Caught in the Crossfire by Juliann Rich

Author:Juliann Rich [Rich, Juliann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2014-04-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Sunday morning dawned, and the whole camp gathered for Songs by the Shore. Aaron sat cross-legged in the shadow of the Cyprus cross, his guitar propped on his right knee. He hung his head forward as if he was straining to hear the music his guitar wanted to create. He played, slow and soft at first, matching the tempo of the waves. Without warning he jerked his shoulders and began to pick. Lightning quick. A duet, a trio, an entire choir erupted from his guitar. Aaron swayed back and forth, left and right, a slight smile playing over his lips. He was immersed in the music. I was too. The last note hung in the air, dying into silence.

Paul began speaking as the long, graceful branches of the willow tree cascaded into the backdrop behind him. “I thought today we would talk about a tough subject. It’s one that no one ever wants to tackle head-on, and yet it’s a subject we all wrestle with in our lives.” He paused. “Our subject today is temptation. Let’s begin by talking about the things we find tempting.”

“I almost cheated on a biology test last year,” Bryan admitted. “But I didn’t. I just felt tempted.”

“I can never turn down chocolate,” Lily confessed.

Pretty tame stuff, in my opinion. I glanced at Jake, remembering the porn magazines, but he stared straight ahead. For one crazy moment I heard a voice in my mind urging me to speak up. Then I imagined the chaos that would follow. I looked at Ian and felt my stomach lurch.

“Temptation is a tough thing, kids. It comes in many forms as we’ve just learned, but all temptation comes from Satan whose primary goal is to drive a wedge between God and us. One of the most powerful temptations is sex. Yes, that’s right. I said the word and we all survived.” Paul chuckled at our shocked faces. “Why am I telling you this? Because it’s the truth and you need to hear it now, more than ever. Your bodies are not doing you any favors right now in this battle between God and Satan. Adolescent hormones create feelings that are new and confusing and powerful. God calls us to purity. He asks that we save ourselves until the day when we have entered into a sacred covenant with the person He has chosen to be our mate. On that day He will bless our union and all these feelings will become incredible gifts given to us by God. But make no mistake about this: giving in to temptation has the power to turn one of God’s greatest blessings in our lives into a curse.”

The scent of Hannah’s Sunday morning brunch reached the lakeshore. Paul dismissed us with his standard phrase, Go in peace and serve the Lord. I sat by the shore, long after everyone had left, and prayed for answers, but all I heard was the lazy lapping of the water against the rocks. Finally I gave up and walked toward the dining hall where I knew both Ian and Bethany would be saving a seat for me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.