“[The Comforter will] bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  (John 14)

“…[Have these things always in remembrance.”  (2 Peter 1)

 

My children have attended RCA from Kindergarten through High School in one (1) case and my other two (2) children have attended from Kindergarten until the end of tenth (10th) grade and would have continued (DV) through High School. But obviously, it was not God’s will. God’s will effects not only the children but the teachers and staff of RCA.  Methinks it will be tougher on the teachers than the children.

I’m a teacher at heart. I teach/preach the Word of God each and every Sunday in my home. I have seen persons come and go. I have learned that sometimes it is best for a person to go. My brother-in-law attends Bible Baptist. He was part of our ministry from the start. One day he told me he would be attending a different church.  That was the right thing for him. He has done well at Bible Baptist and his gifts (they are many) have been used to bless more Christ-ians than in our small home ministry. We have taught others and they, in turn, left to attend elsewhere. Much of the time it is a church that isn’t doctrinally sound and they take what they have learned with them and we look at those churches as a mission field for those that leave.

Paul, when absent from a church, would say, his spirit is present.  When a person teaches another, that teacher’s spirit is always present with the student.  I had a teacher in fourth (4th) and fifth (5th) grade. My teacher’s name was Mrs. Tschirgi (pronounced Sure-gi). This was the toughest teacher I have ever had.  She was old school, like Pebbles Flinstone old school. She would line us up in teams of four (4) or five (5) and she would put math problems on the board and it was a race of sorts. A student would solve the math problem and then the next student is up and so on.

She would not give an inch. The student would stay at that board until s/he figured out the problem.  If others laughed or mocked stuck student, she would not suffer that fool gladly at all. OH! AND I remember talking about “The Jeffersons,” a TV show from the seventies (70’s), and a kid asked me if I was a, N******lover.  Mrs. Tschirgi heard the question and SLAPPED his face. I told you she was old shool. Mrs. Tschirgi taught me math and many other things. When I left the fifth (5th) grade for the sixth (6th) grade I would be in a different part of the building and would not see her anymore.

Teacher, I balled my eyes out when I had to leave that woman. She was the meanest and best teacher I ever had. I tell you about Mrs. Tschirgi because she was one (1) of the most important and special guests at my wedding. It was a task to find her in 1996.

So, a teacher that I learned much from in middle school was at my wedding some two (2) decades later. Her daughter told me she was elated and it was so very special to her, but it was far more special to me. I loved the woman. Each year on flower day I would send her a rose. Even after after eighth (8th) grade graduation, I would visit her on occasion and bring her a rose and she would introduce me to her class.

I’m sure she has passed now and the one (1) regret I have is not being able to share Christ with her one on one (1 on 1). She was presented with Christ’s Gospel at our wedding but other than that, who knows but God. Teachers, This brings a tear to my eye.

Why do I write all of that?  I write all of that to say this, You will be present in the lives of the children you have taught every time they read, write, add and subtract.  Each time they recall a fact of history you will be present. It can be said of you as it is said of God, “A very Present help in a time of need.”

Three things this pastor would like to bring to you remembrance. Like the shoes of the exiting and wandering Jews never wore out, neither does the Truths of God. The writer who wrote, “I Love to tell the Old, Old Story” knew what he was talking about. The old, old story is an old one, but it never gets old to the hearing ear.

Three Things we would share with you.

*God is Sovereign, God is Omnipotent, God is Almighty, God is Supreme in Power.  No man can stay God’s hand nor stop Him from doing as He wills.  God chose to close down the school for now. There is nothing,  as in no-thing, anyone could have done to stop that. As a parent, school shootings are at the forefront of my thinking, there will never be a school shooting at RCA.  Many schools, like many churches are going off track, RCA will never go off track. Some will point fingers but that is just noise.  One time I heard someone say a school was shut down because they switched from the KJV to whatever other version. Methinks this is wrong. As God is sovereign God can use any version He pleases to speak to whomsoever He pleases.

*God is GOoD, if God were sovereign but not good, that would be a terrible thing. If God was good but not sovereign, He would be an ineffective god. My God, Your God, Our God IS SO BIG, SO STRONG AND SO MIGHTY, THERE’S NOTHING MY GOD CANNOT DO. God is Good, just as God is Love. God defines goodness, God designed morals and ethics. Anything, all things good points back to God.

*”Practicing the Presence of God.” This is a little book, it is made up of four (4) conversations and fifteen (15) letters. These letters and conversations deal with Paul’s “Pray without ceasing.” A Carmalite monk from the sixteen-hundreds (1600’s) writes about practicing (it does take much practice) the Presence of God, wherin he means, spending all day conversing with God. Prayer need not be formal all the time, but it should sometimes. Practicing the Presence is simply speaking to God as if He were in the car with you, or in a room with you, or at a doctor’s office with you, because He is.

*Thank Him for all things: green lights and red lights, a cool breeze. It seems to me, a great percentage of our prayers should be prayers of thanks and praise. When sick, thank Him that it isn’t worse and thank Him for the health you do have. My pancreas has given me much trouble, I thank Him for that, I have learned much and have met many and have spoken to many of Christ. One time a nurse came into my room at 1AM and asked me to pray with her. I thank Him that my heart is good, my mind is good (Some wd say that’s debateable). Each new thing or each change seems to be a new avenue to walk with Him.

One (1) more thing, Be honest with God.  If you are angry, tell Him, He already knows. Do not deny Him the opportunity to speak to that anger. It’s okay to be angry. I’m angry with parents that put stuff ahead of their children’s Christ-ian education. My way of thinking is, If one can afford Christ-ian schooling and one does not send the child to Christ-ian School, it speaks to something not well and not good. I’m being honest with you, Teacher, as I have been with God. If you are heart-broken, scared, sad, or anything, go to God with all your pure and honest feelings, He can take it.

In closing, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all the love and all the learning you have provided to our girls.

Please do not deduct points for grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. My edu ma cation could use a brush up.

Godspeed.