“Because I am free…because I am whole...and I will tell everyone I know.” Gospel singer/songwriter Anthony Brown, Song is “Worth”
“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. That’s what the word of God says in Proverbs twelve and twenty-two. Holy Rock, when I first accepted the role as senior pastor of this great church, I was fearful. I felt inadequate, unprepared, and less than. I wanted so badly to do a good job, wanted everyone to like and accept me. I mean, look at me…I’m nothing like my father or like the pastor before him, Stiles Graham, or even the pastor before him, Chauncey Graham. I’m just a young buck as some of the older dudes have called me, but I’ve also been called names like dope fiend, hustler, thug, never-gone-mount-to-nothing, and a few names I won’t repeat in this sanctuary.” Khalil laughed lightly and continued his message with the congregation glued to his every word like they were watching an Oscar winning performance.
“I’m still a young man; I have a long way to go in this life, but I’m relying on God to change me, to make me a better person. You all know what happened here a little over a year and half ago? A massacre, that’s what it was. People call it the Jubilee Tragedy, and it was definitely tragic. You see, my father’s biological mother murdered seven people and many more were injured. And do you know the main reason that happened?”
The congregation remained glued to Khalil.
Khalil scanned the large congregation. The sanctuary was filled to over capacity. He tried to hide his frown when he saw his father rolling in on his electric wheelchair with none other than George and George’s wife next to him. They remained by the door in the very back of the large, sanctuary.
He continued his message after pausing for a few seconds while reverting his eyes away from his father. He zeroed in on his mother sitting comfortably and with pride on the second row in front of where Khalil stood.
“That woman was disturbed mentally, true enough, but it was more to it than that. She had been mistreated, pushed aside, lied to, lied on, and deceived for years until she had had enough. What I’m saying to you, Holy Rock, is my desire is that each of you and Holy Rock as a whole, have a discerning spirit. I know you all had mad love for my father, and I don’t want to tarnish that for you, but I also don’t want you to go for years without knowing some of what went on behind closed doors. My mother told me and my brother when we were growing up that God don’t like ugly. I didn’t know what she meant by that until…well until some years ago when I spent time behind bars for doing some bad things to other people. Well, some of you have heard about my father’s past as well. He isn’t exactly squeaky clean either. But the difference in the two of us is that I learned from my mistakes while my father has continued to fool and deceive people and that includes deceiving you.”
The congregation gasped and a few people got up, shook their heads as if in disgust, and walked out the doors.
“If you don’t want to hear the truth then you are certainly free to leave, but God says in one of my favorite books of the Bible, as I’m sure you can tell,” Khalil smiled and looked in the direction of where he had originally seen his father and George. He no longer saw them, but as he continued to look across the sanctuary he saw the Mackey family and next to Brother and Sister Mackey sat Detria and a little boy who appeared to be about four or five years old. Khalil immediately assumed that it must have been Detria’s son or then again maybe it was her sister’s child. He didn’t know and at this point, he couldn’t give the little boy and certainly not Detria much thought. He had to expose his father once and for all and make sure that he would never be welcomed at Holy Rock again, at least not in the position of pastor.
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. I’ve not only asked God for mercy, I confess my sins and my faults to you and I ask you for mercy as your pastor. My father, however, has done just the opposite. You would think that out of everything that has happened in this church that he would be the man of God he says he was called to be. You would think that after God brought him to his sick bed with a debilitating stroke that he would want forgiveness, and that he would want to do what is right. But he’s done just the opposite, Holy Rock.”
Fancy listened to her son. As much as she hated that he was about to expose his father, she had little sympathy for Hezekiah. He had brought this on himself by being a lying, cheating, violent and selfish man and it was time he paid for it.
“Unfortunately, and with sadness I have to tell you that it has been discovered that my father, your pastor or former pastor I should say, has been embezzling money from Holy Rock ever since he was first appointed as senior pastor.”
You could hear the oohs and aahs going through the church. My brother, Xavier McCoy,” Khalil pointed over to where Xavier sat in the row of pews across from their mother among a large group of young men and women. “who you know is the new financial administrator, uncovered this sad truth. We went to him and asked him to confess, to tell the trustees and deacons at Holy Rock but he refused. I just looked out in the sanctuary, and I saw him being brought into the church by the former head of security, George Reeves. George unfortunately is no better than my father. He may be even worse, but then again, sin is sin. I don’t see either of them now; it appears that they must have left. You know the truth can hurt. I don’t know at this time what charges, if any, will be brought against him in a court of law, but I do know that whereas we can forgive Hezekiah McCoy, it is going to be hard. We are human; my mother is hurt and ashamed by my father’s actions and enough is enough. I ask that you keep her in prayer. Keep our family in prayer and keep me in prayer. I want to be a man after God’s own heart,” Khalil said, as he forced tears to form in his eyes and wiped them with a handkerchief he pulled out of his jeans pocket.
Xavier eyed his brother angrily. He had not forgotten their physical encounter and he knew his brother like the back of his hand. Khalil was putting on the performance of a lifetime and as Xavier looked around, he could tell that the people were buying every word Khalil spoke.
Detria shook her head, and then leaned in and said something to her son. She had called Skip the night before and asked if she could pick up her son and take him to church with her. His grandparents had practically begged Detria to call and ask Skip to let him come. They planned on spending the afternoon with him, take him out to eat, and then he would come over to their house for a while. Like Detria, they did not have a good relationship with Skip or his wife, Meaghan, and it was rare that they reached out to Skip to inquire about little Elijah.
Detria looked around the vast sanctuary, too, surprised to hear Khalil say that Hezekiah and George had been in worship service. George had said nothing about bringing Hezekiah to Holy Rock when she talked to him yesterday. George had called her to tell her that he went to Hezekiah’s condo the day before only to discover that the locks had been changed.
Khalil broke down and began weeping while the organist started playing a touching song by Anthony Brown called “Worth.” Khalil, in addition to his charm and good looks, had a beautiful, melodic voice that could drive a woman to her knees. He began singing the song and the sanctuary seemed to catch on fire with praising, shouting, singing, and worshipping.
“You thought I was worth saving, so you came and changed my life….You thought I was worth keeping…So I could be free, so…” Khalil song with the voice of an angel. He song with conviction. His voice was powerful, and the lyrics to the song set a spiritual blaze throughout the church. He held the mic in his hand and walked down the three steps and out of the pulpit, and along the sanctuary singing and crying as if he was truly crying out to God.
The church was on fire and the ushers earned their positions on this day. Hezekiah looked and listened from the vestibule of the church as he directed George to take him out of the church.
When Khalil’s deacons and associate ministers stood and opened the doors of the church, a drove of people poured to the front of the sanctuary.
At the close of the dynamic service, Khalil stood at the exit of the sanctuary to shake hands and be given hugs by women young, old, and in between. Many placed their numbers inside his hand or jean pocket as they leaned in to hug him. Some whispered X-rated words into his ears, all of which Khalil was used to by now. He’d received countless propositions that it was sometimes humorous to him.
He saw her approaching and as she hugged him, he felt the tears against his cheek. “Pastor, that message was so powerful. You have no idea how much it touched my spirit,” she cried. “And I’ve never heard you sing. You have the most powerful voice. God used you today.”
“I give all glory to God,” Khalil told her and embraced her tightly and kissed her on her tear-filled cheek. “God bless you, Sister Eliana,” he said and then quickly glanced at the handsome young man standing next to her. He felt his heart drop a notch as he thought Dang, she brought her man up in here. Oh well, guess that means I just have to step up my game.
“Pastor Khalil, I want to introduce you. This is my twin brother, Ian” she said and introduced him to Ian. “Ian, this is Pastor Khalil.”
“Welcome to Holy Rock, Ian. We love having your sister as part of our staff,” he complimented Eliana and looked at her and smiled. He reached out and used the ball of his thumb to wipe away a tear from her face.
“Thank you,” Ian said. “I really enjoyed the service and your message, and that song is one of my favorites.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” Khalil said. “Please consider joining us.”
The armor bearer whispered to Khalil that they needed to keep things moving because there was still a long line of people anxious to greet him.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Khalil said to Eliana, as he reached out and held her hand a little longer than necessary.
“Okay,” she said demurely, batting her long lashes at Khalil in a subtle but flirtatious gesture.
The line continued on and Khalil received word after word of praise. One or two people whispered in his ear that he should be ashamed of what he’d said about Hezekiah, but Khalil wasn’t bothered. He expected there to always be somebody who would not be a fan of his. The line continued and then Khalil saw Detria and her parents approaching. He said something to the armor bearer standing to his left. As the Mackey’s approached, Sister Mackey praised him and Detria’s father gave him a firm handshake and a nod of the head. When Detria came up, she tried unsuccessfully to lean in and whisper in his ear, but Khalil wasn’t having it.
“Good to see you, Sister Graham,” he said with fake enthusiasm and slightly pushed her in the center of her back forcing her to move forward. The armor bearer gently took hold of her and led her forward and away from Khalil.
Detria was furious. She had still been texting and calling Khalil and still he ignored her, but she wasn’t going to give up. She had to convince him that the only reason she was with Hezekiah and George was out of fear. George wasn’t exactly the nicest guy and neither was Hezekiah and she didn’t want to cross either of them. Plus, George kept her supplied with what she loved and craved the most – cocaine.
Ever since her accident and her daughter’s death, she’d been on drugs. It started innocently with her becoming addicted to painkillers, which she was on for almost two years. When the doctor refused to write her any more prescriptions and she’d become unable to buy them as much as she once did from off the street, she tried cocaine and she had been using it ever since. She soon put the pain pills aside and became a faithful user. When she met George through Hezekiah, who she discovered enjoyed lacing his weed with the white powder, she traded her pill addiction for cocaine. The only persons outside of George and Hezekiah who knew about her habit was Priscilla, but she could count on Priscilla to keep her mouth shut. She paid the woman enough and because of that Priscilla was loyal.
As the armor bearer practically forced her past Khalil, Detria looked back at him and rolled her eyes. The armor bearer stayed by her side and escorted her and her son out of the sanctuary and into the vestibule. He stood at the door until he was sure she was not going to try to back track into the sanctuary. Detria followed her parents out of the church, and onto the crowded parking lot. She spotted George; he was loading Hezekiah’s wheelchair in the back of his SUV. She couldn’t see Hezekiah but assumed that he was already inside the vehicle.
She walked with her parents unnoticed by George but Hezekiah watched them. He smiled wickedly and then began watching the other people come outside the church.
There were several people who saw him before he got into the SUV but surprisingly their welcome wasn’t as warm and inviting as he had expected. Khalil and Fancy seemed to have done a good job turning his flock against him and for that he wanted them to pay, and he would do it by striking out at them where he knew it would hurt the most. For Fancy that meant money and he would start with that house. As for Khalil and Xavier, he would get George to help him devise something against his sons and he hoped to do it soon because George would be leaving for his stint behind bars relatively soon.
And him going back to prison was out of the question for Hezekiah. No way would he let Khalil set him up to go back there and if he did, Hezekiah thought to himself, I’ll take Fancy with me and you too, boy if I have to.