We have made a fundamental mistake in trying to connect with men, denominations or an earthly event to validate our spiritual connection.
We connect with a denomination because somebody convinced us that is the real one. We connect to a movement, a name, a revival or even a particular cause or anything we can get a whole of, searching for that validation.
So we become Baptists, Pentecostals, Lutheran, Anabaptist, we connect to a Moravian church, the Catholic Church or the Orthodox Church, again looking for that validation.
In the process, we have lost focus and taken our eyes off of Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith. We have forgotten that we are adopted according to Ephesians 1:5.
Our spiritual connection can only be validated in the born again experience through Christ Jesus. That is what makes us a part of the church; that is the simplicity of the qualification. Jesus paid the price for our membership.
We must strive to connect with Jesus and Jesus alone. We must strive to find him in our secret places. That is our connection and validation!
So, is ok to be a part of a local Body, we must be a part of the Body of Christ; we must fellowship and use our gifts for the glory of God and the service of His people. However, that is not the foundation of our faith, Jesus Christ is.
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.
angelcasiano.com 