Christian Living
John Fernandes
The Common and Weak Arguments of Pro-Choice ...

Roe V Wade was overturned yesterday and my social media feeds have been permeated with Pro-Choicers spewing arguments that are complete nonsense, whether I was a pro-lifer based in Christianity (or any religion) or a pro-lifer based in atheism. I will present those arguments and provide logical and scientific reasons why they are invalid. You may say “there is no absolute truth, truth is subjective.” If you do, you just contradicted yourself already and made a poor argument. To say definitely that no absolute truth exists, you are defining subjective truth as absolute truth…

The Common and Weak Arguments of Pro-Choice Unraveled
Mental Health, Life Experience
John Fernandes
Today, I Embraced My Inner Child

There is a trend in psychology going around about understanding and healing your inner child. I have never understood it until today. I think a reason seasonal depression hits me, is it brings back feelings and memories that were uncomfortable or negative for younger me. I sat on social media and observed the “memories” that it had for me for today. That only exacerbated my mood. Lost friends, past failures, broken relationships, etc. Nothing changes if nothing changes, so I took action.

Today, I chose to listen to my inner child. I chose to serve my inner child. I chose to embrace my inner child.

Today, I Embraced My Inner Child
Ministry
John Fernandes
Youth Deserve the Same Opportunity To Worship ...

Picture this. It is Sunday morning. You are attending your Sunday morning church service, yearning to experience God, working to deepen your knowledge of God, and aiming to deepen your relationship with God. You are in the middle of the musical worship portion of the service when people slam through the sanctuary doors with a ruckus. But it doesn’t stop there. They loudly speak to people throughout the congregation. Would you be distracted? I would be. Would it interrupt your worship? It would for me.

Youth Deserve the Same Opportunity To Worship As Adults
Mental Health
John Fernandes
Stages of Change for Leaving A Sinful Lifestyle

The Stages of Change Model is a key tool in addiction counseling and recovery. We can see the Stages of Change model active in more than just recovery from substances, but instead in any type of change we are endeavoring to make. This model even describes when the Holy Spirit starts convicting us for things in our life that are not of God.

Stages of Change for Leaving A Sinful Lifestyle
Mental Health
John Fernandes
Can Christians Say Addiction Is A Disease?

Recently, I have encountered many Christians who say that addiction is not a disease it is purely a matter of choice and self-control. As somebody in recovery and finishing up his Masters in Addiction Counseling, I firmly say that is bologna, and can be a very dangerous and harmful thing to say.

Can Christians Say Addiction Is A Disease?

Life Experience

God Uses Brokenness

God Uses Brokenness

We read throughout the Bible how God uses the weak to lead the strong and how he uses the broken to minister. Over that past couple of years, I could not see how that can be more true in my life. I was once a locally licensed pastor for the Church of the Nazarene. Through that title, I had my foot in many different ministries. I helped with Children’s ministry, I helped with Youth Ministry, I co-led the Young Adults ministry, and I was on the worship team all by the age of 22. My church life looked great. However, I was dealing with trauma that led me to depression and I made some bad choices to alleviate that pain. When I checked myself into the mental hospital, all my bad choices were exposed. The week after I got out of the mental hospital, I had my “pastor” title and license stripped away from me, and rightly so. My pastor didn’t leave my side, but he worked with me through healing until he was called on a new mission to a new church.

Why Am I Doing So Much?

Why Am I Doing So Much?

As many of you know if you keep with me, there is quite a bit on my plate at the moment. I am working two jobs (University Counselor and Instructor’s Assistant for Grand Canyon University), I am studying for two masters (Masters of Divinity from Nazarene Theological Seminary and Masters of Addiction Counseling from Grand Canyon University), and of course in full time recovery (this entails meetings, doing a 12 step program, going to counseling, and sponsoring other alcoholics/addicts). Sometimes the work gets overwhelming and I start to question what the point of doing all this is.

She Taught Me What Love Is

She Taught Me What Love Is

Yes, we fight. Yes, we both been at fault. Yes, we have both displaced our insecurities on each other in the form of anger. However, my philosophy that we have lived by is that we never go to bed angry with each other. We get angry, but we don’t stay angry. We are both in this relationship for the better and for the worse. In the end, we keep God in the center, which means we love and forgive each other despite whatever the turmoil was.

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I Had Given Up On Love when Sabrina....

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I Had Given Up On Love when Sabrina....

A little over a year ago, I met the love of my life when I wasn’t even searching. I had had my heart broken a couple times and I thought it was beyond repair. I was satisfied in life with remaining single for its entirety. One weekend, I was asked to come up to Youth Haven as a working interview for a summer camp counselor. Spoiler alert… I didn’t get the job because of what I am about to tell you.

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New Year, Same Me Please

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New Year, Same Me Please

This year, I experienced freedom for the first time. Freedom from addiction, freedom from shame, freedom from toxic relationships, freedom from self-loathing. I have grown a lot this past year, more than I realized I could grow. I have matured in many different ways. I set boundaries to protect myself and to respect myself. Last year, I was in a deep depression. It had been merely 4 months since my life was turned upside down. It had been only four months since I stopped drinking and self-harming. It had been only four months since I was in the mental hospital. It had been only four months since I was kicked out by the person who I admired the most. In this past year, I had a lot of growing up to do.