Promises Pt. 01

"What do you think? What are our chances of getting any money from them?"

"When the fertilizer hits the rotary ventilator they will probably fight it tooth and nail, and they will probably fight dirty. When that fails they will probably sue for bankruptcy and you and everyone else will probably get little if any money. If we take them on we will need to get ourselves listed as creditors so that we have first claim on their money. The Tax Office will probably take an interest in the church, especially if, to strengthen our case, we can prove that they are working outside the definition of a Christian Church or Christian charity as defined under the Taxation Laws. This could lead to the end of the Pentecostal church, at least in Australia. Come to think of it, I remember that there have been a couple of cases in the US where people have got their money back because the promises the church made hadn't happened."

"The world will be a better place for it."

"You have a problem with them, don't you?"

"Yes you could say that. They preach an ideology that is supposed to be Christian based, but if you were to look closely at a lot of what they preach you will find a message of hatred, xenophobia, self aggrandizing egotism, egoism and greed, not at all like that of their Spiritual Leader, Jesus Christ, in fact the very opposite of what he taught."

"Can we get evidence of any of this?"

"Of course. They are so full of themselves that they record each service and you can buy CD's and DVD's from their media unit. They start cranking them out the minute the service is finished so that the people can buy them hot off the press. I also have another source of information, you see I have been secretly recording their full services for the last twelve months."

"Can we get hold of any in which they make the promise about the seven-fold increase in finances?"

"Yes, in fact I have several examples at home."

Michael took one of those yellow legal pads from his top drawer and began writing notes on it. "This is what I want you to bring to our next meeting. In the mean time I think I might get involved in a little light reading. Do they use any particular version of the Bible?"

"Usually the New King James or the NIV and sometimes they will use the Amplified Bible. They chop and change depending on the message."

"What would help our cause is if we can lay our hands on evidence that their ideology is in some way different from that of Jesus."

"Funny you should say that, this is the area that got me thinking about their teaching in the first place. Apart from their fundamental 'Inerrant Word of God' stance, the main features of their worship practices are based, not on obedience to the literal Bible as they claim, but on some rather dodgy interpretation of Scriptures. I have here," Frank took a folder of papers from his attaché case and handed them over, "a list of the main practices, the Scripture they use to support them and contradictory Scriptures."

"Good, to grab their attention we'll go straight to the Supreme Court with this, and we'll hit them where it hurts most, in the hip pocket, then we'll take them on in the area that they think that their strength lies, the Bible. Leave it with me. If I need any clarification, can I call you?"

"Of course, my mobile number is on that paper, if I can't take the call, just leave a message on my message bank and I'll get back to you."

"I guess that your next question is; 'how much is this going to cost?' My fee will be nothing, the only expense you will have is for the necessary subpoenas and other court costs and I'll bill you for those after we win. I may decide at that time to submit an account for fees to the court, but the money will be given, in a touch of irony, to those people that the church, if it was doing God's work as it claims, is supposed to be helping."

"So you think that we'll win?"

Michael stood up and extended his hand to Frank. "Let's put it this way; I'm confident of success. Make an appointment with Chantelle in reception for about a week from now. I have a good feeling about this case, it's something that I could really get my teeth into. Good luck."

As Frank left, Michael was looking at the notes he had left, there was the beginnings of a smile on his face, and he was going to enjoy the task ahead.

"Well, how did you get on?" Joan had heard Frank pull into the driveway.

"I spoke to a Michael Henderson who seems to think I have a good chance of success. I have an appointment with him next week when we'll discuss it in greater detail, in the mean time we both have work to do."

Chapter 2:

The Case:

It is our contention that, as there is absolutely no scriptural evidence to support the church's claim that the promise of financial increase in response to tithing, was made by God, it is therefore the church's responsibility to honour it.

Within minutes of Mayotte entering his office several men had scurried in and were sitting, or standing dependent on their status, in front of the large polished mahogany desk behind which sat a nervous and agitated Mayotte.

"I have just been served with a summons to appear in court. This church is being sued for forty two thousand, two hundred and twenty four million, two hundred and thirty six thousand dollars!"

Almost as one, "What?" exploded from the gathered officials. "What is the basis of the claim?" Asked the treasurer, the thought of imminent financial ruin already uppermost in his mind.

"I haven't got that far yet, let me see, ah, here it is, we are being sued by one of our folowers because we have failed to deliver on our promise to increase his finances of one of our followers seven-fold."

"Well then we have nothing to worry about," the treasurer said, "all we have to do is to claim that the promise came from God and it's His responsibility."

"That is all well and good but I think we should get a professional legal opinion. Do we have a Lawyer in the congregation?"

As Janine left the room to consult the church Database, her departure was followed by several pairs of eyes. She was tall, she was slim, she was blond, and her walk suggested a former career as a model. She was well, albeit conservatively, dressed in a tailored dark blue suit with a glaringly white blouse buttoned to the base of her neck. Although they could no longer see her front as she walked from the room the men present knew from memory that the front of her blouse and jacket were thrust forward by her breasts.

Once the lustful thoughts were suppressed, the assembled group was deep in personal thought during the several minutes that she was absent. When she returned each of their expressions simultaneously changed from confusion to questioning. She handed a note to Mayotte who picked up the telephone and punched the number viciously on the keypad. "Good morning this is Pastor Mayotte from the Shining Light Christian Church I wish to speak with Mister Peter Latham immediately."

An agitated voice came from the other end of the line. "I don't care where he is, or what he is doing, this is important or else I wouldn't have bothered him, now put him on!"

A minute later a male voice emerged from the phone. "Latham here. This had better be life threatening to drag me out of a very important meeting."

"If being sued for an obscene amount of money isn't life threatening then I don't know what is!"

"Calm down and explain to me what this is all about, what numbers are we talking about and who is suing you?"

"Forty two thousand, two hundred and twenty four million, two hundred and thirty six thousand dollars, is that large enough? Apparently the suit is being brought on behalf of a Francis McIvor, one of our congregation."

"What is his argument?"

"He is claiming that we have failed to honour our promise of a seven fold increase in his finances."

"That's alright then, you can claim it was the promise of God, not you, and that you have no case to answer."

"You're sure about that?"

"Yes, unless you have any reason to doubt the veracity of that?"

"No, why should we?"

"Alright, if you could bring the summons around to my office as soon as possible I'll look into it for you."

Mayotte looked more relieved, "I tell you that this had me going there." The group laughed in self conscious sympathy.

Two weeks later Michael Henderson and Janis Johansson QC were in the Supreme Court before Judge Foley for the preliminary hearing of the case. Johansson was a Barrister who had been briefed by Latham because he was of the opinion that he had more experience in these matters, and to start off with the big guns might just scare the opposition.

"Your Honour, we the Plaintiffs in this matter before you are suing the Shining Light Christian Church for the sum of forty two billion, eight hundred and twenty four million, two hundred and thirty six thousand dollars, this being the amount that the Defendants, Pastor Mayotte, and others, of the Shining Light Christian Church, promised my client would be given to him as a result of his, and these are their words, diligent tithing. That is all that we are asking for, that they repay the debt to which they had committed themselves."

The opposition wasn't scared. "Explain to me Mister Henderson, how did you come by that figure?"

"We had three choices when calculating the amount owed, the first is based simply on the amount given multiplied by seven. The second is an exponential calculation of the amount that my client has donated over the last ten years to the Shining Light Christian Church on the belief that they would honour their promise of a seven-fold increase on his tithing, which was the amount given multiplied to the power of seven, this comes to forty two billion, eight hundred and twenty four million, two hundred and thirty six thousand dollars. The third calculation was the amount that would be earned over that same period, starting at $400 and adding $400 each month at an interest rate of seven hundred percent per annum compounded monthly, suffice it to say that this amount would be right off the Richter Scale. So huge in fact that my calculator was unable to cope with it. Suffice it also to say that after ten years the figure was some way north of more money than there is in this world. I have the amount written down because there was no way that I could remember it, here it is, hang on to your hats. Four eight seven nine comma three six four, comma, five seven two, comma, two eight four, comma, three five zero, comma, zero zero zero, comma, zero zero zero, comma, zero zero zero, comma, zero zero zero, comma, and zero cents. We were sure that the second and third methods would be more likely to attract their attention, but we would be quite happy to accept the lesser amount."

"Which is?"

Henderson glanced at his notes. "We have calculated the amount to be three hundred and forty thousand dollars plus interest plus costs, of course. If however the church chooses to contest this matter then we will continue with our suit for a higher amount."

"Mister Johansson?"

"Your Honour, firstly we raise the issue of jurisdiction. If the Plaintiff has, as he insinuates, been defrauded by the church, surely that is a criminal matter to be dealt with by the appropriate authorities. Secondly, we contend that the promise was made by God and not by the church, therefore the church has no case to answer."

"Mister Henderson?"

"Your Honour, in regard to the jurisdictional issue raised by the honourable counsel for the defendant, we are seeking the repayment of a debt, that is a civil matter, and our case centres on who is responsible for that debt, God or the Shining Light Christian Church. If we, in establishing ownership of that debt, raise the issue of a criminal charge of fraud, then we will take our evidence to the Director for Public Prosecutions for its consideration. As for the other matter raised, it is our contention that there is absolutely no contextually accurate scriptural evidence to support the church's claim that the promise of financial increase as a result of tithing was made by God. It is therefore the church's responsibility to honour it. In fact we will also prove scripturally that, as a Christian, and contrary to the teachings of this church, my client is under no obligation to tithe at all." There was a loud murmur from the public gallery.

"And you can prove this?"

"Yes Your Honour. One further thing your Honour, While I have every confidence in gaining a fair and impartial hearing from the Full Bench of this Court, I believe that the best interests of everyone will be served if it is a trial by jury, that way the judgment decision is shared and there will be fewer avenues for appeal open to the losing party."

"Very well, you are aware of course that this is a dangerous decision that could backfire on you and your client."

"We are very much aware of that, but we will stand by our decision."

Judge Foley addressed both lawyers. "In this matter before this court, I rule that as a prima facia case against the church has been established, the church has a case to answer and I will set the date for the trial for three weeks." His gavel dismissed the parties.

"Well?" Mayotte answered his phone.

"Unfortunately it has to go to trial. We have three weeks to come up with our strategy."

They were a busy three weeks indeed for both parties. Frank and Michael spent many hours both together and alone listening to audio tapes, CD's and DVD's of as many of the teachings as they could lay their hands on, noting all Scripture references used and cross checking them with their Bibles. They were helped in this by Frank's attention to detail, the CD's he had recorded had, along with the date and the preacher's name, a précis of the message written on the CD label. If they found that the context in which the Scripture was used in the teaching did not match the context of that particular passage, it was duly noted. If a teaching was cited as being Scriptural and it didn't exist, it was also noted. Where the number of Scripture passages was used as a statistic to justify a teaching, each was checked, using a concordance, and if they did not in fact support the teaching, they were noted. At the end of three weeks a very thick file had been put together, and a strategy put in place.

A part of this strategy was the production of a document on Henderson's Notebook computer. This document was in colour and the colours served to identify the status of the cited Scripture. For ease of reference, the cited Scripture was printed in black, a Scripture that agreed with the cited Scripture was coloured green, a cited Scripture that was taken out of context was coloured yellow, and a Scripture that directly contradicted the cited Scripture was coloured red, while a Scripture that differed chronologically from that cited was coloured blue. There was a lot of red and yellow print. This document was sent to a printer and several bound copies were made.

At the Shining Light Christian Church a strategy was emerging. It had become obvious that counsel for the plaintiff just might have cause to seek compensation, and doubts had begun to emerge. Mayotte had mentioned briefly to the congregation the problem that faced the church without going in to details, merely stating that they were being sued, that they were completely innocent of any wrong doing, that there was nothing to be concerned about, and that church members were to have no further dealings with Frank or Joan McIvor. In the mean time Johansson had been going through legal precedents to see if this type of case had been tried in the past, without luck.

The one positive in all of this was that this would be a jury trial, and if they could get enough sympathetic jurors on the panel they stood a better chance of success, at the very worst a hung jury.

"What if they manage to stack the jury with a whole bunch of Pentecostal sympathizers?" Frank was a little concerned.

"They can have twelve sympathizers on the panel for all that I care. By the time that I'm finished with Mayotte they will be all on our side."

What Henderson had also been able to do was to employ one of his regular associates to record the meetings without being observed. He was able to do this because, even though Frank and Joan were no longer welcome at the church, and couldn't be seen near it without raising suspicions, a non-descript van parked a hundred meters away in a side street would not attract attention and, using Frank's equipment as well as his own he was still able to scan the radio frequencies until he picked up the Wi-Fi microphones used for the meeting and record it. Armed with this evidence Henderson was even more confident of success.

Chapter 3: Inside the Court

Trial Day 1:

How can you say you have the law when the lying pens of the Scribes have treated them falsely?' Jeremiah 8:8

The courtroom was packed for the first session. The majority of those people present in the public gallery were members of the Shining Light Christian Church. They sat chatting to each other and smiling confidently, after all wasn't God on their side? Worrying for Johansson was the media contingent present, he had told Mayotte that the less publicity generated for the trial the better, but he had the impression that this had passed right over Mayotte's head, the greater the media exposure the better as far as he was concerned.

Henderson was also worried by the media presence. "I don't like this. He whispered to Frank. "If this trial moves the way that I predict it will, the media bias may affect the jury's sentiment."

Mayotte turned to the packed gallery and, holding up his hands began praying.

Patachorinmarewidnertomiqueftupresniofrimdextilbusrofhilmesizacovildepotrufnis, fedjicfgirunwiaholxirduvkistromilavefbismopsolixfumchostrilnistrulpmuschilnufrom, bezuv."

Others joined in and soon the room was filled with unintelligible mutterings.

The Judge entered the court room and the Clerk of the Court called for silence. Mayotte continued praying in tongues for several more minutes despite the banging of the Judge's gavel and the shouts of "Order!" from the bench.

"Mister Johansson if you do not get your client to stop this unholy racket this instant I will hold him in contempt!"

Johansson grabbed Mayotte by the arm and urged him to stop. Reluctant silence descended on the court room.

Judge Foley turned to the potential jurors. "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attendance here this afternoon. The process of jury selection can be a long process, so I ask you to be patient. Counsel for both parties will ask you questions to ascertain your suitability for the task ahead, but first, are there any here who would wish to be excused or who believe that, for whatever reason they will be unable to render a fair and impartial decision?" Several hands rose. Foley went through each of them in turn and excused those who had reason other than their Pentecostal beliefs to be excused. "Mister Henderson, do you wish to question these people?"

"No your honour, I am happy to allow these fine people to participate if selected."

Johansson glanced at Mayotte. What was Henderson playing at? Does he honestly believe that he can win with practicing Pentecostals in the jury? Mayotte had the same thoughts, the difference being that Mayotte felt his spirits soar, while Johansson's spirits remained rooted to the ground of concern.

With little interference from Henderson, a panel was sworn in that contained more than half of its members expressing some sympathy to the church, although not all were Pentecostals. The jury foreperson was a well dressed man, an engineer, who professed to be a follower of the Baha'i faith. Henderson was pleased with this selection but Johansson whispered his concern to Mayotte, who, confident of the support of the majority, dismissed the concern.