Barry Meguiar 00:03
Hi everybody, and welcome to Ignite. I have a special guest with us today, more than, more than any other guests. In, in some ways it means so much to me. Pastor Rob Paceinza, is that am I saying that correct? I keep getting say your last name for me, Paceinza.
Paceinza 00:25
Paceinza. You got it.
Barry Meguiar 00:27
I got, I did it. You know, funny story. When I was creating the branding for our car wax, I go back to 1969 I looked at this crazy spelling of McGuire’s and thought, I can’t use that. Nobody to be able to pronounce it. And so our company name was Mirror Bright Polish Company at the time, that’s what my granddad named it. So I was naming it Mirror Bright but God kept working on me, and I really felt led, you know, I prayed about everything back, even 50 years ago, and I really felt impressed that I should know I should use the name McGuires. And so we ended up with this art deco kind of 45 degree angle. And then I found out later, after my daughter went through Pasadena Art Center, that people don’t read the letters. They read an image, and we create an image with McGuire’s. If they look at McGuire’s, they probably can’t pronounce it the way we spell it, so crazy, but because they look at the image. But anyway, Pastor Rob from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, folks, I got to just go back in history for a moment. Pardon me, Rob, if I talk, because this is really emotional for me. Going back to the early 70s, I fell in love with D James Kennedy. I mean, we listened to him every morning for more than 20 years. Listen to Charles Stanley too. We had two great sermons before we got to church every Sunday morning. But D James Kennedy, oh, my goodness, that voice, the voice of God, right? And I always said, if he just quoted nursery rhymes, they’d be mesmerized. But he quoted the Word of God so clearly that there are, there are a few people, my grandfather, my mother’s side, my grandfather, my dad’s side, but I had few people that just molded me into what I am. And Dr. D. James Kennedy, I know he wanted everybody to call him Jim, but to me, Dr. D. James Kennedy meant so much. And of course, he’s the founder of evangelism explosion, the greatest evangelism program in the world, and we were early converts of that, and used that. And Dr John Sorenson, the head of evangelism explosion. Ee, today, one of my great friends, and I got, I can’t have him on one of these days, because he and I share shirts back and forth. It’s like, I get more excited about him. He gets excited about me. In fact, he suggested to NRV that we ought to go on the road, the two of us, that would be fun. But I cut my teeth in a evangelism explosion this great church, and maybe 20 years ago, I found my way to the church on a business trip and snuck into the sanctuary and made my way to that pulpit, and didn’t quite get in the pool. I couldn’t do that. I just didn’t want to. But I got close, I got close to the throat. And so about a month ago, of course, you had me as your guest, Pastor Rob, and you asked me to go into the pulpit, and literally, as I started to step into it, I felt like I shouldn’t. I didn’t deserve, you know, I said, maybe I should take off my shoes or something. You say, no no go on. And then you took a picture of which I posted. I got a ton of results. But anyway, folks, this is my beginnings for sharing my faith, evangelism, explosion, Coral Ridge, and we lost. Dr Kennedy, there was a period we don’t need to go into as a period of time that was not, not the best days, fair to say, for Coral Ridge and but all the while, God has His plan, just amazing. Could you speak to that? You know, I get the background, but your background of being really saved with that church and growing over that just it’s a wonderful story. So share that with our our listeners, viewers, right quick.
Paceinza 1 04:37
Barry, I appreciate the opportunity, and I actually showed you when you and your wife Karen were here just a month ago, the exact pew that I was sitting in when I was 14 years of age, where I heard the gospel for the first time. I was 14, I came from a broken home. My friend invited me to church, and it was there in the sanctuary of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church that I heard our founder and our friend. And the late D James Kennedy share the Gospel, share the good news that man is not saved by works, but saved by faith alone in the finished work of Jesus Christ alone. And there, at 14 years of age, I committed my life to Jesus Christ, and I was the first family member, a person in my family, to commit my life to Christ. So not really even understanding who D James Kennedy was. I walked right up to him after the service, and I told him, I got saved. What do I do now? And he took me under his wing. So he not only became my spiritual father, but he became my mentor and discipled me all throughout high school and all throughout college, never thinking that I’d eventually be standing in that same pulpit, but God knew precisely why I needed to come to Coral Ridge that day, first, to be saved and secondly, to be called into the gospel ministry.
Barry Meguiar 05:55
Wow. Now, how old were you again? When that happened?
Paceinza 06:00
I was 14 years of age.
Barry Meguiar 06:01
I want everybody to hear that at 14 years of age, folks. And then you went to the robed, godly man of God, Dr D, James Kennedy, and you went up to Him and He embraced you.
Paceinza 06:18
Oh, people would ask me years later, how in the world did you get lunch week after week with D James Kennedy? And I said, I just I didn’t know any better. And I think it was my confidence walking up to him and being super direct with him. And after all, D James Kennedy, you know, later, said he didn’t have too many 14 year olds walking up to him asking to be mentored and discipled. And I mean, what a great lesson, just to be confident and sure and what you’re asking for. And he took me under his wing, and, as I said, became my spiritual father and mentor.
Barry Meguiar 06:54
It’s an incredible story. Only God, you didn’t have any background. You came in 14 years saved and I mean, God had this whole plan for you to be here right now, being the pastor, even you and I talk to you right now, but you go back and look at it, and you can say, Oh, that was interesting. No, it was interesting. That was miracle upon miracle upon miracle that put you in that place, that message touched your heart, the connection, the mentoring to give you, really, that’s your pulpit more than the gigantic pulpit in the church, your pulpit is your understanding of God coming to you from one of the great men in our lives,
Paceinza 07:35
Absolutely, he gave me a passion for the great connection, gave me a passion for the cultural mandate. Gave me a passion for what it meant to really integrate our faith into all of life. But I think that the most profound thing that he gave me was a heart and a passion for the lost. He would often say the greatest way that we can reclaim America is to win our neighbor to Christ. That is the chief calling of the Christian. If we want to transform the culture and transform this nation, it’s going to be seeing millions and millions of people converting and trusting in Jesus Christ. This was the final mandate that Christ gave to His people before he left. We call it the Great Commission, and it’s something that we need to continue this day.
Barry Meguiar 08:22
Yeah, yeah, transforming the world, but also transforming us. I mean, if we’re not sharing our faith, we’re kind of going through the motions. But that’s about all it is in most cases, absolutely.
Paceinza 08:36
And you see so many pastors shrinking away from the gospel, so many Christians thinking that this is that somebody else is going to do this for them, but I don’t see any distinction in the New Testament. It’s pastors and lay people. It’s the fishermen and the doctors. It’s every person that follows Jesus Christ is called to share the gospel. This is the calling of the people of God, and we can’t say, Well, we’re just going to leave it to my pastor. And we can’t say we’re going to leave it to my friend. Everybody needs to be on task and on message and on mission for the King of kings.
Barry Meguiar 09:15
So why is it that something maybe as much as 99% of Christians don’t do the one thing God’s called us to do mandated us to do. Why are we not doing as a church? Why? Why? Why are we witnessing that today?
Paceinza 09:31
I think a lot of people have fear of rejection. I think a lot of people are just simply apathetic. I think if we really understood where people will spend eternity without a relationship with Jesus Christ. If we really understood the gravity of what happens to the lost, those people that never hear the gospel and don’t profess faith in Jesus Christ, I think we would be getting up from our chairs and shouting. Holding it from the rooftop, we would look for every way, as John Sorensen says, we would be running up and down the highways and the byways declaring the good news of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. I think in addition to either fear or apathy, I just don’t think people have the tools. I think that’s what’s so amazing about evangelism explosion. Here is a tangible way in which people can have the basic, basic foundations of how to share the gospel, Grace, man, God, Christ, faith. It’s that simple. I can do it on my hand. My 13 year old daughter, Lydia, she learned when she was five years old how to share the gospel. If a five year old can do it, anybody can do it. It’s that simple and but we need to, as the church in America, understand our people need to be equipped. Our people need to be resourced. But more than that, our people need to wake up from their apathy. We’re asleep at the wheel, and what a great opportunity. I think America is longing for hope. They’re longing for a message that’s beyond Washington, DC, beyond what the mainstream media and social media talking heads are giving them. And the church has an opportunity to say, we’ve got the greatest message in the world. It’s the message that turned the world upside down 2000 years ago, and if the message that will still turn the world upside down today,
Barry Meguiar 11:21
There’s a passage in the message. I love the way the the language is used oftentimes. And one is we carry this precious gift around in the clay pots of our ordinary lives. I like that. I mean, I just pedal car wax. And when I finished leading somebody, Lord, God, you just use me. I pedal car wax. Who am I? And you use me. You can use me. If you could use me, you can use anybody. This, this thing of apathy is a huge factor. I think Pastor, I think the opposite of for for Christians, the opposite of love is not hate. We don’t hate anybody. We just don’t care. And we walk by people. We’re surrounded by people every day that are lost. If you picture them as going to hell, it would shake you up, and that’s where they’re going. That’s exactly maybe 90% of the people around us every day going to hell, if we really contemplated that, instead of watching our phones and being occupied with all our stuff, you just put it down and start looking at people. They light up. They’re starving for love. They’re desperate for the message that we have, and we walk right by them back up to second as there’s more to the pastor’s role. You know the one of the roles the pastor from Ephesians talks about the role of the pastor, and one of it is to equip the saints for ministry. That’s what we’re required to do. And and then that message of, how will they know? Unless somebody tells them? And folks, all the people that are lost, that you’ll be with today and every day that are lost. Do you understand they’re not evil? They may disturb you, they may be protesters at an event. They may be saying all kinds of horrible things. They’re not evil. They’re lost. Scales. The Scriptures tell us, Satan actually put scales over their eyes. They can’t they can’t see the truth. In fact, they see evil is good and good is evil, and that’s where we are. So pastors are often, first off, most are not. But those who are, you know, Pew had a study. We were talking about that, but it is Pew, Pew study a couple years ago where they they analyzed 60,000 or 6000 different sermons, and they had all kinds of research coming in. I went to how many were proclaiming, mentioning salvation, only 10% even mentioned salvation. So we, folks, we can’t just send somebody church, go to church. 90% of the time it will be a woke church. They won’t get anything out of so you got to be careful, and if you don’t know it, shirts and send them to Coral Ridge on the line and get them some real preaching. But the pastors, even, even strong pastors that are talking about we need to reach the lost, they don’t tell them how, see, walk. I say I need but I don’t know how to do that, and I’m not equipped, and I’m not trained, and I haven’t been through evangelism explosion. I hear that a lot. I haven’t been trained, and I look at the training that’s available through evangelism explosion, and I look at our ministry, Ignite America, and I think we’re kind of a share your faith for dummies. We we have this way of if, for most people haven’t gone through evangelism explosion, so they think they’re off the hook. No, you’re not off the hook. He didn’t say, go in the road, or you have been trained. He didn’t say that. He said, go, all of us. Yes. And if you don’t have time to go to this precious Ministry of evangelism explosion, you have no excuse. You can start right now. And he said, they’ll know you’re my disciple by your love. And you can love on anybody. Could love on people, and start doing with everybody, not one everybody, and make sure you include God in your conversation so they know that love is not coming from you, it’s God’s love flowing through you to them. And I think you can speak to this. But pastors, there’s not a lot of pastors are giving the how they may say, only 10% are talking about doing it. But even in those 10% there’s not a lot of how, how do you practice on a practical basis, how do I start doing that when I walk off the premises here.
Paceinza 15:44
Barry, I love that you mentioned Ephesians four. It’s one of my favorite passages to the role the pastor is, as you said, to equip the saints for the work of ministry. That means every business leader, entrepreneur, every plumber, every construction worker, stay at home, mom, teacher, if they belong to Jesus Christ and they’re sitting in your congregation on Sunday, it’s your job to awaken the call within them that their desk is their pulpit, their their office is their sanctuary, and how are we sending them out on Monday morning to redeem Monday, to redeem the moment, to redeem their workplaces and their neighborhoods and their communities and their homes. And we say that, but we don’t give, as you said, the tools to equip them for that all important work. Jesus said, once again, he said, Go and make disciples. He didn’t tell just tell that to the pastors. He told that to his followers, and those followers would gain more followers. And that is not an optional mandate. It wasn’t the great suggestion. It is the Great Commission mandated by Jesus Christ, go, right? I’ve studied go in Aramaic. I’ve studied in Hebrew. I’ve studied in Greek. Go means go, and we need to be mobilizing our church, mobilizing our people, to go and make disciples.
Barry Meguiar 17:03
Well, we have a place on our website called most frequent excuses, and we listen. I mean, there’s about 12 of them. I’m not trained, I’m not gifted, I don’t know that. I don’t know enough. You know, they’ll, they’ll be offended by all these, and we just destroy all those. And unfortunately, the studies are telling us that I don’t even know what evangelical is anymore. You read the statistics of what an Evangelical, quote, unquote, believes, I guess I’m not an evangelical anymore. I’m a follower of Jesus, but it says like 75% you’ve seen the stats, but like 75% of Evangelicals think that being a good person is leading people to Jesus, and they get all the glory and a big surprise, that’s not leading. You could be the best person on the planet. You’re not leading. You’re not leading yourself as leave alone anybody else in Jesus by being good, that is, that is from Satan, just puffing you up and making you feel good, and they’re applauded, and he’s such a wonderful guy. And look, and I have so many friends, car guy friends that are really extraordinary people. Car Guys, pardon me, but they are really great guys, very caring and giving. And they just, even though I say to them, they just think, God, no, God wouldn’t send me to hell. I’m better than everybody. I know there’s no there’s I’m not going to hell, and they don’t realize that God doesn’t send anybody to hell, and that’s my message to him. Of course, God didn’t send you to hell. He gives you free choice. You have that decision to make. So everybody around us, for the most part, 90% have not made that decision, and they’re at best, going back and forth. And we have the opportunity to touch people every day, multiple times every day. And our theme is we may not get them saved that day. We don’t know where they are. They may be in the first step of 20 steps. But no matter where they are, wherever you pick up. You know our theme, move everybody every day closer to Jesus, and make that a priority with everybody you’re with, including your family members you know. And when you do that, you’re living for God’s purpose. And that’s a pretty cool thing.
Paceinza 19:13
And here’s the reality, Barry people, as you said earlier, people are hungry for this. Of course, they’re hungry. This is God has created us to have a relationship with God, and this it’s our privilege to be able to share with them the message of hope, the message of the gospel, that you can have a relationship with God, and it’s not on the basis of your good works. It’s on the basis of Christ’s good work for you on the cross. And when people hear that, the seeds are planted, and you allow God to do the work. I mean, just this past week we were having, we had a business meeting in my office, and we brought in an outside consultant, and you could tell there was something heavy on her heart, and she was talking about, she was asking me questions about the church and what we believe. And it was very clear from the very beginning that she was searching and very clear that she wasn’t a Christian. And right then and there, in a business finance meeting with our consultant, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with her, and you should use the tears started flowing down from her face, from her eyes, down her face. I mean, she was hungry, she was desperate. She’s going to be with us this Sunday in church, because she is searching. She’s looking for something more. And so I share that story not to not not so I could get the praise, but look for every opportunity, because we are living in a in a cultural moment right now where people are desperate, people are searching, people are hungry for good news, hope and to hear the message of love in Jesus Christ. So take every opportunity. Take advantage of every moment, but make sure, as we’ve talked about, you have the tools. That’s so simple, when do we over complicate it to be able to say that eternal life is a free gift, that we’ve been separated from God because of sin. God is both loving and just, but he solved this problem through the person of Jesus Christ, and all it takes is faith, not our good works. Just takes faith in Jesus Christ, transferring your trust from yourself, and transfer that trust to Jesus Christ, and you’ll have the gift of eternal life now and forevermore. It’s that simple. We make it complicated, but that’s the message that we have to share, and it’s a privilege to share that message every day.
Barry Meguiar 21:23
It is so simple. Now, in a different church, that consultant, this is a real in your face. This does this happen yesterday in a church, when you’re focused on the subject, if your goal in that meeting is whatever subject, selling product, I don’t care what you’re doing if your goal, if that’s what your intention is, your highest calling is, I got to get that, make that, say I was there. I did it. When I build my little business, and I’m a punk kid from California, they didn’t know who I was. They kept slamming doors in my face, you know. But Mike, I was never disappointed, and I was looking every time I made a presentation, how I can lead that person closer to Jesus, and you just spoke to it, but I give, I bear witness to that, that this is how you know the Holy Spirit is working in your life. He gives you discernment. And even if they haven’t said anything in your spirit, you know there’s something going on in that person right now that needs to be dealt with and and you had the courage to speak out where some would say, oh, they’ll think I’m a fool if I say that. Satan puts all these doubts at us. But would we do it and then we bear fruit.
Paceinza 22:33
Wow. I mean, it’s amazing. She was there to sell us some software. He was there to sell a software and but we now know why she was really in my office. She needed to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.
Barry Meguiar 22:46
That is so true. I just shouted from the mountain top. This is a real life experience, folks. And and you do it every day, and God speaks to you, and then He He when you open it up, He’s right there with you. He hasn’t left you. He’s right there with you. And then Luke, he says he’ll give me the words to say, you don’t even have to prepare for it. He does all the heavy lifting. You’re just there available and having is your highest priority. How do I move that person closer to Jesus in the midst of any presentation or the tennis match or fighting the political issue in public service in Washington, DC, and instead of hating those people, love those people in the midst of fighting. Yes, we fight the battles, but we love the people. And when we do that, wow. I mean, we never have a bad day. Is this is great stuff. Pastor, we’re running out of time here. And I said we do it for a half an hour. But might we talk you into another half, half an hour to continue this conversation? We really haven’t gotten into the good stuff of the how tos, could you? Could you? Could you hold over and let’s do one more half an hour on this subject? Can we do that? I would love to, okay, praise God. Thank you for Pastor Rob. Father God. Thank you for Pastor Rob. Thank you for Coral Ridge. Thank you for D James Kennedy. Thank you for John Sartre explosion. We’re in this together, and we need to make more noise. That’s what we’re trying to do here today. God help us to carry this precious message to every believer watching us right now, to get them off the bench and into the game for your glory. Start having the time our lives. That’s what happens when we live for your purpose. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you Jesus. Thanks for joining us, folks, and we’ll stay tuned. We’re going to come back for another half an hour. Pastor Robert, Ignite.
