WORLD EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW:
Biggest problem in America: Church leaders not Preaching, Teaching Obedience to God’s word
-Pastor RONALD English, Greater Bosqueville Baptist Church, Waco, Texas
… a person can be considered a good Christian in United States without obeying a single commandment of God’s Holy Word
*‘Many pastors are afraid of standing for what is right, not to offend those who gives ‘money’ to the ministry
*‘Some televangelists will not preach injustice, oppression, and systemic wrongs since money for television appearance is tied to certain views for high rating’
*‘United States Supreme Court made wrong decision in Roe-v-Wade ruling against women
*“America’s foundation is built on violence, nasty-history, whitewashed black history from schools to evade posterity where white slave owners broke up black families; raped black women; hung black men and saved their body parts as mementos”
*INSIDE: Divine call into God’s ministry, job at Baylor University and Fatherhood experience
HE’S highly intelligent. So blessed with wisdom. Every word he speaks is laced in hidden wisdom. Ever-smiling, bubbly Man-of-God, RONALD ENGLISH, pastor in charge of Greater Bosqueville Baptist Church, Waco, Texas in this interesting interactive session with Naija Standard Newspaper’s GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/AMERICAN Senior Investigative Editor, this soft-spoken and cerebral academic talks on various issues facing the American daily lives, history, how God called him to be a preacher; working experience at Baylor University and why United States need God’s speedy intervention now than ever. ENJOY:
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: What is your stance on the role of the Church in providing the last hope or refuge for people who are being victimized in the society?
PASTOR RON: First of all, I think much of the church is willfully blind to the problems that truly face people these days – especially in America. So many people call themselves Christian but do not even attempt to obey the commands of the Lord. Hence, I do not expect people to understand just how to provide hope to anyone or to be hospitable to those that truly need it.
To answer the question though, the Church has a responsibility to love God, pray, and seek what the Lord would have us do for those that are being victimized in any society. We have been lulled into thinking that we do not have responsibility for others because they are suffering because of the choices they are making. However, the Lord calls us to serve one another and to love as He showed us how to love – and He gave His life for us! Jesus did not maintain a home or drive a car or be afraid to lose a job for the purposes of the Kingdom of God.
So, the role of the Church is to give all she has to provide freedom, hospitality, and be generous to all we encounter. We are to share the love that the Lord has shared with us. Sharing love means that we are to sacrifice in order for others to have a chance to know the love of the Lord. Every person the Lord calls in the Bible had to sacrifice everything they may have wanted to live for Him. Every king was graded in the Bible by their willingness to obey the word of the Lord. So, we provide hope and refuge by living for the Lord and providing flowing waters of life for those we encounter.
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: Since the Holy Bible says in Proverbs 14 verse 34 that “righteousness exalt a nation, but sin is a reproach….”, are you suggesting that Americans need to turn more to God and lift the nation to the Lord in prayer to save the country from further lawlessness?
PASTOR RON: Well, as I see things, the biggest problem in America is that we have church leaders that are not preaching and teaching obedience to God’s word. It is interesting that a person can be considered a good Christian in America without obeying a single word of God’s Holy Word. In other words, a person can claim to be a Christian by simply going to church and being nice (most of the time). I know the words are harsh and critical, but the truth is that we simply do not place enough emphasis on people learning and obeying the commands of the Lord. We don’t observe the Sabbath; we don’t honor our mothers and fathers; we set up commerce in the churches; we lie and cheat one another; we don’t forgive; and I could go on and on.
Another way for me to put it is that we don’t truly understand how to define righteousness. We think that we define righteousness by what appears to be right to us. However, righteousness comes through faith and obedience to the Lord. Abraham was considered righteous because he had faith in the Lord. Moses was righteous through his faith and obedience in the Lord.
So, yes, we do need to turn more to the Lord and we need to pray. However, our prayers will have little power if we are not also attempting to obey the Lord. In turning “…more to God…,” we need to understand that means that we live for Him; not just look in His direction. We live in sin when we disregard the Lord’s commands.
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: Why do you think other ‘Men-of-God’, as in pastors, bishops, evangelicals are all mute, keeping quiet in the face of senseless gun attacks in black colored, other minority dominated Churches in United States in recent times?
PASTOR RON: I am reminded of the fact that the Lord told Joshua (and others) to be strong and courageous. The Lord told Joshua this and then said that He, the Lord, would be with Joshua. Almost as if the reason that Joshua should be strong and courageous is because the Lord would be with him. When I think about that, it is amazing to me that knowing the Lord, the Creator of all things, is with me requires strength and courage. Let me put it this way:
If I am being picked on while playing in the park by someone who is bigger than me, then I may be afraid if I am standing by myself. However, if I have someone as big standing behind me (or multiple people with me), then I would not be nearly as worried. As a matter of fact, with some other people I would be much more bold to stand up to someone that may otherwise intimidate me. In other words, I would have some strength in my corner that is greater than what I can do on my own. Well, this makes the point that the Lord is making to Joshua – don’t fear because I, the Lord, am with you!
So, I believe that many pastors are afraid of standing for what is right because they do not want to offend those who may disagree with them. And they certainly do not want to offend someone who gives a lot of money to the ministry. I am always amazed at televangelists (especially those with large viewings). I do believe they try to put out messages that are Biblically sound. However, there are certain topics they will not address because they know that the money to be on television is tied to certain views. So, rather than say anything about injustice, oppression, and systemic wrongs, there is a silence that falls over the church leaders. I may not be completely right on this, but the silence you hear may just be people not remembering that the Lord is with them. There is no strength or courage because they don’t KNOW that the Lord is with them!
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: In times of old in the Bible, when godliness and righteousness reigned supreme, you hardly could hear of the violence presently ravaging the world. Why is gun violence the highest in America, and no other country in the world?
PASTOR RON: Well, make no mistakes about it, there was violence in the Bible. People have found ways to be evil and mean since people were made. The first family on the earth had one brother murdering the other one. The earth became so depraved that the Lord flooded it out, saving only Noah and his family. And let’s not forget that Jesus was hung on a cross and He never sinned against God or mankind.
As for gun violence in America, I think people forget that America has a violent and nasty history. Sure, it has been whitewashed in the schools so much so that Black slaves in America were really coming here to help the kind slave owners make money. And Black slaves enjoyed the kind slave owners and were happy to be working on the plantations. At least that is the picture that is painted in the textbooks that most children read in the early years of school. And despite the stories being cleansed and sanitized to make white people feel better about such a nasty time in history, the violence was committed. the white slave owners even had Black slaves committing violence against each other. They broke up our families, raped Black women (but couldn’t drink out of the same water fountain), hung our men and saved their body parts as mementos, and they treated Black slaves worse than they treated their animals. So, violence is securely sewn into the fabric of this country. But nobody wants to hear that and they certainly do not want to explore it or honestly teach it.
So, the violence in America is the fruit we get from the seeds we planted. We make guns available to everyone (2nd Amendment) and people lose hope. A dangerous combination that results in tragedies across the nation. I know that it is simple in my expression, but I just believe there is a direct correlation to the violence that this nation imposed on Black slaves.
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: What is your take on the Supreme Court ruling by Republican Justices that overturned the Roe V Wade where women will no longer have legal authority over their body and could be face jail term for abortion, even when some women wouldn’t know they are pregnant until 15 weeks?
PASTOR RON: Well, I just believe that the Supreme Court got this wrong. They are attempting to legislate the heart. And we can see from Biblical days that no one can legislate the heart. They seem to think that if they leave it up to the states to write their own laws, then the states can govern themselves. Well, if they would just look back at Roe v. Wade, they would know that the states had it and the Supreme Court Justices that took the case of Roe v. Wade saw fit to impose rights across the nation on a federal level. And this is not just about abortion – though they would have one believe that – it is about the healthcare for women and their reproductive organs.
This decision will allow an invasion of women’s privacy on a level never seen in America. States will be able to use a woman’s search history online to see if she looked for the word abortion online. They can look to see if they searched for certain pills or medication online. We are facing some dark times based on this decision. My biggest advice to all who are concerned (and have a right to do so), VOTE!!
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: Why is it that the ruling from Supreme Court does not provide a space for women who are in incestuous situation against their will to express themselves?
PASTOR RON: I can’t be sure, but I just don’t think any of the Supreme Court Justices have had a situation like incest or rape happen to any of the women in their lives. And even if a situation occurred, they were not close to the decision-making. They would claim to be “pro-life” and they would not really consider how the life started. They just claim to be “pro-life.” Well, I would argue that they are not really “pro-life” because they see the violence in America and they refuse to do anything about the gun violence or take any real steps to prosecute the murder of unarmed Black people by the police.
I really can’t speak for the Supreme Court, but I do believe that they would say that it is up to the states to provide those types of provisions. What they did was remove the right for every woman in America to have access to reproductive health care. They have allowed states to enforce their own laws and that will mean that some women will get some rights in America that others will not get.
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: What do you think are the proper roles the Church ought to play in bringing sanity into American society?
PASTOR RON: I believe that the Church needs to get back to the business of doing what Christ commanded us to do – make disciples. Now, if we are going to make disciples, that means that we have to be disciples first. If the Church would get serious about this one thing, then I think we can do a whole lot to usher in a society that is kinder and more hospitable.
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: After the ruling by the Supreme Court, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas openly discussed plans to ‘phase out Same Sex marriage LGBQT’. Do you think Justice Thomas is on the right course of history?
PASTOR RON: I do think that Justice Clarence Thomas means well. However, I will repeat, I don’t think that anyone can legislate the hearts of men and women. So, while his sentiment may be in line with the Lord’s intent for sexual relations between men and women, I believe that no law will fix what he sees as the problem.
Yes, the Bible explicitly states that a man is not to lay with a man like he would lay with a woman (Leviticus 20:13). I believe that the purpose of sex is for procreation/reproduction. However, there will be those who will argue that some people’s reproductive systems do not work or are confused (even at birth). Biblical law states that such behavior is to be punished by death through stoning because such is an abomination. But I want to remind all that Christ came and He offers forgiveness for sins.
So, since Christ offers forgiveness for sins, I would lean on Him to offer forgiveness, freedom, and deliverance from some of the life choices that people make. What I know is that we, as followers of Christ, are supposed to offer love and kindness to the people we encounter. Christ does not tell us to ask questions before we offer His love to others. So, rather than trying to eliminate laws or write laws to fix these things, we need to pray and love like Christ says to love.
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: Take us into your journey of God’s calling into the pastoral ministry and your plans to take Greater Bosqueville Baptist Church to the highest level of soul winning…
PASTOR RON: When my calling came, I knew that I was called to be a pastor. I was not sure where, how, or even why. But I knew I was called to be a pastor. It took nearly 15 years before I was assigned as a pastor for the first time. And even when I became a pastor, I was attempting to do things as I had seen them by other pastors I had been under. In recent years, I have come to discover that simply doing what I had seen was not what God called me to do. I was called to search for God’s will for my life and to be serious about following His commands and how He uniquely made me. My experiences in life would shape how I communicate and how I influence others. I was not to do things like everyone else because they experienced a level of success. I was to adhere to what God was telling me and follow His word to me to achieve what He made me to do. I am to be on the battlefield for the Lord and teach others to do the same.
We are not the church when we all dress the same and try to make everyone conform to what we do. We are the church when we experience the Lord through what we have been through and communicate with those who have similar experiences about what Jesus can do for them. I should not try to save everyone by myself. I should equip others with Jesus and watch the Holy Spirit work.
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: How do you combine your God’s calling to your job at Baylor University and fatherhood at home?
PASTOR RON: In my work at Baylor, I support students that are struggling academically. The one thing I try to do, above all else, is help students live in the truth of their situation. Often students are hoping to get better grades without seeking assistance in the areas that would be most effective. So many times, I hear students say, “I don’t like to ask for help.” And that translates into them trying methods and things that are not helpful. However, we have services and experiences that can help students make effective changes to positively impact their grades quickly. Yet, so many try to change on their own with things they heard from other students not seeking effective assistance. Hence, I try to help them see the truth of the problem and then offer solutions and resources to help them.
Allow me to say it this way. If a student is playing a sport and wants to get better, the student seeks assistance. The student looks for a video, advice from someone that knows a little more, or looks for a coach to hire. In other words, in the world of sports, most people think that the only way to get better is to seek someone that has some experience and knowledge in the area where improvement is needed. But for some reason, when it comes to academics and classroom studies, students seem to believe that asking for help somehow means that one is not smart or knowledgeable. I enjoy helping students see that seeking assistance to learn is VERY beneficial.
As a father (and it takes patience and prayer), I seek to live out the ministry in front of my wife and sons. I don’t have any data to prove it, but I believe that so many children of folks in the ministry get disenfranchised with the ministry for two reasons: 1) the ministry takes so much time from the children and/or 2) the preached word is not the same as the lived word at home. These two “assumptions” on my part are what drives me to pour time into my children and to do all I can to live out the messages that I preach!
NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER: In one word, describe Pastor Ron ENGLISH
PASTOR RON: Finally, what is your message of hope and advise for many Americans relocating out of the country to Motherland, Africa due to the constant gun violence, fear and racism facing the minority people in the society?
YHWH is able to keep us here or in the Motherland. I would ask people who are relocating to be sure and ask the Lord what the assignment is as they embark upon living in a new land. I would encourage anyone moving to seek guidance in a land flowing with milk and honey! I certainly would like to visit the Motherland at some point in the near future and believe that the Lord will make a way.
As people leave this country, especially if it is due to violence, fear, and uncertainty, I would ask them to pray for those that are staying here. I would ask them to pray that the Lord show up in those that are tasked with staying here and speaking the truth in a land that seems to reject it right now. I would ask them to pray for a people that would place their trust in any man – especially someone like Donald Trump. I would ask them to pray for deliverance and guidance for those here in this land.
Things are so bad in this country (I think it is worse than most realize), I am reminded of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible. While we may not have the exact behavior described in the Bible, I think that we have the same disregard for the lives and well-being of our fellow human beings. I think that the disregard for the wellness of others is palpable. Abraham asked if the communities could be spared if there were 10 righteous people and the Lord said that 10 righteous people would be enough to save the city. I don’t think we need many, I do think we need people committed to living for the Lord and obeying Him.
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