Left Behind - When the trumpet sounds, where will you be? Passengers in an airborne Boeing 747 find out in this riveting novel by renowned Christian speaker Tim LaHaye and master storyteller Jerry Jenkins. Without any warning, passengers mysteriously disappear from their seats. Terror and chaos slowly spread not only through the plane but also worldwide as unusual events continue to unfold. For those who have been left behind, the apocalypse has just begun. This fictional account of life after the Rapture delivers an urgent call to today's readers to prepare their own hearts and minister to others.
Tribulation Force - Rayford Steele and Cameron ("Buck") Williams find themselves pressed into service for the man they believe could be the Antichrist. Nicolae Carpathia takes over the United Nations, signs a peace treaty with Israel, and begins to lure the nations of earth together to form one global village. Meanwhile, the judgment of God begins to fall on the earth. Buck and Rayford, along with their pastor and Rayford's daughter, must fight to stay alive and battle the forces of evil in the strength of their fledgling, newfound faith.
Next Tuesday is Halloween and for some people, it is a time to dress up and get candy. But for others, there is the reminder of ghosts, monsters, and serial killers. They look forward to this time of year, because it can bring a spooky supernatural thrill that they find exciting. I’m definitely a part of the first group of people I mentioned. Dressing up as a thing or character is just as fun as getting candy every year. But a couple of things that you will NEVER see me doing is: watching a horror movie or exploring a haunted house. NEVER!! I did each of those once and had nightmares for weeks. NEVER AGAIN! So for this week's post, instead of telling you about Ted Dekker’s, Alton Gansky, Frank Peretti, or even James Rubart’s Christian Thrillers—if this genre is your thing, their books are found in our library—but we also have the whole Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. I would recommend the Left Behind series during this season, because it’s kinda scary how true it could be. Within the first few pages, the authors basically spell it out that the pilot, Rayford Steele, was going to be left behind. “Rayford Steele’s mind was on a woman he had never touched,” was the very first sentence of chapter one. His inner mindset continues to talk about how he finds his wife less attractive because of her, “obsession with religion.” It soon after says, “God was OK with Rayford Steele.” The other character that gets left behind is Buck Williams, a journalist who traveled for Global Weekly. On a job in Israel, he had witnessed something that might’ve changed his life and, “Christian friends wanted Buck to take the next step and believe in Christ, now that he was so clearly spiritually attuned. He wasn’t prepared to go that far, but he was certainly a different person.” Buck had no idea how closely he had missed his chance.
Whether you decide to read the Left Behind series or not, I want you to take into consideration one of the scariest things about it. Rayford was committing adultery in his mind against his wife and he had drifted 100s of miles away from God. AND THEN THE DAY CAME. Buck Williams had seen the evidence of God’s existence, and he wasn’t prepared to take the next step. AND THEN THE DAY CAME. Read Matthew 24:36-44:
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Our two main characters weren’t ready, and became two of many who were left behind. When the trumpet sounds, where will you be? Are you living a god-fearing life? Have you asked Jesus to come live in your heart? These are questions that we should ask ourselves everyday. So come on in to The Cross Reference Library and check this thrilling book series.