This final post within this series that decides the fate of the prodigal band and their redemption is below, but it begins with the final sentence of the previous post, Part Four, to serve as a reminder of their decisions they must make and what they have to do in order to make their decisions—get rid of ‘the baggage’ that ‘caused’ them to ‘repudiate’ or never consider making that decision they would make individually ‘as a group.’ Below is the snippet, in its entirety from the end of Chapter Eleven of The Prodigal Band, © 2018 Deborah Lagarde.
“Mick is right,” Jack said, “we will have to give up all the baggage that made us repudiate Christianity in the first place, which goes back way before we formed any band.”
He got himself into a position where he could look at all of them at once. “You know I always blamed the Bible for the way my dad abused me because that’s what he beat me over the head with. But my dad was in a cultish church that I hardly even remember anymore even though he’d drag me there sometimes. Super fundamentalist. Real nutcases. When I went to Billy I swore I’d have my dad committed if I ever had the means, which I did. But now I’m having him released. I also wrote him and told him that I forgave him. So, now, I have no reason to repudiate Christianity. It ain’t God’s fault so many Christians act like self-righteous assholes.”
“True,” Bry added, “but I don’t think anyone except you, maybe, ever repudiated Christianity. It’s more like we never even considered it. I wasn’t brought up in a Christian household. My folks never went to church or read the Bible or anything like that. My parents were always rationalists, humanists, evolutionists. There were pictures of Darwin all over the place. To them Christians were all knuckle-walkers. I have to say that when I introduced Mo to them and said her dad was a vicar, they were horrified! Then they saw Mo really didn’t believe all that Bible stuff, so then she was okay with them.”
“Same with my folks,” Mick cut in, “except they weren’t rational by any stretch of the imagination!” Short laugh.
“My dad,” Keith brought up, “went to church once a year just to please his dad, and so on.”
“I don’t I have to remind anyone my dad couldn’t read a Bible if it hit him in the face.” Tom grimaced. “And Hovels folks weren’t welcome in any church I ever heard about.”
“Which is probably why we stopped going,” Erik remembered. “Then we left the Hovels and my ma had to work Sundays. She only got off work at Christmas and Easter so she could hear me sing in the pageants. And, no, we didn’t have a Bible in the house, either.”
“So, really, Jack,” Bry finalized, “you were the only one who repudiated Christ. The rest of us pretty much had no clue what He was about. And we still don’t. He’s supposed to be our Savior. Why?”
The image of the Witch of the Hovels appeared in the midst of them. Jack was so startled he found himself nearly falling over backwards.
“Whoa!” the guitarist blurted.
“As I have explained to you before,” she scolded, “the last time we met, that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, was buried, and then resurrected 2,000 years ago, it was His shedding of blood that became the ultimate and final sacrifice to His Father for sin, for all sinners, for all time. To receive redemption from your many sins for all time, you must proclaim that He is your Savior, that He rose from the dead to save from sin, and repent, that is, have a change of heart and try not to sin again. It requires a commitment from each of you, not just empty words. Because only He can bring remission from sin and nothing you ever do will accomplish this, which is why He is your Savior. How you receive this redemption I just told you. Whether you receive it or not is up to you. You must want Christ as Savior and Redeemer. God won’t force it on you. You have a choice.”
She disappeared.
“Well,” Erik said boldly as he stood up, “I believe it. That’s what Morwenna was trying to tell me, and I kept arguing with her. But she got me, okay? She put me in my place. She’s like my mother, except holy. I can’t disregard what she says. She’s never lied, cheated, stole, acted all obsequious and then stabbed me in the back like others have done. She is the embodiment of truth.” He then turned to the others. “And you know something? Ger believes it, too. So, even though I don’t know all the details and I’ve never been baptized—do I even need to be baptized? I will tell you all now that I accept Christ as my Savior.” Sigh, as the others looked at each other. “There, I said it. I’m saved. And now, I can officially do the mission without the guilt trip.” Smiled. “It’s that easy. And you know something? I feel great!”
They still looked at each other, and finally said almost simultaneously, “Me, too.”
“But,” Jack reminded, “the test of whether we really believe is still to come.”
“Yeh,” Tom added, “with Torquay and the rest of the devil’s minions.”
The next set of posts, beginning in late August, will feature snippets from the final chapters of The Prodigal Band where the band members carry out examples of their God-given ‘missions.’
Use the menu above to read snippet posts of the novels, download the FREE PDF The Prodigal Band as well as the FREE PDF The Murder Rule, and more. Cheers!
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