Hey Jude!

Today is my son's second birthday. So much has happened over the last 2 years and yet it still feels like yesterday that I saw him for the first time. I can't believe how much he has grown over the past 2 years. I can't believe how much I have grown over the last 2 years. God has used this little boy to give me so much revelation. Through him, I have come into a better understanding of the Father's love for us. With every passing day, the revelation that God gives me continues to increase. I will forever be changed because of him.

Some people have asked my wife and I why we named him Jude. Being a Beatles fan, I couldn't think of a better name. But naming him goes way beyond a love for The Beatles.

Walking in Daddy's Shoes

The other day, as we were getting ready for church, my son Jude, put mu shoes on and started walking around. As he was walking around, he was singing, "I walkin' in daddy's shoes." While watching him walk around in my shoes, I started thinking about all the things I want to see him do and all the places I want him to be able to go to. I want my son to not only walk in my shoes, but I want him to go farther than I do.

In that moment, I heard the voice of the Lord say, "I want you to walk in my shoes. The very thing you want for Jude, is what I want for you."

The End

There's been a lot of talk in recent days about the end of the world. From movies about the Mayan calendar, to R.V.'s driving around the country warning people about the end, we have become fascinated and intrigued by the possibility of knowing when it's all going to end. There are even people warning us that May 21, 2011 will mark the beginning of "Judgment Day" and that the end of the world will come 5 months later. Most mainstream Evangelical Christians say that you can't know the time when the end will come. I, on the other hand, being what I would consider a mainstream Evangelical Christian, believe that we can know when the end will come. I would even dare to say that I know when this is all going to end.

Happy Day!

My son has learned a new phrase, “Happy Day!” He probably picked it up from church. There is this one song we sing during worship called “Happy Day” and he loves to sing and dance when it is played. He spends most of his time shouting out “Happy Day!” He shouts it out as he plays at home, as he sits in the car and while we walk through the supermarket. The interesting thing about it is that it seems more than just the random babblings of a 16 month old. It’s a declaration. This couldn’t have been more evident than in our last trip to Disney.

Lost Children

Today marks Sarah and my third wedding anniversary. The past three years have been an amazing journey. I am so blessed and honored to do life with Sarah. She has been a picture of the grace of God in my life and a testimony of what the bride of Christ should look like. Over the last three years, I have learned that I need to be more like her. I love her so much. In our short time together, we have faced many challenges. God is faithful, and has seen us through each one. This week in particular I am reminded of one of those challenges. It happened shortly before our first anniversary.

Since the days that Sarah and I dated, we always discussed having a family. We couldn’t wait for the day we would become parents. We decided to wait about a year before starting our family. Toward the end of January 2009, we received spectacular news. Sarah was pregnant. I will never forget that day. I came home from work and found Sarah in the bathroom staring at one of seven pregnancy tests she had taken, all positive. I dropped to my knees without saying a word and laid my hands on her belly. I blessed the Lord and thanked Him for this blessing. I remember saying to God that this child was His and that he could have his way with this child. Sarah and I told our parents and they couldn’t have been more excited. We tried our best to keep it a secret from the rest of our church. We wanted to wait a little longer before telling them, but with news like that, who could wait?

The Bride: She's a helpmate

I pray that the bride that God has for my son is a helpmate to him. I pray that she is someone who will be there to help him fulfill all that God has for him, that she help encourage and build him up. God the Father is looking for His Son’s bride to be his helpmate.

When God created Adam He said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” At this point, every man in history has shouted “AMEN”! God then creates Eve out of man rib and presents her as a suitable helpmate for him. A helpmate is someone who aids or assists. God intended for man to have help in his responsibilities, duties and ministry. As the bride of Christ we are to help fulfill His purpose. As his bride we are to advance his cause.

The Bride: She is whole

As I continue to pray for the bride that God has for my son, I pray that she be whole. It is my prayer that she be one within herself, that she be one emotionally and spiritually. For if she is divided within herself, how then will she be able to become one with him? I believe that God the Father is looking for His Son’s bride to be whole.

As Sarah and I were preparing to get married, we went through some extensive pre-marital counseling (something I recommend to all those who are planning to marry). The pastor who facilitated that time is a great man of God (P.S. Pastor Cook- Thank You) and I will never forget one of the first things he said to us in our meetings. He said, “You do not marry someone to feel whole. You need to become whole so that you can present yourself wholly to the other person.” When we are not whole as individuals and we marry, there will always be a portion of ourselves that we never give to our spouse. As the bride of Christ we need to be sure that we present ourselves wholly to him.

Hotdog!

This past week, my wife and I took our son to Disney World for the very first time. Jude loves Mickey Mouse. What little kid doesn’t? Jude’s entire first birthday was Mickey themed. He has Mickey everything. From pajamas, toys, dinner plates, books to clothes, my son is all about the mouse. He watches the cartoons any chance he gets. He has even managed to get his uncles and grandparents to download Mickey apps and T.V. shows to their phones. He even knows all the characters by name. The only thing about this whole Mickey craze is that my son can’t say Mickey Mouse. He calls him “hotdog”. This is because at the end of every clubhouse episode on T.V. Mickey sings the “Hotdog Song”. It’s really quite cute to watch him run around yelling at the top of his lungs, “HOOOOOOTDOOOOOOOG!”

The Bride: She Treasures the Gifts

Last week, I started sharing some of the qualities and characteristics God is looking for in His son's bride. Here are a few more things I believe God is looking for in His Son's bride.

She Treasure's the Gifts
I also pray that my son’s bride would treasure what he does for her. I pray that she would cherish the gifts that he gives her and that she would put them to good use. This too, is what God is looking for in a bride for His Son.

The Bride: She's all about the little things

One of the things I pray for my son is that his wife will be attentive to him. I pray that his bride would be attentive to his needs and desires. She should want to live her life in such a way that would bring him pleasure and happiness. I am not asking that she be subservient in any way; please don’t misunderstand me. I don’t want to sound chauvinistic or degrading to woman in anyway. I am not implying that his wife be barefoot, pregnant and stuck in a kitchen doing all the cooking and cleaning. But I am asking that his bride, out of her love for him, would seek to serve and make him happy, paying careful attention to even little details. God is looking for the same thing. He is looking for a bride who knows what His Son’s needs are, who knows what makes Him happy and who is willing to do them.

The Bride: She's all about Him

As I was thinking of what my son’s bride would be like, I pictured a bride who would love HIM. She is all about him, not only how he makes her feel and not what he does for her. She is genuinely interested in HIM. She is interested in who is. God wants for His Son’s bride to be all about him. It reminds me of one of the first conversations I had with my mother in law.

The Bride

I've been thinking a lot about marriage. this February, I will have been happily married for 3 years to an amazing woman. She is Godly, beautiful, intelligent, funny caring, loving, unselfish, kind, considerate, dedicated... Well, I can go on and on about my wife Sarah because she is just that amazing. i am truly blessed to have her in my life. It is an honor to do life and ministry with her; one that i truly don't deserve. I guess that's yet another example of God's grace in my life.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I am Pastor Alex. I am the pastor of Student ministries for The Oasis Miami. I've been in ministry for the past 14 years. I've always been passionate about writitng, but after the birth of my son, Jude, I decided to start posting my writings.

The idea for this blog, started while my wife, Sarah, was prgnant a few years back. When we found out that she was going to have a boy, we decided to name him Jude. Upon hearing that, my wife's grandfather, who has been a pastor for more than 50 years said this, "After Jude comes Revelation". The Lord spoke to me in that. I realized that Sarah and I would be entering into a new stage of revelation from God as we became parents.

So, I present to you "Jude and Revelation: Revelations from God the Father to the father of Jude". May you be blessed and encouraged as you read. I pray that you too will receive a fresh revelation of the Father heart of God.