Avenger of Blood (51 page)

Now John, the final member of the Twelve, was gone. And Jacob had been privileged to know him intimately. The Apostle's influence on Jacob's life had been, and always would be, profound.

Jacob was still pondering all these things when Livia found him on the hillside. She came up beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It's cold out here,” she said. “And you haven't eaten anything all day. Why don't you come inside?”

“I will in a minute. I'm just doing some thinking.”

“Is it all right if I join you?”

“Have a seat,” Jacob said, patting the ground beside him. “If it's not too cold for you.”

“You forget, I'm used to the cold. And dressed for it.” Livia sat down, spreading her heavy fur-trimmed cape underneath her. “You, however, are not.”

“I'm fine,” he protested. Actually, he felt a bit chilled in the light woolen cloak he'd thrown over his tunic, but once she'd pointed out the temperature to him, he felt obligated to deny it.

“So, what are you thinking about?” Livia asked. “The Apostle?”

“Yes,” Jacob said. He paused and stretched his long legs out in front of him. “I'm also thinking about me, about the direction I'm supposed to be taking with my life.”

It was something he'd discussed with his wife even before leaving Cappadocia. Jacob had not been sure what he should do when he returned to Ephesus. He'd been home for several months now, and even though he had agreed to help Peter manage the shipping business, Jacob still did not have a clear direction.

Not until he had sat down on the hillside, that is. With all the reflecting he'd done during the twilight hour, something was stirring in him. That something was
purpose
, and as he began to tell Livia about it, everything came together.

“I always thought I had to choose between my father's business and the ministry,” Jacob told her. “I chose the ministry, yet it wasn't the right decision. I recently realized, though, that the shipping business
is
the ministry. My brother understood that long before I did. Last fall Peter and Rebecca sent a boatload of blankets for the prisoners on Devil's Island.”

“And you arranged financial help for the Christians who lost their businesses in Smyrna,” Livia pointed out.

“Yes,” Jacob said. He and Peter had made interest-free loans to Sergius and Plautius, so the brothers could rebuild their blacksmith shop, and another one to Tarquinius for rebuilding the inn. “But there's so much more we could do. That's what I've been thinking about just now.”

He drew his legs up and spread his cloak over his knees, speaking his thoughts out loud as they came. “Matthew said in his book that the gospel of the kingdom would be preached throughout the whole world before Jesus returns. I hope that will happen in my lifetime. It's already been seventy years; He's bound to return soon.”

Excitement began to build in Jacob's voice. “He's coming back, Livia, and we must do whatever we can while there's still time.”

“I agree, but I'm still not sure what you're talking about. More relief work for the Christians who are suffering?”

“Yes, definitely,” he said. “But even more than that, we have to reach the lost. Do you remember what Paul wrote about evangelism in one of his epistles—the one to the Romans?” Jacob did not wait for her answer. “When he talked about winning the lost, Paul said, ‘How can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?'

“That's it, Livia. I'm not called to preach—I'm called to send preachers!” Jacob couldn't get the thoughts out fast enough now. “What's the fastest way to travel long distances? By ship. We can use the shipping business to launch missionaries. We won't just haul cargo—we'll transport preachers. We'll help them take the gospel not just to the far reaches of the Empire, but beyond . . .”

Jacob stopped because he was getting ahead of himself, but he knew that what he was sensing in his spirit was something with vast potential.

He stood and reached out a hand to help Livia up. “It's dark now. Let's get back to the house.”

As they walked past the mausoleum, Jacob saw that someone had closed the heavy door, sealing the tomb, and had placed a torch on the outside wall. The flame reflected off the gleaming Italian marble. Jacob stopped and went to retrieve the torch, and as he removed it from the holder, he thought once more of John.

Jacob paused and made a silent vow to his mentor and friend.
I know my calling now, and I will fulfill it.

Then he took Livia's hand and walked home, the torch illuminating their path, and the fire of the gospel burning in his heart.

DEVIL'S ISLAND
A Novel
Book One: The Apocalypse Diaries

IN HIS FIRST NOVEL, and the prequel to
Avenger of Blood,
John Hagee tells the powerful story of a Christian family caught in the persecutions of Rome—and how their lives interweave with the apostle John as he receives the book of Revelation on the island of Patmos.

The apostle John pushed aside the incense. “I will not make your sacrifice,” he announced to the Roman tribune. “There is one God, and his name is not Domitian.” Standing next to John at the stone altar of the emporer's temple were other believers, including Asia's most wealthy citizen, Abraham of Ephesus, and his family. Will Abraham follow John's example? If he refuses to make the sacrifice, the shipping magnate's vast fortune will be confiscated by Rome, and he will either be executed or exiled to Patmos—
Devil's Island
. This exciting historical novel follows Abraham and his family as they make their choice to worship Ceasar or follow Christ, and it brings to life the days when Christians faced the lions in Rome's Colosseum—and when the exiled Apostle received the great visions of Revelation.

ISBN: 0-7852-6787-5