PAYOLA FORUM A HUGE SUCCESS
Brooklyn, April 28th, 2011…If the overwhelming majority of respondents attending the CPR forum examining the Payola Plunder on Tuesday, April 26th are to be believed, this forum was the best one to date. Organizers were very pleased with the turnout but it was the quality of the conversation that had the respondents beaming. “People left the forum more enlightened than when they first arrived,” says Carlyle McKetty, co-founder and president of CPR, “one objective of the Community Conversation Series is to foster a sense of community so that we can have healthy discussions like what took place on Tuesday night at the 3Ten Lounge and we are very pleased with the outcome.” The forum which was part three of the “Who Mash Up Reggae Series” looked to “tally the toll of pay for play” which has become a scourge on the music industry not only in Jamaica but within the Diaspora.
According to panelist, Cordel Green, executive director of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica, “These conversations are taking place all over the world, but they are not being led by Jamaicans.” He went on to say that, “The work that CPR is doing is very important as CPR is using the preservation of reggae as a platform to deal with many social issues.” Echoing Mr. Green’s sentiment was veteran reggae singer, Freddie McGregor who said he was pleased to be a part of the evening’s conversation. McGregor added that, “Only people who care about our craft and care about us would do what CPR is doing.” Panelist Mandingo, who resides in the United Kingdom, was very forthcoming. He pointed out that “These discussions have to be continuous in order to maintain the integrity of the music. If we don’t maintain the integrity of the music the whole thing will wither and die.”

Forum commentator Carter Van Pelt, was impressed with the turn out and the quality of the discussion which took place. “It was the best forum to date,” he said, “Cordel Green was absolutely brilliant in the way he spoke and laid out the issues.” Pat Meschino, agreed, adding that, “there needs to be a part two.” The Billboard writer, presented on the issue of editorial payola and her presentation was well received. “This was a very interesting and positive discussion,” she added. Jubba White, leader and co-founder of DubTonic Kru, winners of the Best Band in the World Championship which was recently held in Malaysia, was a welcome surprise at the evening’s proceedings, and added his voice to the discussion. He spoke of the need for more people to speak out and not be pressured into staying silent. In closing he stated that he was pleased to see that, “the movement to preserve the music industry continues through dialogue.”

Like CPR, Cordel Green encourages folks to become advocates. “People need to write and call in to the stations, lobby, and do whatever it takes to make your voices be heard,” said Mr. Green, “The Broadcasting Commission needs to hear from you.” Lloyd Stanbury, agreed with that as well. Speaking as an industry insider at Tuesday’s event, the entertainment attorney brought clarity to the issue by explaining how different stakeholders interacted with each other around the issue of payola.

Now in its third season, the CPR Community Conversation Series is fast becoming the benchmark for industry advocacy and agitation not only within the United States but in Jamaica as well. The next forum takes place on Tuesday, May 24th and will examine the influence of Reggae on African Liberation. For more information on the CPR forums call 718-421-6927 or email, [email protected].

Testing the Spirits

Tom,

Per my telephone conversation with you the other day, you said you had a friend who was hearing “voices.” You said it got so bad at one time that she had herself checked into a mental hospital. You also mentioned that she apparently believes in “spirit guides.”

Tom, if she is using the word “spirit guides,” the voices that she is hearing are demonic spirits. Spirit Guides is a New Age term and comes right out of the occult. There are some people who literally make contact with what they feel are “good spirits.” These good spirits are really demonic spirits masquerading as angels of light.

If this woman is a Christian, then she is headed towards very dangerous waters if she is still hearing these voices and have gone as far as to make direct contact with what she feels is a good spirit guide. If she has made contact with some kind of spirit being – then there are only 3 possible things it could be:

Jesus Christ
One of God’s angels
A demonic spirit
I will give you two Scripture verses to give to her to try and help her out and to also give her fair warning as to what she is really dealing with.

Scripture Verses

1. This first verse tells us that either Satan or one of his demonic spirits can literally appear to us masquerading as an angel of light. Here it is:

“For Satan himself transforms himself into an ANGEL OF LIGHT. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” (2 Corinthians 11:14)

This verse tells us that not only can Satan himself actually do this – but also his other ministers, which I believe are either demonic spirits or other people who are operating under his direction and influence. This is why you have to test out any spirit that would suddenly appear to you. The first thing you have to find out is if the spirit appearing to you is one of God’s angels or a demonic spirit. This now leads us into the next verse which will tell us exactly how to do this.

2. This next verse specifically tells us not to believe every spirit, but to test it out as to whether they are from God or not. Here is the verse:

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, BUT TEST THE SPIRITS, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.” (1 John 4:1-4)

Recommendation

Tom, per all of the above, I would tell your friend that the next time she hears voices coming at her or if one of these spirits should actually appear in front of her, I would tell her to do two things:

Ask the spirit who his Lord and Master is. The spirit better say his Lord and Master is Jesus Christ. If the spirit cannot confess that Jesus Christ is his Lord and Master – then he is not an angel from God.

I would then tell her to ask the spirit to confess to her that Jesus Christ has come to our earth in the flesh. If this spirit cannot make this specific confession to her – then this spirit is definitely not from God!
I believe the reason a demonic spirit cannot confess that Jesus Christ came to our earth in the flesh is due to the fact that Jesus defeated Satan and all of the fallen angels when He came to our earth in the flesh and died on the cross. This is called the incarnation when Jesus came to us in the flesh, which means He was fully man and fully God when He was walking down here on our earth.

If this spirit cannot make the above two confessions to her – then your friend has just made contact with a real live demonic spirit. At this point she should immediately command the demon to leave her in the name of Jesus Christ!

Tell her to tell the demon that he has now been fully exposed, that she now knows that he is not one of God’s angels, and that he is to leave her now and forevermore, and that he is to never, ever come back on her again. Tell her to do the same thing every time she hears those “voices” trying to talk to her. Tell her to simply speak out loud to the voices telling them to stop and for them to now leave her in the name of Jesus Christ.

If the above does not work – tell her to plead the Blood of Jesus directly against the demons. That should take care of it unless she has engaged in some kind of door opener activity that has allowed the demons to come in on her in the first place.

If that is the case, then she will have to confess the door opening activity as a sin to God, and then renounce this activity before God – telling Him that she will never, ever go back to it again. Once she has fully confessed and fully renounced the sin before the Lord, then the demons will lose their legal right to be able to stay attached to her, and they will now have to leave her if she commands them to leave her in the name of Jesus Christ!

Tom, I do not know how far you will be able to get with this woman – either now or somewhere down the road. If you need any further help on all of this after you talk to her, let me know, and I will be glad to answer any specific questions she may have about all of this.