I am writing from my $9.95 for 24 hours wireless connection at the very pricey Ritz Carlton of Marina del Rey, CA. The best thing here has been their awesomely comfortable king size bed . OMG, I want the bed! I have slept wonderfully. Unfortunately, not enough time to sleep though because of the schedule. I will post pics when I get home but I’ve visited Bishop Kenneth Ulmer’s church, Faithful Central Bible Church. The big deal about this is that this church purchased the former L.A. Lakers hang out which is now called the Forum. They operate it as a for-profit venture with profits going back to the church. Recent rental was to Madonna herself and they netted $700,000 profit. Wow. They made a dvd called the Faith Journey which details their journey to purchase this huge building. It was very inspirational. I got a chance to talk to him and ask him a question, “how did you have the faith necessary to venture out into this great undertaking?” He said his darkest days in ministry was while working to purchase that building and that many times he had to ENCOURAGE HIMSELF when all he had to hang on to when all looked bleak was God’s word to him. I found it interesting that he would mention the need to encourage yourself as in a new radio program I am doing on 89.7 Spirit FM (my school’s radio station AND “the” veteran Christian radio station in S. FL) I am doing 1 minute programs and one of the topics was this very thing…the need for us all to encourage ourselves. If you get a chance check out the program this week at 3:20 pm at www.897spiritfm.com you can listen online. Tell me what you think!

One of the many benefits of going to a conference where you meet other women in ministry is that you get to hear the stories and you get renewed for ministry. I am convinced that God has great things for our church but yes it will not be without its cost. I’ll tell you more of the plans soon. But one thing…if you know of a mature Christian who would love to move to Florida and be involved in ministry to develop a multicultural church community (we’re looking for a Black American) please let me know. We need to get the word out and we want someone to join our team in that regard. It won’t happen by osmosis so we need to just put it out there. I want to right some more but am getting ready to go to dinner with the gang even though my king size bed and down comforters tell me the better place to be is right in between the sheets but if I don’t eat now I won’t eat until tomorrow am.

God bless and we’ll connect again soon.

Tomorrow I leave to California. I’ll be staying at the Ritz Carlton Marina del Rey to be exact to take part and be blessed by the 2nd International Women in Ministry Conference.  I’ll be sharing on Church Planting for women who feel called to do that and on the issue of Faith & Race and its Importance in the Church.

I am persuaded that the devil just has done all he can for me to be too tired, discouraged, and disspirited to go but he really got me confused with someone else. Truth is, I am totally PO’d at him and that energy is redirected to bring glory to God. I AM going to go to the conference, I WILL speak my heart out to the women who end up in my workshop or breakfast roundtable and I SHALL be blessed by those God uses to speak to my life.  I am going to try to squeeze in a trip to see Rudy if I can convince our driver (Pastor Marc) and the rest of the party (Pastor Enid, Pastor Dan & Marcy Ramos, Rev. Lucy Harris) it doesn’t seem to far…(38 min so says Mapquest).

Please say a prayer for my hubby who after two epidural shots still feels numbness in his leg and may need surgery for his herniated disc which is pinching a nerve. I am going to CA in faith that my family will be ok.  My hubby wants me to go as 2 weeks ago with this adventure started I didn’t get to go to NY. So join me in a short prayer for mi familia. Thanks!

If wifi isn’t lots of dollars I’ll start posting from there.

Paz!

A prayer I need and perhaps you need too!

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I was supposed to be in NYC this weekend for the CEFL Renew gathering. BUT drama unfolded again in the Rios Household. The good thing not life-threatening.

I was awakened on Thursday morning by the yells of my husband Hiram, “Liz! Liz!” Don’t panic but come here!” Needless to say, my heart was racing and I thought one of my dogs died, yeah, I did panic. What I saw in my kitchen was not a dead dog (the last time he yelled like that was when my beloved 10 year old Boxer died the week of Thanksgiving 2004), but it was Hiram seemingly paralyzed on the kitchen counter. Leg shaking. Gripping to counter. Crying…in pain.

What happened? What’s going on? I asked trying to look as in control during crisis as my husband always seems to be (and not doing a very good job at it). He said “I took Advils but as I was reaching for the dog’s collar, I felt a pinch and that was it.”

That was it alright. He could not move. I wanted to take him to the ER in my van but he could not sit. He was frozen and any movement caused extreme pain. So…I called an ambulance. They came. They took him. My older son Samuel was in tears, wondering what was happening with his dad. Boy little guy has seen enough drama in our household with his little brother’s 27 surgeries and my life in the hospital…he was in fear. As the ambulance left, I got myself and the kids ready (no I didn’t send Sam to school…what for? He would not be able to concentrate thinking of his dad)…it was 6:30 am.

Fast forward a few hours later, 12:30 pm and I’m picking up my hubby who is being escorted out of the hospital in a wheelchair (yeap a wheelchair). He’s on heavy pain medication and muscle relaxers and he can’t drive until at least Monday. The doc said its a few things, an MRI on Thursday will confirm his suspicions but for right now…its only a sciatic nerve problem. The doc said Hiram should rest this weekend–no lifting, kneeling, bending, yadda yadda yadda. You get the picture. Men do feel helpless when they can’t do what usually defines them as men, so pray for my babe.

So needless to say, I didn’t go to NYC, I changed my trip to the weekend of Nov 30-Dec 3. I think the ladies in the Renew group understood…family comes first. Hiram is recovering and is resting. I’m preaching on Sunday and we’ll all show up to church.

And this was another dramatic episode of as the Rios World Turns…stay tuned for the next episode…will Liz have to use her super human strength to lift Hiram and DJ with a single hand, will Hiram recover his super-charged pastor powers and be able to sing, dance and jump in his usual manner…

hey you gotta have some humor!

“When a doctoral student at Princeton asked, “What is there left in the world for original dissertation research?” Albert Einstein replied, “Find out about prayer. Somebody must find out about prayer.”*

I have to admit that in my years of life and ministry, prayer has always baffled me. Never more than the time I think I had people across the U.S. praying for my 2nd son, Daniel Jeremiah (DJ) for healing and a quick recovery after his premature birth and well, you know the story…he wasn’t healed, as a matter a fact, he came out of the hospital worse and to this day, after 27 surgeries he is still blind, has CP and hydrocephalus. At that time, I thought prayer didn’t work. I lost my faith. I wanted to quit. But before long, the darkness I was in gave way to a bright light, the journey I thought I would never recover from ended up being the journey that revealed who I really was. Those moments of what I thought was emotional death actually brought forth spiritual life. The truth right now is that I still don’t know much about this thing called prayer. But before, I did it because that is what I thought I had to do to be a good Christian. I didn’t really ’study’ prayer. Come to think of it, I really didn’t question much as I grew up. A good Christian didn’t question or so I was indoctrinated to believe. Now having experienced two dramatic emotional painstaking life dramas, I question and yeah, I still think I am going to heaven. But I also “study” so that I can share insights with my soul but also the soul of others. It’s a good thing. This learning we do. I wish I would have done this as a younger person. When we are young we think we know it all. Funny thing is that when we get older, we realize we didn’t know a darn thing and God’s mercy kept us.

At our church, Wounded Healer, we are going back to the disciplines of the faith because they really do matter. But we want our folks to KNOW why the matter. One of the things we are studying now is prayer. I know that prayer is one of the keys to our personal relationship with God but why is it so difficult? I guess for me its that I am more unanswered questions than answered prayers. Yet, I choose to believe that God is good. That He really does have everything under control. I’ve also learned to accept that there will be more pain in life for some of us than joy, that some of us will lose more than gain and some of us will cry more than laugh. But still in all, God cares more about what we learn in those times and our response to those times than our comforts here on earth. I think that is something the Western Church and its people have lost.

We are so concerned with the significance of success. As a church planting pastor, we are very aware that the world in not so many words tells you that you are not successful unless you are a pastor of 500 or more (the number changes but who comes up with the number). Many pastors feel insignificant or as failures because they barely reach 100. My gut tells me the best is yet to come for my life and that of my church but its not going to come without its pain, its tears, its feelings of insignificance. But we are down for it because Hiram and I believe prayer will be the difference and we hope to have our lives, our ministry reflect that belief, even if we are the only ones who do it …even if we challenge everyone else to do it with us. Prayer, evangelism, praise and worship that is what will define Wounded Healer. We believe God gave us this vision, we’re going forward but its prayer…we have to find out about prayer. We need to take God at His word. But more importantly, we need to seek Him first. He cares more about us seeking Him not seeking Him for the answers…can we do that?

I know its a challenge, but my prayer is that we all learn more about prayer.

*quote taken from Prayer - Does It Really Make any Difference by Philip Yancey

“You can’t lead our people if you don’t love our people. You can’t save our people if you won’t serve our people.” Cornel West as quoted by Travis Smiley in The Covenant

Rev. Leoncia Rosado Rousseau, born April 11, 1912 died yesterday in NYC, known as "Mama Leo" to many she has been promoted to glory.  She was the founder of Damascus Christian Churches and was the spiritual mom to many including Nicky Cruz, Jim Jimenez of the Rock Church in Virginia Beach and Bishop Jerry Kaufman, founder of Love Gospel Assembly in the Bronx. I wrote about her in my chapter "The Ladies are Warriors": Latina Pentecostalism and Faith-based Activism in New York City for Latino Religions and Civic Activism in the United States Download ElizabethRios-12

If you are in NYC, pay respect to one of God’s angels and a pioneer for women in ministry everywhere:

“By asking ourselves how we want to be remembered, we plant the seeds for living our lives as if we matter. By living each day as if we matter, we offer up our own unique legacy. By offering up our own unique legacy, we make the world we inhabit a better place than we found it.”–From the Introduction in A Leader’s Legacy, the new book by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, best-selling authors of the Leadership Challenge.

One of the books I had to read in one of my classes was the Leadership Challenge. I absolutely loved the book. I loved the spirit of the writers as well. Pick up this book if you can, I am sure it will inspire you as well as be a great addition to your leadership library.

It’s a better day. I told you my down in the dumps days don’t last long. Thank God. Someone beside me is praying for me. Thank you! Our service was so good today. God showed up and met us all where we needed to be met. Our worship is so free and liberating. I just thank God that we allow ourselves to get out of the way of what God wants to do. It truly prepared the way for the Word of God today. Hiram shared on Colossians 1:3-14.
Thanksgiving and Prayer
3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel 6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[c] behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption,[e] the forgiveness of sins.

One of the most impactful things today for ME was that we need to God’s power not to do mighty acts (although that is great), not to show the world the powerful God we serve (he don’t need us to do that) but to ENDURE GREATLY and for PATIENCE and to ultimately give us JOY in the middle of our mess. We need to pray for our brothers and sisters and we need to pray this for ourselves. This is the progress through prayer we need to see in our lives and the lives of others. Like I mentioned in my previous post, I feel like I do alot of bearing and enduring well that’s true but I need God’s power to help me CONTINUE to bear and endure.

You know, of course, I want to do mighty acts of power for God, I want to impact people’s lives, I want the mention of my name to bring glory to His name, but ultimately I want to bear and endure to the end. I want that for you too!

Paul said “And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you…”
So my fellow blogosphere friends…I pray power for YOU to endure so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord, so you can please Him and bear fruit, much fruit for the kingdom, so you can continue to learn more about him …may you not just simply endure, but greatly endure…together YOU and I will make it, yes we may cry, we may have those times of temper tantrums with God but keep asking for the power, Abba Father will not deny you or I that and that is a good thing because there is much bearing and enduring to come.