Grace and Hope

Caroline said that she quite enjoys reading the short stories, or oneshots as I refer to them, that sometimes accompany my photomanipulations when I post them to deviantart and she's asked if I would post them here so I said yes. Hope that you enjoy them too. I will post the pic and then the story for your enjoyment. Also, do I need to start a new thread for each one or should I just do them all in this one thread? Anyways, on to the first one which is titled Grace and Hope:


"Name's Black" he said. "Marsuvees Black. But you can call me Preacher if you want."

"Funny thing happened this afternoon," Black said. "I was driving my '83 Buick along the highway, thinking how good it was to be alive on God's beautiful green earth, wondering where I should go, when my engine locked up, right out there by the sign that says, Paradise 2 Miles. And then I heard God's voice speak clear and loud. Go 2 Paradise, he said." Black drew a two in the air. "Bring grace and hope to the lost town of Paradise, he said." Black let the words ring out through the auditorium. At first no one responded. They looked on in silence, some skeptical, some with eagerness.

"Now let me tell you something, when I say grace, I am talking Grace, with a capital G, not some theological term that preachers throw at you to impress the snot out of you. And when I say hope, I mean HOPe, like 'Get out of the way, that's mine!' hope!" Black breathed heavily.

"Now if any of you are looking for that kind of grace and hope, I'm bringing them to you. Grace and hope are here." He stood perfectly still glaring at the two hundred faces. "You follow me and I'll rock your world, baby. I'll show you how to trip. Things will never be the same again." Black faced the crowd, trembling from head to toe.

"I need you all to follow me, baby." His voice intensified. "I need you to let go and let God. Suck up a little Grace-Juice." he motioned at the goblet being passed around. "You listen and you watch and you prepare your heart for a little change. And if you're lucky, you'll live to tell of the day that Paradise found grace and hope."

This was a fanart/manip I did of a character from Ted Dekker's book Showdown. The story is bits and pieces from the actual book re-written by me to fit the idea I had in mind for this manipulation.