I have
never
responded
to a review
before and
after this
I never
will again. When I think about churches, I always think about the sick. My mother
always
told
me that
churches
are like hospitals,
people
go
there
to get
better.
However,
if
you
are not converted,
which takes
time,
as a person
you
will continue
to fail.
That
is how
I see
many
churches,
and
this
doesn’t
have
anything to do
with race.
Many
denominations
have
their own
particular
set
of problems
from abuse
of children, stealing
money
to illicit sex
in the
church.
Still
there are many
churches
that don’t
have
these
problems
or
these
types of issues have
not surfaced to the
congregation
as a whole.
I try to write real stories. We are not perfect, only God is. But if people understand they can come to God no matter what they've done in the past without fear of rejection, then I’m doing my job. I get letters from potential church members saying how my book changed their lives by letting them know God forgives all sin. They feel they can walk through the doors of the church and believe God will do as He promised. Some people are offended by the church’s problems and choose to see churches as a place for perfect people. I see it as a place for imperfect people trying to live as God wants us to. I’m not living in a glass house. I know people fail. I know preachers fall. I believe when people fall, they can still be redeemed.
My book, A Sinner’s Cry is about people. Most of the drama happens at church. But a church is not Heaven, and I do not glorify church as such. I don’t glorify church because they are still managed by people. Imperfect people! I glorify God. I don’t follow men. I follow God. Even if there is sin in a church, you cannot run from it because wherever you chose to move your membership to, you may find sin there also.
When I read I have descriptive sex in my book, I smile because I know I had to do a good job writing this book. This is because the book is a little raunchy, but the scenes are not descriptive. Maybe it’s me, and the kinds of books I read but this isn’t very descriptive, play by play to me. I am providing an example of the two scenes and also an article written by my former publicist. The link for the article is below. Here are two examples:
I try to write real stories. We are not perfect, only God is. But if people understand they can come to God no matter what they've done in the past without fear of rejection, then I’m doing my job. I get letters from potential church members saying how my book changed their lives by letting them know God forgives all sin. They feel they can walk through the doors of the church and believe God will do as He promised. Some people are offended by the church’s problems and choose to see churches as a place for perfect people. I see it as a place for imperfect people trying to live as God wants us to. I’m not living in a glass house. I know people fail. I know preachers fall. I believe when people fall, they can still be redeemed.
My book, A Sinner’s Cry is about people. Most of the drama happens at church. But a church is not Heaven, and I do not glorify church as such. I don’t glorify church because they are still managed by people. Imperfect people! I glorify God. I don’t follow men. I follow God. Even if there is sin in a church, you cannot run from it because wherever you chose to move your membership to, you may find sin there also.
When I read I have descriptive sex in my book, I smile because I know I had to do a good job writing this book. This is because the book is a little raunchy, but the scenes are not descriptive. Maybe it’s me, and the kinds of books I read but this isn’t very descriptive, play by play to me. I am providing an example of the two scenes and also an article written by my former publicist. The link for the article is below. Here are two examples:
Example 1:
Darren kissed me. He
acted as if he was starved, like he hadn’t eaten or had
sex in weeks. My skirt fell to the floor and I stood there naked. I wanted him
as badly as he wanted me. So I unbuttoned his shirt and he helped me to pull it
off. It dropped to the floor. He took me right there in the living room,
standing up.
He held my face in his
hands. “Denise, I love you, girl.”
I didn’t respond
because I was thinking of Pastor Davis, not him. I was scared to speak for I
may have said something wrong. I prayed and asked God to help me to be a
Christian.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” I kissed his lips. I felt so confused. I
loved Darren, but I loved God, too. I didn’t know if I should follow my heart
and keep on loving Darren, or follow God and live according to His will? Loving
Darren was so easy, but losing my soul was so hard.
I walked to the bathroom and filled the
Jacuzzi. Darren put on his pants and shirt and walked to the car to get out the
food he’d picked up for us. He was so aroused that he left the food and took me
first.
As we sat in the Jacuzzi, I lay my head on his
shoulder. “I love you so much.”
“I know. It won’t be
long. I saw my lawyer today. I wanted to find out what I needed to do. I told
you I was going to divorce my wife soon.”
“I hope you don’t feel
as if I am making you do that. I will not allow you to blame me.” I lifted my
head off his shoulders and looked into his eyes. Lately, I had been feeling
weird, being with another woman’s husband. When I found out he was married I
stayed because my heart had planted vines in my soul and I had fallen in love.
I couldn’t leave. Then I became comfortable. I got used to him and I did not
like the idea of being back out in the world unattached.
“What are you thinking
about?”
“Us and where we are
headed.”
He swiped a strand of
my hair behind my ear. “We are headed to the altar; you are going to be my
wife.”
He grabbed me and
pulled me onto his lap. We kissed as his hands slowly moved over my body like
an x-ray machine, looking for areas to pinpoint for more observation. I felt
his warmth that connected from his body to mine. We became one again, the
second time that night.
Example 2:
When Darren arrived I
opened the door and let him in. Grabbing me, he kissed me hard and I kissed him
back. The guilt was killing me, but not enough to stop me. I needed his arms to
hold me and to make me feel safe. We made passionate love on the floor in front
of my fireplace. He held and kissed me and I kept my head under his armpits. I
felt safe and I didn’t want him to leave. As we lay there, saying nothing, the
phone rang and I jumped.
“Why are you so jumpy?”
Darren turned his head and watched me.
“Hello?” There was no sound.
I slammed the phone
down. “Darren, please stay tonight, please.”
Jumping up, he knocked
over the crystal lamp and it crashed to the floor, but it didn’t break. He
grabbed me and looked deep down into my eyes as I looked up to him for comfort.
“What’s going on?”
“Someone keeps calling
and hanging up. Tonight someone followed me all the way from East St. Louis.”
“You didn’t let them
see where you live, did you?”
“No, I drove straight
to the police station. That scared them and they kept driving. A police officer
escorted me home and waited to ensure that I was okay.”
“That was smart of
you.” Kissing me on my forehead, he whispered, “I will not let anyone bother
you. But I can’t stay. I have to get home. If Jill becomes suspicious, she will
take me to the cleaners. We have to be careful. I already stayed once this
week, I can’t do it again so soon.”
“Darren, baby, I don’t
know how much longer I can do this. I miss you when you are not here and I want
you so bad to be here with me all the time. I’m so tired of sharing you. Plus,
Darren, what we are doing is wrong. It is against what God requires of us.”
“There you go with that
mess again.”
“What do you mean that
mess? Don’t you believe in God?”
“Yes, I do, but I don’t
think God is sitting around worried about who I am seeing with all the problems
in the world. I just think that wouldn’t be His concern. Not who I am sleeping
with.”
“I’m not going there
with you. You know that if we want to see Heaven there are things we need to
do.”
“Yeah, but right now I
want you before I leave.”
Picking me up and
taking me to the bedroom, he worked me over good before he showered. We lay in
bed and talked before he left. I lay in bed thinking that lately we had been
spending a lot of time in bed. I wondered if that was all our relationship was
about. I was beginning to hate myself. I jumped out of the bed and stared at
myself to see if I looked dirty. I wanted to know if my sin was noticeable. I
looked at every inch of my body, searching for something to show me that people
knew I was sleeping with a married man. I didn’t know what I was looking for,
but I knew I felt dirty and sinful.
As tears rolled down my face, Darren exited
the bathroom and stood behind me. He was naked. His body was beautiful like a
naked god’s—no marks, no fat, no inches of fat over his waistline—just muscle
and beauty. He watched me.
“What are you doing,
Denise?” He had a perplexed look on his
face. His eyes were looking up and his head was leaning to the side.
I just stared at him
through the mirror. I looked for a reflection of something. I didn’t know what
I was doing. I was crying and touching my body.
“What is wrong with
you? I love you. Stop this now!”
He pulled on his
clothes and shoes. Then he checked his phone to see if he had missed any calls.
My phone rang again. I didn’t budge; I stood steadfast in the mirror.
Walking behind me,
Darren wrapped his arms around my body as if he was trying to shield me from
the cold and pain that was so deep in me that if he didn’t spread warmth over
me he would lose me. He rocked me as if I was his baby. He kissed me and told
me he loved me. I believed him. “I’m gonna take care of you. Don’t you worry a
bit, pretty lady?”
Barnesandnoble.com
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