Angels

 Do it Now

“Who was this detestable Giant?”  In the letter he described him as being a blond, blue-eyed, young man with a conservative hair cut, clean shaven, wearing a traditional dark-blue business suit, whom I judged to be at least seven feet tall.”  After I had finished reading the letter, sweet Vennita spoke up from her seat in church and said, “Is that like the one in Tampa?’ I said “yes.”

     Then I had to explain to the people what she meant.  For years she and dear Joy had known about it—because they were there.  Not many others have ever known.  It happened in the hall of the Tampa church, when I was the associate pastor there before going into conference evangelism.  I never told the elder or sweet Vennita or dear Joy until years later.  Church was over and I had just finished eating, and walked out of the fellowship hall after shaking people’s hands.  I had gone through the two swinging doors, when I saw the tallest man I had ever seen walking toward me.  The first thought that came to my mind was ”Could this be an angel?”  We walked up to each other, and shook hands.  I greeted him and said,  “Are you a visitor here?”  He said, “Yes, I’m from---“ He said some name that I didn’t recognize, and I thought he couldn’t be and angel.  An angel wouldn’t be from there.”

     He said go in the church library, and you’ll find a young lady looking back and forth at the bookshelves.  Go up to her and ask if she would like to study the Bible with you, and she’ll say, ‘yes.’”  I said,  “Oh thank you, I’m always looking for people to study the Bible with.”

     Then I got diverted—wondering who he was.

     He said, Go in the church library, and you’ll find a young lady looking back and forth at the bookshelves.  Go up to her and ask if she would like to study the Bible with you, and she’ll say, ‘yes.’”  

     I said, “Yes, I’ll do that.”  Then I got diverted again- asking another question about who he was.

     He said, Go in the church library, and you’ll find a young lady looking back and forth at the bookshelves.  Go up to her and ask if she would like to study the Bible with you, and she’ll say, ‘yes.’”  

     Then he said, “Do it now!”

     I wondered why he commanded me like that, but I knew that he was right, and so I turned and went to the library.  Sure enough, when I walked in, there was a young lady looking back and forth at the bookshelves.  I walked straight up to her, and without any introduction, said, “Hi, would you like to study the Bible with me?”

     She got a funny look on her face, and said, “Yes.” {and I knew she would}.  I met with her for weeks and studied the Bible with her until I received a call into conference evangelism.  About a year later at the Florida conference camp meeting at Forest lake Academy, the ministerial secretary told me that there was a young lady who wanted me to baptize her.  It was the one I had found in the library.  Her name was Diane.  She later became a faithful SDA Teacher at the church school.  About a year later I was talking to my friend Ron, who knew Diane.  I had forgotten all about this incident, but it came to my mind, and I asked Ron if, the next time he saw Diane, if he would ask her about the tall young man who was talking with her in the library that day.  Time went by, and the next time I saw Ron, He said “I saw Diane. I asked her about the tall young man that you wanted me to ask her about.  She said that there was no such man.”

     I had a funny feeling inside.  But from what Ron told me about Diane, it helped me to understand the situation.  Diane had grown up as a Roman Catholic, but was not satisfied, and was attending both our SDA church and the Pentecostal church.  She was in a crisis.  She was pleading with God to help her to know whether the Pentecostal, or the SDA church was the one He wanted her to join.  Ron later found out that the Pentecostal preacher was really a non-Christian Jewish man who admitted to him that he had {satanic} power over the people and could point at them one by one {after getting them worked up with “Christian” rock and roll music}, and they would start speaking in tongues.  Diane finally made a test.  In prayer she said she would go to the SDA church that Sabbath, and if God showed her at church that day that it was His church—she would join it.  If not, she would join the Pentecostal church.  The church service had ended, and Diane had gotten no message from God. She went into the library, pleading with God, and knowing that if God didn’t do something in there to convince her, she would leave and never come back.  She didn’t know that if that happened, she would be going under the mind control of a demon-possessed man.  No one could know it but those of “the invisible world.”  In the library she prayed and prayed-looking back and forth at the bookshelves for something by which God would give her the answer.  She was on the verge of getting discouraged-and ready to give up-when I unknowingly went through the swinging doors of the fellowship hall.  It brings chills down my back.

     Hurry up!  Hurry up!  Don’t get diverted with trivial stuff now—a soul is at stake. She’s getting discouraged.  She’s almost ready to leave!  And here I am with my foolish curiosity.  “Do it now!”  His eyes burned through my head.

     Thank God for the command.  Wonderful Jesus!  After Ron revealed to me that the person I shook hands with doesn’t exist, I remembered his face, clothes, hair, and especially his deep-set eyes.  They were very kind and full of pity and compassion.  But blended with that was a power that gave you the feeling that when he wants to get something done- he got it done.

Jan Marcussen

Another angel story is about----

A person who calls God’s angel a ‘detestable giant’ is not someone who loves God.