Read Online Calamity by J.T. Warren - Free Book Online Page B

It can be easy to lose faith. But Jesus doesn’t care if you follow this faith or that faith; Jesus wants you to be empowered, to feel His grace and bask in His glory. He scarified Himself for all humanity as proof of heavenly empowerment. With Jesus as our teacher, we can learn how to tackle our problems and choose the right path to glory. And, most importantly, we can be empowered with God’s love. No matter the pain from which you suffer, the difficulties against which you struggle, Jesus wants to help. At The First Church of Jesus Christ the Empowered , we seek the fulfillment of God’s will through an honest acceptance of our faults and a faithful inquiry into the magical workings of Jesus .
    Anthony smirked. Similar in tone to all those Watch Tower pamphlets the Jehovah’s handed out, this flier claimed to know Jesus’ will (while debunking other religions) and cleverly assured the reader that God’s way was the way of enlightenment and that you too could enjoy it. It was so smart how these organizations preyed on the weak. The two men had no idea if Anthony was experiencing troubles— “you will need this,” he had said —but if a depressed alcoholic happened to read this pamphlet in a particularly self-deprecating moment, he or she might experience a moment of clarity about the choices made and decide that this was God’s intervention. It must be a sign. Three months later, the alcoholic would be sober (though drunk on another kind of drug altogether), dressed well, and handing out similar pamphlets to strangers.
    “The Jesus drug,” Anthony mumbled.
    The facing page, onto which the well-dressed people spilled, a formal invitation welcomed him to “an important event to discuss the ten steps to Jesus’ empowerment” and a “demonstration of His wonder” on the Thursday before Easter, mere days away. The ten steps would, no doubt, be the Ten Commandments, but all bets were off for the demonstration of His wonder. Perhaps they would turn water into wine. The way the smile on the tall guy with the dark eyes never wavered suggested something a bit more ominous. A blood sacrifice, perhaps.
    “Your daughter,” the stocky guy had said, “she’s very pretty.”
    The back of the pamphlet read: “Come to me, all you who are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Listen to Jesus and let Him empower you . The image of a cross, without the suffering, bleeding Jesus, was watermarked behind the text. Anthony turned back to the vivid cover. That was another thing about these Jesus nuts—they paraded around the image of a bleeding savior because they hoped it would reduce people to tears and out of their guilt and pity, they would turn to God, however each religion chose to portray Him, and thus increase the size of that church’s congregation. A grease stain from the egg that fell off the spatula had smeared Jesus’ face. It made His eyes even more swollen.
    “Hey, Dad.” It was Delaney, showered and dressed in jeans and a turtleneck sweater, hair pulled behind her head.
    Though she had startled him from his reverie, he tried to hide the surprise. As a father of three (almost four but, alas, not to be), Anthony was always subject to a surprise appearance from one of the kids. With Chloe in bed more than anywhere else and the bedroom off limits to the kids, better for Chloe to get her rest and hopefully recover, Anthony was the go-to parent for everything. Sometimes the kids could sneak up on him so well that his heart would nearly explode when they spoke. Brendan was particularly good at that, though it always seemed unintentional when he did it. Not so with the others.
    “Can I help you?” he asked, dishtowel draped over one forearm, waiter-style.
    “Can I take Mom’s car?”
    “You’d have to get gas.” This was not true, but he had his reasons.
    “Then can I have some money?”
    He smiled. “What is wrong with my car?”
    She sighed, overemphasizing how annoying this