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"Will you come to the meeting tonight?" Adelaide asked without looking up from her plate. "Pastor Cookes has been announcing this special service for weeks now, and I'd really love to go."
It wasn't that Gavin didn't like his pastor or his church. The contrary was true. Fanatically loyal, he wouldn't step foot in another church building. Why his pastor had chosen to meet at the mission in Ottawa was another matter. The mission was known to be Trinitarian and light cannot fellowship with darkness...
Gavin shoved his plate aside, uncertain of what he should do.
"I know the couple who run the mission. The Mosely were our family friends for years. They must be nearly seventy years old now..." Adelaide's thoughts drifted for a moment, "Please Gavin, just this one night. We don't have to go to the other meetings this weekend if you don't want to."
"Fine. We'll go - but just this once," Gavin rose from the table, crossing over to the mantle where he had placed a stack of church literature just the week before. He stuffed his shirt pocket with the pamphlets until it bulged threatening to tear the stitching. God works in mysterious ways. What if this was an opportunity to witness to the lost souls he would meet tonight? Perhaps God was calling him to open their eyes to the truth of the Oneness Gospel.
****
THEY SAT TOGETHER AT the back of the auditorium on hard, metal chairs. Gavin bowed his head as the musicians took their places, beginning to play the first strains of a worship melody. Gavin prayed out loud in tongues, his eyes closed as he discreetly slid a pamphlet onto the seat in front of him. Adelaide, the dutiful wife, remained seated until her husband had finished praying, then stood to sing as well.
"Hello, my name is Lachlan. I'd like to thank you all for coming tonight," his mesmerizing eyes scanned the sparse crowd seated on folding chairs in the cement-walled room.
Angel Wings Mission had advertised a guest speaker for over a week hoping for a good turn out but so far only a handful of people had shown up. The night was still young. Lachlan cleared his throat. He was no pastor, held no degree from any Bible college, but his passion made up for it.
"I grew up in Scotland's highlands. I don't hold a degree in theology or a doctorate in divinity. There is nothing wrong with earning one of these things, but I tell you this tonight in humility so that you will know that I don't hold myself in greater esteem than any of you. The grace of God makes us all equal in His sight. No, tonight I come to you with a message - an urgent message I hope you will hear with an open heart.
Lachlan stood behind a makeshift pulpit in the dimly lit room. "How many of you can remember exactly where you were on 9/11?"
"Would it surprise you," Lachlan proceeded, his eyes lingering on the family in the back row as Arlana slid into a seat beside her younger sister, "Would it surprise you" he began again, "If I told you that on September 11th we were lied to? Try this on for size. We were lied to big time. Remember what you were doing the moment the planes hit the world trade center? Where were you? Who were you with?"
Adelaide glanced up in surprise at her older sister, shocked she was at the meeting. She waved to Aziel, shifting over so he could sit between his cousins. "I didn't expect you to be here," she whispered, "What a surprise! How did you get here?"
Arlana wasn't certain how much she should share, so she simply replied, "With Lachlan."
Turning her attention back to the speaker, she eased the awkward silence by squeezing her sister's hand affectionately.
Adelaide glanced between Arlana and Lachlan, her brow furrowing.
"...Now, let me drop a bombshell. The hijackers lived with FBI information. I'll go a step further - they may also have been moles in the White House. Are you horrified? Angry? I was. I am. Let me tell you this, the hijackers may have even trained in our US army bases. I am here tonight telling you that we were lied to." Lachlan let his words sink in, "You see, for many years people thought it was Communism who was the enemy. Heck, even the influx of drugs in our streets destroying the lives of our vulnerable youth. Now they tell us it is the War on Terror. We have gone our entire lives not knowing there is a boogeyman out there."
Even Gavin was paying attention now, no longer slouched in his chair. This was a topic that held his concentration. The room was exceptionally quiet, not a rustle to be heard as Gavin leaned forward, not wanting to miss a word.
"If terrorists were not behind the 9/11 attacks, then who were, you may be wondering," Lachlan paused to let his question sink in, or for dramatic effect, Arlana couldn't be sure, "Everything points towards the New World Order."
Pastor Mosely raised an eyebrow, draping his arm across his wife's shoulders. Had they done a background check before inviting Lachlan to be a guest speaker? He'd check in with the secretary first thing in the morning. The New World Order was simply a fairy tale conspiracy theorists whispered among themselves, nothing more and now this guy was preaching it. He groaned and sat back farther in his chair.
"It concerns me that so many Christians are left in the dark, refusing to see the writing on the wall. You see, when we focus only on a seeker-friendly, feel-good Gospel, we lose sight of the bigger picture. We are drowning in our own selfishness and pride when we only seek the temporary pleasures this world offers. Jesus said, 'This world is not our home,' so tell me, why is our goal or motivating drive to pursue riches that have no eternal value? May God have mercy on us..."
Lachlan cleared his throat, looking over the sparse crowd assembled before him, some having already walked out of the service, "It is time our eyes are opened. This is no game. We are living in perilous times. Please stand while Pastor Cookes leads us in prayer."
****
PASTOR COOKES ASCENDED the stairs two at a time, sidestepping Lachlan. Seizing the microphone he leaned forward, not missing a beat, "Tonight we heard just a glimpse of what is happening in this world, the darkness that we have been blind to. But thank God our eyes have been opened. What will you do with this information? Will you go back to your everyday lives? How long till the day of Grace is over?" He all but roared into the microphone, "We are not guaranteed our next breath. Don't leave the state of your soul to chance."
A few of those assembled half ran to the front of the platform, kneeling prostrate before the Lord, or the pastor. Arlana hung back as Adelaide and her family pushed past, urged on to join the others.
"Where is everyone going?" Aziel breathed.
"Shh, they are just praying," Arlana quieted her inquisitive son, "Stay with me okay?"
Lachlan stood to the side of the podium observing the proceedings. He was used to it by now, this a common conclusion to his speeches.
"Spirit of the Lord, fall! Fall! Fall!" Pastor Cookes repeated himself. On cue, some of those gathered started to cry out, others fell to their faces.
Arlana met Lachlan's eyes then glanced away, unsure what she was supposed to do.
"The Refiner's Fire is here!" Pastor Cookes proclaimed, staring at the back door, "Are you ready for the Fire? He is here!" He shifted from English into an unknown language, "Time is running out!" His voice came in short breaths, "Time is running out! If you believe that God is One, come to the front now! Don't wait, the Fire of God is here!" More people tumbled out of their seats, knocking over metal chairs. No one objected when the metal reverberated against the floor.
"Oh Hallelujah, do you feel the Fire? It's burning all that isn't Holy."5
Arlana rubbed the goosebumps spreading quickly across her forearms. She was a failure and acknowledged it. Before a Holy God, she certainly couldn't stand a chance.
"Are there those among us who still believe in the Trinity? Do you have doubts that God is One and you still believe a lie? Search your wicked hearts. You cannot lie to God! If you have doubts about the Oneness of God or still believe in the Trinity, leave now! God is going to cut you off from the vine. You are nothing but an unprofitable branch destined for the fires of Hell! The Refiner's Fire is here and He will burn you to ashes."
More people turned and walked out than the pastor was anticipating, but he had no regrets.
A plump Jamaican woman with a floppy white hat accosted Arlana from behind, pushing her down towards the floor as she seized the blonde head between both of her thick hands.
"Mercy Lord! Save this one from Your Fire!"
And then she also began to speak in different tongues, gouging her fingers into Arlana's temples until she flinched in pain.
Grabbing Aziel by the wrist, Arlana lunged from the woman's clutches and tumbled towards the exit, crashing into a man standing in the doorway.
"I'm here now," he encircled an arm around Arlana, reaching out to Aziel with his free hand.