The problem is that we have created a “system” to start with. The church is not biblically called to be a system; the church is a family. A different kind of family; a family that is Christ centered, a family that has a government (Apostles, elders, etc.) and a family where “everybody” can express their God-given gifts for the edification of the church. A family devoted to the apostle’s doctrine, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread together and, a family that actively covering each other in prayer.
See, when I was in the world, I had a family; there was no need for a system; we came together organically because our family and friends were a part of our lives; we wanted to be together; it was not an event or a task. We shared each other’s birthday celebration, we watch the fights on pay-per-view, we ate together, we played Bingo and Dominoes; we played baseball, basketball, we went to the beach, we went on hikes and did some bad things together to. It was not Christ-centered at all, but it was a family. Then we become Christians, the family no longer wants us around, but then, we step into a “system”.
My sense of deep loneliness started when I stepped into this system; with the exceptions of my family in Mexico, who because of their culture, did not lose their sense of family and, except for living in the south (Gates County, North Carolina) where people also know the value, power, importance, and fun of fellowship. Outside of these examples, it has been a rough journey. As I said many times, we are not family until we eat at each other’s houses. I have been in a mission to flow with this vision… I am exhausted!
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 