Read Online Arrived by Jerry B. Jenkins - Free Book Online

wondered if the camp was under the plague of darkness, and if so, what people were doing.
    â€œWhat are you reading?” Zvi said.
    â€œHave you heard of the Island?”
    â€œYes. It’s on the Tigris. I have heard horror stories of Jews being taken there. I’m not sure which is worse, being taken to the Island or facing the guillotine. At least with the blade, the suffering is over.”
    â€œWhat else have you heard about the camps?” Judd said.
    Zvi put his hands behind his head and leaned back. “It’s worse than the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s. The GC torture their prisoners to the point of death but don’t allow them the decency of dying. I’ve even heard they take videos of the beatings and torture and send them to Carpathia.”
    Judd shook his head. He wished he could do something for people on the Island, but he decided he had to focus on Zvi. Random gunfire echoed through the hallway, and Judd moved closer. “You don’t have to stay in the dark. God can open your eyes.”
    â€œYou going to preach now? Like that guy did back in the cell?”
    â€œWe’ve risked our lives to come here because we thought there might still be someone who needed to accept God’s forgiveness.”
    Zvi rolled his eyes and bit his lip, then seemed to remember that Judd could see his face. He put his head in his hands.
    Judd paused, then continued. “Before I found out about God, I used to hate it when people would preach or act like they knew something I didn’t. I don’t want to come across that way. There was a time when I felt really nervous about talking about God, and I tried to figure out all kinds of ways to convince people without making them feel bad.”
    â€œAnd what do you do now?”
    â€œThe world’s gone so crazy that there’s no time to tiptoe. I just lay it out before people as plainly as I can and let them make their decision.”
    â€œOkay, so lay it out.”
    â€œBasically, God loves you and wants you to be his child. He wants to adopt you into his family, but he won’t do that unless you want to be a part of it.”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œGod’s perfect. He can’t allow anything near him that’s imperfect. And you and I are both sinful. We’ve done bad things.”
    â€œI’ve been taught since I was young that the path to God was through obeying his commands.”
    â€œTrue, but you know as well as I do that you haven’t lived up to every command. And if you break even one, you’re out of the program. That’s why God had to provide a sacrifice, so we could be forgiven.”
    â€œThis is the part where you tell me about Jesus, how he is the Messiah, and if I’ll just get baptized or pray some prayer—”
    â€œZvi, have you ever considered the possibility that you’ve been living in darkness your whole life? Do you know God’s peace, feel his forgiveness, his love?”
    â€œYou can’t know those things in this life.”
    â€œYes, you can. Again, I’m not trying to preach, and this is your decision, but God is real and he wants to come into your life right now and make a difference. He wants to show you mercy, but you have to accept it. I’ve met a lot of people in the past few years who’ve been raised exactly like you, and when they see the truth, they can’t believe they were blind to it for so long.”
    Zvi sighed. “And you guarantee relief from the darkness?”
    Judd smiled. “It’s one of the perks. Back when the stinging locusts came—” Judd stopped as someone approached in the hall.
    â€œI heard you talking,” a woman said. A gun clicked. “Tell me where you are! Come out now or I’ll shoot!”

8
    JUDD sat still as the female guard stumbled down the hall, her gun held in the air, the other hand out to guide her. Judd leaned close to Zvi and whispered,