Standing firm, Dam said, “I don’t think you understand me. You are no longer a part of this crusade. Isaac and I made the decision earlier today, and he left you a message stating that fact. I will be preaching tonight.”

  “You!” Bishop balked at the thought. “You are too wet behind the ears to handle a crowd of this size. You’ll freeze like a deer caught in headlights.”

  “Stay humble, Bishop.” Dam couldn’t help himself. He smirked as he recited the title of the sermon the bishop gave the other day.

  “Why I ought to,” Bishop raise a fisted hand as if he wanted to strike Dam.

  “Don’t come for me, Bishop. I come from a long line of men who would kill you for raising a hand to them.” Dam set his feet and got his hands ready to fight if need be. “I don’t believe in violence, but I will defend myself if I have to.”

  “You threatening me, boy? I guess this means you don’t need your job anymore?”

  Dam was losing his patience for this man. “I wouldn’t work for you if I was getting paid a million dollars a year. My wife and I will no longer be attending your church either.”

  “Don’t start a fight that you can’t win, Dam. I will destroy you if you try to leave my church or take my members.”

  Dam would have laughed if the situation wasn’t so sad. “Bishop, can’t you see that you’ve already destroyed yourself. You need to repent before it’s too late. I believe you started out wanting to please God, but you got lost somewhere. Ask God to help you find yourself again.”

  “I don’t need no advice from you. Get out of here and let me get ready for my sermon.”

  At that moment Isaac stepped onto the stage with them. He told Bishop, “We will have you arrested if you get on this stage tonight. Do you hear me, Bishop? If you think you have trouble now, try adding a trespassing charge to your list.”

  “Do you know who I am!” Bishop exploded. “I am one of the most renowned bishops in the United States. I have traveled the world doing God’s work, and the two of you think you can bully me?”

  “We’re not trying to bully you. We just don’t want any more drama while we’re trying to do God’s business,” Dam told him. “Not even you, Bishop Thomas, as world-renowned as you might be can stand in the way of God’s work. We won’t allow it.”

  “You’re fired!” Bishop brushed past Dam and Isaac. “Y’all don’t know who you’re dealing with, but I’m gon’ show you.”

  16

  Bishop Thomas spent the rest of the afternoon calling television networks and informing them that he would not be speaking tonight. He encouraged each network to pull the plug on the program. The problem though, was that the networks received so much positive feedback and growth in viewership that they couldn’t ignore the crusade now.

  When Bishop was informed of that very fact, he became angry and blurted out, “Then cancel my program from your network. Maybe you don’t need the money that I pay your network each and every month.”

  Bishop was then told, “In light of recent developments, we were actually planning to contact you about your contract with our network. But we thank you for agreeing to discontinue your program.”

  “Wait a minute. I didn’t agree to any such thing.” Bishop thought if he threatened to cancel his program they would think twice about covering the crusade. He never thought they would want him to leave, not after all the years he's partnered with the Christian network.

  “We’re sorry Bishop, but we think it is for the best. We will be praying for you,” was the last words spoken as they hung up the phone.

  Bishop then called his attorney. “Listen here Bill, I have a problem I need you to help me solve.”

  “I saw. How you get caught up like that?”

  “I’m not talking about that doctored up recording my wife made in order to use for her divorce attorney. You know me better than that. You know I am a true man of God.”

  Bill didn’t confirm or deny, he just said, “What can I do for you, Bishop?”

  “Them jokers I allowed to partner with me on this crusade are now trying to shut me out. I need to get an injunction to shut this crusade down.”

  “What would be the reason for the injunction?”

  “Dam and Isaac are cheats. They want to keep all that offering money to themselves, even though I’m the reason we have such a huge crowd in the first place.”

  “Did the three of you have a contract?” Bill asked.

  “A handshake should be good enough. Now get that injunction.”

  ~~~

  As Dam stood behind the pulpit trying to get a feel for how it would be to preach to a massive crowd, that is, if the people showed up, after how Bishop got their names ran through the mud right along with his. Looking out at the sea of chairs and the bleachers that would most likely be full later tonight, he wondered if the bishop was right... was he too wet behind the ears? Or had God created him for such a time as this? Could he truly stand behind the pulpit and deliver God’s message to all these people without wavering; would these people want to hear what he had to say?

  As he looked to heaven wondering what God was thinking to give him this overwhelming assignment at such a young age, he caught a glimpse of something going on up there. Dam closed his eyes and shook his head before he looked to the skies again.

  An angel opened the door of heaven. Dam wondered if he was once again about to be translated to the heavenly as Apostle Paul had been. But then something that looked like a slide was rolled out until it reached the earth. Then he saw legions of angels marching their way toward the earth with swords drawn as they sang a song that Dam could not understand the words too. “What is going on?” Dam asked.

  Then in the next moment Dam’s eyes were drawn to the deepest, darkest part of the earth as an eery crawling feeling crept up his spine. There, he saw demons and imps slithering and sliming their way out of hell. “Where are they going, Lord?”

  Preach the word.

  “Yes Lord, I hear you.” Dam was no longer concerned about his inadequacy. The Lord was on his side, and he was on the Lord’s side. They would get through whatever this was. All he had to do was preach the word and let God handle the rest. Just like his daughter only had to lay in Amarrea’s stomach and be pushed out of her body. And with that thought, Dam’s sermon began to take form.

  ~~~

  “Whatcha doing?” Marissa asked Isaac as she found him sitting on the back patio just staring up at the sky.

  “ Just thinking?” Isaac answered.

  “Do you want to be alone? Because I can always find something to do in the house.”

  “No bae.” He patted the cushion next to him. “Come and sit with me.”

  Cozying up next to her husband, Marissa said, “I hope you’re not letting that awful Bishop Thomas get to you. That man is not going to destroy your father’s legacy. I can promise you that.”

  Isaac shook his head. He took Marissa’s hand in his. “I need you to trust your man on this. I know I sent you through as I tried to come to terms with my parents leaving me so soon. But I’m done with that.”

  “I know you are. But this crusade means so much to you. I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t back here mopping around like everything has been ruined. Because God got this,” Marissa declared.

  Smiling at his wife, Isaac said, “Let me share with you something that God revealed to me. Do you remember when you asked me to go with you to Amarrea and Dam’s wedding?”

  “Ah-huh. I remember that you didn’t want to go, I had to drag you kicking and screaming. But once you were there, you acted like a gentleman throughout the entire ceremony.”

  Lifting a finger, Isaac said, “Yes, I did act like that. But I believe that day was one of God’s divine appointments in my life. Who would have known that I had married a woman who was best friends with the woman who was marrying a man like Dam Shepherd? God connected me and that brother.”

  “Do you know how happy it makes me that you and Dam became friends? It makes it that much easier for Amarrea and I to hang out together.”

  “But it’s not just about the friendship... do you remember the story of King David in the Bible and the temple he wanted to build for God?”

  Marissa nodded.

  “King David had been a warrior and had killed many men. Even though God loved him and David blessed him during his lifetime. He told him that he could not build the temple because there was too much blood on his hands. After King David’s death, God allowed his son to build the temple.

  “I believe that God is doing the same thing right now with Dam and me at this crusade. Yeah, we messed up by allowing Bishop Thomas to join in with us. But that’s not going to stop God. Because I truly believe that He is allowing Isaac Walker Sr.’s son to take this crusade to places my father would not have been able to take it due to his previous lifestyle.”

  “As a girl who came from the streets and saw so much of the harm that men do to each other, I can understand what you’re saying.”

  Isaac clasped his hands as he said, “So, now you understand why nothing Bishop Thomas can do will cause me one moment of doubt. I’m looking forward to finishing what my father started, and I count it an honor that God saw fit for Dam and me to finish the job that Keith and my dad could not.”

  ~~~

  Word got around that the crusade was still going on. Most of the people thought for sure it would be canceled after the most well-known member of the crusade had been uncovered, so to speak. But now curiosity was building. People wanted to know who would preach tonight. Would Bishop Thomas dare to show his face? Would he have the nerve to sit on the stage with the rest of the preachers?

  Not only were the people excited to get down to the crusade, but local, and national newscasters were flying in with their camera crews. They were planning to cover this crusade like it was a hurricane and each and every network needed to be there. Some of the top anchors from CNN, MSNBC and FOX news had stationed themselves just outside the crusade and were setting up to broadcast live. No one wanted to be the network who missed the opportunity to show the world the demise of Christianity. Because surely, no one would ever believe a word these people said again... because if the preachers and leaders in the faith community couldn’t live right, how in the world did they expect anyone else to do it. Today, they would show the world that the Bible was an outdated book and needed to be banned and taken out of stores.

  ~~~

  Iona, her husband Johnny and their kids, met up with Donovan, his wife Dianne and their children. They were dressed and ready to go to the crusade. “I’ve got a feeling that we need to get down their early, or we just might be fighting for a seat,” Dianne said.

  But Donovan disagreed. “With all that has happened this week, we don’t want to cause any more problems. If our seats are gone, we’ll just sit in the bleachers.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Iona quipped. “If my seat is gone, I’m fighting.”

  “Johnny, man, please do something with your wife.” Donovan just shook his head.

  Johnny put his arms around his wife. “After all these years, I’ve learned to just love her and get out of the way.”

  The group laughed as they all headed out the door.

  ~~~

  Jade was furious when she arrived back at her house and discovered that the locks had been changed. Banging on the door, she demanded, “Let me in. This is my house too.”

  No one responded. Jade went around the back. She picked up one of the bricks from the beautifully designed garden and tried to break the window with it. The window didn’t even crack. “I know you’re in there, Daniel. You better let me in this house right now. I’m not playing with you.”

  “The bishop isn’t there,” the little boy from the house next door told Jade as he stood on the back porch.”

  “Where is he?” Jade harshly questioned the little boy. Then she calmed herself down. “I’m sorry. Ms. Jade didn’t mean to yell at you.”

  “You don’t have to apologize to us,” the boy’s mother said as she joined her son on the back porch. “We are praying for you, Jade. With all that so-called preacher has put you through, you’d think he’d just give you that house. He’s got some nerve.”

  “Oh, I plan to get this house and much more, because I’m divorcing him. I’m done with him.”

  “Good for you.”

  As Jade looked at the time, she realized that she knew exactly where Daniel had taken himself. She waved at the woman. “I’ll see you later, I need to go get my keys.”

  ~~~

  The Shepherd family was in the house. Angel, Demetrius and all their children from DeMarcus, Dee, Dontae to Dodi. There was no way any of them were going to miss this night. From the time Dam was born, they all knew he was special. God had a work for this young man to do and they believed the work would truly begin tonight.

  DeMarcus, the former football player, leaned forward and said to his parents, “I used to play on fields this big, and I still don’t remember seeing this many people at one of our games.”

  “They’ve added the chairs on the football field, so I guess there are more people here than would attend the game,” Demetrius said.

  “And our son is about to preach to all of these people.” Angel looked around in awe of what she saw.

  “I can’t believe that my little brother is like some big-time preacher.” Dee just shook his head. “I told him that he was my hero. And I meant that.”

  Angel might have been in awe at all the people she saw in this place on the night that her son was about to preach. But she had no problem believing that this thing had come to pass. It had been prophesied even while he was in her stomach.

  She still remembered that day just like it was yesterday. Angel and Demetrius were at odds over her pregnancy. So, she had driven to an abortion clinic with plans to end her pregnancy...

  Angel pulled into the lot and checked the time. Her appointment was scheduled for 9 a.m. She was twenty minutes early, so she sat in her car and took a few deep breaths. Taking the key out of the ignition, Angel looked out at the street, and that’s when she noticed the people holding picket signs.

  One sign said, ‘Don’t Kill Your Baby... Every Life Matters. Then another sign had on it, ‘Jeremiah 1:5’.

  The scripture was not written on that poster, but it didn’t have to be. It was the same scripture her father used to read to her when she was a child: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you.

  As the words of Jeremiah shocked her system, Angel once again realized why she thought of abortion as murder. Because if God knew a child and could sanctify him or her before they were even born, then the so-called fetus had to be a living thing. Angel was undone. All she had done was love a man who loved her and their family more than anything else. But life had dealt them a blow, and now she didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to choose right rather than wrong.

  Tears were blurring her eyes as the woman who’d been holding the ‘Every Life Matters’ poster knocked on her door. Angel wiped her face and rolled down the window.

  The woman asked, “Would you like to talk to someone?”

  Angel nodded as she unlocked the door and allowed the woman to get in the car.

  The woman extended her hand. “I’m Patricia Miller-Harding. You don’t have to cry anymore because God sent me here for you.”

  “Why would God send you to me?”

  “You don’t believe me?” Patricia put a gentle hand on Angel’s shoulder as she said, “I know everything about you, Angel.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “God has given me a glimpse into your life... I know that your upbringing was all about the Lord and growing closer to Him. Until your parent’s divorce, you had even planned to go into the ministry yourself. But then you ran away, moved in with a street-wise guy, and when he tossed you out, instead of humbling yourself and going back to your parents, who had re-married, you started stripping, and then you fell in love with another criminal. You married him, now he has you here, about to kill one of God’s soldiers.”

  “Who are you?” were the only words Angel could form. She was stunned that this woman could read her. What was going on?

  “I’m a friend, sent by the Lord with a message for you.”

  “What’s the message,” Angel asked, still feeling a little devastated by the way she’d just been read.

  Patricia looked directly into Angel’s eyes and held onto her hands as she said, “Thus says the Lord, you were born to serve God, you chose not to... but this baby you are carrying will not be swayed by the enemy. He will do great and mighty things for the Lord.”

  Exhaling, Angel put her hand into Demetrius’ hand and squeezed it while she thanked God for sending that woman to her when she needed her most. Her family had stayed together, and now her son, the one sent from God was doing just what had been prophesied of him.

  17

  As praise and worship ended, Dam stood behind the podium, he wasn’t distracted by the large crowd that had gathered nor was he distracted by the spiritual battle God kept giving him glimpses of. It was his turn to preach, and he was going to do what God called him to do.

  “Before I begin, I want to thank all of you for coming out tonight. I’m not sure if you’re here because you want to hear the word or if you thought there might be some more foolishness going on, but either way, thank you. Because now I get to deliver to you, what God has dropped in my spirit.” He smiled out toward the crowd of people, then said, “Turn with me to the book of Isaiah, chapter 13. I’m going to begin reading at verse six.

  “Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt:

  And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.