Fatherhood

- A Father’s History

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 dad had a terrible argument over something trivial

The argument was so severe that my father accused his dad That he didn’t love 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

- Honoring the Father

His Dedication, and commitment to his responsibilities as a Father I only wish I 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 still in the “Pending” or the “To be determined” Column

These days, we are sure, It was because he taught us how to be men,

Indeed, How to be Fathers In our 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 Let us understand that not all of us had the privilege of Having, or evening knowing a father or a fathers love

Or some may have been the victim of a terrible father

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

She had the opposite experience

Her father was a terrible father,

It took Yadi some time and effort, years, to re-examine the role Yahweh / God takes on as “Father”

For those of us who fit this category, there is still a father

Who deserves your love and respect, and 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 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 (CSB)

12 Honor your father and your mother so that you may have a long life in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

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

You may find this very difficult to fulfill

But let me try to set your mind at ease

When God commands 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

You are honoring the position of Fatherhood in life

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

He was still chosen by God to be your father

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

For it was a blessing bestowed not only on 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 (CSB)

6 And because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father!”

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

- Endowed with Responsibility

You have been endowed with a 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

Probably because they think,

“yeah, I'll cross that bridge when I get there”

But that’s not what I'm talking about,

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

- The Teaching of Children

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

That’s right!

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 (CSB)

6 Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows 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 obviously would 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 wouldn’t only be affected by the sins you committed,

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

Exodus 34:7 (CSB)

7 maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.

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

- A Look at Joseph

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 finds out his girl is pregnant.

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

After he is convinced by an angel that this is all God’s plan

He accepts the role of father-to-be, although he hasn’t even touched her yet.

This man then gets put through the test

The girl is pregnant, and there is nowhere to properly house the baby he was to care for, 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 enough, he had to get up and leave town because

They were being hunted to kill the newborn child

We hear a lot about Mary and consider her plight

But we never really take Joseph into account

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

Not much life experience I would imagine,

They are in Bethlehem away from home and her family

It’s 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.

- Wisdom From Above

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 (CSB)

1 Listen, sons, to a father’s discipline, and pay attention so that you may gain understanding, 2 for I am giving you good instruction. Don’t abandon my teaching. 3 When I was a son with my father, tender and precious to my mother, 4 he taught me and said, “Your heart must hold on to my words. Keep my commands and live. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding; don’t forget or turn away from the words from my mouth. 6 Don’t abandon wisdom, and she will watch over you; love her, and she will guard you. 7 Wisdom is supreme—so get wisdom. And whatever else you get, get understanding. 8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you; if you embrace her, she will honor you. 9 She will place a garland of favor on your head; she will give you a crown of beauty.”

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

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 rebellion 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 oldest.

Once, after having gotten myself involved in some trouble,

I felt compelled to tell him.

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

I had gotten into squirmish with some real bad guys, a Chicago gang that ran our neighborhood

I told what had happened and that they wanted to kill me.

Do you know that man waited for me to get home every evening, by the window with a gun in his hand, Until that issue died down.

Another time, I was about 21 years old,

Me and a several other people were in a truck that flipped over about 10 times,

I was in the hospital over night.

My father had no cell phone. He didn’t drive, and it was the middle of the night, and the hospital was three towns over.

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

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

For hours until I called him from the hospital telling him, I was alright.

No doubt, he was praying.

Years later, he watched Jesus take 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 at this dear church in Anna IL, that we saw my dad take his first holy communion in Christ.

And 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 Father’s Day

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