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Happy Fathers day.
Are we the fathers we think we are?
By Hratch Baliozian, June 2010 "And now a word to
you fathers, Don't make your children angry by the way you treat them.
Rather, bring them up with the discipline and instruction approved by the
Lord." Ephesians 6:4
Dear Fathers, What is the best gift you can give to your children? If I
may state in my humble way, love your children unconditionally, be a
supportive guide and nurture them.
In my
circumstances, I have wrestled with the question of how my incarceration
defines me as a father to my sons. As a person, I am flawed and fellable,
not altogether fair, and as likely to be wrong as right. Then there is the
terrible act that resulted in my incarceration ( The loss my wife and
their mother), an act committed not just as a person, but when viewed from
the perspective of my children, an act committed by their father. So as a
father, how can I ever make amends to my sons? How can I earn their
forgiveness? How do my sons define ma as a person and their father?
Surely, you can understand how I have struggled with such questions.
On a flesh
and blood level, I am the only father my children will ever have. I love
them with every breath I take, with love more precious than my own life.
My love for my sons is unconditional, without boundaries, ever expending.
Despite my flaws and fallibilities, and the tragedy, I am their father.
The journal has been long and painful, yet I will continue it, determined
always to redefine my role as their father, to be worthy of their love and
forgiveness.
My incarceration
began on October 10, 1997. My son was seven years old and my other son
three. There have been so many lost years. But we had the years before the
tragedy, and we made the most of them. and the have been the bitter-sweet
years since. For the precious memories I am most grateful to God, and my
sons; those memories that warm my heart and nourish my soul. These are the
years before and the years since, and my constant struggle.
What would my
children say if asked: How do you define your father's influence in your
lives? How has your father participated in your growth and development? My
children lost their mother of my sinful action. One does not have to walk
in my sons' shoes to be able to empathize with their feelings and
confusion toward their own father. How do they define me? But this is my
struggle.
Dear fathers, how
would you be remembered? I pray that you do not wrestle with such questions,
as I must. No matter the personal struggle fathers face from past actions,
let us all be fathers to our sons and daughters in the future that we have
been in the past. Yes, let us make it our priority to be model fathers to
our children, to guide and nurture them, to love them unconditionally and
as best we can, not to miss in life those feeling moments from which the
most precious memories are made for fathers and children.
Dear fathers, in
closing I want to say the following sentences. Home is a lot of things...
but mainly it is the place where life makes up its mind. Our home should
be a place where our children are encouraged to follow God and His Word
because of how we live, not just what we say. They need our example.
Happy fathers day, and may God richly bless you all.
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"The Hope Of Our Calling"
By Reynaldo Aguilar Jr.
Today I will talk about something that is so fundamentally important that
it has the power to transform your life, Knowledge that can catapult you
from a state of degradation to a place of victory, glory, and honor. This
knowledge is "The revelation of Jesus Christ."
Revelation in Greek
is Apok-aloop-sis which means full disclosure. It doesn't mean veiled
truth, hidden knowledge available only to a few but full disclosure
therefore taking. The question today is have you discovered the value of
this knowledge and the implication it has for your life! Revelation 1:3
Blessed are those who read aloud, who hear and who keep what is written in
this prophecy." To really feel the weight of these words and
understand the value we need to know what are the words of this prophecy,
the testimony of Jesus Christ. First Favor has been shown to us from God
the Father and His son Jesus who rules the Earth. "Grace and Peace to
you." V.4 "Our life is resting in the shelter of Hid
favor." Secondly, that favor has been shown to us by delivering us
from oppression of sin (The state of graduation) and raising us up to a
state of kings and priests that make up the great illustrious Kingdom of
God. Lastly, the hope of his coming. A day of rejoicing for all who placed
their hope in His return. When you behold the Glory of God and build your
life on these truths, your life comes into focus and you discover all that
God has created you to be. You come face to face with the ultimate version
of yourself as God intended, you are given a future. This blessing don't
come by keeping that seat warm, or occasionally opening the bible, or
keeping that bible sitting on top of the T.V. all dusty. This blessing is
a reality that comes through the Word. Amen.
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