THEY WERE READY (The Prelude)

[SoundingtheAlarm]

Alice was born as one of many italian daughter's in the suburb's of Chicago. Have you ever seen "the wanderer's?"

She was born into big city life and could have easily went down the road too traveled

but Our God had a different plan

Alice married a very handsome man named Lance and they had two beautiful kids ...Named Lance Jr, and Roxanne and because of their love for their children they decided to relocate to more humble pastures..Southwest Missouri

upon Arriving in a very small town...Alice was LED to a very small church in a very small town where NOT only her life BUT the lives of so many she would touch..would be ETERNALLY changed

Alice ran smack dab into the third person of the Trinity and He came into Alice's Heart and Soul and Pointed Alice to Jesus and Jesus introduced Her to Her Heavenly Father

It would shake NOT only her family of four but oh so many more

Alice quickly developed an eternal appetite and began to devour God's Word.

Born again to the very core of all that Alice was, her italian root in Catholicism seen WAY in her rear view mirror ....

YET, she had a very handsome and macho italian husband WHO had NO desire at this point for nothing other than Italian traditions and resisted this "New Alice"

"I moved to Missouri for ya's and I'm here to work hard for ya's but this faith stuff....ya keep that to yourself ya here?"

Alice honored her husband's wishes...to the best extent she could...she was the best wife and mom she could be

She landed a job at hair salon called Strawberry Fields.....IF you ever found yourself in her chair ...You found yourself in Holy Territory,.....trust ME I FOUND OUT ..

ya see I was in fourth grade when that family moved to the ozarks...I was the jock of 4th of grade and yet Alice had a son named Lance Jr, who was a jock himself....WE SHOULD HAVE HATED EACH OTHER

and at first we TRIED

my first memory of Lance JR affectionately known as Bo ....was at the ball park and "the new kid" was there and had his glove..we started playing catch and trying to burn each other's hands with our fast balls...but in no short order a deep respect grew....we weren't rivals..we were equals and we were in awe

BEST FRIENDS soon became our title's and inseperable were we all

we'd stay the night "for weeks" and on every ball team we played

fifth grade, sixth grade, we are best friends to this day

but all through my life I got to watch Alice live....she and her bible and a rocking chair ...she proved her devotion to Christ in my face

She was married to a man that was the toughest man I've ever known and yet she never denied her faith,

she would pray in the morning, she would pray at lunch, she would pray at dinner and I tell you this much....she never gave the devil any ounce of credit or ever surrendered one inch....

every single person in SW Missouri would be sure to Call her when in a pinch

..ok...

let me cut to the chase...

Alice Rycraft,...let me tell you all about her...

She owned a beauty shop in southwest missouri called the Rose, but here's the deal...she WAS a great stylist and knew the lastest cuts, but no one I knew went for that ..they went there cause Alice would pray

She wasn't a bartender but she's serve ya a drink...Not from Jack Daniels, from Heaven's Sink

"You need Jesus" .."You need this scripture, You need this , or you need that"

she'd call you at the oddest hours and You could count on that!!!

Ok..sorry ..

but listen ...truthfully...here's the deal...in 4th grade this Italian family found their way into this very small area of sw missouri....a baptist/pentecostal war zone

she and her sister Bonnie and their large families an sister's and parent's and cousins and nephews and nieces an well this small county stayed small...but NOT that small..LOL

and not quite as quiet

but we were NEVER the same

because this small frail woman named Alice had this salon and she would cut hair during the weekdays and then on sunday's she would talk about Jesus

and when she did......

many would come because they had SAW her sermons on tuesday's, wednesday's, thursday's, friday's, and saturday's AND BOY did they hear them too

so when sunday morning's came ...they heard them even louder for sure

She had the biggest sunday school class ...because she cared


I'll never forget my time under her care...she'd pray ..oh holy moly would Alice pray and if she ever pointed her John the Baptist finger at ya ...you had NO choice but to repent

many a night in high school ..her son, my bestfriend and I would come home with alcohol on our breath, but to our own travail..."ya's are GOIN TO CHURCH...and Ya's are going to get right with God" "I'm not going to let ya's go to hell YA HERE?"

She'd preach, she would pray, she would teach and rebuke...but she would never let us doubt that God's love was in dispute"

I'm telling you I can NEVER EVER look at a rocking Chair without thinking of Alice Rycraft ...and her rocking at a high pace..preaching and a praying, "boy's your going to love Jesus"

It's just been over a year ago that she died and headed home.....It was October 2008 .....Thank God ..not Only was She Ready ,....but so was so many she MET

[SoundingtheAlarm]

praying for all who read to be stirred to intercede for their friends and family with a new and deeper sense of urgency

[SoundingtheAlarm]

Carl sat at the door way, his hands trembling as an artic blast cut through the late night air

"hurry in....PLEASE hurry in"

more and more people hurried along...some almost ran Carl over in desperation to just "feel the heat"

"MORE BLANKETS HONEY"...Carl cried.."MORE BLANKETS"

"there's hot soup ya'll ...please eat up"

as the last one made it's way into the Homeless Shelter, ...Carl closed the door and locked it tight..hoping to still the heat and warmth in for the night

Up in years and over worked....for little or no pay...Carl's once again moved with a stirring compassion as his eyes survey the room

over at the end of a yonder table sits a family of four...the mom, hunker's near her youngest...rubbing the hands of her daughter and trying to smile to cover the shame and all the pain

a tear trickles once again as Carl looks helplessly ..so dearly wanting to make everything alright for everyone

NOT REALIZING He is sharing His Heavenly Father's heart....He quickens over to the woman and brings a warm blanket handed to him from his loving wife

"here, here" "please get warm"

the mother's eyes look up ...embracing the warmth NOT only of the blanket but of the man of God named Carl

hot soup, warm blankets and a night away from the bitter cold

something so many take for granted all across this globe

as soon as the room has all been served their bowls of soup and their cot's secure...Carl ask permission to say a Word and then pray

"Tonight you all are here by invitation"

"These doors are always open ..all you got to do is walk in"

"please take a moment and look around....this has been a banquet dinner and I call you all my friends"

But this is nothing compared to what You Guys are offered...

There's being even now a banquet table prepared for all the ages...and Your invitation I have in my hand...Carl opens the Bible and begins to Read..John 3:16

He closes the Bible then slowly gazes at each eye

I beg you all to hear me....I hope I don't start to cry

You want to know when your invitation was sent out??? It was the day Jesus Died!!!

While You were yet Lost in Sin...Lost in a cold cruel world....Jesus Had Died for You, but 3 days later He rose from that Grave and when He did...DOORS FLEW OPEN and a meal was starting to be cooked...It's called the Marriage Supper....Please don't be overlooked

...tonight sitting here in this humble banquet hall PLEASE PLEASE hear this old man....Please let Him write your name in His accepted Book


In deepest humility Carl, called them to The Cross, asking them to pray ..."Please raise your hand if you've been hooked?"

Hundreds across the room bowed their heads and prayed....

The night was cold and oh so chilly

I'm almost sure it was 10pm CST ...when a LOUD SHOUT CAME FROM THE NIGHT...."COME UP HERE"

All those inside "Salvation Homeless Shelter" Heard that cry......THEY WERE READY

[LindaLee]

Carl sat at the door way, his hands trembling as an artic blast cut through the late night air

"hurry in....PLEASE hurry in"

more and more people hurried along...some almost ran Carl over in desperation to just "feel the heat"

"MORE BLANKETS HONEY"...Carl cried.."MORE BLANKETS"

"there's hot soup ya'll ...please eat up"

as the last one made it's way into the Homeless Shelter, ...Carl closed the door and locked it tight..hoping to still the heat and warmth in for the night

Up in years and over worked....for little or no pay...Carl's once again moved with a stirring compassion as his eyes survey the room

over at the end of a yonder table sits a family of four...the mom, hunker's near her youngest...rubbing the hands of her daughter and trying to smile to cover the shame and all the pain

a tear trickles once again as Carl looks helplessly ..so dearly wanting to make everything alright for everyone

NOT REALIZING He is sharing His Heavenly Father's heart....He quickens over to the woman and brings a warm blanket handed to him from his loving wife

"here, here" "please get warm"

the mother's eyes look up ...embracing the warmth NOT only of the blanket but of the man of God named Carl

hot soup, warm blankets and a night away from the bitter cold

something so many take for granted all across this globe

as soon as the room has all been served their bowls of soup and their cot's secure...Carl ask permission to say a Word and then pray

"Tonight you all are here by invitation"

"These doors are always open ..all you got to do is walk in"

"please take a moment and look around....this has been a banquet dinner and I call you all my friends"

But this is nothing compared to what You Guys are offered...

There's being even now a banquet table prepared for all the ages...and Your invitation I have in my hand...Carl opens the Bible and begins to Read..John 3:16

He closes the Bible then slowly gazes at each eye

I beg you all to hear me....I hope I don't start to cry

You want to know when your invitation was sent out??? It was the day Jesus Died!!!

While You were yet Lost in Sin...Lost in a cold cruel world....Jesus Had Died for You, but 3 days later He rose from that Grave and when He did...DOORS FLEW OPEN and a meal was starting to be cooked...It's called the Marriage Supper....Please don't be overlooked

...tonight sitting here in this humble banquet hall PLEASE PLEASE hear this old man....Please let Him write your name in His accepted Book


In deepest humility Carl, called them to The Cross, asking them to pray ..."Please raise your hand if you've been hooked?"

Hundreds across the room bowed their heads and prayed....

The night was cold and oh so chilly

I'm almost sure it was 10pm CST ...when a LOUD SHOUT CAME FROM THE NIGHT...."COME UP HERE"

All those inside "Salvation Homeless Shelter" Heard that cry......THEY WERE READY

I can feel the yearning in the story from Carl. I think each of us Believers feel that deep soul wrenching yearning for the lost and for the Return of our Lord Jesus.

Thank you for writing these little stories...they do help others and helps us Believers to be more concerned with being Ready than ready for the cares of what tomorrow's going to bring.

[SoundingtheAlarm]

"Mommy, I'm sooooo cold" shivering to the core, the littlest of two children ..she clung to her mother's leg trying to hide her face from the wind

The mother looked at her destitute husband as hopelessness made the wind's chill so bitter to taste

over by a wall their son is bowed over..."Oh God why can't we be like everyone else dad..and have our own place???

Bankruptcy, foreclosure and medical bills to the max have saw their way onto this dad's shoulders and tonight ..it's total weight

comes crashing down...homeless, helpless ...desperation ..."Dear God if your up there...PLEASE HELP" is all he can say

"let's just walk" He picks up his son by his arm and then His wife, follows in suit...trash is blowing all around them ....they must feel like human waste

Up ahead their's a door and it's open....and there standing in place is an old man with arm's wide open...He's beckoning them to come

"Hurry IN...Please Hurry In" ...."Hello my name's Carl" as he shut the door for the night "Honey More Blankets Please" he hollered then turning to the family he said...."wow you guys came just in time..we were ready to shut this place up for the night"..."please have a warm blanket..soups on the stove and your sure welcome to eat"

This family of four huddled up to an old table .... but to them this night ..it was paradise...windchills outside are below zero...they see cot's all around and soup is steaming in front ...

WHY? The Dad wonders....

Then as they were eating ...That friendly old man named Carl began to speak

"You all are here by invitation" "but let me tell you of a future feast"

"Please Give your life to Jesus" they heard and answered that altar call, and when Jesus Shouted COME UP HERE...

At 10pm cst ....They made their Escape...THEY HAD BEEN MADE READY

[caligal]

:dohI don't check this thread often enough, but it is fun catching up if I'm not bawling too hard and can still see the page. :rolleyes You are a truly gifted writer Sounding.:popcornbag :heythere

[SoundingtheAlarm]

Zach's phone is buzzin with text after text...his usual cohorts chattering away ....
they are having some fun "online"...they have decided ..out of boredom....to bombard "christian" sites and do their favorite thing...MOCK
they've got their googled arguments...they are armed...and Zach's the best....
He'd tell ya ..he has a gazillion reasons to hate God, His parents divorced when he was 5.....and because of it his older sister tried to kill herself..MULTIPLE TIMES and recently she succeeded...
he's heard sermons...he's heard it all ....the mantra's, the cliche's ...the platitudes
but it all rings hollow......he's hurt way too bad to HEAR.....
many have tried to reach him, but his Walls have been way too high
Ya'll take this site and that site...but I'm going to take on this place
Zach...hits the home page...knowing all too well that to even post to debate...he's got to register....
He clicks the link ...REGISTER
and types UNBELIEVER and then types in a password
successful ...registered ...He proceeds to the point of no return.....
hitting the new topic button ...in an anything goes forum...He types...
MY SISTER'S IN HELL
then begins to type ...BY WHAT YOU ALL BELIEVE, BECAUSE MY 19 YEAR OLD SISTER DIDN'T KNOW JESUS ...SHE IS NOW IN HELL..
WHY WOULD I EVER BELIEVE IN YOUR GOD?
Zach, hit send and then sat back....this Night ...He crossed a line of his heart that he had never before crossed. He had debated many many times....but this time he exposed himself...he layed out his own personal reality....he asked a question he was desperate to hear an answer
unlike the usual .....his hard hitting question didn't generate the high traffic of answer's that he was accustomed too
instead ...Zach sat in his room ...his laptop staring at him...with a haunting silence
Had he asked a question to which no one would dare answer?
he kept hitting refresh....his cell was buzzing as his friends were sharing their mockery of the "dweebs" they were provoking on their quest
but Zach sat quiet...he NEEDED someone to REPLY this time...UNLIKE any other time in his life..HE NEEDED THIS
refresh, refresh, refresh..nothing...refresh
REPLY
"wow" "finally" Zach thought.."can't wait to hear this dweeb"
"DEAR UNBELIEVER,
I'm so so so sorry that you have experienced the loss of your sister...I can NOT even pretend to tell you that I understand" "but what you've asked is if Your sister's in HELL?" ...."You've asked a question that I have no answer....because I'm not THE JUDGE" "But I'll tell You This....IF YOUR SISTER'S IN HELL, it's NOT because she didn't deserve it...it's because she chose to go" "she chose to reject salvation and she chose to go her own way"
"but here's the kicker" "you loved your sister right?" "If you KNEW she was going to kill herself ...YOU WOULD HAVE DONE EVERYTHING YOU COULD HAVE DONE TO STOP HER RIGHT?..
That would have been YOUR WILL for your sister right?? ...I mean You love her and YOU would have NEVER Willed Her to kill herself ...NEVER
Well Neither did God, He did everything in His Power ...He created Your sister to live ..He gave her many many sunrises and many many sunsets..He sent so many breaths of life, HOW MANY YEARS DID SHE LIVE?? 19 right?
He gave her everything she would ever need ...and NOT ONLY that ..when your sister had broken even the most trivial of His law's ...God had already made an escape clause...He sent HIS OWN BLOOD, HIS VERY OWN SON to DIE in your sister's place
so IF YOUR SISTER's in HELL it's because She NEGLECTED or blew off HOPE
I shall say it like this
Unbeliever.....your sister's fate can be your fate OR it can be YOUR WAKE UP CALL
Let me put it like this
You and your sister are at the Lake ....a beautiful beautiful lake....You and your sister decide to go for a swim....you start to head out and LifeGuard instructs you to NOT GO PAST A CERTAIN POINT..."there's a strong strong tide"
You hear BUT you don't hear and you and your sister take off swimming..the sun's shining..it's perfect...the water is awesome..you GET TO THE POINT OF NO RETURN..THE POINT THE LIFEGUARD SAID TO TURN BACK..but it's too easy..so you keep going....but uh oh..the current's changed....IT'S REALLY REALLY STRONG NOW and IT'S TRYING TO PULL YOU BOTH UNDER...YOU BOTH START TO SCREAM ...YOUR GOING UNDER...THE LIFEGUARD HEARS AND motions to His Son...the Best Swimmer Ever to GO and GET YOU...His SON swims out..but upon reaching your sister ..He is cursed and punched and spat upon..she tells him to "leave me alone" .."pushing him aside" she exchanges the offer of the greatest swimmer around to try and save herself......and despite the warning and despite the offer of the swimmer...her would be saviour ...she decides to "go it alone and her own way and drowns"
well because she was your sister......would You TOO, push the life saving life guard would YOU TOO curse him and push him away and instead..choose to try and save yourself???And NEGLECT the salvation offered??

TO BE CONTINUED

[SoundingtheAlarm]

Zach,

sat staring at the message on his laptop...a range of emotions swept through him...rage, ...rage at the thought this person would dare affirm that his sister could be in such a horrible horrible place

everything in Zach wanted to rip off his usual rant and rip this person to shreds....he even hit the reply button and started to type

but would then copy, paste and delete

His mind raced more and more over the words in that reply ...

then to his surprise ...a pop up hit the screen

PRIVATE MESSAGE...click to open in new window

Zach opened the link

"Heavenly Father,

I lift up this person who calls himself Unbeliever, I lift Him upto You right now Lord and say "thank you" "thank You for bringing Him Here this night,

Father, I can hear the hurt in his questions, I can hear the anger, the doubt the unbelief

Lord, No one comes to You unless You draw them, So Father I pray right Now you would Open His eyes and His heart to You, please Father meet him right where he is and may he never ever be the same In Jesus name"

Unbeliever, I'm not or nobody here is your judge, but we are here to share Hope and The Truth of Jesus Christ

If you have any more questions or need anything please let me know....

In His Love,



Zach again found himself staring at his computer not knowing in what way to respond. Reflex's would have him blast this self righteous holy roller, but not this time...it was too personal...Zach had messed up and made it personal

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Zach's cell vibrated over and over as fellow antagonist beeped in to champion their latest antics on various forums

but Zach paid it no mind, instead he stood up and began to pace his room...thoughts racing

to be continued.............

[HisMusician]

Johnny strode down the steps with a very self determined air. Finally, for the last time he was finished with those church going hypocrites. He’d had his fill of these pious folk who lied about everything.

His friend Bill walked beside him. The two were arguing about some matter from work. Johnny glared after enduring yet another burst of profanity from his foul mouthed friend. “You self righteous fellows air givin’ me a pain in the *****! Bill ranted. “I’m an atheist first and last and I don’t believe in a God. Science has proven that he does not exist. There’s no evidence that he does. Only fools who need religious crutches believe in him.” Something wicked stirred in Johnny’s mind. “Well, I never said I did.” The two friends were laughing and joking together on the way home as they mocked those stupid Christians and their Christ.

The pastor stopped by Johnny’s house several weeks later to see why he was not coming to church anymore. Johnny was not home, but his wife was. “Oh, Pastor!” she sobbed. “Something awful has happened to my husband. He hates God now and hates me for believing in Him.” The pastor tried to comfort her but had to leave to visit someone else.

The distraught wife dropped on her knees beside their bedside in their little house where she and her husband had spent a wonderfully happy twenty years of life together. Kneeling there on the cold tiled floor, she poured out her soul in agony before the Lord.

Johnny was in a foul temper. His wife had sent him several texts at work spouting Bible verses to him, but the texts went unheeded and unanswered. Why even bother with that garbage, he muttered to himself. Slinging a chair away from his desk, he plunked himself into it and logged on to his favorite Christian internet chat room. After a few minutes of discussion and heated argument, a Bible verse popped up on his screen.

19I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

“Oh, yeah, and just tell me how much of your words are right.”

20Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save.

21Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me.

22Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.


“Well – I – do what!? The nerve of you-” Johnny gasped as if he’d been shot, then he slammed down the top of the laptop with a grand flourish.
Bill stopped by for a few minutes chat and Johnny told Bill about the strange message he’d received online. The two men laughed it off and then Bill informed Johnny that he was headed down to the corner market to buy a snack. But just as he was pulling out of the parking lot, a Honda van rounded the bend in the road and slammed into the driver’s side door. There was a tremendous crash. In a few minutes the ambulances and police cars came whizzing down the road to the site of the wreck. But they arrived too late to save Bill. No one ever dreamed that he would die so young in life. They all felt it was much too sudden. But Bill had heard God’s final words to him and had rejected them.

Johnny was glued to the window watching the paramedics arrive. One thought flashed through his mind; what if he himself died rejecting Christ? He knew that Bill had gone to Hell. What would become of his own soul if he did not accept the means that God provided for his salvation in sending His only Son to die in his place?

“What do I do, God” he prayed. Just as quickly an answer flashed before his mind. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” He dropped to his knees and began to pray. Five minutes later, the angels were dancing for joy in Heaven as another soul said yes to the Saviour.

Five years later both Johnny and his wife were walking home from church side by side as they had once done together. Suddenly, the clouds burst apart for a split second as they heard a voice say, “Come up here!” They were ready!

[SoundingtheAlarm]

Zach,

sat staring at the message on his laptop...a range of emotions swept through him...rage, ...rage at the thought this person would dare affirm that his sister could be in such a horrible horrible place

everything in Zach wanted to rip off his usual rant and rip this person to shreds....he even hit the reply button and started to type

but would then copy, paste and delete

His mind raced more and more over the words in that reply ...

then to his surprise ...a pop up hit the screen

PRIVATE MESSAGE...click to open in new window

Zach opened the link

"Heavenly Father,

I lift up this person who calls himself Unbeliever, I lift Him upto You right now Lord and say "thank you" "thank You for bringing Him Here this night,

Father, I can hear the hurt in his questions, I can hear the anger, the doubt the unbelief

Lord, No one comes to You unless You draw them, So Father I pray right Now you would Open His eyes and His heart to You, please Father meet him right where he is and may he never ever be the same In Jesus name"

Unbeliever, I'm not or nobody here is your judge, but we are here to share Hope and The Truth of Jesus Christ

If you have any more questions or need anything please let me know....

In His Love,



Zach again found himself staring at his computer not knowing in what way to respond. Reflex's would have him blast this self righteous holy roller, but not this time...it was too personal...Zach had messed up and made it personal

bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, bzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Zach's cell vibrated over and over as fellow antagonist beeped in to champion their latest antics on various forums

but Zach paid it no mind, instead he stood up and began to pace his room...thoughts racing

to be continued.............


"Oh God this sucks ..this really sucks..I can't believe this" Zach continued to pace ...then stopping and raising the blinds and staring out into the night

There in it's full Glory ...was the moon staring at Zach ..."who put that there Zach?"........"what the?" Zach shouted to himself..."alright..get a grip Zach, your losing it...just take a hit and chill" ...Zach strolled over to pick up his faithful pipe and smoke these thoughts away

lighter in hand....pipe too...ready to inhale and buzz off for the night

but his computer monitor sat starting at him...taunting him ...Rapture Ready was still in view....Zach hurried over intently to close out the page and the private message and close it down

BUT he couldn't....he sat back down, he wanted to respond..he had to know more.....Maybe....just maybe this could "Be Real"