Deceived by Jerry B. Jenkins Page A

the bread. It almost melted in her mouth. “So tell me your story.”
    Chad leaned back on an elbow. “It’s pretty boring. My parents were Christians and took my brothers and me to church. I was the oldest and had pretty much decided I was going to have some fun before I got serious about God. I figured I had plenty of time.”
    â€œWhere were you on the night of the disappearances?”
    â€œI was out late with some guys from my baseball team. We’d have a few beers and drive to Des Moines to see a movie or go to a club that wouldn’t kick us out. Our third baseman, Kyle Eastman, never drank with us, but we asked him to come along sometimes because we knew he’d be the only one sober enough to drive home.”
    â€œHe was a Christian?”
    Chad smiled. “We called him the hot-corner preacher. He didn’t really preach at us. We just knew he didn’t do the same stuff we did.”
    â€œHad you ever prayed before?”
    Chad took another piece of bread. “When I was a kid, I’d go to church and listen. Every time the preacher would ask people if they wanted to pray and ask God into their lives, I’d almost do it. Sometimes they’d have you come forward, and a couple of times I almost got up and went, but something held me back. I was embarrassed and didn’t want anybody to think I was weak.”
    â€œIt’s not weak to admit you need God.”
    â€œI know that now. I wish I could go back and change all that, but the way I look at it, if I had, I wouldn’t have met you. Don’t blush.”
    Vicki smiled. “Finish your story.”
    â€œKyle had told his parents where he was going and when he was coming home. When a couple of the guys went off by themselves, he called home and told them he’d be late. It took a couple hours to catch up with our friends, but we finally headed home.
    â€œI was in the front seat next to Kyle, and there were three others in the back, asleep. Kyle started talking to me about spiritual stuff. He asked if I knew where I’d go if I died. I got paranoid and asked if he was going to drive off the road on purpose. He just grinned.
    â€œI told him I believed all the stuff about Jesus, but I wasn’t ready to leave my friends and fun yet.”
    â€œWhat did he say?”
    â€œHe tried to convince me that I wouldn’t be giving up anything if I asked God to forgive me. He said I’d be gaining all of heaven if I just gave God control and let him do what he wanted.”
    â€œAnd?”
    â€œI pretended to pass out. I didn’t want to hear it. I knew what he said was true, but I didn’t want to face it. As I was sitting there with my head against the seat, I heard Kyle whispering. He was praying for us, asking God to show us the truth and to use him in some way. Then he got quiet. He had the radio tuned to a Christian station and it was on really low.
    â€œThat’s when the car ran off the road. I looked over and Kyle was gone. There was nothing in the seat except his clothes, his watch, and his baseball jacket.”
    â€œDid you wreck?” Vicki said.
    â€œHe had the car on cruise control. It drifted off the interstate, and we almost hit a guardrail before I jerked it back onto the road and hit the brake. The guys in back woke up and didn’t believe me when I said Kyle had disappeared. They jumped out of the car and looked for him along the road. I knew what had happened and I was scared.
    â€œWe were freaking out when another car behind us plowed into the same guardrail we’d almost hit. The car was smashed really bad, and we all ran to see if we could help. The other guys got there first and started screaming. There was nobody inside.”
    â€œHow long after that was it before you prayed?”
    â€œI didn’t waste any time. I prayed right there and told God I was sorry I had waited. I tried to get my friends to pray, but they were scared out