As my wife and I serve in a new church I must be honest with myself and say that I think I am experiencing symptoms of, what I like to call, Post Traumatic Church Disorder (PTCD). Obviously, this is not a real disorder, but our previous experiences in churches are and, they do affect us.
My journey through churches have taken me through over 12 churches and diverse denominations and congregational ethnicities. It has been a very interesting journey.
I left Puerto Rico immediately after graduating from college in 1991 and made Jacksonville, Florida my home. It was not until April 26, 1997, that the Lord saved me, and I became Born Again. My church journey began a week later. Life has taken me from Florida to North Carolina, where I pastor for the first time in 2005, back to Florida, back to North Carolina, Alaska and now Arizona.
I have learned much in that journey, I have made many mistakes, done a lot of ministries and suffer many blows; including getting kicked out of a couple of churches. In other articles I might go in more details. The point is that as I start all over again in the ministry, I am a part of, I can’t deny that sometimes I see that PTCD kicking in.
The devil is an expert in creating discords and divisions in our local churches and in our own marriages. I always thought that talking to people face to face and eye to eye was the best way to resolve those issues, but it seems like folks get easily offended these days. I have not changed my mind concerning speaking to people face to face, but as I get older, I try my best to be softer in my approach. I have not always done a good job at this.
In all, I am super excited in my new church. When I moved to Arizona, I felt the Lord telling me that I will retire here. I hope that this be the church that also witness my retirement.
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