Thursday, October 16, 2014

SONG IN THE DESERT

BY ANGELINE M DURAN SANTIAGO


 You have a song, so sing it!
Lift your voice, Raise it high,
Sing your song.
Pour out your heart through your song,
Sing it with all your might!

I am writing to those of you that may find yourselves in the desert of the unknown....

You know what I'm talking about....

The ministry that remains stagnate,
The prayers that seem unanswered,

The desires in your heart to serve God, but something always gets in the way,
Your calling to do great things for the Lord and somehow no matter how you work at it, you're stuck in phase one, no growth, nothing...

SING IN YOUR DESERT
SING THROUGH YOUR DESERT



I'm talking to the preacher within you that hasn't been able to preach,

I'm reaching out to the singer, the musician, the dancer, the artist and the child of God wanting to serve and hasn't found a church to serve in, to belong to, to be part of....
 
 SING IN THE DESERT,
SING THROUGH YOUR DESERT.

Leaders in ministry that want to do more but have other leaders rise against them, stopping them, keeping them back...

You're in the desert.
You're stuck somewhere between going forward and wanting to go back, back to what?
You're stuck because you have received a message from God for the church and they don't understand or receive it....



The desert of decision is before you and you can either walk through it and get to the end where the rivers flow, the trees welcome you with shade, and the sun will no longer be overbearing.

But, as you get there,
As you walk through your desert,
Through your dry moments,
Through the valley of despair,
God has given you a song,
So sing it!

Sing, Sing, Sing!
Sing your song of Victory!
Sing your song of Triumph!

SING IN YOUR DESERT,
SING THROUGH YOUR DESERT,
GOD IS YOUR VICTORY!
YOUR TIME TO DO WHAT GOD PLACED IN YOUR HEART IS COMING!
YOUR TIME TO BE WHAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO BE IS ON IT'S WAY!

God has not abandoned you, and He never will!

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

WHAT ARE YOU GOING THROUGH?

By Angeline M Duran Santiago
 
Sometimes it feels like God is far away. He seems far away, not far like in another state or country, but miles and miles of astronomical units of unimaginable distance between Earth and Heaven. Am I right? Does He seem silent? Does He seem to be with His back towards you when you pray and wait on Him? You say, "Lord, look at this. Look what's going on around me. Hello? Am I in this alone?"

If He allows you and me to come to this moment, it's because He will not only bring you and me through it, He will be with us through every moment.

God's silence does not equal absence.

God's timing does not mean failure to answer prayers.

God's presence seeming far away is not proof you are alone.

  I know you're waiting. It's one of the hardest things to do at times. But, when you are sure that God is by your side, the waiting is filled with a hope and an assurance that nothing in this world can remove. Your prayers are not empty words carried away by the wind. Your cry is not an ignored plea. You will see how God shows up at the right time. The answer you are waiting for may not be what you expected, but the answer will come. I've waited and questioned the Lord so many times. "Lord, why? Why is this happening? Why is it happening this way?" I remind the Lord that I thought by this stage in my life I would be ready to retire or doing something else, but whether through my own mistakes, or God's divine plan, I'm where I'm at and I've learned to surrender my will, my dreams, my desires into His hands. Can you do the same? Can you let go enough to allow His power to work in your life, in your work, in your family, and in your situation?

 I've determined to no longer ask why, but just say, "Have your way, Lord." There are things that have taken place for the best in my life, but there are also things getting ready to change. I sense it. Do you? Do you sense a change in the tide? Do you sense in your spirit the Lord telling you, "Trust me through the changes. Trust me through whatever comes your way that is not what you were expecting. Trust me when your world changes and you feel alone. Trust me when you lose it all and it seems all the doors are closing in around you. Trust me when there is money for food and when you don't have enough for the whole week's groceries."

God is speaking into my heart and saying, "Trust me when you have all your needs taken care of but trust me when you can't buy the medications you need. Trust me when the world challenges your faith and you will be asked to stand for what you believe. Trust me when you feel strong but also trust in me when your legs are weak, your heart aches, and you feel confused. Trust me."

I sense God's presence telling me, "Get ready, my daughter, Get ready my son, change is coming. Through your victories, there will be battles and wars that wage against you. Through your moments of success, there will be winds that come against you to get your faith to shake, to blur your focus and to get you to doubt."

Celebrate what the Lord has done but do not stay there. Continue to pray. Continue to seek the Lord's presence and to read His Word. Great things are coming. Answers to prayers are coming your way. The promotion is around the corner. God has seen your tears, your patience, your faith and your faithfulness. Do not give up. Believe. Hope. Trust. The Lord is on your side.

I pray you are blessed and continue to believe, no matter what comes your way. No turning back.


Sunday, October 12, 2014

FOOTBALL TALK

 By Angeline M Duran Santiago

I'm not someone who has the ability to truly talk football. I think I've grown in many ways, understanding the plays much better and what each player's position on the field is for. There is something else, I learned about today, as I sat on the bleachers cheering my son's team on.

Someone is always looking to see how they can keep you down.

 I believe it was a learning moment for me, as two men from another team sat next to me. They began to boldly share their opinions on different players in my son's team. Their comments ranged from, "Look at number so and so, to that one is probably going to be a problem, this one maybe, and they're not a threat, look at them, they're too small." On and on they spoke, saying things I rather not give space to on this blog by repeating them. Their conclusion, in just the first few minutes of the game as it started were that our team was done. From here, they further concluded our team didn't have what it takes to make it to the end. Comparing and listing the teams they believed will be at the playoffs, they said, "Definitely not this team. They have no defense."

At one point, they looked at each other and the older one said, "I've seen enough, I can go now."  They got up to leave when suddenly, the very numbers they had spoken against, played in such a way that not only did they stop the other team from scoring, but a few minutes later our team scored. TOUCHDOWN!!!!!


The men who had risen, and gotten ready to leave, suddenly stopped. "You want to stay a little longer?" One of them asked, "What number was that one?" And once more, they sat down to watch and plan. "We have to make sure we get this one down and keep that one back." Confidence now sounded like doubt and fear.

I can tell you that for a few minutes, I was bothered, but then, I felt blessed. How? Why? I realized they were in some way, threatened by the very ones they felt a waste of time to play. 

A shifting took place in me.

I was able to relate what was going on in a different way. In my mind I answered their questions saying, "Obviously they never heard of David Vs Goliath." Too small? Not enough players? "Seems they've never heard of Gideon and his 300 men." No strategy? "I guess they've never heard of how God brought down the walls of Jericho was just a shout. That was some crazy strategy as well." 

What others see as without potential, 
God sees as opportunity for greatness. 

What others see with limits, 
God sees as moments for great breakthroughs. 

When others see what they believe is our downfall, 
God sees the heights He can raise us to.


The men left as we had our half time break. I can tell you this, their confidence was challenged. Their self assurance was shaken. And, the ideas they have about an easy win when they face our team will now be put to the test. I'm not stating that my son's team is the best or unbeatable. I want to point out how easy it is for others to speak negatively and begin to scheme and plan to bring you down when they see you are good at something, when they see you can push through your battle, when you can outrun someone coming for you. 

So, if you know me, you know I'm going to take this into the arena of Faith and our walk in the Lord.

Isn't this how the Enemy of our soul comes? 
He shows up in the middle of our battle, our test, as we're in our stress moment, or our getting ready to be triumphant moment and he analyzes, observes and plans against us. He speaks against us. "Look at this one, she's too weak, she's too small, or he's too slow, he's too fat, they keep messing up." On and on, the negative comments flow as if enforcing what the enemy sees as our failure, our weakness, and our inability to succeed. He is the killer of motivation and encouragement. He is the voice of disappointment and great people giving up.

I am so glad that God's opinion of me in my weakness is that in my weakness He is glorified and I am then able to do great things. I am so glad that in my mess ups are God's opportunity to show how He can be glorified even in my errors.

To see and hear what I did today helped me envision how the enemy of our souls is always out watching out on how to keep us down, how to find our simplest weakness to use it against us or to discourage us. The enemy is always watching to see if we're an easy target, if we're worth his time, or if there's a reason we're a threat to his kingdom of darkness and then he begins to bombard our lives with affliction, temptation, and all kinds of junk to keep us down.

I want to end by saying my son's team won! It was a great game. The battle ahead of these kids will be a great one because people that thought little of them saw they're not going to go down without a fight. Are we ready to not go down without a fight when the problems and situations of life come against us? I pray you will not surrender so quickly but that you will look your opponent in the face and like Jacob, roar like a lion, and go forward to push your enemy, your problems, or your situation down. Does it seem like the worst is coming against you? Then here the Coach from Heaven telling you to get back into the game. Follow His leading and His guidance. His plays, His strategies and His training have prepared you not only for the game and the battles of life, but to win, to win and to win!


Rise up and be strong! 
I know life sometimes punches you in the face and pushes you down. But, I'm telling you to get back up and push your circumstances back. In you is the same courage God's Spirit placed in David to face Goliath. In you is that same power to face the lions like Daniel did. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. I know I've mixed football with being able to stand as a Christian, but this was just so strong in my mind as I watched the game, I had to write it. I don't know how you'll take it, and I pray that for football fans, I don't offend in anyway. I was truly encouraged to see and hear what I did and I can only say, "Lord, prepare my son for the weeks ahead, in Jesus name, amen."

Friday, October 10, 2014

WE WERE BORN FOR THIS

By Angeline M Duran Santiago



A friend shared how her mom was really sick, blood sugar rising even thought she barely ate. She then shared some personal family tragedies, and we concluded these events had not only triggered the high blood sugar, but her recent hospitalizations. As she shared her heartbreak, in the back of my mind, I could hear my brother, Tito, who had been sharing on NOIZERADIO with my other brother, Alex, "We were born for this!"

It was his message that I had been listening to before meeting up with my friend. It was the words he shared about going through the battle and the hard times and how God has prepared us for these difficult moments and we can most definitely make it through the pain, through the discouragement, through the family issues and through the trials. "You were born for this. You can make it through."

We never know who the Lord will place in our paths. We never know the story someone is going to share. There is no planning ahead of time for how we should answer when someone begins to expose their wounds, their scars, and their pain. It is important to live our lives in such a way that we are somehow trying to be connected as much as possible to God's presence. I'm not talking about trying to be perfect. I'm talking about just living out lives with a hunger to be so close to the Lord that we will be ready and we'll be sensitive to God's prompting at any time.

"We were born for this...." ~Tito Santiago


My friend was able to trust and place all her cares into God's hands. She allowed me to share what my brother had been talking about and her heart was open to trusting in the Lord. She was open to hope. She opened her heart to God's word. I tell you more. I got up to look for another friend, and once again, I was able to encourage her through God's word. People want to hear. Are we ready to talk?


This is important to me because too many times believers want to teach people all the wrong stuff about walking right and being a Christian. Look, if someone has not made a commitment to Christ, they're not going to desire to walk right. It's not in them to want to please the Lord, so stop preaching to people in such a way that they hate it when we talk about the Lord. 

Pray and ask the Lord to give you words filled with wisdom, with his blessing and anointed. Pray that the Lord will show you what people need to hear, not what you feel like saying or showing off that you know. Your biblical knowledge means nothing to someone that doesn't really understand or know the gospel. Your big speech is meaningless to someone who has not surrendered to the Lord. Hurting people need healing. Angry people need loving. Anxious and desperate people need words of hope and faith. 



What is your message going to be when someone begins to share their cares, their problems and their hard times with you. Will you smack them with a Bible, shout, "Repent!" and then tell them to change their clothes, be in church all day, every day and become super holy and religious. Because that's a lot of hog wash and stupidity. 

There is power in Jesus Name and in His Word. God is still in the business of healing and delivering. He still commands the storms and the winds to stay still. Demons still flee and YES, people are still healed. SO, pray and seek the Lord so that your words will be the healing balm they need. And, this may just help lead them to want to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. 

And, yes, on a side note, sometimes the Lord will give someone a hard to share message that is straight out and to the point. My theme here is more to the non-believer, new Christian, or someone who is hurting. Let us draw people to the Lord and not away.

A link to NoizeRadio Live:

Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Broken Church





Talk to anyone and religion is a subject very few want to talk about. Try telling someone you agree, that you don't want to talk religion, just share God's love, and still, there is a wall that quickly raises to block you out. But why is it so many just don't want to hear this Christian message?

So, what is "church"?
Church is a building or a home believers use to gather in. The Bible tells us that we, "believers" are that "church". In other words, the building, the walls, the sanctuary where God comes to dwell in is not a man made edifice, but the hearts of those who have acknowledged Jesus as Lord. 

So, then, why do so many people just seem to hate the idea of "church" and "church people"?



The homeless, the prostitute, the person that is all messed up enters "the church building" and "the church people" instead of behaving as lives filled with God's love and mercy, make visitors feel unwelcomed, rejected, ignored, and unwanted. Snob noses rise to the air and the mouths that were just a few minutes before praising the God that dwells in their hearts, cannot stand to sit next to someone with more tattoos than a subway train in the 1980s. 

People enter the church looking for answers. They are hurting. Families are in turmoil, fighting, in pain and seeking a word of encouragement and counsel. Instead, they are given excuses, appointments, mumbo jumbo talk that leaves them completely empty, and then if the "church leaders" do listen, before the service is over, the "church people" all end up knowing what was shared in private because the "church" sometimes has a super huge mouth.



So, where are the church leaders, the pastors, the people with the titles, the visions, and the dreams? Where are the people that pray for healing, command demons to be gone, and for God to do a great work? If the Bible calls you the "church" then why are you broken? Why are you falling apart? Why are you more interested in who shows up that has a good paying job, and not the person that needs a hand out? 
If you're full of God's power, then why are you powerless?
If you are speaking God's wisdom, then why do you choose to be a great fool?
If you are the body of Christ, then why do you present a weak, sick and falling apart gospel?
If Christ is in you, then where is the love?
If Christ dwells richly in you, where is the mercy?
If God's glory abides in your heart, where is your integrity and your loyalty?


If you are the church, why are you broken into so many pieces that the world is confused and doesn't know where you stand? 
Why do you call yourself by so many different names when God didn't come to dwell in man made temples, but in the hearts of mankind?
Why?
Why?

I am the "church".
I refuse to walk defeated.
I refuse to show myself broken and destroyed.
I will not walk in foolishness or without love.
I will practice mercy.
I will love.
I will love. 
I will forgive.
I am "the church".

Who are you?