Chapter 6 – Jesus Chose His Friends So Can I!
Their Latter Day Jesus by Pearl Adams: The grandfather clock at the antique shop chimed. Its owner Reinhardt Weyden looked up from his newspaper and saw his friend Freud Kierkegaard striding towards the building. He loved having Freud around because both of them had so much in common. He had a smile on his face as his friend walked briskly into the shop. The smile faded when Freud ignored his outstretched hand and plopped on the only cushion chair in the shop. Something must be eating the old dude up, Reinhardt thought.
Before he had the chance to elicit any information from his friend, Freud blurted out, “I hear the Bishop has invited Prophet George Ling to minister in our church this Sunday.”
“Prophet Ling? The man accused of mixing Christianity with Hinduism?”
“Sure. I thought I was mistaken so I called the church office and the Bishop’s secretary confirmed it.”
Reinhardt stared at Freud, the harbinger of the evil tidings and shrugged his shoulder. He had tried to leave the church several times but lacked the will power to take the plunge. He gritted his teeth, turned to his friend and said, "You know what? I am done with Bishop Hegel and his pranks. Is he blind to the controversy that has trailed Ling’s twenty years in ministry? For Christ sake! No pastor in the Pentecostal movement has associated with that man since some former members of his church accused him of using ungodly powers to bewitch them. Why should a respectable Christian leader like Hegel associate with such a character?
Freud placed his right hand around his friend’s shoulder and said, “Let us call the Associate Pastor and get his perspective on the matter. The Bishop could still be prevailed upon to cancel the appointment. The church has gone through so much trial in the last two years and this may well trigger a split.”
Reinhardt nodded and brought out his cell phone. He dialled Khan’s number but got a busy tone. After three more trials, he suggested that they visit the Pastor at the church office. He checked his time and said, “It’s 4:00 p.m. I am sure he will still be in the office for counselling. Let us hope we do not meet a queue.”
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in Paul’s waiting room. Not long after, his secretary ushered them into his counselling room. The Associate Pastor shook hands with the two men and said, “Ah Freud, quite an age. Reinhardt, was it not on Tuesday I inquired about his welfare? Sit down. Sit down gentlemen. How may I help you?”
Freud cleared his throat and said, “We need to know what you think about Ling coming to minister in our church next Sunday. We are perplexed about this development because Ling’s antecedents are murky to say the least.” Paul picked up a pencil eraser from a bowl on his table and scratched at the tip with his thumb. He felt drained and did not relish the thought of another fray with the Bishop. He sent a silent prayer to God for wisdom to deal with the situation.
With his emotion finally under control, he turned to Freud and said, “I fervently desire to be in a position where I can dictate who to invite to minister in the church I pastor. Right now, God has not deemed it fit to honour me with such a responsibility. My candid advice to you sirs is that you come to church on Sunday with an open mind. While God frowns at rebellion in any form in His church, He also expects you to be discerning in what you feed your soul.”
The associate pastor picked up the eraser again and stole a glance at his two visitors. Something in their mien told him they were not satisfied with his homily. Oh well, he thought. They’re at liberty to deal with the problem the way they see fit. That’s the beauty of Christianity. God gives you a free will and allows you to exercise it, sometimes at your own peril if you choose to be your own lord.
Reinhardt was the first to get up. He had not expected much from Khan knowing how much the Bishop gagged pastors under him. He only agreed to see the Associate Pastor in deference to his friend. He turned to their host and said, “Thanks a lot Sir for your counsel. Freud and I will discuss the matter further and take an informed decision in the light of what you have said.”
Immediately the two men left his office, Paul went down on his knees and implored God to release him from serving under the Bishop. Even as he marshalled his arguments, he knew deep within his heart that heaven had shut its doors to his entreaties. It was a very subdued Paul that left his office for home that Thursday evening.
While the Associate Pastor was struggling to come to terms with his fate, the Bishop stepped out of his shower with a big smile on his face. He was a picture of perfect health. As he towelled his body, he gazed at his image in a large mirror that ringed his spacious bathroom. His smile broadened as he admired his physique.
His wife once jokingly called him “Alan poser” because she felt he was too aware of his beautiful features. The smile faded when he spied the strands of grey on his army cut hair. He had always hated grey hair. It did not matter to him that he was just three years away from sixty. He still saw himself as a suave and urbane young man. Oh well, he thought, what does it matter what one looks like. At the end of the day, you would end up food for worms.
As he opened the sliding door connecting the bathroom to his bedroom, his wife strolled in from an adjacent room used as a study. The look on her face spoke volumes. He knew better than to ignore her when she was in the mood to talk. He was not actually glad to see her because he had given Serge Klein, Ling’s representative in Stuttgart a 6:p.m. appointment and it was already 5.p.m. He needed time to get himself together before driving to Wiesenberger Resort to meet with Klein.
Before he could utter a word his wife said, “My lord, trouble is brewing in the church. Two sisters in the prayer team called me at different times this evening to caution against our hosting Ling on Sunday. They said some members that are not happy with the situation planned to embarrass you and the visitor.”
Hegel chuckled and strode into his room, his wife in tow. He turned to her and asked, “How many people did Jesus consult before he chose his twelve apostles? Without batting a lid, his wife replied, “Why is that it is when it suits you that you make Jesus Christ your model? How many times have I advised you against indulging in follies that bring reproach to the name of Christ? God knows I have tried my best to cover your inadequacies. I have gotten to the end of my limit. By all means, go ahead and host Ling on Sunday. I will not be there.
As she turned to walk away, her husband grasped her by the shoulder and spun her around. He looked her eyeball to eyeball and said, “Listen to me woman! I do not know what has come over you. Do I need to take permission from you to meet the spiritual needs of my congregation? Why have you suddenly become a disciple of those opposed to Ling’s ministry? Were you not the same woman who encouraged me to reach out to other men of God to enrich the lives of our spiritual children? I find it strange…..”
Even though his grip on her arm tightened, Anna was no longer afraid. She cut in, “Yes, I remember too well that I made that suggestion but that is not a license to invite characters like Ling to feed our people. Have you taken time to study his background? I was at a friend’s place last week when one of his programs was aired on TBN.
Some of the things he said sounded like what you expect to hear in an occult meeting. While speaking on his so-called healing and deliverance ministry, he berated his critics for questioning his use of unorthodox means to ‘set the captives of Satan free.” He claimed that his own anointing oil is special because he travels to Israel to buy condiments like Solomon’s almond to make it potent. For God’s sake, can you not see that he is just using the Bible to cover his occult bent?”
Hegel released his hold on his wife arm and led her to a seat by his bed. This time, he was not brash. He sat on a nearby stool and wrapped his arms around her. He smiled at her and said, “My dear little prude, life is not as simple as you think. In little planet of ours, you cannot make any headway playing by the rules all the time.
Have you not heard the saying that the end justifies the means? So what if Ling reaches beyond the confines of your very religious mind to make things happen in his ministry? I am for results my dear, not this pedestrian arguments that lead to nowhere. This is what we will do. If any member of the congregation is not healed on Sunday…..”
With a pained look, his wife struggled free of his embrace. She stood up and said, “My dear, it is obvious that we are not communicating. I do not believe that miracles validate a man’s ministry. The test handed down by the Lord himself is the fruit a man bears. What does it matter if a man raises the death if he does that in the power of the evil one? I am determined to finish my course in the power of the Holy Spirit. By God’s grace, I will finish strong. Go ahead and fulfill your heart’s desire to glorify the devil. I do not care anymore.” With head held high, Anna strode out of the room.
Hegel was tempted to go after her in a last ditch effort to make her seen reason but he changed his mind. He stretched his limbs on his king size bed, rested his head on his palms and gave a wry smile. Who would have thought that Anna would have the effrontery to challenge his authority? The more he remembered how much he had done for her, the angrier he became. What impudence! If the intrepid gospel she is rooting for was beneficial to anyone, why did her father die a pauper despite his much-touted deep walk with the Lord? He Hegel had always believed in the dictum that everyman was the architect of his own destiny.
While it was true that his dad and other foundation members of the church were holiness preachers, nothing in the Scriptures binds him to their old time religion. He has seen many of such ministries wither and die because their leaders refuse to move with the times. As a matter of fact, this was what attracted him to Ling in the first place. The man is a bundle of energy and full of bright ideas on how to push the frontiers of Christianity to reach more people for Christ. So what if he dabbles into eastern religion to get his message across? Did the great Apostle Paul not say that he was not opposed to any gospel so long as it pointed people to Christ?
Did Jesus himself not rebuke John in Mark chapter nine verse thirty-nine for trying to stifle the ministry of a man that was casting out demons in the name of Jesus but was not one of the twelve Apostles? To hell with this narrow minded crowd. None of them will dare embarrass his guest on Sunday. He would show them the door himself if they tried anything funny. What’s with this petty Christians anyway? He was sure most of them were jealous of his success. What does it matter where he draws his inspiration from so long as he is meeting the spiritual needs of his followers?
He recalled a conversation he had with Yung Lang, a visiting minister from Hong Kong some years back. They had just finished a deliverance session at his church when Lang said, “Our battle with the powers of darkness is becoming too fierce for us to continue to depend on obsolete weapons used by the early Apostles. We need to move in a higher realm of anointing if we must set the captives free indeed.”
In his ignorance, he looked askance at the pastor and replied, “With due respect Sir I do not think we need new weapons of warfare. What I believe is lacking is commitment on the part of those called to equip the body of Christ.” He expected Lang to argue with him but the pastor just shrugged his shoulder and left with his entourage back to their hotel.
Nothing was said about the matter until two months later when he received an e-mail from Lang forwarding the website of Ling to him. Initially he was not enthusiastic about getting in touch with the controversial healing and deliverance minister. He watched some of his telecast on TBN and was skeptical of the source of his anointing. Ling’s apparent endorsement by Lang, the latter, a pastor with a large following in Hong Kong and the United States of America eroded his defences and he resolved to put his biases aside and test the spirit as commanded in the Scriptures.
Two weeks later while he was still contemplating visiting the website, he got a telephone call from Ling himself. He was too excited to exercise any kind of spiritual discernment at that point in time. One thing led to another and he found himself agreeing to travel to Hong Kong to see things for himself. He resolved to keep the matter to himself having heard some of the uncomplimentary remarks Anna made about the minister.
His trip to Hong Kong was an eye opener. What he saw the first Sunday he worshipped at Ling’s church was astounding to say the least. He saw the lame walk right before his eyes. The magnitude of the miracles was even more than what he saw on TBN. There and then, he vowed to acquire the same anointing no matter the cost.
As if in answer to his yearnings, Ling left the podium and walked towards where he sat with his wife Yan and other ministers. He came straight to him and placed both palms on his head. He felt himself lifted up by an invisible hand as something like electric current surged through his body. While he was still wondering what was happening to him, he lost consciousness. He had no idea how long he passed out. When he regained control of his senses, one of the pastors lifted him up from the floor and helped him to his seat. He felt light hearted and free of all cares. Though he did not have an idea of the nature of anointing imparted to him by Ling, he was sure he had encountered God in a big way.
His new spiritual status did not manifest until the second Sunday he ministered at his church in Stuttgart after he returned from Hong Kong. He was preaching a sermon titled, “Raising A Generation For A Time Like This” when the heavens opened. The moment he brought out his prepared notes and kept them on the raised dais, something broke loose in him. He felt a sensation similar to what he experienced at Ling’s church. He was afraid of passing out in front of the congregation so he raised his hand to ease the pressure on it. As his right hand went up, worshippers close to the podium staggered like drunks and crumpled on the floor. He was flabbergasted!
From the reaction of the congregation, it was obvious that something momentous had happened in his ministry. As he tried to calm the shocked parishioners, more people joined those on the floor. This continued for more than ten minutes until he went on his knees and pleaded with God to hold his fire to enable him minister the word.
Since he had not discussed his trip to Hong Kong with any member of his church, including his wife, he felt it was not wise to mention impartation of any spiritual gift to him by the controversial minister. Of course, he had covered his tracks so well that they all believed that he spent the two weeks in South Korea with Paul Yonggi Cho, Pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church. Well he thought the chicken had come home to roost! He had always hated living a lie, but he could not bring himself to say no to Ling when he called to tell him that he was visiting Munich and would like to use the opportunity to minister at his church. At this time, their relationship had grown to the level of a spiritual father and son.
He recalled the first time the Holy Spirit manifested His presence at his church. After the service, he immediately put a call through to Ling. He felt he needed the pastor’s validation to give him the assurance that he had not embraced a strange spirit. Of course, Ling lectured him on the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit and encouraged him to do great things for God. When he noticed the lack of discernible healing miracles in his ministry, it was also the older pastor who assured him that this would come with time as he yielded himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
To think that an influential man of God like Ling could take him under his wings was something too marvellous for him to comprehend. He just could not understand why his wife failed to appreciate their good fortune. With a determination borne out of conviction, he rose from the bed and got dressed for his appointment.