Jehu Hernandez

It's the weekend! I love weekends! I know--most of you are thinking, "So does everyone else in this world". True. I love weekends for the same reason everyone else does. It's a chance to recover from the work week and spend time resting and catching up on other projects. But the main reason I love weekends is because I love to go to church on Sundays. I look forward to worshiping with my church family at Solid Rock Church and to having the opportunity to preach God's Word. Sundays are physically hard on me. I'm always completely exhausted after our evening service. But there is nothing I'd rather do on Sundays than to worship God and minister his Word to others.

I love to read. It's a good thing because books are the main source of my continuing education. Rick Warren says that as ministers, books are the tools of our ministry. Can't disagree. Although most of the books I read are ministry-related, I do like to read other types of books. Right now I'm reading The Last Jihad by Joel Rosenberg, a fast-paced novel, and Never Again , the memoirs of former Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Last Jihad is a political thriller that's hard to put down. I became interested in reading it after hearing the author interviewed on Focus on the Family . I t's the first of a series of three novels. Looks like I'll be reading the next two, also. Never Again is quite an eye-opener. Ashcroft gives a lot of detail and background into some of the decisions that were made during his term as AG. It solidifies my view of him as a man of honor and integrity.

My wife and I are spending a few days in Boerne Texas. The district I'm a part of is hosting a Pastor's retreat at the Tapatio Springs resort. So far, its been a very restful and refreshing experience, both physically and spiritually. We are having interesting sessions in the mornings and worship services in the evenings. Our evening speaker is a Jeronimo Perez, a pastor/evangelist from Florida. He has been the Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Nicaragua and Colombia. Last night's message was especially moving for me. Following the theme of "Me and My House", he spoke about the danger of neglecting our children while we minister to the church. My wife and I are blessed in that all our children are serving the Lord, but the warnings and encouragements we heard last night were important to hear.

Missionaries are my heroes. This weekend, we hosted a guest missionary at our church. Nathan Alfaro has been a missionary to Nicaragua for about 12 years now, and is doing a phenomenal work in his present ministry. I had the opportunity to visit with him at length over coffee, and got really excited about what God is doing in Nicaragua, and about what God can do at Solid Rock Church. Nathan is such a passionate individual that I can't help but get excited about ministry. There is no doubt that Nathan would make an excellent pastor here in the states but he is so totally committed to his call to Nicaragua that he doesn't consider staying home, though he's had invitations and opportunities to do so. That's one of the many things I admire about missionaries. They can teach all of us a lot about total surrender, commitment, hard work, and perseverance. It has not been an easy journey for Nathan and his wife, Christine, but they continue to be faithful to their call. And

I've been a pastor since 1989, but I'm still learning a lot about this ministry. In fact, the longer I pastor, the more I realize I have a lot to learn. I've also come to understand that in order to be a learner, I have to unlearn many things first. That may be the hardest thing for me to do. But this is still the most exciting journey I've ever taken.