IS JESUS SLEEPING?

Written by Angeline M Duran Santiago

What do you say when it seems your world is spinning around you and you can’t make it stop? Do you allow yourself to be spun around until you breathlessly crash on to the floor? Do you surrender to the voices that say, “God is not answering this prayer. Let it go!” or, do you hold on and say, “Come on! Hit me with your best shot!”

I guess that’s where you find me right now. I wouldn’t be surprised to find many of your own heads moving in agreement with me. We’ve been hit left and right with all kinds of sickness and problems. It hasn’t been easy because the truth is, it doesn’t seem to let up and stop. “Pray.” Yes, we’ve prayed. “Have faith.” Yep. I believe with all my heart. “Don’t lose hope.” Hey, we’re still hanging on but it does get hard sometimes, right? I mean, we pray and wait and wait a little more. Still, our child wakes up sick to end up missing one more school day. Mind you, he’s been out about a hundred already. You pray. I pray. But, those family moments when we forget Christ is present happen out of the blue and we end up in misunderstandings and hurtful words. But, we prayed, right? Still, the storms come, the issues persist and the illness remains.

 Jesus is in the boat. You know the story. They decided to go to the other side, this big storm show up and starts wrecking havoc, these strong men of God get all stressed and scared, and well, where was Jesus? Oh, yeah, He was asleep somewhere on the boat. Some say, “He didn’t care!” or, “It’s not a time to nap!” But, to Him who created the very winds that were dancing around them, Christ was not amazed or shocked with the current dilemma. Jesus, who knows our present and our future, was totally aware of the horrible scene they were all facing. God is totally aware of the crisis you and I are dealing with right now. Jesus is with us, in our homes, in the hospital, and at our jobs or our schools, and He is, well, asleep. He has already taken care of the problem. He knows when the storm will end. He knows that no matter the trauma, we are still going to get to the other side. Jesus knows that at the end of this storm we will be able to say, “He was with us through it all.”

But, He’s asleep. Or is He? Is the Lord just waiting for us to say, “Lord! We’re getting ready to perish! Some help, here!” or is the Lord trying to show us what to do in the midst of the emergency phone call you and I just got? I love the scripture that says, “Be still and know that I am God.” It reminds me that Jesus was at peace during the storm. The waves crashed and the winds hollered, still he remained calm. The disciples didn’t get it. Instead of sitting with him and saying, “Hey, if Jesus is resting through this, then maybe we should, too.” No. They panicked and awakened Him. “HELP!!!!”

 Lord, help me to be still and learn from you. I often wonder if you’ll truly get my son to the other side where he will experience a breakthrough from sickness. Today, Lord, I am confidently reminded that in the midst of the storms that crash against his body and against my family, you are inviting me to sit with you and rest. Lord, you are inviting your children, mothers and fathers that desperately cry out to you with so many problems, you pat the space next to you on the boat and with your loving eyes, you invite us to sit with you and maybe nod out for some much needed sleep. Lord, last night was another sleepless night. I can only remember and think of so many parents that spend their nights in the hospital. I’ve been there and I remember the times my mom spent weeks and months by my brother’s side during some extremely urgent moments of faith for our family. 

Lord, give us the understanding to sit down at your feet and learn from You. Give us the peace in our hearts that you have heard our prayers and that you will speak to our storms and command them the stop. You will say, “Peace” to the sick bodies and they were be healed. You will speak “Peace” to the problems and your Presence will make all the difference in that situation. You are the Lord and King in my boat. 

I’m going home soon and I know the journey to complete healing and wholeness is not a quick one. My commute home takes at least two and a half hours, but as I ride out, I will meditate on the Lord’s Word. I will place my confidence on Him, because if He is calm about my storm, then I can close my eyes, lay my head against the hard wooden surface on the boat, and just like my Lord, who promises to speak peace into my storm, close my eyes, and take a snooze.

INTERNAL BLEEDING

Written by Angeline M Duran Santiago

When someone has suffered the kind of trauma that is on the inside, it's very hard, with our natural eyes, to see what's taken place deep inside under the skin. Using modern medical technology, trained medical experts will be able to identify what has happened inside. They'll find the areas that have all kinds of disease, broken bones, internal bleeding and areas that need a biopsy or surgery, among just some things that can be seen. I am not in any way someone that knows much about what modern science can see through their many machines. There's one area I believe modern science has yet to be able to look into. Can they look inside someone's life and see when they're internally bleeding and hurting from a broken heart, a wounded spirit or the pain that comes from living a life that is filled with daily punches, storms and struggles?

What x-ray machine can diagnose the darkness that creeps up and wraps itself around your mind? What Scan is able to go inside of you and see your anger, your hurts, your disappointments and your desire to cry? What  MRI can see the hidden thoughts of your past and the problems you review in your mind daily as you live each day? I don't think there is any such gadget yet, maybe only in movies and fantasy books, but none in reality.

So, I bring this situation before the Lord and I cry out to the Lord and ask Him to come seep into the darkest areas of my life and shine His light in the darkness inside of me. I come before the Lord and remind Him that I am trying to be who He has not asked, but commanded me to be, but I still fall short of His expectations. You command me to love, to be at peace, to seek peace, to forgive, to do my best to give a soft answer and to be understanding. But, the more I try, the more I'm told I'm failing in every area. The voices around me say I am cold, angry and without understanding. The voices around me curse me out, yell at me, and say I'm led by demons. Lord, how can that be when I am trying so hard to be like You?

 

I come before You dear God because inside, deep inside my heart, I'm so broken. Most of the time I even wonder how is it possible this heart of mine hasn't fallen apart? There are so many times I've decided to just stay quiet because if I voice my mind, I'm told I am wrong, I'm insensitive, I've lost my mind and don't know what I'm talking about. I'm told I'm foolish, small minded and do not have the ability to process what is really going on. So, I start to think, are they trying to make me believe I am losing my mind? No, Lord. I am internally bleeding and unless you come and look deep inside of me, I will bleed out and become speechless. I will wither in the silence until there is no reason to keep going.

You know I've been there, Lord.
I am not alone, either. There are so many that have this condition that only You, dear Lord, can see. I want to help those around me that are hurting, Lord. I do my best to understand them and come down to their level so that there's peace between us, but so many times it's a farce and it ends up in a giant cloud of anger and arguments. We need your intervention, emergency intervention, Lord.

I find myself, and I know I'm not alone in this, but I find that I am internally bleeding in a way only Holy Spirit can understand. I am like the rag doll, easily torn apart and so hard to put back together the way she was originally created. I am like the scroll that is rolled and wrapped beautifully after a poem is written in the most beautiful calligraphy. But, then someone finds it and discards it to the side, allowing it to be blown away, ending up in the middle of the busy city where thousands of rushing feet and cars tear away at the one precious scroll.

Lord, I don't want to live this life this way. Yes, there are storms and hardships that come our way but you have promised to walk with us and be with us through the most difficult times. Your word is full of promises that tell me that I will not drown, I will not be burnt, and I will not be destroyed. Yet, I look at the lives of those who lived doing your will and they were incarcerated, beaten, killed, and made to go through atrocities that are seen even today- just for carrying your name. And, Lord, these hurts, these troubles, so many times are in our own homes, with our own loved ones, how do we move forward when the strife seems unavoidable starting in our own house of refuge?

Your Word is what I will hold on to and mentally tattoo upon my heart, my brokenness. Your Presence is what I will wait upon and trust, daily, every moment, non stop. I depend on You to be the Master Surgeon, the only One that can remove every area in my life that needs to change and be restored. Heal my heart, Lord. Heal my mind. It is in Jesus Name that I ask this. Bring peace into our homes and restore the relationships in our homes that are filled with unforgiveness and bitterness. Heal the areas that are filled with pain and lack of trust. Come, Holy Spirit and do a new work internally, deep inside our hearts and also in every area of our relationships, our homes and our daily work place. You are Lord and King! I will honor you and trust in You no matter what comes my way!
Thank you, Lord. Amen.

STORMS ARISING

 Written By Angeline M Duran Santiago

Some say the storms of life come to make us stronger. I look in the mirror and don't see any muscles on my arms. You can say that by now, the amount of storms that have come my way would make me look like a professional body builder. On a serious note, though, if storms are how we get stronger, then what do I have to show for my growth and the changes getting stronger would deliver? I guess you can say my answer is simple. Then, again, I've been known for simple answers most of my life. It's the folks that ask and then don't like what I say that have a problem with my response. My answer to the proof that storms can only make us stronger is in the ability to look at my life now and see that when the storms come, I've changed the way I navigate through them. 

There were times when I would go crazy sharing the tumultuous storms crashing against my life with those I believed were Godly appointed people that would guide and encourage me early on in my walk as a new Christian. There were times that I opened my heart to upload my burdens, my fears and my hurts into the ears of so many that I truly felt were the persons in my path to listen and show me not only how God had helped them get through their storms, but that I was going to make it. Of course, if you've been alive long enough, Christian or not a Christian, you know that people disappoint, use you and let you down. It took some years to truly see with eyes that were beyond my physical eyes that the storms were here to stay, and that when they came, I was going to have to learn how not to run to others for advise, but get on my surf board and learn to ride the waves.

 If you think I'm a great surfer by now, well, the truth is that each time I get up on the surf board, I seem to fall off a lot more than be able to stay on. But, when I stay on, the ride is smooth and I feel like I'm on top of the world. When I surf through the storms that come my way, the way I should, I stand confidently upon God's Word. The cold ocean splatters against me. Defiant waves grab me by the legs and pull me down. It is then I surrender to the One who can still whisper to those very waves that crash against me to be still, and they obey.

Storms. They're no fun. Yet, they take us on an adventure beyond our wildest dreams. It's up to us to walk through each valley, climb step by step up each mountain, and keep our balance on the surf board of our prayer, our praise to the Lord and our heart trusting in Him. Tears. Tears of frustration are held back but sometimes, sometimes I let them loose. Anger and stress all show up like an unwanted and overdue bill in the mail. I've learned that even these emotions placed in God's ocean of mercy can come to a peaceful end.

The storms keep coming my way and they invite me to give up. They rise high above me and at times they suffocate me to see if I can stop breathing. I've learned how to take a deep breath, be still and know that my God is greater. The beating keeps coming, but it's here where I've been able to see that God is truly God. It's in the storms that keep coming up against me that I've experienced Jesus still walks on the water and tells me, "Hold on, girl, we're going to the other side." It's in the midst of my body being filled with bruises from the wreckage that I look up to see that even as I hold on to the broken vessel I'm on and try to float, I am truly near the shore and will not drown. He won't let me. Truth is, He won't let you drown either.

Maybe, just maybe, if you're a little like me, you're going through some storms right now. You're sick all the time or maybe someone in your family, your children or your spouse, are battling an illness. Maybe, just maybe, if you're like me, you're having a challenging time with your finances and at times, you don't know if you're going to make ends meet. The bills are all up in your face and the waves crash upon you and ask you, "Where's the God that promises to supply ALL your needs?"

And, maybe, if you're someone that has prayed to God to be renewed and restored and you're trying to live your life to please the Lord, then just maybe, the Enemy is attacking you left and right. You're having challenges at work, Your car breaks down constantly, there are arguments, misunderstanding and fights in your home and you don't even know how they started. 

So, if you're in the midst of a storm, don't give up! Pray. When I say, "Pray." I mean really get up, put on your fighting gear and get up to speak to the waves to hush a bye and calm down. It's time to tell the devil, "Get out of my house. You don't have permission to be here in my home or bothering my family!" It's time to look at the storm and tell it to crash somewhere else. It's time to obey the nudging of Holy Spirit when you would rather keep sleeping and face the sounds and the presence that seems to show up at night to bother your children in their dreams or just face you bold face to bring fear into your home and into your life. Nope! You need to look back and command the fear to go! 

It's in the Name of Jesus, the storms obey. It's in the Name of Yahweh, God Almighty that the Enemy flees. All curses are broken. Sickness is healed and the captives are set free! I pray that the storms you are in right now serve to take you higher in your understanding of God's love and protection for your life. I pray that you and I will be strengthened and that whatever we are going through will bring glory to God's name. I pray that as we stand through the storms that come our way, our faith will get stronger, our hope will never end and that we will experience breakthrough, God's presence in a greater way and that God's word will become clearer than ever before.

The storms, they're going to keep coming. And so will God's answers, and so will God's presence, and so will God's love and power in your life and mine. Let us hold on to the Lord who is great and mighty through all our circumstances. Do not faint. Do not give up. God is with us, amen.

Written by Angeline M Duran Santiago

THIS IS MY STORY, OUR STORY, AS 2016 ENDS

  I wanted to read another good story tonight. For some time, I skimmed through the many book choices on my kindle. I thought about getting up and re-organizing my kitchen. Thinking about pots and pans making lots of noise and waking up half the world made me scratch that idea quickly. I went through some music and thought of listening to some praise and worship. Maybe there’s a dance idea hidden in some of these old songs? But, no. What was keeping me up was not another moment to read or listen to music, not even getting up to do some last minute cleaning. There were words pushing through, begging to come out and when I stood still enough to give them attention, it was clear God was present. Flashes of what the Lord has been doing swept my thoughts. I put my Kindle down. Quietly, I left the bedroom and found my way to this old computer. Here, I give permission to every word stored in me to jump out and on to the screen. Speak away.

There are only a few more hours left to this present year, 2016. The New Year, 2017, will begin and well, most everyone is asking the “What will happen in this new year” question. Many of us seem to get very melancholic or poetic during these times. There are many that become sentimental or depressed. We look back and seem to focus on our losses because our gains or our wins have been so few. We tend to look back on years when perhaps we had so much more, or at least, we try to believe we had things a put together a little bit better and imagine that somehow, way back then, it was just a little easier to get by. We lie.

As I lay in bed looking for one more book to read, I thought about many of my losses. Yes, there have been many losses, financially and physically, in many ways, especially in the last three years. In moments that I looked at the areas in my life where I had experienced set backs, I also sensed the Lord grabbing my face and turning me away from the picture of yesterday’s defeats, and placing my face to look somewhere else. He pointed elsewhere. “I see it, Lord. Forgive me.” As I allowed God’s hands to move my face and look elsewhere, I could see that through each struggle, each painful moment in my life, there has been a greater moment where He was definitely at work in my life, in our lives. I’ve never been alone.

 

I look back and I saw a marriage that only a little while ago was broken, filled with too much hurt and it seemed impossible for even God’s grace to heal and restore. I look back and see how I lost everything, my job of our twenty years, a house that I had put all my finances into, and I saw my family, my beautiful family falling apart.

There were moments where I had begged God to take me, when I was in this dark place and couldn’t come out. God allowed me to experience an Alice In Wonderland moment, as it seemed that I fell through this bottomless hole where I would remain and not be able to escape. Yet, through the shattered moments I lived for that season, God remained every present and ever loving. You see, I look back and I see a God that healed and restored my marriage. I see a God that although I don’t have that job or that salary that I once had, I have been blessed with a job where I can give to others and help others in so many ways. I look back and I see how the Lord is healing my heart. I see the Lord working in my children, though at times you will look at them and infer that God is not at work in them, I see it and I experience it.

 I continue to believe that the Lord is at work in my son’s body. Rapha, Healer. He carried every sickness, every disease, every illness upon His body. He has carried my son’s physical problem. God will restore. I believe God has great plans for my three children and I see it. There is peace in my home where there was once great division and discord. God heals our minds, brings us out of depression and low self esteem. God heals us when the world has abused and battered us in every way possible, then throws us to the curb with the garbage and walks away. God shows up where you find what the world calls garbage and unlovable. God shows up where the hurts and the scars cannot be seen but live on through memories and nightmares. God shows up when the Enemy says, “It’s over! I won!” God shows up and says, “Excuse me? You must have the wrong address!?"

Are we perfect or are we at one hundred percent? Nope. I’d be lying to tell you that the Enemy of our souls doesn’t try to attack us on a regular basis. His will is to destroy, to divide and to confuse God’s children. My job is to believe and trust God’s word and never give up. I look back and smile. Christmas 2014, our landlord who had promised us we’d never have a problem living in our home tells us we have to move because he needed the apartment. And, he needed it sort of quickly. I prayed as I realized I might end up homeless. Once more, I was looking for a place to live. I had already lost the home I thought I was supposed to live in forever. My income had drastically changed, as I was no longer teaching. I’d given up most of my belongings and here I was again, going through another change. “Lord!” I cried, “What do I do? I can’t ask my family take us in?” I had friends that would call and share they didn’t have work or were looking for a new home and I had to keep quiet about our struggles and offer hope, pray with them and keep positive through our fears.

We ended up moving into the smallest apartment ever. Thus, once more, we had to downsize ever further. No living room. No dining room. No closets. Hardly ever heat. My kids were always sick. Barely a kitchen and bathroom and the rent, well, if you live in Brooklyn or Queens, New York, I don’t have to explain myself when I say, “rent”. We were paying their mortgage and Lord knows what else. There were months when I prayed and asked the Lord, “Do we pay rent, or do we buy food?” We lived like this for almost a year, to be informed the rent was going to be increased by January 2016. We were scarcely making it. Our family was distraught and this didn’t help matters any that my family was just falling apart. We were a broken mess, emotionally unattached, and I found myself alone, seeking the Lord and wondering what He would do next.

 

A leap of faith. 2016 was a year of decisions and living faith out loud. It was a year filled with painful moments and memories I wish God would permanently erase. But, it was a year I stood before the Lord with my family and said out loud, “I’m taking my family back in Jesus name!” and I did. In October, 2016, with our lives falling apart and seeming to the world that everything was fine, when it wasn’t, I asked the Lord to do a new thing and that I would follow, no matter the cost. It seemed like the craziest thing to do at the time, but I did it. I was desperate and having faith was all I had to live on. After an Anniversary ceremony where we rededicated our marriage and our family to the Lord in front of our family and friends, I cried out to God and asked the Lord to guide us. “God, I don’t know what to do next.”

Frankie and Angie 25th Wedding Anniversary

 I look back and I laugh! How could it be that we ended up purchasing a home, our farmhouse? How can it be that the past four years that we spent living in extremely cold apartments, we are now nestled in the warmth of this ranch? God used my parents to help me walk in faith and believe for a home. How can it be that we are making ends meet with our crazy traveling in the morning and only a few months ago, I didn’t know if we’d have enough for groceries? I look back and I have to praise the Lord because He has done something I cannot explain. 

 I look back and see someone who was told she would never minister again in any shape or form and this year, the Lord restored to me the opportunity to dance. Once I had known the love for preaching and teaching God’s word and working for His Kingdom, giving my all to the church and the leadership. Once I had given my all to the arts through dance ministry and helping other churches start their ministries. Once I had lived a dream as far as ministry is concerned and in seconds it had all been taken away, leaving me empty and devastated and believing God could never use me again. This year, God used my brother as an open door and I’ve dance again, not just in my home or in my dreams, but before the Lord in His sanctuary. God has given us a church where we can try again, hope again, little by little- again.

Our New Home! My Three Kids painting the front porch. "Blessing!"

 Yes, the year is coming to an end. We can count our losses and focus on our needs, our lack and what has challenged us. Or, we can look at what God has restored, what God has healed, what God is doing in our midst and we see it so small that we don’t realize how great and amazing it all really is. Someone will ask, “Don’t you get embarrassed to share your life?” And I say, “Nope!” 

  My parents helping me fix and paint our new home.

    

 You know why? When I share what God has done, I am also saying that the work of Satan is void, broken, disabled and crumpled. When I yell out that God is working in my family and in my home, I am saying that what the devil meant for destruction, God has taken it and turned it around. God is getting the praise! We rejoice! What the devil has used in the dark to defeat, confuse and condemn, God has used to show love, forgiveness, compassion and unity. God be glorified over and over again!

 Jacob's Graduation, June 2016. Front of our new home.

 How is your year ending? I bet there are still aches and pains. I have those. I bet there are issues, challenges, struggles and problems a plenty. I have those, too. I even bet financially and physically, things aren’t all that great. Well, I am there with you also. We are still praying for healing and for miracles in many areas of our lives just like you. But, through our hardships, we cannot deny that God is present and that God is real, and that He is really at work in our lives. In our stress and our pain, we need to see that those areas in our lives we sometimes see as small, again, I say, those are the great moments in our lives when the Lord is putting His hand upon our lives.

Look what the Lord has done!

Will you allow the Lord to turn your face from the problem, the hurt, the problem and the anxiety just enough for you to not only look back and focus on how the Lord did great things in your life, but to help you have a different outlook for the new year. God is still working in your life just like He’s working in mine. There are hardships in this world and we know God’s word tells us that at one point in time, things will only get kinda worse, especially if we decide to hold on to faith and live by Godly principles. But, what if we chose to focus on God and what God’s word says is true for our today and our tomorrow? Then, we truly have a hope. A hope and a future. God’s plan is what I hold on to. I don’t know it and I surely don’t understand it all, but I chose to hope and walk by faith. 

 

 My prayer tonight is that you will focus on how the Lord has brought you through. Maybe it was a new home, a new job, restored family, a new church, or something only you know. But, He did it. He did it for you and He will do it again. I pray the new year will be full of moments where you draw closer to the Lord and see the Lord in your life in a greater way. The Lord bless you greatly! I know I’ve written like crazy, but like I shared before, the words were in my head crying to be put on the screen and well, I just obeyed. This is my story, God has rewritten my story. I pray you will let Him continue to write the pages of your journey, in Jesus Name, amen.

Written by Angeline M Duran Santiago and lovingly inspired by the Lord.  

TEARS FOR CHRISTMAS

As many spent countless hours and dollars prepping for the holidays with great excitement and joy, there are also many who dread the reality of another Christmas almost here. For many, the seasons is a time to max out their credit cards, give their kids everything they want, and do what it takes to have a wonderful day. To others, well, Christmas is a simple and loving day to spend with family and friends through dinner, maybe going to church, or staying home in pajamas with some hot chocolate and some good old fashion movies. Just as so many celebrate with spending, drinking, dancing or just hugs and kisses, there are also many folks who experience great loneliness and sadness as their thoughts and their memories give way to depressive moments where they even end of hating the holidays and wishing for death.

I can remember times in my life where we didn't have much of anything, nothing for gifts and even a meal seemed a miracle away. Many people don't want to deal with their past hurts or present pain. Families have just gone through the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or a difficult situation. I know what it's like to be without work during the holidays. I know what it's like to feel helpless when I've allowed myself to focus on my problems and not on God's promises for me. Regardless if it is Christmas, Easter, or Halloween, God's Word is alive and effective to reach down into your pain, when you feel alone and even angry, and God can and will do a great work in your life if you run to the Lord in the midst of your anguish.

Tears. We all cry. Joy or sadness makes way for tears to flow. I hope your tears represent joy. But, if they don't, I pray that your tears will bring you to a place where you can surrender every part of your life to the One who is the main character in the Christmas story. I pray that your heart will open up to receive the love that was poured out from heaven and still today, even now, is poured out like soft snow, and refreshing rain into your hurts and broken life. I pray that you will find the path that leads your tears into the Presence of the Lord, the One who wipes all tears and heals you.

Maybe you just don't care much about Christmas this year. I can share that last year I didn't even have a living room space to sit in and have Christmas dinner. My finances were at a thinning point and well, so much was going wrong. But, I placed it all in God's hands and never stop placing my tears at the feet of Jesus. 

This weekend, my kids decorated our Christmas tree. We're decorating our small farm house. To many it's not a big deal, but to me, our new home is a blessing. It's been super difficult with the traveling, getting sick a lot and so many issues that have come our way since we moved. But, I also count this Christmas a new beginning in our home. God has blessed us with being closer to my family, especially my parents. My children have a living space we didn't have before. And, the Lord has restored us by giving us a home church where we've been able to be transparent and share our broken lives, our hurts and our imperfections. We've been embraced and taken in as if we have always belonged. 



Problems may never end and you and I will experience let down and heartaches. There will be times to hold back tears and other times to let them flow. And, if they are present during Christmas or any time in your life, I pray in Jesus' name that you will abandon your heart to God's care and allow Him to show you that everyday is worth living and worth trusting in His love and in His care. God is for you, not against you. He has a wonderful plan for your life, so please don't give up. Hold on to Him. This too shall pass. I am a living witness that the storms don't stay forever. God still speaks to the storms and commands them to stop. I pray for God's peace to visit your heart today and embrace you in a special way the very same way I pray each day that Holy Spirit cares for my family and watches over my children, my parents and my family. God is good. He is able to do great things in our lives.

Tears for Christmas? I pray they turn into tears of joy. God wants to fill your life with gladness. Put on some music and dance away. Worship the Lord and bless Him. You will see how He will turn your sadness into dancing and your tears will wiped away.

Written by Angeline M Duran Santiago

DANCE FOR THE LORD!

  

I find myself at a loss for words. Searching online to see where Praise and Worship Dance is going has left me sad and frustrated. There are hundreds upon hundreds of videos and instructional/performance visuals as well as sites that want to teach or express what Praise Dance is all about. I am left wanting, empty and wishing for a platform where I could share words that would challenge many of the things I've witnessed these past few days.

I've seen it all, from lyrical dances with young girls flipping and showing their unmentionables, to exotic dancers on the altar. I've seen groups performing to a song that is talking about the Lord with not even one movement created to direct the person watching the dance to the Lord. Sitting here I've stopped watching them as the first seconds started. Over and over, disappointment filled me as I looked for those who have taken what so many of us, years ago, pushed through in order to get it accepted and allowed in the church.

What then is Praise and Worship Dance? What is acceptable and what isn't? Can all music be used as well as any style of dance? What labels me any authority on the subject and what qualifies me to have any say on what is right or wrong? 

In my experience, Praise and Worship Dance is one more tool in your ministry bag that can be used to reach the multitudes for the Lord. Just as a pastor, an evangelist,a minister and mouthpiece of God's Word carefully prays and seeks the Spirit of God to guide the message, the words to be shared and even the scripture to be used to minister, so the dancer- a vessel of the Lord, using not their voice but their entire being to bring forth a Word for the soul that needs restoration, healing and to experience God's joy! The dancer for the Lord prays and seeks to represent God and His will, not their own talent (although there is truly a great diverse of gifted and anointed dancers out there). The one who moves to music under God's anointing is mindful that they can be used to minister to those who are watching.  The dance is a moment of intercession, fighting on behalf of a group, or a declaration of faith, a moment of rejoicing and jubilation. All is done remembering that "In Him we live and move and have our being."

I strongly believe that although I've seen great dances to many kinds of music, I personally would not use any kind of music that is so worldly that my focus is not the Lord and that the persons watching me would be lost in interpretation of what I am doing or who I am doing it for. Music should be carefully chosen as well as the lyrics. Our message as dancers are to lead others to know that Christ is risen in us and we have a reason to use our bodies for something heavenly and pure. Many young people have taken the whole dance concept of dancing in church and put together performances that are, in my opinion, confusing. 

 

There is so much of what the world teaches us to feel in dance, that the message is no longer the cross or God's love. The eyes are taken to the exotic movements, the body moves in an inappropriate manner, and we are lost trying to imitate the world. Of course, when we're learning, we will make mistakes, but we need to be careful with everything we do. How we dress can be a big distraction as well. So, see the music, the lyrics and each movement dancers are putting together as their sermon. What is the message you want to bring out? What do you want people to receive when they see you? Do they see you or do they see God in you and through you? Do they want to join you when you're dancing and celebrating?

Am I an expert? Nope. There is nothing in me, except God's mercy to use an old street dancer, an old wanna be dancer, who loved to dance and found her joy through expressing herself in the movement and in the music. I am the biggest pretender because my training comes from just sitting with music and letting the words give me the expression, the movement and the message. I am the least among so many trained and authorized to teach. But, I also know what it is like to be inspired by the Lord to create. I know what it's like to feel God's presence when I pray and move to music that is bringing forth healing and a message of deliverance. I may not have a degree in dance, but I have experienced deliverance, God's peace and God's love in my life when I've been broken, hurting, and needed Him.

 

I know what it's like to share a desire to use
 the arts in church and be told you're in sin. I know what it's like to begin to follow your heart for the Lord and have doors close because you're told that you're in the flesh, working for the devil and a bad example to the youth. I know what it's like to sense the Lord telling me, "Dance!" and not be able to just get up and worship Him. I know what it's like to pray and see the Lord move in the lives of people as I've danced and visa versa. 

This is why I am broken when I see churches allow whatever goes and flows on their altars. Where is the prayer and the lives seeking the Lord of the dance? Where is the focus on God's Kingdom and not on us? Where is the protection for these young girls who are dancing and no one tells them to dress properly? The church is full of people who need Jesus. Why would we think we don't need to cover and protect our dancers? Is everyone holy and sanctified in the pews? Then, let us pray even for holy garments regardless is you wear professional or handmade garments, or jeans and a hoodie to dance, let all we do and wear represent the Lord and his glory in our lives.

As I sit here, I am most aware that in a few days I am responsible for sharing God's message through the dance. It is a message I must prepare, a word of hope for someone that will come hungry for the Lord or maybe someone who just needs to be filled with the Lord's love. I pray that as many dancer get ready to minister for the holidays in their congregations that they remember, we are bringing forth a message straight from God's heart to the world. Let us pray and pray until we are sure we have the right song. Seek the Lord over what you should or should not wear. It makes a difference. Pray for the Lord to guide you in all you do. We don't need to imitate anyone. If you can take dance lessons or be part of a class, that's awesome! I also know and have experienced the Lord give me what I need.

I pray you will take my advice to heart and surrender your heart, your body and your talents to the Lord. Let Holy Spirit flow in you and through you.

Lord, guide your dancers, your ministers of music and dance this holiday season. Let the altars be filled with anointed movement and lives that are surrendered to you. Lord, I pray for your presence to fill those groups that will dance for you. I pray that you will open their eyes to see what being a minister of dance is all about. I pray that people would not be carried away with flags, streamers and all the pretty stuff, but that they would wisely use items for pageantry. I pray that you would raise dancers that would boldly move, fearlessly taking back what you created in us, and showing that dance is part of your design as well. Let us dance as David danced. Give us victory and bless every dancer, in Jesus name. Amen.

Written By Angeline M Duran Santiago
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