GEMINI: GREED, WICKEDNESS, & DECEIT CHAPTER 4

GEMINI: GREED, WICKEDNESS, DECEIT....

 “….from WITHIN, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful DESIRES (choices, passions, appetites), envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from WITHIN; they are what defile you…” (Mark 7:20-23 NLT).

“……All these evil things come from within, and defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23 KJV).

“...I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God...” (Galatians 5:19-21 NASB). 

*

Chicago Rivers took one more look in the mirror. She was lovely if she had to say so herself. She could sing too, in an Aretha Franklin gospel style. Becoming a singer was always one of her aspirations. She didn’t care whether it was through secular music or gospel music. She just wanted to do music.

Being a famous gospel singer had its perks. The grass is greener on the financial side of the gospel for sure. There were some downsides and it wasn’t always fun and games. Especially since Richard Carson came waltzing into her life.

Richard was questioning whether she was singing to glorify God or was she in it to glorify herself. He got upset about everything she did as a well-known gospel singer who proclaims to be Christian.

He didn’t agree with the way she took advantage of the preferential treatment she was given over other people in the gospel community.

He was also of the opinion that she was greedy and enough was never enough. She had a luxurious home or two, a few cars, expensive clothes and many material possessions. People gave her nice gifts too and they weren’t cheap. Richard wasn’t jealous, he had his own money, but he was a lot more modest than she was. She was lavish and showy and Richard was lavish, but homey and humble.

Richard had inherited wealth from his mother and made his own money too, as some kind of High Tech entrepreneur. Richard even owned an island somewhere and was offered to do an episode on MTV crib once, but turned it down.

Chicago ignored Richard, in regard to her music career, most of the time. He didn’t understand that she had to do a lot of unorthodox things to take her aspirations from dreams to a reality.

Chicago Rivers was recognized in the gospel world and the secular world. She loved it. Being well-known did inflate her ego a little or maybe a lot, especially when random strangers sang her praises. Richard said she boasted about it too much and she seemed to get an adrenalin rush from it! Maybe so.

Chicago had fans everywhere, even in foreign countries. Just like any other celebrity she was the face for a famous company and promoted their products. Her fame also opened the door for many opportunities, such as  her new business, “Chicago Rivers Secrets” which sold soaps, candles, and other midnight specials. She took advantage of every entrepreneur offer that peaked her interest.

Some of the disadvantages came from the gospel community. They expected her to be a “real” Christian. Besides wanting an autograph or picture with her, they hounded and questioned her about her relationship with Jesus ALL the time. Most of her money came from the gospel community, so she lived careful, secluded, and couldn’t really indulge in some of the more carnal pleasures in life.

Richard was a godly man and a true gentleman. She really loved and appreciated his character, but he was a Holy Roller. She was the one who seduced Richard and not the other way around. He resisted her for months. and months until she dropped something in his drink. He was STILL upset with her about that.

He was so old-fashioned and wanted to wait until he was married. She tried to manipulate him, asked him was he gay, shamed him, tried to influence him, and every other womanly trick in the book, but he stood his ground. He said time was the best test for a good and lasting relationship. He wanted to really get to know her and said he preferred to have intercourse with her heart first. He won her over with that line.

He was so good to her and unknowingly, he helped her “appear” to be a better Christian. They read novels together, they travelled, they exercised, they joked, they talked for hours on end, they watched movies, they spend holidays together, they hung out with family, and they spent time sitting quietly under the stars.

She found herself liking the friendship stage of their relationship. It actually made her relax with him and she was bonding with Richard in a truly unique way. He wasn’t perfect, but he was pretty consistent. What you saw of Richard Carson was what you got. He was a decent guy from the very beginning.

Chicago wanted some alone time, so she took a remote cruise, in 2012 and was sitting out on the deck, when Richard sat down next to her. He had no clue who she was. She’d gotten a makeover and changed the color of her hair too. They chatted back and forth for a while, being vague, evasive, and yet open at the same time.

Richard was tall, with a slender, but muscle bound physique. He had light caramel-colored skin, short curly hair, manicured beard and mustache, perfect teeth, and playful eyes. He looked mixed. She could tell he was smart, educated, most likely a business man, and he kept up with current events. Chicago liked him right away.

They spent 15 wonderful days together and have been together ever since. They didn’t reveal their true identities until the end of the cruise and were surprised they actually knew about each other.

They were alike and they were extreme opposites, but she felt safe with Richard more than anyone else in her world. He was honest and direct with her and he was protective. A few months ago she’d had a stalker following her. They were harassing her through email and USPS, but Richard took care of it. She was surrounded by phony friends. Richard helped her separate herself from them and to recognize the ones that were truly genuine.

Chicago often showed up in lot of the tabloids, magazines, newspapers, and blogs who readily reported truths and lies about her personality, habits, her looks, her relationships, and her so-called Christianity. She felt like she had no privacy and that she was living in a fishbowl.

Though Richard taught her how to live under the radar so she could enjoy life a little more, she felt like she was living in a kind of fishbowl with Richard. He was looking into her soul and she didn’t always like it. She never cared what anyone thought, until he came along. She often solicited his opinion.

She wanted to know what he thought about her relationship with the church community “he” seemed to cherish so much. He suggested she was USING the gospel community and STEALING their money for selfish gain.

He also suggested that she didn’t GIVE anything back, either, for the cause of Christ, and she was ONLY serving herself. The whole purpose of Christianity was Christ, himself and he came to SERVE people and not to be SERVED.

Chicago couldn’t believe how religious he was, yet he was exciting to be around and so grounded. Most rich people, that she knew, usually proclaimed faith, but they didn’t actually adhere to it like Richard did.

Thus, she and Richard were constantly debating about their religious opinions and differences. Richard, which was his style, was polite, respectful, and loving during their discussions. He didn’t try to stuff his beliefs down her throat. He was only sharing them. Richard gave his opinion about things, but he didn’t judge her and he respected her choices. He had to ask her to do the same for him. It was harder for her to respect their differences than Richard. He did it with such diplomacy!

 It was Richard’s opinion that gospel music was meant to SERVE people and SERVE God; not entertain them. Richard was concerned that the way she lived, which was her choice, and the way Jesus lived, didn’t connect and it showed in her music.

He made her listen to Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin’s earlier gospel music, then he made her listen to her own music. Richard said, “...the different is the anointing...”

She was so defensive and frequently reminded him that “she” had sold millions of albums all over the world. Richard always asked. “...Do you just want the sells, Chicago, or do you want to make a Christ-like difference in people’s lives like you claim you do on your interviews?...” Chicago had been doing gospel for years and she had never done it to make a Christ-like different. She did it to make money! Christians were buying her music, so it impacted their life some kind of way. What difference did it make whether SHE was a Christian or not? Her music was the gospel.

Richard was inflexible on his religious convictions  and it irked her until he explained his passion for “living righteous!” One day he told her why it mattered to him so much. And what he told her blew her mind.

The  BIG, worldwide, Christian scandal, with Andy and Mary Bloomdale, the famous evangelical couple, back in the 70s and 80s, involved his mother. His mother was a well-known actress and said she was raped by Andy Bloomdale.

Bloomdale paid his mother millions for her silence, in regard to the pregnancy, but she gave the money back. Andy Bloomdale, his biological father, was also, committing other fraudulent crimes against his OWN ministry and eventually went to prison.

His mother was a young and influential Christian at the time. Bloomdale was a GIANT man of faith, in her eyes, and she fell prey for his perceived spiritual witness. After the Bloomdale’s ministry fell apart, Richard’s mother, dealt with the after effects of her involvement with him. It didn’t help that she was black woman and Andy Bloomdale was white. She was practically black-balled in Hollywood, which was already an hard industry for a black actress anyway. She was also ran out of the town she lived in.

They were constantly moving until they finally found a small town, in Vermont, where they felt safe and could call home. However, when they travelled, away from Vermont, people would still recognize her and call her a “whore” or “floozy” They called her child a “bastard” or “a spawn of Satan” It was scary for his mother, for many years. Even her family shunned her, for a while. Richard didn’t meet anyone on his mother’s side until he was almost 10 years old.

Richard said his mother managed to keep her faith, through it all. And she kept him, in spite of the rape, and didn’t get an abortion. He loved and respected her for her sacrifice. He was her only child.

The main lesson, for his mother, was that her involvement, in such a lascivious scandal, made her an accomplice in tearing down the HOLY image of the Christian faith in the eyes of  the public and proclaimed critics.

What she KNEW, through Andy Bloomdale’s behavior, was that it wasn’t Christianity that was corrupt. It was the people, who claimed and professed to “be” Christians who were corrupted. Therefore, “they” were guilty of defiling and corrupting the perception of the Christian faith.

Richard said his mother became an advocate for keeping Jesus Christ, at the center stage, of one’s faith. She said, if people didn’t keep Jesus Christ, at the center stage, the enemy would use them to hijack the faith and undermine the main purpose of Christianity, which is God’s LOVE and GRACE revealed through his PLAN of SALVATION.

She said Bloomdale was NOT a Christian and he used Christianity and the gospel to become a multimillionaire. Richard’s mother’s stage name was Judith Flowers, but her birth name was Judith Carson. Richard’s birth and identity was one of the best kept secrets in the country. He and his mother, along with many others, were victims of the Bloomdale’s scandal!

Their “unrighteous” behavior had destroyed his mother’s life and heavily impacted his. Chicago was the first person he’d ever told about Bloomdale, and he was almost forty.

Judith told Richard that people tacked the LABEL Christian, on whatever, they wanted, in order to imply they followed the holy principles and guidelines of God’s Word. Andy Bloomdale told Judith he was a Christian evangelist and she trusted him and he betrayed her in the worst way.

When they met he claimed to have some religious material for her and he bought it to the hotel room she was staying in, since he was staying at the same one. He pushed his way into her room, raped her, and the rest was history.

Judith never told a soul. She didn’t think they’d believe her anyway. A couple of months later she ran into Andy Bloomdale again and told him she was pregnant and that it was his. A few weeks later she received a certified letter requesting her silence along with a 3 million dollar cashier’s check in it.

Unfortunately, the Bloomdale’s were  being investigated and the authorities chased the money to her. That’s how Judith Flowers got caught up in the scandal. She told them about the rape, but not about the pregnancy. Headlines read: “Christian evangelist and his wife caught in fraudulent activities and sexual misconduct.”

Judith frowned upon labels such as: Christian Evangelicals, Christian nationalistic, Christian politicians, Christian homosexuals, Christian heterosexuals, Christian racists and all kinds of other types of Christians.

Back in her day a person was simply a Christian and they added no nouns or adjective to it. Being a Christian meant you were a FOLLOWER of Christ period. Now Christ was following people and their agendas no matter how unrighteous, unholy, or unbiblical it was!

Richard had taken up his mother’s cause and the closer he walked in the midst of professing Christians, the worst he SAW the image of the Holy Faith becoming STAINED with a BAD reputation, especially among potential converts.

Founding a “real” Christian and follower of Christ was like looking for that proverbial needle in the haystack.

That was Richard’s problem with her. He felt concerned that she was an accomplice with those, similar to Andy Bloomdale, who were giving the Christian faith a BAD rep. Richard told her, “...Chicago, you are an awesome and wonderful singer, but the ANOINTING is missing...”

He suggested she, at least, be honest and tell people she was not  a Christian and that she simply liked to sing gospel singer. She didn’t want to do that and she didn’t know a single soul who would make that kind of confession. She asked him how was she, particularly, hurting anyone in the Christian community. She kept her nose cleaned.

He told her in one interview, with the Christian Network Channel, she said she believed in going to church every Sunday, but in another interview, with Secular Network Channel, she said she didn’t believe you had to go to church every Sunday to be spiritual.

Richard thought Chicago’s life didn’t always match the things she said and did. He thought all the holes in her interviews will come back to haunt her one day. He thought her lifestyle was really no different than that of a secular singer and “....only the indwelling Holy Spirit could make her more than just a good singer...”

She did, however, started listening to Mahalia and Aretha, over and over again. She had to admit she felt a chill when she listened to their music, especially Mahalia’s. There really was something different about it!

Chicago respected Richard’s opinion, but she couldn’t see any wrong doing on her part until the day Pastor Simpson rung her doorbell in December of 2014. Richard was out of town and she had another gospel artist, Nathan Anderson, staying in one of her guest rooms. Nathan was married, but he was travelling alone.

After a huge gospel concert at one of the local arenas, she and Nathan sat out on her lavish deck. He pulled out some paraphilia to do some coke and handed her a fat joint. Chicago didn’t buy drugs, but she would indulge as a social gesture with private guests like Nathan, but she never went beyond marijuana.

Chicago and Nathan laughed, talked about the concert, his wife, Richard, and their future careers. Nathan was like a brother to her and they had been friends for years.

Chicago got up early the next day and did her typical three mile run. On her way back into the house she saw a man approaching her. Who is that and how the heck did they get onto my property? She panicked and looked around for a quick escape, but the man held his hand up to stop her. “...I am not here to hurt you...” He turned the tablet, he was holding, toward her, so she could see the picture on it. It was her and Nathan, on the deck, the night before.

“... Who are you and what do you want?...”

“...I’m Pastor Samuel Simpson of Faith Missionary Church and I would like to talk with you and Mr. Anderson...”

“...About what? Mr. Anderson is still sleeping and I have a busy day ahead...” Pastor Simpson held the tablet toward her again as a reminder of what he’d seen the night before.

“....I’ll wait and I think you might want to cancel some of your activities today. This is important...” Against her better judgement she let Pastor Simpson into her house. Nathan was in the kitchen getting coffee, by that time, and she introduce him to Pastor Simpson, who readily showed him the tablet.

Nathan and Chicago had both kept their noses clean their whole career, yet they knew they were being blackmailed and Pastor Simpson had them up against the wall.

Nathan asked, “...What do you want?...” Pastor Simpson wanted a new church, some extra funds to help the community, and he wanted to open the new church with a free gospel with them as guest artists.

Chicago said, “...What kind of Pastor are you? How are you going to blackmail us and call yourself a man of God. You are robbing us!...” Chicago was hot until he said.

“...No, I am  not robbing you. You’ve been robbing the gospel community for years. Neither one of  you have given NOTHING back to the Christian community. Chicago I’ve heard every one of your interviews. Maybe the way I’m doing it; is wrong, but you wouldn’t give back any other way... I can get the money I need from the two of you or I can get it from the media. If I’m crazy enough to do this I’m crazy enough to spread enough propaganda about you two to ruin your careers...So what’s it going to be?...”

Pastor Simpson used to be a lawyer. He had legal agreements and documents ready for them to sign. They were to paid for a new church of his choice, make an once-a-year, generous donation of no less than a quarter million each, do one free concert a year, pretend his church was a favorite of theirs, and pretend he was a good friend of their families.

Pastor Simpson was nobody’s punk. His request had some personal selfishness embedded in it, but he truly had a heart for his people and his community. He WAS struggling to  help them. He wanted a food pantry, facilities for the homeless, and a community center for the local neighborhood. He was willing to give them credit for their donations to put on their resumes for “giving back.”

It was twisted and wrong, but Pastor Simpson was sincerely trying to help others and there were some advantages for Chicago and Nathan too. Chicago didn’t want a scandal and neither did Nathan. He had a wife and four children. She had Richard.

After Nathan and Pastor Simpson left, Chicago was bothered by what he’d said, “..No, I am  not robbing you. You’ve been robbing the gospel community for years...”

Pastor Simpson reminded her, that when she was starting out, she’d asked him could she give a concert at his church and he did. He even let her keep the proceeds from the concert. Once she made it big, she never looked back.

After they’d signed the agreements and documents, Pastor Simpson had a sudden change of heart. He couldn’t go through with it, because he felt guilty. He began to apologize. He said he was so desperate to help his church and community and was tired of waiting on God.  He said, “...Maybe I have finally lost my mind. I’m sorry...” He promised he would delete the pictures and wouldn’t tell a soul.

He told them he was at their concert at the arena and a clergy friend told him, after the show, the two artists were probably going to Chicago’s house to get high. Pastor Simpson had laughed, but he couldn’t get what his friend told him out of his mind. So he came to see, like a peeking Tom, if it was true.

He felt horribly. He sobbed openly, apologized profusely, and started to leave, but Chicago and Nathan stopped him. Chicago asked him to sit down, made new copies of the documents, and gave them back to him.

“....We going to keep the agreements anyway, Pastor...” Pastor Simpson was shocked. He thought they were going to call the police and he was ready to go.

When Chicago walked him to the door, Pastor Simpson said, “...I work my butt off to sustain the holy integrity of the Christian faith and its holy image, but I need help. I was desperate! Look what I was about to do to the two of you. Righteous and holy laxity is growing in the Christian church and community. I want to restore Jesus back to the focus of the Christian faith before it’s too late and we become irrelevant. There is already so much hostility towards us because of the negative images that non-adherents are creating. I came here, because I heard rumors, so I wanted to check it for myself. It was crazy to spy on you two like that. I am truly sorry. When I saw y’all and what you were doing I went ballistic. I’m a small time pastor fighting to sustain the holy integrity of the Christian image. All I saw was y’all big time gospel stars, in the limelight, claiming and professing to be Christians, tearing it down. Nobody sees the  ones trying to obey God and keep the Christian faith holy, but the WHOLE WORLD is watching  y’all!. A negative image of the Christian faith turns people off and we have MORE unchurched people than ever before...It may not matter to you, Ms. Rivers, but it matters to those who truly love God and want to be his witnesses...”

He also said, “... if I’m trying to sell people on the authenticity and purity of my spring water, but they SEE you putting dirt in it they are not going to buy it! Even if some of it is still authentic and pure, you have created MAJOR doubt and because of people like you, most people will believe NONE of it is authentic and pure. You have ruin the image, of the authentic and pure spring water, whether you did it on purpose or not. I mean no offense...”

Chicago SAW it crystal clear. She thought she wasn’t hurting anyone. Pastor Simpson was a true Christian trying to use his faith for the good and gloriy of God and others. She was a labeled Christian “using” the faith to gain wealth and renown for her OWN purposes and good.

The following Sunday, she went to Richard’s church by herself. Richard was still out of town.  She found herself going to the altar and allowed a Dr. Patterson, to lead her to Christ.

When Richard returned from his trip, they decorated their Christmas trees together. They, of course, had separate houses. Richard kept telling her something was different about her, but she didn’t tell him what she had done.

On Christmas day Richard asked her to marry him and she cried like a baby. They had been dating since 2012 and she thought eventually Richard was going to dump her. She didn’t think, even with all her bells and whistles, which didn’t impress Richard, that she was good enough to be the proper kind of wife for him. Richard spoke of getting married, one day, but he never talked as if “she” was the one he wanted to marry.

She handed him a HUGE Christmas bag. It was full of different colored party paper. Richard threw piles and piles of it on the floor until he found an small envelope. “...All that work for this? It better be good, girl...” Richard opened the note and it read: “...I accepted Christ as my Savior...” He made a whooping sound! It was Richard’s turn to cry like a baby. He picked her up and swung her around laughing and smiling. He knew something had changed.

In the next two years or so Gemini and Chicago became friends, but Richard always said something was missing in the good doctor. Chicago accused him of reading her wrong, but Richard was seldom wrong when it came to recognizing “real”!

She liked Gemini. Time had passed and it was 2017; she’d asked Gemini to be her matron of honor. They had confided a lot in each other, but she recently found out that Gemini had concealed a very important secret from her. Chicago was hurt and upset when Gemini told her the truth about her many affairs.

“... I thought we were friends, Gemini. How could you keep this from me. I thought I knew everything about you!.. “ Chicago was in her feelings and she was so disappointed she went into a verbal rage. Gemini listened and didn’t say a word until she finished. “...Don’t you have anything to say, Gemini. I am really mad at you...”

“...No I don’t have anything to say. You are right! I am the one wrong. I have no excuses. I did what I did, because I choose to follow after my lustful desires. There is nothing  wrong with Brad. There is nothing wrong with your friendship. There is nothing wrong with my family. It was me. It was MY CHOICES. I wanted the cake and I wanted to eat it too like they say. I apologize...” Chicago looked at her friend and shook her head. She was still mad.

“...I know saying ‘I’m sorry” doesn’t reverse what I’ve done. It’s done and I can’t undo it, so ‘I’m sorry’ is all I’ve got along with my repentance...”

“...Why didn’t you trust me, Gem...”

“...You were a young Christian and I “knew” what Richard felt about people like me. I didn’t want to hurt you...” Chicago nodded understanding.

“...I ended up hurt anyway...” Gemini looked away. “...I can’t and I won’t judge you, Gem. I love you. I forgive you. I must admit though I never understood Richard’s mother’s pain until now...”

“...I hate my life has to be the lesson...”

“...That’s not it, Gem. I was the same way, except with a different story. I knew you weren’t perfect, but I would have never guessed you were practicing this kind of secret life. What happened to change you?...”

“...One of my clients begin witnessing to me, through our sessions, and she didn’t even know it. It made me get real. I thought I wasn’t hurting anyone...” Chicago laughed.

“...I used to say that, to Richard, all the time. I am hurt, Gem, but it is a good hurt and a learning hurt. Even though you’ve been discreet and you kept it from everyone, it makes me feel as if I don’t really know you...”

“...Why would you feel that way. You do know me...”

“...But it “feels” like I don’t know you, because you were deceitful about who you really were...

“...Chicago, you know me better than anyone. I wasn’t deceitful to you...”

“... But you were...” Gemini frowned “...What I’ve learned Gem, WHO you are, in your heart, MOTIVATES, everything you do. If you admit it to yourself, like I had to admit it to myself, your Christian leadership is motivated by a personal agenda and NOT God’s agenda. Just like your affairs. Who you are Gemini is a person who is MOTIVATED to do things for her OWN personal gain, even Christian things!...” Gemini and Chicago stared at each other for a long time and Gemini cried silently.

“...You’re right...”

“...What are you going to do now, Gem?...”

“...I told Brad and I told Simon...”

“...What did they say?...”

“...Brad is willing to remain his loving and forgiving self, which I know I don’t deserve. Simon says he will let it go too, but he wants to see me one more time...”

“...Gemini, don’t do it...”

“...Chi, he bought me a really, really, expensive porcelain piece. He said he wanted to give me something to remember him by and then he’d walk away...”

“... No Gem. Tell him to send it through the mail. I have a bad feeling about this. Do not see this man again...”

Chicago watched Gemini drive away. Simon Toliver reminded her of when she first met Pastor Simpson. She felt panicked, but was blessed that he turned out to be a genuine Christian man. She and Richard was getting married at his new church.

But Simon Toliver was not going to turn out to be a Christian man.