Fiction - Week 1. A Fiasco in a Restaurant.

Introductory Note:-

After more than a decade of writing factual blogs based on my Christian faith, travel, and my testimony, I thought about turning to fiction and allowing my imagination to roam, yet remaining within the boundaries of Biblical truth.

Around 35 years ago, not long after I bought an Amstrad Word Processor that took over the Sinclair Spectrum home computer, I began to practice typewriting for future prosperity. My only qualification I had was a GCE in English Grammar, which I achieved as a mature student at an evening class I attended voluntarily.

As a Christian believer, I have Bible study books touching on subjects such as salvation and eschatology, the study of the end of current human history. From learning what the Bible has to say about the future, in the early nineties, I wrote a fictional story. It was original, with characters and situations arising from my own knowledge, laced with imagination.

This story is the one I wrote around 34 years ago, modified to fit today's current circumstances. For example, in the early 1990s, the UK was a member of the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the European Union. At present, Brexit has left Britain rather isolated from its nearest trading community.

The characters are fictional and bear no resemblance to any person living or dead. However, the locations on which the story is set are real and located on a map.

To avoid too much on a single screen, the story is segregated into weekly episodes.

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                                                                                 1

After a shower, Phil Banks stood topless in front of his life-size mirror in his rented apartment, which he shared with two other students. Not that he was particularly fond of his physique, for he was rather thin for his six-foot height, which gave him an emaciated appearance. Rather, he was proud of his tattoo on his right arm just beneath his shoulder. The tattooed image was that of a growling bulldog surrounded by the colours of the Union Jack. Under the image were the words, Land of Hope and Glory.

Phil then went to his wardrobe and selected a clean white shirt, checking to see whether it was properly ironed. Satisfied, he put it on, then checked his appearance in the mirror again. He gloried in his finesse, as his white shirt contrasted with his navy blue trousers. He stood for a long time staring at himself. Such idiosyncrasy he only indulged if he was alone, as the other two students had already gone home for the summer break.

Checking the time, he saw that there was another half hour before Steve Wright would call for him, and another student, George Bolton, to go out for a meal at a restaurant in Windsor to celebrate the end of another academic year at Royal Holloway College, part of London University, where all three would return for their final year in the Autumn.

Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey.

He looked out over the copse of trees separating each apartment block, then settled in his armchair, allowing his thoughts to dwell on current and economic affairs, a favourite subject for a student in Politics.

Somewhat over forty minutes later, and wondering what was happening to Steve, he reached for his tie hanging on the tie rack and selected a navy blue from a variety of colours. He hadn't yet fastened the knot in place when the doorbell rang.

Steve Wright stood outside, smartly dressed in a white shirt and burgundy tie. Phil let him in as he finished with his own attire.

What's the matter? Steve asked. You look thoughtful.

Phil answered, Oh, I'm sad that our country was forced back into the EU after the disaster of Brexit!

Federal Europe, isn't it? Now that all the European countries have amalgamated into a single empire. Steve concluded.

Yes, Phil answered. New Headquarters in Rome after moving there from Brussels. My! It is as though the old Roman Empire has revived!

The Empire's throne is vacant, though. Steve responded. No head of state seems to have the right qualifications or character to reign, although there are some possible candidates.

There is one hopeful, Phil replied as he suddenly brightened and looked optimistic. That handsome Italian fellow, who was born and bred in Rome.

Steve gasped. You don't mean Gaius Caligula?

Yes, I do mean him! Phil answered. I can't help thinking that he will solve much of the present economic crisis, and on top of that, he promised to hand back our national sovereignty.

You don't say!

Well, I have full confidence in him. Judging by his manifesto, my word, he has to be some sort of god. Anyway, Steve, I'm ready to go when you are.

Okay, let's go.

The two students made their way towards a bright red, four-seater Ferrari, parked just outside the entrance to Phil's apartment block.

Damn good car you have there! Phil gasped.

A gift from Dad for doing so well in my studies and flying through my last couple of exams. Steve explained. He can afford such things, the position he is in.

Phil answered, Yes, it must be great to be the son of a company's top-notch, especially the size of the corporation your old man is involved in.

As the car pulled out, Steve spoke. We have a fourth person coming with us. His name is Roger Padula. He is half English, half Italian. Eccentric, I reckon, but his heart is in the right place.

How do you know him? Phil asked.

He repaired my old car free of charge, not long before I acquired this one. Steve answered. So I invited him to join us tonight. He's a bit of a religious nut. He takes the Bible seriously and lays great emphasis on Jesus.

Phil was visibly angry. If you think that I'm going to be swamped by such garbage coming from someone fit for an asylum, then you can turn back and drop me back home!

Calm yourself. Steve pleaded. Roger is a very generous and sensitive mate. He is slightly older than us, a skilled motor mechanic, whose father is the manager of a car showroom.

Working class, eh? You know that I cannot associate with such plebs! It's beneath my dignity.

Please, Phil, be reasonable. Steve again pleaded. Roger has been a good mate of mine for some time. He has been more helpful than many of my college friends. Besides...Steve turned and winked at Phil. With people like Roger making up the working-class stratum, you should be proud of your own status! Without the working classes, WE would be at the bottom of the social strata! Steve exclaimed, hoping that he had buttered up his friend with enough nonsense to calm his temper.

Phil's truculent mood did change to one of mirth. We can forgive the poor guy for his crackpot beliefs! Phil said, smiling. Steve drove the short distance to George's apartment.

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It was quiet in my own apartment as I straightened out the knot of my own tie, a burgundy stripe contrasting with the whiteness of my shirt. As I finished, the doorbell jingled. 

Steve and Phil, I do believe. I muttered under my breath. As I opened the door, Steve stood there and cried out, SNAP! Noticing my puzzled look, Steve followed with, Identical attire, George.

Good Lord, I gasped. You have gone up in the world!

Oh, you mean the car. Steve responded as we approached the exit of the building and headed towards the shimmering vehicle. Dad's gift for my brain power, Steve replied as he winked.

As the car cruised quietly with Steve at the wheel, we felt and looked like three cock-of-the-walks, realising that the world was our oyster. Not that our careers were certain in Federal Europe, with spiralling unemployment, but with the Third World Countries rapidly developing, we were set to be great assets abroad. It was Steve who brought us back to the present with his statement, Only Roger Padula to pick up.

Roger? Didn't you mention him some months ago? I asked.

Yep. A mate of mine who fixed my other car a short time ago. Steve answered. He is a skilled motor mechanic.

A Worker among us? I cried, shocked. I wasn't prepared...

 

Easy now! Phil cut in. What Steve says about him, he seems a generous fellow. But he is superstitious and believes in a lot of fairy tales. He is someone we can laugh at.

 

You don't say, I responded.

 

Yeah, Christ and the Bible. Things like that, Phil said.

 

You are joking! I cried. No one believes in that stuff anymore.

 

Phil went on. It's true, though - damn - next thing he'll tell us is that Cinderella and the magic pumpkin were also history.

 

Poor Roger, I contributed. After all, if he's only a manual worker, like you say he is, we'll let him live in his cloud-cuckoo land.

 

That is enough now! Steve felt the need to defend Roger. We have the right to our own beliefs.

 

Our beliefs are in the real world, with problems only science can solve, Phil answered, raising his voice. Take a look at the current problems we had a few years ago. It was science which solved the growing rate of Third World starvation, giving people in those regions a chance to develop. We are teaching them scientific technology, not religious claptrap. Then these viral infections - Covid, Hantavirus, even AIDS - were all arrested with a vaccine. You should know that, George, as it's your line of study. Not to mention communications, transportation, and... Phil broke off, allowing his rising temper to cool. 

I felt resigned. In this day and age, I find it amazing that there are some mentally inane people in this country.

ENOUGH OF THAT! Admonished Steve, as his car slowed down to pull up outside a detached suburban house.

The front door immediately opened, and Roger ran out towards the waiting car, his face looking radiant.

He must have been waiting at the window when we pulled up. I commented.

Roger was quite different in his appearance from the rest of us. While our hair was short and neatly groomed, Roger's hair was dark and long, protecting the nape of his neck and touching his shoulders. Also, his brightly-coloured T-shirt and denim shorts were a stark contrast with the collar-and-tie attire befitting a committee of executives. On the yellow shirt was a blue logo in large letters, JESUS SAVES. Underneath, in smaller lettering, the logo read, you, that is, not his money!

Roger suddenly looked embarrassed. I...I didn't expect any of you to be all dressed up. If you just wait a jiffy, I'll nip back in to dress in more appropriate clothing. 

No, don't bother. Steve said as he glanced at his watch. We have a table booked at nine, and we still have to get there.

Roger climbed into the back seat, next to me, and as he turned to greet us all, I noticed his blue eyes, indicating his pedigree. He had an Italian father and an English mother.

After the car pulled out, Steve twisted a dial, and soft, easy-listening music filled the air with a soothing melody. Presently, the music gave way to a rich female voice, which announced,

This is Radio Two from the BBC. It is now nine o'clock, and here is the news from Duncan Stewart.

A male voice filled the airwaves.

Good evening. The grave concern that the Russian Premier has over the poverty of his country due to crop failure over the past three years is a serious worry for Rome, delegates stated earlier today. Some experts believe that the Premier has his eyes on Israel, and unofficial and conflicting reports are coming in about a mobilisation of Russian troops along with military forces from Eastern European and Former Slovak countries.

Rome has sent diplomats to Moscow to investigate, although with their superior military arsenal rebuilt after their defeat in Ukraine, the best Rome can hope for is a settlement through peace talks...

Steve turned off the radio and sighed. Let us not get bogged down tonight by current affairs. Tonight is a night to celebrate.

I'm amazed by Israel, Phil spoke up. In the last few years, Israel has become a flourishing breadbasket, not only for its huge immigration of Jews, but also now for its neighbouring Arab countries with whom it made peace in exchange for its exports. It is now true to say that Israel at present upholds the economy of its neighbouring Arab countries.

From between the trees, Windsor Castle loomed into view.

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To be continued.

15. I should have Picked up a Knife.

The Need to Rightly Divide the Political Truth.

My head is in a whizz at the moment. Right-wing media are congratulating Reform's rise to power in the local elections, while its leader, Nigel Farage, gloats over our Labour Prime Minister's decline in national trust and popularity.

Our present PM, Keir Starmer, after winning power in 2024, made commitments to cut the State Pension and top up benefits for in-work and low-paid workers, along with cuts to disability benefits. All that was to fill in the "massive budget hole" left by the preceding Tory Government. Immediately, his national support and popularity plummeted, and he never recovered. So serious was his fall that his own party had to persuade him to U-turn on these matters.  

And so he did. Then, at present, came the by-elections, and the electorate gladly chose Farage's Reform Party members to chair local council administration across England. What would be his main manifesto, should he win the next general election? To deport all those illegal immigrants who have taken over our hotels. This included restarting the Rwanda scheme and making Britain great again. 

However, what our media has kept very quiet about is that when Farage attended Dulwich College as a teenage student, he was a racist bully who held disdain for any student who was non-Caucasian, that is, black or brown-skinned. Dulwich College was not a comprehensive school. It was a posh public school, attended by boys whose parents could afford the extortionate fees. It was very much like Eton, Harrow, or Winchester.

Furthermore, what our media is not saying is that the ambitions of Reform, should it ever gain national power, are to privatise the National Health Service from the taxpayer-funded free-at-the-point-of-use to the American-style billing system, where private insurance companies are set to make massive profits from the ill and infirm. Like Starmer originally, he too wants to tighten pensions and benefits. At the same time, follow Liz Truss' agenda of lowering taxes for the rich and removing workers' rights. This also includes doing away with holiday pay and other workers' benefits, hard-earned over the decades, so employers and businesses could maximise their profits without the need to declare them for appropriate taxation.

Nigel Farage.

Two different political parties, both with similar policies. One was criticised by the media, the other was kept hidden from the electorate. Yet, both declared themselves to be friends of the working employee, the one who gets his hands dirty in his struggle to house and feed his family.

Failure to rightly divide the political truth. Instead, only one side is presented, the side that appeals to the electorate. Their manifesto to deport illegal immigrants and return Britain as a home for the white indigenous is well presented. But within their agenda is to pander to the rich and the wealthy, to the billionaires who own big corporations, at the expense of the common working family, the unemployed, and the disabled. Therefore, every voter should rightly divide Reform's political agenda before voting them into power.

Dulwich College, London.

Dividing Biblical Truth.

So I ask, where is the similarity between rightly dividing the political truth and rightly dividing the Word of Truth as instructed by the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2:15?

In my testimony, I have already described what this dividing, or a lack of it, has affected my life after conversion. At the time of conversion, I was told that I was a sinner and had fallen short of the glory of God. As a result, I was to face judgment and be eternally condemned. But the Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to die for my sins, was buried, and on the third day, he rose from the dead, and by believing this, I received eternal life. That is the Gospel. A glorious Gospel! Thus, if the Atonement made by Christ on the cross took away all my sins and imputed his righteousness into me, then it follows that I could never be lost or condemned again. In short, once saved, always saved (OSAS). This is wonderful news.

.

However, it wasn't long before I was challenged by Arminians. These Christians are followers of Jacob Arminius, a 16th-century Dutch theologian who disputed the doctrine of free grace and insisted that salvation must be kept by works of faithfulness, or the believer ends up lost again.

This false doctrine of forfeitable salvation robbed me of assurance, and with it, the peace of God. And so I lived in this spiritual state for nearly five decades! Only yesterday, on Facebook, there was a post advocating once saved, always saved. In the comments forum beneath the poster were many responses from unhappy deniers who insisted that salvation is forfeitable. As a result, they did not rightly divide the Word of Truth. Three main Bible verses were quoted to support their assertion. They were Hebrews 6:4-6, Matthew 24:13, and James 2:20. Those verses deeply troubled me in the past, before I learned to rightly divide the Word of Truth. That is cutting straight, like a knife cutting through a cake. This was when I should have picked up the knife.

The death of Christ took away all my sins.

Failure to rightly divide the Word of Truth leads to contradictions and confusion. It also robs the believer of peace and assurance. Therefore, as this comes under my testimony, I will show what these verses are and what I had to go through.

Hebrews 6:4-6. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost. And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them unto repentance; seeing that they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

This passage of Scripture is the most quoted. It was thrown to my face, even angrily, when I said that I believed in OSAS. Yet, there are three possible interpretations:

1. That it says what the Arminian says. If a believer decides not to believe any more, then he loses his salvation, his heart becomes hardened, and it will be impossible to bring him back to his faith. I saw that this presents a problem. It contradicts John 10:28, which says that he (Jesus) gives eternal life to his sheep, and they will never perish. If the believer cannot perish, a fact further endorsed by Paul in Romans 8:38-39, it can only mean that he is kept by God, and not by the believer's own faithfulness.

2. The second interpretation is the one I held for a long time. The title of the letter is "To the Hebrews"; that is, the whole book was written to Jewish believers rather than the present Gentile Body of Christ. Many were true believers and forever saved. But among the assembly were interested Jewish enquirers. Just by being among true believers, they too were made partakers of the Holy Spirit and gained knowledge and experience. But instead of trusting the Gospel, they decided to return to the Temple and continued to seek their own righteousness by offering sacrifices. Their rejection of Jesus as their Messiah became absolute.

3. There is a third interpretation I have recently learned. All here referred are true believers. However, some of them decided to return to the Temple and offer sacrifices. Yet, they remained saved, although they will lose their rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ. As believers, they remain kept by God. Losing their salvation was an impossibility, as this would have meant Jesus being crucified all over again. To me, this is a valid interpretation and worthy of consideration in the light of eternal security.

Another verse thrown at us was Matthew 24:13, which reads, But he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved.

This was spoken during his Olivet Discourse, describing the last days immediately before his second coming. It will be a time of the Great Tribulation, including the Temptation. The coming Antichrist will issue an order to the whole world. Accept his mark or starve to death. In those days, no one will be able to buy or sell unless he has this mark. Only the faithful who refuse to accept the Mark of the Beast and either starve to death, are imprisoned, or executed are saved. Here is where rightly dividing the Word of Truth kicks in, as I had recently learned. The Tribulation saints are not the present Body of Christ. If they are still alive after the Tribulation, then they will inherit an earthly Messianic Kingdom.

3. Then the third quote, James 2:20, Faith without works is dead.

I have heard this repeated like a mantra when OSAS is preached:

Faith without works is dead.

Faith without works is dead.

Faith without works is dead.

Saving faith for salvation is invisible to mankind. Only God can see it. But for someone to see whether the referred person has faith, he can only see it through his works. If I see a good, generous person, I may wonder whether he is a Christian. But if I encounter a churchgoer who is selfish, inconsiderate, and even short-tempered, I would doubt his Christian profession. His faith would be dead to me even if still genuine before God.

To sum up, an evangelist or preacher may present the saving grace of the Gospel of Christ, and this would bring peace and joy to the new believer. But at this stage, he wouldn't know how to rightly divide the Word of Truth. The evangelist will most likely preach on the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to a group of enquiring unbelievers, but because of his unbelief in OSAS, he would withhold any thought that salvation is forfeitable, and each Christian believer must keep the Law of Moses to remain saved. He knows that wouldn't go down very well, at least for the time being.

Exactly like Nigel Farage and his Reform Party. He is keen on deporting immigrants, but silent on privatising the NHS.

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Next Week, should I consider writing fiction to emphasise Biblical truths?

14. How OSAS saved my Faith.

The Celebration at the Western Wall, Jerusalem.

It was a Friday evening in 1993. My highlight of the year. I was standing just outside the Western Wall courtyard, yet leaning on the partition separating the inner and outer courtyards. The inner yard was crowded with Orthodox Jews, aged from twelve years upwards. Tables were arranged in rows across the inner courtyard, some with chairs. Around these tables, a group sat, listening to a sermon or Bible reading. The inner courtyard was further partitioned by gender, with the women's section approximately a third of the length of the Wall.

The gathering was far from a formal service. It was a celebration. Orthodox Jews lined the Wall, their heads nodding as they prayed. Others formed a long line to dance what we call the Conga, all rejoicing in their praise to God and thanking him for the initiation of their weekly Sabbath. All were dressed the same. A white shirt, most of them open at the neck, while a few wore ties. Some even wore black jackets in the warm air. But all wore the yarmulke, the skullcap, compulsory for all male Jews.

Celebrating the Sabbath at the Western Wall.

Throughout their celebrations, I stood at the partition and watched. I felt at one with them. These were descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. I was watching how they worshipped in their own country, the land God promised to give to their patriarchs. Furthermore, it was here that the Christian faith originated, the offshoot of the original Judaism, consisting of all who believed that their Messiah, Jesus, who was crucified, buried, and rose from the dead on the third day, and through faith alone, would take away our sins forever and receive the imputation of his righteousness.

But if I were to ask any of these Jews whether any of them believed in Once Saved Always Saved (OSAS), without a doubt, they would give me an odd look, probably wondering what on earth I am talking about, then explain that we are to keep the Commandments and remain faithful to the end. For the righteous, they look forward to the future Messianic Kingdom. In this earthly and global kingdom or Olam HaBa, each inhabitant will live in a physical body under their Messiah-King, who will reign from Jerusalem. However, it is agreed among Jewish beliefs that after death, many will spend up to a year in a type of Purgatory, or Gehenna, before reuniting with their own people in the spiritual realm, awaiting the physical Kingdom.

The claims of the afterlife between Judaism and the Roman Catholic Church regarding Purgatory, I find, are striking. Although both faiths agree that Purgatory is temporary, Judaism restricts this to twelve months. Catholics teach that Purgatory could last between a few hours and a thousand years, depending on the life of the deceased believer.

But on both faiths, OSAS is denied.

And the issue was that such denial had percolated within the Reformation. The Anglo-Catholics, the Methodists, the Pentecostals and their varied denominations, along with nearly all the cults, all believe that salvation is forfeitable due to excess sin or renunciation of the faith. People such as the late David Pawson, whom I have already mentioned last week, used their academic qualifications as a weapon to destroy any idea of OSAS being true.

How the Denial of Once Saved Always Saved Affected Me.

For decades after conversion, I lacked the assurance of salvation due to this widespread teaching. This lack of assurance touches everything partaking to day-to-day living. Examples of this include strife in the church fellowship. When a deacon shows greater honour and respect for a graduate than for a factory worker, bad things happen. And then the graduate expresses a level of haughtiness, then for sure, there was grit in the fellowship. In addition, the envy that was generated within me at work. While I was wearing overalls, my better-educated colleagues walked past in their business suits to the offices upstairs.

Much of that was due to parental upbringing. Dad wanted a daughter who graduated from a university. Instead, he had a son who failed at school. This had a big impact on my life as an adult. There were two issues. One was that I suffered from a lion's share of an inferiority complex. The other was that I couldn't understand why I was unable to enjoy the company of a girlfriend, leading to marriage and raising a family. Rather, on one occasion, I was a target of teasing by a couple of young females while I was browsing at a bookstall. To them, I was a laughingstock. And that took place in a church after a service. Ironically, one of them did marry, but divorced some time later without having any children. Her friend disappeared and was never seen again.

It was in 2005 that I had a three-hour session with a psychotherapist as part of the parental assessment course. On the positive side, my IQ was somewhat above average. The downside was that I had high-end autism. This was the reason why I found group socials difficult. Today, I simply refer to myself as "on the spectrum". Again, on the positive side, being on the spectrum was the mental powerhouse for all my travels. I was referred to as "brave" more than once for backpacking the Middle East amidst unrest, along with North America. This was followed by the 1997 Round-the-World solo backpacking, taking in Singapore, Australia, and California. My autism empowered me to snorkel over the Great Barrier Reef, also to hike the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the rainforest at the Blue Mountains National Park in Australia, and the West Coast Path here in the UK.

On the negative side, autism made group socials difficult and kept me single until I was in my mid-forties. And it also robbed me of my assurance of eternal life. That, despite studying the Bible and concentrating on verses supporting OSAS, and believing in this throughout my Christian life.

All came to a head in 1994. That was the year when David Pawson caused a near-riot at a Butlins theatre in Minehead, Somerset, denying the truth of OSAS and declaring an eternity in Hell for divorcing and remarrying. It was the year that our own pastor, Barry Buckingham, received hostile glares for supporting OSAS as a true Biblical doctrine. It was also the year that I was rebuked for suggesting Pawson was a false teacher.

1994 was also the year that I reached the point of renouncing my faith. This was a year after I stood near the Western Wall to watch the Jewish Sabbath celebrations. This time, I returned to Israel as a volunteer at the Christian Conference Centre, Stella Carmel, in the village of Isfiya near Haifa. Remember the two females in their late teens or early twenties taunting me? Well, this happened again at the Centre. But not teasing or laughing at me this time. Instead, it was downright hostility. These unmarried women who called themselves Christians weren't able to handle an autistic colleague, especially an intelligent, high-end male who failed to get a university degree.

The director of the Centre, Peter Acton and his wife were Anglican Church attendees who denied the truth of OSAS, meaning that salvation could be lost by the believer. Another C of E couple, David and his rather aristocratic wife, on one Sunday service, preached against OSAS and also insisted on a forfeitable salvation. But I held my guns. I stuck to believing in OSAS.

Stella Carmel Conference Centre. Taken in 2000.

Later, on the same day of David's Arminian sermon, I was called into Peter's office. The head of Maintenance, Andrew Lessey, was with him. Then the director dropped his bombshell. I was to have my stay as a volunteer terminated the next day, and it was left to me to book my own flight home.

One point here. According to the Centre's policy, anyone who offends by breaching the house rules is sent straight to the airport. When the offence was discovered, the manager then booked a seat for the next available flight home. When one was confirmed, the offender was called in, dismissed and escorted to the airport by a Centre staff member. He then had no other option but to check in.

But with me, this was different. I was allowed to remain in Israel until the right time to book my own flight. This shows that I was innocent. Instead, the director caved in after the demands for me to go were made by the other volunteers.

That night, I didn't sleep a wink. I was alone in one of the Centre's bedrooms, wrapped in torment. It was a personal Hell. During the night, my mind's image of David Pawson added to the torment. Was he right after all? Was he truly a prophet of God? Was I in error to believe in OSAS as Biblical? Is God trying to show me something? If what he says was true, that salvation was forfeitable, wasn't his great success in public preaching and the many books he wrote, confirm all this? Furthermore, had my dismissal from Stella Carmel been proof that I had already lost my salvation, and I'm bound for Hell? And so, the torment continued unabated until the first rays of the Israeli sunshine began to light up the bedroom.

Later that morning, I was escorted to the Haifa Bus Station and abandoned. I was alone with my backpack. I boarded the next bus to Jerusalem, where, after arrival, I found the New Swedish Hostel in the heart of the Old City, a backpackers' resort housed in a Medieval building, and booked a bed at the reception. I was to stay there for a month before flying home.

After checking in, I lay on the bed in an empty dormitory, as it was the middle of the day, and all the others were out. My torment resolved. I was to abandon my faith. Never again would I attend a church and pretend to live a holy life. That was it. My faith in God was over! By heck! No wonder intelligent atheists scorned organised religion. It stank! And the putridness of hypocrisy issuing from Stella Carmel wafted all the way to here in Jerusalem.

After a while, I began to sense a voice in my head. It was gentle, loving, and pleading.

Frank, will you carry on following me?

Immediately, I responded, Yes, Lord. I will follow you.

I rose from the bed and left the hostel to walk along the narrow, roofed street towards the Temple Mount. The way will be hard, a gradual uphill journey, but Once Saved Always Saved has verified itself as true and Biblical.

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You can read the full details of what happened at the Centre, which led to my dismissal, by clicking here. This will take you directly to the blog on the Travel Biography.

Next Week: Lacking assurance? I should have picked up a knife.