Back to the Past,Repairing the Breach!!! – Bishop Jonathan Pilgrim Prisoner

Hi everyone,

I imagine everyone knows the movie called Back to the Future, right? Well, because of things that have been happening in my life recently, it has led me to write this Newsletter ” Back to the Past, Repairing the Breach”
I was even sharing a thought of mine with one of my sons. “That until we go back and fix the wrong of our past, we cant expect to move on in our future”. Move on in the right way that is.

What did Jesus do? He fixed, restored, amended, erased what Adam did. He, God in the flesh, had to fix what happened in the past for us to be able to receive eternal salvation. For us to have an eternal future, Jesus Christ had to give His life for us, to be able to restore our relationship with the Father. We couldn’t move on until Jesus Christ gave His life for us, was buried and resurrected to give all who believe in Him, eternal life. He restored the Breach!!!

(Here are a few meanings of Breach: “a breaking or being broken, a breaking in friendly relations, to make a breach in; break open or through, to break or violate (a contract,covenant,etc.)”.

Here is something to think on. Isaiah 58:12 says -“And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt rise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, the restorer of paths to dwell in.”
We are to repair what is broken. And I am guessing there are a lot of broken things in our past. Within us and towards others also. Right?

Here are a few things we should question ourselves about. Are we not to be like Christ my fellow brothers and sisters? If that is the case, then why don’t we repair the breach? Why don’t we repair what is in our past? Sometimes it might be by praying for our enemies and those who have done us wrong. At other times it might be that we hurt someone with our actions, or lack of action for that matter. Or it just might be that they hurt us and are to afraid or ashamed to approach us. What if it is something within us that we just cant seem to overcome? Whatever the case might be, none of what has been done to us or from us to others will compare to what sinners have done to the LORD God Almighty. And we were one of them, until the LORD Jesus Christ came to save us. Yep, He came to save this unworthy man and He repaired the Breach and restored me to Him. O praise His Holy Name!!!
If the LORD Jesus Christ, innocent as He is, came and shed His blood, was buried and raised to give me eternal life. Who do I think I am that I shouldn’t go “Back to the Past and Repair the Breach”?

So what about us as children of God? How can we continue on in our new life and see change? For ourselves and to affect others? We must forgive and ask for forgiveness. There are things of my past, when I was about 13-14 years old. Long gone thoughts and temptations that I failed on, yet as I am being refined in this furnace of affliction, they are returning to my mind. Not the “terrible sins” of my “bad days”. But some more simple and “mundane sins”. Why are they showing up now? Childish things in a way, so to say. Don’t get me wrong, I know Jesus took all of my sins to the Cross, they are gone forever. Amen to that. What I speak of is not to do with the doctrine of salvation. I am saved by Grace and I know this.

What I am seeing is the LORD sanctifying me. Saying and showing me that ” My son, you must overcome the temptations and trials of your past if you are to go on into your future and fully serve Me.” Because where a little leaven is, it leaveneth the whole lump. We must amend those relationships of the past. We must put aside those “secret sins”. We must get rid of that anger. We must forgive others who have done us wrongly. And the list goes on and on. But I cant do this on my own, it must come from the work of the Holy Spirit. And for that to happen, you must surrender to the Father’s will.
Yes, people might not forgive us, or even care to amend the past. God didn’t need us to take part in what He did on the cross for us. It would never have worked if we were involved. He did it because He loves us. He did it no matter what we decide to do. God redeemed us because we could never do it ourselves. He stepped into my world and saved me and all who come to Him. Our job is to do our part, to step into the world of others and Repair the Breach. To do what is right in the eyes of God. Sometimes by repairing those past relationships, or what ever it might be in your past. It could be what softens someone’s heart to receive the message of the Gospel of Grace. Maybe you will not be the one they talk to or ever see again on this earth. But if you show them the love of God, it could be what saves them from eternal damnation. So, yes, we have to go Back to the Past, and Repair the Breach in our lives and the lives of others. Be like Jesus, it is our calling.

Forgive me if my words seem hard to understand. At times it is hard for me to express and explain what is happening to me in this circumstance I find myself in. To be able to put into words to those who are not having one’s same experience; such as what goes on physically, mentally and spiritually, can feel at times nearly impossible. How does a man that’s been stripped of his freedom explain to anyone in the “free” world, what he is going through? So I take my time and the LORD leads me to explain to everyone by what I am living. When we live something, that explanation, that testimony, can and will resonate in others hearts. Therefore that word of truth will not come back void/empty. What it goes out to accomplish, will be done.

One of the confirmations I received of the LORD to write this Newsletter came from a fellow inmate in here. We were looking at the TV and talking about things. And the conversation took a twist and we ended up arriving on this subject. But it wasn’t I who struck the topic, but he did. He said that he was talking with a girlfriend and telling her that he sees how much his past led him to where he is now. And that until he repairs the past mistakes, he cant move on into the future. Or he is damned to make the same mistakes. He literally said, I need to repair my past mistakes. So I let him finish and said brother(I believe he is a believer in Christ, as we have shared things before) God just used you to confirm that what I am thinking and living I must put in a Newsletter. His faced lit up when he heard that. You see, most believers that really don’t live completely for the LORD don’t think that God will use them. But when we, who live our lives for and unto the LORD, step into their world. Something happens and we are to show them that the LORD can and will use them. This brother was so happy to hear that, I could tell and it motivated him. He even told his girlfriend about me and how God also confirmed that what he was saying to her is true. There was no coincidence here, it was a personal revelation from God to him and I.

Now for a short testimony of how God used me to Repair a Breach from the Past in the life of my dad and my brother Carlos who recently went to be with the LORD. Let me first give you a short background of how I met Carlos and who he is to our family and how a Breach happened between dad and him.
When we first moved to the city of Santa Cruz(which means Holy Cross by the way)of the providence of Barahona in the Dominican Republic,we had trouble unlocking the lock on the door to the house that would eventually be our home. If I remember correctly, (I was only 8 then) Carlos was one of the guys that came up and helped us unlock the lock so we could get in. In the beginning years of the mission there, seeing we didn’t have a building, we would put out chairs in the back yard and invite the neighbors to come and listen to the Word of God. Carlos and his family were of those who would visit. He ended up coming to the LORD Jesus Christ and accepting Him as his Saviour. Carlos then began to study under dad in the Bible institute where dad was training up men to be preachers. He became one of the pastors of the local church and surrounding churches. (Note: You can see him in dad’s new book, standing with another brother in Christ, near a motorcycle that was used to go to the churches in the other towns). His wife, Anita, worked for our household for years, helping mom cooking, cleaning and more. So that mom could put more focus in teaching us in school. (Yep, I was homeschooled.) Carlos’s older son and I would play baseball together, do karate and hung out all the time, one of my best friends growing up and we remain friends all these years later, more like brothers. His daughter always was with my sisters, like a sister to me. He has 2 more boys who were younger than I, but were always around us when they could be. So you could say we were like family and continue to be even now.

What is a bit more interesting is, through Carlos and his family, I met my wife. She was a young girl coming to visit her uncle and family on the weekends. After years of these visits, her family moved into the neighborhood, and the rest is history. My wife and I have 5 boys and this year we will be married for 20 years. I say that to show you how close Carlos has been to me for most of my life. His passing was very hard on me, yet I have peace knowing he is with the LORD.

I cant blame myself, but I tried my best to help Carlos heal of throat cancer. When I was out, in 2019, he was taking the protocols and was getting better by the day. Yet when I was locked up, he took the medical route due to family pressure. If only he would have continued to do what he was doing when I was out. I believe he would still be with us today. So that has been something I think about at times. What would have happened if I never was locked up? He probably would have listened to me, because at times he did. Never let the pressure of anyone, not even family, influence you to make bad decisions. Not only for your health, but in general.

So years after Carlos became a pastor and was doing the work of the LORD. Certain things happened which caused a Breach in his and dad’s relationship. To the point that they didn’t speak for years, maybe even 10 years, not sure. But yet, God used me to continue to maintain a relationship with Carlos. Of course I was traveling and doing many things over those years, yet I would visit and talk to him when able. Then one day, while dad was visiting in Barahona, he said he wanted to go see Carlos. (I believe Carlos had began to be sick and had started to take the drops) So dad went and he and Carlos talked and I saw a Breach being Repaired before my eyes. It was hard for me to hold back the tears. I was thankful to the LORD for how He used me for many years to be the one to stand in the Breach, as Moses did. It says in Psalm 106:23-“Therefore He said that he would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen stood before Him in the breach, to turn away His wrath, lest He should destroy them.” Never give up!

In 1 Corinthians 12 it speaks of spiritual gifts, but if you look in chapter 13 it makes a very important point. That without charity(which is love in action) all gifts are as if nothing. And I know that ever since my childhood the devil has always tried to get me off the correct path of following the footsteps of my Saviour Jesus Christ. Because Satan knows that I have the Love of Christ in me. If I was to say I have any gift, it would be Charity. I am not great at anything. All that I do in this world and of it, although I give my best, I seem to always fall short. Jobs, I do my best, but things just don’t work out. Mission work sends me to prison. Yet, I do know that I have a love in my heart and it has been for as long as I can remember. I have a love that doesn’t allow me to give up on people. Even on my enemies and those who do me wrong. Don’t get me wrong, my flesh and Satan fights against this all the time. Satan says-“Jonathan, they don’t deserve this love, they hate you, they mistreat you, let them rot, them them perish, they are evil,yadayadayada…”
Yet, the Holy Spirit of God says to me-“My son,I never gave up on you, don’t you give up on them. I love them as I love you.” And He puts this thought in my mind and it helps me very much so. I see them, (those who do me wrong) and think that once they were little children, little babies. And that softens my heart enough to push on. To take the abuse to try and save that little child, although they might be in an adult body. God’s love knows how to move me to go on. Onward Christian soldiers, marching out to war, with the cross of Jesus going on before.

May God bless you all,
Please go Back to the Past and Repair the Breach. We all have one to repair…

Jonathan David
A servant of the LORD