Dangerous hints from the Deputy Head
Dangerous hints from the Deputy Head
Earlier this academic year, Colin Green retired from teaching at The King’s School, Witney after many years. We asked him for some ‘conversational’ reflections on what he had learned during his time there.
1. God loves His kids: His children kids and His adult kids!
Funny. The brain says yes, of course He does, but my heart says can’t be true, He must be cross with me about something. Actually getting this one sorted is at the heart of the matter. If I don’t know for sure He loves me, then I’ll impart the same uncertainty to my class. I can only give what I’ve got. If my image of God is muddled then their’s will be too. Let’s start again. I’m remembering the prodigal son. His dad loved him to bits, despite his failures. Funny, as a dad myself, it’s not hard to grasp that. It pretty well doesn’t matter what my kids do, I’ll still love them to bits. Mess up, ignore me, their list may go on. The mess isn’t good and needs dealing with, but it never touches the love, that stays the same, forever. Wonder if I could get hold of God’s love like that for myself, in my heart, every day, there to stay? Reckon then I might have gold to give in the staffroom, gold to give in the classroom and to the parents. I must find a space. Chat to God. His chat room’s completely safe, always open. Let His love in, to stay, then do it again and again, daily, ‘til it sticks, then do it one more time!
2. God loves to talk!
It’s not just me, the teacher who likes to talk; God does. He also knows when to stop, better than I do. He’ll talk when I’m preparing. He’ll talk in the lesson. He’ll talk in the lunch break. He’ll talk in the staff meeting. Pretty much anywhere, anytime. But I need to stop and listen. He generally likes being invited to talk. I walked into my state school classroom one day. Hit me! “You’re out of here!” Was it God? Sure was and He did move me out of there, into the next stage of His calling. Years later… after about 15 years at The King’s School at Witney, I walked into the classroom before term began one September. “Lord I love you, but you’ve had me in the same room for all these years. Sssh! “Actually Lord, I’m a bit bored with this room”. He spoke. Promptly. Clearly. “It’s not the walls that matter, it’s the children and they change every year”. “I’ve got it Lord and you are dead right.” Fresh love for the kids, flooded in. God and I began getting on well together again.
3. The most important preparation is the preparation of my heart.
Those are the often repeated words of Steve Thomas, the Senior Pastor in our group of churches. He’s actually right. Guess that’s partly why he’s Senior Pastor. My rushed evening? Kids won’t sleep? Teens want to sort the world or need their world sorting? Church meeting? School meeting? (Sssh, say it quietly, TV? Computer? DVD?) Whatever the distraction, we all face going to school poorly prepared some days. If my heart’s tuned to God, that’s the one thing I need most. It’s not a law about reading the Bible, about time in prayer and worship. It’s a reality. Neglect my wife and I’ll soon know about it! Neglect God and He might not be so, ‘in my face’ about it, but it’s actually even more serious than my marriage neglect. I walked the School field in prayer one Saturday. (SO grateful Lord, you’ve given us a field!). Look at that sunset! Look at it again. What was that thought? That voice? “It’s the sunset season of your time in the School.” God spoke. He confirmed it. My heart was prepared.
4. Take them kids t’coal face lad!
Got geography in my bones. Grew up in North London’s urban sprawl. Got taken to the Berwyn Mountains of North Wales, aged eight. Gasp! Scenery! God you’re amazing! Fell in love. Not with a girl, yet! God’s creation! LOVE it! Can’t get enough of it. Landscapes. Walks. Walks in the rain. Rivers. Cascades. Mountains. Can’t love all that through a book anything like I can when I’m in it. Learnt something big. Get the kids ‘in it, ‘at it’, ‘on it’, ‘under it’, so they experience it first hand, or at least the nearest hand that’s possible. Take a risk. David Cameron became Witney M.P. Invited him to our school. He came! I said, “It’s a custom that we like to pray God’s blessing on our visitors and their work.” Would he mind? He didn’t mind. He met my Year 6 class, answered questions about his work. Then we prayed. He said thanks and then said, “Well, you invited me to your place, so I’m inviting you to mine”. A brilliant day with Y6, touring the Palace of Westminster and interviewing him in the Palace. An unforgettable day at t’ coal face, lad!
5. The kids can do it!
This is big! If God’s adult kids need carefully encouraging to enter His kingdom, so do His children kids. If His adult kids can be assured of salvation, so can His kid kids! If the adults can receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, so can His little kids. If the adults can grow in the Spirit’s fruit, gifts and character, so can His young kids and teen kids. The kids can! If we impart confidence to our children, they rise up into the next step, whatever the step’s about. The kids can! Prayer, prophecy, intercession, true praise and deeper than that, true worship. The kids can! Just like the adults they must grow in maturity, but “the kids can!” Remember the pop song, ‘Lean On Me’? The kids offered it as a dance of worship (Lean on God). A gimic? Trite? Not one bit. Very moving and also very infectious! I could stay all night on this subject. Mustn’t. I just recommend that we take it to God. Hear what He says. His young kids can! Wasn’t there even something in the Bible about us being like kids?
6. Your turn.
God bless you!
Colin Green
Earlier this academic year, Colin Green retired from teaching at The King’s School, Witney after many years. We asked him for some ‘conversational’ reflections on what he had learned during his time there.
1. God loves His kids: His children kids and His adult kids!
Funny. The brain says yes, of course He does, but my heart says can’t be true, He must be cross with me about something. Actually getting this one sorted is at the heart of the matter. If I don’t know for sure He loves me, then I’ll impart the same uncertainty to my class. I can only give what I’ve got. If my image of God is muddled then their’s will be too. Let’s start again. I’m remembering the prodigal son. His dad loved him to bits, despite his failures. Funny, as a dad myself, it’s not hard to grasp that. It pretty well doesn’t matter what my kids do, I’ll still love them to bits. Mess up, ignore me, their list may go on. The mess isn’t good and needs dealing with, but it never touches the love, that stays the same, forever. Wonder if I could get hold of God’s love like that for myself, in my heart, every day, there to stay? Reckon then I might have gold to give in the staffroom, gold to give in the classroom and to the parents. I must find a space. Chat to God. His chat room’s completely safe, always open. Let His love in, to stay, then do it again and again, daily, ‘til it sticks, then do it one more time!
2. God loves to talk!
It’s not just me, the teacher who likes to talk; God does. He also knows when to stop, better than I do. He’ll talk when I’m preparing. He’ll talk in the lesson. He’ll talk in the lunch break. He’ll talk in the staff meeting. Pretty much anywhere, anytime. But I need to stop and listen. He generally likes being invited to talk. I walked into my state school classroom one day. Hit me! “You’re out of here!” Was it God? Sure was and He did move me out of there, into the next stage of His calling. Years later… after about 15 years at The King’s School at Witney, I walked into the classroom before term began one September. “Lord I love you, but you’ve had me in the same room for all these years. Sssh! “Actually Lord, I’m a bit bored with this room”. He spoke. Promptly. Clearly. “It’s not the walls that matter, it’s the children and they change every year”. “I’ve got it Lord and you are dead right.” Fresh love for the kids, flooded in. God and I began getting on well together again.
3. The most important preparation is the preparation of my heart.
Those are the often repeated words of Steve Thomas, the Senior Pastor in our group of churches. He’s actually right. Guess that’s partly why he’s Senior Pastor. My rushed evening? Kids won’t sleep? Teens want to sort the world or need their world sorting? Church meeting? School meeting? (Sssh, say it quietly, TV? Computer? DVD?) Whatever the distraction, we all face going to school poorly prepared some days. If my heart’s tuned to God, that’s the one thing I need most. It’s not a law about reading the Bible, about time in prayer and worship. It’s a reality. Neglect my wife and I’ll soon know about it! Neglect God and He might not be so, ‘in my face’ about it, but it’s actually even more serious than my marriage neglect. I walked the School field in prayer one Saturday. (SO grateful Lord, you’ve given us a field!). Look at that sunset! Look at it again. What was that thought? That voice? “It’s the sunset season of your time in the School.” God spoke. He confirmed it. My heart was prepared.
4. Take them kids t’coal face lad!
Got geography in my bones. Grew up in North London’s urban sprawl. Got taken to the Berwyn Mountains of North Wales, aged eight. Gasp! Scenery! God you’re amazing! Fell in love. Not with a girl, yet! God’s creation! LOVE it! Can’t get enough of it. Landscapes. Walks. Walks in the rain. Rivers. Cascades. Mountains. Can’t love all that through a book anything like I can when I’m in it. Learnt something big. Get the kids ‘in it, ‘at it’, ‘on it’, ‘under it’, so they experience it first hand, or at least the nearest hand that’s possible. Take a risk. David Cameron became Witney M.P. Invited him to our school. He came! I said, “It’s a custom that we like to pray God’s blessing on our visitors and their work.” Would he mind? He didn’t mind. He met my Year 6 class, answered questions about his work. Then we prayed. He said thanks and then said, “Well, you invited me to your place, so I’m inviting you to mine”. A brilliant day with Y6, touring the Palace of Westminster and interviewing him in the Palace. An unforgettable day at t’ coal face, lad!
5. The kids can do it!
This is big! If God’s adult kids need carefully encouraging to enter His kingdom, so do His children kids. If His adult kids can be assured of salvation, so can His kid kids! If the adults can receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit, so can His little kids. If the adults can grow in the Spirit’s fruit, gifts and character, so can His young kids and teen kids. The kids can! If we impart confidence to our children, they rise up into the next step, whatever the step’s about. The kids can! Prayer, prophecy, intercession, true praise and deeper than that, true worship. The kids can! Just like the adults they must grow in maturity, but “the kids can!” Remember the pop song, ‘Lean On Me’? The kids offered it as a dance of worship (Lean on God). A gimic? Trite? Not one bit. Very moving and also very infectious! I could stay all night on this subject. Mustn’t. I just recommend that we take it to God. Hear what He says. His young kids can! Wasn’t there even something in the Bible about us being like kids?
6. Your turn.
God bless you!
Colin Green
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