|
Our Family Tree
" And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in
his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall
prosper." Psalms 1 : 3.
I understand that it is not very smart to live in the past, forever savoring past
accomplishments and eulogizing dead people, re-thinking what should have and
could have been. It may harbor resentments, grief,
pity, inferiority complex, if your memories are of negative content,
or may bring a false pride, hypocrisy or other equally negative feelings, if
you have favorable positive past experiences.
However, we find that in order for us to move ahead successfully,
we must remember where we have been, and benefit from our
experiences, whether good or bad.
We learn from our mistakes, so to speak. We learn to imitate those whom
we highly esteem. We try to remember their advises , their
proverbs , their ideals , their motivation , etc.
I am proud of our family tree. A
historical biography can be proudly published without
apologies.
Our parents really knew the importance of planting and watering
the seed.
A family of five boys, four girls and two adults
growing up in those years under the conditions surrounding
the exodus of Puerto Ricans to the New York
ghettos was no easy task. Discrimination knew no
bounds.
My father only had 3rd grade schooling, knew no English, and
although he was a good baker, he
could not
get a job in that trade. The first job he
ever had in New York, was shovelling
snow when a record-setting
snow storm hit the city on November, 1947.
Our family had just arrived from Puerto Rico,
and at that time,
we thought those storms were a normal every-year way of
life in New York.
He came home from work one day with a guitar he had just
purchased. His dream was to learn how to play the
guitar and hold street revival meetings for
the spanish speaking people. His
purpose was, New York for Christ.
Problem was, he never really mastered
the instrument. He would play every song in " E
Major. "
However, my older brother, Miguel, who was 13 at the
time, really learned to play the instrument.
Daily, he would get better. Soon, my father was holding street
services, singing, preaching and praying for divine
healing and miracles.
Later, we moved to Manhattan, then to Brooklyn.
Everywhere we moved, he would open up a church and preach the
gospel. Dozens, maybe hundreds of people testify to the
life changing effects of his ministry. Healings,
miracles, signs and wonders were not
uncommon. Many preachers today thank
God for using Antonia and Angel Dones
to minister on their behalf on their first encounters with God.
On some of the street meetings we held, some young people would throw eggs or
tomatoes at us.
Others would start dancing mockingly. Sometimes they would call the
police, just to disrupt the service.
On some of our nightly services, I remember firecrackers
coming through the windows and exploding during service.
But my father had taught us not to be afraid of anything the devil throws at
us. He taught us how to pray, sing, preach, and
trust in God, and God never failed us.
We had become very active in the Christian music
ministry, and sang on the radio and in many
churches.
My older brother Miguel was very instrumental in teaching us to
minister through music.
Years passed, and many souls were saved. People were
helped routinely.
Even today we hear testimonies of thanks for the ministry and
experiences they received.
My mother and father, today are with the Lord, but the family tree is still
growing.
We are still recording and singing the good news gospel to all who would
listen.
We have recorded hundreds of songs, have touched many hearts,
and we lift up the name of Jesus every chance we get.
Every one of the nine is still alive and well, thanks to God
and our parents, even though we have lived in the most notorious
ghettos.
Problem is, the continued healthy growth of the family tree is not guaranteed
if you don't water it.
If you don't eat the bread of life. If you don't let the SON shine
in. Even before our parents died,
I had seen some erosion eating away at the family tree.
Principles don't seem to be important anymore.
Prayer is just a thought. Fasting is a word. The
Holy Bible is only used for arguments and reference.
Churches are for ceremonies. " God's law has to be adapted to
my ways, or I'll go to another church. "
Songs and dances come very fluently, but not obedience or service or
Holiness. We can still go through the motions,
but the matter of fact is some of the branches are dying.
My father used to say: You listen to GOD, or go to
HELL.
That is a fact. There are only two places to spend eternity:
Heaven, and hell. You go to one
or the other.
Don't kid yourself.
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the
fire. Matthew 7:19
The Word of God is a stream river of living water that will
nourish every heart to its full capacity at all seasons.
In fact, the older, the better. If you felt good learning about miracles such as the parting of the red sea,
or the fish that swallowed Jonah, or the great flood, or
David and Goliath, ...
just wait 'til you discover Creation,
the zillions of stars and planets God created, and for what purpose.
What your place in creation is .... remember; these things were
created for man, not the other way around.
God knows the names of every star in the universe just like He knows every hair on
your head.
God can make out of you, a tree that will give shade, comfort,
and fruit.
Many people need shade from the heat of their sinful lifestyle.
Others need comfort through their hardships
and sicknesses, and others need the fruit that will
give them life.
When I was young, I had nothing to worry about. I just did what my
mother and father said,
and everything was all right. Now theyr'e gone. I
have to go directly to God for my life and my family.
I'm glad my parents knew how and where to plant our family tree.
Auriel
. ' . ' . Comments to Auriel Here
** I R A Q **
Another hundred or so people dead in Iraq. When will they ever learn? How
many more suicide sacrifice bombings have to take place in our sophisticated
educated civilization, before we stop killing each other ?
Jihad? Allah? God? I can’t believe it. Let them kill us, not we ourselves. Are
these warriors so blind that they will murder innocent people in the name of
Allah? Can’t they let do His own
killing? or don’t they believe in Him? "The Lord is a man of war"; sang Moses in Exodus 15:3.
What about us? I’m sick and tired of praying for our troops only to see them
dacapitated and maimed the next day, or doing the same to the Iraqis. Where is
God? Is He on our side or their side? Isn’t our war a spiritual one? Aren’t
we all supposed to be fighting evil with spiritual warfare? Isn’t our enemy the
devil? What about "love your enemies".. or "do unto others as you would have them do
unto you"?
Problem is, we really have strayed from the truth that we profess to believe
in. We go through the motions like Samson did after playing with fire. We sing
many songs, speak many beautiful words, follow many ceremonies, but like Isaiah
said: … this people draw near me with their
mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from
me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Isaiah 29:13
"In Bush we trust"? Isn’t there an Elijah in the land? (whom defied the false prophets of Baal
with fire from heaven.) 1st Kings 18
:21-24
I believe it’s time to put up, .. or shut up. Go to your favorite church, ..
talk to your favorite God, trust Him, and let Him identify himself and His
stand. He is the one who has the authority to give or take a life. If He doesn’t
intervene, .. we fight in vain.
Auriel
. ' . ' . Comments to Auriel Here
** PHONY GOSPEL**
It looks so real. It's almost impossible to detect the difference.
If somebody hands you a stack of phony money, you can feel the
difference, but if they hand you a lot of real money
and one or two phony bills, you can be fooled.
After being guided as to what to look for, you begin to see various
differences.
One of the biggest differences lies in the paper itself. The paper used
on counterfeit money is of an
inferior, lighter and weaker material. It begins to deteriorate sooner
than the paper used on real money.
The ink also rubs off easier. It may look like it was clipped from a
newspaper.
What about the Gospel of Jesus Christ ?
Can it be counterfeited ?
What do you look for ? Can you detect it ? Should you ?
Remember: Counterfeit has to be made to look like the real thing.
The only way to detect the difference is to compare it to the real
thing.
In the last few years some militants have strapped bombs around their
bodies or on their automobiles and have blown themselves up and took
other people's lives with them, and they have done it in the name of
Allah. They try to give the impression of being martyrs of Alla's faith;
.... Heroes dying for the cause they believe in.
Undoubtedly, some of them are sincere in their erroneous beliefs and
consider it an honor to give their lives in the so-called Holy War
against evil.
(1) " But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there
shall be false teachers among you, who secretly shall bring in
destructive heresies, even denying The Lord that bought them, and bring
upon themselves swift destruction.
(2) And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the
way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
(3) And through covetousness shall they, with feigned words, make
merchandise of you; whose judgment now for a long time lingereth not,
and their destruction slumbereth not.
(4) For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness,
to be reserved unto judgement;
(5) And spared not the old world, but spared Noah, the eighth person, a
preacher of righteousness, bringing in
the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
(6) And, turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned
them with an overthrow, making them an
example unto those that after should live ungodly;
(7) And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy manner of life of the
wicked
(8) ( For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing,
vexed his righteous soul from day to day with
their unlawful deeds ),
(9) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to
reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment
to be punished;
(10) But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of
uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they; self-willed,
they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
(11) Whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, bring not
railing accusation against them before the Lord.
(12) But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed,
speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly
perish in their own corruption,
(13) And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count
it pleasure to revel in the daytime.
Spots they are and blemishes, reveling with their own deceivings while
they feast with you;
(14) Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin;
beguilling unstable souls; an heart they have exercised with covetous
practices; cursed children,
(15) Who have forsaken the right way, and gone astray,
[........................]
(17) These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a
tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever.
(18) For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure
through the lusts of the flesh, through much
wantonness, those that are just escaping from them to live in error.
(19) While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants
of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought
in bondage.
(20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through
the knowledge of the Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it, and overcome, the latter
end is worse with them than the beginning.
(21) For it had been better for them not to have known the way of
righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn
from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
(22) But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, 'The
dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed, to
her wallowing in the mire'.
2 Peter 2: 1-15, 17-22 "
Auriel
. ' . ' . Comments to Auriel Here
|