'Woe be unto him who leads the flock astray'- Caller to Bishop Cline
It was on his television show "Cross Talk" aired on CBN channel 51 on Saturday February 4, 2017, that Mr Cline said imprisoning people for marijuana may not be the best way to go and even suggested its legalisation in the Virgin Islands, arguing that if alcohol, which in his view is more dangerous, can be legalised so can marijuana.
"We need to be more of a correctional facility or institution than just punishment. We are spending so much money keeping people in prison for non-violent crimes and the same thing we locking them, for now, America (USA) is making billions of dollars off of selling marijuana. This is the same thing we got our young men them locked up in jail for, something wrong with that," the man of the cloth said.
Bishop Cline's opinion was specific to non-violent crimes.
"Right now I still believe that we are with this old mentality that if somebody is found with drugs or something like that, you send them up (Her Majesty's Prison), you punish them [but] they don't come out any better that they went in," Cline stated, adding that he is subject to corrections if he is wrong.
The clergyman was at the time making his case for making VI prisons more correctional as opposed to one that's more for punishment and, in his words, "when America says it's wrong, it's wrong, but when America says it's right then it takes us ten years for us to say we agree."
Lack of scientific backing
However, the caller said lack of proper evidence backing his (Bishop's Cline's) opinion was a detriment.
“These are harmful effects and no minister or pastor, no one involved in religious counselling should go on radio, go on television or any media or any event at all and speak to the fact that we should legalise a substance that is that harmful, without presenting one iota of evidence as to no intermission that may have emerged since the 1930’s.”
Disregard for young people’s welfare
“I was very deeply distressed …the statement which he has made shows his full and sufficient disregard for the welfare of young people of this territory,” the caller said.
“I believe that he would benefit from having a meeting with the parents and students of the high school to learn about the impact that this gateway drug has on many of the students there. Also, he should meet with members of the police force who have to deal with students on a daily basis and at the same time he would benefit greatly from a meeting with a senior magistrate who sees them in her court,” he pointed out. “After that, he should resign his position as the pastor of the church, because woe be unto him who leads the flock astray.”
Marijuana already a problem in VI
While admitting that there may be benefits to the herb, the caller said presently the use of marijuana is already a problem in the Virgin Islands.
“We have young men riding through traffic stoned out of their minds, some of them have been killed and no doubt some of them badly injured. They are riding through traffic without helmets, without following the traffic regulations and so on. You have children going to school who have smoked the night before, they smoked the morning before going to school and leave the classroom without permission from the teachers, they go outside and they smoke, they come back and they disrupt the class and then they do not complete any home assignments from the teacher,” he lamented.
According to him, these are some of the complaints that local educators face.
“These are students who are unable to pass any exam, they are stuck in form two, and there is no future for them at all! They are not able to find a job, they are going to end up in court…and these are the same students that we have to depend on to lead the future of the Virgin Islands!”
Several persons called in support of the caller’s opinion.
The call for Bishop Cline to resign as a pastor comes on the heels of him being asked to resign as Chairman of the BVI Health Services Authority (BVIHSA).
This news site had first and accurately reported on January 9, 2017 that the Premier and Leader of Government Business, Dr The Honourable D. Orlando Smith (AL), demanded the resignation of Bishop Cline, allegedly for criticising the National Democratic Party (NDP) Government and supporting the view of former legislator Eileene L. Parsons OBE that the portfolio of Finance should be given to Minister for Health and Social Development Hon Ronnie W. Skelton (AL).
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73 Responses to “'Woe be unto him who leads the flock astray'- Caller to Bishop Cline”
Shut the hell up bout resign as pastor. He is the only pastor in the BVI who is bold enough to voice his opinion on touchy subjects. The rest of them have their heads and their a%%3$ in the sand
( 11. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. 12The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock. 13The man runs away because he is a hired servant and is unconcerned for the sheep.)
The Holy Spirit leads the flock not man. If the wisdom of the Holy Spirit is not coming out of a man he is not a leader of the flock of Christ.
(14. I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me, 15just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep.)
(Feeding on ashes, the heart is deceived, It hath turned him aside, And he delivereth not his soul, nor saith: 'Is there not a lie in my right isaiah 44-20)
…21For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.…
Jeremiah 4:22
"For My people are foolish, They know Me not; They are stupid children And have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, But to do good they do not know."
1 Corinthians 1:20
Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
Proverbs 26:12 See you a man wise in his own conceit? there is more hope of a fool than of him.
Isaiah 47:10 For you have trusted in your wickedness: you have said, None sees …
Jeremiah 8:8,9 How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? …
Jeremiah 10:14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded …
Matthew 6:23 But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. …
Romans 1:22 NIV
In every church, these kind of scandalous behavior can happen. Some are exposed and others aren't but nonetheless it's possible. I'm not saying it's right but it doesn't mean you sit on your high horse to judge. A savior is just a sinner who fell down and got back up again. We battle temptations everyday. Abstinence from premarital sex may be easy for you but you may deal with other shortcomings. Are you bitter from some life experience that causes you to be a terror to others? Are you always honest? Do you look down on or talk about others negatively? These are all sins and no sin is higher than the other.
Now for that idiotic caller mentioned in the article, it's obvious you and whoever you're talking to are retarded as hell. Marijuana doesn't cause those students to exhibit this behavior. I know several ambitious people who smoke marijuana who made it very far. Though marijuana is considered a gateway drug, there are many people who never evolve from marijuana. After 1980s, if you choose to do crack, heroin, coke, meth or any other harsh drugs, it's no fault but your own. The effect it had especially on the black community was the worst. There are many people who abuse marijuana. These students referenced in the article show evidence of marijuana abuse. Those students are choosing not to do the work to finish high school. They are stuck because they don't want to put in the work. People who chronically hit the chronic will never get any where. Everything isn't for everybody. Some people have more addictive physiological makeup than others which would allow any habit to become excessive. In life, too much of anything will be your downfall. There has to be balance.
I pray that God will speak to him in a special way that he can see and understand his holy words and not the way of the world.
7Woe to the world for the causes of sin. These stumbling blocks must come, but woe to the man through whom they come! 8If your hand or your foot causes you to fall into sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the eternal fire. 9And if your eye causes you to fall into sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.… Matthew 18:7-9
When Satan came against him in the desert, Jesus spoke the word of God back to him. The same is true for us today...
1. Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"
2. Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
First he must repent and be ye saved by the power of the Holy Ghost / Jesus Christ. As the flock is doing.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
In Genesis 1 verse 29 reads 9 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
What the pastor speak are words of God and he is on the right path.
In the end he became the world most popular ganja smoking Rastafarian.. Do you know they kill Bob Marley. ? Why,,? Bob Marley were having people leaving churches by the thousands to join Rastafarian culture. Started in England where churches were empty on Sundays everyone wants to rasta them it transfer to America its like a bright light shine on a hidden truth . the disciples were Rastafarians... Give a black man a black man story with a black face and he tare it up..give a black man a black man story with a white face and he hang it on his Wall.... Check it...
Let me tell you, John I. Cline is among the few pastors in the BVI preaching with sense. He understands the scripture and makes it into relevant modern-day sense. When there was civilian unrest and injustice against black people in the South of America, did the preacher Martin Luther stood on the backlines and say "don't worry we will get our justice in the heavens bye and bye?" When the harsh reality of apartheid gripped our black people in South Africa, did Desmond Tutu got up and say "don't worry, be good Christians and you will get freedom in heaven?" No, they demanded redress and the South received its civil justice, South Africa Apartheid era came down and Martin and Tutu both received Nobel Peace Prizes. Let the Bishop speak because it appears that he is the fearless one among the pastors. Speak your mind and thoughts, Bishop, because you understand the times and seasons. Those who have ears to hear will hear what they want, those who have eyes to see will see what they want. But in the meantime, preach the word in season and out of season. You are on the right track. God alone will give you continued wisdom. Peace to the People!