Well, I was wrong

If you’ve read my latest book, “STAND”, you may have also skimmed over the afterword. In it, I talk a bit about the premise of the book and my hopes that it would strengthen the faith and resolve of the friends who read it. Of course, all of this still stands. However, one of the final points made in that short note was incorrect. Here’s the original passage:

I anticipate that some readers will take issue with the character of Luis Escobar, the Venezuelan smuggler who joins Alvin and Joyce on The Chariot and abandons his old life to join the Witnesses. Perhaps some will find it unfair that an unbeliever would be given such an opportunity to change at the last moment. Others may feel that once the great tribulation starts, there is no longer an opportunity for honest-hearted ones to join true worshippers. However, in researching our recent publications, I was unable to find such a claim.

However in light of the Watchtower study article from this weekend, I clearly was wrong. The article states:

Let us remember that once the great tribulation begins, it will be too late for people to turn to Jehovah. (w19 pp. 8-16, par 6)

Of course, this statement renders quite a bit of the newest trilogy incorrect. For example, Ronnie Feldman’s character or Luis Escobar would never have a chance to join the convoy. Similarly, the evacuation would not be open to outsiders, nor would there be a global preaching campaign to invite non-witnesses to join.

As stated in this foreword, I always make great efforts and thoroughly researching the elements portrayed in the books so as to make them as accurate and believable as possible, and while I had found nothing recent in our publications on this particular point at the time of my writing, that is no longer the case.

As always, I urge readers to take all of these books with a grain of salt and remember that at the end of the day it is all fiction, and that none of us should read too much into any of the events portrayed. If you find it upbuilding and strengthening, that is great, but it should not be viewed as spiritual food.

Thank you for reading!