Sylvia Wynter's Dream

Speak In Tongues No More – Okay But That’s Not The Problem.

I was in a taxi the other day, on my way to Constant Spring, minding my business, listening to the radio in the car. Then the driver turned to me, and started to go on a rant about religion. You know how taxi drivers can be – except he was right.

The matter of his burning concern, was the heap of faintings and strange activity that was taking place in schools across the island near the Halloween time of October, and particularly the faintings and demonic activity reportedly taking place at the Oberlin High School in St. Andrew.

https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/esponsored/20221031/oberlin-incident-triggers-devotion-debate-schools

‘Joker’ as we call him, was expressing passionately his distaste for the groups of believers he had been hearing gossiping about the school and the events that were taking place. He expressed that they were hypocrites (and I completely agree), because they were part of the problem. He went on to list out more than twelve communities, near the high school, and far away, from which students at the high school resided. Then (and here’s the kicker), he named out ail the churches that were in these communities.

He highlighted (again I totally agree), that these churches were only embarrassing themselves, because they all had pastors, and bishops and worship leaders who were happily collecting offering on Sundays, but who could not have recognized that the onus was on them to make a difference in the Oberlin case. They were dry of the initiative that would see them visiting the school, praying, casting out, or doing anything of substance to solve the problem., All they were good for was to make noise on Sundays, collect offering, and go home. Where is the power in the church?

I’d forgotten about this incident, until I looked at the news headlines this week.

Is this a joke…?

Imagine being the Archbishop of Kingston, claiming to believe in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and deciding that the best way to handle the demonic activity overrunning our schools, is to ban speaking in tongues. Mind you, speaking in tongues is a gift of the Holy Spirit of God.

4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:4

So instead of calling on the power of Christ – which I’m assuming he has because he calls upon the name of Jesus (or does he?), to cast out these demonic influences, he has called for a ban of the manifestation of the very same power that can conquer these forces of ill.

Reader, I pray God comes for His world soon. Because this is nothing short of a poppyshow.

Chatty Chatty God – Is the Body Only the Eyes? 1 Corinthians 12:17 (October 2, 2022)

For arguments sake, let’s use this analogy. Let’s pretend the church – meaning Christians – are a human body. Can the body consist of only an eye?

“If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?”

1 Corinthians 12:17

Between me and you though, that’s what it’s seeming to be these days. All you have to do is to type into YouTube “prophetic word” and your mouth will all open at the number of videos of people claiming to be prophets of God, sharing messages, telling advice, asking for money in exchange for their prophecies,¹ and even doing tarot readings².

¹“Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”

Matthew 10:8

²“You must not turn to mediums or spiritists; do not seek them out, or you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.”

Leviticus 19:31

My real question I suppose, is Does God actually talk so much? Is He actually talking to and through all these people? And if He is, where are all the other gifts of the Spirit of God that make up the rest of the body of Christ?

Does God actually talk so much?

Indeed, He does. According to the Bible,

“Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

Hebrews 1:1-2

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”

Joel 2:28

Okay, well at least that confirms that God is speaking right? But Is He actually talking to and through all these people? According to this verse,

“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

1 John 4:1

He does not speak to and through everyone you see claiming to be a prophet. That’s obvious by the fact that some of these ‘prophets’ are asking people for money as payment for prophecy, and practicing witchcraft by using tarot, spiritism etc.

Since we know, He isn’t speaking to and through every person who claims to be a prophet, where are all the other gifts of the Spirit of God that make up the rest of the body of Christ? The gifts of the Spirit are:

⁸For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

⁹ To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

¹⁰ To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another diverse kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

1 Corinthians 12:8-10

Well, where are all the other people with the other gifts? How come no one wants to have faith as their gift? Or wisdom? Or interpretation of tongues? Or discerning of spirits? Why is everyone so covetous of the gift of prophecy that they’re going out of their way to spread lies and deceit and share messages God never told them?

Is the whole body (of Christ) only the eyes (prophets)?

So What’s the Point of the Old Testament? (Sept 25, 2022)

Christians are weird man, idk. I had a conversation with somebody who professes Jesus and the Christian faith, and I was left mad confused. I’ll drop the link below to the video I posted so you can have the context of what I’m about to say.

Someone please tell me what the point of the Old Testament is. Because if the Bible says this in Ezekiel 16, how are people telling me piercings are “worldlian”? Are y’all reading only some parts of the Bible?

⁸ “‘Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your naked body. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.

⁹ “‘I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. ¹⁰ I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put sandals of fine leather on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. ¹¹ I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, ¹² and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. ¹³ So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was honey, olive oil and the finest flour. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. ¹⁴ And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign Lord.

Ezekiel 16:8-14

How is using the scripture where GOD – (whom these people claim to be servants of) – adorns Israel not just with fine linen, fine leather and crowns but “put a ring in your nose” me satisfying the lust of the flesh?

How is the comment about Egyptian practices relevant when it’s GOD that put the ring in their noses? Somebody help me I’m not following.

After I referred the commenter to Ezekiel 16, he did what every other religious aficionado does, – questions the legitimacy of the Old Testament. And mind you, this isn’t an argument that is used in general, it’s only called upon when Christians find themselves confronted by something in the Old Testament that they want to disqualify and make redundant. But if we are to discredit what suits us about the Old Testament, then what’s the point of any of it?

That means we should murder and steal and rape and plunder and burn and live as we please. If one part of the Bible is irrelevant the whole of it needs to be tossed.

When confronted by solid argument, people do one of three things. Answer and confront the issue head-on, trace you off outright, or opt to subtly gaslight you by evading the real issue at hand. The third option is what our friend ‘1Don’ did next.

I made a simple statement right…I said if one part of the Old Testament is null, the whole of the Old Testament is null. No Christian can continue to argue that point without proving themselves uneducated about the Bible and proving themselves ignorant about the larger matter at hand. So, he evades the question.

Well, first of all, does your choice to be different give you the right to condemn me? Even if I was wrong – which I’m not as proven by the literal Bible verses above, – it still wouldn’t be your place to condemn me.

Do not judge, so that you will not be judged.  For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get.” 

Matthew 7:1-2

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.” 

(Luke 6:37)

This stuff is in RED WRITING> JESUS is the one saying these things. Just like He said He puts a RING in Israel’s nose.

Second of all, that doesn’t answer my question at all. How does what I asked about the validity of the Old Testament have to do with Jesus’ death on the cross? Jesus IS the FULFILLMENT of the OLD TESTAMENT.

Hello? Anybody hearing me?

Are people reading their Bibles?

What’s the point of the Old Testament? The Bible tells us that ALL Scripture is God-breathed, AND profitable for teaching. So how do you suddenly deem half the Bible irrelevant because it doesn’t suit your religious agenda? Come on people, pick a side.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

2 Timothy 3:16

Jesus Cross or Jesus Christ? – A Commentary on the behavior of Women in the Church (Sept 18, 2022)

Today we’re taking a look at the character of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and how Christians are called to behave as they bear His name.

A lot of people have a lot of comments when it comes to the behavior of Christians, and especially Christian women. Within the Jamaican culture and context, Christian women have a reputation for being loud, prideful, and often cantankerous. Front pew with the best Sunday hats but hating the woman sitting next to them – that’s the church gossip we’re all familiar with.

But what does the Bible say about how Christian women should behave? For that, we can look at 1st Timothy Chapter 2. (I bet you’ll never hear this verse being preached when you go to church next Sunday.)

¹¹ Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. ¹² I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve; ¹⁴ and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. ¹⁵ Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.

1 Timothy 2:11-15

So, who’s at fault here? Solomon in all his great wisdom said,

It’s better to live alone in the desert than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife.

Proverbs 21:19

Nobody’s preaching about that either.

With that precedence for the behavior of women established however, let’s look at a situation that we can all relate to.

My following statements are not to do with the issue of the allegations against Minister Hall, or the way in which she has decided to angle her ministry efforts by reaching souls in dancehall. There is one statement made by her, that I think serves as the perfect example of the spirit of the cross Christian woman that permeates Jamaican Christianity.

Aside from the fact that Minister Hall’s ministry in and of itself goes against 1 Timothy 2: 11&12, which is the root of the problem, she says in her interview with Dancehall Mag that

“Lady Saw spirit is dead but the spirit of the Lord is upon me so if I shout with a big voice like Lady Saw is it a problem? It was not a problem when I was shouting for the devil, and I was giving the devil praise…”

Minister Marion Hall

She’s right. It wasn’t a problem when she was in the dancehall for her to shout and behave in a vulgar manner. Now however, that she’s serving God, the opposite of her behavior in dancehall is what is required. The same Bible she uses in her services on Sundays says women are to be quiet. That is the ministry of a woman.

So, are the Christian women of Jamaica really serving God or are they outright disobedient? And how can they claim the name of Jesus Christ but carry a cross spirit? Something’s not adding up. But viewer, what do you think?

The God of the Jamaican Christians & His Mumma Lashy Ways (Sept 12,2022)

So, the God of the Christians.

Well, what do you think of Him? Whether you’re a believer or you think it’s all a mediocre fairytale at best, Jamaica’s branch of Christianity is certainly the spectacle to behold, you know, the jumping, shouting, singing and the like.

Every Jamaican grandmother (whether sensible or senile) can be counted on to be seen heading to Wednesday fasting and dragging the small children of the household to church on Sundays in frilly puffy dresses and well starched pants. It’s tradition.

But who is this God that they hold in such high esteem? Behind all the sweet-sounding hymns that reach in through our windows on Sunday mornings, and the preacher forcing his voice into a growling shout as though their salvation depended upon his dramatic delivery, what’s their God like?

Remember that song that says, “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love?” Well, there’s a Bible verse that goes along with it. In Matthew 7:16 it says “By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?” While we’re at it, let’s also turn to Galatians 5:22-23 so we can understand all this talk of fruit. It says “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

By that logic, Christians are supposed to be loving, kind, respectful people, right? Hm. On the surface it seems legit, but when you really think about it, how many Christians you know are actually loving and respectful? With all the stereotypes about pastor’s kids and their behaviors, the sisters that sit in the front seat and the couples that throw the most offering, it would seem things are awry in Christendom. Well, watch this interaction and tell me what you think.

So, if we should know them by their fruits, and these are the fruits they show, can you imagine what their God is like? Probably a big, loud screaming mass of fury and displeasure. or is He? Within the Jamaican context, the voice of God is often misrepresented. Most people know Him only as Mumma Lashy – as portrayed by His often disrespectful, unloving followers,

But, what does the real voice of God sound like? Stay tuned until next week where we take another peek behind the curtains of Christianity, into the Voice of God.