Rapture Advent of the Last Days

by Jocolby Phillips

  “I think it was the rapture of the Church,” Sergeant Major Williams replied before the major could even consider how he wanted to answer.

  “That’s interesting,” Jimbo said. “I’ve also come to accept that to be the best explanation for what happened.”

  “Really?” Jackson asked. “What makes you think that?”

  “The short answer is, I’ve become a believer in Jesus Christ. You wanna hear the longer version?” Jimbo asked with a smile.

  Christopher gave up on responding since the subject had instantly made him uncomfortable anyway.

  “Let’s hear it, brother,” Jackson responded enthusiastically. “I love hearing these stories.”

  “Okay,” the chief replied. “Well, my parents took my siblings and me to church all the time growing up, but it was something we did just because that’s what everyone in my small town did. You know, going to church was critical to the family’s social standing. We never talked about God or salvation or anything related to daily living with God. We just went to church. I just assumed that I was a good guy and going to heaven one day. Once I left home, I never went to church and never really thought about God. Well, the rapture happened, and I was in shock like everyone else. I called home to check on my parents to see if they had disappeared. My mom answered the phone, crying and rambling on about them being left behind and she didn’t understand why.

  “I was just plain confused when we finished our call. I saw my parents as good Christians. They’re honest, hardworking people that never did anything wrong, so I didn’t understand how they could have been left behind, as my mom believed. That question started my search for the truth, which led me to the Internet and some famous pastor’s teachings on salvation, having a relationship with Christ, and the rapture. I prayed to receive Jesus’ salvation in my apartment before I left for this mission.”

  “So if you don’t mind me asking, how did your parents take the news? You know…that they had never really accepted Jesus as their personal Savior?” the sergeant major asked thoughtfully.

  “It’s a work in progress. I think I’m more close to convincing my mom than my dad. He’s a proud man and refuses to look at any of the materials I’ve given them. He tells my mom that if their pastor and friends are still here, then it couldn’t have been God. I don’t know, man. I pray and worry about them, but what can you do?”

  “Well, I will pray for them with you,” Williams promised.

  “Thanks, Jackson. That means a lot to me. Well, it looks like we’re here,” the chief master sergeant said as he parked the SUSV in front of the command post where they had started the day.

  Major Barrett didn’t say anything as he jumped down from the vehicle and walked off to the living quarters.

  “Did I offend him or something?” the chief asked.

  “No, don’t mind him. Christopher is having a hard time coming to accept God in his life. We just need to pray for him,” the sergeant major answered.

  “Hey, would you want to start a Bible study here on the base? I mean we have nothing but time to kill, right? And who knows? Maybe we can get guys like Christopher to accept Christ.”

  “That’s an awesome idea. I’m in,” Jackson responded enthusiastically.

  CHAPTER 14

  Draven Cross was proud of what he had been able to accomplish during the opening day of the summit. All of the critical political influencers in the world had agreed to his vision for the future, but what was even more significant was that they had accepted his authority over them. As he listened with the rest of the group to the final economic brief on the impacts and steps required to ensure Project Babylon’s financial success, he knew he would rest well tonight knowing that his future was bright. As the presentation concluded, he rose to speak.

  “Please allow me to thank the World Bank and International Monetary Fund for outlining the steps we will need to take to achieve a better financial future. As we prepare to close out a long but fruitful day, I’d like to cover a few final items,” Cross began.

  “First, during the remainder of the week, we will focus on smaller breakout sessions between your political and economic advisors and my team for the purpose of outlining a schedule of your upcoming responsibilities, namely, the contributions of military arms to the newly established Global Peace Assurance Directorate here at the U.E.”

  Rodgers interrupted, “Yes, sir. I was pleased to once again provide so much capability to the U.E., but could you describe for everyone’s edification what the Global Peace Assurance Directorate is meant to accomplish?”

  “For the sake of everyone’s evening plans, I will simply say that this directorate has the teeth to ensure peace amongst nations here on Earth. My Global Peace Assurance forces are a departure from the lackluster U.N. peacekeepers who were woefully under-resourced, trained, or equipped for any mission. U.E. Global Peace Assurance soldiers will be able to isolate and destroy any threat to the peace we are striving to achieve. Is that clear enough for you, President Rodgers?” Draven asked sharply.

  “Yes, Mr. Secretary-General, it is quite clear for all of us, I am sure,” President Rodgers responded dryly.

  “Good. In closing, please note the time on your schedules for your one-on-one meeting with me this week. In this meeting, I will provide you with refined guidance on your future role and my expectations. Then our summit will conclude on Friday with a briefing on bridging the religious and political elements of the world. Thank you for your support and best efforts in making the world a place of peace and harmony for all of humanity. I will see you all soon. Good night.”

  Gabriella watched as many of the world leaders quickly moved to thank and congratulate Draven on Project Babylon and their expected roles. She saw President Rodgers, Aguilar, and the Nigerian president talking in their own little huddle, and she wondered what the obviously tense men were discussing. President Rodgers shook hands with the other two men and called Gabriella over to him as they walked away.

  He started talking when she was close enough to prevent others from hearing their conversation. “What a day. I have a raging headache from listening to all the lies and watching everyone fawn all over Draven. I will send you a couple of messages tonight regarding what I plan to do over the next few months, based on what I heard here today. Stay safe, and keep me in the loop if you hear anything regarding America or me. I meet privately with Draven on Friday, right before the closeout briefing.”

  “I will keep you updated, sir, but today has me worried. I mean, am I mistaken or did everyone here today just willingly accept Draven Cross taking over the world? What politician have you ever known to just accept giving up power without at least a token protest?” Gabriella asked.

  “Something tells me that Draven has dirt on everyone in this room and has placed enough fear into most of them, minus me, that they are afraid to challenge him, at least right now. Don’t get me wrong, Draven has an extraordinary ability to appeal to people, which in my mind indicates the real power behind the man—Satan. I know I’ve already told you that, as far as I’m concerned, he’s the Antichrist.”

  Gabriella tried to hide a grimace. “Sir, don’t you think that’s a bit far-fetched? Look, I agree he is an egomaniac bent on world domination, but really? The devil hiding in the bushes? Let’s just devise some way to sabotage his economic and military objectives.”

  “Just expect a message from me later tonight. I am not planning to just take Draven’s fleecing of America lying down,” President Rodgers replied before heading out of the conference room and across the U.E. lobby.

  Gabriella was worried as she watched Rodgers leave. He seemed resigned to picking a fight with Draven over his policies. She knew enough about Draven to realize that if she couldn’t dissuade Rodgers to abandon that plan, Draven would destroy the man and America just to prove a point. As she entered the elevator that would take her to her office, she felt helpless. It appeared she was in an impossible situation that had no analytical or logical solution. A
s Gabriella sat at her desk and prepared to send a message to Christopher and Jackson, she heard her mother’s voice echoing in her mind—giving advice that had irritated her as a child. “Gabby, you need to realize that you can’t outthink every problem. Sometimes you need to accept help. God’s strength, a power that can help you overcome any problem, is available only after you surrender the problem to Him.”

  Gabriella had no idea how she was going to keep Draven Cross from considering President Rodgers and America as his enemy, but she knew she had to try. Perhaps God was the answer.

  * * *

  The major needed to clear his head after listening to the chief master sergeant and the sergeant major talk. He walked to the smoker’s shack, a small three-sided shed that offered just enough shelter to encourage those on the base who still participated in the unfashionable habit of smoking to gather inside for fellowship and indulgence. No matter the temperature it was rarely empty, so Christopher was grateful to find himself alone in the seatless shed so he could think in solitude about his ongoing conflict with God.

  Hearing Jimbo’s story made his own dilemma all the more real. Though the chief’s parents had lived with a superficial religious understanding of what being a Christian meant and were now facing the consequences for their crime of ignorance, Christopher saw an easy fix for them—they just needed to receive the truth. For himself, the answer was not so black and white. His rebellion against God had a long history. He already knew enough about Christianity to understand God was real and to realize that salvation rested on establishing a relationship with God through accepting Jesus as his Savior, but Christopher’s loss of loved ones in his early life had created a resentment that made him resistant to a relationship with God despite all he knew. However, no matter how angry he was with God, the major could no longer deny that he needed that same God to whom he had thrown up his fist in defiance if he hoped to survive the tribulations ahead.

  The war within Christopher’s heart and mind were a burden that weighed on him deeply, a battle he would lose for eternity if he chose to continue fighting God. He worried about what steps God would take to bring him to surrender. He remembered his grandmother saying, “God has a way of getting our attention. Sometimes it’s more painful than we want, but He will get our attention.” A part of Christopher wished something dramatic would happen that just allowed him to accept God’s gift of salvation. He wondered how many times he would get to cheat death before he lost his life. At the thought of dying without “getting things right with God,” as his grandmother would say, he shivered—or maybe he was just getting cold.

  The major’s quantum communicator vibrated in his parka pocket, indicating a new message had arrived. The display read. “You have a new package from Susan. You have 15 minutes to access this message before it is destroyed.” Christopher pressed the authenticate button and began reading the news from Gabriella. The further he read, the more troubled he became.

  “Chris and Jackson, I hope you’re both staying warm in Alaska. Things are moving quickly here. Draven continues to consolidate world power. His vision for the emerging new world political order is named Project Babylon. For the sake of brevity, just understand that his plan is a centralized world government with ten regions governed by leaders handpicked by Draven himself and considered to be loyal to him. Rodgers is one of the ten, so Draven’s wrong about at least one of the ten.

  “The president concerns me. Between what he has you guys doing and his growing hatred for Draven, I think he’s driving us toward a conflict. I am open to any suggestions to head him off, but I can’t even think straight most days. I am struggling to determine God’s influence in our lives, in my life, this whole rapture thing, and my search for some sort of scientific, logical explanation for all that is happening.

  “Well, it’s late here, and I am exhausted. President Rodgers told me in an earlier message that he plans to reach out to you two, but wouldn’t tell me for what. If you would just give me a heads up on what he discusses with you, I would be grateful. I am worried, guys. I think he believes he can take down Draven, but I am not so sure of that.

  “Take care, my Arctic Warriors, from the sassy woman stuck with the devil (haha). That’s just to rile you up, Jackson.”

  As Christopher finished reading the message, his phone vibrated again with a message from the Eagle. He also saw Jackson quickly moving toward him among what looked like some soldiers eager for a smoke break.

  “Hey, did you read Gabriella’s message?” Jackson asked.

  “Yeah, I just finished, but let’s head into the barracks to have this conversation.” The major nodded to the two smokers who entered the small shed.

  “Okay. I also got an email from President Rodgers,” the sergeant major replied quietly.

  “Me, too. Let’s go in here,” Christopher answered, opening the door to a large barracks bay lined with cots and sleeping bags.

  “So what do you make of that message from Gabriella? It sounds like she’s in trouble.”

  “Yeah, I think she’s overwhelmed. Gabriella wants to be able to think up a solution for everything—so not being able to solve the emerging problems between Draven Cross and the president are going to eat at her. Add to that the fact that Cross is running intellectual laps around her, and Gabriella is being forced way out of her comfort zone,” Christopher replied tersely. “On the other hand, the Project Babylon one-world government sounds like trouble for the good ole U.S. of A. I think you were right in saying our days with the U.S. military are likely numbered.”

  “Man, I am telling you, Draven Cross is the Antichrist and he is establishing his global kingdom. The next thing we should be concerned with is the coming global war that’s described in Revelation 6:3–4, which is the opening of the second seal judgment. From the looks of this base and the effects the Bible describes postwar, I think nukes are going to be in play. The tribulation will accelerate quickly from the breaking of the second seal forward, and as we say in our line of work, the environment will become ‘non-permissive’ for Christians. In time, Draven and his followers will kill everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ,” Jackson asserted. His confidence shook the major.

  “I think the time is quickly coming to work on the plan for occupying our new base of operations in Alabama, don’t you think?” Christopher questioned.

  “Absolutely. My family homestead in Alabama will be perfect. It’s remote and has a small airstrip.”

  “We can talk about the details later,” Major Barrrett said, lifting his device to display the letter. “For now, let’s see what the president wants.” Jackson stepped closer to Christopher so they could both read the message on one screen while pressing the button on his communicator to erase the president’s message.

  “Boys, I hope the polar bears haven’t chased you off. I wish I could say things are getting better here, but they’re not. Gabriella has likely already told you about Project Babylon, so I will spare you that discussion. What she doesn’t know—and I don’t want you guys to say anything to her yet—is that I am planning to conduct a massive military strike against Draven, his assets, and those that are following him within the next three months. I’ve been working on this since I heard his first speech. Gentlemen, I will not go down in history as the American president who allowed some two-bit thug to destroy our way of life without a fight.

  “I have little faith or trust in the U.S. intelligence services, much less the other leaders in our nation, after the willingness of so many to go along with Draven Cross’s stripping of our military power and sovereignty. So what I am asking of you tonight is that you head into the fray once again. The nukes will be safe until we are ready to strike. I need your talents elsewhere.

  “I’ve gotten word from a couple of other leaders here with me in New York that Cross is building his new HQ somewhere in Iraq. I want you to fly to Israel and link up with our old friend Defense Minister Benjamin Havid. See if the Israelis have some insight into Draven’s plans
in the region. I know most of Israel is infatuated with the peace ceremony and the rebuilding of their temple, but Havid has signaled that he has his doubts about Draven’s intentions, which is good enough for me.

  “I am sending the C-39XER jet to Anchorage tonight so you guys can fly out tomorrow. That will put you there ahead of next week’s scheduled peace signing ceremony with Draven Cross at the embassy in Jerusalem. Godspeed, and I will be in touch. The Eagle.”

  Jackson thoughtfully said, “If, as the president believes, Draven Cross is the Antichrist, then no matter what we throw at him militarily, he won’t be defeated until Jesus’ second coming. God, please help us.”

  “I agree we need some help because I have no ideas at this point on keeping the U.S. out of a war with Draven Cross’s growing regime,” Christopher responded.

  * * *

  Draven could not have scripted a better week. Project Babylon had been a rousing success, and the nine leaders he had selected had accepted his plan with no resistance. Of course, the fact that Rodgers had not tried to fight him made him wary. While the American political infrastructure had made it easy to push his agenda, he was reasonably sure there must be some of the fighter pilot spirit left in Rodgers. He had to be sure the old dolt was not trying something; he needed someone inside his inner circle.

  His thoughts were interrupted by Gemma’s voice coming through his intercom. “What is it? I told you I was not to be disturbed for the next two hours,” he snapped harshly.

  “I know, sir, but security says they want you to meet a Mr. John Barnes who’s been downstairs in the lobby demanding an audience with you. He says he knows America’s secrets,” Gemma explained.

  “So I work for security and you now, Gemma? Get rid of this mental patient. It’s likely all he wants is my autograph or something. And don’t disturb me until President Rodgers arrives for his meeting. Is that understood?”