Plays On Word Radio
An in-depth look at the Word of God, the Plays On Word community, and the Plays - with original music - we perform, that are based on the Word of God. New episodes drop Fridays at 7AM EST! To find out how Plays On Word Theater can perform 'LIVE on YOUR STAGE' and to support this missionary & podcast visit: https://playsonword.org/
Plays On Word Radio
Ep 104: Back to Basics Strengthening Faith in Modern Times (Part 1)
"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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Lord you know. Hey guys, you are now listening to Plays on Word.
Speaker 2:Radio. It's the best.
Speaker 3:We face a challenge because people now with social media, they're listening to all kinds of teachers out there and it's like I see the need for churches to really go back to the Bible, to go back to the essentials and not just be so caught up in this movement of glamour and things. You know what I mean and I think that that's one of the challenges that you know it's okay to have those things, but it's God showing up in your worship services. That's the most important thing.
Speaker 1:You're the only name. You're the only name.
Speaker 2:You're the only name.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to Plays on Word Radio, where we discuss, analyze, work and play on the Word of God. Thank you for joining us on this excursion. Today let's join Pastor Teddy, also known as Fred David Kenney Jr, the founder of Plays on Word Theater, as he does a deep dive into the Word of God. Amen.
Speaker 2:Amen. Thank you very much, mr Josh Taylor and Katie Kenney. Welcome to all of you to Plays on Word Radio. Check out this interview with my man, poppo. It's way too long overdue. We are here with Israel De La Cruz, yes, correct, otherwise known as Poppo. Yep, that's how I know you. I know you as Poppo, yeah, and our brother here is the pastor of the Staten Island Christian Church. I mean yes, yes, that doesn't get no simpler than that. It's just Staten Island Christian Church. How long have you been there?
Speaker 3:17 years, walking into 18 in the summer.
Speaker 2:Wow, and, of course, our connection is through our beloved brother, phil. Brother phil sinclair, that's right, yeah, and the whole sinclair family, the whole crew from staten island. I think we first met you uh, I want to say 2018 or 19. We came up and did genesis joe. Uh, you invited us to come up and do genesis joe and you were one of the early on supporters of what we were doing, man, giving us an opportunity to come and do what we do.
Speaker 2:My dear brother, skip Vaught, came out and visited with Rosie, his wife, who is with the Lord right now. But, yeah, he came out and visited when we first did our Genesis Joe play up there. It was right around the corner from where he lived. But, yeah, that was all before. The whole COVID, yeah, tobacco and all that, and you've had us out a few times since and it's always Because we have Pete, you know. Yeah, yeah, that's right, it's always been a blessing. But the thing that struck me was when we did Genesis Joe, there was a guy in the back and I couldn't quite tell who he was and he was nodding his head and he was into all the scripture references, man, and he was feeling it and it turned out, it was you. I was like there's somebody in the back that's really understanding this and getting this.
Speaker 3:Tell me about your first impression when you saw that play man and that was incredible. I mean the way that you were able to you know to call the scriptures and even, you know, dramatize everything. I mean that's a gift.
Speaker 2:I know that you said something at the time you really appreciated how it ties to Christ, how we tie Jesus to Christ. See, when people that know their Bible, they really resonate with that. Now that blessed me because I was like, okay, he understands it and gets it, and that's that joy. So tell me about yourself, man. How did you come to meet Jesus man?
Speaker 3:Well, I was born and raised in the Dominican Republic and my dad's been a pastor for 52 years now, wow. So in other words, I was very much raised in the church and I remember that my dad used to tell us that, okay, you're not going to heaven just because your daddy is a preacher. You have to make your own decisions. And I know I made my own decision to be baptized into Jesus at the age of 12. And you know, from that moment on, you know, being a preacher's kid, you're always involved in church doing things. You know serving God in different capacities.
Speaker 3:But that's how it was in the DR. From the DR I ended up going to Illinois. I went to a Bible college, Christian University, over there. That was in 96. I came to the States in 96 in central Illinois.
Speaker 2:Wow, yes, yes, yes. How do you get to Staten Island from? Yeah?
Speaker 3:I was. After I graduated from college I was I started my ministry. We went to Chicago Illinois to work with a new church plant. Knowing that I'm Hispanic, I was there to help out two Mexican pastors in a new church plant with a church called Comunidad Cristiana, community Church. And so we were there. You know, we lasted like about a year. Things did not go as we expected, but my wife and I understood that maybe we needed to stick around there for a while, and you know my wife was teaching at a school district and then, you know, I was even. I became a teacher's aide during the time because you know I was looking for a job.
Speaker 3:Then later on, there was a church, first Christian Church in Elgin Illinois, that were looking for an associate pastor. That was very much my first paid ministry and so little did I know. You know, my wife was the one nudging me like you should apply, you should apply. But I was like, eh, you know, and I applied. We had the interview and I was there since 2003 until 2008. In 2008, in the summer, that's when we ended up moving to Staten Island.
Speaker 2:Wow, man, tell us about your wife, man. She is a major pillar of support for you. Oh yeah, tell us how you guys met.
Speaker 3:We met in the DR. Believe it or not, but before we met we ended up attending the same college and we never came across each other.
Speaker 1:You know what I mean.
Speaker 3:Wow, we never came across each other. You know what I mean. We never, wow, we never ran into each other. But then I had gone. I came in 96 to the states and in 97 I went back to help out a friend of mine with, uh, he has an organization called global outreach, outreach and his ministry. So I went, I went down there to visit family and I was helping out, translating, interpreting from English into Spanish and Spanish to English. And during that time because since 94 through 96, 94, 95, 96, we had groups of Americans coming to you know, helping churches, building orphanages and camps, you know. So I developed that connection. That's one of the reasons why I ended up coming to being here, coming to the States. But in 97, I went down and then one of those people that I had met during those mission trips her name is Cherish, she wanted to come down just to revisit the DR and then she called my family, said hey, you know I'm coming over, I'd like to see you guys again, but I'm bringing a friend.
Speaker 1:And it was my wife.
Speaker 3:Wow, and that's how we met. And then after that I came back to the States and after I came back to the States in 97, I ended up going to Buffalo, new York, to do a church camp over there.
Speaker 2:It's cold up there. I know it's cold where you are right now in New Jersey.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it is cold here. Where are?
Speaker 2:you at now. Right now, I'm in North Carolina. Right now, man, I'm in North Carolina. It's cold, but it's 40-something, yeah, that's not too bad. That's not bad.
Speaker 3:You can handle it.
Speaker 2:It got down to about 29 last night just quickly, but then shot back up. You know it's nothing like what you guys are dealing with. I know.
Speaker 3:I know.
Speaker 2:And my brother Orlando Burgos Rivera. He just got back from PR and it's like 70 degrees in Puerto Rico and it really hit you. Oh man, it's like 70 degrees in Puerto 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 is into the bones and you can't Once it gets there. I don't know how you get it out, man, I know, I know man. So yeah, you can see God's sovereignty over introducing you to your wife.
Speaker 3:I know.
Speaker 2:I know.
Speaker 3: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 give me that job and she was always like no, she will prepare my resume and everything. And you know, and it's like I, I got my first two jobs because she was the one uh, you know, in a sense pushing me, but God was doing that through her.
Speaker 2:Yeah, god definitely brought us the right brides man, and it's. I know I would not be doing what I'm doing. I wouldn't and I would not be effective if it wasn't for his work through her. Effective if it wasn't for his work through her, because a lot of times you know he will speak through her to me.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2: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 who she is and the Lord will use speak directly to a situation through her. And on top of that, just the older I get, the more I truly understand the whole helpmate idea. Yeah, man, just marriage is fantastic. The older I get, the more I truly understand the whole helpmate idea yeah.
Speaker 2:Man, just marriage is fantastic. What is it? Marriage can be heaven on earth, that's right. With the right person that God brings you, and with the wrong person it can be hell on earth, that's true.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So any of you young people that are in a rush to get married, you need to fast, pray and take your time on that and just make sure that it is the Lord's will. Amen, yeah, man. So tell me more about what's happening at Staten Island there. What's going on, man, and what's the address so people can. If anybody is listening in Staten Island or nearby or anybody wants to come visit.
Speaker 3:The address is 3980 Victory Boulevard. Here in Staten Island A lot of good things are happening. We just got last year. Well, in the summer we went through a transition and the Lord helped us go through. I mean, it's one of those storms that you had. You know that you cannot weather yourself, but through God's spirit and his help, you know, you come out of that victorious. And so some of the people that we have now in leadership, they're really for the kingdom of God and so a lot of great things are happening.
Speaker 3:You know, even though Staten Island Christian Church is a small congregation in terms of numbers, but the people that we have, they're really committed to serving the Lord, to being with one another. You know what I mean. I think, and you can relate to that as a pastor, you get the joy when you see people that you don't have to always tell them, hey, listen, but they're the ones going there. You set up the vision and the vision and everybody's like yes, we're with you, let's continue serving the Lord with whatever it is that you know, with the resources he has given to us, 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 about that, but yeah.
Speaker 3:I'm excited with how things are going right now in the Staten Island Christian Church.
Speaker 2: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 most because I get a chance to see the greater body of Christ all over the place. Man, I get to go to so many different fellowships and I tell you, the fellowship of the Spirit of God is a constant. It's consistent. There's a consistency Even if we're with brothers and sisters who don't even speak our language. There's still a consistency of fellowship in the Spirit of God. Amen, language. There's consistency of fellowship in the spirit of god. Amen and um, I, I, I remember that vividly when we were up visiting and we're looking forward to, to making our uh, to, to coming back, making a return 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:here in Staten Island, but I've been a pastor now 24 years, oh man.
Speaker 2: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 infant when you started ministry, man, because you look like you're 30, man, the math is not right, something's not right, I don't know, man.
Speaker 3:Maybe it's the plantains. They got plantains down in the army. They got something man the plantains and the coconuts.
Speaker 2:I tell you, I have a question for you what is the most and you might have to think about this the most impactful ministry experience that you have had or you might have been involved in? Just think about it, because that's a tough question. If somebody was to ask me that, I'd be like whoa, oh my God, give us something where you said, wow, look what God did.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, in terms of ministry, I think for me one of the most impactful things that I've seen in the ministry is people that you get to baptize. They were not even Christians yet and then you know, you get to baptize them and now they really have this fire for the Lord to study the Bible and to the point that you see growth. You know what I mean. Like they understand this aspect of disciples who make disciples, and so I've seen that even in this church and I got a couple of families that when I go back you know people might talk about maybe your ministry failed. But when you look back to that you realize, wow, god did this. And so, thinking about the impact that we're all called to make, an impact like salt and lye in the lives of people, and now to see those people that we baptize, that they have grown and now they're bringing people to church.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's eternal.
Speaker 2:I know man, like wow, that's a great, I didn't even think about that. But like the, the aspect of here you get to see people that you knew were not walking with the lord and now they're baptized and proclaiming christ, jesus, yeah, and being identified with him and his death and resurrection and and their, their lives are forever. That's eternal type of yes. I know. What I kind of meant in the question was well, and you answered it basically was something that impacted you, like for me. I know one of the most for me was when we went to this prison. We did uh, no, we did Genesis Joe in a jail, yeah, and at the end of the play, no, we did, genesis Joe in a jail, yeah, and at the end of the play, 11 guys gave their life to the Lord right there in jail. And I was to this day. It's just, it's such a highlight for me.
Speaker 2:Out of my bed, the enemy was lying 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 and and you know, just lies like that, those type of arrows, and then at the end of the play to see these. I had the muscle through the play, wow, because I'm doing the as I was doing the play, the enemy 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 back to their cells and all kinds of lies, man.
Speaker 2:And at the end I mean you've seen Genesis, joe. It's powerful, powerful play and you know the story. You know the story, the story of Joseph, you know these for these guys to give their life to Christ. That just helped me, to help me to realize and have a resolve to be like wow, and to this day it's, it's one of the most impactful ministry things I I've ever been, ever been a part of. So the other was was when we came out to your place and did Genesis, joe, and you were in the back feeling where I was going with that. Yeah, man, a lot of people never put two and two together. They never connect Joseph with Jesus and parallels, and you were all on that. You knew it right from the jump and you were like, yes, yes, in the back and that blessed my soul. So that's another highlight that I got.
Speaker 3:And it is amazing because one of the things I appreciated about the play as well is that you know it would develop a hunger in people to go back and examine the scripture, to read that, because people are like, oh, wow, like you know, now is the whole narrative of the scripture in a play and I was like, oh, you didn't know about this, you didn't know that you know what I mean, and so maybe you need to go and study more.
Speaker 3: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:Yes, we're working on the Dan play too. I'm working on the throne right now for Nebuchadnezzar. Oh, nice, pete has a boat, and and you haven't seen the new boat 3.0 or something like that the one we brought up was cardboard. This one is made out of Lexan plastic. Ooh, nice, yeah, it's basically bulletproof man. This thing is. Yeah, it's. If I sprayed the bottom with Flex Seal, I could probably take it out into the ocean if I wanted to, but you know it's pretty solid.
Speaker 2:We're working on the Dan play and I'm working on the throne for Nebuchadnezzar. So in the Pete play, we have a boat, and in Genesis Joe, we have the basket with the staff for Jacob, and then in the Dan play, we're going to have a throne, and that'll be the one prop that we kind of use throughout the play the throne part and so Nebuchadnezzar will sit on the throne, daniel will talk to the throne when he's speaking to Nebuchadnezzar, stuff like that. Nice, yeah, I'm looking forward to that. We've got music for it and I'm working it out as we speak right now. We're working it out. I want to see if I can get you to come out For the preview. I don't know where we're gonna preview it yet, though we're still. We're still working the bugs out, okay, so I have. I have another question for you okay when did you meet phil sinclair?
Speaker 3: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 we invite to, you know, to fill that position and what? And so they always told me about Phil Sinclair. But it was funny because the first time I heard Phil you know, his personality didn't match the 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 time he had, he, him and his wife, and my wife and I, we did a a youth. Uh, it was something about love. What's love got to do with it. Some kind of like, you know, it was a panel in which the young people were asking us questions about, you know, marriage and things like that, and it was a blessing.
Speaker 2:Nice. Yeah, phil's a dear brother and I don't even know how many plays he's done where he's played bass. He's even come out to plays when he wasn't playing bass. Our dear brother, roy Larson, was on the bass and Phil had something going on where he couldn't play that that day. But he went, took care of the event he had to do and then came to the play just to hang out and support and to be part he's part of. He's a team player, man, I mean. And then lisa's on the board for plays. On word, yeah, it's, uh, it's a real family, and andrew also. We got and Andrew spun up playing the box nice, in that jail. I think the first place he played it was in that jail. See, yeah, you know, phil was like, hey, brother Ted, my son Andrew, I said learning how to play the drums. I could ask him because we needed a drummer and I said, well, let's have him bring the box man. And so Andrew, the whole family there. So I forgot that Phil was an elder there.
Speaker 3:I know, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and he's a good teacher too. Good teacher, yeah, he is, and he, yeah he's. I remember he was. You got to meet Papa, you got to meet Papa, we got to see if we can get you together and he did, yeah, and he did and he did, and that was a major blessing. I have another question for you, though. I need you to put your pastor hat on oh boy. I have another question for you, though. I need you to put your pastor hat on, oh boy.
Speaker 3:What do you say is the number one challenge facing the church today of is this idea you know churches a lot of times people don't want to go to church because there have been some churches or some Christians who have misrepresented Jesus and now you know they don't.
Speaker 3:You know what I mean. It's been a misrepresentation of Christ and you know, because the gospel is not being preached in so many of the churches and I think that that's still going to be a challenge for those ones that really want to be sound in their doctrine and knowing that you know there are still people out there seeking for the truth, not a watered down truth, but you know the truth of God's word. And I think we face a challenge because people now, with social media, they listen to all kinds of teachers out there and it's like the importance again I see the need for churches to really go back to the Bible, to go back to the essentials and not just be so caught up in this movement of glamour and things. 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:Right, yeah, you can have. You can have the best video graphics and everything and a sound system and all that. You're missing the Holy Spirit. Yeah, you got nothing. You know, and unfortunately there's a. I went on this one church's website they will remain unnamed and I was looking at their, you know, their their teaching, the stuff that they have going on, and it seemed like it's a and this is a pretty big church down in the south. Let's just say that.
Speaker 2: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 an afterthought. Yeah, yeah, and it was. It was kind of sad because a lot of people, unfortunately, they don't even realize they're being malnourished.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2: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 the fundamentals. That's right, that's true, that's true everywhere. I was watching this exercise video of this dude who's in his 50s and he's in excellent shape and really good shape and he said the fundamentals don't change he's talking about exercise, you know the fundamentals don't change.
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, they come out with new, shiny equipment, different equipment, different diets and stuff like that, but the fundamentals of working out don't change and it's just. It's the same with, uh, from a spiritual perspective, man, the fundamentals of getting closer to God, and you want to understand God, you got to get His Word. It doesn't happen by osmosis. The number one challenge I mean, yeah, it's like you said.
Speaker 3:You see it everywhere. It's almost like man. We're drifting away from the truth of God's Word. It's almost like man, like we're drifting away from the truth of God's word and, like you said, so many Christians are being malnourished in terms of their faith because you know you're eating junk food in a sense Not really.
Speaker 2:If you ate a bag of Doritos for breakfast, lunch and dinner, you're about to die. Thank you, you would be doing bad man. You have some problems, you know. So let me tag on an extra part to that question. So what can Christians do? That's a problem facing the church. So now talk to individual Christians. What do they do? Pastor, what do? Okay, that sounds great, but so what am I?
Speaker 3:supposed to do Christians? I think they need to continue. Peter said it continue to crave the pure milk of the Word. They've got to get back into the Word and not just the Word. I think, going back to Acts 2.42, as Christians, you have to commit yourself to learning what Jesus taught. I've gone through Bible teachings about the importance of apologetics. You know what I mean, the importance of knowing why you believe what you believe.
Speaker 3:Because you know what I mean, you're going to say, well, I believe because my great-great-grandmother believed it. No, no, it has to come from you and a lot of Christians. They need to understand and go into the you know to evaluate their faith, your conviction. And because you know, you need to know what it is that you believe, because your belief is not translate into your action and why you value in life. And I think as Christians they need to find people that are out there. They need to find a Bible-believing church that the Bible is preached and taught and everything, and just go from there, because if Jesus is not at the center, nothing else is going to matter. Jesus had to remain at the center and His Word has to be preached, the Gospel has to be preached, and then I think that's going to develop into seasoned, mature disciples and when those disciples multiply, now we have a nice group of people that are really solid in their faith. Amen.
Speaker 2:Amen, amen. Hey, we're going to continue this next week at the Lord Terry's and until then, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Speaker 1:This program was made possible by the Plays on Word family of supporters. To find out more, check out our website at playsonwordorg.
