Garry R. Kennedy

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Ephesians 6:11-12

My mother never personally knew her father and was raised by her mother, foster care and the Catholic Church.  My mother’s maiden name was Hession and her family came from Ireland.  Her family was very poor as was my father’s.  Her mother died at the young age of 42 from alcoholism.  My father was raised by his mother until her death also at a very young age.  He then lived with his grandmother because his father was an Assembly of God Missionary serving in the Central Valley of California and later in Africa.  Both of my parents were raised in San Francisco.  When my father was discharged from the  Army during World War II they soon left San Francisco for Fresno California, where I was born.  Within a short time we moved to a very small dairy town named Riverdale, where we lived for about twelve years.  I grew up with two older brothers, Lloyd and Daral, plus my twin brother Larry.

We were not church attendees.  My father believed that it would be best for us to make up our own minds on where we might want to worship, if at all.  I’m afraid the separation from his father played a large part in this decision being for made for us.  My mother took us to a small protestant church behind our house for a short time when I was a very small but I can hardly remember anything about it.  I do remember once attending the only Catholic Church in town because I liked one particular Catholic girl.

Life in Riverdale was fairly good for me until I entered the fourth grade; however that is another story best left for another posting.  After the sixth grade we moved to another small town near Fresno, named Clovis.

In the early sixties, on what I believe was a Christmas Eve, my grandfather took my twin brother and I to an evening church service in Santa Cruz, California.  It was there that we both walked up to the altar, and I first remember accepting the Lord as a young boy.  I had known about Jesus before from my parents and from spending time at a YMCA camp located at Lake Sequoia, but I was very wary of the God of the Old Testament.  He scared me.  A few days later it was our birthday and we turned 13.

When we returned home I had no church family or anyone to help me to develop into a mature Christian.  My newfound joy quickly faded as the years passed and I slowly drifted away from walking in my new faith.  I still believed in God, but I had no real idea of who He actually was or how I was to fit Him into my life.

My life is Clovis was very different from Riverdale.  In Riverdale I had grown up with and knew many of the children even before my bother and I entered Kindergarten.  In Clovis we were the new kids and while it went somewhat well at first, I really missed Riverdale.  Clovis was much tougher than Riverdale.  It seemed like someone was always having a fight on the playground or after school.  I was not an aggressive child and this new environment frightened and depressed me.  However, my twin brother was a great boxer and engaged in an after school fight one day.  The other child while larger than my brother never was allowed to hit him because my brother was continually delivering punches to his face.  It helped to have a twin brother that was a good fighter and I’m sure that it served to keep others from challenging me in fear that they might have to deal with him too.

In High School I wasn’t a good student and barely graduated.  I was sent home a couple of times for several day suspensions on various offenses which at the time I didn’t believe were fair, but such is life when you are young.  My last year as a senior I did have a girlfriend which helped me to make it through school.  I shared my belief in God with her as neither of our families attended church and she seemed to respond positive to it, but I don’t remember her parents believing in any God, and I was not a good example for her.

After graduating I enrolled at Fresno City College but shortly dropped out of all classes and lost my student deferment from the draft.  I knew my time was short and that I could be inducted into the military at any time so like many others I partied like there was no tomorrow.  Of course at many of the parties there were fights and I was arrested a couple of times on other minor infractions and became known, like many of my friends, by local law enforcement.  During this time several of my friends actually ended up going to prison for stealing cars.  I was asked once to be a look-out for them but thank God I declined.

I was drafted into the US Army in 1969 and served 18 months in Germany.  I was a tormented young man who drank too much alcohol, smoked too many cigarettes plus some hashish.  During my first experience with hashish I was informed that it had supposedly  been dipped in opium.  I was young and naïve and had no idea exactly what opium was so I smoked it anyway.  It started out okay but later turned into a very scary experience, one that I would warn others not to take.  It changed my thought process and how I viewed many things but once again that is another story best left for another posting.  My main selection of destruction was the alcohol.  It was my constant companion and my demon of choice.  It deadened my pain and was a short-term method of escapism from my world of isolation and separation.  In the late sixties the whole world seemed to be turned upside down, especially for us young soldiers who were too young to understand all the world events that were spiraling out of control around us.  It seemed convenient for the world to tell us that we were to blame for most of it, making us easy targets for their scorn and hate.  My attitude in many ways became one of “us against them.”

Even before I was drafted I had several good childhood buddies serving in Viet Nam, one friend was killed in combat, also my older brother Daral lost his best friend there.  Nevertheless, while I was fortunate not to have to been forced to serve in Viet Nam; I would have gone if ordered, but I saw no valid reason in 1969 to volunteer to go to a war where our country was only trying to get us out without finishing the job.  I believe the history of events, the betrayal of our fallen soldiers, and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives that happened after we left prove that we should have stayed to finish the job.  The war was not lost on the battlefield but on the home front.

After I was released from the Army in 1971 my high school sweetheart broke up with me after we had been going together for close to five years.  Unable to cope with this I drank even more alcohol and lived to the fullest the lie “eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you may die.”  I believed that it would have been easier for me if she had died.  Before the break up I didn’t know it but she had been my best friend with whom I had shared a large part of my growing up.  I felt totally alone, deserted, lied to and rejected like never before.  I remember telling God if it was meant for us to be together then let it happen, if not, then to let us separate.  She had found a church to attend (we had gone to another church only once in all the years together) and asked me one day if I wanted to go to it with her.  I figured if I went and found God again it would only be so I could get her back and I didn’t want to compromise what little relationship I might still have with Him so I didn’t go.  Within a few months after the break up she got engaged to a Christian at the church, I cursed God (so much for trusting God to make the right decision for us), and they got married.  I determined from the experience that everyone is capable of betraying you.  That is not to say that I was not also at fault for what had happened.  It just was what it was, over, but needlessly I held on to the emotional baggage from it for many years to come.

Some of my childhood friends ended up worse than me by becoming addicted to drugs, selling drugs, or going to prison on various different charges, including murder.  Thank God I never got into hard drugs after my bad trip in the Army or in the selling of them.  I was mostly into alcohol, women, and partying.

When I was 28 I met the love and future center of my life, Pamela, she was only 19 at the time.  We met in a bar, and a little over a year later we got married in Reno, Nevada. Sadly, we continued to party like we were still single when Pamela got pregnant with our first child, Tara.   I thank God that while pregnant she had the good sense to quit drinking and smoking.

I was now in my early thirties with no marketable skills, only a high school education, and a heavy drinking problem.  After getting into several bar fights in one year and seeing no hope of a promising future I decided to give the Lord another attempt with my life.  All I had done with it so far was to waste it on various sinful pursuits of the flesh.  I prayed alone one morning in our apartment after a night of drinking, for Jesus to take charge of my future.  Then quickly everything started to change for the better.  It was no longer about fitting Him into my plans for me but how I could fit my life into His plans for me.

After about a year the Lord informed me that it was time for me to grow in Him.  My wife was sitting next to me one night when a lady friend at a bar told me that I was being dishonest.  She said to me, “Garry!  You’re so full of it, you’re preaching here now but later on tonight you’ll be in a fight at some other bar.”  (Actually her language was probably a little stronger than stated above.)  I was real angry at her for what she said, but I knew she was right.  What kind of example was I for Christ?  A great sense of guilt and conviction fell upon me that night.  If I truly wanted to share the Lord with other people I knew I would have to quit drinking.  It was hindering my witness for Him.  It was that simple, but I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

Later that same night as my wife stood next to me as I poured the remaining contents of a bottle of whiskey into the kitchen sink.  I prayed for the Lord to sustain me forever from alcohol so I could better serve Him.  I have never knowingly had another drink since that night.  It has now been close to thirty years and I thank God for it all the time.  I didn’t know it at the time but it wasn’t for His sake that He wanted me to quit drinking, but for my sake.  We like to think that we do things for the Lord but actually he has us do them for our own benefit.  For me to have a drink now would be like a dog returning to eat its own vomit.  Shortly after that the Lord also delivered my wife and I both from smoking cigarettes.  I had been smoking two plus packs a day for over a decade but with the Lord’s help I quit smoking cold turkey.

After our first daughter Tara was born in 1980 my wife’s mother Janet wanted to take her to have her picture taken with Santa Claus.  I objected!  I did not want my daughter to grow up thinking that Christmas was all about Santa Claus.  I wanted her to know the truth about why we celebrated Christmas and that truth was only about Jesus.  I wanted her to know that her mother and I gave her gifts at Christmas not based upon whether she was good or bad, instead we did it out of our love for her in the same way that God had blessed us with her.  While I don’t remember a great protest from my mother-in-law others would have liked me to believe that I was committing child abuse.  My own mother asked me how I could do such a thing as not letting my child believe in Santa Claus.  This really made me angry to think that I would have to provide excuses for not allowing my child to have faith in make-believe (a deception) when I already had a faith to share with her that was far more exciting, and in addition was real.

Talk about a change in me.  When still single I had once actually dressed up as Santa Claus for a private adult party put on at my brother Lloyd’s house.  It was for his employees and after a few drinks I had women sitting on my lap with a drink in their hand telling me what they wanted for Christmas.  Nevertheless, Christmas to me now was only about the birth of the world’s savior, a special story that my child could always believe in.  If others chose to teach their children about Santa Claus I did not put them down however they felt free to criticize me for not following their herd mentality.  It wasn’t easy swimming up stream against a current of different world-views.  How could I be so narrow-minded they wanted to know?  I could not even escape this point of view from a lot of Christians at church.  I needed help!

Troubled over this issue I sought help from the Lord in my mother-in-law’s kitchen one day while in prayer.  In the next room was a Christmas tree decorated in a worldly manner.  While standing and viewing the tree, in a flash, an answer entered into my mind.  The Lord had impressed upon me a vision of what I could do.  What if I examined the prophesies about Jesus in the Old Testament and added some of them to scriptures in the New Testament about His birth in Bethlehem.  Then I could add them to some kind of ornaments to hang on the Christmas tree thus making the tree a storyteller about and witness for Jesus!  I was totally excited and felt like I a great revelation had been revealed to me.  Now I just needed to figure out how I was going to do it.

Over the course of several years I developed some paper ornaments and an accompanying book to supplement the ornaments based upon Bible scriptures. I submitted the idea to a lot of publishers.  Several asked to see it and one was actually considering publishing it until they later determined that it would be too expensive.  After wasting several years pitching my idea I grew tired and asked the Lord what should I do next, I have never been good at exactly knowing the Lord’s will so I kind of stepped out in faith praying that if I was not exactly doing His will that He would see to it that I was kind of heading in the right direction.  I determined to self-publish my idea and named the book and ornaments “Why we celebrate Christmas.”  I sold it at some craft and Christmas fairs, a local book store and on the internet.  After a couple of years I decided to offer it for free on the internet at www.jesustreedecorations.com.  While many people did print out the ornaments for Sunday school instruction and home use I still did not believe that I was reaching the larger audience that the Lord wanted.

So over the course of several more years I wrote a novel titled “The Jesus Tree Ornaments” based upon one man’s search for God and finding him through the Bible characters in the first book.  Kind of like a book about another book.  This book can be purchased at www.thejesustreeornaments.com.

I wrote these books while working for the Internal Revenue Service, which I just retired from on March 3, 2009, after 29 years of Federal employment, two of which while in the U.S. Army.  I started at the IRS as a clerk, and then I became a data transcriber, a tax examiner, a Tax Auditor, a Tax Compliance Officer, a Criminal Investigative Analysis, and finally an Appeals Officer.  Prior to the IRS I had worked delivering newspapers, picking fruit and in packing sheds, construction, sales, a route driver, unloading trucks, a bartender, a brakemen for the railroad, at a winery, in bookkeeping, at manufacturing plants, teaching roller hockey lessons, and helped manage roller rinks and one ice rink.  In addition, I returned to the Fresno City College and graduated with an AA degree in Business Administration.

My wife and I had two more children named Laura and Joshua.  Tara and Laura are now married and Tara has a daughter name Madison, and a son named Jacob.  We have been attending a nondenominational church in Fresno called Peoples Church for close to 30 years now.  During this time we have been very active in many Sunday school projects, couple retreats, family camp trips to the mountains, annual trips to Mexico to build houses for needy families, prison and a men’s ministry called “Christ’s Warriors”.

Now to the main purpose of why I am starting this blog.  I sincerely believe that God has chosen me to change the way the world celebrates Christmas through His word, the ornaments, and the books.  Yes, I know…who does this guy think he is?  Well, I have already told you a little bit of my past.  I’m a nobody who has broken all of God’s laws and doesn’t expect you to understand why.  I’m not sure that I do either but I can’t walk away from this project no matter how hard I may have wanted to in the past.  It’s like God has shown favor on me and informed me that I am now His child, a warrior in His army of Faith.  For that reason I believe it is my spiritual destiny to get His message out there so that the Body of Christ can use the products as a witness tool to bring the sinner to Jesus.  You don’t have to wait until Christmas to share a good story about Jesus.

In the development of the novel “The Jesus Tree Ornaments” I have had many dark supernatural experiences that I would like to start sharing with you on this blog.  I will not be encouraging others on this blog to seek what has been happening to me, my family, and to some of our friends.  Believe me when I say I didn’t request or seek for these events to happen to us.  They just have.  As a matter of fact, I would strongly warn you to stay away from reaching out to any spirits except for the Holy Spirit.  They are dangerous and liars.  Some I have no doubt are demonic and the others I can’t explain where they came from.  People have actually claimed to have seen them and I have heard unexplained blood curling screams and noises.  I do believe in angels and have prayed that God would send them to protect my family and I believe He has.

Some people will probably state that some of the events are just the reaction of people with emotional and mental problems and to a certain degree they are probably right, but I also believe that the persons are possessed or strongly influenced by dark forces.  Others would have me believe that what has happened is of a paranormal nature, that ghosts are trying to contact me or it is poltergeist activity.  I don’t have an explanation and I admit there are many things that we don’t understand but I’m not requesting advice on this blog on how to handle these encounters.

While winning sinners to Jesus I want to help many Christians have encountered similar events as I have, but are afraid to admit it for fear of being labeled delusional, mystical, unbiblical or unchristian.  Well, I know that I’m not delusional or mystical and if I can direct someone else to where they can find help or counseling in the dealing with the occult or the paranormal then that is what I am going to do.  I think that is the Christian thing to do.  In the near future I hope to have links to Christian sites that can deal and assist others with these kinds of encounters.

In closing this post I would like to share with you a recent mysterious event that involved my wife and I.  A few weeks ago I took my twin brother to a local grocery store to purchase some items.  While waiting for him to finish shopping I came upon a circular metal stand that held some Christian books.  The first small book I picked up caught my attention.  It was titled “Prayers that Rout Demons” by John Eckhardt.  While I had asked the Lord before it this was an area he wanted me to minister I wasn’t sure this book was for me.  As I flipped through the pages and I quickly determined that it was mostly scriptures from the Bible placed in an order that he had determined worked best for expelling evil spirits through prayer and the word.  While I had no problem with the book I felt that it did not offer me enough to purchase it so I returned it to the rack, and when my brother finished shopping we left the store.

I never mentioned the book to my wife or anyone else.  Several weeks later my wife e-mailed me from work and in her notes she mentioned that she had purchased a small book the day before at the store and it was next to our bed on her dresser.  I forgot about it until later in the day and when I did look for the book I was taken back at what I found.  It was John Eckhardt’s book “Prayers that Rout Demons.”

I asked my wife where she had purchased the book and why.  She said it was the oddest thing.  The following paragraph is in her own words on what happened.

On Monday morning, March 30, 2009, I stopped at a Save Mart store near where I work.  I needed to get some small, decorative paper plates for the cake I was taking to share with fellow teachers and school staff.  When I approached the paper goods display I saw that a book had been put in front of the napkins.  Somebody had obviously decided against purchasing the book and stuck it into the wrong display.  I looked at the cover Prayers that Rout Demons by John Eckhardt and then I turned it over and looked at the price.  It was $9.99.  This seemed very expensive considering the size of the book so I put it back.  I picked out the paper plates and looked at the book again.  This time I actually opened it and read some of it.  I put it back on the shelf and then picked it up again.  I looked at the price again (like it had changed!) and put it back reasoning that my husband would not appreciate me spending the money for a book on prayers and scriptures.  I headed down the aisle and felt a strong sense of urgency that I couldn’t leave the book at the store and that I should buy it.  So I went back for the book and bought it along with the paper plates.  I didn’t tell my husband about buying the book until the next day.  He later told me that he had actually almost bought the same book a few weeks before at yet another Save Mart store that we don’t go to on a regular basis.  Apparently we are supposed to have/read this book!  Pamela Kennedy

Remember I never mentioned this book to my wife or anyone else.  Had someone selected it the night before and then decided they didn’t want it after all so they just put it with the napkins next to the plates; aisles away from the book section and at an exact location where my wife wouldn’t miss it.  When the store opened that morning it had to be timed just right so that the clerks didn’t have the time yet to see the book or they could’ve returned it to its correct location.  Mind you, my wife does not normally go to the store on her way to work at a little after six in the morning.  This is an unusual errand for her.  Was this an act or God and His Holy Spirit, His angels or something dark and sinister?  Then again, maybe it was just random events that make a coincidence appear to be more than it is, something supernatural.  I know what I believe…what do you believe?

Third Day, the Christian rock band, sings a song that I feel fits the way that I would like to believe about myself, and who I am trying to become.

“This Is Who I Am”

I’m a son of a good man
I’m the child of an angel
I’m the brother of a wild one
And I’m looking for direction
I’m the lover of a beauty
I’m the father of blessings
I’m a singer of a love song
But is that all I’m good for

This is who I am
This is who I am
So take me and make me something so much more
This is who I am
This is who I am
So change me and make me someone better than before

I’m a saint and a sinner
I’m a lover and a fighter
I’m a true believer, with great desire
I’m a preacher of grace, prophet of love, teacher of truth
I’ve fallen down so many times
But here I stand in front of you

Take me as I am
But please don’t leave me that way
‘Cause I know that you can make me better than I am today

“All you have to do is believe in order to receive the gift.”

Thomas stood confused and troubled yet intrigued by the child’s words.

“Believe in what?  And receive what from the gift?”

“Ask and then seek with all your heart,” answered the boy, “and you will find the answer.”

“Help me out here a little bit, Joshua,” pleaded Thomas.  ”What is it exactly that you really want for this gift?”

“Your pain,” the child answered without pretense.  ”It is a gift for your pain.”

The Jesus Tree Ornaments, A Father’s World, chapter 3, pages 54 & 55.