Pastor Mike Nodland of the Christian Fellowship Church in Vining, IA.

After moving to Des Moines from the farm, I won’t forget the tornado of 1964. Later, it was characterized as an EF2 tornado (with winds 113-157 mph). Playing in our yard with my brother and sisters, I looked up through the neighbors back yards at the ominous, heavy, dark clouds and a sudden cooling of that hot June day.

Suddenly, straw and junk swirled through the yards. I yelled for my siblings to get to the house. But before we got the door opened, the fury of that storm struck us, and we were trapped. Fighting, we managed to squeeze through the storm door and went straight to the basement. The tornado hit hard as we watched a tree in our yard bend to the ground.

When the storm blew over, we went outside to find our garbage can missing…and obviously all the garbage of a family of 7, too! About an hour later, someone returned our garbage can…empty! We survived, but it all happened so fast.

The Bible says that Jesus will come so quickly that we will have no time…like an imagined “EF7”, sweeping up true Christians to Heaven, and the rest remaining behind. Are you ready? Trust in Jesus today!