Church Folk, continued

Everyone in the restaurant looked embarrassed or annoyed.

"Why do you have to parade your holiness, Tameka?"

"I am a child of God I don't care who knows it. How is James acting?"
 "He came home from work yesterday and cussed me and the girls out."
 "For what?'
"He never needs a reason, he just cusses and fusses, I think he is trying to drive us crazy."

(Flashback 1963)Fourteen year old James walked into the thirty seven year old prostitute's bedroom. She was the same height as he. Her disheveled black hair was curled in some places and bushy in others. It smelled of Bergamot and dirty straightening comb. Her breasts once round and firm, hung under her nearly sheer t-shirt. Her breath entered his nostrils with the aroma of strong beer. The room smelled like old mildewed carpet that had never been vacuumed. Shabby red curtains hung from one small window. A dingy gray shade clapped against the dirty window panes as the wind whistled through the cracks. She took a deep drag from her cigarette and taking his hand in hers, walked him over to the bed. The smoke from the cigarette formed a dark cloud over the dingy, dusty, queen size bed. A mouse the size of a woman's fist ran across the headboard, as five cock roaches scurried over her half-finished dinner plate. 

"Is this your first time?"
"Uh, yeah"
"Your brothers told me today is your birthday"
"Uh yeah"
"Then happy birthday baby boy"

She pulled his shirt over his shoulders, over his head, he felt scared and curious all at the same time. Her kiss was the kiss of death, her fingers gripped his body and her tongue rolled over his lips like sweet dripping honey. James hated her, he hated his brothers for bringing him here. He hated his sisters because they were just like her. And he hated his mother.

Every time James tried to urinate he cried, the pain hurt so bad. It burned like fire.
"I must be dying, she gave me something; that hoe, that nasty, stankin’ hoe"

(Flashback 1993)
"You just a nasty, stankin’ hoe!"
"James I am tired of you calling me a hoe, is your Mama a hoe?"
"Yeah, she a hoe"

“What about your sisters, are they hoes?"
"Yeah, all women are hoes"
"Oh, I hate you!”

Before she realized what she was doing, Dana picked the dinner plate up off the table and threw it at his head. James ducked just in time.

"Hate is a strong word" James said calmly.

Dana cried. James smirked. They had only been married two weeks. It was as if James stepped out of his body and Satan stepped in. Dana had been saved seventeen years.

 How did I let this snake fool his way into my life? She thought.

(Present 1998)

“Well, what is it that you are doing that makes him fuss so much?”

“Listen Tameka, I told you, I don’t do anything. James acts like he hates me.  He was sitting at the dining room table this morning reading his bible before I left for church.”

 “Bitch”

“What did you call me James?”
“Bitch”

“I’m tired of you callin’ me a bitch, I’m on my way to church and you sitting there reading your bible out loud so the whole house can hear you, and call me a bitch. What are you reading your bible for, when you going to change?”

“Hoe.”
“The kids are awake, they can hear you.”
“Take em’ wit’ you, then, hoe.”

Dana slammed the door and ran to the car with tears streaming down her face. She raced to church to hear the sermon as if her life depended on it.

The sermon

Turn in your bibles to the book of Job, chapter one starting at verse six. (The preached begins to read)

One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord,
 and Satan also came with them.
The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan,
“Have you considered my servant Job?
There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless
and upright,
a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
 “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.
 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?
You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has,
and he will surely curse you to your face.”

The Lord said to Satan,
“Very well, then, everything he has is in your power,
but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

Have you considered my servant Job?
We all know the story of Job.
God said Job was a perfect man,
an upright man,
A blameless man,
one who feared God and ran away from evil.
Job even offered daily sacrifices for his children
just in case they may have sinned against God
and cursed him in their hearts.

The bible says
One day the angels of God appeared before God,
and so did Satan.
We know that Satan was not in heaven because he and his diabolical army, aha
had been kicked out of The Kingdom of Heaven
during his failed coup de ’tat.
God,
Omnipresent God, is able, aha
 to see in three dimensions;
 the third heaven
where God and the angels dwell,
the heavens, aha
where Satan and his princes dwell,
and the earth where man dwells.
Now I don’t want the women to feel left out, aha
we know that when the bible uses the word man
it is also referring to woman, or mankind.

Is anybody here
going through a test? aha

The bible says
And God ask Satan a question.
Where have you been, since your banishment?
What have you been doing,
since you are no longer the worship leader of the heavenly choir?
What’s up Satan?
God asked this question, but since he is Omniscient,
all knowing, aha
he already knew the answer, aha
He is setting Satan up
and he is setting one of his chosen up.
Are you chosen today? aha

Then Satan answered the Lord, and said,
from going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.

You see my brothers and sisters, aha
Satan, a fallen angel,
is walking up and down in the earth,
going to and fro.
Always in movement,
always wreaking havoc,
his mission is to destroy Godly seed
So he seeks the Godly, aha
day and night,
night and day,
looking for someone to destroy.
He wants to rid the planet of the seed of the woman that will crush him,
destroy him,
defeat him,
and topple his kingdom.
Satan is afraid of Godly seed.
I said , Satan is afraid of Godly seed
Always remember that!
He fears the Godly,
because he remembers his destiny.
The seed of the woman will crush your head,
this is the prophecy that was given to him way back in Eden.
How many of you have received a prophecy that you have not seen come to pass yet?
Don’t give up on your prophesy.
God’s word cannot,
will not fail,
as long as you trust him.
Somebody say amen

Amen! said the church in unison

 I Heard Timothy when he said
If we died with him,
    we will also live with him;
 if we endure,
    we will also reign with him.
If we disown him,
    he will also disown us;
if we are faithless,
    he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.

The bible says
In the beginning was the word
and the word was with God
and the word was God.
Jesus is the spoken word of God,
Say amen somebody
he is the word of prophecy
and he will not disown himself, aha

In other words,
he will not deny his word,
he will not allow his word to return to him void,
Let the church say amen
Jesus will see to it that his word for your life is fulfilled,
if you trust him no matter what it looks like,

God
I said God
will see you through, aha

 The bible says that
God, Almighty God,
all knowing God
ask Satan a question, aha 
Have you considered my servant Job?
There is no one like him on earth,
he is blameless,
he is upright, he stays away from evil.
Have you considered Job?
Have you seen Job? aha

And the devil said, yeah.
I seen Job
 but you got a hedge around him
and I can’t touch him.
That’s why he fears you,
he knows you got him covered.
Just remove the hedge and when I’m finished with him,
he will curse you to your face!

And God said, give it your best shot but don’t lay a finger on him.

And my bible says
 that ole devil
Satan
Slew foot
didn’t wait one minute before he attacked Jobs children,
he killed all of them in one day.
Has Satan attacked any of your kids lately?

Dana found herself daydreaming about the day Faith was born.