Heaven's Work

By John P. James

Charles Bishop is feeling the pressure. The investors in the company that he has formed to develop the next generation of bulletproof vests are growing impatient. Bishop Technologies needs to win the defense agency DARPA contract in order to survive, but there are other companies competing for the same contract. One of those companies has sinister intentions toward Charles and his company. Carol, Charlie's wife and business partner, is nearing a breakthrough development using her research into the uses of spiderweb silk fibers, but time is running out. When Charlie unexpectedly dies in an automobile accident, he is unable to finish his work on earth. Carol and his son, Aaron, are left to run his company and complete his work, but Carol and Aaron ask the question, why did God let this happen?

Charlie awakes to find himself in heaven. Charlie asks the same question in heaven. And he finds answers though they are not what he expected. He discovers that he and the other angels are in the midst of a battle between the forces of the light and those of the darkness. It is a battle that has been waged throughout the ages. And God has work for Charlie to do, heaven's work. He must help Carol and his son, Aaron, to discover the gift that God intends for mankind, but this discovery cannot fall into the hands of those working for the darkness.

Charlie will need the help of others to battle the forces of darkness and to accomplish God's plan. People like Lee Grissom, a retired FBI agent, and family and friends on earth and in heaven. This is a story of how God uses us, even after our death, to accomplish his work on earth and defeat the forces of darkness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9781636305424

Book preview

Chapter 1

Charles Bishop was late for his meeting with his research team. He drove through the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Dahlonega, Georgia, heading for his office. Dahlonega was located only an hour north of Atlanta, but it seemed like a different world. Dahlonega was originally a boomtown built during the first gold rush in the United States in the 1820s. As he drove through the historic district with its public square, the crepe myrtles had peaked with their dynamite reds and deep-purple blooms. It was a small town, the central square surrounded with quaint shops, hardware stores, and restaurants. It was often crowed with tourists, especially this time of year. It was a beautiful late September morning. Fall had arrived. Located in the Chattahoochee National Forest, the trees were just starting to change colors, and the mornings were turning cooler. The sugar maples and red maples were turning to bright yellows and reds. The gold mines had long been shut down. But it was Dahlonega gold that was used to gild the state capitol dome in Atlanta, as well as the dome of city hall in Savannah.

As he drove out of town and down the narrow tree-lined highway, Charlie knew his wife, Carol, would wonder why he was running late. Charlie was enjoying the drive this morning. He was driving his Indigo Blue Dodge Challenger this morning. This was his fun car, his getaway car. It reminded him of his first car that he bought as a young man in college, a Plymouth Barracuda. As he climbed the next hill, he heard the throaty 6.4-liter V8 engine come to life, and as he hit the accelerator, it was liking uncaging the tiger. In the spring, on these mountain roads, he could view the white flower blooms of the mountain laurel and sourwood trees. Also, there was the vivid color of the blooms of the rhododendrons.

Charlie had been talking with Steve Lewis, his financial advisor. It was not a pleasant conversation. Steve wanted Charlie to come down to Atlanta to talk to the other investors and give them a progress report. He went by Charles in business until someone got to know him. Charlie seemed too personal for business relationships. Charlie was a handsome man, tall, with sandy-colored hair and blue eyes. But it was his easygoing personality that won people over. And Charlie took a real interest in people, and people could tell that when he talked with them. Charlie usually updated the investors every quarter, but the investors were growing restless. It had been five years since he started his own company to develop a new generation of bulletproof vests. The project team called them BPVs. There was a lot of investor interest and gaining venture capital had not been difficult during the peak of the economy. The recent violence in the country and the long-term military engagements in the Middle East had highlighted a need for a new lighter, stronger BPV. But now the investors were getting antsy and wanted results.

Charlie was a mechanical engineer who had worked in industry for years before deciding to pursue a master’s degree in materials sciences from Georgia Tech. He had enjoyed the study and worked on developing stronger, lighter materials. He continued his work with Georgia Tech Research Institute, which obtained government and industry grants to research various ideas. Charlie was a rising star in the field. He had met Carol at GTRI. She had moved down from New York to work with GTRI on materials research. Carol had her doctorate and was more the research scientist than Charlie, who was more into practical applications.

Charlie had lost his first wife, Meghan, to breast cancer at the age of forty-five. Her last few years were painful, and it was one reason that Charlie had decided to make a change in his career. Meghan was his high school sweetheart, a Southern beauty, traditional blond hair, and blue eyes. Charlie had fell in love with her from the first time he saw her in high school. After college, they had married, settled in Atlanta, and began a family. They had raised their son Aaron together. But Meghan had not survived long enough to see Aaron graduate from college and start his career. Meghan had always been a woman of faith. She was dedicated to her life as a mother, and she practiced her faith through her church activities. Charlie had gone along with Meghan. He attended church but never connected to God the way Meghan did. It was during Meghan’s battle with cancer that Charlie had truly found his faith. He had grieved deeply for the loss of his soul mate. But he found his faith in God, and his faith guided him to make the change in life. One to pursue a new career in materials science, he needed to move on from his life with Meghan. He started his new business in Dahlonega, and soon he rented a home there to be closer to his business.

He had met Carol when she visited his church in Atlanta. She was different from Meghan, more a working professional who had never had children. Carol’s father had been an American professor, and her mother, a businesswoman from the Philippines. Carol had inherited a beautiful mixture of American-Asian features. With her dark hair and rich brown eyes, she was an attractive woman, but she did not act like she knew it. Both of her parents had died at an early age. She had moved to the Atlanta area from New York after her divorce from her first husband and gone to work at GTRI. While Charlie knew her name, he did not meet her until she came into his church that Sunday morning. He had greeted her when he saw her at church.

Hello, my name is Charles Bishop. I think we work at the same place, GTRI? Charlie inquired.

Yes, I have seen you around the campus. I am new to Atlanta and had been told by the neighbors that this was a friendly church. I am not much of a churchgoer but decided to give it a try, Carol offered.

Well, it is a friendly church, and I am sure you will like it. Let me introduce you to some of our members, Charlie offered.

A quiet woman at first, but once you got to know her, she was very pleasant. She was new to the Christian faith, and she had many questions about Charlie’s faith and beliefs. They went on a few church outings and became friends then lovers.

Charlie thought back to one of their first outdoor outings. Carol was not an outdoor person. Charlie was an avid kayaker and liked to take his kayak down the rapids of the Chattooga River. He had traveled the river many times as a young man when the river was more natural, before the river tours took over the river. Now the river was full of tourists. Carol was not comfortable in a kayak, and Charlie wanted to show her the beauty of the river. So they signed up for a river raft trip down the Chattooga with six other rafters. They had a young man from the rafting company for a guide. Everyone wore wet suits as the water was cool in the late spring. Charlie had wanted to show off his paddling skills to Carol, but he found himself falling off the raft during the first small rapids. He had lost his balance on the edge of the raft. He was not used to traveling the river on a rubber raft. While he quickly climbed back in the raft on his own, he felt a little sheepish and laughed at himself. Carol would have a good laugh about it later at dinner that night.

They continued to date and get to know each other better. When Charlie had moved up to Dahlonega, he had started attending a small church in Dahlonega. When he and Carol started spending their weekends in the mountain home he had rented, Carol would join him at his new church. She loved the small friendly congregation and the enthusiastic pastor, Peter. They were married in the small church within a year. Because they were both so busy at work, they honeymooned in the North Georgia mountains at Brasstown Valley Resort. They enjoyed traveling in the mountains to Tallulah Gorge, which had a beautiful falls and suspension bridge to explore.

Charlie admired Carol’s independent spirit. She was very self-reliant. Charlie knew that when he was not at the office, Carol would make sure that the needs of the business were carried out. Carol was studying the ability of spiders to lay different types of silk webbing, and how the web materials could vary greatly in strength and other characteristics. She had been recruited by GTRI’s materials labs to continue her development work. Carol and Charlie had taken their honeymoon trip to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil and Peru. On the trip, Carol obtained live specimens of various spiders in the region so she could bring them back to her lab in Atlanta for study. While at times, it was work for Carol, it was a great adventure for Charlie, who had never been to that area of the world. The rainforest, with its own unique varieties of animals and plants, was beautiful. The experience formed a bond between the two of them that strengthened their young marriage. That was when Charlie had thought that her work might fit in with his project to develop a new BPV. Initially she had stayed at GTRI when Charlie broke off to start his company, Bishop Technologies. She joined him a year later. Now their future was tied to the success of winning the bid on BPV-X Gen, as the program was called by DARPA.

Chapter 2

Charlie thought about the call this morning with Steve, a successful financial advisor, who had helped him secure the venture capital needed to start his company. But Steve’s attitude toward Charlie had changed in the past year. He had always been a good friend, but now he was pushing Charlie hard and no longer supportive of his work. About six months ago, Steve had told Charlie that the investors were pulling any further funding of Bishop Technologies on the project. He had not had a chance to meet with the investors since then. But Steve had called this morning.

The investors are nervous, Charlie, Steve had said. They need to see some results! They are threatening to take legal action to recoup their investment.

We are getting closer, Steve. We just need a breakthrough!

Well, Charlie, the word is that AMRI is also getting close on the development of their BPV prototype. They want to win the large government contracts that will go with the successful bid on this project!

We showed the investors our latest BPV. It is much better and lighter than current versions! Charlie countered.

Yes, but we hear AMRI has a similar BPV, one that might be at least as good if not better. And they appear to have connections and influence with the government. They have money and lobbyists, things that Bishop Technologies does not have. The investors are worried that they will get the contracts, and their investment will be lost.

Charlie had started his company Bishop Technology with a research grant obtained from DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a part of the defense department. He obtained the grant with the help of GTRI, but he had needed venture capital to develop the product and compete with companies like AMRI. Charlie had his group of investors, but he also was in touch with several BPV North American manufacturers. They were interested in making the new prototype if it was something they could market. The contracts with the manufacturer would be the payoff for developing the new generation BPV.

Charlie had told Steve he would come down to Atlanta on Thursday to meet with the investors again. He would show them the latest version of the BPV and talk about the next step, the one that would separate them from AMRI’s product and any other out on the market today. Carol and he were so close to a breakthrough. Charlie liked his trip to the big city of Atlanta less these days. He had gladly traded the view of the magnificent buildings that man had created in the city for the beauty of the trees, streams, and mountains that God had created.

The current versions of BPVs on the market were made of Kevlar fibers woven together. Most vests were made to stop a small caliber round. But now with so many terrorist, domestic and international, utilizing military-style weapons and higher caliber rounds, there was a demand for better BPVs. A vest could be designed for higher caliber bullets, but they became bulky, heavy, and uncomfortable to wear. The military and the law enforcement agencies were looking for a next generation vest. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, as everyone in the government knew it, had issued a challenge to industry to come up with a new design, one