Garry R. Kennedy

I contacted a long time friend of mine, Phil Brewer, about doing some drawings from my novel “The Jesus Tree Ornaments”.  The following illustrations were selected from every chapter in my book except for the final chapter.  Of course they don’t capture all the events in the novel as that would require many more drawings than provided at this time.  You may view more of Phil’s work at www.perfectblendcoffeeshopcartoonist.blogspot.com or contact him at Emmaus, PO Box 567, Fresno, Ca. 93709 or e-mail him at counselpro@gmail.com.  I hope you enjoy viewing the drawings and if you have any comments regarding them please leave me a reply below.

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“In the beginning, God created everything good!  Evil is nothing more than the perversion of good for its own selfish purpose.  It is inferior to good and never its equal!  It is not the opposite of good but, instead, a parasite!  Evil cannot exist without good, but good can exist without evil.  Evil is a deception of the truth!  Therefore, beware with whom you talk or walk.  But even though you may fall, God will raise you up again, and when you sit in darkness, He will be your light.”

The Jesus Tree Ornaments: A Father’s Word, Chapter 9,  page 128

It was a typical weekend morning; my wife, son, plus one of my daughters and I were at home preparing for the day.  My wife and I were going to go to my great niece’s birthday party in a short time, but there was no hurry.  It was a relaxing morning soon to turn into a mysterious one.

In our kitchen I decided to make some fresh coffee for my wife, son, and I.  My coffee maker is a Cuisinart model that has a built in coffee grinder at the top, however the grinder was broken so I had to grind the coffee beans in a separate small grinder.

I removed the clear plastic lid and poured the coffee beans from the Starbuck’s bag into the small grinder and put the lid back on.   Then with the palm of my hand I lifted up the grinder and applied pressure on the lid to turn on the grinder.  It’s little blade swirled around in the beans grinding them into ground coffee.  There was no unusual noise or sign of any obstruction in the blades as they swirled around and cut easily into the beans.  Next I took the clear lid off again and emptied the ground coffee beans into the coffee basket for brewing, closed the basket back into the coffee maker, pushed the brewing button, and walked away.

Later, after we had enjoyed our coffee I went back into the kitchen to empty the coffee grinds from the coffee maker.  When I pushed the button on the side of the coffee maker to release the basket with the wet grinds for disposal, I was surprised at what I saw lying on top of them…a shiny wet penny.  How could this have happened?  There was no penny in the coffee maker when I turned it on nor did I notice any penny in the grinder.  If the penny had been in the grinder I would have heard it and it would have cuts marks on it.  The penny looked new.  Surely, someone was playing a joke on me.  I went to everyone in the house, and asked which one of them had put the penny on top of the grounds.  They all were adamant that they hadn’t done it.  We shortly left the house and went to my great niece’s birthday party.

The party was being held at a local business and while waiting to for the cake to be cut I discussed what had happened at the house with my older brother, Lloyd.  He asked me what I thought it meant and I told him while I didn’t know at the time, I was sure that it’s meaning would reveal itself to me in the near future.  I didn’t have long to wait.

At work my immediate supervisor, Donna, had been out for several weeks due to the death of her boyfriend.  He had died one morning in his truck in the  driveway of their home.  She discovered him and I can’t image the how terrifying and horrific this must have been for her.

I have personally known Donna for many years from work and at church.  I considered her a good friend even though most of our contact was only at work.  While we had been peers before at work she was now my Appeals Supervisor at the Internal Revenue Service, and one of the best.  I was a Campus Appeals Officer and handled cases that had petitioned the US Tax Court.  Our job was to try and settle any cases by written correspondence, phone, fax, prior to the court date or at the courthouse itself if necessary.  Our contacts would be with the taxpayers, their accountants, or attorneys.  The job could be a pressure cooker and have some very tense moments.  Nevertheless Donna was always supportive, very kind and an enjoyable person whom I liked to have long conversations with.  I could talk with her about work, our lives, family, and religion and did, however, I had never discussed with her any of my supernatural or paranormal experiences nor had I ever met her boyfriend.

A couple of days after Donna returned to work I went into her office to convey my condolences.  After extending my sympathies she explained to me the events of that dreadful morning.  She then took a breath and with a look of concern said to me, “You know Garry, I think he is trying to get into contact with me.  Everywhere I look I find pennies.”

“Oh my God,” I replied, thinking back to the incident with my penny.  “You’re got to be kidding?”

“No seriously Garry, I pick things up and there are pennies there,” she assured me, “I keep finding them everywhere.”  She went on to explain to me how this had been going on for some time and she wasn’t sure what to make of it.

I told her it wasn’t that I didn’t believe her but that I had something to tell her about a penny that I had found in my coffee maker.  What she told me next, really stopped me in my tracks.  She informed me that her boyfriend made coffee for them every morning.

Was it her boyfriend that had put the penny in my coffee maker or was it someone else that I had known who had also passed away.  As stated before I had never met him so if it was him, why me?  If it was him, was it possible he choose me because I was now open to the supernatural, and somehow he knew that Donna would share with me, so I could confirm to her that she was correct.  He was only trying to make contact with her to let her know that he was okay.

Before I retired I found several more pennies at work.  Being one of the first to arrive at work in the morning I found a penny right in the middle of the hallway on the way to my desk.  One couldn’t miss it.  Now the place is vacuumed everyday in the later part of the day so you wouldn’t suspect that it would be there.  Also, walking around the building on a couple of different days I found pennies on the ground.  Normally I wouldn’t think much about finding them but when I mentioned them to Donna it was always on a date that had something to do with her boyfriend or both of them.  This had led me to believe that it really is Donna’s boyfriend and not someone else, trying to contact her.

This was one of the first of many baffling events involving pennies that would soon begin to unfold in my life, and the others definitely appeared to be from other deceased persons too.

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“Faith does not come from miracles; miracles come from faith.  Do you have the required faith for a miracle?  Or do you believe that you will receive faith just from observing a miracle?” asked Micah.

“The birth of the Father’s son was a miracle, and the world rejects Him.  Are you willing to believe in the miracle of His birth, because no more miracles will be performed for an unbelieving world?  Are you ready to listen to the truth about the miracle?  It is through the birth of His son that the Father’s character is revealed to the world.  He is the god of amen, our lawgiver, judge, and king,” Said Isaiah.

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Word, chapter 9, page 129.

A talk I gave at my church for Christ’s Warriors.  Christ’s Warriors is a men’s discipleship group that I helped to co-found.

Living out God’s Will through Actionable Faith-Garry R. Kennedy-4/28/10 from PC Men on Vimeo.

Below are three parts of a talk I gave at Christ’s Warriors on some Supernatural events that happened to me while I was writing my novel “The Jesus Tree Ornaments”.  Christ’s Warriors is a men’s discipleship training that I helped to co-found at my church.

I met Loreen in the seventh grade when we moved from Riverdale to Clovis, California.  Clovis in 1961 was a small town with only a population of around ten thousand people. Like me, Loreen also had a twin brother.  Loreen was a pretty girl, outgoing, who was very easy to like.  She was always nice to me in elementary and high school.  I don’t remember having any bad experiences with her during those years.  In our senior year of high school Loreen became the head cheerleader.  She was visibly present at all the football and basketball games, leading, shouting, and encouraging her fellow students to support the team.  She was very popular and a person everyone thought would do well in life.

Loreen was going to someday marry a young man we all met in high school.  His name was Rod and he was a year older than us.  Rod became friends also with my twin brother Larry, and several of our other friends including Loreen’s brother.  Rod was also good looking, a real charmer and liked by just about everyone.  However, he had a bit of a wild side to him.  After he graduated from high school he and over a dozen other guys got into stealing cars, driving them out into the country, stripping them of their parts for resale, and then burning the vehicle.  The money was little and I think it was mostly spent on beer.  After stealing a large number of cars they knew that the police suspected them and an arrest would be imminent.  After all, just about everyone their age in town knew who was doing it and were talking about it.  Once Rod asked me if I wanted to go with them and act as a lookout.  I was still in high school, but thank God I was smart enough to decline his invitation.  They were all soon arrested and sent to prison or allowed to enlist into the U.S. Army.  This was during the mid-sixties when the Viet Nam war was heating up.  Rod was sent to prison I believe for a total of eighteen months.

After Rod got out of prison and I had graduated from Clovis high school, several of us were out one day cruising in two cars when another car with five guys and a girl got into a verbal shouting match with us.  Someone threw out a challenge so we pulled into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant while the other car only pulled in only a short distance from the street.  I remember I didn’t want to do this but felt I had no other option left.  Rod quickly exited our car and starting walking towards the other car.  Then a tall young man stepped outside of the driver’s side of the other car with a long twelve gage shot gun and pulled back the handle to enter a shell into the chamber.  It sounded hollow to me like there was no shell in it, nevertheless one couldn’t be sure.  Rod never missed a step while yelling at the fool, “Mother f-er if you’re going to use that you better use it now or I’m going to stick it up your ass.”   The guy’s face went completely white with fear as he froze by his car door.  Knowing Rod was on parole and many people were watching all of this in broad daylight, I quickly got between him and the scared stiff idiot.  The guy was probably only trying to impress the young girl sitting in the middle of the front seat.  His buddies never made any attempt to even get out of their car.  Rod let the guy sink back into his car to escape while his stupid girlfriend attempted to flip us off with her middle finger in defiance.  The driver immediately slapped down the foolish girl’s hand as he quickly sped them away.

A short time after Rod was released from prison he started dating Loreen.  Within in a year or so they got married.  They quickly purchased a house and I remember going to a party there once where the alcohol was plentiful.  As I think back now this may have been the time when I first started to associate Loreen with drinking. When we were growing up I didn’t know it but both of her parents were heavy drinkers.  Rod and Loreen’s marriage didn’t last long and they soon got divorced.  I didn’t see much of Loreen for a number of years.  I had heard that she had gotten remarried and lived in the mountains at Mariposa.  She had some children and worked in a bar serving drinks.  After a couple of decades had passed I heard from others that she had gotten divorced again.

As we have gotten older my high school classmates of 67’ have started to have a class reunion every five years, and our old high school has an “all class” reunion every ten years.  At one of our “all class” Clovis reunions I remember seeing Loreen again, and to be honest I thought she might have aids.  She was so small and skinny, nothing like the young beautiful girl I had known.  I remember after sharing pleasantries with her that I spoke to her about my past drinking problems and I expressed my concern about her also having a heavy drinking problem.  Unfortunately at that time, she like others around us was already in a party mode and had been drinking therefore I got the impression that my words wouldn’t be taken seriously.  Nevertheless, because of our past friendship and my new walk with the Lord I really did want to help her, if possible.  However, I later heard that she continued to drink even more heavily than before.

It was at another class reunion that I next saw Loreen.  It was obvious to me that her lifestyle hadn’t changed and I heard she was now homeless too.  The night of the reunion she drank and partied the night away.  She was having a good time.  Early the next morning I received a phone call from her that her brother Lloyd’s car had been left downtown and she wanted to know if I could pick her up to go get it.  I’m not positive, but I think Lloyd had been arrested for driving under the influence the night before.  Because it was so early I didn’t want to do it at the time and also because Loreen sounded like she was still under the influence of alcohol.  I was to find out that she was under the influence all right, but it wasn’t just with alcohol.  I remember her getting angry with me as I tried to reason with her.  Then I asked her if I could pray for her.  I think she said yes so I started to pray, but immediately I became concerned by what I heard coming from the other end of the phone line.  Loreen was making loud noises like she was trying to cough something up but it was also choking her.  Nothing like this had ever happened to me before, but I quickly recognized that another entity was involved.  I believe that as I was praying for Loreen a demon was making it presence known as it was being cast out of her.  I didn’t know how to handle the situation so I just started praying in the spirit.  It sounded like Loreen dropped the phone and was moving around a room trying to clear her throat while gasping for air.  I suspected she was calling me from a motel room but I had no way of knowing.  After a minute or two it sounded like she was lying down near the phone and was moaning but no longer chocking.  I called out her name several times but she never picked up the phone to answer me.  I continued to pray for her for a short time and not knowing what else to do for her I disconnected the call.  I hoped that she would get some sleep and call me back as I didn’t know how to contact her, but she never did.

The next time I remember seeing Loreen again was at another ‘all class’ Clovis high school reunion’ five years later.  At the Friday night kickoff to the weekend event the various classes were seating in the bleachers at the football stadium located at the new Clovis high school.  After some events finished on the football field she came up to talk to me and a friend.  After saying “hi” I stepped up one row above them while they continued to talk privately.  I wasn’t sure where Loreen was now in her spiritual walk so I started to pray quietly in the spirit for her.  I’m sure no one could hear me as I was praying in a whisper with my eyes wide open while trying to look normal as possible.  In addition, many other people were also involved in loud conversations surrounding us.  I was looking down towards Loreen when without lifting or moving her head and in the middle of her conversation with my friend, her eyes looked straight up to mine and she said, “Garry, leave me alone!”  Then just as quickly her eyes returned contact to my friend’s eyes until she finished her conversation with him and she left.  I was shaken by this unnoticed happening that my friend hadn’t even picked up on.  I wasn’t sure how to process it.  Was she still under the influence of some unknown entity or was my imagination working overtime?  Whatever was going on, it spooked me!

The next day after a reunion parade through downtown Clovis our reunion committee had set up some tables at the old high school for people to pick up tickets to that night’s events or to just visit.  Loreen and her sister Phyllis came by to see me.  In private Loreen informed me that she didn’t have any money but she would still like to come to the events.  I told her that would be no problem and the class would be glad to pay her way.  However, I told her that I didn’t want her coming to the get-together and getting drunk.  She said she wouldn’t and I asked her if she would like me to pray for her.  She sternly informed me that no, she didn’t want me to pray for her.  This concerned me, but I didn’t push the issue nor did I ask her what had happened to her the last time we talked on the phone.  I suspected this was why she didn’t want any more prayer from me.

I got a chance to talk to her sister Phyllis later that day and I asked her about Loreen’s condition and if she was seeking any help.  She said Loreen was now living with her.  This was good news, but I expressed my concern with her about Loreen’s spiritual condition, yet I didn’t bring up my experience with Loreen and the telephone prayer.  What was I supposed to say?  Hey, I think you sister may be possessed or at the least under some kind of demonic oppression.  She informed me that Loreen had been going to some church group meetings with a lady from the church.  I found this to be good news and didn’t pursue any more information from her.  Loreen came to our reunion that night and didn’t get drunk nor behave in manner that was offensive.  It was a pleasure to have her there and to see her enjoying herself with some old school mates.

A couple of years later Lloyd, Loreen’s twin brother and my friend passed away.  Lloyd, like most of us from the old neighborhood, drank way too much alcohol and smoked too many cigarettes over the years.  I heard he was on an oxygen tank because he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs without it.  I called him and told him I would be praying for him.  He said thanks and that he could use all the prayers he could get.  One unfortunate day his son found him dead at home.  It was very tragic to see him die this way.  I saw Loreen at the funeral but didn’t get much of a chance to talk to her.

Prior to our latest class of 67’ reunion Loreen was invited to ride with us in the Clovis Rodeo parade to publicize the upcoming reunion.  She showed up early in the morning with a large soda cup, which I later discovered was beer and not any type of soda at all.  Nevertheless, she was full of fun that morning when leading her other classmates in shouting to the several thousand people lining the parade route. We were proud graduates of Clovis High.  We all went to lunch afterwards and had a good time.  Loreen later came to the reunion gathering for the class of 67’, controlled her drinking and was a pleasure to be around that night.

I didn’t see Loreen after the reunion and a couple of years quickly passed.  She was always there in the back of my mind and I felt that I should call her to see how she was doing.  I knew that she was still living with her sister and working part time.  I prayed that things were now going better in her life.  Then one day in August of 2009 her sister called me to inform me that Loreen had passed away unexpectedly.  She had gone in to have her teeth pulled for dentures.  Her teeth were in a bad state and I was informed she wanted to have a nice smile for her grandchildren.  Unfortunately, an infection set in and she was hospitalized when further complications arose.  Shortly thereafter she passed away.  I felt guilty for not staying in touch with her and it is something that I will always regret.  I don’t know if I could have made any difference in her decisions to drink or her lifestyle but I do know the Lord could have.  Had I missed an opportunity to help her.  God forgive me if I had.

My own struggle with alcoholism helped me to relate to Loreen, her twin brother Lloyd, my twin brother Larry, plus other friends from high school who also drank and/or used too many drugs.  A lot of these people have passed away in the last couple of years, way before their time.  They were all good people who made bad decisions.  The main character, Thomas, in my novel the “The Jesus Tree Ornaments” also has a very serious drinking problem.  His drinking is especially damaging to his relationships with his mother, wife, and son.  He has to decide if he wants to be a blessing to his family or a curse.  What kind of legacy will he leave them?  The story reveals how the Lord is the only way for people like him, and me, to conquer demonic traps set by the devil.  Beware my friend that you don’t fall into the devil’s trap of alcoholism or substance abuse.  Sin always starts out as fun but ends up in personal tragedy, not only for you, but also for everyone who loves you.  If you have already fallen deep into the sin of alcoholism it is not too late to change.  Call upon Jesus, repent, and He will reveal to you the path out to eternal salvation.

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“Relationships cause pain,” commented Thomas, “even if they are free.”

“Yes,” answered the king while catching his breath. “Anytime you open yourself up to another person, it can result in pain.  But, there is faith to be gained in overcoming the pain, if you believe in the relationship. You have a family, and you are the shepherd of your family.  Are the relationships with your family worth getting through the pain?  Tell me, are you being a good shepherd to your family?  Do you give them comfort and joy?  Are you there for them?  Can you get past your pain for them, even if you can’t do it for yourself?”

Thomas remained silent.  He knew the answers to the questions.  However, he didn’t want to acknowledge the committment and pain that relationships require to the king, or to himself.

“You know a lie will destroy a relationship.  Relationships cannot exist in a lie, because a lie distorts the truth of who you are.  If a person does not really know who you are, then they are dealing with an untruth, not you.  A relationship can only survive if it is based upon the truth. The sheperd is the truth.  Do you share this truth with your family?  Do they really know who you are, or are you lying to them about you, too?” asked the king.

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Relationship, Chapter 7, page 106.

Every year for about the last fifteen years our Sunday school class in the summer goes camping together in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.  We stay at a private campground owned by Camp Edison at Shaver Lake, which is at an elevation of 5,627 feet.    The area is known to have some Black Bears around so it is strongly suggested that you don’t leave any food out at night.  Once when I was a child camping in that area a Black Bear did come near our campground but my father chased it away by banging some metal trashcan lids together.

Camp Edison is only about an hour drive from our cities of Fresno and Clovis, which are located in the San Joaquin Valley of California.  We take mobile homes, tent trailers, and regular tents to sleep in.  We arrive on a Friday night and leave on Sunday afternoon.  We have had up to a hundred people join us on these trips, but there are also hundreds of other campers surrounding us.  This particular year I think we only had around 40 people in our group.  The men join together to cook breakfast and dinner, plus wash all the dishes.  Naturally the women love this idea.  The trips are a nice get away from the city for some good fellowship, worship, and to be close to God’s creation.  In addition, I took along some notes and other material to work on my first novel “The Jesus Tree Ornaments” which I was in the process of writing at that time.  However, something happened one night to two of us, which brought us close to some kind of creature or entity we couldn’t explain away, even to this day.

My wife and I were sharing our campsite with two single women, Kelley and Mary.  Kelley works for the local community college and Mary is a school teacher.  The campsite was large and it was easy to pitch two tents on it.  We had a large single room tent and the women had a smaller tent.  A picnic table and the campfire separated our tent from theirs with a distance of about 40 feet.  Our campsite was down a slope with other campsites slightly above us about 100 feet away and none further down the slope.  If you have ever stayed in the mountains at night you know how dark and quiet it can get.  Noises carry very long distances and in the dark you can’t be certain where they are coming from.

Nothing was out of the ordinary when we went to bed that night.  Inside our tent my wife and I slept in our own sleeping bags.  I was above the ground on a cot and my wife was sleeping on a mattress.  We both went to sleep and I remember waking up in the middle of the night.  I think it was somewhere around 3 am.  It was cold, very still, and quiet.  Then in the distance I heard what sounded like wolves or coyotes barking.  It made me think that perhaps they were chasing something.  It didn’t really bother me as I have heard them before in the mountains.  What happened next however did bother me, a lot!

The loudest blood-curdling scream that I have ever heard shattered the still night air.  It was very high-pitched and only changed its tone one time.  I think it lasted at least 30 seconds and sounded like it was just outside of our tent.  In shock, I just laid still hoping that whatever it was wasn’t going to attack us.  I was determined not to move but at the same time I couldn’t believe that my wife had not been woken up by the noise.  She was breathing normally and was obviously not affected by the noise.  Then it happened again, a scream just as loud and long as the first one, and still my wife kept sleeping.  I thought about waking her up but was afraid that she might be afraid and make noise attracting whatever was outside our tent to our presence.  But, what was it?  It didn’t sound human at all nor did it sound like a bear, mountain loin or any animal that I have heard before.  And what about the other campers in the area, surely everyone else had to have heard it, yet I heard no people outside our tent talking.  Then it screamed again just as loud, long, and terrifying as the other two times, and still my wife slept soundly.  These weren’t just average screams, they were all extremely loud, frightening, and sounded like they were meant to create panic to anyone near.  They were like nothing I have ever heard before or since.  I couldn’t understand how anyone within a mile could not hear them.  I spent the rest of the night praying and trying to remain still and quiet in our tent.  I only came out cautiously when daylight first started to brighten up the campsite area.

When I came out of the tent I noticed a friend of ours was already up at his campsite.  I walked up and asked him if he had heard the screaming last night and he said no.  I then proceeded over to the main campsite to start the morning coffee for breakfast and to ask some of our people if they had heard the screams last night.  No one had heard anything.  I went back to the tent and my wife was now awake so I asked her if she had heard anything at all last night.  She also had heard nothing. I was dumbfounded…how could this be?

I went back up to the main campsite to help with breakfast and to ask if any new arrivals for breakfast had heard anything last night.  None of them had heard anything either.  It was shortly after I had questioned just about everyone when Mary came walking up to us.

“Did anyone hear the screaming sound last night?” she asked.  My ears perked up and my heart quickened when I heard her question.  I quickly asked her exactly what she had heard.  The following words are from Mary to me based upon the event, which happened to us several years ago.

“I was sleeping when all of a sudden in the middle of the night this terrifying loud screaming noise woke me up.  Whatever it was it sounded very near to our tents.  It was a long high-pitched scream like nothing I have ever heard before.  It didn’t sound human nor like a wild animal.  My tent-mate Kelley seemed to be sleeping normally and it was weird to me that the screaming did not instantly wake her up.  Then it happened again two more times which really freaked me out.  Kelley was still sleeping soundly through it all.  I was now totally awake when I heard whatever it was taking quick intake of breaths as it started clawing and scratching on the bottom outside of our tent.  From the sounds it made from around the tent it sounded like a two-legged entity and not a four-legged animal.  Then it stopped, and next I heard what sounded like a person walking around the tent three times.  I assumed it was Garry and was very glad that he was out there in the dark checking on whatever it was, however I said nothing to him.  I was most concerned about a family just up to the hill from us where a lot of children were sleeping outside.  Soon no more sounds were coming from outside our tent and I remained awake in the tent until daylight.  I was too excited and shook up to go back to sleep.  When I did get up Kelley and I checked around the tent for foot or animal prints and found nothing.  I asked Garry if he had come to our tent in the night and he informed me that he hadn’t.  He was the only other person who heard the same screams that I heard.  To this day I have no explanation as to why the others did not hear what we heard. ”   Mary Whent

My wife and I have returned several more times to Camp Edison and spent the night there at other campsites and nothing out of the ordinary has happened to us.  I still ask myself what did happen that night and what was it?  It could have been an animal that I am unfamiliar with, but why did no one else but Mary and I hear it?  I cannot tell you how loud it was, but pretend you’re sound asleep in your bedroom at night and someone was to walk in and scream at the top of their lungs.  It was that loud.  Don’t you think that would wake you up?   I will never be certain in this life as to what it was, but personally I believe it was an entity from Hell sent to scare me.  It did, but it did not stop me from writing my book “The Jesus Tree Ornaments”.

Put Jesus back into your Christmas this year. Click here and purchase novel for only $9.95.

“Yes, Thomas.  You see, God has always had a purpose.  He sent His only son to earth to redeem mankind.”

“Then Christmas truly is about peace on earth and goodwill toward all men,” answered Thomas.

“No, Thomas…Jesus is about peace on earth and goodwill toward all men.  Christmas, if you choose to celebrate it, should be about Jesus, God’s gift to all of mankind.”

“If I choose to celebrate it?  Isn’t there a command or something requiring a celebration?” asked Thomas.

“No, it is a choice.  You have free will to do as you choose.  Complete freedom.”

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Offering, Chapter 12, page 197.

Shortly after the crashing dishes episodes at my residence my daughter Laura moved out into an apartment.  (See posting “The Crashing Dishes” for more information).  Because of the crashing dishes and what she shared with me about her experiences below, I took some oil and while praying in the Holy Spirit I walked from room to room putting oil on the door frames and windows of my house, requesting protection from God from any unholy spirits that may be operating in it.  I did go over to Laura’s apartment and prayed with her for protection there too, however I did not use any oil or go from room to room, this was a mistake.  Laura and her friend Jennifer wrote the following words.  On the last paragraph I interviewed Sean who was at the time Laura’s boyfriend, but is now her husband.

Less than a year later after the crashing dishes I moved into an apartment with two friends.  Jennifer, one of my roommates at the time, told me that she felt like something was following me.  She said that she got an uneasy feeling when we hung out.  I too felt as if I was constantly being watched and closely followed by an unwanted and indescribable thing.

Laura's apartment was located upstairs on the left, and the apartment next to them was vacant.

One morning Jennifer came out of her room and looked very concerned.  She then shared with me that she had had an encounter with what she described as a beast.  She had woken in the middle of the night to a large, black, hairy creature with long nails and red eyes glaring at her.  It was seated at the foot of her bed.  Jennifer was at the apartment by herself that night.  She shared with me that she closed her eyes tightly and began to pray.  She was too scared to open her eyes.

I decided not to tell my boyfriend, now husband, about Jennifer’s encounter because we had just started dating and I didn’t want to weird him out.  Six months later my boyfriend and I were standing next to his truck in his gravel driveway.  It was dark when Sean had begun to act slightly alarmed.  He insisted that I go inside during the middle of our conversation.  I sensed urgency in his voice.  I was in the house no longer than 30 seconds before he joined me.  Not wanting to scare me, he tried to cover up his concern.  I questioned his odd behavior and he hold me that he saw a large, black, hairy creature with long nails and red eyes, about 8 or 9 feet tall, running straight toward me from the field.  I had not yet told him about Jennifer’s encounter nor had I described the creature to him.  It appeared to me that both my best friend and my boyfriend had seen what I had been sensing all this time.  I have yet to ever see this creature myself.

Laura.

Shortly out of high school I moved into an apartment with my cousin, and my friend Laura.  Since we could only afford a two-bedroom place, I shared a room with my cousin.  We lived in the apartment for a total of 3 months.

While living in the apartment I encountered a paranormal creature on two occasions.  The first time I was home alone and had walked into my room.  Before I could switch on the light my attention was drawn to a gargoyle like creature.  It was sitting on my cousin’s bed.  It was very large and muscular with an animal like build to it.  The eyes on the creature were red and he had long fingernails and two large horns on its head.  We looked at each other and then it turned its head away from me.  I decided to get out of the apartment and didn’t come back until my roommates were home.

The second encounter occurred on a late Saturday night.  Once again my roommates were not home.  I had gone to bed early because I wasn’t feeling well.  When I woke up in the middle of the night the same creature was sitting at the end of my bed.  It was staring down at me with its red eyes.  I closed my eyes shut as hard as I could and began to pray.  I didn’t open my eyes again until the morning, when light was present.

While living in the apartment several other odd things happened.  The neighbor below us constantly complained that we were making loud noises and vacuuming in the middle of the night.  These claims were not true.  We also heard noises coming from the apartment on the other side of us, such as muffled talking and bumping into walls.  Shortly before we moved out, a couple started to move into that same apartment.  It had been vacant the entire time.

I shared with my roommate Laura that I often got an eerie feeling when she was around, like something was in the room with us.  It was as if her presence was being followed by an evil essence.  I no longer feel this way when I am around her now, 6 years later.

Jennifer.

It was one year into my relationship with Laura when I witnessed something that I couldn’t explain at all.  Laura was, and is still a very spiritual person while at the time I didn’t consider myself a very good Christian at all.  I believed in God, but I was very angry at Him for the loss of my father at a young age.

The Beast came rushing at them from the storage shed on the left and Laura escaped into the house throught the glass-sliding door to the right.

Laura and I were having a conversation outside my mother’s house in the country one night next to my truck on the north side of the house, when I noticed something moving fast out of the corner of my eyes. There was open acreage behind the house and a storage shed off to the left side about 200 feet away from us.   The area was slightly lit up by the back porch light and some surrounding homes.  Moving very rapidly, I saw a dark hairy shadow that appeared as a silhouette of something I have never witnessed before.  I have been hunting hundreds of times and what was closing in on us sent fear into my heart.  I didn’t know what it was but I felt it was coming after Laura, who had her back to it.  It was very tall and charging towards us on two legs.  The head of the creature reminded me of something primal with its head in a slumped over position, with a short but full neck.  But what struck fear into me the most were its red eyes.  They were not that bright but reminded me of burning coals in a dying fire.  I told Laura to go into the house immediately and when she did I looked back at the creature that was closing the distance between us.  When it was only 30 to 40 feet from me it just disappeared.  Since that night I have never seen the creature again nor do I care to.

Sean.

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“But Remember Moses and what happened when some of his people tried to worship another god of their own creation.  The Father is slow to anger, but He is also a jealous god.  He wants all your love and worship.  He does not care to share His glory or His good works with nonexistent deities.  God is real, Thomas, not make-believe.  Surely you can understand His reasoning, for you yourself are a father.”

“What do you mean ‘because I am a father’?” asked Thomas.

“Do you deprive your child of the knowledge of the love that you have to offer him?  God wants you to know how much He loves you.  Don’t you want your child to know how much you love him?  Why would you want to deny him the truth?  It is essential to his well-being.  Children need to know that their parents make sacrifices for them out of their love for them.  Not only when they are good, but even when they are bad.

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Offering, Chapter 12, pages 196-197.

I don’t remember why I was home alone on either of these two strange occasions.  I think I was at home from work for one reason or another while other family members were at work or school.

The first time something weird happened to me at home I was at the back of the house in our master bedroom when I heard this loud clinking noise coming from the front of the house.  It sounded like someone was taking a metal object and hitting it back and forth in the drain to the kitchen sink.  Automatically I suspected another family member had come into the house and I proceeded to walk down the hallway to find out who it was.  As I entered the kitchen I was taken back not to find anyone there or in any other room of the house.  Had it been a noise from outside that I had heard?  It sure didn’t sound like it came from outside, but having nothing else to base it on I just chalked it up to being really unusual.

The next time I heard a noise in the kitchen I was only about five feet away in our family room standing in front of our television.  I think the news was on but it was not turned up loud at all.  Suddenly, I heard all these very loud noises that sounded like dozens of dishes, silverware and glasses all crashing onto our kitchen floor at the same time.  I could see into the kitchen but only half of the room was visible to me as a wall was blocking the rest of the room.  All I could see was the kitchen table and chairs, plus some bar stools next to the counter.

What I couldn’t see was what was making all the noise on the other side of our counter where there was open floor space surrounded by some other counters, the kitchen sink, dishwasher, cupboard, and our refrigerator.  I stood still in wonderment as the noise continued unabated for some time.  In my mind’s eye it was like an opening must had appeared in the kitchen ceiling and an endless stream of dishes and things were falling through it to the floor.  I was stunned by the sounds knowing that what was transpiring in the next room was not natural.  The sound of the dishes just kept falling onto the floor relentlessly without any apparent end.

I finally walked slowly to the kitchen and as I neared the kitchen floor the noise immediately stopped.  I looked down and saw our black cat lying next to the refrigerator.  I then scanned the kitchen floor for the broken dishes but there was nothing on the floor.  There were some dirty dishes on the kitchen counter but none of them were broken or in any great disarray.  The cat then looked up to me calmly like he was wondering what I was up to in the kitchen.  I was amazed at the cat’s relaxed stare and quickly concluded that he had not heard the same noises I had or he would have fled the room in a panic.  I also did not believe that the cat had caused the noise.  I was at a loss to explain what had just happened until another family member later shared with me what happened to her in the kitchen.  The following words were written by one of my adult daughters who was living with us during this time.

One summer afternoon I was watching TV in my room when I heard what sounded like dishes falling to the ground.  The loud and very obvious noise lasted around 5 seconds.  Assuming my cat Blizzard had knocked the dished down, I casually walked down the hall and towards the kitchen.  Upon approaching the kitchen area, I immediately noticed that there were no pots, pans, plates, cups, or silverware on the ground.  Even more surprisingly, Blizzard was still in the garage.

Two weeks later this same scenario repeated itself.  Once again I walked down the hall and glared into the undisturbed kitchen.  Unfamiliar with phenomena’s like this, I matter of fact stated, “I’m not dealing with this,” and quickly walked back to my room and shut my door.

Laura.

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“Are you saying this child was destined to become a man and then a god?” asked Thomas.

“No, a man can never become a god.  However, God can and did become a baby boy who grew up to become a man,” answered Gabriel.

“But why, and how can that be?” Thomas asked in complete amazement.  ”How can God exist as God and as a man at the same time?”

“How?” asked the angel with a slight look of amusement on his face.  ”Let me ask you a simple question.  Do you believe that you are made of a body, a soul, and a spirit?”

“I guess so; I really don’t know for sure, but I rememeber being taught that,” answered Thomas.  ”Who wouldn’t like to think they are more than just a body?” he added.

“Well Thomas, you are made in the image of God, and if it is possible to you to be made up of three parts, then why isn’t it possible for God to also be made up of three parts.  He is known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  If He designed you to be three parts functioning as one, then don’t you think He could aslo separate the three parts and allow them to still function separately but still together in harmony?” asked Gabriel with a smile.

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Offering, Chapter 12, page 193.

While working in Criminal Investigations for the Internal Revenue Service in downtown Fresno California, I would usually take a walk on the outdoor mall after eating a short lunch at the office.  Another employee who I didn’t know asked if she could join me, as she noticed I took walks and she wanted to lose some weight.  I really liked my time walking alone so I could think about my book that I was writing, “The Jesus Tree Ornaments,” but determined that maybe the Lord wanted me to witness to her about Him, so I said yes to her request.  We walked together for several weeks and I did talk to her a lot about her relationship with God, her family, and work.  Like a lot of people she believed in God but really knew very little about Him.  I was determined to challenge her into knowing more about Him based upon the Bible.

A couple of days every week behind our office there is a small farmer’s market where local people bring their produce to sell.  One day while walking back with my friend from the mall and approaching the farmer’s market, I noticed an older woman walking on the sidewalk towards us. I suspected that she was a homeless woman by her appearance.  Her hair was mostly gray and her clothing was loose and worn.  There is a Catholic charity just a few blocks from where she was walking from and it was not unusual for down and out or homeless people to be around our office location.  Nevertheless, I instantly had an uneasy feeling about her.  I don’t know what it was about her that made me so apprehensive as she obviously was not any apparent threat to me.   I just felt that I needed to be wary of her and to give her plenty of room to pass by me without me actually touching her.   With my friend walking to the right of me I did my best to move closer to her as we approached the woman, who was to the left of me.  As we passed her I did not make any physical contact with the woman, but something did make contact with me.

Have you ever felt an electrical shock when making a slight physical contact with someone else?  Well, that is what I felt on my left arm as I walked by this woman, only we did not touch each other.  I believe we were close to a foot apart.  It was not a small shock like after you walk across a carpet and touch someone, it was much stronger and actually stung my forearm making me grab my arm, pull it back, and say something about it to my friend.

She only looked at me, wondering I’m sure, what it was that I was talking about.   We stopped and both turned to look at the woman who was now about twenty feet away from us.  The woman had also stopped and was looking directly at me.  Various other people were now walking to and from the farmer’s market, across the sidewalk making a lot of noise, and at times blocking my complete view of the woman.  However, she said something to me that made me wonder if I had heard her correctly.

“I see the light in you!” was what I heard from the woman.

I looked at my friend and asked her, “What did she say?”  Not certain that I had heard the woman correctly.

She shrugged as if she didn’t know, and we both looked at the woman again.

“I see the light in you!” the woman, still looking at me, said again.  She then turned and walked away from us.

I wanted to ask my friend again if she heard what the woman had said but felt too foolish to pursue it with her.  First, I receive this electric shock without touching the woman, and then the woman has this strange message for me.  This was too much for me to absorb at the moment so I let it drop, and we went back into the office to work.  Not too long after this event my friend stopped walking with me.

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“You sound like all the other church people with your religious jargon, complained Thomas mildly, “but let me see if I understand you correctly.  God sent His only son down here to earth to be born, to grow up…sinless, so He could die on a cross to take away my sin, so I would then be found acceptable to God.  Is that right?” asked Thomas.

“Yes, just as God provided a sacrifice for Abraham’s son, He also has become our provider.  And as Jesus had to be born in the flesh to save you, you need to be born in the spirit to be saved.  You need to be born again, Thomas.”

“Born again?  How can I be born again?” asked Thomas.

“By faith, in the same way that Jesus was born into the flesh.  He was not born of natural descent, human decision, or of a man’s will…He was born of God.”

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Offering, Chapter 12, pages 198 & 199.

It was around Christmas time in 2001 and I was preparing to start my first novel “The Jesus Tree Ornaments”.  My daughter Laura had some friends over and I was discussing with one of them the first part of the book.  I had only worked out a brief outline of the first couple of chapters in my mind.  I would have to develop it further upon my return from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia.  I was going there for a couple of weeks training in January of 2002 for my new position as a Criminal Investigative Analyst with the Internal Revenue Service.

When I returned I was assigned to a Lead Development Center with other analysts in downtown Fresno, California.  It was our job to investigative possible leads for IRS Special Agents and to assist them with any requests for research on other possible criminal cases.  Many of our leads also came from informants or taxpayers concerned about suspected criminal behavior and/or fraud.  It was our job to sort through all the information utilizing various government resources to determine if the case met civil or criminal criteria.  If we believed we didn’t have enough information to proceed we might contact the informant or send the case to Examination for an audit to further develop the case.

In addition to working with IRS Special Agents we would  work with the FBI, DEA, Homeland Security Agents, or any other Federal Agencies that might need our assistance on information regarding income and taxes.  We also did research on some suspected potential terrorist and terrorist supporting organizations.

I found the job to be very fulfilling but it didn’t leave me very much time to think about my book except  when I took walks on my break during the day.  During one such walk I will never forget what happened to me.  It was the commencement of many strange events that were soon to happen to me, family members, and friends.

She was hiding in wait for me behind the brick enclave. She followed me all the way to the corner.

I would usually eat a quick lunch at our office and then I would walk the downtown outdoor mall in Fresno.  After walking the mall one day I was only about two blocks away from our building where the mall had ended and vehicle traffic resumed.  I was walking on the sidewalk not paying much attention to the some of the various deserted buildings that I was passing by.  Downtown Fresno like a lot of other cities has suffered from the flight of people to the suburbs.  I didn’t notice any traffic or people on either side of the street nor was I aware of anyone behind or in front of me.  There were small walls obstructing my view of any doors leading out from the building I was walking by until I was actually in front of the entrance.  The walls did present a small alcove where someone could hide from another person’s view and it would be easy to miss them unless you were actually looking for them and I wasn’t looking for anyone to be hiding in wait for me.  My mistake.

Suddenly I heard this extremely loud and angry shouting feminine voice, which was actually more like screaming, coming only a few steps from behind me to my right.  I was quite startled yet I felt impressed not to turn around.  It was like an inner voice had warned me to just keep walking.  Foul four-letter words were spewing out from an unknown woman’s mouth so I thought she must be directing them to another man with her.  I don’t know why I thought that I just did, but I still felt that I shouldn’t turn around to find out.  She was calling him some very disgusting names.  Now, she was only a few feet directly behind me and still screaming vile words of attack.  I quickly concluded that she was following me and there was no other man.  Her hysterical verbal assaults were being directed at me.  I have been around a lot of people who use bad language in my past and I could match them word for word but this woman was about to reach a new level that even shocked me.  She then proceeded to shout she knew how much I wanted to have sex with her and how she was going to mount me and bring me great pleasure.  (Of course her language was much more colorful in wording and sexual description.).  Once I reached a plateau of excitement she explained to me how she was then going to enjoy killing me.  She went into horrid detail about how much delight she was going to have in gutting me straight down my middle and how she was going to rip out my various internal body parts.

This whole sickening tirade had been going on for probably close to thirty seconds when I finally reached the intersection and stopped at the corner.  Only then did I feel led to face her.  I turned quickly around and in front of me was a small woman, maybe in her thirties or early forties, it was hard to tell as she was poorly dressed and in disarray.  I’m around six feet tall and at that time I weighed around 230 pounds.  It would have been no contest for me to physically overpower her however that didn’t even enter my mind as I looked down upon her. A look of fright and panic was evident on her face as I looked into her eyes and she immediately quit screaming.

“God loves you,” was all I said to her.

As she turned away from me she replied, “No, he doesn’t. I’m in torment.”  She then walked away from me to the other side of the street, and I returned to work in shocked disbelief at what had just transpired.

Later I remembered having seen this woman before on the mall talking to people and frightening them but in no way was it even close to the manner in which she had shouted at me.  It was obvious to me that she was disturbed and it was very possible that she had severe mental problems.  Nevertheless, it is my opinion that there was something dark and sinister about her, and it was haunting her.  If she was not possessed then at the very least she was being demonized.

I did not see her again until some months later.  I once saw her sitting at a bus stop and another time I was standing waiting to cross the street to the other side of the outdoor mall when I glanced down at the person next to me.  It was her.  I said nothing to her and she acted like she was unaware of my presence.  I followed some distance behind her as she walked the mall and I prayed in the Spirit for her.

A few months later on the same street only a few yards from where this encounter took place I had another strange occurrence with another woman.  This is when I knew for sure that what was happening to me was of a supernatural nature and I was not just dealing with people with mental problems.  This experience was in one way more shocking than the first, and I will discuss it more in my next posting.

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“What is my spirit?’ asked Thomas.  ”And how does it take control of what is supposed to be my spiritual destiny?”

“Your spirit is that part of you that communes with God.  God is spirit, and to understand God and His ways, you need to listen to Him with your spirit.  The spirit innately knows and seeks God continuously.  Your spirit is that little voice inside of you that you can choose to listen to or not.  Are you listening to it, Thomas, or are you trying to drown it out?”

Thomas knoew immediately what the angel was talking about.  His little voice was the one that made him feel guilty every time he left his family to satisfy his need to escape from the pressures of the world.  Everey time he spent a dollar for a drink he felt awash in new guilt. However, Thomas had learned long ago that the more he drank, the less often he heard the voice.  It was always easier the next time not to listen to the voice.

“Sounds like you are talking about my consciene,” answered Thomas.

“Listen to that little voice inside of you and not to the voices of the world.  You will find your spiritual destiny when you surrender your life to God’s voice.”

“Victory through surrender?” asked Thomas with raised eyebrows.

“The choice is yours,” smiled the angel.

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s Offering, Chapter 12, page 201.