AND THEN THE TRUMPET is the exciting sequel to WITHOUT FAITH. At great cost, the resistance has successfully freed the Christians and Patriots arrested and secreted away for their faith. Now, the nation must be rebuilt and once again become "One Nation Under God". How were they able to pull off such a feat? What happened to all the key players in Without Faith? And how will it all end? Find out in AND THEN THE TRUMPET.
EXCERPT
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead
in Christ shall rise first. Then we who
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to
meet with the Lord in the air; and so we shall ever be with the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17
PROLOGUE
Defeated again!
It wasn’t the first time, not by a long shot, but he was determined it
would be the last! It started the day he
was kicked out of his home for no other reason than that he wanted more. What was so wrong with wanting to be more
than one of thousands of beings created to worship someone else? What was wrong with wanting to ascend higher,
to be the one being worshiped? That’s
all he’d wanted. But the tyrant whose
throne he was trying to usurp retaliated by kicking out not only him but all
who agreed with him or who weren’t satisfied with the minor role they’d been made
to play.
So, he decided he would establish his
kingdom elsewhere. He’d found a couple
who were easily manipulated into doing what he wanted, but the tyrant kicked
them out of their home too; simply for choosing to do something they wanted to
do instead of doing things the way he insisted they should be done.
The valley of Shinar in 600 B.C.E. had
looked promising. He had gotten a huge
group of people to build a city and erect a monument, a tower, that would
ascend into heaven, beyond the throne of God. It would be a monument to him; he
would be worshiped as he desired, as he deserved. But the tyrant would have
none of it. He came down and scattered
the people and confused their language so they would no longer be unified
enough to complete the work.
But with each set back, he did not give
up. He moved on, establishing kingdoms
in other places, filling hearts of others to do his bidding. In Egypt, Babylon, Rome, in countries and
cities around the world. Most recently
in Nazi Germany, and finally, in the government of the United States of
America.
He almost had it this time! The majority of the nation had either been
doing his bidding or were too frightened or too complacent to stop it. But the Tyrant, his Son, who proclaimed that
his was a kingdom of love, and their enforcer, the Spirit of God, had teamed up
with a small force of resistors who had done the unthinkable! They had acted in faith and had brought his
kingdom crashing down around him. They
thought they’d defeated him, but they had not.
With each defeat, he learned something and
came back stronger, more determined.
Controlling the government didn’t work as well as he’d thought it
would. Taking away people’s rights,
their freedoms, only made them angry and made them want to fight. This time, he’d do it differently. This time he would give them everything they
wanted. And he would make them want
everything. When he was the only one who
could supply everything they desired, they would sell their very souls to get
it. It was an ingenious plan. It would work. And he would finally get the adoration and
worship he deserved.
He rejected the name the Tyrant had
given him. He was no longer Lucifer, a
“light bearer”, a “morning star”. No, he
preferred the name the believers had given him, Satan. It was a Hebrew word meaning, “accuser” and
“adversary.” They have no idea just
how much of an adversary he could be, Satan thought. But they will see. He was not done yet. He was just getting started, and he had
groomed some people who would be eager to help him achieve his goals. He rubbed his taloned hands together. He couldn’t wait for round two!
“Father, help me,” Samuel Adamson, 50th
president of the United States of America prayed, “I’m in over my head.” Just over a year ago, he’d been “Uncle Sam” a
regular fed-up citizen fighting a tyrannical government which had usurped too
much power and had captured, detained, tortured and killed hundreds of
thousands of its citizens. Its corrupt
leadership deposed, a grateful nation turned to him, the one most largely
responsible for the liberation of their loved ones and all but begged him to
take their place. How could he
refuse? There was so much wrong that
needed fixing, and he knew what needed to be done. Who else would ensure that the travesty
they’d just endured would not be repeated?
But he hadn’t known what an uphill battle that would be, how much
opposition he would face. He had no way
to know that his hero status would last a mere ten minutes in D.C. time, and
then he’d be fighting this insurmountable battle nearly alone. It wasn’t like G-day.
G-day when they’d all come together as one to accomplish a common
goal. What a glorious day that had been.
Go-day, God’s day.
Throughout the nation, alarms were set for earlier than usual, no one
wanted to miss the early morning segment of Now News New America. Every table and stool at the counter were
filled at Heavenly Coffee; there were people standing shoulder to shoulder trying
not to spill their coffees in front of the screen above the counter twenty
minutes before the segment started.
Finally, the moment the entire nation had been waiting for..
“Good morning New
America! This is JT Hadlock, with all
the “now” news in the nation. The moment you’ve been waiting for: the Tribunal
results are in! President Rust Naylor,
Vice President Jacky Naylor, Head of the Joint Chiefs of the Militia, General
Hsing and The Supreme General of the Militia of New America, have all been
found guilty of High Treason against New America and of war crimes against its
citizens. Each charge has earned them a
life sentence. They have been remanded
to ADX Florence in Colorado, the only supermax prison in New America, to serve
their sentences consecutively. They are currently being held in a federal detention
cell and will be transferred to Colorado tomorrow.”
JT paused, supposedly to
take a sip of his coffee, but more for dramatic effect and to allow those
watching a few moments to celebrate. He
continued. “For those of you unfamiliar with the ADX, this prison has been
called “a clean version of hell” due to its harsh conditions. It’s not a dentist chair or a guillotine, but
it’s as close as we will get, folks!”
“Trials
are still underway throughout the nation for all detained by the Resistance in
the camp raids to determine what level of responsibility and complicity each was
involved in. They will likely continue
for the next few months. I have been
informed, however, that Edmund Billings, the Director of Camp Bouse, and those
who performed the actual torture on the little island at Fort Savage have been
tried, found guilty of war crimes and have also been sentenced to life at the
ADX.”
“Just a reminder that next
Tuesday, August 1st, is the National Day of Mourning and all
businesses will be closed. If you’re
needing to hold a funeral, be sure to do it on that day so the government will
pay for it. If you’ve already had one
for a loved one who died in one of the camps, submit your receipt to your
governor before Tuesday for reimbursement.
Also, don’t forget that the Presidential election is just over two weeks
away. Be sure to get your nominations sent
to your governor right away. Y’all know
who I’m nominating,” JT said with his charming smile, “but I figure anyone
would be an improvement, am I right?”
“To wrap up this segment,
I’d just like to observe a moment of silence.
Gratitude for the Resistance and its leader, for those who put their
lives on the line to rescue our loved ones from the camps. Thanksgiving for those who returned home,
acknowledgment of the sacrifice of those who did not. On Tuesday, we mourn. Wednesday, we heal and start afresh. Bow your
head with me if you would.” Every head
watching the broadcast bowed and thanked or remembered someone. After a few moments, JT raised his head,
looked into the camera and softly said, “For Now News New America, this is JT
Hadlock. JT out.”
No comments:
Post a Comment