Love Mercy

In the last few days leading up to the final interview, there has been a number of events that have caused me to think about “mercy.” For instance, the other day I read a passage of the Bible that talked about mercy. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus is teaching the importance of mercy by saying, “Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful.” The lesson is not only about giving mercy, as an action; but also being merciful, as the state of being. It is one of various characteristics of God.

Breakthroughs occur not on account of our good deeds or we have appeased God in some way, rather they occur due to His very nature, He is merciful. Out of His deep compassion for us, the Lord reveals Himself to us as the sustainer of our lives. From the depths of His love for us flows affection and compassion, which translates into mercy.

I am so undeserving of all that God given me, all that He is currently giving me, and everything that is to come. I am referring to the blessing of His presence in my life. Rather than receiving His judgment and condemnation for all the sins I have committed He has demonstrated mercy. I am so grateful for that mercy. I am so grateful that His very nature is mercy. It is this wonderful nature that is being cultivated in us by molding us into the likeness of Christ.

Today, again, I experienced the mercy of God. I experienced His favor by receiving a favorable interview with the senior chaplain of the U.S. Army. The senior chaplain did acknowledge at the end of the interview that he was going to recommend me to the commissioning board, which will be meeting mid June. I must say that I felt the presence of God during the full course of the interview. I was able to learn a lot from Chaplain Pace. He had so much wisdom and insight to give.

Jesus teaches us, “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’” (Mt. 9:13). This lesson is just a reiteration of an Old Testament principle of loving mercy. It should be our desire to show and extend mercy, especially to a world that can be unmerciful.

In my heart, as I have been experiencing the mercy of the Lord, I know that I now need to extend mercy and to be merciful. Therefore, as a recipient of the mercy of God, I must now love mercy and extend it to those around me.

This journey to chaplaincy has been teaching me how great is the mercy of God and how much I need to be more and more like Christ by extending mercy to those around me.

The Final Stetch

As the process to be approved as a U. S. Army chaplain reaches its final stages, there is one more hurdle to jump; that is, a final interview with an Army senior chaplain. This coming Thursday at 9 a.m., I will be meeting with the senior chaplain in Carlisle. He will evaluate a manuscript of a couple of sermons I have prepared and my communication skills.

After this interview, my full packet will go before the Army Chaplain commissioning board, which will take place mid June.

I do ask for your prayers for the Thursday interview. I ask for the Lord Jesus to provide grace, peace, and joy. I am asking that the Lord grant me favor in the eyes of my senior chaplain. I am asking for continual breakthroughs as these final stages are being completed.

Thank you, so much, for keeping me and my family in your prayers. Please, feel free to leave a comment with a prayer or a word of encouragement. You could also email me at amperezch@comcast.net

I praise the name of the Lord God Almighty for His faithfulness and His grace. Those that wait upon the Lord, shall renew their strength. They will never be disappointed. They will see the glory of the Living God.

Great Sigh of Relief

Wednesday morning, the big day arrived. I didn’t sleep a wink. I kept waking up through the night. Nicole was also nervous, I think more than me; so I thought. We got to the Assemblies of God headquarters at 8 a.m. for our 8:20 a.m. appointment which started at 8:30 a.m. The waiting was actually short, but it felt like forever. Then, one of the members of the Commission On Chaplain came out to get us from the waiting room. As we walked down the hall to the executive board room, he said to Nicole and me to remember that this will be a dialogue and not an interrogation. Wow, that was a relief; until he made the next statement, “When you walk in don’t sit just stand and the committee will introduce themselves.” “Just stand?” Oh, oh. I started thinking that when I walk in that I ought to say, “Angel Perez reporting, sir.” But, I didn’t and we stood before the commission. They introduced themselves; all eleven of them took turns around this almost 30 foot conference table (quite intimidating).

We were asked to sit and then the questions began. Days before, Nicole and I thought of all the kinds of questions they would ask us. To our amazement, they didn’t ask the questions we thought they were going to ask. They asked the questions that we least thought they would ask. They asked questions related to my calling, to interacting with people from other faiths, and they asked Nicole what were her feelings were towards me being deployed. This interview took about 10 to 15 minutes.

Then they asked us to wait outside so that they can make a decision. As we waited outside in the waiting area, I really began to get nervous. Maybe it was due to the anticipation of their decision. Again, what lasted only a minute, seemed like an eternity. They called us in and we stood before the Commission. The Commission stood and the chaplaincy director spoke. All I remember was him saying, “Congratulations, we are happy to award you full ecclesiastical endorsement as chaplain for Army.” I know I am not quoting him correctly; the point is I received the endorsement. Praise the Lord!!

They took Nicole and me to the one end of the super huge conference table to pray for us. I was given a commemorative coin by my military chaplaincy director before they started to pray. Then they placed their hands on us. Then Chaplain (Col.) Kinder prayed for us. It was an enormously great moment of prayer. I was again filled with awe and gratitude unto the Lord. When we finished praying they gave us handshakes and hugs and words of encouragement.

Nicole and I finally made our way out of the board room. As the doors closed behind us, we began to walk down the hallway. I didn’t go that far. I ended up being overwhelmed with such emotion that I had to lean against the wall to hold myself up. Tears flooded my eyes and I began to weep. Nicole realized that I wasn’t right behind her, so she turned around and came towards me. All I could do was hold her close to me. We didn’t say anything. We didn’t exchange words. There was no need to say anything. We both knew. We both felt it. We both cried with tears of joy and gratitude. The day that we have been waiting for had finally arrived. The Assemblies of God Commission on Chaplains granted me their endorsement.

God has so graciously shown favor over our lives and answered our prayers. What a great sigh of relief!! What another breakthrough!!

Endorsement, Here I Come!

In the next few days I will be meeting with the chaplain endorsement agency of my denomination. It is my prayer and hope that all will go well. I trust the Lord Jesus that it will. It will be a long a waited time to finally receive the full endorsement of the Assemblies of God to go into the Army.

This endorsement is definitely an honor. It will be my endeavor to be responsible to adhere to the duties it represents. By receiving such an endorsement, I can only praise the Lord for showing me favor. "As unto the Lord" I will serve God, country, and endorser.

By the way, if you have been reading my blog and would like to share a word of encouragement or even ask a question, please leave a comment. Just click on "comments" and let me hear from you.

I will be posting again at the end of this week, so visit again and I'll let you know all the details to my visit with my endorser.

Blessings! Remember, with God nothing is impossible! "Breakthrough!"

Breakthrough At M.E.P.S.

I am so happy to report that I passed the Military Entrance Processing Station physical.


Needless to say, the night before I was concerned with what the results would be. I really prayed to the Lord for peace. My wife, Nicole, stated that if I have done all that I can do to face the physical then I shouldn't worry. She was right and by the grace and favor of God I passed it.


In all the five areas that they examined me they rated me with 1-3. One is the best score to receive, two is still good, but three is definitely not so good. All the five categories had ones except the area of my eyes, which I received a two. The two just indicates that I need to wear glasses to read.


My recruiter and his staff were also over-joyed. On Monday, when I took the physical I had the privilige to meet the recruiting station. Prior to Monday, I had been in contact with my chaplain recruiter, CH Walker, via phone and email. During my visit, we went over the rest of my packet that will be sent to the commissioning board in June. Sgt. Pamplin did an excellent job taking me through the final papers that I needed to sign so that my packet could be closer to being complete.


There are just a few more steps before the final "Good to Go." I need my denominational endorsement and an interview with one of the representatives of the Chief of Chaplain's office. Then the packet will go before the commissioning board. I know that it will go up in June, but I have been praying and asking God for a breakthrough for my packet to go up in May, so that I could have the opportunity to go for training in June. If the packet goes up in June, then I will have to wait for September to go for training.


Well, breakthroughs are what this blog is all about. Join your faith with mine for a miracle so that the doors will be opened for my packet to go before the board in May.


By the way, I lost another half inch off my waist. My body fat content has changed from 23.36% to 22.58%. My weight is at 211 lbs. My goal is to get under 200 lbs. before meeting my endorser in May. Of course the weight varies, so the other goal would be to get my body fat content percentage under 20%; without killing myself. My current waist is 38 inches, I would need to get down to 36 inches to reach that goal. But, what I find rather odd is that I can fit in a 36" waist pants. Wow, to think that I used to wear 46" pants. I have have lost 10" off my waist; that's a lot of fat (80+ pounds).


Well, here is a current picture of myself. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not becoming vain, but considering how far I have come to losing the weight and to qualify physically for the Army, I give God the glory for giving me the courage, strength, and self-discipline to achieve this goal.














Left picture was from August 2005. The right picture is from this month, April 2007.

I'm still looking for breakthroughs, how about you?

Let's Go M.E.P.S.

The time has finally come for me to go for the "all out" Army physical on Monday morning, 23 of April. I am trusting in the Lord that everything is going to be a "GO!"

So, after this experience, I will post some details. Hopefully it won't be too humiliating.

The Invitation

One of the most important parts of the road to chaplaincy in the Army is receiving a denominational endorsement. After meeting the physical requirement, I received a phone call from the Department of Chaplaincy of the Assemblies of God in Springfield, Missouri inviting me to go out to Springfield and be a part of the Commissioning of Chaplains. I am honored to have received such an invitation. So, in May, Nicole and I will be flying out to Missouri. Praise the Lord, for He is opening more doors of opportunity.



Side Note:

I had mentioned that I passed the physical requirement. I wanted to show you a before and after picture of the transformation that has happened after losing close to 80 pounds.



Before:

July 2005













July 2006










After:
March 2007













Thank you to all who have been praying and providing encouragement.

Check back next week for the update on my MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) for the medical examination that will determine if I can proceed to the next phase.

Anticipate a breakthrough, today!