The Church on the Hill - Short Story....

The Story of the Church 

Small Beginnings

In a great city, there lived a man, Salim.  He was kind, simple-hearted and good.  He worked as a chef in a restaurant and a highly prized chef.

His wife, Maya, just like her name was a kind loving lady, and they had two daughters, around 12 and 14, Tina and Piyal.

Salim was a man who prayed much.  He and family would sometimes visit known people or neighbors who were sick or going through some crisis and would pray for them.  When Salim visited them, he laid his hands over them  and they got healed.  Salim was now invited to people's homes when they were sick, to be prayed for.  Salim firmly would declare that Christ is the healer and he was simply an instrument.  Because Salim was such a pure instrument, God was indeed using him greatly.  Finally, he was asked to share messages in different churches..

One summer's evening, three men came over to his house.  They looked big and powerful with crisp white shirts and black suits.

"Good evening, Salim, may we speak with you?" they asked him politely.

"Sure," stammered Salim, wondering why such important men would come to his little rickety house.  As Maya made them tea and set out cheese straws, they spoke briefly.  They said that they were on the board of trustees of an old grey-stoned church in the city that was falling apart.  Only ten members were attending and the pews were empty.  The church had a seating capacity of 500 members in the 1970s.  Over time, the members had dwindled down, and their present pastor was immigrating to the United States.  They now requested Salim if he would oversee the church as a pastor.

Salim was shocked, "Me!" he exclaimed, "I've have never even been to Bible college!"

"It does not matter anymore, we see many people in the Bible did not go to Bible College but God did use them.  You study your Bible well and that is important, perhaps even better than many who attend seminaries," replied Mr. Mukherjee, one of the men.

"Let me pray about it," said Salim, still in a daze, "I mean, I don't know if I can handle a church, even if it's ten people."

"Think and pray," said Mr. Sinha, "We will call you tomorrow."

That night Salim and his wife tossed and turned, they prayed, but were not getting peace.  Finally, Maya said, "I think God is giving you an opportunity to help the people in a greater way, which is a great honor, take it Salim, He will surely equip you for His calling."

Salim accepted the appointment of a pastor.  The board of trustees was right.  After Salim started preaching, the ten members in the church were excited about coming to church as church was alive, the Spirit of God was there, they could feel it.  The church started overflowing with other new people.  The board of trustees was delighted.

Wealthy men of the city started attending the church.  Salim's schedule was extremely busy.  He was preaching, and got many invitations to speak around the country, so he was often travelling much.  They hired a lady, Violent Singh as a secretary, who was a wonderful prayer warrior.  She efficiently took care of the paper work and organized all the prayer meetings and appointments.

One Sunday morning, it was evident to all that the church had outgrown its seating capacity.  A meeting was held and it was decided that they would build a new church!   They decided to build it on a hill as it would be in the city on the hill, and it sounded grand!

It was an exciting day when they started planning the new church building.  Many rich church members contributed towards the building.  They bought land, hired a great architect and chalked out all the ground plans.  Finally after one year, a beautiful church was built on a slight slope of a hill, with the workings of a five-star hotel with air-conditioning, gleaming vitrified floorings, maroon satin curtains, velvety maroon-padded pews and little golden lights all over lighting up the church.  They called it Church on the Hill.

Salim was now Pastor Salim; he got a beautiful glass office with an updated shinny black computer and a leather swiveling rotating chair.  It was exotic.  He had another tiny room for an assistant with another computer.  The church board decided that Violent Singh, who was the then secretary in the church would not be able to handle the modern highly advanced computer and so they informed her they were hiring someone else who was computer savvy.  They hired a younger woman who was technically advanced in all spheres.  Violent Singh stepped down without a word.  She remained in the church and continued praying much for the church, but she was very silent, but nobody seemed to notice that.

Pastor Salim finally got invitations to different countries to speak at shared conferences and seminars.  His life now was much travel and zooming up and down the country and even nations, so an assistant pastor was appointed, Zack Patel, a young dynamite speaker.  Zack's messages were stirring and inspiring and the "crowd" loved it.  They also enjoyed the very talented music ministry and powerful worship in the church.  In large, the church was doing well and growing and all were happy.

As the church grew, no one seemed to notice little territorial spirits that started seeping into the church.  A spirit of groupism, oneism with loveism for their own little groups insidiously moved in.

In the meantime in the outside world, millions of people walked without God, hated God, hated church, murdered, robbed, raped and unbelievable sins of lust flourished.

In the sanctuary of the church, Christians blissfully never prayed for the world events let alone others.  People mainly prayed for their own needs and wants, and a little for nations and governments but more out of formalism and duty rather than spiritual burdens.

In the midst of this happiness within the church, one Sunday morning, it was announced that Violent Singh was very sick with typhoid.  Mr. Joshi who was giving the announcements said, "Please keep Violet Singh in your prayers as she has typhoid."

No one remembered to pray for her.  Most of the new people did not even know who Violet Singh was.  The scavenger of Time was eating out everyone's schedules, so they had no time to pray for people with real needs.

Christmas Eve

One cold Christmas Eve evening, in Church on the Hill, Pastor Salim was preaching a powerful message on love.  He was saying, "We need to care for each other, uphold each other, and love our neighbors as ourselves," there were many "amens!" shouted out from the audience, Pastor Salim continued, "Besides loving, we must love the helpless, the needy, the captives and…." He was then rudely interrupted by a cry, a man walked forward unsteadily saying loudly, "Yes, help me church, help me," he was sobbing and drunk.  The church members looked scandalized and looked at Pastor Salim, who quietly told the ushers in the front to take him to the back.

As they led the poor drunk to the back, he kept protesting, "I don’t want to do anything, I just heard the beautiful music, I want to know God, I just want to know God," he was crying and some people looked disgusted to see a man crying and sobbing.

"Useless drunk!" hissed a mother to her son, who was watching wide-eyed.

However, in the back, the drunk still kept crying and finally Pastor Salim wrote a tiny note to an usher "Take him out, he is filthy, he will dirty the pews."

The ushers forcefully pushed him out and two ushers made sure he could not reenter.  One of the ushers was Gopi.  As he was strong and burly, he was able to keep out the drunk and as Gopi watched the drunk stumbling out into the dark night, sobbing he felt a twinge of guilt.

The service continued as if nothing had happened.  Noone spoke about the incident.  It was best forgotten because it made everyone uncomfortable.  Even Pastor Salim seemed uncomfortable as he added to his message, "Sometimes, some people are so far gone you cannot help them."

At this statement, his wife, Maya was startled and said softly to herself, "This is not the old Salim I know, I am beginning to feel frightened…"

That night, Gopi, the usher could not sleep.  He tossed and turned and then again got up at dawn to look for the drunk near the church, but did not find him.  Gopi was confused and afraid and turned to his Bible for comfort.  Something was wrong, what was happening?

The Vision

Pastor Salim then went for a long trip to abroad.  During his trip, he contracted strange fevers and chills, which he kept suppressing with medications.  On the plane back, he suddenly started shivering violently and spiked high fevers.  He was put on emergency medicines in the plane.  When he arrived back home, he was quickly admitted in a hospital and the doctor declared he had caught the HIN1 virus from someone.  He had to be isolated from his family for a while.

"The prognosis is grim," declared Dr. Genden, "His fever spikes high.  It was untreated for a while so he is at a danger point, he is beginning to have paresis of his vocal folds and unable to speak!"  Then the inevitable happened, Pastor Salim slipped into a coma and was dying.  His family surrounded his bedside, and the church was notified that he was dying and all were praying for him.

In his coma, Pastor Salim had the strangest and longest dream.

Pastor Salim saw a huge angel, glowing bright and in his dream, he fell down on his face, afraid.  "Salim" called the angel, "are you ready to come with me?"

"No" pleaded Salim, "I need more time, I am not ready."

"You are not ready for one reason only Salim," said the angel.

"What is it that I did not do?" asked Salim, "I will do it; I know I did not have time for anyone."

"That was there, but there is something even more serious you omitted to do," replied the angel gravely.

"What?" cried Salim, "I will do it."

The angel replied, "You cut the Golden Cord."

"What is that?" asked Salim.

The angel replied, "On the human natural level, life is connected at birth to the umbilical cord and on the spiritual level, the Golden Cord is the connection of a spiritual life to God.  You were living out of connection with the God.  The Golden Cord is our communion line in your spirit life to Christ.  When you commune with Him and obey Him, it connects you constantly to God's might throne all the time.  If our communion is cut, then the Golden Cord is severed and disconnected."

"I am Salim, I have done much for God's kingdom!" replied Salim.  "I do believe I have been having that "Golden Cord Connection" all these years, otherwise I would not be serving God."

The angel replied, "It does not matter to what heights you have risen or what you have done.  One can be the most famous pastor in the world, have a big ministry for orphans or are an evangelist, but if you do not have  a daily conversation with God, and obey what He shares with you, then Golden Cord is severed."

"What do you mean, communion with obedience?" asked Salim.

The angel replied, "It is a live wire of communication with Christ deep within us, internal spiritual life out of which overflows the fruit of life.  When we have a rich internal connection with God, fruits will follow, but not before." The angel paused.

Salim listened and asked softly, "Tell me more."

The angel continued, "We talk to the Lord, and we listen to what He speaks back to us and obey that, step by step.  When you obey the first step, He will do a new thing, and then a new thing.  In fact, you will walk in a new realm that even demons fear to tread.  That communion is always is so deep within you no demon can fabricate or speak or deceive you, because demons speak in the air to your soul.  They speak through projections and external images and suggestions and those Christians under demonic influence fall prey to that easily.  When you listen deeply inside to God, that is the Golden Cord, this is connecting you to Christ and to Heaven. This goes far beyond morning prayers and morning devotions."

Salim was perplexed in his dream and answered the angel, "I have been serving God, so many people have become closer to God because of my preaching"

The angel replied, "You have lived in your thoughts and your plans for the last three years, you read your Bible, studied, preached, and shared the Word, but your thought life was disconnected from God.  The Golden Cord is now disconnected, and you cannot hear God now much, even when He speaks.  You are more connected with your plans, other church leaders and their plans and speaking in conferences and seminars, but apart from your daily prayers, morning devotions, and studying the Word, you do not actually speak to God or hear Him speaking back to you.  You do not want to wait on Him anymore to hear His instructions and you are no longer spiritually sensitized!"

"What did He want me to do which I did not," replied Salim in wonder.

"Simple continue in the Golden Cord communion all the time for of it springs forth springs of real living water and all the blessings possible.  You need to teach that to the people as well as all people need The Golden Cord.  It is the live wire connection with Christ, which is within each believer.  Internal spiritual life is ignored, this is the cause of all the evil that is arising within people in themselves.  Human cannot even love or have grace for others if their Golden Cord is severed."

Salim replied brokenly in his dream, "I am sorry, I did not realize all this."

The angel continued, "Remember, Jesus did that for everyone, when He came down on Earth.  He touched people on a personal level when they needed it.  He did it different for each individual!"

The angel continued, "I will show you one whose Golden Cord is strong and he is greater than many pastors and leaders in God's Kingdom."

Salim suddenly saw a place with a patch of very green grass and a stream flowing nearby.  He then saw a young man sitting and talking earnestly to Christ in prayer, his face was glowing.

Suddenly Salim noticed the man was none other than Gopi, the usher.

"Gopi, the usher, greater than us all?" he asked sharply, "How come Gopi?   He is a very ordinary young man, just very helpful, no great preacher or leader."

The Angel replied, "God is looking for those who worship Him in spirit and in truth and did good for others out of love; in the end, only this will matter, nothing else."

Salim started crying.  He was still seeing the vision, but the doctors and nurses around saw him turning and moaning and crying and gave him a shot of Levophed as his heart rate was slowing down and he was getting into a septic shock.  His family gathered around him praying.  His face was ashen gray.  He was slipping away from life.  Pastor Zack Patel who was present started praying for him hurriedly.

The angel said, "Salim, Christ has compassion on you, He wants to give you another chance," and the angel disappeared and the vision was over.

When he said that, Salim awoke from his dream/vision, opened his eyes and saw glorious Light in the room.  It seemed no one saw it.  It was warm, embracing and hung over Salim.  Salim felt a warm power go through his body and strength coming back.  He started breathing evenly, and his skin changed color, his temperature dropped and his heart rate increased.  All in the room gave a cry of surprise at the sudden change in vital signs.   Salim was on his road to healing!  Salim called out with joy, "Jesus healed me!"

Cast Off

Within weeks, Salim was able to come back to church.  However, he could not bring himself to share about the dream yet either with his family or with the church.  It was so deep, intense and still raw.  He wanted to do things differently, to keep communing with Christ, and listening back to what He said and obey it, practicing The Golden Cord as the angel said.

However, something strange happened; Salim's voice had become very soft. At times, he could speak in a whisper.  Dr. Genden promised it would take months before his voice returned to normal.  So, when Salim tried to preach, it was a little hoarse whisper so for the first few services, and Salim had Zack Patel repeat what he said.

One evening, Mr. Mukherjee, of the board of trustees knocked on Salim's door saying he wanted to speak.  As he sat down, he got to the point and said, "I need to request you Salim to let Zack Patel take over the preaching, since you really cannot do it now."

Salim was stupefied and then quietly replied, "It will take a few months to get back my normal voice."

"I understand, Salim, but the people are very happy with Zack Patel too, so take a break, for a while, maybe you can handle some department in the church like the mission funds, which is really beyond our capacity, we need someone there, later we will see where you can place you back again to preach."

Salim looked at Mr. Mukherjee evenly and said, "I think you forget Mr. Mukherjee, it is because of me that this church grew, and now you are dropping me like an old shoe when my times are bad!"

Mr. Mukerjee replied tersely, "You are speaking in arrogance, nothing was because of you, this church is not yours, you were appointed by us; maybe God has finished using you here as the head pastor!"

His cruel words cut like a knife and Salim remembered the angel's words, "Because the Golden Cord is disconnected, the people have learned the way of indifference, the church members do not really care for each other."

With that Salim replied, "Do what you think best, Mr. Mukherjee," and Mr. Mukherjee left coldly.  Salim told his wife and children he needed some more time to recover.  He did not go to church and they did not question him.  Salim could not bring himself to come to the church.  His heart was broken and no one in the church came to visit or find out what happened to him.

"Strange," thought Salim, "humans are strange, one minute they love and adore you, and when you are down, they pretend you do not exist."

He finally did share with Maya about the angel and later his two daughters who listened in wonder.  They were fascinated.  They started praying about what to do next.  The next days were a blur, but finally all the family started getting peace.  Salim soon got his voice back.

Healing on Broken Wings

One Sunday evening as they were taking a family walk, they passed a fellowship, which seemed warm and inviting, the doors were open and sweet music floated out that evening from the church. They decided to walk in.

The man preaching called himself Jon. who shared warmly from his heart and his message was healing and strengthening.  A little later, a young man stood up and Jon introduced him as Vinod saying, "This is a man who lost his life and found it again."

Vinod spoke, telling the people how he came from a wealthy family.  He started drinking with friends at the age of 18, after which he became a hardcore alcoholic.  His family and friends wanted nothing to do with him.  Finally, he could do nothing, and would often fall at the roadside unconscious.  He was in a pit of despair and one night and cried to God.  As he stumbled along, he passed a grand glowing church, which sparkled like a Christmas tree and he heard beautiful music and felt a ring of comfort surround him.  "These were the people of God, they could help me," he thought.  As he entered the church, he was so drunk that he stumbled to the front calling out to the church in general for help.   With that, some people caught him and threw him out.  They did not allow him to come back though he kept telling them he only wanted to know God.  With that, he fell down somewhere in a gutter and was unconsciousness.  The next morning, he found himself in Jon's home in his spare room.  Jon finally placed him in an alcoholic rehabilitation home and the church paid for his recovery.  When he stabilized, they helped him get a simple job and he closely attended their daily Bible studies, which was like a mini Bible College, with many other people attending.  The Word of God brought healing to Vinod and now he joyfully shared he now is a new man.

Salim and his family hung their heads in shame at this man's story.  They knew this was the same man who came to Salim's church.  The whole family suddenly recognized him even with his good clothes and clean-shaven face.

After Vinod sat down after sharing, Salim felt a strong stirring in his heart to get up.  Salim walked up the aisle and faced the people with tears in his eyes saying, "Church, what Vinod said was true, and I am ashamed to say I was that pastor who threw him out that night, will you forgive me Vinod?"

The church gave a gasp of horror, and Vinod stared at Salim. Vinod did not remember him as he had been too inebriated to remember anything that night, but Vinod was filled with God's love, and replied, "God has forgiven me of much of the evil and harm I have caused others and the pain I caused my family and friends; how can I not forgive you?"

Salim went to him and they both hugged each other.  It was an emotional moment for the church.

Jon said solemnly, "It takes a great man to openly confess when he is wrong, we welcome you great Pastor Salim, I had no idea you are the pastor of the Church on the Hill."

"I was" replied Salim, "I am no longer there."

Salim and his family started attending Jon's church, which was called El Shaddai Church. They were waiting on God to show them what to do and it was a waiting prayerful time for all the family.

One morning, a lady came up to them and the family cried out aloud together, "Violet Singh!", but they were ashamed to look her in the eye because she has been so sick, and no one had visited her nor had any idea what had happened to her.  Now, she was attending El Shaddai Church!

Violent Singh said, "I let go of the past and look ahead, and now I think we all should do that."

The family was grateful for her kind graciousness.  She later told them that she was so ill and dying, and no one in the church came.  The hospital took care of her, and when she was strong enough, she went home, and then through her own prayers for herself, she was able to get back to health and feet.

Wings of an Eagle

In time, Pastor Salim started a little fellowship, which grew into a church eventually.  He found his greatest joy in the simplicity of life among the simple ordinary people, and delighting in seeing their lives transform as they were prayed for.

He importantly taught each church member practicing "The Golden Cord" a live wire internal spiritual connection with us and Christ.  This brought streams of living water into a person's life.  With each person is renewed in internal spiritual life, we become mighty vessels in God's hands and a nation is moved mightily…and all this can start with strong communion with God!

Pastor Salim was now back to the beginning of his walk with the Lord, which was the sweetest and the best and progressed uphill day by day to a new level to walk in a higher realm simply because of The Golden Cord connection with God.

© Rita Farhat Kurian