As Samuel restudied the history of the Foundation, events continued at the Gathering House. One Friday evening, Caleb and Sophia came to the Wilson home for dinner. As always, Sophia gushed about the imminent arrival of Paradise, the rapid changes in The Word proved it.
Samuel wondered for a second what would happen if he said something about what he’d learned. He wanted to sound out his family and others about what he now knew, but fear stopped him. Expressing the slightest doubt would draw unwanted attention, especially with Caleb and Sophia witnessing it. Even a mild question that sounded critical of The Word had the potential to trigger a review committee.
He still hoped to find a way to get his wife to engage in a real conversation about their religion. He suspected she did not entertain any negative notion of The Word. Then a strategy occurred to him.
“Caleb, I’ve got a question for you. There’s a guy I work with, belongs to some fundamentalist church, I think they speak tongues and all that nonsense. He says that Apostle Adderly’s predictions differ from current understanding, that he said 1948 would be the end, not the establishment of Israel. How do I answer that?”
“You can’t. It’s mostly lies put out there by Forsakers and religionists that hate The Word. They want to undermine our faith. Don’t listen to him.”
“But couldn’t we look it up in Adderly’s books and prove him wrong? We must have them.”
“A few years ago we had instructions to send our archives of older books back to New Jerusalem. They took up too much space. And they aren’t necessary for anything. Maybe some old timers have them, I don’t know who it would be.”
Samuel nodded as if agreeing. But he recognized this as another example of The Word erasing history. They had to know that having the books around would cause trouble so they scooped them up and hid them, or more likely destroyed them.
“I don’t see why anybody would want to read such nonsense,” Sophia announced, “we know that wise men at New Jerusalem research the Bible, getting closer and closer to a complete understanding of scripture. Sure The Word taught some mistaken ideas in the past. We know more now.”
“I have enough trouble keeping up with current understandings and signposts,” Judith added, “I trust the men in New Jerusalem to tell us what we need to know.”
His family had complete faith in New Jerusalem, no other thought was even possible. He would continue to explore the Foundation’s past, and its teachings. He would continue to look for ways to bring up what he learned, he had no expectation of success.
They continued to chat, mostly about events at South Hill. The ousted servants resented their replacements. The new ones disliked the continued presence of troubleshooters from New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem men were questioning every single Disciple in the Gathering at length. Apparently, they asked some very personal questions and expected detailed answers.
Samuel asked if they were preparing for a lawsuit. Caleb cautioned him not to say anything, then told them all about it. He said that clearly, New Jerusalem expected a lawsuit, but Luke was insistent the Lord would never allow that. The girl’s mother continued her Bible Study, but without making personal progress. Her father was angry and made threats of legal action.
“The mother doesn’t even go out in Disciple-making,” Sophia added.
Samuel wanted to ask what the daughter was doing with Ricky in the middle of the night, when Sophia changed the subject. “You know, the Edwards’s aren’t participating in Disciple-making much either.”
“Say aren’t you friends with Matt?” Caleb asked.
“We’re acquainted. I can’t say I know him well. Nice fellow though.”
“Perhaps the two of you can encourage him and Laura to do more. I haven’t seen him much since the two of you talked to Gloria Lighthorse.”
Samuel said simply that he had not seen much of Matt. He didn’t want to talk about Gloria, he had not heard a word about her in some time.
**
In the last week of March, New Jerusalem made an important announcement. On the first Sunday of April one of the Apostles would address all Disciples worldwide via another special video. Everyone believed this signaled an important announcement.
Rumors abounded. A few hotheads thought that he was going to announce the start of the Great Tribulation, a time when Satan’s hordes would attack God’s people, triggering the battle of Armageddon. Others thought Disciple-making, the work of finding and converting “The Lord’s sheep” would end, replaced by a message of doom to those that rejected The Word.
Samuel, still in the middle of his research on the Foundation’s history worried about his cynical attitude. He kept his expectations low. He imagined an announcement of some administrative change, touted as fulfillment of some scripture or another. He noted that Commemoration, the annual celebration of Jesus death fell on the following Thursday. It guessed the two were connected.
However, at midweek Gathering, Caleb announced the Sermon and Bible Study would continue as scheduled. At the end of Gathering they would hear a brief message. Samuel took that as confirmation of his low expectations.
By Sunday most people reached the same conclusion. Unlike most Disciple speakers, the visiting Servant delivering the Sermon spoke well, and engaged his audience, even make a few humorous asides. Even though his subject was well-worn, he made it interesting. He lived in a small town in Idaho an hour’s drive away. At one point, he said that his home state was so behind the times, they’d fight Armageddon six months after the rest of the world. Several other comments drew laughter from his audience.
“Why can’t going to Gathering be like this all the time?” Samuel thought, “if it was like this I wouldn’t have any problems. Instead it’s about endless rules and the dangers of violating them, or reporting on others.”
In contrast, the Bible Study rehashed methods of finding and using opportunities for Disciple-making with family, co-workers, or even strangers in casual settings. Samuel remembered a recent conversation with one of the shop managers. A Christian, he thought that talking to others about his faith was enough to fulfill Jesus commission to preach.
The study lesson cited several examples from the Gospels, times when Jesus found a chance to talk, such as the woman at the well, or Phillip's conversion of the Ethiopian Eunuch. That made sense, but failed to explain the need for reporting to New Jerusalem. More rules for the sake of having rules.
The lesson ended. An Assistant Servant dimmed the lights, and the face of Apostle David Howell filled the screen. Samuel, having started “1984” now saw what David had found so funny. Howell was younger than Rodgers by a few years. His once blond hair, now silver, and piercing blue eyes radiated intelligence and energy. According to some of the information Samuel studied Howell did most of the heavy-lifting in Bible interpretation. But he preferred to work behind the scenes, providing the scriptural basis for The Word’s publications.
“Friends, my fellow Disciples, as we approach ever closer to the grand fulfillment of The Lord’s purpose to establish Paradise on Earth, we can be thankful that he guides our every step. We have absolute faith the Lord will establish that Paradise, and that He will bring all those that love him into that Paradise.”
He paused for the applause that he knew would greet his words.
“The Lord continues to prove His leadership of our Foundation. As you all know, He has selected twelve Apostles to care for His Disciples. For a time, one served as “Chief Apostle” not to glorify himself or impose his will. No, the Chief Apostle provides stability and order to the work of the Apostles.
“Later we made an administrative change, and did not have a Chief Apostle, all members of the committee considered themselves equals. However, momentous events are shortly due to come upon humanity. To insure that His Disciples continue to glorify and preach The Lord’s Word, the Apostles have determined that we must once again have a Chief to lead us.
“By unanimous consent of all Apostles, John Rodgers is our Chief Apostle, the Chief Servant to shepherd The Lord’s Disciples. In the weeks and months remaining, we have faith in The Lord’s provision for our spiritual needs.”
The lights came up, Samuel sensed the speech confused more than a few people. They knew the title fell out of use, yet many still thought of Rodgers as Chief Apostle.
He heard a woman nearby say “I thought he was always the Chief Apostle.”
Somebody else reminded her about “that talk at the Grand Gathering where they announced there was no Chief Apostle.”
“Well I knew they stopped using the title, I thought he was still in charge.”
Samuel had to admit he was perplexed. What did it mean? And what had Howell meant when he talked about “months” remaining? Were they about to start talking about a new date?
Armageddon’s Slaves © Jeffrey Thomas All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. All events and characters are
products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living
or dead is purely coincidental
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