Seminario pastores y líderes que tropiezan y caen

A person who was being used by God in a magnificent, marvelous way had traveled the world several times with the message of the gospel. That person told me, "José Luis, could we talk for a few minutes?" Of course, I said. We moved to a more private place. And then the first thing he told me, point-blank, was, "José Luis, I want you to be the one to write my story." I thanked him for that vote of confidence, but immediately after, he began to share his story with me. His story was that of a person sealed by God, chosen, set apart by God. But in the course of the ministerial whirlwind, he himself told me so, he focused more on activity than on intimacy. And here, dear brothers and friends, here the order of the factors does indeed alter the product. When activity is placed before intimacy, we are treading on quicksand. He had an absolutely saturated, full agenda. He traveled miles and miles, and running the good race for so long made it difficult for him to stop and bend his knees. So, on one of those trips, he had a night of infidelity. He confessed to me with an unmistakably sincere look and with a voice choked with emotion. At times, his voice would falter directly. He told me, "José Luis, it only happened once, but it happened. It was only once, but it happened." And he told me, "When I realized what I had done, I felt like my insides were short-circuiting. I felt my insides burning. I fell to the floor, to the floor of the room, and I spent practically the entire night crying, begging for God's forgiveness, and convinced that the next morning I would have to confess my sin." At this point, I want to share my screen to show you a phrase that I want to preside, to be the phrase that presides over this time. This phrase is the subtitle of the plenary session. We are all worth much more than the worst mistake we have ever made. That is the subtitle of this book, written here in yellow letters. We are all worth much more than the worst mistake we have ever made. Let's return to this person who asked me to write his story. He told me, "All night broken in tears, begging for God's forgiveness. But with the dawn, with the sunlight, I began to do the math. Confessing my sin would mean losing my ministry, losing, moreover, the church I pastored, it would surely mean losing my family. José Luis, he told me, "It was too much loss. It was too much loss. So I decided, and I use his literal words, I decided to keep the monster in my gut. I decided to keep the cancer in my soul. I decided to remain silent. From that moment on, he told me, I continued traveling, traveling in business class, shaking hands, receiving gifts, hugging and being hugged. I continued to shine, he told me. But only I knew that I was dead. I was dead. I was, he told me so, a corpse of impeccable appearance. He told me, "So I held on for 6 months. 6 months were enough to understand that I could not continue living like this. So, after 6 months, I confessed, I sought out my pastor, he told me, and I confessed my sin to him. Accompanied by my pastor, we went to see my wife, and I confessed my sin to her. With the pastor and my wife, we gathered my sons and daughters, and I confessed my sin to them. From then on, I placed myself under the covering of five or six pastors who would work with me in a process of restoration. Now he told me, "I want you to write my story." At that moment, he had been restored by God's mercy. He had miraculously preserved his family. "I want you to write my story." Look, the challenge was not at all appealing to me. Such a controversial subject. It is so easy to handle such a topic inappropriately. It is so easy to be carried away by sensationalism, by morbid curiosity, by yellow journalism. It was so easy to do it wrong and so difficult to do it right that I told him, "I have to pray." I took a whole year to pray about that subject. Should I do it, Lord, or should I not? In that year, in that year, five prominent pastors took their own lives, committed suicide. In at least three of those five cases, it became abundantly clear that the cause of their suicide was hidden sin, having kept and lived a double life, that spiritual schizophrenia that tortures us, that consumes us. And as David said in Psalm 51, "While I kept silent, my bones grew old." A much more explicit version says, "While I kept it hidden, I corrupted myself from within, and that ultimately leads to death." So the suicide of those five pastors was the megaphone God used to tell me, "You must write that book." This story has been circulating for 3 years, and the testimonies I am receiving from people who decide to order their lives are countless. Today, I propose to speak with you, brothers and sisters, to address this topic because I believe that as pastors, we must have answers. Answers to why it happens, answers to who it happens to, and answers to whether it is possible to prevent it from happening. And one more answer: if it has already happened, what do we do? What do we do? Very well, this is the topic we want to address. We will take, as Euge already said, a break, and then we will not dwell on it now, of course, we will develop material, but shortly we will take a break, then we will develop a little more material, and we will enter into small group work for 20 minutes before focusing on the final stretch. I think it will be exciting, it will be very, very interesting. So, leaders who stumble and fall. Look, there are two verses that are vital to me when addressing this topic. Psalm 37, where the Bible says, "The steps of a man are ordered by the Lord, and he approves his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with his hand." And Psalm 145 says, "The Lord upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down." Colleagues, I confess to you, the first verse frightens me, the second verse comforts me. The first verse does not say if the man falls, but rather that he will fall. It is not conditional, it is inevitable. All of us, all without exception, will stumble at some point, on some occasion. But I said that the second verse comforts me because the emphasis of the second text is on all. All is reiterated, this word is repeated. All excludes no one. The Lord upholds all who fall and raises up all who are bowed down. Not a single person is left prostrate. The will of God is the restoration of all the oppressed, of all who have fallen. So I want to start with this reality. First, we will all fall, but second, and by the grace of God, we can all be lifted up, because his hand is always extended. Moving forward a bit, I see the need for a realistic vision. Please take very good note of this. A realistic vision of what the minister of God is and what divine ministry is. It says, "But in a large house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. Some for honorable use, and some for dishonorable use." 2 Timothy 2:20. A vessel of gold. Please mark this in your mind and heart. The vessel of gold is the Christian ministry. Now 2 Corinthians 4:7 says, "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us." The earthen vessel is the Christian minister. Now let me, as a pastor who has been ministering for over four decades, tell you one of the serious problems of the Christian minister. Confusing these terms. Thinking that the vessel of gold is the minister and the earthen vessel is the ministry. Thinking that preeminence belongs to the man or woman and the ministry in second place. When you think you are gold, you will feel invulnerable, you will feel prepared for everything, always. But when you are aware that you are an earthen vessel, you will be aware of your vulnerability, and as a vulnerable person, you will frequently, with longing, go to the potter's house, because it is normal for an earthen vessel, and the Christian minister is an earthen vessel, it is normal for an earthen vessel in the heat of battle to break, to crack, even for the clay pot, as Jeremiah said he made, to be spoiled in his hand. For it to be spoiled is inevitable. We are in a war, we are not playing church, but for goodness sake, if we are to be spoiled, let it be in his hand, because there he makes a new work. Someone told me this week, "Blessed are the broken, for they will let the light pass through." The cracks that appear in the midst of battle are opportunities for the light within us to shine outward. Therefore, look, because we are earthen vessels, and never lose this awareness, please, never. The gold belongs to God. The clay is us. We have all fallen into one thing or another. The holiest is not the one who falls the least. The holiest is the one who first recognizes his fall. The greatness of a leader does not lie in his impeccability, but in his readiness to recognize his sin. The Church, never forget this. The Church is not a community of saints where sin is scarce. It is a community of sinners where grace abounds. All pastors and leaders, we are all angels. Fiercely human angels. And as humans, we are exposed to severe dangers. And look, the easiest thing is to fall, the most difficult thing is to recognize the fall, but it is also the most necessary to accept the fall. The number one enemy of the pastor is not sex, nor love of money, nor gluttony, nor laziness. The number one enemy of the pastor is the ego, the difficulty in recognizing his failures. That is why the Bible categorically states what we have already read. The Lord upholds all who fall, he raises up the oppressed. Provided that they recognize their fall. Having taken a look at this realistic vision that we are of clay and that God's grace and God's ministry is pure gold, let us now analyze some internal causes of falls. Notice how eloquent this text from Ecclesiastes 10:1 is. "As dead flies cause the perfume of the apothecary to send forth a stench, so does a little folly outweigh wisdom and honor." There is another version, it is worth listening to, another version that says, "As a dead fly spoils the most expensive perfume, a little folly ruins great wisdom and honor." There were certain perfumes in biblical times that cost a fortune. In biblical times, there were not the hygiene standards we have today, there was not the ease of access to water that we have today. People, due to lack of hygiene, smelled terribly bad. That is why one of the most expensive trades and most expensive products was what was used to combat that stench, that nauseating odor, and the perfume bottles, some of them cost the equivalent of 3 years of work. This text says, "A simple dead fly ruins all the work." Likewise, a pinch of folly ruins a great career, great wisdom, and honor. Please, take note of this phrase. When we see a ministry fall, we ask, "How is it possible that a ministry of such a trajectory breaks down so suddenly?" When we see a marriage break, we say, "How is it possible that such a consolidated relationship falls apart so suddenly?" The answer is this, I'll give it to you right now. Neither the ministry broke down suddenly, nor did the marriage fall apart suddenly. The collapse occurs in an instant, but every debacle has a gestation process. I want you to hear it again, please. The collapse occurs in an instant, but every debacle has a gestation process. The sequoia is a tree that can reach 130 meters in height. At the base of its trunk, it can measure up to 15, up to 20 meters in diameter. But there have been sequoias that have fallen due to the push of a hand or a not too strong gust of wind. How is it possible that this giant, whose crown reached the belly of the sky, falls so suddenly? No, it was not sudden. What happened is that for many years, many years, tiny insects were undermining the roots of the giant. Not the branches, the appearance was impeccable. The problem was not in the image, it was in that part hidden from view, in the roots. Those tiny microscopic insects were eating, devouring, destroying the root. And a moment came when the giant was a corpse of impeccable appearance, astonishing in appearance, but dead in essence. The push of a hand brought it down. Look, who has not felt disappointed? Who has not felt sad, even angry, hurt? When a recognized leader is caught in sin. How many have felt their hearts break upon discovering the truth behind Ravi Zacharias? How many have been morally and emotionally devastated upon learning what happened with Bill Hybels? How many have not felt something break in their guts upon learning how Steve Lawson or Michael Tait, this singer, ended up this year? And I won't mention others. Look, the objective of this seminar is not to air dirty laundry or to sadden us either. The objective of this seminar is to unmask the devil and put him to shame. And I want to begin by saying, it is true that many have fallen, but for every tree that falls, there are thousands, millions that grow in silence, that continue to provide life, fruit, shade, shelter, but a falling tree makes more noise than a thousand that grow in silence. However, I encourage you, I encourage you not to make firewood out of a fallen tree. If you can contribute to its restoration, do so. But above all, keep your gaze fixed on God, the owner of the garden, and on those who continue to be examples, examples of faithfulness. As we want to unmask the devil, I would like to begin by explaining the internal causes of falls. First, the A. We will be looking at the vowels that articulate the fall. Vowels that articulate the fall. The A. Excessive ambition. Do you realize that we are at the beginning of the Bible? We will be advancing in the development of biblical history to see what the first sins were that ruined lives. The first was ambition. God told Adam and Eve that the day they ate from it, their eyes would be opened, and they would be like God, knowing good and evil. The first great temptation in history was ambition, wanting a higher position than others have. Look at ambition submitted to God's sovereignty. Ambition can even be healthy. I want to be more excellent for God's glory. I want to achieve more for God's kingdom. What is it that makes ambition toxic, harmful, and destructive? Two things. First, motivation. What makes my heart race when I think about achieving more? Do I seek to give more glory to God? Do I seek to bless humanity more? Do I seek to build up the church better, but above all, do I seek that He alone occupies the throne? If you seek God's glory, that ambition is positive. Now, when what you seek is for your name to appear, for your surname to be recognized, then be careful. Motivation is the first thing, and then intensity. Never, never, never satisfied. Excessive ambition is called greed. And the divine decalogue says, "You shall not covet." So, that excessive ambition must be controlled because it is the first step to falling. Henry Martyn was a prolific translator of the Bible, a pioneer of modern missionaries among Muslims. He said, "Men sometimes admire me, and that gesture is not bad. What I detest is the pleasure it gives me." Brother and sister, do not bask in self-satisfaction. Do with praise what you do with chewing gum. Take out the flavor and then throw it away. There is legitimate self-pleasure and forbidden vanity. One of the errors we can fall into, pastors and pastoras, is this type of question. Look, among pastors, let's be honest, the constant, predominant question is usually, "How many?" "How many members do you have?" "How many chairs are in your church?" "How many followers do you have on social media?" "How many reactions did your last post get?" "How many books have you published?" "How many books have you sold?" "How many?" "How many?" "How many?" God's question remains, "How and who?" He doesn't ask how many members you have, but who is a member, how they conduct themselves, how you are helping them. He doesn't ask how many works you have managed to accomplish, but who was blessed, who was glorified in it, and how people feel when you minister to them. Beware of ambition. God continues to ask "how" and "who." It is much more important than "how many." You know, sometimes the most beautiful thing, the most beautiful thing in life is to be able to close your eyes and say, "Perhaps on earth I am a complete unknown, but Lord, I know you, and you know me. When one is full inside, one needs so little from the outside. Lord, you know me, I know you. That is totally sufficient." Excessive ambition, but be careful, we continue advancing in the Bible, and we arrive at the E, the E of envy. Wow. It says, "The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but did not look with favor on Cain and his offering. So Cain was very angry." The first great temptation in history was ambition. Here we have already moved from Adam and Eve to Cain and Abel. The second great temptation in history was envy. One of the great, great problems that a minister, man or woman, can have, whatever ministry they develop, is ministerial jealousy. Not zeal, zeal for God, "Zeal for your house consumes me." I'm talking about envy, jealousy, because "I am not like that person or that person or that person." Never allow it. Look, the only reason you are not like that person or that person is because you are a unique creation. When God decided to design the life and person of Pastor Juan Luis, our friend from Alicante, he said, "I will concentrate all my attention on him." And when he had finished, he was so, so satisfied that he said, "I'm breaking the mold. My son, my servant Juan, will be a unique creation." And then perhaps he moved to Pastor Ari and said, "Now I'll concentrate here." And he designed our sister and companion Ari. And when he had finished, he was so, so satisfied that he broke the mold and God said, "She will be a unique creation. No one will be like her." And then he went to you, dear brother, and to you, dear sister. Listen, you are not one, you are not one in a million, you are one or one among the almost 7 billion people who populate planet Earth. Only you can be you. That's why you don't compare yourself to anyone. Comparing yourself is always a bad deal. If I compare myself to someone who is better than me, I will get depressed. If I compare myself to someone who is worse than me, I can become proud. My grandmother told me a long time ago. She told me, "Son, José Luis, on the stage of life, be yourself. The rest of the roles are already taken." And she told me something else. She told me, "José Luis, darling, why would you be a bad copy of someone else if you can be a good original?" And without taking her eyes off mine, she stated, "Only you can be you." Brother and sister, many have fallen because they wanted to be different, because they wanted to resemble others. I wanted to sing for a time in my life. For more than 25 years, I was co-pastor with the musician Marcos Vidal. Why should he sing and I not sing? If instead of organizing this seminar I am sharing with you, I had invited you to listen to me sing after the first stanza. No, what am I saying, after the first stanza? After the first line of the first stanza, everyone would be saying, "Hell must be very similar to this. Listening to José Luis Navajo sing. He's not cut out for singing." And faced with this limitation, I have two alternatives: spend my life lamenting what I cannot do, or dedicate my life to what I was called to do. If I insist on embracing a ministry that does not correspond to me, I suffer and make others suffer. And I decide not to choose a ministry, but to be chosen by God for whatever He wants. I am happy and I project happiness. I am approaching the moment of rest, but let me add this. The two most perfect leaderships that appear in the Bible in terms of the two leadership styles are the leadership of Saul and the leadership of David. Saul was the insecure and envious leader. Saul was walking down the street one day and heard someone singing, "Saul has killed his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." When he heard that, his day was ruined, his body went into disarray. What did they say? "Saul killed a thousand and David, my subordinate, killed ten thousand." That ruined his mood. But look, David's conquests, David's victories only strengthened Saul's throne. That is, if David conquered, Saul grew. But Saul was the envious leader who was more concerned about his position than about his people. So he persecuted David. God does not tolerate pride. God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. So God removed Saul from the throne and placed David in his stead. With David's appearance in the kingdom, something wonderful began. Other names and surnames began to appear. Look at it in Chronicles. Look at it in the books of Kings. With David, David's officers, David's friends began to appear. In Saul's time, that was unthinkable. No one else was named, at most his son. But with David, credit began to be given to others. Look, with David, Israel extended its borders from coast to coast. There was no period of conquest as great as David's time, because David did not feel envy that others progressed, he did not fear that others prospered. He was able to move forward. That is why I tell you, the A of excessive ambition, the E of envy are definitely destructive things. But before entering, or well, I will very briefly move to the third. Briefly grant me this, then we will rest, but I don't want to leave this unaddressed. The I, the I, the A was excessive ambition, the E envy, the I impulses. When the brakes fail. "Better a patient man than a warrior, and he who controls his spirit than he who takes a city," says the Bible. Impulses. One must be so, so careful with impulses in all areas. Look, for example, Moses, what do you think Moses had problems with in the area of being impulsive? What was it that undid Moses? Well, do you know? If you have the microphone open, don't be afraid to be wrong, with impulses. Definitely, definitely he was wrathful. He had a problem controlling his anger, and God set him apart. He became a murderer. He was a person who had problems with his anger. Wow. But he pursued a long degree, 40 years pursuing studies at the University of the Desert. 40 years herding sheep that were not even his, they belonged to his father-in-law. And what a father-in-law Moses had. That would be for a conference on marriage. But those 40 years turned him into the meekest person in the world. So says the Bible. Doctorate Cum Laude in that field of humility. Brother and sister, please, take note of this, I beg you. 5 minutes of self-control prevent many years of suffering. In the area of anger, of course, control your words, control your impulses. There are two things that cannot be recovered. The arrow shot and the word spoken. Once you have said it, you cannot take it back. And that word can be like a poisoned dart to the heart of your child, to the heart of your ministry partner, of your wife, of your husband. The toothpaste effect. You squeeze the toothpaste out of the tube. And you will see how difficult it is to put it back in. Now, David's problem was different from Saul's, sorry, from Moses'. Moses had problems with his anger. David had problems in the sexual area, his sexual impulses. King David suspended this examination. Great musician, great poet, great king. He was King Midas. Everything he touched turned to gold, but he did not control his sexual impulses. And look, why do we sometimes give more importance or relevance to sexual sin than to other sins? Every transgression of God's law is a sin. All sins have their consequences, but it is very true that with sexual sin, there is a cascading effect. A single domino falling knocks down a whole pile of dominoes. The fall into immorality of a leader, whether man or woman, will first affect the leader, then the leader's family, then the church, then the community where that church is located. It will affect and break the other family, the family of the other person involved, society in general that respected that church and even followed that leader. Sexual sin is accompanied by a sinister funeral procession. That is why we sometimes emphasize this fact so clearly. Look, for example, we are going to watch a video now. You probably know the singer Michael Tait. His real name is different, but he is the singer, it is the name he adopted, a very relevant singer in the evangelical sphere. And look, listen to this video, you have it ready, right, Euge? Michael Tait. Yes, the ex. It was heard well. No, it is not seen or heard. I don't know if I have to authorize it. I have to stop sharing for you to do it, possibly. Well, well. Let me know if it looks good. Michael Tait is heard. from Newsboys, what was DC Talk, has just confessed what no one expected, and what he said changes everything. For almost 20 years, Michael Tait lived a double life. In public, he sang songs like "God Not Dead," "Speak Jesus." These are songs that many of us sing with our hearts, but in private, he was a slave to sin. Drugs, alcohol, inappropriate sexual conduct. That is, a life on stage and another totally different behind the curtain. And this is not gossip, he himself said it. "I am ashamed of my actions. I have no excuses. I call it what God calls it, sin." And he really blamed no one, not the system, not fame, not the. He said clearly, "I only blame myself." This was a blow to everyone, including the Newsboys band itself. Michael had left Newsboys in January, but his fall dragged them down too. His bandmates said it this way: "We are horrified, heartbroken, and have been deceived for the last 15 years." But this is not about Michael Tait. Many in our churches live something similar. Young people struggling in silence with issues of sexual identity, pornography, drugs, alcohol, and to protect their image, not to affect their ministry, they swallow their struggles and thus dig their own graves. Luke 8:17 says, "For nothing is hidden that will not be revealed, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light." Sin is like a snowball. One sin leads to another, and when you least expect it, you are no longer in control. It controls you. And mind you, Michael Tait is not the only one. Ravi Zacharias, Carl Lentz, Israel Houghton, Steve Lawson, people who taught the word betrayed it in secret. And it's not about judging, it's about waking up, because no ministry, however great, replaces a life of intimacy with God. No microphone compensates for a heart in darkness. Today, Michael Tait is in rehabilitation. He has lived these past months in complete dependence on God, or so he expresses it, a single broken but sincere life. And as he himself puts it in Psalm 51, "Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. Create in me, O God, a clean heart." But are you living in sin, hoping that no one will notice? God loves you too much to let you continue like this. Today there is still time. Today you can return to the Lord. Do not wait for the scandal. Seek the light. First Corinthians 10:12 says, "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." Jesus obviously does not fail. We do, and very often. But do not place your hopes in leaders, do not place your eyes on pastors, place your eyes on Christ. A broken heart is the beginning of a restored life. It was you who saved me. Look, these issues should make us reflect. This case of Michael Tait just came to light in June, this summer. Here in Spain, we are struggling with another situation that has broken many of us, and whose name, out of respect and because everything is currently even under judicial review, I will not give, but there, for example, there, for example, Steve Lawson is mentioned. Let me tell you about this other case because here we have spoken of a singer, the case of Steve Lawson. Steve Lawson was a person recognized for his authority in the Word. He was a pastor, but he was also the founder of an organization that sought to recover orthodoxy, the value of the Word, and help others. He fell into sin. He fell into sin in a very shameful way with a young ex-student of his, 50 years younger than him. In the same way as so many others, he did not confess, but was surprised. And this perhaps complicates the restoration process a bit. When someone confesses with a broken heart, it is one thing; when someone is surprised, it is another. Nevertheless, the Holy Spirit can bring absolute conviction, and I firmly and definitely believe in restoration. Listen to these words. Listen to these words from José Pablo Martínez, a doctor in neuroscience, lives in Barcelona, Spain, a believer, a truly firm Christian. He says this: "Lawson had it all. He had a family, a wife who loved him. He had postgraduate studies at the most prestigious theological institutions. He had the best health insurance money could buy. He had much more money than he could spend. Lawson's name was known around the world. He had traveled to more than 14 countries. He had contracts with publishing houses that distributed his books. He just had to write, and his material was released massively. He had several dream jobs for any pastor and teacher, but he lacked self-control, the impulse, and everything was ruined. If by chance you are a humble pastor or teacher, perhaps in a very small, remote, and simple congregation, with people who can barely give you enough for your travel expenses or who cannot support you due to their poverty, perhaps you are wondering when you will achieve something more. Let me tell you that you have everything you need to serve the Lord with dignity and love. You will probably die without the fame, without the power, the influence, and the prestige, and without the opportunities that he had. But if you are faithful, Jesus will give you a crown. Your reward will be when you meet the Prince of Pastors. Perhaps you will say, "I don't care about being rewarded. I just want to love the Lord and serve Him." Even so, never lose sight that it is better to serve in a simple way, but in holiness and transparency, than to be at the top among the greatest honors that men can offer and end up mocking God and His Church. The best is yet to come for you, brothers. I say this to you who are connected here, to those who faithfully serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Remain faithful, remain faithful. But look, by the grace of God, Lawson recognized his sin, he recognized it, he sought help, and the principle for his help comes initially from this confession. He said, "My heart breaks as I write this. It is a letter I sent to all the members of my church and to countless pastors and leaders around the world. My heart breaks as I write this. I have sinned gravely against God, against my wife, my family, and against many people by having a relationship with a woman who is not my wife. I am devastated for having betrayed and deceived my wife, for having destroyed my children, for having stained the name of Christ, for having brought reproach to His Church and having harmed many. You will ask yourselves why I have been silent and practically invisible since my sin became known. I must say that I released this statement 6 months after my sin was discovered. He says, "I needed time to search my soul and ensure that my repentance is real. I am solely responsible for my sin. I have confessed it to God, to my wife, and to my family, and I have repented. I have spent the last few months searching my heart to discover the roots of my sin and eradicate them by God's grace. I hate my sin, I weep for my sin, and I have turned away from it. My sin has enormous consequences, and I will live with them for the rest of my life. For years, many of you have trusted me for spiritual guidance, and I have failed you. I beg you to forgive me. I have been in therapy for the last 5 months to confront the difficult questions I needed to address. I have dealt with issues of sin that have been painfully exposed in my heart. I have submitted to weekly accountability with two pastors and with the elders of a local congregation who have guided my soul. I am also under the supervision of an accountability team that monitors my progress and gives me wise counsel in the decisions I must make. I am growing in grace, reading and absorbing the Word of God, putting it into practice, praying, and meeting with other believers. I am involved in the life of the Church, attending and participating in prayer meetings, Sunday school, the worship service, and taking communion weekly. I am being fed by the Word in the mid-week Bible study. Please pray for my spiritual growth toward the likeness of Christ as I follow Him moment by moment during this season of recovery. I am grateful for God's undeserved grace in the gospel to extend His complete forgiveness to me. Again, I also ask for your forgiveness. As I continue the hard work of repentance and soul-searching, I have no intention of making further public comments in the immediate future. Please pray for the mercy and grace of the Lord, as I seek to repair the deeply wrong sins I have committed against my wife and my family, and that in His time and His way He will bring redemption and restoration to our marriage for His glory. Steven Lawson. Look, we have seen a fall, we have seen dramatic consequences, and we have seen repentance. What I want to propose to you now will be the following. After we take a 10-minute break, I will ask you to go into groups, groups of four or five people. And I will ask that you discuss this letter of repentance together in the group, that you analyze, "Do you think this repentance is genuine?" "Do you think the steps mentioned here for the restoration of this servant are adequate?" "Which do you think is more important?" "Which is less important?" In short, that you reflect, that you talk among yourselves. You will have 20 minutes, as this is vital. It is vital to understand this restoration and repentance. And then from each group, you will have appointed a spokesperson to tell us the most relevant reflections you have had among yourselves. Agreed? I don't know if there are any doubts or questions. It would be very good if you could take photos, photos of this letter to discuss it later in the group. As I said, first we will have a recess, 10 minutes, then we will return, and I will send the letter to the WhatsApp group. Excellent. You will have the letter in the WhatsApp group. There it is. Perfect. There you have it. Very well. Look, the Bible shows us two types of repentance, and I want to show you clearly. The Word is not silent on this matter. And when we, as pastors, have to address this issue of correcting or restoring, we encounter two possibilities. The repentance of Saul or the repentance of David. Once you have finished, if you can tonight, or if you can tomorrow or next week, I implore you to read chapter 15 of First Samuel in great detail. In that chapter, you will see the attitude that Saul adopted as king when confronted by the prophet. Saul has disobeyed God. God told them to conquer a village, and not to take anything from that village. And yet, they took jewels, riches, cattle from that village, disobeying God. The prophet is sent by God and confronts him and says, "You have sinned." Saul's first attitude is to say, "I have not sinned. I deny my sin." 1 Samuel 15:13. God cannot be mocked. So God speaks through the prophet and says, "You have sinned. You have sinned." And the sin is brought to light. It is brought to light. The prophet says, "What is that sound of livestock I hear? You say you have not brought livestock, but I am hearing it." The sin comes to light. Then, when the sin comes to light, he says, "I have sinned, but it was the people's fault. The people insisted," meaning he diverts attention. Finally, the prophet continues to confront him, and he has no escape. And then what he says is, "Yes, I have sinned, but do not dishonor me before the people." 1 Samuel 15:22-30. He says, "Accompany me, so that the people see that the prophet does not depart from me. Honor me before the people." God does not tolerate that. And we know very well that because of pride, because of ministerial jealousy, and because of disobedience, God removes Saul from the throne. Look, this is one type. I have participated, I share with you, I have participated in countless restoration processes. And I have seen this process of Saul reflected so many times. In one case, obviously I will not give names and surnames, a lady confessed her sin, and the person with whom she had sinned was a young pastor. Immediately, along with other pastors, I summoned this young man who was accused. The first thing he said was, "I have not sinned. How could I do such a thing? How could I do it?" In the next room, in the church itself, was the young woman involved. When that young woman appeared, the pastor did not know she was there. When that young pastor appeared, he lowered his head in shame, and when we said to this young woman, "He denies that all this is true," she began to explain in great detail what had happened. There, that young man broke down. He broke down, but the immediate thing he said was, "She sought me out, she provoked me, she..." We had already done enough analysis to know that that young woman had been harassed by him. It was not her fault, it was his fault. And even though in all these cases the blame is usually shared, even if she had more blame than him, he had ministerial authority. He was stepping on the altar every Sunday. He was preaching integrity and holiness. So the next thing he told us was, "I acknowledge my sin. I acknowledge it." We said to him, "No."

There is no alternative but to step down from the ministry. So next Sunday we will make a statement in the church. The church must know this. Let me draft that statement, he told us. Let me draft it. Out of mercy, we let him draft that statement. That statement he drafted was an apology because he felt tired and since he felt tired he had incurred some error and therefore he was taking a break. Neither God will ever be deceived, but the Church also does not deserve to be deceived. So without going into unnecessary details, respecting the dignity of the pastor's family, of the pastor, and of the other family involved, there is no need to give morbid details, simply call things by their name. The pastor will be removed because he has committed a moral sin. And that pastor, unfortunately, did not agree to be placed under the covering of other pastors to restore him. And today he is neither in the gospel nor in the ministry, of course. How different it is when a humble position is adopted. Look, go to David. David committed a moral sin. In Psalm 51, he reveals when the prophet Nathan confronts him and tells him, "You have sinned." David says in Psalm 51, "Wash me from all my iniquities," he says, he says to the Lord, "cleanse me from my sin." And immediately in verse 3 it says, "I acknowledge my rebellion, and my sin is ever before me." And look, in case there is any doubt, I have sinned against you, and only against you. I have done what is evil. Therefore your sentence is just, and your judgment, Lord, is irreproachable. He is not making excuses, he is not making excuses, he is not saying, "I fell, but I did not sin against you." Brothers and sisters, repentance is like this. You probably do not need to hear this, but if any of us had fallen, I want to remember this, we are all worth much more than the worst mistake we have ever made. And I want to affirm this too. There is no sin, however horrendous and shameful, that can resist the water of repentance and the power of Jesus' blood. There is a new opportunity, there is a new time, there is a new occasion. So think about it for yourself, but also think about it for those you may have to minister to. Look, I was saying earlier that when we participate in a restoration process, two causes can arise. The person sinned and, moved by their sin, convinced by the Holy Spirit, goes and confesses. That is a good start. But it could also happen that someone is caught in sin, that is, they did not confess it. They could have continued to live in that sin for years, as happened with Rabbi Zechariah. That is a bit more complex, but let's remember something. Paul in Galatians says, literally says, "If anyone is caught in the very act of sin, you who are spiritual, this is the first thing that spirituality should prevail, restore him." That is, do not make crumbs of him, do not destroy him, restore him with a spirit of gentleness. Gentleness literally means strength under perfect control. You have authority, that is why you are restoring the one who has fallen. But develop that authority and strength under perfect control, let grace prevail. And then it says, considering yourself, lest you also be tempted. That is, where he is, you could be. And let's also remember in the gospel that woman who was dragged and thrown at Jesus' feet, the adulteress, they said, "We caught her in the act of adultery. It wasn't that she confessed, she was caught. But God also used grace. Then he told her at the end, go and sin no more. God is understanding, not permissive. He applies authority, but always imbued with grace. So, once we have seen these two types of repentance, and just in case, forgive me, ideas sometimes flow and I consider some that I must share. If at any point it is your responsibility to intervene in a restoration process of someone who has fallen, I have already told you, the spiritual realm must prevail. Go imbued with prayer, go with the covering of the Spirit. Second, do not go alone. In a restoration process, at least three people should participate. If we are restoring a man, three men of impeccable trajectory, demonstrable integrity, and proven confidentiality should participate. People who will know how to keep secret, in intimacy before God, only that fact they are dealing with, but there should always be several. One of the questions we ask is, what do you feel about your sin? In the way they look at us, in the way they respond, we can perceive with God's grace and the Spirit's discernment if the repentance is genuine. That person should be able to say, "I hate the sin I have committed. It hurts me, I repent. Why does it hurt you?" There we will see their priorities. On one occasion I confronted someone with that question and accompanied by, of course, another group of colleagues. The answer saddened me so much. It hurts me, he told me, because I will not be able to continue preaching the word. And by the way, he told me, "When will you give me back my credentials? How long will the restoration last and I will be able to get my credentials back?" I looked at him sadly and said, "Brother, it's a bad start. The question here is not when you will get your credentials back. The question here is when you will be able to look your wife in the eyes and see communion flowing again." The question here is, when will you be able to look your sons and daughters in the eyes and see that they are being healed from such a terrible disappointment? The question here is, when will you be able to close your eyes in prayer and feel forgiven? Preaching is the least important thing now. It is the least you should care about. So the priority, what they pursue, will show us the degree of repentance. And then a restoration process should never last less than 8 months to a year. The genuinely repentant person, when told, "God has forgiven you, your wife has forgiven you, your church has forgiven you, forgive yourself now too. And also consider the possibility of serving God again." That fearful person will try to postpone their restoration to the ministry as much as possible. Gordon McDonald sinned. Yes, he fell into sin. He was restored for almost 2 years. When the six pastors who participated in his restoration told him, "Pastor, your repentance has been genuine and everyone's forgiveness has been genuine. Begin to serve God again." He looked at the altar and said, "But that place is so sacred. That place is so sacred. I have sinned," he said. He let much more time pass, and in the end the six pastors told him, "Dr. McDonald, he won a battle by moving you to sin. Do not let him win the war now by definitively removing you from God's army." Genuine repentance is perceived, it is perceived, but we must always show love, mercy, while also being rigorous because the blood of Jesus cannot be trampled. God's grace is not a toy that I play with and say, I sin because grace is there. No, God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. So, brothers, in light of what we have been hearing and that letter you have, I would like, since we cannot form groups, uh, excuse me, excuse me, pastor, we can now form groups. Ah, glory to God. Oil on the computer. Well, then you will go into groups and look, uh, we will call you from the groups. I love that you can form groups because it is a beautiful opportunity to get to know colleagues. One of the things about these online seminars is that they allow you to connect, connect with others. Uh, it is ten minutes to, we will return at 10 past, 20 minutes, please, in which you will be reflecting on what you think of that repentance and what things are important that Steven Laon mentions there. Nominate a spokesperson in each group, and then that spokesperson will briefly, in about 3 minutes, share the conclusions with us. Good job, friends. Good job. Excellent. Well, now I would really like us to hear the reflections from I will be taking notes because I am sure I will learn new things here. Uh, reflections from the groups. You have already designated someone as a spokesperson in each group. And with which group do we start? Uh, Euge. Well, we can start with group one, which was listed as room name group one, but if not, I will tell you right away who was there. It would be Octavio's group, Delma, Loriseli, Carla, and Richard. Very good. Okay. Ah, well, we really did lack time. Uh, uh, it was a time, uh, uh, but to get to the point, uh, one of the things that was presented was, uh, how truly genuine their repentance was. It was a question that could be, you know, that was being asked. But within all of that, it was also discussed how taking time to internalize was vital, uh, uh, and that this is something that is generally not done because, and the truth is, I was also very surprised by that part, the accountability that he, uh, uh, Pastor Steve has taken, meaning, that reveals, uh, repentance and humility, and how the And this is important because repentance is the beginning, uh, of healing. Then, uh, there was also confession, he withdrew, uh, to take time with God and to also search within himself for the root of the problem. Uh, he understood that he could not do it alone and surrounded himself with people who would hold him accountable. Uh, personally, I also commented to them that in the letter, uh, I read the letter and listened, uh, to what was being taught, and I asked myself, or we ask ourselves, the post-sin letter, right? Meaning, post-fall, post, uh, uh, however it was. But how can we analyze the letter and say, you know, how do I apply these principles in my life and not wait for a scandal, because in reality, with all that we talked about today, we think about the post-sin, but we don't think about the fact that we sin, that we fail. So, even if the sin is not exposed, even if it is not a scandal, we all have to be aware of our own failures and how we can apply these principles before the scandal, before something comes to light. Yes. Because, uh, uh, they are good principles that we should never, uh, stop, you know, never stop internalizing our own sin. We should never stop seeking real repentance for the things that no one knows, but that we know. We should never stop seeking the root of the situation. You know, and I think we should always analyze it, even with the vowels we had discussed, uh, not see them in light of David's or Steve Lawson's sin, but in my case, in Richard Martínez's case. So, those are the things. Yes, the last thing was, uh, uh, it was vital for me, you know, that the result is not according to the gravity of the sin, but the sincerity of the repentance. So, uh, we see that with David, we even see it, I believe with all my heart, with Steven Lawson and with all these men who at some point have had the opportunity for restoration. Amen. Thank you very much to Richard and the group that supports him. I really like these reflections. I loved this closing phrase. It is not the gravity of the sin, but the quality of the repentance, the genuineness of the repentance. We will be, if God allows, uh, uh, talking about some steps to effectively prevent this, to avoid reaching this point. Very good, thank you very much. Uh, EUG group. In group two, we have Rafael Sánchez, Juan Luque, Javier, Freddy Arroyo, and I have a user who says Sharing the faith. Yes. Uh, excuse me, who is Sharing the faith? I was very intrigued. It's Delma. I didn't change it. Ari, I've already put the name. Ari, excuse me, excuse me. Very good. Uh, right, I think we all agree that 20 minutes went by very quickly, but here we go. Uh, uh, right, we were talking about how he began his letter mentioning that, right, he had sinned against God, against his family, and all that, right? And we were talking about how, right, he acknowledged to whom he had sinned, but that the word reminds us that he is faithful and just to forgive. in the midst of the whole process. Uh, and that, and that something that caught our attention was that he at least sought accountability, right, after the process, that he was very intentional in seeking people to whom to be accountable. Uh, another of the, of the, of the topics, right, of what was mentioned in our discussion is that, right, we asked ourselves what happened before he was caught, right, what had happened before, within that process, because in his letter he mentions that, well, now I am seeking the Lord, I am in the prayer meetings, in the Bible school, and that, but then what was happening before that process? No, uh, and it was something that we questioned and asked within the process. Yes, yes. Uh, another, another person mentioned, right, that, uh, uh, moving from remorse to repentance, from that process of "I feel bad about what I did," but it didn't stop there, but rather, right, there was an intention to say, "Okay, but I want to move away from this, I don't want to keep doing this." Uh, and if we are accountable before the fall, we could avoid the fall, right? If, if the accountability process had been earlier, uh, perhaps the process would have been avoided, right? We would not have avoided all the news, right? Or perhaps he would have been restored and would not have reached where he did. Uh, we also talked about how David was confronted with his sins, but if he had not been confronted by the prophet, would there have been repentance? Would he have repented, right? And the pastor's story was that he was caught. One of the conversations was, if he hadn't been caught, would he have continued there or or what would have happened, right? Maybe we wouldn't have known anything and he would still be in his process, right? Interesting. Uh, but and another, another of the things we talked about was that, right, that within all this process, the word is within his process, so, right, let's hope for the fruits this will bear, right? Fruits of repentance or was it just something, right, to at least calm the masses and let everyone be at ease, right? But we pray, right, that there will truly be repentance and that the fruits of this process will be one of restoration, not only for him and his family, but for the other family and the other side of the coin or the story, uh, within all this process, right, and that there will be grace and that there will be truth and that we learn to be accountable before the processes and that we commented that within these processes when this news comes out, we should evaluate ourselves, right? And say, maybe we can do the same or beware if worse. So when we hear news like this, we should evaluate ourselves and see, okay, Lord, what do I need to restore or what do I need to work on, uh, because if that person who, perhaps, right, knew you so well or perhaps has this exposure. Uh, we also need to deal with this and and and allow, right, allow the Lord to restore us too. Excellent, excellent. Without a doubt, without a doubt, it is so. Every time I hear news like this, I tremble, I tremble, uh, and I tremble in the first person. I say, "God, help me because I am as vulnerable as they are." I really like that both groups concluded by saying, "We pray or we ask for the restoration of that person." Mercy must prevail. And I am left here with an extraordinary phrase that you mentioned, Rafael, which is from remorse to repentance. And that reflection that has been left hanging in the air is very interesting. What would have happened if David had not been confronted? Very good. Uh, group number three is the one remaining, and we have Carmen, Ernest, Jesús, Roberto, and Mario. Very good. Okay. This, well, we talked, and one of the questions that arose was, until when would this person have been sinning if they had not been discovered? So, that opens a line of thought and says, was their repentance really real or was it more about the loss of the benefits they were having at that moment, right? So, we also discussed a little, and we commented that sometimes the pastor doesn't know how to do anything else, and then the ministry becomes their way of life and their way of earning a living, so they will defend that position or that part as much as they can. So, uh, we also commented a little that it does matter who sins and where they sin, because here the one who sinned was a very well-known representative, so that in the eyes of many, the process this person would follow mattered. And where they sin, well, the church to which they belong. Many churches do not have the mechanisms, uh, like this church, to support and collaborate with ministers when they fall, but on the contrary, once a minister falls, they seem disposable, right? They are no longer useful. So we forget that pastors and leaders are sheep, uh, we are fallible people, with errors, and that at some point we will fall, but sometimes people forget that. The pastor can attend to hundreds of broken, shattered people who have sinned in restoration processes, but one mistake by the pastor is enough for them to be discarded and not treated as sheep. So, uh, that is the point of stress in which one lives, right? Hm. We also saw that the church shows grace through the process in which it allows the pastor to enter. Each of the things the pastor narrates throughout the letter, we see the elders there, we see them as actors of grace for the church, but it does not remove the consequences of the process in which they must enter. So, grace does not remove consequences, grace gives us the encouragement to move forward, despite the fall. So, uh, the other thing is, well, this was just a result of the loss of intimacy, uh, and the ego of the person. So I think these are the dangerous points that we must guard against, not losing intimacy, as another group rightly said, right? You know, what was he doing before? He was the boss, right? Where was he, in the chair, right? Just pointing and not in the discipleship processes, right? And the other is the ego of the person, right? So, if we, I think that has become very clear with Pastor José Luis's reflection, right? Between gold and clay, right? Let's not confuse that part. Hm, how interesting. How good, how good. I think you have done a profound analysis, not superficial at all, but you have entered into essential, very, very essential keys. I want to mention that we still want to personalize, but since we have entered into this topic, at this moment the marriage of still not living together, but there are many people praying and guiding them to try to prevent the no from winning this war, that that marriage be restored. Secondly, he is in another church, not his own. I think this is for obvious reasons. First, the restoration process, if one is the main titular pastor, uh, it is advisable that it be done outside of his environment, because probably there he will receive, the people who have been disappointed in the front line will have difficulty controlling their fury against the pastor, and on the other hand, the people who already forgive him from the start will look for him to ask him to perform pastoral functions. It is best to remove him and let him be restored elsewhere. The restoration team should always include a person, a person from his closest circle within the church, but then it should include people who are much more objective, that is, from other congregations, people always of trajectory, as I said, of impeccable trajectory and also of absolute confidentiality. If his board of elders were to restore him, certain subjective criteria would come into play, such as the sympathy or antipathy they have towards their pastor, depending on how he has treated the board of elders. So, at this moment, he has a person from his previous council, but the rest are people from outside. These are criteria that are followed out of wisdom and prudence. Very good. Extraordinary. Well, thank you, brothers, for these reflections. Uh, you have been mentioning things. Uh, does Dr. Ernes have anything to say? Yes, yes, man. Uh, the question would be, I am trying not to forget. I am at that age where I forget things when I thought of them. Note, note everything. I have papers full of notes here. Yes, yes. Uh, the follow-up. It has happened to me in our church, right? We have had several cases of men who have been struggling with pornography, and the method I have used, the method I have used, obviously, right, is to lead them to repentance and restore them, and it has worked for me, but also, uh, perhaps it is not a question, it is more like letting the topics know, right, that there must be, uh, follow-up. A person who will, right, who will call that person, will say, "How are you? Are you having weakness? Uh, what have you done this week? Have you fallen? Have you seen something you shouldn't see?" I think there must be someone, right, who advises him and is, uh, supporting him and is, uh, I can't find the word in English, forgive me, accountable, that I can hold him accountable. Exactly. Accountable, that he can be accountable to the pastor, to a leader, that a person can be in communication with that person, because sometimes they feel alone and shame does not let them resort, right, to ask for help. This, at least on the men's side, has happened to me several times, and by the grace of God, right, I have been able to, right, talk separately, write them questions, and by the grace of God, I imagine, right, that they are already a little, uh, much better. Uh, it has happened to me several times, right? And I think that should be happening, I imagine, with these pastors who have someone to whom they can be accountable. and who can question them or perhaps talk to them. That was the suggestion I had. Excellent. Thank you very much. That suggestion is very valuable. Uh, you see, you see that, uh, and immediately we will hear from Freddy, Freddy Arroyo, but, uh, let me show you this, something that is vital, vital. Taking advantage, even though I won't have time to share everything, I want to show you this, something vital for all those who do not want to fall into this and for those who have fallen is to have GAS groups. GAS groups are GAS, group of support and wisdom. That group of support and wisdom, uh, should normally be made up of three people. Uh, notice that Jesus appointed 12 to be with him. He had his group, and when he was in the greatest crisis in Gethsemane, he took three, Peter, James, and John. And when he had to, uh, show his grace on the Mount of Transfiguration, the same three were there. And when later, I think it was when Jairus' daughter had died, he sent everyone out, but he stayed there with Peter, James, and John before the corpse. In critical moments, he had three. Pastors, it is vital, it is vital to have a GAS group, a group of support and wisdom. It is a group of accountability. It is a group to which you will authorize, authorize to call you at any time and ask you, José Luis, are you clean, are you living with integrity? And among ourselves, we have made a pact of honor. If I have made a mistake, if I have had a slip, my code of honor is committed to it, I will tell you the truth. And there have been times when I have had to tell the truth, and my Gas group has prayed with me, has prayed for me, and has told me, "You lost this battle, but you will win the war. Get up and keep walking, we are with you." And when it comes to accompanying men or women, uh, they also need that group. If they are struggling with pornography or anything else, that is very prudent, Ernest, as you have told us, that they have someone who will call them when they least expect it. And if you have fallen, you will confess it, and I will not judge you, I will lift you up. So this is one of the keys to staying. This is preventive, it will make you, it will prevent you from falling, but it is also curative. If you have fallen, it will help you get up. Uh, I wanted Freddy to share something. I think there was a note here from Freddy. Continue, continue. No, but we are interested in knowing what you were going to say, really. Ah, it's a word. It's a message in the chat, it says, "It truly ministered to me greatly when we started and that many times this can happen with highly recognized pastors when activity takes precedence over intimacy." Correct, correct, correct. That's why, yes, taking your advice, look, I'm going to, uh, go ahead with something principal. First, look, prevention, prevention and restoration. First, identify, identify your weak points. We, uh, always identify our strengths, our talents, our gifts, but it is vital to identify our weak points, because identifying where you are attacked the most will help you see which areas you need to strengthen. Second, create a GAS group, a support network. Take care of yourself. Jesus rested without any guilt. Jesus, meanwhile, was in the stern sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him up saying, "Teacher, don't you care that we are about to perish?" Look, pastor, pastor, leader, listen. Take your rest time. As Jethro told Moses, if you do this, from morning until night, you will utterly wear yourself out, you and consequently these people who are with you. When you are resting, there will always be someone to shout at you, "You're taking a day off, it turns out you're playing soccer, it turns out you're going on vacation, don't you care about the crisis the church is in?" Because I care about the church's crisis, that's why I'm going to rest. It is proven that one of the triggers, of the precipitants of falls, has to do with the pastor or pastor being tired, fatigued, not having taken care of himself. Look, I want to show you and remind you of something. Jimmy Swaggart, remember? Jimmy Swaggart had a historically recognized fall. He was restored. Jimmy Swaggart had a brutal schedule and was also a pastor in a church. He had a friend named David Wilkerson. David Wilkerson was one of the most authoritative prophetic voices of this century. On one occasion, David Wilkerson felt a great burden for his friend Jimmy Swaggart. He wrote to him saying, "Jimmy, the Holy Spirit is prompting me to pray for you. I think I should suggest that you withdraw with me for a week to seek the Lord together in the cabin." David Wilkerson had a cabin in the mountains where he would retreat to seek God. Withdraw for a week and we will seek God together." Jimmy Swaggart replied with a very brief letter. "Friend David, thank you for your concern, but I cannot withdraw for a week. The world is waiting for me." A short time later, all the truth that was under Jimmy Swaggart's golden cover exploded. It came out in the news, there was pain, there were tears, there was shame. I have often wondered, would it have been different? If Jimmy Swaggart had said, "The world is waiting for me, but the world can wait. If God is calling me, he should not wait. If God calls me to withdraw." Therefore, rest, rest, take care of yourself. Look, one of the issues, I want to find this note because it seems very important to me that it is deteriorating many ministries, it has to do with fatigue. First, it has to do with loneliness. Let me show you this. A precipitating factor is loneliness. When you isolate yourself, pastoral ministry, ecclesial ministry is one of the loneliest, most solitary jobs there is. Loneliness in its proper measure is vital, but in overdose it is lethal. When you are alone and have temptations, when you are alone with them, you are in trouble. Always remember, please, David Wilkerson saying, "Jimmy, come, pray with me, let's seek God together." The second is stress. Stress wears you down. Emotional defenses fall to a minimum. There is a syndrome, I beg you to take note of this. In the pastorate, there is what is known as the infinite work syndrome. No matter how much you do, there is always something pending to be done. No matter how many people you help, there will always be people who have a problem and are demanding from you. Clearly remember that Jesus, at the limit of his time on earth, said speaking to God, "The work you gave me to do, I have done. I have fulfilled," says another version, "all that you commanded me. There were people left to convert, many. There were sick people left to heal, many. But Jesus understood what I had to do, I have already done it. Let me mention another sad case, but before mentioning it, I want to remind you. Remind you, for every person who falls, there are millions who remain in integrity, but we must look at the virus with a magnifying glass. There is no alternative. Ted Agar, he was president of an association of evangelicals, the largest in the United States. That association of evangelicals brought together 150 million evangelical Christians. Ted Agar was accused by his boyfriend of prostituting himself and of having been prostituting himself with him for years. At first he denied it when that prostitute with whom he was involved presented all the evidence, he admitted it. Of course, he was removed from the ministry, he sought restoration. But he wrote some words that move me to reflect, and I want you to listen to these words. He wrote the following: "Since I was a teenager, I had problems with my sexual identity. There were moments when that monster would rise up and dominate me with impulses I could not control. When I gave my heart to Jesus and entered the ministry, I made a firm pact not to sin. There were moments, he said, when that giant was dormant. But when I found myself involved in a lot of activity, with worries, when I had outbreaks of stress due to the ministry, in those outbreaks of stress I felt that giant rise up and dominate me and push me to sin. Listen to this. Spiritual ministry is exhausting, it is very exhausting. 8 hours of, excuse me, one hour of spiritual ministry is as exhausting as 8 hours of forced labor, of forced physical labor. Ministry is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. And when we are tired, we are mega hypervulnerable, we are more exposed to falling. That is what happened to Ted Agar. When the stress crisis overcame me, that giant dominated me and pushed me to sin. In those moments of low self-esteem, of emotional malnutrition, we seek, how to say it? quick, short-term gratifications. Pornography is a very quick, short-term gratification. And if, moreover, in the midst of ministry, you feel demotivated, you feel unappreciated by your church, by your colleagues, a lady will appear, or a man will appear if you are a lady, someone of the opposite sex will appear who will smile at you, who will appreciate you, who will say, "I admire you, pastor." Beware, beware, beware. Stress must be combated with rest. With rest. And one more thing that is a precipitating factor. I spoke of loneliness, I spoke of stress, success. Beware of success. Joseph was not tempted in prison. Joseph was tempted in the palace. In Potiphar's palace. If God is blessing your ministry, if God is giving you fruits, remember this. Success has a high alcoholic component. The vapors of success go up to the brain, cloud the vision. Success makes you move away from the cushions to pray. Success takes you to the summit, and distances you from the valley of prayer. I have seen many ministers fall victim to the virus of success and suffer from the champion syndrome. They spend more hours caressing their trophies than raising their hands to God. They spend more time shaking hands with those who congratulate them than raising those clean hands to the Lord. Beware, our place is not the summit, it is the trench. It is not our role to take a scepter, but a hoe. The path to greatness will always be descending. Remember this. Do not seek popularity. As Habakkuk said, you seek for, excuse me, as the prophet Baruch said, I think he said it to Jeremiah, if I'm not mistaken, "Do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them." And in the original, there are exclamations on both sides, there is emphasis. Do not seek greatness. Popularity is glory in small change. It weighs a lot, but it is worth little. Popularity weighs so much, the medals that popularity hangs on us weigh so much that they can break our backs and certainly hinder progress. So flee from loneliness, flee from stress, flee from success, and instead identify your weak points. Create a GAS group, a group of support and wisdom. Rest, please, rest without any guilt. And then look, Jesus set limits, rising very early while it was still dark, he went out and went to a solitary place, and there he prayed. Brothers and sisters, here is the key that you have all highlighted in the groups. Jesus spent nights in prayer before spending days in activity. The hand you are going to extend to the needy must first be raised before God. To transform with God, we must be transformed by God. The perfect balance. But then he set limits. After praying, Simon Peter and his companions went out to look for him, found him, and said to him, "Everyone is looking for you." Jesus said to them, "Let us go to another place, to the neighboring towns, so that I may preach there also, for that is why I came." Look, everyone is looking for you." And yet Jesus says to them, "To them, no. Let's go to another place. Listen, in the church everyone will look for you. You must educate the congregation, you must educate them. There are times when, as the main leader, you must be inexcusably present, but you do not have to be there for everything. I pastored a church whose members were very poorly educated. Every time they sneezed, they asked the pastor to clean their noses. That is, I had to be there for everything, for the smallest thing. I lived 40 km from that church. They would call me at any hour, and I had to rush to discover that what they called me for could have waited not one day, but three months. But I would leave my family at the dinner table, arrive home at dawn after attending to nothing. There are times when everyone will look for you, but you must know how to say, "This is not my battle, or it is not the battle I should fight now." Let's go to another place. Do not feel guilty about setting limits. They will ask you to preach a word with heavenly flavor on Sunday. For that, during the week, you will have to stop being a car mechanic, a lawyer, a marriage counselor, an escort to the doctor. Delegate, delegate. Let the church understand that the pastor will be there for what he should be there for, but not for everything. It is vital. Set limits. And one more thing. You don't have to do it all yourself. I have glorified you, I said before, on earth I have completed the work you gave me to do. Brother and sister, remember the phrase I often use. Getting involved in all wars does not make you a hero, but a corpse. Something that should not be missing is, and this is the last thing I say, the balance between activity and intimacy. Activity and intimacy. Jesus often, you see, would withdraw to solitary places and pray there. If you are going to speak for 20 minutes to the church, try not to do so without having spoken for 40 minutes with God beforehand. Homiletics, yes, but genuflection too. Because homiletics without genuflection will be an extraordinary message, but it will taste too much of the earth. When homiletics is imbued with the freshness of heaven, it brings the aroma of God. And that is what always fills and changes. Look, on my desk I have this. Uh, I have this in view. Here I open the Bible, I have my computer to write, but always in front of me I have this. Do you know what it is? Some of the writing students already know. These are an exact reproduction of the nails used to crucify Jesus. This longer nail, the one in the center, was used to pierce his two feet, Jesus' feet, one over the other. Through the instep, they would pierce both feet with the nail until it was embedded in the wood. These other shorter ones pierced Jesus' wrists. The wrists, you know that when crucifying a condemned man, uh, the main nail was not in the palm of the hand. With a single nail there, the weight of the body would have torn the hand, and he would have fallen. A long nail pierced Jesus' wrist, and this was embedded in the wood. And then often, yes, with another smaller nail. Here they are, these smaller nails that acted as a crossbeam, also pierced his hand to secure it. So, the wrist pierced and the hand pierced. I look at it frequently when life is hard, when ministry becomes difficult, when I feel misunderstood or even mistreated by the congregation I love. But every time I look at this, I say, he loved me more than anyone. He was treated more unjustly than anyone. And I embrace this cross. And I say, God, thank you. Thank you for showing me that he who goes with his heart forward will see his heart pierced. And yet he gave his life, but he did so at the right moment when he had to. Before Calvary, he sometimes went out, he left without being able to be apprehended, sometimes he withdrew. Do not let your agenda be written by the least spiritual people. Let God write your agenda. And for God to write your agenda, you will sometimes have to say to people, "No, I'm sorry, but I cannot accompany you. I have to take care of myself to be able to take care of you. I have to rest so that you have a pastor who ministers from rest, and I have to seek God so that when you come to church on Sunday, you receive bread from heaven. There are pastors and pastoras who all week long do not stop running the race all week without bending their knees for even a few minutes. On Sunday, they give hard bread to the congregation. Those church members will say, "Pastor, you are wonderful, approachable, loving, but I'm sorry, I'm starving to death. I have to go to another congregation because I'm starving to death here." Take care of yourselves. And besides, we are talking about taking care of our lives. If we do not maintain

These principles, we multiply in vulnerability. I finish. Look, my ministry consists of being an associate pastor of a church, but uh I do not receive any salary from the church because my main ministry consists of traveling. Uh, and for that reason, to be able to travel without problems of conscience, I receive nothing from the congregation. However, sometimes the congregation demands and demands and demands. I travel because I understand that it is not a human invitation, but a divine calling. I do not accept human invitations, but divine callings. I prefer to travel with my wife, but I cannot always do so. She has a secular job too and cannot accompany me on all trips. When I travel alone and the day's ministry has been intense, when I reach the solitude of the hotel, I feel very tired, very tired. I am no longer 30 years old and that makes the wear and tear greater. And I know that when I am tired, I am extremely vulnerable. I know it and he also knows it. He knows that I am weak and in danger when I am tired. That is why, when I arrive at the hotel room, the first thing I do is kneel and say, "God, I am tired." And when I am tired, I am very weak. That is why I beg you, embrace me. Embrace me. I need to feel that your embrace renews my strength. I spend a long time wrapped in God's arms and there I feel better. But not everything is done. Immediately after, after feeling embraced by God, I call home. I want to talk to my wife. Sometimes I wake her up due to time zone changes, but I want to tell her, "Honey, I love you." I want to hear her tell me, "I love you, because I want to remember that in Madrid, Spain, there is a woman who expects the man who returns home to be at least as whole as the one who left." And that is why I talk to her. He is not bad, you know that. He is cruel. He does not want to harm your ministry, he wants to destroy it. He does not want to harm your marriage, he wants to break it. Therefore, seek God, have companions. Learn to say no. Learn to rest without guilt. Remember that you don't have to do everything yourself and maintain a perfect balance between activity and intimacy. That will prevent the fall. That will prevent it. I don't know if there are any comments, or questions, I don't want to. If there is anything that you found confusing, I don't want it to remain uh unaddressed in a confusing way. So please feel free to express yourselves. How merciful you are. You don't want to put me in a complicated situation? Look, there is a small task that I am going to entrust to you, to beg you to do in the coming days. There is no limit, there is no deadline, take the time you need. It is a very simple task, but it will help you to reflect. I don't know if it is possible to show it, we have it in an image. Yes. Uh, you will see that it is very, very simple. Very simple. Can you see it there, pastor? No, it is not visible. No, now it is. Look, I am going to beg you that in this task you complete the word that corresponds to the vowels that articulate the fall. I don't know if two were left untouched due to lack of time. I think so, right? Yes, the O and the U. Correct. Very good. Uh, what would the A be? Can you tell me the A? Let's see, let's see. Ambition. Ambition, excessive. Ambition, excessive. Correct. The E. Envy. Envy. Very good. Envy. The I. Impulses. Impulses. when the brakes fail. Correct. Now, the O is pride. I think we have, you have spoken about it with such clarity that I don't see the need to elaborate further on it. Pride, you have even said, is the worst sin and the greatest danger for a pastor. And then the U is a somewhat convoluted word, but you will understand it. The U is ubiquity. Ubiquity. And we have talked a lot about this, but I want to explain the real meaning of the word ubiquity. Look at what ubiquity means so you can understand it. Ubiquity according to the RAE. Let's see if I can find it here. I want to be faithful to the translation, that's why I'm looking for it, but look at what a pile of papers I have here. Look, ubiquity. That is the word. The literal translation according to the RAE is applied to a person who wants to preserve everything and lives in constant motion. Another meaning is present in all places. Another meaning of ubiquity is being everywhere at the same time. It is generally said, says the RAE, it is generally said of God, but I say, it is also said of some pastors who are everywhere. Be a theologian, dear brother and sister. If you can, be a good theologian, but never be an everything-doer. Don't be the orchestra pastor who plays all the instruments. The secret of concentration is elimination. To mature is to choose and to choose is to discard. You have to know what corresponds to me to do, because to get closer to myself I have to separate myself from others. I cannot be the parsley in all dishes. I cannot be the cilantro in all dishes, because I will be decorative, but I will not be nutritious. I will be in every dish, but I will not be feeding anyone. That is ubiquity. So the key in this simple task is this, uh, complete each of the words and then write a couple of reflections, what you consider most important about each of those points. Send it to me by email, sorry, by email and uh I will commit to something with you. I will be looking with the utmost interest at what you have written. Of course. I will take some time to pray specifically for you and I will send you a video personally with what I have felt in my heart and with the words that God gives me for you, because I firmly believe that you are brothers and sisters who are on the front lines, that you are a blessing to the world and therefore you are an enemy to the devil. So I want to team up with you. Send it without rush when you can and as I receive it, I will send you my response. Okay? Very good. Well, again, if there is anything you want to ask or comment on, I am open. Thank you from the heart for your trust, for your time. Thank you, really. One word, José Luis, uh, blessings. I believe that you will never, yes, you will never realize what an instrument you are in God's hands to bless ministers in this time. So I pray for you, for your family, and you don't know the joy it gives me to have a pastor friend like you, right? It moves me a lot. Thank you. And I feel very good. Thank you very much. So when you have uh seminars and things like that, don't hesitate to let us know, because we will be there to learn more, because this does not end. Amen. Remind me. Where are you? In Chile. No, no, in El Salvador. In El Salvador. In El Salvador. What a blessing. We have convened people from Puerto Rico, from Dallas, from Ceuta, from somewhere in Florida and also from another place in Miami, from Sydney, from Philadelphia, from Alicante, from Chile, from Mexico, from El Salvador. What a blessing. What a blessing. We are in Central America. Yes, yes, yes. I would like to add something. Carla speaking from Chile. Yes, yes, of course. Go ahead. Uh, well, in our small group, we also considered something that was super important. Sometimes these types of seminars are scarce because being real is difficult. We had the opportunity in the small group to receive a beautiful, very real testimony. And when I say being real is difficult, it's because it's hard to identify our weaknesses. And when I say it's hard to identify our weaknesses, it's because we always point to the man's weakness. But we as women, which is what I mentioned, being Bible teachers, preaching the word, we have a high percentage of exposure just like men. Mm. Uh, I see that it is also necessary to consider the resentment of the wound when they fail us, when we have been hurt by infidelity, and that is a trigger that, at least for me, is a risk, because not only have I as a wife been seduced, but I am seduced from my wound. Yes. And that does not take away my spirituality or my excellence in teaching, because what triggers me are the thoughts. Mm. From that point of view, I consider it also relevant to point it out. Uh, I see that the publication I received in relation to the seminar is preventive medicine, and perhaps I will leave you with the idea of promoting another one, specifically in the area of the wound, the damage, the consequence that wounds of the fall leave. Because we as wives, uh, as preachers, Bible teachers, are exposed, and the greatest risk is from the wound rather than from seduction, because men and women are different, men are visual, uh, women are very, very different, you know, uh, we are more about details, more about intimacy, but not the intimacy from which the man is seduced. So that would be my contribution, and I thank you for this seminar. I believe there is a lack of opportunities like this, and that we can also be real, because at least I have had a beautiful experience for many years with Pastor Navajo, and for me it has been a tool for restoration in my life, and for many years I have had to deal with this. Hm. And for me this is preventive, but I consider that there is a missing area, pastor, the area of caring for and preventing from the wound, because even if the years pass, there can be forgiveness, and there has been, there can be restoration, and it may no longer mean anything, but there will always be a memory of what happened, and I can also use that as a trigger to be seduced from my own will, because there is a wound. Yes, that. Carla, uh, Carla, I want to thank you for your honesty, your transparency. It is not easy to admit that you have lived what you have lived. And I find your contribution very wise when you speak of being seduced from the wound. That is a profound word. Uh, he is very, very cruel, and he will tell you, "If they did it to you, why aren't you going to do it?" And that is the trigger you mention. Uh, I am taking good note of your suggestion. I am taking very good note and I will seek God's direction to be as clear and specific as possible in that as well. So thank you, Carla. Thank you. Very good, well, brothers, what do you say if we finish with a prayer, a time of prayer? And truly I want to ask God to bless you, to bless you. Tomorrow you have activities or we have them in our churches. May God give us all grace and bless those congregations, Lord. Thank you in the name of Jesus. Thank you for each man, woman whom you have called this afternoon. Thank you for their responsibility and for their humility, Lord, to sit and listen, to grow, to learn. I want to ask you to bless them, Lord. Perhaps they have questions that need an answer. Perhaps they are facing struggles, battles that need a supernatural intervention from your part. Lord, work, work in any desert they may be walking through, in any moment they may be facing. Lord, bless their present and bless their future. I pray for them. I pray for their families, I pray for their congregations, and we declare, Lord, that we want to be faithful, faithful to you, faithful to our calling, faithful to our families, and we want to ask you to intervene in any strategy or trick that the enemy may be trying to use. Turn, Lord, weapons into plows. May everything that he wants to work against us become an instrument of blessing for us and for many through us. We give you glory and praise in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. God bless you all. A pleasure. I send you a huge hug. God. See you soon. See you soon. God bless you. Stop by there. Blessings to each one. When you come to Florida, pastor, let me know. Yes, please. We will be in communication. We will be in communication. Blessings. Bye. Bye. Bye. Blessings. Thank you, Euge. Greetings. A hug.