Today I feel like quitting! Years ago, I made a covenant with myself that I will never count on ministry to make a living. I hate the fact that ministry is counting on folks to come. Oh, how difficult 2022 is going to be! I heard this in my sprit on December 25, 2021. Covid has exposed how weak we are as believers if we can call ourselves that. Believers of what? How can we please God without faith?
Folks don’t want to gather because they think they came in contact with somebody with Covid or, they actually came in contact with somebody with Covid. They themselves don’t have Covid, but have a running nose; so, they rather stay home. Folks scared of getting Covid and afraid of spreading Covid! Whatever happens to James 5:14? “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.” (NIV)
We have found the perfect excuse to be lazy, to neglect our coming together, to sacrifice jobs and services. How difficult, next to impossible, it is to find folks who are committed to improve their lifestyles, doing simple things such as eating better and exercise. How difficult, next to impossible, it is to find folks who are committed to God, to truly follow His Word.
The Bible tells us “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:25 (NIV). I don’t see any exceptions; I don’t see Covid, the government or any other reason as a valid reason for us not to come together… there is no biblical reason that exempts any believer from coming together. Oh yes, today I feel like quitting!
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 