02-12-2014, 09:09 AM
[[sorry have to go all religulous on yah, but JJ does that sometimes. heh.]]
There was no one discernable moment when the flip happened. But it happened, and it came so easily. He could almost hear his voice change. He'd sat a little taller. His hands moved like they itched to make more grandiose gestures than the space at the table allowed. The rhythm was bone deep that he hadn't realized how narrow a scope he'd been speaking until Tony had to ask for clarification. Jensen had been so wrapped up in his own perspective he'd made assumptions that he shouldn't have. And you know what happens when you make assumptions...
The epiphany flushed his cheeks with a fresh dose of embarrassment. Jessika claimed she fell a little bit more in love with him the every time she saw him blush. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't difficult to make a fourteen year old Jensen lose all composure.
"I'm so sorry, Tony. This has dominated my mind every waking moment. Even in my dreams.."
, that last was said with a certain amount of amazement in his voice.
"The Beast refers to the Antichrist."
As soon as he said it, Jensen regretted leading his answer as he had. He waved a hand, pausing himself into restarting more than interrupting anything Tony might have to say. "Please allow me..."
If speaking of Revelation returned him to his days at the pulpit, explaining Christ and the Anti Christ was going to torque him straight back into what he'd spent his life preparing to become. In theory anyway.
"When God created the heavens and the earth, so also did He create mankind. At the moment of our creation though, He yearned to have a relationship with us, but He knew that our love was baseless without the free will to reject Him. This led to the inherent sin of mankind and the possibility for His angels to fall from grace."
A sadness collected shadows on his face, but Jensen steadied himself with a drink of coffee. The liquid no longer curled steam as it had. It was growing chillier by the minute.
"But God is Holy. This means he cannot, by his very nature, accept the souls of sinned man into his kingdom. So to eradicate our sins, a sacrifice must be made. In the Old Covenant, the Jews, his adorned people, appointed consecrated priests to sacrifice a perfect lamb every year to atone for their sin. Every time the Isrealities faltered in their duty, the nation crumbled into slavery or demise. That is the essence of the Old Testament, which represents the Old Covenant God made with his chosen, Abraham, the Father of all the tribes of Isreal."
A source of pride.. No. A source of wonder soon overcame Jensen's tale. The miracle of the Lord's everlasting plan swelled him with awe and Faith. It was not his duty to make a man believe, nor even understand. Only the insight of God could conquer man's rejection of Him.
He took to the edge of his seat, meeting Tony as though in the middle of the table. Jensen ached with all his soul to explain every last measure of significance of the Gospels, but although Tony had been gracefully attentive, he didn't want to overwhelm the man nor seem pressuring for his acceptance.
"But in Jesus, conceived by the virgin Mary, God himself came to the earth, lived a sinless life, and died blameless and innocent of any crime and sin as the Lamb for the whole world. This is the New Covenant that God made with us so that all souls, not only those of the Isrealities, may know Him. Christ paid the sacrifice for us.
"I explain this because to understand the Beast, you must understand what Christ represents. He is the Son of God; God made flesh. The Beast is also called the Anti Christ. This man will carry out not the Will of God, but the first and greatest of all the Fallen Angels, Lucifer. Satan."
Jensen took great care to lower his voice. The CCD didn't condemn all words spoken against the Ascendancy, but he didn't wish to try his luck when they started referring to the man as companion to the Antichrist. He leaned in.
"It's predestined, Tony. The Antichrist will have his hand over the whole of the world. Battle comes, and it will turn bloody, awful, and terrifying before it's all over. We have to live through it. Every single person in this cafe will live through it. My children will have to live through it."
That terrified him, but Jensen set his jaw and continued.
"We are going to be in the crossfire no matter what we do or no matter where we run. So while until my days in this world are done, I want to protect those whom I can and fight for what is right though I do not know how to fight nor even how to be a protector, but I believe God brought our paths together for a purpose, Tony."
Despite the morbid future, Jensen tried to smile. Even if it was a grim one.
Edited by Jensen James, Feb 12 2014, 09:16 AM.
There was no one discernable moment when the flip happened. But it happened, and it came so easily. He could almost hear his voice change. He'd sat a little taller. His hands moved like they itched to make more grandiose gestures than the space at the table allowed. The rhythm was bone deep that he hadn't realized how narrow a scope he'd been speaking until Tony had to ask for clarification. Jensen had been so wrapped up in his own perspective he'd made assumptions that he shouldn't have. And you know what happens when you make assumptions...
The epiphany flushed his cheeks with a fresh dose of embarrassment. Jessika claimed she fell a little bit more in love with him the every time she saw him blush. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't difficult to make a fourteen year old Jensen lose all composure.
"I'm so sorry, Tony. This has dominated my mind every waking moment. Even in my dreams.."
, that last was said with a certain amount of amazement in his voice.
"The Beast refers to the Antichrist."
As soon as he said it, Jensen regretted leading his answer as he had. He waved a hand, pausing himself into restarting more than interrupting anything Tony might have to say. "Please allow me..."
If speaking of Revelation returned him to his days at the pulpit, explaining Christ and the Anti Christ was going to torque him straight back into what he'd spent his life preparing to become. In theory anyway.
"When God created the heavens and the earth, so also did He create mankind. At the moment of our creation though, He yearned to have a relationship with us, but He knew that our love was baseless without the free will to reject Him. This led to the inherent sin of mankind and the possibility for His angels to fall from grace."
A sadness collected shadows on his face, but Jensen steadied himself with a drink of coffee. The liquid no longer curled steam as it had. It was growing chillier by the minute.
"But God is Holy. This means he cannot, by his very nature, accept the souls of sinned man into his kingdom. So to eradicate our sins, a sacrifice must be made. In the Old Covenant, the Jews, his adorned people, appointed consecrated priests to sacrifice a perfect lamb every year to atone for their sin. Every time the Isrealities faltered in their duty, the nation crumbled into slavery or demise. That is the essence of the Old Testament, which represents the Old Covenant God made with his chosen, Abraham, the Father of all the tribes of Isreal."
A source of pride.. No. A source of wonder soon overcame Jensen's tale. The miracle of the Lord's everlasting plan swelled him with awe and Faith. It was not his duty to make a man believe, nor even understand. Only the insight of God could conquer man's rejection of Him.
He took to the edge of his seat, meeting Tony as though in the middle of the table. Jensen ached with all his soul to explain every last measure of significance of the Gospels, but although Tony had been gracefully attentive, he didn't want to overwhelm the man nor seem pressuring for his acceptance.
"But in Jesus, conceived by the virgin Mary, God himself came to the earth, lived a sinless life, and died blameless and innocent of any crime and sin as the Lamb for the whole world. This is the New Covenant that God made with us so that all souls, not only those of the Isrealities, may know Him. Christ paid the sacrifice for us.
"I explain this because to understand the Beast, you must understand what Christ represents. He is the Son of God; God made flesh. The Beast is also called the Anti Christ. This man will carry out not the Will of God, but the first and greatest of all the Fallen Angels, Lucifer. Satan."
Jensen took great care to lower his voice. The CCD didn't condemn all words spoken against the Ascendancy, but he didn't wish to try his luck when they started referring to the man as companion to the Antichrist. He leaned in.
"It's predestined, Tony. The Antichrist will have his hand over the whole of the world. Battle comes, and it will turn bloody, awful, and terrifying before it's all over. We have to live through it. Every single person in this cafe will live through it. My children will have to live through it."
That terrified him, but Jensen set his jaw and continued.
"We are going to be in the crossfire no matter what we do or no matter where we run. So while until my days in this world are done, I want to protect those whom I can and fight for what is right though I do not know how to fight nor even how to be a protector, but I believe God brought our paths together for a purpose, Tony."
Despite the morbid future, Jensen tried to smile. Even if it was a grim one.
Edited by Jensen James, Feb 12 2014, 09:16 AM.