The Gospel According to Harvey Dent and Two-Face

Good Sunday Afternoon, Everybody!

First thing’s first: I want to wish a Happy 24^th Birthday to my second eldest cousin, Lionel Clark Jones. That’s right, y’all—Cousin Lionel is just one year shy of being a quarter of a century, yet he looks my age!

So, check this out: Pastor Clark preached from Romans 7:14-26, with the subject “The Gospel According to Harvey Dent and Two-Face.” He basically said that we as Christians have two sides; one is beautiful and bright, while the other is dark, evil, and ugly. Pastor Clark mostly taught from Romans 7:21, where the apostle Paul says (to paraphrase), “Everytime I try to do good, I wind up doing evil.” My favorite part of the sermon was where Pastor Clark said: “Church, I ain’t gonna lie to you—before I became your pastor, I used to cuss. However, I thank God that I don’t cuss… as much as I used to!”

Mom and Dad said that I had a grin so wide that I made a Cheshire Cat look depressed. Was I really cheesin’ that hard? If so, then it’s because Pastor Clark’s testimony opened my eyes. I mean, think about it—this man is my pastor; he’s been called by God to remind us sheep of what thus sayeth The Lord. So, if my very own pastor slips every once in a while, then I must be doing all right! Granted, I do realize that “not nann one of us” is perfect, and I also understand that those of the Christian faith are to set an example for the world, but again I say: If the undersheperd of St. Matthew Baptist Church has a moment where he falters—all things considered—then I shouldn’t be guilty of faltering myself… at least, that’s how I understood it.

After service ended, I spoke to Pastor Clark and let him know that his sermon really spoke to me. Pastor Clark gave me a big hug and asked if I cuss, to which I told him that I have indeed said a couple of words while I was at Rust, and that I even had to show some folks what I was workin’ with. Pastor Clark gave me another hug and said: “Well, I’ve personally heard your mom, your aunt, and your grandmother, so it was only a matter of time before you caught the gene!”

And upon hearing that, my mom jokingly said: “What that mean, Pastor?”

Quickly thinking on his toes, Pastor Clark said: “Uh-uh, Sista Dani—I’ve been down this road before; I’m just gonna make a U-turn and get my a… I mean, get my… Glory!”

Mrs. Clark made mention that, while she knows it’s wrong, it kinda brings a little joy to her heart when she sees her husband trying to weasel out of a tight squeeze. If y’all had seen it, y’all woulda been laughing like I was. Oh, and just for the record: Pastor Clark asked my dad for help, and my dad held that one index finger up and broke camp!

I probably went around the world in 80 days in today’s blog, but let me bring it home: From what I understood in Pastor Clark’s sermon, we all have two entities living within us—one good and the other evil. That evil resident has lived in us for so long that he has become old and set in his ways, and he ain’t thinkin’ about movin’ out. However, we as Christians have invited the good spirit—The Holy Spirit, if you will—into our lives, and He is most definitely ain’t movin’ out. The struggle comes in each experience that we face. The old man tells us to cuss that person out, but that new creature says to pray for that person. This is just my perception, but we as Christians really need to stay prayed up all the time, because we know we should pray for our enemies, yet we give in to that old nature and stoop to the level of our enemies.

It’s easy to tell that I paid all kinds of attention to this sermon, didn’t I?

Well, I had best get going, but I want to encourage you all to be more like Harvey Dent and less like Two-Face… I know it’s tough to do, but this is why we are to pray without ceasing.

I’ll holla tomorrow!

Hugs & Kisses,

Natasha