04 The Edge of Darkness by Tim Lahaye Read Free Book Online Page A

slight paunch. His white hair was thinning but his face was tanned. He looked more like a golf pro than the pastor of the Preston Community Church.
    Murphy waved and Bob nodded as he walked toward the booth. He did not appear to be his usual jovial self. They shook hands and he sat down.
    “Sorry I’m late, Michael. I got a phone call just as I was about to leave the church.”
    “No problem. I haven’t been waiting long.” Pet peeve or no, Murphy was too concerned to hassle him about his tardiness.
    “Good. I …” He trailed off as Roseanne waddled up to the table.
    “Good afternoon, Reverend. Do you and the professor want your usual?”
    Both of the men nodded their heads.
    “You got it,” said Roseanne as she turned and yelled to the kitchen,
    “Cheeseburger and chili fries and a chicken sandwich!”
    Murphy chuckled. There was no one quite like Rosanne.
    But Bob was in no mood to laugh. He got right to the point.
    “Michael, I’m glad you could meet with me. I need your advice on something.”
    “I’m glad to help if I can.”
    “During the past few weeks I’ve had a growing concern about some of the people in the congregation. I think someone could be leading them astray.”
    Murphy’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”
    “Well, have you heard about the tent evangelist that has come to town? His name is Reverend J. B. Sonstad.”
    “I read something about it in the paper.”
    “Some of the people from the church have gone to his meetings.
    When I’ve discussed it with them, they’ve told me disturbing things about what goes on there.”
    “Disturbing things … like what?”
    “I was told that he walks around the audience and then all of a sudden stops. Then he’ll say, ‘What, Lord? Yes, I hear you. You say that someone named George has a kidney problem that needs to be healed.’ Then he’ll look around the audience and say, ‘Is there someone named George that has a kidney problem?’ Then George will stand up and go forward to be healed. The whole thing bothers me. I don’t think that is how God works. Do you have any thoughts?”
    Murphy sat there for a moment before he responded.
    “You know, Bob, the Lord works in mysterious ways.”
    “So you believe in all of this?”
    “Not for a minute. It sounds to me like some kind of put-up job. You know the Bible says that in the last days there would be many false prophets. He sounds like he might be one of them.”
    “Exactly my thoughts, Michael. Which leads me to the next question. Would you go with me to one of his meetings? I’d like to find out firsthand what’s going on.”
    “Sure, Bob. Let’s get it straight from the horse’s mouth. Besides, I’ve always been curious about these so-called faith healers anyway.”
    “The other thing is, I’ve heard that some of the young people might be experimenting with the occult. You know, things like using a Ouija board and table tipping.”
    “That’s a starting point, Bob. I’ve seen it before.” Murphy had witnessed table tipping when he was in college. Several of the students had gathered around three sides of a small square table. At one end of the table they placed a chair, ostensibly for the spirit who would answer their questions. Then they lightly placed their hands on the table and looked toward the empty chair. They would ask yes-or-no questions. The table would lift off the ground and then come down with a slight noise. One knock on the floor for yes and two knocks for no.
    “What happened?” Bob interrupted his recollection.
    “It was eerie. All of the answers were correct. I remember that when a new person came into the room they did something different. They asked the new person to pull out his wallet and his Social Security card. They then asked the spirit to tap out the third number on the Social Security card. None of the students around the table knew what the number was. The table lifted off the ground and came down three times. It was the correct