The DVD

Rev. Johns sat in his office, looking out his window at the massive acreage he owned as pastor of The Way church, a mega church of evangelicals. He watched as members of his board of directors piled into their cars before driving off. Bill Johns smiled to himself, as the last car left the parking lot. He swiveled around in his big leather chair, pulled a small key from his vest pocket, and unlocked the drawer on the left side of his mahogany desk, and pulled out a fifth of scotch. He twisted off the cap, and lifted the bottle to his lips and drank deeply. An hour later, he had finished the bottle, and stood up to leave. He was reaching for his briefcase, when he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his left arm. The pain quickly rose up his arm and before he could sit back down, he felt a pain in his chest. He grabbed his arm and keeled over.

Bill opened his eyes, and stared unblinking at the bright light above him. Where was he? He suddenly remembered the pain he felt in his office, so he tried to move his head to see if he was still at the church. Suddenly, a figure loomed above him. Bill struggled to identify the person staring at him. "You died," the figure said softly. "You had a heart attack in your office, and now you are here with me." Bill was stunned. Died? No way. He wasn't ready, he was only forty-eight. How could he possibly be dead? Then a thought struck him. I'm in heaven. I made it to heaven. Rev Johns grinned up at the figure before him. "Father, I'm here with you, thank you God." The figure above him laughed. "Yes, I'm your Father, but please, don't insult me by calling me God." The figure bent down closer to Rev. Johns and smiled into his face. "Welcome to hell."

Bill sat up and looked at Satan. His mouth fell open. He looked around, and sure enough he was in the pits of hell. The bright light he had saw was the glow of Satan's red eyes glaring at him. Rev. Johns shook his head slowly from side to side. He was dreaming, he was having a nightmare. He closed his eyes, prayed, and then opened them again and Satan was still hovering over him smiling. Tears ran down Rev. Bill Johns face. "How did I get here? I'm a born again Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit. I'm the Shepard over a large flock for the Lord. How did I end up down here with you?" Satan threw back his head and laughed. He loved these types of moments. He had won. He loved winning. "I came this close to losing you to Him," Satan said as he snarled and glanced briefly towards the heavens. "Then, I asked Him, if I could sift you. I knew your weakness, and once you started raking in the big bucks with that big old mega church of yours, I knew you would eventually be mine." Satan threw back his head and laughed again. Bill couldn't believe it. He had served God faithfully for years, why was he forsaken? Satan grinned down at him again. " He thought you would have some questions about how you ended up here, so he was kind enough to send you this dvd. Satan handed Bill a dvd. "There's a TV in that corner, I will give you some privacy." Satan left the room chuckling.
Bill got out of the bed, and went over to the television and inserted the dvd into the player. He sat in a chair across from the television, picked up the remote and clicked it on. His mouth fell open when Jesus appeared on the screen. He was looking very sad. " I'm here to answer all your questions." Rev. Johns stared at the screen in disbelief. "You can hear me?" Jesus nodded his head. "Bill stared at the face on the screen. "Why?" he asked quietly,"why did I end up here? I served you for all of my adult life, I'm born again, and filled with the Holy Spirit, how could I have ended up here?" Jesus stared at the man sadly. " In the beginning your heart was pure and full of love. You served me faithfully, a good steward. But when I answered your prayer for increase and to enlarge your church, you still, in your heart wanted to save souls for my Kingdom. But as your church continued to grow, and your tithes increased, instead of you taking the money and feeding the poor, housing the homeless, you decided to seek more adulation and praise from the world. I had no problem with you selling your books, because your books were telling my truths, I had no problem with you being on television, speaking the gospel, and telling My truth, but then you decided to enter into politics, which is not of Me. That is of the world. And you misled your flock by following someone who said he knew Me, and he didn't." Rev. Johns shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "But he said he was a born again Christian, and he said You told him that You wanted him to be president. You told him to go to war. I believed him, I trusted him." Jesus sadly shook his head." I told you : If it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.(Matt 24:24) I told you to test the spirits. You should have known that if he couldn't quote My Word, he is not my sheep. You failed to feed the hungry, provide shelter for the homeless, and when you and the rest of those so called Christian evangelicals didn't speak up about the incompetence of the last administration after hurricane Katrina, and the hate that the city of Gretna La showed when they refused to allow the victims who were wet, hungry and exhausted to come into their city for help. Where was the outcry from the evangelicals then? Do you not know my Word: "For I was hungred, and ye gave me meat,I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink, I was a stranger, and ye took me in. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Rev. Johns lowered his head in shame. Jesus looked on him with pity, and continued." You knew, and you did not. When my stewards exposed the lies of this administration, did you come out and renounce this president? No, you continued to go along with this deception, because you were afraid that it would hurt your finances, yes, many would have left the church, but what do you benefit if you gained the whole world, but lose your own soul?(Mark 8:36). Rev. Johns began to weep. He was so convicted. He knew Jesus spoke the truth. Bill knew he had exchanged his soul for power.(Mark 8:37). "I'm so sorry, Father, please forgive me," he wept. Jesus continued: "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall I be ashamed. (Mark 8:38)
The television went black. Rev Bill Johns sat and wept for hours, he knew he had failed. He failed himself, his family, his congregation and his God. He slipped out of the chair, and fell prostrate on the floor, and began wailing and moaning. He didn't hear the door open, or see the two large demons approaching him. They picked him up, and carried him to his pit.