Recognize Jesus?

Photo of Emmaus Team to Puerto Rico; seated are E. M. Valverde, Eradio Valverde, Jr., Carlos Alaniz; standing are Ruben Silva, Jerry Saenz, Ezekiel Acevedo, Gabby Garza, David Marroquin, and Paul Adams.

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. (Luke 24:13-35)

In 1991, I led a group of ten men to San Juan, Puerto Rico, to help lead their first Walk to Emmaus in Spanish on that island.  The retreat was held outside of San Juan in El Yunque, a rain forest retreat center, where iguanas, huge parrots, and other amazing wildlife and plant life set the stage for this amazing weekend.  The photo shows part of the team, those sitting are my dad, E. M. Valverde, myself, Carlos Alaniz, then on the back row are from l to r, Ruben Silva, Jerry Saenz, Ezekiel Acevedo, Gabby Garza, David Marroquin, and Paul Adams.  Of those in the picture, my father, Mr. Acevedo, and Mr. Adams are deceased.  Of those in the picture, I believe I was the first to attend a Walk to Emmaus in 1985, but not without resistance, and after having turned down two prior invitations.  Of the men in the picture, Mr. Adams, Mr. Alaniz, Mr. Acevedo, Mr. Silva and Mr. Garza, were from my church, El Mesias UMC in Mission, Texas, and Mr. Adams was the first I was able to convince to attend a Walk. He offered little resistance until he arrived at the camp, and was seen by a team member using the pay phone calling his son-in-law to come and pick him up.  The team member remembers hearing Paul say, "I don't know where I am, that's the trouble, but when I figure it out, I'll call you to come get me."  He never made that call because the Walk blessed him almost immediately.

The retreat focuses on the title of today's devotional, and is geared to help those who attend to recognize Jesus.  It happened to me; I didn't want to go because 1)  I was already a pastor, and pastors know everything, right?  (wrong!), and 2) a retreat held at Mt. Wesley with its high mountain trails and called a Walk gave me images of a lot of walking and I was not so disposed.  But as the event unfolded and surprises of gifts, letters, posters, etc. made me recognize Jesus right at my side, where He had been all along.

The two disciples walking that Seven Mile Journey between Jerusalem and Emmaus, never walked alone; the risen Jesus came along, quizzed and blessed them, but it wasn't until He broke bread with them, they knew who He was.  So it happens in our lives.  The busyness and noisiness of our world, the worries, distractions, interruptions, all serve to keep our eyes focuses away from Jesus, almost like Peter when he walked on water; as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus he was fine, but when he looked away to see the waves, he sank.  So it is with us; the waves of despair or doubt, or challenge or worry, family concerns, worries about the future, all can take our eyes off of Jesus.  If we stop to worship and celebrate Him in our midst at church or at a retreat or during our personal prayer time, we will see Jesus.  And the more we see Jesus, Jesus will be seen in us.

PRAYER:  Loving God, may I take time to focus on You and see Jesus right by my side.  Let not the worries and challenges of this day take my vision away from the One who helps and guides me.  And may it be so, that the more I see Him, He will be seen in me by those who so need.  This I pray in Christ Jesus' strong name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord; may Jesus be seen in you!

Eradio Valverde

Leave Your Cape at Home, Pastor!

My wife was reading to me from the Book of Face about ten things for which pastors need prayer. The list made me think back to the days I started out in ministry. I thought seminary had given me along with the gown that I wore for graduation, a red Superman's cape. I didn't wear glasses yet, so it was hard to disguise that I wasn't Superman all the time. And yes, there still were phone booths where I could have easily changed, but I didn't need to! I had a cape! There was no problem to big that I needed to refer to a trained professional - I had the cape, I was the professional. There was no detail so small that I needed to delegate it; I was the one who could go and buy the bread (sorry folks, Hawaiian bread had not yet appeared!) and the juice, and pick up the lilies, and poinsettias (am I pronouncing it right? Of course I am! I am superman!). Sigh, that was a long time ago.

The years tattered my cape and my soul, as I began to realize, as the hymn says, "I serve a Risen Savior, who's in the world today." Jesus doesn't need a cape, neither do I. My prayer life grew through the years and I learned that I could leave the cape at home, and I could easily say, "I don't know," or "Why don't you pick these things for the church?" and even, "I don't think I can do that, sorry."

I now wore glasses.

The Person of Christ. Do You Know & Offer Him?

Image from localsaints.org

Our oldest granddaughter goes to school in Austin and the other day was selling magazines to raise money for one of her school's projects.  Being very overindulgent grandparents, we bought magazines, of course.  The only one that seemed to interest me was "Ministry Today: Equipping Christian Leaders to Grow."  I got the first issue yesterday and the cover story was called "The Life and Ministry of A. R. Bernard."  I went to that story and read.  Ouch.  It was on page 20.  Let me say that this brother is now the pastor of the largest church in New York City, with 35,000 members and about that many in worship every Sunday.  They are starting to offer several satellite churches around the city.  But the ouch part was this:

"Bernard grew up Catholic but got involved in a youth program at a local Methodist church. 'It was about community and an alternative to being on the streets,' he says, ' I was exposed to the church and Christianity but  not to the person of Christ.'"

Yikes.  It was not until he was a bank executive that his secretary introduced him to the person of Christ.  He says, "She began to share with me the person of Christ, not the institution of Christ.  What got me most was her simple childlike faith."

I have shared with some of you that early on one of the biggest frustrations of mine was serving a church and having kids graduate from high school go off to college and come back and share how they had now found Christ.  I began to question what I was preaching, how I was preaching, and what could I do to offer Christ?  It's a question that I still ask and perhaps one we should be asking about our ministries.  The starting point is of course, do we know the person of Christ?  Thank God I do.  The second is are we offering the person of Christ to those who come to hear us preach and worship with us.  The person of Christ is He who lives and works in and through us; not the out there Christ of Wesley on that ship when he was asked if he knew Him.  "I know him to be the savior of the world," was his reply.  "Do you know him to be your savior?" was Spandenburg's reply.  It wouldn't be until John Wesley's Aldersgate experience in 1738 that he would finally know the person of Christ, as the One who died for his sins and did take away even his sins.

My prayers are with you for an awesome Sunday and may the person and power of Jesus Christ fuel your ministry and bring His kingdom rich and wonderful blessings through you.

Love and appreciate you!

Eradio Valverde

Jesus is My King!

Image from angusday.org

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.’ And they cast lots to divide his clothing. And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, ‘He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!’ The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, ‘If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!’ There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, ‘Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!’ But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.’ He replied, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’ (Luke 23:33-43)

We live in a country with interesting democratic processes. We have elections and sometimes we are elated with the results, other times we say to loved ones and friends, "He or she is not my governor!" or fill in the blank.  But this coming Sunday, the Church declares again as she has always done, that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings.  The above passage will be read in those churches using the lectionary and the passage is one that has long established the role of Jesus as our king.  And it occurs in a setting that by human standards does not make sense.  Like the birth of Jesus our King happened in the poorest of locales, manger in a stable.  And Jesus' "coronation" takes place at the site of His death and that between two criminals.  Yet, notice the importance on the mind of this king is forgiveness.  The ones putting Jesus to death were declared innocent by Jesus.  And while one criminal cries for Jesus to free him from his suffering, the other speaks up for Him by saying that Jesus was innocent and they, as criminals deserved what they were getting.  He further shows his faith in Jesus by asking to be remembered when Jesus came into His kingdom.  And our King replies, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."

No matter the setting we find ourselves in, nor the feelings we may have for recent elections at every level, Jesus is our King.  No one can take that away from us and in truth, our citizenship is in Heaven, where Jesus rules and will rule eternally.  It is the source and fuel of our hope and serves to give us motivation to work and labor among those who have yet to make Jesus King of their lives.  Our role as Jesus' good citizens is to invite others to come and join us in His kingdom.

PRAYER:  King Jesus, forgive me of my sins.  Help me to be the person You have called me to be.  Help me to work hard for You, inviting others to join us in our journey here, moving ever faithfully and joyfully onward and upward.  In Your precious name we pray, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord.

Eradio Valverde

Prayers for a sweet, nine year-old girl from Sinton, Texas, named Lani, who yesterday at our charge conference shared how she sees Jesus in her church.  She added how she has a rare disease which makes it necessary to receive weekly blood transfusions and how soon she will need a blood transfusion.   Please pray for her healing.  She has such a precious and positive spirit and blessed all of us there.  May the Lord Jesus heal her from this illness is my prayer in His precious and powerful name, amen.!

Step Up!

Many have said they're giving up. Our local paper showed a quote from writer Stephen King saying he was shutting down. One pastor reported her church musician is stepping away from his duties because he no longer feels like he can lead people in praise. These are just some of the reactions that people are sharing about how they feel about the national scene and the election of our new president. You may have felt the same way. Reports on the media speak of violence and demonstrations of hatred. Many are justifying their actions as being because "America is great again," or "Trump, baby!" These actions further fuel the feelings of despair and depression many feel.

The call for Christian people and believers everywhere is to step up in faith and love like never before. We were never promised by God that everything would go our way, but we were promised that the Lord would be with us, and He is. We affirm like never before that God is still in control over heaven and earth. John's gospel shares this passage: A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (13:34). Truly, acts of love and kindness, mercy and compassion, should be the rule of the day. We have the same obligation as always to welcome the stranger, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick and those in prison; and no where does is say "only if they look and talk like you." As one lady said the other day as she explained the stupidity of racism: "There is only one race here on this planet, and that is the human race, of which we are all a part." If we could only live like that. God would be pleased.

Step up. Stand up for justice and equality. Speak out for love and fairness. Truly be the disciples that Jesus expected of us.

The National Tax Day of Procrastinators!

"Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's..."

Liam expressing my sentiments!

It is a privilege to pay taxes, said few people ever. Lewis Black, the comedian said, "It's a privilege to pray taxes. Yeah! It's not a political question, folks. We have to pay for stuff."

Those of you who are regular and faithful paid your taxes back in April; I paid monthly and filed for an extension. My tax man emailed me late last night with the bill, and this morning after posting this I'm headed to the post office to have them hand stamp today's date on my envelope that contains our payment.

The question of paying taxes, especially to Rome, was asked of Jesus. He asked them to bring Him a coin and asked those who were seeking to tempt Him, "Whose image is on this coin?" They replied, "Caesar." Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." True wisdom. I consider it a privilege to live where I live, to do what I do, to worship as I choose, to own my own personal Bible; to have more than one Bible. I consider it a freedom some don't enjoy, to pick up my Bible and read it privately, or in public. I can dress as I like, go where I like; I can even criticize the government, whatever that is, and no one should tell me anything (Which is why I'm off FaceBook!) if I happen to make them angry. For all the rhetoric, America (actually the United States of...) is great. It's not perfect, but it's the best there is. And we're even free to leave if we don't like it.

So, thank You, God, for the resources You have provided so that I can my payment to my dear Uncle Sam. And thank You for You. Let me render unto You all that is Yours as well. My tithe checks are in the mail.

Work and Labor are a Part of Life. Be Glad!

Image from blog.homerbarrowortho.com

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, Col. 3:23 NIV

I thank God for most of the jobs I've had. I've learned from all of them and I'm grateful. I've had a job since I was 9 years old. Juan Chapa hired me, as he had my dad, to work in his store on Saturdays for $1.50. That was great money for a nine year old, and he kept me away from the slicing machine and sharp knives. He taught me a lot; and I learned to tithe starting with the .15¢ that belonged to God from that $1.50, thanks to my mother. Mostly from each job I learned that what my father told me constantly, "You have to go to college so that you won't have to work as hard as me." When he was a milkman I didn't buy that, for I thought that truly was the greatest job in the world. The smell in the creamery when they were making ice cream, the sound of a big truck with which to deliver both milk and ice cream, traveling the roads around Kingsville in that truck; it all added up to dream job. From there I went from making $1.50 a day to $1.25 an hour in Houston working in a rug company. We hand washed Persian rugs that were worth more than I've made in all jobs since then until now. We used toothbrushes, larger brushes, and we lugged those heavy rugs up to a room that had ceramic space heaters stacked three or four tall along all four walls where the rugs would dry. Sermons on hell came to mind every time I stepped into that room.

My hardest job was there summer making casings for huge fans, for these casings were made of fiberglass. Fiberglass was invented in the pits of hell by Satan himself, for it is a material that contains microscopic bits of glass that get into your skin and you itch like the worse disease you can get and not ten showers in one night can remove that itch from you. I was paid well but I left soon; I'd rather make less money and be able to sleep than to believe ants had taken over my bed.

We remember those jobs and those who have worked hard on our behalf. We are thankful that through them God has allowed us to receive that which has provided for our needs. I am thankful for the many jobs my Dad had before and after that dream job. I am thankful for my mother who during my lifetime never worked outside the home, but she did work very hard. I am thankful I married a woman who had her degree and was teaching when we married. Nellie never suffered lack of employment for in all the towns and cities we lived, God opened doors for her to teach. I am thankful that our four daughters are all gainfully employed and all with their degrees. And we await for the jobs that will come to our grandchildren. Our prayer is the same; that they value each job while striving to better themselves and attain whatever education and career they feel called to; and bring a blessing of positive transformation to the world.

Enjoy this day off, those who have it, but pray for those who work today to keep us safe, to keep us well, and to provide for us.

PRAYER: Dear Father, for the memories that have come to us for jobs past, we are thankful. For the current job and career we have, we are also thankful. We pray for those who work today and we pray you keep all safe today we enjoy a day of rest and who travel back to where they live, to start again tomorrow, with work you have provided. In Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.

Have a great and blessed Laboy Day!

Eradio Valverde