Sermon At The Coliseum

John Hill

Description

The day started for Peter Grey like any other day he got up early, made his coffee, and waited for his family to get up. Peter works as a stockbroker in Los Angeles, and his wife Sarah Grey is an attorney for a large firm. They lived the quiet suburban life in the upper middle class community of Brentwood, California, with their two children, Kelly and Tim. Today, Peter and his family will have a visitor that will change their lives immediately, but will it be for the better or worse? The visitor says his name is Emmanuel, and he is on a fact finding mission to the United States and needed to stay at their home with them for five days to complete his mission . . . Who is he and where did he really come from? These questions will keep you reading until the very surprising end . . .

Informations

• Publié par: Book Venture Publishing LLC
• Date de parution: 19 juin 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781641667425
• Langue: English

Extrait

The SERMON at the COLISEUM

“For those who believe, no explanation is necessary, and for those who do not, no explanation is possible.” Author unknown

JOHN HILL
Copyright © 2018 by John Hill.
All rights reserved. N o part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
BookVenture Publishing LLC 1000 Country Lane Ste 300 Ishpeming MI 49849 www.bookventure.com Hotline: [phone] Fax: [phone]
Ordering Information: Quantity sales. Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address above.
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Control Number 2018942548 ISBN-13: Softcover 978-1-64166-740-1 Pdf 978-1-64166-741-8 ePub 978-1-64166-742-5 Kindle 978-1-64166-743-2
Rev. date: 04/10/2018
To my wife Ma ttie;
brothers: Thomas, Raymond, Nathaniel, Jimmy and Ro nald;
sisters: Laura, Janice, Doris for your love and sup port.
Contents
DAY 1
The Visitor Miracle at McDonalds
DAY 2
A Visit to Hollywood A News Statement A Visit to East Los Angeles
DAY 3
A Visit to Beverly Hills High A Visit to South Los Angeles
DAY 4
A Visit to Lompoc Prison A Visit to Los Angeles Civic Center The Sermon at the Coliseum
DAY 5
A Man Awakes
DAY 1
The Visitor Miracle at McDonalds
T HE DAY STARTED like any other day; bright sunshine, and no breeze, common June weather in Los Angeles. Peter Grey had put the coffee on a timer during the night so it’d be hot and ready for him in the morning. The housekeeper had called and said she was ill and wouldn’t be there today. After getting up, shaving, and taking his shower, he put on his robe and went downstairs to get his morning paper and pour himself a hot cup of coffee. His wife and children were still asleep upstairs. He’d wake them in a few minutes so the children could get ready for school and his wife, Sarah, could get ready for work. He and Sarah had two children— Tim, fourteen and Kelly, sixteen. Sarah was a lawyer who worked in Century City. Peter worked as a stockbroker in downtown Los Angeles for one of the largest firms in the country. They were an upper middle-class family who lived on the west side of Los Angeles in the town of Brentwood, which meant Peter had to drive the dreaded 405 and 10 freeways to get to work. He hated this drive at anytime of the day, but especially in the mornings. His children attended private school for elementary and junior high education, but they wanted to attend Beverly Hills High School, a public high school, because most of their friends attended. Peter hated the public school system in Los Angeles County, even though he’d attended a public elementary school and graduated from a public high school in Ohio.
Peter grew up in a poor family in Ohio. He graduated from high school as class valedictorian and attended Harvard University on an academic scholarship. In high school, he never participated in sports because he worked after school to help the family, even though he was six feet two and weighed about 185 lbs. The coaches were always begging him to come out for sports, especially football and basketball, but instead he worked and concentrated on his books. Peter had wanted to be a doctor, however he changed his mind while he was in college. He wanted money real fast, and ten years to get a degree seemed too long.
Sarah Grey grew up in an upper middle-class family in Iowa. As a senior in high school, she was voted homecoming queen and the most likely to succeed. Also, during her high school years, she was a cheerleader, sung in the mixed chorus, and was president of the high school honor society. In her senior year in high school, Sarah was offered many scholarships, and she accepted a full scholarship offer from Harvard University, including room and board. After gaining her undergraduate degree in four years, she applied and was accepted into Harvard Law School. Sarah and Peter met through friends at Harvard, and moved in together in Sarah’s freshman year of law school as Peter was working on his MBA. They married after Sarah had finished law school and immediately decided to have their first child, Kelly, followed by Tim two years later. They moved to Los Angeles when Sarah was offered a position in one of the most successful law firms in the cou nt ry.
To make the move to Los Angeles, Peter and Sarah needed to borrow some money from Sarah’s parents because they were still paying for their college loans and didn’t have the money they needed for a down payment on a home in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles. Her parents had no problem lending them the money. They were so proud of both of them and their careers, and they knew they’d get their money back.
At this time, their lives revolved around their children—soccer, basketball, piano lessons—and Sarah’s involvement in her church. Peter and Sarah had become involved in their community, feeding the homeless, working with foster children, and Sarah’s volunteer work for the children section of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Ce nter.
The children came downstairs. Peter noticed how beautiful they were. Little Tim looked just like his grandfather and was growing like a weed; Kelly was tall, blonde, and beautiful—looking just like her mother. Both were excellent students and gave their parents no problems. They were well liked in the neighborhood and at school. Also they’d never had behavioral problems. Peter felt ble ssed.
Religion had never been a big deal in their home. Although Sarah and the children attended church every Sunday, Peter had never gone on a regular basis. He didn’t believe all the hype, so staying home and watching his sports was something he loved to do. Also preparing dinner on Sunday was Peter’s responsibility, so he ensured he had a good meal prepared for them when they got home. Peter always had doubts about the church. He attended sometimes, but mostly for his children. Being brought up in the Midwest, he attended church for years as a young person growing up, including revival meetings and what he called regular church. Sarah was also brought up in the church; she had a Methodist minister as an uncle. She and her family attended his church in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Sarah loved the church and took pleasure in attending and having a close relationship with her Savior Jesus Ch rist.
Sarah and the children ate their breakfast and then kissed Peter as they said their goodbyes and left the house. Peter returned to the kitchen and switched off the coffee. He was about to set the house alarm to leave when the doorbell rang. He thought, What did they forget this time? Probably Tim’s books. He’ s always leaving something. Maybe the neighbor needs to borrow something again. I wonder when he’s going to return my DVDs I lent him. While walking to answer the door, Peter tried to navigate the morning traffic flow to get to work before 10am. He usually gave himself at least two hours on the road, so whoever was at the door had better talk fast. As he opened the door, he thought about the big money deal he was negotiating at work, and he wanted to hurry and get there so he could complet e it.
The door opened, and there stood a man who Peter didn’t recognize at all. He was about six foot two with a deep tan. Peter noticed he had deep brown eyes and a broad smile. He was dressed very well in a navy blue three-button suit, white shirt, navy blue tie, and black shoes. He carried a large brown suitcase. His hair was light brown and shoulder length; he had a small beard, neatly trimmed, and a mustache connected to the beard. He was an attractive man, but he looked rugged, as if he worked out in a gym or he was a runner. His smile seemed to put Peter at ease.
Peter felt a peace descend over him that he’d never felt before; it was strange. Even thought they’d never met, he felt he’d known this guy for y ears.
“Hello, may I help you?” Peter said. “You see, I’m in a hurry because I’m late for work. I work downtown, and I’m trying to time the traffic right. So if you’re selling something, maybe we can talk another time. I’ll give you my card.” Peter reached in his shirt for a card and continued, “And you can give me a call at work or later tonight. You see, my card has my home and cell phone numbers right here.” Peter pointed to his card. “So please, what can I do for you this beautiful mor ning?”
The man finally spoke. “I just stopped by to spend some time with you, P eter.”
“How do you know my name?” Peter said, a little taken back. “I know all about you, your family, and your entire life.”
With that Peter slammed the door and went to call 911, thinking this was a kidnapper or worse. He first called his wife’s job.
“Is this an emergency, because she’s in an important meeting and can call you back when the meeting is over in about an hour,” said the woman on the p hone.
Peter thought for a moment then said, “Don’t worry. I’ll call her later.” Peter hung up the phone and immediately dialed his children’s school to check on them. Peter was told they were in their cla sses.
A little relieved, Peter decided not to call 911 and turned to go back to the door. As he turned toward it, he noticed the stranger sitting on the couch, the door still closed. He f