The Sunday Message,

by Pastor Kok III

February 3, 2007

 

SO THIS IS EAST L.A ?!

Hear my Prayer

 

 

Prequel to Worship:

 

Good Morning from Monterey Park, CA ! And what a week it  has been !  A challenging week for me. Some of you know that in addition to my Internet ministry (and street evangelism) I also am a guest teacher. What this means is that I am almost always awake at 5:30 a.m. or a little earlier and usually get a phone call somewhere between 5:30 a.m and 7:00 a.m (sometimes, but not very often as late as  8:00 a.m) asking me to take an assignment at any wide number of schools throughout Los Angeles county (but normally designated to a certain side of town—which you choose as a guest teacher and can change at any time).

 

I am currently assigned to the east Los Angeles area. When I first began guest teaching I had also just started taking classes at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena (having transferred from Calvin Seminary in Grand Rapids). At that time the school district still had its headquarters in an old building on Grand Avenue. Since then they moved to a sky rise—fifteen story building. And they were still requesting guest teachers in person---they had a live person call you at 5:30 a.m and give you some options as to where you would like to go for the day. Now it is an automated system—dependent upon push buttons on the phone. You can decline assignments or even say “prefer another assignment’ if you are not too keen about one particular school or classroom. I’ve enjoyed being a guest teacher for several reasons.

 

First, when I returned to Los Angeles in 1998 I was only a little familiar  with the county layout—where things were, the names of schools, places, etc. And it also gave me an opportunity to resume what I had left behind a year prior—having been a regular teacher for in Coachella for a while. It was in Coachella that I first began to customize my style as a teacher and develop a modus operandi (m.o.) for working with students and developing a plan about what I hoped to accomplish.

 

And I was happy to finish my two years there with student portfolios as the result, even though I got no recognition or commendations for them. In fact, the principal (Alex Franco) only came into my classroom three times in the entire two years—and did not follow the evaluation process. It was a frustrating experience. And so I moved on—resuming my true calling—Christian ministry for the Body of Christ under the umbrella of the Reformed tradition; albeit I now am “independent” so to speak—with my own ministry, Mustard Seed Ministries.

 

Nonetheless, consciously or otherwise, I still have some of the Reformed tradition in my m.o. (modus operandi, way of doing things). Meanwhile, I kept (and keep) guest teaching—and have been in several hundred schools in nine years with the school district—almost to my 10^th anniversary of being a guest teacher ! whether I stay or not I do not yet know—time will tell—and various factors will come into play as to what the future holds for me. But I began to think of guest teaching more as a “mission” than a job—and that changed my outlook completely.

 

If it was just a “job” there is no way I could have stuck with it. There are much easier ways to make money and to pass the time; whereas every day in a new classroom is always a new challenge—sometimes even difficult and not always rewarding. Students don’t always respect or appreciate the guest teacher, and sometimes even people in the main office don’t much care about the presence of a guest teacher. Such has been the particular case at a school in East L.A. the last few weeks—actually—the last few months.

 

I rarely stay in one calling area as long as I have, and rarely go to the same school so often—but this particular school keeps calling and I kept accepting. But I finally decided my “mission” is over there now. It got to the point of being almost an abusive environment (abusive to me, that is). One of the things I started doing initially when I began guest teaching was to bring pocket Bibles in to the classroom.  I didn’t hand them out to the students. I just left one—usually on top of the speaker in every classroom. Most of the time it goes unnoticed, and only once did a student actually look up to the top of the speaker and ask, “What is that?”

 

Usually it cannot even be seen from floor level. What’s my point, you ask? What does a hidden Bible in a classroom do? Well, it was the only “religious” thing I could think of doing in the public school setting. You can’t proselytize. You can’t pray aloud with the students or for them. You can’t  tell them that they better be good or God will be mad. What you can do, on occasion, if the situation arises naturally—i.e. from reading a story or from student inquisitiveness—is talk about faith, about Christianity, the difference between religions, etc.

 

Often times students will ask me what I do besides guest teaching and this gives rise to an opportunity to talk about  my personal faith (and my ministry). Sometimes we will read a story from the textbook which may be about Buddhism (as was the case a few weeks ago) or about a worldview etc—and that is a natural segue to world religions including Christianity. But sometimes I’ll be in a math or science class (even though my subject is English) and the opportunity for discussion will not naturally arise—so leaving a Bible behind was the only way I felt I did something “religious” that particular day—even though helping students become better in any way is something meaningful and “for God”.

 

But I need the spiritual element—the mention of the name of Jesus or God (the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit) to feel as if I am truly being evangelical. And back at Coachella I rarely had an opportunity to be evangelical—it was just raw work—getting things copied, handing them out, determining grades, writing referrals, etc.  My work, alone, was very meaningful—but I never got to the point of being overtly evangelical—and never got the satisfaction of being congratulated for my efforts, other than the inner satisfaction of knowing I did my best.

 

In fact, in some schools or districts there is a certain element of cultural & even spiritual ‘warfare’ going on—be it “secular humanism’ or whatever worldview, philosophy, or religion might be at play. And at Coachella there was a definite form of secular humanism underlying the environment which, after a while, became particularly degrading—to myself and to students. And I kept trying to figure out where it was coming from—who was keeping it in motion. It was a blend of “naturalism” (belief in nature as a “god”—see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naturalism ) and “humanism’ (belief in the human spirit, self-reliant, minus God, or with God as a footnote see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_humanism ). But even in non-systematic forms of naturalism and humanism you can usually find some benevolence and grace amongst the people—and some of that was present—but there was something even more unbending and harsh in existence there—grim determinism along with some  paternalism void of love—and even though Alex Franco and I did not understand each other at the time (or he did  not understand me)—I don’t think it was coming from him.

 

I kept searching and trying to sift through the maze of teachers and administrators and locals—and came up with a few central figures who I began to suspect were the culprits. One of them was Foch Pensis –now the superintendent, then the assistant superintendent; the other was Herman Baecht—the teacher in the bungalow across from mine; and the third was a teacher by the name of Kent Braithwaite from Orange County.

 

These three (and maybe a few others at a lesser level) seemed to be the unyielding  machinery at the district, creating a non-edifying environment—very grim and mechanical. There was no “transcendence” because of this mechanical, naturalistic, secular humanistic emphasis on reasoning and personal decision-making and logic. There was no credit given to God for any of such abilities or even the beauty and wonder of nature.

 

And somebody obviously sifted through my personal portfolio filled with my academic transcripts and recommendations—and came up with the notion that I was ‘religious’—and stereotyped me in a negative way as such—in their own self-serving limited manner. Alex Franco at one point even asked me if Christian Reformed meant I went to a “reformatory” (i.e. like a disciplinary institution). It just went to show how ignorant some of these people are—most of them from the west coast—and having only the most superficial understanding of faith, religion, denominations, etc. I didn’t need to be teaching the kids—I needed to be teaching the adults. The adults, however, were unteachable. So I spent my time outside of the classroom traveling (Bora Bora; Machhu Picchu, Peru; Belize, Africa,  in addition to driving across the USA and parts of Canada twice; which I have since repeated several times).

 

So I was excited to be out of there after a few years—and even excited to be back in Grand Rapids and at Calvin Seminary until the “posturing” began. First, over at RBC (Reformed Bible College) with Paul Bremer—the Greek professor—he started posturing despite knowing that I was originally from Grand Rapids—he treated me as if I was from California. I wondered if Dave Dejong (who had also attended RBC) had gotten inside his head. Or maybe he knew my mom (Linda Peters) who also grew up in GR. Whatever it was he wanted to transform me as being “from California.”

 

Then, over at the seminary, Bob Devries, another Grand Rapids local , became presumptuous in his perception or misperception of me (perhaps intentionally)  (as did Roger Greenway)—and he (DeVries) even made some innuendo in one classroom to try to alter perceptions somewhat in relation to who I am—truly am—not according to Bob Devries or Roger Greenway or Paul Bremer. These guys were professors more intent on maintaining a way of life than advocating any sort of real Christian worldview.

 

Devries even called himself a “Christian existentialist” whereas Rich Mouw over at Fuller Seminary referred to his job as a “profession” trying to distance himself from any sort of Christian identity, per se, and even insinuating that he might be more Jewish than Christian.  The religious “academy” after a while was not very transcendent or all that edifying to me; although after transferring to Fuller Seminary I road a new wave of inspiration for several years—even while new warfare was beginning there.

 

Warfare—what is ‘spiritual warfare?” it is the attempt and endeavor to secure a way of life according to one’s worldview—by defeating others, so to speak. For Christians—true Christians—I consider spiritual warfare to be the defeat of demons and the evil side of life—but if you are a Wicca or a secular humanist or anything other than Christian—you may consider Christians the group or individuals who have to be defeated. Some religions do not engage too actively in “warfare.’ Buddhists, for example, are fairly pacifistic and do not seem to have an aggressive outward agenda; likewise Hindus. Muslims, however, obviously do; and as I said, so do secular humanists—those who are devoted to their self-indulgent way of living. In some cases, spiritual warfare is nothing more than harassment of others for self-serving reasons.

 

I think Foch Pensis had such an agenda—and still does. And maybe even at Fuller seminary—there are “Christians’ in name only who are promoting their own private, self-serving agenda. If you are living at a completely unassuming level—not taking advantage of others, and do so at a systematic level for a period of time—some of what I am saying becomes obvious. You realize you are being used by opportunistic others. And it becomes evident that something “un-American’ is happening. And it is frustrating. 

 

So I dealt with some of that at both Calvin & Fuller Seminary, but not too much within the school district, until recently. I’ve been going to a school in East LA for several months now—and it has become apparent that there is a Latino faction entrenched here at this almost 100% Latino student-body school that is trying to perpetuate a certain cultural perspective, even a form of superiority—that is somewhat hostile to ‘outsiders’, perhaps especially to Anglo outsiders. I’ve recognized some similarities between this school and the way it was in Coachella. And some of it is simply racism—Latino superiority. This can only happen when the administration and teachers (as well as the student body) is largely Latino.

 

And in the main office at this particular school is the secretary who takes care of the guest teachers when they arrive. She provides a key, a paper telling what room, and sometimes a map and the school schedule. Every school has a main office with a secretary who has often been there for quite a long time—often a graduate of the particular school who knows the classrooms and the layout of the school. And as you can imagine they often have a sense of permanency and sometimes think of the school as “their school”—and even have a large influence on whether the school will progress and advance or remain “non-regenerate’ so to speak.

 

And at this particular school—there is a definite “flavor’ of “Thanks but no thanks “ for the guest teacher services—at least mine.  I am not truly appreciated here—making me wonder why they keep calling. The only thing I could come up with is that they are trying to systematically change me—that they are engaging in “warfare” to convert me to their way of thinking, living, and seeing. The problem is that they are doing so contrary to the non-proselytization rule. Even in some classrooms there is no USA flag—and often the kids have very little sense of patriotism or compulsion to stand up and say the Pledge of Allegiance. It is almost as if there is a “little Mexico” feel to the place—and as if that is the way they want it.

 

Back over at Coachella—I read a quote by Foch Pensis a few years ago when Gov Arnold was putting pressure on schools to improve performance and show results—and Foch Pensis said, in defense of the students at the school district—that “these are not kids born in Iowa”—an obvious stereotype of the white American kid in Iowa speaking perfect English—along with the stereotype Hollywood has periodically dumped on Iowa as being religiously intolerant or “homophobic”  (see ‘Field of Dreams’ for example).

 

There is a quintessential American character—that can be formed—and is unarguably better and more praiseworthy than some other characters. And apparently some people have made Iowa as the “culprit” for the perfect character—a form of blasphemy –making being good a bad thing. That’s the dark side of Hollywood—and it is not just around the actual city of Hollywood that it is found—it has penetrated parts of America through film—and is used by unscrupulous others to, simply put, blaspheme goodness and righteousness and virtue.

 

And it is not only a Latino agenda. For that matter there are a lot of doggone good Latinos who are very patriotic and glad to be American. It is just that these ‘immigrant schools’ so to speak have the ingredients necessary for insurrection. And sometimes some Anglos find a ‘2^nd life’ in such subcultures, having ‘fallen’ away from  mainstream culture. I believe this happened to Foch Pensis, who happens to be an Anglo man originally from Nebraska I do believe; maybe due to getting involved with a Latino couple as swingers (but not definitive).

 

And back in Los Angeles in the main office  of this particular school (not necessarily the principal) there are some, including the secretary for the guest teachers who is engaged in spiritual warfare against the “white boy” or “Gringo”. She never shows emotional gratitude for my presence there. She gives a perfunctory “thanks” at the end of the day—and the few times I’ve engaged in a little conversation with her she has always been quick-witted to turn the tables.

 

For example, I once was complaining to her that in a particular classroom—where I had been for three days—I was getting “no respect” and that they were not treating me as an “authority”—and she quickly said, “I wish I would get more respect and had more authority too.”And occasionally I have had to call the main office and ask for security but it has not always arrived.

 

They leave you in a bind as a man having to ask for help but at the same time are extremely quick to cry “foul” if you ever reached out and physically implemented what you wanted to get done—i.e. move a student to a new seat when they are not doing so voluntarily at your request. They would quickly cry out individually and as a group if you ever came close to touching them or “cuffing” them over the head.

 

I can understand to a certain extent—but there comes a time when they are becoming completely disrespectful and non-cooperative  that I’ve occasionally reversed my feelings about the use of corporal punishment and physical intervention (while never acquiescing to the urge).

 

Remember, I enter a classroom without knowing student names, sometimes no roster (either not on paper or the computer is not working), sometimes no seating chart, and sometimes even no lesson plan. At this particular school I spent three days in room 24 where they do not have a regular teacher. There was no sense of consistency or continuity in this classroom—not a lot of books, no roster or seating chart. And so I start from scratch trying to sense who is being honest with me—and also asking a few students to move to a new seat right from the start (because they are talking or I discern a potential problem that might arise). And some of them immediately refuseto move –one of them said, “You’re just a sub !”

 

That’s a form of spiritual warfare—systematic degradation of a person—not respecting the person, not cooperating—treating them in an inhumane manner—for the sake of personal gain. I get that every now and then—the notion from some of the students that I am some sort of non-human amoeba just “there” in the classroom—undeserving of any respect or attention. It is very deflating and frustrating sometimes.

 

And at this particular school the process  for getting  a student out is much more belabored and difficult than other schools. Here you have to give a warning and get their signature when you give them a warning. And then take four more steps before sending them out—including calling their home. It’s really made for regular teachers who have the time and necessary information handy. But if I send a student out immediately to the office for defiance I’ve gotten a note back at this particular school, from time to time, saying, “Please send the student to another classroom.’

 

And so I do this—but you can only do it so many times before the other teachers start wondering why the guest teacher cannot control the students. I cannot control them if they decide, willfully, to simply not comply—and that usually only happens in a large scale manner where the students have a philosophy of “warfare” in their psyche—either consciously or otherwise—and either handed to them by their parents, neighbors, community, sometimes even a church or other persons within the education system itself.

 

And at this particular school I have come to the conclusion that it is a form of warfare—that they are perpetuating—handed down from their parents or maybe even others at the school. Treating the teacher as ‘white boy” is a form of spiritual warfare, a degrading ritual.  I think it was probably the way some black people felt amongst some whites when racism towards blacks was much more prevalent and barely veiled, if at all. I e-mailed my dad a few weeks ago saying, “Now I know what it feels [or felt] to be treated like  a nigger.”

 

And I say  that with complete respect and empathy for the African American race—having had my  sense of compassion and understanding enlarged. At the same time, because of my beard I have often been asked if I am Jewish—and sometimes they don’t ask—they just assume. And in this same particular culture there is a definite amount of anti-Semitism present—so I may be feeling some of that too, even though I am not Jewish.

 

In  low-literacy settings—visual impact plays such a large part of one’s success because they do not read very much and therefore do not care or understand all that much. What you look like in terms or archetype or stereotype plays a large part in how you are treated. I’ve been called “Abraham Lincoln”, “Santa Claus’, “redneck’, even “Osama Bin Laden” among other things simply because of my beard—in addition to being asked if I am Jewish or Amish.

 

And most recently because of my new glasses which are round—I am now being called “Harry Potter.” The highly visual (low literacy ) community tends to think much more in terms of “archetypes” than the more literate settings. Therefore, the impact you have on people visually often determines how they will respond to your message.

 

So yes, it may be important to be well-groomed, however, in some cases just the opposite seems to be desired. I come to the classroom usually with decent clothes on, almost always a blazer or suit coat, and always washed, hair combed, often with a little cologne sprayed lightly on my body, but this has not always been good enough. On the other hand, a more down-and-out substitute of Latino descent may come in and the same class will be more responsive to him or her because they think he or she is more deserving of their sympathy.

 

Therefore, despite having a nice jacket on—they will find the tiniest speck to criticize—such as a dog hair on my jacket—whereas the down-and-out Latino teacher with food stains on his shirt gets a comment from a student such as, “I like your belt. “ This actually happened the other day—it’s not theoretical. Their response to the guest teacher is selective, sometimes, based upon race & perceived social class.

 

I never know for sure how they (either students or staff or faculty) will perceive me or misperceive me—and it is usually not other teachers who have perception difficulties—because the teachers are task-oriented and usually not looking at physical qualities of other teachers or guest teachers or even students too much.  However, some other staff  may still have a certain amount of preoccupation with the physical qualities of a person.  Maybe even the secretary at the school thinks I am a “Jew.” It’s hard to tell.

 

Whatever it is—and there are many ways to look at it and try to analyze it—one thing is for certain—this school needs our prayers. The kids at this East L.A. school need our prayers. The teachers, staff, and administrators need our prayers. I’ve never been at a school quite like this. And I felt as if I barely got out of their intact. Some kids  try to take advantage of people, and some of the kids at this school are no exception. It can be very upsetting having to watch them every second—with no trust at all—no confidence that you can turn your back even for a moment. Thank goodness it is only a small minority who are not exactly confidence-builders. AND they take up so much of a teacher’s time. They are always seeking attention and do not care if it is negative.

 

And then you get out of there at the end of the day and you, yourself, the teacher, sometimes gets treated like a kid by some people in the main office. I left on Thursday after a rough day and the secretary only gave me 5.85 hours, as opposed to the normal six. The next day I asked why and she said I came in late.

 

 I said that’s not true. I came in a few moments before the bell, but did not get to the classroom right away because I had no idea where it was and she did not provide the usual map. So I had to find somebody to ask. Nonetheless, I was still there as the bell rang. Furthermore, in contrast to regular teachers we don’t even know where we are going to be until sometimes as late as 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning (unless it is a multi-day assignment which was not the case on this particular day).

 

In some cases I have been cheated or attempts have been made to cheat or trick me, and the word that comes to mind, ironically, is “chicanery.” I don’t know how this interrelates to the ethnic term “Chicano” or if there is any relation, but it seemed very appropriate. I looked it up and found the following: http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=chicanery

 

But the point isn’t whether or not I was actually there on time, nor losing .15 hours in pay, but getting treated like a child—not much better than the kids themselves. It’s emasculating and disheartening to be treated like kids. She didn’t apologize (she never does when she makes a mistake) but said, instead, “Would you like to talk to the principal about it?” apparently thinking I would be scared to do so.  I said sure, but then she said he’s not here today.

 

It was about time for first period to begin so I left—but decided to write a few letters about the matter. It matches my frustration that I felt over at a different school where the secretary did not provide a room key (for two days straight) nor even the proper restroom key. She said she was all out of room keys but I know at least one other guest teacher was given one—so I wasn’t convinced. Later, I wrote a letter about it-and next time I was there—got treated much better.

 

 

Having said all that—let’s begin today’s worship service:

 

Song: Give Me, Oh Lord, a Heart of Grace !

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/i/v/givemeol.htm

 

and here’s a fun one:

Give Me that Old Time Religion !

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/o/l/oldtimer.htm

 

When we get mistreated or even cheated by people we think we can trust it weakens the fabric of society. Good society is built upon trust and confidence in each other. The body of Christ should be an example of good community for the world. We should have more virtues and fruits than the world—and should be a light guiding the way. I try to be a good example wherever I go.

 

Song: Glorious is Your Name Oh Lord !

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/i/t/gitnolor.htm

 

Scripture: 2 Cor 1:9-11, 2 Cor 3:4,  Deut 11:13

 

Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and does deliver us; in whom we trust that He will still deliver us,   you also helping together in prayer for us, that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the gift granted to us through many.

 

“And we have such trust through Christ toward God” 2 Cor 3.4

 

 So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today — to love the LORD your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul — Deut 11:13

 

What God wants from us more than anything else is our love and trust! At “the school” that is what I would have liked as well. If they could learn to love (or at least like) and trust then they would become teachable and everything else would fall into place. But some of these kids did not like me, let alone love me. There was something ingrained in their minds (maybe racism, maybe anti-Semitism)—that kept them from the love (or like )and trust they needed in order to learn. The kids who did love or like people in general—I could see it immediately in their eyes. There was something honest and pure about them. And I didn’t need to worry about their behavior when I turned my back. Love is much more compelling than the law. That’s why God kept urging His people in the OT to just love him—but if not—He provided the law. The lesson, clearly, was that love has much more power to compel than the law.

 

Likewise God wants to love & trust us. And our behavior will become good and pure and trustworthy in correlation with how much we TRUST AND LOVE HIM !

 

The argument I had with Mr. B, the PE teacher at ‘the school’, about what the kids should be doing for the period I was covering PE(only one period) revolved around whether they should be getting exercise despite their regular teacher being absent, or not. Mr. B seemed to think I should just let them sit there on the asphalt in shorts and short-sleeve shirts on a cold day (relatively speaking for southern California) whereas I believed they needed exercise, regardless.

 

 So I let them play soccer. The argument began later when Mr. B found out that one of the kids kicked a soccer ball  (intentionally) over the high fence (the height of a prison fence). At that point Mr. B started saying “I told you so..’ but I stood my ground first telling him not to talk to me like a kid and then saying they still needed exercise and there was no way I could have predicted this kid had a bad attitude. He didn’t look like the type. He said since I had been here before I should know the character of some of the kids. Maybe. But they still have to get exercise, both the good & the bad.  School goes on.

 

And maybe there’s a lesson about the wheat and the tares to be learned from this. In the parable the farmer tells his workers not to weed the field at the moment lest they accidentally pull up good wheat in the process. Likewise, in life, sometimes we just have to live side by side with the good and the bad (sometimes, albeit also there are times when the justice system must take action) until Kingdom comes ! God will sift the wheat and the tares at the end of time.

 

 

 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn." Matt 13:30

 

Trusting God takes FAITH. And faith does not come all at once—it is a MATTER OF GROWTH ! Even when we’ve been used and abused by others—we must do our best to pick ourselves up and become better because of it. It’s a bitter pill sometimes. I got abused by kids this week at ‘the school.’ Some of their  attitudes and language and actions were horrific. I said to one of the kids if I ever said the ‘ F word’ at school—I would first probably get sent home for the day, and then maybe get hit over the head by somebody. I mentioned I went to Christian schools too.

 

The language in the public schools can be shocking. Not only the f word and other four letter words but obscenities and vulgarities—some of which would make normal people blush. I got to the point of being very tired and exhausted because of the repetitive use of foul language. It is a very non-edifying environment when all you ever hear is bad language over and over again. It made me think again about how the power of prayer (out loud) could help in some of these classrooms. But at the same time then the Muslim teacher would also have the right to pray to Allah with the kids in the classroom. The

 non-proselytization rule is actually good for Christianity. It keeps other non-Christian religions from gaining a stronghold.

 

Prayer: Dear God. Thank you for giving me the ability to speak and write and encourage others. Help me to keep delivering Your Word to the people, according to YOUR WILL, not mine. Give me the discernment and the wisdom, the strength and the perseverance to keep TELLING THE GOOD NEWS. And please do not let me become overly frustrated. Let me learn from the good times and the bad.

 

You kept me going through a tough week God and I thank You for it, and praise Your name. And God I ask that this message, today, will touch the hearts and minds of others so that they may be edified, instructed, encouraged, and cautioned, according to Your will. May You continue to open hearts and minds so that the LOVE OF JESUS may continue to grow in each and every individual believer and likewise in the Body of Christ as a whole. You are the SOURCE of all GOOD THINGS. LET US NEVER FORGET WHO YOU ARE AND WHERE WE COME FROM.

 

And God I pray for the kids at this east L.A. school where I’ve spent so much time lately. And now as I prepare to move on I ask that the memory of me be with them—a reminder of YOU ! and I pray for the staff and faculty and administration at this particular school. May Your Holy Spirit abide there, keeping the school from severe danger and harm. And may the language of the people there become better—more edifying and purposeful to others. Hear my prayer  oh Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.

 

Song: Glory be to Jesus !

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/b/gb2jesus.htm

 

And that is my message for today. Thanks be to God for His goodness to us ! Let us GIVE HIM ALL THE GLORY, HONOR, AND PRAISE !

 

Song: Glory be to the Father !

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/g/b/gbttfath.htm

 

Pastor Kok III

 

 

Postlude: I have decided to make “the school” a “distant mission” like my school in Coachella; meaning my communication and correspondence will now be via mail and my contribution will be financial and as an encourager. Face-to-face discipleship is over for now.  The dynamics at this school are the same as they were in Coachella, meaning if I  stay it is a losing proposition, no matter how good you are. The only option is to make it a distant mission, keeping them in our prayers and making financial contributions  and being an encourager for the long-term well-being of the students (and staff, faculty, and administration).

 

Closing Prayer:

 

Dear God,

 

You need the people at ‘the school.’ You need the Mexican-Americans to enlarge the kingdom of God and become a part of the Body of Christ. You need the Chicanos and Latinos and Mexican-Americans and El Salvadorian-Americans and Guatemalan-Americans and all other hyphenated Americans to come to know YOU—and to grow in the LIFE and love OF THE BODY OF CHRIST. Know love, know growth. No love, no growth. God—now is the time to fill these people up with the LOVE OF CHRIST ! This is their time ! I have done all I can do, God. My time is over at this school. Let me be a far-reaching missionary—keeping in touch with them by mail. Help me to help them, Lord from a distance.  And for those children who are honest and filled with love—God I especially ask for Your Presence to be with them everywhere they go ! May nobody cause them to stumble. You are the GREATEST ! AMEN.

 

Final Comment:

 

BY the way, just last night as I was putting the finishing toucheson this message I came across an L.A. Times article about East L.A. and their growing ambition to become incorporated—to be an official city. For some reason God sent me to east L.A.for about half a year now (plus periodic contributions over the last nine years), and the time is now for this region! Trust in God’s providence. (see http://mobile.latimes.com/detail.jsp?key=26260&rc=local  )

 

I mentioned several weeks ago about a stereotype re New York subways still in my mind from reading “The Cross & the Switchblade” as a child; a stereotype which I put to rest by going to New York in Januaryand using the subways and public transportation system without any trouble whatsoever. Likewise, the movie “Cheech & Chong” has resonated in my mind concerning east Los Angeles for many decades. Does anybody remember the Cheech & Chong characters, made famous for their pot-smoking escapades around East L.A.? Well, like any stereotype—the generalization does not apply to all of East L.A. Sure, there are plenty of problems and violence, crime, and drugs still exist. And ‘the school’ has it’s fair share of problems, but let’s get beyond the Cheech & Chong stereotype and give East L.A. a chance. They deserve it. The time is now.

 

Pastor Kok III