LITMIR.BIZ

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      “There’s a problem…well, a major problem.” Thomas let out a long sigh. “Listen, man. I probably should come over there and tell you this to your face, but I can’t face you. So I’m going to tell you, and if you feel you want to come over here and beat the living daylights out of me, I can’t blame you.”

      “What is it, Thomas?”

      “You remember Sammie, the guy who was handling all of your deals?”

      “You mean the hustler who handled the deals I never commissioned him to do in the first place? Those deals?”

      “Yeah, those,” Thomas said, deciding to come clean so he could finish. “It appears the money he had of yours for the radio station—”

      “Ten million dollars worth.”

      “Yeah, that money. Well, it seems it’s no longer there, and, of course, the radio station deal can’t go forward without it. So that’s what’s been taking so long. Sammie was trying to fix it, but he sort of ran into a bit of bad luck, so to speak. Other people he had deals with weren’t as understanding about his investing ethics as—”

      “Me and you?” Pastor Landris interjected with sheer sarcasm.

      Thomas tried to laugh it off. “Yeah, you. Anyway, they filed criminal charges against him and have also filed several civil lawsuits. Any money he had in his personal and business accounts has been frozen. Can you believe that? They froze all his assets, including anything that may have belonged to other people, until his hearing comes up.” Thomas sniffed a little. “That’s messed up, if you ask me. He tells me they can’t legally do that, so he and his lawyers are fighting this injustice tooth and nail.”

      “How long have you known about this?”

      “I sort of knew a little about it back when you and I talked at the beginning of this year about selling the station. But George, man…I was praying it would all work out.”

      “Yeah, right, Thomas.” Pastor Landris couldn’t believe it. “So what does this mean for me?”

      “It means that the radio station deal has fallen through because they have another buyer who has the finances and is ready to move on it. I’ve been trying to talk to them myself and work something out until this is all cleared up.” Thomas spoke fast. “Come on, man. You know how much that radio station meant to me. Frankly, I can’t believe something like this has happened! You know this is just the devil, right?”

      Pastor Landris sat down in the blue recliner in the den. He ran his hand over his hair, then his forehead. It was dusk now. He turned on the Tiffany lamp perched on the table next to the chair. “What does this mean for my ten million dollars?” Pastor Landris asked in a slow, deliberate voice.

      “You need a lawyer to file a petition in court against Sammie. I’ve spoken with one already, and he said you have a good case for getting your money released, provided you can prove it was yours to begin with. It’s possible to have that part of the asset unfrozen and returned to you. It might be a bit expensive retaining the right lawyer, but that’s better than losing the whole amount.” Thomas paused.

      “George, I’m sorry, man.” Thomas continued. “I know this is all my fault. If I could go back and change things, I promise you, I never would have gotten involved with Sammie or any of his little get-rich-quick schemes. That was my mistake. I’m 44 years old—I should know better by now. But I’ll tell you what. You and I are going to agree in the name of Jesus that Satan will not steal your money.” He waited; his brother didn’t utter a sound.

      “George? I know you’re still there,” Thomas said. “Come on, George. Say something. Holler, scream, yell at me…just say something. Come on, man…”

      Pastor Landris looked up at the ceiling. He knew God had called him to begin this work. It was a good work. But for some reason, he just couldn’t get anything started.

      As he sat there and began to rock slightly in the chair, he heard a scripture in his spirit from Philippians 1:6. “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

      Pastor Landris stopped rocking and became totally still. He knew one thing for certain: he would have to trust God—now, more than ever.

      Now, more than ever.

      Chapter 5

      How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!

      (Isaiah 14:12)

      Pastor Landris had been angry when he learned he wouldn’t be able to purchase or lease the building he’d found for the church, but it bothered him even more when he realized Reverend Knight had been behind it.

      “I just can’t believe it,” Pastor Landris said to Johnnie Mae as they stood in the kitchen. Johnnie Mae and Princess Rose had eaten while they were out, so he was searching the freezer for something to eat. “You remember that preacher I told you I met the other day named Reverend Knight?”

      “You mean, ‘Poppa’ Knight,” Johnnie Mae said, teasing him. When she glanced at his face, she immediately wished she could take that joke back.

      “Poppa is right. He must think he’s my daddy.” Pastor Landris took three crab cakes out of the freezer, placed them in foil on the metal tray, and put them into the toaster oven. “Well, he’s going to find out just how wrong he is. Somehow he blocked me from getting that building. I don’t know how or why he did it, but the building is suddenly no longer available. And he just happened to show up the day I was looking at it. I knew something fishy was going on. He was trying to be all nice, talking about how much he respects me. How he wanted us to work together…”

      “Landris, I know you’re upset and disappointed, but I’m sure we’re going to find a place to start a congregation,” said Johnnie Mae. “The church is inside us, so it doesn’t matter about the building. Wherever we are, the church is.”

      “It’s not about the building. That place was in bad shape. It was going to cost about $300,000 just to fix it up. But it would have been a great place to begin. And to think that man stood there and looked me in my face…” Pastor Landris grabbed a plate out of the cabinet and set it on the counter, “knowing that place was under his control. Johnnie Mae, he was actually acting like he wanted to adopt me as his spiritual son so he could pass his church on to me. His church.”

      Johnnie Mae could see Pastor Landris was getting madder and madder. “Landris, just tell the realtor to keep looking. And if we can’t find what we’re looking for soon, we can begin services here in our home if we have to.”

      Pastor Landris stopped and stared at her. “You don’t get this, do you? This man who calls himself a preacher is making a mockery of God—and he believes people are stupid. I see right through him. I’m sure other people can, too.”

      “I don’t think people like Reverend Knight believe people are actually stupid,” Johnnie Mae said. She put water in the copper kettle and turned on the gas stove. “They may just believe nothing will really happen to them. You know, like Adam and Eve did in the Garden of Eden. When God told them they would surely die if they ate from or even touched The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But the serpent told Eve they wouldn’t surely die. He then told her they would be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

      “Does this have any relevance to what I’m trying to say here?” Pastor Landris flopped down on the bench at the kitchen table.

      Johnnie Mae smiled; at least she was getting him to calm down a little. “Eve knew from Adam what God said. They both knew God really existed because He walked and talked with them in the garden. Can you imagine the intimacy they shared with God Almighty at that level?” She smiled at the thought of it. “To be able to spend that kind of time and have that kind of a relationship with the Lord? Everything you could possibly need

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