The Prophet: Man of God

"Vengeance is Mine, and retribution, In due time their foot will slip; For the day of their calamity is near, And the impending things are hastening upon them"  Deuteronomy 32:35 New American Standard Bible

In the conference room of a plush downtown hotel are gathered one hundred or so human souls. Men, women and a smattering of children. They sing, clap and dance in discordant harmony.  The discordance notwithstanding, all the adults share a common hunger.  A hunger for the Holy Word. The Word that will sate each unique need. Be it a financial breakthrough. Acquisition of a spouse. Gainful employment. A child or two. Divine intervention in the hearts of officials in foreign embassies in the city, tasked with the duty of issuing visas to their countries. The restoration of broken relationships. The return of the straying marital partner to the matrimonial fold. The list of needs is endless. One and all gathered here are members of The Life is Eternal Ministry or, as the flock fondly call it, LIE.

Towards the front of the conference room is a raised platform. It is decorated in splendorous opulence. A mix of red and gold colours. Two substantially sized floral arrangements of yellow lilies and red roses are placed to the left and right of the stage.   To the centre of the platform stands a glass lectern. Behind the lectern and facing the audience, are, six brown leather armchairs. Each armchair is occupied by either a man or woman of the cloth. They rightly wear pious looks. Positioned between the third and fourth leather chairs, is an even bigger arm chair that rises above the rest. It has a high back rest. Both the back rest and sitting area are covered in a velvet golden fabric. The frame of the chair is made of smooth black mahogany wood. The chair is majestic. As majestic as a throne. Its occupant is a man in his mid-thirties.

Directed by a member of the Ministry's worship team, the congregation's singing is brought to a close. Deacon Melchizedek rises from one of the leather armchairs and approaches the lectern. He shares greetings with the gathered flock. He then leads them in prayer. The next item on the programme for the service, is the announcement of assorted notices pertaining to the work and events happening within LIE. Deacon Melchizedek lists them one after the other. On getting to the last item of the notices, he looks at the gathering with righteous indignation. He reveals that the flock are being tardy in their offerings and tithes to the Ministry. He berates them for being negligent in giving sufficiently for the growth of the Lord's ministry. He wonders how they expect to be blessed when they refuse to give. Did not Luke, Jesus own disciple, say "give and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over..."?. On that slightly angry note, Deacon Melchizedek expresses his pleasure and honour to  invite the occupant of the Chair to address God's people.

A palpable silence descends among the flock.  The notch of expectancy rises several decibels. Even babies stop chattering, fussing and crying.  As one body, they fix their gaze on the man standing before them behind the lectern on the platform. He is a striking figure. He stands at a height of roughly five feet nine inches with an assured confidence. His jerry curled hair is pitch black, shiny and immaculately slicked to the back of his head. Dressed in a sharp tan coloured three piece suit. A crisp white shirt. Red tie and matching red pocket kerchief. There is no mistaking his expensive shoes for anything but leather.  He stands before them and intently surveys his audience. His gaze is neither friendly nor hostile, rather it is meditative. He is the reason everyone is gathered here today. He is the Prophet.  Prophet Ananias.

In a soothing deep baritone voice, the Prophet immediately delves in to the sermon for that Sunday. It is based on a passage from the book of Proverbs. The interpretation of the passage dwells on the various ways in which a woman is expected to give pleasure to her husband and, or, partner. Considerable time and energy is expended on this matter. The more the Prophet expounds on it, the more feverish the tempo of the sermon becomes. His voice gets shriller. He is in a frenzied state. He prances around the stage from one point to another. He jumps here and there. In tandem with his sermon, the spirit contained within the message finds feverish response in and from the congregation. Such is the fervour of the message, a spirit  or spirits descend upon the flock. Women are thrown to the ground where they writher. Grown men wail like little children. If this were not a holy sanctuary, the scene could be described as mayhem. Amidst the attack of the spirit on the flock, Prophet Ananias descends from the platform to walk among his people. Immediately upon dismounting from the platform, he is surrounded by three beefy bodyguards.  He needs protection from the spirits of evil that are tormenting his flock. The guarded Prophet moves among the congregation. He touches a person here. Another there. At other times he literally walks on the bodies of the writhing forms. Demons are cast out. Presently, Prophet Ananias returns to the platform.

Slowly a calm returns to the flock. The Prophet announces it is time for members to voluntarily come forward. Come forward to the lectern to offer testimonials of the great work the Lord has performed in their lives.  A lady comes forward. She testifies that she had been barren but thanks to the Prophet's spiritual intervention she is now expecting a child. A man shares the good news that he is no longer a pick pocket and indeed has recently secured more gainful employment.  A young lady confesses to having had intimate relations with a witch doctor in the hope of securing a husband. It did not work for her until the Prophet singled her out during service one day and told her to put a halt to the practice. She did. In the same year, she became a bashful bride.

Prophet Ananias' Ministry runs three services every Sunday. The first, between 8:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. The second, from 1:00 p.m.to 5:00 p.m. The third and final one between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p,m. At the end of every service, the flock retire energised. Filled with optimism for the week ahead. This particular Sunday was no different from any other Sunday.  Calmed were the souls that departed from the sanctuary within the hotel.

As for the Prophet, he has to go through the motions for thirteen hours out of the twenty four that the Lord gives in a day. The Lord's work is not an easy calling.  It is not for the fainthearted. Understandably, Prophet Ananias tires. He is, after all, a mere mortal. Jesus, the Son of God, is recorded as having suffered from fatigue severally.  At the end of such a grueling day, Ananias is dog tired. He needs to seek rest. His bodyguards once again spring into action to protect him from the forces of evil that prowl this earth. The three beefies swiftly usher him out of the conference room, past the hotel lobby to the entrance of the establishment. In perfect synchrony, the quartet get to the entrance of the hotel at the exact moment that the Prophet's chauffeur driven Porsche Cayenne pulls up.

The Prophet's Cayenne is a metallic silver Cayenne S. Its interior is a mix of leather and aluminium finishes. It is propelled by a 3.6 liter V6 engine. The machine possesses an eight speed automatic transmission which sends power to all four wheels. The Prophet's carriage can reach 100 kilometres from a stop position in 5.2 seconds, This is the beast that ferries the Prophet away to a well deserved rest. It is his entitlement.

As the years roll by, the Prophet and his inner circle continue to prosper spiritually and materially. Some argue they live a life of opulence. Overindulgence even.  Others, however, particularly the ever increasing members of the flock, do not begrudge them.  They fervently believe that these are people performing the Lord's work. To be fair, some members of the congregation prospered too.  Others did not fare too well. That is the nature of life. There was, however, the consolation that it is not on earth that riches are to be found but rather the riches await true believers in heaven. In the meantime, the flock continually and loyally give to the LIE Ministry. They give the requisite 10% tithe. They give for the planned purchase of a piece of land on which a sanctuary they can call their own will be built. They give for the Prophet to make a down payment on a residential property for himself. They give to send their Prophet on overseas trips. They give for a myriad of reasons.

They gave and worshiped until the day there emerged news that shook Prophet Ananias' Ministry to the core. Prophet Ananias was arrested, arraigned, charged and convicted by a court of law. He was convicted on multiple offences. Principal among them were those for fraudulent activities, extortion and running an escort service through which narcotics were channeled. His defence team in their submissions, pleaded for leniency for their client, citing among other mitigating factors, the work of the evil one that manifests itself in various forms.

The scandal rocked the Prophets followers. They were lost. Abandoned, Orphaned even. It was as if they were passengers in a ship without a captain, They were adrift.

This status did not last for long however.  For, from among Ananias' inner circle, emerged a new leader. There was someone new to lead them to the Promised Land. Prophetess Delilah.  She responded to a special calling. There was a change of guard. Prophetess Delilah rallied the flock together. She changed the name of the ministry from the Life is Eternal Ministry to Followers Aligned for the Kingdom of Evangelicals (later to be referred to by the acronym FAKE). She continues to lease the conference room from the same hotel. She gives hope. More importantly, the people believe.