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September 22, 2003 Dear Reader, This letter will give some interesting background about the writing and publishing of this book. I felt from the beginning that the Lord was with me as I worked to compile and print it. I feel this was borne out by the following events. The seed thought for writing this book was planted about thirty plus years ago, when I inherited a book from a cousin who was into the UFO and ET phenomenon in the 40’s and 50’s. I began writing on this book about 1994. What happened during this time I was collecting, writing and publishing the book clearly portrays the great controversy that is being waged between the forces of good and evil and for the souls of men. In the beginning I did not know for sure whether it was the Lord leading me in this direction or my own curiosity and desires at work. I made an agreement with Him, if he wanted the book to be published, He would have to send someone with the money, for I could never pay for it to be published. I never once asked for financial help, yet the money came when it was time to print it. That was a strong sign to me that the Lord was involved. Other signs were there in abundance. During the time I was writing this book, I knew in my mind that the enemy was trying to stop me, for I was repeatedly held up by problems—twice losing whole chapters on the computer that just vanished. I was plagued with illness at times and general harassment many more times over the years. It was obvious to me someone was trying to keep me from finished the book and I knew who that person was--none other than Satan. One of the strongest indications the Lord was with me and guiding happened just before the press was ready to roll out the first copy. I was looking over the final blue line copy (the last one before the press began to roll), having just received it from the printer that day when I received a phone call from a friend in England named Phil. He was the one who was impressed to help me finance the book. He expressed a special concern about the book that had to do with the pictures I was planning to put in the book. Originally I had planned to include ten pictures of UFOs. He had an uneasy feeling about them and suggested that maybe that was too many. He was also concerned about my having permission to use them. He thought that maybe two or three pictures would be enough to make the point. I had learned to listen to what he had to say, for I knew the Holy Spirit had moved on him in times past. I told him I would think and pray about it, and that perhaps he was right. Twenty minutes later he called me back and told me about something that had just happened to him. As he was writing me a letter unrelated to the book, suddenly his hand was moving without him controlling it. Words were being written that he was not writing. One of the words was totally unknown to him, “Plethora.” He looked up its meaning which means “An excess.” It was obvious to us that the Lord was trying to tell me something. The message said something to the effect that there was a “Plethora” or excess of pictures that “glorified the enemy’s handiwork.” We were both amazed at this turn of events. I immediately decided to remove them from the book which entailed renumbering all the pages beyond the pictures, which would be an added expense and delay. But this was not the end of the story. The very next day I received a call from a young man who occasionally saw pictures flash in his mind from time to time which he believed to be from the Lord. He told me he saw that the pictures in the book glorified the enemy and that they should come out of the book. With this confirmation from another source, all doubts I had were removed and the pictures came out. I believe there was another reason to delay the printing of the book, for I was impressed it should be in story form. I am certain the Lord gave me that impression, for people have told me the thoughts flow well in the book. Now I don’t profess to be adept at this kind of thing, as this was my first and only published book, so I give the Lord all the credit for whatever merits the book has. Because of these problems the book was many months behind the target date for printing. Meanwhile as the printer was setting up to print the book, he too was having more than normal problems. He commented that he had never had a book that had given him so much trouble to print. It seemed to him somebody was trying to keep the book from being printed. For example, when he started to print the first plate of the book, the oil pump on the press failed and the bearings froze up. He had to order a new oil pump and fix the bearings which caused a delay. Next the binder hung up and he had to get another one. Then he lost part of his little finger that got caught in one of the machines. And then, not long after the book was finally off the press we discovered a printing error involving the possessive use of the apostrophe. There is an apostrophe “’s” after ET and UFO which is plain to see as you read the book. It should not be there. This after many edits by several people, including myself and the printer. How this mistake slipped by all of us we will never know. I suspect the enemy had something to with it, for it sure has killed the book for large scale distribution. All along this has been a humbling and embarrassing experience to say the least. Yet through it all the enemy did not prevail and the book did make it off the press. Its message is clear and one that blows the enemy’s facade and credibility. As you will notice, the last part of the book was taken from Ellen White’s “The Great Controversy.” This could be yet another reason why the enemy has tried to stop this book. Ellen White was harassed and plagued with intense physical problems all the while she was writing this book. Her arms were paralyzed so she could not write. She had what felt like a heart attack. She was choked by unseen hands and could not breathe. Later the Lord showed her that the enemy had tried to kill her to keep her from writing. On the plus side, as the book began to be distributed, developments showed that the Holy Spirit has been using the book. In four prisons, it is reported that it has turned hard core criminals around. One prisoner read it three times and then gave it to a friend to read. He gave his heart to the Lord as a result. After reading the book, others have asked for Bibles. So in spite of problems the Lord is using it to reach a certain class. I take no credit for this. I only praise God for the opportunity to be a part of His work. I have not sold this book or collected any money for from the sale of this book, but give them away, but the book is on a website which reaches many thousands of people. I would like to add one final comment that has to do with an update since the book was printed 6 years ago.
UPDATE OCTOBER 2003: As always happens, in the six years since this book was published we have the advantage of hindsight. At the time the Postscript section of the book described an on going event regarding the planet Hale-Bopp and a mysterious object reported in 1997 approaching the sun which seemed to be very large and manufactured. It was being seen by astronomers in several different places and openly reported. This seemed to fit the scenario of events described in the book regarding UFOs. At the time we reported this event comment was made that this could well be an enemy illusion in which nothing would happen. This comment proved to be correct. This is the way the enemy has always operated. Since then there have been other supernatural and natural events that have proved to be false alarms. Respectfully, Devon Gray |