“3 and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. 6 But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 7 Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh! 8 Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. 9 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire. 10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones, for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. 11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. 12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray? 13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. 14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.” (KJV)
When I saw the video of the young lady who was forceably abused by a policeman in a classroom full of students in South Carolina with the teacher of that class observing the entire incident, my anger arose. Even though I am the parent of 2 adult children now, I somehow felt a little reluctant to write this blog until this morning during my daily reading of the Holy Bible when I came across this commentary from 1 Samuel 11:6 from the Life Application Study Bible, KJV which states, “Anger is a powerful emotion. Often it may drive people to hurt others with words or physical violence. But anger directed at sin and the mistreatment of others is not wrong. Saul was angered by the Ammonites’ threat to humiliate and mistreat his fellow Israelites. God used Saul’s anger to bring justice and freedom. When injustice or sin makes you angry, ask God how you can channel that anger in constructive ways to help bring about a positive change.” (“‘Be angry, and do not sin’: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil.” — Ephesians 4:26-27 NKJV).
I feel that in Matthew 18:3-14, Jesus speaks concerning the treatment of all children, as also with the issue of abortion, and with these issues concerning our children in our public schools “14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish”. I do not know if the teacher involved was a Christian or not, but as a Christian myself I am surprised that the teacher called on a policemen to handle his problem with the student, and that that teacher chose not to call on God to handle any situation with any student, good or bad, in his classroom. When I was in the 5th grade (I am now 66 years old) school prayer was taken out of public schools on the complaint of an atheist who did not know Jesus and all of His blessings Jesus gives to one’s life. Many parents then and now cannot afford the expenses for their children for Christian or non-Christian private or charter schools. Many single or both parents cannot home school. My teachers then, in public school, would read a scripture from the Holy Bible and pray before class started. Even disruptive students where soon under control by their teachers who had already called on the name of the Lord before class started. Some people feel now that we can pray for school classrooms outside of the classroom, in our homes or churches. But what if we prayed outside of our churches to bring the Holy Spirit into our churches? Some children in public school who have never entered a church could have their lives changed by a simple prayer before class begins, a simple invitation of the Holy Spirit to indwell in that classroom for teacher and student alike. It is imperative to be allowed to pray and read scripture from the Holy Bible anywhere in the United States of America, especially in our public schools openly and publicly again, and this issue has to be reconsidered given all of the violence happening in and out of our public schools. I have seen, since the days of school prayer, a gradual degeneration over the years of moral integrity in students and teachers in public schools — handcuffing and physical abuse alike against students, encouraged by teachers and policemen. I don’t think anyone would want a millstone hung around their neck for abusing a child, but I feel Jesus wanted us all to know the severity of such an act of abuse against a child. Have we all become that cold and indifferent towards one another, especially children. Prayer done anywhere is a very powerful force to be able to bring in the Holy Spirit of God to cleanse and enlighten any dark situation that arises anywhere. My abode is calm because I invite the Holy Spirit through prayer and scripture reading everyday into my home. The policeman in South Carolina has been fired, the teacher involved is still working, but why not is the Holy Spirit invited into that classroom openly and publicly by anyone?
God Bless You All!
Brenda A. McGee has attended New York Theological Seminary in New York, NY, and Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA as a Master of Divinity student.