Читать книгу A Million Blessings - Angela Benson - Страница 14

A month after leaving Hawaii, Andrew sat in his office at the new church, the phone to his ear, twirling a gold pen through his fingers. “Fifty thousand,” he told his bookie. “And don’t call me again. I’ll make contact with you from here on out.”

Andrew hung up the phone, feeling a bit guilty. He’d told Sandra and God that he’d give up gambling after the lottery, but he hadn’t been able to do it. He’d tried, but he’d been sucked right back into it while helping his father-in-law search for a horse farm. Not only had they found a farm, he’d found a love for horses, not riding them like his children, but betting on them.

Then that trip to Hawaii had given him a chance to get back in the casino. It was a familiar place, and he’d found himself sneaking off to play a few games when Sandra was otherwise occupied. He had a problem, he knew, but fortunately he had money to lose. At least he wasn’t as bad as basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, who lost half a million dollars in a casino. He wasn’t that crazy.

His intercom buzzed and he pressed the answer button. “Pastor,” his secretary said, “you have a visitor who doesn’t have an appointment. His name is Luther Williams. He says that he knows you from Praise City.”

Though the name didn’t ring a bell with him, Andrew knew this was an opportunity to win over a Praise City member. He checked his watch. “I have a few minutes before my next meeting. Send him on in.” Andrew stood, as he always did, when someone entered his office. He almost dropped back down in his chair when he saw who Luther Williams was. This was the guy he’d seen outside the convenience store the day he’d bought the lottery tickets. What did he want?

Luther moved easily to the desk and extended his hand. “Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Pastor,” he said. “I knew you’d be busy getting the new church started and all, but I decided to try my luck. It must be my lucky day, huh?”

Andrew motioned Luther to the chair in front of his desk. The man’s use of the words luck and lucky seemed to have some added emphasis but maybe he was reading more into the man’s words than was warranted. “Well, it’s good to see you again, Luther. What can I do for you today?” he asked.

Luther leaned forward in his chair. “The wife and I are thinking about moving our membership over here with you. We’re going through a rough time since I got laid off, and the folks at Praise City don’t seem willing or able to help. I’m hoping your church will take care of its members better.”

Andrew’s ears were alert for any kind of threat, but he didn’t hear one. “Of course, we’ll take care of our members. That’s one of the purposes of the church.”

“That’s the way I see it, too,” Luther said. “It’s nice to know that some pastors believe in the church blessing the members rather than the other way around all the time.”

“Well, I don’t know about other churches, but here at Showers of Blessings things will be different. We’ve been blessed and we’re going to bless others.”

Luther nodded. “I guess ‘Showers of Blessings—a place to bless and be blessed’ is more than a motto.”

“It certainly is,” Andrew said, wondering where the conversation was going.

“Well, it sure does seem like you’ve been blessed a lot since I saw you that day at the convenience store. It’s like you hit the lottery, but not the real lottery ’cos I know you preachers are against the lottery, you know what I mean?”

Andrew nodded. He definitely knew what the man meant. Obviously, Luther had seen those lottery tickets in his hand that day. What did he want? “I know what you mean,” Andrew said. “And I look forward to having you and your wife here at Showers of Blessings. We take care of our own.”

Luther stood up. “I’m glad to hear it. The wife and I will be here on Sunday. We’re not asking for a handout, Pastor, but we could use a little help with the mortgage. It’s tough with just one salary.”

“I hear you, Luther. We won’t let you down. Just be sure to be here on Sunday.”

Luther extended his hand for a shake. “You can count on it,” he said. And then he winked.

Andrew wanted to slap him but he shook his offered hand instead. “See you and the wife on Sunday.”

Andrew watched as Luther strode out of his office, renewed pep in his step. He shook his head. He’d been blackmailed in his church office. How bold was that? He dropped down in his chair. He had just agreed to pay this guy’s mortgage. How was he going to make that work without confirming that he’d won the lottery? All Luther had now was a strong suspicion based on seeing those lottery tickets. Once the church paid his mortgage, he’d have evidence.

Andrew didn’t have much time to ponder the question as there was a knock at his door and Sandra walked in. “Who was that guy?” she asked. “He looked familiar.”

“His name is Luther Williams. You’ve probably seen him before. He’s a Praise City member who’s thinking about moving his membership over here with us.”

Sandra gave him a full-watted smile. “Well, that’s good news. I know you gave him the counsel he needed to make the right decision.”

Sandra’s faith in him was a heavy burden since he knew he didn’t deserve it. “I did my best,” he said. “The guy is out of work and needs money for his mortgage.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him that Showers of Blessings takes care of its own.”

She lifted a brow. “You know he’s going to expect us to take care of his mortgage payments, don’t you?”

Andrew nodded, an idea forming in his mind. “What if we did?”

Sandra leaned against the edge of his desk, facing him. “We can certainly afford it, but we’d have to develop some policy around the kind of help we give and in what situations so we would be fair to all our congregation.”

Andrew nodded. “We should discuss it with the leadership team.”

Sandra stood. “Speaking of which, they’re assembling in the conference room now. We’d better get in there.”

Andrew followed his wife out of his office and down the hallway to the conference room. Once all twelve members of the team were seated around the conference table, he opened the meeting. “What are our numbers looking like for our first Sunday service?” he asked Michael Ray, the associate pastor in charge of Outreach.

“We’re looking at a minimum of two hundred, two hundred fifty folks. Most of them are coming from Praise City, though. Those folks are committed and they’ve worked hard to get the word out about what we’re doing here at Showers of Blessings. It’s a challenge, though, because there are so many churches in the metro area. The motto and new building help, but we need more to distinguish ourselves if we want folks to check us out. Religion editors at seven of the eight newspapers we contacted are either coming to the first service themselves or sending a reporter. We should see some benefit out of their coverage, but not this week.”

Andrew smiled. He’d just figured out how to solve two problems with one stone, so to speak. “You’re right, Brother Ray, but we don’t have to come up with a way to be different. We are different. It’s right there in our motto, ‘Showers of Blessings—a place to bless and be blessed.’ We’re going to be the church that blesses its members practically and spiritually. We’re going to meet people’s everyday needs.”

“How are we going to do that, Pastor?” Rob Moore, the associate pastor of Christian Education, asked.

Andrew grinned. “This Sunday we’re going to ask all the unemployed folks to come to the altar. When they get there, we’re going to ask them to put their name and financial need on a slip of paper and put it in a basket. Then we’re going to meet those needs.”

“What?”

“How can we afford to do that?”

“What if it’s a lot of people?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Andrew said, answering the questions from his team in a single matter-of-fact statement. “We’re going to do it, and by doing it we’re going to build our reputation as a church that cares.”

“And we’re going to end up with a lot of poor members who take more than they give,” said Associate Pastor Ray.

Andrew shook his head. “It may start that way, but folks with money will be drawn here because they see that we’re taking the Bible seriously. You all will have to trust me on this. If we take this approach, our membership will grow faster than we ever thought.” And I’ll have a cover for getting Luther off my back.

He glanced in Sandra’s direction and saw her love and pride in him in her eyes. He didn’t deserve her, but he was going to do everything he could to keep her. And that included keeping Luther quiet.