Monday June 18, 2018

 

It was the summer of 1980, when Salsa music legends Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz arrived in the city of Miami; they had no income or savings. Six years earlier, in 1974, they were declared the Kings of Salsa in a competition of the top Latin orchestras in the world. One year later, in 1975 they gave their lives to Jesus and left the stage. The Christian church did not receive them, and the Salsa fans abandoned them calling them traitors to the music and Salsa culture. In the summer of 1980, they arrived in Miami with a tarnished identity, their influence greatly diminished, and their income was zero.

 

Then the Lord said to Moses, “What is that in your hand?”“A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. – Exodus 4: 2-4

 

Moses’ staff represented three things. It represented his identity, who he was, a shepherd. It represented his influence, what he did. And it represented his income, what he had. When Moses threw his staff on the ground it became alive. But each time he picked it up it would turn back into a dry stick. Moses went on to surrender his staff to God, and from that moment on, his staff became known as the rod of God. It was with the shepherds’ staff now in God’s hands that Moses led the people of Israel out of four hundred years of slavery in Egypt. It was with the staff that God saved them from Pharaoh and his armies when he parted the Red Sea then drowned Pharaoh and his armies in it. And, it was with the staff that over a million people traveled through the desert and drank water from a rock. These are just a few examples of what was accomplished through the shepherds’ staff all because Moses surrendered it to God.

 

When Richie Ray and Bobby Cruz arrived in Miami that summer in 1980 the churches refused to accept them as visitors much less as members. But, they had met a couple that owned a furniture warehouse and they kindly and generously allowed them to gather there to pray and study the word of God. This small gathering soon became a church and as the number of people attending grew, it became necessary to find a more suitable place to meet. It was at that time, when Richie and my father Bobby, with their shattered reputation because of their decision to follow Jesus, decided to sign a record deal for just $10,000.00. The money would be used to pay for a larger space for the church to gather. The number of people attending the church continued to grow and some 38 years later approximately 100,000 people have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and some 35,000 of them have been baptized not to mention the 72 churches established worldwide all because of their encounter with this small gathering. When you add to the equation the number of people that accepted Jesus at Richie and Bobby’s evangelistic outreaches and secular concerts the number is innumerable, more than likely in the millions.

 

One day, just like Moses, Richie and Bobby decided to surrender their identities as salsa musicians, their influence, and their income to God. And, as they say, the rest is history; a history that 38 years later continues to add more and more chapters.

 

So, what’s in your hand?

If you keep it in your hands it will be nothing more than a dry stick, but if you let it go and surrender it to God, it will become alive and a powerful tool of eternal value in God’s hands.