Last Day on Earth

Angel

Angel - A spiritual being serving God, especially as a messenger or as a guardian of human beings.

The Messenger

Interstate 30 between Arkansas and Texas, 1990

Voices sung out in chorus, harmonizing such a sweet melody in the early hours.

"What 🎵 a friend we have in Jesus 🎶
all  🎶 our sins and grief to bear"

The praises rejoiced to the heavens as the onlookers from above watched jovially, relishing in this personal concert for all its splendor.

The van had been commuting for nearly five hours through the night, traveling a total of eight hours.

"Hey, hon, how are the girls?" said John, a Youth Pastor at a Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Killeen, Texas.

"Sound asleep, would you like to trade places?" said Mary, John's wife. "You've been driving for four hours straight."

"I'm fine, hon—you guys keep singing. Your voices are beautiful."

"Well, your wife and I are part of the choir, pastor," said Roseanne, smiling as she added, "We need our practice for the Youth Rally."

"Umm ... sweetie, that's not until four more months," interjected Thomas, Roseanne's husband, the head deacon at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

"Oh hush, you two keep your eyes on the road, dear—let me know when you need a break. I don't mind driving while you guys take a nap," said Roseanne.

"Did you believe the size of that church?" said Mary.

"Oh my goodness—there was just so many people; it was nice to see brothers and sisters from across the country," said Roseanne, pausing momentarily before continuing, "That Pastor Brown was something else, though."

"What do you mean?" asked John.

"Well, the whole end of day's sermon—he really tried to make those connections with the present," said Roseanne.

"Ellen G. White prophesied the contamination of meat, hence growing our own crops, turning toward vegetarianism; he wasn't too far fetched," said John.

"True. But, saying the Government will force cannibalism on the public was too morbid for a church sermon, especially on the Sabbath? I just thought it was in bad taste for him to try and scare us," said Roseanne.

"You got to admit, John—that was extreme, though," said Thomas, pondering for a second before continuing, "It was like one of those fire and brim sermons, right, Mary? World War Three—come on; it was too much. And, to make us paranoid about our own Government forcing us to do things against our will was just a bad message. After all, it says it in the Bible that we are to abide by the laws of the land, which was totally contradicted by his sermon."

"He was talking about the Last Days, which is Biblical?" answered Mary.

"I just don't see it. True. Tensions between Russia is high, but we're talking World War Three, now? And, the Wall just recently came down in Germany, which contradicts the rise of communism, right?" said Thomas.

"We shouldn't let our guards down. What does it hurt to prepare our children for quite possibly the worst case scenario? Maybe they could pass down the teachings of Ellen G. White to their children, which they'll probably need—one day," said John.

"Let's change the topic," said Mary.

"Do you see that?" yelped Thomas, squinting his eyes, adding, "Right there," he pointed at an object toward the side of the road.