Why there are very few Father's Day cards sent from prison

Having spent many Father's Days incarcerated and having gone through a major heart surgery in relation to my adopted father, I can relate to this very well. I can also say that somehow perhaps unconsciously, I have buried the question about my biological father and chalked it up to who really cares. But as I raise my son as a "stay at home Dad." I look into my boys eyes and say,"No matter how bad it gets son. I love you and am here for you." I go into "correctional facilities" every week and sit with men who wish they could have gone back and made different choices in order to raise their sons and daughters. Rarely will a man open up and share much about his feelings about his father. This is reflected in the relatively few Father's day cards passed out in proportion to Mother's day cards inside prison walls.
As you see in this video, you can feel the very real pain that is buried and repressed. This is an all to real and true story told over and over in the lives of incarcerated men and juveniles. In The Fresh Prince, Will is fortunate to have his Uncle Phil step in and show him what it is to be a man. Most young men who are incarcerated did not have such a person. Statistics according to studies from The Department of Juvenile Justice cite numbers as high as 80 percent of incarcerated males come from fatherless homes and 70 percent of their sons will follow them to prison.
"Young men who grow up in homes without fathers are twice as likely to end up in jail as those who come from traditional two-parent families...those boys whose fathers were absent from the household had double the odds of being incarcerated -- even when other factors such as race, income, parent education and urban residence were held constant." (Cynthia Harper of the University of Pennsylvania and Sara S. McLanahan of Princeton University cited in "Father Absence and Youth Incarceration." Journal of Research on Adolescence 14 (September 2004): 369-397.)

The importance of men as fathers cannot be overstated. Thankfully there are many men who answer the call to serve their families and "man up." God has a heart for the fatherless as He is the perfect Father. I thank God for the many men who go into the prisons and share the agape love of our heavenly Father. 

The writing is the hardest part.

It is amazing how many page views I am getting even though I am less than faithful in posting regularly. Do not get me wrong, I enjoy writing but it takes time for me to prayerfully contemplate what I am to write. I have to be uninterrupted and  in the "write" frame of mind in order to pour out my heart in a manner that comes across lucid,coherent and means something to others. Being a "stay at home Dad" is not as bad as it sounds but it is not easy to get away for an hour or two to write. I covet your prayers that God will not only allow me to raise my son in a manner that glorifies Him as Father but that He will allow me to share the insights that He is teaching me through my son.

Now that I am back full swing into prison ministry, raising Elijah by day and in prisons on nights and weekends. It's kind of like a dysfunctional work release or backwards furlough. I am overwhelmed by God's provision for our family, yet I am eager to write articles that will provide value for those who are incarcerated, their families and those called to minister to them.

Ministering to men who are incarcerated takes on a whole new perspective now that I am a father. I see men who are going to get out of prison after "paying their debt to society" and yet still have a broken road back to their families and particular the children they left behind. I encourage them to focus on their relationship with their Heavenly Father and rely on His love for them. Then they can share that redemptive love with their children. They can also lean on that unconditional love of The Father when their children are slow or reluctant to love them back. Healing takes time but I have witnessed the unfailing love of God mend many broken relationships in my life.

Please remember our family in your faithful prayers to our Father as we labor to bring the gospel of His love to broken sons and daughters. Remember, Faith is the Foundation For Freedom

In His Service,

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Letters to the Past

Having spent many working with men both behind and beyond the bars, I can relate to the stories that these men share. When you are locked up and locked away, you have a lot of time to think and rethink. Reading these letters took me back to those times when locked down and thinking, "what will ever change? Is there a way out of this madness?" I thank God for sending two men on a Saturday night into the Hendry County jail with the greatest news ever told about the greatest man who ever lived and offered the greatest gift ever given.

Please take a moment and peer into the lives of these men and gain some insight into how we can minister to men who may have made some very bad decisions and are reaping the consequences. Is there anyone beyond hope?

Letters Of Advice Written from Convicts To Their Past Selves

Addressing God as Father

I recieved this article from my dear friend and brother in Christ today.

Having a father means you are in a family.  We have been stating for some time that the very heart of God the Father is to have a real family.  Evidence abounds in both the Old and New Testament of God bringing His family together throughout history.  We become His children by a new birth, a second birth, by placing our trust in His promise.

His promises are eternal.  His promises are real.  We become one with our Father and abundant life is a reality everyday as we walk with Him in His family.  We are not alone, we are surrounded by witnesses.  Discovering the joy of being in His family is a daily walk where each step can bring us closer and in true fellowship with our Father.

Jesus is the reason we can even call God our Father.  If Jesus had not come and revealed Himself to us we would never even conceive of God as a Father.  R,C. Sproul has some interesting thoughts on this in his book: Now, That’s a Good Question!  What does it mean for us to call God our Father?

One of the most well-known statements of the Christian faith is the Lord's Prayer, which begins with the words "Our Father which art in heaven."  This is part of the universal treasury of Christendom.  When I hear Christians in a private gathering praying individually, almost every single person begins their prayer by addressing God as Father.  There's nothing more common among us than to address God as our Father.  So central is this to our Christian experience that in the nineteenth century, there were some who said the basic essence of the whole Christian religion can be reduced to two points: the universal brotherhood of man and the universal fatherhood of God.  In that context I am afraid we have missed one of the most radical teachings of Jesus.

A few years ago, a German scholar was doing research in New Testament literature and discovered that in the entire history of Judaism—in all existing books of the Old Testament and all existing books of extra-biblical Jewish writings dating from the beginning of Judaism until the tenth century A.D. in Italy—there is not a single reference of a Jewish person addressing God directly in the first person as Father.  There were appropriate forms of address that were used by Jewish people in the Old Testament, and the children were trained to address God in proper phrases of respect.  All these titles were memorized, and the term Father was not among them.

The first Jewish rabbi to call God "Father" directly was Jesus of Nazareth.  It was a radical departure from tradition, and in fact, in every recorded prayer we have from the lips of Jesus save one, he calls God "Father."  It was for that reason that many of Jesus' enemies sought to destroy him; he assumed to have this intimate, personal relationship with the sovereign God of heaven and the creator of all things, and he dared to speak in such intimate terms with God.  What's even more radical is that Jesus says to his people, "When you pray, you say, 'Our Father.'"  He has given to us the right and privilege to come into the presence of the majesty of God and address him as Father because indeed he is our Father.  He has adopted us into his family and made us coheirs with his only begotten Son.  And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory. (Rom. 8:17 AMP).

Tis His Presence not the presents

Merry Christmas! As I sit here writing this chilly morning, I can only but, go back, to where I learned the true meaning of Christmas. It was not in front of a brightly colored Christmas tree surrounded by family, there were no stockings hung by the chimney with hopes that St. Nick would soon be there. The verdict was in, I had not made santa’s good list, in fact I was incarcerated because I had indeed been a very bad boy and even if I could possibly change, I could do nothing with all the wrongs of my past.

Yet it was at this very darkest moment that I heard the message of Christmas, that the Only begotten Son of God came into this dark sin filled, vile, evil world and gave His life so that vile dark hearted sinners such as I could have a new life. Talk about light in a dark world. There are fewer places darker than prison. Yes, there are darker places and yes, I have been there as well. But to hear that not only could I have my slate clear but to know that God loves me and that I am wanted was music to my ears.

It was then and there that the words to those timely Christmas songs came to life” Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, Til He appeared and the soul felt it’s worth.” O Come O Come Emanuel, God with us.” I recognized that it was never the presents under the tree, but His Holy Presence hanging on that tree for my sins that made the celebration of His birth so special to me.

Yes, that was it! There in those dark prison cells on Christmas morn, I learned that though a man possess nothing, if Christ possesses him, he possesses everything. Talk about Merry Christmas!

That is why on this eve of Christmas, I went with a group of men and women into Putnam Correctional Facility where we shared the love of God with men who find themselves right where they need to be, that is, that we all have a past that is broken and can only be healed by coming to the foot of the cross, humbling ourselves, acknowledging that we are sinners who have offended a holy and awesome God, who in spite of ourselves, loves us and offers eternal pardon because of the gift that He offered up in our behalf. Eternal life is freely given but the gift, although free, was not cheap. Do you possess this gift and if so are you sharing it with others?

The world celebrates an altogether  different picture of Christmas. May we remind ourselves that it is not the presence under the tree, but His Presence on the tree that makes this day holy. If we have received the free gift of Eternal Life , than let’s go tell it on the mountain…That Jesus Christ was born.

Merry Christmas!

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The Reunion...Even Sesame Street Knows we have a problem. But do they have a solution?

Today, I watched this video that aired on Sesame Street. Little Alex is facing a challenging life of a child with a father that is incarcerated. According to statistics 80 percent of incarcerated men came from fatherless homes and 70 percent of their children will follow their path to prison.

Prison Fellowship hits the nail on the head with the article Sesame Street and the Children of Incarcerated Parents

Sesame Street may know there is a problem but we know that there is a solution, Faith is the Foundation For Freedom!

Set Free,

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Did you know that almost 2 million children in the United States have a parent that is incarcerated?

 According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2007, an estimated 1.7 million children under the age of 18 had a parent in prison, an increase of almost 80 percent since 1991. The negative consequences for children with an incarcerated parent can be substantial, including financial instability, ...changes in family structure, shame, and social stigma. However, research also shows that supporting healthy and positive relationships between these vulnerable children, who are the innocent bystanders of adult decisions, and their families has the potential to mitigate negative outcomes.
 The same gospel that set 888918 free is still setting the captives free. My story is not unique but God has opened the doors to not only share the story of 888918 in prisons but also in the Juvenile Detention centers now!

If you have not previewed the teaser to our short film The Reunion, please take a minute and see how God is not just saving lives but changing generations.

 

 Faith is the Foundation For Freedom!

 

Set Free,

 

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