The Offer

WARNING: This story may contain religious bias. My view of the events have been influenced by my religion. Please don't read it if you think you may be offended.

My name is Luke. I am a Christian. The reason I state that first is because I believe this event that happened in my life is because of my faith. If you do not agree with me in that respect, that is fine. And with that, the story begins.

At the age of 20, I received Jesus Christ as my Savior. The denomination I belong to and believe the teachings of is the Independent Baptist movement. Being a Baptist, I believe in angels and devils (although most people would call them demons. I use the word devils because the King James Bible does). I believe in guardian angels and I also believe that devils are drawn to various symbols of the occult.

Shortly after I was saved (Christian term for receiving Jesus as Savior), I began to research the occult. I did this in order to find out more about it so that I could possibly reach people who were caught up with it, as I believe it is a dangerous practice. The following events are factual as far as I remember them and have told them to many people since they occurred.

In 2001, shortly after my salvation, I began to read through various non canon books, mainly in search of information regarding some of the pagan beliefs of Roman Catholicism. The Shepherd of Hermes, the Book of Enoch, Maccabees etc. I didn't really find much of what I was looking for (which I ended up finding later in the Council of Trent, but that story has no ramifications here). I did however, find many things to do with devils and angels, and the judgment of the former. This lead to me researching various people such as Aleister Crowley.

Many people would know Crowley as being one of the main movers and shakers in the New Age movement, along with Westcott, Hort and Blavatsky. To this day, I wish I had never researched these people, in particular, Blavatsky and Crowley. It seems that even mentioning their names draws the interest of other worldly phenomena. I hope that I may manage to type these words out without being consumed with the fear that has previously taken me at times.

During my times of research, I would pray for protection, which thankfully, God provided. However, their are occasions in the Bible where God allows devils to torment His people. Consider Paul the apostle, who was buffeted (or beaten) by a messenger of Satan, allowed by God, in order to keep Paul humble and reliant on God. A Christian cannot be possessed or killed by a devil, but he or she can definitely be tormented and harassed.

The nights are generally warm in Australia. Even in winter, I can usually get away with sleeping only under a sheet or single thin blanket. I had just taken myself to bed after reading more about the occult. I noticed the coldness immediately. Icy. The uneasiness that surrounded me prevented me from taking a foot outside my room into the dark hallway leading to the linen cupboard. I could have easily walked to get more blankets, but I was kept in that bed by fear that night. I sleep with my door open, yet keep all the lights off (I am not afraid of the dark), to allow the air to circulate through my room, otherwise I wake with my nose and throat being very dry. Tonight was no different. As I drifted off into a light sleep, I remembered that I had not talked with God in some time. The uneasiness enveloped me as I attempted to keep myself warm under the single sheet.

I awoke. The light in the living room was on. I heard the sound of a mug being put down onto the breakfast bar. I hear this noise often at night and usually put it down to my mother finishing her hot chocolate before bedtime. I glanced at my watch with the glow in the dark hands. Quarter past one in the morning. Too late for my mother to be awake still. I knew the lights were out when I went to sleep. I can't sleep if they are on. I heard the cup being put down on the bench again. The lights in the living room went out. A chill went down my neck, and once again, I realized the iciness of room I was in. This is where things got scary. And by scary, I mean absolutely terrifying.

The house was silent, which is unusual, since you can usually hear the fridge running, or crickets outside, or SOMETHING, but there was nothing but silence. Despite the silence, I knew that I was about to come face to face with something I had no desire to meet. I waited. The darkness was darker than it had ever been before. I knew that something was moving towards me in the black ocean surrounding me. My heart was racing. It was right in front of me. I couldn't see it, but I could sense that it was there.

A whisper.

"Luke"

Eyes. Open. Teeth. Lips. A Dress. No arms. No legs. Long black hair. Pale, white skin. Beautiful. Terrifying. Girl.

I know what you are thinking. Girl with long black hair and white skin. I must have seen the ring and I am having a nightmare right? Wrong. This was 2001. The ring hadn't come out yet and I had never even seen the asian version of it. This was the real deal.

She stood there, floating in front of me. I knew she would not harm me, but I also knew she was malevolent. The dress was similar to a christening dress that children wear when they are baptized (although, being a baptist, I don't believe that infant baptism is a biblical practice).

More whispering. Hoarse throat, deep, definitely not female. Very guttural.

"Luke"

"Power"

"You can have it"

"I will prove to you that I am powerful"

"You can have real power, RIGHT NOW"

"Wake up".

I awoke. Far out! The entire thing was a dream. A few seconds pass with me gasping for air, relieved that I had been dreaming the entire time. Then I noticed. The light in the kitchen was on. A whisper again.

"watch"

I waited a second, closed my eyes, and braced for what I could sense was coming. Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes again, and stood up, intending to turn the light off in the kitchen. As soon as I stood up, the light went out. My alarm went off. The timer on the oven in the kitchen went off. The smoke alarms sounded. I frantically smashed at my wall, trying to find the light switch. I hit it but the lights did not turn on. I ran out into the kitchen, which was illuminated in a dull green due to the flashing timer light from the oven, and located the kitchen light. No luck there either. I opened the fridge, hoping to use the light in there, but the light in the fridge was not working. None of the light switches were working.

I ran upstairs, fully intending to wake my parents and tell them that our house is possessed by a devil, but as I got to the top of the stairs, I got a grip of myself. They were awake however, due to all the alarms in the house sounding, and told me that it was a power shortage, and it would be over soon. I walked back down, and went to the front door. We always keep my keys in the door on the inside in the case of a fire, so I knew where they were that night. I opened the door and went outside, and around the side to the main switchboard. Dad is an electrician and has showed me how this works before. I figured, okay, maybe a shortage did happen, or something tripped the lights, and it's all a coincidence.

As I open the switchboard cover, I make a horrifying discovery. ALL of the power is off in the house. The way our house is setup means that if the electrical outlets cause a trip, the lights will still work, or if a light fuse blows, the power outlets still work. In this case, all of the safety switches were in the off position, meaning that NO power at all was going to the house. The kitchen alarm was ringing without any electricity going to it. And it has no battery backup. The smoke alarms do run on batteries, but that doesn't explain why they sounded the same time as the kitchen timer did, without any smoke around.

I proceeded to switch the safety switches back to on. As I switched the last one over, I could hear that the alarms had stopped.

I went back inside, convinced that a devil had just attempted to offer me immediate power, that was physical, tangible, instead of the power that Jesus Christ offers, which is victory over sin and death. I prayed a lot that night for protection.