Read Online Strange Animals by Chad Kultgen - Free Book Online Page A

“It’s great to have you here, Ron. Thanks for coming. And, last but not least, who do we have here?” Pastor Preston looked at a young woman sitting in the final chair.
    She said, “I’m Catherine Hobart. My friends call me Cathy. I’m twenty. I currently attend Allen Community College, where I’m the president of our local Intervarsity group. As president, I’ve taken it upon myself to be as involved as I can be with my church and really lead by example for the other Christian students in my Intervarsity group. Tonight I thought I’d see what this is allabout, and if you don’t mind, maybe I could bring some other students to the next meeting?”
    God granted all children the unmatched gift of being clean from sin at birth. It was up to those children, as they grew up, to keep themselves clean. And if a child could avoid sinning until death, or at least avoid committing too many sins and sincerely repent before death, then he or she would go to heaven. There were certain unforgivable sins, including murder, rape, and sex before marriage, that no amount of repenting would erase. Children were sacred. Having a child and introducing that child to Jesus Christ was the most important thing a woman could do in her life. It was what God made women to do. Science and the contemplation of things like the origin of the universe were wastes of time and human resources. The world would be much better off without science. These were things that Catherine understood to be true.
    Once everyone was introduced, Pastor Preston said, “It’s good to see we’ve got hope for the next generation through Christ. All right, everyone, thank you from the bottom of my soul for coming here tonight. I’m sure you’re all wondering what exactly this group is all about. So where to start? I suppose we should start with the name. I’m calling this group the Anointed. Does anyone here know what that means?” No one made any indication that they did.
    He said, “Fair enough. It’s a kind of an obscure and old term. It basically means that you’re consecrated, made holy, made sacred in the eyes of God, and that’s what I want to do with all of you tonight.” Pastor Preston went to a cupboard at the back of the room and removed a small vial of oil. He said, “In the olden times, Christian priests would pray over soldiers before battle and ask God to grant them strength to crush their enemies and drive Satan out of this world. They would also anoint the soldiers and their weapons to make them invincible. And to do this, they’d invoke the spirit of Christ into oil, and then they’d rub the oil onthe soldiers and their swords and their shields and their armor. It would bond them together in the name of Christ, and it would make them impervious to any enemy attacks. Tonight I’d like to anoint every one of us, which is going to be very beneficial for the things I have planned for this group.”
    James looked around at the other people gathered there that night. Some were clearly uncomfortable with this idea. Brad specifically looked like he was thinking about objecting, but after looking around himself and finding no real perceived support for his objection, he remained silent along with everyone else.
    Pastor Preston went to each member of the group, dipped his fingers in the oil, and made the sign of the cross on each person’s forehead. James closed his eyes as he received his anointing, and tried to listen for God’s voice as he felt the oil drip down his forehead onto his nose. He heard nothing, but it seemed as though he felt something deep within him stir and move in a way he had never felt before. He hoped this was the Holy Spirit moving within him and reasoned that it couldn’t be anything else.
    Once all were anointed, Pastor Preston moved back to the front of the group and said, “Dear Lord, I ask that you watch over these