THE WARNING A Novel of America in the Last Days (The End of America Series Book 2) (26 page)

Emmanuel
United Evangelical Church

Columbus,
Indiana

^“
I saw that
the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people,
 
the
blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.”
(Revelation 17:6-NIV)

        
Pastor Conner couldn’t stand it any longer. His evening
newscast had been interrupted by an emergency news flash with the President
speaking from the Oval Office. Pastor Conner watched the President’s brief
speech in which he announced and then signed an executive order creating and
mandating the
American Citizen Loyalty
Oath
. Pastor Conner knew that he couldn’t remain silent any longer. He
earlier publicly proclaimed that he would not sign the administration’s loyalty
oath demanded from church leaders, stating that his sole loyalty was to Christ
and His church, not to a politician. Even though his church was a designated
evangelical church and was attended very Sunday by green-shirted CCC Conservators
who recorded his every word, he nevertheless decided he would speak out
opposing this latest action by his President. He knew he had to speak out.

        
Pastor Conner was in his church office preparing for the
church service which was to start in ten minutes. A knock on his door was
followed by one of his deacons entering with a troubled countenance. Pastor
Conner asked with a smile, “Jim, why the long face? Nobody showed up for
services?”

        
“Hardly, Pastor, it’s
a
packed house
, especially with the forty some CCC folks.”

        
“Forty some? We normally only see two or three of the green
shirts. What gives?”

        
“That’s not the bad part. The bad part Pastor is that each
one is armed. They’re packing handguns and full ammo belts. I know what our
rules are so I’ve already asked them to leave their guns outside. They refused.
Refused rather nastily, I might add. One of the green shirts who appears to be
their leader
snarled at me
that they
were here in force because of your sermon title that was in Saturday’s newspaper,
you know,
Why the President’s Citizens
Loyalty Oath is Treason.
What do you want me to do Pastor?”

        
“Whew! Well, I expected
some
kick back, but
not
like this, and
especially before I’ve
even given
my
sermon. The McAlister Act not only prohibits what it calls ‘hate speech’, but
also any criticism of a public official. Someone in DC must have a relative in
Columbus who read Saturday’s church page and tipped the CCC.”

        
“Let’s face it Pastor. You’re a
target
. You became a target when you said you wouldn’t sign the
church leaders’ loyalty oath, saying only Jesus was King. There are at least
forty green shirts who live in this area, most of whom were unemployed when
they were hired. So I’m not surprised that they know all about today’s sermon.
Again,
what
do you want me
to do
? They’re
not
going to dis-arm, that’s clear.”

        
“No, they
won’t
dis-arm. We need
to pray
that they
won’t use their arms. We’ve all heard the rumors about what happened in that
church out in California. Okay, let’s go into the sanctuary and start the
service. Pass the word to the guys on our security team.”

        
The church’s forty two uninvited visitors were seated as a
block in three rows near the front. None were smiling. Two had digital
recorders in obvious sight. After the announcements and the worship songs,
during which the Conservators stayed seated and didn’t join in the singing,
Pastor Conner stood to deliver his sermon.

        
“Members and visitors, welcome to our church services today.
My topic is quite simple. May one’s government force its citizens to pledge
loyalty to the government and to its elected and appointed leaders? When the
President announced that he was unilaterally imposing this new mandate on us as
American citizens, he compared his actions to those of Henry VIII. That infamous
British king likewise forced thousands of his people, nobility, anyone involved
in church leadership and any person in public office to sign a loyalty oath
to the King
. Sir Thomas More even lost
his head for refusing to sign the King’s loyalty oath. What a
terrible
thing to suggest that Americans
should be forced to do what an
English
tyrant
imposed. I can only conclude that America is now
ruled by a tyrant
, by a man who….”

        
“
Stop. STOP right
there, sir
,” the words were shouted by the leader of the Conservators,
standing and pointing his finger at the pastor in his pulpit. “
You are in direct violation
of the
McAlister Hate Speech Prevention Act, the federal Hate Crimes Act and the
President’s several executive orders on this subject. I am authorized to
arrest you
for these criminal acts and
to impose on you, sir, the
penalties
associated with these laws. Please step down, sir, to be conveyed from this
facility.”

        
Pastor Conner knew there was a possibility that he would be
arrested, based on what he had heard from other pastors of churches around the
country with whom he had been speaking. He had decided that he would not resist
arrest and that he would go peacefully with the federal agents, hoping to be
found innocent later in court. The church’s attorney had warned him, though,
that under new laws and executive orders there was a high probability that he
would be detained without ever going to trial. He told his pastor client that
he also might immediately be imprisoned by one of the new DHS Emergency Courts,
created by the President because so many federal court judges had resigned or
refused to sit on mass defendant cases. Pastor Conner didn’t want to endanger
anyone in the congregation, so he stepped down from the pulpit and was marched
swiftly up the aisle and out the back doors, as his shocked congregation wept
and prayed for their spiritual leader.

        
Within seconds of the Conservators hustling their prisoner
out the door of the sanctuary, two loud pops were heard. Congregants who owned
and used guns knew what they had just heard. Those in the back of the sanctuary
rushed to the now closed doors, pushed them open and saw what they most feared.
Their beloved pastor was face down on the entry steps, blood flowing from two
bullet holes in the back of his head. A deacon screamed at the Conservators,
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE? YOU’VE KILLED OUR PASTOR. YOU BEASTS….YOU….DESPICABLE….”

        
The leader of the CCC troops turned to the objecting deacon,
saying with a smirk, “He
resisted arrest
.
We
can’t
allow that, you know….In
fact,
you’re interfering
with an
officer of the law. We
can’t
allow
that, either.” He then coldly shot the deacon between the eyes, waving his gun
towards other church members, who fell back from the bloody scene spread before
them.

Small
Group Bible Study, Home of Hannah & Gary

Birmingham,
Alabama

               
Scott
was ready for a fight, or at least for a spirited argument, at tonight’s small
group. Over the last few weeks he had spoken with each member of their Bible
study small group. Scott had a general idea as to which members were leaning
towards fleeing America and which members rejected the whole idea as
preposterous He had prayed for wisdom and skill in controlling what he knew was
the most controversial part of their study. It was one thing, Scott knew, to
study prophecies about a future powerful, wealthy and influential end times
nation. It was quite another thing to conclude that the prophesied evil nation,
the mother of abominations, was one’s own country, and then decide to flee from
it. Scott trusted that he was ready.

        
After opening prayer, Max spoke up, “Scott. Last week in our
study Tom made it pretty clear, it seemed to me, that he is giving real serious
thought to fleeing. My dear wife confirmed that she’s leaning that way. Tom, is
it alright to ask Marty, here in small group, how she’s thinking? Are you guys
in agreement?”

        
Tom replied, “Marty’s an adult, she’s never been known to be
shy. Ask away.”

        
Marty looked around the group, uttered a silent prayer and
then said, “I don’t want to spook anyone out, but I had a dream two years ago
that I’ve not been able to forget. I know.
I
know
. Dreams might just be a bad pizza the evening before. But, I also know
from scripture that God sends dreams and visions. Did He send
my
dream? I can’t say
for sure
, of course. What I can say is
that this dream
definitely
got my
attention. What I saw was America in flames. Violence in the streets. Lots of
blood.
Very
frightening images of
Americans being shot dead by what looked like government troops, but not
dressed in the traditional military uniforms that we are used to seeing.
Different. I can’t describe them, except that they looked official, but not
like any military uniform I have ever seen. Like a civilian uniform, but
looking like a military person wearing it. Does that make
any
sense? It didn’t really to me, either.”

        
“Marty,” Beau said, “I’d be
the
last
to say that God
doesn’t speak to people in dreams. The Bible is full of dreams initiated by
God, to direct, to warn, to confirm….you name it. What did you conclude from
your….rather frightening….dream?

        
“I believed then….and I believe now….that God sent the
dream, to show me what would someday happen in America. Then, when I read the
prophecies that God gave us through Jeremiah describing violence and blood and
the lion cubs growling in the Daughter of Babylon those verses
really
got my attention. I saw the
prophecies as, you know, like
confirmation
of my dream. You ask if I’m on board with Tom? I was on board
before Tom even knew there was a ship
,”
Marty said, chuckling.

        
Scott asked, “I understand from my conversations with you
all that Tom and Marty, and Max and Liz, are either seriously considering or
making plans to flee America. That’s a
big
percentage of our small group. Is there anyone else? Sally is
not
on board, so we’re not at that
stage. Not
yet
, anyway.” How about
you guys, Hannah?

        
“Scott, until my Uncle Paul was shot and killed I frankly
thought people who wanted to move out of the country were conspiracy nuts….you
know….not quite dealing with a full deck. I’ve been forced, though, by his
death at the hands of
my own government
to
completely
re-evaluate. This study
has come at a perfect time for me. Why? Because I see now that God loves us so
much that He was willing to tell us the future
to warn us
. Why? Not just to tickle our intellectual curiosity, but
so we could take action. Like the Bible says, the prudent see the danger
coming….”

        
“And they hide from it,” Gary finished his wife’s quote, “Or
the NIRV says ‘they go to a safe place’. The NIV says they ‘take refuge’. Look,
I understand it. Especially, now after Hannah lost her uncle, but I’m the part
of our family who’s the realist. I’ve been watching the economy, what’s going
on in DC and all that. I’m
the first
to admit that it’s scary stuff, but what are we supposed
to do
, just sell everything, quit our jobs, jump on planes to who
knows where, and
pray
it all works
out? That sounds like
bad
stewardship
to me.”

        
Hannah, patting her husband’s knee, said slowly, “Honey….the
way you phrase it….it
does
sound kind
of….crazy, but how do you think it sounded to Abraham when God told him to
adios from his family and friends in Haran? Or to the new Christians in Judah
who were moved out after Stephen was stoned? I was just reading II Chronicles
11. After Israel was split into two nations, Judah and Israel, the new king of
Israel fired the Lord’s priests, and replaced them with priests who worshipped
goats and calf idols. Verse 16 says that ‘those who had their hearts set to
seek the Lord God of Israel’
left Israel
along with God’s priests and moved to Judah. Verse 17 says that by moving to
Judah they ‘strengthened the kingdom of Judah’. People who think they would never,
under any circumstances, move from their country are essentially saying that
God
can’t
use them to spread the
Gospel in another part of the globe.”

        
Max asked, “Gary, my brother, how do you handle the ten
verses telling God’s people
to flee
from the Daughter of Babylon? Those warnings seem clear enough to me. If you
conclude that America is the rich and powerful super power that the Prophets
meant when they described the Daughter of Babylon…. Babylon the Great….Mystery
Babylon, then
how
do you avoid doing
what God says to do….
to flee
?”

        
“Max,” Gary responded, “You’re there and I’m not yet….I
studied the same thirty clues to the identity of Mystery Babylon that you
studied, but….”

        
“But….
what
? Who
else could these verses
possibly
apply to? France? Italy? Greece? Come on, Gary, why do you think America’s not
depicted in the last days prophecies, you know, when the Antichrist arises?
Like Pastor Lester Sumrall suggested….America’s not shown in the
very
last days because by then
it’s off the stage
. Simple as that.”

        
“I agree that these clues couldn’t possibly apply to ancient
Babylon….
not even close
….no deep
water sea ports, only a small Jewish population, ancient Babylon has already
been punished, it was never destroyed in one day, one hour, etc., I can’t argue
for ancient Babylon,” Gary responded.

        
Liz jumped in, “Gary, I was where
you
were for a while. I know that Mystery Babylon
can’t
be ancient Babylon and it’s
certainly
not
a church or
denomination. Not even close. Those clues only really work for a nation, as the
verses say, with
cities
in the
nation. As I said last week, I’m
warming
up
to the idea of moving. I’ve been Skyping with friends in Central
America. There’s a big, beautiful world out there. Our friends are involved
with a new start up church, which has blossomed and grown. They’re ministering
to the people in their town.
Happy as
clams
.”

        
Gary, feeling that he was being targeted for not agreeing,
asked, “Beau, you haven’t said anything. Where are you and Audrey on this?”

        
“Don’t know. Not
yet
,
anyway,” Beau replied, “But we’ve sure been talking
a lot
about the possibility. I read yesterday an article that said
over three hundred thousand Americans emigrate out of the U.S. every year. This
wasn’t a Christian article, it was a secular analysis of Americans leaving,
mostly because of economic reasons, the article said. Rumors are rampant at my
company that we’re going to have big time lay-offs. I’ve asked around some, but
no one wants to confirm or deny the rumors. One rumor was that everybody at my
mid-management level will be let go. I’m concerned, naturally. The idea of
trying to find a job in this economy is
unappealing
,
to say the least.”

        
Gary listening carefully to Beau’s answer, said, “But, Beau,
you didn’t answer my question. Where are you and Audrey on fleeing? Are you
saying you’re
only
interested in
emigrating if you get fired from
your job
?”

        
“No, Beau, but obviously that might be an incentive to
move.”

        
“I don’t want to
scare
anybody,” Max interjected, “But how many pastors and priests need to be
arrested and charged with hate crimes for preaching from the Bible before we
get the idea that it’s time to get out of Dodge? How many Christians and Jews
need to be persecuted? Or even shot, like Hannah’s uncle, and others we’ve
heard about, before we get the idea that maybe we’re
not wanted
here? Plus, and this is a
big
point to consider. We haven’t talked about it tonight, but
America’s going to pay a
big price
for forcing Israel to give up the land that God said
not
to ever give up. They would have
never
signed that peace treaty except for U.S. pressure.”

        
Gary had heard enough. He turned to Max and asked, “OK, Max,
you’ve said you’re gonna’ flee, big guy,
when
will that happen? Two years….three years….
ever
?”

        
Max glanced at Liz, who nodded her head affirmatively. Max
said, “Might as well tell you
now
.
Liz and I listed our house yesterday. We’re flying out next week on a ten day
exploratory trip to two Central American countries to take a look at where we
will be moving. Our plan is to be
moved
offshore within two months, give or take.”

        
The room was silent.

        
Finally, Gary spoke up., “I’m sorry, Max, I was a little
flippant there. I’m happy for you guys….I’ve got probably a hundred questions
to ask, which I’ll defer until we’ve got more time….But….
wow
….that’s
big
news. I
think we just moved from being a Bible
study
to a Bible
doer
….so to speak. You’re
serious about this.”

        
“Serious as a
heart
attack
, Gary.”

        
Scott, sensing that the small group needed to process what
the members had just heard, concluded the discussion. Gary stood and hugged Max
and Audrey, followed by the other members. Everyone in the room knew
instinctively that their corner of the world had just changed.