The Pillar Series: Bro. Hernandez

This blog post is part of a series dedicated to honoring godly men and women in our lives. For this post, I had the opportunity to speak with Bro. Hernandez, Assistant Pastor at my local church, Revival Life Church (Clovis Tabernacle).

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How long have you attended Revival Life Church and how long have you been the Assistant Pastor?

We have been at RLC (Clovis Tabernacle) for about 11 years now so about 6 years as the Assistant Pastor.

Can you share some of your testimony with the readers? (Side note: For those of you who do not know Bro. Hernandez’s personal testimony, he summarizes a small portion of it below. But I wanted to emphasize how God has used him to be a preacher/teacher of the Gospel, despite his inability to read past a 3rd grade reading level for so many years. I asked him if he could speak about this specifically. I truly appreciate him sharing his testimony with us and I know it will be a blessing and an encouragement to anyone who feels inadequate or unqualified to be used by God. Remember, God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called).

I would probably say I definitely lost interest in school being brought up in a dysfunctional, alcoholic, and abusive home. That led into fear and it affected me as a child. When you hear and see the abuse, it kind of makes you shut down. And if you do not have special people in your life at an early age, such as the ministry or church family, it does affect you in the long run. And that is probably where I lost interest in school, I did not really care. From that, I never caught up or learned the fundamentals and foundation of the English language. So from there I had no interest and I got involved in the streets from a young age. Then it escalated to not even wanting to try. For years I cheated in school just to get by, even in my adulthood, in my work. I hid it for years, it was a fear of mine for anybody to find out. When I first began to read and write more, it was in my mid to late 30s when I came to church. My reading level was probably a third grade reading level. I would say the main thing that inspired me to conquer that, was reading the Word of God. That is where I built my confidence, reading the Word.

What has been one of the most impactful moments in your life that has helped shape you into the man of God that you are today?

I would say that it was the friendship of the church. I have mentioned before in one of my preachings that before we came to church, the Church came to us. My brother was in church and he was the one that brought a lot of the youth, so I got to know a lot of the youth from him. Then when I went to the church, the married couples and the elderly, embraced us like parents. So there was a connection with the youth outside of the church and a connection with the saints. That was a big impact in the beginning. It made me feel accepted, I felt the love of the people. That is what started the journey, if I did not see that or feel that, I would probably not be having this conversation today.

What is your favorite scripture/book of the Bible and why?

I would say, Matthew 11:28-30. The reason why is because He says come unto me. When I first started coming to church and I experienced Him for myself, I had an experience in the altar. I was at a youth conference, and all of a sudden I did not hear anybody, the room got quiet, all I heard was the voice of the Lord. He said to me, “Drop your sword, you do not have to fight, I will save your family.” And I felt the burden lift, the burden I did not even know existed, and I felt the peace. Right there I knew God existed. My mind did not understand it but it was something inside of me, my soul, and for the very first time it responded to his Creator. That was my turning point, it made me do a 360. The importance of all of that is that God comes down to your level where you will understand that He does exist. I used to think that only smart or educated people could know Him, I did not think He would come down to my level or my education.

I like the writings of Mark. Mark is the book who introduces Jesus as a servant. That is why that book is one of my favorites because I can understand and relate to it.

What is the greatest lesson you have learned in life so far?

I think the greatest lesson I have learned in life so far is to treat others the way you want to be treated. Also, to be fair and balanced. I think the greatest thing that will help you to be successful in every aspect of your life, is being consistent, being committed, and being disciplined. If you do those three things, you will never go wrong; from marriage, to raising kids, to building a church, to ministry, and even the secular things of this world. Being consistent, committed, and disciplined. I have learned that and am still learning it.

How do you balance your family life, ministry, and work?

You gotta have a love for it all. You gotta love God, love people, love your home, love your job. That love is what keeps everything balanced. Once you start to lose your love for something you do not want to be there. Love is what keeps you. You gotta love it, enjoy it and make the best of it.

What do you believe is the greatest need in the church body today?

Times have changed and we are dealing with so much that comes into the church. I believe that education is one thing needed in the church. We have so many problems that people come to the church with. There are broken and dysfunctional homes. It is rare that an entire family comes to the Lord nowadays. I believe that the church needs to be educated in how to deal with and minister to these families. So that when these people do come in, we can educate them and teach them and not just preach to them. I have always said this, “Preaching pulls you out, but teaching keeps you out.” I think education is a good thing that the church needs. If we can take our testimony, and use it as a tool it will help others coming out of similar situations. So do not be ashamed of your testimony.

How do you go about finding the will of God in your life, and how would you recommend navigating through that?

You have to put your priorities straight. If you do not have your priorities straight it will be hard to build a relationship, to build a home, to be a blessing in the church. When you do not have your priorities straight, stuff does not get done. Your priorities have to be in order. So for anyone that is young and is trying to find the will of God, I think if you put your priorities straight, it will fall into place. A lot of times we wonder what the will of God is for our lives and the Bible says in James 4:17, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” If we are doing good, then we are doing the will of God. There is work, church, family and I think if we put Him first as our priority, everything will align itself.

Any advice for the young people?

There is hidden wisdom in people that have experience. If you can study someone or be around them, you can learn so much. People that have been bit before, people that have been crushed before, they have a testimony and a story. Your testimonies and stories are the best wisdom.

Lastly, could you share some advice with all of the readers?

This is something that came to me years ago and I still use it. Being patient gives you options but being impatient gives you regrets. So be patient in all things. When you are patient you are able to focus and see the big picture. Then you will have options and doors, and every door leads to something.

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I just want to say thank you again to Brother Hernandez for taking his time to impart some wisdom unto us all. This was the first post for the Pillar Series and while it was a little lengthy, I know it was well worth the read. I made sure to include everything he said because I know it will be a blessing to everyone.

Also, a new page will be added to the blog soon, so stay tuned for that! Thank you everyone for reading and God bless you! 🙂