Don't Wait Until Too Late
A couple meet the end, with two different results40 total reviews
Comment from LadyMary
This writing is creative and tells an excellent story. It leaves the reader thinking strongly about that time between a couple when that one moment captures a lifetime. Well done, excellent descriptive wording and dialogue. Peace, Mary
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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This writing is creative and tells an excellent story. It leaves the reader thinking strongly about that time between a couple when that one moment captures a lifetime. Well done, excellent descriptive wording and dialogue. Peace, Mary
Comment Written 11-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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Thank you, Mary
Comment from nitad
Red,
This one had me reaching for the kleenex as well. The day will come, to be sure. Whether it happens in our lifetime remains to be seen. I am reminded of the parable regarding the workers in the field. Even those who started late, near the end of the day, were compensated the same as those who had labored for a full day. The moral: the rewards are the same whether you spend a lifetime believing in Him or you accept Him on your deathbed. Your husband may come around one day. Keep the faith.
Blessings,
Nita
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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Red,
This one had me reaching for the kleenex as well. The day will come, to be sure. Whether it happens in our lifetime remains to be seen. I am reminded of the parable regarding the workers in the field. Even those who started late, near the end of the day, were compensated the same as those who had labored for a full day. The moral: the rewards are the same whether you spend a lifetime believing in Him or you accept Him on your deathbed. Your husband may come around one day. Keep the faith.
Blessings,
Nita
Comment Written 11-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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Thank you, Nita, for the great review, and the wonderful words of comfort. Blessings to you as well.
Comment from Dolly78
Your story really made me think. I am a believer and my fiance, when I met him, had never been to church. Initially when we got together he would come to church to please me, asking questions and "going through the motions". Last Christmas, I took him into the Lady Chapel of our church to light a candle for his grandparents, who are sadly no longer with us. As we stood in the candlelight, he suddenly turned to me and said, "I never really understood all of this, but I really feel something now. I think it is God, telling me he is here." Don't give up on your prayers. I believe we can all be saved, because God loves us equally and will help us to find our way to him. Thank you again for your moving story.
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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Your story really made me think. I am a believer and my fiance, when I met him, had never been to church. Initially when we got together he would come to church to please me, asking questions and "going through the motions". Last Christmas, I took him into the Lady Chapel of our church to light a candle for his grandparents, who are sadly no longer with us. As we stood in the candlelight, he suddenly turned to me and said, "I never really understood all of this, but I really feel something now. I think it is God, telling me he is here." Don't give up on your prayers. I believe we can all be saved, because God loves us equally and will help us to find our way to him. Thank you again for your moving story.
Comment Written 11-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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Thank you, Dolly, for the wonderful story and the words of encouragement. Blessings to you and your fiancee.
Comment from rwilliam
WOW! What an amazing take on this story. I really enjoyed reading it.
Remember that love is what draws people to the LORD. Often, I find that the reason people resist is they are resisting the law that so many preachers preach and they are not preaching how much God loves us. It's not about a bunch of rules. It's about how much He loves us.
I'll be praying for your husband. Just love Him unconditionally and He will be drawn to the LORD. josephprince.org would be a great place to start. He is an awesome teacher on how much God loves us.
Again, great job!
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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WOW! What an amazing take on this story. I really enjoyed reading it.
Remember that love is what draws people to the LORD. Often, I find that the reason people resist is they are resisting the law that so many preachers preach and they are not preaching how much God loves us. It's not about a bunch of rules. It's about how much He loves us.
I'll be praying for your husband. Just love Him unconditionally and He will be drawn to the LORD. josephprince.org would be a great place to start. He is an awesome teacher on how much God loves us.
Again, great job!
Comment Written 11-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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Thank you so much, for the great review, but most of all for the warm words of comfort and encouragement. Blessings.
Comment from CMowery
I think that this is beautifully written, and definitely something that everyone needs to hear and receive. I can definitely sense the awe and reverence of the Lord, and the sadness that Mary felt, along with the regret that Hank felt, were palpable. Very engaging story.
Do you believe in a post-tribulation rapture? This story makes it appear that you do, although you mention nothing of the preceding 7 horror-filled years.
Great story!
~Christin
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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I think that this is beautifully written, and definitely something that everyone needs to hear and receive. I can definitely sense the awe and reverence of the Lord, and the sadness that Mary felt, along with the regret that Hank felt, were palpable. Very engaging story.
Do you believe in a post-tribulation rapture? This story makes it appear that you do, although you mention nothing of the preceding 7 horror-filled years.
Great story!
~Christin
Comment Written 11-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 11-Nov-2008
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Thank you, Christin. I haven't studied the end times in the Bible very much, so I'm not sure what I believe in that regard.
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In the end, Jesus will come back in the twinkling of an eye, like you have described, although no one will see him in the clouds. (because it will happen too quickly) The dead in Christ will be raised, and then the alive in Christ will be raised, and all will meet Him in the sky, where they will immdiately go to Heaven. There will be mass confusion on Earth, as all of the children and all of the righteous people will be missing, with no seeming explanation. (Other than God took them, which most will reject, due to the Anti-Christ's mind control and his explanation) This will be the beginning of the tribulation, because shortly after, the Anti-Christ will sign a seven year peace treaty with Isreal. (which will be a lie) There will be terrible plagues, disasters, and famines that sweep the Earth, and most of the Earth's population will die. The Anti-Christ will claim that he is God, and it will be illegal to be Christian. The jewish people (the 144,000 of revelation) plus the two witnesses will evangelize the world regardless. Many of them will be martyred for their faith. The two witnesses will be killed, and their bodies will lay in the street for three days, before they are raised and translated to Heaven. After the rapture, only those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, and do not accept the mark of the beast, will still be able to go to Heaven, though many will die because of this. After the seven year tribulation, Jesus will come back in the clouds as you have described, and everyone will be judged. Satan will be defeated and cast into the pit of fire, and Jesus will set up his Kingdom on Earth, which will last for 1,000 years. At which point, Satan will be unleashed one last time to try to decieve the saints.
I hope that this sheds some light on end-time events for you. I have studied it a lot. lol.
I love your story.
~Christin
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This is a literal take on Revelations, which I'm still not convinced was intended to be taken literally. Have you read the Left Behind series? Great books, especially the first couple and last one.
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I read the first few books when they came out. I never finished the series. They were very good, as far as I can remember. I am reading Tim Lahaye's book on the Rapture right now. It is called The Rapture, actually. I think you would find it very informative. It lists all of the tribulation views, pre-trib, mid-trib, and post-trib, and gives arguments for and against each.
I believe that it is to be taken literally. You cannot spiritualize some aspects of it, and then take others literally. A lot of people spiritualisze what they want, so that it conforms to their beliefs, and doesn't contradict them. Then they take other parts literally. What part do you see that would not be taken literally? I'm just curious which part you are referring to.
Thanks for the thought-provoking topic.
~Christin
~Christin
Comment from sara-beth
This is a well written piece, and I'm sure that many people relate to these hopes and fears that you have portrayed. I think you did a good job describing your ideas, and their were no errors that I could see, (rare!) Very good story!
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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This is a well written piece, and I'm sure that many people relate to these hopes and fears that you have portrayed. I think you did a good job describing your ideas, and their were no errors that I could see, (rare!) Very good story!
Comment Written 10-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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Thank you, sara-beth, I appreciate the great review.
Comment from Sylvia Page
This is a beautiful story. Really hope the world will come to such an end and not one with violence or destroyed by man by his carelessness, with environmental chaos.
He had always scoffed, put her off, [and] made empty promises.
Good luck and best wishes in the contest.
Sylvia
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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This is a beautiful story. Really hope the world will come to such an end and not one with violence or destroyed by man by his carelessness, with environmental chaos.
He had always scoffed, put her off, [and] made empty promises.
Good luck and best wishes in the contest.
Sylvia
Comment Written 10-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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Thank you, Sylvia, for the great review and catching the nit.
Comment from chaswriter
red - A very interesting entry to the last moment contest and the variety of entries is quite surprising. I enjoyed your story and the relationship between the two spouses. Good luck. Charlie.
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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red - A very interesting entry to the last moment contest and the variety of entries is quite surprising. I enjoyed your story and the relationship between the two spouses. Good luck. Charlie.
Comment Written 10-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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Thank you, Charlie
Comment from wirenut
redrider6612,
well done my friend, a couple of nits and a bit of hope for you....
singing their never [-]ending chorus
shining figure in blinding[-] white robes
Both of these are compound adjectives.
Now, to the rest, which has little to do with the contest entry and a lot to do with the content; from your comments...
and I pray daily that he will come to faith before it's too late. I love him so much, and want to spend eternity with him, but I fear he is too stubborn
From your story...
It seemed Hank was about to find out if he was good enough.
Then Mary kissed him, a kiss that tasted of goodbye laced with regret. When she pulled away, there were tears in his eyes, too.
"I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely, and the words sounded empty to his ears.
"Me, too," she replied, holding him for a long moment. With a last, sorrowful look, she backed away. "Goodbye."
My thoughts, perhaps wrong, but the Jesus I believe in would have taken Hank up with Mary because, in the end, Hank said the right thing.
It is my belief that an all powerful and merciful God would not ignore a last moment plea of repentance, which Hank uttered when he said to her "I am sorry."
How can a merciful God not forgive such a plea? Love is, after all, what binds the universe together.
Living a good life and repenting is different than living a horrible life and repenting when the chips were down, wouldn't you think?
My God is more merciful because I do not judge my fellow man, I obey His command to let Him be the judge.
That is why it is called RAPTURE!
Well done, good luck in the contest,
rick
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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redrider6612,
well done my friend, a couple of nits and a bit of hope for you....
singing their never [-]ending chorus
shining figure in blinding[-] white robes
Both of these are compound adjectives.
Now, to the rest, which has little to do with the contest entry and a lot to do with the content; from your comments...
and I pray daily that he will come to faith before it's too late. I love him so much, and want to spend eternity with him, but I fear he is too stubborn
From your story...
It seemed Hank was about to find out if he was good enough.
Then Mary kissed him, a kiss that tasted of goodbye laced with regret. When she pulled away, there were tears in his eyes, too.
"I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely, and the words sounded empty to his ears.
"Me, too," she replied, holding him for a long moment. With a last, sorrowful look, she backed away. "Goodbye."
My thoughts, perhaps wrong, but the Jesus I believe in would have taken Hank up with Mary because, in the end, Hank said the right thing.
It is my belief that an all powerful and merciful God would not ignore a last moment plea of repentance, which Hank uttered when he said to her "I am sorry."
How can a merciful God not forgive such a plea? Love is, after all, what binds the universe together.
Living a good life and repenting is different than living a horrible life and repenting when the chips were down, wouldn't you think?
My God is more merciful because I do not judge my fellow man, I obey His command to let Him be the judge.
That is why it is called RAPTURE!
Well done, good luck in the contest,
rick
Comment Written 10-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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Thank you, rick, for the nits and the generous review, and most of all for the words of encouragement.
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love will set you free...
Comment from allborn66
It's a wonderful story, but isn't it too long for flash fiction? I like the story, it definitely fits the contest theme.
Barbara
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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It's a wonderful story, but isn't it too long for flash fiction? I like the story, it definitely fits the contest theme.
Barbara
Comment Written 10-Nov-2008
reply by the author on 10-Nov-2008
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Thank you. The contest length requirement is 500-1000 words.
