January 17, 2025 • 27 mins
"Did you know that each one of us is on a Journey with God? Today, Pastor Ysrael De La Cruz, affectionately known as "Pappo," shares his inspiring journey, emphasizing faith, ministry's transformative power, authentic biblical teaching, and spiritual growth."
Pastor Ysrael De La Cruz, affectionately known as Pappo, shares a compelling journey from his early days in the Dominican Republic to becoming a pastor on Staten Island. Growing up in a pastor's family, Pappo embraced Christianity at the tender age of 12 and embarked on a path that would lead him through academic pursuits in Illinois and impactful ministry work across the United States. Listeners will gain insights into Pappo's experiences with church planting, the significance of returning to Bible essentials, and the profound influence of his supportive wife throughout his spiritual journey.
Our conversation delves into the transformative power of ministry work and its ability to change lives. Pappo recounts heartfelt stories, including a powerful prison event where a play about Joseph inspired inmates to embrace faith, illustrating the profound impact of artistic expression in ministry. Plays like Genesis 'JOE' serve as a testament to the eternal impact ministry has on both the audience and those involved, reminding us of the spiritual growth that stems from authentic engagements with the Word.
We also explore the importance of sound biblical teaching in fostering a genuine connection with Jesus. As modern distractions threaten to dilute the essence of faith, Pastor Pappo emphasizes the necessity of returning to the basics of the Bible to combat superficial teachings. This episode serves as an encouragement to listeners to seek out Bible-believing churches that prioritize Jesus, nurturing communities of mature and seasoned disciples grounded in their convictions. Join us for an enriching episode that challenges and inspires spiritual growth.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Lord you know.
Hey guys, you are now listeningto Plays on Word.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Radio.
It's the best.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
We face a challenge because people now with social
media, they're listening to allkinds of teachers out there and
it's like I see the need forchurches to really go back to
the Bible, to go back to theessentials and not just be so
caught up in this movement ofglamour and things.
You know what I mean and Ithink that that's one of the
challenges that you know it'sokay to have those things, but
(00:30):
it's God showing up in yourworship services.
That's the most important thing.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
You're the only name.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we
discuss, analyze, work and playon the Word of God.
Thank you for joining us onthis excursion.
Today let's join Pastor Teddy,also known as Fred David Kenney
Jr, the founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Amen.
Thank you very much, mr JoshTaylor and Katie Kenney.
Welcome to all of you to Playson Word Radio.
Check out this interview withmy man, poppo.
It's way too long overdue.
We are here with Israel De LaCruz, yes, correct, otherwise
known as Poppo.
Yep, that's how I know you.
I know you as Poppo, yeah, andour brother here is the pastor
(01:46):
of the Staten Island ChristianChurch.
I mean yes, yes, that doesn'tget no simpler than that.
It's just Staten IslandChristian Church.
How long have you been there?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
17 years, walking into 18 in the summer.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Wow, and, of course, our connection is through our
beloved brother, phil.
Brother phil sinclair, that'sright, yeah, and the whole
sinclair family, the whole crewfrom staten island.
I think we first met you uh, Iwant to say 2018 or 19.
We came up and did genesis joe.
(02:21):
Uh, you invited us to come upand do genesis joe and you were
one of the early on supportersof what we were doing, man,
giving us an opportunity to comeand do what we do.
My dear brother, skip Vaught,came out and visited with Rosie,
his wife, who is with the Lordright now.
(02:44):
But, yeah, he came out andvisited when we first did our
Genesis Joe play up there.
It was right around the cornerfrom where he lived.
But, yeah, that was all before.
The whole COVID, yeah, tobaccoand all that, and you've had us
out a few times since and it'salways Because we have Pete, you
know.
Yeah, yeah, that's right, it'salways been a blessing.
But the thing that struck mewas when we did Genesis Joe,
(03:10):
there was a guy in the back andI couldn't quite tell who he was
and he was nodding his head andhe was into all the scripture
references, man, and he wasfeeling it and it turned out, it
was you.
I was like there's somebody inthe back that's really
understanding this and gettingthis.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Tell me about your first impression when you saw
that play man and that wasincredible.
I mean the way that you wereable to you know to call the
scriptures and even, you know,dramatize everything.
I mean that's a gift.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I know that you said something at the time you really
appreciated how it ties toChrist, how we tie Jesus to
Christ.
See, when people that knowtheir Bible, they really
resonate with that.
Now that blessed me because Iwas like, okay, he understands
it and gets it, and that's thatjoy.
So tell me about yourself, man.
(04:05):
How did you come to meet Jesusman?
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic
and my dad's been a pastor for52 years now, wow.
So in other words, I was verymuch raised in the church and I
remember that my dad used totell us that, okay, you're not
going to heaven just becauseyour daddy is a preacher.
You have to make your owndecisions.
And I know I made my owndecision to be baptized into
(04:31):
Jesus at the age of 12.
And you know, from that momenton, you know, being a preacher's
kid, you're always involved inchurch doing things.
You know serving God indifferent capacities.
But that's how it was in the DR.
From the DR I ended up going toIllinois.
I went to a Bible college,Christian University, over there
(04:54):
.
That was in 96.
I came to the States in 96 incentral Illinois.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Wow, yes, yes, yes.
How do you get to Staten Islandfrom?
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I was.
After I graduated from collegeI was I started my ministry.
We went to Chicago Illinois towork with a new church plant.
Knowing that I'm Hispanic, Iwas there to help out two
Mexican pastors in a new churchplant with a church called
Comunidad Cristiana, communityChurch.
(05:27):
And so we were there.
You know, we lasted like abouta year.
Things did not go as weexpected, but my wife and I
understood that maybe we neededto stick around there for a
while, and you know my wife wasteaching at a school district
and then, you know, I was even.
(05:47):
I became a teacher's aideduring the time because you know
I was looking for a job.
Then later on, there was achurch, first Christian Church
in Elgin Illinois, that werelooking for an associate pastor.
That was very much my firstpaid ministry and so little did
I know.
You know, my wife was the onenudging me like you should apply
, you should apply.
(06:07):
But I was like, eh, you know,and I applied.
We had the interview and I wasthere since 2003 until 2008.
In 2008, in the summer, that'swhen we ended up moving to
Staten Island.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Wow, man, tell us about your wife, man.
She is a major pillar ofsupport for you.
Oh yeah, tell us how you guysmet.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
We met in the DR.
Believe it or not, but beforewe met we ended up attending the
same college and we never cameacross each other.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Wow, we never came across each other.
You know what I mean.
We never, wow, we never raninto each other.
But then I had gone.
I came in 96 to the states andin 97 I went back to help out a
friend of mine with, uh, he hasan organization called global
outreach, outreach and hisministry.
So I went, I went down there tovisit family and I was helping
out, translating, interpretingfrom English into Spanish and
Spanish to English.
And during that time becausesince 94 through 96, 94, 95, 96,
(07:16):
we had groups of Americanscoming to you know, helping
churches, building orphanagesand camps, you know.
So I developed that connection.
That's one of the reasons why Iended up coming to being here,
coming to the States.
But in 97, I went down and thenone of those people that I had
met during those mission tripsher name is Cherish, she wanted
(07:41):
to come down just to revisit theDR and then she called my
family, said hey, you know I'mcoming over, I'd like to see you
guys again, but I'm bringing afriend.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And it was my wife.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Wow, and that's how we met.
And then after that I came backto the States and after I came
back to the States in 97, Iended up going to Buffalo, new
York, to do a church camp overthere.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
It's cold up there.
I know it's cold where you areright now in New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, it is cold here .
Where are?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
you at now.
Right now, I'm in NorthCarolina.
Right now, man, I'm in NorthCarolina.
It's cold, but it's40-something, yeah, that's not
too bad.
That's not bad.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
You can handle it.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It got down to about 29 last night just quickly, but
then shot back up.
You know it's nothing like whatyou guys are dealing with.
I know.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I know.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
And my brother Orlando Burgos Rivera.
He just got back from PR andit's like 70 degrees in Puerto
Rico and it really hit you.
Oh man, it's like 70 degrees inPuerto Rico, it really hit you.
And he's back here and he said,hey, it was like six degrees
for a week straight.
He said it's hitting his bones,it's into the bones, the cold
(08:56):
is into the bones and you can'tOnce it gets there.
I don't know how you get it out, man, I know, I know man.
So yeah, you can see God'ssovereignty over introducing you
to your wife.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I know.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I know.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Like you said, and she's definitely been my best
supporter because, you know,even when I started ministry, I
was like I had doubts.
I'm like man?
No, they're not going to giveme that job and she was always
like no, she will prepare myresume and everything.
And you know, and it's like I,I got my first two jobs because
she was the one uh, you know, ina sense pushing me, but God was
(09:30):
doing that through her.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah, god definitely brought us the right brides man,
and it's.
I know I would not be doingwhat I'm doing.
I wouldn't and I would not beeffective if it wasn't for his
work through her.
Effective if it wasn't for hiswork through her, because a lot
of times you know he will speakthrough her to me.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
I don't particularly like it when she thinks he's
speaking through her.
To me, that's it.
There's a difference.
You know when she's like,listen, I know this, hold on,
wait a second now.
But many times, many times,she's unaware of it.
You know she's just being whoshe is and the Lord will use
(10:12):
speak directly to a situationthrough her.
And on top of that, just theolder I get, the more I truly
understand the whole helpmateidea.
Yeah, man, just marriage isfantastic.
The older I get, the more Itruly understand the whole
helpmate idea yeah.
Man, just marriage is fantastic.
What is it?
Marriage can be heaven on earth, that's right.
With the right person that Godbrings you, and with the wrong
(10:38):
person it can be hell on earth,that's true.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So any of you young people that are in a rush to get
married, you need to fast, prayand take your time on that and
just make sure that it is theLord's will.
Amen, yeah, man.
So tell me more about what'shappening at Staten Island there
.
What's going on, man, andwhat's the address so people can
.
If anybody is listening inStaten Island or nearby or
(11:05):
anybody wants to come visit.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
The address is 3980 Victory Boulevard.
Here in Staten Island A lot ofgood things are happening.
We just got last year.
Well, in the summer we wentthrough a transition and the
Lord helped us go through.
I mean, it's one of thosestorms that you had.
(11:28):
You know that you cannotweather yourself, but through
God's spirit and his help, youknow, you come out of that
victorious.
And so some of the people thatwe have now in leadership,
they're really for the kingdomof God and so a lot of great
things are happening.
You know, even though StatenIsland Christian Church is a
small congregation in terms ofnumbers, but the people that we
have, they're really committedto serving the Lord, to being
(11:50):
with one another.
You know what I mean.
I think, and you can relate tothat as a pastor, you get the
joy when you see people that youdon't have to always tell them,
hey, listen, but they're theones going there.
You set up the vision and thevision and everybody's like yes,
we're with you, let's continueserving the Lord with whatever
it is that you know, with theresources he has given to us,
(12:11):
and so it's very encouraging.
I know, when I get a chance,probably to talk to you in a
personal level.
We can share more stories aboutthat, but yeah.
I'm excited with how things aregoing right now in the Staten
Island Christian Church.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I remember when we visited, the last time we
visited, it was fantastic.
There was a lot of people,there was electricity about the
Lord, excitement about the Lord.
I'm privileged more than mostbecause I get a chance to see
the greater body of Christ allover the place.
Man, I get to go to so manydifferent fellowships and I tell
(12:47):
you, the fellowship of theSpirit of God is a constant.
It's consistent.
There's a consistency Even ifwe're with brothers and sisters
who don't even speak ourlanguage.
There's still a consistency offellowship in the Spirit of God.
Amen, language.
There's consistency offellowship in the spirit of god.
Amen and um, I, I, I rememberthat vividly when we were up
(13:09):
visiting and we're lookingforward to, to making our uh, to
, to coming back, making areturn at some point, hopefully
this year, yeah, you know.
So I have a question for you,though, as a pastor for how many
, 17 years now, is it Well?
Speaker 3 (13:23):
here in Staten Island , but I've been a pastor now 24
years, oh man.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And the crazy thing is you look like you're 30, man.
It just makes no sense.
So when did you start?
I mean, you were like an infantwhen you started ministry, man,
because you look like you're 30, man, the math is not right,
something's not right, I don'tknow, man.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Maybe it's the plantains.
They got plantains down in thearmy.
They got something man theplantains and the coconuts.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I tell you, I have a question for you what is the
most and you might have to thinkabout this the most impactful
ministry experience that youhave had or you might have been
involved in?
Just think about it, becausethat's a tough question.
If somebody was to ask me that,I'd be like whoa, oh my God,
(14:20):
give us something where you said, wow, look what God did.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, well, in terms of ministry, I think for me one
of the most impactful thingsthat I've seen in the ministry
is people that you get tobaptize.
They were not even Christiansyet and then you know, you get
to baptize them and now theyreally have this fire for the
(14:47):
Lord to study the Bible and tothe point that you see growth.
You know what I mean.
Like they understand thisaspect of disciples who make
disciples, and so I've seen thateven in this church and I got a
couple of families that when Igo back you know people might
talk about maybe your ministryfailed.
But when you look back to thatyou realize, wow, god did this.
(15:07):
And so, thinking about theimpact that we're all called to
make, an impact like salt andlye in the lives of people, and
now to see those people that webaptize, that they have grown
and now they're bringing peopleto church.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah, that's eternal.
I know man, like wow, that's agreat, I didn't even think about
that.
But like the, the aspect ofhere you get to see people that
you knew were not walking withthe lord and now they're
baptized and proclaiming christ,jesus, yeah, and being
identified with him and hisdeath and resurrection and and
their, their lives are forever.
That's eternal type of yes.
(15:44):
I know.
What I kind of meant in thequestion was well, and you
answered it basically wassomething that impacted you,
like for me.
I know one of the most for mewas when we went to this prison.
We did uh, no, we did GenesisJoe in a jail, yeah, and at the
end of the play, no, we did,genesis Joe in a jail, yeah, and
(16:15):
at the end of the play, 11 guysgave their life to the Lord
right there in jail.
And I was to this day.
It's just, it's such ahighlight for me.
Out of my bed, the enemy waslying to me saying you're
wasting your time.
You're wasting your time.
This is, this is pointless man.
This is, this is stupid,nobody's going to be into this.
You're wasting your time andand you know, just lies like
that, those type of arrows, andthen at the end of the play to
see these.
(16:35):
I had the muscle through theplay, wow, because I'm doing the
as I was doing the play, theenemy enemy was saying you know
you should you just stop, man,just you could, wow, you can
stop.
Now, go ahead and stop.
You know they need to get backto their cells and all kinds of
lies, man.
And at the end I mean you'veseen Genesis, joe.
It's powerful, powerful playand you know the story.
(17:07):
You know the story, the storyof Joseph, you know these for
these guys to give their life toChrist.
That just helped me, to help meto realize and have a resolve
to be like wow, and to this dayit's, it's one of the most
impactful ministry things I I'veever been, ever been a part of.
So the other was was when wecame out to your place and did
Genesis, joe, and you were inthe back feeling where I was
going with that.
Yeah, man, a lot of peoplenever put two and two together.
They never connect Joseph withJesus and parallels, and you
(17:29):
were all on that.
You knew it right from the jumpand you were like, yes, yes, in
the back and that blessed mysoul.
So that's another highlightthat I got.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
And it is amazing because one of the things I
appreciated about the play aswell is that you know it would
develop a hunger in people to goback and examine the scripture,
to read that, because peopleare like, oh, wow, like you know
, now is the whole narrative ofthe scripture in a play and I
was like, oh, you didn't knowabout this, you didn't know that
(17:59):
you know what I mean, and somaybe you need to go and study
more.
That's why it's good.
It's good to.
That's what we want.
To have you back.
Maybe the spring sometimes.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Yes, we're working on the Dan play too.
I'm working on the throne rightnow for Nebuchadnezzar.
Oh, nice, pete has a boat, andand you haven't seen the new
boat 3.0 or something like thatthe one we brought up was
cardboard.
This one is made out of Lexanplastic.
Ooh, nice, yeah, it's basicallybulletproof man.
This thing is.
(18:28):
Yeah, it's.
If I sprayed the bottom withFlex Seal, I could probably take
it out into the ocean if Iwanted to, but you know it's
pretty solid.
We're working on the Dan playand I'm working on the throne
for Nebuchadnezzar.
So in the Pete play, we have aboat, and in Genesis Joe, we
have the basket with the stafffor Jacob, and then in the Dan
(18:53):
play, we're going to have athrone, and that'll be the one
prop that we kind of usethroughout the play the throne
part and so Nebuchadnezzar willsit on the throne, daniel will
talk to the throne when he'sspeaking to Nebuchadnezzar,
stuff like that.
Nice, yeah, I'm looking forwardto that.
We've got music for it and I'mworking it out as we speak right
now.
We're working it out.
(19:13):
I want to see if I can get youto come out For the preview.
I don't know where we're gonnapreview it yet, though we're
still.
We're still working the bugsout, okay, so I have.
I have another question for youokay when did you meet phil
sinclair?
Speaker 3 (19:32):
it was phil sinclair used to be an elder here in this
church many years ago and when,uh, knowing that every summer I
would travel to the, to the,you know, sometimes I would talk
to the elders Like who can weinvite to, you know, to fill
that position and what?
And so they always told meabout Phil Sinclair.
But it was funny because thefirst time I heard Phil you know
(19:55):
, his personality didn't matchthe voice I was like, oh, no,
yeah, right, it's like wow, ok,oh, and finally got to meet him
and so it was, uh, and one timehe had, he, him and his wife,
and my wife and I, we did a ayouth.
Uh, it was something about love.
What's love got to do with it.
Some kind of like, you know, itwas a panel in which the young
(20:18):
people were asking us questionsabout, you know, marriage and
things like that, and it was ablessing.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Nice.
Yeah, phil's a dear brother andI don't even know how many
plays he's done where he'splayed bass.
He's even come out to playswhen he wasn't playing bass.
Our dear brother, roy Larson,was on the bass and Phil had
something going on where hecouldn't play that that day.
(20:44):
But he went, took care of theevent he had to do and then came
to the play just to hang outand support and to be part he's
part of.
He's a team player, man, I mean.
And then lisa's on the boardfor plays.
On word, yeah, it's, uh, it's areal family, and andrew also.
We got and Andrew spun upplaying the box nice, in that
(21:04):
jail.
I think the first place heplayed it was in that jail.
See, yeah, you know, phil waslike, hey, brother Ted, my son
Andrew, I said learning how toplay the drums.
I could ask him because weneeded a drummer and I said,
well, let's have him bring thebox man.
And so Andrew, the whole familythere.
(21:25):
So I forgot that Phil was anelder there.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
I know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, and he's a good teacher too.
Good teacher, yeah, he is, andhe, yeah he's.
I remember he was.
You got to meet Papa, you gotto meet Papa, we got to see if
we can get you together and hedid, yeah, and he did and he did
, and that was a major blessing.
I have another question for you, though.
(21:50):
I need you to put your pastorhat on oh boy.
I have another question for you, though.
I need you to put your pastorhat on, oh boy.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
What do you say is the number one challenge facing
the church today of is this ideayou know churches a lot of
times people don't want to go tochurch because there have been
some churches or some Christianswho have misrepresented Jesus
and now you know they don't.
You know what I mean.
It's been a misrepresentationof Christ and you know, because
the gospel is not being preachedin so many of the churches and
I think that that's still goingto be a challenge for those ones
that really want to be sound intheir doctrine and knowing that
you know there are still peopleout there seeking for the truth
, not a watered down truth, butyou know the truth of God's word
(22:45):
.
And I think we face a challengebecause people now, with social
media, they listen to all kindsof teachers out there and it's
like the importance again I seethe need for churches to really
go back to the Bible, to go backto the essentials and not just
be so caught up in this movementof glamour and things.
(23:09):
You know what I mean.
That's one of the challenges.
It's okay to have those things,but it's God showing up in your
worship services.
That's the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Right, yeah, you can have.
You can have the best videographics and everything and a
sound system and all that.
You're missing the Holy Spirit.
Yeah, you got nothing.
You know, and unfortunatelythere's a.
I went on this one church'swebsite they will remain unnamed
and I was looking at their, youknow, their their teaching, the
stuff that they have going on,and it seemed like it's a and
this is a pretty big church downin the south.
Let's just say that.
(23:47):
And yeah and I was like, wow,man, it's just, it was like all
sugar, there was like no meat.
Word of God seemed to be anafterthought.
Yeah, yeah, and it was.
It was kind of sad because alot of people, unfortunately,
they don't even realize they'rebeing malnourished.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
You know, if, you, if , if, if the church is just a
pep rally and there's no,there's no, like you said.
Getting back to basics, man,like the basics, yes, I don't
think you go wrong with thefundamentals.
That's right, that's true,that's true everywhere.
I was watching this exercisevideo of this dude who's in his
(24:30):
50s and he's in excellent shapeand really good shape and he
said the fundamentals don'tchange he's talking about
exercise, you know thefundamentals don't change.
Uh, yeah, they come out with new, shiny equipment, different
equipment, different diets andstuff like that, but the
fundamentals of working outdon't change and it's just.
(24:50):
It's the same with, uh, from aspiritual perspective, man, the
fundamentals of getting closerto God, and you want to
understand God, you got to getHis Word.
It doesn't happen by osmosis.
The number one challenge I mean, yeah, it's like you said.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
You see it everywhere .
It's almost like man.
We're drifting away from thetruth of God's Word.
It's almost like man, likewe're drifting away from the
truth of God's word and, likeyou said, so many Christians are
being malnourished in terms oftheir faith because you know
you're eating junk food in asense Not really.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
If you ate a bag of Doritos for breakfast, lunch and
dinner, you're about to die.
Thank you, you would be doingbad man.
You have some problems, youknow.
So let me tag on an extra partto that question.
So what can Christians do?
That's a problem facing thechurch.
So now talk to individualChristians.
What do they do?
(25:43):
Pastor, what do?
Okay, that sounds great, but sowhat am I?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
supposed to do Christians?
I think they need to continue.
Peter said it continue to cravethe pure milk of the Word.
They've got to get back intothe Word and not just the Word.
I think, going back to Acts2.42, as Christians, you have to
commit yourself to learningwhat Jesus taught.
I've gone through Bibleteachings about the importance
(26:08):
of apologetics.
You know what I mean, theimportance of knowing why you
believe what you believe.
Because you know what I mean,you're going to say, well, I
believe because mygreat-great-grandmother believed
it.
No, no, it has to come from youand a lot of Christians.
They need to understand and gointo the you know to evaluate
their faith, your conviction.
(26:28):
And because you know, you needto know what it is that you
believe, because your belief isnot translate into your action
and why you value in life.
And I think as Christians theyneed to find people that are out
there.
They need to find aBible-believing church that the
Bible is preached and taught andeverything, and just go from
there, because if Jesus is notat the center, nothing else is
(26:51):
going to matter.
Jesus had to remain at thecenter and His Word has to be
preached, the Gospel has to bepreached, and then I think
that's going to develop intoseasoned, mature disciples and
when those disciples multiply,now we have a nice group of
people that are really solid intheir faith.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Amen, amen.
Hey, we're going to continuethis next week at the Lord
Terry's and until then, the Lordbless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
(27:30):
you peace.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
This program was made possible by the Plays on Word
family of supporters.
To find out more, check out ourwebsite at playsonwordorg.
Lord you know.
Hey guys, you are now listeningto Plays on Word.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Radio.
It's the best.
Speaker 3 (00:09):
We face a challenge because people now with social
media, they're listening to allkinds of teachers out there and
it's like I see the need forchurches to really go back to
the Bible, to go back to theessentials and not just be so
caught up in this movement ofglamour and things.
You know what I mean and Ithink that that's one of the
challenges that you know it'sokay to have those things, but
(00:30):
it's God showing up in yourworship services.
That's the most important thing.
Speaker 1 (00:39):
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
You're the only name.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we
discuss, analyze, work and playon the Word of God.
Thank you for joining us onthis excursion.
Today let's join Pastor Teddy,also known as Fred David Kenney
Jr, the founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Amen.
Thank you very much, mr JoshTaylor and Katie Kenney.
Welcome to all of you to Playson Word Radio.
Check out this interview withmy man, poppo.
It's way too long overdue.
We are here with Israel De LaCruz, yes, correct, otherwise
known as Poppo.
Yep, that's how I know you.
I know you as Poppo, yeah, andour brother here is the pastor
(01:46):
of the Staten Island ChristianChurch.
I mean yes, yes, that doesn'tget no simpler than that.
It's just Staten IslandChristian Church.
How long have you been there?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
17 years, walking into 18 in the summer.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Wow, and, of course, our connection is through our
beloved brother, phil.
Brother phil sinclair, that'sright, yeah, and the whole
sinclair family, the whole crewfrom staten island.
I think we first met you uh, Iwant to say 2018 or 19.
We came up and did genesis joe.
(02:21):
Uh, you invited us to come upand do genesis joe and you were
one of the early on supportersof what we were doing, man,
giving us an opportunity to comeand do what we do.
My dear brother, skip Vaught,came out and visited with Rosie,
his wife, who is with the Lordright now.
(02:44):
But, yeah, he came out andvisited when we first did our
Genesis Joe play up there.
It was right around the cornerfrom where he lived.
But, yeah, that was all before.
The whole COVID, yeah, tobaccoand all that, and you've had us
out a few times since and it'salways Because we have Pete, you
know.
Yeah, yeah, that's right, it'salways been a blessing.
But the thing that struck mewas when we did Genesis Joe,
(03:10):
there was a guy in the back andI couldn't quite tell who he was
and he was nodding his head andhe was into all the scripture
references, man, and he wasfeeling it and it turned out, it
was you.
I was like there's somebody inthe back that's really
understanding this and gettingthis.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Tell me about your first impression when you saw
that play man and that wasincredible.
I mean the way that you wereable to you know to call the
scriptures and even, you know,dramatize everything.
I mean that's a gift.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
I know that you said something at the time you really
appreciated how it ties toChrist, how we tie Jesus to
Christ.
See, when people that knowtheir Bible, they really
resonate with that.
Now that blessed me because Iwas like, okay, he understands
it and gets it, and that's thatjoy.
So tell me about yourself, man.
(04:05):
How did you come to meet Jesusman?
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Well, I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic
and my dad's been a pastor for52 years now, wow.
So in other words, I was verymuch raised in the church and I
remember that my dad used totell us that, okay, you're not
going to heaven just becauseyour daddy is a preacher.
You have to make your owndecisions.
And I know I made my owndecision to be baptized into
(04:31):
Jesus at the age of 12.
And you know, from that momenton, you know, being a preacher's
kid, you're always involved inchurch doing things.
You know serving God indifferent capacities.
But that's how it was in the DR.
From the DR I ended up going toIllinois.
I went to a Bible college,Christian University, over there
(04:54):
.
That was in 96.
I came to the States in 96 incentral Illinois.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Wow, yes, yes, yes.
How do you get to Staten Islandfrom?
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I was.
After I graduated from collegeI was I started my ministry.
We went to Chicago Illinois towork with a new church plant.
Knowing that I'm Hispanic, Iwas there to help out two
Mexican pastors in a new churchplant with a church called
Comunidad Cristiana, communityChurch.
(05:27):
And so we were there.
You know, we lasted like abouta year.
Things did not go as weexpected, but my wife and I
understood that maybe we neededto stick around there for a
while, and you know my wife wasteaching at a school district
and then, you know, I was even.
(05:47):
I became a teacher's aideduring the time because you know
I was looking for a job.
Then later on, there was achurch, first Christian Church
in Elgin Illinois, that werelooking for an associate pastor.
That was very much my firstpaid ministry and so little did
I know.
You know, my wife was the onenudging me like you should apply
, you should apply.
(06:07):
But I was like, eh, you know,and I applied.
We had the interview and I wasthere since 2003 until 2008.
In 2008, in the summer, that'swhen we ended up moving to
Staten Island.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Wow, man, tell us about your wife, man.
She is a major pillar ofsupport for you.
Oh yeah, tell us how you guysmet.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
We met in the DR.
Believe it or not, but beforewe met we ended up attending the
same college and we never cameacross each other.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (06:51):
Wow, we never came across each other.
You know what I mean.
We never, wow, we never raninto each other.
But then I had gone.
I came in 96 to the states andin 97 I went back to help out a
friend of mine with, uh, he hasan organization called global
outreach, outreach and hisministry.
So I went, I went down there tovisit family and I was helping
out, translating, interpretingfrom English into Spanish and
Spanish to English.
And during that time becausesince 94 through 96, 94, 95, 96,
(07:16):
we had groups of Americanscoming to you know, helping
churches, building orphanagesand camps, you know.
So I developed that connection.
That's one of the reasons why Iended up coming to being here,
coming to the States.
But in 97, I went down and thenone of those people that I had
met during those mission tripsher name is Cherish, she wanted
(07:41):
to come down just to revisit theDR and then she called my
family, said hey, you know I'mcoming over, I'd like to see you
guys again, but I'm bringing afriend.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
And it was my wife.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
Wow, and that's how we met.
And then after that I came backto the States and after I came
back to the States in 97, Iended up going to Buffalo, new
York, to do a church camp overthere.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
It's cold up there.
I know it's cold where you areright now in New Jersey.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Yeah, it is cold here .
Where are?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
you at now.
Right now, I'm in NorthCarolina.
Right now, man, I'm in NorthCarolina.
It's cold, but it's40-something, yeah, that's not
too bad.
That's not bad.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
You can handle it.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
It got down to about 29 last night just quickly, but
then shot back up.
You know it's nothing like whatyou guys are dealing with.
I know.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I know.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
And my brother Orlando Burgos Rivera.
He just got back from PR andit's like 70 degrees in Puerto
Rico and it really hit you.
Oh man, it's like 70 degrees inPuerto Rico, it really hit you.
And he's back here and he said,hey, it was like six degrees
for a week straight.
He said it's hitting his bones,it's into the bones, the cold
(08:56):
is into the bones and you can'tOnce it gets there.
I don't know how you get it out, man, I know, I know man.
So yeah, you can see God'ssovereignty over introducing you
to your wife.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I know.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
I know.
Speaker 3 (09:09):
Like you said, and she's definitely been my best
supporter because, you know,even when I started ministry, I
was like I had doubts.
I'm like man?
No, they're not going to giveme that job and she was always
like no, she will prepare myresume and everything.
And you know, and it's like I,I got my first two jobs because
she was the one uh, you know, ina sense pushing me, but God was
(09:30):
doing that through her.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Yeah, god definitely brought us the right brides man,
and it's.
I know I would not be doingwhat I'm doing.
I wouldn't and I would not beeffective if it wasn't for his
work through her.
Effective if it wasn't for hiswork through her, because a lot
of times you know he will speakthrough her to me.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
I don't particularly like it when she thinks he's
speaking through her.
To me, that's it.
There's a difference.
You know when she's like,listen, I know this, hold on,
wait a second now.
But many times, many times,she's unaware of it.
You know she's just being whoshe is and the Lord will use
(10:12):
speak directly to a situationthrough her.
And on top of that, just theolder I get, the more I truly
understand the whole helpmateidea.
Yeah, man, just marriage isfantastic.
The older I get, the more Itruly understand the whole
helpmate idea yeah.
Man, just marriage is fantastic.
What is it?
Marriage can be heaven on earth, that's right.
With the right person that Godbrings you, and with the wrong
(10:38):
person it can be hell on earth,that's true.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
So any of you young people that are in a rush to get
married, you need to fast, prayand take your time on that and
just make sure that it is theLord's will.
Amen, yeah, man.
So tell me more about what'shappening at Staten Island there
.
What's going on, man, andwhat's the address so people can
.
If anybody is listening inStaten Island or nearby or
(11:05):
anybody wants to come visit.
Speaker 3 (11:07):
The address is 3980 Victory Boulevard.
Here in Staten Island A lot ofgood things are happening.
We just got last year.
Well, in the summer we wentthrough a transition and the
Lord helped us go through.
I mean, it's one of thosestorms that you had.
(11:28):
You know that you cannotweather yourself, but through
God's spirit and his help, youknow, you come out of that
victorious.
And so some of the people thatwe have now in leadership,
they're really for the kingdomof God and so a lot of great
things are happening.
You know, even though StatenIsland Christian Church is a
small congregation in terms ofnumbers, but the people that we
have, they're really committedto serving the Lord, to being
(11:50):
with one another.
You know what I mean.
I think, and you can relate tothat as a pastor, you get the
joy when you see people that youdon't have to always tell them,
hey, listen, but they're theones going there.
You set up the vision and thevision and everybody's like yes,
we're with you, let's continueserving the Lord with whatever
it is that you know, with theresources he has given to us,
(12:11):
and so it's very encouraging.
I know, when I get a chance,probably to talk to you in a
personal level.
We can share more stories aboutthat, but yeah.
I'm excited with how things aregoing right now in the Staten
Island Christian Church.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
I remember when we visited, the last time we
visited, it was fantastic.
There was a lot of people,there was electricity about the
Lord, excitement about the Lord.
I'm privileged more than mostbecause I get a chance to see
the greater body of Christ allover the place.
Man, I get to go to so manydifferent fellowships and I tell
(12:47):
you, the fellowship of theSpirit of God is a constant.
It's consistent.
There's a consistency Even ifwe're with brothers and sisters
who don't even speak ourlanguage.
There's still a consistency offellowship in the Spirit of God.
Amen, language.
There's consistency offellowship in the spirit of god.
Amen and um, I, I, I rememberthat vividly when we were up
(13:09):
visiting and we're lookingforward to, to making our uh, to
, to coming back, making areturn at some point, hopefully
this year, yeah, you know.
So I have a question for you,though, as a pastor for how many
, 17 years now, is it Well?
Speaker 3 (13:23):
here in Staten Island , but I've been a pastor now 24
years, oh man.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
And the crazy thing is you look like you're 30, man.
It just makes no sense.
So when did you start?
I mean, you were like an infantwhen you started ministry, man,
because you look like you're 30, man, the math is not right,
something's not right, I don'tknow, man.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
Maybe it's the plantains.
They got plantains down in thearmy.
They got something man theplantains and the coconuts.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I tell you, I have a question for you what is the
most and you might have to thinkabout this the most impactful
ministry experience that youhave had or you might have been
involved in?
Just think about it, becausethat's a tough question.
If somebody was to ask me that,I'd be like whoa, oh my God,
(14:20):
give us something where you said, wow, look what God did.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Yeah, well, in terms of ministry, I think for me one
of the most impactful thingsthat I've seen in the ministry
is people that you get tobaptize.
They were not even Christiansyet and then you know, you get
to baptize them and now theyreally have this fire for the
(14:47):
Lord to study the Bible and tothe point that you see growth.
You know what I mean.
Like they understand thisaspect of disciples who make
disciples, and so I've seen thateven in this church and I got a
couple of families that when Igo back you know people might
talk about maybe your ministryfailed.
But when you look back to thatyou realize, wow, god did this.
(15:07):
And so, thinking about theimpact that we're all called to
make, an impact like salt andlye in the lives of people, and
now to see those people that webaptize, that they have grown
and now they're bringing peopleto church.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Yeah, that's eternal.
I know man, like wow, that's agreat, I didn't even think about
that.
But like the, the aspect ofhere you get to see people that
you knew were not walking withthe lord and now they're
baptized and proclaiming christ,jesus, yeah, and being
identified with him and hisdeath and resurrection and and
their, their lives are forever.
That's eternal type of yes.
(15:44):
I know.
What I kind of meant in thequestion was well, and you
answered it basically wassomething that impacted you,
like for me.
I know one of the most for mewas when we went to this prison.
We did uh, no, we did GenesisJoe in a jail, yeah, and at the
end of the play, no, we did,genesis Joe in a jail, yeah, and
(16:15):
at the end of the play, 11 guysgave their life to the Lord
right there in jail.
And I was to this day.
It's just, it's such ahighlight for me.
Out of my bed, the enemy waslying to me saying you're
wasting your time.
You're wasting your time.
This is, this is pointless man.
This is, this is stupid,nobody's going to be into this.
You're wasting your time andand you know, just lies like
that, those type of arrows, andthen at the end of the play to
see these.
(16:35):
I had the muscle through theplay, wow, because I'm doing the
as I was doing the play, theenemy enemy was saying you know
you should you just stop, man,just you could, wow, you can
stop.
Now, go ahead and stop.
You know they need to get backto their cells and all kinds of
lies, man.
And at the end I mean you'veseen Genesis, joe.
It's powerful, powerful playand you know the story.
(17:07):
You know the story, the storyof Joseph, you know these for
these guys to give their life toChrist.
That just helped me, to help meto realize and have a resolve
to be like wow, and to this dayit's, it's one of the most
impactful ministry things I I'veever been, ever been a part of.
So the other was was when wecame out to your place and did
Genesis, joe, and you were inthe back feeling where I was
going with that.
Yeah, man, a lot of peoplenever put two and two together.
They never connect Joseph withJesus and parallels, and you
(17:29):
were all on that.
You knew it right from the jumpand you were like, yes, yes, in
the back and that blessed mysoul.
So that's another highlightthat I got.
Speaker 3 (17:39):
And it is amazing because one of the things I
appreciated about the play aswell is that you know it would
develop a hunger in people to goback and examine the scripture,
to read that, because peopleare like, oh, wow, like you know
, now is the whole narrative ofthe scripture in a play and I
was like, oh, you didn't knowabout this, you didn't know that
(17:59):
you know what I mean, and somaybe you need to go and study
more.
That's why it's good.
It's good to.
That's what we want.
To have you back.
Maybe the spring sometimes.
Speaker 2 (18:07):
Yes, we're working on the Dan play too.
I'm working on the throne rightnow for Nebuchadnezzar.
Oh, nice, pete has a boat, andand you haven't seen the new
boat 3.0 or something like thatthe one we brought up was
cardboard.
This one is made out of Lexanplastic.
Ooh, nice, yeah, it's basicallybulletproof man.
This thing is.
(18:28):
Yeah, it's.
If I sprayed the bottom withFlex Seal, I could probably take
it out into the ocean if Iwanted to, but you know it's
pretty solid.
We're working on the Dan playand I'm working on the throne
for Nebuchadnezzar.
So in the Pete play, we have aboat, and in Genesis Joe, we
have the basket with the stafffor Jacob, and then in the Dan
(18:53):
play, we're going to have athrone, and that'll be the one
prop that we kind of usethroughout the play the throne
part and so Nebuchadnezzar willsit on the throne, daniel will
talk to the throne when he'sspeaking to Nebuchadnezzar,
stuff like that.
Nice, yeah, I'm looking forwardto that.
We've got music for it and I'mworking it out as we speak right
now.
We're working it out.
(19:13):
I want to see if I can get youto come out For the preview.
I don't know where we're gonnapreview it yet, though we're
still.
We're still working the bugsout, okay, so I have.
I have another question for youokay when did you meet phil
sinclair?
Speaker 3 (19:32):
it was phil sinclair used to be an elder here in this
church many years ago and when,uh, knowing that every summer I
would travel to the, to the,you know, sometimes I would talk
to the elders Like who can weinvite to, you know, to fill
that position and what?
And so they always told meabout Phil Sinclair.
But it was funny because thefirst time I heard Phil you know
(19:55):
, his personality didn't matchthe voice I was like, oh, no,
yeah, right, it's like wow, ok,oh, and finally got to meet him
and so it was, uh, and one timehe had, he, him and his wife,
and my wife and I, we did a ayouth.
Uh, it was something about love.
What's love got to do with it.
Some kind of like, you know, itwas a panel in which the young
(20:18):
people were asking us questionsabout, you know, marriage and
things like that, and it was ablessing.
Speaker 2 (20:22):
Nice.
Yeah, phil's a dear brother andI don't even know how many
plays he's done where he'splayed bass.
He's even come out to playswhen he wasn't playing bass.
Our dear brother, roy Larson,was on the bass and Phil had
something going on where hecouldn't play that that day.
(20:44):
But he went, took care of theevent he had to do and then came
to the play just to hang outand support and to be part he's
part of.
He's a team player, man, I mean.
And then lisa's on the boardfor plays.
On word, yeah, it's, uh, it's areal family, and andrew also.
We got and Andrew spun upplaying the box nice, in that
(21:04):
jail.
I think the first place heplayed it was in that jail.
See, yeah, you know, phil waslike, hey, brother Ted, my son
Andrew, I said learning how toplay the drums.
I could ask him because weneeded a drummer and I said,
well, let's have him bring thebox man.
And so Andrew, the whole familythere.
(21:25):
So I forgot that Phil was anelder there.
Speaker 3 (21:28):
I know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
Yeah, and he's a good teacher too.
Good teacher, yeah, he is, andhe, yeah he's.
I remember he was.
You got to meet Papa, you gotto meet Papa, we got to see if
we can get you together and hedid, yeah, and he did and he did
, and that was a major blessing.
I have another question for you, though.
(21:50):
I need you to put your pastorhat on oh boy.
I have another question for you, though.
I need you to put your pastorhat on, oh boy.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
What do you say is the number one challenge facing
the church today of is this ideayou know churches a lot of
times people don't want to go tochurch because there have been
some churches or some Christianswho have misrepresented Jesus
and now you know they don't.
You know what I mean.
It's been a misrepresentationof Christ and you know, because
the gospel is not being preachedin so many of the churches and
I think that that's still goingto be a challenge for those ones
that really want to be sound intheir doctrine and knowing that
you know there are still peopleout there seeking for the truth
, not a watered down truth, butyou know the truth of God's word
(22:45):
.
And I think we face a challengebecause people now, with social
media, they listen to all kindsof teachers out there and it's
like the importance again I seethe need for churches to really
go back to the Bible, to go backto the essentials and not just
be so caught up in this movementof glamour and things.
(23:09):
You know what I mean.
That's one of the challenges.
It's okay to have those things,but it's God showing up in your
worship services.
That's the most important thing.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Right, yeah, you can have.
You can have the best videographics and everything and a
sound system and all that.
You're missing the Holy Spirit.
Yeah, you got nothing.
You know, and unfortunatelythere's a.
I went on this one church'swebsite they will remain unnamed
and I was looking at their, youknow, their their teaching, the
stuff that they have going on,and it seemed like it's a and
this is a pretty big church downin the south.
Let's just say that.
(23:47):
And yeah and I was like, wow,man, it's just, it was like all
sugar, there was like no meat.
Word of God seemed to be anafterthought.
Yeah, yeah, and it was.
It was kind of sad because alot of people, unfortunately,
they don't even realize they'rebeing malnourished.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
You know, if, you, if , if, if the church is just a
pep rally and there's no,there's no, like you said.
Getting back to basics, man,like the basics, yes, I don't
think you go wrong with thefundamentals.
That's right, that's true,that's true everywhere.
I was watching this exercisevideo of this dude who's in his
(24:30):
50s and he's in excellent shapeand really good shape and he
said the fundamentals don'tchange he's talking about
exercise, you know thefundamentals don't change.
Uh, yeah, they come out with new, shiny equipment, different
equipment, different diets andstuff like that, but the
fundamentals of working outdon't change and it's just.
(24:50):
It's the same with, uh, from aspiritual perspective, man, the
fundamentals of getting closerto God, and you want to
understand God, you got to getHis Word.
It doesn't happen by osmosis.
The number one challenge I mean, yeah, it's like you said.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
You see it everywhere .
It's almost like man.
We're drifting away from thetruth of God's Word.
It's almost like man, likewe're drifting away from the
truth of God's word and, likeyou said, so many Christians are
being malnourished in terms oftheir faith because you know
you're eating junk food in asense Not really.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
If you ate a bag of Doritos for breakfast, lunch and
dinner, you're about to die.
Thank you, you would be doingbad man.
You have some problems, youknow.
So let me tag on an extra partto that question.
So what can Christians do?
That's a problem facing thechurch.
So now talk to individualChristians.
What do they do?
(25:43):
Pastor, what do?
Okay, that sounds great, but sowhat am I?
Speaker 3 (25:47):
supposed to do Christians?
I think they need to continue.
Peter said it continue to cravethe pure milk of the Word.
They've got to get back intothe Word and not just the Word.
I think, going back to Acts2.42, as Christians, you have to
commit yourself to learningwhat Jesus taught.
I've gone through Bibleteachings about the importance
(26:08):
of apologetics.
You know what I mean, theimportance of knowing why you
believe what you believe.
Because you know what I mean,you're going to say, well, I
believe because mygreat-great-grandmother believed
it.
No, no, it has to come from youand a lot of Christians.
They need to understand and gointo the you know to evaluate
their faith, your conviction.
(26:28):
And because you know, you needto know what it is that you
believe, because your belief isnot translate into your action
and why you value in life.
And I think as Christians theyneed to find people that are out
there.
They need to find aBible-believing church that the
Bible is preached and taught andeverything, and just go from
there, because if Jesus is notat the center, nothing else is
(26:51):
going to matter.
Jesus had to remain at thecenter and His Word has to be
preached, the Gospel has to bepreached, and then I think
that's going to develop intoseasoned, mature disciples and
when those disciples multiply,now we have a nice group of
people that are really solid intheir faith.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (27:10):
Amen, amen.
Hey, we're going to continuethis next week at the Lord
Terry's and until then, the Lordbless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
(27:30):
you peace.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
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