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31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their lifewill lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:31-38 NIV)
A very blessed and powerful Monday to you ConCafe Family; and a hundredfold blessing be yours as you pray for one another. I ask prayers for a dear lady from our church in Gonzales, who faces major decisions for her health and wellbeing. The Lord knows her and will honor your prayers. Also, a prayer for my sister-in-law, Mrs. Edna Cruz, who undergoes major surgery today in the Valley. Pray for all to go well, and for a recovery that blesses her. Pray for the Church that her relevance and power increase; pray for pastors who share strength and hope in their sermons, pray especially hard for those pastors who have given up and no longer share hope and faith. Pray for yourselves, and pray for one another.
I was a member of a very active, though small, ministerial alliance in San Antonio. It was great fellowship, and the president of the alliance invited guest speakers that blessed me. One such guest was a missionary/evangelist from India, called by God to minister in the United States. Think about that for a moment! The young man shared how when he was little his father allowed an American missionary into their home; which was in itself a very dangerous thing, and he was not permitted to sit with the adults. The missionary had brought with him a Bible in his native language, and had left it on the bed where this young Indian boy could get to it. "I could not put it down!" he said, "I had never in my life read a talking book. This book was speaking to me! And by the time the visit ended, I knew my life had changed." And he, as I shared, was led by God to come to the USA to share the gospel here among us.
A recent graduate of an Ivy League school, who had majored in Social Work, was assigned to work in Albuquerque, NM. As he was walking past a United Methodist Church there, he went in to get acquainted with the pastor as part of his getting acquainted with the area. The pastor was in, and gave the young man a tour of the church. As he finished his tour and was leaving, he turned and asked the minister if he had a Bible. "I've never read a Bible before in my life, and I kinda want to have one of my own." The pastor, like most pastors, was delighted to be asked to give away a Bible. He gladly shared a Bible wtih this young man, and the young man took it home and began to read the Bible and could not put it down. By the time he finished that night he felt a call into ordained ministry. He went back to the pastor and asked him about ministry and about which seminary was the best in the country. The pastor, not knowing any better, said that Harvard was the best. The young man applied and was accepted and in three years graduated, and returned to Texas to minister in the same conference as the Albuquerque church, which was the Rio Grande Conference. The two pastors are friends of mine and dear brothers in the faith; the Rev. Emmanuel Burgos is the younger pastor, and The Rev. Dr. Noe Gonzales, is the pastor who gave Manny the Bible.
Compare these stories with the story that came out of Nashville this week. This church in Nashville made the news by declaring The Bible is not the word of God. The church shared a statement that read, ""The Bible, isn’t: the Word of God, self-interpreting, a science book, an answer/rule book, inerrant or infallible." 'Rather, it is': "a product of community, a library of texts, multi-vocal, a human response to God, living and dynamic." I thought I would address this before we get into next Sunday's gospel lesson as shared above.
I know there can be things in life that we can make sacred by the approach and appreciation we place on them, and they become sacred to us. But I believe the Bible is not one of those things; the Bible comes to us as sacred, powerful, and alive, and made more so by the love and time we spend with it. The meme I have seen about the Bible that says, "Those who say God doesn't speak any more have unopened Bibles." And that's true. The more we neglect picking up and reading the Bible the easier it becomes for us to say that the Bible is not the word of God. And in reality it has become no one's word. The power those who read the Bible have, have it because of the reading and the faith they place into it. The Bible does contain answers for those who seek them. The Bible contains nourishment of faith for the hungry. The Bible contains waters of living waters for the thirsty. And the Bible contains a plan of salvation for the lost. Yet, to read such declaration by pastors; and I'm including the more nationally known one who earlier this past year told his congregation that the Old Testament was no longer needed in our Bible; is suggesting that the struggle to make sense of life without the Bible is over for them and for those who believe them. What are we to say to ourselves about those who went before us in faith, who believed such nonsense as "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth?' Sorry, grandma, that part of the Bible is no longer needed. And the nerve of those to say such nonsense before surgeries and battles, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want," and the other foolishness in that same psalm about He leading us to places where we are fed and cared for? Sorry, grandpa, that just doesn't resonate well with this generation; it takes up precious screen space and time; your phone wasn't really meant to be for that! And to think those millions who died believing "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish..." Sorry to the children and the soldiers, and the pilgrims and pioneers, who perished believing that rubbish.
Friends, our hope is built on nothing less, so begins the hymn, and Jesus Christ and His righteousness. This time of Lent reflects the real and continuing struggle of faith and life; Whose story shares the real agony and pain that does come to Him in the pages of our Bible, and which sometimes comes to us as we struggle with our lives and the challenges that come to us. We have at times, the response of faith of Saint Peter, who rebuked Jesus for having shared truth with him and the rest of the believers of His upcoming death. We don't read where Peter said, "This is not part of the story! We cannot let that happen in this way; future generations want to only read positive stories of winning and success; where is that in this mess about death and dying, especially with the so-called Son of God?" This passage ends with Jesus speaking of what we truly consider to be the real success of life; "Whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it." And equally telling, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when He comes in His Father's glory with the holy angels."
Dear friend, I applaud those who cling to the cross and the messages of the cross; they will have splinters in their hands, but never their hearts; they will see blood and suffering, but it will not mean the end of them or their lives; for we believe the words of He who defeated death and promises to us eternal life. And may each day find us more and more in the pages of that book that many have, to their regret, written off as not being real, but when in fact so many more, each day, make decisions of life and hope based on what God has spoken through those words. May we continue to be among that number.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we pray for all pastors and all believers. We know for many the struggles have been so great they have abandoned their first love with You and sought something easier and quicker; bless them with renewed faith and stronger hope. We pray for the challenges that have come our way, and to our loved ones; bless and strengthen them in marvelous, unexplainable ways that soon their rejoicing be loud and clear. Grant us Your peace; in Christ Jesus we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! May we make time today to pick up and read a Bible!
Receive my blessings of love and hope,
Pastor Eradio Valverde
