Memory's Door (A Well Spring Novel)
ACCLAIM FOR
SOUL’S GATE
“Truly a story about freedom from things that we hold onto, this tale will captivate readers and encourage a more active, dynamic spiritual life.”
—
RT
B
OOK
R
EVIEWS
,
TOP PICK
“[A] spiritual-warfare thriller that brilliantly takes four perfectly normal people . . . on a journey that begins with skepticism and ends up in places they could never have imagined or predicted.”
—
CBA R
ETAILERS
+ R
ESOURCES
“Readers with high blood pressure or heart conditions be warned: this is a seriously heart-thumping and satisfying read that goes to the edge, jumps off, and ‘builds wings on the way down.’”
—
P
UBLISHERS
W
EEKLY
“Powerful storytelling. Rubart writes with a depth of understanding about a realm most of us never investigate, let alone delve into. A deep and mystical journey that will leave you thinking long after you finish the book.”
—T
ED
D
EKKER
,
N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES
BEST
-
SELLING AUTHOR OF
T
HE
C
IRCLE
S
ERIES AND
F
ORBIDDEN
(
WITH
T
OSCA
L
EE
)
“Tight, boiled-down writing and an intriguing premise that will make you reconsider what you think you know about the spiritual realm.”
—S
TEVEN
J
AMES
,
NATIONAL BEST
-
SELLING
AUTHOR OF
P
LACEBO
AND
O
PENING
M
OVES
“Soul’s Gate
takes readers on a wild flight of fantasy into the spiritual realm, where we find the battle for our souls is even wilder than we imagined—and very, very real. With vividly drawn characters, startling imagery, and the power of a spiritual air-raid siren, the story is at once entertaining and breathtakingly enlightening. James L. Rubart has crafted a stunning piece of work, a call to arms for everyone who yearns for the freedom of the abundant life Christ promises us—and is willing to fight for it. Rubart knocks it out of the park with this one.”
—R
OBERT
L
IPARULO
,
AUTHOR OF
T
HE
13
TH
T
RIBE
AND
C
OMES
A
H
ORSEMAN
“Don’t read this unless you’re ready to see with new eyes. Through evocative prose and masterful storytelling, Rubart transports you to the spiritual realm—a realm of vision, mystery, healing and power. A deep and thoughtful—and jet-propelled—spiritual journey of a book.”
—T
OSCA
L
EE
,
N
EW
Y
ORK
T
IMES
BEST
-
SELLING
AUTHOR OF THE
B
OOKS OF
M
ORTALS SERIES WITH
T
ED
D
EKKER AND
D
EMON
: A M
EMOIR
“This book is provocative . . . It forces the reader to consider components of God’s nature not normally focused on.”
—
C
HURCH
L
IBRARIES
MEMORY’S
DOOR
ALSO BY JAMES L. RUBART
Soul’s Gate
(A W
ELL
S
PRING
N
OVEL
, B
OOK
1)
Rooms
Book of Days
The Chair
© 2013 by James L. Rubart
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
The author is represented by the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. www.alivecommunications.com.
Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected]
Publisher’s Note: This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. All characters are fictional, and any similarity to people living or dead is purely coincidental.
Scripture quotations are taken from the H
OLY
B
IBLE
: N
EW
I
NTERNATIONAL
V
ERSION
®
. © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE
®
, © The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
THE ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION
. © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
HOLMAN CHRISTIAN STANDARD BIBLE
. © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Broadman and Holman Publishers. All rights reserved.
The Message
by Eugene H. Peterson. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rubart, James L.
Memory's door / James L. Rubart.
pages cm -- (A Well Spring Novel ; book 2)
ISBN 978-1-4016-8607-9 (trade paper : alk. paper)
I. Title.
PS3618.U2326M46 2013
813'.6--dc23
2013006908
Printed in the United States of America
13 14 15 16 17 RRD 6 5 4 3 2 1
F
OR
W
ILMA
,
BECAUSE
I
KNOW YOU SEE IT
;
SOMETHING NEW HAS HAPPENED
CONTENTS
“We cannot live our lives constantly looking back, listening back, lest we be turned to pillars of longing and regret.”
F
REDERICK
B
UECHNER
,
T
HE
S
ACRED
J
OURNEY
T
HE MOMENT HAD COME TO ACT
. T
HERE WAS LITTLE
doubt and the target was clear. They had to expose the lies being fostered on the world of believers and shout the truth till it reverberated off the highest mountains. He felt it. The others had to sense it as well. The resistance would be significant, but they were ready. All four of them. They fought well together; each complemented the gifting of the others. Three men. One woman. Each fulfilling their roles with precision and strength. And God was on their side. Who could stand against them?
“It is time.” He raised his head and drew in the spring air, tinged with smoke from the fire the four of them encircled.
“Have you prayed about this?” The woman turned to her left as she raised her hands to let the flames warm them.
“I’ve prayed extensively, as I hope all of you have done.” The man gazed at each of the others. “The growth can’t be ignored any longer. The influence, the appeal . . . it spreads like a virus far beyond themselves, and the time has come to crush it. With God’s help we will.”
The man to his left adjusted his glasses, bent forward, and stirred the fire with a long piece of kindling. “How long do you anticipate this operation will take?”
“This is the first Sunday of May. I believe before we reach the first Sunday of July we will have won a great campaign.”
“Rock and roll.” The third man grinned and rubbed his knees. “I think we’ll take ’em down even faster than that.”
“Let’s pray you’re right,” the woman said, then stood and brushed off her light blue jeans. “I have to go. Traffic gets worse by the day. But before we break, what’s the first step? Tell the millions all about their little band and what they’re up to?”
“No, we’re going to do something even better.” The man rose to join the others and gave a grim smile as he stared into the blood-red coals, then turned to the woman. “I believe in you. That you can make the impossible happen. I believe somehow, some way, you’re going to figure out how to get the world-famous Brandon Scott to come on my program and talk about his music and singing career.
“I’ll talk to him about those things for a few minutes—get him feeling comfortable—then I’ll shift the subject to him and his new friends. I’ll hit Brandon with a few questions that will slice and dice him so severely he’ll feel like he fell into a shredder. And 14.8 million of my most favorite listeners will hear every word. The truth will come out and the stream of people going through their training will turn into a desert. By the time the show is over, God will have dealt the so-called Warriors Riding a blow they’ll never recover from.”
W
ARM SUNLIGHT ON HIS FOREHEAD WOKE
R
EECE ON
F
RIDAY
morning and he involuntarily tried to open his eyes. Impossible. They were gone, destroyed during the battle inside his soul ten months ago. The despair once again hit him like a wave but he pushed it aside and sat up, dropped his legs over the side of his bed, and rested his feet on the cool hardwood floor he could now only see in his mind.
God was in this. He had to be. Right? Reece’s mind tried to sling the thought into his heart but it ricocheted off. He reached for the watch Doug had bought him, flipped open the hinged covering, and touched the face. Six . . . fifteen. Too early—it was always too early these days—but he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep.