The Ballestero Blog

 

Many years ago on a July 4th, I was driving to To Chicago to pick up my son, Martyn. During my trip, i was listening to the Bob and Betty Show on WBBM.  Betty began to read an article that captured my attention. It began something like this…

 

I am America.

You use to call me:

George Washington

Abraham Lincoln

Nathan Hale

Patrick Henry

But now you call me…

That’s when I turned the radio off and began to scribble some notes while driving. I wrote…

 

 

I Am The Church

Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

 

I am a Divine experience, built upon a Divine revelation

I am built upon the Rock.  That Rock is Jesus.

I was born in obscurity, in an upper room.

I have lived in palaces and poverty

I am no stranger to the poor.  I was raised on the wrong side of the tracks.

 

Some have called me:

Saul of Tarsus

Simon Peter

Cornelius

Philip

Stephen

Timothy

Lois

Eunice

Lydia

 

Of late, you have called me:

Andrew Urshan

G.T. Haywood

Robert Tobin

Verbal Bean

Carl Ballestero

Robert C. Cavaness

Paul Jordan

William R. Starr

Jimmy Davis

Bill Dross

Morris E. Golder

Nathaniel Urshan

Kenneth Haney

 

I am the church

I was chosen from a life called:

Foolish

Weak

Base

Despised

Nothing

 

That I should not glory in His presence!

 I am College Students and High School Dropouts,

Factory workers and Housewives,

Store owners and clock punchers,

I am all ages and all sizes,

I am teens with braces and Grandma’s with canes

I am Sunday School kids whose parents are still asleep.

 

I’ve lived on welfare, stood in soup lines,

I used to be addicted to drugs, push dope, and belong to a gang.

I was a streetwalker, alcoholic, liar and thief.

But now I am washed, Now I am sanctified, Now I am justified, by the blood of Jesus.

 

I am the church

I have lived in the guttermost, but have been raised to the uttermost.

I have been lifted from the deep miry clay.  My feet set upon a solid rock, He has established my goings.

Angels attend me daily. I am guided by Divine Direction.

Heaven protects my every move.

I am an army, I have never lost a battle. I am predestinated to win.

I am victorious.

 

I have been given authority in His Name, over:

Every evil spirit

Every disease known to man

I have the power of the Name of Jesus at my command.

I speak unto mountains and they are cast aside, In His name

I walk by faith and live in the Spirit.

 

I am the church

Throughout history, I have been:

Crucified

Stoned

Beaten

Mistreated

Banished

Persecuted and Ostracized, I still prevail.

 

I’ve been Lied on,

Talked about

Laughed at

Mocked

Scorned,

But Death still can’t stop me.

I shall not be defeated.

 

By Divine Help,

There’s no mountain I haven’t climbed,

No river I haven’t crossed

No valley too deep.

There’s no problem too big!

I have been made to survive and flourish.

 

I am the church

I have been hindered but never stopped.

Knocked down, but never defeated.

Cast down, but never destroyed.

Dictators can’t stop me

Kings can’t stop me

Presidents can’t

Generals with cruel armies can’t

Even Communism can’t.

The Iron curtain, Bamboo Curtain, The Berlin wall couldn’t stop me.

 

Even the gates of hell shall not prevail against me.

God is with me

He is on my side.

 

Why do I not live in fear?  I have been given precious promises:

 

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

 

Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him and delivereth them.

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be

afraid?

 

I am predestinated. 

I am the church.

I have lived in prisons, in castles, in cities, and in desert places,

I have lived in villages and barrios, in every continent and in every nation under heaven.

I am more colors than the rainbow.

I speak the languages of many tongues.

Tongues of men and of angels.

I entertain no prejudices

I am one body

 

I am the church

I am commissioned to the Great Commission

I live for the Word.

I shout Amen,

I run the aisles

I dance in the spirit

I love praise and worship

I speak with tongues and prophesy.

I clap my hands and sing.

I raise my hands in prayer and worship.

I leap for joy.

 

I exist to give Him praise.

Psa. 150:1  Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

2  Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

3  Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4  Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5  Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

6  Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

 

I will bless the LORD at all times

His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

 

I am the church

Holiness is my trademark

Worship is my hallmark.

Prayer is my secret.

 

I am a tired missionary

An exhausted parent of small children,

I am a tear-stained altar worker,

A tired visitation team

A Sunday School teacher with children that won’t be quiet

A Home Bible Study teacher, burning the midnight oil

I am a weary all-night prayer meeting

I am an evangelist with a hoarse throat.

I am an exhausted musician in a lengthy altar service,

I am a King’s son wearing clothes from Goodwill,

I know what it’s like to shout my hair down,

I know what it’s like to get Holy laughter,

I know what it’s like to shout during the preaching,

I know what it’s like to travail in the spirit,

I know what it’s like to make intercession.

I know what the Pentecostal croup is

I know what it’s like to see someone go home drunk in the Holy Ghost,

I know what it’s like to be lost in the Spirit,

I know where the prayer room is,

 

I am the church

I’ve seen lives changed

Families restored

Marriages put back together

Gays and Lesbians delivered

Bodies healed

Minds restored

Drug Addicts delivered

Smokers set free

Alcoholics dried out

Hard hearts softened

Bitterness erased

Anger dissipate

Mistakes forgiven and wrongs righted.

Unity restored

All by the Hand of God

Some, in moment’s time

I am the sole possessor of Truth

I possess the secret of eternal life and of peace with God

 

I am the church

I am preaching that changes and that touches the heart

I am an experience that changes the lives

I am testimonies that ring that Jerusalem ring

I am singing, that stirs the soul,

I am prayers that reach heaven’s throne,

 

I am the church 

I am faces without make-up

I am long dresses and uncut hair.

I am modesty on a pedestal,

I am virtue and purity on parade with heads held high.

I am holiness without an apology

I am dedicated to separation from the world.

I refused to be influenced by immoral thinking

I shun immodest apparel

I hate every false way

I deplore the works of the flesh

Carnal thinking is not for me

I keep myself unspotted from the world.

I proudly represent the King of Glory

He is Holy, therefore, I must be holy

My adornment is spiritual and precious, rather than worldly and cheap.

My men look like real men

My women are my glory

I am not a slave to fashion, but rather a servant of Jesus Christ.

I am clothed rather in garments of Salvation.

 

Immodesty does not become me,

Impurity has no place in my world,

I live a separated life.

I don’t look like Satan’s children, talk like them, neither do I act like them.

I do not feel comfortable in their environment.

I hate all the works of the flesh

I am not comfortable in Satan’s realm

The world is not my home

I walk ONLY on the OLD paths.

 

I am the church

My worship, my music, and singing have been copied, mimicked, and duplicated.

But like the magicians, who cast down their rods before Moses, they still didn’t have the message.  Moses had the only message of deliverance.

I alone have the message of deliverance for a lost and dying world.

I alone have the keys to eternal life.

I alone have the message that sets men free

I alone have the truth

I alone have the revelation of who Jesus is

I alone am the bride of Christ

I alone know the truth of being born again of water and spirit

I alone baptize in the only name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved

I alone have a world to reach

 

I am described as:

Glorious

Not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing.

Holy and without blemish.

As terrible as an army with banners

The salt of the world

The light of the world

A Great House

The general assembly

Mount Sion

The city of the Living God

The church of the firstborn

An heir of righteousness

A chosen generation

A royal priesthood

The Family of God

The Habitation of God

The Temple of God

The Bride of Christ

 

I AM NOT:

A social center

A board run entity or a clever tax shelter

I am not Political or politically correct

Or Socially acceptable

This Secular world was not created with me in mind.

I don’t fit into their societies or programs, their sports or their entertainment.

 

I AM A REDEMPTION CENTER

A Hospital for the hurting

An oasis for the weary

A home for everyone.

Give me your weary, your homeless, your outcast, your oppressed, your needy and your distressed.

 

I am the church

I am called to show forth the praises of Him who hath called my out of darkness in to this glorious light

I am the sole possessor of the name of Jesus in redemption.

I alone have taken His name.

I am His bride.  I love His Name.

 

Revival is my heartbeat,

Calvary is my song,

The blood of Jesus is my hope,

The name of Jesus is my love,

Deliverance is my message,

The coming of Jesus is my prayer

 

I live only to:

Worship Him

Witness to others

Love one another

Praise His Holy Name

Pray unto Him

Help my brother

Obey His Word and His will

 

I am sanctified

Blood washed

Blood bought

Spirit-filled

Water baptized in Jesus name

Tongue talking

Endued with power from on high

My name is written in the Lambs book of life

I am the reason for Bethlehem,

I am the reason for Calvary

I am Pentecost in action

 

I am the church

I grow with tears

I become stronger when I decrease

I am love with a sword in its hand

I am a soldier with compassion

A rich man with no money,

Royalty with no recognition

I am an heir with no earthly home.

I am a burden in shoe leather

I am joyful when there is repentance

I celebrate the death and Home-going of my own,

Knowing that to absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

But I grieve for all others.

 

I have prayed teeming thousands out of sick beds,

Seen countless others raised up from their deathbeds,

Watched blinded eyes opend, and seen the lame walk.

 

Yet I still reach out to help others who have never heard of Jesus.

While hope and time remain, I am dedicated to helping others find Christ.

I live in the Supernatural, I walk in the Spirit, and I enjoy the benefits of eternity right here on earth.

 

I am the church

I love the unlovable,

I reach out to the rejected and outcasts of society while giving hope to the discouraged and depressed.

I am a refuge in troublesome times.

I am a comfort from despair and a shelter in life’s storms.

I give hope to the hopeless and help o the helpless.

I minister to the needs of both the body and soul

 

I am blessed most when I am being a blessing.

I bear my brother’s burdens

I am an encourager to all

I am an edifier and a giver of strength

I point all men to Calvary

I lead the hungry to Heaven’s banqueting table

I take no glory for myself

 

I am recognized by the fruit that I manifest.

Love,

Joy,

Peace,

Long-suffering,

Gentleness,

Goodness,

Faith,

Meekness,

Temperance: against such, there is no law.

 

I am the church

I am betrothed to the King of Kings,

To The Lord God Almighty

The Alpha and Omega

The Beginning and The End

The First and The Last

The Prince of Peace

The Rose of Sharon

The Chief Cornerstone

The Captain of Salvation

The Desire of All nations

The Great High Priest

The Good Shepherd

Emmanuel

The Lamb of God

The Lord of Glory

The Most High God

 

He who is called: 

Wonderful,

Counselor,

The mighty God,

The everlasting Father,

The Prince of Peace, This is my beloved.

He is altogether lovely.

I get excited about the Name of Jesus.

His Name is above every other.

I am the apple of His eye.

I am my beloved’s and He is mine.

 

I love the sound of His voice.  His words to me are life and strength.

I delight in them. I am excited when He speaks to me.

I long for His touch.

I live to be in His presence.

I have no other joy. For all that thrills my soul is Jesus, He is more than life to me, and the fairest of 10,000 in His blessed face I see.

 

My days are limited, my time is short.

I am redeeming the time.

I am going to be caught away very soon.

The Lord Jesus is coming to take me to a place He has prepared for me.

 

I must work while I still have the time.

My light is lit

There is oil in my lamp

It is trimmed and burning

I am watching and praying

I am looking for His soon return

I am on fire with Pentecostal fire

The vision is great

The harvest is great

My garments are without spot or wrinkle

I am ready for the 1st resurrection

 

I am the church

My job is never done, nor my task finished till all have come to the knowledge of the truth.

My focus must not be upon myself but upon others.

I cannot rest while one lost sheep is astray.

I am called to rescue the perishing

I am charged the responsibility of lost souls

 

Heaven is watching

Hell is watching

The world is watching

I must not falter

I must not fail

I must not weaken or tire

I shall not fail

I shall be triumphant over all

 

I will pray on

I will sing on

I will preach on

I will go on

I will keep on keeping on

I will reach out to all that need Him

I am determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

The challenge before me is great, but He is greater.

I shall be victorious over all, because of Him

I am triumphant because of Him.

 

I am Called

I am Chosen

I will be Faithful

 

I am the church

Are you in the Church Triumphant?

Are you in the Saviour’s Bride?

Come and be baptized into the body,

And forevermore abide

 

 

I’m talking about the church

In the book of Revelation

It’s built on the Rock

Got a firm foundation

It’s been through the storm

It’s been through the fire

And one of these days,

This church is gonna move up higher

 

It’s the church, triumphant, Oh Lord,

And it’s built by the hand of the Lord.

 

Are you in the Church today?

If not, then GET in it.

If you are IN it, then STAY in it

 

Come to the altar

Be a part of God’s Church