For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.

  When Dam closed the Bible and looked out at the crowd, he said, “My wife and I just had a baby, so I understand very well what these scriptures are talking about as it relates to a woman travailing. Bringing a child forth is not a pretty thing. It involves pain and sometimes sorrows as you go through the process. But then we rejoiced as a new life was brought into the world.

  “And if you think about it, living a life full of sin is like a woman suffering to bring forth a new life. You go through highs and lows. One moment there’s no pain, and things seem fine, so you keep living your life, doing whatever feels good. But the next moment the pain which is the consequences of sin hit you and turn your life upside down. That’s when you begin to reach out for something, anything you can hold onto to help ease the pain. For my wife, it was my hand. She almost broke my hand off when those labor pains hit her.” Dam flicked his hand as if it was still in pain, the crowd laughed, and he laughed right along with them.

  When the laughter stopped, Dam then asked the crowd, “What about you? What do you grab hold of when the pains of life are more than you can bear? Have you ever thought about giving my friend, Jesus a try?”

  “I know that today’s Christians have given my Lord and Savior a bad name. Christians don’t tell the truth anymore. You can’t trust that they will do what they committed to. Christians sin as if there is no God. But my God won’t be mocked. As it says in the scriptures I just read, God will punish the world for their evil and the wicked for their iniquities.”

  Bishop Thomas felt as if he was in a fishbowl and all eyes were on him. He wanted to get up and walk out of the stadium. But he was afraid that he would draw even more attention to himself. And the way Dam was preaching and calling out the sins of Christians, Bishop knew for sure those reporters who were now at the back of the stadium would stop him. They would then ask him all sorts of questions that he had no answers for.

  And with the way Dam was preaching, Bishop wondered who in this stadium could give an answer for the way in which they had lived their lives. When he started off in the ministry, Bishop only wanted to please God. But then the church members kept telling him how anointed he was. He was told that he needed to do radio... then he needed to do television... then he needed to get on the speaking circuit.

  Once he’d done everything the people told him he needed to do, there didn’t seem to be any part of God left in his ministry. And that’s when it became easy to succumb to all the lustful things this world had to offer. If he could turn back the hands of time, he would do it differently. But things had spiraled too far out of control, and Bishop didn’t know how to make what was wrong right again.

  Dam was saying, “But there is hope. The God I serve is a forgiving God. He wants to forgive you and help you walk upright before Him.

  Will you repent and turn away from sin? Will you let God have total control of your life?”

  Dam then looked directly into the camera and said, “You may be sitting on your sofa, watching this broadcast from home. You think I’m just talking to the people in this stadium.” He pointed at the camera, toward that person at home that God was trying to reach. “But God’s word is for you also. You can repent right where you sit.”

  Tears flowed down Dam’s eyes as he turned back to the people in the stadium. “God’s free gift of salvation is for you also. Won’t you come down here? Repent and give God your whole heart. I promise that He won’t abuse or misuse you as the world has done so many times.”

  “Come on, my friends, if you are ready to truly live for God and forsake this sinful world, then come down here and stand with me.”

  One by one, two by two, then three by three the people started to get out of their seats and head down to the area just below the stage. Dam couldn’t see the angels anymore, but he knew they were out there fighting the good fight of faith against the demonic forces that tried to hold anyone who belonged to God in their seats.

  God would get the glory this night and Dam would stand there as long as it took. He would wait until everyone who wanted to give their lives to God was standing before him.

  Isaac got out of his seat and came to stand next to Dam. He turned his microphone back on as he yelled out to the crowd, “There’s still room at the cross. Don’t let it be said, too late... too late.” And just like that, the altar was flooded.

  Tears of regret and pain streamed down the faces of thousands of men and women who made their way to the altar. There were so many at the altar that the chairs on the football field had to be removed.

  Dam felt the power of the Holy Spirit moving within him like never before. This is it... this is truly the mission God had for him. He would not leave this stage until every soul in need of salvation got what they came to the altar for. “Can’t you feel it, my friends? God is here with us. He wants to save you from your sins. He wants to clean your heart and make you brand new.”

  Agonizing moaning and groaning came from the people. Some stood, some got down on bended knees, and some laid prostrate on the ground. “Help us, Lord!”, “Make me new.”, “I’m so tired of how I’ve been living, Lord.”, “I want to live for God.”, were some of the words Dam heard the people say as the cried out to God.

  They were ready. As he looked out at the sea of repented souls, he said, “Just lift your hands and repeat after me, Lord, I am so sorry for the way I’ve lived my life. I’m tired of all the pain and the strife. Thank you for sending Your son Jesus to save me from my sins; to cleanse me and make me new, just as a baby is born of the flesh. I thank You that I can accept Your free gift of salvation and be born again of the spirit.”

  Without hesitation, the people lifted their hands and repeated after Dam. The people who stood at the altar were guilty of every sin imaginable... abortion, murder, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, lying, stealing, backbiting and so much more. All sin was equal in God’s eyes, and all of their sins were instantly washed away, cleansed in the blood of Jesus.

  “Do you see what’s happening?” Isaac asked Dam as they stood before the people.

  Dam nodded. “They have truly repented. And their sins have been washed away.”

  Tears of joy were now being shed by all who had come to the altar. But sadly, there were still some who remained in their seats and watched the flow of the Holy Spirit like spectators. Dam wished he could get those people out of their seats so they could partake in this feeling of great joy that the others were feeling. But God would not take their free will. Therefore, they were free to reject this free gift of salvation and continue to live a life full of sin.

  When the crusade was over, Dam and Isaac both sat down on opposite sides of the field for interviews with numerous networks. But just as the interviewer began the questions something miraculous occurred. Dam and Isaac disappeared.

  But it wasn’t just Dam and Isaac who disappeared, some of the reporters disappeared, and many of the people who had been in attendance and had come down to the altar disappeared as well.

  “What is going on here?” One of the reporters shouted as he looked around the field and saw clothes and shoes lining the field but nobody was in those clothes. His cameraman had been right in front of him, but now his clothes were on the ground, and the camera was also. “Where did everybody go?”

  Great moaning was heard by the people who had been left behind as they held onto the clothes their loved ones had been wearing. “Mama, come back!” One young man screamed.

  “Hon, no, don’t leave me like this,” an old man cried out while holding the dress that had belonged to his wife of sixty years.

  When Bishop Thomas noticed that neither Dam or Isaac was around to settle the crowd down. He rushed to the stage and grabbed the microphone. “Calm down everyone. Something very wrong has occurred, but we will get to the bottom of this.”

  He was holding a blouse and a pair of pants in his hands. He lifted them so everyone could see, “I was just standing down there talking to my wife. She came to me with tears in her eyes and apologized to me for doctoring those videos that she gave to the news station. She asked me to forgive her and I did just that. But she disappeared before I could bring her up here to clear everything up.”

  The reporter who’d just lost his cameraman. Grabbed hold of the camera and joined Bishop Thomas on the stage. “Are you saying that the video footage we watched of your illicit orgy was doctored?”

  “That is exactly what I’m saying.” Bishop puffed out his chest.

  “So, that wasn’t you we saw on that footage, is that what you’re saying?”

  “Of course, it wasn’t me. I am a man of God. I have been dedicated to God since I was a youth. The good Lord has blessed me and my ministry. Would I have been able to put on such a crusade that caused so many to give their lives to God if I was such a sinful man?”

  The reporter faced the camera he was holding and said, “You heard it here first. Bishop Thomas says that his wife doctored those tapes we viewed of him and other pastors partying like rock stars. And since his wife is now missing, we’ll have to do a little more investigating to get to the bottom of this.”

  People began rushing the stage, asking, “Where did they go? Have they been raptured? Is it too late for me to repent? I want to repent for my sins, please let me repent now.”

  But it indeed was too late.

  Epilogue

  While the earth experienced the great tribulation, a celebration was going on in a new land that had been created for those who loved God and did His will... for those who endured until the end.

  Isaac Walker Senior and Nina Walker walked over to the newest member of the Walker family. Isaac took Junior in his arms and said, “I’ve been waiting to hold you since the day you were born. Nice to meet you little one.”

  “He’s so handsome,” Nina said as she smiled at the little one.

  Dam held onto Amarrea’s hand. “We did it, hon. We made it in the rapture.” Their eyes filled with awe and amazement as they look around at the sea of people standing around in white garments. Don Shepherd put his hands out for Jewel to come to him. She left her mother’s hip and clung to Don. “It is so nice to finally see you, my beautiful little one.”

  Everyone in this new land had been washed in the blood of the Lamb, they were new creations in Christ. Even as the Shepherd family, the Walker family and many other families reunited in this wondrous new land, they each knew that life would never be the same again. And they were grateful that they had not been left behind but would forever be able to rejoice in the joy of the Lord.

  The servant of God, Obadiah Damerae Shepherd, was taken to a room with a brilliant white floor, it looked as if he was stepping on clouds. There must have been some kind of trick mirror in the room because it looked as if thousands of sixty-inch television sets were floating throughout the room.

  A door opened on the other side of the room, and a man in a purple garment with the crown of a king on his head walked into the room. He held open his hands as if to give Dam a hug. But that’s when Dam noticed the holes in the man’s hands. He fell to his knees and bowed his head, “My Lord.”

  “Yes Obadiah, great servant of God, it is I. But today, I am not just Lord, but also a friend that sticks closer than a brother. And I wanted to greet you and let you see how important it was that you completed the mission we had for you.”

  Dam was at the point of hyperventilating. “So, I did hear You correctly. I was on the right path?” It came out like a question because with all that Dam went through, there were many times that he questioned whether he’d heard the Lord or if he had just followed after what felt right at the time.

  The Lord erupted in laughter. His eyes were bright and filled with love for Dam that was clearly evident. “I do understand why you questioned working for a man like Daniel Thomas. But, we needed you with him so the crusade would be televised.”

  “Thank You for telling me that. I thought I’d missed it when things started to go bad with Bishop Thomas.”

  Jesus shook His head. “You didn’t miss it. You were always in the will of God. This is the reason you had to be born. We needed a man with the heart of God to lead the last day souls back home to Me.”

  “I knew I was meant to be in ministry. But in truth, to truly be effective, I would have thought my ministry would need to last for many years. I thought that Isaac and I would have to travel the world to convert the lost.”

  “Your ways, are not my way,” was all the Lord said to that. Then He pointed to seats that were like the recliners found in many theater rooms. “Have a seat, Obadiah. Let me show you what your ministry accomplished tonight.”

  Dam did as he was instructed. Once he was seated, the flashing lights of the televisions, that weren’t actually televisions but more like gigantic screens, came alive. One of the screens moved forward, Dam could see a family sitting in their living room watching him preach the message he delivered at the crusade. When he looked toward the television, pointed at the camera and said, “You may be sitting on your sofa, watching this broadcast from home. You think I’m just talking to the people in this stadium. But God’s word is for you also. You can repent right where you sit.”

  At that moment three of the family members stood up in front of the television. They lifted their hands when Dam asked the people in the stadium to lift their hands and they repeated the sinner's prayer with the others in the stadium. There was only one person in that home who did not receive Jesus into his heart.

  That screen moved back, as another came forward. The Lord then showed him a church where the members had gathered to watch the crusade. Hundreds of those members went down to the altar. The same occurred at a sports bar where the crusade was televised... and again, and again in homes all across the country.

  Dam turned to Jesus, his eyes full of unshed tears and joy. “All those people accepted You into their hearts because of the crusade?”

  Jesus nodded. “You and Isaac did a mighty work, and I will reward both of you in this new life and forever more.”

  It seemed as if Dam couldn’t stop smiling. He was overjoyed that God had found him worthy for this end time ministry. But then he thought of the many people he saw at the stadium and on the screen who had not accepted Christ during the crusade. “What of the people who were left behind, Lord? Is their hope for them?”

  With sadness in His eyes, Jesus told him, “They chose the life they wanted, Obadiah. We have left them to men like Daniel Thomas, who will lead them further into paths of unrighteousness.

  “But there is one who has been left on earth. When he realizes that he missed the mark, he will do everything it takes to come back to Me, and he will bring others with him. But the rest will go to a place that was designed for Satan and his followers. And there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

  “But...” Dam wanted to help those people if he could.

  “This is not for you to concern yourself with. You have finished your assignment, now it is time to rest.”

  And may the Lord be praised!

  The end of Book VI

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  Family Business Series

  Family Business I

  Family Business II - Sword of Division

  Family Business III - Love And Honor

  Family Business IV - The Children

  Family Business V - The Atonement

  Family Business VI - Servant of God

  About the Author

  Vanessa Miller is a best-selling author, playwright, and motivational speaker. She started writing as a child, spending countless hours either reading or writing poetry, short stories, stage plays and novels. Vanessa’s creative endeavors took on new meaning in1994 when she became a Christian. Since then, her writing has been centered on themes of redemption, often focusing on characters facing multi-dimensional struggles.

  Vanessa’s novels have received rave reviews, with several appearing on Essence Magazine’s Bestseller’s List. Miller’s work has receiving numerous awards, including “Best Christian Fiction Mahogany Award” and the “Red Rose Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction.” Miller graduated from Capital University with a degree in Organizational Communication. She is an ordained minister in her church, explaining, “God has called me to minister to readers and to help them rediscover their place with the Lord.”

  She has worked with numerous publishers: Urban Christian, Kimani Romance, Abingdon Press and Whitaker House. She is currently indy published through Praise Unlimited enterprises and working on the Family Business Series.

  In 2016, Vanessa launched the Christian Book Lover’s Retreat in an effort to bring readers and authors of Christian fiction together in an environment that’s all about Faith, Fun & Fellowship. To learn more about Vanessa, please visit her website: www.vanessamiller.com. If you would like to know more about the Christian Book Lover’s Retreat that is currently held in Charlotte, NC during the last week in October you can visit: http://www.christianbookloversretreat.com/index.html

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