Movie Night at the Church

I am eleven years old as we walk into the church.  It’s strange to be here at night.  The walls, which are bare, look even more so without daylight to brighten them.  A few people greet my mother and they are a buzz with excitement.  I see a large movie screen has been setup near the pulpit.  I ask Mom what movie we’re going to see.  “It’s about the End Times.  This is important because these things are going to happen in your lifetime.”  

We take our seats and the lights go out as the screen comes alive.  A grey-bearded man is telling a story about a mustard seed.  He’s a holy man and he made this movie to tell people what will happen to them after Jesus returns for the Rapture.  I know the Rapture means when Jesus will call everyone he loves to heaven.  When I was three, I learned to sing “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.”

The movie starts and there are people that Jesus didn’t take with him.  They seem like nice people, and I’m wondering why Jesus didn’t take them.  They’re all very sad.  One of them is an old man wearing a powder blue suit.  I am shocked when he explains that he is a pastor.  He says that for many years he preached about being saved but he never truly believed in his heart, and that’s why he’s still here.  I’m worried that maybe I only think I believe, like the pastor, and that maybe I don’t truly believe in my heart.  

The AntiChrist has created his kingdom on the earth, and his police are attacking the nice people.  They tell the nice people that if they don’t accept the Mark of the Beast that they will have their heads cut off.  The speakers set up near the screen blast so loudly that I jump and the screen cuts to a guillotine covered in blood.  

I am rushing to the bathroom because I feel sick in my stomach.  I must have caught another stomach sickness, like that time we went on vacation and I threw up for two days, but when I reach the bathroom I start to feel a little better.  After a few minutes, a man enters and asks me if I’m ok.  I tell him that I think I’m going to throw up and he says it’s not fun to be sick and leaves.

My stomach doesn’t want to be sick after all so I walk back to my seat and my mother asks if I’m ok.  I tell her that I must be sick again.  

In the movie, Jesus is making plagues that hurt the bad people, and they all have huge blisters on their faces.  One of the nice people explains that if they accept the Mark of the Beast they will burn in hell forever where the pain is so great that you grind your teeth in agony.  But if they don’t take the Mark, they will get their heads cut off.  The only way they can come to Jesus now is to allow the AntiChrist to cut off their heads.  Another loud blast and another image of the blood-covered guillotine.  Jesus won’t help these people.  He wants the guillotine to kill them, so he must hate them too.  My sickness returns and I cover my mouth hoping that I won’t throw up.  

The sea turns to blood and the sun goes away and there are earthquakes and fires and many more people die before the movie ends.  After the lights come on, my mother’s friend walks over, just as excited as before, “Wasn’t that a blessing?  Praise Jesus!”

Several months later, my father is watching a television commercial advertising a movie about nuclear war called “The Day After.”  He puts his hand on my shoulder and says, “You can stay up past your bedtime to watch this movie.  What it talks about is important, and it may happen in your lifetime.”



If you want to watch any of the fun films described in this post, you can find some of them here.