, just that these graven images are not meant for children or at least not meant to be toys as they are poorly designed to be manhandled by hyperactive children and are practical only for display purposes. Movies are indeed not friendly to the moral health for those seeking to live a righteous life, but as for the occultic part that is a bit inconsistent. If movies sing of the pleasures of immorality, then they shout that those who make deals with devils and play spirit games end up in multiple pieces. If occultic practices go up because of movies, this would show that people are merely looking for excuses for evil rather than being educated. As in the Bible, all sorts of evil come from within the person rather than from any external medium.

John: Good fellow, you are very reasonable, I am liking you all the more. This time Hollywood is competing with the traditional prophets of doom in coming up with apocalyptic scenarios. Not only does it piss off the gloom and doom peddlers, such movies portrays the world being destroyed in ultra- realistic CG graphics, special effects and surround sound. Brings a tear to your eye, doesn’t it that man finally faces the proposition that the world could be destroyed and simulates what could happen in full colour?

Zero: So? People still do not acknowledge God. That is the point for the warnings of destruction; that people repent and turn back to God. Wrath, apocalypse, armageddon, the day of the Lord; these are only utilized as a last resort. Do you really think God wants to destroy the world so much? No! God does not want to destroy the world, no less than you not wanting to burn your own backyard, unless it’s infested with caterpillars of course. I tell you frankly, I despise the Hollywood and other secular movies about the end of the world. It’s like this poem:

Some say that the world will end in fire,

Some say that the world will end in ice.

Today’s men say either way’s okay,

Just as long as God’s not in it.

So that we may know that our sin

Did not bring about this catastrophe

And our only regret is not enough sinning

John: Excellent poem Dante! Now I know what is missing from such movies. By the way adventure movies tread on matters of faith as well. Indiana Jones deal with the discovery of ancient relics like the Ark of the Covenant and the Chalice of Christ and the Dan Vinci code… whoops!

Zero: I do not understand the obsession with relics. These are but inanimate objects but each are regarded no less than a god. People basically worship anything except God himself. If men have possession of Moses’ body, they would worship it as well. Since they do not have his body, his staff would have to do or rather the staff which allegedly belongs to him, about more than a hundred at this time. Hmm, this is interesting; our Lord is accused of siring offspring and that His descendants live on to this day. This is something which is completely outside the word of God. To successfully refute this, one would have to have a good grasp of archaeology and history.

John: Bah, I do not trust official history; too much cover ups. The affair with Mary Magdalene is but the tip of the iceberg. I should know, did I mention I am a researcher of hidden things? During His ministry Jesus was supposed to have traveled around the world including Japan, India, Tibet etc. In such countries, He supposedly was under the tutelage of religious teachers, ascended spiritual entities, practiced Yoga, married an India woman and many other things which would cause Christians to hit the ceiling from where they are sitting.

Zero: Lies! Bitter lies! I know not of the reliability of what you are researching, but when you suggest that my Lord is doing such things, it’s not something to be taken lightly. Jesus Christ was supposed to be the perfect sacrificial lamb, if He is somehow tainted, His mission is a failure and everyone is still in their sins. If Jesus sinned, it’s just as bad if he never resurrected, you must understand that.

John: That aside, another issue is the singleness of Jesus. Is Jesus married? If so then he is not a virgin. This Bible is relatively silent on the marital status of Jesus but guess who Christ first appear to after His resurrection, that’s right its Mary Magdalene. Jesus being single or married is largely based on assumption. Guess which stand the pleasure is bad self-righteous pricks took. Jesus being married seems not to directly impact His mission, merely the religious pride of Christians. Jesus’ virginity to the Christians is apparently a matter of life and death just like Mary’s virginity to the Catholics. Losing your cold eh? Chill mate, bad for PR. You know, soldiers make good PR managers when they aren’t doing any fighting since they unabashedly praise whom they serve and make a big hoo-ha about it by threatening to shoot those who even hint of disagreeing with their lord.

Zero: What are you so proud about? In the movies which you so love, there is a stereotype which all of you love to laugh at and despise but yet all of you have the same shortcomings. Let’s call this stereotype the stupid treasure hunter. This persona usually has access to great treasure and is free to take them. After loading up the loot, he is able to make good his escape but he is far from willing to do so. He wants to take more. Even after that, it is still not enough; he stills wants a bit more. This goes on until eventually it is too late for him to escape and in the end he has nothing left at all. In life man treats many things with the same attitude. It always one more cigarette, one more drink, one more game etc. But that one more always become lots lots more. In the end he as well loses everything.

John: Okay but let’s not forget about the excessively loaded corporate tossers who make million after million thinking that they will be satisfied with the just one more million. As usual this goes on until all the money goes back to the government because they have croaked and won’t ever get to enjoy the fruits of their labour. And guess where those fools are going, know what I mean? Makes my day. Well all the shite that are on the big screen is because it sells. The sex, occult, conspiracy theories, end of the world etc. They make big money. It also seems that not recently Hollywood thinks that Jesus could be big business as well. The gospel of John and Passion of the Christ, both respectable interpretations of the Bible. However there is one thing. The makers of gospel of John happens to be the makers of Chicago as well. Now what is wrong with this? Nothing if you don’t mind Jenna Jameson writing a column for the daily bread. As for Passion of the Christ, what does this movie have in common with Bill Clinton and the R-rated flick How much do you love Me? Here’s a hint, the one word answer start with an “M”.

Zero: What bothers me about movies which depict our Lord Jesus Christ is that He is God and using a human actor to portray Him is controversial to say the least. When Christians think of Christ, they would inadvertently think of the human actor on the movie screen and that would not be fitting at all.

John: Unknowingly engage in idol worship eh? Good observation, does Jesus really have shoulder length hair, strong chin and cheekbones? The real Jesus could have a double chin for all I care. I wonder what would happen when Christians get to Heaven and find out that the real Jesus look like an wide eyed homeless tramp? Heard of Lord Maitreya? That’s who inspired the contemporary Jesus. He’s supposedly the immortal spiritual advisor for the Illuminati or whatever brotherhood interested in implementing the new world order. He is supposed to unite all the world’s religions and usher in a new age of peace and prosperity when that time comes for NWO. Guess many will be taken in. Evil huh?

Zero: The end times deception would be terrible indeed. Even the elect could be deceived in such a time. Not to worry, have you have of the restrainer? It’s not clear from the Bible who the restrainer is just that it is he who is holding back the antichrist. Some think it’s the Holy Spirit but what is clear about the restrainer is that he is the anti-antichrist who thwarts the plans of the man of sin and would continue to do so until he is taken out of the way. Yes Our Lord does not have prominent features that he should stand out and be noticed by man. Your insight is admirable, I must commend you, just that it is tainted by your sarcastic customary contempt for all that I stand for.

John: Going a bit off topic are we? Let me ask you something? What does your kind think about the creation of man like movies, art, music etc? Do you enjoy them or do you dismiss them out of hand as unworthy of your attention?

Zero: Ha ha ha ha! I confess I shall never understand you people. You have an ego that is bloated and you constantly lift yourselves above the most high God yet you have low self-confidence as well by thinking that if extraterrestrials exist they must surely be more advanced and if angels exist they surely must look at what your hands have made as stuff inside the toilet bowl. Man is created in the image of God, thus his creative flair and instinct is unsurpassed. We are very well able to appreciate the works of man’s hands and be delighted, yes even be amazed by them. On the other hand, Man’s impulse and ability to destroy is twice that his creative trait. After the fall, he has been remade partly in the image of the destroyer. Inversely we are also horrified by the destruction wrought by man’s hands and other abominations not even demons could dream of passed off as entertainment.

John: Zzzz… Wha? Oh so sorry, feeling a bit shacked. How about we take a break, have a kit kat or whatever? Excellent.

Break

John: Could you spare me an unconditional pound? Yes unconditional. Thank you. Oi! tender, I require one of your magic stout. My thanks, he’s paying. Not so fast pal, that pound’s unconditional which means you do not mention it anymore after handing it over to me. You do not mention it nor do you save it as future ammuniton for blackmail, that’s what being unconditional is all about. Spare me another pound, make it conditional this time. Thank you mate, even a heathen like me would praise the Lord when His servants are sporting. Ah! Perfect. You know, my workplace’s really not all that carefree, we argue about pointless things like who took all the stationery and finished up the accursed Sara Lee Cakes.

Pete: Please pardon me; I really have to go now.

John: You sure you want to leave? Very well go then, your loss. Rest well at home.

Zero: What’s up with your friend? I see that he is listening attentively and nodding his head throughout the conversation we were having.

Pete: Did you not notice? Pete’s a Christian and still is. A decent enough bloke he is. What? I corrupt him by bringing him here? Bollocks! Before he met me the church he was attending let him down, badly but as luck would have it, I was passing by and I lift him up before he would slip off from there into a living hell. The church was supposed to celebrate the birthdays of members and Pete’s birthday was not celebrated for no less than two years now. What’s more the church people was giving him hell for choosing the path of the cleaner. He’s undergoing persecution for professing to be a cleaner. Ha ha! When the supposedly shy teenage buggers who cite their shyness for their difficulty in preaching the gospel speak to Pete about the benefits of taking a damned corporate job with zeal and fervour, he was out of there like superman. He was down and out but we met and things went uphill from there. Now he’s attending another church which is filled to the brim with old fossils. Now the church officially comprises of ninety nine percent old folks and one per cent somewhat young man singing traditional hymns like this Irish folk song:

Be thou my vision

O Lord of my heart,

Naught be all else to me

Save that thou art,

Thou my best thought

By day or by night,

Waking or sleeping

Thy presence, my light…

Well, do I get a prize?

Zero: It’s imperative that Christians not be tricked into Christian Humanism where faith is based on Christians instead on Christ Himself. Such faith would falter quickly when church people are shown to be short from perfection, far short indeed. My thanks for the support of a hurt Child of God but then save me your mockery, your song reeks of irony and sarcasm. In my eyes you might as well curse and swore.

John: Yeah. It is better to be cautious about where you sit and who you sit with, could get your wings burn if you are careless. Anywhere before this degenerates into a exchange of metaphoric insults, let’s be silent for a few moments alright? That’s what a break is all about. Cheers.

Baldur’s Gate of Planet Earth

John: By leaving me in the lurch, at the mercy of some suspicious fella who claims to come from above, my mates are forfeiting the primary objective of our meeting; that is to listen to my stories and misadventures in exotic locales, fantastic stories, well their loss. To remind them of what they are missing, now you would have the unique privilege of listening to my priceless accounts.

Zero: I suppose there would be a lot of magick and mysticism in your stories, is it not? My operations are what you would say classified, though no doubt they are saturated with the forces you yourself are so interested in and frequently encounter.

John: Typical of spec-ops in any military organization, including Heaven it seems. You need not tell me, I have my ways of finding out. Besides I know that Heaven has just barely recovered from an assault of the deities of the 625 forgotten pantheons and one black op regarding the raid of some forgotten ancient ruins in the centre of the Earth for loot which is rumoured not even the splendours of Heaven could boast. Don’t look so shocked, did I not say I have my sources? But enough of this, now I would be talking something closer to Earth, albeit not much closer to the common man of course. All nonsense to his ears but as for you I hope you would be spurred to go on more operations, nail the horned bastards in the arse, get what I mean?

Well let’s start. In urban areas, the worst evil forces are able to do is make people feel guilty and depressed. There is the occasional possession but nothing compared to backward and developing areas. The evil in such areas is much more… traditional, violent, more… primal. They glare at people maniacally and then rip them apart. You know Southeast Asia? Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia the lot. Terrible the amount of crazy things going down there, if there is a Baldur’s Gate on planet Earth, it’d be Southeast Asia. You heard of Baldur’s Gate, the game about an infamous city in a fantasy world plagued with all sorts of ailments ranging from genies to dragons. In Southeast Asia we have got monsters, black magic, mysterious ruins, weretigers and were whatever animal you can name and Baldur’s Gate is not famous merely for its supernatural oddities but also the human underworld as well. Standard things like prostitution, extortion, assassination etc. It is also said that the human underworld frequently interfaces with the demonic underworld by summoning demons as hitmen, thieves and guardians, casting spells to imbue their men with an irresistible aura or greatly increased resistance not amounting to imperviousness to bullets.

Now about my own encounters. Not too long ago I was on a month long trip to Bangkok. After hailing a cab from the airport entrance, I proceeded to load my luggage in the back. Apparently not fast enough as I have a lot of clothes and stuff and the transvestite at the back starts to holler,” Don’t stop, for the love of God please don’t stop!” Obviously I got quite shaken up but my actions become slower instead. Before the queer could approach me I was done and inside the car and telling the driver to step on it. As usual the traffic is jammed and the interior of the vehicle stank of the vomit from the last occupant. The hotel is far worst. Budget, what do you expect? Cockroaches scurrying around and a putrid yellow liquid on the bed, I decided to shower. Tepid stream can’t even wash away the grime in my pores. Just as well for I planned that 90% of my stay here is to be spent outdoors. Changing into a new set of clothes and ringing for room service to clean my room, I begin my mission.

My first stop is with a dealer in… forbidden things. He sells artifacts, potions and well spirits. Things like idols, staves, stuffed mermaid corpses and many other oddities are prominently put on display. His potions supposedly has effects like making my dream girl fall in love with me, turning my enemies into docile creatures who obey the biblical command of turning the other cheek and increasing my overall luck. Luck is one attribute I would like to comment on. Many people especially Christians shout that they do not believe in luck. The mistake they commit is that they misunderstand the nature of luck; it is just as important as physical and spiritual health. Luck affects how smooth sailing one’s affairs are, especially the little things. A drastic decrease in luck would result in one or more of these things happening at an unnatural rate: missing the bus five minutes away from the bus stop, the phone ringing in the shower, tripping in the toilet, smashing or overturning things unintentionally, etc. Practical experience tells me that commonly the luck of an average man is lowest after he comes home during the end of the work day. Things break apart more easily, misunderstandings occur more often and temper is flayed. I estimate that the loss of luck is equivalent to the reduction in luck after contact with a low level djinn or spirit. That is why I am or at least try to be especially careful after I get home from work. Anyway back to the story. As for the sale of spirits, for a trifle of five million baht and a few drops of blood to feed the spirit everyday, one can get access to the good life and limitless wealth. Basically all the promises of the name it and claim it prosperity gospel but slightly less painful for the pocket and the right to ask for your money back if one is not satisfied. All spirits come in empty bottles or what appear to be empty bottles with some sort of translucent coloured mist in each. It is not just the superstitious rural folks who patronize his services, powerful money men are his clients as well; businessmen, bankers, stock brokers, economists, financial managers, traders in commerce and commodities and all the variations. Before I left I get myself a piece of scale supposedly from a werecrocodile for a souvenir and a potion which should give me boundless energy and eliminate my fatigue for the rest of my stay in Bangkok. Drinking it down with one gulp, I feel refreshed and light and the energy to run for days on end without breaking a sweat.

My next stop is in a gothic mansion on the outskirts of town. Jacques my French friend and wine connoisseur lives there. His house is light years better than the hotel room and I decided to spend one night there. I first took a bath in the extravagant toilet and then began to inspect the interior of the luxurious mansion. Jacques’ collection of wine and vintages is legendary, as is the masterpiece paintings and artworks by masters such as Michelangelo and Bernini lining the corridors and ceilings. Greek classic, renaissance and roman, that sums up the décor and furniture of the mansion. Lunch consists of grilled lamb in cranberry sauce and smoked crayfish in asbestos sauce along with of course an exquisite Chardonnay from one of the finest vineyards in France. But there’s one thing, with such extravagance isn’t Jacque concerned about robbers and worse? Why then are there no bodyguards or guard dogs patrolling the area? I asked him about it and he replied that there are bodyguards just that they are not as I thought of. That’s right; Jacques’ mansion is protected by spirit bodyguards. These bodyguards are supposed to be brutally efficient, unflinchingly loyal, immune to boredom and distractions and almost invisible and invincible and lastly his security headaches are minimal. They are the shadow stalkers. Purchased from a shaman in the remote jungles, these guardians once guarded tombs and temples with hoards of treasure within. They are considered to be the elite. In the employ of Jacques, the guardians have seen lots of action or in this case slaughter. Jacques’ gate is always left unlocked, as if to beckon in intruders to a bait of an easy heist and that’s the idea, the more the merrier. All intruders are consequentially and mercilessly ripped apart with nothing left to show for it. In fact the intruders throughout the years are so numerous that a missing persons report is lodged and SWAT teams raided Jacques mansion and are subsequently demolished and wiped out. In the end Jacques convinced the authorities to look the other way with some… benefits because if a precision air strike were to be mounted on his mansion, he can go buy the farm. A warning sigh was erected compliments from the government but still some arrogant educated people think that all the guardians are all hogwash and seek to test the stories out for themselves. Just as well, the guardians are happy with the extra blood and Jacques’ prestige could grow out of it.

The last group of intruders are a bunch of sophisticated Yankees who promote their belief in nothing. Scoffing at supernatural bodyguards they attempted to steal one Van Gogh painting. You can guess what happens next. Crazy so-called rational people, they treat the theories of their professors like the word of God itself, disclaiming the supernatural while shaking their legs in their penthouse offices while not knowing there are sinister things out there which are too much for man’s sanity to allow. Do they ever think that if something supernaturally bad happens to them would their professors account for their arses? Or would said professors throw it to some natural cause and shrug off responsibility, behaving worst than the most irresponsible bastard I have ever known?

Back to the story, while walking along the corridor at night I spotted one of the guardian’s silhouettes. It’s like the shadow of the puppets in the wayang show with headdress and… two sabers extending from it hands. It appears to be dancing a sword dance; mesmerizing and deathly. I was not to worry as the guardian’s protection and harmlessness extends to the master’s guests and would only end at the command of the master. When it was time for me to leave, Jacques give me three complimentary bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon, one for me and two for my pals whom you have seen earlier.

My third stop is in the rural areas collecting stories of supernatural encounter from the simple folks dwelling within. One man swore he saw little people of coca-cola can size in loincloths dancing in the jungle and later disappearing in an oval rift of space which suddenly opened beside them. Another told of an organic entity in the jungle, just like a normal human being except being as tall as an eleven level building. The most interesting story is about a guy being accosted by two chicks who snuggle up to him like some sugar daddy. In the real world hot babes do not treat you like a prince from a fairy tale unless there is some major catch in it. Fortunately for the villager being the worldly wiseman that he is, he recognized the tactics of the world and rejected their advances. True to form, the chicks’ eyes went blood red immediately and sprouted bat wings. These bloodsuckers are treating him as sugar daddy, literally. He was out of there like a gunshot, preferring that a thousand dogs were chasing him instead.

Hang on, Baron Munchausen is ending soon. My last stop is an interview with a Buddhist monk with tangible supernatural powers. When I reached the temple he was conducting a sermon and the audiences were behaving queerly. Some mowed, some clucked like a chicken and some scratched their heads in a naturally monkey like manner. Most interestingly the monk was giving his sermon in English. When the sermon is over I had some private time alone with him to talk. I said,” Your English has a weird accent.” He replied,” You hear English? I speak not in English.” Ah the Pentecostal effect, certainly not unique, only that the Almighty patented it. We talked about a load of things, about great godlike beings placed in charge of states or areas no bigger than a football field, about the infinite dimensions and about the dark corners of the universe where amoebae blobs ponder the meaning of life. The fella could make a good quantum physics lecturer. Apparently Science especially the area of quantum physics is heading the way of the Buddha when talking about that emotions like love, hope and sadness are caused by chemical imbalances, the universe possibly being a hologram and the basic everything is an illusion premise. Hearing a quantum physicist lecturing is probably little different than hearing Buddhist high monk preaching, only that those taking a course in quantum physics must hear and read about it 24/7 even in their dreams. No wonder many scientists now are considering Buddhism as a more acceptable choice. I am finished, any comments?

Zero: Your stories are such that not even a child can believe in them; they are too dark and nightmarish.

John: That’s only Thailand; other places in Southeast Asia are just as bad. Rumours of humanoid creatures with wingspans the size of houses, the harvesting of aborted foetuses to reanimate them as undead slaves etc.

Zero: Enough. Such accounts are detrimental to the spiritual health of listeners as well as the speaker. That will be all.

John: I must admit that the things I constantly come across are such that if faced with a choice people would rather force themselves to go crazy than accept such things at face value. Okay to balance things out let’s hear your side of the story. No extra biblical accounts? Alright then, do what preacher in suits do best. Preacher to sinner, preach to me pal and give me something new to ponder about.

Preaching

Zero: It is written that knowledge puffs up but the spirit gives life. Abram when he was still living in his father’s house knows nothing about the Lord His God, only that this God does not represent Himself in graven images and speaks in an audible voice. Slightly more convenient than the gods who must be carried around, no? When God commands Abram to leave his father’s house and forsake his current gods to go into a strange land, he obeyed without question.

John: Abram was one lucky old bugger, being chosen by God Himself. What’s more he is a simple man, like you said knowledge puffs up which makes it difficult for educated people to believe in God and His promises. This does not just apply to students educated in secular institutions but even those who attend Bible colleges. Mere knowledge seems to be the bane here, eh?

Zero: To you it might seem like luck but to God Abram was chosen, decided even before the beginning of time. If knowledge is anathema to faith, it is because of pride. Pride, the unholy spirit of secular man. Why do I say this? With pride, man has been known to resist the offerings of lust and mammon, two of the most powerful temptations afflicting man. I have seen man reject attractive women and large sums of money just because they value their face. Who says man does not face infinite value in an intangible attribute? They merely follow the footsteps of Lucifer by being blinded by their ego and harden their hearts against God.

Back to Abram, he still does not know very much about God. What’s more how God relates to Abram is similar to how other gods relate to their followers; do what I say and I will give you bountiful land, countless descendants, success in all your endeavours and curse your enemies, pledge your allegiance to me by sacrificing to me your first born as a burnt offering. About God being a holy God of love who despises a lying tongue and human sacrifice, he knows nothing about.

John: So God considers the notion of human sacrifice at least once in the Bible. He commands Abram to sacrifice his son Isaac. Another instance is the affair concerning Jephthah’s daughter. Jephthah make a vow that if he is victorious against Israel’s enemies, he would sacrifice the first person who came to meet him and it was his daughter who came to him first after the battle.

Zero: Ah so you dare consider yourself transcending the idea of human sacrifice. Men today still sacrifice their loved ones for their gods or aspirations. If not on an altar then in terms of emotional destruction, lack of time or neglect. You! Dare you say you are innocent of this? I will not ask for your family background but I believe I make my point.

John: What about God then? Even in the New Testament Jesus says if we love our family members more than Him we would not be worthy to be His disciples.

Zero: Ha ha. My Lord thought of many things in the beginning but in the beginning the notion of human sacrifice and no doubt many other evil things did not even enter His mind. But man is unsurpassed than even the demons for creating evil things so there you have it. For Abram or Abraham after he has been renamed, the sacrifice of Isaac was a unique test for him to prove his total trust in his Lord. In the end Isaac was spared and as Abraham said a ram was provided. As for Jephthah his dilemma was his rash vow. Just as well for if it was somebody else who came to meet him he probably would not hesitate to sacrifice the person. God does not endorse nor condone this, it is meant as a lesson against making rash vows. Do not let your cynicism let you overlook this nugget of truth. As for Jesus’ words what He means is that men should consecrate their loved ones and even their own lives to Him so that they need not worry about themselves like those who have no hope because God would now personally take care of them.

Now if you will spare me your sporadic questions until I have finished. Before long Abraham would notice an apparent difference or two between God and the other gods. True, God promises to give Abraham many descendants and make him into a great nation but decades would come and go and his wife would not be pregnant despite being past childbearing age. Even so after the decades there would be only be more reminders of promises but further decades would still be uneventful and silent. After this period of silence, again only more promises, so much so Abraham’s wife burst out laughing. Now to laugh at the words of a god is serious at that time. The brutal gods would not hesitate to retaliate for this affront. But Abraham’s God merely shrug off Sarah’s laugh and perhaps even joked about it. Now that’s different. Finally when Sarah is ninety, Isaac is finally born. From this Abraham learned that God do things according to His own timing, His way, not men’s and certainly not to men’s expectations. Yes? You want to say something?

John: This God sounds like more like a cosmic joker rather than a provider, like one of my friends praying for years that God provide him with a life partner. The girl of his dream did come, three in fact but there are adverse factors which render his hooking up with either of them out of the question. One is a decade older than him, one is of another religion and the last is married. Worse is another example of a family in Africa waiting for food handouts. The food package was parachuted out of an UN plane but in the end it fell into the nearby lake and sunk to the bottom, presumably to feed the fishes. So there, now you can see what I think of God’s providence.

Zero: I do not pretend to understand God but like I say God does what is best, not what man thinks is best. You may think that God is only active in the Bible but in the Bible there are times when He is silent for a period of time, undoubtedly agonizing for those involved. Like Joseph after he was put into a prison for a crime he did not commit. Prisons were grim places with vile conditions and for more than two years Joseph has to put up with it. Where is God during that time? To the readers He’s there all right but to Joseph he’s bound to be assaulted by numerous doubts from himself and the enemy. Another much longer period of God’s silence would be when the Israelites were enslaved by Pharaoh. The Israelites plead for deliverance but centuries would pass before Moses came into the scene. Where is God during the centuries? He is there but to the Israelites He is absent so long that they doubt Moses when he claims to be sent by the God of their forefathers. Your question?

John: Too bad for the Israelites for they are under a new master instead, God Himself who would proceed to make a mega load of laws for them to obey and wipe out a good chunk of them when they step out of line.

Zero: The people are stubborn and stiff-necked, despite having seen signs and wonders wrought by the hand of God they would go after other gods and even doubt his power in delivering basic necessities to them. From here we can see that using signs and wonders are a shallow way at best to convert people. Periods of supernatural inactivity or worse the displays of power from an interloper would just as easily turn the people away from God. The laws are many, true but there are still compromises as well. The people are allowed to keep slaves, divorce and take concubines.

John: Yes!! Forgive my outburst but I must say this. What is more sinful? Eating pork or fornication? The former during the Old Testament, they would then switch places in the New Testament. Fornication is not listed as an offence in the Old Testament at all, not even in the myriad of sexual laws! Furthermore we can see from both the Old and New Testaments that fornication is infinitely more tolerable than homosexuality. I must take it back, it does not seem all that bad for the Israelites, eh? One more thing in the RSV version of Exodus 21: 22-25 it is written, “”When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage, and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined, according as the woman’s husband shall lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. If any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” Many pastors use this as support for their anti-abortion stance and they like to accuse their opponents for twisting scriptures to suit their own ends. Let’s look at the passage closely. When men strive together, and hurt a woman with child, so that there is a miscarriage (remember the baby is gone by then), and yet no harm follows, the one who hurt her shall be fined and on and on. There you have it, who is the one twisting scriptures? Who is twisting whom? Look closely then comment again.

Zero: I make it a point to distance myself from the frivolities of men but make no mistake. The abortion fiasco showcases the callousness and apathy of man. Remember when Elizabeth meet Mary in the temple, John the Baptist leapt for joy in his mother’s womb. What’s really amazing is that so many are willing to undergo what many believe to be murder of an unborn fetus. What a mockery and ridicule of a holy God!

John: I am tired. Tell you what let’s finish off with a question and answer section. I ask and you answer. It would be more profitable and edifying yes?

Question and Answer

John: You say sin is the reason for pain in this world, how can this be?

Zero: Pain in the world is directly caused by reaping the fruits of sin. What makes it especially painful is that usually people reap the fruits from seeds that they did not sow. For example you are hit by a drunk driver. The driver sow the seeds of sin by being drunk, you and your family members reap the fruits of pain and death as the result of the driver’s actions. Another example is a team of social workers who are ambushed and killed by tribesmen in a remote area. Before this the tribesmen are friendly until some visitors who came with the intention to cheat swindled them of their wealth. From then on the tribesmen regarded all strangers with hostility and violence. From this we can say that the social workers reap the fruits grown from the seeds sowed by the cheats before them. The most insidious example would be the drug barons, peddlers of filth, casino managers, weapon dealers etc. They sow in sin but reap in bountiful earthly harvest. These people who are directly involved in sin reap the good things, who then would reap the bad things? It is their victims, immediate relatives of said victims or even people completely unrelated who reap the harvest of death and despair. Sowing in seed could be defined as a terrorist weapon as well, just that men grossly underestimate its effectiveness.

John: Convincing. Good good, keep it up. From the Bible we can say that Heaven is going to be a tad empty due to many being on the highway to destruction and few be that found the narrow way to life.

Zero: Do not be fooled. Our Lord is the good shepherd, not an accountant or statistician. Losing even one sheep would be one too many and the ninety nine sheep left would be considered few. Our Lord is willing that not any should perish but all come to repentance in Him. A technically impossible outcome because should such a thing come to pass the entire book of revelation would be rendered void, along with a good chunk of Bible prophecy. So you see, God loves man so much that He would rather His word be void than losing even one soul.

John: Uh uh, but God would not hesitate to send people to Hell either. How could a good God consign anyone to fiery eternal damnation?

Zero: God is a holy God. You speak of good but let’s look at it from another angle. Consider yourself, reflect on how many foul words; obscenities, taking the Lord’s name in vain, how many impure thoughts that come from within you in the space of ten minutes. Over a lifetime imagine the pile of filth it would have accumulated. If God is good, do you actually expect Him to overlook all this and welcome you inside Heaven with open arms? You want to get into Heaven with natural goodness? Fine, meet God’s perfect standard; absolute perfection and holiness in thought, speech and action. From here you should be able to see your utter helplessness at self justification and your need for a saviour.

John: Salvation is supposed to be free, yet would be participants are urged to calculate the cost. What is it exactly, those who call upon the Lord shall be saved or whosoever endureth to the end shall be saved?

Zero: Salvation is a free gift, but to the Lord, it is not free. To procure salvation for mortals, He must be whipped, mocked, scorned and finally be nailed on the cross. The purpose of redemption is to save you from your own evilness. If you want a license to sin, please do not bother. What’s more the world is by no means friendly or even neutral to Christ’s message. In other words, the world is going to make you pay for being a Christian. You must be prepared to be in a world of pain, there are no safe places; even your family members could pressure you to forsake the Lord.

John: And the Church as well I say what. Ouija boards, rock music and Dungeons and Dragons is one thing but what is a greater stumbling block to the seeker as well as those already in the faith other than the Church itself?

Zero: Yes. When our Lord was on Earth, His main opponents the Pharisees constantly accuse Him of many wrongdoings. If the religious leaders are able to find fault with a completely innocent man, what hope would there be for a typical mortal? From His contact with the Pharisees, we can see that Jesus’ harshest rebukes are directed at such. But when He deals with the prostitutes and tax collectors, it is there we can see the Lord’s most gentle side. He does not condone their sins but neither does He reject them. He encourages them but does not use their sin against them; this means that He does not think that an office executive or priest is more righteous than a tax-collector or whore. In His eyes both need Him equally and the holier than thou attitude must be out. Even in one of his most offensive statement, He says to the Pharisees,” Even the whores and tax collectors are entering into the kingdom of Heaven before you.”

John: I never noticed this statement, must be the shite about being blinded by the god of this world. Tsk… John you are losing your touch. And now pray tell what does the statement meant.

Zero: For millennia, the religious elite have been the source and focal point for many gross evils, doing irreparable damage to the name of Christ. It is the ex-prostitutes, the ex-collectors and others who were sinners in the eyes of the world who bring the most glory to Christ and His kingdom. When the Lord finds and reclaim them, they are a force to be reckoned with. Given their background, the temptation for them to be self righteous is non-existent. They are able to recognize the subtleties of sin, for example the ex-tax collectors would not hold another rich man in high regard because of his riches, the ex-prostitutes would forsake low cut dresses and other revealing clothes because they care for their brothers. They are neither worldly nor self-righteous. These traits would be the key differences between them and the typical churched folks. In other words they are more righteous than the Pharisees.

John: Yes! Pete has a wife who is an ex-prostitute and is now a Christian. Before this even I have frowned at his choice and concluded that he is desperate since he is virtually despised by the goody goody chicks in church. I sought to cover his arse by not mentioning this to anyone but now I know such women make good wives for the churchgoer. I trust I do not need to elaborate, suffice to say that a Christian man’s stumbling block could be his self-righteous wife. Why… oh that devious son of a gun, being more sly than ole John Walker himself. This simply would not do.

Outtro

John: Good show old boy but alas I must go now. Perhaps we could meet up again?

Zero: I do not discount the possibility that our paths would cross once more. I admit I find you interesting and once again I must commend you on your receptiveness.

John: Well you are the angel, I the mortal, keep me in touch then. Go with God pal.

Without looking back, John stride confidently towards the bar’s exit and out into the windswept tree-lined street. By now a mist has descended upon the area as John slowly make his way home along the pavement. His apartment was somewhere in the middle of town, in a shelled out excuse of a housing structure. Before too long John reached the building. First he checked his mail; there is a claim for a inheritance in Haiti and John is invited to have a share in it. Land of Voodoo and zombies? Forget it. Another is an invitation from a company called Louis Trust and John is formally requested by the chairman for a discourse and refusal is not an option. Something’s not kosher about this but that’s another story.

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