The Hope of Our Calling

           If you are in Christ, you can have this hope—the hope of your calling. One of the realities of the rapture is that every person who is in Christ shall be changed, first the dead in Christ and then we who are alive when He comes. In the preface of Jeff’s book, Rapture Realities, Jeff shares a personal note about this reality. I want to share it with you here.
             During the year in which this manuscript was written, my mother suffered a stroke from which she did not recover. Even though the stroke occurred in January of 2011, she did not pass away until the 14th of June in the same year. The stroke seriously affected her short-term memory such that, occasionally, she would forget who my wife and I were. Nevertheless, God blessed us immeasurably by allowing her to stay in our home for her final three months. 
            One Sunday morning, about a month before her passing, she was in her room lying on her bed, when the house seemed to be filled with a reverential presence. The TV was not on and the house was peacefully quiet. There was a holy hush in the house, so much so that my wife and I both wondered if this might be her last day. It seemed like she was edging close to the other side that morning.
            As I peeked into her room to check on her, her eyes brightened, and she playfully asked, “so watcha doing?” I casually replied, “Oh, nothing much.” She pondered my reply for a moment, and then abruptly responded, “You should write a book!”
            The Lord had dealt with me several years earlier about writing a three-book series about His return. I had already finished the first book originally called, The Chronos Agenda, but I was sure that she didn’t remember ever reading it due to the stroke. I was already in the middle of writing this second book.
            Startled, I asked her, “What in the world made you say that?” With a quizzical look on her face she said, “I don’t know. It just popped into my head to say it.” I told her that I was actually in the process of writing a book, but that it wasn’t finished yet. Again, she thought for a moment, and sounding something like Shirley Temple, chirped back, “Then I will read it when I get to Heaven!”
            That brief exchange affected me profoundly. The poise of her spirit and the tone of her voice that day did not remind me of my mother. There was something unusual about the way she spoke. There was a child-like joy in her voice that was disarming. Later I wondered, “Is such a thing even possible? Do people up there actually read the works of believers from this realm?”
            Then I reasoned within myself. “If such a thing is even remotely possible, I better make sure that this book contains no ill thoughts or earthly contamination. My policy should be: if it cannot be said up there, then it should not be said down here either. I pray that I have not strayed from that policy in the pages of this book.
            There is a special grant of revelation in his hour with respect to our Lord’s coming, similar to what the two disciples experienced on the road to Emmaus. It was as they walked and reasoned together that the resurrected Christ, though unbeknown to them at the time, joined them and proceeded to open their minds to all that the Scriptures said about Him. I believe that this Emmaus-bound Stranger is doing the same thing today, only with respect to end-time prophecy and His second coming.
            A final word regarding my mother (and my father who preceded her to Heaven) years ago: During my childhood, they acquired a piece of art depicting Christ with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. The picture hung on our living room wall throughout all those years. At the time, I barely noticed it. Fast forward many years, when I set my hand to write these books, and it seemed that my wife and I were joined by another Stranger along the way. I can now testify that His insightful presence has changed everything. As for the picture, we had it re-framed. It now hangs in a prominent place in our home. I think you will see why when you read the pages that follow!
 
You can download a free copy of Rapture Realities from our website. That which we freely received we now freely offer to any who desire to have their own Emmaus Road journey with the Lord.

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