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  FIRE OF HEAVEN

  BILL MYERS

  PRAISE FOR BILL MYERS

  The God Hater

  “When one of the most creative minds I know gets the best idea he’s ever had and turns it into a novel, it’s fasten-your-seat-belt time. This one will be talked about for a long time.”

  —Jerry B. Jenkins, author of Left Behind

  “An original masterpiece. The God Hater re-opens our eyes to God’s absolute justice and His unfathomable love.”

  —Dr. Kevin Leman, bestselling author of Have a New Kid by Friday

  “If you enjoy white-knuckle, page-turning suspense, with a brilliant blend of cutting-edge apologetics, The God Hater will grab you for a long, long time.”

  —Beverly Lewis, NY Times bestselling author

  “I’ve never seen a more powerful and timely illustration of the incarnation. Bill Myers has a way of making the Gospel accessible and relevant to readers of all ages. I highly recommend this book.”

  —Terri Blackstock, NY Times bestselling author

  “A brilliant novel that feeds the mind and heart, The God Hater belongs at the top of your reading list.”

  —Angela Hunt, NY Times bestselling author

  “The God Hater is a rare combination that is both entertaining and spiritually provocative. It has a message of deep spiritual significance that is highly relevant for these times.”

  —Paul Cedar, Chairman Mission America Coalition Angel of Wrath

  “Bill Myers is a genius. Not only is ANGEL OF WRATH full of engaging characters and heart-stopping suspense, but underneath it explores thoughts and truths that will keep you pondering long after the book is closed.”

  —Lee Stanley, producer, Gridiron Gang, The Voice

  “A crisp, express-train read featuring 3D characters, cinematic settings and action, and, as usual, a premise I wish I’d thought of. Succeeds splendidly! Two thumbs up!”

  —Frank E. Peretti, author

  “Nonstop action and a brilliantly crafted young heroine will keep readers engaged as this adventure spins to its thought-provoking conclusion. This book explores the intriguing concept of God’s power as not only the creator of the universe, but as its very essence.”

  —Kris Wilson, CBA Magazine

  “It’s a real ‘what if?’ book with plenty of thrills…that will definitely create questions all the way to its thought-provoking finale. The success of Myers’s stories is a sweet combination of a believable storyline, intense action, and brilliantly crafted, yet flawed characters.”

  —Dale Lewis, TitleTrakk.com

  The Face of God

  “Strong writing, edgy…replete with action…”

  —Publishers Weekly

  Fire of Heaven

  “I couldn’t put the Fire of Heaven down. Bill Myers’s writing is crisp, fast-paced, provocative…Avery compelling story.”

  —Francine Rivers Siddons, author

  Blood of Heaven

  “With the chill of a Robin Cook techno-thriller and the spiritual depth of a C.S. Lewis allegory, this book is a fast-paced, action packed thriller.”

  —Angela Elwell Hunt, author

  “Now this is innovative. Bill Myers has played the game of ‘what if?’—creating a compelling story of grace triumphing over judgment…A bold new twist on an age-old theme. Blood of Heaven is an enjoyable and provocative read. I wish I’d thought of it!”

  —Frank Peretti, author

  Eli

  “The always surprising Myers has written another clever and provocative tale.”

  —Booklist

  “With this thrilling and ominous tale Myers continues to shine brightly in speculative fiction based upon Biblical truth. Highly recommended.”

  —Library Journal

  “Myers weaves a deft, affecting tale.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  Soul Tracker

  “Soul Tracker provides a treat for previous fans of the author, but also a fitting introduction to those unfamiliar with his work. I’d recommend the book to anyone, initiated or not. But be careful to check your expectations at the door…it’s not what you think it is.”

  —Brian Reaves, Fuse magazine

  “Thought provoking and touching, this imaginative tale blends elements of science fiction with Christian theology.”

  —Library Journal

  “Myers strikes deep into the heart of eternal truth with this imaginative first book of the Soul Tracker series. Readers will be eager for more.”

  —Romantic Times Magazine

  The Seeing

  “Bill Myers’ novel…compels the reader to burn through the pages. Cliff-hangers abound and the stakes are raised higher and higher as the story progresses—intense, action-shocking twists!”

  —TitleTrakk.com

  “An entertaining novel, Bill Myers’ The Seeing is a great reminder of spiritual warfare and the impact of choices and is reminiscent of Frank Peretti’s This Present Darkness.”

  —IDealinHope.com

  When the Last Leaf Falls

  “A wonderful novella…Any parent will warm to the humorous reminiscences and the loving exasperation of this father for his strong-willed daughter…Compelling characters and fresh, vibrant anecdotes of one family’s faith journey.”

  —Publishers Weekly

  OTHER WORKS BY BILL MYERS

  The God Hater

  Angel of Wrath

  The Voice

  The Wager

  Soul Tracker

  The Presence

  The Seeing

  The Face of God

  When the Last Leaf Falls

  Eli

  Blood of Heaven

  Threshold

  Fire of Heaven

  The Bloodstone Chronicles (children’s fantasy series)

  McGee and Me (children’s book/video series)

  The Incredible Worlds of Wally McDoogle (children’s comedy series)

  Blood Hounds Inc. (children’s mystery series)

  Secret Agent Dingledorf and his trusty dog, SPLAT (children’s comedy series)

  Faith Encounter (teen devotional)

  Forbidden Doors (teen series)

  For the Bride, that she may be presented without spot, blemish, or wrinkle

  PREFACE

  I wanted to try something different with this book. And I figured I should warn you up front so if you’re reading this in a store you can slip it back on the shelf before it’s too late, or if you’re already at home you can race back and get a refund before the pages get bent.

  My point is … this book is not for everybody.

  First of all, I wanted to try to write Christian fiction. Not just entertainment that you expect to be moral or that has a Christian theme. I wanted to write a piece of Christian fiction for Christians. Something that begins with what we already believe about God and explores Him from there. Something for the disciples after the crowds have been entertained and gone home. Something that assumes exploring God’s truths (some may call these portions preachy) can be just as engaging as the fastest car chase or steamy romance scene. So if you’re looking for some good, old-fashioned, escapist entertainment, go ahead and slip this back on the shelf, no hard feelings. Maybe we’ll connect the next time around.

  Also, despite what you may have thought, this is not an end-times prophecy book. My purpose is not to expound upon end-time events. Lots of other books out there claim to have those answers. This isn’t one of them. In fact, I’d be surprised if any end-times happenings unfolded the way they’re depicted here. That wasn’t my purpose. I wanted to explore end-times themes, not events. I wanted to touch upon end-times teaching as Christ might have when talking to his disciples.
It seems nearly every time they asked him for the ear-tickling details, he gave a few generalities and then used the opportunity to springboard into a deeper truth. Instead of getting their flesh worked up and excited about the mark of the beast, or the timing of the Rapture, or who the Antichrist will be, he usually went for a deeper, spiritual truth … like encouraging them to be ready.

  That’s what I’ve tried to do here. The rest is just backdrop, a little scenery that we may or may not see along the way to his Second Coming. As I’ve said, if you want a clearly marked road map, hundreds of other books claim to know the way. All I want to do with this one is to challenge us to examine our hearts as we make that journey.

  As I did in Threshold I need to briefly mention the gender of the two end-times witnesses. According to the Greek experts, if these two witnesses are actually people, then one definitely must be male. However, there is nothing in the original language that prevents the other from being female.

  And now finally, to the thanks…

  First of all my deepest appreciation goes to a friend who wishes to remain anonymous. She prayed every day for the book, from its research, through the outlining, and during the actual writing. There were days she fasted, and nearly every day my e-mail had an encouraging word of Scripture from her. No writer could have been more blessed, and in many ways this book is as much the fruit of her labor as it is mine.

  There was also that woman from Ohio (I don’t think she ever told me her name) who, on the most critical day of the book, tracked my phone number down and called up to say she’d been led to pray and fast for me.

  Special thanks also to Dale Brown who made this book much better; as well as to Rolland and Rena Petrello; Dr. Craig Cameron and his wife, Sue; Geog Pflueger for his hospitality in Jerusalem; Oswald Chambers for the “powder of contriteness” quote; Tina Schuman; Scott and Rebecca Janney; my research assistant, Doug McIntosh; James Riordan; John Tolle; Gary Smith; the incredible folks at Zondervan; Susan Richardson and the staff at For Heaven’s Sake; Lissa Halls Johnson; Vince Crunk; Erdogan, my guide in Turkey; Carla Williams; Diane Komp, M.D.; Tony Myles; Francine Rivers; Lyn Marzulli; Greg Johnson; and always to Brenda, Nicole, and Mackenzie.

  “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.” These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if anyone would desire to harm them, in this manner he must be killed. These have the power to shut up the sky, in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on earth will rejoice over them and make merry; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. And after the three and a half days the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were beholding them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

  Revelation 11:3 – 13 NASB

  PROLOGUE

  KATHERINE LYON WASN’T SURE if she’d heard her son scream or if she’d dreamed it. It didn’t matter. She flung off the coarse wool blankets and hit the cold stones of the floor running.

  There it was again. Faint, distant, but impossible to miss. It was her son and he was screaming. Katherine grabbed her robe, raced to the wooden plank door, and threw it open. The first traces of pink reflected off the snow-covered mountaintops and filtered into the courtyard. Dawn was about to break, but she barely noticed. She turned left and ran across the second-story balcony toward the men’s quarters. Once again she cursed the fact that they were separated. But Eric was thirteen now. The thickening fuzz on his face and his unsteady voice made it clear he was entering manhood. And segregation in the compound was expected, demanded.

  Then there was the other matter … the growing number of devotees who insisted upon calling him Master, or in some cases, God. Somehow it didn’t seem fitting for God to continue rooming with his mother.

  The two of them had been on their own for eleven years now. The first seven after Gary, her husband, was shot in the line of duty. The rest after Michael Coleman, a close friend, had laid down his life for them — but not before accidentally infecting Eric with a special DNA.

  A DNA that many believed to come from the blood of Christ.

  Katherine passed two young women wearing sandals and loose colorful pants called punjabis. As disciples who were privileged to live within the compound, their joy, their pleasure, was to serve Eric and members of the Cartel. And they did so with unwavering devotion. Even now they carried pujaas, plates of colored rice and flowers, as an offering that would soon find its way outside Eric’s quarters.

  Initially, she and Eric had tried to shun the adoration. But their attempts were only mistaken as humility, which only offered more proof of his godhood. This along with his uncanny insight into other people’s thoughts continued to deepen his followers’ reverence. People talked, rumors spread, and the harder Katherine tried to clear the record, the greater the worship grew.

  Breathing heavily, she reached the men’s section. She rounded the corner and nearly ran into an armed guard stationed outside Eric’s door. He was military but not from Nepal. No surprise there. More and more countries were offering their services in order to court the Cartel’s favor. The soldier was simply one of a rotating group of international representatives. Southeast Asian, the best she could tell.

  “What do you want?” His accent was thick. He was new and obviously unnerved from the screaming inside.

  “I am the boy’s mother,” Katherine said, trying to catch her breath. Despite the number of months living here in the Himalayas, she had never entirely adjusted to the thinness of the air. She started for the door, but he blocked her path. She looked up, glaring at him. “My son is having a nightmare. If you don’t let me in, you may bring his displeasure upon you.” She took another gulp of air. “And I’m sure neither of us wants that, do we?”

  It was a ploy she used more and more often. And, given Eric’s recent outbursts of anger, it usually worked. Changes were happening with her son just as they had with their friend Michael Coleman. Although Eric’s supernatural powers continued to grow, the tender mercy and compassion he’d once exhibited had begun to die. The deterioration that Coleman had fought in himself was now happening to her son. It was all Eric could do to control his hostility … an unfortunate reversal and not-so-minor side effect of man trying to reproduce the genes of God.

  There was another scream. Muffled this time, almost whimpering. Katherine’s gaze remained fixed on the guard. She would not back down.

  He shifted again, glancing around the courtyard, obviously hoping for someone to rescue him. But there was only Katherine. He took another breath, swallowed, then finally nodded and stepped aside.

  Katherine brushed past him and threw open the door.

  The room was several times larger than hers — an eclectic mixture of East meets West. Saffron silk drapes here, the latest computers and monitors stacked over there. A giant, blue-skinned Krishna statue leaned against one plastered wall, while posters of
the latest rock idols were taped on another. And there, writhing and tossing in the giant four-poster bed, was young Eric.

  Katherine raced to him, scooping him into her arms. He was still asleep and whimpered slightly until she began to rock him.

  “Shh, now, shhh… ”

  Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, clinging to her as he had when he was a baby. Emotion rose deep within Katherine, tightening her throat and making it ache. She’d read once that there was no love more pure than a mother for her child. She agreed. Despite his outbursts, despite the embarrassments he caused, he was her son. He would always be her son.

  “It’s okay,” she whispered hoarsely as they continued to rock. “It’s just a dream, it’s okay.”

  He stirred, then opened his eyes.

  She kissed the top of his head. “Was it Heylel?” she whispered. “Did he show you something scary again?”

  Eric gave no response but turned his head and continued to cling.

  Katherine had her answer. Originally, she had been wary of Heylel’s appearances to her son. But after listening to half a dozen experts on the subject who insisted Eric was communicating with his guardian angel or a spirit guide, and after reading another dozen books extolling the benefits of such communication, Katherine had begun to relax … a little. As an embittered preacher’s kid who was toying with returning to the faith, she could find nothing wrong with her son’s experiences. Wasn’t the Bible chock-full of angels speaking and directing people? Why should Eric, with his heightened sensitivity to the supernatural, experience anything less?

  Heylel was careful never to reveal his exact identity. But, because of his piercing insight into political situations and the absolute accuracy of his predictions — which he communicated to the Cartel through Eric — several thought he might be the departed spirit of some military genius, perhaps Napoleon or Alexander the Great. Those with a vivid imagination suggested Eric could be channeling some wise and benevolent alien from another planet, while many with a more scientific bent suggested that Heylel was merely a subconscious extension of Eric’s own supernatural giftedness.