The Disappearance of a Pied Piper

Hope Arrives

"Grady or Lem, have either of you seen Jerome, Rich, George or Stan?" Bud asked.

"Jerome's in here last I saw," Grady said. "I'll hunt for him. I last saw Rich back toward the kitchen."

"Good to know," Bud smiled. "Thanks, and yes, please bring Jerome when you find him."

"George and Stan are assigned to the Parsonage, as I recall," Grady said. "They were running flat out in that direction when I was trucking it to the church."

"I'll see if I can get them on the walkie-talkie, but no need to wander outside, Grady," Bud said. "It's not safe. However, I need to talk with Cynthia. Please, find her and bring her to me."

"I'd be glad to," Grady said. "She landed about three or four rows up toward the front if memory serves correctly."

"Thanks, Grady. That's a big help."

A couple of minutes later, Cynthia was sitting on the floor next to Bud. "Thanks for the help, Grady," Bud said.

"No worries, Chief," Bud responded. "I'll go check on the others. Feel better."

"What's he talking about, Bud," Cynthia asked. "Did you get hurt?"

"Not real bad, I don't think," Bud hedged, "but a big piece of particle board hit me across the face, and I've been out for hours."

Cynthia gasped, mouth wide-opened, "You did get hurt, Bud. You need to take some time to recover."

"My marbles just got rattled a bit, but I should be okay," Bud smiled.

"You should keep lying down, my Dearest," Cynthia urged him. "Let me talk to you to keep you awake. You may have had a concussion."

"I won't argue with that," Bud said. "I feel like I need some more rest. Would you mind reviewing the concepts of the TULIP, Cyni. I think that would take my mind off the pain, and the attack."

"Sure, Bud," she said. "I will try to simplify the ideas without taking away from their core meanings. That's sometimes easier said than done."

"I know you can do it, Cyni," Bud smiled. "Give 'er a go."

"Okay, Bud. Here we go," Cynthia said. "The T is for Total Depravity, which means every human is as dead spiritually as any body out in a graveyard is physically. Kick them, shout at them, poke them with a red-hot poker, and you'll get no response. That dead body in the grave feels nothing. When we are born were are dead in our spirits. Not one thing from God means anything to us."

"So, how do we 'get saved'?" Bud asked.

"That's the U, which is Unconditional Election," she said. "God chooses to regenerate a dead human spirit, (some call this quickening,) and we finally see the things of God. Our response is simply to thank Him for saving us because we couldn't do that ourselves."

"You mean I don't have to do anything to be saved?" Bud asked.

"I mean, 'You can't do anything to be saved, Bud, my Dearest,'" Cynthia took his head in her hands to look him in the eyes. "The Holy Spirit of God works on your dead spirit in much the same way as an EMT works on a dead body at a crash site. 200 joules do wonders to restart a dead human heart, physically, that used to be alive. Only The Lord knows how He starts a dead heart, spiritually, that has never been alive from physical conception."

"I can't do anything to be saved?" Bud puzzled. "Then, how do I know, if I am saved?"

"How do you know you're alive, physically," she smiled.

"Well, I'm talking with you, right now," he smiled. "I reckon there's proof in that pudding."

"And you are quite right, my Dear," Cynthia said. "What things would you expect a Christian, (a person, who has been saved,) to do to point to their own 'proof in the pudding'?"

"I'm here, Chief," Jerome said. "Sorry to interrupt."

"That's okay, Jerome," Bud said. "Please, start the rounds, and find the other three, but use the walkie-talkies. I don't want anyone outside at night unless it is an extreme emergency."

"Right, Chief."

"Dismissed," Bud ordered, then turned back to Cynthia, "Where were we?"

"Your men love you, you know that, right?" she said.

"I do, and they don't take offense when I give orders. I've got a great force. What were you asking me?" he said.

"How can we know a person has been saved?" she asked. "Are there any spiritual characteristics?"

"I would suppose, that such a person could understand the things of God," Bud said. "I mean, that would be in addition to the fact, that he or she actually believes God exists."

"Do you believe God exists, Bud Best?" Cynthia smiled.

"Yeah. Yes, I do," Bud smiled. "I'm not sure that shows I'm saved, but I certainly can't be saved, if I don't know that. How can I understand the things of God, if I don't believe, that God exists? I'm not an atheist, anymore. I guess that'd make me a theist. I can't say that five times fast."

"Nor can I, my Dear," she said, "but we are making progress."

"What do physically alive people do, Bud?"

"They eat, drink, sleep, many of them can talk, walk, do their business, and have friendships," Bud smiled.

"Can spiritually alive people do these things in a spiritual way?" she asked.

"I suppose they can," he said. "Eat? How do you eat, spiritually? Take in nourishment. What is spiritual nourishment? Maybe the Truth found in The Bible?"

"No doubt. Go on."

"Drink? Same thing?" he asked. "Can you quench your thirst with The Bible?"

"Indeed."

"A Christian can talk and walk with other Christians, and they understand each other," he said.

"Sure can."

"Friendship goes along with the walking and talking," he smiled, but he frowned when he asked, "But 'do their business'?"

"We get a lot of harmful experiences in life, that need to be eliminated from our hearts. That can only be done on a spiritual level if it is to have the greatest effect," she said. "How can we eliminate spiritually?"

"By walking and talking with other Christians in friendship and spiritual, family bonds," he looked right at her.

"Well said, my Dear," she smiled. "Now, we have three more letters to discuss in the acrostic, TULIP. The L means Limited Atonement."

"Okay. This means, that Jesus didn't die for every human being. He just died for the ones He has chosen to save," Bud said. "This is about Free Will with the focus on God's Free Will, not a human's free will. That means the U and the L of TULIP are Siamese twins. You can't have one without the other. Unconditional Election is God's Choice and Limited Atonement is The Lord applying His Saving Grace to His Chosen Elect."

"Bud Best, are you starting to understand the things of God?" Cynthia asked.

"Yes. Yes, I am," he smiled his biggest smile.

"Why would that be?" she asked.

"Because He saved me, and I am understanding in a way I have never understood before in my life," he spoke loudly as the tears poured down his cheeks. "Are you saved, too, Cyni?"

"I have been for the past couple of days when I started reading The Bible to help you with your investigation," she said.

"But we're still here," he frowned, "Why?"

"Because we missed the Rapture, and we have work to do, during this terrible time of Tribulation," she assured him. "For now, we can rejoice together as we continue to review the TULIP. Do you remember what's next, Bud?"

"The I means Irresistible Grace," he smiled. "That's weird."

"What's weird?" she asked.

"I've never heard of Siamese Triplets, but that's what the U, the L, and the I are. You can't have one without the others," he said.

"You're getting it. Go on."

"Unconditional Election is God's Free Will Choice. Limited Atonement is the application of His Saving Grace to His Chosen Elect. Irresistible Grace means, that no one chosen by God to be among the Elect can long refuse His Saving Grace because He tunes the desires of that heart to be in agreement with His Perfect Will for that life. (Philippians 2:13) These three are all connected."

"I love you so much, Bud Best," Cynthia said.

I love you, too, Cyni," Bud said. "This means we'll have to live through some tough days on Earth, but after that, we'll be forever in the Presence of The Lord. I couldn't be happier."

"One more letter to review in the TULIP, Bud," she said. "Do you remember this one?"

"Yes. It's the P, which means the Perseverance of the Saints. Couldn't that just as easily be known as the Preservation of the Saints?" Bud asked.

"Of course, I once heard R. C. Sproul express it that way," Cynthia said. "After all, the saints, the Elect, the Chosen could not persevere until the end of this life without the Power of Jesus Christ, the eternal Bridegroom preserving them all along the way."

"So, TULIP stands for Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints," Bud recalled. "Every one of these terms shows just how impotent we humans are about doing anything, that God has chosen for us to do. 1. We are 'dead in trespasses and sins,' that we can't receive Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior. He must regenerate us to new life, based on the merits of His death, burial, and resurrection. We may serve him once we are saved, but we can't do anything for him, until then. 2. The Free Will of God elects those he saves. We can't choose Him until He first chooses us. (Ephesians 2:8-10, John 6:37 & 44, KJV) 3. Not one drop of Blood, that Jesus poured out on the cross was wasted for the atoning of his Elect. He made His Atoning Death for the Elect, and only for the Elect. 4. 'For it is God, which worketh in you to will and to do of His Good Pleasure.' (Philippians 2;13, KJV) His Grace is irresistible because not one of his Chosen would ever be willing to resist His Grace. The heart of the saint has been changed in that his, (the saint's,) free will comes in line with the Free Will of God. Is it God's Will or is it my will? The answer is "Yes." 5. The saints persevere, until the end because the Hand of God preserves every one of them in that way. He loses not one of us."

"I am loving this new Bud Best," Cynthia swooned. "I wonder if we can simplify the TULIP a little bit more."

"Maybe," Bud said. "What do you have in mind, Cyni?"

"(T) Dead people can't be saved, but (U) God chooses whom He will save in order to (L) most efficiently pour out the Blood of Jesus on those, who will (I) live gratefully in his Salvation, (P) keeping every one of them from falling. (Hebrews 13:5 & II Peter 1:10, KJV)" Cynthia smiled.

"Well said," Bud agreed. "Totally dead, Uniquely chosen, Life for the saved, In Christ I am chosen to choose Him, and I'm Perfectly kept. TULIP means I am saved because I am a gift from The Father to His Son, Jesus Christ through the operation of The Holy Spirit. To yoU Life Is Planned. To others, death is their choice."

"I think you are making great progress, Bud," Cynthia said. "However, we need to be careful not to try to simplify this systematic theology too much because we could be in jeopardy of watering down the Gospel. That would make us false teachers. Let's leave it where John Calvin left it. TULIP means, 'Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints.' The Gospel is free to us, but it cost Jesus everything since we could pay nothing. The Gospel is simple enough for a quickened child to grasp, but it is so full of meaning, that it is steak upon which we must chew for the rest of our lives."

"I can see it, now!" Bud cheered. "Hope has arrived to me today!"