Читать книгу Blessed Trinity - Vanessa Davis Griggs - Страница 12

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.

(Philippians 1:6)

Pastor Landris had submitted an offer on the building he had looked at after taking one day to pray about it. According to the realtor, everything seemed to be a “go” but a few days later, he received a call from her saying the building was no longer available.

“What happened?” Pastor Landris asked.

“The owner decided they no longer want to sell or lease it. Quite frankly, Pastor Landris, I don’t understand it myself. They have literally been jumping down our throats about finding a buyer. In fact, they’ve lowered the price more than a few times, hoping to find someone to purchase it. Then I received a call telling me it was no longer available.”

“Do you think the seller possibly received a better offer?”

“It’s possible, but if that’s the case, I’m due a commission regardless. He had a contract with us, and if it sold, our office is entitled to something. All I was told was it is no longer on the market.”

Pastor Landris thought for a second. “Is there any way I could speak with the owner myself?”

“We were asked not to divulge this information to the public. I’m sorry.”

“May I ask you one other question? It will only require a yes or no answer.”

“Sure.”

“Would the owner happen to be a Reverend Paul Knight?”

The realtor hesitated for a full fifteen seconds. “Actually, Pastor Landris, the listed owner is a nonprofit organization.”

“Oh,” Pastor Landris said, disappointed with her answer. “Well, thanks, anyway.”

“Pastor Landris?”

“Yes.”

“Reverend Knight is the person handling the transactions for this organization.”

Pastor Landris wasn’t sure if he was pleased to hear this or not. “Thank you.”

“I’ll keep looking if you want me to. I’m sure there’s something out there to meet your specifications. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of vacant churches, but I’ll keep my eyes open.”

“I appreciate that.”

Pastor Landris hung up and stared at the phone. He couldn’t believe what was happening, but he wasn’t going to let this deter him.

The phone rang just as he was about to go into the kitchen and find something to eat. Johnnie Mae and Princess Rose were out shopping, and Johnnie Mae hadn’t said whether she planned to bring something home for supper. Thinking it was probably the realtor calling back, Pastor Landris didn’t bother to look at the caller ID.

“Pastor Landris speaking,” he said, cutting to the chase.

“Hey, man, why so formal today?” It was his brother.

“Thomas, I thought you were someone else.” Pastor Landris took the cordless phone and walked a few steps away to the window. The Bradford pear tree in the front yard that was so beautiful during spring and fall was completely boring now. He saw his neighbor across the street walking his Alaskan Husky, although it looked more like the dog was walking the neighbor. “What’s up?” Pastor Landris said.

“I’m fine—thanks for asking,” Thomas said to a question that was not asked.

Pastor Landris realized his big brother’s meaning, but his mind was still reeling from his conversation with the real estate agent.

“Sorry, Thomas. My thoughts were somewhere else. No excuse. Please forgive me.”

“Sure, I forgive you. We’re brothers. And that’s what brothers do.”

Pastor Landris suddenly suspected something was amiss. “Okay, Thomas. What’s wrong?”

Thomas knew it was best to get this over with. “It’s the radio station money.”

“Yes?”

“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.