I wake up tied up in a chair, after what feels like many hours later (it actually wasn't that long) and am confused. "Where am I? Who are you guys? How can I talk and breathe underwater?" I was silenced when a tall woman clad in red came up to me with a deep scowl on her face.

*SMACK*

"Aaah! What was that for?!" My face was stinging from that, but I had no ability to fight back, being bound up and all.

"There's a HOOK in my mouth!" A smaller woman clad in blue came over and helped her sister get the hook out.

"Gee Pastor, whatever happened to 'love your neighbor?!'"

This made me even more confused. "That was you? But it was a fish that was on my line!" Once they got the hook out, Mimi proceeded to toss it out the window, letting it sink into the deep abyss. "Hey, that was my best lure!" The two of them then came before me, along with the rest of them.

"Pastor Max, we've been watching you. We knew you were going to be out fishing today so we took action." As I look at the two women before me, I suddenly remember yesterday afternoon on the beach, where they look like the same two who were watching us from afar. It suddenly dawned on me.

"You're Sheshe and Mimi! My friends warned me about you two!"

Sheshe gave a slow, sarcastic clap. "Congratulations on getting the answer correct! Somebody get this guy a golden star sticker!" Sheshe then leaned in towards me with a smirk. "Too bad you didn't listen all that well to their warning."

"But that fish…"

"It was me in disguise! Painful, but it's worth it. As for the folks in the boat, they're my fellow henchmen."

"And my name isn't Larry. I'm actually Lady Bat, and I represent the wings of love and pleasure!"

I was confused. "You? A lady?" In spite of his clothes and makeup, his physical body shape gave him away. "You sure about that? Even from here, I can see… that… poking through your skirt." This caused the other servants to laugh at his expense.

"It's not up to you to decide that, Pastor!" Funny how he presented as ambiguously as possible, then got mad when people couldn't figure him out. Sheshe then continued with her explanation.

"Alala and Lady Bat know nothing about fishing! They were just acting as part of the trap. As for Lanhua over here, she's so skilled at stealing things that no one thinks she's doing it. You probably didn't notice a thing when she took that boat." She's right, I never noticed anything back there. Suddenly, a bright light appears before all of us.

"Max, do not be afraid. We don't want to hurt you."

"W-who are you? I can't see you, it's so bright!"

"Max, I am Mikeru. I am an angel of light who has been watching over your world for a long time, and I must say that I am distraught by what you humans have done there."

"Well, what can I say? All have sinned and fallen short…"

"And that's the problem, Max. You humans have not only corrupted this world, but also then go about whitewashing it, thinking you can act like you're innocent of all you have sowed in this world! All the bloodshed! All the destruction!" At this point, Mikeru was worked up. "And people like you work to maintain this system of lather, rinse, and repeat! For shame, Pastor!"

This was a ludicrous charge. They were not only acting like I was the villain (even though they kidnapped me from my boat and tied me up), but also treating me like I was the author of these things just because I founded what became a large network of churches. I couldn't believe this.

"And you're saying that I'm responsible for this? I mean, all I did was create a network for these congregations to join. I have no other control…"

"But you influence so many as a Pastor. Hence, you perpetrate this notion that your people can get away with these crimes and still declare themselves as righteous somehow! You are as guilty as they are!"

I squint at this absurd statement. "You say you're an angel yet all you've done so far is point fingers and blame others? What about when Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)? If you were a real angel, you would be pointing people towards God and away from this sin you so decry! You sir are no angel at all!" Sheshe then came up and pinched my lips shut. She even made sure to dig her eagle tal- I mean, nails into my lips.

"We know that we're no angels or saints, genius! It's just that… we want to rule over the Earth and the seas. We can't do that if people like you and your group of little puppets get in our way. Surely, you can grasp that with your Master of Divinity and all." She let go of my lips, flinging my head back in the process.

"How did you know that I graduated with a Master of Divinity degree?" The servants then laugh. Mikeru comes up to me.

"Pastor Max, you may not know it, but we've been watching you for a long time." Mikeru then pulls up a screen. It showed me at age 6, where I was standing in the baptismal tank reading my testimony.

"Hey, that was my baptism!"

"…and that is why I am so thankful that God is here to save me. Yay God!" Our associate Pastor at that time, Pastor Jim Forsyth, then took hold of me.

"Max, do you profess faith in Jesus as your Lord and Savior?"

With excitement, I declare: "I sure do!" Pastor Jim then smiles.

"Based on your profession of faith, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. United in death and raised with Him!"

Next, Mikeru then showed a new scene. It was during Middle School, down to me sporting some shaggy hair and my old varsity jacket. I was sitting under a tree with some friends as I was telling them about something that inspired me at church that week, attracting quite a crowd in the school yard.

"Wow, Max. You seem really passionate about this. Perhaps you should become a Pastor!" Seeing that I had drawn a bit of a crowd, my friends gave me the inspiration there to delve deeper into scripture and use it to teach others.

Next, Mikeru showed me a scene from when I just started at Wheaton College as a freshman. We were at the campus chapel and just heard that the Pastor had been in a traffic accident on his way there. I still can't explain it, but I suddenly felt the Holy Spirit empower me to give a sermon. My first sermon.

"Listen up, my brothers and sisters in Christ! The Pastor may not be able to come today, but that doesn't mean that we can't put our hands together for almighty God!" As my thunderous voice echoed across the room, people were immediately listening to me preach, even if I hadn't prepared a sermon in advance. While I was later reprimanded by the school for giving an "unauthorized, non-preapproved" sermon, I knew then and there that I was called to be a servant of the Lord.

Next, Mikeru shows a scene where I am dressed in a long robe, waiting in a chair with others. It was my graduation ceremony from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

"Church, Maxwell Christopher! Master of Divinity in Christian Ministry, magna cum laude!"

When my name was announced, I gleefully went up, shook the Dean's hand, and proudly held up my diploma. The display then disappears.

"My, my! What a life of accomplishment and perseverance. And look at you have to show for it." I wasn't sure if Mikeru was praising me for real or doing this in a taunting way. "A loving family, a network of churches you control, a lucrative book deal, a TV show, and what's this? A net worth of 30 million dollars? You sure have been blessed." Mikeru's eyes then narrowed as he smirked. "Too bad it's all for nothing. Look at you, tied up and weakened like this. Surely, God will bless you so much that He'll free you from this captivity. After all, aren't those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction (1 Timothy 6:9)?" Yep, it was just more taunting.

"Even though I have accumulated much wealth, I have not strayed from my faith at all! I tithe 10% of my income each year! I have donated to numerous charities! I have been honest with the IRS about my money! No matter if you take those things from me, you will never take my faith from me!" At this point, I was straining in the chair I was tied to.

"You know, it's honestly amazing that someone like you can claim that God loves you, and yet He allows you to get kidnapped, beaten, and bound like this. Is it not true that the Lord wanted you to suffer? He has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble (Proverbs 16:4)." There was Sheshe rubbing things in again.

"How true, Sister Sheshe! Pastor, if God is love like you claim, then why does he not come and rescue you from here? Does that mean that God hates you, one of His most faithful servants, while we run amok?" I then rebuked the sisters.

"You all are mistaken! My God is not mocked, for what one sows, he will also reap (Galatians 6:7)!" The servants all laugh again.

"Oh Pastor, you're a funny one! Let's see who's laughing when you get tossed in the brig. Guards!" Upon Sheshe's command, these two burly men show up and untie me, only to place me in cuffs. "Take him to the brig."

"Right!" The guards then prod me over to my cell, where I am tossed in. As a force field closes off my cell, Mikeru then looks at me in the eye.

"Don't worry, Pastor! Surely any second, your God will come and save you! Yep, any second now!" Mikeru and his servants then walk away laughing.

"Hahaha, what a total chump!" I couldn't make out who said that, but I didn't care at this point, I was just glad they had finally left. I then look up at the ceiling.

"Forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do!" Most people would've given up at this point, but not me. I know that with man things seem impossible, but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).