Excerpts from the Christian novel LOVE ON THE PULPIT will be posted throughout this month of May!
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LOVE ON THE PULPIT – a novel
By: Pastor Taiwo Iredele Odubiyi
(Day 15)
On Sunday, after the evening fellowship, still feeling guilty about the way she spoke to Olamide, Teni decided to talk with Mr. Dawodu. His wife was not around.
“Your nephew called me again about two weeks ago.” She said and paused.
“Umm hmm.”
“It seemed he didn’t like the way I talked. He just apologised and ended the call.” She said carefully.
“What did you tell him?”
“I told him I wasn’t interested in a relationship and that there’s someone -”
“Yes, he mentioned that to me. Do you really have someone?”
“Not really. Well … I’ve just met the person. Infact, it was this last month. We met at a friend’s place. He promised to call but I’ve not heard from him.”
“Are you saying that you’re sure of this person you’ve just met?”
“No, no. I haven’t said that. He hasn’t told me anything. He hasn’t even called me. I don’t even know him much … but I’m praying about him to see if God is involved. I’ve decided to give it about a month to see if anything will materialize from it. If not, then I’m free.” She shrugged. “And then I may meet your nephew. I mean – just to meet him and see what comes up.”
“Teni, I’m sorry to say, but you’re being parochial. You have to take a chance to get to meet a man who is interested in you … that is if he’s a Christian. If he’s not a Christian, you don’t even need to pray about it, it’s a no-go area. But in this case, Olamide is even a pastor. I’m really surprised at the way some of you ladies behave. You’re all looking for the same things that ladies who don’t know God are looking for in men.”
“No, Uncle.”
Mr. Dawodu cut in. “No, let’s be honest here. Most of you ladies are looking for what I will call non-essentials, – he must be good looking, he must have a car, have a very good job, smooth talking, cool. You want men who will deceive you. Ladies should learn to look past all these …”
“Uncle, I’m not moved by all that.”
He raised a hand to stop her. “Hold on Teni, hold on. This man you’ve just met, do you want to tell me he doesn’t possess all these things I’ve mentioned? Doesn’t he have a car …”
“Uncle, you’re making a mistake here. I’m not like that. Yes, he has a car but that’s not the first thing I saw. I didn’t know he had a car right away. It wasn’t even his looks that got me. It was his heart. I sensed his love for God immediately. I saw a heart that is committed to God. Then I did a double take and discovered he’s actually handsome, athletic and by the time he was leaving …”
“He took your heart away with him.” Mr. Dawodu finished the sentence for her and both of them laughed.
“I’m sure he didn’t take my sense away.”
“I hope so. But really, that issue is causing a big problem and people are remaining single more than ever before. Even the men want to go out with only the beautiful ladies. They don’t want to go out with the not-so-beautiful ladies who love the Lord. What they don’t realise is, by the time they get to know that not-so-beautiful person better, the person seems a lot prettier.”
“I’m not like that …”
Mr. Dawodu went on. “And some people will say they are praying. And for months, they are still praying. Whereas, in actual fact, they are not praying. They are only trying to seek the opinions of their friends, or waiting to see if another person will come who is better in terms of material things.”
“Some ladies do that really, but …”
“Do you want to tell me that you did not discuss with anyone?”
“Of course I did, Uncle. How can a person make such a decision alone without consulting with anyone?”
“I’m not saying it’s wrong to discuss it, but people do more of discussing than praying and they base their decision on friends’ talk and influence rather than on what God says.”
“No, my opinion is not based on what anyone told me -”
“But you said you don’t want a pastor.”
“No, it’s not that I can’t marry a pastor. My point is that if it’s going to be a pastor, the person should be called, he should know that he is called, and he should know his calling.” She said, paused, and thought of more things to say. “I mean the person should be focused and have definite plans for his family.”
“Don’t judge by appearance. How will you know a pastor who is focused or have plans? Being a pastor is an indication of a plan and focus. If he doesn’t have much, it’s a matter of time.” Mr. Dawodu said, gesticulating. “Well, I have to admit that there are some men who claim to be pastors but don’t know what they are doing, but some are true men of God … and by their fruits you will know them.”
“That’s true. There are pastors and there are pastors.” She admitted as her mind went to Dave again.
Mr. Dawodu continued, “Let’s face it, some ladies run away from marrying Pastors and I query the level of the word of God in them.”
“It’s their level of understanding.”
“But that’s what you too said.”
“In my case, it was only an excuse and I knew it wasn’t a good one.” She confessed.
“I attended a programme at a time and along the line, the minister asked how many of the single ladies could marry Pastors. Very few ladies raised their hands, infact maybe only three or four did. They were all laughing and some said a blatant ‘no way’! A particular lady said ‘ti o ba le wa ise kun ise.’ Do you know what that means? That the pastor would have to get a second job – as if the pastor’s work is no work. I couldn’t help shaking my head.”
Teni laughed, “It’s their level of maturity.”
“Some ladies will even give conditions and descriptions of whom they want. He must be tall, short, black, white, yellow, violet, indigo …”
“But Uncle, it’s not only the ladies that do that, men do it as well.”
(To be continued.)
In this novel, you will realise the importance of being led by the Spirit of God.
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