Johnnie Mae smiled. “Don’t ever feel bad about calling. I adored your great-grandmother, and I love you. I’ll be your honorary aunt, and that means if you need to talk, ask my advice, or anything else for that matter, you can pick up the phone. Just remember what I told you: God is in control. We don’t have to fret about what’s going on around us because, ultimately, God is going to handle whatever comes down, good or bad. If it’s good, praise the Lord. If it appears bad, praise Him even more. Praise Him for who He is: God Himself.”
“You’d better quit—you’re going to cause us to have church over the phone in a few moments,” Angel said. “You’ve really gotten me fired up. I’ll let you go so I can get my praise going before I start looking for something for dinner.”
When Johnnie Mae hung up, she began to think about what she’d said to Angel. Words seemed to flow out of her, words she felt were intended to minister to her as well as Angel.
Words she would need a few weeks later to help her through all that Pastor Landris would find himself having to deal with: a failed radio deal and $10 million in legal limbo for who knew how long.
Words Johnnie Mae would repeat to her own spirit when Pastor Landris would locate a building to start a church, only to have it taken off the market completely without warning or cause. Now Reverend Knight had made a proposal regarding the building. If God told Pastor Landris to move forward and take it, but things turned out badly, would that mean Pastor Landris hadn’t really heard from God? Would it mean he’d heard wrong? Or, would it mean that all of this was part of God’s plan?
Maybe God had spoken to Reverend Knight, but could he go against God’s instructions and do what he wanted? Would that mean this was still part of God’s plan?
These were the questions Johnnie Mae watched her husband wrestle with.
Pastor Landris hadn’t heard from God yet. Reverend Knight was calling him almost daily to get his answer. Regardless of Reverend Knight’s true motive, Pastor Landris didn’t want to miss hearing from God. He’d become almost paralyzed as he waited to hear a Word from God on this. Just one Word.
“Listen, Pastor Landris,” Reverend Knight said after two weeks of relentless calling. “The others want me to move on this, one way or the other. We wanted to do this for you because God was leading us to. But if you don’t have an answer by the end of the week, the committee has decided we’re going in a different direction. I really wanted you to have the building. I just don’t know what else to say or do to convince you of that.”
“Well, Reverend Knight. You know what they say—you can’t hurry God. I’m waiting on Him. So if He doesn’t speak to me by your deadline, I suppose we’ll both have our answers.”
Chapter 11
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.
(Proverbs 11:14)
Johnnie Mae sat down. She had worked hard getting things ready for the first meeting they would have together as a possible congregation. About fifteen people met at their home to discuss what the next steps would be.
“Thank you all for coming out on this Saturday afternoon,” Pastor Landris said. “Many of you have inquired as to when we would start a church. Well, this constitutes our first move. I know it’s already March. Truthfully, I thought we’d be further along by this time, but things haven’t quite worked out the way I would have liked. Before we begin anything, let’s bow our heads for a word of prayer.”
Everybody’s head went down as Pastor Landris prayed.
“Let me again thank you for your interest in what God has called me and my wife to do. I realize this is my calling…and you don’t have to be a part of it.”
“Except my calling seems to be part of what God is calling you to do,” Thomas said. “It appears I’m not the only one, based on the people assembled here today.” He glanced around the room, nodding at Angel, an elderly couple named Watts, a young woman named Sherry Mason, and Sapphire. There were people from Johnnie Mae’s family—her mother, younger brother Donald, sister Marie and her husband Phillip, and two of her friends, Honey and Sister, and about five other people who had come with Sherry.
Even though the radio deal was a complete bust, and he didn’t have a job, Thomas was feeling somewhat all right about things. Pastor Landris had given him $10,000 to tide him over while he searched for a job.
It had been almost six weeks now, and he hadn’t found anything that suited him. The money Pastor Landris had given him was almost gone, but he had faith things were going to work out. Unfortunately, Sapphire was starting to get on his nerves. She had too much to say about how he was handling his personal business.
“Thomas, you’re spending a lot of money these days,” Sapphire had said a few nights ago when she was at his apartment. She knew she had to be careful, or she would push him completely away. “Maybe you should slow down. Wait on buying things like genuine alligator shoes,” she said.
“Will you chill, please,” he said. “I know what I’m doing. These shoes go well with this new suit I just bought.”
“That’s what I mean. Look how much you’re spending. You’re still looking for a job, and maybe throwing money away like this is a mistake.”
“Do you want to know what I believe was a mistake? Letting you know any of my business. Look, I know what I’m doing. I need to look sharp for job interviews, so consider my new outfits as investments in me.” He took the latest suit he’d bought and went to hang it back up in his bedroom closet. “It’s not like I’ve asked you for anything,” he said, his voice fading as he left.
“That was a low blow, Thomas,” Sapphire said as soon as he came back in the room. “I never said you were asking me for anything. I’m worried about you. Your thinking lately is just not logical.”
“So I’m crazy now? Is that what you’re saying?” He loosened his Joseph Abboud burgundy silk tie.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying, either. It’s just your behavior lately has caused me some concern. You have sudden mood swings,” Sapphire said as she waited for him to sit down beside her on the couch.
“Mood swings? Is that what you call them?” Thomas sat next to her. “My world came crashing down around me, Sapphire. I’m entitled to be a bit moody.”
“Thomas, I’m not talking about being moody. One minute you can be so up and happy, you’re jumping around like you own the world; the next minute, you’re totally on the floor. You’re also extremely paranoid. That’s what I’m talking about. When you and I went to dinner last week, you kept acting like someone was following you.”
“How do you know I wasn’t being followed?” He looked sternly in her face. “Do you have any idea how many people are after me? Sapphire, the government has spies watching me, and they’re listening in on my telephone conversations. I don’t want to even think about the number of folks Sammie may have on his payroll who want to keep me quiet, should I be called to testify against him at a possible trial.”
“Sammie?”
“Yes. Sammie, the guy who messed up George’s investments. I know he’s trying to set me up to take the fall for this. I just know it. I’ll tell you what you do. The next time we’re out, watch what people say and how they treat me. You’ll see that people are put in strategic places to keep an eye on every move I make.” He turned his body squarely toward her; one of his black leather, wing-tip Prada boots touched the side of her shoe. “Like when we were at the restaurant the other night. That lady behind the counter handling the vegetables—did you happen to hear what she said when we walked up?”
“You mean the little old lady with the shiny gray hair? She didn’t say anything.”
“See, that shows how much you pay attention. When we came up, she looked dead in my face and said, ‘It’s good to see you out.’ She wanted me to know I was being watched.” Thomas waited for Sapphire’s reaction.
“Thomas, that was nothing. She was only being polite.”
“No, she wasn’t. She knows you and I haven�
��t gone out much because of my money situation. That was her way of letting me know that they knew I hadn’t been getting out. Don’t you see? That’s why she said it was good to see me out. She wanted me to know.”
Sapphire touched his arm. “Thomas, have you ever heard of bipolar disorder?”
“Nope. Never heard of it. What is it?”
“It’s a condition of the mind, so to speak. It’s a type of mental disorder that can be treated quite effectively with proper therapy and medication. You’re exhibiting many of the signs—”
Thomas snatched his arm out of her touch. “You are trying to imply I’m crazy!”
“No, Thomas. That’s not it at all. Bipolar disorder is a malfunction in the way your thoughts are processed—a disconnect of sorts. Being bipolar causes you to think things are okay and that you’re acting normal when you’re really not.”
Sapphire took his hand. “You’re out of control. As fast as you get money, it’s gone. And most times you don’t have anything to show for it. That’s not normal behavior. That’s a symptom of being bipolar. Most logical people—”
“You mean people who aren’t crazy like me?” He stood up and started pacing. “I don’t believe you have the nerve to come in my home and say this kind of junk to me! Someone you claim you love and want to spend your life with!”
Sapphire stood in front of him. “I’m not calling you crazy, Thomas. And it’s not fair to put words in my mouth. There are so many people with this disorder. And that’s exactly what it is—a disorder. I’m not saying this is what’s wrong with you. You need a total evaluation.”
“Oh yeah. I get it now. I guess that’s why you wanted to be with me—I was just a head case for you. What is it, Sapphire? You don’t have enough patients, so you thought you’d mess around in my head?” He went to the hall closet and got her coat. “Well, guess what. It’s not going to work. You’re not my therapist. There’s nothing wrong with me—”
“You have trouble sleeping through the night. You write constantly—you’re writing practically nonstop. Those are some of the symptoms of people who are bipolar.”
“I have trouble sleeping because I have a lot on my mind. You’d have trouble sleeping, too, if you’d messed up the kind of money I’ve messed up of my brother’s. You’d write all the time, too, if you were trying to figure out a way to make some much-needed money.” He handed the off-white wool coat to her. “I don’t need this from you, Sapphire. I thought you were the one person I could count on to always be on my side.”
“Thomas, I am on your side. That’s why I’m trying to help you.”
His eyes began to widen suddenly as he nodded. “You’re in on this, aren’t you? Yeah. Yeah. Well, don’t be spreading your lies about me to my family and friends, trying to discredit me. Oh, yeah, you’re in on it.”
“In on what?”
He started nodding his head even faster as he picked her purse up off the floor and handed it to her. “Yeah, I see clearly now. It’s late, Sapphire. Time for you to go. I have a lot of work I need to finish.”
“Thomas, hear me out—”
“Good night, Sapphire. We’ll talk later. You can see yourself out.” He turned around and walked toward the kitchen.
Sapphire stood there and watched him walk away. His mind was deteriorating even faster than she’d originally suspected. She needed to talk with someone and get him some help before it was too late. But who? And did she have a right? Would he view it as a betrayal, especially if she turned out to be wrong?
Sapphire glanced back at Thomas as he made his comments about those who were in attendance at the church meeting. Pastor Landris was now saying that the church congregation’s name would be Followers of Jesus Faith Worship Center. She couldn’t help but wonder why the word “church” was not being included in the church’s name. There was something that bothered her about a church that didn’t have “church” in its name.
“Any questions…comments, so far?” Pastor Landris asked.
Sapphire raised her hand. She noticed Thomas shift his body away from her as soon as he saw her hand go up.
Chapter 12
A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!
(Proverbs 15:23)
“Yes, Sapphire? You have a question or comment?” Pastor Landris said, acknowledging Sapphire’s raised hand.
“Why are you calling it a center instead of a church?”
Thomas crossed his legs and arms and readjusted his body again. Sapphire noticed his uneasiness. She hated that he was still feeling so distant to her after their discussion a few nights ago. She really did love Thomas; she was only trying to help him. She also understood that his bipolar disorder was the very thing that was keeping him from admitting that he had a problem.
“Good question,” Pastor Landris said. “When people say ‘church,’ we mostly think of a building. We don’t want people to think that the building is our church. The church is us. Wherever we go, the church should always be there. God doesn’t reside in a building, waiting on us to come. Nor should the building be a place where we have to invite God to come in. The Holy Spirit should have come in with you. God led me to call it a center, because the center of anything is always the powerhouse. Case in point: my wife does something called Pilates.”
A hand went up. It was the wife of the older couple. “Excuse me, what is Pilates?”
“Pilates is sort of an exercise…a workout routine where you engage certain muscles most people usually don’t work on. Pilates can cause you to become leaner and, some people say, taller.” He looked over at Johnnie Mae to see if he was explaining it well. She nodded, reassuring him. “When Sister Landris is doing this particular workout, most times she follows a woman on a DVD who coaches her on what to do and how long she should do it. I have often heard this woman say, ‘Squeeze that powerhouse.’ Sister Landris has shown me that the powerhouse is around the abdominal area—from the diaphragm to the pelvis. It’s called the center.”
He looked at various faces. “The principle is: the stronger the powerhouse, the stronger it will help the rest of the body to be. If these core muscles are weak, your body won’t work as effectively as it could. This causes the other muscles in the body to pick up the slack. We want this congregation to serve as a center in the body. As we come together, we want to do what we can to strengthen the whole body. As for the words ‘Followers of Jesus,’ I felt it would best advertise who we are.”
“Advertise?” one of the visiting people asked. “I thought this was church. So is this a business or what?”
Pastor Landris smiled and nodded slowly. “In a way, you could say we’re a business. We are about our Father’s business. You remember when Jesus, at age twelve, was found in the synagogue by his parents. They were upset because they’d left him behind. Jesus told them he had to be about His Father’s business. God has given each of us assignments as part of God’s business plan. We need to let people know more about the blessings God has for all of us. The words also describe our mission statement, our desire to be Followers of Jesus.” Pastor Landris took a swallow of water.
“What did Jesus do when He was here on the earth?” Pastor Landris continued. “What did He instruct His disciples and apostles…His followers to do? That should be our question as a body…as followers of Jesus. We need to follow Jesus’ lead. We must also ensure we’re being guided by the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent to us specifically for this purpose—our Comforter and our Guide.”
“So what you’re emphasizing is that we are to be followers of Jesus and not you?” Angel said.
“Correct. I’m following Jesus, and as long as I’m following Him, it’s okay to follow me. But should I lose my way and go off on something you know is not of Christ and His teachings, then you or anyone else needs to confront me. Don’t talk about me; come to me and lay it out with plain talk. If I’m not hearing the gospel truth, and you’ve taken the next step—gotten together as a group a
nd confronted me—and I’m still wrong, then you need to break away.”
People began to nod in agreement.
“I know some preachers who started out with a sincere desire to be, as you said, followers of Jesus,” Sherry said. “I could tell they truly meant it when they began. But somewhere, it seems power, money, greed—I don’t know exactly what happens, but they change. I question whether some of them even believe in God anymore. The way they carry on, you’d think they couldn’t possibly fear or worship God.”
“Or it’s like they believe because they’re saved, they don’t have to work their way to heaven, so if they do something wrong down here, it’s okay,” a friend of Sherry’s said.
Pastor Landris smiled. “Yes, I know. And believe me, I’ve noted how some ministers can be. I can’t speak for any of them. I won’t even try to defend them. To be honest, even we ministers have to be careful of some who claim themselves to be called by God. You know the Bible tells us that some will say they are of Christ, but Jesus is going to say He never knew them. There are definitely plenty of wolves lurking out there in sheep’s clothing.”
“Sheep’s clothing nothing,” Mr. Watts said. “Many of them are so bold now they’re wearing Armani suits.”
“Does it bother you that they wear nice suits?” Thomas asked.
“No, I think we as Christians have a right to the best,” Mr. Watts said. “Why would Jesus die for us to have life and life more abundantly, why would the Bible declare blessings for the believers, and yet only Satan’s folks get to partake of it? I’m just saying that a lot of preachers are in pulpits, plotting and scheming on how to get folks’ money so they can have—and have more abundantly, while the rest of us are sitting in the dark because we paid tithes instead of our light bills.”
“Many of these preachers have forgotten their first love,” Mrs. Watts said in a soft voice. “They are wolves for sure, and they’re not even bothering to hide it anymore. But they sure do dress nice, though.”
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