Operation Wolfe Cub: A Chilling Historical Thriller (THE TIME TO TELL Book 1) (44 page)

He also seemed caring enough to politely wait for the talking to subside from the room before he began to speak. The clock on the wall that he glanced at, suggested that they were ten minutes past the hour. Still, he stood there blooming like a flower without much intent to interrupt.

His show had to go on, however, so he timidly began to speak with a few patient false starts through the chattering crowd, “Excuse me…excuse me…excuse me…thank you… excuse me…thanks everyone for your wonderful expressions. It’s so nice to see such an enthusiastic group mingling in my new church…what am I saying? I mean to say
our
new church.”

He continued more loudly, “So let us get a move on…
ahem
. Sister Thelma will lead us with our first song in the Filmore’s Gospel Songbook, page eighty-eight, titled, ‘Onward Christian Soldiers.’ We’ll sing three verses of the song in remembrance of the World War, which is mostly behind us now. It is time to move on, isn’t it? Hopefully we can forget about it now. Wouldn’t you all agree?”

Everyone agreed, so he went on, “What a war it was, yes… going on six years…too long. Okay now, please welcome Thelma.”

A presentable older lady in the front aisle gingerly picked up her songbook. Silently, she thumbed to the proper page then, full of vibrancy, she stood up only to give everyone a mildly surprised show of static electricity on her pink frock and raglan sleeves. A neighboring woman sitting in the pews, apprised her of her problem, so she quickly brushed it down then sashayed to the front where everyone could see her. As a token of more reverence, she graciously nodded to everyone then tenderly raised her hand to start the song without a piano or organ to accompany her.

“Onward, Christian soldiers!
Marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Christ, the royal Master, leads against the foe.
Forward into battle see his banners go.
Onward, Christian soldiers!
Marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Like a mighty army, moves the church of God.
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod.
We are not divided, all one body we.
One in hope and doctrine, one in chari –ty.
Onward, Christian soldiers!
Marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.
Crowns and thrones may perish, Kingdoms rise and wane,
But the church of Jesus constant will remain.
Gates of hell can never ‘gainst that Church prevail.
We have Christ’s own promise, and that cannot fail.
Onward, Christian soldiers!
Marching as to war, with the cross of Jesus going on befooooore
.

The hymn ended well-timed. Once silence fell, Pastor McKoowey quietly stepped forward. He took a moment to look into his mirror hidden below his podium to check his hair while his audience shuffled around, putting away their hymnals. His fingers seemed to do for a quick, impromptu comb while he waited for everyone’s undivided attention. A minor problem quickly arose that he seemed to be expecting. To his personal aggravation, his cowlick at the top of his bangs didn’t want to cooperate with the way he wanted to look. Incidentally, he decided to leave it when he noticed two younger ladies up front, sitting together, catching on to his inconspicuous problem with flirtatious smiles.

As soon as he became relaxed, he firmly announced, “Onward, Christian soldiers! I like that. Don’t you? This is a part of our topic of discussion tonight. It fits so well with the war.”

Almost everyone interacted positively as the pastor paused for a few seconds to let the topic sink in. He then
emoted convincingly, “I’d like to open the evening with a prayer first…please stand up with me, won’t you?”

When everyone did, he stood his six-foot frame up straight, closed his eyes and bowed his head.

“Dear Father, our Lord in heaven. Please hear our prayer.
We all wish to reach out to bring your presence into this holy Church of the Baptismal Mission.
Let all of us here tonight thank you for bringing this World War against evil to a conclusion.”

He paused then continued,

“Bring peace and prosperity here across these great lands now that the war is over.
Now I must ask of you, our great Lord, to let us look into the future of our nation.
Let us lead the world into peace. Let us lead by example of goodness.
May every other nation look up to us to seek guidance,
And when—the time to tell has come, we will be ready.
Please embrace this nation with all of its bountiful people—unspoiled.
Amen.”

Everyone replied, “Amen.”

He moved on, “Okay, I have two new families—well, let me correct myself. I mean one family has returned to the church, and one family called and told me they were coming for the first time. They are the Coolidge and Johnson families. Please stand up so everyone can see you.”

The Coolidges and Johnsons nervously stood up, nodded once or twice, then quickly sat back down.

Pastor McKoowey extended his hand out. “I have something special to say…Eddie and Chantain Coolidge are blessed from the heavens. Eddie there, well he was kind
enough to tell me a little more about themselves before coming back. You see, he and his wife were unable to have a child. From the grace of God, Eddie found the beautiful one you see right there in Chantain’s arms. How about that?”

Everyone glanced over as McKoowey continued, “Amazing…the child was left for them to take care of. My, my, the Lord works in mysterious ways, doesn’t he? Just think everyone, God himself delivered a baby just for them. So now I hear they just got word from the authorities that
uh
—excuse me, what’s the child’s name?”

Eddie spoke up, “Doll’s his name.”

“Thank you…Doll is now legally theirs everyone…praise the Lord, hallelujah!”

Just then, two ornery-looking young brothers in the far back of the church ducked behind the pews, giggling. “A dolly boy.”

“A Doll; what a name,
hu hu
.”

Nobody could put their finger on where the subtle comments were coming from, except for Pastor McKoowey. He discovered the impertinent behavior rather quickly, so he talked a little more loudly, “The Coolidge family left; now they’re back. Why? They saw the light of our true church. They brought someone else with them too.”

He went on, “The Johnsons are neighbors of the Coolidges. Bless their hearts for coming along and giving us a try too…we’re glad to have you as well.” He paused then continued, “Today’s been a long day starting this morning. I’ve been on the run with three churches. Isn’t it great I can serve? The Lord works hard. Apparently, he wants me to work harder too.”

He went on, “Getting back to our guests. I hope to have something pleasing for our guests tonight because they recently came from the Church of the Original Testament last week…I’d like to make them feel at home right here with
the Bible’s
New
Testament that we all share and speak about so much here.”

He coughed, then continued, “My topic tonight isn’t one I normally talk about, so I don’t know how all of you will react. It came from one of my thesis reports in advanced religious studies back in church seminary. Personally, I like it very much, but my professor didn’t. I didn’t get a good grade on it…anyway, so it goes.”

He cleared his voice, “Before I get on with it, please remember, the Bible was written by over two hundred authors on three different continents. It took over fifteen hundred years to write…so if you were waiting for the first copy back then, you’d die waiting for it
hu hu
…
hu hu
.”

The crowd chuckled as he carried on, “Thanks, I need that…it was one of the hardest, most controversial things I put together in my religious career. Soooooo…” He pulled his handkerchief out and placed it on his podium. “Like the Old Testament, we have our share of violence and symbolism in the New Testament too. We just don’t like to talk about it as much. Maybe a few of you think otherwise.”

He breathed deeply while leaning way over onto his podium. While gathering himself up in a lazily, he carefully put both hands together, resting his fingers over the edge.

Procrastination must have been his partner in speech, for he held himself there with an open mouth, not saying a thing for more than just moments. Unknowingly, he set the stage for his listeners who were growing concerned. Most of them even looked as if his lecture might not be a good one.

When he woke up to realize their concerns, he faltered, then grinned and moved on. “It’s about the Bible’s last book…the book of Revelations.”

Some of those in his audience snickered very quietly while others shuddered in their shoes without saying anything at all.

Pastor McKoowey continued, “The current events apply, even though I wrote it four years ago. The war today—and our great nation. Thank God it’s over, no? I’d like to believe the war stamped out evil. The evil tyrant of Germany is finally done.”

He picked up his pace. “So…it is time for us to move on…are we the chosen nation to do this? Is our nation good or righteous enough to carry on leading the world? I’d like to quote a few words from a simple, wise man looking in on America for this very answer. When he came to our country, he was touched deeply inside.

“His name was Alexis de Tocqueville, a French philosopher back in the eighteen hundreds. He once said, and I quote, ‘America is
great
because America is
good!
If she ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.’ This goes along with my talk, which also happens to be the timing of the rapture. Notice how Alexis compares America to a woman and not a man. I know why. So what part does America play in it? When is the rapture coming? I’m sure you all would like to know…well, wouldn’t you?”

Everyone in the audience either nodded or muttered, “Yes,” so he went on. “At this moment, America is good as far as I can see, at least for now. I’m not talking about the future yet. We are blessed. Most all nations, with the exception of our enemies, look up to us. We set the example. Are we the richest country too? I say ‘yes.’”

He paused, then carried on, “Our money says, ‘In God We Trust.’ Our song says, ‘God Bless America,’ doesn’t it? We’re even thinking about putting the words ‘One nation under God’ in our Pledge of Allegiance in maybe a year or two. But does all this really make us the chosen country of God? It helps, but these things with ‘God’ spelled out in them can come back to haunt us.
Why
is very simple. If we don’t live up to it, we’ll hit the ground hard…we may never get up either…excuse me, I
uh
—”

He felt his temple sweating, so he grabbed his handkerchief and carried on, “Let’s look at the people, and let’s look at the Bible. The Bible, with all its faults and the faults of the prophets who wrote it, strengthens and reinforces goodness in people. It’s the highest degree of moral backbone, is what I’m getting at. I see a lot of it right now—right here in America today.”

He carried on, “Something else…America even has this certain attraction that every other country wants to be a part of. So going back to what Alexis de Tocqueville said, it was good. Remember what he said, ‘so long as we stay good.’

“Liberty—freedom hasn’t condemned us yet. I haven’t seen our free market built on greed yet. What about our political system? President Roosevelt? He will be remembered. Our own people have not taken sides against us yet. What about tomorrow…I mean next year, or next decade, or a half a century from now?”

Nerves suddenly crept up on his neck, daring him to continue, “Okay, here we go…what about the smaller things? Things like sexual promiscuity. Divorce is not rampant. What’s that mean? It’s good. We have to be pressured as people to do good. We still tie ourselves down to higher morals… is there more freedom there? No, not really…is it good?”

His audience nodded while others muttered, “Yes.” Some even sat up on the edge of their pew, showing even more interest than before.

Pastor McKoowey, however, struggled to move on, “Yes, I think so…granted, we still smoke cigarettes…the Prohibition of alcohol has ended…what could be worse? I mean, come on….are we the real chosen nation?”

Nobody felt compelled to answer, so he kept his eyes glued to the cover of his Bible. He looked up and down, feathering the pages as if he were indecisive.

In the midst of another one of his delays, he looked like he was headed for a train wreck. Wildly so, he looked as though he were ready to turn his own lecture upside down before he’d
even got started. He quickly let go a gasp, “
Tah
, I admit…this goes against popular belief, but I-I don’t know. I wish I could tell if we were. I don’t know…I’ve studied the Bible backward and forward. Maybe someone will know more later.”

He then leaned all of his weight up against the podium while tapping his fingers, not wishing to look at anyone. “Telling you otherwise would be a lie…I’ll just continue with it…I just want to say that much, okay?”

He then stood up, quickly flipping through his Bible until he pulled out a shoddy piece of paper that appeared to be old and wrinkled. As everyone looked on, he laid the paper by his Bible and then proceeded to read it out loud as if he were still at a church seminary class, “There are no scriptures that actually talk about the word ‘America’ as God’s chosen nation. I know why. Most of us agree that America plays a significant role in the world. The Bible talks about such a city, which can be implied as a nation. This city, or nation as it implies, is a significant place.”

He then stopped reading to interrupt himself. “Some of these things I put together are not that mainstream, okay? So where is the significant place the Bible talks about? Nobody knows?”

He continued, “Okay, then, nobody wants to answer. Here’s one. I can point to a location in the Bible known as Babylon…the mystery of Babylon. Where is it? Many people associate Babylon as the great place. This is all great, big deal, right? Babylon is America they’re talking about, so what? Maybe it’s somewhere else, right?”

Everyone appeared to be silently glued to their pew by this time. He looked everyone over nervously and then carried on, “Wrong…this is where it gets bad…this significant place eventually gives itself to crime, filth, lust, greed…many more things I hate to talk about. This significant place falls to its final destruction by God’s wrath. This here Bible I have supports this, how?”