Rev. Samuel Robles Jr.

Ever since I first saw this video, I loved it! It not only has a humorous tone to it, but it also has a great message (or messages depending on how deep one wants to get into it). It just really puts into reality a lot of the excuses that people have about going to church, yet it also, almost indirectly, points out how "church" can be disconnected from reality. Interesting stuff.
Overall, I found it to be a cool song and a cool video.
Enjoy!

People that are in seminary, or who have gone to seminary, know that it is very difficult, and even impossible, to read any personal books outside of what's assigned by the Professor during the semester. I recall that in the Spring semester of 2006, I started to read a lot of Justo Gonzalez in class. Justo is one of my favorite theologians! (as a matter of fact, I have a picture that I took with him in my office) He has written a ton of books outside of what was assigned to us in class. So I came across a book that caught my attention entitled, "Three Months with Revelation." Basically, it's daily studies on the book of Revelation. Well of course I knew that as much as I wanted to read the book, I wasn't going to be able to put the amount of energy into it as it deserved.
Ironically enough, not too long before that, I actually took a one-day workshop with Dr. Ron Allen. It was called, “Preaching the Book of Revelation Today: ‘Do Not Seal Up the Words of Prophecy in this Book.’” I remember after taking that workshop, that I wanted to spend more time with Revelation. There are so many powerful images that exist in the text that I never realized were there because they are hidden behind the "doom and gloom" that so often Revelation is associated with. Of course, after I saw that Justo had done a series of studies on it, I knew that I had to "dive" into Revelation. However, I was discouraged because I could not kid myself: it was in the middle of the semester!
Well, semesters passed, and graduation soon approached. Right before I graduated, I went into the seminary bookstore, purchased Justo's book, and added it to my "read after I graduate seminary" stack of books. Let me just note that I was so happy about this purchase! I went home, shared my joy with Hilda, and put it on that special area of my bookshelf, and there it stayed. Months have now passed, I now live 1,000 miles away, and the book has yet to be read. (I have read others books during this period of time instead)
Well, a couple of days ago, a friend of ours (Hi Yvette!) was sharing about how she is doing an in depth study of Revelation at a Bible Study Group that she joined, and how she is loving it. (Let me just add that this conversation happened while we were on line waiting to see a live taping of Wheel of Fortune at SeaWorld. LOL!) Immediately, Justo's book came to mind, and I relived the passion that ignited years ago during seminary to "dive in" to Revelation.
Well, all this to say that I have finally decided to start this book! There are points of reflection that require journaling. I will be journaling in a book, but I may decide to do some of my reflections on here as well. I'll make note if what I write is associated with the studies.

Wow! I wrote more than I thought. Does this count as my first reflection?

This is the title of the article I just finished reading at NBA.com.

Magic Johnson has visited churches and learning institutions speaking about HIV and AIDS, and its impact in the minority community.

This short article/interview is informative, and I encourage folks to read it.

My heart is very sad this morning. Today, Rev. Lucas Torres has gone home to be with the Lord. He was a pastor, a leader, a teacher, a theologian, and so much more.
I have so many memories of Pastor Lucas, but one in particular that I'll never forget is the evening when he came to visit our Hispanic Theology class in CTS. He sat down and spoke, and all the class could do was soak up his knowledge and wisdom. It was incredible!
Though this is a sad day in the Obra Hispana and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), but we also celebrate his life and legacy because he surely loved the Church, and he surely loved God.

Before attending seminary, I worked at Walt Disney Disney World. I worked there for 7 years, and my experiences there fueled my passion for hospitality, and quite frankly paved the way to choosing Hospitality Management as my undergraduate work.
Well, during my recent move back to Florida from Indiana, I found a lot of things that I had not seen for a while. One of those things was a pin that says "WWWD," which stands for "What Would Walt Do." (it's a playoff of WWJD - What would Jesus do)
I remember a guest giving me that pin when I worked at the Yacht and Beach Club. On the back of the pin is a website, so I got curious, went to the website, and found an article of me! Wow! I could not believe it!

I did not know the impact of my service to these guests. As a result of this article, I learned a valuable lesson, one that I will carry with me to ministry: you just never know.

So, I share this "achievement" with everyone from the year 2003. Click here to read it.

I came across this article, and I found it interesting, especially for those who know who Daddy Yankee is.

As a Hispanic young adult who has been following and preparing for the upcoming presidential election, this definitely caught my eye.

Check it out. It's worth a read!

This is pretty cool. I'm on the video promoting the 2008 Thanksgiving Special Day Offering Video for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). This offering "supports the training of our church’s emerging leaders."

Check it out by clicking here.

I am in the middle of moving, and there are 1,000,001 things going on at the same time!
It's in these times that God can get lost amongst the overwhelming "to-do list."
Then, there's something, in this case a song, that pops up at the right time that puts things in perspective.

Here is one of my favorites:

Total Praise - Richard Smallwood

Well, our training is over, and we're back home. We are tired, yet energized at the same time. We feel empowered, supported, and equipped to do what God is leading us to do. All in all, we're "risking the ride." Here's a pic of one of the banners at the event. It's very fitting:




There will be a lot of highs and lows! but, well worth it!

It’s the conclusion of day 4, and I don’t know what to say. It’s not that I have nothing to say, it’s just that I am still in “awe!”
I just came out of the commissioning service where everyone was anointed with oil and prayed for (yes, this is New Church Training for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)!). Everyone was in a spirit of worship that probably could of gone on all night! It was awesome!

Today, there were meetings by cultures, so the Hispanic/Latino(a) group got together to speak, and it was touching to hear testimonies and the stories of people’s journeys. Before this week, we did not know each other. But now we are leaving feeling the support and love from everyone. We were all thankful and excited about what God is doing in our Church, and in our lives.
When we all re-gathered, we heard a “report” from every group, and at the conclusion, there was a sense of unity and reconciliation amongst all the cultures and groups. I pray that this continues forward from this place.

The day even started with me having a “geeky” moment. I woke up excited about discussing New Church marketing (I think I even closed yesterday’s blog entry mentioning this. OMG!) It was a great workshop where we challenged (in a good way) with simple questions that need a lot of attention and work.

Well, I guess I did have something to say. I just wish I could articulate it better at the end of the day. Basically, there has been a lot of incredible fellowship moments and learning moments.

Tomorrow is day 5, the last day.

Today was another great day, and while the teachings and workshop were again very good, I would have to say that the highlight was lunchtime. It wasn’t just the food, but sitting at a table with diverse people. I received one of the greatest compliments I ever received. Someone said, “You look Puerto Rican.” I thought that was so cool! I cannot recall anyone telling me that.
At this table I learned so much about people. I met a young, married couple from Calgary, Canada. The man is from Venezuela, and the woman is from Peru. She shared that she moved to Canada when she was 7 years old. She grew up learning French as a primary language. She had to learn English “to survive” (her words), and her Spanish has improved since she got married. Her story as a young person far from "home" resonated with mine (just without the French part LOL).
We also met a Korean pastor who was educating us on the diversity that actually exists in what we in the Western world call “Asian.” He is an awesome guy!
There was also an African-American woman who recently survived a stroke, and she is planting a church that already has 40 people worshipping. What passion for God and ministry!
And we had a member of the New Church Training staff who was sharing a tug in his heart to become a missionary after he retires. He was talking about Christianity in China, and how there is a hunger for Christ in that country, and not enough pastors. Incredible!

I'm learning so much about the ministry of Church Planting, and more so, I am learning so much more about my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am so grateful to God for the relationships being formed, and meeting new people in ministry!

I'm looking forward to tomorrow! We start the day talking about marketing.

Day 2 was productive! The teachings were great, and Hilda and I began to work on the mission, vision, and values. Wow! Developing the mission and vision statements is a lot of work, and it’s surely not final. What makes it a bit more challenging is that we’re also dealing with a complicated demographic: the bilingual community. It’s not that bilingual folks are difficult, it’s how to convey and articulate bilingualism in the United States, and to other Hispanics that is difficult.
I am aware that we will receive criticism from other Hispanics in regards to this kind of ministry. Many Hispanics don’t believe in bilingualism (I've heard them say this), and that “the youth need to cling to their roots.” However, we’re not disregarding our roots. We’re affirming them while living in the United States. This ministry is dealing with the reality of our 2nd, 3rd and beyond generations living and born in the U.S.
Simply put, I am tired of seeing youth, children, adults, and families leave the church and go to the streets just simply because they don’t understand a Spanish sermon. All I am trying to do is target the people that the Spanish dominant speaking churches are neglecting. We are a Hispanic church, it’s just that we are expressing our culture in English, and Spanish, and Spanglish. None the less, we’re going to continue to work on this, and continue to trust in God.

Well, with all the hard work we did today, what topped it off was hearing Bishop Tom Benjamin from Light of the World preach! Hilda and I haven’t heard him preach since I became student pastor at Casa del Alfarero a couple of years ago (Hilda and I are actually “watch-care members” of Light of the World). Bishop preached! And he confirmed what Hilda and I feel called to do. He preached on the renewing of our mind, a shift on how we do things. This new bilingual church is exactly that! I thank God for this training so far, and I feel empowered and encouraged by God to see this dream and vision become a reality.

More tomorrow!

I wasn't planning on blogging tonight, since I already did a post for today, but I could not go to bed without sharing my experience tonight.
Thanks to seminary, I have had the opportunity to meet different people, and worship in different settings. I've participated in worship services with people from different cultures. HOWEVER, at tonight's opening worship, I had an experience I have never had before. There were Hispanics, Anglos, African-Americans, Haitians, and Koreans all worshipping in a way that was so...genuine. It was incredible! There are so many stereo-types of how people are and worship: there is an assumption on how Anglos worship, Hispanics worship, etc. Yet tonight was different because there were no stereo-types. I truly felt tonight was a night where only God's children were worshipping.
And then, at the conclusion of the service, there was a Haitian man who asked for prayer. He came sick and he wanted to be healed. Instead of people going to bed, we all stayed and we laid our hands on him and prayed. When we finished praying, we sang together. It was an awesome moment. Praise be to God!

Anyway, I needed to share this before I went to bed. What a way to begin new church ministry!

More tomorrow!

A lot of folks have been asking Hilda and I, "so what are your plans now?" Well, Hilda and I will be moving to Central Florida soon. By the grace of God, we will be planting a new church there! For a long time now, I've felt a strong desire to begin a bilingual ministry that intentionally targets Hispanic/Latino(a) born in the United States (2nd, 3rd, 4th, and beyond generations). These are people just like me (I am a Nuyorican) looking for a place to worship and find a Christian community where they feel whole. (There is certainly a lot of theological and social importance with this kind of ministry.)

So, as a result, Hilda and I will be at a week long New Church Planter Training Event. I'm going to be blogging each day to help me reflect on this new beginning in my life.

Today is Day 1, and guess what...Casa del Alfarero, the new church plant that I attend in Indianapolis, will be leading worship tonight at the opening worship. This is pretty cool, especially since I'll be drumming tonight. Drumming soothes my soul. I love it!

I'm not necessarily nervous about this training event or even beginning this new ministry, but I do have questions that I hope get answered this week. Thankfully, New Church Ministry has been a part of my entire seminary journey, from taking a course on it in Memphis, TN, and even with being a student Pastor at a new church plant.

So with that said, I'll write some more on Day 2 of training.

I wanted to share some updates on the 2009 General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). I don't believe I shared this yet, so I decided to share them here. I'm really excited about this!

1) I am the Director for Youth Activities for the 2009 General Assembly.

2) With that, we are working to get 2009 youth to attend. More info will be out soon about this, and can be found here.

3) I am leading a Resource Group at the assembly under Leadership Development/Christian Education entitled "The future is 'at the hyphen'" sponsored by the Central Pastoral Office for Hispanic Ministries. Click here to check out a description.

I wanted to share another article that was written about the Hispanic Assembly from this past summer.

Click here to read the article. Enjoy!

NATIONAL HISPANIC AND BILINGUAL ASSEMBLY HIGHLIGHTS GROWTH AND UNITY

Last month (July) was the 14th National Hispanic and Bilingual Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in New Jersey. I had the opportunity to be the Director for Youth & Young Adults programming.

DisciplesWorld magazine wrote an article on the missions trip that we took to New York City. Click here to read the article.

This is so awesome!

I hope you enjoy the article and share it with others. (Thank you Ted Parks!)

Are you a Junior or Senior in high school?
Are you a young adult in college? Do you feel called to ministry?
Do you have a passion to serve the Lord and to serve others?
Do you have a desire to meet other people just like you that have this passion?
If this is you, we invite you to continue reading at Obra Hispana.org.

This event will be held at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, FL! This is an event you don't want to miss!

Be sure to read more about it and get the application here.

Deadline to receive applications is September 1st!

I just saw the Disney/Pixar movie, Wall-E, and it was great! Not only am I just a Disney and Pixar fan, I found the message(s) of this film to be deeper than what appears on screen. I did not know what to expect other than I heard from other folks that it was a "cute" and funny movie. But by the end of the movie, I was reflecting on theological themes. Here are some of the themes I thought about:

Companionship
Relationships
Ecology
Sustainable communities
Eschatology
Health
Technology

Wall-E brought out these themes and topics, and quite frankly, I find that these are themes that need to be in circles of conversation within the Church. For examples, some may say why bring up ecology in the church? Well quite simply, it involves God's creation, and we, humans, need to reflect on being better stewards of God's creation.

For those that saw the movie, what did you think about? What are your thoughts?
For those that haven't, I highly recommend it. I am sure you will enjoy it.

As I debrief the Hispanic assembly, one word immediately comes to mind: AWESOME!

It was so AWESOME to meet Hispanic/Latino(a) youth and young adults from around the country.
The staff that we had for the youth and young adults was AWESOME.
Our teamwork was AWESOME.
The speakers were AWESOME.
All the workshops were AWESOME.
The praise & worship was AWESOME.
The mission trip in NYC was AWESOME.
Just about everything I can think of was AWESOME.

I praise God for this assembly. It was definitely a lot of work putting it all together, and so many people worked hard and took time out of their busy schedules to make it all happen, but it was surely all worth it.


KEEP IT...GOSPEL!

Wow! I finally saw the movie Pursuit of Happyness this past weekend. I loved it! It's an incredible story, and very inspirational.
I found a clip of one of my favorite parts on youtube and I thought I would post and share it. Enjoy!

It's Drum Corps season again, and I'm hyped! I've been spending some of my free time checking out drumlines on youtube.
I decided to post 2 videos of when I marched. I miss being able to play and march, but I have great life changing memories.

Here is Boston Crusaders 2000 and 2001:

2000


2001

Today, my heart felt heavy. I began to think about young people, and tried to imagine what it must feel like to live in the year 2008 as a youth. My heart was heavy because I thought about their pain and not so much their possible smiles. There are so many young people that can't imagine their life to go past tomorrow. Many of them are making decisions that are not-wise, and many of them know it. But for some reason, they make wrong decisions that could in fact cut their life short.
It's much more than just what music teenagers listen to, or what kind of shoes they wear. There are kids, in the very pews of our churches, involved in gang activity, carrying guns, and selling drugs...wow...my heart just feels heavy.
I pray that God protect these young people, and that they may find refuge in God. There is certainly something out there that seeks to destroy them. My hope is that they'll find the Source that can give them life: Jesus Christ.

As many know, when I started seminary, I created and directed a website called Life of a Seminarian.com
The website was created to be a window into the life of a current seminarian. On it, I shared some of my papers, my thoughts, and even links to various seminaries around the country.
Well, now that I am no longer a "seminarian," that website no longer exists. But I must say that it was awesome while it lasted!
So, I decided to start this BLOG as a way for me to continue communicating in "cyber world."
Who knows what's the next idea I'll get for the future!