(8)-The Warning Of The Rapture.

Two Hours Later...

Two hours had passed since the disappearances, making it five hours all together...and Clare still hadn't gotten any word on Tommy. She wanted him found. Weather he was alive or dead, she need to know what had become of him. She wanted the police to find him before 24 hours. She knew once all that time had gone by that the chances of a child being found alive or at all were slim to none, so she wanted Tommy found before then...even if he was dead.

Clare then thought about the time she went to a church last year with Tommy called New Hope Village, where pastor Billings talked about the Rapture.
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Chicago, Illinois-(1994)

Clare sat in the congregation with Tommy, Irene and Raymie, listening to pastor Billings talk about the Rapture.

"I'm reading this morning from Paul's letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, beginning at verse 1. These are the word we find in this passage: "When is all this going to happen? I don't need to say anything more about this, for you know perfectly well that no one knows. The day of the Lord will come unexpectedly as a thief in the night. When people are saying all is well and everything is peaceful and quiet, then all of a sudden, disaster will fall upon them as suddenly as awoman's birth-pains begin, and these people will not be able to get away anywhere. There will be no place to hide." Said Billings.

"Now how can we be sure of all of these things? You'll recall that last week, we talked about some of the spusific prophecies that have to do with The Second Coming the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this morning, i wanna talk to you about some of the signs of the end-times. And one in paticuler, namely, the sign of the Anti-Christ. When the time is right, then the Bible tells us that a great and strong and powerful leader will appear. Now, who will that leader be? Do we have any indication in the scriptures as to who this person will be? Yes, the Bible has an answer for that. The appostle, John, tells us in 1st John these words: "Indeed, many rightly will call him the Anti-Christ."

"The Bible further teaches that this indevidual will be instrumental in bringing about a season of peace in the world. Although his ultimate end will be a revenge against God, he wil be a very evil person". Now, some think that if Christ were to come back 30 years from now that this indevidual could be living at this paticuler moment. And actually, if Christ comes back before 30 years, then it's all together possible that this man is active in government even this very day. I've talked to many of my Christian friends about the Rapture, that moment when Christ will come back to recieve all believers unto himself...and i'm simply amazed at the number of stories of people who have had the experience of thinking that the Rapture had already taken place."

"I'm reminded of a neighbor i had back in Kansas, who got up one night in the middle of the night, took off his pajama tops, and went down stairs for some ice-tea. In the meantime, his wife awakened out of her sleep and discovered that her husband was gone, turned on the lights, found his pajama tops, and was immediately convinced that the Rapture had taken place, and that she had been left behind."

"While from our studies the past few weeks, we can conclued that we're living in now in the end-times. The days in which we live, we are seeing many prophecies being forfilled that we have never seen forfilled before. And surely this serves to remind all of us that the time is short at best. And if we would be followers of Jesus Christ, we must join his band-wagon now."
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Oh, how Clare wished she had listened. If only she had headed pastor Billing's warning about the Rapture. She wouldn't be here right now. She would be in Heaven with Tommy and Grady. If this event was indeed the Rapture, that is. What was with the "Ifs"? Millions of people had disappeared out of their clothes all over the world, both dead and alive. What more proof did she need? What else was she waiting for to convince her that this was what it was?

She had no idea.
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