Revelation

By Doug Couse

Immanuel Christian School was founded to raise up and loose students into the world as prayer warriors for God. One of its students, Johnathen, has a special gift for technology and has begun using that gift to spread the Good News through his video blog. Johnathen knows that he has been marked by God to do great things for His kingdom. What he doesn't know is that he has also been marked by another kingdom, a kingdom of despair and death that will stop at nothing to silence him.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Doug Couse
• Release date: Oct 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781311027337

Doug Couse

Doug Couse lives in Colorado with his beautiful wife, 2 wonderful children, a tri-colored Collie and a cat we saved from the pound. And no, there isn't a white picket fence. Yet.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Except for the glowing red and yellow eyes, the darkness was all-consuming. In this place, even the distant screams of agony fought to break through the choking blackness. This was one of the darkest areas in this place, and the sense of dread hung like a thick fog. There was no joy or peace here, only misery, which oozed from every crevasse like blood from an open wound. Scratching and clicking could be heard reverberating off the walls, but to discern its origin was impossible. The only way one could tell anything was moving at all was to follow the blurred trail of the eyes as they moved, and eyes were moving everywhere. The multitude of colored orbs appeared to float effortlessly through the blackness. At times, two sets of eyes would affix their gaze on one another, and if one did not look away quickly enough, an all out battle would ensue for dominance. The eyes revealed no pity or mercy from the creatures that looked through them, only hatred and death.

In this sea of blackness, there were many regions. Regions that were dimly lit by dancing pockets of flames on the ground cast some form to what was behind those eyes. Creatures, hideous creatures of all sizes, could be seen wandering the catacombs, waiting for their call. Some walked erect, just as humans would, while others preferred to dig their claws into the cavern wall and scurry along. Still, other realms were nearly fully lit by the lapping flames from above and below. The dark spirits were immune to flames and enjoyed staring at them almost becoming mesmerized by their beauty as the tips danced, forever bringing light into this darkness.

And there was still one more place—a special area in this place of darkness and dancing flames. It was an area that held a room that, while no particular spirit knew its exact location, each had been there before. Once summoned, the dark spirit would dissipate from its current location and instantly be present facing the room’s occupant at which point, the occupier would give forth assignments to be carried out. The creatures dare not talk about the occupier to each other and only discuss their assignment to others if they were part of the same.

Assignments varied greatly and each one brought an opportunity to earn the occupiers trust for more complex and difficult assignments. The lesser spirits would be given simple, remedial tasks, such as harassing the humans, particularly His humans. There was always great excitement when a spirit was given the assignment to harass one of His. Most humans were weak spiritually, and after a few weeks or only a few days of harassing them, many would turn to their humanly vices, which the dark spirits would give them easy access to, and forget Him. This, of course, was the sole purpose of such assignments. Once the lesser spirit was confident of its success, it would vaporize back to the room for yet another assignment, and the process was repeated over and over again. It was endless and relentless, just the way the occupier wanted it.

Other, more difficult assignments required the expertise of those spirits that had honed their skill over the eons. These darker spirits would be sent forth to wreak havoc on the humans. As with the lesser ones, these spirits craved the opportunity to go after one of His. For reasons unknown to the spirits, not all assignments were against His believers. Wreaking havoc on a non-believer, while bringing the occupier some enjoyment, did not bring the same amount of joy as it did when it was a believer who fell. Assignments such as war, murder, infidelity, suicide, and disease were carried out by these spirits. It was not a simple task to just begin speaking to the human mind and force the occupier’s will on it for He had given these humans free will to pursue whatever pleasure or debauchery they wanted, and to change that, required the craft of these spirits. The planning and implementation of the assignment could take months or even years for these spirits to turn one of His. To succeed here was a great victory for the occupier and another notch for the spirit. To fail here was unspeakable.

Then there were those assignments that were so rare, so difficult, that it required the presence of the occupier itself. These assignments were so few that only a handful of dark spirits even knew how many he had performed. Failure here was not to be discussed by the spirits, yet each knew of at least one—the one where he failed to tempt Him after being cast out. After that failure, the occupier was so enraged it swore with everything it had to go after His people with a newly found hatred for them. Destroy them all! could be heard in every corner of this dark place. The spirits paid dearly for his failure that day which painfully reinforced their renewed hatred toward the humans.

Finally, there were those assignments that, while not positive of the overall plan, the occupier felt it important to send a more experienced demon along with lesser ones to scout the earth, looking for an opportunity to quell an uprising for His glory or to just gather information on a particular event that he felt warranted extra attention and wanted to know more about. These happened quite frequently, whether it be a reported revival in a small town that needed to be suppressed or a small group in a home. In each case, spirits would be sent to investigate and, if necessary, act on what they saw. The more experienced demons had authority to do what was necessary to oppress any uprising for His glory. In most cases, however, these assignments ended up being nothing more than just intelligence gathering to be reported back to the occupier. In some cases, the reported revivals were of false teaching, thereby allowing the demons to openly and actively participate. Either through channeling or possession, the demons would lure in the tired and thirsty souls seeking Him and His salvation. The leader of these so called revivals was almost always demon-possessed or controlled and did nothing to lead the people to Him. In fact, it was just the opposite, and, in short order, the revival and its followers were dabbling in the occult, all in the name of Him. That was just one of the fatal flaws of these humans. When humans are so desperate and looking to believe in anything, they open the door to everything. Once that door is wide open, it is very difficult to close. With very little coaxing and effort by the demons, they would be led astray like sheep to the slaughterhouse. Time and time again, humans wanting to believe in anything but Him found themselves entangled in the clutches of the demons and under their controlling thoughts and images. So wrapped in guilt and shame if they ever did break free on their own, many swore to never seek religion or Him ever again. On a few occasions, the reported uprising had His presence all over it. At those times and places, there was nothing the dark spirits could do except look on with such revulsion that they spat and scurried off to report the legitimacy of such an event.

Something was brewing in this cauldron of despair and the demons could sense it. Throughout the ages, the demons became more aware when there was a shifting in the spirit realm. Whether the shift be for His glory or for their pleasure could not be determined; however, the shift itself could be felt, and now was one of those times. Perhaps it was the flicker of the flames that danced faster or the glowing orbs themselves moving at a quicker pace. Whatever the trigger was a shift was in motion and the spirits here were soon to be set in action. There was blood in the water, and the dark spirits were ready for a feeding frenzy. As the pace began to quicken, the energy began to feed upon itself and traveled through each demon throughout this dark abyss. The eyes began to move quicker now and low cackling began to rumble through the multitude of caverns, and the spirits waited in anticipation of the coming shift. As the cackling grew, so did the lapping of the flames, and as the flames grew, so did the cackling. It was a self-fulfilling cycle until such time that the occupier requested the presence of the spirits to do his bidding. This was their existence. To wander these darkened layers for all eternity, receive an assignment, and trawl the earth doing the occupier’s bidding. When these shifts came, the spirits never knew the importance of or the capacity of the inescapable assignment that was soon to follow.

The cackling continued to grow louder and was reaching a fever pitch when two demons vanished and were summoned to the occupier’s room.

The flames slowed their dance and the colored orbs' pace returned to a crawl.

The cries of torment begged to be heard in this blackness.

This was business as usual.

Chapter 2

The light was overpowering and all-encompassing. Its origin and end was impossible to determine. It was a light that not only filled this vast space but penetrated it. This expanse was filled with a luminescence that was the whitest of whites infused with various faint shades of sky blues and sparkling golds. Flecks of sunset orange and jade green, seemingly suspended in time, danced with the light in this space. Sprinkles of ruby reds and quartz purples drifted slowly and gently in this space like snow falling on a calm morning. There was power and life in this space and light. It was as if the light itself was alive, and, with every breath, the flecks and sprinkles of brilliant colors would flicker and glide to the beat of the music in this place. Listening to the music and watching the dancing colors amongst the light, one could feel the peace and love emanating from this place. To drift through here, one would be somewhere he or she had never been and yet never want to leave. It was glorious. It was an energizing playground for His worshippers. Created for them, by Him, for His glory and all for their edification. This was their eternity and it was perfect. His glory and His presence was everywhere in this place, and the angels basked in it.

Greetings, Tomen Silan said as he bowed his head.

Greetings, Silan. It is nice to see you again, Tomen replied with a smile.

Thank you. It is always good to see you. I have been informed that we have a new undertaking at hand.

As have I, Silan. How much has He shared with you? inquired Tomen.

I have knowledge that today it is more of a display of His protection that is required.

Tomen nodded.

Silan, Tomen, an angel spoke from above as he descended.

Greetings, Rulok the angels spoke in unison.

I understand our mission will be one of guardian, Rulok spoke as he continued to descend.

As do we, Silan answered.

There will be a fourth with us, Rulok spoke.

That would be me, Arel spoke from behind the group of angels now forming.

Greetings, Arel.

As He has given us knowledge, Silan started, we have been brought together to display His protection at a special event.

The angles nodded.

The enemy certainly knows of this also, Rulok added.

We would be foolish to believe otherwise, Tomen spoke, if He wants us at this event as a display of protection over it, then it is certain the enemy will be there. The enemy is always interested in the same events that interest Him.

Agreed, Silan began, The enemy has many underlings roaming the earth for information. It will be just like them to have scouts at the event and perhaps even a few lesser spirits to do battle. However, we have not been given the authority to engage them on site. We may only attack if they attack us or if they attempt to disrupt the event.

Understood, the angels replied in unison.

Silan, do you have specific knowledge of the event? Tomen asked.

Yes. We will be providing covering over a groundbreaking ceremony.

A groundbreaking ceremony? inquired Rulok.

Yes. A groundbreaking ceremony. A very important groundbreaking ceremony.

Go on. Arel stated.

A groundbreaking ceremony for a school. Silan smiled.

A school the angels repeated.

Yes. A special school that is for His glory. The Lord has brought many pieces of the puzzle together over a long time. He has spoken to many people before regarding the purchase of the land, the right contractor, and the giving to the cause. Many chose to ignore His voice even though they heard it clearly. Now, however, those who He spoke to have heard Him, fervently prayed, and willingly obeyed by faith, and all of their efforts over their years will culminate today at the groundbreaking ceremony. It has been a long journey with many battles in the spirit realm of which the humans have been unaware. This indeed is a very significant day for His kingdom.

We may be in for quite a battle, Rulok began, So what else of this school?

As I said, the school is for His glory. It is a school that will profess Him as King and instill that in all who attend. They will teach the children to be prayer warriors for His kingdom. The students will be encouraged to openly pray for one another at any time. And if students need prayer, they will be encouraged to reach out and openly ask for it. They will be taught to take the prayer to the streets. It is a school that will accept all that His glory is and does. They will learn faith and have to act or not act on it. Many will leave the school and go on to do great things for His kingdom. Some will become preachers; others will go into the mission field, while others will receive the gifts.

Quite a battle indeed, Arel said as he looked at Rulok.

We should be as prepared as always. The enemy will do what it can to stop His progress or tear down His people. To not expect resistance would be foolish, Silan reiterated.

Agreed, Tomen answered.

The Lord has also given me knowledge of a boy, Silan offered.

A boy at the school? Rulok asked.

Yes.

The boy will be at the event today? Arel asked.

Silan paused, closed his eyes, and waited for the knowledge.

No, not today, Silan answered.

What of this child? Tomen asked.

Again, Silan paused,