The desert melts our souls with the troubles of the heat of the day. At night, the coldness of our tormented minds consumes us. Have you ever been there? So many worries, so many thoughts! It is the place where nobody knows; the place of no pretends, the place of no distractions and the place where your reality can’t be ignored. The night seems so long! “Help me Lord?” It is all our lips can utter. Have you ever been there? It is a place where your titles, your personality, your network and intelligent can’t help you. It is a place that marks the total end of you! The problems are so dark and far from the light of a possible solution. The hope of a happy ending seems so distant. Have you ever been there? In the night I hear a thunderous whisper that breaks the silent of the early mornings: “How did I get here Lord? Why Lord? Where are you? Speak to me!” When depression breaks in your home like a burglar in the night to stare and mock everything that you stand for when in the fellowship of your friends. Sleep can’t come soon enough! Have you ever been there?
Then we remember that somewhere we saw a passage of scripture that says: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” As tears escape from your eyes, you remember that old sermon from your pastor that did not make much sense to you at the time, but they are the very words that cause hope to stop his departure. At the time you could not wait for the Church service to be over with, so that you could go watch the Jaguars game, but now, they are the very words that caused strength to return. As your tears refreshed your soul, the illogical trust of faith and the irrational power of the peace of your heavenly Daddy watch over you as your eyes close for the night. Have you ever been there?
I don’t know what you’re facing today? I don’t know and will never pretend to understand the magnitude of your pain, but know that somehow some way, the Lord is with you; even when the mountains seem so high and the valleys seem so low!
An independent thinker with a profound call to see the orthodoxy of the church and passion for Christ manifesting together. Angel was born in Brooklyn, New York in April of 1968, he was raised on the beautiful island of Puerto Rico where he earned his B.S. degree in Sociology with a minor in Education from the Inter American University in San Germán in 1991. That same year he moved to Jacksonville, Florida. After working construction jobs for a year and learning the English language, his first job working with foster-care children in the capacity of youth care worker was with Jacksonville Youth Sanctuary in September of 1992. With JYS he was promoted several times as group home supervisor, legal caseworker, and program director.
While in Jacksonville, Angel studied a couple of martial arts styles. After earning his black belt, he became the founder of Good Fight Ministries as he used martial arts as an instrument to preach the gospel. In 2004 Angel was selected Martial Arts Instructor of the Year for the State of Florida and in 2005 Angel was inducted in the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame where he also received the Christian Spirit Award. In July of 2005 Angel accepted his call to pastor a bilingual church in Winton, NC where he served for a couple of years. Five months later he lost his first wife to cancer in December of that same year. This initiated a deep valley of suffering in his life, a mountain of costly mistakes and the embracing of lifestyles of sin that are well documented through this blog.
In August of 2012 Angel moved to Fairbanks Alaska with his wife Rayette Casiano and six children who are now adults. In Alaska, Angel continued his social work-related career and his ministry of preaching, teaching and writing. Angel is the author of two books, Hope for the divorcee: Forgiving and Moving Forward and 7 Banderas de Esperanza: La Bendición de Yokdzonot.
In January 8th of 2020 Angel and his wife moved to Arizona. On June 8th 2021 Angel started his home church, not as a starting point, but as a closer way to how the church is suppose to look like according to Scripture.
The desert melts our souls with the troubles of the heat of the day. At night, the coldness of our tormented minds consumes us. Have you ever been there? So many worries, so many thoughts! It is the place where nobody knows; the place of no pretends, the place of no distractions and the place where your reality can’t be ignored. The night seems so long! “Help me Lord?” It is all our lips can utter. Have you ever been there? It is a place where your titles, your personality, your network and intelligent can’t help you. It is a place that marks the total end of you! The problems are so dark and far from the light of a possible solution. The hope of a happy ending seems so distant. Have you ever been there? In the night I hear a thunderous whisper that breaks the silent of the early mornings: “How did I get here Lord? Why Lord? Where are you? Speak to me!” When depression breaks in your home like a burglar in the night to stare and mock everything that you stand for when in the fellowship of your friends. Sleep can’t come soon enough! Have you ever been there?
angelcasiano.com 