The elderly couple on the Naples pier (my mission station) were Orthodox Jews. The encounter went like this:

At the far end of the pier is a shelter consisting of two walls and a roof maybe fourteen feet square. It stands on a bigger platform that is surrounded by a railing for people to fish from. Inside the shelter are two benches, one on the sides of each of the walls. I often go out there seeking conversation and, hopefully, a fish or two.

I had hardly been there twenty minutes when the elderly couple showed up and sat on the opposing bench across from me. The woman had her arm in a sling; and, impulsively, I asked what had happened to her arm. She replied that she had fractured her shoulder in a tripping incident. After the man made sure his wife was comfortable, he came over to me, noticing my cap that has “Writer” emblazoned on it. I wear caps with different captions, Film maker, Writer and Artiste to garner attention from those interested in the arts – it works well.

Stanley thanked me for inquiring about his wife, telling me that people seldom did that anymore. I agreed by saying, “It seems that people have become cold and are afraid to talk to each other anymore.”

“You can say that again,” he replied. “Let me introduce myself; my name is Stanley, and my wife’s name is Carol. We were at a huge party where several high-profile people were gathered when my wife tripped over the huge family dog – fracturing her shoulder.”

He let it be known that these prominent people were with Google and other such tech giants, but that he couldn’t divulge names. I was wondering how he came to be attending such an affair and asked him what he did for a living; he said he was an educator. I never doubted him for a moment since he was a well-spoken and intelligent man.

His wife, having excellent hearing, heard me question her husband and asked me, “What do you do?” I told her that I was a movie actor/writer. By this time, I had taken my “Writer” cap off as it was warm and humid.” They were impressed.

Stanley and I talked about movies a bit but soon moved onto other more important things.

He told me he was an avid reader, and I told him I was too. We began to bond after I told him of my Christian faith. He even went so far as to mention he had once entered a celebrated church to view the inside. He was a very inquisitive man who apparently spent time with other intellectuals, one of which was a psychologist who told him a story about a client who appeared to have experienced previous lives after he had hypnotized her. I asked him if he believed in God, to which he answered he wasn’t sure if God existed. At this point, I mentioned that Lucifer, an angel of God, had been cast from heaven to earth and had taken a third of the angels with him. This fallen angel has information on everybody and is the father of lies, and was probably speaking through that woman. He had never considered that this might be the case.

I could see that he was thinking deeper thoughts; and, finally, he proceeded to tell me about having researched Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam. From this, I deduced he might be a “seeker of truth.”

I began to inject things about Jesus into our conversation and that all the Apostles were Jews except maybe for Luke, whom most scholars consider having been a Greek Doctor of Medicine.

As we continued to talk, he attempted to try and stump me. At this, I told him I had been a Christian for over forty years and knew the Old Testament and the New Testament well. I mentioned the prophecies of Daniel and Jesus and told him that according to their prophecies we were living in the last days. He agreed that these were very strange times.

In any case, I parried any objections he might have had with the inerrant truth of God’s Word.

Knowing that many secular Jews just like Gentiles are driven by worldly success and are impressed by it, I also knew that there were many “seekers” out there as well, because I once had a ministry in a coffee shop where many Jews congregated, drank coffee and kibitzed throughout the day and night. It was there and then that I got to know many Jews and Gentiles as well; and even though I was always ministering the Word of God to them, they liked me and enjoyed the discourses we had.

Still, though, I had never met anyone so engaging and Religious as Stanley. He was a true “Seeker.”  Stanley asked about my writing and even went so far as to giving me his Email address before they left so that I could send my testimony to him in the form of a 240-page bio I’d written.

Before leaving them at the entranceway, I asked Carol if she would like for me to say a prayer for her. She replied, “Please do.” And I did so while many others milled around us as they left the pier for the day.

I sent out the manuscript this morning (Labor Day), saying that our meeting was God-ordained. He wrote back this Labor Day evening saying;

Jim:

I feel likewise. Ran in to a Messianic Jewish couple in Rural King in Bonita. Conversation started the same way about Carol’s injury. You are all good people, because you genuinely care about others. Please give me a few days to read. Once again, you were an important person in our day yesterday.

Stanley

YBIC

Jim Towers

You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or visit me at www.dropzonedelta.com and at my web site www.propheticsignsandwonders.com ……Hang tough and look up.

As a person who follows trends and Christian behavior in these final days before the rapture, I would be remiss if I didn’t elaborate on the mass murder and suicides occurring in our country and beyond in these troublesome times with the world spinning out of control very rapidly now.

While radical Muslims are killing Christians in other parts of the world, we Americans are killing one another in our own country, sometimes on a grand scale. Some of these killers are mentally challenged young men with a hateful agenda, as in the case of the shooting in El Paso, Texas, recently. This young man just wanted to kill Mexicans, or so he says. Then there was a follow-up mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio. Next came a mass shooting in Garfield Park in Chicago, and this is a place where gun control is in force. Over the weekend, four people were shot dead and forty wounded by gunfire as well.

Every day now, people are being killed because of their faith in Christ in other countries, so much so that hardly anyone notices anymore.

Satan has a way of making people act out their hate, misunderstanding and/or anger with a killing spree. On top of that, today with all the confusion in society and within the church, many young people find no reason for being and are committing suicide by the droves; and it all boils down to our overt Godlessness in a secular money- and sex-driven society.

It has been recommended – make that insisted – by the left that all guns should be confiscated from all citizens. It seems that they think guns kill people on their own, but it is people who kill people by any and all means; and if our guns were to be confiscated, there would be no way to protect our family and friends should the government decide to herd them into concentration camps or to kill them.

Believe it or not, Jesus told His Apostles to “Sell your cloak and buy a sword,” and we all know what a sword is used for – to protect oneself. There are just too many tyrants in government to believe giving them our guns would placate them. Such was the Nazi regime, and so American citizens are arming themselves to the teeth in anticipation of another mass shooting, and who can blame them?

Satan has us running scared, yet few people give credence to his existence or the Word of God that spells these things out in detail; many people think of the Bible as fairytales, and so they discount it. Thus, we have become ignorant of the warnings contained therein, and we fail to get our lives in order. The word of God says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.”

On another front, Jeffrey Epstein, the consummate pedophile, hung himself with a bedsheet while being held in jail to face judgment. What a coincidence to have someone who had the goods on so many powerful people and who could blackmail them with secret recordings of their salacious behavior at any time. This seems to be the modus–operandi of these perverts – blackmail.

There will, by all rights, be many others among those implicated in high crimes and misdemeanors, as there is yet another investigation going on in the justice department among FBI agents and political leaders. This could bring about yet more suicides by people who can’t or won’t admit guilt against the youth of American society.

Even the Boy Scouts of America is coming under investigation for such crimes. Pedophilia has taken root in all parts of our society, but these perverts will ultimately have to answer for their folly. God would say to such, “Be sure your sins will find you out.”

On the other extreme, even when we lie against our neighbor, we will have to give account for it, since God looks at it as character assassination (murder) – as in the rift in our church caused by a few ungodly men or women masquerading as Christians. We’ve been warned about such men as “having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.” I’ve almost decided to stick it out with my divided church, but it will be hard to reconcile my differences with men inclined to treat the church as a corporation rather than a place of worship and loving one another.

I know this all sounds pretty harsh for those who have only dabbled in the scriptures; but if we are to believe some loftier scripture verses, then we must believe all of scripture – as it is stated therein: “Every word of God proves true,” no matter who questions them, and the people that murder and promote murder will have to answer for their evil deeds before the throne of God.

On another more uplifting note:

I just finished watching the fully restored classic movie “The Ten Commandments” by Cecil B. DeMille, and the color and sound are crisp and clear and better than the original which I saw as a youngster in Lansing, Michigan. I, of course, found it at the public library – my favorite haunt besides my mission station – the Naples Pier.

If a young person were to view this cinematic masterpiece, it might open their mind to believe the truth of the scriptures, and especially in the findings of archeologists that prove that the Exodus did really happen. Images are powerful and stories can be exciting, especially in this context.

Viewing this wonderful movie again served to remind me of the enormity of God and His provision as well as the laws He imposed upon us for our own good. It also made me aware of His infinite power and prompted me to think about how that (unless we’ve been redeemed by the blood of Christ) we must give account to the Almighty at the Great White Throne Judgment.

YBIC

Jim Towers

You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com or visit my web site at www.propheticsignsandwonders.com You can also visit www.dropzonedelta.com – warriors following Christ.