Update on the Ronald L Dart
Evangelistic Association
Thank you for your inquiry as
to the latest developments at RLDEA. We are excited about things that are happening.
First of all, we are pleased
that Joe Limon has been added to our board of directors. I have known Joe since he was the assistant pastor of
the Church of God Seventh Day in Oak Cliff, Texas in the 1990s. As you can see from his bio on our website, Joe is now
pastor of the Church of God Seventh Day in Cedar Hill, Texas.
Joe brings a wealth of
knowledge and pastoral experience to RLDEA. Joe is not a pastor in the rational sense of the
word. Joe is truly a servant pastor. Joe is a volunteer pastor who receives no salary for
his service. He has always been just a volunteer. Joe is now retired and works full-time serving his
church.
The other new exciting
development has to be prefaced with a bit of history.
Before Allie died, she and I
spent a lot of time talking to me about how she would like the money from her
estate disbursed. As you know, most of it went to RLDEA.
First, Allie made clear that
she wanted Ron’s works promoted. We feel RLDEA is doing a really good job of that thru
our social media efforts. Promoting the Gospel of Jesus thru Ron’s
material has always been our top priority and it will always be our top
priority.
Second, Allie made it clear
where she did NOT want any of her money to go. She made mention of several religious organizations
that RLDEA was not to donate to.
Third, Allie made it clear
that she also wanted money to go to charities. She specifically mentioned St Jude’s Children’s
Hospital and the American Cancer Society. I am sorry we have not, up to this point, done
anything in the area of charitable giving. But this changed on April 5 when we made donations to
St Jude’s Children’s Hospital and the American Cancer Society. We will continue to support these two
charities.
Further, because of the
hardships caused by the coronavirus, we are researching to determine which charitable
East Texas organizations we might possibly send donations to -- organizations
that assist people thru these difficult times.
For example, right now we
have a problem in that kids can’t go to school. They are supposed to do their studies on line. Many kids in our area don’t have tablets and don’t
have access to the internet. So we are making donations to local schools to help
kids get tablets.
We are also having an
internet service installed at our Tyler Church of God Seventh Day
building. We are going to then invite kids in our neighborhood
to access this internet so that they can do their homework there. Even though no one is allowed in our building at this
time, we have a nice front porch and yard where they can sit so they can access
the internet to do their homework.
We are long overdue in our
efforts to helping local people.
And let’s be clear that any
contribution sent by the leadership of RLDEA is not something that we will be
rewarded for when we stand before Christ. It is Allie who will be rewarded for directing us to
do this. It
was her money and we’re trying to spend it the way she directed.
So again, we are excited
about these new developments and ask for prayers that God will guide us into
doing good works at RLDEA.
Personal Comment: Ron Dart was about the only evangelist on
campus that would spend time talking to the campus workers who were considered
second class citizens by most other evangelists and church leaders. He was
always friendly to all he met.
I also know that Wes sticks his neck out by posting here and commenting.
Some think it is abominable that he does this. Ian Boyne, from
Church of God International in Jamaica, was also a friend of this blog.
He and I had some interesting conversations over the years till he was
tragically struck down by a heart attack. He discovered that we had more things
in common than we do with differences.
Many in various COG's know the church has issues and they see that. We
may certainly not agree on some doctrine and some extra-biblical teachings, but
the bond that goes deeper with our common heritage is far greater than those
that want to keep dividing the church or that waste their time trying to get
people to stop reading here.
I am also very glad to see that Allie Dart's money will be spent to help the
community she lived in for many decades. The sad thing is that most COG's do
absolutely NOTHING for the communities they are in. Their easy way out was
always this comment; "God will fix things in the end, so why waste our money
and time on them now, They will get a second chance in the kingdom."
If the Kingdom of God, that most of them long for is so fantastic, then why
would they not want to share that with those around them as a foretaste of
things to come?
