I will Jesus

Jesus said to them, “follow me, and I will make you fish man for people.”

           

Oh! It so easy to say I will when asked to do something that fun. I’ve used the term many times. It’s called an “I will” attribute. When my mother asks me to do something my respond was I will. When my football coach asked me to bock another player my respond was I will. When a beautiful woman asks me to do something I could do, I said yes I will.  You see it’s easy to say I will to thing we want to do. So what kind of person did Jesus call to discipleship and to make a promise saying I will?

In this passage show us that Jesus calls ordinary people who will simply make themselves available to him.

Note: where Jesus called his first disciples. They were not in a religious center or some higher learning center. Neither were they in a position of authority or power, nor did they possess wealth or financial security. They were out in the work-a-day world. Turn and tell somebody “They were Day Laborer”. I say this not to be-little religious center or learning center, but this text tell me a few things.

My first point I want to make is about position and power, wealth and security, religion and learning can hurt and keep a person away from God.

You know who I’m talking about. Let them get a new position or some power and they forget where they came from. Oh! Let them get a few pay checks and turning to God become a second thought. You know what they will say. I need this money for me.

Second point I want to make is God can use and call anyone who is really available. Whether rich or poor, religious or nonreligious, learned or unlearned, ordinary or extraordinary. The main ingredient is to be available and willing to respond.

Third point I want to make is the men Jesus called were working. Simon and Andrew his brother were casting a net into the sea. They were work at something that didn’t they would not see a return unless they did the work. Two many believers are sitting waiting, thinking that God going to bless you for sitting. Therefore, they miss out on the higher calling for God to use us. We want a blessing from God, but unwilling to do anything for someone else.

Fourth point I want to make is the men called by Jesus were called to follow him, and they were to immediately follow him. My point is this, the disciple is called to follow Jesus personally, to attach himself to Christ before he does anything else. We must first trust Jesus before we can serve Jesus. Too many of us are waiting for the next time God does something for us before we will let God use us.

Genesis 12:2  What did God say to you Abram
"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

Genesis 16:10 What did God say to you Hagar
The angel added, "I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count."

Exodus 4:12 What did God say to you Moses
Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say."

Psalm 91:2 What did you say to God David
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust?

Isaiah 65:24 What did God say to you Isaiah
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

Jesus said to them, “follow me, and I will make you fish man for people.”

Matthew 26:39 Tell us what you said to God Jesus
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."

Can we hear Jesus speaking to us? If I be lifted up I will draw all men unto me.

Solution to closing the gap in public education

How many of us have hear time and time again, Our School must fix the “Achievement Gap” by our public leadership? These policies are based on a belief that public schools should shoulder the blame for the "achievement gap" between poor and minority students and the rest of the student population. But the new policy report argues that out-of-school factors are the real culprit--and that if those factors are not addressed, it will be impossible for schools to meet the demands made of them.

No Child Left Behind Act, which imposed stiff accountability measures on schools in return for federal aid. NCLB requires public schools to demonstrate "adequate yearly progress" toward the eventual elimination of gaps in achievement among all demographic groups of students and imposes a variety of sanctions if they fall short.

Education Secretary Duncan said that those who would use the social ills of poor children as an excuse for not educating them "are part of the problem. I agrees"but, those who point to schools as an excuse for failure to address social ills are equally at fault."

A half-dozen out-of-school factors that have been clearly linked to lower achievement among poor and minority-group students: birth weight and non-genetic parental influences; medical care; food insecurity; environmental pollution; family breakdown and stress; and neighborhood norms and conditions. Additionally, a seventh factor: extended learning opportunities in the form of summer programs, after-school programs, and pre-school programs. Access to these resources by poor and minority students could help mitigate the effects of the other six factors

I’m calling for an approach to school improvement that would demand "a reasonable level of societal accountability for children's physical and mental health and safety."

In the midst of this discussion is a major irritant for me: The way people tend to default to the parental engagement argument to explain the achievement gaps between white kids in more affluent areas and poor Black children living in struggling communities. “Don’t bother to put more money in schools until parents start raising their children,” they say. 

The African American community is not above being called on the carpet because they tend to default to parental engagement (a.k.a., personal responsibility) without trying to understand or solve the funding problem.

 Poor parenting, in fact, is a direct result of poor education. Parents of failing students oftentimes attended some of those same failing schools, and graduated to a life of poverty and social ills if they graduated at all. When adults have to work two to three low-paying jobs to keep a roof over head, or cannot read well or understand math themselves, how can they help their children do better in school?

As long as the failure of our children to graduate from high school or go on to graduate from college can be blamed on a lack of parental responsibility, or lack of individual responsibility, policies will be slow to change. It’s your fault, or it’s your mama’s fault or your daddy’s fault you didn’t graduate, right? Wrong.

Now, I do believe that children have a better shot of growing up to be well educated and responsible members of society when they have engaged parents and other adult mentors, when they are taught to reach for the stars but also to respect boundaries. But a child walking hand-in-hand in the desert with the loving gaze of a mother and a father might still die of thirst.

I  guess what I’m trying to say is personal responsibility is something we all should aspire to. If you have children, then you should try to be the best parent that you can be. But to put the onus solely on parents to narrow the education achievement gaps that correspond directly to race and improper funding is merely a distraction away from doing the right thing.

The way I see it, parental engagement without equal opportunity and equal access to a world-class education is a smokescreen. In North Carolina, the African American community has got to stand up and demand education funding reform. We owe it to our children to fight to give them an equal chance to succeed before the world tells them it’s their fault they failed.

Can Schools Fix The Achievement Gap?

While educators continue to work on at social school issues, we the community leaders need to look at other social issues that affect children and their ability to learn. But there's still the matter of The Gap, the difference in test results between advantaged and disadvantaged students. Are public schools, as currently structured and conceived, capable of really making a dent in the achievement gaps between poor students and affluent ones?

In recent years, public schools have been infected by a system of hidden privileges offered to affluent and politically powerful upper-middle class families and their children -- a system that flatly contradicts politicians' lofty goals of reducing the achievement gaps.

Consider, for example, tracking -- the practice of placing students into remedial, regular or advanced classes based upon test scores and teacher recommendations. Not long ago, tracking became a dirty word in progressive education circles. But I found researching, Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education, that tracking has gone underground. Visiting schools across the State, we have discovered that tracking remains a prevalent feature of most American middle schools and high schools, and takes a variety of forms, including selection for Advanced Placement classes, gifted and talented programs, and other special enrichment programs that systematically sort students by class and race.

Indeed, these programs are populated with students who were born lucky: to affluent and well educated parents who able to provide their children with the cultural, educational and social advantage that State schools value and reward.

What's more, children whom schools track into these exclusive programs learn more than other students because they are taught more. And they are taught in far more interesting and engaging ways than what schools ordinarily provide students in regular classes.
The use of such tests to sort the supposedly smart and talented from the not-smart and not-so-talented is so common in our States that few parents and educators question the legitimacy of this practice. Rather than identifying the most promising young talent, our school was in essence picking and choosing children based on where they stood in the Boise State University class grading system. Far from being the Great Equalizer, Boise schools were instead a handmaiden to elite interests.
Boise is the capitol of Idaho, the most Republican of states. But the pressure on schools to create bastions of privilege and schools within schools in the interests of elite parents crosses the usual left-right political boundaries.
With appropriate re-engineering and refocusing, North Carolina schools do have the capacity to diminish the achievement gaps that politicians like to talk about. Schools need to pay a lot more attention to supplementing the cultural and social capital that disadvantaged students -- for a variety of reasons -- do not get from home because they, unluckily, were born to parents who lack education, information, and resources.
There's also the matter of basic fairness. It's hard to argue against the need to improve math and science education for North Carolina students. Indeed, the school is doing a wonderful job. Any parent would kill to have a child attend such a school, so cool are the learning opportunities it provides its students.
But why should wonderful learning opportunities and small classes be the exclusive rights of only the "best and brightest?" Why are we dumping down schools for ordinary children, force-feeding them facts and formulas to pass the next standardized test, while we create special and enriched learning environments for the children of privilege?
The short answer is politics and brute power. Let's be honest with ourselves. As currently structured, the North Carolina education system is organized to serve elite interests at the expense of children and families at the bottom.

Ban The Box

Forgive People not Crime

          It is 5:30 in the evening. Sue has gone to six businesses to apply for job. Each time she pumped herself up, thinking this time she will get interview. Sue is nicely dressed and looks like a person ready to start work. Sue has a degree in business administration and is looking for work as a data processor. She's very proud of her ability to type fast and accurately. The Human Resource person gives her an application to fill out. Sue has a very good writing style and she pays attention to details answering each question correctly. Halfway through the application she finds a box that asked “have you been convicted of a felony?” Sue knows that if she answers the question truthfully she will once again not get an interview. Sue answers the box and completes the rest of the application. The human resource person read over her application, notice Sue checked box and thanks her for applying. Again Sue will not get the chance to explain the nature of the crime, how long ago the crime was committed, when her incarceration ended and her successful completion of community college. Sue did not get the chance to present the letters of recommendation from community leaders. Seven times Sue has felt the pain of guilt and shame and rejection. With tears falling from her eyes she asks out loud, “We I ever be forgiven for my mistake.”

          This is a familiar story for men and women in our community. There's a common thread in all of them. This thread is that they were convicted of a crime and successfully met the requirements of the courts. The other common thread is they have decided to change their life, go a different path. This change meant changing behavior, changing friends, learning to keep commitments, setting goals, and loving themselves and others. They are willing to learn, willing to develop skills, willing to be of value to their community and their family. They work on a new life of repentance and dignity. They know that respect is not given, but earned.

 The unseen drug addict, prostitutes, and thief are people that commit criminal acts, and contribute to the violence in our streets. These acts feed organized crime and gang activity. We know that research shows that lack of employment is a significant cause of recidivism, with people who are employed proving significantly less likely to be re-arrested. We also know that people with criminal records suffer from pervasive discrimination in many areas of life, including employment, housing, education, and more often have to rely on social service benefits.

Banning the Box will help make all of us safer because it aids in prevention, and improve the quality of life in communities. These men’s and women’s would become a beacon of hope for those that wanting to leave the subculture of crime. It will improve the employment rate in neighborhoods where opportunities are too few and far between and will give deserving individuals the second chance they have earned. We must forgive other to be forgiven.