Fatherhood

Today is Father’s day in this country

Today we have set aside to honor the fathers

Let me give you a little history of my father When my father was a young man,

He and my grandfather His, my grandfather dad had a terrible argument over something trivial

The argument was so severe that my father accused him dad of not loving him,

For whatever the reason, My father really felt that his father didn’t love him

My grandfather was stopped in his tracks and caught Off guard.

He replied saying, “Son, one day you’ll have a son,

Then you’ll know how much I have loved you

Fast forward through the years that followed until I was about 3-4

My grandparents came to live with us for a short while.

One day, before cell phones, my father came home from work

He found both my mother and grandmother, frazzled & worried

It happened that earlier in the day, my grandfather took me For a walk and hadn’t yet returned several hours later

My father didn’t drive, we had no car, so he frantically ran All over the neighborhood looking for us

And, it happened that the last place he looked was in a local pub

When he rushed in, there he found me in the arms of a local woman Who was in the pub,

My grandfather was close but chatting calmly with his buddies

Naturally, my father grabbed me from the lady’s arms and had some Words with my grandfather over it

My grandfather said to him, “I see you love your son!”

To which my dad responded of course I love my son, he’s my life

My grandfather’s words hit my dad right between the eyes with the old

“Remember what you said to me all those years ago?”

Now, I ask you, do you understand now how much I loved you?

If any of you knew my dad, He is not very affectionate

He’s a very hard-core kind of guy,

He’s a man’s man

Very serious, and not one for public displays of affection

Or even private displays of affections, lol

But, I can tell you this,

Never, once, not once did I ever doubt that man’s love for me

Even though, nay because of the troubles He and I went through,

or should I say, I put him through I believed it even more.

I am blessed to have had a father like him, He taught me through observation

His Dedication, and commitment to his responsibilities

As a Father myself now, I only wish I can come close to his success as a Father

Though, my father's successes in fatherhood are only now being recognized.

For many years, it was thought to be in the “Pending” or in the “To be determined” phase

However, these days, we are 100% sure,

It was because he taught us how to be men,

Indeed, how to be Fathers in our own families,

Likewise, in your families there is a father that deserves to be honored and recognized today as we celebrate Fathers today

And as we honor the fathers here today

Buy not all of us had the privilege of having, or evening knowing a father

Or even a father’s love for that matter.

Some may have been the victim of a terrible father

My beautiful wife Yadi, wasn’t as blessed as I was with a father

Yadi and her siblings had the opposite experience.

Their father was a terrible father,

It took Yadi some time and effort,

It took her years, to re-examine the role “Yahweh” God takes on as “Father”

For those of who fit this category,

I want you to know, that although your earthly father didn’t work out for you,

There is still a father in your life who does love you and deserves your love and respect,

His name is God

Everyone’s earthly fathers have made mistakes.

Many of them are still making them if they are like me.

But don’t let your experience of a bad father rob you

Of a true picture of your heavenly father,

For He doesn’t make mistakes.

However, keeping in line with His commandment

We are to honor our father and our mothers

Exodus 20:12 NKJV

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Now, for those of us that have suffered under a bad father

As I said with those who like wise suffered under a terrible mother,

You may find this commandment very difficult to fulfill.

But let me try to set your mind at ease.

When God commanded us to honor our parents,

We are to honor the fact that it was through His plan for the Family unit for mankind on earth

Father, Mother, Child, / Father, Son, holy spirit.

You are honoring the position of Fatherhood in life.

Even though he may not deserve any accolades or formal recognition,

He was chosen by God to be your father.

And He will have to answer to God for how he handled that responsibility.

For it was a blessing bestowed not only on you the child,

But on the parent to have been selected, to be responsible for you.

In this, we are to honor our Father and Mother for Each, the good and the bad will have to give an account

And so will each and every one of you here today

On that great day, we’ll all kneel before the judgment seat

And cry out “Abba Father” as Paul cited in Galatians

Galatians 4:6 NKJV

6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!”

Now, to you fathers out there, or soon to be fathers

You have been endowed with the great blessing and also a great responsibility

Yes, that’s right, a great responsibility.

When I tell men that, it goes in one ear and out the other

Look at he church today.

We have been duped by Hollywood and the powers of this age, into believing

That to be a Christian man is to be soft man.

Like to be a follower of Christ, you have to forfeit your man card.

This is why women out number our men in many of our churches today.

We forget that when prophets walked the earth, they always went to the men to challenge them.

In the book of Acts we are told that after Peter’s sermon,

5K m MEN were converted.

Who told you that to be a Christian Man you have to be soft?

Some of the toughest men I’ve ever known, bore their crosses in the name of Jesus.

I’ve mentioned this story many times,

That I’ve heard of a young mothers car which had broken down in an alleyway with her two kids in the car.

It was dark out, and they were alone on the street.

She heard voices coming closer,

She gasped when she saw four huge burly bikers turn the corner, and headed towards her.

In a panic she prayed quickly, terrified these men would hurt them.

To her surprise and relief, those four bikers were just leaving a Christian prayer meeting.

They approached her, presented themselves, and helped her get home with her car.

Now, which would you rather come into contact with? four grizzly bikers,

Or some Charming, sociopathic demoniac?

Strength that lies in your conviction and character, are often times far stronger than your physical strength.

Look at Mahatma Ghandi,

He began a movement to liberate all of India without firing one shot or throwing one punch.

Men, you were created regardless of your physical strength, to be a powerful light unto the paths of your children.

But when I tell men this they think,

“yeah, I'll deal with that stuff later, or cross that bridge when I get there”

No, you need to do it now

You see being a father is a mighty role in God's plan

You are tasked with the awesome responsibility to guide and Prepare God's children to serve Him!

We are supposed to teach our children the way of the Lord, so that when they are old the word shall not depart

Proverbs 22:6 NKJV

6 Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.

But this isn’t the only place we as men need to remember that God Is watching

Even if you don’t have children yet.

This responsibility applies to you anyway

See you aren’t only being judged by what you do as a father

Because what you do now would obviously affect your child

But, rather it's also what you do before you have a child as well.

Exodus tells us that sin was passed down through the Father’s

Line, down to the third and fourth generation.

So, you see, Fatherhood is so important to God, that

You won’t only be affected by the sins you commit,

But also by the sins of your grandfather’s going back to the third and fourth generation

Exodus 34:7 NKJV

7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

In closing, I am reminded every fathers day about the story of Joseph Jesus’ Stepfather.

Could you imagine what that must have been like?

Those of us who are fathers, could you imagine that?

This humble man first lost his impression of the girl he loved.

He was going through life like the average Joe, Pun intended.

Then, he found out his girl is pregnant and he know’s he’s not the father.

That would be bad now, but it was extremely worse in that culture.

Remember, he initially put her away because he refused to have anymore to do with her.

It took the supernatural intervention of an Angel to convince him to accept her.

After being convinced by an angel that her pregnancy was part of God’s plan

He accepted the role of father-to-be,

Although he hadn’t even touched her yet.

This man then got put through the test.

The girl was pregnant, and there was nowhere to properly house the baby he was to care for.

It had to be born in a stable.

Wow, I would be thinking by today's standards

Epic Fail!

But then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, he had to get up and leave town

Because they were being hunted by the king of the land to kill the newborn child.

We hear a lot about Mary and consider her plight,

But we never really take Joseph’s story into account.

This man was obviously older than Mary, as she was very young.

Without much life experience, I would imagine,

They were in Bethlehem, far away from her home and her family

It was just her and Joseph.

Who do you think was making all the decisions?

Everything, every decision?

Every responsibility laid on the shoulders of the newborn’s father, Joseph

He had to care for them through

the hunting,

through the travel Routes filled with muggers, and thieves.

All the way to Nazareth,

All the way up until the time he fades from the story

What can we learn from the man who “Made” the cut to be Jesus’ father on earth?

He was a Godly man - Being a Godly man equipped him for everything else he needed to fulfill his call to fatherhood.

If you are a Godly man, He will equip you too - with everything you’ll need to fulfill your call to fatherhood.

My father was born in Mexico,

He had no life opportunities.

He didn’t have the option of going to colleges, prom, or even grade school.

He was pulled out of school by force in the third grade.

Against the pleas of the school teachers at the time, my grandfather thought school was a waste of time.

Believing their plight was irreversible, he plucked him from school in the third grade to work in the fields.

To this day, his academic education is at third grade,

But, my father is one of the smartest men I ever knew.

Proverbs 4:1–9 NKJV

1 Hear, my children, the instruction of a father, And give attention to know understanding; 2 For I give you good doctrine: Do not forsake my law. 3 When I was my father’s son, Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother, 4 He also taught me, and said to me: “Let your heart retain my words; Keep my commands, and live. 5 Get wisdom! Get understanding! Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; Love her, and she will keep you. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she will promote you; She will bring you honor, when you embrace her. 9 She will place on your head an ornament of grace; A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”

Some how, by God’s grace and mercy, my father was blessed with the wisdom of life.

Some how, he plowed through

alcohol addiction,

through language barriers,

through racism and exploitation,

and through all of his children's teenage rebellions.

And worst of all, he made it through my years of self inflicted danger and chaos.

Now, I can’t honestly say he got it right every time along the way.

But I can say, that behind every reaction, was a reaction

girded in love for his children

and an over whelming sense of

Duty, honor and responsibility to his calling as a father.

Especially with me, his eldest biological son.

Once, after having gotten myself involved in some trouble,

Afraid, of reaction, still I felt compelled to tell him.

It was the most uncomfortable conversation I ever had to have with my pops.

I had gotten into some trouble with some real bad guys,

I was at odds with a notorious bloody Chicago gang that ran our neighborhood.

I told him what had happened between us, and that they now wanted to kill me.

Do you know that man waited for me to get home every evening,

Sitting by the window with a gun in his hand, until that issue died down.

Another time, when I was about 21 years old, and in a habit of self destructive behavior

I was with several other people in a truck that flipped over about 10 times along interstate 94,

Also known as the “Dan Ryan” Expressway.

My father had no cell phone.

He didn’t drive, and it was in the middle of the night,

And the hospital was three towns over.

I was later told by my younger brother Chano, that,

During my entire stay at the hospital,

My dad sat silent in the darkness staring out of the very window he watched through for me with a gun in his hand,

He did that for hours without moving, until I called him from the hospital telling him, I was alright.

No doubt, he was praying.

Years later, he was got a front row seat and watched how Jesus took a hold of my life and changed me forever,

Years that followed my ministry, I had the honor of witnessing my father accept Christ as his savior,

And it was here at this dear church in Anna IL,

That we saw my dad take his first holy communion in Christ.

Both, he and I are living examples of the miracles Jesus can do in a mans life,

Men hear me, if Jesus can change us, He can change you.

Amen

Happy Fathers Day

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