All posts tagged: God

Micro Gathering

February 10, 2014 Merlin Gonzales blog

Micro Gatherings are multiplying in central Indiana

In John 6, many supernatural events were told. Thousands of people followed Him to see more about Him. They were rejoicing about the miracles, they were fed, and they want to know more about Jesus. That night, Jesus walked on water. Later, the disciples went in a boat to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

As soon as they found Jesus, they asked Him how He got there since there was only one boat available the night before. However, Jesus did not answer their question but told them: Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” – John 6:26 NIV

Jesus taught them that He is the bread that came down from heaven. He told they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. Jesus was telling the people to hunger and thirst for Christ. We must be set apart for Him and, He is all we need. Then the thousands left Him except the twelve.

Jesus knew that the multitude did not understand His message and His teachings even though they had been following Him. This is a very similar approach at Faith Community Church in Winston-Salem, NC.

In other words, smaller and intimate gathering that Jesus modeled is still true in our days. Not only we can be more personal but we can also disciple more people such as what the early disciples did. Another example was the early church in the Book of Acts. The early Christians gather together in smaller groups to worship and pray to share what God had done through them.

Micro gathering come in different forms such as home groups, house churches, para-churches and other small Christian gatherings.

The ministry that the Lord had founded through me is Faith Hope and Love. This organization is incubating smaller food pantries that are intimate and personal. These pantries are focused on people rather than food. It values relationship over physical resources. The end result is more people are being discipled, sharing of the Gospel is a regular part of conversations and the community is being engaged to participate. It’s a practical application of the Bible.

I am seeing that in the next several years, there will be more micro gatherings since people want to be personal and want to know more of each other. I believe that people want to get involved but they are not properly invited or are not given opportunity that they feel to be involved with.

Check out www.fhlcommunity.org to find out about the micro gatherings that are being created through planting smaller and relationship-based food pantries.

Simple Kingdom Living

December 30, 2013 Merlin Gonzales FHL Food Pantry, FHL Indiana

Welcoming 2014 with you

FREE PIZZA dinner

There’s a nice pizza place in Noblesville that I visit whenever I want to relax and have a good pizza. Just a few days before Christmas, my wife, my son and myself stopped by to have pizza and to finalize FHL’s Christmas Greetings. When it’s time to pay our bill, the owner came and said that a company gave them a Christmas gift so they can give away some Christmas dinner! My son said, “This always happens to you!”

CHRISTMAS BIKES for children

Two weeks ago, one of my FB friends Inboxed me and said that the restaurant that gave bikes last year is doing it again. They give bikes to children of less fortunate families. I thought of asking one of FHL’s food pantry Directors. Sure enough, her grandchildren do not have any Christmas presents this year. On Dec. 22nd, her 2 grandchildren received bikes. They were so thankful. Here’s the text that I received from the grandmother, “Thank you, this means the world to me.”

UNEXPECTED LUNCH from a FRIEND

On Christmas Eve, my parents asked me to bring them to a restaurant to eat. The temperature was in the teens. However, I sensed that they needed to get out of the house, so I brought them to a restaurant. My mother had stroke 2 years ago and my father has a progressive dementia. They live with us for about 3 years now. We enjoyed our lunch and I asked the waiter to bring our bill. He told us that someone had paid our dinner! I found out that one of my friends saw us coming in the restaurant and he paid for our lunch! I thanked my friend and he said, “You serve many people; you are being honored today!” I gave our waiter tip almost the same amount as our bill. By the way, this is the same restaurant that donate 100 bags a week for use for our food pantries.

ANSWERED PRAYER

The day after Christmas, I went to the office intending to work on some odds and ends stuff (yeah, right). I was getting immersed in cleaning my Inbox when I saw the FedEx man. He is the same man who asked for prayers a few months ago for the issues of his life including the selling of his house. I greeted in outside of the lobby and asked him how’s the selling of his house. All of a sudden, his demeanor changed and said that his house was just sold after 2 years in the market. He was praise God for answering his prayers.

It’s SIMPLE

I wanted to share these short stories with you to encourage you that Kingdom living is simple. Just be yourself and as a saying says, “Be supernaturally natural.” You don’t need to be weird to be spiritual. Just be yourself. You’ll be surprised when you see the unexpected things happen in front of your eyes…without striving. Those are the miracles! Kingdom principles applied anywhere, anytime.

It’s fascinating to see the supernatural becoming an everyday occurrence in your life…which is supposed to be. We are created to be Kingdom people, to spread the Good News and the freedom we have in Christ including seeing the supernatural in the natural. It’s not complicated; it’s simple.

If you are in doubt, I challenge you to plug in with the creator of the universe. You are the pinnacle of His creation! You are the reason why God sent His one and only Son to the earth to live among us. You are the reason.You are the reason why Christ died on the cross. You have eternal life in Christ. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are created in His image.

You are the most WONDERFUL person!

If you agree, then you are the most wonderful person here on earth! You have everything including the endless inheritance in heaven. However, if you have any questions about your identity in Christ, please contact me because you may be being deceived by the great enemy.

God bless you and May you have a Blessed NEW YEAR! Keep in mind, God is continually looking for people who would expand His Kingdom and to redistribute His blessings here on earth. Please check out this video to see how a simple Kingdom living can be blessings to others.

Merlin

NOW, NOW, NOW

October 11, 2013 Merlin Gonzales KIOM, Message, Ministry, Testimony

On early Sunday morning 10/6, I was awaken by a short but vivid dream. I was looking at a piece of white bond paper. On the top of it (the Title) was written 2 words.

(I can’t remember the first word) but the second word is NOW.

There were 2 subtitles, each with a descriptive paragraph. Both of the subtitles were a single word that has NOW in the middle of it. They look like this:

____NOW____

I didn’t remember the exact words but here’s the example – ackNOWledge.

So, my dream contained 3 NOW words and all capitalized. I’m not a dream interpreter but when a same thing appeared 3 times, it means it’s happening now!

For those of you who are parents, you can appreciate this – parents want to speak to their children all the time. However, when children grow up, they are normally too busy to talk or to listen to their parents. As adults, we have crammed so much in our 24-day. Many times, we miss some intimate and sacred moments with God.

Biblically, God speaks to us in many ways, one way is through dreams. I believe that God is reminding us that the Kingdom of God is in our midst (Luke 17:21) – NOW. Where ever you are, if you are a Christian, the Kingdom is within you…NOW.

Similar to the 2 words that encapsulated the word NOW, our lives could be busy or we are just not paying attention to what God is saying to us. If you look closely in life circumstances, within a seemingly chaotic event, God is there with you. You might be traveling, doing business transaction, happy or sad…God is saying to us, “look again!”

Apply this principle with your family and friends who are in a difficult situation. Encourage them; you can actually speak life in their lives that can change their perspectives and give them hope. A simple word change a person’s eternal destiny.

Last Sunday, at a church, I shared my dream with 3 people whom I thought would be receptive to the word NOW. Although each of them are in different stage of their lives, I saw immediate change in their posture and demeanor. They were very thankful and it gave them courage and confidence that God is always there for them.

If we ackNOWledge God, we will experience more of His Kingdom manifesting in our lives. Even if you think NOWay or you are sNOWed under. He is there with you. Look again!

I know, there’s more to the dream, so I encourage you to give me feedback or let me know what you think. God bless you! Believe me He is with you right NOW.

It’s not a coincidence

October 4, 2013 Merlin Gonzales blog

On September 01, 2013, my wife and several other people who are involved in the ministry of FHL, decided to set a table at a large Flea Market south of Greenwood, IN. This flea market attracts hundreds of people from 7a to noon. We were not going to rent a space in the flea market but rather we thought of walking around the flea market to pray and to give cold bottled water to people. Somehow, we ended up renting a space to put our table (Free Prayers & Water).

I was surprised to see how open people are for prayers at a market place such as this flea market. Our team got busy giving away free bottled water and praying for people.

At the end of our outreach, I found out from our prayer team that a couple whom they prayed for paid for the rent of our space. I was touched by their gesture and the story stuck to my mind for a couple of weeks.

On September 28th, our friends from out of town visited Indiana and invite my wife and I to have lunch with them and their Hoosier friends. We visited Carmel Art Festival and later ate at a famous burger joint in Carmel, IN. While eating, we exchanged stories our new friends. Later in the conversation, the husband said that he and his wife visited the flea market in the south side just a few weeks ago. He said that a bunch of people at the flea market prayed for him and his wife. As soon as I heard his story, I almost fell out of my chair!

They were the same couple that our group prayed for on September 1st. Keep in mind that it was the first time that we did this kind of outreach-in a flea market. There are hundreds of flea market in Indiana and there were hundreds of people in this particular flea market. All of us were amazed at the story and we became instant friends. We glorified God for connecting us once again.

Up to this moment, I still get goose bumps whenever I remember how God orchestrated the series of events. No one could have planned the occasion. God used our friends from out of state to have lunch with them and their new friends. Their friends who live in Central Indiana, happen to visit the flea market we visited on Sept. 1st. They were the ones we prayed for at the flea market.

There is more to the story but this is all I can reveal until the proper time. And No, It’s not a series of coincidence. God is on the throne and He is in control.

Another Kingdom Class just started

August 30, 2013 Merlin Gonzales a Study on God's Dominion

It’s been a busy July with the FHL Week 2013 new format. We started with Prayer Celebration on July 21, 2013. The rest of the week included several Projects/Services such as the Project Blessing. Simultaneously, we did the first ever 24/7Indy non stop prayer and worship for 168 hours. We have seen God Encounters and miracles.

After a busy FHL Week, we started the 4th Kingdom Class in Anderson, Indiana on Aug 21st. Like all of the Kingdom classes, this class will end with a project. The project will be tied in with the 24/1 Prayer Worship in Anderson. The participants in this class are expecting big things to happen in their city in the near future. Stay tuned!