All posts tagged: Faith

Co-create with God

September 24, 2014 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, blog

Last week, I shared with you a few amazing stories that I have witnessed in the past several weeks. It is fascinating to see when you become more aware of the supernatural, the greater reality that is beyond our physical senses. You and I are a part of the divine plan. But most of the time, we are not connected in the spiritual dimension. Generally, we are disconnected and thereby miss some pretty astounding events that can directly affect our worldview of reality and can change the course of lives of others and the history of a community.

If the greater reality is beyond our natural senses, how can we tune in with what’s going on in the spiritual realm? The answer is to train ourselves to be more conscious about the correlation between the natural and the supernatural, the physical and the spiritual. How do we do this?

We will start with a simple step and example based on a phenomenal story that just happened yesterday. I wrote from my previous Blog that another opportunity had landed on my lap. My organization has the opportunity to acquire a property worth more than half a million dollars with no cash involved on our part. As a Consultant, I come across some pretty interesting situations, this is one of them.

God has bigger plan

A Pastor and his wife came to my office several weeks ago asking to help them decide about the future of their church. The church building sits on a 7-acre land. It has 2 houses, a youth building that is not being used currently, a playground, a community center, a detached garage and a large pond. Back in the 80’s, the church had more 400 attendees. Throughout the years, and with many reasons, the church continuously dwindled down in number. Currently, it has less than 20 attendees. Needless to say, they cannot continue to pay the bills including the mortgage.

Simultaneously, I am helping a Hispanic church to find a site for their food pantry. I just trained them to start their own pantry and this is the last piece to get them started. I introduced them to the Pastor that I am consulting with. They visited the place and fell in love with it. The Hispanic Pastor gathered her leaders and we had a meeting. They asked for my advice and guided them in the decision-making process. They decided to rent a portion of the church!

Suddenly, I found myself in the middle of 2 churches who needed my advice. This put me in an awkward position so after prayers and several conversations with my wife and friends, I decided not to have an interest in the property.

We had a few meetings with the Pastor who owns the church, we prayed together and discussed the best option for them. We looked at the sources of their income and the list of expenses. They agreed to follow the plans and strategy that I presented to them. I showed them that they can actually keep the property even with just one renter. Yesterday (Sept. 23, 2014), I also negotiated with their mortgage company to skip the Principal payment for 12 months until they get back on the black. In addition, I also negotiated to spread out the payment for the last 2 unpaid monthly mortgage bills.

Through prayers (spiritual) and through meetings and evaluations (physical), we have solved the potential loss of a beautiful property. Both churches will be working to maximize their impact in the community and to utilize the property in greater way. This is an example of becoming more aware of our spiritual surrounding. It is through our communion with the Lord that we can hear more of His voice. We will develop our spiritual senses as we tune in with the greater reality.

There are more to the story but I would like for you to share yours. Do not think that your story is not worth sharing. God does not look from man’s perspective. Remember when Jesus fed the 5,000 through the little boy who had 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish? His disciples did not think that the food they will eat later would come from a child with only a handful of food! God is not bound by our reality, He is beyond time and space, He is infinite, He is the God of all creation.

This is the opportunity that lie in front of us – we can co-labor and co-create with God. Be aware of your spiritual space, tune in to the supernatural and see more of heaven here on earth. I am looking forward to hearing from you!

God bless,

Merlin

Remember the Fire?

September 18, 2014 Merlin Gonzales a Study on God's Dominion, blog, KIOM, Testimony

Remember when you first commit your life to Jesus Christ?

Remember when you first experience God?

Two months ago, I posted about a house fire that happened to a Pastor who is friend of mine. Many people have helped him in terms of some donated money, furniture & appliances and most of all, prayers. I have been helping him in finding out the best solution for the future of the house that was burned. I have a sense that this tragedy will end up to be a blessing for him and his family. I kept encouraging him and praying for him in the past several weeks.

Last Monday, we heard news about the house and we did more negotiations. We were confirmed that there’s nothing else we can do, so we settled for what was agreed upon. Tonight, I received a message to call the main person regarding the house. We received great news; something that we did not expect!

In these past several months, God has been showing me things that are beyond my imagination. The unexpected things such as the pallet shelving, the launching of one-of a kind food pantry, the $70k walk-in freezer donation and many more.

There is another huge thing that has fall on my lap just 2 weeks ago. I ask that you pray for wisdom and discernment on my part. This one could impact thousands of people and may be an integral part in this particular community for years to come.

God is awesome! I would like to invite you come alongside with me in experiencing the goodness of God. Some people are experimenting with God to see what happens when you trust Him. I would like to invite you to journey with me in fully trusting God in every aspect of our lives.

There’s a difference between making Jesus as our Savior and making Him as our Lord. Our lives reflect who our Lord is – the way we conduct ourselves, react on situations, make decisions and our habits. Our reality is mostly based on our experience. I think many of us have knowledge of God but do not have much of experiencing life with Him – that’s why sometimes we find out selves asking ” where is God in this situation?” Unless we experience Him intimately, His reality in our lives would be fragmented.

Remember when you first experience God and felt that He is involved in your life? If you are like me, I was on fire! It seem like God is so close to me… not only during Sunday but every day of the week! What if we fully trust that every aspect of our lives is connected with our relationship with God…our finances, our relationships, our health and our spiritual life? This may be a silly question: “What if all of our life experience is directly interconnected with our relationship with God?” How would we cope with our failures and celebrate our success, treat our families, work with our associates and deal with our neighbors? If God is ever present in our consciousness, what would our lifestyle be, how would we react with every situation – good or bad, and what would be our perspective in life.

Here’s what I have in mind. I will share with you my experience with Him. Similar with what I have been writing before, I will continue sharing with you what God has been doing in the ministry of FHL. This time, I will be more intimate and share more of my personal experience with Him such as frustrations, praises and prayers, requests and dreams, questions and answers and, my experience. I would like to encourage you to share your stories as well, make comments, prayers and praises. Let’s experience God and share our stories to encourage and to uplift one another.

I hope you would consider joining me in learning more about ourselves and our relationship with the God that we profess – our Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ. What’s your story and what has God been doing in your life? Remember your passion for Christ when you were a new Christian? Remember the fire in your heart?

Significance of spoken and written words

July 3, 2014 Merlin Gonzales blog

Governor of Indiana proclaimed the July 20-26, 2014 is Faith Hope and Love Week in the entire state

In 2 Chronicles 36:22-23 & Ezra 1:1-3, King Cyrus of Persia issued a Proclamation throughout his realm that the exiles from Israel be given safe passage back to their land so they can build the Temple of the Lord. The people of the land are to provide supplies, materials and food for the Israelites as well. Because of this proclamation, God’s people were able to start building the temple in Jerusalem.

The families were reunited after the 70 years of exile in Babylon and the neighbors provided everything they needed including goods and livestock. The families settled in their own towns. After seven months, they came back together again as one people to offer burnt and freewill offerings. This was the start of the process of rebuilding the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. God had used King Cyrus of Persia through issuing a proclamation that became like a law of the land.

God created the universe with His word. When He spoke the word, it never returned void. In the Old Testament, He used the prophets to speak His words. It was the prophet Jeremiah who prophesy that the exiles will return after 70 years of captivity. The prophet Isaiah prophesy of the coming of the Messiah. Jesus Christ proclaimed that those who believe in Him with all of his mind, might and being will become heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. It was Jesus who spoke that the the believers will be filled with the Holy Spirit – the very same Spirit who filled Him while He was here on earth. Jesus said that the believers can do the things that He had done through the Holy Spirit living in them.

I believe that God speaks to His people. In 2005, I sensed the Lord spoke to me to ask for the Mayors of Central Indiana to issue a Proclamation for Faith, Hope and Love Day (soon it became Faith Hope and Love Week). After a few years, the Governor of Indiana proclaimed the same every year. And every year, countless people in Indiana celebrate the week through serving others. This year, all services and projects are focused on addressing hunger.

There is significance in our spoken and written words. For us Christians, it is even more powerful because as we speak words that are in alignment with the will of God, it will happen because we have the same Spirit who dwell in Jesus Christ while He was here on earth. What is the will of God – faith, hope and love. All of these three remain.

Be careful what you say and be watchful what you write. God had given us delegated authority including the power to create through our words.

History of FHL Food Pantry

March 2, 2014 Merlin Gonzales FHL Food Pantry, FHL Mobile Food Pantry

The early years of FHL Food Pantries

In the fall of 2006, Merlin Gonzales and a few volunteers agreed to do the first FHL Mobile Food Pantry. FHL partnered with a Hispanic business that allowed us to give the food in the grocery store. One of our partners owned one of the Latino newspapers in town and she did a half-page ad at no cost to us.

The pantry attracted almost 100 families. The first pantry had less than 10 volunteers but was able to give a lot of grocery items from a food bank and other sources. For the next 2 years, FHL food pantries were held in churches, schools and parking lots. FHL did not have problems in attracting recipients because of the follow up system.

After 2 years, FHL introduced prayers at pantries. The recipients seem open and soon it became a regular part of each pantry. Through the process of partnering with different organizations at different locations, FHL developed procedures overtime. The leaders learned how to interact with different denominations, ethnic groups and traditions. The Lord walked the organization through many on-the-job training that were vital to the development creative evangelism. The leaders learned more how to interact with the different segments of our society.

However, setting up and tearing down of food pantry sites at different location became a hindrance to serve more people and to share the Gospel. The idea of starting a food pantry at churches and other sites became obvious. FHL would be able to serve more people and would be able to share its experience with others.

The informal training and partnership emerged. Horizon Christian Fellowship Central was the first food pantry that FHL helped start. It is now a vital part of the Fountain Square neighborhood in Indianapolis.

Through prayers and hard work, God had birth the FHL Food Pantry Incubation. It is now that mission of FHL to incubate food pantries in central Indiana.

The FHL Food Pantry School became a work in progress document. In the class, you will learn that practical and spiritual application of the Bible. You will see that your friends and/or congregation can be a part of the tapestry of a food pantry. Young and old, rich and poor has a place in a food pantry such as the Outreach Team, Prayer Team and Community Relations Team.

An idea of feeding the hungry and reaching out to those in need had evolved to be a powerful tool to engage the community in sharing the love of God. The end result is that the hungry are fed, the Gospel is being shared and more people are becoming Christ-like in their communities. The food pantries are becoming missional communities.

Miracle on 34th St.

February 15, 2014 Merlin Gonzales Backyard Missions, Self-Sustained Food Pantriy

The one stooping down and the one being prayed for accepted Jesus.

I just got back from mission field – West 34th St, Indianapolis, Indiana. FHL had started a food pantry at Monte de Sion Church on 3307 Lowry Rd. This pantry has been serving their neighborhoods for almost 2 years now. It has become a part of their community. They have served dozens of families and have touched hundreds of individuals along the way.

This morning (02/15/14) I visited this particular pantry. The clients started to come before the scheduled time, 10am. I led the prayer before the start of the pantry. I thanked the Lord for His provision and asked Him to fill the church with His presence.

At around 11am, 3 ladies who speak very little English came. They filled out the Registration Form and started to talk with the Pastor. Then, I was introduced by the Pastor to one of the ladies. She said that she was the one who was healed of her aching knee last month after Donna, FHL ministry leader prayed for her.

I saw the excitement in her whole being and asked her if she would like to receive more healing. I then proceeded to introduce her to the Lord Jesus Christ. She accepted the Lord in front of her friends. As I was observing what was going on, I asked her friend if she knew Jesus and she said No. After a brief conversation, she accepted the Lord as well.

While praying for her, the youngest of the three was being touched by the Lord also. I saw her eyelids started to twitch and saw tears started to flow through her cheeks. I asked her if God was speaking to her and she said Yes. She thought that she would go to heaven because she is a good person. I told her that there’s only One way to go to heaven – Jesus. She accepted the Lord as well!

At that time, the entire place was charged with faith and one of the volunteers came and asked for prayer for healing for her right arm and left toes due to diabetes. He faith rose up as she was witnessing the power of the Holy Spirit all over the place. We prayed for her as well and she said she felt a lot better!

The three ladies came for groceries but they received who they have been looking for – the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth who came in the flesh.

Matthew 10:7-8, “As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.”

We are witnessing that the harvest is coming. God had already prepared the hearts of the people to receive Him. We just need to be willing vessels for the Lord to pour out His love for His people.

I will write it again, “It’s not just about food, it’s about relationship with God and with others. If we keep the major thing the major thing, we will see more of the tangible manifestation of God in our midst. Three people were saved today not because of food but because of people who authentically care for them.

God bless you,

Merlin

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