Welcome to William's Blog.  There will be fresh, new blogs frequently.  Enjoy! 

• August 6, 2010.  What God is doing at the Mission is unique. One of our staff excitedly brought in an article that she read in her Catholic magazine Quarterly Blessings.  The article was written by Lisa Huetteman, and she wrote: "I recently had the opportunity to hear the CEO of a publicly traded company speak.  He talked about how his walk with God had shaped his role as CEO.  He said a critical turning point in his life and in his business was when he realized that the people in his organization were not tools to be used to help the company succeed.  Instead, he realized his company is a tool to be used to help the people succeed." This is the gist of what God is doing at the Mission.  We believe that we, as members of the Church, were not called to make people's life more bearable, but to introduce them to the transforming power of the Gospel! The Mission exists as a tool to be used to help people succeed.
• June 11, 2010.  I would like to introduce you to Tasiyana.  This lady from Rwanda was one of the first converts during our campaign.  From Day One, this native embraced the gospel, and then took us from hut to hut, to meet her friends.  She wished for all of them to come to know Christ.  There was one who didn't seem interested at first, but Tasiyana insisted on taking us back to her on the next day.  My time with Tasiyana was a brief three days. However, I have a distinct feeling that she will carry on the job we started. She is yet another life transformed by the work of Jesus Christ through His servants.

• June 1, 2010.  I just returned from an evangelistic mission trip to Rwanda.  I joined a team of North Americans and helped plant 10 churches in various villages.  One of the team members asked me about the Mission and how things were going.  I was excited as I told her how God was working at the Mission, transforming lives for the better.  After listening intently, she replied, "I guess the Mission is a Home for the Lonely."  That stayed with me during the trip.  The Mission has indeed been the home for many people who are searching for meaning and purpose.  They indeed have found a home here.  
• May 7, 2010.  I went the whole week without writing anything in my blog.  It was not because nothing happened. Au contraire, I have been very busy growing spiritually and learning much about God. It was just the fact that nothing "jumped out at me" that I would write about. Until today.  Theresa started working on next week's worship music set and she asked me what the meaning of the song "Healing Rain" by Michael W. Smith was about. I told her that I wasn't sure. I checked out the video and, frankly, I ended  up crying at the end of the video. I showed the video to some of my staff and they were also emotionally moved. We recently changed our Mission Statement and this particular music video expressed our deepest desires for those that God brings to our door. I've embeded the video below in case you wish to see it. I hope it encourages you to seek and find Jesus, the Gentle Healer, the One who can heal any emotional, spiritual, or physical hurt that you may have.

• April 26, 2010.  Last Thursday we had our second in-home church service.  Frankly, I had no idea how hungry i was for worship until I found myself fully and totally satisfied by the end of the service.  It reminded me of the passage in John 4:24 that reads, "God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." Whenever I think of this passage, or worship in general, I think of a tree.  A tree's branches are high up in the air and freely (and emotionally) move to the encouragement of the wind.  This is what I think about when I see people raising and waving their hands while they praise.  However, to end the metaphor, the tree's roots are firmly set on solid ground.  This firm footing must be based on Truth, Scripture, Reality.  So, our worship should be free but purposeful, well-grounded in the Word.  I remember years ago hearing about a garden raised in a dome, with the weather and temperature regulated by man.  Every plant grew up as expected, except they noticed that the trees could be easily knocked over by just leaning against it.  The scientists concluded that the tree did not have the benefit of the wind to encourage it to set strong roots.  Likewise, if we don't have a firm foundation on the Word, we can be easily knocked over by any doctrine that comes down the pike.  To sum:  a tree without roots will easily fall; roots without branches are, well, just stumps.  We ought to be full, mature trees, worshipping freely in Spirit while firmly grounded in Truth.
• April 19, 2010.  Call me a dreamer.  For the past three to four weeks I have been very mindful of my dreams. I don't mean daydreams, but the kind of dreams that surface at night, during sleep.  Now, I need to make something very clear.  As an educated man, I am aware that dreams are often the results of random images that the brain just puts together into story form, whether it makes sense or not. As a therapist, I am aware that dreams sometimes serve as the means to safely release strong feelings and emotions from the depth of one's unconscious mind.  As a believer, I know that God sometimes speaks to us in dreams.  Having said that, I have been having a number of dreams that all point toward one thing: I am to experience a transformation of some sort.  As an educated therapist, and believer, I welcome this news. All along we have been aiming towards transformed lives here at the Mission.  And, if it has to start with the man in the mirror, so be it. I am ready to be changed, nay, transformed by the Holy Spirit into whatever pleases Him. Solo Deo Gloria.
• April 12, 2010. We are just days away from a number of exciting events at the Mission.  This coming Wednesday, I will be conducting a Men's Study at the Mission.  The study will focus on "Jesus, the Man", where we will learn from Jesus' manhood in order to be Men of God.  This coming Thursday will be the first in-home service (6:30p - 8:00p).  Theresa will lead worship and I will teach doctrine, specifically the subject of "The Existence of God."  To tell you the truth, I had been feeling anxious about it.  I even came close to bailing out, thinking that, with my weaknesses and humanity, I could not possibly preach the Word.  I was embracing that lie fully when God reminded me that it wasn't about me but about Him, specifically it was His words and not mine.  He reminded me that if He used Balaam's donkey to speak His Word, he could certainly use me. Believe it or not, I found comfort in that.  I may not take myself too seriously, but I do take God, and His Word, very seriously. So, I am looking forward to examining the Scriptures with those that God brings into our home.  Subjects to be discussed:  God, the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, Sin, Judgments, Rewards, the Church, Prayer, Faith, the Abundant Life, Repentance, the New Birth, God's Plan of Salvation, and How to Witness Effectively.
• No matter where you may look, Tiger Woods' face seems to be everywhere.  Whether in a controversial Nike ad or on the green, the name Tiger has become a buzz word yet again.  During my practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist, I ended up specializing in "affairs."  I wrote a book back in 2001 and then a Believer's edition in 2004.  Then in 2006 I wrote a follow-up book to the first one. These last two manuscripts are now available at this website on PDF format for free for registered users for a limited time.  It can be found in the Newsletter and Documents link on the Main Menu.  Again, these documents are available to registered users only, and for a limited time. I hope it not only answers some questions but also helps someone who may be experiencing this horrible relational situation.
• "The stage of history is large.  Larger-than-life figures appear on this stage from time to time, swaggering about, brandishing weapons and money, terrorizing and bullying. These figures are not, as they suppose themselves to be, at the center of the stage--not, in fact, anywhere near the center.  But they make a lot of noise and are able to call attention to themselves. They often manage to get a significant number of people watching and even admiring: big nations, huge armies, important people. At any given moment a few superpower nations and their rulers dominate the daily news. Every century a few of these names are left carved on its park benches, marking rather futile, and in retrospect pitiable, attempts at immortality. The danger is that the noise of these pretenders to power will distract us from what is going on quietly at the center of the stage in the person and action of God.  God's characteristic way of working is in quietness and through prayer...If we are conditioned to respond to noise and size, we will miss God's word and action.  From time to time, God assigns someone to pay attention to one or another of these persons or nations or movements just long enough to get the rest of us to quit paying so much attention to them and get back to the main action: God! [Eugene H. Peterson, Introduction to Nahum, The Message. p.1684]
• April 5, 2010.  When I became the Executive Director of the Good Samaritan Mission, I knew I was walking into a very challenging assignment.  I also knew that I was not completely prepared for what was in store for me.  Yes, I had supervised and directed a number of programs in the past, but I was not to address this venture solely based on my experience and education.  This time, I was having to rely on God and His leading. Do we see miracles happen every day?  Yes, we do.  But, more importantly, I am among a number of individuals who are experiencing growth, emotional and spiritual.  For example, as you may know, I am an Ordained Minister of the Gospel.  To the right of my office desk is the Certificate of Ordination, man's testimony of what God had already decided.  Yet, I was not preaching or teaching.  I had a number of people ask me when I was going to start a Mission congregation, but I had not been instructed by the Father to do so.  Well, up until now.  Several weeks ago, after a series of dreams, I had a strong, internal, deafening call to do so.  So, despite my weaknesses and imperfections, I will start a congregation.  Mind you, it will be a small one at first. We will meet at our house on the Mission premises beginning April 15th, at 6:30 pm.  Theresa will usher us to the very throne of God through Worship (the woman is truly gifted in this matter) and I will begin a series of short sermons on the fundamentals of Christian doctrine.  In other words, we will worship in Spirit (songs of Worship) and in Truth (Biblical Doctrine).  This service will be in English.  The Spanish service?  Thanks for asking.  We had tried to start a Spanish congregation several times, but kept running into closed doors. Until God showed me the "congregation" that He had been bringing on Tuesday mornings.  I asked this crowd if they wished to be our Tuesday morning congregation, and they all agreed.  So, to sum, we are having Spanish services on Tuesday mornings at 10:00 and English services Thursday evenings at 6:30. This new schedule frees Theresa and I to speak at area churches on Sunday mornings. Solo Deo Gloria!
• April 1, 2010.  As you might have read in April's Mission Monthly, today is a very significant day for me.  I am celebrating my 27th spiritual birthday today.  That Friday, back in 1983, I arrived home to a house as empty as my life was.  I went to the kitchen and grabbed the biggest, sharpest knife I could find.  I went to my room, locked myself in it.  I surveyed the room, looking for something to do next.  I proceeded to trash the place, throwing objects around, pulling the mattress off, leaving a royal mess.  The result was a metaphor of the condition of my heart.  I took a deep breath and was about to plunge the knife into my body, when I heard a very loud voice inside of me. "You phony!" I hesitated, taking that phrase in.  "Phony?", I asked, out loud.  "Yes, Phony," answered the Holy Spirit, and then He proceeded to show me, through a series of moving pictures in my head, how I had lived an outwardly "righteous" life but was inwardly lost.  After the "picture show" I asked Him to save me and change me from the inside out.  That Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were nothing short of glorious.  It was just me and Jesus, praying and reading the Bible, celebrating my new-found life in Christ.  It was just me and Jesus; nobody else.  Starting on that day, the Holy Spirit has been peeling off, little by little, the many layers of self-righteousness.  No, he's not done yet; I was pretty intensely Pharisaic.  Today, I expect to swing into heaven solely on what Jesus did on the cross for me.  Incidentally, I will be returning to Rwanda, Africa this Spring.  As an added treat, I will be taking Gabriel, our 12 year old, on his first international mission's trip.  You can check him out at www.e3partners.org/gabedotcom.
• As you probably know, we are currently looking into revamping our website.  One of the items that we are looking at is modifying the different tabs that we feature, such as this one.  One of my ideas was to rename this tab the Creepy Cool tab.  I coined this term to describe some of the events that occur here at the Mission, events that are both "creepy" in nature, but are also "cool" in what they say about God and what He is doing at the Mission.  I would like to explain one of those "creepy cool" issues.  Weeks ago we had a gentleman who recently joined the Mission engage us during lunch. He replied that he had left "Corporate America" in search for something more meaningful.  God had directed his steps to GSM.  Then he asked us if we felt an "urgency" deep inside of us to forsake the world and get involved in the matters of God.  I reframed his question as to whether we were listening to an internal alarm that warned us to get serious about God's ministry.  Everyone at the table, believers all, agreed that they could "hear it."  That weekend we were doing a presentation at a mission's conference in a local church.  During Sunday School, I was asked to introduce GSM and talk about it.  Before I explained what we do, I asked the same question that this gentleman had asked.  Every hand in the room shot up.  What could this possibly mean?, I asked myself.  As I make my way through my personal Bible reading, I came upon the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah.  I could not help but read God's condemnation on the sins of the people in Judah, Israel, and surrounding people.  I also could not help reading how all of these sins mentioned in these pages were the same ones that we, in America, are guilty of committing.  Could God, who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, be warning us of upcoming doom because of our disregard for God and His Word.  And, most significantly, is the Mission one of the tools that God is using to fulfill His purpose to wake the church into obedience?
• Thanksgiving 2009 will be a memorable one for me.  Never had I seen so many people involved in such a large event and the Spirit of God being so strong at work.  The report is that 57 children made professions of faith thanks to the child evangelism efforts of Bob and Donna Kuntz.  The folks from Idlewild Baptist Churchwere busy serving food and living out the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Two women who received food baskets showed me a box of cucumbers and greens.  One of them told me that this was going to be their Thanksgiving dinner.  Well, not anymore!  They left with enough food to make a nice Thanksgiving dinner, and have enough left for another day.
• I arrived from Rwanda on Sunday, September 27th, at 1:18 A.M.  I walked into our mobile home on the premises of the Good Samaritan Mission.  Tired and frazzled, I put my suitcases down on the floor and prepared for bed.  Feed the Bay was going to be later that day, so I knew that I needed to get some rest. As I made my way around our home, I could not think of anything except how rich I was.  Okay, so many people have bigger homes than mine, but compared to the huts I saw, I was on a Rock Star status.  I had running water, electricity, vinyl, wood, or tile floor--depending on the particular room.  Our home was up on blocks, their homes were ground level, open to whatever or whomever may come. I had a change of clothes for basically every day of the week, for several weeks, at least.  They had one set of nice clothes for Sunday, and the rest of the week they wore the same shirt and pants (it helped me in recognizing specific individuals in the crowd).  I had so much stuff, but you know what they had that I did not have?  Joy.  We pursue happiness, yes, but it is dependent on whether we are comfortable and well to do.  If we lose our internet, we lose our happiness.  If we lose our Air Conditioning, we lose our happiness.  If we lose our transportation, we lose our happiness.  The people I saw had nothing! However, when it came to expressing the joy of God's salvation, no one could beat them.  Psalm 73:25 reads, "Whom have I in heaven but You?  And I have no delight or desire on earth besides You." (Amplified).  How many of us can actually say that?  Take away our comfort and possessions, and can we truly say that because we have Jesus, it's enough?! I can't say that, today.  But, I am making it my goal:  the Sufficiency of Jesus.
• On Sunday, September 6, 2009, at 7:50 P.M. I watched a  man die.  My friend of five years developed pancreatic cancer and, on that day I, along with family and friends, watched his body succumb to the effects of the cancer slowly.  I have been told that watching someone die stays with you for ever.  I've learned several lessons from this experience.  I saw the inner strength displayed by his wife and five children, a strength that could only come from God.  I saw caring pastors from their church providing comfort, prayers, and the visual presence of God in that hospital room.  I saw a number of young adults and adults, standing around the bed, singing hymns and choruses so that my friend would listen (I heard that the patient's hearing is the last thing to go).  With your permission, I'd like to focus on something different, and those of you who have experienced this event will fully understand.  I am speaking of the gift of breath.  How a baby survives in a mother's womb without air is, well, a miracle. Yet, once the child enters the world, he is granted breath by the Breath Giver.  From that moment on, the gift of breath is so common that we don't even think about it.  Then, one day, while playing around or wrestling or by accident, we lose our breath.  We react, well, violently to say the least.  Have you noticed that?  Breathing is so important!  One day, the Breath Giver takes our breath away.  Prior to that, the body fights for breath as it fights for life.  Then, slowly, the breath leaves the body.  And, with that breath, life is exhaled into its final destination.  My point?  We have no say in regards to when the Breath Giver grants us that first breath, or when He takes it away.  In the meantime, we must cherish this gift of breath.  Breathe Out Loud!  Celebrate Life!!
• "If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretense of taking care of them, they must become happy." (Bergh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 10:343).  "...we shall all consider ourselves unauthorized to saddle posterity with our debts, and morally bound to pay them ourselves; and consequently within what may be deemed the period of a generation, or the life [expectancy] of the majority." (Ibid., 13:358). 
• On Sunday, May 31, Theresa and I visited a local church in Tampa.  A faithful contributor of the Mission, Don Lombardi, had been invited to bring the message on that Sunday.  He told me that he was talking about both the parable of the Good Samaritan, as well as the ministry of GSM.  We were glad to have witnessed this man of God bring the message.  As he read the old, familiar story, something special dawned on me.  I pictured the Samaritan engaging the wounded man.  He may have noticed that the man had many needs.  For example, the man was obviously hurt; the Samaritan tended to his wounds.  The man may have been hungry; the Samaritan could have given him something to eat.  The man may have been naked; the Samaritan may have covered his body.  However, once these basic needs were met, the hero of the story did not leave the wounded man there!  He picked him up out of that vulnerable position and went the extra mile or two or more (we are not sure how far away the inn was located).  This is what we are involved in at the Good Samaritan Mission.  Yes, we continue to feed people.  Yes, we continue to clothe them.  Yes, we continue to provide furniture and household goods.  But, we are going the extra mile. Through evangelism, education and training, we are picking them up out of a vulnerable positions and placing them in a better place!  So far, we have had a great response to this enhanced ministry, namely the Seeds of Change.
• Several weeks ago I was awakened from an interesting dream.  In this dream, I was in a workshop at a large facility.  I was aware that I was one of the speakers and I was just waiting to take the stage and speak.  I saw this Oriental business man in my dream, and somehow I knew that it was he who was hosting the event.  I made my way to see him, intent on telling him about Jesus.  Before I spoke, this gentleman stopped me and said to me, "I know about God.  He is a business man."  Curiously, I asked what he meant by that, "God is in the business of reconciliation."  I awoke from my dream with this thought in mind.  God is in the business of reconciliation?  I made my way to my computer and started doing an exegetical study of the word "reconciliation", as used by Paul in the letters to the Romans and Corinthians.  I found that the term used for "reconciliation" was a market/business term, which meant to exchange, say, invaluable currency to currency that is acceptable.  For example, if you were to go to Spain, you would have to exchange or "reconcile" your U.S. dollars into Euros.  And then, it hit me.  People walk about this earth thinking that they are nothing, nobodies.  And, it a sense, in their natural spiritual state, they are "dead in their trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1).  But God, being the business Man that He is, offers to "reconcile" us into children of God, His "possession" (1 Peter 2:9).  This is the message that we are trying to make known to those who come through our doors.  In the words of the song by Wayne Watson, God offers "new lives for old, warm hearts for cold!"  We, at the Good Samaritan Mission, are in the business of telling people this message.
• During one of the most volatile periods of the current economic crisis—a week in which global stock markets declined by $7 trillion—Philip Yancey received a call from an editor at Timemagazine. The editor's question was simple: "How should a person pray during a crisis like this?" Here is a summary of what Yancey shared in response: The first stage is simple, an instinctive cry: "Help!" For someone who faces a job cut or health crisis or watches retirement savings wither away, prayer offers a way to voice fear and anxiety. I have learned to resist the tendency to edit my prayers so that they sound sophisticated and mature. I believe God wants us to come exactly as we are, no matter how childlike we may feel. A God aware of every sparrow that falls surely knows the impact of scary financial times on frail human beings. …If I pray with the intent to listen as well as talk, I can enter into a second stage, that of meditation and reflection. Okay, my life savings has virtually disappeared. What can I learn from this seeming catastrophe? …A time of crisis presents a good opportunity to identify the foundation on which I construct my life. If I place my ultimate trust in financial security or in the government's ability to solve my problems, I will surely watch the basement flood and the walls crumble.A friend from Chicago, Bill Leslie, used to say that the Bible asks three main questions about money: (1) How did you get it? (Legally and justly or exploitatively?); (2) What are you doing with it? (Indulging in luxuries or helping the needy?); and (3) What is it doing to you? Some of Jesus' most trenchant parables and sayings go straight to the heart of that last question. …The same week that global wealth shrank by $7 trillion, Zimbabwe's inflation rate hit a record 231 million percent. In other words, if you had saved $1 million Zimbabwean dollars by Monday, on Tuesday it was worth $158. This sobering fact leads me to the third and most difficult stage of prayer in crisis: I need God's help in taking my eyes off my own problems in order to look with compassion on the truly desperate. …What a testimony it would be if, in 2009, Christians resolved to increase their giving to build houses for the poor, combat AIDS in Africa, and announce kingdom values to a decadent, celebrity-driven culture. Such a response defies all logic and common sense — unless, of course, we take seriously the moral of Jesus' simple tale about building houses on a sure foundation.--Christianity Today International

• "Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it."--Mark Twain

• February 25, 2009.  For such a time as this.  Today I was reminded of the story of Esther, as found in the Old Testament.  As this piece of history unfolds, we find this young queen in deep thought as she was told that, by decree of her husband king, all of the Jews would be killed. Unbeknownst to him, this included her.  What would go through the mind of a person who knows that something terrible is sure to happen? Isn't self-preservation the highest human goal?  Her uncle Mordecai's words were truly inspiring, "And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?"(Esther 4:14b).  Esther asked for prayer and commitment from the people in order to encourage her to complete her task.  Bringing this to today, I was thinking about the economy.  I still hear stories of people being laid-off and in financial stress.  Here at the Mission we are seeing more and more "non-farmworkers" come through our doors, many of which may be your next door neighbors!  Then I was struck with the thought that this ministry to ALL, not just the latino population, is mostly supported by private donations (save for the Daycare). We, too, have been affected by a decrease in donations.  What if something terrible happens at the Mission?  I told my wife, Theresa, about the state of the economy, and the increase in "non-farmworker" population, and the private donation factor.  Do you know what she said?  "It's a good thing we are here for them." Wow!  "And who knows whether we have not attained [a position of service] for such a time as this?"  Yes, Theresa, it is a good thing we are here for them!  Please pray for us as we faithfully and responsibly complete the task that God has called us to do.
• February 11, 2009.  We are not alone.  We were aware that there are other community organizations in the area who also serve the needy.  So, we decided to begin to work with them, side-by-side, in order to benefit the community.  Y'know, two heads being better than one.  Anyway, we decided to "break the ice" with a simple plan:  on a Wednesday, the Mission would fill the cargo van with two tables and boxes/bags of clothes; Beth-El Mission would do the same.  We would meet "in the middle", at a mobile home park in Ruskin, and try to reach those who couldn't make it to either one of the missions.  We arrived first, staked out the park for the best place to set-up.  Shortly thereafter, Javier showed up with his crew.  We set up the tables, and started to put clothes on the table.  One young woman (I guess the brave one in the crowd), meekly approached the table.  In Spanish, she asked, "Are you selling these?"  I answered that we were not; they were free.  She walked closer to the table, started handling the clothes, then looked at me and said, "Thank you for remembering the poor."  It wasn't long until we had several dozen men, women, and children going through the clothes, laughing, enjoying this joyful event.  I found myself, standing on the other side of the tables, drenched with the joy and laughter of the moment.  I felt, maybe just a smidgen, of what the disciples may have felt like when they were feeding the five thousand.  Just to complete the Biblical picture in my mind at that moment, Javier brought up boxes of bread and, with a smile on his face, started feeding the people. After an hour, when everything was packed up and ready to go, and the crowd had been sent out with a blessing, I ventured and circled the park on my way out.  Families were at the front porch, going through the "treasures" they had just received.  Some noticed me and waved, wide-eyed and wide-smiled.  I smiled back and waved back.  What's that scripture? "It is more blessed to give than to receive?"  You better believe it!  I certainly do!