Jesus’ 33 years on this earth impacted the world in such a way that time itself was divided before and after Christ. However, many have denied his resurrection from the beginning. This is the context in which Paul wrote chapter 15. This chapter is a defense and explanation of how vitally important the resurrection of Christ is for our faith. Without the resurrection our preaching is in vain. Corinthians 15:13-14 tells us,
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. First (New American Standard 1995)
God’s plan for humanity has been under attack from the very beginning. It was through the disobedience of Adam and Eve that death came into humanity. That problem needed fixing; Jesus fixed that problem with his resurrection. He became the sacrificial lamb. We must add that the cross completely fooled the devil, the resurrection was a total surprise for the devil and his kingdom. First Corinthians 2:8 tells us,
None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (NIV)
Obviously, the devil regrets killing Christ. The devil realize that the power of Christ’s resurrection was the key to the redemption of the world. That same power is available for you and me today. Happy Resurrection Sunday!
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.