Reverend Feelgood (28 page)

Palestine is a real town in East Texas; however, I’ve taken creative license in placing buildings and other locations in the story line that in actuality do not exist. While I once attended a “Palestine Missionary Baptist Church,” this church was in Kansas City, Missouri, not Palestine, Texas, and in no way resembles the church now renamed The Gospel Truth in this writing. Thank the good Lord for that! :)

A READING GROUP GUIDE

REVEREND FEELGOOD

LUTISHIA LOVELY

ABOUT THIS GUIDE

The following questions are intended to enhance your group’s reading of this book.

1. Katherine was sexually molested when she was twelve years old, an act that her mother, Naomi, later justified. How do you think this impacted the way Katherine raised her daughter? How did this impact Simone? And Destiny?
   
2. Nate was taught that it was his pastoral right to sleep with female church members, and many were more than happy to oblige him. How much blame do you place on those who slept with him? Is it less than his, more, or equal?
   
3. The legal age for consent in Texas, regarding sexual activity, is seventeen. Is this an appropriate age for sexual relations? Why or why not?
   
4. Nate had Katherine’s permission to sleep with Simone. Was it wrong that he did so? Why or why not?
   
5. Destiny believed it was her fate to be Nate’s wife. What do you think?
   
6. What are your thoughts on modern spiritual practices outside of traditional Christianity practiced by Total Truth congregations, and by Destiny, such as the newly packaged “law of attraction” message, meditation, visualization, affirmations, mantras, etc.?
   
7. Simone wanted Destiny to have an abortion. How much of this was from her selfishness and how much was from a genuine concern for her child? What would you have done in this situation?
   
8. Stan Lee encouraged Nate to live a celibate lifestyle. What are your thoughts on single ministers? Should they date and, if so, how? Is it okay to date a woman in the congregation? To have sexual relations outside of marriage?
   
9. Simone married Mark out of a sense of obligation to her daughter and Nate. She ended up with a good marriage and a godly man. Did she deserve it?
   
10. Jennifer plotted both to be with and then to destroy Nate, but ended up with Deacon Robinson. Do you think she deserves him? What are your thoughts on their considerable age difference? Do you think this union will last?
    
11. Patricia sincerely loved Deacon Robinson. How do you feel about the fact that, at least for now, she’s alone and feels forced to start over in a new city?
    
12. Verniece and Anne’s friendship turned into something else. Do you think these women are lesbians? Is it possible to have a same-sex relationship and still be straight? Still be saved?
    
13. Verniece believes that like various cultures and religions (such as the polygamist Mormon groups), many women are sharing their men. What is your view on her perspective? Would you rather know or not know that your mate is not exclusive?
    
14. After Melody’s video surfaced, Nate lost his ministry. Do you think he should have been forced to leave his church and Total Truth?
    
15. Even though Melody is only seventeen, she’s got quite the sexual history. She purposely went after Nate, even knowing of his relationship with Destiny. How much do you blame Nate for having sex with her?
    
16. Melody went to Nate’s mother, Nettie, for forgiveness, and Nettie forgave her. Do you think she should have offered her forgiveness? Do you think Melody was sincere in wanting to change her life?
    
17. Nate’s mother, Nettie, advised Destiny, and Destiny ended up becoming her daughter-in-law. What advice do you think made the difference in this outcome?
    
18. Reverend Ed Smith was very judgmental toward megachurches and megapreachers, yet he had his own faults. What are your thoughts on Jesus’s first commandment: judge not, lest you be judged?
    
19. One of the historical barriers to a Noble-Thicke union was the issue of color within the Black community, specifically the argument of light versus dark skin. Do you think this is still an issue today? Why or why not?
    
20. It was an amazing story that Elijah finally shared with Nate and Destiny. What do you think of the promise he made to Sadie all those years ago? What do you think of soul mates?
    

Lutishia Lovely once again takes a smoldering journey into the scandalous and occasionally sanctified lives of people who go to church but aren’t always 100 percent Christian in…

Heaven Forbid

Coming in August 2010 from Dafina Books

Here’s an excerpt from
Heaven Forbid.
…

Anyone watching the two men conversing quietly in the corner booth of the dimly lit restaurant would have thought their discussion serious. They would have been right. The seasoned seventy-something, gray-haired minister, looking important and dignified in his black, double-breasted suit, listened intently as the younger man, displaying a rugged handsomeness in his navy blue, tailored Kenneth Cole design, used his manicured fingers to underscore a point.

“Number one,” Stan Lee said, his long, thick forefinger in midair, “
all
sexual misconduct is sin, whether or not your members want to hear it. Before you came and laid down the law, the Gospel Truth congregation was way out of hand, from the pulpit to the vestibule. You know I’m right about it. Two, it takes a tight rein to straighten out this kind of mess. And number three, Doctor O, I think you are the only preacher alive who can hold the rein tight enough to put this backsliding church back in line with the Word.” Secretly, Stan wished the doctor could put somebody else in line—his wife. But that was another story.

Obadiah, officially known as The Reverend Doctor Pastor Bishop Overseer Mister Stanley Obadiah Meshach Brook, Jr., and affectionately called “Reverend Doctor O,” nodded his head in understanding. He liked this young man’s fire and fervor when it came to strong morals, and he couldn’t help but agree with him. Doctor Stanley Morris Lee, pastor of the Los Angeles Logos Word Church, was a prolific preacher in his own right. Obadiah affectionately called Stan his namesake, even though he’d gone by his second name, Obadiah, since childhood. He respected the Logos Word ministry and viewed Stan as a spiritual son.

And Obadiah knew that Stan spoke truth: the Gospel Truth Church was in a gospel mess following the nationally televised scandal of its former pastor, Nate Thicke, and it took a preacher well worth his salt to pick up the shattered pulpit pieces. Something of this magnitude was the only thing that could have pulled him out of retirement, though truth be told, he’d missed the pulpit and was glad to be back.

Obadiah ran a hand over his weary eyes as he remembered the fiasco. How one of Nate Thicke’s many women had managed to secretly videotape them during a sexual tryst, and how a portion of said tape was spliced into a holiday cruise promotion that was then shown during a national church convention. For about five seconds, Nate’s glistening, bare backside had been seen by many of the 20,000 attendees before a quick-thinking technical director stopped the tape. It didn’t matter; the damage had been done. Nate was forced to resign, and his mother, Nettie Thicke Johnson, had immediately placed a call to her good friend Maxine, Obadiah’s wife. Nettie, like Stanley, had been convinced that someone of Obadiah’s stature, experience, and wisdom was the only one who could lead the congregation back down the straight-and-narrow path. Goodness knew that during Nate Thicke’s pastoral reign, the members—and the minister—had gone buck wild.

Obadiah cleared his throat and leaned toward Stanley, his powerful orator’s voice near a whisper. “I know in my heart that every rule I’ve put in place and every change I’ve implemented at that there church is absolutely necessary. Narrow is the road that leads to salvation,” Obadiah continued, his voice rising slightly as he quoted scripture. He looked around the sparsely populated dining room, took in the rich chestnut walls accented with deep red–covered chairs and tablecloths, and sipped his coffee. “But as right as I am, the church is failing. The Sunday offering is shrinking faster than a jackrabbit’s peter. And I’m losing the regular parishioners, especially the young folk. That’s why I brought you here, to lead a revival and staunch the flow of fleeing fornicators. If they end up over at that funeral home Jenkins is masquerading as a house of God, Thomas will turn over in his grave.”

Stanley’s chuckle was low and deep. “Aw, c’mon now, Doctor O. Why are you so hard on Reverend Jenkins? He’s doing the best he can. Besides, he’s older than you are, and most of his members have probably been with him the entire forty years he’s pastored that church.”

Obadiah let out an uncharacteristic snort but remained silent. He didn’t care to share the beef he had with Reginald Jenkins, a beef that went back those forty years of which Stanley spoke, a situation where Reginald took something that at the time Obadiah thought belonged to him.

“Young women don’t listen to old men like me,” Obadiah said after a pause. “Especially since I’m telling them to close their legs and take the ‘for sale’ and ‘for rent’ signs off their hot-to-trots and whatnot. This medicine will go down better coming from a young, handsome man such as yourself.” He looked over at Stanley, took in the sleek, bald head, the smooth, honey brown face, the square-jawed strength settled under dark brown eyes, and nodded his approval. “Yes, they’ll listen to you.”

Both men paused while the waiter came and took away their dinner dishes. They declined dessert but said yes to more coffee.

“I’m going to come with the unadulterated word of God,” Stanley continued. He leaned back casually in his seat while his countenance remained serious. “I’m not going to leave them with any questions in their mind. When I get done this week, they’ll understand that being saved and sanctified means no fornication, no adultery, no pornography, and definitely no masturbation.” His lips curled into a snarl as he all but spat out the last word, several unfortunate memories rising up unbidden in his mind. “If these women
and men
want to call themselves children of God, then they’ve got to live holy!”

The wives of Stanley Morris Lee and Stanley Obadiah Meshach Brook were visiting at home, and having their own conversation on sexual matters from quite a different point of view.

“He hates it!” Passion said passionately. “How can a grown man, with three kids and oversized, working plumbing, if you know what I mean, abhor the natural act of sex so much? I just don’t get it, Mama Max.”

Passion had been sitting on the plush, chenille sofa, but now she paced back and forth across the carpet in Maxine Brook’s living room.

“Humph, that would be a blessing for some women. There’s plenty more that could go wrong in a marriage, child. Now lookie here. Is the man hitting you, abusing you?”

Passion stopped in her tracks. “No, whatever would make you ask that question?”

“Because I want to know, that’s why.”

The truth was, she and Stan had begun to argue more, and once, just once, he had advanced toward her as if to strike. But he hadn’t. “No, Mama Max, Stan isn’t abusive.”

“Is he a responsible man, keeping food on the table and money in the bank?”

“Yes, ma’am, but…”

“But nothing. Is he a good father to his children?”

“The ministry keeps him busy, but yes, when he’s around them, he’s a good dad.”

“Then count your blessings and get you a good book to read at night. Drink some of that camouflage tea so you can sleep easy.”

Passion didn’t try to hide her smile. “You mean chamomile, Mama Max?”

“Yeah, that too. Drink it and cool your feisty behind down!”

Passion returned to the sofa and sat close to Mama Max. “But Mama, I
like
making love. I want to share physical intimacy with my husband, not continue with this forced celibacy that Stanley has mandated. I was celibate for five years before I got married. I don’t intend to be horny and wanting with two-hundred pounds of prime beef lying next to me! I’m sorry to be so blatant, Mama Max, but I haven’t been able to talk about this with anyone.”

“No apology needed, Passion, you can speak your mind in my house. Now, I can tell you’re frustrated, and I wish there was something I could say to make you feel better. I haven’t felt the flame of desire for nigh unto twenty years, and was never too crazy about the act of procreation when Reverend and I were busy creating King, Queen, Daniel, and Esther. But as a wife, you do have certain rights. Have you tried talking to Stan about it?”

“Until I’m blue in the face,” Passion said, standing to pace again. “But he won’t even have the discussion anymore; says that as a first lady, I shouldn’t have such animalistic desires.

“It’s not like Stan can’t perform. Our sex life was fairly good right after we got married. Nothing too risqué, you understand, and only once, maybe twice, a week. But we did it.”

“And then what happened?”

Passion hesitated in her answer. She respected Mama Max and her counsel, but could she share everything with her? Like what she’d discovered in Stan’s luggage after he’d returned from a ministers’ conference three months ago? And how, upon further investigation, she’d found similar items hidden in a rarely used gym bag on a top shelf in their garage? And how any doubt as to the use of these items was cleared up when Passion came home one day, early and unexpected, and was shocked senseless by what she had seen? Passion decided she wasn’t ready to tell anybody what she’d learned about Stanley Morris Lee…she was barely able to admit this truth to herself.

“Passion, baby…you all right? I asked you a question, about what happened to change how you and your husband…know each other.”

Passion shared what she could. “Stan has been traveling a lot, so I didn’t really notice it at first. When I finally asked him about it, he made excuses. Then, about three months ago, he started spouting Bible verses and using scripture and religion as the foundation for denying me what is rightfully mine. He hasn’t touched me since, and has made me feel guilty for wanting something perfectly normal!

“Things can’t go on this way,” Passion continued, almost to herself, as she looked out Mama Max’s large picture window and beheld a beautiful Texas fall afternoon. But the burst of color from the autumn purple ash tree in the Brooks’ front yard, the profusion of purple, red, yellow, and orange, were lost on Passion. Her eyes weren’t looking at the scenery out front, but rather at a scene from her past, the pictures she’d taken with her cell-phone camera that had changed so many lives. She felt a strange camaraderie with Stan’s ex-wife, Carla Lee, now Carla Chapman, along with the guilt that never totally went away, guilt from what she felt was her part in Stan and Carla’s divorce.

“Passion, you need to take this burden to the Lord and leave it there,” Mama Max said into a room that had suddenly become overwhelmingly quiet. “God can fix whatever is broken.”

When Passion turned to face Mama Max, there were tears in her eyes. “I sure hope so, Mama,” she said in a whisper. “Because if God can’t fix it, a divorce court can.”

Shortly after divulging her dilemma to Mama Max, Passion asked to be driven to the guest pastor condo. Her marital admissions had made her tired, and she wanted to spend some quiet time alone with just her thoughts before Stan arrived. Once inside the comfortably decorated abode, Passion undressed quickly and took a shower. She had no reason to believe that tonight would be any different from all the others, but she wanted to be clean…just in case.

As Passion walked into the closet to don a nightgown, Stan’s unlocked luggage caught her eye. Without pausing to think, she stepped over to it and lifted the lid. Inside, everything was compartmentalized and organized, much like Stan’s life. His underwear, including briefs, were neatly folded, his socks paired and lined against the side. Not wanting Stan to know that she’d snooped in his belongings, Passion gingerly lifted the undershirts, T-shirts, and casual polos. She ran a hand inside the zippered compartment and came up against belts, handkerchiefs, and ties. She was just about to pull out her hand when her fingers felt something else.

Passion closed her eyes and took a breath. She slowly pulled out what her hands clutched. Swallowing, she opened her eyes and sighed. The pink silky fabric was trimmed in frilly black lace. Passion didn’t have to hold them up to know, but she did, anyway. It was just as she’d expected. The ladies panties were extra large…just Stan’s size.