One of those guys who came that day died later in an accident. One went to jail but from jail sent his brother, who was in the military and was being stationed in Anchorage, to find us when he got here. That brother and his wife took the walk to the altar to give their lives to Christ when Rich Smith made the invitation at South Anchorage Assembly.
The following year on Thanksgiving we got a call from the one who had
been jailed that he had given his heart to Christ in a jail service and
shortly after that the real culprit was found and JD's friend was
released. He thanked us for our prayers and asked for our blessing on
the new business he was starting and on his upcoming marriage. He said
he knew God had been calling him that Father's Day and continued to call
until he answered by putting him in a place where he could not refuse.
We can not always see the outcome of our ministry or our generosity but God inspires it and uses it in pursuit of His children. Many of the men and women I deal with in my mission work and jail work have deep father wounds that need to be healed. Many have never known the safe embrace of a loving parent if they knew their parents at all. We have to tell of the wonderful love of God and model that same love for them even as a father would.
To all my father friends and co-workers who stand in the pulpits and go to the jails, who serve as His hands among the wheat anywhere it is ready for harvest, Happy Blessed Fathers' Day, you honor Our Father in the best kind of way by being just like Him.
Today I will stand in the Father's place and love His sons and daughters at the jail and at the Mission. I thank all of you whose prayers and support allow me to do so.
John LaMantia
The sound of a kiss
We can not always see the outcome of our ministry or our generosity but God inspires it and uses it in pursuit of His children. Many of the men and women I deal with in my mission work and jail work have deep father wounds that need to be healed. Many have never known the safe embrace of a loving parent if they knew their parents at all. We have to tell of the wonderful love of God and model that same love for them even as a father would.
To all my father friends and co-workers who stand in the pulpits and go to the jails, who serve as His hands among the wheat anywhere it is ready for harvest, Happy Blessed Fathers' Day, you honor Our Father in the best kind of way by being just like Him.
Today I will stand in the Father's place and love His sons and daughters at the jail and at the Mission. I thank all of you whose prayers and support allow me to do so.
John LaMantia
The sound of a kiss
is not so loud
as that of a cannon,
but its echo
lasts a great deal longer.
Wisdom from Oliver Wendell Holmes
Remembering this Fathers' Day that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17
as that of a cannon,
but its echo
lasts a great deal longer.
Wisdom from Oliver Wendell Holmes
Remembering this Fathers' Day that "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17
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