by Steven Clark Goad

In one area I am delighted our practice has not caught up with what we preach. It has to do with how we treat others in light of some of the things we have said the Bible teaches.

I am eager to search for truth in the Bible, but I am not all that eager to believe what every Tom, Dick, and Harry says the Bible teaches. For I have heard a lot of harebrained ideas come from the mouths of few Tom’s and Harry’s. Would a false teaching Harry be a Harrytic?

Back to my point. The Bible is a lot like those Rorschach ink blot tests. You show one ink blot to someone and he says it reminds him of a giant panda bear. You show the same ink blot to another person and she says it looks just like the shadow of cloud over a wheat field. One lad went to a shrink who showed him ink blot after ink blot. The kid kept saying they reminded him of pizza. Finally his psychiatrist showed him one more ink blot in desperation. Again the young man said, “It looks like a pepperoni pizza with green olives and mushrooms.” The doctor sighed and said out loud, “You must have a one track mind, son.” To this the lad replied, “Hey, I’m not the one with all the pictures of pizza!” Good point.

Where was I? Oh, yes. Practice. We didn’t practice what we preached all those years of discontent. We circled the ecclesiastical wagons and excluded not only the Indians, but one another as well. Some fellowships claiming to have a genuine interest in unity kept drawing lines of demarcation that excluded so many others that the denominations grew smaller and smaller with more and more litmus tests of fidelity to God. Let me give you a few examples to make myself clear. Some of us claimed to have the exact and proper name for the body of Christ on earth. All others had the wrong names. We asserted that our number and choice of how worship may be rightfully offered to God were straight from the Scriptures, while all the other fellowships were polluted in the proper rituals to include. Oh, yes. We interpreted Scripture correctly. Others did not. We sort of had a monopoly on truth.

How pathetically arrogant! And I guess here is where I sit down on my major point in this little rambling essay. I thank almighty God we behaved better than we wrote in our brotherhood journals and church bulletins. I am glad we acted properly toward our neighbors rather than ranting some of the diatribes fired in staccato fashion from the pulpits of our churches. That we did generally treat people better than we preached is telling. Very telling.

Our behavior, being better than our theology, meant we knew better than to take some of the outrageous stands some of us took. Stands like “you can’t fellowship someone who thinks differently than you on a doctrinal matter.” Or how about “fellowship means endorsement”? Then there is the, often spoken in hushed tones, “We are the only ones going to heaven. All others are either lost or on the verge.”

Be not many of you teachers. Judge not that you not be judged. Stop it. “God forgive us for not practicing what we preached. And thank you for giving us the wisdom to do so. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

“Let us stop passing judgment on one another” (Romans 14:13).

The number for Jonah Johnson is 1876-464-3805. I have tried calling but the phone is going to voicemail. But for people who need a direct contact this is the number

I DID NOT READ DI COMMENTS INA DI KITTY POST BUT MI WAA KNOW IS WHY UNNO TRYING TO ASSASSINATE DI LADY CHARACTER…UNNO DOE DWEET..DI LADY DO UP HAR HELICOPTER STYLE PARTY AND TING AND UNNO HAFFI MEK HAR REALLY GO WRITE ARTICLE BOUT UNNO? MS KITTY I WILL INVESTIGATE DI MATTER YUH YERE…

Mi no have enuff words fi express my gratitude to all a di people dem who come out and support mi birthday party outta Danny’s Marina wah day!

Mi glad bag buss when mi see di people dem who come out fi celebrate wid mi and is a good ting mi mout tan good because wah mount a smile me smile all now mi face tired! It was such a wonderful feeling to see people from all ova Jamaica an di worl come out inna dem finest white an all dem coloured fi mi enjoy mi birthday wid me. Mi haffi say big up to fadda God who mek it possible and of course him gimme the strength to survive all when di dutty heathen dem a try bring mi dung. But chu a inna God me trus an mi know who God bless no man curse dem a talk bout me and mi naa talk bout dem cause mi naa focus pon no locus!

Yuh have sum scumbag mind people who get up everyday and live pon people name and try fi assassinate dem character and always a try fi put the worst first or seek the worst spin pon a good situation. Me is a woman who talk di tings but fair in when I’m doing so. Mi no jus get up a dun people fi no reason and yuh have some toxic people who get up everyday wid dat as dem modus operandi. All when nutten bad no deh deh fi talk bout dem haffi create a story fi validate dem low-bite way of thinking. There is always gonna be people in life that you don’t like cause none a we anno Jesus Christ fi just happy wid everybody all di time … No nail mark no inna none a we hand so it is quiet understandable if yuh no like a person.

My problem is though that most of the time the disdain is coming from a place of misinformation, misperception and just plain bad mind and to how some a dem mind bad di word dem cyaa even join! Nuff time dem see people life and no know nutten at all and sit on the sidelines and judge and di hottest part bout it if yuh know a who an who a talk di tings dem bout yuh sumtime and dem stay bad and how dem life sad yuh woulda haffi jus laugh. Some people no inna no position fi a class and diss because if fi dem skeleton bone dem inna dem closet start rackle is a walking cemetary dem woulda have!

Mout cut cross way so it mek fi talk anyting but the utterances weh sum a dem mek yuh can tell seh a jealousy di way dem can go hard when dem a persecute yuh. But as me seh Jesus walked the earth a sinless man … heal the sick, raise di dead and turn wata into wine and dem still crucify him so who am I? We have a likke dutty hypocrite way inna dah country yah where we stereotype women who have a voice. The moment yuh have a brain and your own way of thinking yuh tend fi be public enemy numer 1!

The fact seh when fluffy woman a step dese days we step wid confidence and assurance mash up dem double standard and upset dem apple-cart! Mi never hear nobody too a lick out when the jokes were always on the “fat one” but how di ting tun up is a problem! Yuh have woman wid weight weh stay bad and yuh have skinny one weh stay bad too! It all boils down to di individual and their self-esteem and self awareness. Sum a dem love talk bout belly an girdle but if yuh have a certain weight belly haffi deh deh an girgle haffi wear das y dem mek dem!

Big up Captain Burrell fi di helicopter and nobodda talk bout mi pilot Captain John Chambers how mi love him bad! Thank you so much. Mommy Winsome from Fashion Fever a million thanks mi frock sell off!

Cherry’s Hair an more crew big up and to di lady who come out inna her full white wid head gear to match Linnet big up mi swear she fava Whitney Houston inna bodyguard! lol … Nuff love to Danny Marina everytime and to every sponsor, patron, fan, friend, family and well-wishers unnu mek mi feel well special. No mind di taglabugla or di herpicirp dem who a try rain pon mi parade mi lef unnu to God an time cause a mi seh proppa happy and sort out! Love all who love mi and if u no like mi a baaaay mek a me neva like yuh fus !Le Chin girls dem…Marsha Ridgeline and nuff love to mi boss Shaggy! Tina and Gary and of course Tifa, Spice, Pamputae, Ishawna a we seh girl power. Love unnu from mi heart!

so I went and get the whole story apparently the girl ask the man for her things and because he don’t have it to give back he broke up with her. now she never mind till him sister and some next woman he running down call her phone and she trace them. the girl take care of him kids up to 2weeks ago I saw him outside her house cause my kids go to school in front there and he had his daughter with him. him do borrow the girl things till him tell people him fren them say him shouldn’t borrow her things him should a borrow from who him give things. the girl pick him up Bruck and decide fi work with him try Mek life him go Jamaica go meet her mother and the whole 9 yards now she decide she nuh want him him a hold dung him sister wah jump in deh. the next gyal now them use her for what she worth she a buy clothes to she a make car payment buy his family things and the next girl now she a do the same thing pay off credit card debt and feel sorry for him cause he continuously uses his kids name to get something.
now I can’t really word this any better but u need to let people know what kind of person mark cooper and his family is. I thought he was a good person but he very foul