Transfigured to Serve: A Glimpse of Eternity

By David Lee Brown

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be raptured, to serve in heaven during the millennial reign, and to be there for Satans final defeat? Well, I have.

Transfigured to Serve explores the fictional life of a Christian man, Samuel Gideon. It provides a glimpse of his life before, during, and after the rapture. It shares his experiences and service in heaven. You are carried along with him as he prepares for the Lords return and millennial reign. You cascade out of heaven with Christ, Sam, and the saints and angels of God as they return to earth for Christs 1,000-year reign. You witness Sams service during the millennial reign and the lives of those that were left behind during the rapture. You see how their decedents progress. You experience the final release of Satan from his prison in the bottomless pit and his swift corruption of humanity--and then the final battle for earth. You will visualize the destruction of earth and the glory of the new heaven and new earth after the miraculous victory over Satan and his forces. You will experience the grandeur of the New Jerusalem, which becomes the final capital of the new earth, created by God--the glorious dwelling place of God, his saints, and his angels.

This work of Christian fiction is based on prophesied events from scripture. I pray that you enjoy my book and glean a new perspective on the end times revealed in the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 23, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490841205

David Lee Brown

David Lee Brown, a retired US Navy Corpsman with a bachelor of science degree from The George Washington University, is a Christian, Gideon, Sunday school teacher, member of the American Legion, and the author of King David, Conflicting Worldviews. He currently resides in Boone, North Carolina, with his wife and family.

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Copyright © 2014 David Lee Brown.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is Christian fiction inspired by personal research in Biblical studies and the author’s own opinions reconciled with scripture. All of the characters were gleaned from the Bible or the author’s imagination.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4119-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4118-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-4120-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014911104

WestBow Press rev. date: 07/21/2014

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Glossary of Characters & Terms

Types of Angels

The Five Crowns Found in the Scripture

Tribulation Judgments

The Precious Stones of the New Holy City

Accepting Jesus Christ as Your Savior

Preface

I am a firm believer in the pre-tribulation resurrection of the church. I am also fully aware that there are other opinions on this subject. My intent is to entertain you and show you a glimpse of Heaven from a unique perspective. I wanted to show you a glimpse of eternity from the point of view of a man that was transfigured to serve our Lord Jesus. This is not a scholarly dissertation on the subject of the end times. So please enjoy it for what it is – a work of fiction – based on the prophetic truth written within the pages of the living Word of God, the Bible.

We who have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior will all serve Him in Heaven as we have here on Earth. Fortunately, the service we perform in Heaven will be performed in perfect transfigured bodies with perfect transfigured minds. Our old frailties and infirmities of both body and mind will no longer exist. We will be tireless willing servants to our Lord in the honored position of His Saints. As the Saints of God, we will still have free will, but will never use that free will to rebel against or turn our backs on our precious Lord.

The perfect revelry and joy of Heaven awaits us, and I pray that this glimpse of that amazing and wonderful eternal life will bless you and entertain you.

Enjoy my book.

Acknowledgements

I first want to thank my pastor, Pastor Delmar James, for inspiring my book. Delmar conducted a Bible study for several Wednesday nights, and through that study I learned more about the end times, and then did a bunch of research of my own. This book is the result of that Bible study, my research and my own imagination, reconciled with the written inspired truth within God’s Holy Word, the Bible.

I would also like to thank my friend Claire Kimmel for proof reading my book and providing corrections to improve my manuscript. Her generous gift of time and editorial talent are greatly appreciated.

I would also like to thank Jeff Pack at The Gideons International for providing permission for my use of the ministry’s name within my book. I love The Gideons International and I love serving God as an active member of their outstanding ministry.

Most importantly, I’d like to thank God for his precious Word, the Bible: God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible revelation to us. Without the Bible we would not know the vast love and compassion that God showed us by giving the gift of his precious son Jesus to die for our sins, so that we could have eternal life and the precious gift of a permanent relationship with the Creator, Master and Sustainer of the Universe…our Almighty God.

Chapter 1

I walked up a slight hill that was parched, and I noticed the grass crunching underfoot as I walked, and as I was reaching the hill’s crest I looked into the sky. It was dusk, dark with blood red clouds, with wisps of red-orange and purple. My eyes scanned down to view a huge valley plain littered with burning objects, hulking masses of twisted metal and millions of smaller masses strewn about. As my eyes continued their scan down to a few yards before me, I saw that the smaller masses were mangled people, blood and shredded and burning fragments of what were human bodies were everywhere. The smell of diesel and burning flesh contaminated the air, creating an awful stench. As I turned my head in disgust I heard a grunting and the creaking of metal, like a broken truck door opening. I quickly looked back to see a uniformed man sliding off a truck seat and staggering toward me in the dark, with only the flaming wreckage and last faint glimmers of dusk illuminating the scene. He was a wounded soldier, blood oozing from his shoulder where his arm had been severed; his face was grimaced, with pallor from shock and blood loss. As I watched in horror he staggered up and fell face first at my feet. I reached down to check to see if he was alive, and he grabbed my arm and screamed! Kill me! Please kill me!

I awoke from my nightmare and leapt from my bed, my heart pounding, my breaths heaving, and I was dripping with sweat! I hadn’t moved that fast in years! I sat down on the edge of my bed and wiped the sweat from my brow and face. I vividly remembered the scene in my nightmare and knew in an instant that it had been a picture of the prophesied battle of Armageddon and the valley plain I viewed was the plain of Megiddo. What a horrible way to wake up! I wasn’t sure what the Lord was trying to show me, but I knew he had His reasons. I looked over at the alarm clock and noticed that it was 6:35 a.m., so I decided to go ahead and get up and get ready for the day.

My name is Samuel Gideon, but people just call me Sam. I am a retired business executive, who retired about 5 years ago. My beautiful wife of 42 years succumbed to ovarian cancer just 2 years ago. On my birthday next month, I’ll be 67 years old. I’ve had a good life, marriage and career. I still share my time in service to my church as a Deacon, Sunday school teacher and as part of the Finance Committee, and in my community as a part of The Gideons International, providing Gideon reports that share what God is doing through our ministry throughout the world. Yep, it’s been a good life and I’m still going strong. My children are also doing well. I have two sons that have careers that have taken them to cities far from home, but they visit on holidays and keep in touch by phone and e-mail. I’m alone, but not lonely, because I have my church family and my Gideon ministry friends. Yes, I’m a Gideon with the surname Gideon…just a coincidence.

We had a Testament distribution at the local University a few days ago distributing 3,225 Testaments. It was a beautiful fall day with temperatures in the low to mid 70’s, without a cloud in the sky. It was a perfect day for a distribution. The students were pretty receptive too. You always get the occasional student or professor that just ignores you or looks at you like you’re doing something wrong, but that’s okay as long as the seed of God’s Word is being spread. We were done just before noon, and I stopped off to get a burger afterword for lunch. We have a hotel distribution next month, if the Lord tarries. I really look forward to the distribution, sharing God’s Word and getting to work with my Gideon friends again.

Today I’m just going to putter around the house, get some housework done, wash some clothes and watch a few TV shows. I also have a Sunday school lesson to study and prepare for. I like to read over it several times and do my own research too. I think it adds to the lesson and improves my students’ knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures, but it also builds my knowledge and understanding. You can never know too much about what the Lord is sharing through Scripture, and the day you think you know everything is the day that pride takes over and you stop learning and growing your faith. I pray that never happens to me, and I keep growing my knowledge and faith until the Lord returns or I die, being …absent from the body and …present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8) Either way, I’m ready.

It was a good and relaxing day, and I got everything accomplished that I wanted to accomplish, and as an added bonus, received a call from my youngest son Tom. He and his wife are doing well, and their first child is just three months away from being born. The conversation was little more than, hi, I love you, everything’s fine and we’ll talk to you again soon. But that’s okay, I know he’s busy. At least he’s thinking about me enough to call. His brother, my eldest son David, calls less often, but stays on the phone a little longer. He and his wife are already proud parents of two beautiful girls, my granddaughters. They will all be coming over in a couple months for Thanksgiving Day and will stay through the end of the week. I really look forward to seeing them. By this time, the day had drifted into late evening on this warm late summer day, so I brushed my teeth and decided to hit the sack. Shortly after retiring to my bed, I fell fast asleep.

I walked up a slight hill that was parched, and I noticed the grass crunching underfoot as I walked, and as I was reaching the hill’s crest I looked into the sky. It was dusk, dark with blood red clouds, with wisps of red-orange and purple. My eyes scanned down to view a huge valley plain littered with burning objects, hulking masses of twisted metal and millions of smaller masses strewn about. As my eyes continued their scan down to a few yards before me, I saw that the smaller masses were mangled people, blood and shredded and burning fragments of what were human bodies were everywhere. The smell of diesel and burning flesh contaminated the air, creating an awful stench.