The Heaven Trilogy (58 page)
H
EAVEN'S
W
AGER
He lost everything he ever wantedâand risked his soul to get what he deserved. Take a glimpse into a world more real and vital than most people ever discover here on earth, the unseen world where the real dramas of the universeâ and of our daily livesâcontinually unfold.
W
HEN
H
EAVEN
W
EEPS
A cruel game of ultimate stakes at the end of World War II leaves Jan Jovic stunned and perplexed. He's prepared for neither the incredible demonstration of love nor the terrible events that follow. Now, many years later, Jan falls madly in love with the "wrong" woman and learns the true cost of love.
T
HUNDER OF
H
EAVEN
When armed forces destroy their idyllic existence within the jungles of the Amazon, Tanya embraces God, while Shannon boldly rejects God, choosing the life of an assassin. Despite their vast differences, they find themselves in the crucible of a hideous plot to strike sheer terror in the heart of America.
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TedDekker.com
ALSO AVAILABLE FROM
TED DEKKER
What happens when we begin to see ourselves as the utopian-like
Christian that God intends instead of like the imperfect
human the world insists upon?
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A MARTYR'S SONG
WHEN
HEAVEN
WEEPS
TED DEK
K
ER
WHEN HEAVEN WEEPS
© Copyright 2001
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansâelectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherâexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
Scripture quotations noted NIV are from
The Holy Bible,
New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dekker, Ted, 1962â
When heaven weeps / Ted R. Dekker.
p. cm. (A martyr's song; bk. 2)
ISBN 978-0-8499-4516-8 (repak)
1. World War, 1939â1945âVeteransâFiction. 2. Evangelicalismâ Fiction. 3. ClergyâFiction. I. Title
PS3554.E43 W48 2001
813'6âdc21
2001017609
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 RRD 10 9 8 7 6
CONTENTS
The story you are about to read begins with some of the events told in Ted's novel,
The Martyr's Song
, and then continues with Jan's incredible tale of betrayal and love that many claim is Ted's most powerful story to date.
There is no order to the Martyr's Song novels, you may read any in any order. Each is a stand alone story that in no way depends on the others. Nevertheless, if there is one book we recommend you start with, it is
The Martyr's Song
, the story that started it all.
For LeeAnn, my wife,
without whose love I
would be only a shadow
of myself. I will never
forget the day you saw heaven.
“Christians who refuse
To look squarely into the suffering of Christ
Are not Christians at all.
They are a breed of pretenders,
Who would turn their backs on the Cross,
And shame his death.
You cannot hold up the Cross,
Nor drink of the cup
Without embracing the death.
And you cannot understand love,
Unless you first die.”
T
HE
D
ANCE OF THE
D
EAD
1959
Atlanta, Georgia, 1964
IVENA STOOD in the small greenhouse attached to her home and frowned at the failing rosebush. The other bushes had not been affectedâthey flourished around her, glistening with a sprinkling of dewdrops. A bed of Darwin tulip hybrids blossomed bright red and yellow along her greenhouse's glass shell. Behind her, against the solid wall of her house, a flat of purple orchids filled the air with their sweet aroma. A dozen other species of roses grew in neat boxes, none of them infected.
But this bush had lost its leaves and shriveled in the space of five days, and that was a problem because this wasn't just another rosebush. This was Nadia's rosebush.
Ivena delicately pried through the dried thorny stems, searching for signs of disease or insects. She'd already tried a host of remedies, from pesticides to a variety of growth agents, all to no avail. It was a Serbian Red from the saxifrage family, snipped from the bush that she and Sister Flouta had planted by the cross.
When Ivena had left Bosnia for Atlanta, she'd insisted on a greenhouse; it was the one unbreakable link to her past. She made a fine little business selling the flowers to local floral shops in Atlanta, but the real purpose for the greenhouse was this one rosebush, wasn't it? Yes, she knew that as surely as she knew that blood flowed in her veins.
And now Nadia's rose was dying. Or dead.