Laurie Nevers, a keeper of seven pet seagulls, has a visit from two witness warriors out knocking on doors. One is Proffery, a young man who falls into flirt with her as he tells her about Jesus. The other is Flanders, a young man whose focus stays on Christ as he tells her about God. The three get together in the aviary, a red barn specially designed for seagulls. And the devil and the Lord fight over her soul there among the seagulls in this aviary.
THE SEAGULL KEEPER
By Mr. Morgan P. McCarthy
The seagull keeper was alone with her seven pet seagulls in the aviary in the back part of her one-story house. Her name was Miss Laurie Nevers, and she was admiring her seagulls perched upon her person in the mirror. She was a redhead with an endowed build, dressed in a long-sleeved black and yellow argyle sweater full of diamond-shapes front and back and down her sleeves and in dark blue denim jeans with a button fly and flare leg and in dark brown leather boots inside the pant legs. On her head was a black witch hat. Her image in the mirror showed one of her seagulls perched upon her right shoulder and one of her seagulls perched upon her left shoulder and one of them perched upon the back brim of her witch hat and another perched upon the front brim of her witch hat and one perched upon the left brim of her witch hat and one perched upon her right brim of her witch hat and the last one of the seven perched upon the top of the cone of her witch hat. The seagull keeper sang out their names in sweet adoration and a mistress’s love for her pets: “’Soar,’ ‘Flight,’ ‘Glide,’ ‘Ascend,’ ‘Wings,’ ‘Feathers,’ ‘Skies.’”
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And the seagulls of her aviary sang the song of seagulls of the shores. No animal call made such music to Laurie’s heart as the call of seagulls. No bird was as dreamy to Laurie as were real seagulls. And no other animal in Earth made so good a pet as Laurie’s seagulls made for her. The seagull keeper was never lonely in her life as mistress to these seven. They all made her happy. And she made all of them happy. Miss Nevers felt that she needed nothing else, just so long as she had her seven seagull pets.
This home of the seagulls was the biggest room of her house, and her part of the house stretched out many rooms off of this aviary and toward the front door of her house. When one went through her front door, one would find first the front porch, then the front hall, then the living room, then the dining room, then the kitchen, then the bathroom, then the bedroom, then the utility room, then the back hall, then the back porch, all ten rooms one after another in a straight line. She had neither an upstairs nor a basement. And at the end of this part of her house, right beyond the back porch, one would be in the home of the seagulls.
What did this aviary look like? It was a little red barn like for milk cows, but instead built for seagulls. At the exit door of her house in the back porch was an elevator-door rare for houses. Upon sliding that door off to the side, one came to a sheltered little passageway the length of a passageway from car to car in a railroad train. Then one came to sliding barn doors of heavy red wood that served as an entrance into the aviary. Upon sliding these heavy barn doors to the side, one then came into the aviary. The same kinds of red barn doors served as an exit from this aviary out back on the far side of this home of the seagulls. These exit doors opened out for the seagulls to the freedom of Wisconsin’s rural northern lands and waters and skies. The seagull keeper and her seagulls loved living in Wisconsin’s northern countrysides. And Laurie Nevers let her seagulls out to fly every time they so wished to. But, as much as they loved the freedom of flight, they loved being at home with their mistress all the more. And as much as she loved to see her seagulls fly, she loved being with them
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alone in this aviary all the more. This aviary had playgrounds for seagulls all around within. There were suspended wooden hoops of different diameters through which to fly. There were wooden spinning wheels upon which to run, as were common with hamsters. There were perches of little wooden dowels fastened onto beams way high up by the ceiling, upon which to look down upon the aviary. Upon the barn floor were little ropes attached to bells that were to be pulled to make the music of tintinnabulation. And there were wild mice running around that the seagulls could chase and try to get in the spirit of diversion. The aviary also had places for each seagull to rest for the night. Each seagull thus had a bale of hay all bound up with wire that served as a bed. And around each of the seven bales was a pile of loose straw. And by each bed was a water bowl and a pump. Three times a day their keeper pumped by hand their water, filling their water bowls full. And, also by each seagull’s bed was was a food bowl and a bag of food. Their food from their mistress were bags of seagull food that she bought at the Co-op just down the road from here. Each day, Laurie Nevers filled her seagull’s food bowls from their food bags, and they had dinner thereby. The water bowls were made of wrought iron. And the food bowls were made of galvanized steel. And a little platform six inches high and twelve inches wide and five inches deep and made of red maple was the dinner table for each of the seven beloved seagulls. This aviary was enhanced for these seagulls with a woman’s touch in her love for them. The walls of this aviary were all covered with paneling. And the windows herein were open window ways covered with louvers: In the summers of Wisconsin, their keeper could keep their aviary cooler by opening the louvers all the way and having nothing but space between the inside and the outside of each window. And in Wisconsin’s winters, their mistress could keep their aviary warmer by shutting up the wooden louvers completely over each window, thus letting in no cold air and letting out no warm air. Also, at the peak of this aviary’s rafters above, was a cupola of red wood, square, with a weather vane. And on each of the four sides of this cupola was a shaft among the shingles that offered a handy exit through the roof for a seagull that wanted to fly up out of the aviary with convenience as
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winged birds can so easily do. And this mirror that Miss Laurie Nevers was standing before? She put this in this aviary just for herself, to admire her witch hat and her seagulls upon it and her self. This mirror was right next to the exit door at the far back of this aviary. Looking upon her well-trained seagulls perched obediently as they were, their keeper said to them, “I am so glad to be twenty years old. There is nothing like being a young woman dressed in pretty young women’s clothes. What a bewitching witch hat I have. Too bad that Grandpa doesn’t approve of my witch hat. He’s a born-again Christian, and he tells me that the Bible says, ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.’ I told him that I am not a real witch. And he told me that that is better then. A girl like me wants to find a boyfriend, and witch hats make me look bewitching to a guy. I am kind of pretty, I think, even without a witch hat. But with a witch hat on, I must surely be beautiful. But what really bothers me is what Grandma tells me about you seagulls and myself. She is also a born-again Christian, and she said that I am making false idols out of you. Grandma does not like you, because you are everything to me. I got mad and asked Grandma how it is that I am making false gods out of seven seagulls. And she said that the Bible talks about people who worship and serve the creature more than the Creator. According to her, anyone or anything that is more important to a person than God is is a false idol. I don’t know anything about Jesus. But I surely know all about you wonderful seven. Mom and Dad are kinder to me about you seagulls, and they are both born-again, too, like Grandpa and Grandma. Mom said to me that God created the first seagulls of creation on the fifth day. And Dad said to me that seagulls were created by God’s spoken Word and that they glorify their Maker in a most special and unique way. I myself hardly know God as Mom and Dad know God. All I know is that I love only you seven of all the world. And I know that you seven love me only of all the world.”
Just then she heard the doorbell. Dad had set up a doorbell for her in the front door of her long house so that it would ring even way back here in the back end of this house. Indeed she did spend the most time in her house in this room of the aviary. Surely a door knocker would not be heard back here
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eleven rooms away from her front door. And a knock with one’s knuckles would never be heard here at the far back end. “Thank you, Dad,” she said to her dad who made this doorbell and who was not here.
And she hopped across the entire length of her home, the talented seagulls not budging from their seven perches upon their keeper’s self. And she opened the door and saw two young men about her age and dressed in suits and ties and pants and holding Bibles in their right hands.
One of them said, “Greetings.”
And the other of them said, “Howdy.”
“You two men look like you go to a church,” said Laurie Nevers.
The one who had spoken first said, “We two are knocking on doors in this neighborhood and sharing the love of Christ with folk.” He had a handsome overbite to his teeth, and his voice was pleasantly quite nasal.
The other one, who had spoken second told her, “We are out calling on people and sharing the Gospel with them.” He had a big black beard and mustache, and looked older than he really was. In fact his voice betrayed a crack in it like he were a teenager coming into adulthood.
Miss Nevers asked them, “Are you Jehovah’s Witnesses?”
“No. We are not,” said the man with an overbite.
“Oh. That’s good,” said Laurie Nevers. “Are you two Mormons then?”
And the hirsute young man said, “No. We are not, Ma’am.”
“That’s good, too,” said the seagull keeper.
The man with the overbite then went and said, “We come from West De Pere Baptist Church.”
“You two are Baptists then?” asked Miss Nevers.
“Uh huh,” said the hirsute man.
“That’s good,” said the seagull keeper. Then she said, “I didn’t know Baptists did this kind of thing—going around and sharing the Bible like this.”
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“Our Baptist church does. Our Pastor does,” said the man with the buck teeth.
“Where’s your Pastor?” asked Laurie.
“He’s out knocking on doors with Deacon Gary in the next street,” said the hirsute man.
“Would you two like to come in?” asked the seagull mistress.
“We’d be glad to,” said the first.
“That would be good,” said the second.
“By the way, I’m Laurie,” said the seagull keeper. “Laurie Nevers,”
“I’m Flanders,” said the man with the buck teeth. “God bless you.”
“And I’m Proffery,” said the young man with the big black beard and mustache. “I like your argyle sweater.”
“Thank you,” said Miss Nevers.
“Nice seagulls, too, pretty Miss Nevers,” said Proffery.
“Thanks, Proffery,” said Laurie.
And the seven seagulls, upon hearing this compliment upon them, lifted up their beaks and began to sing the song of seagulls.
“Pretty music,” said Proffery, “like their seagull keeper.”
This cute guy was definitely flirting with her. The other cute guy was not. And Miss Nevers was contemplating which one would make a more handsome boyfriend for her.
“Let’s go to my aviary,” she said, in invitation to Flanders and Proffery. And she led them all the way through her long house and into the aviary. Then she said to her pet seagulls, “Go and play.”
And the seagulls went ahead to play their games in this home of theirs. Flanders watched her seagulls in their many diversions going on now with big eyes and a pleasing smile upon his face. Proffery was watching her seagulls at play in open-mouthed wonder and approval. Both men loved her seagulls. So she liked the men in return.
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“So where is West De Pere Baptist Church?” asked the seagull keeper.
“It’s on 645 Grant Street,” said Flanders.
“Right in front of West De Pere High School, Miss,” said Proffery.
“Kind of across the street from V.F.W. Park and down the block a little way,” said Flanders.
“I know where that is,” said Laurie Nevers.
“We would like to invite you to join us for worship, Laurie,” said Proffery.
“I might go ahead and try that,” said Miss Nevers.
Flanders then pulled out two booklets from his shirt pocket and proffered them to her. She gladly took them and looked upon them.
Flanders said, “The one on top is our church’s official invitation booklet. The one underneath is the official salvation tract that we soul-winners give out on visitation.”
“A Good Friend To Have,” read Laurie out loud the title of the salvation booklet.
“That’s Jesus,” said Proffery.
“What do you two do at West De Pere Baptist Church?” asked the seagull keeper.
Flanders said, “I’m the deacon.”
And Proffery said, “I’m the usher.”
“Deacon Flanders. Usher Proffery,” said Laurie out loud in contemplation.
“Yes,” said Flanders.
“I like that, girl,” said Proffery.
“What could I be if I joined West De Pere Baptist Church?” asked Miss Nevers.
And Proffery right away said, “You could be the church clerk, Laurie. Our current church clerk is leaving soon and moving to Upper Michigan and to another Baptist church up there. There will be an opening there for you, maybe.”
In thoughts out loud, the seagull keeper said about herself if so be, “Church Clerk Laurie.”
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“That has a nice ring to it, Laurie,” said Proffery.
Remaining stolid, Flanders spoke and said, “A woman needs to be born-again before she can become a member of our church. Only church members does Pastor delegate positions to. And he or she who is given a ministry in our church has to have proven faithful to its services.”
“Yes, Brother. A woman has to prove herself in the Lord before she can become the church clerk,” said Proffery, correcting himself.
“I would still like to become the church clerk,” said Laurie Nevers. “I think that I am willing to try to prove myself worthy of that title.”
“Would you like to become born again?” asked Proffery.
Flanders rebuked him and said, “The young lady may already be born again, Brother.”
“Oh yeah,” he said, embarrassed.
Laurie said, “You must come upon almost always people who are not born-again as you go house to house.”
“Yeah, Laurie,” said Proffery.
“That makes sense,” said Miss Nevers. “Born again people definitely stick out, but there are only a very few of them in the world.”
“Are you a born-again believer, O Laurie?” asked Proffery.
“No. I am not,” said Miss Nevers.
“Would you like to be born again?” asked Flanders.
“What happens to a woman if she gets born again?” asked the seagull keeper.
“She receives the free gift of eternal life,” said Flanders.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Eternity in Heaven,” said Proffery.
“I already have Heaven on Earth,” said the seagull mistress. “I have my Soar and my Flight and
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my Glide and my Ascend and my Wings and my Feathers and my Skies. With my seagulls I am in Heaven already. What do I need a different Heaven for?”
Dumbfounded by this reply, Proffery said, “Flanders, what can we say to that?”
And Flanders said to the seagull woman, “A woman who becomes a born-again Christian will never have to spend one moment in the fires of Hell.”
“My family tells me about Hell once in a while,” said Laurie. “Is Hell real bad?”
“In Hell you will never see your seagulls again,” said Proffery.
In grief of heart, the seagull keeper said, “Proffery, you make me feel like crying.”
“That’s why we two witness-warriors are here,” said Flanders. “We do not want anyone to end up in Hell. Hell is indeed quite real bad. It is a place of fire.”
“That sounds like a great reason to become born again,” said Miss Nevers. “I’m scared.”
“Fear is a good reason to get saved,” said Flanders.
The seagull keeper then looked down again upon the two booklets. And she put them into her back right pants pocket. And she asked, “What is the real Heaven, Flanders, Proffery, if it is not the paradise I have down here with my seven seagulls?”
And Flanders said, “Heaven is Heaven because There the deified and glorified and sovereign Lord Jesus rules from There over the Heavens and the Earth.”
“So it is Christ Who makes the real Heaven Heavenly, and it is not seven beloved seagulls who make the real Heaven Heavenly for me,” said the seagull keeper.
“That’s right,” said Proffery. “We do not know if seagulls are in Heaven. The Holy Bible does not tell us everything.”
“My seagulls will not have to go down to Hell. Will they?” asked Miss Nevers.
“There are definitely no seagulls in Hell,” said Flanders.
“Then Hell is surely the place that I never want to have to go to,” said the seagull mistress.
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“We can help,” said Flanders. “God has sent us two hear to preach to you the good new of the
Gospel.”
“I heard of the Gospel. Mom calls it ‘the saving Gospel.’ Dad calls it ‘the Gospel of salvation.’
Grandma calls it ‘the Gospel of peace.’ And Grandpa calls it ‘the Gospel of truth,’” said Miss Nevers.
“What did they say that the Gospel was?” asked Flanders in testing of her understanding.
“Grandpa said that it is ‘the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus.’ Grandma said that it is the truth that ‘Christ died for our sins and rose again the third day.’ Mom says ‘it is the cross, and it is the resurrection.’ And Dad said that ‘it is Black Friday, and it is Easter.’”
“That sounds about right, Brother,” said Proffery to Flanders.
“You’ve got it just right, Laurie,” said Flanders.
Proffery then asked, “Laurie, do you have a boyfriend in your life?”
And she looked at him in admiration, and she said, “No, Proffery. I do not have any boyfriend right now.”
“Well, you look great in blue jeans,” said Proffery to her.
“A girl loves to hear things like that said to her,” said Miss Nevers. Why, she looked good in blue jeans. “I must have good legs,” she said.
“Yes!” said Proffery.
Flanders broke in upon the romance talk and said, “Forgive my brother-in-Christ, Miss Nevers.
He is still looking for his first girlfriend.”
“That’s okay with me, Flanders,” said the seagull keeper. Proffery was starting to look quite handsome to her now. But Flanders started to look good to her as well.
With a necessary word of rebuke, Flanders said, “Brother Proffery, we are out to win souls for Christ.”
In concession Proffery said out loud to remind himself, “Witness first. Ask out second.”
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Flanders said gently, “Maybe more like souls first, romance maybe not at all.”
“I have a soul,” agreed the seagull keeper.
Focusing on his mission for this night now, Proffery began to share the testimony of his own salvation: “I was ten years old when I found my first crush. Her name was ‘Bonnie,’ and she rode her horse in the countryside and always passed by Mom and Dad’s house. She was in my grade at the time—fifth grade at Hillcrest School up north in Aurora. The school had started the fifth grade in the section of the school where Kindergarten through fourth grade classrooms also were. But then the school moved our fifth grade to the other section of the school where the sixth grade through eighth grade classrooms also were. They did that early in that school year with the fifth grade classroom.
If they had not done that, I would not have noticed Bonnie as my first pretty girl. You see, in the original classroom, we had desks that were tables with open metal storage bins underneath and to the side. But in the new classroom we had normal desks with lids on top that opened upward. Because of our new desks in the new classroom, I was able to play my scence trick on Bonnie. I did not care for her as a girl yet then. But I did want to get her to jump. I had already told her that she had girl germs.
And she had told me in revenge that I had boy germs. And our science teacher was planning on dissecting a dead frog in front of us. Well, I got to mischief in my head. And I was going to get even with Bonnie for being a girl. It was going to be with that frog. And I knew that if I had put a dead frog in Bonnie’s old desk back in the young kid’s section of the school, it would not surprise her, it not being concealed by any covering. But if I were to put this dead frog in the new desks of this older kid’s section of the school, she would lift up the desk lid, and, behold, there it would be to scare her out of her wits. What a jump that girl would do when my trick was played. What a laugh I and the rest of us kids in class would get out of it. But I had to get the frog before our science teacher were to dissect it.
And I stole it away from my teacher’s little box that she had on the counter at the front of the classroom before school started that day. Science class was the first class of the school day. Nothing could go
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wrong. Everybody would find out who put the frog in Bonnie’s desk. And I would be the hero of the school. And that I did just as soon as I got off the school bus for school that morning. I sneaked away with the teacher’s bag, and I came up to Bonnie’s desk, and I took out the frog, and I put it right into Bonnie’s desk. The science class then began. But the teacher saw the bag and the frog gone. We were all at our desks. And Bonnie was at her desk. And the teacher asked, ‘Who took the frog?’ Bonnie then opened her desk to get a pencil and a notebook. She saw the dead frog. And she screamed and jumped up and fell backward upon her bottom. And, thinking highly of myself, I said, ‘I took the frog.’
Behold, Bonnie was still sitting down on the classroom floor. She said, ‘I think that I broke my tailbone.’ I was not the hero I had thought to become. I was a villain. And I felt real bad with how my trick had backfired and Bonnie got hurt from it. And nobody was laughing at Bonnie. Certainly even not myself now. I felt like apologizing to Bonnie. But I got red in the face with shame, and I said nothing. And do you know what Bonnie said to me? She looked up at me, and she said, ‘I forgive you, Flanders.’ All of Hillcrest School knew that Bonnie was a born-again believer living for Jesus. And I fell into crush for this girl right at once. She had pretty brown hair that was straight and with bangs and that reached nearly to her shoulders. And her eyes were alive in their brownness. And she had on a long-sleeved yellow top with a sleeveless red sweater vest over it and blue jeans and sneakers. Whoa, I found my very first crush. It was this Bonnie. But I knew that I could never date this girl as my girlfriend. And I could never become the boyfriend to so classy a girl as she. I got into trouble with the teacher and the assistant principal and the principal for having done what I did. I even got paddled by the principal with his wooden paddle that he had in his office. I learned my lesson. I was not going to do anything like that again. I cannot remember now what went on in science class that morning right after the incident. I was so troubled that I could not remember anything. When I came to my senses, I went right to the hospital and apologized to the girl and said ‘I was wrong.’ And she said, ‘Flanders, good can come from this. I trust God. And you are cute to me.’ Never before had so much goodness
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come out of anyone in such straitened circumstances as this that Bonnie had said to me just now. I tell you, I could see God now in everything that this Christian girl said and did and thought. I could see that she had a peace in her faith that far surpassed mine in my self. I needed her Jesus. I needed her God. I needed her Spirit. Convicted of my sins and of my need for the Saviour, I asked her to save my soul from my sins. She said, ‘Only Jesus saves. But He uses His Christians to lead searching souls to Him.’ And I asked her if she would led me to the Saviour. And she said, ‘Yes! Good has come from my accident this day.’ And right there, Bonnie led me through a prayer of salvation, line-by-line, alongside of her hospital bed. I now know that to be called ‘the sinners’ prayer.’ I became a born-again Christian by praying that soul-changing prayer. That is how I got saved. After Bonnie got well, that was when I saw her riding her horse all of the time in the countrysides of Aurora. She stopped her horse each time she saw me in the front yard. And we talked. But her parents said that she was too young for a boyfriend. And my parents said the same thing about me having a girlfriend—that I was still too young for such things. Then, after eighth grade for me, we as a family moved out of the area to a new place here in De Pere. And I never heard from or seen Bonnie since. And now here I am, a soul-winner just like Bonnie. I have seen other pretty girls since, but none of them ever cared to date me. And God tells his born-again children that it is a sin for them to date someone who is not born-again. And I believe God. So, now I am laboring for Christ on our church’s visitation program. I win souls, and I am happy for winning souls. God is my Lord and Master, and I wish to obey Him. This is how I got saved some years ago.”
“That is a great true story, Proffery,” said the seagull keeper. “Am I pretty, too, kind of to you?”
“Laurie Nevers, you are prettier even than Bonnie was,” praised Proffery from his heart.
“But I am not saved,” said the seagull keeper. “Are you sure that God wants you to date an unsaved girl, yourself already saved?”
To this, Proffery said, “There is always hope that a person can find Christ,” Then he said,
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“Thanks for the reminder.” Proffery would not go out with her unless first she got saved like himself.
“Maybe I can become a Christian like Bonnie,” said the seagull keeper.
“With God all things are possible,” said Proffery.
Then Miss Nevers asked, “Do you like my witch hat, Proffery?
“I love your witch hat, Laurie,” he replied.
Then Flanders spoke and said, “What my brother-in-the-Lord forgot to tell you when he told you his testimony of salvation, O Miss Nevers, is that having a personal relationship with Jesus as your Saviour is even better than having a personal relationship with a girlfriend. And, in your case, having the Saviour of the world in your heart would be better than having a cute boyfriend in your heart.”
“I am beginning to believe that, Flanders,” confessed the seagull keeper. “But for me, where even a boyfriend might fall short of God, my seagulls never will. How can even God satisfy me as much as my seven seagulls do satisfy me? With my seven seagulls, I like to think of myself as the happiest girl in Wisconsin.”
“Your seagulls never died for your sins,” said Flanders hard truth spoken in compassion.
“I don’t think that I like what you say, Flanders,” said the seagull keeper in offense.
In affection for her, Proffery asked her, “Would you hear my brother-in-the-Lord out, O Laurie?”
“He’s stepping on my feet,” said Miss Nevers.
“He is only trying to reach your heart,” implored Proffery.
“I’ll listen to you, then, Flanders,” said Laurie Nevers.
In a strong quiet voice, Flanders went on to say, “What you do about Jesus Christ in your life here on Earth will determine where you will go in your eternity after this Earth, O Laurie.”
“Is that so?” she asked. “Is that true?”
Flanders said, “Proffery and I both prayed and got saved from our sins some years ago,
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Nothing would make us two more happy than to see you do the same for yourself this day.”
In great new thoughts, the seagull keeper asked, “Are you saying that Jesus is the difference for a person between Heaven and Hell?”
“I am,” said Flanders. “If a person says, ‘Yes,’ to the Holy Spirit’s call to seek Jesus, that person will go to Heaven when he dies. And if a person keeps saying, ‘No,’ to the Holy Spirit’s call to seek Jesus, that person will go to Hell when he dies.”
“Those are hard words,” said Miss Nevers.
Proffery spoke and said, “My brother-in-the-Lord cares for your soul. So do I. And so does Jesus, O Laurie.”
“With all of my seagulls in my life, I have never stopped to think about my soul,” said the seagull keeper, “except for those times that my family shares their Saviour with me.”
“The Bible says that your one soul alone is worth more than all of the wealth of the world,” preached Flanders.
“That’s a most kind thing to say to me, Flanders.” said the seagull keeper, encouraged.
“My soul is important to me.”
“Right now, as we two are talking to you about Christ, the Devil and the Lord are fighting over your soul,” said Flanders.
“A war is going on now?” asked Miss Nevers.
“The war that has been going on now since creation between Satan and God over the souls of men and women and boys and girls,” said Flanders.
“I think that I need to hear all about this,” said the seagull keeper.
And Flanders went on to preach the doctrine of Christ: “The Lord Jesus had been in Heaven for eternity past, enjoying the comforts of being in Glory at His Father’s right hand side and sharing Heaven with the Holy Spirit as well. But mankind fell upon sin in the Garden of Eden, where the
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Creator had first put mankind. From this sin came about mankind’s need for a Saviour. This would have to be Christ Jesus. Some millennia later, after the Garden of Eden was already long gone away from the Earth, this Jesus began His work of redemption for fallen mankind. And He came to Earth. He was born of the virgin Mary and begotten of the Holy Spirit. His birth took place in a manger in the town of Bethlehem. This was called ‘The First Coming.’ This was also called ‘The First Advent.’ This is Christmas, the most celebrated holiday of the year worldwide—but tragically for all unBiblical reasons. God had become a Person. This Jesus was both all-God and all-Man in this Person. The books of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John in the New Testament all tell us about the life of Jesus on this Earth. And at thirty years of age, Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River, and John the Baptist saw the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus from above like a dove. Right after this, Jesus went out into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil with three great temptations, and Jesus overcame the tempter by quoting Scripture. Later, Jesus went into a synagogue, and, before the congregation, He proclaimed Himself the long-awaited Messiah. This Jesus then went about and preached about Heaven and Hell to all. He performed miracles of healings that proved His deity. Only God could do the miracles that this Jesus did. John the Baptist said of Him, ‘Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!’ Jesus said of Himself, ‘For I do always those things that please Him [God, the Heavenly Father]. In Luke 5:26, it is written about Jesus healing a lame man, ‘And they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, We have seen strange things today.’ And in Luke 7:16, it is written about Jesus raising a dead man back to life, ‘And there came a fear on all: and they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet is risen up among us; and, That God hath visited his people.’ Also it is written in Luke 4:36 about Him, ‘And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.’ Also is it written in Luke 8:25 about this Jesus, ‘And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another,
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What manner of man is this! For he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.’ And Jesus also exorcised many to the glory of God. But wicked men who opposed Him said about Him, ‘This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.’ These were Pharisees, false religionists of Jesus’s days in the holy land. The truth of Jesus convicted them, and, instead of getting right with Him, they chose to hate Him. And the Sadducees, another false religious group of that day, also rejected Him. So, too, did the elders and the scribes and the lawyers and the priests. All of the religious groups of people turned against Him. Jesus was a Jew, and even His own people the Jews rejected Him. In John 1:11, God’s Word says, ‘He came unto his own, and his own received him not.’ And also the Gentiles contended against Him. It says in John 1:10 about this rest of the world, ‘He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.’ But this Messiah had a small remnant that stayed true and loyal to Him. These were the born-again believers out there. These were people who humbled themselves before Him and repented of their sins and told how great things that He had done for them. It is written in John 1:12 about these believers, ‘But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.’ But this Jesus too well knew why He had come to Earth. He had come to die for the sins of lost mankind. It was to be by way of the Roman cross—capital punishment at this period of the Roman Empire. It was truly the worst way to die. And Jesus willingly accepted His destiny even before He had first come down into this world as the babe in the manger. He was thirty-three years old now.
And he was in the Garden of Gethsemane. And it was the day before His coming crucifixion. And he was praying so fiercely that his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. He prayed to His Father, ‘O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.’ Then, a moment later, He prayed, ‘O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.’ After that, this Son of God endured the most illegal series of court cases in the history of the world. And the rulers condemned Him to death. And He submitted
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to the cross of Calvary, for His love for mankind. His shed perfect blood on the cross would provide the redemption for humankind that humankind came to need because of their sin. Ungodly and diabolical men did nail His hands and His feet to the cross. It was now nine o’clock in the morning. At noon, darkness came upon all the land and hid the suffering Jesus from onlookers. And at three o’clock in the afternoon, Jesus yielded up the ghost. A Roman centurion standing at the cross saw all of this, and he said, ‘Truly this was the Son of God,’ and also, ‘Certainly this was a righteous man.’ After this, two righteous men—Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea—took down Jesus’s body from the cross, and they put it in an empty cave for a tomb. But, on the third day, He was seen alive by Mary Magdalene. The Lord Jesus had risen from the dead. Christ arose! This was the resurrection that makes Easter the holiday that it is. And His resurrection from the grave on the third day is the greatest historical fact of all of history. Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Lord. For the next forty days, lots of other people also saw Him. Jesus was walking and talking and eating and drinking with a physical and enhanced body in His resurrected state. The nail prints in His hands and in His feet remained, however, as an everlasting reminder of what He had suffered on the cross for the souls and lives of all men and women and boys and girls. For forty days, the risen Saviour went about and interacted with His Apostles and others. Then, on the fortieth day, standing before His disciples, Christ ascended back up to Heaven, to be There again—this time for eternity future. As He ascended, two angels standing by said to the disciples, ‘Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.’ These words of the angels were a prophecy of the Second Coming. This is also called ‘the Second Advent.’ It shall be the ‘day of the Lord.’ This Christ Jesus had come the first time as the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world, a babe in a manger. But this same Jesus Christ will come the second time as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the all-powerful judge over all the earth, setting up His Millennial Reign and putting down all evil and wickedness.”
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Flanders was thus finished with his sermon on the Saviour of the world.
The seagull lass pondered these powerful and efficacious words of truth.
“What do you think, Laurie?” asked Flanders.
“Woo!” said Miss Nevers. “You make this Jesus to be a whole lot bigger than my flock of seagulls in my life.”
“He is Lord,” affirmed Flanders.
Proffery said, “Your seagulls are noble and handsome creatures, Laurie. But Christ’s beauty as God Himself must be said to be ‘utmost regal glory.’”
“I would like to someday see Him in Heaven in this utmost regal glory,” confessed the seagull keeper.
“I tell you, Miss Nevers,” added Proffery, “Your seagulls are so handsome, and you are so pretty.”
“Do you really think so, Proffery?” asked Laurie in flirt.
“I never met so attractive a girl like you on any other church visitation day before, and I know that I will never see another woman as attractive as you on any visitation day to come,” declared Proffery.
“I am the prettiest girl to whom you witnessed, Proffery?” asked the seagull keeper.
“Uh huh, Laurie,” he said with a nod of his head.
“Ever?” she asked.
“Uh huh, Miss Nevers,” he proclaimed.
“What do you like about me?” she asked in flirt.
“I like your red hair,” he said.
“You said also that you like my witch hat and my brown eyes and my argyle sweater and my blue jeans and my boots,” said Laurie Nevers not without some exaggerations and additions.
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“And your seagulls,” he said.
“Especially my seagulls?” she asked.
“Especially your seagulls, O Laurie,” he avouched.
“Proffery, you’re a man that a seagull keeper like me would like to have,” said Laurie.
“Are you asking me out for a date, O Laurie?” he asked her.
“A girl ought not to ask a guy out,” she said. “It is the guy who should ask the girl out.”
“I’ll do that,” he said.
“When?” she asked.
“Right now,” said Proffery. And he asked her, “Laurie, would you like to go out with me at Sunday Morning Worship this Sunday at West De Pere Baptist Church?”
“Can I bring my seagulls with me?” asked the seagull keeper.
“Bring them all, girl,” said Proffery.
“Then, to that, I do say, ‘It’s a date, Proffery,’” said Laurie Nevers.
Then Flanders spoke and said, “Laurie, what are you going to do about Jesus tonight?”
“I’ll make up my mind about Jesus at yours and Proffery’s church on mine and Proffery’s date,” said Miss Nevers.
“Take heed, O Laurie,” said Flanders about the wherefore of this day’s visit from him and Proffery, “’ (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.)’ II Corinthians 6:2.”
“Are you saying the best time for me to get saved is right now and not later on?” asked Laurie Nevers.
“Yes! Yes!” entreated Flanders for the very good of her soul.
“What can happen to me in just a few days?” she asked. “I’ll come to church with Proffery,
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and then I will get saved.”
“Oh foolish Miss Nevers,” said Flanders. “Later will never come if Satan can do anything about it.”
“Do you mean that I might end up changing my mind, Flanders?” asked the seagull keeper.
“Yes,” said Flanders.
“Or maybe that something bad might happen to me before I get saved?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Flanders.
“Or maybe that something bad might happen to my seagulls if I don’t get saved now?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Flanders.
“Or that I might forget about getting saved?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Flanders.
“Or that I may die before I get around to getting saved?” asked Laurie.
“Yes,” said Flanders.
“That can happen,” said Miss Nevers. “The devil is one mean evil angel.”
“The devil’s main work is to keep people from becoming born again Christians,” said Flanders.
“Do you think the same way, Proffery?” asked Laurie Nevers. “Do you think that if I wait till I come to church for my first time to become a born-again believer that the Devil might get me before I get there?”
“Pastor always says, ‘The best time to get saved is the first time you hear the Gospel,’” said Proffery. “And he also tells us in the flock, ‘It is no small thing to reject the Gospel.’”
“Well, then I think that I will get saved right now then,” said the seagull keeper. “I shall not reject the Gospel anymore, Proffery.”
Then Proffery spoke and said, “But I get to wear your witch hat when you pray and get saved,
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O voluptuous woman.”
“Do you insist?” she asked in compliance to her outspoken admirer.
“I just have to have it on,” he said.
“Proffery, you’re crossing the line,” warned Flanders.
“Flanders, work with me,” said Proffery.
And Laurie Nevers came to think better than to allow this. And she said, “Oh, I don’t know, Proffery.”
The seven seagulls here in this aviary began to chatter with some discord.
Proffery turned to the seagulls, and he said, “I won’t hurt your keeper.”
The seagulls quieted down.
“There. They are quieted down now,” said Proffery.
Flanders said, “Let us pray and get you saved now, Laurie.”
Proffery said, “I know how to say ‘witch hat’ in French.”
Distracted from her need to receive Christ, Laurie Nevers asked, “They have that word in French, Proffery?”
“Uh huh,” said Proffery. “It’s called, “chapeau de sorcière.’”
“Neat,” said Laurie. She liked her witch hat the most of her outfit today.
Flanders spoke and said, “Guys, do not let the devil has his way with the young lady today. Laurie, this is a most inappropriate time to talk about witchcraft.”
“This is not witchcraft,” said the seagull keeper in truth.
The seagulls began to squawk now as if incited by an evil force.
Flanders was uneasy. Proffery backed up a step. The seagull keeper said, “They never sounded like this before.”
Proffery then went on to say, “And I know how to say ‘witch hat’ in Spanish, too, pretty Laurie.
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Do you want to hear how it goes?”
Flanders spoke and said, “Laurie, you were so close to salvation. I beg of you—let us pray together and get you saved.”
“There is something bad happening to my seagulls,” said Laurie. “Is it because we are talking about my wonderful witch hat, Flanders?”
“I believe it is because the Devil is sending all the distractions that he can throw at you so that he does not lose you to Jesus right now,” said Flanders.
“Sombrero de bruja,” Proffery said. “That’s ‘witch hat’ in Spanish.”
“Resonant!” said Miss Nevers, liking the sound of it. Yet she looked around upon her seagulls in some apprehension with them for her first time.
The seagulls were now flying around in a frenzy. Flanders asked her, “Laurie, are you a seagull keeper afraid of her seagulls?”
“They are running amok,” confessed Miss Nevers. “They are not themselves right now.”
Proffery then said, “And I also know how to say ‘witch hat’ in German.”
“Not right now, Brother,” said Flanders sternly.
“Right now might not be so bad, Flanders,” said the seagull keeper. “I need something novel to get my mind off of what bad things are happening to my seagulls.”
“I fear God, and I resist Satan,” said Flanders good Biblical wisdom.
“Right now I am getting more afraid of all of these seagulls,” said Proffery. “They’re all acting crazy.”
“Proffery, how do they say, ‘witch hat’ in German?” asked Laurie Nevers.
“They say ‘Hexen Hut,’” said Proffery.
“That’s the best of the three,” said Laurie.
Flanders said, “I hope that there are no more foreign languages that you want to show off
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to our young lady here right now, Brother Proffery.”
“I’m all done, Brother Flanders,” said Proffery in respect.
Then the seven seagulls began to swoop down just above the heads of the three people in this aviary. “That one almost got me,” said Flanders.
“I almost got hit by that one,” said Proffery of a different seagull.
“They’re after me!” cried out the seagull keeper.
“Brother, let’s get out of here!” cried out Proffery.
“I will not leave until I lead Laurie Nevers to salvation,” vowed Flanders.
“Truly the Devil must have come into them!” cried out the seagull keeper.
“Then I’ll stay, too,” promised Proffery.
“I will not flee this aviary,” pronounced this seagull keeper for the moment.
Then the seagulls began to attack. Three of them took on Proffery. Four of them took on Flanders. None of them took on their mistress.
In a stand for God, Proffery stood there, his arms spread outward from his chest, and he proclaimed, “I rebuke you seven demons; come out of the seven seagulls!” His steadfast attempt at exorcism did not work. Instead the four demon-possessed seagulls that were fighting Flanders now left Flanders and joined their three fellow demon-possessed seagulls that were fighting Proffery. Now all seven seagulls were assaulting the helpless Proffery where he stood.
Flanders, more spiritual than his brother-in-Christ stood there, his voice strong and sure, and he said, “The Lord rebuke you seven demons; in the name of Jesus come out of the seven seagulls!”
Behold, the former inherent peace that so characterized the seagull keeper’s seven seagulls quickly returned to them. The demons were cast out of them in the power of the name of Christ. And the seagulls were again benevolent and benign.
“Whoa!” exclaimed Proffery. “That was a close call. Thank you, Brother!”
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“Oh, beloved seagulls. You’re all back to your good old self,” sang out their loving seagull keeper. “Thank you, Flanders. Are you all right, Proffery?”
“I will be okay, pretty Laurie,” he said.
And Miss Nevers said, “Let’s not wait another moment before the Devil comes and messes things up for me again. I am ready for salvation. Lead me to Christ right now, Flanders, if you would.”
“The honor would be mine, fine lady,” said Flanders.
“And your witch hat is now mine, O bewitcher,” said Proffery.
And at once Proffery snatched Miss Nevers’s witch hat from off of the redhead, and he held it in the air in admiration, and he put it down upon his own head, and he stood there.
Just then the seven seagulls attacked Proffery once again. Holding the black witch hat upon his head with both hands, Proffery attempted to do right what he had done wrong and what Flanders had done right. He rebuked the avenging seagulls, saying to them, “The Lord rebuke you seven demons; in the name of Jesus come out of the seven seagulls!”
Behold, the assault was not ceased. The seven seagulls continued after him. And the exorcism did not work. “Help! Help!” cried out Proffery.
Himself perplexed, Flanders called out to the seagull keeper, “Laurie, what’s happening this time?”
But the seagull keeper, who knew her seagulls most well, laughed merrily and said, “They are not possessed this time. They’re just mad at Proffery. He should not have put on my witch hat. It belongs to me. And he took it away from me. They’re getting even with him for that for me.”
“Oh,” said Flanders. “That’s good to hear.”
And in a strategy given them by the Holy Spirit, the seven seagulls drove the coy Proffery quite out of the aviary and into the house. From there they drove him quite through all ten of the rooms of her house, room by room, and quite out of the front door to her house and all the way out of her yard.
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“My my,” said the seagull keeper, “he’s gone.”
“Gone, and with your witch hat,” said Flanders.
“He can have it for a while if he needs to wear it so bad,” said Laurie.
“Now is an open window from God to get you saved, Laurie,” said Flanders.
“Now is the right time for me to pray,” said Miss Nevers.
“Let us pray,” he said.
And the seagull keeper and Flanders knelt down upon one of the hay bales in this aviary and bowed their heads and began her sinners’ prayer: “Dear Father in Heaven,” began the witness-warrior.
“Dear Father in Heaven,” repeated Miss Nevers.
“I am before you a woman lost in her sins,” said Flanders.
“I am before you a woman lost in her sins,” repeated Laurie.
“I deserve to go to Hell because of my sins,” said Flanders.
“I deserve to go to Hell because of my sins,” repeated the seagull mistress.
“But only You can keep me from going there,” said Flanders.
“But only You can keep me from going there,” repeated Laurie Nevers.
“I really want to end up in Heaven when my day comes,” said Flanders.
“I really want to end up in Heaven when my day comes,” repeated the woman seeking Christ.
“And You are the only One Who can get me There,” said Flanders.
“And You are the only One Who can get me There,” repeated the seagull keeper.
“I apologize for every last one of my sins,” said Flanders.
“I apologize for every last one of my sins,” repeated Miss Nevers.
“Forgive me. Cleanse me. Help me to repent,” said Flanders.
“Forgive me. Cleanse me. Help me to repent,” repeated the young woman.
“I believe that Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross for me,” said Flanders.
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“I believe that Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross for me,” repeated the seagull keeper.
“And I believe that this same Jesus rose from the dead on the third day,” said Flanders.
“And I believe that this same Jesus rose from the dead on the third day,” repeated the young woman.
“Lord Jesus, please become my Saviour and give me everlasting life,” said Flanders.
“Lord Jesus, please become my Saviour and give me everlasting life,” repeated the praying lass.
“Thank You, Good Lord,” said Flanders.
“Thank You, Good Lord,” repeated Laurie Nevers.
“In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen,” said Flanders.
“In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen,” repeated the seagull keeper.
Man and woman looked up from prayer where they knelt. A moment of silence passed by. Then the seagull keeper said. “There.”
And Flanders said, “Yes!”
And Laurie said, “I did it. Didn’t I?”
“You did,” he said. “You just got born again.”
And Miss Nevers gave Flanders a big hug of gratitude there where they both knelt. And he hugged her right back. It was not a romance hug. It was a Christian hug. But the seagull keeper liked it nonetheless and wanted to do this again with Flanders somewhere down the road.
“Thank you for getting me saved, Flanders,” she said.
“I am more happy after having just led you to Christ than I was in any other time that I just got done leading a soul to Jesus, Laurie,” said Flanders.
She secretly wondered if that may have been in part that Flanders was carrying a torch for her.
She asked, “Am I the prettiest girl that you ever led to salvation, Flanders?”
And to this he said a wily, “Too bad my rival were not here to see this happen.”
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And she replied in flirt, “One boyfriend might not be enough for one seagull keeper.”
It was now the next day. And Laurie Nevers and her seven seagulls were on a walk with both Flanders and Proffery to Sunday Morning Worship at West De Pere Baptist Church. She got her witch hat back, but now it was stored in her bedroom closet. Her pretty red hair shone in the sun in its effulgence. Her brown eyes were now alive with the Holy Spirit within. She again had on her long-sleeved black and yellow argyle sweater and her button fly dark blue jeans and her leather boots. And she was adorned with her seven seagulls upon her person again. One seagull was upon her head. One seagull was upon her right shoulder. One seagull was upon her left shoulder. One seagull was upon the middle point of her outstretched right arm. One seagull was upon the middle point of her outstretched left arm. One seagull was upon her right wrist. One seagull was upon her left wrist.
“It is better being with you with the seagulls on my side than it is being with you with the seagulls against me,” said Proffery with a kind laugh.
And Flanders said, “It was Proffery’s idea that we both accompany the lady to our church this morning.” And then he said, “And it was also Proffery’s idea that the seagulls come with us.”
“Proffery, Flanders, you are both very good men,” said the seagull keeper. “How is it that the two of you decided to share the one of me on my first date?”
“Tell the pretty young lady, Brother,” said Flanders to Proffery.
And Proffery said, “I came up to Brother Flanders, and I said this: ‘Flanders, let’s go double-dating. You can go with Laurie Nevers. And I can go with Laurie Nevers.’”
The seagull keeper laughed with the two good men. “Clever. Very clever, Proffery,” she said.
Proffery then said, “But it was Flanders who did the actual asking out.”
“I know,” said Miss Nevers. “That was one subtle way to ask a lady to go out with two best friends at once. Tell me again how you said it to me on the phone.”
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And Flanders said it again for her: “Miss Nevers, is two dates at the same time better than one date after another date?”
The seagull keeper said, “I knew for sure when I heard that that I had two Christian men who wanted to go out with me—you two here with me now.” Indeed one date with both at once thus was a most unconventional—yet novel—date than with one date with one of them one day and with another date with the other of them another day.
Neither Flanders nor Proffery were jealous of one another over their girlfriend whom they doted upon. All three were content and comfortable and confident. And the seagulls were singing their songs, thus bonding the three into an even stronger spirit of Christian group.
Proffery then said, “Flanders and I have been getting to know your seagulls, Laurie.”
And Flanders said, “Proffery and I know their names.”
“We think that we know which one is which name,” said Proffery.
“We’ve been talking to your seagulls yesterday,” said Flanders.
“You two boyfriends-in-the-Lord have known me and my seagulls only one day, and already you know them all by name?” asked the seagull keeper in keen affection with some doubt.
“Yes!” said Proffery. And he said to her, “These seagulls on your left arm. This one on top is ‘Soar.’ This one in the middle is ‘Flight.’ This one at the end is ‘Glide.’”
And Flanders then went ahead and said to her, “These seagulls on your right arm. This one on top is ‘Ascend.’ This one in the middle is ‘Wings.’ This one at the end is ‘Feathers.’”
In a test, the seagull keeper asked them, “Who is the seagull upon my head?”
And Flanders and Proffery both said at once, “This one is ‘Skies.’”
“You men make a seagull mistress feel most appreciated. Nobody else out there besides myself ever knew my seven seagulls by name before like you two do,” praised the seagull keeper her two worthy boyfriends-in-Christ.
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Then Proffery reached forth his right hand, and he asked, “May I? Only if it is all right with you, Laurie.”
In affection, Laurie Nevers said, “You may indeed, handsome Proffery. It is surely okay with me.”
Behold, Glide leaped from her left wrist up upon Proffery’s right wrist. Glide gave forth his resonant seagull call as he stood perched upon another person’s right wrist for his first time. And Proffery held this seagull in the air. And this seagull looked upon Proffery as a pet looks upon his beloved master. And Proffery brought this seagull on his wrist down toward his face. And Proffery kissed this seagull on his beak. And this seagull cocked his head to the side at him and sang his seagull song of affection for him.
“God loves seagulls, and I love seagulls,” said Proffery in the sincerity of his Christian heart.
Then he said, “Would you like to try, Brother?”
And Flanders said, “This is getting exciting. I would like to try if I could, too.” He looked at the seagull keeper. And she nodded in great flattery. And Flanders proffered his left wrist toward the seagull upon Laurie’s right wrist. Lo, the seagull Feathers leaped upon Flanders’s arm right there, and sang his seagull song to this new man, and looked into Flanders’s eyes as a loving dog would. Flanders reached forth his left hand and sweetly stroked this seagull across his head and gently down his back several times where he was perched. And this seagull nestled his head happily against Flanders’s palm.
Flanders said, “God created seagulls, the most magnificent of all of our Maker’s birds, O Laurie.” Then he said, “Thank you, Laurie. Thank you, Brother. Thank You, Lord.”
And then they were there—West De Pere Baptist Church. And the seagull keeper now began her first full day as a born-again Christian.
It is written about the Good Lord Jesus, “To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” I Peter 5:11.
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