the truth for today

Chapter 4

Steve found himself standing in a nondescript room, looking into a screen on one wall of the room. The screen was about twenty feet in width, and ten feet in height. Displayed on the screen was a kitchen. A man was just pulling a microwave dinner out of the microwave. He was muttering to himself and his eyes looked rather gloomy. He sat down and bowed his head to pray. After praying briefly, he peeled off the cover and began to eat his dinner, without any human company.

“That cursed woman,” he muttered between bites, “she doesn’t think I make a good husband.”

The scene changed to a view of a highway from above. A tomato-red 1968 Chevrolet Camaro cruised down the asphalt, moving a little faster than the other cars on the highway. Then, the inside of the Camaro appeared with the angry man sitting in the driver’s seat. He was driving too fast because the speedometer read 75 mph and the speed limit signs outside read 55 mph.

The car approached a sharp turn on the side of a steep hill, and the signs indicated he should slow to 40 mph, and then 30 mph. But, the driver recklessly maintained his speed. Seeing that he was starting to lose control and skid, the driver tried to hit the break, but he was going too fast, and his car plowed through the guard rail with a loud shriek of metal, and tumbled down a steep slope to the bottom of a canyon. On its way down, the Camaro bounced and rolled, flipping like a toy as it struck boulders. Near the bottom it slammed into a large boulder and bent like a crushed pop can. Flames erupted from the engine, sending up clouds of black smoke.

Steve watched, with horror, as the scene change to a close up of the car. Two grey creatures, with bat-like wings and sharp claws, flew toward the car, and their long, thin arms reached inside. They pulled something out through the metal underside of the car, which was facing skyward, as if the metal were made of fog. It was the driver’s spirit and soul, Steve realized. It looked just like the man he saw at the dinner table, but this man wore black garments that looked somewhat ragged. Fear was on his face as the evil spirits pulled him out of the car and rushed straight for the ground.

A hole appeared in the ground where no hole had appeared earlier, and the evil spirits shoved the man down, with their fingers tightly wrapped around his arms. Steve heard him scream in agony. Then, he saw the picture move as what could be thought of as the camera was flying behind the evil spirits. Steve saw the tunnel rush toward the screen and seem to engulf him. Rocks and fissures appeared in the sides of this tunnel and rushed past at a great speed. Before long, Steve saw a huge cavern open up before him. The cavern was filled with smoke and a dim light from lava flows and lava pits. The sound of people screaming in agony filled the air. Dark shapes move about the chamber, scurrying here and there and flying from one place to another. It resembled a cave full of bats, but hideous bats.

The evil spirits flew with the deceased soul of the man to a small cave in the side of the cavern where a metal cage had been constructed by the forge of Hell. With malicious brutality, they threw him into the cage, slamming him against the metal bars. They drew some black knives from their belts and stabbed them into the man’s body repeatedly. He screamed in agony, but no blood came from his wounds. Steve looked away and grimaced. But, Jesus touched him on his shoulder, reassuringly.

Then, the demons began taunting him, saying, “Greg, you’re wife and her boyfriend are having a lot of fun up on earth, while you have just started your eternity in Hell. Welcome to the pit. Here you will get to experience the suffering of those who held onto bitterness and would not let go of it. You knew God was convicting you to repent, but you did not repent from your bitterness, and now look where it got you.”

Greg screamed, “I am a born-again Christian! I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and His blood to atone for my sins. I did it twelve years ago at a church. I can’t be in Hell! This has to be a dream. I’m a good man. I regularly go to church, and I was a deacon for five years. I give ten percent of my income as tithe. Some weeks I give fifteen percent. I support three missionaries too. I’ve given people Gospel tracts at work. I can’t be in Hell!”

A demon with goat-like horns on his forehead laughed and the others joined in. After a few more laughs, the demon with the big horns said:

“You knew God was convicting you of sin, and that you wouldn’t forgive your wife or her boyfriend. You knew that Jesus said to love your enemies and that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and that those who do not forgive cannot be forgiven. You are lost in your sins, Greg. Now, you are going to be with us where you will experience the consequences of your sins. And, we love to give people pain. It will be fun.” He laughed devilishly and grinned wickedly at his captive.

With that, the demons slashed at Greg’s body and large gashes appeared in his skin, but no blood came out. He cried in agony and cursed God. He cursed his wife, and her boyfriend, and God for sending him to Hell. Every time the demons slashed his body, the cuts began to seal up until the skin was restored to normal. But, the demons unmercifully slashed again and again.

Steve looked away and tears filled his eyes. The sound of the man’s cried faded and Jesus held Steve close to his side.

“Why, Lord, does he have to suffer so much?” Steve asked.

“My son, Steve,” Jesus said, “this man Greg was full of bitterness toward his wife and toward her lover, and would not forgive them, even though he knew that I was convicting him of sin. He read in My Word that if he does not forgive, he cannot be forgiven. In the parable of the servant who owed his lord many talents, and who had a servant who owed him fewer talents, the servant who owed many talents was forgiven by his lord, but then he went to his servant who owed much less, and demanded that he pay him what was owed.

“He did not forgive his fellow servant in the way his lord had forgiven him. Therefore, the lord demanded why this was. But, the unforgiving servant was unable to answer him. Therefore, the lord or king had the unfaithful servant locked up in prison to be tormented until he should pay every coin that he owed. So, if a man does not forgive his debtors their trespasses, neither can I forgive him his trespasses. In other words, if someone does wrong to you, forgive them because I have forgiven you.

“Unforgiveness becomes toxic and harmful to the soul. It is a disease that spreads throughout the whole soul, corrupting it with its infection. If a soul will not forgive, it will become very hardened and wicked. It will cease to know Me, and My blood will be trampled underfoot and disregarded by such an unforgiving person. That is why I could not let that unforgiving, bitter person into Heaven. Such a person would corrupt Heaven with his bitterness and hatred.

“For, Heaven cannot cleanse sin away. Only My precious blood can. But, if My blood is trampled underfoot by disobedience and rebellion, then the person is no longer under the blood. Rather, the blood is under his feet. So, that person would be lost, and bound for Hell. The wicked shall not inherit the place of blessing. Now, let us visit another sight.”

When he was sure she had swallowed, he let go, and her voice screamed in pain and anger. And she cursed the demon who was torturing her. Then, she cursed God for not letting her enter Heaven.

“Have some more of this medicine. It will cure your sickness. The acid will cleanse your filthy tongue,” the demon said, laughing.

Jesus appeared beside Steve and the demon turned around to see the Lord. Terror filled his heart. Without a whisper, the demon trotted away from the woman, folded up his black wings, and slipped into a tunnel entrance in the back of the cave.

The woman looked up at Jesus with fear, hatred, and scorn expressed on her face. She glared at him with light blue, piercing eyes, completely ignoring Steve. As Steve saw her more clearly, due to better lighting, he could see that her skin was sagging, very wrinkled, and decaying. She had no hair. It had all fallen out. She wore a black tunic and dress. In many ways, she resembled a corpse that had been dead for several months. He could see worms crawling over her face and neck. They could not have been actual animals, Steve thought, because Hell was a spiritual realm, and it was located somewhere in the earth. They probably are demonic creatures, he surmised.

“It’s you, Lord,” the woman said with a cold scowl on her wrinkled, worm-covered face.

“Why did you leave me in Hell?” she demanded. “I faithfully raised My children as Christians. We took our kids to Christian summer camps, where we volunteered. I also volunteered my time to help out with food distribution at our church. We gave food to the poor and did many other good works. I was born again in 1942, as a twelve year old. I’ve served you my whole life. Why did you let this happen to Me?”

“Linda,” Jesus said with sorrow in His face, “I am grieved with your heart. You chose a life that was good to start out with, but very soon thereafter you moved away from Me, and toward gossip and false works. You loved the praises of men, and so you did kind works for people in your community and elsewhere, but you began to trust in your works, instead of in My precious blood, which I shed for you. Only My blood can save you.

“Later, you began noticing people in your Church who were very different than you. You began talking with other ladies about them, and about their manners. These people did not seem to agree with you on the way you think a woman should dress or behave. You thought women should wear hats in Church, and that it was shameful for women not to wear hats. Also, you began comparing yourself with them, and you began noticing details about them that seemed to be inconsistent with their profession.

“For instance, you noticed that one of the women of this group was very friendly to poor people and would talk with people you considered to be below her station in life. You felt a tinge of guilt over your lack of care for the poor. You did give food to poor people through your Church, but you did not care about their wellbeing, spiritually or emotionally. You saw that this one lady did care about them, and so you began to create and circulate rumors about her to destroy her reputation.

“One day you saw her talking to a poor man, who needed new shoes. She pulled out her purse and gave him a Gospel tract with some money, which would be enough to buy some shoes. He was so ecstatic and joyful that he kissed her hand and hugged her. She did not intend to make a scene, but what you saw was ammunition, you thought, to use against her.

“You began circulating rumors that she was having an affair with certain poor men she would visit to minister to. She was a woman who had some wealth, and she wanted to use it for My Kingdom, but you spoke evil of her good. You slandered her and others who did what was right. She was not having an affair, but you spoke of her actions of kindness as if they were lewd or seductive. You smeared her name and slandered her.

“More women in your church heard the rumors and circulated them. Before long, the lady was grieved to hear how her name had been evil spoken of. But, you did not stop there. You sowed evil seeds of deception and insinuation among the women in your community, and slandered your pastor and his wife. You saw the pastor’s wife walking beside a man who was not her husband, and you wrongfully assumed he was a boyfriend or lover.

“But, the man was her brother, who came to visit the pastor and his sister. You spoke evil of this woman, and said that she was ‘sleeping around with men’ because the pastor ‘was not meeting her needs for fellowship and intimacy.’ You lied about them and disgraced their name in the community so that some members of the Church left to go elsewhere. But, you didn’t stop there.

“You gossiped about your neighbor, saying that he was stealing from people to make ends meet. He was actually purchasing objects from various individuals for a collection. They would often leave the purchased item outside for him to pick up. They would set it beside the front door, or near the steps. But, you told people that he was stealing people’s property. You never bothered to ask him about it. You just assumed he was stealing, and you slandered his name.

“Your sister in law had twins, and you spoke ill of her because she already had twins prior to that, and her house was somewhat small. You said she had no business having so many children with the income your brother made. You also said she looked rather plain and simple in her dresses, and lacked sophistication and a taste of beauty. You criticized her, behind her back, for wearing no or little makeup.

“I convicted you about your pride and slander, but you would not repent. You justified your behavior by saying that if people like you didn’t exist, ‘the world would be out of control,’ and ‘people would just get away with everything they are doing in secret.’ You lied to many people, and spoke evil of My sons and daughters.

“Therefore, since you would not repent, you were appointed to judgment. On a certain day, you were struck with a fever, which killed you a week later. I am grieved with your heart and with your choices in life.”

To Steve, Jesus said: “Now, let us go forth to view another case.”

“Wait,” the woman said, scowling, “you just accused me of doing wrong, but Lord, there are many people who gossip. There are people who abuse their children and neglect their needs. I never did. I cared for my children. I was a good mother.”

“Linda, you were selfish with your children, and you wanted your children to look good to other people, so that no one would gossip about you. You loved the praises of men more than you loved My praises. And, you hated My ways. Every time you read in the Bible not to judge your brother or sister, and not to gossip, you ignored those passages and continued using your mouth for evil.

“There is a reason why My Word says that the tongue is a fire and a world of iniquity. It is an evil thing when a person pursues what their tongue naturally wants to say. Don’t follow your tongue. Look to Me, and I will give you a tongue that is pleasing to Me. But, you Linda, cannot follow Me, or use your tongue for good, because you have hardened your heart greatly against Me and against My Spirit, which continually convicted you of sin, even after you were hardened against Me. Your pastor even preached a sermon against gossip and slander, but you ignored it and thought it applied to other people, but not to you. I am grieved with your heart.”

Turning to Steve, Jesus said: “Let us go, My son.”

Chapter 6

Suddenly, two angels entered the cave, behind Steve. They were each about eight feet tall, and wore long, white robes that nearly touched the ground. Each angel wore golden sandals on his feet and a golden belt or girdle around his waist. White wings were tucked away, resting against their backs.

“Who are you?” Steve asked, surprised.

“We are messengers from the Lord, who have been sent to bring you to another place in Hell,” one said.

“My son, you are in a place of judgment, in which lost souls, who were covetous, are judged for their rebellion against Me; and for loving possessions; and material goods; and money more than they loved Me. That is true. The reason you do not feel the full heat is that I do not wish for you to suffer. What the souls in Hell feel is extremely high temperatures and suffocating fumes. They feel this intense heat because they are outside My domain of peace and blessing, and no peace or blessing can reach such souls who will not repent, but will only harden their hearts against Me. I cannot give them peace because they have willfully rejected Me over, and over, until their hearts were very hard. And, I the LORD your God and Savior have spoken.”

Steve suddenly noticed a dark shape zoom over his head, beating its wings quickly. It was a demon carrying a ladle and it was headed toward a figure that was somewhat obscured by smoke. The figure was only about forty feet away. Jesus and the angels escorted Steve as he approached the figure. He stepped forward with a mixture of curiosity and apprehension, not knowing what he would find.

As he got closer, he heard the guttural voice of a demon speaking to a man. The man was sitting in a gold-plaited throne that seemed to have the appearance of medieval luxury. It had an eagle figurine acting as a support to each arm rest. Four ornate, lion-like feet supported the weight of the throne and the man sitting on it. He was dressed in purple robes and wore a gold crown on his head. But, his skin was very wrinkled and sagging from decay. He was hairless and very miserable looking. “Was he some kind of king?” Steve wondered.

The demon talking to him stood nine feet tall and looked somewhat like a reptile. Its frog-like eyes blinked every so often, and a forked tongue shot out with regularity. It carried a golden scepter in its scaly hands, which it used to poke the man on the throne with.

“Jerome, king of the fools, you ruled in splendor while your peasants suffered. When they were toiling, you were reveling. When they were weeping, you were laughing. When they were dying from lack of bread, you were feasting on rarities, and filling your belly with food. When they were penniless, you were hoarding vast stores of gold. You purchased rare paintings and finery, and collected precious stones. Your gold has perished with you. Since all you lived for on earth was wealth, you will now get to enjoy wealth to your heart’s content.”

Turning to the demon holding the large ladle, the reptile-like demon ordered: “Fill his belly with the stuff he craves.”

The smaller demon yanked King Jerome’s mouth open and poured in molten gold. The white-hot metal flowed into his throat and burned through his skin. Steve looked away and covered his eyes. The man screamed, but his scream was drowned out by the fiery metal.

A hand gently touched Steve’s shoulder. She looked up to see Jesus standing beside him. A sense of peace swept over his spirit and the fear faded away. Even though what he was witnessing was horrible, Steve knew that Jesus was with him and that he was safe in God’s hand.

Jesus spoke to the demons and commanded them to leave. In moments, they had retreated and faded into the surrounding smoke.

King Jerome sputtered and gasped for breath. His skin and organs were completely gone where his mouth, neck, lungs, and stomach should be. The ribs of his charred skeleton were visible, as were his mouth and neck vertebrae. He screamed in pain, and then clenched his teeth as he reached into where his stomach would be to pull out the gold, which was now hot metal chunks. After he threw the chunks away, his fingers were severely burned, so that skin started falling off. But, in about half a minute, the skin and organs formed and filled in, until he was restored to how he had looked before.

Then, he looked at Jesus and the angels. His hateful eyes glared at them, especially at Jesus, for a few seconds before he spoke.

“You are the reason I am down in this horrible inferno. I have no reason why I should be down here, Jesus. I was a faithful Catholic. I prayed to the Virgin Mary and faithfully attended the mass. I gave tithe of all my possessions, and I gave alms to the poor on a regular basis. As a king, I could have killed people who insulted me, but I instead put them in prison and confiscated some of their property. Other kings would torture those who dare insult them, but I would not. I even abolished torture for the good of My people. The Archbishop praised me as a godly king and a friend of the church. I even donated money to help fund the building of a cathedral. I purchased indulgences to keep myself from purgatory. But, now I am in Hell, and not purgatory. I have since learned that purgatory was a lie of the devil to deceive poor Catholics like me. I am suffering greatly. But, you don’t care. You enjoy suffering, I think.”

“Jerome, you were a king that trusted in your own works, and who coveted what others had. Your love was for pride, the delights of the world, and the wealth you could gain through taxing your people and by way of borrowing from wealthy merchants, who you had no intention of paying back. You would covet a man’s land and get it by way of falsely accusing him. He would protest, and you would say he was insulting you, and that he was a thief. You would then throw him in prison, without a trial, and take his land from his family.

“You are and were a thief, a glutton, a robber, and a covetous man. No one could say ‘no’ to you. You ruled people with an iron hand, and only showed mercy if it suited your tastes, or to make you feel better about yourself. You were very deceived to follow Catholicism because it teaches that by your own works you are ‘saved,’ and not just by My blood. My blood alone can save a person from their sins, and remove them from the judgment of Hell.

“You knew that truth because I showed it to you, but you ignored it. You thought your own works could save you. When I had a man preach that you must be born again, you had him arrested, and thrown in jail. You took all his money and put it into your stash. Out of curiosity, you visited his cell to ask him about salvation, and he told you plainly how to be saved, but you rejected it, thinking that your money would be lost if you make Me your Savior and Lord.

“Your folly is now manifest, for you are in Hell because of your wickedness, pride, deception, false works, blindness, and greed. I am grieved that you did not repent from your sins while on earth, but I know that you cannot, even now, truly repent from your sins. You hate Me and despise My people.

“You died hating Me and you still hate Me. People who owed money to you, you did not forgive them their debts, but you expected them to pay you back, with interest. You even changed how much the interest would be, so you cheated people out of more money than they first agreed to give you. You are a liar and a thief. And, no liar can enter Heaven, I am sad to say.”

Jesus turned away from King Jerome, and Steve saw tears run down his face. He gently led Steve away from the man. Steve looked back to see the two demons return. Jerome angrily cursed God and blasphemed Jesus, shouting at the top of his voice as the evil spirits took him by the arms and began stabbing him with knives. Steve turned away and felt deep sorrow for the man’s soul. “Why did he not repent when the preacher warned him?” he thought.

Suddenly, the surroundings vanished, to be replaced instantly by the nondescript room with the screen on one wall. Jesus was standing in front of Steve and looked at him with loving eyes.

“My son, Steve, I know how you are feeling. I will help you. This man hardened his heart against Me, and trusted in his Catholic religion to save him. He loved money, wine, women, and wealth. His focus was on the ways of this world, and on pleasing his flesh. I do not ask you to live like a hermit, but I want My children to not set their eyes on the world and its ways. Greed is very destructive. It leads to other sins, including murder, bitterness, fear, pride, indulging in worldly pursuits, ungodly pleasures, and many other sins.

“Greed is a wicked thing that My Church must forsake. I am calling out to them to repent, for I am coming soon to take My bride to Heaven, but I will have to send her through refining on earth to prepare her for her home in Heaven. The refining is in the form of trials on earth, such as the loss of a job, difficulties in the work place, difficulties with people or coworkers, and other problems. I allow these problems to arise so that My Church will seek Me through these difficulties. If they never experienced difficulties, and if they continued in sin, very few Christians would make it to Heaven.”

“Dear Jesus,” Steve asked his Lord, “why do Christians think that Hell is not a place for rebellious and ungodly former Christians to go? Why do they think Christians can’t fall away? I used to believe Christians couldn’t fall away because I was afraid of the repercussions of that doctrine.”

“My son, the reason they don’t believe what My Word says about the falling away is that it is a scary idea to them. They cannot fathom the thought that if they turn away from Me, they would have no place in Heaven. So, they weaved around the doctrine of the falling away, and have cleverly tried to say it only applied to people who claimed to be Christians, who never had a born-again experience, but who thought they did.

“This teaching has pervaded the Church that Christians cannot fall away if they were born-again. But, My Word says that thy do. That is why I warned My people to remove what it is that offends or leads them into sin, lest they are cast into Hell, by way of not choosing to forsake sin. I take no pleasure in seeing a wicked person die, nor do I take any pleasure when My people suffer as a result of their sins. If a man turns away from Me, and pursues idolatry, I will continue to call out to him, but if he does not repent, I cannot let him enter Heaven, because his sin would corrupt Heaven.

“He would not stop sinning in Heaven because he returned to his vomit of sin, which he had left earlier when he became a Christian. His vomit, or his sin, would look more appealing to him if he did not love My Word or Me. So, just look to Me, delight in My Word, and you will be blessed. Don’t try to work for Me. Just rest in Me and in what I did for you at the cross to save you, and to cleanse you from sin.

“Know that if you continue in sin, you cannot expect to continue in your relationship with Me, because your sin would come from a hardened heart, if you don’t repent from it. Repenting from sin means that you are recognizing that you are wrong and that you must forsake the sin. It is choosing to forsake the sin and depending on Me for the help to do that. I will bless you as you do that. That is correct, My son.”

“Dear Jesus,” Steve said as he glanced away from his kind face. He was trying to form a distinct question, but several questions were circling through his mind. Then one solidified in his mind. He thought it would be a hard question to ask God, but he wanted to know the truth.

“Yes, My son?” Jesus said.

“I wonder why so many people are in Hell, and fewer go to Heaven,” Steve said, trembling slightly.

Jesus touched him on the shoulders and peace returned to his soul, with the assurance that he was loved greatly by his God.  

“My son, the world is an evil place and men’s hearts are set in their ways. Few want to turn to Me and forsake all to follow Me. I call out to every person with the equal kind of love and grace that I speak of in My Word. I show no favorites because I have no respect to persons. I created all people in My image and likeness. I have not chosen some to go to Heaven and others to go to Hell against their own free will. For, I give every person a free will to choose life or death, and to choose obedience to My Word, or to reject My Word.

“Obedience means trusting in Me to save you from your sins. Disobedience ultimately means trusting in yourself to save yourself, and choosing the pleasures of sin for a season. If a person chooses disobedience and continues living in sin, even when I call out to them, they cannot enter Heaven, for they have rejected the only way of entering Heaven, and that is through Me, the Door.

“I am the Door. If anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved. But, those who seek to get into Heaven by their own works, or by way of a false religion, cannot enter because they are not entering by way of Me, the Door. Many choose to go in by another way because pride is more appealing to them than humility and trust, for pride is what many choose to go after. All they have to do is recognize their pride that I am convicting them about, and repent from it.

“I will help them if they recognize their need for Me. But, so many refuse to repent because they want their sin over Me. Even many Christians turn away from Me because they love this world more than they love Me. That is why I said that a servant cannot serve two masters. Either he will love the one, or he will despise the one, and love the other. You cannot serve God and mammon, which is the pleasures of this world and the pride of life. Mammon is money, but it is more than just money.

“For, the root of all evil is money or the greed for material gain. I am grieved with those who trust in their works to save them, and who follow after their flesh. They shall not inherit My Kingdom. The meek shall inherit My Kingdom. But, the proud shall be destroyed. I encourage My Church to seek Me and delight in Me, and all their needs will be met. And, I the LORD your GOD and loving Savior have spoken.”

Jesus touched Steve on his shoulder and said, “My son, let us go to another place where we will see judgment to fall on America, which has reaped for all its iniquity and for all its rebellion. This judgment will be strong, but I will call out to people until the end, and none shall perish, but those who will refuse to repent. And, I the LORD your GOD and Savior have spoken.”

Steve nodded, wondering where they would be headed next.

Chapter 7

Jesus took him by the hand and the room faded away to be replaced with starry space. Steve appeared to be in outer space at about a thousand miles from planet Earth’s surface. He saw the continent of North America spread out before him, following the curvature of the earth. Clouds, resembling wisps of smoke, swirled over parts of Canada and over portions of the U.S. The view below began zooming into the western seaboard. The zoom-in continued, focused on a position of the ocean just off the California coast.

Container ships appeared, surrounded by multitudes of navy escort ships, such as cruisers, frigates, and destroyers. Steve could not tell what country they were from because he could only see them from high above. But, the zoom-in continued until he seemed to be a few hundred feet above the ships.

“My son, these are Chinese soldiers and sailors unloading their vehicles and equipment in preparation for the full-scale invasion of certain areas of America. They will invade and conquer America, and they will utterly destroy many cities and many people by way of poison gas, nuclear weapons, starvation, and bio-weapons. The bio-weapons that the Chinese and Russians have developed are very hazardous.

“Many will die from these plagues because many have rebelled against Me, and would not repent from their sins when I repeatedly called out to them. Many refused to seek Me when times got difficult, and chose rather to continue in sin, even though they knew I was calling out to them. Many chose to walk after their flesh, and after the world, than after Me. They knew the Gospel, but they rejected it because their sin was more pleasing to them. I am grieved with their hearts. Come, let us see what happened to America only weeks before this invasion is to take place.”

The scene changed to an aerial view of Chicago and Lake Michigan. Sparkling skyscrapers stood like a forest of silver pillars beside the calm water of the lake. From his vantage point above the city, Steve could see thousands of cars moving here and there like insects crawling through the grass. Suddenly, a fast-moving, metal object shot through the air and arched toward the city.

Steve quickly noticed three others not far behind it. They plunged toward the city like angry bees going after a single target. Suddenly, the missiles exploded about a hundred feet above the ground. Bright suns appeared, rapidly expanding outward, and huge fireballs engulfed buildings, reducing them to rubble and ash. Buildings nearby toppled like dominoes. A bright column of smoke, dust, and very hot air ascended high up into the atmosphere.

In seconds, the nuclear bombs had utterly destroyed every last building in the majority of what is known as Chicago. Outlying suburbs were mostly untouched by the nukes, but the radioactive dust or fallout from the explosions would soon reach the suburbs and surrounding countryside, making life impossible for Chicago’s neighbors. Sadly, the people who lived about twenty miles away from Chicago, or less, would suffer from radioactive fallout and acute radiation sickness, which would cause internal bleeding and hemorrhaging. Others would suffer from radiation sickness and cancer. It would be a slow and painful death for those poor souls, Steve realized as he remembered what he had read online about the aftermath of nuclear strikes.

The scene zoomed into a section of Highway 65 going from Indianapolis to Chicago. Somehow, he understood that it was about thirty-five miles from the outskirts of the “Windy City.” Steve descended to just about a hundred feet from the highway. From this position, he noticed a roadblock made of metal barrels. A large sign in Chinese, Russian, and English, standing by the side of the highway, boldly declared: “Quarantine Zone. No vehicles past this point. Any unauthorized vehicles will be confiscated.” Some light-armored Russian vehicles, bristling with light cannons and machine guns, with soldiers standing nearby, enforced the roadblock.

“My son,” Jesus said, “what you are seeing here is a small convoy of Russian soldiers guarding a check point that they have set up. This is a roadblock intended to keep anyone out who would be foolish enough to venture into the danger zone that is affected by the nuclear fallout from the nuclear explosions that will destroy Chicago, and its surrounding neighborhoods. Many large cities in America will have a similar judgment and similar checkpoints or roadblocks. Many souls will be destroyed in these blasts, but the worst is yet to come, for famine will grip America in its clutches, like an iron collar that is slowly tightening around the neck, until it cuts off all air from reaching the lungs.

“America will die a slow death, but it will be a time in which I will call out to America, more and more, and plead with America for their sins, and ask that they repent and turn back to Me. But, if they will not turn back to Me, judgment will destroy them and their loved ones, who are not turning to Me.

“I am grieved with their hearts, which have gone after idols and mammon, which is material goods. They love the praises of men and the love of money, more than they love Me. They say, “God bless America,” but they are not willing to acknowledge Me in their lives by reading and obeying My Word, the Word of Life. They will read novels and watch TV, but they will not read my Word.

“They will go to Church, but they will live like the world the rest of their time. They will say, ‘God bless you, brother’ to one person and ‘I hate you’ to another. They say that America needs to be revived, but they are unwilling to repent from their own sins. I shall not allow these people to continue. Now, watch what will happen to them after the Russians and Chinese take over their country.”

Instantly, Steve was translated, or quickly moved, to another location. Steve and his Lord were looking down at a city street from a height of twenty feet. School buses, military trucks, and tanks drove through the streets of an American suburban neighborhood. Armored trucks patrolled the streets while helicopters beat the air, high overhead.

Rumbling forward like hungry lions, several trucks pulled up beside different homes along the street, and soldiers poured out, heading for the front and back doors. Steve focused on a tan, two-story house. Like a SWAT team break-in, several soldiers quickly and cautiously approached the front door, while another group headed toward a back door. A man with a shotgun blasted the locks and another man slammed a metal object into the door, near the handle, creating a loud, splintering crunch. It flew open and the team moved in.

A few minutes later, soldiers emerged bringing with them a man whose hands were zip-tied. His wife was shoved out after him, along with three children. A fourth child was dragged out, screaming as she went. Steve gasped. “They have children with them!” He was shocked. This was very disturbing. What were they going to do?

The soldiers shoved the man and his wife into a bus and locked their wrists into shackles that had been attacked to the floor of the bus. Chains linked the cuffs to the floor, keeping the prisoners from escaping. The children were dragged into another bus and were likewise cuffed to their seats. The next house was treated with the same break-in strategy.

In about three minutes since their loud entry before the soldiers emerged and threw a man and woman into the street. A soldier walked toward the man to drag him to his feet, but the man surprised him with a sudden Karate move, tripping the soldier and causing him to fall to the ground. In a swift move, the civilian slammed his arm into the soldier’s ribs, causing him to cry out in pain. But, another soldier took aim and shot the civilian dead, with one automatic burst. The wife screamed, but was grabbed roughly and shoved into a bus. The injured soldier was helped up by his comrades and was sent back to a vehicle.

After that incident, his team became more aggressive with people they were rounding up. Steve turned away and asked Jesus, “Lord, why is this happening and what are these soldiers going to do with these people? Where are they taking them?”

“We will go there now,” Jesus told him.

Before he could blink, he and Jesus were inside a concentration camp and hovered about ten to twelve feet above the ground. Men and teenage guys, wearing orange jumpsuits, walked below in long lines, which were surrounded on either side by chain link fences, surmounted with barbwire. No women or children could be seen. Soldiers conducted them through, pushing and shoving those who lagged behind. The fenced-in corridor opened into a large area where many barracks were located. As the men entered the larger enclosure, soldiers herded them into a staging area where hundreds of prisoners were made to stand at attention. Any who resisted was severely beaten and yelled at.

They were arranged into rectangular formations. Once all the men had been moved into formation, a voice laden with a thick Russian accent spoke over a base-wide intercom system. Dozens of speakers, mounted on tall poles, blared out:

“Attention, prisoners, you have arrived at camp 47. You are here for your own safety and protection. Due to numerous episodes of looting and urban violence, you have been brought here to insure your safety and protection. Due to the continent’s current state of affairs, it is unwise and illegal for you to be involved in your normal civilian duties.

“You will stay at this camp until it is deemed safe for you to return to your normal civilian lives. On behalf of the United Nations, and the Russian Federation, we welcome you to this haven. You are advised to obey all rules and orders given by camp personnel. There will be no disobedience to your supervisors, or to members of the Russian-Chinese coalition, or to the U.N. troops that are here in North America.

“On behalf of the Union of Peace, we welcome you to stay as long as is necessary. To maintain morale, we request that you observe our guidelines for peace and order. You will be expected to assist your country in restoring itself to order, and ending all chaos. You can make your contribution here, at this camp, by serving in work assignments. We will give you your assignments tomorrow. Until then, follow your supervisors’ orders, and you will be successful. That is all.”

Once the speakers were silent, Steve heard a faint grumbling from the prisoners. Jesus brought Steve to the ground and set him down. He was now standing just feet away from a prisoner on the edge of a formation. Since this was a vision or dream, no one noticed Steve or Jesus Christ watching them. The man was blonde and freckled but had a tough appearance. His hair was short and was combed back.

He muttered something quietly, but Steve somehow was able to hear him clearly. “When do I get to leave this place and see my family? My wife is pregnant. I hate this terrible place!”

A Hispanic man standing beside the blond man glanced toward him. “I agree. We’re in a world of trouble. My girlfriend just got pregnant too. She has our little boy in her womb. I pray to the saints every twenty minutes for her protection.”

Another man, a Chinese-American, said: “I heard rumors from my relatives in China that China was preparing to invade America and that I should leave, but I didn’t listen to them. I had become a naturalized citizen of America a few years ago, and I used to earn a six-digit salary as a biologist. Leaving was unthinkable, until the economy started falling apart, but the president grounded all flights to and from America.”

The blonde man nodded in agreement, nervously watching for Russian soldiers. He said as quiet as he could, while still being heard: “These miserable Russians are slaughtering our children. Someone told me he saw Russian soldiers shoot a little boy who was screaming at them. I should have listened to my crazy conspiracy friend, Dave. He warned me about this invasion years ago. I laughed at him behind his back, but now I’m seeing his words fulfilled before my own eyes. These murderous Russians nuked our country, killed millions of people, and then invade our cities. No one stopped them. The military was destroyed and weakened until it collapsed.” 

“I used to make good money as an electrical specialist, but I’ve had to live on one meal a day,” the Hispanic man said, “because the food prices were so high and my income had drastically lost its buying power. My family is gone. I don’t know where my wife is or where her kids are. That cursed economic collapsed ruined me!”

“Shh,” another man whispered angrily, “do you want to get us all killed? The Russians are going to hear you talking if you don’t shut up.”

(READ PART THREE HERE.)