Jazebel

Jezebel

Chapter One

It was a Sunday morning and as usual, The Way Christian Church was filled up to capacity. Every seat was taken and the congregation waiting for Pastor Mbeke to deliver another of his electrifying sermons, which was the reason everyone was there. But in all honesty, that was not the actual reason they were there. Pastor Mbeke was not a great preacher, like some of the preachers you see on TV, people didn't leap off their chairs when he preached, they didnt fall when he prayed for them, he didn't command people to get up from their wheelchairs or deathbeds to walk, he didn't prophesy the last digits of their bank card or what they ate for breakfast, nor did he promise people that they will be stinky rich if they gave a certain amount to his ministry or die in poverty if they refused. Pastor Mbeke didn't do none of those things, his preaching was....just normal preaching..... it didn't make people feel bad about themselves and didn't make people feel good about themselves, it just made people feel like people.

However it was no secret why people flocked to his church every Sunday, even though he was not the greatest preacher in the land. Pastor Mbeke was young, not only that, but also good looking - which made him an aligable bachelor in town. As you could guess most of his church members were women, young and old the same. The young ones went there with high hopes of one day becoming the First Lady and the old ones went there, hoping that he would be their good looking and God fearing son in law Every Sunday after service, a dozens of those old ladies will be waiting to speak to him, to tell him that God told them to tell him that he should marry their daughter. Or sometimes it would be the young ladies speaking for themselves, telling him how the Spirit spoke to them while they were fasting that he was the husband they've been praying for.

" God told me and I heard his voice audibly, saying I should tell you to marry me otherwise He will kill you while you standing on the pulpit preaching. " One time one of the ladies who wanted to speak to him after church told him that. Mbeke tried so hard to restrain himself from bursting out with laughter when he heard that. Besides the fact that he didn't want to point out the obvious that she was crazy, he also didn't want to embarrass the woman and kill her zeal for the things of God. So he told her that he would wait for God to speak to him too, like He had spoken to her, luckily that was the end to the whole thing. But some of the ladies were not so understanding like this one, some would cuss him right there and then, and he would wonder why the God who told them to marry them, why wouldn't tell them its wrong to cuss, especially in church. Or sometimes they would call him names if he rejected them, some to an extent that they would spread false rumors about him.
"He's gay" they would say "He's eunuch, he doesn't have his manhood anymore." But that never bothered pastor Mbeke. He knew he was straight and his two boys were still in place, they were not castrated. He prayed and hope to meet the woman of his dreams one day. He knew she was not amongst those who were throwing themselves to him or their mothers that were recommending them to him. He didn't know how he knew, but knew that when he met her, he would know.

That Sunday morning felt like it was THE DAY, he felt it that morning when he woke up and prayed, and he felt it when the worship stopped and it was time for him to walk to the platform, behind his pulpit, which he always stood behind every Sunday morning.
He didn't hear no voice or saw no vision, but somehow he knew she was there. He scanned through the congregation hoping to spot her waving to him perhaps, saying "its me you've been waiting for, it's me, come and take me." But the only thing he saw was the same faces he saw every Sunday, desperate young women smiling at him, some even winking or undressing him with their eyes while he stood there, preaching to them the WORD OF GOD. Are they not ashamed? Sometimes he'd ask himself and at the same time he would answer himself, no they are not, then pray for them "God forgive them, they don't know what they are doing. "

Pastor Mbeke proceeded with his sermon, titled " Today expect your miracle". For a moment he wondered if it was not a coincidence that he was preaching the message he was preaching and the way he was feeling. Perhaps the title of his sermon had much to do with the way he was feeling, perhaps. He was a pastor, he knew the power of words and thoughts.

He came to the end of his preaching, prayed, collected the offering, blessed the believers and they left. But not all of them, as usual, a number of young and old women were waiting to speak to him. Although today he was not in the mood t to listen to their crazy stories and false prophecies, he had no choice because he was their pastor and one thing every pastor had to had, was a loving heart, loving those who make it easy to love them and those who make it hard for you to love them.

He went and spoke to the women, although they didn't tell him anything new, but he still listened and responded kindly and politely.
" Yes ma'am" " no ma'am" "No God has not yet spoken to me about your daughter. " " Yes I will pray harder." "Yes I will fast forty days and forty nights like Jesus did." These were some of his responses.

He felt very excited when he noticed that he was speaking to the last lady, he was drained, but yet he listened to her attentively. Unlike the old ladies and the other ladies he had spoken to, this lady came to him for real help, she needed someone to speak to, someone who could give her wise counsel with the predicament she was facing. She told him what the problem was and how she needed him to help. Pastor Mbeke's heart was torn into pieces when he heard the woman's story and promised to do everything in his powers to help her. Before she left he prayed with her, and those who were around and saw him praying for her, didn't like that. Not that they didn't like the act itself, they didn't like who the act was done to or with.

"What is she doing here?" Pastor Mbeke couldn't help but to hear some of the members saying even before the woman walked out of the door.
"Doesn't he know what kind of woman she is?"
" if she will be attending every Sunday, I'm leaving this church. "
"Me too, I wouldn't want to be joined with prostitutes. "
" Amen sister, doesn't the pastor read his bible, because it says " who is joined to a harlot is one body?"

Pastor Mbeke was very grieved by some of his church members judgmental remarks they made about the woman, instead of showing her love. But he was determined to help her regardless of what they were saying. Jesus came to die for sinners, not saints. He told himself.
"Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." He thought of the verse of scripture, he had recited from the day he started bible school and had never forgotten it.