Johnnie wasn’t so sure they needed to be sitting here. If these fools started shooting, there was nowhere to go. These chairs were way too small and shallow to offer any decent kind of protection. That Ottah Babatunde looked as if he would pump a few rounds into the crowd if he had to—and would enjoy doing it, too.
Denzelle was moving into place, and keeping an eye on Babatunde’s right-hand man. Just when it looked as if things were going to get ugly, the door opened again, and there was Bishop Abeeku, dressed in a pale purple Ghanaian robe and matching hat, with an entourage of six people following him. His right-hand man was carrying a large satchel that was handcuffed to his left wrist. The man’s right hand was resting securely inside his suit coat as they made their way to the platform where Percy Jennings was standing.
“Beeship… Beeeessshhippp,” Abeeku hollered out. “I calm.”
“Did that joker just say calm for come?” Johnnie leaned over and whispered to Essie, who started laughing and then stopped when she saw Theophilus frowning at her. He could be such a goody two-shoes sometimes.
“I am here to offer theeese great denomination a donation to help with our overseas meeshons.”
“What?” Lena said to Obadiah. “Isn’t he the head of the overseas missions programs?”
Obadiah nodded in amazement.
Abeeku pulled out a key and unlocked the handcuffs on the assistant’s wrist and put the bag on the edge of the stage.
“I swear I think I’ve gotten lost in a rap video,” Lena said.
“Now, Beeesshhiipp Jeeennnings,” Bishop Abeeku was saying. “I am bringing theeese to you because I have problems with one of our candidates and I am going to ask all of the African delegates to refrain from voting for Rev. Eddie Tate out of Chicago, Illinois.”
“NO!!!!” rang out around the gymnasium, as folks stood up and started getting ready to get rowdy. Who did those two overdressed negroes think they were, coming up in here starting some mess like this?
“Don’t start nothing, Bishop, won’t be nothing!” one of the younger preachers in Eddie’s district hollered out, and stood up to take off his coat. Back in the day he used to fight everything in sight, and hadn’t had an altercation in five years since getting saved and called into the ministry. To have a legitimate reason to jump up and fight was like being given some manna from Heaven.
“Yeah!” his best friend, former partner in crime, and current partner in the ministry said. “It’s about to get ugly up in this place.”
Bishop Abeeku was undaunted. He said, “Beeeshhhiipp, there is seventy-five thousand dollars of tax-free money in that bag. And I am giving it to theeese great church if you wheel only heed my advice and not vote for Eddie Tate.”
At that point, those two young preachers from Chicago started walking toward the front but stopped and started back to their seats when one of them sniffed the air and whispered, “Cops.”
Greg Williams believed that as much as he had tried to avoid doing this, it was high time he flashed that badge and got this meeting back under control. He said, “If I were you, Bishop, I’d put that money away.”
Abeeku didn’t say a word. He retrieved his bag, reattached it to his man’s arm, and made an attempt to leave. He knew better than to push this envelope with the feds staring down his throat.
Greg, who loved to let folks get themselves all tangled up in their own webs of deceit, flashed his badge and nodded to some of the agents in the back.
“FBI, Bishop. I don’t know what you all call it across the water but over here it’s a bribe, it’s against the law, and it is definitely not tax-free, if it becomes some preacher’s ‘church bonus.’”
Two agents came and escorted the bishop out, making sure to unhook all of that cash he had brought to work against Eddie Tate.
“Why did that negro offer to pray for our campaign committee when we first came to this conference like he was all in our corner, and then turn around and knife me in the back like that?” Eddie asked.
“Yeah,” Theophilus answered. “And think about the trips Murcheson and Percy made over to Ghana, and all of that information he gave us to help us out, and he was a mole working against us all the time. If it wasn’t so bad, I’d have to go and give that punk some skin for being so slick.”
“I know, man,” Eddie said. “Who in the world would have believed that Bobo Abeeku was a mole? Dang, that joker is good.”
Bishop Babatunde figured correctly that if they snatched Bobo like that for some petty cash, they were really going to stick it to him. He eased over to a side door and tried to make an escape but was stopped by the agent on the other side of the door. The young man, who had just recently finished his training, gladly walked this big, mean man back through the gymnasium doors.
Greg had to issue the arrest but he didn’t want to do it all cold and FBI-like in front of all of these church folk. He beckoned for the two bishops to come to the edge of the platform.
“Bishops, I have to make these arrests but I feel this uneasiness in my heart over doing it by the book. Do you have any suggestions that might work for this setting? Last thing I want to do is insult the folks who came here to elect new bishops to run this church.”
Murcheson and Percy looked at each other and thought about what Greg Williams was saying. It seemed to them that a lot more was going on in this brother’s heart than what he’d said. When Percy had met Greg, he’d gotten the impression that the man was long overdue for an overhaul in his soul. He almost started shouting and praising God right there. In the midst of all of this mayhem, something had gone right enough to convict this man’s heart.
“Son, let me handle it,” Murcheson told him. “You just wait right here and I’ll give you the heads-up on what to do.”
Greg nodded and then radioed his directives to all the agents except Denzelle Flowers. He didn’t want Denzelle in the limelight with this bust. The fewer people figuring out how instrumental Agent/Reverend Flowers had been in all of this, the better.
Murcheson James stood before the congregation with joy flooding his heart. He should have been upset but he wasn’t. Some men he had long hoped would be purged from the ranks of bishop were on their way out, the Lord had put a floodlight on Bishop Abeeku and exposed the darkness lurking in his heart, and a man who he suspected had many questions about Jesus was on his way to becoming saved and sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost.
He whispered a prayer, asking the Lord for a Scripture to give to these folk. God blessed him with the words of Psalm 5:8–12 and Murcheson spoke these words to the people:
Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face. For there is no faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue. Pronounce them guilty, O God! Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You. But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You defend them;
Let those also who love Your name be joyful in You. For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
“How many of you good church folk love the Lord?” Murcheson asked.
Just about everybody in the room raised his or her hand. Percy took note that Ernest Brown, Marcel Brown, and Sonny Washington were just sitting there looking at them as if they were all crazy.
“How many of you are crazy about Jesus and sold out to Him?” Murcheson continued.
A good number of people jumped up and shouted out “Blessed be the name of the Lord!”
“How many of you want us to let the Lord lead us this day in what we do about our bishops and the election of new bishops?”
The people jumped up and waved their hands.
“Then bear with me as we se
t some things right. Now, I know that you all have some kind of knowledge about WP21.”
Chuckles went all around the gymnasium, with a few of the men slapping palms and nodding their heads.
“Ummm… hmmm, thought so,” Murcheson said with a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Now, tell me this,” he went on, “how many of you got yourself a little taste of that stuff while at this conference?”
Nobody raised his hand, but there were some under-the-seat palm-slaps going on around the room—and a few of them were coming from some women who had learned about it during a very hot and frisky romp with their men.
“Well, let me ask you just one more question. How many of you know that this stuff is an illegal drug, that it is more addictive than crack cocaine, that two of our bishops have died during this conference, and that a third bishop is in intensive care at Duke University Medical Center right now?”
The gymnasium was still and silent.
“Church, right now the FBI is going to cuff the men behind this.” Murcheson nodded to Greg to dispatch his agents to get the folks they had warrants for. Marcel Brown and Sonny Washington didn’t even think enough of their cohorts to hide their joy when the agents cuffed Rucker Hemphill and Ray Caruthers, and left them seated. Ray tried to jump bad but backed down when the agent touched the handle of his gun. Rucker was now so sick he didn’t seem to care about anything. Two agents had to practically carry him out of the building.
“I know this doesn’t look right at a church gathering,” Murcheson was saying. “But we can no longer continue to let evil breed and fester in the Gospel United Church. Neither can we sit by and let folks who are wicked and just plain wrong remain in positions of power and influence.”
Ernest, who was in shock that he was being cuffed and taken away, snatched his arm away from the agent’s grasp and turned back around to yell, “I’ll see you in Hell for this, Murcheson.”
“Ernest, I am saved, sanctified, and full of the Holy Ghost. And unlike you, I believe every word in the Bible. I fear the Lord, I seek Him with all of my heart, mind, and soul. And I do my best to obey the Lord. So you might see somebody you know in Hell but it sho’ won’t be me.”
The agent started cracking up, and dragged Ernest out kicking and cussing as if he had never ever set foot in a church.
Murcheson and Percy both felt tremendous weights being lifted off of their shoulders because their beloved church was being delivered from a powerful and deadly stronghold. They hoped others felt the same way, too.
Eddie Tate, glad that for once those jokers had been checked, stood up and shouted out, “Praise the Lord!!!!! Let’s get our praise on! God is good!”
All of a sudden the musicians, who had been in the audience waiting for the voting to begin, ran up to the instruments, warmed up a few seconds, and started playing the shouting song. The pianist’s fingers practically flew across that piano as he belted out “Dum dum… dum-dum-dum-dum… dum-dum-dum-dum” in the middle of some dancing, shouting, and crying church people.
Those people danced, shouted, and raised up their hands and cried out shouts of thanksgiving. They had been so sick of the men who had been dragged out of the building, and were glad that their church leaders had finally gotten some sense and kicked them out of the building.
Some of the FBI agents regretted that they had to leave the building with these men. They would have much rather been in that gymnasium with those shouting, dancing, and praising church folk.
Greg Williams was still in the building. His heart was so full, the tears streamed down his face. He put the safety on his gun and put it back in the shoulder holster. He walked up to where Percy and Murcheson were standing and said, “Before I put the finishing touches on this job, I want to give my life over to Christ.”
Percy smiled through the tears welling up in eyes. It had hurt him so badly to see all of this happening in his church. Murcheson always said, “You know the Devil loves to go to church. He’ll go to the clubs and taverns when he’s bored and doesn’t have anything to do. But his favorite place to go is to church.”
Now God was blessing them. In the midst of all of the craziness the Devil had tried to inflict on their church, the Lord had seen fit to help them win a soul to Christ. He said, “Rev. Flowers, come down here and walk this brother through his confession of faith and salvation. I think it will mean so much more to him if he takes this walk with you by his side.”
Denzelle hurried down to the platform. He said, “In Romans 10:9–10 it says, ‘That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.’”
Greg said, “I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I believe with all of my heart that God raised Him from the dead.”
“You are saved,” Denzelle told him then laid his hands on Gregory’s head. He prayed.
“Father in Heaven, I thank You for blessing Gregory Williams with the ability to come to You and to seek salvation. I ask that You bless him in this new life with You. Because when we are saved we become brand-new creatures in Christ. Lord, bless this man, who is now Your child, with the Holy Ghost in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Greg shook Denzelle’s hand and left to join his team of agents so that they could wrap this up and go back up to D.C. He pulled out his mobile telephone and dialed his mother’s number.
“Mom, I’m saved.”
Greg couldn’t help but laugh when she dropped the telephone and started shouting, heedless of the fact that he was on the other end holding on to a telephone with very expensive rates.
TWENTY-SIX
Percy Jennings turned toward his new boss, Murcheson James, and said, “Now what do we do?”
At first Murcheson shrugged, and then got prayerful for a moment before answering. He said, “Let’s turn this sucker out.”
Percy reached out for some skin and they both walked up to the podium. Murcheson said, “Church, we have had a morning to remember.”
“Amen”s circulated around the gymnasium.
“So let’s go all the way and make this Triennial Conference the most memorable one of the twentieth century by changing up how we are going to vote for our new bishops. First, we now have more than two openings due to the turn of events and the untimely deaths of Bishops Giles and Samuels.”
Bishop James stood still in the midst of the absolute silence that enveloped the room. Nobody knew how to respond to that because there were so many folks who seriously wondered if Bishop Larsen Giles and Bishop Josiah Samuels were saved and therefore able to “be called home.” Home for these folks meant that you were at rest with the Lord. And as much as they wished they thought differently, they just didn’t know if “home” was the bishops’ final destination.
It was a terrifying and sobering thought. Here they were sitting up in one of the most important church gatherings that their church would have over the next three years, and they had to question if two of their top leaders had died and gone to Heaven, or suddenly kicked the bucket and found themselves busting Hell wide open. As much as the Bible clearly stated that this could happen to those who turned their back on the Lord, few Christians wanted to grapple with that reality.
Murcheson knew that everybody was thinking that because he was thinking the exact same thing. He was at a loss for words until he felt the Lord tugging at his heart to speak the truth.
“Saints, the truth is that based on the way these two bishops lived out the last years of their lives, we don’t know if they were right with God and able to be confident that they would see the pearly gates open up to them, and then hear those incredibly beautiful words, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’
“And you know something, if you are sitting out there right now, and worried what you’ll hear when you die, you need to come on down to edge of this platform and give your lives over to C
hrist. If you’ve been saved and have reconnected to the world of sin, come down and rededicate your lives to Christ. And if there are some things pulling at you, trying to get you away from the Lord, come on down and repent and get right with Jesus.
“This is not the time to play games. We have two men who held the highest office possible in our great church, and not a one of us can claim that they went to Heaven upon their deaths. If there was anything to learn from that great tragedy, it is to get right ourselves and make sure we stay within the safety of His arms.
“So come on down and we’ll take a few minutes for each of you to spend time with the Lord at what has now become the altar at His feet.”
Just about everybody got as close to that platform as possible. Some people whispered their prayers. Some folks cried out to the Lord with hands raised high in the air. A few were off to the side, lying prostrate on the floor. All were in deep prayer and repenting of their sins and seeking to be on the right side of God.
Theophilus held Essie’s hand, tears streaming down his cheeks, as he thanked God for loving him so much, He would make a way for him to come down and confess and repent of his sins. Essie was asking for the Lord to be her everything and thanking Him for this moment to become one with Him.
Eddie and Johnnie held on to each other tightly, telling the Lord and each other that they were sold out for Jesus and wanted everything about their lives to be for His glory. Eddie told God that he didn’t care if he ever became a bishop. Because as long as the Lord let him serve Him, he’d be just fine.
Johnnie told the Lord, “Here I am, send me.”
Denzelle, Obadiah, and Lena knelt together in a circle, holding hands and dedicating their lives to serving the Lord. They thanked God for all that He had done for them, and shouted their thanksgiving that He had touched their hearts with the revelation that they were truly saved. Denzelle asked for God’s forgiveness of his sins of the flesh, and begged for His help and guidance in that area of his life.
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