The church wasn’t a fancy building. From the outside, it looked more like a school, complete with gymnasium, than it did a cathedral. Stan gathered his family’s belongings, and Christine hoisted Natalie onto her shoulder. They walked to the side door of the sanctuary and stepped inside. Although the electricity was still off in the area, the interior of the building was well lit by dozens of candles and kerosene lamps, flames flickering against the lightly painted walls, giving the large room a warm and cozy feeling. It reminded Stan of the Christmas Eve candlelight services he attended as a boy.
The room was filled with bustling people, some carrying backpacks, others carrying sleeping bags, still others toting boxes, a few teenagers even sporting guitars. The scene looked like a busy summer camp! READ MORE
Stan shuffled his way through the lines, exited the grocery store, and returned home. The Chevy’s gas gage now edged to the left of the “E”. As he turned off the engine, Stan wondered whether the car would start again tomorrow with so little gas in the tank.
Christine and Natalie were wide awake on the sofa. “Stan! Where have you been? You’ve been gone for more than three hours …” It was then that Christine noticed the sparse amount of food Stan carried. “Simply to bring home some rice, bread, and beans? Stan, where in the world have you been? I’ve been worried about you. Our candles are getting low. And it’s really getting damp and cold in this apartment without any heat.” READ MORE
“NEXT IN LINE, PLEASE!” an exasperated voice somewhere up ahead of Stan called. “Come on, let’s go. There are a lot of people waiting.”
Stan thanked the elderly woman for the bread one more time, then stepped into the narrow lane in front of the cash register, while his benefactor waited in the line next to him. There were no scanners functioning at the checkouts, no calculators, computers, or working cash registers, so every transaction had to be calculated on paper. READ MORE
The automatic sliding doors were stuck in the open position and the flow of the people going in and out of the store seemed perpetual as Stan waited politely to slip inside. After waiting a few moments, he realized that most shoppers had long since discarded their manners as they made for the rapidly vanishing food supplies.
The large grocery store was dimly lit, as the juice dwindled and the battery-powered emergency lights dotting the walls. This store, like most modern grocery stores, drug stores, and department, had been built largely without windows to help prevent burglaries. It depended almost entirely on artificial interior lighting to brighten it’s aisles. Without electricity, the store became a huge, dark cave, with only the emergency spots providing any light at all. READ MORE
Stan stumbled to his car in a daze, trying to keep a grip on his emotions. Think, Stan! Think! He silently screamed to himself again and again. What should I do? What can I do?
For several minutes, Stan sat in the car in the dark. He didn’t even bother to start the engine. Shock crept into the car with him. Gone! Los Angeles is gone! It can’t be! It must be a cruel H.G.Wells type of joke. I can’t take much more of this! He thought. What in the world is going on? For the previous six months nearly every time Stan turned on the news, he had heard of another catastrophe. Hurricanes of enormous proportions, tornadoes, tidal waves, earthquakes in Turkey, massive mudslides burying people in Mexico. “It’s a disaster of Biblical proportions!” Stan and his buddies used to joke, as they laughed at the television commentators trying to outdo the other networks in their coverage of each new crisis.
Few people were laughing now.
“What? Gone! What do you mean gone?”
“The entire downtown section … has been destroyed. It’s gone. All the skyscrapers, the hotels, the banks, the insurance company buildings—everything just crumbled. From what they are saying on the news, it was unlike any earthquake L.A. has ever experienced before. The plates beneath the surface didn’t just slide apart; they seemed to serge together, forcing each other into the air, and then buckled. It was as though all the pressure of the ages just blew the ground apart. READ MORE
Stan noted with concern that his gas gauge still worked accurately, as the indicator tilted far to the left, hovering precariously close to “E.” He had planned to get gas anyhow, but he didn’t realize they were so low. This is no time to be out of gas, Stan fumed, frustrated that Christine apparently hadn’t filled up the last time she was out. Why can’t that woman get it through her head—gas isn’t always available these days! We have to get it when we can. Stan whipped the car out of the apartment area and headed toward his usual service station. Even at this hour, the roads leading toward L.A. were congested. READ MORE
The beginning of my book, “The Refuge” starts with a fictional story about a young couple’s struggles for the necessities of life when things begin to fall apart in our world as we know it. It was a very real possibility over14 years ago when I wrote “The Refuge” and today it’s more than a possibility, it’s more like a harbinger, a warning of things to come. As you read this story, I hope you can see the wisdom in preparing for such a scenario as well as being a part of a Christian community. This is a 12-part series. Jim
“How long do you think the power will be out this time?” Christine asked pensively. “I’m afraid our food in the refrigerator is going to spoil.” READ MORE
The Bible says that if we say we are without sin, we are fooling ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8, Romans 3:10, James 3:2). There have been times in my life that I needed great grace and even now, today, I am an imperfect man. I have sinned – I am a sinner – no doubt about it.
This grace I need has a name – and his name is Jesus. Jesus is the bridge that connects us, even though we are sinners, to our Father God. It took two pieces of wood and three nails to build this bridge. It’s a holy bridge – one of supreme sacrifice for our sins.
I need Jesus – and I need His Grace on a daily basis. I remember a time when I thought I had sinned so badly that even Jesus had left me. But in my darkest hours, He assured me that He would NEVER, NEVER, NEVER leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). I am His, and He is mine – and nothing will ever change that fact.
Yet, I am mystified that there are other Christians who want to blow up this bridge of forgiveness and reconciliation to our Father – a bridge that they themselves or maybe someone very close to them may need to cross over sometime in their lives.
There are people who want to condemn others who have sinned, and think themselves better off because their particular sin is not the one they are condemning. Most often, when the perspective changes to yourself or others you love, the bridge will be in tact.
As soon as pride lifts its head, especially in the area of who and what the Blood of Jesus will or will not cover, you can be sure that Grace will much more abound (Romans 5:20).
Don’t blow up a bridge that you, yourself, or your loved one may need to cross at some point in their lives. Others have crossed over this bridge, and it is on the road to their salvation.
If we need one thing in the End Times, it’s Grace and Love. And we ALL need the Bridge by which we can be forgiven – Jesus.
Love,
