God's Warrior

By Rev. Tony Harrington

Seven is God's complete number. The Lord had sixty-six books placed in his Bible. God's Warrior is his sixty-seventh and final book--fulfilling the scripture Matthew 24:14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

Please, read, pray, praise, rejoice, and sing to how God uses His warrior to pave His road and make it smooth, straight, and perfect for the Second Coming of our Lord, our King, Jesus the Christ--just as it was for the First Coming of our Master, our Friend, and our Savior. We are talking about the one that John said: "He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to unloose" (St. John 1:27).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: May 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781644165058

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God's Warrior

Rev. Tony Harrington

ISBN 978-1-64416-504-1 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-64416-505-8 (digital)

Copyright © 2022 by Rev. Tony Harrington

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Notes to the Readers

Introduction

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Four

Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty-One

Chapter Forty-Two

Chapter Forty-Three

Chapter Forty-Four

Chapter Forty-Five

Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Seven

Chapter Forty-Eight

Chapter Forty-Nine

Tributes to the Author

About the Author

Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. {Malachi 3: 1-3}.

In memory of my deceased great grandmother, Gramma and grandfather, Gramps. I cannot thank them enough for their constant, unwavering love, support, prayers, also spirit of discernment. They gave me a loving home as well as strong rearing in a way that only they could. I want to thank Gramma plus Gramps. For being strong examples of how to withstand life's storms together with obstacles, but mostly of how to stand faithful in God's Word along with unchanging love. It was an honor to be Mrs. Mamie (aka Pearl) Graham's godson. I'm filled with gratitude for the fabulous times we shared together. Pearl (RIP). Grace be to Ms. Sallye Mc Laurin, she was sent by the awesome God, to be my loving, Godly mother. She has always shown, her son love, during this life of mine. Thanks, I love you, Mom. I pay homage to Mrs. Eula Rogers for the percipience she gave me. An enormous thank you to Rev. James (aka J.C.) Mc Lean, pastor of Star Of Bethlehem Missionary Baptist Church, in recognition for his efforts, showing at the same time teaching me how to be a Godly businessman in addition to, preacher (RIP). Pastor Harry Bowman (RIP), and the members of Spring Branch Missionary Baptist Church. I'm immensely appreciative for the privilege y'all gave me, to preach my initial sermon at your church. To Pastor Garland Pierce, equally the Bright Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church family. Your generosity will never be unrecognized, for granting me the opportunity to be your associate pastor. To my father, Deacon Leroy Gilchrist, I give prestige for the incredible times we had, in an out of the church, also being available anytime I needed him (RIP). Major General James Lindsay, you deserve this tribute because of your advice, belief in me, combined with my abilities. Airborne, Sir. Mr. Robert Bob Currie Jr., kudos to you for the encouragement I received through reading your book. Appreciate You. A ginormous thank you, goes out to my former likewise present church family member's for their love that is on exhibit. Abba Father" and I love y'all along with the rest of His human race.

To my children. Anthony, thanks for taking time out, to read the Word of God. Trina, I will always be uniquely thankful to you for delivering my only grandson. Nikki, my bonus daughter. Words can't be conveyed about how I feel about you, allowing me to be your father figure.

To my grandchildren, thank you for wanting to spend time with Grandpa. I call that, blessedness. Thank you for keeping me young at heart.

And…

To my beautiful bride, my friend, my partner for life, my wife—Jackie. God made you just for me. Thank you for your patience, support, to go with love. Celebrating both the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on top of that, you becoming my wife on December 25, 2016, has given me love in my heart, pleasure, contentment, which has made me one of the happiest men alive. Sharing our mission together as one has been heaven here on earth, as God would have it.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.

—Jeremiah 29:11, NASB

I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts; I will look to see

what he will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.

The Lord's Answer

Then the Lord replied:

Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay. See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright—but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness…

—Habakkuk 2:1–4, NIV

Acknowledgments

Special thanks to…

Mr. Marion and Mrs. Yvonne Williams for showing an unselfish act of love by opening their hearts, accompanied by home to me when I was a mere stranger to them—especially Yvonne, for her willingness to listen to many cassette recordings also for offering her professional advice as I proceeded with God's Warrior.

Ms. Mary Bethea for the many hours she spent sowing seeds, typing God's manuscript as I read from my original handwritten copy together with displaying the patience, plus the friendship of a saint.

Ms. Adrainne Thompson for the long hours she endured being committed to sowing seeds, by helping me form my story from typewritten notes, texts, e-mails, and phone calls.

Notes to the Readers

This book has been orchestrated by the Lord God, for the purpose of informing mankind, that He has heard the crying. On this mission, the Lord had people from around the world, in place to assist me, in doing His will. Many, I never knew their name. Then, I thought, what is most important? God knows their name; For that reason, some of the names has been changed. A lot, I did not have an opportunity to say, thank you. I want to thank all of them, from the deepest depth of my heart. God is well pleased. He said in {Revelation 22: 12–13}. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Some terms, old folk sayings, besides adages used are to maintain the language and voice of my grandparents, farmers, and/or slave owners.

All scripture quotes are from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted.

Pictures were submitted by Rev. Tony Harrington, unless otherwise noted.

Introduction

From two small towns in South Carolina emerged two people who changed my life by the age of five. My great-grandmother, whom I will refer to as Gramma, was from McColl, South Carolina; my grandfather, Gramps, was from Clio, South Carolina.

Gramma was self-taught smart, what's more passed on her knowledge to me. She was subjected to the hard-core turmoil of slavery back in the nineteenth century, after being freed, Gramma was still reminded of the pain. Through it all, she was grounded in the Word of God.

Gramps was born in 1909, reared by slaves, considered free, as was Mimi, his wife. They all immigrated to a town called Wagram, North Carolina, ten miles from Laurinburg, North Carolina, then became farm workers for many years—with the exception of one year, with Mr. Jim, when a decision was made to become sharecroppers. Gramps was a stern, strong-willed man. He would not stand for this type of work much, with his family having been slaves. Grandpa worked for a White man who treated him well. He had a first-grade education, Gramps could not read or write, but he knew the meaning of the golden rule, on the top of that, knew how you were to treat people. My grandfather instilled social ethics in me, what's more, taught yours truly, much about life's experiences. He was grounded in the faith and will of God.

Mimi was born in 1918. She had a tenth-grade education. Mimi became pregnant with my mother, additionally, with her brother two years later, Gramps was supportive, moreover he provided for her as well as he could with what little he had. Mimi was programmed with a slave's mentality; Mama was raised as if she was one. My mother became resentful of that, then resorted to drinking alcohol. Later she fell in love with my father, afterward became pregnant with me. Daddy refused to marry her, that sent Mom into a tailspin. She began drinking more heavily, on top of that, moved around from place to place, from one man to another, trying to find herself or some happiness. Mimi resented me for my mother's unhappiness an often treated me poorly as a result of it. I was rejected by my mother, but accepted reluctantly by my grandmother. Glory to God, I had a loving, praying Gramma who spoke life into my spirit while I was in my mother's womb. I was deemed a failure before my life began, she spoke of nothing but success over me.

Gramma as well as Gramps, had strong spirits of discernment, equally they spoke prophetically over my life. Every Word came full circle in its due season. As a small child, I could remember things, reason also use rational behavior patterns that were described as unbelievable by most of everyone. Gramma together with Gramps said I was God's chosen one to spread the gospel, equivalently help make this world a better place.

To walk your life out as it was told to you may be seen as a curse by some, it has been nothing but a blessing for me, because it has made me the man I am today. I endured pain, along with hurt to show I could withstand the storms, trials, schemes of the Devil, also developed strong characteristics to be an example for others. None of my difficulties were a setback but rather a setup for God's blessings on my life.

I am proud to introduce God's Warrior: The preparation for the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus the Christ. I trust that it will empower you to strap on the whole armor of God and be a victor, not a victim.

God's Warrior,

Rev. Tony Harrington

Chapter One

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

—Jeremiah 1:5:

While in my mother, Eva's womb, I heard her saying to Mimi, My baby's father will not marry me, I am not going to raise this child.

On April 13, 1955, the day of my birth, there was excitement in Dr. Womble's voice. He is a healthy boy! What are you going to name him?

He tried giving me to my mother.

She snapped, I don't want him, give him to Ma.

Dr. Womble gave me to Mimi.

She interjected, I will name him Tony. I had not planned on raising any more children, but someone has to.

I met my grandfather, Gramps. That was my first feeling of real love. My uncle Jasper lived with my grandparents. He was jubilant to get home, ready to meet his nephew.

He stroked my arm then murmured, How you be, little fella?

I felt the love he had for me too. Things began to feel wonderful.

We lived in a wooden shack, on Mr. James (Jim) Cooley's farm resembling a barn with a tin roof. It had a bedroom, besides that, kitchen. In the bedroom where my uncle and I slept, an old sofa with broken legs sat on four bricks. A portable closet with a mirror on each side of the door, wood heater, after that, portable record player. The bed had an iron frame that supported a warped mattress sprinkled with cotton dust, to keep the bed bugs away, which my mother occupied whenever she was home. During those times, we slept on the floor or sofa. The room was divided with a sheet hanging from a clothesline.

When she came, it was usually to pack more clothes to leave again. Mama never said hello or goodbye, added with always on the run, in search of a man.

My grandparents slept in the other room, which was part of the kitchen. My grandfather's shotgun leaned up against the back corner of the wall. We used kerosene lanterns to see in the dark and a potbelly stove for heat, another reason, cooking. Our bathroom was an outhouse during the day, to continue a white chamber pot at night. The hand water pump was in the back yard with the hogs, alongside chickens.

When it rained, we placed buckets throughout the shack to catch the water that poured through the holes in the roof. Whatever the buckets didn't catch seeped through the cracks in the floor. During the winter, my grandmother took old clothes along with plastic to pack around the cracks in the windowsills, next in order, doors blocking the cold wind.

The shack was approximately ten feet away from a train track. Every time the train came through, it shook, accompanied by vibration. My uncle took me outside, then made a fist, and pumped his arm at the engineer. When the engineer saw him, he blew the whistle, not only that, waved at us. I got smiley whenever I saw that huge train.

Uncle Jasper and I went back inside, we noticed Mama had her suitcase packed, with it sitting in our room by the door. She was prepared to go to Brooklyn, New York.

I couldn't understand why she didn't want to love me, hug me, kiss me, or hold me. I didn't know what I had done to her. Was my presence making her so unhappy, as well as worried? I watched as our neighbor, Mr. Lumas drove up in his green station wagon, which my mother hurriedly got into before it sped away out of sight, leaving a trail of dust. There was not one goodbye.

Despite the feeling of abandonment, over and above despair, I missed Mom. The small glimmer of happiness was the knowledge that there would be more room in the shack. My uncle not to mention me, became closer, also shared an amazing bond. We now had the bed all to ourselves every day.

At ten months old, I began walking, combined with talking. Mimi complained about washing my dirty diapers, I felt like a bother for not being potty-trained.

I went to Mimi, pulled on her dress, asked her for regular underwear instead of a diaper? She passed out. Gramps was close by and caught her. After regaining consciousness, she almost tripped as she ran across the railroad track to Gramma's house to share what had happened. I started saying, coupled with doing a lot of things that brought attention to how precocious I was. I requested Uncle Jasper to show me how to use the toilet?

Gramps let me ride on his shoulders as we walked to church on Sundays.

We attended Spring Branch Missionary Baptist Church, Wagram, N.C. It was made of wood, painted white, kerosene lanterns hung from the ceiling, a potbelly stove sat in the corner, staining the walls with its smoke, to continue heat during the winter months. During the summer months, we sweated a lot, but cooled off with paper fans from Morris Funeral Home, in addition to keeping the windows up. There were many wooden benches for people to sit on. Gramps got there early, because he sang in the choir. People were arriving at different times coming from separate directions, with most of them walking. As the Mc Rae family, Mc Cauley family, together with droves of families came in, they would be praising God by singing, hymnal #222 We've Come This Far by Faith.

It was standing room only. I enjoyed going, the singing, praying, on top of this, preaching were very interesting to me. I started learning the songs, and was soon singing hymnal #137 Amazing Grace. Gramps, likewise the others stood around discussing the service before going home to a fine Sunday dinner.

Mimi, just the same Gramps, started preparing the meal for Sunday on Saturday. For some Sundays, my grandmother cooked the fish she caught out of Cooley's pond to go along with the meal. Gramps killed one of the chickens. He gave it to Mimi to put into a pot and boil so the feathers could be plucked. After that she'd cut the chicken into pieces, then fried it. We had ham, which was kept, what's more, cured out in the smokehouse, lima beans, to go with peas, too. The menu was completed with a roast, potatoes, rice n' gravy, homemade biscuits, homemade pound cake, as a bonus, grape Kool-Aid. My grandparents allowed me to say grace.

On July 4, 1956, my family had a big outing at Mc Neill's Lake where families got together for the Fourth of July celebration, as well as family reunions. There was a large amount of food, fellowship, and dancing.

Uncle Jasper, along with his friend Ander were swimming in the lake. Mr. Jessie bolted toward the lake, screaming, They are drowning! He'd seen the man who was with my uncle begin to bob up after that, down trying to catch his breath. They had been in the water a long time, their muscles started to cramp. The music was playing so loudly people were unable to hear them screaming. By the time Mr. Jessie got Ander out and jumped back in for Uncle Jasper, he was going underwater. I felt my life had ended. I became numb. The person I slept with, laughed with, the one I spent most of my time with, who showed me love when my mother did not, was gone.

His funeral was on July 11, 1956 at 3:00 p.m. I thought my grandfather was the only person left who truly cared for me. I felt someone's arm around me. It was Gramma. She reassured me that Uncle Jasper was in a better place: heaven.

My mother came home for the funeral. I had hoped she would spend some time with me, since we had not seen or talked to each other in over a year. Mama, didn't show me any attention.

Nothing was the same after my uncle's death. Gramps did all he could to take his place, I felt a vacancy inside of me. We built rabbit trap boxes together, went on walks to the pond, did some fishing, above all that, had long talks. To amuse myself, I played with the chickens, when it was time for the train, I balled up my fist, pumped my arm, to have the engineer blow the whistle.

Mimi, let me know not to put anything in my mouth while I was outside. I pretended to put something in my mouth just to see her run through the door. I did that a few times a day.

After a long, hot, summer, autumn did come. Leaves fell from the trees in beautiful shades of red, yellow, and orange. I often went back with my grandfather to the lake to reminisce about how marvelous my uncle was, it didn't hold the same fond memories. I was full of questions, I talked to Mr. Jessie so I could feel better.

The days were getting shorter. The weather was getting cooler, the farmers had gathered their crops. The water in the pond had gotten too cold to put my feet in. The holidays were approaching, my grandmother began preparing for Thanksgiving. We had oodles of food on that day, the whole family came to eat with us.

Mimi decorated the shack for Christmas; she hung holly all around the inside, placed fruits also nuts in a bowl for the table centerpiece.

When it snowed, Gramps set a trap for snowbirds. He stood inside the shack, second of all, watched them flock into the trap from the window. Once six to eight, had gathered, he pulled the string that triggered a board to fall on them. Afterward into the pot they'd go. Mimi fried or stewed the breasts also served them over rice with gravy. The aroma of the food added to the Christmas spirit. Gramps planted small pine trees around the steps for decoration.

I woke up to a homemade rocking horse from Santa, together with a paper bag filled with an apple, orange, banana, walnuts, Brazil nuts, pecans, peppermint, plus chocolate candies. This was my second Christmas without Uncle Jasper.

Gramps took one look at me, saw how sad I was. He voiced, Tony, I promise you, this will be our last year spent in this shack.

On January 6, we moved into a house, in the middle of a large field. The Gales family lived nearby.

It had three big bedrooms, a kitchen with an icebox, gas stove, to include electricity. We had a washtub addedly washboard in the spare room, also it was used for preserving dried meats. The house was owned by my grandfather's boss Mr. Bill Shaw. My granddad worked by an agreement of a farmland exchange. Mr. Shaw had a lot of land, gardens, crops, animals, in addition to what has been said, wagons. He planted corn, watermelon, plus cotton. If we fed the animals, kept their stable cleaned, we were allowed to use the wagon along with mules for personal use. I loved when my grandfather hitched the mule up to the wagon, after that took me for a ride, but I got extremely thrilled when he let me hold the reins to guide the mule, Gladys.

Gramps along with his grandson became closer. I favored being with him over Mimi. There was something peculiar about her frame of mind. Gramma came to visit continually. After my great-grandfather died. She moved into the house with us. An overwhelming amount of love was bestowed upon me by her. We were happy—and fortunate—to have her around.

I was permitted to play in the field as long as I didn't trample the plants or crops. When I wasn't playing, my grandfather and I walked on a path through the wooded area to check on our homemade rabbit traps. Sometimes, instead of snagging a rabbit, we found an opossum. It smelled the apples we used for bait, further ventured into the trap. Gramps gave the opossum to a neighbor.

I went to check the traps, there were two rabbits in the boxes. I ran toward Gramma hollering about what I saw.

Chapter Two

While sitting on her lap, during my third birthday celebration, she taught me not only reading, writing, but arithmetic, science, including spelling too. Gramma made it easy to learn.

She asseverated to me, Tony, you have a gift of gab. You will become a businessman one day.

"It is time for you to read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, then sum it up in three sentences. Tony, as you read, you will notice there are a lot of interesting stories to keep us encouraged as we go through the struggles of life: Daniel in the lion's den, Moses and the Red Sea, Noah and the flood, to name a few. You will notice God used strong men and women of faith to do His blessed will. My favorite story is of the greatest mother ever, Mary, the woman that carried our Lord, Jesus Christ, for nine months. She watched her son face many terrible things, including death and burial, but on the third day, He rose out of the grave for mankind's sake. Baby, Jesus, was sold out by Judas for money, he was with Our King and the disciples everyday as their treasurer, listen to this; When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, it is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field, to bury strangers in. Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; And gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me. And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And