LOST, BUT FOUND (EXCERPT)

Anna was looking around the sitting room. The place was lovely. It was a beautiful blend of antiques and modern furniture. She wondered if the place had been done by Jessica or by an interior decorator. She would bet that it was the latter. The whole place spoke of wealth. Again seeing evidence of the wealth that Jessica lived in made her start feeling sorry for herself all over again. Her apartment was nothing compared to this. In fact it looked downright shabby.

Stop it, a voice in her head said. She might not have all that Jessica had but at least she had Ben and their son and she was happy. And nothing could take that from her. Jessica might have all this but who knew if she was happy? And besides, she didn’t have the most important thing of all, even with all her wealth.

“I’m surprised that you’re here.”

Anna was startled out of her reverie by the words. She turned her wheel chair to see Jessica coming into the room behind her. As usual, she seemed to be dressed in the latest and definitely expensive looking clothes.

“I would have thought I was last person you would want to see,” Jessica continued as she sat on a settee that was opposite to Anna. Her words came out stilted and forced.

“I know,” Anna replied. “But I felt led to come and speak to you.”

Jessica stiffened. So Anna felt led. Jessica had grown up hearing her father say such things. It was supposedly Christianese for saying that some greater power was at work. It was a Christian’s way of saying that he was being made to do something he would normally not have done. Or something like that.

“Really,” Jessica said. She looked at her watch wondering how long she would let her speak before she threw her out.

Anna saw her looking at her watch and suddenly felt nervous. All that she had wanted to say and the order she had wanted to say them in became a jumble. She had to find a way to get her point across.

“Remember what you said when you were over at my place?” Anna asked. “What you said about me becoming a Christian just because I thought God would heal me?”

Jessica stiffened. “I believe I apologised for that. I’m sorry if I caused any offence.....”

“You were right,” Anna said cutting into Jessica’s rambling.

“Excuse me?” Jessica said, confused. She thought that was why she had brought it up, to get an apology from her.

“I said you were right,” Anna said speaking out. “For a long time, the reason I was calling myself a Christian was because I wanted something from God. I wasn't serving God because I should. I was serving him because I wanted something from him.”

Jessica was silent. She didn't know what to say. She thought both of them were the same thing.

“When the accident happened, I blamed myself every day. I used to tell myself that if I only I hadn't gone out drinking, I would still be walking. Or that if only I hadn't gone into the car not caring that the driver was drunk, I would still be walking. On the other hand, I thought about how life was so unfair and that God must be so wicked that he allowed it to happen. You can imagine that I wasn't a very happy person in those days. I could say that I was depressed.”

Anna stared into space as her mind went back to the days following her accident. “In the end, I slipped into denial. I began to tell myself that the doctor must be wrong and that I was still going to walk. Every day when I woke up, I expected that I was going to be able to move my legs. That I would suddenly get up from my wheel chair and begin to walk to every one’s astonishment.”

“I couldn't really find any peace from the worries on my mind so I began to go to the church in the evenings to pray. Then just because I felt there was nothing else to do, I started going to church. I would come late and sit at the back and then leave before the service was over.”

“Then one day, I got to church and the pastor was preaching about how there was nothing God could not do. How there was nothing impossible for God. He said that there was no disease, no sickness that God did not have a cure for. That all we needed to do was believe and have faith and trust in him like a child.”

Anna’s face lightened up with a smile as she remembered. “There and then I decided that if God could make me walk again even if the doctors had failed, I was going to try him. So when there was an altar call that day, I came out. I converted to Christianity because of my selfish desires. All the talk of being a sinner, needing Jesus, being repentant, everything went over my head. I didn't think I was a sinner at all. My whole aim was to get God to heal me.”

“I fasted and prayed for months that God would just make me walk again. It was as if that was all God existed for. To ensure he did all within his power to make sure I walked again. I went back to college and I started attending fellowship. I did everything I could do to deserve that healing. I practically worked or it. I didn’t mind all the people who made fun of me as I knew what I was going to get from God.”

“It was in college that I met Ben. From the first day that we met, I knew that there was something special about him. We hit it off immediately. But I was scared. I wondered what someone like him would want with someone like me who was in a wheel chair. But I would like to think he looked past the shriveled body and saw something that even I didn't know was there.”

“He was the one that made me understand that God is not some waiter waiting at our beck and call just to grant our demands. That God doesn't really need us but we are the ones who need him. Salvation and becoming a Christian isn't about God taking all our pain away, it’s about helping us bear the pain and trouble we go through so that we can share God’s love with other people.”

“I honestly believe that God does have the power to heal. I honestly believe that God can heal me. But I believe even more that God has a purpose for each of our lives. I believe that he uses the circumstances we go through to minister to us and to the people that we meet. Like he told Paul, his grace is sufficient for us. His intention is that even in the midst of our pain and trouble we will come to know and understand the purpose that he has for our lives.”

“I used to think that life was all about me. But I have come to understand that life is not about me but it’s about the people I meet every day. It’s about the people who come into my life and those who I meet. God wants us to be able to reflect him properly to them and show them his love.”

Jessica shifted uncomfortably in her seat.  She wasn't comfortable with all this talk. She wanted to ask Anna to leave but she didn't say anything.

“I believe that there is something on the inside of every man that makes you search for God. That makes you want to worship him. It’s when people don’t find him that they worship other things like wood, snakes, trees, iron, and goats. It’s when people don’t know where to look for him that they end worshiping the wrong things or they end up in a cult.”

“There are people who have come to God because they heard someone preach about him. Then there are those who find him in times of great pain and trouble or personal grief. But regardless of how they found him, they realised that they needed him and they held on to him. I believe that regardless of who we are or what we are or are not going through, we all need God.”

Anna held up something she had been holding in her lap. It was a small book and she held it out to Jessica. “That’s why I brought this. It’s a Bible. I’m not so foolish as to ask you to make a decision right now. But I want you to have this. I want you to read it and I’ll be hoping and praying for you that you find him too.”

Jessica stared at the Bible as if she had been offered a snake. She folded her arms across her chest and said, “Thank you but I think I’ll keep my problems to myself.” She made no move to accept the Bible.

Anna wasn't surprised. To be honest, she was a little hurt but she wasn't surprised. She wheeled herself over to a table and dropped the Bible on it. She turned to Jessica and smiled. “Thank you so much for your time, I really appreciate it. I’ll be on my way.”

Jessica followed her to the door. Just before they got to the door, it burst open with some force and Catherine stormed into the house. She slammed the door after her and began storming into the room. She stopped in her tracks when she saw her mother and another woman in a wheel chair.

“What’s wrong Catherine?” Jessica asked.

“I am so not going to be friends with Carrie again,” Catherine said fuming, “She is so mean.” She however refused to elaborate on how Casey had been mean. She was also busy staring at Anna as if she was from Mars.

Anna held out a hand to the girl and smiled. “Hello. My name is Anna. Anna Palmer.”

Catherine’s eyes widened as she shook hands with her. “I’m Catherine. Are you the one who fought with my mom over a boy in high school?”

“Catherine!”Jessica shouted, embarrassed.

Anna didn't know who was more embarrassed, her or Jessica. However, she was more surprised than embarrassed. She was looking at Catherine in surprise and there was a question in her eye. She would never have thought that Jessica had a daughter this old. The girl looked like thirteen or fourteen.

“It’s nice to meet you Catherine. I was just leaving. Maybe I’ll see you some other time,” Anna said as she wheeled herself through the door that Jessica held open. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Jessica closed the door behind her and walked back into the sitting room behind her daughter.

“You didn't tell me what happened between you and Carrie.”

“I don’t want to talk about it mom. At least not now,” Catherine said. She looked down and saw the book on the table. “What’s this?” she asked as she picked it up the Bible from the table. She opened the leather bound cover to look at first page. “Oh, it’s a Bible.” She looked at her mother in surprise. “Are you the one reading the Bible mom? Is it yours?”

Jessica removed the book from her daughter’s hands. “It must be Anna’s. She must have forgotten it. I’ll keep it for her.”

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/.

LOST, BUT FOUND (EXCERPT)

The entire congregation watched Greg as he made his way to the pulpit. By now, everyone in church knew that he was taking over from Bill Wilkinson in a couple of month’s time. Bill had already preached that morning so people wondered what it was he wanted to come and say. People whispered to each other trying to guess the reason for his speech or whatever it was.

Greg walked to the pulpit feeling the stares of the people on him. He had never felt this nervous before in all his years in the ministry. His knees felt like buckling under the weight of all the attention directed at him and he felt like running away. But he sent up a prayer for strength and continued walking toward the pulpit. It had never seemed so far away.

Ruth watched her husband walk up the steps to the stage as he made for the pulpit with a lump in her throat and a deep feeling of sadness in her heart. She had tried to dissuade him from his decision but he had refused to be moved. In a way she understood his decision but she felt it wasn’t necessary.

Jessie watched her father walk up to the pulpit and accept the microphone from Bill Wilkinson. Her parents had supported her decision to keep the baby. They had even said that if she wanted to marry Peter and go to New York with him as he had asked her to, they would give their permission. They had made it clear that all they were concerned about were her happiness and her welfare. Even though they had been extremely supportive, a distance had somehow developed between Jessie and her parents and she didn’t know how to bridge it. There was no laughter between them anymore and Jessie wished things could go back to the way they had been before. She wished that things had turned out differently for everyone. She was surprised when her mother took hold of her hand. She looked up at her mother who smiled at her wanly and turned back to look at Greg.

“Good morning church. As you know, Bill Wilkinson is retiring in a couple of months time,” Greg began, leaning one hand on the pulpit, “and I was chosen by the church’s board of trustees. Out of all the people who applied for the position, they felt that I was the best person to do the job. That for me was so humbling. I would like to thank Bob Carlisle and the entire members of the trustees’ board for their faith in my ability to do the work. I however want say that I will no longer be taking up the post of pastor here at New Earth Evangelical Church.”

The noise from a lot of people speaking together almost put him off but he continued, ignoring them all. “I have recently come into possession of certain information that would make it impossible for me to discharge my duties here at the church to the best of my ability. I wouldn’t want a situation where the word of God was treated with levity or there was a pointing of fingers due to certain circumstances. I do not seek to justify what has happened, but it has made it impossible for me to discharge the duties imposed on me as a pastor with all good conscience.”

“I have this morning informed the trustees of my decision to leave and once again I thank them for the opportunity given to me to lead this great people. I’m very grateful. I apologise for leaving everyone in the lurch like this and I take full responsibility. God bless you all.”

Greg handed the microphone back to a surprised Bill Wilkinson and walked off the stage. The entire congregation had by now lapsed into silence. One or two people clapped but when they saw that hardly anyone else was joining in, they stopped. As Greg got off the stage, Ruth stood up with her arms around Jessie and together they all walked out of the church.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal

LOST, BUT FOUND (EXCERPT)

Ruth dove to the center of town and stopped in front of the grocery store. Getting out of the car she walked inside. The bell above the door chimed as she opened it, announcing her presence. She joined the small queue at the counter and waited her turn to be served.

“Good afternoon,” she said, smiling when it got to her turn.

The woman behind the counter smiled back at Ruth. She was in her fifties and her brown hair was almost completely gray. She was small in stature but there was a sparkle in her eyes. “And good afternoon to you too. And what would you be ordering  today?”

“I was thinking of doing some baking for my husband and my daughter,” Ruth answered. “I would like some flour, eggs and some other stuff.” She handed over a list of the things she wanted with the required quantities.

The other woman went about gathering the things that were on Ruth’s list. “You’re new around here aren't you?” she asked, turning her head to look at Ruth.

“Yes,” Ruth said, smiling back.

“Let me guess, you’re not from around these parts,” the woman said as she continued searching for the required items.

“No I’m not. My husband, Greg and Jessie our daughter and I came from Boston, although we are originally from Vermont. My name is Ruth. Ruth Myskill.”

“Pauline. Pauline Foster. So what are city people like you looking for around these parts?”

“My husband Greg got a job here, so we all followed. Hopefully we will be here for a long time.”

“Really?” the woman said turning to look at Ruth with a quizzical frown on her face. “What job is that? I didn't know there was an opening at the high school.”

“It’s not at the high school,” Ruth answered smiling. “My husband is the new pastor at the New Earth Evangelical Church. That is, he is going to be the pastor when Bill Wilkinson retires.”

Suddenly the other woman’s back seemed to stiffen and her movements slower. “The new pastor? I thought Bill was going to continue?”

“Well, you know he’s going to be 75 soon and he has to retire,” Ruth said slowly. She watched as the other woman turned around and moved to the computer to ring up the purchases. The smile had disappeared from the other woman’s face and she had a not-too-pleased look on her face.

“So the church board are still thinking of kicking him out from his church,” Pauline said bitterly punching the computer keys in anger. “We thought they had forgotten about all that nonsense.”

“No one is kicking him out,” Ruth replied mesmerized by the woman’s hands and the anger that moved them.

“And I say that it’s not fair for them to be kicking him out just like that,” the other woman replied in anger. “After all that he has done for the church and the town.”

This time Ruth was silent, not knowing what to say. The other woman was definitely aggrieved with the church board and she didn't want her to find another target in Greg or herself.

“It’s just disgraceful,” Pauline said as she began to pack the items in paper bags. “Disgraceful I say. What do they want him to do when they chase him out? Where is he supposed to go? That will be twenty five dollars fifty cents.”

Ruth brought out her wallet to get money to pay for the groceries now wishing she hadn't come to the shop or introduced herself. It seemed her simple plan of getting to know the people hadn't been so simple after all. She collected her change from Pauline, mumbled a quick thank you and made a quick exit out of the door.

Ruth walked back outside, feeling slightly relieved that she had made it safely out of the grocery store. She walked with the bags to the car and put them in the back. She got into the car but she didn't start the engine, thinking about the little episode in the grocery store. If she’d had slight misgivings before, now she was very worried. If Pauline’s view was representative of the people who attended New Earth Evangelical Church, it seemed that they didn't want Bill Wilkinson to leave.  So where did that leave Greg?

Driving slowly through the center of town, she noticed a coffee shop. She parked in front and got out. She wanted to think and she didn't think she would be able to that at home. Jessie would soon be back and she would get caught up house work again. She needed time alone to herself to think about the situation her family had found themselves in. She walked into the coffee shop and sat at one of the tables, looking round as she waited for someone to come and take her order.

There were few customers there at that hour. Quite a few of the people seated there were in military uniforms. Some were with female companions, some were alone. Ruth remembered that Greg had told her that Fort Rucker the home of Army Aviation was close by and that one of the entrances to the army base was just on the outskirts of the town. Apart from the military types, there were a few other men in the room, taking their time over their coffee. They didn’t look like there was anything they were in a hurry to get to. They didn't seem to have a care in the world.

“May I take your order?”

Ruth jumped, startled by the voice. She turned in the direction it had come from and the sight of a protruding stomach covered by a red check apron filled her vision. She looked up at the owner of the protruding stomach. The woman looked to be in her late twenties with a mass of brown hair that hung limply from her face. Beads of sweat ran down her face. Whether it was from the hot kitchen or from the strain of carrying the weight in her tummy, Ruth didn't know.  It was probably a combination of both, she guessed.

Smiling to win the trust of a stranger for the second time that day, Ruth said, “Good afternoon. Do you have coffee? Preferably decaf.”

“Sure we do.”

“Then can I get a cup of coffee?”

“Sure you can,” the other woman replied, smiling back as she scribbled with her pencil in the notepad she held in her hand. “One cup of decaf coffee coming up. Will that be all or will you be having anything with it? We have pecan pie and muffins if you want.”

“I’ll take the pecan pie,” Ruth replied.

“Okay,” the other woman said as she walked away.

As soon as the waitress went away to fulfill her order, Ruth became lost in her thoughts and they were not pleasant ones. It seemed Greg was already facing an uphill battle winning over his parishioners without them getting to know him or his doctrine first. And it was all because they seemed to be attached to their current pastor who was supposed to retire but who himself seemed too attached to the position. All of which didn't bode well for Greg.

She was deep in thought about how everything was going to work out when the waitress arrived with her coffee. She however didn't notice the other woman until she placed the cup of coffee and the plate with the pie in front of her. Snapping out of her somber thoughts, she looked at the food set before. Now, it seemed she didn't have the appetite for the pie. “Thank you,” she said.

The waitress nodded in response. “You seemed pretty much lost in thought.”

Ruth sighed. “I have a lot of things on my mind. There’s a situation and I don’t see how it can be resolved without someone getting hurt.”

“That’s bad. You wanna talk about it?”

“I really don’t know,” Ruth said undecided. She didn't think it was right to unload all her troubles on a total stranger. Besides, for all she knew, the woman was one of the people in support of Bill Wilkinson.

“If what you’re worried about is that I’m going to blab about it, all I can say is that you don’t know me. I know quite a lot of people who talk about me behind my back. I don’t like it so I don’t do it to others,” the waitress said firmly as she settled in the seat opposite to Ruth.

Ruth felt reassured. “The thing is that it has to do with Bill Wilkinson.”

“Bill Wilkinson,” the other woman repeated woodenly, stiffening perceptibly. Her hands clenched and unclenched themselves involuntarily on the table. Ruth however noticed none of this. She was lost in her thoughts.

“The thing is that Bill Wilkinson is supposed to retire as the pastor of the New Earth Evangelical Church in like six months time. The church board has chosen my husband to replace him and the thing is .....”

“I see,” the other woman said as she stood up abruptly from the chair. Her movements were awkward because of the size of her stomach but she managed it. “I see. So your husband is replacing Bill Wilkinson. So, is he going to come here himself to do his dirty work himself unlike Bill or is that why you’re here? To do it for him?” By now her voice had risen and several other people in the room had risen as well. Everyone was staring at them.

To say that Ruth was embarrassed was an understatement. She stood up as well, reaching out to the other woman, trying to pacify her. “I really don’t know what you mean. I was just trying to say ...”

“You don’t have to say anything,” the other woman said bitterly. “Bill and Ida have said everything that could be said. I don’t go where I’m not wanted and Bill and Ida have made it crystal clear I’m not wanted at their church. Unless you've come to repeat what they've already said. Don’t worry, neither I nor my “bastard” will ever darken the door of your church,” she said with feeling. Her hands were clasped in front of her belly as if to protect her unborn child from Ruth.

Ruth recoiled as if she had been slapped. The word shocked her and made her stomach roll. She couldn't understand what the other woman had just said. Had Bill and his wife really used that word about her unborn child? While she had assumed that the other woman was married, she wasn't one to condemn some other person like that.

“Wait, you don’t understand. It’s not like that,” she said trying to explain. “It’s not what you think.”

“Lady, I think it’s time you left.”

Ruth turned to see one of the military types coming towards them. He stopped for a moment to put his arms around the waitress. “Are you alright Bee?” he asked. She couldn't get the words out to answer him because she seemed to be on the verge of hyperventilating. He turned to look at Ruth with menace in his eyes. “I thought I told you to get out?”

Ruth wanted to stand her ground but she could see there was no use attempting to speak reasonably with anyone. Everyone in the coffee shop was looking at her with venom in their eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” she said as she began to pack her things from the table. “I’m really very sorry. I didn't mean .....”

“Get out,” the man snarled as he held the waitress he had referred to as Bee in his arms, offering her comfort. “Get out and don’t come back.

With one last apologetic look in the woman’s direction, Ruth walked out of the coffee shop.

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal

LOST, BUT FOUND (EXCERPT)

“Mr. Carlisle asked if you could please join him in the meeting room,” his secretary said.

“Did he say now?” Greg asked, thinking about all that he had to do. He didn’t think he could take out time to attend a meeting. But he had to of course.

“Yes, he did.”

“Did he say anything about what the meeting is about?”

“Of course not.” His secretary’s tone said that it was none of her business and that she didn’t concern herself with things that were none of her business.

Greg sighed. “Thank you Gloria,” he said before hanging up.

A few minutes later he was walking down the corridor toward the meeting room with the report he had been reading in his hand. He might still get a chance to read it while the meeting was going on. He raised his hand and turned the knob and pushed the door in. The door opened and he looked into the room and stopped in his tracks.

Sitting around the rectangular table that took up most of the space in the room, were all the members of the board of trustees. The only vacant seat was opposite Bob Carlisle who sat at the head of the table.

“I’m sorry,” Greg said, standing at the door, “I didn’t know I was supposed to attend a meeting today. I don’t remember being told about a meeting.”

“Don’t worry about it Greg, just come on in,” Bob Carlisle said, a slight smile on his face.

Greg walked slowly into the room and closed the door behind him. He wondered why he suddenly felt uneasy about the whole meeting thing. In the past few months, he had rarely got to meet with the members of the trustees’ board and now here they all were looking at him and trying to pretend they were engrossed  with the papers on the table in front of them.

“Sit down Greg,” Bob said pointing to the vacant chair, looking at some papers on the table before him.

Greg sat down in the chair. He looked round the room at the other men sitting around the table but it seemed no one wanted to look at him. Bob Carlisle cleared his throat and Greg looked at him.

“We understand that you seem to be doing quite well in getting up to speed about your responsibilities at the church,” Bob began. “We are quite pleased at how you seem to have fitted in so easily into the way things are done here. We know that you probably have your own ideas about how things need to run and we are grateful that you’ve adapted to the way things run and not tried to rock the boat. Bill Wilkinson speaks quite highly of you,” Bob added with a slight smile.

Instead of making him feel relaxed, the compliment actually made him feel more nervous. It was like the gift before you were stabbed between the shoulder blades. “Thank you,” he said. “I think quite highly of him too.”

“As you know, Bill will be retiring in a couple of month’s time,” Bob continued, wiping sweat from his face with a thick towel, “and you will be taking over from him. We have always believed that out of the people we interviewed, you were the person best suited for the job of pastor here and that position has not changed. However, we have come to believe that there needs to be something more.”

Greg couldn’t be absolutely certain but if anyone had asked him, he would have said that his heart stopped for a few seconds after that. Thoughts and pictures began going through his mind. Were they saying that the job was no longer his? Were they saying that after nearly four months of telling him that he was the person they wanted, they no longer thought he was the right person? If they had been having second thoughts, why had they let him waste his time?

Trying to suppress the thoughts, he shook his head. Moistening his dry lips with his tongue to tried to focus on the issue at hand. He shifted in his chair, trying to get more comfortable. “I thought you just said that I was the best person for the job? I don’t understand. What has changed?” he asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

“We believe that while a person might have a calling to be a pastor and the gifts to go with it but that is not enough.”

Greg turned to look at Prentiss Marshall’s sallow face. “So what else is needed?”

“As Paul told Timothy, one of the qualities of a man who desires the office or bishop or deacon must be that he is a man who has control over his family,” Prentiss said.

“Yes,” Greg said, still not understanding where this was all going.

“Therefore would you say that you are a man who has control over his family?” another person asked.

Greg couldn’t remember the name of the person who had just asked the question but remembering his name was the least of his concerns. “I don’t understand what you mean by “control”,” he said.

“Do your wife and your daughter obey you?” Prentiss Marshall asked. “Does your wife submit to you? Or does she believe in women’s rights and believes you can’t tell her what to do? Is your daughter unruly and does she believe she doesn’t need to obey your commands?”

The questions came at him quickly without giving him a chance to answer the previous one. “You make it sound as if I’m supposed to be some kind of dictator who goes about issuing orders everyone has to obey,” he said, trying to stay calm. “I don’t think that is the way Paul meant it.”

“Are you aware that your daughter has been going out with an undesirable boy by the name of Peter Carver for the past 3 or 4 months?” Peter Reed asked.

To say Greg was stunned was an understatement. Jessie had a boyfriend? To be honest, the only friend he knew that his daughter had was Anna and that was because she had been to the house a few times. This was the first he was hearing that Jessie had a boyfriend. And it wasn’t nice hearing about it from other people.

“No.”

“So, don’t you think that who your daughter goes out with should be something that you are concerned about?” Thomas Reed continued. “Especially since cannot be too careful in this age of sexual permissiveness.”

“Are you implying that my daughter is sleeping around?” Greg asked him through gritted teeth.

“I am not implying anything,” the other man said. “But the fact is that the boy isn’t even saved and we all know what boys his age are capable of.”

“Does your wife know about this relationship?” Bob Carlisle asked.

Greg was immediately about to answer “no” but he stopped himself. He couldn’t really be sure if she did or not. “I don’t know.”

The men all looked at each other. “So, what you’re saying is that your wife knows about your daughter’s boyfriend but she refused to tell you about it?” Prentiss Marshall asked.

Greg wanted to deny immediately that Ruth knew anything about it. Again he was stopped by the fact that he wasn’t sure. He couldn’t vouch that she didn’t know anything about it. “I don’t know if she knows about it.”

“So you admit that there is a possibility that you wife knows about it and is keeping that fact from you?” the other man questioned.

“You make it sound like a fact,” Greg complained.

“I didn’t say it was a fact,” the other man said with something close to a smug smile on his face. “I only asked if there was a possibility that your wife knew about your daughter’s undesirable relationship and was keeping it from you.”

“You need to answer the question Greg,” Bob Carlisle said.

“There is a possibility,” Greg answered reluctantly. He would be the first to confess that he was ashamed. He was ashamed that he had been so caught up in his work and what he thought God wanted him to do that he had neglected his own daughter. He couldn’t remember the last time they had really talked. He had left everything to Ruth because he had felt that what he was doing was more important. Now he was finding out that other people knew more about his family than he did.

“What does your wife have against Bill Wilkinson?” Bob Carlisle asked.

“Excuse me?” Greg said.

“I asked what Bill Wilkinson had done to offend your wife?” he said, repeating the question.

“He hasn’t done anything to her....,” Greg began.

“Then why does she dislike him almost to the point of hatred?” Thomas Reed asked cutting him off.

Greg shook his head as he tried to clear it. “She doesn’t hate him ...,” he denied.   

“Then why does she refuse to talk with him?” Thomas Reed said, cutting him off again. “He said that he had made efforts to talk to her to resolve whatever differences there might be between them but she has rebuffed him.”

“I haven’t heard anything about that,” Greg said truthfully. “We went to their place for lunch some months back and I know that my wife was angry about something she heard from someone about Bill but I never knew that there had been any moves to settle issues between them.”

“Tell us about this story your wife heard,” Prentiss Marshall asked. “What was it all about?”

“I really don’t know much about it,” Greg said lying. “It was something to do about what a former member of the church said about Bill.” He wasn’t going to be the one to tell them about the allegation that Bill had referred to the woman’s unborn child as a bastard. Especially when there was no proof.

“So your wife decided to believe the word of a former member who might be bitter over an imaginary slight?” Prentiss Marshall concluded. “So she thinks that Bill could have done what this woman accused him of without hearing his own side of the story? So she decided to act as judge and jury and find him guilty? That doesn’t sound very Christian to me.”

This whole thing was getting out of hand Greg thought. Going by the questions and the revelations, it seemed he was the only one in his family the men had a good opinion of. Actually, they had a terrible opinion of him as well. While they thought he had the qualities of a great pastor, they also thought he was ineffectual as a husband and father and that he was someone who did not have “control” over his family. They thought his wife was not submissive and not worthy of being called a Christian. And worst of all, they thought his daughter was sleeping around.

Bob Carlisle coughed. “As I said at the start of this meeting, we believe that you are the best person to be the pastor of the church. However, we feel that there are certain issues that need to be resolved with your family before we can in good conscience recommend you for the job permanently. You do understand don’t you?”

Greg nodded. “I understand.”

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBowPress, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers.http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU000194087/Deceptio.aspx and LOST, BUT FOUND available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/. You can follow him on Twitter @Cruz_JCReal