January 24, 2025 • 23 mins
"Did you know that cultural and community experiences, like shared meals and even regional traditions can strengthen faith and fellowship within a church community? Today, we explore Biblical discipleship within genuine Bible-believing churches, and embracing grace, faith, and fellowship with Pastor Pappo's guidance."
Uncover the essence of Biblical discipleship and learn how to identify a genuine Bible-believing church with Jesus at its heart. With insights from Pastor Pappo of Staten Island Christian Church, we discuss the cultural and religious landscapes of the Dominican Republic, Chicago to Staten Island, enriching your understanding of faith communities. Whether you're new to scripture or seeking to deepen your convictions beyond family traditions, we offer practical tips for engaging with the Bible and highlight the power of fellowship in nurturing a strong community of faith.
Journey with us through the profound themes of grace and faith, drawing inspiration from the teachings of Galatians and reflecting on God’s acceptance through Christ's sacrifice. Experience the spiritual and cultural richness of our reflections, including a delightful nod to Puerto Rican coffee, as we explore the religious climate of various Christian denominations. We wrap up with a heartfelt prayer for protection and guidance, extending an invitation to visit Staten Island Christian Church, and we share our anticipation for an upcoming Super Bowl Sunday meal that promises fellowship and fun. Join us for an episode filled with spiritual insights, cultural connections, and uplifting community experiences.
Staten Island Christian Church
https://sichristianchurch.org/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/SICChurch
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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 Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's the best.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
People that are out there need to find a
Bible-believing church that theBible is preached and taught and
everything, and just go fromthere, because if Jesus is not
at the center, nothing else isgoing to matter.
Jesus has to remain at thecenter and His Word has to be
preached.
The Gospel has to be preached,the gospel has to be preached,
and then I think that's going todevelop into seasoned, mature
(00:29):
disciples and when thosedisciples multiply, now we have
a nice group of people that arereally solid in their faith.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
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 Kenny
Jr, the founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Amen.
Thank you very much, katieKenney and Josh Taylor.
Welcome to everybody listeningto Plays on Word Radio.
It's another Friday.
If you're listening to this onFriday, maybe you're streaming
it on Saturday, sunday or Mondayor Tuesday or Wednesday or
Thursday.
It's all good.
Yeah, we are going to.
Well, did you guys enjoy ourdiscussion with Israel De La
(01:49):
Cruz, otherwise known as Papo,pastor Papo from the Staten
Island Christian Church?
We had him here last week.
We didn't have him here.
Through technology, we wereable to interview him, but we
did not complete that interview,so we are going to continue
(02:09):
Check it out.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Christians.
I think they need to continuePeter said it Continue to crave
the 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
of apologetics, like you knowwhat I mean the importance of
(02:32):
knowing why you believe what youbelieve.
because you know what I mean,you're going to say, well, I
believe, because mygreat-great-grandmother believed
that no, no, it has to comefrom you and a lot of Christians
.
They need to understand and gointo the you know to evaluate
their faith, your conviction,because you know.
You need to know what it isthat you believe, because your
(02:53):
beliefs do not translate intoyour 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
going to matter.
Jesus has to remain at thecenter and His Word has to be
(03:16):
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 (03:30):
Yeah, christ didn't send us to just have people
saved.
He sent us to make disciples.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Make disciples.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
The question is okay, everybody always wants to say
well, hey, are you saved?
Do you know Jesus?
Are you saved?
Okay, and people say yes, Iwonder if you tacked on a
question onto that well, are youa disciple?
What does that mean?
What is it?
What even does that mean?
What does it mean?
(03:58):
What does it mean from to to?
You know, to be a disciplefollower a follower of Christ
and unfortunately, yeah.
a lot of Christians think thatthey inherit salvation from
their parents because their momwent to church or dad went to
church, or they know, a relative.
(04:20):
Forget about even going tochurch.
They had faith.
They were people of faith.
There are a lot of people thatgo to church that aren't even in
the body of Christ, but they goto church.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I know, yeah, that's another challenge that we have.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
You encourage the believer to get back into the
Word.
What about?
Oh man, it's just I can'tunderstand it.
It's too much to understandwhat you know.
Oh man, it's just I can'tunderstand it.
It's too much to understand.
What would you say to them, man?
Well, it starts you know itstarts small.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
You know like I usually tell people when they
want to.
You know there's so manyBible-reading plans out there,
but I always tell people startwith the gospel, what are the
gospels, get to know Jesus andthen later on you know what I
mean.
Gospel of John, and that's whyyou're going to need other
believers because, yeah, we all,even pastors, we come across
passages that was like whoa,whoa and you need to apply.
You know the context andcertain principles of biblical
(05:13):
interpretation to reallyunderstand.
But that's why you need thefellowship of other people to
help you understand that.
You know God does not want youto be in isolation.
He created our family for areason and we all are going to
need each other to strengthenone another and sharpen each
other as well.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Amen.
The journey of a thousand milesstarts with the first step,
that's right.
You could look at the Bible andbe like that's too daunting of a
task, it's too big, it's toomuch.
But I think if you startsomewhere and the other thing is
, a lot of people will try.
I'm just going to read Genesisstraight through and you get to
(05:50):
Leviticus and it's like whoa,wait a minute.
I actually like Leviticusbecause I see Christ everywhere
in it.
So it's like, wow, this isgreat, but it can bog down.
You know you can get boggeddown and be like I don't know
what this is all about.
But you know for the personthat it seems overwhelming to
(06:14):
them about the Bible.
You know they make there's somany audio Bibles now.
Yes, if you go for a run or goto the gym, you actually could
put the Bible on man and youcould get through the entire
Gospel of John in a workout.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
The Gospel of Matthew .
You could blast through it,just listen to it while you're
on the exercise bike or whateverthere are.
The Lord helped me.
I remember the first time I Idedicated myself to read through
the entire Bible.
I had read a bunch of sectionsbut I I had not read through the
entire thing.
I remember when I got toEzekiel I was so lost man, I was
(06:53):
like I don't, I don't knowwhat's happening here.
I remember when I got toEzekiel, I was so lost man, I
was like I don't know what'shappening here.
I am completely lost.
And the Lord had me go to andthis was days of early like
early high-speed data this islike 2000-ish somewhere around
there.
And Bible Gateway was prettynew.
But they just launched theiraudio with Max McLean on it,
(07:17):
like the audio Bible.
So I saw the speaker icon, soI'm reading.
Let me try reading it here.
I'm reading it and the Lordkind of brought my attention to
the speaker icon.
I clicked on it and now I'mreading and listening as I'm
reading and I was able to getthrough the book and I got
through it.
Wow, the Lord was able to bringcertain passages back to my
(07:39):
remembrance after I had justgotten it in me, and there are
techniques.
It depends on how important itis.
Yes, yes, you know, I think ifI was to tell people hey, I'm
going to show up at your, yourdoor tomorrow morning with a
million dollars, or let me flipthat.
Uh, you up at your doortomorrow morning with a million
dollars, or let me flip that.
You come to my door tomorrowmorning and I'll give you a
check for a million dollars, Ibet you people wouldn't have
(08:01):
trouble getting motivated to dothat, that's true, you know what
I mean Like if they thoughtthere was a real possibility of
me giving them a million dollars.
Here we've got something fargreater than any of the wealth
on the earth.
Amen, we got stuff that milliondollars means nothing in
eternity, but but the thingsthat that are in the scripture
(08:24):
do mean things for eternity.
You know they have an eternalimpact.
Yes, it's all about how youprioritize it.
I don't know if you wanted toadd anything to my sermon there.
I didn't mean to go on thatrant.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
No, no, I agree with you.
It's how badly you really wantit, how badly you really want to
get into that.
It's priority.
It boils down to that?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
When do you make time and how do you or do you make
time for the Scripture?
What is your normal routine?
Do you have a normal routine,would you suggest?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
your normal routine, like, do you have a normal
routine would you suggest I do?
Like sometimes, you know, likearound three, three in the
afternoon depends, like I'm I'musually.
I usually stay up late and youknow, and I I make it a priority
that I might be watching tv,but I turn it off and then I
read a book or I read a portionof the scripture and, uh, you
know, before I go to bed,because I don't want it just to
be my, the last thing that I sawsmart, you know what I mean.
(09:17):
So at least, just like amen,detach myself from that.
But yeah, I do it.
I do it more during the.
You know, as a pastor you had toread it to prepare sermons.
But I want to read, not justfor that right, I read it more
like, and I've been privilegedbecause I went through the same
thing that you did with I have aCD of the NIV one time and I
(09:39):
listened to that because youknow you have some names.
It's like, how do you evenpronounce that name?
Yes, so listen, and I got toread.
I have read the Bible throughat least five times in my life
because I got different versionsand I like to compare sometimes
.
So I did a new Americanstandard Bible and I V, I did
the English, the ESV no, santaBiblia, no.
(10:03):
Santa Biblia, no.
Oh, okay, I did.
I did the net Bible no, and thenew American standard, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And it's almost like wow be able to compare.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, great, yeah, because one thing you didn't
know about me in high school Ihad never read a book in my in
its entirety.
You know I had never read a.
You know a book.
And then I go to college hereand the first thing they tell me
is you got to read that bookand write a report.
It's like I was like you gottabe kidding me, like really.
So that created, you know, athirst in me to read, and you
know I love reading sometheological books or whatever
(10:38):
apologetics, but then the Bible,always reading.
And right now I'm currently inthe book of Romans.
I'm doing the ESV again, yeah,sometimes I'm taking and finally
in the book of Romans, likechapter 5.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
So doing it again, because you know it's almost
when you read again new thingslike wow, romans, chapter five
is probably one of the oh mygoodness, the most important of
while we were still sinners, man, god demonstrates his love.
This is the most I meanunbelievable demonstration of
(11:12):
love.
You think about how you know.
A demonstration of love.
This is the most radicaldemonstration of love that has
ever been.
And he demonstrated his lovethat, while we were still
sinners, christ died for us.
That's mind-boggling to me.
It is, and I've been ponderingRomans, romans five for 20 years
(11:35):
.
Man just sitting in it's, it isnot left my, my psyche.
Man, wait a minute, he's wait aminute, ok, he, this.
This is how he demonstrates hisagape love for us.
That Christ died for us, thatchrist died for us.
(11:59):
I mean, wow, I can't comprehendthat.
Let me try.
I got and it's.
I tell you, man, to this day,it's just the whole romans,
romans 5.
You know he talks about adam,the whole.
Tell us about romans, man,what's god shown you, because
you've been through it a bunchof times has he shown you
anything?
There's nothing like the Lordshowing you something new after
you've even taught it Like, hey,look at this.
You didn't catch this the firsttime?
Speaker 3 (12:20):
No, and Paul's passion for his own people.
You know what I mean.
Because, again, it's this ideathat people thought that they
can be justified or declaredrighteous by the observance of
the law.
And his point is all this likeit's not, it's all by faith in
Christ, for all have seen forsure the glory of God.
We only justify through faith.
And it's like man, his argumentright.
(12:41):
There is so on point.
And you're right.
You get to that point in Romans5, and it's like man.
It's like you see theunconditional aspect of God's
love, why we were still sinners,like he died.
It was like man.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And that to me.
I just finished teachingGalatians for Calvary, southport
.
We just got through Galatians.
Which much?
It's basically a lot of similarcrossover, similarity.
Yes, I got through that andI've been pondering this whole
concept of it's not works.
And if we find ourselves saying, oh, I have to do whatever for
(13:23):
God to accept me, then we'vemissed something, because we're
not acceptable.
That's the point.
We're not acceptable, right,that's what makes what he did
amazing.
The only reason we'reacceptable is because of Christ
Jesus.
What he did.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Because we are not acceptable.
But he is Amen.
That's the thing that blows mymind.
I'm telling you, it blows mymind when I think about it.
And then, on top of that, theother thing that has just
blessed me so much is this ideaof him as my good shepherd, like
(14:06):
we say the Lord is, is he?
Oh, he's the good shepherd, butlet lately man, it's personal.
He's my, that's my.
The Lord is my shepherd.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Amen yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Meaning he's the one shepherding me.
I'm not shepherding him, and ifI go too far off the rails,
he's the shepherd that's goingto pull me back.
Yeah, he's responsible forcaring for me as the dumb sheep,
and it takes so much pressureoff of me to be this special
(14:43):
smart sheep or this sheep that'sacceptable in his eyes.
He's saying just be a sheep,abide in me.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And I am your shepherd and I'm telling you.
I don't want to say it was alight bulb moment, but it's just
something the Lord has beenpressing farther into my soul.
He's my shepherd.
I need to just chill.
Amen, yeah, right, Amen Is he,or is he not my shepherd or your
shepherd, you know?
And when you make it personal.
(15:17):
Like that Psalm 22.
The Lord is my shepherd man.
I take ownership, that's right.
Wait a minute.
He's my shepherd man.
I didn't mean to Ran on thateither.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
No, no, that's good yeah, preacher brother.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I'm drinking.
I'm drinking Puerto RicanCoffee right now.
That's it, man, yeah, yeah, man.
So you know that's, and I and Ikind of doubled it up a little
bit so I got a little extracaffeine.
My brother Orlando, he wants to, he wants to start a coffee
(15:50):
coffee company.
So and now, now that I know Ihave some connection to the DR,
you know I mean, yeah, got thewhole Caribbean locked up here.
Man, that's right, I need, Ijust need to find somebody from
Cuba, and then then we're, thenit's on.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
That's right, baby.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
And Jamaica.
That's right.
When was the last time youvisited the DR?
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Uh, 2023.
Oh, wow, okay, yeah, 2023.
Oh, wow, okay.
Usually I try to go every year,but last year we couldn't go,
hopefully we can go.
We have plans for this year,hopefully.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Okay, what is the climate like down there?
Is it primarily Catholic?
Is there any church presencedown there?
Are they believers a lot ofthem down there.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah, there's a lot of believers.
I mean, the country itself ispredominantly Catholic, but
you're going to find a lot ofevangelical churches and a lot
of crazy churches too.
You know what I mean.
But, yeah, you have Baptists,Methodists, I mean, you got all
kinds Assemblies of God, mormons, I mean, even though you have
(16:59):
cults over there too, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Which brings up another thing I know you're
passionate about, which isapologetics.
Yeah, being able to give areason for faith that lies
within you, mm-hmm, give adefense.
Yes, you know, apologeticsdoesn't mean apologizing,
meaning saying I'm sorry, no, no, in fact, when somebody says I
apologize, technically they'renot saying that, they're not
(17:28):
saying forgive me, that's whatit's become, that's what it
means.
Now, you know, forgive me, I'msorry.
But when they say I apologize,that's really they're saying.
They're saying I want to give adefense, I'll give a defense
for what I did Technically froma hermeneutic or from a study of
(17:49):
the language.
So I try not to say I apologizeto my wife.
What I say is I'm sorry, Iregret that I did that, I'm
sorry.
I say I say I'm I'm sorry, Iregret that I, I regret that I
did that, I'm sorry, I regret Idid it, but I've actually
changed.
I'm like, uh, you know, Iapologize unless I really really
messed up, which is kind ofoften.
(18:09):
So I, I need to apologize andI'm, let me, and all of you
laughing right now online,listening to this podcast right
now.
Shame on you because you'renodding your head, saying, oh, I
know, it's true.
Oh man, yeah, well, this hasbeen fun, bro.
We definitely are blessed toknow you.
Same here, brother, know youare in the trenches.
(18:33):
I really would encourageanybody in the New York, new
Jersey, area to go visit StatenIsland Christian Church.
It is a loving fellowship andthe shepherd there loves the
Lord.
Yeah, we're trying to make ourway back, will.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
We will set something up.
I'm going to put a link in theshow notes for the church so you
guys can find the church and Idon't.
You guys have like a Facebookpage or anything like that.
I don't use Facebook, but Katiedoes.
We'll put the links up for you.
Is there anything coming up oranything you want to let anybody
know about that's happeningbesides the play that we come up
(19:13):
?
Speaker 3 (19:14):
We usually have a meal Super Bowl Sunday.
We have soups and all kinds ofyou know, but that's after the
service.
So, okay, we invite everybodyto come to that.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah saturday saturday morning okay, what time
saturday?
Speaker 3 (19:27):
oh, saturday at 6 pm.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Saturday afternoon oh , it's in the afternoon, okay.
Yeah, men's fellowship, yes,okay.
So it's not a men's breakfast,it's a it's no, it's a
fellowship.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Yeah, more dinner amen.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
how long are you going to be there In North
Carolina?
Yeah, until the Lord changesthe call man, because right now
we're camping out, but we'restill traveling doing the plays
man.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Yeah, we're working our way back.
We have a play New Jerseycoming up in January.
Okay, in a couple weeks we'regoing to be at America's Keswick
for a pastor's conference.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Oh yeah, last year.
I remember something, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, it's a fantastic pastor's conference
that Keswick puts on and you canbring your wife and it's one of
the things we look forward toevery year going up there.
So we're going to be up therefor that and then we're supposed
to be coming back.
We have a few different spotswhen we're coming back and the
Lord's blessed us with a nicetrailer Stuff in and no more
(20:28):
packing up the Cadillac, the caranymore.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
I know right.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
So yeah, the trailer, we can put the boat in and put
all kinds of.
So well, papo, why don't youclose us in prayer, bro, and,
and, and we'll, uh, we'll, putall this, this information, on
the website.
We thank you for being on theplays on word radio program yeah
, my brother, let's pray, father.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
God, we thank you so much for the opportunity you
have granted us today to to beable to, uh, to reconnect and
talk about things that concernyour kingdom.
Thank you, lord, lord, for mybrother, fred and Etienne, and I
pray, father, that you continueto bless this ministry and
place on word Lord, that youcontinue to utilize that
ministry to reach to those whodo not have a relationship with
(21:11):
the Savior.
And Lord continue to give themstrength and keep his mind sharp
.
And, lord, just pray for ourprotection.
We know that the enemy isalways lurking around.
Not wanting anybody to come toyou, but, lord, I pray that you
bless him and his wife and theirministry.
Lord, thank you for what theydo on your behalf.
(21:32):
Lord, I pray also for our churchhere in Staten Island,
christian Church.
Pray, lord, you continue toguide us.
We know that we want to doanything that is not of you and,
lord, we need you desperatelyto continue to show us the way.
And, lord, may we set our mindsto do your will and not our own
(21:52):
agendas and not our own willper se.
We bring honor and glory to youand we thank you that you loved
us in such a way that you sentJesus to die on our behalf.
May he always get the glory inour lives.
And, lord, thank you again forthis wonderful time that me and
my brother can connect and justtalk and laugh and just talk
(22:14):
about kingdom things.
It's all about you, jesus, andwe pray all these things in your
powerful name, amen.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Amen, amen, amen, amen.
Well, thank you guys forjoining us on this episode of
Plays on Word Radio.
God willing, we'll be back nextweek if the Lord tarries.
Until then, the Lord bless youand keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
(22:46):
you peace.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
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 Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
It's the best.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
People that are out there need to find a
Bible-believing church that theBible is preached and taught and
everything, and just go fromthere, because if Jesus is not
at the center, nothing else isgoing to matter.
Jesus has to remain at thecenter and His Word has to be
preached.
The Gospel has to be preached,the gospel has to be preached,
and then I think that's going todevelop into seasoned, mature
(00:29):
disciples and when thosedisciples multiply, now we have
a nice group of people that arereally solid in their faith.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
You're the only name.
You're the only name.
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 Kenny
Jr, the founder of Plays on WordTheater, as he does a deep dive
into the Word of God.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Amen.
Thank you very much, katieKenney and Josh Taylor.
Welcome to everybody listeningto Plays on Word Radio.
It's another Friday.
If you're listening to this onFriday, maybe you're streaming
it on Saturday, sunday or Mondayor Tuesday or Wednesday or
Thursday.
It's all good.
Yeah, we are going to.
Well, did you guys enjoy ourdiscussion with Israel De La
(01:49):
Cruz, otherwise known as Papo,pastor Papo from the Staten
Island Christian Church?
We had him here last week.
We didn't have him here.
Through technology, we wereable to interview him, but we
did not complete that interview,so we are going to continue
(02:09):
Check it out.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Christians.
I think they need to continuePeter said it Continue to crave
the 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
of apologetics, like you knowwhat I mean the importance of
(02:32):
knowing why you believe what youbelieve.
because you know what I mean,you're going to say, well, I
believe, because mygreat-great-grandmother believed
that no, no, it has to comefrom you and a lot of Christians
.
They need to understand and gointo the you know to evaluate
their faith, your conviction,because you know.
You need to know what it isthat you believe, because your
(02:53):
beliefs do not translate intoyour 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
going to matter.
Jesus has to remain at thecenter and His Word has to be
(03:16):
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 (03:30):
Yeah, christ didn't send us to just have people
saved.
He sent us to make disciples.
Speaker 3 (03:36):
Make disciples.
Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
The question is okay, everybody always wants to say
well, hey, are you saved?
Do you know Jesus?
Are you saved?
Okay, and people say yes, Iwonder if you tacked on a
question onto that well, are youa disciple?
What does that mean?
What is it?
What even does that mean?
What does it mean?
(03:58):
What does it mean from to to?
You know, to be a disciplefollower a follower of Christ
and unfortunately, yeah.
a lot of Christians think thatthey inherit salvation from
their parents because their momwent to church or dad went to
church, or they know, a relative.
(04:20):
Forget about even going tochurch.
They had faith.
They were people of faith.
There are a lot of people thatgo to church that aren't even in
the body of Christ, but they goto church.
Speaker 3 (04:33):
I know, yeah, that's another challenge that we have.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
You encourage the believer to get back into the
Word.
What about?
Oh man, it's just I can'tunderstand it.
It's too much to understandwhat you know.
Oh man, it's just I can'tunderstand it.
It's too much to understand.
What would you say to them, man?
Well, it starts you know itstarts small.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
You know like I usually tell people when they
want to.
You know there's so manyBible-reading plans out there,
but I always tell people startwith the gospel, what are the
gospels, get to know Jesus andthen later on you know what I
mean.
Gospel of John, and that's whyyou're going to need other
believers because, yeah, we all,even pastors, we come across
passages that was like whoa,whoa and you need to apply.
You know the context andcertain principles of biblical
(05:13):
interpretation to reallyunderstand.
But that's why you need thefellowship of other people to
help you understand that.
You know God does not want youto be in isolation.
He created our family for areason and we all are going to
need each other to strengthenone another and sharpen each
other as well.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
Amen.
The journey of a thousand milesstarts with the first step,
that's right.
You could look at the Bible andbe like that's too daunting of a
task, it's too big, it's toomuch.
But I think if you startsomewhere and the other thing is
, a lot of people will try.
I'm just going to read Genesisstraight through and you get to
(05:50):
Leviticus and it's like whoa,wait a minute.
I actually like Leviticusbecause I see Christ everywhere
in it.
So it's like, wow, this isgreat, but it can bog down.
You know you can get boggeddown and be like I don't know
what this is all about.
But you know for the personthat it seems overwhelming to
(06:14):
them about the Bible.
You know they make there's somany audio Bibles now.
Yes, if you go for a run or goto the gym, you actually could
put the Bible on man and youcould get through the entire
Gospel of John in a workout.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
The Gospel of Matthew .
You could blast through it,just listen to it while you're
on the exercise bike or whateverthere are.
The Lord helped me.
I remember the first time I Idedicated myself to read through
the entire Bible.
I had read a bunch of sectionsbut I I had not read through the
entire thing.
I remember when I got toEzekiel I was so lost man, I was
(06:53):
like I don't, I don't knowwhat's happening here.
I remember when I got toEzekiel, I was so lost man, I
was like I don't know what'shappening here.
I am completely lost.
And the Lord had me go to andthis was days of early like
early high-speed data this islike 2000-ish somewhere around
there.
And Bible Gateway was prettynew.
But they just launched theiraudio with Max McLean on it,
(07:17):
like the audio Bible.
So I saw the speaker icon, soI'm reading.
Let me try reading it here.
I'm reading it and the Lordkind of brought my attention to
the speaker icon.
I clicked on it and now I'mreading and listening as I'm
reading and I was able to getthrough the book and I got
through it.
Wow, the Lord was able to bringcertain passages back to my
(07:39):
remembrance after I had justgotten it in me, and there are
techniques.
It depends on how important itis.
Yes, yes, you know, I think ifI was to tell people hey, I'm
going to show up at your, yourdoor tomorrow morning with a
million dollars, or let me flipthat.
Uh, you up at your doortomorrow morning with a million
dollars, or let me flip that.
You come to my door tomorrowmorning and I'll give you a
check for a million dollars, Ibet you people wouldn't have
(08:01):
trouble getting motivated to dothat, that's true, you know what
I mean Like if they thoughtthere was a real possibility of
me giving them a million dollars.
Here we've got something fargreater than any of the wealth
on the earth.
Amen, we got stuff that milliondollars means nothing in
eternity, but but the thingsthat that are in the scripture
(08:24):
do mean things for eternity.
You know they have an eternalimpact.
Yes, it's all about how youprioritize it.
I don't know if you wanted toadd anything to my sermon there.
I didn't mean to go on thatrant.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
No, no, I agree with you.
It's how badly you really wantit, how badly you really want to
get into that.
It's priority.
It boils down to that?
Speaker 2 (08:43):
When do you make time and how do you or do you make
time for the Scripture?
What is your normal routine?
Do you have a normal routine,would you suggest?
Speaker 3 (08:55):
your normal routine, like, do you have a normal
routine would you suggest I do?
Like sometimes, you know, likearound three, three in the
afternoon depends, like I'm I'musually.
I usually stay up late and youknow, and I I make it a priority
that I might be watching tv,but I turn it off and then I
read a book or I read a portionof the scripture and, uh, you
know, before I go to bed,because I don't want it just to
be my, the last thing that I sawsmart, you know what I mean.
(09:17):
So at least, just like amen,detach myself from that.
But yeah, I do it.
I do it more during the.
You know, as a pastor you had toread it to prepare sermons.
But I want to read, not justfor that right, I read it more
like, and I've been privilegedbecause I went through the same
thing that you did with I have aCD of the NIV one time and I
(09:39):
listened to that because youknow you have some names.
It's like, how do you evenpronounce that name?
Yes, so listen, and I got toread.
I have read the Bible throughat least five times in my life
because I got different versionsand I like to compare sometimes
.
So I did a new Americanstandard Bible and I V, I did
the English, the ESV no, santaBiblia, no.
(10:03):
Santa Biblia, no.
Oh, okay, I did.
I did the net Bible no, and thenew American standard, yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
And it's almost like wow be able to compare.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Yeah, great, yeah, because one thing you didn't
know about me in high school Ihad never read a book in my in
its entirety.
You know I had never read a.
You know a book.
And then I go to college hereand the first thing they tell me
is you got to read that bookand write a report.
It's like I was like you gottabe kidding me, like really.
So that created, you know, athirst in me to read, and you
know I love reading sometheological books or whatever
(10:38):
apologetics, but then the Bible,always reading.
And right now I'm currently inthe book of Romans.
I'm doing the ESV again, yeah,sometimes I'm taking and finally
in the book of Romans, likechapter 5.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
So doing it again, because you know it's almost
when you read again new thingslike wow, romans, chapter five
is probably one of the oh mygoodness, the most important of
while we were still sinners, man, god demonstrates his love.
This is the most I meanunbelievable demonstration of
(11:12):
love.
You think about how you know.
A demonstration of love.
This is the most radicaldemonstration of love that has
ever been.
And he demonstrated his lovethat, while we were still
sinners, christ died for us.
That's mind-boggling to me.
It is, and I've been ponderingRomans, romans five for 20 years
(11:35):
.
Man just sitting in it's, it isnot left my, my psyche.
Man, wait a minute, he's wait aminute, ok, he, this.
This is how he demonstrates hisagape love for us.
That Christ died for us, thatchrist died for us.
(11:59):
I mean, wow, I can't comprehendthat.
Let me try.
I got and it's.
I tell you, man, to this day,it's just the whole romans,
romans 5.
You know he talks about adam,the whole.
Tell us about romans, man,what's god shown you, because
you've been through it a bunchof times has he shown you
anything?
There's nothing like the Lordshowing you something new after
you've even taught it Like, hey,look at this.
You didn't catch this the firsttime?
Speaker 3 (12:20):
No, and Paul's passion for his own people.
You know what I mean.
Because, again, it's this ideathat people thought that they
can be justified or declaredrighteous by the observance of
the law.
And his point is all this likeit's not, it's all by faith in
Christ, for all have seen forsure the glory of God.
We only justify through faith.
And it's like man, his argumentright.
(12:41):
There is so on point.
And you're right.
You get to that point in Romans5, and it's like man.
It's like you see theunconditional aspect of God's
love, why we were still sinners,like he died.
It was like man.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
And that to me.
I just finished teachingGalatians for Calvary, southport
.
We just got through Galatians.
Which much?
It's basically a lot of similarcrossover, similarity.
Yes, I got through that andI've been pondering this whole
concept of it's not works.
And if we find ourselves saying, oh, I have to do whatever for
(13:23):
God to accept me, then we'vemissed something, because we're
not acceptable.
That's the point.
We're not acceptable, right,that's what makes what he did
amazing.
The only reason we'reacceptable is because of Christ
Jesus.
What he did.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Amen.
Speaker 2 (13:42):
Because we are not acceptable.
But he is Amen.
That's the thing that blows mymind.
I'm telling you, it blows mymind when I think about it.
And then, on top of that, theother thing that has just
blessed me so much is this ideaof him as my good shepherd, like
(14:06):
we say the Lord is, is he?
Oh, he's the good shepherd, butlet lately man, it's personal.
He's my, that's my.
The Lord is my shepherd.
Speaker 3 (14:17):
Amen yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:19):
Meaning he's the one shepherding me.
I'm not shepherding him, and ifI go too far off the rails,
he's the shepherd that's goingto pull me back.
Yeah, he's responsible forcaring for me as the dumb sheep,
and it takes so much pressureoff of me to be this special
(14:43):
smart sheep or this sheep that'sacceptable in his eyes.
He's saying just be a sheep,abide in me.
Speaker 3 (14:54):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
And I am your shepherd and I'm telling you.
I don't want to say it was alight bulb moment, but it's just
something the Lord has beenpressing farther into my soul.
He's my shepherd.
I need to just chill.
Amen, yeah, right, Amen Is he,or is he not my shepherd or your
shepherd, you know?
And when you make it personal.
(15:17):
Like that Psalm 22.
The Lord is my shepherd man.
I take ownership, that's right.
Wait a minute.
He's my shepherd man.
I didn't mean to Ran on thateither.
Speaker 3 (15:26):
No, no, that's good yeah, preacher brother.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
I'm drinking.
I'm drinking Puerto RicanCoffee right now.
That's it, man, yeah, yeah, man.
So you know that's, and I and Ikind of doubled it up a little
bit so I got a little extracaffeine.
My brother Orlando, he wants to, he wants to start a coffee
(15:50):
coffee company.
So and now, now that I know Ihave some connection to the DR,
you know I mean, yeah, got thewhole Caribbean locked up here.
Man, that's right, I need, Ijust need to find somebody from
Cuba, and then then we're, thenit's on.
Speaker 3 (16:07):
That's right, baby.
Speaker 2 (16:08):
And Jamaica.
That's right.
When was the last time youvisited the DR?
Speaker 3 (16:14):
Uh, 2023.
Oh, wow, okay, yeah, 2023.
Oh, wow, okay.
Usually I try to go every year,but last year we couldn't go,
hopefully we can go.
We have plans for this year,hopefully.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Okay, what is the climate like down there?
Is it primarily Catholic?
Is there any church presencedown there?
Are they believers a lot ofthem down there.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
Yeah, there's a lot of believers.
I mean, the country itself ispredominantly Catholic, but
you're going to find a lot ofevangelical churches and a lot
of crazy churches too.
You know what I mean.
But, yeah, you have Baptists,Methodists, I mean, you got all
kinds Assemblies of God, mormons, I mean, even though you have
(16:59):
cults over there too, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Which brings up another thing I know you're
passionate about, which isapologetics.
Yeah, being able to give areason for faith that lies
within you, mm-hmm, give adefense.
Yes, you know, apologeticsdoesn't mean apologizing,
meaning saying I'm sorry, no, no, in fact, when somebody says I
apologize, technically they'renot saying that, they're not
(17:28):
saying forgive me, that's whatit's become, that's what it
means.
Now, you know, forgive me, I'msorry.
But when they say I apologize,that's really they're saying.
They're saying I want to give adefense, I'll give a defense
for what I did Technically froma hermeneutic or from a study of
(17:49):
the language.
So I try not to say I apologizeto my wife.
What I say is I'm sorry, Iregret that I did that, I'm
sorry.
I say I say I'm I'm sorry, Iregret that I, I regret that I
did that, I'm sorry, I regret Idid it, but I've actually
changed.
I'm like, uh, you know, Iapologize unless I really really
messed up, which is kind ofoften.
(18:09):
So I, I need to apologize andI'm, let me, and all of you
laughing right now online,listening to this podcast right
now.
Shame on you because you'renodding your head, saying, oh, I
know, it's true.
Oh man, yeah, well, this hasbeen fun, bro.
We definitely are blessed toknow you.
Same here, brother, know youare in the trenches.
(18:33):
I really would encourageanybody in the New York, new
Jersey, area to go visit StatenIsland Christian Church.
It is a loving fellowship andthe shepherd there loves the
Lord.
Yeah, we're trying to make ourway back, will.
Speaker 3 (18:49):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (18:51):
We will set something up.
I'm going to put a link in theshow notes for the church so you
guys can find the church and Idon't.
You guys have like a Facebookpage or anything like that.
I don't use Facebook, but Katiedoes.
We'll put the links up for you.
Is there anything coming up oranything you want to let anybody
know about that's happeningbesides the play that we come up
(19:13):
?
Speaker 3 (19:14):
We usually have a meal Super Bowl Sunday.
We have soups and all kinds ofyou know, but that's after the
service.
So, okay, we invite everybodyto come to that.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Yeah saturday saturday morning okay, what time
saturday?
Speaker 3 (19:27):
oh, saturday at 6 pm.
Speaker 2 (19:28):
Saturday afternoon oh , it's in the afternoon, okay.
Yeah, men's fellowship, yes,okay.
So it's not a men's breakfast,it's a it's no, it's a
fellowship.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Yeah, more dinner amen.
Speaker 2 (19:38):
how long are you going to be there In North
Carolina?
Yeah, until the Lord changesthe call man, because right now
we're camping out, but we'restill traveling doing the plays
man.
Speaker 3 (19:50):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Yeah, we're working our way back.
We have a play New Jerseycoming up in January.
Okay, in a couple weeks we'regoing to be at America's Keswick
for a pastor's conference.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
Oh yeah, last year.
I remember something, yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Yeah, it's a fantastic pastor's conference
that Keswick puts on and you canbring your wife and it's one of
the things we look forward toevery year going up there.
So we're going to be up therefor that and then we're supposed
to be coming back.
We have a few different spotswhen we're coming back and the
Lord's blessed us with a nicetrailer Stuff in and no more
(20:28):
packing up the Cadillac, the caranymore.
Speaker 3 (20:31):
I know right.
Speaker 2 (20:33):
So yeah, the trailer, we can put the boat in and put
all kinds of.
So well, papo, why don't youclose us in prayer, bro, and,
and, and we'll, uh, we'll, putall this, this information, on
the website.
We thank you for being on theplays on word radio program yeah
, my brother, let's pray, father.
Speaker 3 (20:49):
God, we thank you so much for the opportunity you
have granted us today to to beable to, uh, to reconnect and
talk about things that concernyour kingdom.
Thank you, lord, lord, for mybrother, fred and Etienne, and I
pray, father, that you continueto bless this ministry and
place on word Lord, that youcontinue to utilize that
ministry to reach to those whodo not have a relationship with
(21:11):
the Savior.
And Lord continue to give themstrength and keep his mind sharp
.
And, lord, just pray for ourprotection.
We know that the enemy isalways lurking around.
Not wanting anybody to come toyou, but, lord, I pray that you
bless him and his wife and theirministry.
Lord, thank you for what theydo on your behalf.
(21:32):
Lord, I pray also for our churchhere in Staten Island,
christian Church.
Pray, lord, you continue toguide us.
We know that we want to doanything that is not of you and,
lord, we need you desperatelyto continue to show us the way.
And, lord, may we set our mindsto do your will and not our own
(21:52):
agendas and not our own willper se.
We bring honor and glory to youand we thank you that you loved
us in such a way that you sentJesus to die on our behalf.
May he always get the glory inour lives.
And, lord, thank you again forthis wonderful time that me and
my brother can connect and justtalk and laugh and just talk
(22:14):
about kingdom things.
It's all about you, jesus, andwe pray all these things in your
powerful name, amen.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Amen, amen, amen, amen.
Well, thank you guys forjoining us on this episode of
Plays on Word Radio.
God willing, we'll be back nextweek if the Lord tarries.
Until then, the Lord bless youand keep you.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you
.
The Lord lift up hiscountenance upon you and give
(22:46):
you peace.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
This program was made possible by the Plays on Word
family of supporters.
To find out more, check out ourwebsite at playsonwordorg.
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