Follow My Leader 3. A Word About Your Future.

That Sunday Pastor Otley conducted the evening service under some palm trees on a beautiful Caribbean beach. Some native Christians accompanied them on a metal drum and Saints and Co sang,
“We will sing, we will sing, we will praise the Lord,
We will praise the Lord, for our God is good.
We will sing, we will sing, we will praise the Lord,
Because his love his everlasting.”

Pastor Otley preached. “King Solomon was a wealthy man. The Queen of Sheba brought him great big ships full of gold. Silver wouldn’t do. The kings of the earth used to come to Solomon and ask his advice because they had heard of his wisdom. But when he was old, it all went wrong. Solomon married all these Canaanite women, and they turned his heart after other gods.”

Later that night Pastor Otley sat on the deck of his ship with a drink, looking at the stars. The stars shone beautifully. You could see their reflection in the ocean. His gold plated mobile phone played a song by Amy Grant,
“I have decided, gonna live like a believer, turn my back on the deceiver, gonna live like I believe.” He answered the phone. It was one of his children.
“Hello Matthew.”
“Hi, Dad. It’s the school holidays in 3 weeks time. Could I bring some of my friends on your boat?”
“Matthew, it's not a boat. It's a luxury ocean liner. How many times do I have to tell you? Now, let’s see. I’m six thousand miles away. That’s two thousand miles a week. Yes, I think we can manage that. Matthew, are these people that you actually know? Everybody at Eton wants to come on my boat, sorry, luxury ocean liner. Last time you brought half the school here. The swimming pool was full, we ran out of pineapples and I had to start chilling the sparkling Perrier water in the fridge and actually drinking it. Yuck! Bring your classmates, Matthew, but please, no more than six people.”
“Can Sarah bring six of her friends?”
“Yes, Sarah can bring six of her friends as well.”

A few weeks later the children and their friends were with Mr. & Mrs. Otley on the deck of the ship in the mid Atlantic, in the hot sun.
“I don’t like the caviar in this sandwich,” said one of Matthew’s friends.
“Honey, have you been buying the cheap caviar from the supermarket again?” asked Mr. Otley. “It’s only £4.50 a tin, and my wife can’t resist a bargain. Our caviar comes from the quayside at a small fishing village and is kept in a tub in the freezer – a porcelain china tub, not the kind of tub they sell margarine in.”
“It’s fresh caviar, Darling, we bought it last week.”
“There’s nothing wrong with the caviar, Mr. Otley, it’s just that I don’t like caviar anyway.”
“Try some tomato sauce on it,” said Matthew.
“Matthew,” said Mr. Otley, “come here, I want a word with you.”
“Caviar tastes nice with tomato sauce.”
“I’m sure it does, Matthew. The servants make it from freshly squeezed tomatoes. None of that Heinz rubbish here.” Mr. Otley led his son to a small cabin. They went inside and closed the door. “It’s not about caviar, Matthew, it’s about your life. I want you to carry on the family business after I retire.”
“You’re only 52.”
“Time goes by quickly Matthew, it goes by much too quickly. I want you to be a preacher as well.”
“Are you going to send me to Bible College?”
“I’m going to send you to one of the best Bible colleges in the world, Son, Dallas Theological Seminary in the states.”
“I’m only 14.”
“You carry on at Eton and get good A’ levels, Son, and I’ll send you over there when you’re 18.”