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By J. MATTHEW COBB FACEBOOK CAN BE A DIRTY MONSTER. I’m used to it. But I’m still learning how the church operates when it comes to the truth. After witnessing one of my cool online buddies make a post about a popular church’s new single in the Chicago area, I decided to raise a few comments. Mostly out of concern and to create a urgency of transparency. I was searching for some truth. Bishop Larry D. Trotter, the pastor of Chicago’s Sweet Holy Spirit Church known for his gospel popular recordings including “Tell The Devil, I’m Back,” “The Lord Is Blessing Me,” and “My Worship Is For Real,” recently opened up about his battle with sickness and an unsurmountable load of hardships over the last few years in his most recent, revelation-loaded single “I Still Believe.” From his forthcoming album release I Still Believe, the song speaks about Job’s trials, taken from the Book of Job in the Holy Bible, as Trotter finds relief knowing he can survive. And you can tell from the music video, taken from the live recorded session, that Trotter has witnessed physical strain since he has noticeably lost a great deal of weight. Physically, Trotter appears to have aged some and isn’t as pompous as he normally is. So of course, being a journalist seeking for some information, I began my quest to ask what was or is Trotter suffering with. The single lightly addresses them, yet he never claims he’s recovered or he’s healed or he’s being treated for his ailment. Instead of being greeted with courteous answers or some form of the truth, I am met with a barrage of attacks from Sweet Holy Spirit members and supporters. Ebony Woodard, a very interesting person of interest, decided to attack myself rather than my questioning. Caught in outrage to the hostile responses from Sweet Holy Spirit supporters, I had to chime in a few times, of course using my down-home country accent. “Stop being so fake. Yall ain't gonna sit there and act like yall ain't asked the same questions. If you watch TMZ, you are guilty! I'm glad I'm not fake.” Of course, I do know that the word “yall” ain’t in the dictionary...yet (lol). Tee Fleming pulled out her scary pointy finger; hoping to bring fear into the hearts of anyone that talks about a man of the cloth. “Be careful young man.,” she proclaims. “Save your own life and repent!!!” Jerrell Reed suggested in protest, “The old saying is, If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say NOTHING AT ALL!” So please keep your mouth shut!” Sweet Holy Spirit musician Rick Robinson brought the original topic back to the surface while focusing more on Trotter’s breakthrough experience using a quote taken from Trotter's testimony: "I may not be in the place I want to be, but I have the faith to believe beyond what I can see. In those times when life seems to get the best of me, I will be strong, I'll keep holding on. Even though there are some things to come that have not yet appeared, I will find strength in the midst of all my tears...”' Later on, Robinson, known for scribing songs for T.D. Jakes, Lamar Cambell and Vashawn Mitchell, goes on an even stronger defense using a tepid attack that doesn’t necessarily reflect the sweetness of the church. The remarks came after he also remarked about his marital connection with Trotter’s daughter Javon. “If you really want the answers to your questions, you can call the church...and request a CD of his sermon “I Still Believe” in which he explained and testified about everything in his life...so include that in your next blog...that probably no one will see,” Robinson said.
Not everything within the thread was hot and bothered. Some of the discourse was marked with humor and moments of intelligent, brief conversation. One Facebook character in particular, loaded with enough dragon fire to burn down an entire California forest, was Sweet Caramel. Her screen name alone gave light to her connections at the south side church in Chicago. "There's SO much I could say right here "SWEETHEART," remarked Sweet Caramel. "But, I won't give the devil in YOU my energy. So instead, I'll just say....GOD BLESS YOU!" As usual, I responded with some light humor; hoping that would shed light on the brevity of the conversation and how little this matter was to me. “Sweet Caramel, you need to take that candy bar back to the store. That ain't caramel...that's that Taffy candy I get in my Halloween bowl wrapped up in black and orange. LOL” Maybe the humor was a bit too dry for the blogsphere. Still, it did get a few light laughs. And all of this came about because I said: What I said originally, whether they liked it or not, was the truth. It’s not like I was trying to slenderize his character or his name. I noticed that while Trotter unloads about suffering, he isn’t as transparent on revealing what he was or is suffering from. I am not ashamed of my curiosity as a journalist nor as a working bee in public relations. Nor am I ashamed that I am a critic. I just brought up an obvious fact. The proverbial harshness, fire-and-brimstone responses and the intensified smartness coming from parishioners of one of gospel’s great houses of worship only unleashed an unsurmountable load of uncertainty over the entire situation. Sweet Holy Spirit members only responded in unison with a stark coda that he is healed. Deidre Ball, director of ministries at Sweet Holy Spirit, commented: Our prayers go out to Bishop Larry D. Trotter and his congregation. My support will continue to be there for their music. But I'm very sure if I won't be welcomed with loving hands if I ever visit. It's quite the tragic occurence that a simple question will allow me to be labeled as a "trick of the enemy" from one of Sweet Holy Spirit's staff members. Since the conversation diminished with popular response, two of the Sweet Holy Spirit members and supporters who were upset about my questioning tried to add me as friends on Facebook.
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