CSN - LightWing Messages for Father’s Day - 6/18/2023

Jun 18, 2023

And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: and you shall teach them ...

Love the Lord your God and keep His requirements, His decrees, His laws and His commands always. Remember today that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the discipline of the Lord your God: His majesty, His mighty hand, His outstretched arm; the signs He performed and the things He did in the heart of Egypt, both to Pharaoh king of Egypt and to his whole country; what He did to the Egyptian army, to its horses and chariots, how He overwhelmed them with the waters of the Red Sea as they were pursuing you, and how the Lord brought lasting ruin on them. It was not your children who saw what He did for you in the wilderness until you arrived at this place, and what he did to Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab the Reubenite, when the earth opened its mouth right in the middle of all Israel and swallowed them up with their households, their tents and every living thing that belonged to them. But it was your own eyes that saw all these great things the Lord has done.

Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, and so that you may live long in the land the Lord swore to your ancestors to give to them and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey. The land you are entering to take over is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you planted your seed and irrigated it by foot as in a vegetable garden. But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

So if you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today—to love the Lord your God and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul— then I will send rain on your land in its season, both autumn and spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine and olive oil. I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied.

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that it will not rain and the ground will yield no produce, and you will soon perish from the good land the Lord is giving you. Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:1-21 (NIV)

FOUNDER’S MESSAGE:

Today is Father’s Day, in America, as well as in nearly 90 nations throughout the world that have followed the lead of the United States in creating a day to honor fathers. The “mother” of the day to honor fathers, was Sonora Dodd, a daughter of a father who lost his wife, and who helped her dad raise her five brothers. The history is well worth reading, for many reasons.

For our LightWing Messages today we provide two featured messages. One is a message I wrote in 2020, during COVID, and it examined our relationship with our fathers as the basis for our relationship with our Heavenly Father. IMHO, it is still quite relevant for all of us in 2023.

For those who remember the movie, “The Field of Dreams,” Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella had deep regrets over his very poor relationship with his father. Such regret within him spawned the idea for the “Field of Dreams,” which he had faith that “if you (would) build it, he would come.”

This is a powerful allegory for me because it has a much deeper meaning that I explain in my message. But several years after the movie came out, I felt a sense of irony over one day for honoring fathers, when we often forget to express our children’s love for our Heavenly Father. It can lead some to wonder where that leaves God on our list of priorities of our deeper, more genuine and sincere relationships. Do you suppose it is only honor and obedience He seeks from His children? It is a legitimate question – one only each of us can answer within ourselves.

The second is a message from Ken Harrison, the current CEO and chairman of the new era of Promise Keepers. We posted this message in 2019 upon discovering it on the MyFaithVotes. Jason Yates, the CEO of My Faith Votes, felt it an important message to post on their site on the Father’s Day that year; I feel it is a message even more crucial for fathers in 2023.

We hope our readers enjoy this LightWing edition as well as the aggregated messages we offer today. It is a mixture of the good the bad and the ugly centered around fathers and families. Do read, enjoy, absorb and share, and practice letting God’s light within you. May the blessings of our beloved Heavenly Father flow into and through all of our readers and all of your loved ones!

And again we remind readers that our Zoom calls are continuing on each Wednesday at 5pm PDT (6pm MDT; 7pm CDT; and 8pm EDT). This coming Wednesday, we hope readers will be joining us for another interview – this time it is with Stephanie Mann, whose articles we have featured in past editions of Citizen Sentinels Network newsletters - in the LightWing Messages as well as our Citizen Voice editions. Stephanie Mann, is an author, a Crime and Violence Prevention Consultant, and Founder of the Safe Kids Now Network.

https://safekidsnow.com/

We look forward to Stephanie Mann’s focus on fatherhood in the USA today. We will also offer time for questions and answers and some discussion on the Father’s Day messages today.

If readers would like to partake in the Zoom call on Wednesday and hear the interview with Ms. Stephanie Mann, please reach out. Readers who are interested in receiving the link to the Zoom call should please send a brief email request to this address: d.jamzon@gmail.com

CSN LightWing Mission – Zoom call Wednesday 6/21/23 at 5:00pm PST

These words are being sent to you as part of an effort that commenced based upon genuine inspiration from Heavenly Father. The LightWing Messages are the latest evolution and are intended to shine light onto our paths, as it was written: “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18 - KJV

The words are being freely offered, and it is hoped they may spark a deeper focus on faith, if readers can receive the messages of light into their hearts, especially if they may be the only faith-filled words that are received during the week.

May God bless all of our readers and all their loved ones. May God bless all the dads today!

10in x 3in God Bless America Bumper Sticker Vinyl Truck Window Car Decal - StickerTalk®

May we humble yourselves in reverence, know whom we seek to seek His face in genuine sincerity, repent for our wicked ways, and turn away from wickedness - even if that may mean a willingness to listen to Our Father in Heaven in humility more than we put forth our petitions. May we seek to emulate Christ in his relationship with our Heavenly Father, and to seek first His Kingdom and righteousness.

Field Of Dreams Ending Explained: The Belief Of Baseball Coming True | NetNaija: Hollywood ...

If We Build It, Will He Come?

By Dennis Jamison June 21, 2020

For those who remember the movie, “Field of Dreams,” Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, played by Kevin Costner, had deep regrets over his very broken relationship with his own father. Such gnawing regret within him spawned the idea for the “Field of Dreams.” His inner voice told him that “if you build it, he would come.” This is a powerful allegory for me because it has a much more significant meaning when applied to our own broken relationship with our Father in Heaven. In many ways, we are like Ray Kinsella whether we are sons, or daughters, of our Heavenly Father - we have all have a broken relationship with due to the Fall of Man, and it is through Jesus we learned that God is our Heavenly Father, not just “Lord of Lords,” or the “Supreme Judge of the World.”

Last Father’s Day [2019], I offered a message entitled: “The Greatest Commandment and our Father in Heaven,” and I shared the Lord’s Prayer in the light of the Pope who had decided to change the words to the prayer that Jesus taught. That year the Pope had changed for Catholics the part of The Lord’s Prayer that deals with leading us into temptation. So, instead of helping followers of Christ focus on doing God’s Will, the Pope seemed to want followers to know that he truly knew better than Jesus the words to pray to God. However, it is much more likely that true Christians will follow Jesus’ advice in how to relate to our Heavenly Father.

Yet, a question one can ask based upon the theme of regret over a bad familial relationship is whether we feel, like Ray Kinsella, a deep burning regret that we have a poor relationship with our Father in Heaven. The very irony of a day to honor everyone’s fathers, but we often forget to express our children’s love for our Heavenly Father, can lead some to wonder where that leaves God in our most genuine and sincere relationships. Do we suppose it is only genuine honor and obedience He seeks from children of His creation? It is a legitimate question, and one only each reader can answer within themselves.

The deeper question I am asking this Father’s Day is if we build His Kingdom, will He come?

In that Lord’s Prayer - the one that I learned as a boy, Jesus taught regarding speaking to Heavenly Father:

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. This, then, is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in Heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your Kingdom come,
your Will be done,
on Earth as it is in Heaven…’

I look around and I wonder where are those who call God “our Father in Heaven” who are seeking His Kingdom and His righteousness first? Are people doing that? It seems that the Pope is not the only one guilty of changing the meaning of Jesus’ words. It was Jesus who said

“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

It has been said that Jesus came proclaiming that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, but what people were left with was the church. Has the church helped us all to seek the Kingdom first? We can see where the Catholic Church is being led. But what of those who seriously feel God is our Heavenly Father? Are we being led to seek first the kingdom of God? If we build it would He come? Do we have that faith? Didn’t Jesus ask whether he would find faith when he returned? Is that faith within us? Is the Kingdom of God within us? -- or does it seem within our reach? Has anyone evoked clearly the blueprints for such a Kingdom? If there are no plans to build it, how can it be built?

It is likely that the underlying question that readers may be asking is why anyone has to lift a finger to build it in the first place? Isn’t it God who is going to bring the Kingdom on a silver platter to His children? I personally have trouble with that image. In my humble layman’s opinion, it seems that it was humanity, the original children, God’s son and daughter who rebelled against Him and disobeyed, and thus had to be asked to leave the Kingdom before it became a kingdom, when it was just a garden. When Jesus came, did He find faith among the Hebrew leaders, those who had the wherewithal to build anything? Did people help Him build the Kingdom? Was he crowned King in dignity at the time of his coming? That answer should be obvious. He is our King in spirit to the degree that we allow his sovereignty to rule over us.

But where is His Kingdom? Where is the Kingdom of God on this planet? Where is the place that represents His Kingdom on this planet? When the Christ returns will he come to find faith? And, if so, what is the measuring stick to determine whether there is such faith to be found? As we look around our nation, is this a fit place to invite our Lord? Even when we invite guests to our homes, would we be proud of our children fighting in the backyard? Could we be proud if the kids were burning down the next door neighbor’s home? Can we invite our Heavenly Father into a land that allows the future generations to be murdered? These are serious questions, and since Christians have such a hard time with magic, in what way will His Kingdom manifest?

A more pressing question is this: if the most powerful nation on the planet collapses, the nation which had been the closest to establishing a better place, a nation in which the motto is “In God We Trust”; if it collapses, where does that leave the Kingdom? What if we were truly supposed to seek His Kingdom and His righteousness FIRST? What if all our ancestors had taken it much more seriously than we, and this is the closest His children could come to the building of His Kingdom? Would we continue to have faith that if we build it, He would come?

man listening - Stock Image - F003/8546 - Science Photo Library

“Men — Listen Up This Father’s Day!

By Ken Harrison June, 2019

This Father’s Day, I’m reminded of a conversation I had with a father like me — a conversation that all fathers need to face. I just got done giving a presentation to a large audience when the usual line of people formed to ask questions or give their input to the talk.

Then I noticed the desperate face of a desperate man.

“I need to talk to you,” he said. I shook more hands and answered more questions and then as the crowd died down, he and I were able to move to a private corner to grab a few minutes uninterrupted. “My wife doesn’t respect me!” he said. “My kids don’t listen to me!” His face was shrouded in anger, the kind of anger that comes from pain. We settled down for a long conversation.

He was a retired Marine, and he looked like one. He was lean and muscular and stared through me as we talked. We went through the usual symptoms of the problem until we got to the root.

He just didn’t listen to his family.

“Man,” I told him, “if there’s one thing you can offer your wife and kids, it’s to listen. You can’t imagine how important it is to them that you just hear them out. Don’t have a solution to the problem, don’t offer to help, just listen and try to empathize.”

“I try!” he said, “but it’s all just so boring. My daughter goes on and on about who’s dating who. She talks about all her stupid friends. It drives me crazy. I just don’t care. I sit at the dinner table and wait for it all just to be over so I can turn on the TV and unwind.”

“You know,” I said to him, “when I was a newlywed, my wife was traumatized because her jewelry store had been burglarized. She went on and on about it.”

“In those days I was a cop in a brutal area of Los Angeles. I averaged over one gun arrest and two felony arrests every day. I had to buy six watches in one year because they kept getting shattered while fighting with some bad guy in a gutter or tackling some gangster in a parking lot. A jewelry store getting burglarized was nothing in my world.”

“But as I watched her face while she told her story, I realized that she felt violated by the fact that some bad person had broken into her store and taken some of her inventory. I listened intently to her because it was important to her. I don’t know why I had the wisdom to do that, but God gave it to me.”

“Who’s dating who may not matter to you, but it matters a lot to your daughter, and for that reason, you should give her your full attention. She’s developing her expectations of the man she’ll marry based on how her dad treats her — you. Are you teaching her that she’s important and deserves to be listened to? If you’re bored by what matters to her, she’s picking up on it—and she’ll carry that with her for the rest of her life.”

“You need to teach her that what is important to her is important to you—simply because it’s important to her.”

Everything I just said to you ain’t bad marriage advice either,” I said. “You’re a Marine. I doubt that your wife doesn’t respect you — but I’m betting she doesn’t feel cherished by you. She doesn’t feel cherished because you don’t listen to her.”

I spoke again in that city about six months later, and that same Marine came up to me afterward, he had the same desperate look in his eyes. “How’s it going with your family?” I asked him.

“Well you know,” he said, “I tried to take your advice, but it just doesn’t work. I try to listen but my mind just drifts away.” He settled in for another long conversation where I’d give him advice that he’d ignore.

Instead, I stood up and clapped him on the shoulder. “If you want to take up my time again, make sure you know the names of your daughter’s friends next time and her boyfriend if she has one. Tell me all about them.”

I spoke again in that city again about a year later. He wasn’t there.

We men understand that our responsibilities are to protect and provide for our families. Often, the most important thing we can provide is to make them feel loved. All too often, men listen for an assignment: we listen for something to do or for a problem to solve. Sometimes, just listening and caring is all they really need.

To be a true disciple of Jesus, a person must die to themselves.

Part of dying to self is taking a genuine interest in the cares of others. Things that wouldn’t normally interest us become interesting — simply because they matter to someone we love.

As you examine your life in Christ, don’t look at the outside — whether you’re following some set of rules. Look on the inside. Do you take a genuine interest in what’s important to others? Do you pray daily for them? Do you authentically wish the best for them?

If not, take a deep look into your heart and ask God to help you to see others through the eyes with which He sees them. He will answer that prayer, and the world will begin to look vastly different and more interesting.

This Father’s Day, I pray that God would give you and me and all fathers the patience and strength to really listen. I Pray that He would make us fathers worth celebrating.

We Hope You Celebrated Natural Family Month!

CSN supported the recent efforts of James Harrison to promote and maintain a month-long awareness or “Celebration of the Family” as a national holiday. We remind readers in this edition by offering a link to the Natural Family Foundation website. However, this effort started back on Mother’s Day and is now wrapping up today, on Father’s Day. Yet, there’s always next year!

The pursuit of A Natural Family Celebration is a positive approach to repairing and healing our nation in such a divided time. Mr. Harrison, National Director of Natural Family Strong Natural Family Foundation was the impetus behind this attempt at creating a new holiday in the Ohio region as a way to celebrate the Family! In concert with other local community leaders, Natural Family Strong proposed earlier this year to make the time period between Mother's Day through Father's Day an annual celebration of the Natural Family. At the Citizen Sentinels Network, we believed in the effort and wholeheartedly and totally supported it. We had attempted to keep all our readers up to date on efforts aligned with such a month-long celebration at the local or the regional levels. Those who would like to get involved next year, or to get more information on the effort, please call 614-890-4008 for more details and please don't hesitate to leave any encouraging messages. Let them know if you’re interested in learning more or participating.

Or reply to: christianminman@gmail.com Start Supporting a Natural Family Month!