Category: Personal Journey

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Personal Journey Recap 2023

Florida in April: A Journey of Sun, Faith, and Reflection | 2023 Recap 3

After getting to know friends I had met online, I had the opportunity to travel to a state I had never visited before. Let alone flying there—I was terrified of being on an airplane due to my fear of heights.

I challenged myself to overcome that fear and booked a flight to Panama City Beach, Florida. My experience there was phenomenal, and I cherish it to this day. I got to know some friends and experience new adventures. This trip took place in April, allowing me to attend both a Good Friday and an Easter service.

Reflecting on those times, I feel privileged to have met my friends in Florida. Unfortunately, due to my busy schedule and fast-paced life, it has been difficult to maintain long-distance connections.

While I regret taking a step back, I don’t regret meeting my friends. I am grateful for their hospitality and the experiences I gained through this journey. It brings me joy to see how they have grown over the years, and I continue to support them from afar.

In conclusion, this experience allowed me to meet new people, encounter Christ in a different setting, and overcome my fear of flying. I hope my friends continue to grow in their faith and accomplish everything God has called them to do.

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Ministry Journey Personal Journey Recap 2023

My Journey With Mission City Church: 2023 Recap 1

Since it has been a while since I last updated my site, I’ll be posting recaps covering the last two years of my journey.

At the beginning of 2023, my heart was set on serving a local church after my time at Live Oak, which was filled with volunteerism. After that season of mission work, I decided that I wanted to serve somewhere closer to my workplace.

Media Involvement:

It all started when a college friend asked if I was willing to help with media at their church. Since this church was closer to both my home and workplace, I decided to pursue this opportunity. I saw the potential of using media to help bring people closer to where I work and serve.

I officially started serving in media at Mission City Church around March 2023. I consistently worked during first services since my work schedule prevented me from attending second services. This commitment has continued over the past several months.

Youth Involvement:

After a few months, I felt stirred to serve in youth ministry. From October to December, I visited and reflected on whether this was a commitment I was willing to make. Given my background in youth ministry, my goal has always been to empower students and equip them for the gospel. This motivation led me to actively engage with the youth ministry.

2023 Run Down

• March 2023 – Began serving in media ministry at Mission City Church.

• October 2023 – Started exploring involvement in youth ministry.

• December 2023 – Made the commitment to youth ministry after a period of reflection.

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Personal Journey

New Journey and New Trials

Time has been a challenge including when you have goals that need to be prioritized and executed. My life is shifting before my eyes and it seems like these challenges are now becoming real to me to the point that sacrifices will have to be made.

As a minister, one of the eye-opening things is the obsession with being in Ministry. This was my big dream to someday be in full-time ministry when I was called to it in High School. This was the end goal and planned, prepared, and did everything I can to be able to achieve this goal. Goals are great but they should be flexible and not idolized. This was my downfall when I started to idolize this dream more than God. This dream dictated my value and worth. So when I didn’t accomplish this goal I felt like a failure. I had to remember that God is the one that opens doors. He is the one who dictates my value and worth not a position. So instead of allowing this dream to be first in my life, I now have God being first to allow anything to happen in my life. It goes back to surrender for worship.

Enjoying the Present:

I am currently working two jobs right now as a vendor and a produce clerk. Both of these jobs are full-time positions which I’m blessed with because of how bad the economy is going right now. Within these two jobs, I have been able to become light to those who need it (Matthew 5:14-16)

14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

and be able to be a witness (Acts 22:15)

15You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard.

when the opportunity comes. I feel strongly that I am there to make an impact on my coworkers and while I have the chance, I treat this as a missionary assignment to plant seeds or water and if God will allow those opportunities to grow, they will grow.

Master’s Program:

I am one month away from starting my Master’s Program. Having two jobs will help me pay for it without getting more into student loans which I currently owe 45,000 for my bachelor’s degree. Pursuing this program, I am aware that it will be time demanding, and sacrifices I will have to be making throughout this program. This should take me less than 2 years which is a good outlook being 27 and having my Masters’s degree accomplished. Then my goal before 30 is to be completely debt free from my student loan debt.

I will be running this race well. Praying for God to use me in a powerful way through the connection I have gained with work and the studies that I am learning to impact the local church.

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Personal Journey

Leadership 101: Priorities

As a student whose degree is focused on ministerial leadership. I am constantly aware of my development as a leader and learning to grow in my leadership in different aspects of my life.

My goal is to grow in my leadership in my personal, educational, and spiritual life. I have been reading John C. Maxwell’s book called Leadership 101, which is a beginning guide to grow your leadership capacity. One of the important lessons I have been applying is priorities.

If I want to be effective in my life I can’t be having way too many priorities because my energy to get those done will be limited. This also helps me determine what disciplines, books I am reading, and investments I want to make to grow. Here are two things I am priorities in the next 6 months before moving on to other goals that I have in mind.

1.) Graduation

It was at the beginning of 2021 that my life shifted due to a broken relationship that ended which caused me to be demotivated during the semester. I failed a couple of classes that held me back from my graduation goal. Due to different responsibilities and lack of management it also hindered my effectiveness to get my assignments done. These next few months I want to goal on getting this goal done which means more time studying and less time having fun. It’s a bummer but it’s a good sacrifice because my education will open doors for me later on in my life.

2.) Credit Card Debt

I remember I received my first credit card after I graduated from High School. After I started using it the more I started to want more which was a bad mistake. I soon ranked up all the 6 credit cards that I have… yeah I fell short on this area. It’s been 6 years that I have been struggling to pay them off because of a lack of discipline and preparation. So I decided to make a plan to pay it off plus I also got an additional part-time job to help me pay it off faster.

The end goal of priorities is to shift your focus on what’s important! Set the goal, make a plan, then push forward!

What are your priorities for 2022? Let me know!

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Personal Journey

Learning To Navigate Life

I’m currently right now sitting outside at a church thinking about how much God has blessed me. I have been challenged about God’s Will and have heard a lot of different perspectives about “If Its Not God’s Will, You’ll Have To Do What’s Not God’s Will To Keep It” or “It’s Dangerous To Get Outside God’s Will.”

While these two statements may be right to some degree, I think the more I have investigated myself how to seek God’s Will the more I learn the partnership I have with God.

Of course, when it comes to Morality, God’s Standard doesn’t change regarding this aspect. Of course, if you disobey God based on the moral principle we are supposed to follow then yes we are in some cases “Out of God’s Will” but the good news is that as believers according to Romans:

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Now of course there has to be genuine repentance for this to count. Since we are called to live transformed lives, the good news is that when we fall short we have Jesus to go to bring us back and keep the focus towards Him and living for Him.

Now when it comes to complex issues of life and God doesn’t give a “clear direction” what do you do in this instance?

These are the aspects that I have currently faced in my life right now. There are many options out there that without a single focus it’s easy to be paralyzed in our lives. We let fear determine and keep asking God to guide the situation but He remains silent… what do you do?

We must understand that when we become born-again we get guidance from God easily with encounters, messages, and impressions. But I believe the more we mature, God gives us the options to choose by faith the direction that we believe we should go. The good news is, God can work through any situation.

Just because God hasn’t given you all the steps, I believe it pleases God when we pursue something by FAITH.

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. Hebrews 11:6

While this is talking about belief, I believe it can be about what to do next.

The more we mature and understand our role to be managers of our lives. We tend to make decisions based on God’s Word but also based on our guidance by faith. We are of course Co-Workers with God.

For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 1 Corinthians 3:9

This is my approach of guidance as an introduction. I will soon be making a Bible Study on how to manage our lives. It will be called “Thriving or Surviving” which will focus on if you are thriving with God or surviving on your own.

I will also make a study on God’s Will based on the different perspectives there are.

Take a risk… by faith and see what God will do in your life.

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Personal Journey

2022 Goal #1

We like to talk about resolutions when it comes to the New Year. As a 25-year-old, I still have a lot to work on when it comes to balancing my life and handling my flaws.

I remember I would tell myself every year that I wanted to be debt-free from my credit cards. I would be motivated but then fall back due to my ability to spend the money I have built in my credit cards. I also have a few subscriptions and leases that I currently have that don’t help my case here.

Honestly, if I can pay off all my debt I can get a small apartment here in California. But because it’s getting too expensive it’s common for people to have a second job to accommodate living situations.

So part of how I am finally going to accomplish this resolution is to get an additional part-time job as I currently have a full-time job that pays decent but because I live above my means it’s difficult.

I’m right now in the process of maybe getting this additional part-time job which will negotiate how to work out my schedules as I work, have full-time work-study, and school.

With my responsibilities, I have been trusted with much. Here’s a verse that has been in my mind while going through my Bible plan.

“Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.” – Luke‬ ‭16:10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I believe that if you are honest, trustworthy, punctual, and can establish boundaries on many things. There will be a lot of responsibilities that can be trusted for you to be able to have in your life. I might as well do as much as I can before I get married since marriage itself is a huge responsibility to care for your partner.

This part-time I believe is temporary unless I officially have a living wage ministry position. In the meantime, I think it’s wise to handle my finances first before I start worrying about churches.

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Personal Journey

Toughest Lesson I’ve Learned

While enjoying the social media-free life, there has been a lot of bible reading I have been able to do but also the reflection in my own life I would like to discuss.

Within my personality, I tend to be judgmental and critical which can be channeled for good and evil. I can be evil with my criticalness by downgrading people and being judgmental by focusing on their flaws. But we do see that throughout Scripture there is the call to judge righteously and to be discerning. I’ve been struggling in my flesh about these specific things and trying my best to channel the motives behind God’s purpose of judgment and criticalness.

The Lesson I Have To Learn Now Is: I Can Change What I Am Responsible For But I Cannot Change People.

This goes back to my judgment and critical self that tends to either not give enough grace to people or personally believe that I can change people based on what I say. As someone who is considering the pastorate, I believe God is highlighting this lesson now when I am not currently in ministry to take a load that I was not called to carry.

While there is a purpose of correction and guiding people I have to understand that I am called to simply spread seeds or water. I am reminded in 1 Corinthians about the functions of the leaders that played a part in the congregation’s lives. The main issue was focused on division but we can see that each one played a purpose in the growth of individuals.

5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. 9 For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building. 1 Corinthians 3:5-9

I have to remember the statement “But only God, makes things grow”. So while I deal with people who are not living holy lives or struggle with their sinful nature. I need to channel my criticalness and judgmental attitude to plant seeds based on the Word of God or called to water and be refreshing towards people based on the hope that Jesus is the one that can change a heart. I was never meant to carry the load of changing people. It is the Holy Spirit’s job to convict people of their sinfulness. My job is simply to partner with God on what I am called to do. While God will do His part by having people grow.

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Personal Journey

Happy New Years : Reset

Happy New Year!! A new beginning of the year to get some resolutions started and to hope for a better year. I have decided to do something I have never done before is to be inactive from social media for a year. This may seem like a long time but honestly, there are a few reasons why I am staying away from social media.

1.) Social Media Was Distracting Me

I have learned that I tend to use social media when I am trying to avoid facing my issues internally. I tend to use it as a way to distract my feelings and put my focus on something else. I have learned that it’s time-consuming and honestly I won’t be able to process my situations and reflect to take inventory on growth and process. So I decided to just focus on posting on my website and give updates on what’s personally going on. I want to be able to be genuine and real about my feelings and allow God to shape me and mold me.

2.) Social Media Is An Idol.

I tend to have made social media my idol. Like I mentioned above it is a time killer and distraction when I tend to only want to maybe be involved for a good 10mins and tend it goes for an hour of my time. Now is that taking a good measurement of my time? That whole hour could have been used up wisely and I don’t know…. Ummm maybe reading the Bible and prayer? I have complained that I am not where I am spiritually but who’s fault is it to let distractions in? Me.

3.) Social Media Is A Tool

Now I am not saying that Social Media itself is bad and can be used as a tool. There is nothing wrong with that but when you allow social media to take a lot of time it becomes ineffective to your growth. Unless you put aside leisure time. unfortunately for myself, I have a lot of goals I want to accomplish for the New Year that I know I won’t be able to accomplish if I am too busy on social media spending so much time looking at what people are doing instead of focusing on myself and what I want to accomplish through God’s Will. This is a challenge of a lifetime and afterward, I’ll set limits in 2023 so I be more effective and live in the present and get things done.

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Personal Journey

Setting An Example For The Outside World

These last two days challenged me to reflect on how people viewed Christianity. I’m grateful to be able to look behind people’s actions and connect their hearts for a conversation about faith and practice.

I went to a Friendsgiving Getaway with a few friends. These friends have different perspectives about life, faith, and practices. While the environment was a typical party-type vibe a lot of the guests didn’t expect a pastor to be at a party. I have known the host for 3 years and I do not typically follow the traditional “Christian Clique” and to live in your “Christian Bubble” cause it to hinder me to connect with people who are not like me. There are two ways to evangelize, based on your words and based on your actions. I’m able to share two encounters that I have noticed when I was in this environment.

1.) I’ve impressed them by my No’s

I don’t just automatically tell people I am a pastor, because it tends to change people and their behaviors quickly. It wasn’t until my friend brought out my Bible while I was having conversations with someone that this individual found out. Eventually, they were ready to take shots, the individual asked if I drank and I said no and she was impressed and started calling me “Jesus”! She didn’t say it mockingly but in a really impressive way. So later on she explained me to why and this is what she said. “Throughout my lifetime I have known ministers and Christian drinking and doing everything the world has done, so while you do not engage In our behavior I was super impressed that you stuck to your values”

This kinda reminds me of the account of how Jesus hung out with sinners!

13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him,(B) and he began to teach them.14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,”(C)Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. 15 While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees(D) saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?”(E) 17 On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”(F)

Mark 2:13-17

While my position on alcohol is abstinence. I do not deny the “moderation” that Christian use to justify drinking. It’s a comment practice for Christians who believe drinking is okay while I think being abstinent leaves a better example. But if I leave more good impressions based on my denial of drinking that builds my credibility and glorified Jesus then so be it. This just proves that your actions make an impression even if sometimes you can justify Scripture to approve drinking.

2.) Out actions impact other’s view of Christianity and Jesus.

There is another encounter who wanted me to hear her story about how Christianity left a bad taste in her mouth. She summed up the story about how a deacon was is influential took advantage of the grandmother in the midst of dying for the funds of her Will by being a lawyer involved. The family also didn’t allow the grandmother to stay in her house until she passed away instead they relocated the mother to another state and sold the house before she passed. She was hurt because the church was super connected and the grandmother’s wish wasn’t respected which she now comes up with this statement “It makes me mad when they were able to do all this and still preach on Sunday’s, If they claim to be Christians and have done something like this then I for sure do not want any of that”

It was hard for me to figure out what to say because if I were in her shoes I would feel the same way. So I tried to advise her to don’t look at the “titles” but look at the heart. We are all wicked and we tend to sin but I do agree that this type of sin is not a oops see, it was planned out and deceitful. This concludes that we need to do a better job living holy lives and not just claim we are Christians. If we do not uphold our standards then we have no right to label it.

So this taught me a lot about how others who don’t live to be Christians view how Christians are. I’m grateful that I stick to my values to set an example. I want to be the light for those who are struggling in darkness and we cannot do that if we are just stuck at church but being involved in the outside world.

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Educational Journey Ministry Journey Personal Journey Uncategorized

The Story Behind Global University (2019 Repost)

As you guys have noticed that I am an official graduate from Global University Berean School Of The Bible. I got my Ministerial Studies with Leadership Honors which provides more challenging ministry and training.

The Story Behind This:

I remember there were a lot of questions from people who thought that I should first pursue a degree before getting my credentials. While my church has split in 2015 and the transition was going on I was still a senior in high school wanting to join an internship that was unavailable. So I was recommended to do Berean School of the Bible to prepare myself towards my credentialing qualifications to be able to a minister. While I understand that it is not a degree but an opportunity to get the required courses to qualify there have been additional suggestions to get a degree first. I knew deep within my spirit that God wanted me to first pursue my credentials to accomplish the confirmation of the Call of God in my life. I did take their suggestion that college may be apart of my life in the future but I was solid on my goal to be able to accomplish my credentialing requirements.

I pushed and finally got my license to be a minister with the Assemblies of God in 2017 and now expecting to be ordained in 2020. I was on fire and passionate to get that goal accomplished. Then afterward I felt the call to finally pursue a degree which is where my next goal comes into play. I now attend Southeastern University on a mission to get my bachelor in Ministerial Leadership. I started online at first but then noticed that I am extroverted and really needed a community and be apart of a university. Which is how I found the extension site at The House of Modesto. I prayed and decided to transfer to the extension site for the mere purpose of being involved in a community of believers. After more than a year being apart of SEUNORCAL I have connected with a lot of people, being apart of their Student Leadership Body, and making memories with people who want to push me towards my calling to impact the Kingdom of God. I still have a year and a half more until I finish my degree but I am enjoying the moment and memories to be able to influence and build up those around me. I may not know the process that God has in your life.

My life as a young minister has been to completely surrender my life to Him. The more I keep going step after step with the direction that He has provided in my life the more opportunities will follow. While we tend to make things happen or force things to come we know at the end of the day it won’t work. We need to trust God with His plan no matter how confusing situations may be or how discouraging it may be in the “process moments” in your life. Trust God… Don’t forget this is a journey of a lifetime.