by Phenomenon
“Good Morning Saints!” Pastor Fillmore exclaimed.
The church replied with “Good Morning.” It was all in unison. The pastor went on to welcome the first time guest to the church and asked them to stand. “We’d like to give out first time visitors a gift so please remain standing while the ushers make their way to you.” Pastor Fillmore declared. While Kenisha and Taurus remained standing the ushers made their way to them handing each of them a small welcome packet of literature and a free DVD of a sermon.
When Taurus sat down Kenisha remained standing. Kenisha tried to sit down but couldn’t. The voice returned to her. “With great blessings comes great responsibility. Hear me now. Speak, for what I have to say is undeniable.” Gods voice rang in Kenisha’s spirit. It was so loud that she just knew that everyone could hear it but they couldn’t. The message was specifically for Kenisha. Fear pierced her, wondering what God could possibly want her to say in this setting. She stood still as another usher came to her, seeing that she already had her gift but was the only one still standing, the usher asked her to be seated. Kenisha acted as if the usher wasn’t there. She could only hear the cheering of the angels and the Words of God being typed across her spirit. Taurus was riddled with nervousness as she tugged on Kenisha’s sweater so hard that it slipped off of her shoulders. The pastor noticed Kenisha standing and the awkwardness of her silence. “Young lady you can have a seat now.” Pastor Fillmore requested. God’s Words felt like a group of miners in Kenisha’s mouth trying to dig their way out. “I gave you your tongue! It was created to serve me! Now speak!”
Chapter 11: The Turn Up!
“You have a beautiful church Pastor.” Kenisha yelled up toward the podium. “It has the most tasteful stained glass windows and the all white Schiller baby grand piano.” The pastor’s uncertain facial expression relaxed as Kenisha continued to compliment his hard work. After all, the church was the most popular in the entire city. “Thank you. We’re very proud of what we’ve built here, the congregation and myself included.” Pastor Fillmore gleamed.
“But of course.” Kenisha continued. “You even have such a large following that there’s assigned seating for the deacons and the choir and the Board of Directors. You have a kitchen with marble floors and a concert hall. I’ve never seen anything like it!” When Kenisha said thi,s the congregation cheered as to clap for the great things that have been accomplished by them as a church family. It was a great start to the Sunday until Kenisha continued being obedient. “I mean the only thing that you’re missing is the teaching of the actual Word of God, YOU USELESS SERVANT IN SILK!” The church gasped at the nerve of Kenisha as a newcomer. Taurus was frozen without thought of what to do. She didn’t know what was happening but she just secretly wished that it wasn’t. The pastor’s first thought was to calm Kenisha. “Young sister, how do you know what we teach? We haven’t even begun the sermon yet?”
Kenisha was not deterred. This time she stepped to the middle of the aisle to continue speaking. “I know what God is saying to me and I will speak and you will listen because it’s not by my own authority that I’m calling you to the carpet. This isn’t a church. It’s a for profit tourist attraction. You don’t preach what God tells you to preach. You preach what’ll keep your member numbers up. You’ve sat and watched God point out scriptures to teach from and you’ve ignored Him. Instead you preach on the same thing every week just a different derivative of prosperity, finances, blessings and getting into heaven. But dig this here, aside from the children only 36 of your members are actually fit to go to heaven right now and you’re not even one of ‘em pastor.” The church went into an uproar. The pseudo Christians began yelling objections, harsh words and even some vulgarities at Kenisha. The pastor put his hands toward the crowd and calmed them down as if they were tantrum throwing babies, while some members even hurled hymn books and balled up paper at her head but nothing could stop Kenisha from speaking. It was at that moment that she’d accepted her calling. She became a permanent tool of The Most High.
“Not only is most of the congregation not even saved, you value money over souls which means that you’re not only a sinner, you’re an enemy of God. You’re in a position to do His work yet you serve yourself in His name and squandered the opportunity to help save the souls that God put in front of you. He’s forgiven you for having premarital sex with Ginger but have you repented for misleading her and having sex with Sister Kristy as well because neither of the women knows about each other? The reason that He has me speaking BEFORE you give this sermon is because you have one more chance to get this right. He told me that if you give one more sermon that isn’t ordained by Him, that you will regret it with everything in you and He will destroy everything attached to your existence. You’ve led His people astray, the people that he entrusted to you.”
The church was silent, especially since the pastor hadn’t denied sleeping with two of the women in the church. The congregation was receiving new information that appeared to really be coming from God. One member stood and asked Kenisha, “What does God want us to do? At this point I really don’t know if I’m one of the 36 that will make it. Should I find another church?” The members cosigned. “Yea, tell us.” Others shouted. “What should we do?” Kenisha stood still to hear the voice of God in her spirit drowning out the demands for answers from the people that moments ago wanted to stone her to death. She spoke only to the pastor still. “YOU will tell them what they need to do to make it to heaven and you will lead them in the prayer that saves them right now. Afterwards, you will preach on the prerequisites of God’s promises because contrary to what you’ve told them Pastor, not all of them will continue to be blessed in the future the way that they have been in the past. To every promise that God makes in the bible to his people, there’s a pre-requisite, something that He wants from us. You’ll teach these people about those things. God is growing less tolerant of your blasphemy. There’s a clock over your head that’s running out brother! You may want to start now.” Kenisha returned to her seat and sat beside a frozen Taurus and a bright red and angry Ginger.
Pastor Fillmore
Pastor Fillmore could not believe what was happening. This young girl that he had invited to his church and sat in the front row had been a vessel for God to call him out in front of everyone. He’d only had sex with Sister Kristy twice but he’d lost track of how many times he’d slept with Ginger. Unlike Sister Kristy, he was really in love with Ginger. No one would’ve known that other than God. Pastor Fillmore was nervous. He had no idea that he’d angered God so much. He knew that he wasn’t perfect and in theory, he’d really been lying to himself when he referred to himself as righteous. He was just a guy that loved God and saw that it was a good business idea to open a church in such a popular tourist location. He was really wealthy and so were his members. He thought he was doing great as a leader but he never really committed to being a man of the cloth. He was just living his life and saying what he thought he had to say in public and being a normal dude at night. God forgives all of the fornicators but what Pastor Fillmore was just realizing was that God’s anger was because of the people that the pastor was cheating out of eternal life. So the pastor grabbed his bible and began to lead the church in the prayer of salvation.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave his only begotten Son. So that who so ever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Members…this is the most important prayer that you will ever say and it should be repeated regularly as we sin regularly.”
Fillmore became more stern and honest. The members immediately saw the change. “If you have not asked the Lord into your heart and even if you have, let us ALL say this prayer.” Pastor began to cry as the entire church stood to proclaim the good news of God’s mercy. Through a choked up repression of regret and shame, Pastor Fillmore led the prayer. “Father, we have sinned. We are not worthy of you or your Son. We believe that Jesus died for our sins on Mount Calvary and 3 days later He rose again. He n
ow sits at the right hand of The Father interceding on our behalf. Right now, we repent for our sins and ask your forgiveness so that our names can be written in the Book of Life to worship you in heaven for eternity. Right now we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior into our hearts and lives and according to your Word, we proclaim and celebrate that we ARE NOW SAVED!” The church rejoiced as if it were the first time that they were hearing the words. Shouts and dancing took place.
Kenisha
Kenisha stood in the midst of the shouting and yelled. “God welcomes you who committed just now. But there are some that still refuse to confess, 24 to be exact. All but 24 in this building will join God in Heaven, but God wants those 24.” Kenisha then began walking through the church and pointing out those that pretended to confess but didn’t. “You’re a liar.” She pointed to a beautiful woman in the choir. “Come now before it’s too late.” When Kenisha left the beautiful woman, her fellow choir members swarmed her and began to pray for her. Kenisha continued to work her way through the church pointing out the people that God instructed her to point out and the closest members counseled them and helped them to overcome their issues to confess and be saved. Everyone was addressed except for six. God commanded Kenisha to turn toward the stage. The white of her eyes turned red and her skin turned pale as she developed an unpleasant 3D vision of three of the deacons sitting behind the Pastor. The image was of three men like creatures each with hearts made of chiseled stone beating slowly in their chests. Kenisha had never seen anything so disturbing. Their faces were distorted and indescribable. She stood still to listen for Gods words but at that moment He ceased to speak.
Taurus
This was totally not the day that Taurus had planned when she walked out of the hotel but she knew better than anyone that when God had plans everything else had to be put on the backburner. Kenisha had turned the church inside out helping God in claiming souls. Taurus was proud of her obedience and even wondered; had God called her to do that daring act, if Taurus herself would’ve even had the courage to do it. For Christ sakes she took on an entire mega church with nothing but God’s Word and her cute little floral dress.
Taurus was snatched from her admirable thoughts by Kenisha being locked in one position facing the stage. Taurus looked toward the stage and immediately turned away as to not see the figures. It was scary. “God please make it stop.” She thought to herself. God responded and commanded Taurus to her feet. “Go to her!” God told Taurus. She went and stood beside a cold and shaking Kenisha. “God is in control.” Taurus said to her. Taurus then turned to face the three men figures sitting calmly with their hands folded on their laps. They smiled a broken smile at the women. Kenisha smiled back. “Grab your bibles people! Grab your bibles!” Kenisha yelled. God then let Taurus in on what Kenisha was about to do. Taurus yelled. “Grab hands or lock arms everyone on the ground, just us down here. Grab hands and read Mark chapter 16 verses 16 and 17.” The church all began to read the verses. Then Kenisha began to repeat the final verse, “In Jesus name we cast out you demons.” The church assisted with the repeat of the verse over and over and over. The three deacons became more and more uncomfortable eventually jumping from their seats and running toward the exit at an almost non human speed. They all burst through the door as if they were trying to break free. The church gasped and rejoiced and prayer and thanksgiving was continued for another 2 hours.
Chapter 12: The Aftermath
Ginger
She was one that had been misled by the Pastor. She’d slept with him even though she knew that she wasn’t supposed to. He was a pastor for Christ sakes. She’d slept with her fair share of men in the past with no conviction but she knew that she shouldn’t have slept with Fillmore, Pastor Fillmore. She knew that God was going to punish her for that. She wasn’t holier than thou but she thought that Fillmore was different until he turned out to be sleeping with someone else. Here she was concerned about the new little gay girlfriend that her daughter had when she turned out to be more righteous than her own pastor/ boyfriend. Ginger walked out of the church feeling confused. Other members of the church felt relieved and renewed by the Holy Spirit. Ginger felt those things as well but she also felt pain and discomfort after being misled. She felt as if she couldn’t trust herself anymore. Why did she keep falling for men that didn’t treat her right; first her cheating lying ex-husband and now fake ass Pastor Fillmore. He sure had the right name though. Fillmore… more like Feel-More because he did a lot of feeling on folks, Ginger thought. She didn’t even know how to look her daughter in the face after all that had taken place. She wanted to prove to her daughter that she had become better as a person but all it did was show that she still couldn’t pick a good man.
“This isn’t your fault momma. You didn’t pick the wrong man this time. This was meant to happen.” Taurus interrupted her mother’s thoughts. “How do you always know what I’m thinking child? Every since you were younger, I would think something and here you go answering me. Stay outta my head.” Ginger laughed a bit at her daughter’s right on time statement.
“You should stay with him momma. God wants you to marry him and help keep him on track.” Taurus told her mother. Ginger couldn’t believe that Taurus was saying that. “I’m not staying with that lying cheating fraud of a man. Who do I look like? I’m a grown good woman and I don’t even want to be seen with him right now.” Ginger rolled her eyes as to say end of story.
It was then that Kenisha skipped out of the church with joy and happiness. She walked up to Ginger with a smile and said, “Your husband wants to speak to you.” Ginger looked at Kenisha as if to let her know that she’d had just about enough of her meddling but instead Kenisha kissed Ginger on the cheek and told her that she and Taurus would be at the hotel for the next few days when she was ready to continue their talk and visit. Taurus followed suit. She hugged her mother and left her with time to think. Ginger watched Kenisha and Taurus flag down a cab to return to their hotel.
Taurus
Taurus held Kenisha’s hand in the cab. For a while they road in silence, neither of them really knowing where to begin. They had seen so much, experienced so much, learned so much about each other and their past lives. Taurus wondered if this was God’s plan all along or if her interaction with Kenisha brought on God’s desire to use her in such a profound and important way. The foolish human side of Taurus sometimes felt like she was the only one.
“God isn’t haphazard.” Kenisha interrupted Taurus’ thoughts. “He doesn’t make plans based on our plans. He knew all along that He would use me in this way. He knew that the world would affect us in a way that would make us desire another like ourselves. Therefore He granted us the desires of our hearts still in a way that would glorify Him. That’s why He lets us exist together. In our obedience is where He finds joy in us.”
Taurus couldn’t believe it. God had told Kenisha her thoughts just like He did with Taurus and other people sometimes. Even the response that Kenisha gave after hearing Taurus’ thoughts was profound. “WOW!” Taurus said. “Just…wow!” Taurus looked at Kenisha and smiled. Kenisha smiled back. Taurus put her arm around her and pulled her close and continued their ride to the hotel in silence and awe of each other.
Kenisha
Doing the Lord’s will sure made Kenisha hungry. She was ready to eat anything; chicken, beef or horse. She’d eat whichever would be cooked the quickest. Taurus decided to surprise her with a wine and dinner tour. Kenisha was all for the surprise but secretly she wished that the dinner came before the tours of wines. As they were escorted into the Niagara Falls Winery, they sampled some of the best wines that the city had to offer. Kenisha couldn’t hold her peace any longer. She whispered to Taurus as to not let the tour guide hear. “I wish this wine glass was edible. I’d crunch the hell out of it right now!” Taurus erupted into laughter startling the tour guide. “I apologize, sir. We’re just feeling the wine already.” He smiled and agreed that all was well. Taurus turned to Kenisha an
d whispered back. “I meant to tell you that doing God’s work in regard to casting out devils takes a lot of energy out of you. It makes you hungry like no other time; hungry for more Word and of course edible food.” Taurus laughed at her girlfriend. She felt so free. She finally had someone in her life that understood. It was hard enough being a single lesbian but then to be a single lesbian with an indescribable spiritual gift and tumultuous past was almost unbearable. Now God was so merciful that He felt Taurus deserving of someone who understood her completely. Taurus didn’t think that she could get any happier, that was until they escorted them to the dinner table. At that point Taurus and Kenisha were officially as happy as could be.
Ginger
Ginger stood on the steps of the church for almost two hours deciding if she wanted to go in to speak to Fillmore. Her daughter and Kenisha had been right about so many things. What were the odds that out of all of their perfect predictions during church that day that both Kenisha and Taurus would prophesize that God wanted her to forgive Fillmore? She was so confused and thought about how long it had been since she felt that a man really loved her. Fillmore wasn’t perfect and was actually a dirty scoundrel but she felt that he did love her. He was just a self involved jerk. While Ginger stood on the steps of the church contemplating, Fillmore exited the building. Their eyes met. He thought that she’d left but he was mistaken.
Pastor Reggie Fillmore
Fillmore walked toward Ginger and she took three steps backward. He knew that he deserved that treatment. He was terrible in so many ways. Fillmore couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing and humbling than being checked by God in front of all of the people that believed in his clean image but he knew now that the worst part was having to face the one person who he knew really believed in him the most. “Ginger sweetheart, I’m so sorry.” Ginger’s eyes welled with tears. “How could you lie to me Reggie, I thought that we were in this together?” Fillmore had no explanation. He stood naked and modest for the first time in a long time. “Ginger, I didn’t just lie to you. I lied to myself too and though that’s no excuse I hope that there can be some form of comfort in that.”
