Alias Cliff O'Shea: God's Secret Agent

By Paul Thomas Jordan

Jason Lambert, alias Cliff O'Shea, has a great desire to help people in need, so God shows him a way to gain the means to do so.  The story begins when he is 15.  He encounters bullies, jealous peers, widows in need, and some teenage boys who are angry at the world because of the misfortune they have endured.  He finds wa

• Language: English
• Publisher: Principle Books Publishers
• Release date: Nov 5, 2018
• ISBN: 9780996189774

Book preview

Chapter One

The people who do know their God shall be strong and do exploits (Daniel 11:32).

Jason Lambert lived with his parents in the mill village of a small town. This was a lower-middle class section where his daddy worked at a factory, just as a regular worker. He had been a faithful employee for 14 years, starting after Jason was born.

Jason, who was just 15, was an exceptional student, having taken advanced courses year after year. He was soon to graduate from High School two years early.

When he was twelve years old, he had started carrying morning papers for the local newspaper, with 43 customers. By calling on the people who didn’t take the paper, he soon built up his route to 94 customers. Except for tithing, almost every dollar he earned, he put in the bank.

Coming home from his route one morning, he noticed a weathered, faded sign in a vacant lot. It advertised the lot for sale, and from the looks of the sign, it had been for sale for a long time, though he had never noticed it before. Something about it held his attention, but he didn’t know why. He stopped his bike and thought for a minute. Then he began asking God, What’s so special about this lot? It’s overgrown and neglected, and doesn’t look like much. He shook his head and started to ride off. A strong impulse caused him to stop again. What is it, Lord? Why can’t I just leave? The thought came to him that this lot would be a good investment and that he should write down the contact information.

He knew the $8,000 he had in the bank wouldn’t be enough to buy the lot, but the idea that he should purchase an option to buy it came clearly to his mind. The option would give him the opportunity to buy available for a limited time. If he didn’t purchase the lot in the limited time, he would forfeit the money he had paid for the option. If he had the option, no one else could purchase the lot until his option ran out. He didn’t have any idea that he would somehow get enough money to actually purchase the lot, but if he had the option, that would give God enough time to show him why He seemed to want him to get involved with the lot. Is that really you, Lord? he asked, and felt a strong assurance that this was the right thing to do.

He didn’t want anyone to know about this until he could see where it was going. He had worked hard for his money, and didn’t want to just throw it away, but he also didn’t want to look foolish.

Realizing that a young kid wouldn’t be taken seriously, he decided he would have to create another identity. He got a Post Office box under the name of Cliff O’Shea: PO box 2281. He took out $2,000 from his bank account and bought a cashier’s check under the name of Cliff O’Shea. A cashier’s check was as good as cash, but safer, and should be readily accepted by the lot’s owner. So much better than a personal check he could write from his account. He sent the cashier’s check to the owner of the property, saying he wanted to purchase an option to buy it. When the owner responded with a letter stating the option was his for six months, and then cashed his check, this prevented anyone else from buying the property without consulting Jason first. At least for six months.

Jason had no idea how he was to proceed, but as he rode his bike by the property every day, he continued to pray about it. God, I’m trusting you that I didn’t throw away $2,000 of my money. I believe you told me to buy that option, so you must have a plan. One morning, a little over a week after purchasing the option, Jason received a letter in Cliff O’Shea’s Post Office box.

A businessman in town wanted the lot to put a liquor store on it. When he had contacted the owner, the owner had informed him that Cliff O’Shea had obtained an option to buy the property, so this prospective buyer would have to deal with Cliff O’ Shea, who could only be contacted through his Post Office box, box 2281.

The man offered Jason $100,000 to sell him the option. Jason knew he could do a lot of good, help a lot of people, with that kind of money, but when he learned what the man was going to do with the property, Jason turned him down. The property was right near a church, and anyway, a liquor store was the last thing Jason wanted to see on that lot.

The very next day, Jason saw men unloading surveying equipment on the vacant lot next to the property. One man was loaded down with equipment, and when he dropped a bag of stakes, Jason stopped his bike and hurried over to pick up the bag for him.

Thanks, young man the surveyor said. I could have dropped everything else trying to pick that up.

What’s happening? Jason asked. What’s going on?

A big investment company has bought this big tract of land. Gonna build a shopping center, was the reply.

God, the lot where I have an option is right in the middle of this space. What does all this mean? Jason prayed as he rode away, I can’t see your plan.

When Jason checked Cliff O’Shea’s Post Office box that day, he pulled out a very official-looking letter: Iverson Investment Company, Chicago, IL. There inside was a request to purchase his option. The letter informed him that the property he held an option on was right in the middle of the large tract of land the Investment Company had purchased for a shopping center. They could make preparations, but they couldn’t begin to build without that lot that sat in the middle. What would Jason take for his option?

Wow, God! So this was your plan. You knew this was going to happen, Jason said in