Timothy J. Pruitt's Blog, page 442

140 Mile Stretch: Flying Blind

It had been seventy two hours, and they had been costly. ‘Oscar Minnix’ was holding the gun. “Let me tell you a story, one about a young couple in love. They were agents for project Skylark. His name, at least his cover name, was Oscar Minnix.”

“Her cover name was Elyse, she loved him very much. Their mission was to secure a local politician who was a target. They saved his life, but he turned out to be corrupt. We found that out on a supply train that carried the stolen medical supplies from his own charity initiative.”

“The man raised this very gun to kill Elyse, Oscar pushed her to safety. He died in her arms. Elyse killed the man, then cradled her husband, they had married secretly on this mission. They couldn’t tell Walter, he wouldn’t allow it.”

“Walter didn’t allow a lot of things, except corruption. It turns out, he knew about the train, and the stolen supplies. When Elyse confronted him, he explained that it was necessary.”

Walter spoke up, clutching his wound. “I explained Virginia, that, we would have gotten the supplies back, after he signed the agreement.” The wild eyed, heart broken mastermind of the revenge plot almost screamed. “You could have told us, we would have waited.”

Cameron interrupted, “We don’t have much time, and neither do you. This plane is going to explode, and it will start a chain reaction through time. Let us stop this.” “No, it isn’t. This plane is historic, isn’t it Phyllis? Of course ‘Phyllis’ isn’t your real name, no more than ‘Virginia’ is mine. In our business, nothing is real, is it?”

“You like history Tom, here’s what the Internet says. Air Mail was formally established as a new class of service by the United States Post Office Department on May 15, 1918, with the inauguration of the Washington-Philadelphia-New York route. That is of course the plane were standing in.”

“It’s also the perfect transmitter to relay your series of explosions. You’re going to use it to scatter explosions through time aren’t you?” “Oh yes, of course you know I can’t transmit from Washington to Washington, but I can from New York. We’re in the vicinity of the flatiron building, it made a great scrambler until you destroyed it. It also will help me boost this signal.”

“How does Tom’s Grandfather figure in?” Walter asked. Virginia laughed. “I had the unfortunate luck to end up in Moscow, Pennsylvania on my first test run. A very young man then, your Grandfather helped me figure out how to get back, and how to control it. We learned together. Of course, he didn’t know what I was planning until it was too late.”

Tom swallowed hard. “Why didn’t you kill him?” “I should have, but I was sentimental. I liked him, he was a friend, so I threatened his family. I made him promise that he wouldn’t reveal my identity. He gave me his word on that. The trouble is, he was smart.”

Now Tom laughed. “He told me everything but who you were. Of course, he gave me enough clues. He changed the fake name of your company’s CEO from Oscar Minnix to Olivia Minnix in my research. Tell me, what did he hide, what are you looking for?”

“I’m sorry, you won’t get to hear that, it’s time for you all to ….” She wasn’t allowed to finish her sentence. Virginia dropped the gun as electricity riddled her body. She slumped to the floor, as Cameron seized the gun. Tom looked at the person behind her holding the taser. It was his Grandfather, “Hello Tom.”

They spent the next few hours dismantling Virginia’s machinery. “This one was meant for the Whittaker White House. She blamed him, and his chief of staff, for her husband’s death. They were Walter’s second and third in command on Skylark. She was going to eliminate myself and our family in Pennsylvania. That would stop me from stopping her.”

“What about North Africa?” “The current leader of the country in North Africa where this all started is visiting New York. His Vice President, her friend Razi, would be the new leader upon the President’s death. He would use the massive fortune from their newly discovered resources to back Virginia’s hand picked Presidential candidate.”

Tom made the connection. “He’s the guy with the dyed hair claiming to be Minnix isn’t he?” “That’s right. Who wouldn’t elect a modern Edison that ‘invented’ time travel. Along with his Wife, a former CIA operative, Virginia ‘Minnix’.” “So Grandpa, what did you hide, and where?”

Now, his Grandfather laughed. “My version of her scrambler. She knew I was out there, and would try to stop her. If she tried to set off an explosion I’d jam it as soon as the surge was detected. What she didn’t know, is where I hid it.”

“That’s where her complexity worked against her. She reasoned I gave it to you, or to Cameron. He and I met by the way, at President Lincoln’s White House. I had him retrieve some records from another White House to secure the evidence on Virginia before she destroyed record of that North Africa train ride.”

“Where did you hide it?” Cameron asked. “Simple, in the plane’s engine. The very vehicle she had planned on using, I was going to use to stop her. I knew she’d want to take out Reynolds herself. That’s what brought her down, her own vengeance.”

Phyllis had taken Walter home to get medical attention, he would live to go back into hiding. More ‘Oscars’ were out there. “What will you do Grandpa?” “Live the life that God intended for me. I plan on, with His help, living it right the first time, that way, there’s no need to travel through time. I suggest you both do the same.”

Tom hugged him, and he and Cameron traveled home. Once there, Tom retired from politics. He realized, not only did he not want to be President, he wanted to teach. He joined a local college as an adjunct, teaching agriculture and surprisingly drama. It seemed the college’s acting professor had been arrested. Tom would fill in for Sykes.

Cameron was assigned as the new head of a retooled Project Skylark. Their new mission, to preserve the time line. Allowing people to do as Tom’s Grandfather had said. To live their lives, hopefully the right way the first time, without risk of temporary temporal manipulation.

PruittWrites Facebook Page

Storm Of Mercy

Job 37: 9-13

9 Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north.

10 By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened.

11 Also by watering He wearieth the thick cloud: He scattereth his bright cloud:

12 And it is turned round about by His counsels: that they may do whatsoever He commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth.

13 He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy.

Job said many things in his book, and some of them were wondrous, like when he said, “I know that my Redeemer liveth”. Also, when he said, “In my flesh I shall see God.” There is one thing that Job didn’t say, and that was “Lord, please deliver me”, or “Please save me from this trial.” The words save, and deliver are mentioned more than once in the book, but not in that context.

Elihu sits and listens to Job and his three friends for several chapters, and then he begins to speak. In Job 37:11, he says something very important. He states that the ‘bright cloud’, or storm, comes for three reasons.

The storm arrives either for correction, for His land, or for mercy. Some battles are for correction, and thank God, for rescuing us from a much greater and eternal storm of judgment. Others are for His land, some battles are for the growth of The Church. Calvary was very much a personal battle, in the sense of Christ suffering alone, but it was a corporate battle for the Salvation of man. It, and the last of three sparked this article, the storm of mercy.

To you and I, a storm isn’t about the rain, it’s about the thunder, lightning, and the lighting. As kids, we played in rain showers, but most of us hid in storms. The difference was the conditions surrounding the rain. These were the darkness, the lightning that repelled it, and the thunder that broke the silence.

A Heavenly action touches Earth to cause a natural reaction. Tweet This

We know that the thunder represents God’s voice, and that the lightning represents His movement, or the movement of His instruments. The two work hand in hand in the Heavens to produce something in the Earth. A Heavenly action touches Earth to cause a natural reaction.

A good friend of mine, Lucian Linkous, explained to me recently that lightning produces nitrogen. This acts as a fertilizer to cause things to grow. Scientists say that the sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces a sonic expansion. This expansion, much like a sonic boom, causes thunder. Pressure and intensity therefore produce a sound, a cry if you will.

When we are going through our trial, and we cry out to God, He will answer us. The problem is that often, we mistake the answer as just the noise of the storm. The lightning isn’t meant to scare us, but to cause growth in both the Christian, and the Church. At times, trials are long, and they are so dark, but then God moves, not to end the trial, but to give us relief from the darkness.

What we think is the noise of the battle, often is God responding to our cry. They say that in history, when the Apostle Peter was forced to watch his wife dying on a cross before his death, he did something. He yelled out, “Remember Christ.” He was saying, “In the midst of your pain, remember His Sacrifice. He is with us in the agony that we face.” God is neither silent to our pain, or ignoring of our sorrows.

The trouble is, as humans, we are more in tune with the darkness than with the thunder. As a child, darkness scared me less than thunder and lightning. I would hide my face from the lightning, but I couldn’t ignore the thunder. As a man, I can now say, rejoice in the thunder and rebuke the darkness.

Light is God’s plan for His Church, not darkness. From the beginning, we were made to hear His voice, and not the silence of being without Him. That all changed after the fall, yet God returned things to normal at Calvary. Was there darkness at Calvary? Yes, six hours of it, but the same God who created the worlds raged against it. He did this all while nailed to a cross. He thundered “It is finished.”

His lightning, or His actions, not only saved the world, but rescued a thief. A man who’s business had been darkness, that’s when a thief works. He existing by becoming one with the darkness. The lightning was not his friend, it hampered his movements. The thunder no doubt unnerved his stillness. Now, it was dark again, but this time, it couldn’t help him, it was time to try the opposite.

In Luke 23:39, he turns to The One that had, in Luke 23:34, just five verse before said this, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” I’ve often wondered what changed the thief, because the other Gospels explain that he began mocking like the other thief. I think it was this verse that changed him.

If you had told that thief, at any time in the past, that the greatest day of his life would be this day, he would have laughed. Tweet This

In the same verse that Jesus said this, it records the soldiers parting His raiment. Christ forgave, essentially the equivalent of a personal mugging, in the throes of death. What if, this act of forgiveness, was what gave the thief hope that The True God Of Thunder could forgive him?

If you had told that thief, at any time in the past, that the greatest day of his life would be this day, he would have laughed. Now, I can say confidently, he would not have traded this day for all the others. The pain of a wooden cross was nothing compared to the redemption that he experienced.

Job’s storm wasn’t for correction, it was for the other two reasons. It was for both God’s land, (His Church), and for mercy. It was an example to all who follow after, that the purpose of a storm isn’t to destroy, but to produce. A storm isn’t only about the rain, like the nitrogen, it’s about what can only be produced in a storm.

We purposely skipped over verse 9, “Out of the south cometh the whirlwind:” As I said, the storm isn’t about the rain, it’s about what is produced in it.  For several chapters, Job asked to speak with God.  He failed to ask for rescue, he wanted to know why.  Like us, Job asked an inferior question.  God never answered the inferior one, Job never learned in his book why.

Job 38:1

1 Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

Instead God responded to the better question, He talked with Job.  In the heat of our battle, much like the song, “He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me that I am His own.”, it isn’t about the current need, it’s about the reassurance of our place with Him.

One word from His lips will reveal it’s not a tempest to destroy us, but a storm of mercy to help us grow. Tweet This

The most important thing is who we are talking too.  Friends can bring comfort, or they can bring pain.  We can receive council that will shed light on our situation.  In the end though, only two conversations mattered.  They were the one that the Man Of God had with Job, and the one that God had with Job.

Every service, the Man Of God shares God’s Message with us.  It is our responsibility, and our joy, to follow that up with a daily conversation with Jesus.  Whether in peace, or a raging a storm, a conversation with The Master will transform our battle.  One word from His lips will reveal it’s not a tempest to destroy us, but a storm of mercy to help us grow.

PruittWrites Facebook Page

iPainting: The Winter Palace

We hope you enjoy this watercolor iPainting of Russia’s Winter Palace.

PruittWrites Facebook Page

Acrylic: Tree On A Hill

It’s been a while since we posted an Acrylic.  We hope that you enjoy, “Tree On A Hill”.

PruittWrites Facebook Page

The Italian Hatmaker: The Merchant Men

They crept silently into each tent. The Whispering Merchant had sent them to awaken each king. The Merchant had bought time yesterday by requesting a meeting at noon the next day. Each King had agreed, not knowing what they were in store for. They both awoke to a masked figure sitting in their tents.

The Merchant’s men wore the ‘Merchant’ families’ trademark dark blue colors over their white armor. Each held an orange hilted sword in their hands. The Kings almost ordered the figure in their tent eliminated, until they remembered the stories of the Merchant’s warriors.

It was said they could kill a man while sitting on the ground. Neither royal wanted to know whether or not this was true. “I have tidings from the Merchant. You have angered our family, insulted us, and dishonored our agreements. At noon, your soldiers will face great challenges, unless you appease at the meeting. Meet the Merchant in the blue tent near the water’s edge in an hour, if you want to live.”

Almost as quickly as they had entered, they had left. Each King was shaken, they didn’t want to fight this way. In an hour, they rode to the blue tent that had went up in the night. It was lined, inside and out, with white armored, navy clad warriors, with orange hilted swords.

The King of England spoke first. “Defend yourself Merchant! I have kept my agreement, I suspect so has my cousin the King of France.” The King of France nodded. “His majesty is right, we are both honorable this day.” Then the figure in the middle of the tent laughed.

“The threat of death has brought you both, and the fear of it has reminded you of your connection. Two of three cousins want peace, but the one that matters is the silent one in the room. The Heir Of Alan is also in this tent, and he has convinced me that it is time for an adjustment.”

They were both alarmed now, which is exactly where the ‘Merchant’ wanted them. “Imagine my forces and his soldiers, not to mention all of your unhappy countrymen. What a war that would make, are you each prepared for it?” The two young kings started to draw their swords, only to be surrounded by warriors.

“I would think without your tempers. If I wanted your heads, I would have them. You have both walked into a trap that your fathers would have refused. It shows your youth, and your naivety.” The English king answered angrily. “We didn’t respond blindly, our best soldiers stand beside us, and more are near awaiting our signals.”

“You’ve witnessed my warriors’ ability this morning. Do you think you would live to give the signal?” The King Of France grit his teeth. “What do you want then? A ransom?” The Merchant smiled. “We will take 100 pounds of gold from you both. With it, you each buy peace, and to show your goodwill, you both give up the Princess. My price is the gold, Alan’s price is the hand of the King’s sister.”

The two kings stepped to a corner, a quick truce was formed between them. The price was agreed upon, and they rode off together. No one moved for an hour, until The Merchant’s spies confirmed that the Kings had broken camp.

Sir Robert removed the patches over his eyes, and the wig. Henri, the Princess, Giuseppe, and Ethan removed their helmets. Giuseppe had been the intruder in the English king’s tent, Princess Laurel had been the one in her brother’s tent. Sir Robert and Henri had both secured their entrance with some sleeping powder smoked into the tent hours earlier.

The groggy kings, and their servants were too drugged to attack. “How did you know they would show up?” Ethan asked. “I know my King, Laurel and Henri knew her brother. We attacked their pride, and then chided them with it.” Sir Robert responded.

“Oui, ‘your fathers wouldn’t have made the mistake’ secured it. Still, we had to keep them from getting too angry.” Henri added. “If they had, the two would have fought in spite of the odds. They played them well. What was the part over my hand?” Laurel questioned.

Sir Robert smiled. “Your Highness, I am happily married to a lady that I plan on seeing as soon as I leave here. However, I happen to know an Italian merchant, who sells hats, that needs a partner.” Laurel hugged Sir Robert. “You bought my freedom, thank you!”

Giuseppe shook Sir Robert’s hand. “How can we thank you?” “You can thank me by falling in love, by marrying this young cousin of mine, and producing many children.” They had done just that, and were as happy today as on that day.

The two soldiers of their kings, had each returned half the gold to their country’s coffers. The rest repaired villages, Churches, and fed hungry people in each country.

You’ll notice that neither King is mentioned by name in this story, you’ll also notice that at the start Ethan referred to the fact that Laurel’s father was the king, and not her brother. The reasons are quite simple, they also were part of my one mistake as an agent of Alan.

You see, my name is Ethan, and I have shared this story with you. I was one of two confederates in the camp of Sir Robert. My orders were to protect the Hatmaker at any cost. I never lied to my friend, I just didn’t share the news.

This story is written in my journal, all names, including my own are altered. Still, I promised Sir Robert and Henri, not to give a hint to the identity of either king. Each went on to rule well, and kindly. They learned from their mistakes, so we will not risk their reputations here.

The other confederate was Laurel’s father, who was supposed to be dead. Sir Robert had saved his life at Tréal. The king’s enemies had thought him dead. He was content to continue the charade, if it bought his family safety. While not privy to the secret of Alan, he had secured Sir Robert’s help.

The former king did not want his daughter to marry for any reason other than love. So through Sir Robert’s aid, I was selected as matchmaker/bodyguard. The two of them only learned the truth shortly before saving my neck from hanging. That however is a tale for another time, or you might say, another feather in the cap of The Italian Hatmaker.

PruittWrites Facebook Page

The Native: Silencing Our Doubts

We’ve talked about him before, in The Order Of His Course, but I would like to revisit the scene.  Zacharias, a Priest of God, a child of Abraham, is having a conversation with an Angel. He had his doubts, as a result, the Angel told him that he would not be able to speak until the prophecy was fulfilled. On the surface, we humans, might be puzzled at this, until you examine more closely.

Yes, Zacharias was human, yes, it was an extraordinary promise, but it was not an unprecedented one. Since David, the promise of Christ from the family of Bethlehem was well known. Also famous, was the birth of Isaac, to two elderly parents named Abraham and Sarah. If anyone knew the history of God’s people, it should have been Zacharias.

What we must be careful, not to misunderstand, was the reason for the silencing.Set aside for a moment, the fact that this was a Priest Of God, and that he was talking to an Angelic messenger.  Instead, look at where they were standing, at an Altar inside a building that had been destroyed once before.

At the time of the exile, many probably doubted that God would return His people to their land.  Perhaps, some thought they would never again see a Temple on that mountain, but they did.  God had prophesied, before the first Temple’s destruction, that He would return His people to their land.

Zacharias was standing in a place of miracles, talking to the Messenger of a Miraculous God, about God’s plan for our future.This son of Abraham, had a heritage of hope, and yet, fear attempted to drown out his faith.

Please understand, I’m not judging Zacharias, just identifying with him.  It would be easy to say, he should have known better, but then again, shouldn’t we? Every Sunday, we stand in a place of miracles while the Messenger Of a miraculous God reveals to us God’s plan for our future.  How often do I, do we, give more voice to our doubts than we do our faith?

Doubt is a form of fear, and it can be very deceptive.  In our minds we think, “It’s not that I doubt God’s ability, but the circumstances are so great.”  Or, “I know He can do it, and has for others, but will He do it for me?”  Fear comes to us disguised as doubt, it’s less aggressive, it is less blatant, but it is still fear.  It will take many forms before it is defeated.

I’m sure that the enemy tried to fill Zacharias’ head with doubts even after that day.  The thoughts of, “All that could go wrong …”, even after Elizabeth was going to have the baby. I admit, I would struggle with all the ‘what if’s’ just as he probably did.  We are human, and we are going to grapple with fear.  It’s a battle however, that we cannot afford to lose.

The difference between Zacharias and us, he couldn’t give voice to his doubts. He had no choice, but we must choose not too.  In the middle of the night, when whispers filled his brain, he only had to remember one thing. His vocal chords refused to communicate his them, they refused to give fear a voice.

God did this for our example.  No, He doesn’t make a habit of stilling voices, but He was trying to teach us something.  If we will silence our doubts, and give voice to our Faith, then we will always be victorious.  Yes we will have fear, but no, we do not have to communicate it.  We must choose to speak our faith instead of our fear.

That isn’t to say we won’t have fear.  I’m not saying that we pretend that we’re not scared of, insert mental image here, but I am saying that we mustn’t focus on it.  I can choose to speak what God promised.

I can grab hold of the hope that is before us like the horns of an Altar.  Incense fills a room, the smell attaches itself to clothing.  Zacharias was surrounded by a cloud of faith, and fear still was successful in hindering him.  Why?  Because, while the room was filled with faith, his vision was filled with fear.

One of the greatest things that God did for Zacharias was silencing his fear.  It had spoken so loudly that it had drowned out his faith.  It took over nine months, but he watched as faith grew, and fear dwindled.  Zacharias was given his opportunity to speak again. He said first, “His name is John, (Grace), and then he praised God.

In verse 63, he spoke his son’s name, and in verse 64 he praised God. Last time he spoke fear, this time he spoke faith. As a result, in verse 67, he was filled with The Holy Ghost, and God spoke through him. When we refuse to verbalize our fears, and we speak faith, we become the mouthpiece of God.

Luke 1:70

70 As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:

The Bible says that God prophesied through Zacharias. It’s no surprise that he uses the word spake in verse 70, and called in verse 76.  He went from doubter to Disciple long before Thomas was given the nickname.

God gave us an example in Zacharias, but today, God wants us to silence our doubts. He will cause the miracle, but we must do the practical. We must still them, not by the absence of doubt, but the purposes rejection of it.

The Lord was essentially saying, “Not here, not now, and never again!” We must actively do the same to our doubts. When we do, like the child in Zacharias’ ams, something new will be born in our spirit. It will grow, and produce an even greater future in us, that points only to Jesus!

PruittWrites Facebook Page

iPainting: The Blue Ridge Mountains

We are continuing our “Mountain Series” with an iPainting honoring my native Virginia, “The Blue Ridge Mountains”.

PruittWrites Facebook Page

The Northwest Mountains

We hope you love our “Mountain Series” as much as we love mountains. This is our latest installment, “The Northwest Mountains”.

PruittWrites Facebook Page

Sketch: TN Football

Let’s play some football with our favorite team. In honor of my brother Tyler, here’s our new Sketch, “TN Football”.

PruittWrites Facebook Page

140 Mile Stretch: Meet Walter Reynolds

We are a post away from the high flying conclusion of 140 Mile Stretch. Before we wrap things up, we wanted to introduce you to someone. Meet Walter Reynolds.

Walter Reynolds adjusted his tie. He wore a black suit, a green tie, and set down at his desk. He was fifty five years old now, having spent half his life working for his country. The problem was, he was tired. He had insomnia, it wasn’t eight in the morning, it was four. Walter didn’t know it, he had spent the last eight years underground.

At some point, his circadian rhythms had been affected, between living in a bunker, and all the International flights the years before. He was ‘project Skylark’ for twenty years. It had almost killed him, now he was a consultant for a major company. They didn’t know where he was located, he worked via phone. It was the only way that he kept those that hated him from finding him.

Many blamed him for Project Skylark, and for good reason. He had coordinated most of the missions for his term as the project’s Intelligence Chief. Sadly, he had lost more men than had survived. The government thought he took too many risks, and so had most of his operatives. A number of his surviving agents were now in positions of power. Almost the same number had placed a contract on his life.

As a result, he went underground. Only two people knew where the former intelligence chief was, one of them was Alex Whittaker. Alex was his lieutenant, he could be trusted. Of course, no one knew that. If they had, Alex would be dead. The next chief didn’t face the scrutiny that Walter had, thanks to Walter.

He had insisted on a special committee replacing his almost unlimited power. It consisted of the President, the ranking member of the opposing party in the Senate, and a member of the Supreme Court. This would eliminate abuse, as well as diffuse the blame. For now though, Walter was still alive, and so were those who wanted to change that.

Three hours later, he was getting sleepy, and the phone rang. “Hello Alex. How are you? Why are you calling?” He listened to Alex’s story, and it sounded crazy. Walter wished that he didn’t believe it, the problem was, he did. “I never thought that would be the case that I had to worry about.” Alex paused. “So you know who Oscar Minnix is?” “No, but I know who it isn’t.”

“It’s time to go to the circus Walter.” “I suppose it is. You bring the cotton candy, I’ll bring the elephants.” Walter was coming in from the cold, they would take steps, but he knew it was going to be risky. The ‘elephants’ meant that he would use the agreed upon safe houses and stock piles that had lay dormant for eight years. Alex was to meet him at the first one.

Across the world, in another time, a second phone call took place. A man in a little corner of North Africa picked up the phone. “He’s on the move.” “How do you know?” “Osgood met with Whittaker, and then he made a call.”

“What makes you think he called him?” “It’s a guess, but that’s all I have right now. They’ve hampered my movements with the explosion. I can’t act without revealing myself” “What are you going to do now?” “Simple, allow them to lead me to it, and then eliminate them all.”

“Is it worth risking the entire operation to kill Reynolds?” “Razi, not only is it worth it, it’s the main reason.” “It’s not my main reason, mine is power.” “That is why you have none, you see it as the solution. I see it as a fun side effect. My goal is to eliminate Reynolds, all those that cost me, and anyone who disagrees with me. Be careful Razi, that you don’t get on the same list as Tom and Reynolds.”

PruittWrites Facebook Page