When It All Falls Down Read Free Page B

for better circumstances.” I shake Burt’s hand.
    Burt offers to handle my bags, which I decline. I throw my bag in the back seat and keep my briefcase with me as I get into the front seat. We pull away from the parking lot, making our way to Mount Zion.
    â€œYou know I don’t normally do this,” I say.
    â€œI know, but I need your help. Pastor is going to wreck his life if you don’t step in.”
    â€œYou’re his closest friend. If he’s not going to listen to you, then I doubt there’s much more I can do.”
    â€œYou have a skill set that I believe will be persuasive.” Burt picks up the speed of the Town Car.
    My skill set is the secret to my success, but my key to employment is that I can do something that most ministerial staff and congregations can’t do: I hold the leaders accountable. I get the leaders help and I minimize a potentially disastrous situation, but I also make sure that the leaders know that I will not be around the next time they blow it.
    â€œAre you sure it’s there?” I ask.
    â€œI wish it weren’t, but it is.”
    â€œOkay, well, I’m going to need a key to his office.”
    â€œI got you.” Burt doesn’t take his eyes off the road.
    I go into my briefcase and pull out my laptop. I power on my laptop and connect the wireless device so that I can go online. Once my computer is up I go to YouTube and I type in Pastor Jeremiah Surges. Pastor is quite popular on YouTube since he has a lot of his sermons posted on it.
    â€œGive me the dates again,” I say.
    â€œI don’t remember the dates. I just remember the titles. One was ‘I got to get myself together.’”
    I scroll through the sermons and locate I Got to Get Myself Together. I start to view the footage.
    â€œDo you see it?” Burt asks me.
    It takes a moment for me to process what I am seeing. “I see.”
    â€œGo to ‘I can’t come down,’” Burt says.
    I pull up that video and that image is even more obvious than the previous video. I have more than enough information and I just need to meet with the man face to face.
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    Pastor Jeremiah Surgess sways from side to side and takes a moment to hold on to the podium. His mannerism is awkward even for a preacher who likes to whoop and holler.
    â€œYes!” Surgess says with sweat pouring down his face profusely. It doesn’t matter though; the church is a sweat box. Even in the first week of November, I can see water on the walls. Only the ceiling fans provide some relief to the sanctuary. No, Pastor Surgess’s sweat is not a tell-tale sign.
    â€œYou see the apostle Peter had a thorn in his flesh. We got it wrong; we think that God put it there, but it was the devil. God gave him the grace and power to overcome the thorn in his flesh. Just like He gave you the grace to overcome the thorns in your life.”
    The congregation responds in a fever pitch. Few notice that Surgess cites Apostle Peter instead of Apostle Paul. I am impressed with Pastor Surgess and his sermon and I understand how his sermons can mesmerize a congregation. Pastor Surgess is so robust with a hump in his back and it adds flair to his delivery. He leans forward and holds on to the podium to keep his balance. I take out my mini camera from my briefcase and I begin to record.
    â€œOnly authorized personal can record,” an usher says a few minutes later.
    â€œI’m sorry, this is just really powerful. I’ll put my camera away.” I do as the usher asked and I put my camera away. I have more than enough footage.
    By the time I put my camera away, Pastor Surgess has taken a break on the steps of the podium to catch his breath.
    â€œHey, hey, hey!” is Pastor Surgess’s signature phrase he shouts, which is what most pastors are famous for now. That phrase is also an indication that Surgess’s message is near a close.
    I have heard and seen enough