She pulled back the tag. It was from Justin and Heather. Aw, how sweet!
Renate wondered what it was. Even among such tragedy, her curiosity got the best of her. She shook it like a child would with a gift on Christmas Day, to see if it was something fun or boring.
Boring! It felt like a book or something. And books were of little interest to Renate McCallister. Fashion magazines, yes; books, not so much. After graduating from high school, she swore she’d never read another book against her will ever again. She wasn’t about to break her promise now.
Renate placed the Gift back on the table, and rejoined Brian in the living room. She made no mention of it to him. The way he felt, he wouldn’t appreciate it anyway. Maybe tomorrow, she thought, pushing the redial button on her phone.
Finally, there was ringing.
On the fourth ring her mother answered: “Hello?”
“Hi, Mom.”
“Oh, sweetheart, thank God it’s you!”
“Been calling for more than an hour. Kept saying number can’t be reached.”
“It figures. Are you okay?”
“Yes. You?”
“I am now,” said Rose McCallister. “Been worried sick ever since you left. Megan told me Brian was okay. I’m so relieved to hear that.”
“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to stay at Brian’s tonight. He’s in bad shape.” Renate toned her voice down to a near whisper, “Physically, he’s fine, Mom, but mentally, I’m not so sure. Do you remember his friend from Colorado?”
“Justin?”
“Yeah. He vanished right in front of Brian’s eyes at the football game.”
“Oh no!” Rose screamed, as if she’d known Justin all her life, when in reality, she never met him. “Poor Brian,” she moaned.
“I really don’t think he should be alone right now.”
“Stay right where you are,” Rose said through her tears. “Brian needs you now.”
“Thanks for understanding, Mom. See you tomorrow.”
The call ended. Seeing that Brian was still trance-like, Renate showered her boyfriend with plenty of hugs. Renate was desperate to talk to him, but knew he was incapable of any prolonged conversation at this time. The moment he stopped talking to his parents and Jacquelyn on the phone, it’s like he completely shut down.
Renate did her best to understand. She felt a chill in the air. Now that most fires had been extinguished, cold air was once again in control of Ann Arbor and its surrounding areas. She turned the thermostat back on and set it for 72 degrees.
Even if no words were spoken, Renate took comfort in consoling her distraught boyfriend. Staring out the window into the darkness, her greatest hope was that life would miraculously revert-back to normal come daybreak...
Renate McCallister sighed, knowing her desperate wish wouldn’t be granted when the sun rose. Even worse, she sensed deep inside that whatever happened earlier, it was here to stay.
19
AT ONE A.M., CHARLES Calloway was still reading the Book of Revelation. Part of him was terrified to keep reading, for fear that he would find even more Scriptures confirming his being doomed for all eternity. Nevertheless, he needed to know what lay ahead.
Sitting on a chaise lounge chair, Calloway saw his reflection in the ceiling-to-floor mirror, wearing a Waldorf-Astoria terrycloth robe. The material things that had all but enslaved him now sickened him. He had a sudden urge to vomit. “I traded my eternal salvation for this?!”
Calloway felt so ashamed of himself. The guilt was unbearable.
The only thing that mattered now was the Book he was holding in his hands. In a way, he felt like a college student cramming for his finals. But this was far more important than any college exam. With eternity at stake, he had so many questions which needed answering.
“No turning back now,” he said.
When Calloway got to chapter 7 in the Book of Revelation, verse 9, chills shot up and down his body.
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
It sounded comforting, but Charles was confused by it. He read on and learned that when the Disciple John—the author of the Book of Revelation—first saw this vision he, too, was confused by it and asked one of the elders in Heaven to tell him who they were.
The elder said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
Charles Calloway was filled with a joy he’d never known before. One thing he always remembered from his father’s teaching was that after the Rapture, the world would go through what was called, “The Great Tribulation”.
Could John have been writing about what happened today? Calloway read verse 14 again. The passage shot straight up into his heart. “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
“Thank you, Jesus!” Calloway shouted at the top of his lungs. Wave after wave of relief washed over his fatigued body and soul.
The couple in the room next to his heard him loud and clear. “Probably got hold of a loved one or something,” was the reply.
Feeling God changing his heart, Calloway dropped to his knees and prayed, “Lord Father God, thanks for hearing my prayer. I know I’m a sinner in need of a Savior. Everything within me believes that only You can save me, Jesus. No one else has the power to do it. Please forgive my many past sins and unbelief, Lord, and transform me by the power of Your Holy Spirit. From this moment on, I’m all Yours! Please guide my every step and sanction my every word from here on out. I ask this in Your mighty Name, thanking You again for this second chance. Amen.”
Tears of joy and relief streamed down Calloway’s cheeks one after the next. Despite the constant pain stabbing at his heart from losing his family, he clearly felt the Holy Spirit in his midst, comforting and strengthening him for the very first time.
Charles Calloway was never more grateful for anything in his life. Each time he thought of his family in the future, a family he’d taken for granted, the tears would surely come. But at least now he wasn’t alone. With God’s help, he would take this new knowledge and share it with everyone else left behind with him.
“Thank you, Jesus,” Calloway said again.
20
THE FOLLOWING DAY
CHURCHES, SYNAGOGUES, MOSQUES, TEMPLES, and all other places of worship on the planet, were full of panic-stricken people.
Even those who met on Saturdays—Jews, Seventh Day Adventists and some Jehovah’s Witnesses, were once again holding services this day, to hopefully comfort the minds and hearts of their grieving flocks. Although service wasn’t the appropriate word. Mourning was.
Ironically, many living in the Western Hemisphere were at their places of worship when the Great Disappearing Act occurred. Seeing their young children vanish before their very eyes, they were still shaken to the core...
As far as anyone could tell, only a small percentage of teenagers and grownups affiliated with the SDA church were counted among the missing. The only Jews to vanish were Messianic believers who trusted in Christ Jesus for their salvation. None were recorded among the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Many Sunday worshipers were also busy holding men’s and women’s prayer breakfasts, organizing Thanksgiving food drives for less fortunate families, and a myriad of other activities when the disappearances occurred.
Many of them were plucked from the planet in the blink of an eye.
One eyewitness in the Midwest said a man stood at h
er door with a box full of Thanksgiving food, when he suddenly vanished into thin air. The box he was holding fell to the pavement, scattering the items inside everywhere.
Stories like this were common within the Christian communities of the world.
Regardless of religion, billions, including those who seldom, if ever, attended services in normal times, filled pews and lined the aisleways. Many were camped out all night in parking lots waiting for the doors to open. They were too frightened to go home for fear of what they would or wouldn’t find there.
Suddenly starved for guidance, for direction, they were desperate to hear something that would explain what happened to their world, something that would hopefully put their minds at ease a bit.
In most gathering places, such assurance never came.
Whether standing or seated, scores of desperate souls openly grieved. Their voices echoed throughout sanctuaries, as they mourned lost friends and family members. Most had no idea what had befallen their departed loved ones.
Though deeply saddened to have lost every young child up to a certain age, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Mormons, and Unitarians were somewhat consoled knowing the majority of the adult population, including most of their teenagers, had been largely unaffected.
For that, they were grateful.
It was morbidly bewildering seeing religions that had always stood diametrically opposed to one another now having something in common to grieve over. When it came to their young children, gender, skin color, ethnicity, and the religion their parents chose meant absolutely nothing.
Up to a certain age of accountability, God removed all children from Planet Earth to be with Him for all eternity.
Only most didn’t know it...
When it came to evangelical churches, most were faced with the daunting challenge of locating pastors. Many were nowhere to be found. As far as anyone could tell, they weren’t killed; no bodies were present. Which meant they were either out of town, which was highly unlikely, or among the missing.
In many cases clothing was found, confirming the latter.
But pastors weren’t the only ones feared among the missing. It seemed the core body of believers, those who faithfully attended church and lived out their faith to the best of their ability, were also assumed gone.
Prior to the disappearances, many pastors had refused to teach end-time prophecy in their churches, in order to shield their flocks from what some dubbed, “unnecessary mental torture”.
Because of such disobedience and weakness, countless scores of churchgoers worldwide had no clue what took place 24 hours ago.
Others wanted to teach what the Bible said about the end times, but oftentimes faced stiff opposition from various members of the flock, including those who gave the most money to the church. It was a sobering revelation, to be sure.
In the final analysis, these so-called ordained teachers of God’s Holy Word were more obedient to the interests of the people rather than to the command of the One who called them into service in the first place, to preach all of His Word—not just parts of it! They would have to answer for it someday...
But those belonging to churches that taught eschatology (end-time prophecy) were slowly piecing things together. Everything they’d heard about the Rapture from now-gone pastors, loved ones, and from reaching books and searching online had obviously been true.
Their worst fears were confirmed: they were left behind.
Their hearts burned within them knowing they’d missed the Call. Would they get another chance? No one knew for sure.
Needless to say, they were full of utter remorse...
21
CATHOLIC CHURCHES WERE ALSO overflowing with parishioners this day. More people showed up for mass than ever before, including during the holidays. They waited in long lines for hours on end hoping to squeeze their way inside. Only those already inside weren’t leaving, which only added to the growing tension.
Most Catholic churches had plenty of cardinals, archbishops, bishops, monsignors and priests around to say mass. But how could they deliver messages of comfort when they were just as frightened and confused as everyone else?
Fully versed in Scripture, they were aware of the Book of Revelation and its teaching on what they called the “Apocalypse.” But since yesterday’s strange occurrence was a silent evacuation, how could it ever be considered a cataclysmic judgment levied upon them from God Almighty Himself, like they were taught in seminary?
Spiritually blinded to the Truth, they’d somehow failed to connect the dots, so to speak.
If there was one bit of comfort they clung to, it was that a large percentage of the Catholic Church hierarchy was still intact, from the Pope on down.
As a whole, not including young children, disappearances among Catholics were significantly lower than with Protestant and evangelical groups.
Why was this the case? It was a question for which no one had an answer; at least not yet. Surely it would be fully investigated.
Having been spared, Catholic leaders rejoiced.
If they only knew…
If those now gone were in Heaven—via some so-called Rapture—as many were speculating, including some Catholic leaders, why wasn’t the entire Catholic Church hierarchy evacuated as well?
No, it couldn’t be the Rapture! And those who’d vanished weren’t in Heaven. Whatever happened yesterday was some sort of judgment on those now gone, many Catholic leaders had surmised.
Otherwise, why were they still here?
Then again, all Catholic children up to a certain age of accountability were removed from the planet. Talk about the riddle of the ages! It was puzzling, to say the least. Until Catholic leaders knew what had transpired, they dared not speculate at this time.
Their joint task for now was to do all they could to keep the flock of more than one billion members together at all costs.
The Catholic Church had always been known for its overall unity. However, much like Protestant churches, there were various groups within the Catholic Body. But in the name of overall unity, this widespread diversity wasn’t well advertised.
After all, unity showed strength. And strength served as an excellent recruiting tool when searching out new converts, and keeping those they already had in the fold, so to speak.
Groups from within the Catholic Body varied, from extremely conservative to ultra-liberal. Ultra-traditionalist Catholics were the most conservative group. They were fairly small in number, but they had a loud voice. And they weren’t afraid to be heard.
These people—clergy and parishioner alike—were extremely dedicated to the Catholic Church and always kept a very keen eye on Vatican City. They were deeply religious individuals who felt no need to change what had been in place for so many centuries.
Ultra-traditionalists were old school in every sense of the word. If the choice was theirs to make, they’d gladly go back to saying mass in Latin, which still happened in some circles. Many of the world’s top Catholic apologists, the staunch defenders of Catholicism, were part of this tightly-knit group of believers.
Without question, traditionalist Catholics—the next group within the group—made up the backbone of the Catholic Church hierarchy. Much like ultra-traditionalists they were deeply conservative and shared the same disdain for liberalism and modernism within the church.
They were also deeply religious individuals, who could be seen in church praying for hours on end, regardless of what day it was. Their unending dedication and total commitment to the church was commendable.
The biggest difference between traditionalists and ultra-traditionalists was that traditionalists were a little more accepting of some of the reforms found in Vatican II (which, along with Vatican I, represented a myriad of amen
dments to original church doctrine over the years).
They also believed that in order to be best interpreted and ultimately understood, masses needed to be said in the language of the people. After all, how could someone ever come to believe something they couldn’t understand?
Even though they were rightly taught that only God’s divine grace had the power to save souls, through Christ Jesus, only a small percentage from those two groups were among the missing.
The reason? Instead of preaching Christ alone, the Church added to it—Jesus plus the Pope plus Mary plus works plus church tradition, and on and on. This manipulating of the true Gospel message ultimately led to the vast spiritual blindness among their flocks over the centuries.
For all their dedication to the church, they were too caught up in man-made doctrines and tradition to fully understand the simplicity of God’s salvation. In short, they failed to realize church membership and good works, while noble, had absolutely nothing to do with having eternal assurance.
It all came down to trusting in Christ alone for the salvation of their souls, nothing more.
Next in line were the Liberal Catholics: Most members from this group had all but departed from traditional Catholicism, oftentimes showing a total disregard for long-preserved doctrinal issues, such as the church’s open stance on birth control, abortion and homosexuality.
Some even blended Catholicism with various Eastern mystical beliefs popularly known as the New Age. Their views varied from pantheism—the belief that God is all and all is God—to a Cosmic Christ of sorts, where essentially, Christ was reduced to some universal, impersonal spirit.
Tragically, this “off track” group within the Catholic Body had grown significantly within the scholarly ranks of the Catholic educational system. Many taught at the most prestigious Catholic universities on the planet. They took great pleasure filling the minds of Catholic students the world over with extreme liberal dogma, leading many astray in the process.
The Aftermath Page 7