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Creating Safety

What is a father? A protector? A leader? A provider? A teacher?

On Father's day Sean Smith said from the pulpit, "We all need sanctuary and it is more than a building. It is a safe place." 

We live in a world with fewer and fewer safe places and, less and less fathers. 

When men are absent from the home a level of safety is lost. Worse yet, if a father brings violence in, the family is doubly violated. 

The Apostle Paul was a part of a violent system but God called him to face that very system. Paul was the forerunner missionary in confronting what was attacking the children of God the most at the time: the oppressive system of religion. 

Today, American Christians do not experience religious persecution like in the days of the coliseums. Children are more likely to get exposed to abuse at home. 

People who have walked through trauma and into healing can provide a higher level of safety for those who have suffered similar traumas.  

I believe there is a mandate for modern day Apostles to step into the role of father for a fatherless generation. There is a call to heal from the pains of the past and restore safety and protection for the next generation. 

None of this is possible without forgiveness. 

Father's day month is a time to thank fathers but it is also a time to forgive fathers. Remember the Apostle Paul was greeted in heaven by the Christians he persecuted.

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