Hit me with some basic information. Who are you? What do you do? Family? Education?
I’m A California native. I’ve lived in its largest cities and in one of its smallest towns. I serve as pastor of Emaus church in San Jose. I’ve been married to Wendy for 16 years and we have 4 daughters (Hannah, Emily, Noelle and Selah). I graduated from a small seminary in the Bay Area called The Cornerstone Seminary.
As a Hispanic american, do you ever feel like it’s hard to identify with and connect to the reformed community that you’re a part of?
I’ve been fortunate to be a part of a brotherhood in the Bay Area where I feel affirmed, valued and respected. The Seminary where I graduated from hired a Mexican-American as its Academic Dean. So, in my immediate fellowship I am encouraged.
Are the guys in our circle doing a good enough job of highlighting the contributions of minorities to the church? If not, how can they do better?
For those in the majority culture it is easy to overlook those not prominent in your circles. I think they are glad to have minorities represented in general. They are glad to see color in the crowds but I have not seen as much eagerness to hear from a more colorful array of voices. A good place for those in majority culture to begin would be to listen to what God is doing through minority leaders in their own cities. To minorities I would say: Focus on being useful to the Lord in the advance of the gospel and you will find yourself where you need to be.
Hit me with three quick lessons that you’ve learned from your church planting efforts.
-
Don’t go it alone, work with a team.
-
Think through and implement a biblical strategy.
-
Be flexible when God redirects your plan/strategy.
From what I know of, you and your church have several elders without seminary training. You can’t do that. The Bible says so. I dare you to disagree…
Reading the book of Acts I see that Paul was much quicker to appoint elders than we are. By the end of the first missionary journey, which took under two years, we read that “they had appointed elders for them in every church” (Acts 14.23). Paul probably trusted God more with the church than we do. We have taking the one qualification (able to teach) and allowed that to overshadow the rest. If anything we should allow faithfulness to hold the greatest weight over ability in the pulpit. Local churches are God’s primary breeding ground for elders not seminaries. So there!
You’re in cahoots with Rebuild. What’s up with that?
Rebuild was extremely helpful to in a season when God was calling our church to some major readjustments. They came alongside me and helped to give attention to areas of ministry that needed help. I’m glad to be a part of their team as we are seeking to make the Rebuild Church Planting Residency available to more men in our cities. I’m helping with establishing that on the West Coast.
You’re pursuing your PhD. How come? You’re already a senior pastor. Do you need more schooling for that?
No, I don’t necessarily need more schooling to do what I’m doing presently. When I graduated from seminary I had no intentions of pursuing further schooling. A scholarship opportunity arose and Wendy and I prayerfully considered it. During my seminary days I received affirmation and encouragement from my professors in regards to my ability and writing. The Cornerstone Seminary also invited me back to teach courses after I graduated so further training would make me more useful in that capacity. Sensing the need for models of minority theologians we arrived at the conclusion that I might be able to be of more service to the advance of the gospel by refining my research and writing skills. This was really not my plan. Like most things in my life a good Providence has ordered my steps here. I’m not smart enough to plan these things out.
I’ve heard it said that churches with a large percentage of minority members don’t really do that great with cross cultural (i.e. oversees) missions. True or false?
True. There are a number of probable reasons for this. 1) Socially, their goal (or parents’ goal) is to establish themselves in this country so going to another country does not easily enter the picture. 2) Financially, you are dealing with those on the lower socio-economic scale so it is harder for minority would-be missionaries to get enough support. 3) Those two things leads to a great lack of models in minority churches for that type of ministry.
Top 3 Theology Books
-
The Pleasures of God, John Piper
-
Knowing God, J.I. Packer
-
A Heart for God, Sinclair Ferguson
Top 3 Books in General
-
The History of the Christian Church, Philip Schaff (that’s 7 volumes does that mean I exceeded the limit?)
-
Center Church, Tim Keller
-
The Letters of John Newton
Top 3 Favorite Movies
-
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
-
Gladiator
-
The Perfect Game
Top 3 TV Shows
I don’t watch TV but I’ll add more movies for good measure
-
The Five Heartbeats
-
Nacho Libre
-
O Brother Where Art Thou?
Finally, I heard you got connections with all them Reach Records cats in Atlanta. I’m really tryna submit this demo… directly into Lecrae’s hands. It’s called “Bybul Thumpaz”. Can you hook me up with a cell phone number or a home address?
Nah, I don’t but let me drop a hot 16 on your demo tho!