Rev. Samuel Robles Jr.

Everyone who knows me knows that I love Disney. Not only did I work for Walt Disney World for over 7 years, I am also a Disney fan. Perhaps this is largely due to me being a "kid at heart," but I am also captured by the power of imagination, attention to details, and fun!

For over 12 years I have been searching for information, if it existed, about Walt Disney (the person) and whether or not he was a Christian. I wondered if there were any correlations between the two because Disney theme parks, and even popular Disney movies, bring so much joy, happiness, and hope to so many people. Walt was a visionary and a dreamer.

In September of 2003, I got my first lead! Hilda and I were fortunate enough to get a tour of Walt Disney's apartment inside Disneyland in California. This rarely happens. I took the opportunity to ask if Walt Disney had a faith life. I figured that since no one else I asked knew, this person who was showing us his apartment and who knew everything about him would certainly know. Our guide shared that all that they knew was that Walt invited religious leaders to pray for Disneyland the day that it opened in 1955. While this was certainly reveling and satisfactory information, and I was obviously in awe that this happened, it left me with more questions as to Walt's spiritual life, if he had one.

Well, just yesterday, for some reason that I cannot recall, I got curious, and "googled" a bit, and came across an article that made me feel as though I uncovered buried treasure. It is an article entitled, "Walt Disney on Faith, Church, Bible Study, Prayer & God." Walt wrote this article in 1963 for a book entitled "Faith is a star" by Roland Gammon.

What made this "discovery" extremely cool is that at the bottom of this article there is a reference to Walt inviting religious leaders to pray at the opening of Disneyland, just as I had learned a few years ago.

Well, with that said, click here to read the article. Enjoy!

I want to share an article written by DisciplesWorld Magazine on the recent Hispanic/Latino(a) youth and young adult Leadership Seminar that was recently held in Central Florida. I was privileged, and am certainly humbled by having the opportunity to be the director/coordinator for this event and witness a generation of Hispanic/Latino(a) youth and young adults that are called by God with God-given gifts to change their communities, and in fact, change the world. It was a blessed experience for everyone!

I invite everyone to celebrate with us these young leaders not just of tomorrow, but these leaders of TODAY!

Click here to view the article.

Enjoy!

The last couple of weeks I had been thinking about atheism, particularly because I was finding numerous topics on it around the web. It was largely due to the fact that Charles Darwin's 200th birthday was just a few days ago (and so was Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday!), so atheism and evolution were topics I found myself encountering on facebook and youtube.

I was thinking about it because I was bothered that much of what was being shared in the media was one-sided (what a surprise, huh?!). "Where is the other side of the coin?," I asked myself.
So, I started meditating and praying, asking God to lead me to something that I could share with folks. Sure enough, God responded, and I thought of Lee Strobel. So I googled to find his testimony, and I came across this video:




May God be glorified through this testimony!

I'm writing this just a couple of hours after witnessing the inauguration of President Barack Obama. It was incredible to see the coverage on TV, and witness such a historic moment. The whole time I was watching the TV, wondering what must have been passing through the minds of President Obama, President Bush, Pastor Rick Warren, Rev. Joseph Lowery, the people standing and watching yards away, etc. There were so many images that impacted me, such as seeing President Obama and President Bush walk and share together before, during, and after the inauguration ceremony.

And as the shift of leadership in the United States was happening before my very eyes, I was thinking about the 24 Youth and Young Adult Hispanic/Latino(a) leaders that I shared with this past weekend in Orlando. It was an incredible leadership seminar, and I am still in awe at the incredible leaders that attended. They are full of vision, passion and hope for the Hispanic community and Church in the US and Canada. Likewise, I feel as though I witnessed this past weekend a shift in the term labeled upon them as "the leaders of tomorrow" to "the leaders of today."

Despite various opinions and critique, I am thankful for President Bush's service to this country, and I pray that God may continue to be with him and his family.
I pray that God may be with President Obama as he now serves as this country's President, and that God may give him the strength and wisdom needed to make the correct decisions necessary, and that God may protect him and his family from harm.

I am thankful to God for this leadership seminar, and the wonderful youth and young adults that I met. I pray that God may give them all wisdom and vision to make a difference in their families, churches, schools, and communities. That they may truly be the leaders, visionaries, and prophets that we need today.