Unfailing Trust
Pastor Mike Salas
Latin Times / Victor Padilla : Tell us about the passion and calling on your life and in this ministry ? Pastor Mike Salas : The passion and the drive here is that we do not want to be just another Hispanic / Latino church . One of the things that our Pastors taught us in the last ten years is that we have to think outside of the box .
We do not want to be a religious Latino church full of traditions . Our passion is to connect the Latino People with a relationship , not with a religion , a relationship with God and to where they can experience a one on one relationship with Jesus Christ , and be able to build their own spiritual life through that relationship .
Latin Times / Victor Padilla : Tell us about your family and your church family and the kind of relationship you have with them ? Pastor Mike Salas : Wow , we have four children , four beautiful children . We have one daughter and three boys . My daughter is 26 , my oldest boy is 23 then we have a 19 year old and the youngest who is 16 . It ’ s interesting because we have our two youngest at home and I am so proud to say that they are very involved in the ministry they actually run the media here in the church for the Spanish ministry . One of them ( the oldest ) is the director and the other one is a camera person .
As far as the church family , what can I say , it is the best family that you can have , a spiritual family . We are truly loved by the congregation , one of things that I have noticed about the Latin connections group is that they feed us , it ’ s reciprocal , I as their pastor , I preach the word , lead them , but their love and their support actually gives us the stamina and gives us the desire to move on and to continue to grow of the Latin Connections where it would be the largest Latino Church in Tampa .
Latin Times / Victor Padilla : Who is your greatest hero and what kind of an impression did they leave in your life ? Pastor Mike Salas : My greatest hero was my father . My father was a tremendous man of God , one of the pioneers in New York as far as Spanish churches , and he left to
be with the lord over eight years ago , even to this day my father has an impression on my life to where I understand that I am called . My dad gave me such solid advice , I remember him telling me
“ Mike always be real and always be transparent with the people .
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And of course one of my greatest hero ’ s is Pastor Paula White , as she is my personal mentor , and my example . Paula is impacting millions and millions of people throughout the world , and that is our desire to impact all of Latin America , all the Spanish speaking countries , not just in Tampa , FL or the US , our vision is to impact the Latin world as a whole .
There are no limits to what you can do when you believe in God .
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Please join Pastor Mike for services on Sundays at 3:00 PM @ Without Walls International Church @ at Without Walls International Church , located at : 2511 N . Grady Avenue in Tampa , FL .
Unfailing Trust
By : Victor Padilla
The other day I was at the beach with my familia and I found myself going through memories of my father who was a pastor and evangelist most of my life , until God called him home in 2006 .
My father would often take us to the beach when we were kids , and I remember that after we played in the water , my father would grab one of the inner tubes , lay back in it , and just let the waves carry him off into the deep waters until you could hardly see him in the horizon . I remember , I would watch him with tremendous concern thinking to myself ” What if the sharks get him , what if he drowns , what if something terrible happens and he never comes back ?” Finally , after my worries began to mount for him , he would suddenly re-appear and there he was paddling back , doing the backstroke in the intertube as if he had gone for a stroll in the park , and he always had a huge smile on his face .
My father would get to shore and look at me , and say , “ What ’ s wrong Papa ?” and I would just keep my worries to myself . Finally after many of these care-free trips , I was so upset that I said ...” Papi why do you go so far out in the water , don ’ t you know that you could die out there , get eaten by sharks , killed or something ?” My father bent down , grabbed my face looking into my eyes , and said the words that seared into my heart and gave me more respect for him as a man of God than ever . He said ...” Son , sometimes to get close to God we have to meet Him in the places that are very scary and dangerous but , we have to trust Him completely with our lives and for me that is in the deep waters , so He has control and not me .”
That was the most profound thing my father ever said to me , I knew then , that when we are going through the storms , trials , suffering , and pain in our lives , through it all , God is there , He alone is in control . It is up to us whether to trust him or not .
I want to encourage you to trust in God no matter what trial or tribulation you are going through or what circumstance is happening in your life right now , just close your eyes , relax , and say …” God I am here in the deep waters of my life , meet me and draw me into your peace , give me your strength to endure and the faith to withstand , knowing that I will make it through this and that victory is coming !”
Jesus spent the last moments of His life on earth knowing everything that He would have to go through , yet He held on to the faith and the promise of His Father , how much more will God hold on to you .
May God bless you and give you His unfailing peace . – Brother Victor Padilla