The Aftermath

The story that you have read so far was interesting perhaps, but it really didn’t take long before even I started to fade in my certainty about this new world view into which I had been plunged.  Perhaps you too are inclined to think that the things related in the last story were just the product of a mind on drugs. So I will now tell you about some of the things that happened a bit later, when there were no drugs in the picture.

The reasons why I remained a Christian, and didn’t just forget about it were not because of having had a dramatic experience. Even the most dramatic experience can fade with time. No, rather it was because of what happened later; not another big thing, but rather, lots of smaller things, that all added up to say something big.

One thing that happened was that an older lady who lived in the same apartment building as me was passing my flat. I was outside, enjoying the morning sunshine. This was the same morning that I had been born again. She paused and said “Oh hello, I haven’t seen you around here before. Do you live here?” I replied that I did, and that we had met on a number of occasions. She said, she had never seen me before, but was very glad to meet me. I felt like I was a brand new person. She behaved as if I was a brand new person. I was amazed.

Another thing that happened was concerning the woman with whom I was currently carrying on a relationship. Somehow I just knew that there was no question of any more carrying on a sexual relationship with her unless we should get married. I even had the strongest sense that this could only work if she would also receive Jesus Christ, as I just had. This was not an intellectual decision on my part. Rather, it was just an inner knowing. Only later did I discover that this is what the Bible  teaches.

I have already mentioned what happened with Pete when I returned to work on Monday morning. The first thing he did was come and tell me how he had been in my bathroom for twenty minutes with my carving knife, listening to voices telling him to come and kill me, then kill Brad, then kill himself. However, what I have not yet mentioned is what happened with him in the weeks and months following this event.

Sometimes he would come and talk to me when other workers were out of earshot, and would come and say things such as “You can’t win, you know. You’re not scripturally strong enough.” I didn’t even know what that meant, but later came to learn that the way to defeat Satan and his demons is through scripture, the Word of God. He knew that then, but I didn’t have a clue.

One time he came and said to me, with great rage in his eyes, “You’re so weak, but I’m strong. You have no idea how much power I have. “Watch this.” Glaring at me, he took out a cigarette lighter, put it on maximum flame, and put the open palm of his hand into the very tip, the hottest part of the flame. Then he just kept it there for about as minute, glaring at me all the time. Then he showed me his palm, with no mark of any sort. “You have no idea what I can do.” The next day I mentioned this event to him, and he looked scared. “I did what?” he said. He told me he had no recollection of doing that at all. “I can’t do that. Look.” Then took out his lighter and showed me that it burnt him, and hurt straight away. I wasn’t sure what to make of this. Was he having me on, or was a demon spirit taking him over at will?

One day this thing said to me “Watch this.” Then he proceeded to sing a song, playing air guitar, and playing the riffs of a particular song. Then that song came on the radio. Then he did it again with a different song, and then that song came on the radio. Then he did it again and then the third song was played over the air. He said “See? I’m trying to show you what I can do.” The demon in him knew what was going to be played on the radio before it came on.

I continued trying to share with my work mates what Jesus Christ had done for me, and he continued to try to make me shut up. Sometimes trying to talk reasonably, sometimes using threats and intimidation. At least once, he threatened my life. I only remember once being actually scared by this, and that one time as I looked to God for help, I opened my Bible at random. It just so happened that it opened at a passage that tells explicitly of how God protects his people from precisely the kind of attack I had been threatened with. The fear went away immediately. God has always since then provided me with comfort, assurance and safety like this whenever I have needed it for any reason.

Another strange thing happened in those days. There was a young guy at that work place who was thought by some to be rather strange. His name was Shane. Sometimes he would seem to have different personalities. At times very outgoing and fun loving. At other times he would say “I’m in space today.” Or “I’m my twin brother today.” At these times he would seem to be very introspective, in a world of his own. I hadn’t connected this with anything spiritual until the following thing happened.

Now when I originally wrote out this story, shortly after it happened, I deliberately changed the names to protect the guilty, and then distributed the story around my workplace. Pete, I had named “Dave.” The first that anyone at work was told about this event was a few days later when I gave out copies to everyone who was at work. I was with Pete at one end of a very long room, in a very noisy environment. At the other end of the room, probably at least forty metres away, was Shane. He read the story, and then said, “Which one am I?” I said “Which one do you think?” He said, “Dave.” Pete was facing me, facing away from Shane. At that moment Shane put down his work, walked the full length of the room, and got right into Pete’s face and said to him “G’DAY DAVE!!!” Then he just kept going. This was at work, with many others around. He had never been told the story, and he had absolutely no way of knowing that Pete was even involved, let alone that I had called him “Dave.” Many such things happened in those days to show me that this was not just something I had imagined. When I later told some Christians about this they concluded that from his strange behaviour on some days and this event, plus one or two similar things that this poor guy too must have a demon. I couldn’t have believed it, if I hadn’t already passed through so many strange experiences that I felt could no longer be explained except with recourse to the supernatural.

This was indeed just the beginning. Enough events have transpired in my life by now that I will add some pages to this blog are categorised “Tales of the Supernatural.”

For the next few weeks I kept on thinking about three old friends of mine, whom I had not seen in a long time.  One was a Buddhist. I had not seen him for a few years. One was into the New Age in a powerful way. I had not seen him for more years. One was a Christian. I had not seen him in many years, since I did not like Christians. I felt that it may help me to understand what had happened to me if I were to speak to one of these spiritual people. I made no moves to contact any of them. One day, I was feeling down, and began to doubt whether these things had really happened. At that moment the phone rang. It was the Christian. He just felt that he had to ring me right then. Though I had changed address three times since he last knew me, it was worth it to him to track me down. The time at which he happened to ring me was the exact moment that I needed to share my story with someone. At the time this man was a Sergeant in the NSW Police force. Yet he believed every word that I have related to you in these pages. He had already encountered The Gateway…