There are times when a son takes over his dad’s church. There probably has been times when a dad takes over his son’s church. But for both father and son to switch churches at the same time? I’m sure that has never happened before in any denomination. I pastored Yonkers Church and Bedford Park church for over 8 years. My dad has pastored Morris Park church for over 11 years. Both our times at our respective churches have now come to an end and we are switching places. My dad is taking over my previous churches of Yonkers Church and Bedford Park Church. And I’m taking over his previous church of Morris Park.
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When the conference mailed letters to the church leaders of who their new pastor was, they were thoroughly confused, because we both have the same official first and last name, “Billwayne Jamel”. So each respective leader came to their pastor and were like ‘why is the conference telling us that you are our pastor starting in November.’ Their minds were so thrown off. So of course we had to do a bit of explaining. LOL at least they don’t have to worry about changing the names on things.

This poses a benefit, because we each get to see our churches led by someone that we know and so we each can give our input and advice.

If you would like to see my first sermon at Morris Park, you can Click Here.

Who knew that 11 years later I would become the pastor of that very church. Life is mysterious that way. ​

But I was a bit apprehensive in 2016 when my supervisor asked me if I would like to become the pastor at Yonkers Church. ​

His thoughts were that the church could benefit from a young pastor and a local pastor. At that time, I was the youngest pastor in the conference. I also lived 3 blocks from the church. That’s as local as it gets. However, I thought about how Jesus wasn’t welcomed in Nazareth and said “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown". I wondered if the people of the church knowing me as a baby would pose as a problem. Praise God their familiarity of me didn’t get in the way. If anything, it helped. Those who knew me as a child were very kind. Some of those who didn’t know me were optimistic.
 
However, the next Sabbath that I was there I was faced with some challenges, but I was determined to follow God’s will regardless of the consequences. I had to make tough choices which led to an onslaught of opposition. In other areas I continued to make unpopular decisions that I believed would be beneficial to the church. Each of those decisions created challenges, but it’s important to please God rather than man. Eventually good came out of those challenges.
 
But my time at Yonkers Church isn’t defined by the challenges, but the victories. I am glad to see lives changed, people baptized, leaders developed, and a growing focus on reaching people over tradition.
 
The focus of ministry over ritual is what I hope will be the lasting legacy I can leave Yonkers Church.
 
So, I thank the Yonkers Seventh-day Adventist Church and all of it's wonderful members. I appreciate our years of memories and experiences that we shared together.
 
As I looked at that photo album as I was cleaning out my office, I saw many pictures of my dad when he was young around the age of when I started pastoring Yonkers Church. He use to be a member and elder at this church. In fact, when I first moved into this office I found his old Bible still there. It was pretty amazing.

Things have come full circle for him. Today, he is being installed as the new pastor of Yonkers Church. Now he can finally pastor the church that he has lived next to for so long. God has amazing plans and it’s beautiful how He goes about fulfilling those plans. I believe God is in control of the journey of Yonkers Church. There is no one better that I can entrust this church to than God who will use my dad in this role. May God guide this church in this new chapter of it journey. ​

The Word of Promise Audio Bible. I read along through a lot of it and just listened to some of it, but went through each and every chapter. The first 10 days I was reading/listening for about 8 hours a day. Then the next 28 days I read/listened to over an hour each day. Then the last 2 days I binged through like the last 12 hours. The whole experience was very intense but so rewarding. I enjoyed it. I took a bunch of notes and wrote  a whole lot of questions, especially the first 10 days. I saw books of the Bible in a different light by going chronologically and in that rapid successive fashion. 

I typically don't recommend reading the Bible from beginning to end. When people talk about going through the Bible in a year, I encourage against it. Why? Because I believe it is better to take your time and savor your meal. Better to read a paragraph and get something out of it, then to read an entire chapter and not understand. I also recommend starting to read the Bible in whatever book peaks your interest. If there is a part that doesn't seem interesting, then skip it and come back to another time. There are some chapters, especially genealogies which are not easy to go through. With that being said, I have been reading the Bible almost every day since I was a teenager and I wanted to be sure I actually did go through every chapter in the Bible. This was a way to make sure I didn't overlook anything. Also if I was going to jump start a new ministry then I needed to be spiritually charged up. So I took these 10 days of alone time with God and then transitioned to the rest of the 40 days to finish going through the Bible.

I remember back when I was a student, volunteering as a lay pastor in Indiana, my lead a pastor told me that going through the Bible this way would give you a different holistic view on the Bible. He wasn't kidding about seeing things a new way. I was able to get an eagle eye's view, especially with the Old Testament. 

God has been blessing. He keeps bringing new baptismal opportunities. Like they keep popping up. What an encouraging way to start this new ministry. What is this new ministry I keep talking about? I am focusing on starting a new group in Manhattan. Assembling a team of people who want to do things like in the book of Acts. The last two people that were baptized told me that they wanted something like this and they were going to start their own group, but then they decided to join the one I am forming. It was like they came out of nowhere and after we studied together they got baptized. The group hasn't even started meeting and already there are baptisms. God is amazing. 

If you want to join a crew that isn't playing church, but is being the church then message me, because a month from now, I am going to meet with the crew and we are going to talk about this adventure. 

Well for the last 7 days I made phone calls, wrote a sermon, preached the sermon, replied to messages on my website, went to 4 prayer sessions, supported a youth program, did a board meeting, shared counsel to a member, taught a preaching class, checked text messages, replied to emails, contacted people who were nominated for positions next year, did a Bible Study with baptismal candidates, and that's the stuff that I remember off the top of my head.

There is plenty to do. Its not just preaching on the weekend. I know some people complain because they feel like I'm not doing everything that a pastor should be doing. Truth is every member has their own expectation of the pastor's responsibility. Every pastor has their strengths and weaknesses. Every pastor has the things they are passionate about. Problem is we take all the good we see in the history of pastors in our lives and we put together an unrealistic job description. We want a superman who is good at everything.

The reality is that the position "pastor" is only mentioned once in the Bible. It talks way more about the other functions in the church. No one receives all the spiritual gifts. And that's on purpose. If one person had everything then it would become a one man show. Thats just as boring as the Superman animated series. The Holy Spirit divides up the gifts to all within His church. That way we have to rely on each other and become a team. The Justice League animated series was such a more interesting show seeing all these characters working together.

Being a pastor is almost like being your own boss. You set your own hours and your own responsibilities. So for me, I simply look to God who is the head of the church. And as long as I feel like me and Him are on the same page, nothing else really should matter. I want Him to dictate my schedule and my hours.

2,020 hours so far in 2020. Thats a good amount, but got more hours to go in this wild ride of a year... Let's do this!!

This was some real Acts type of thing happening. I had a blast. I really enjoyed partnering up with people and doing this. Most people never did this before, so this was all new territory, but they got to try it out.
 
In college I had the privilege to do field school, which is where you go out into the community and learn how to do evangelism. Last year I had the chance to take seminary students and have them practice doing evangelism in the community with me. One day one of the students and I were talking about how great that experience was to do consistent ministry like this. He had to get out of his comfort zone and he saw how God worked in such a mighty way. He told me,
“Every church member should have this experience.  Not just pastors. Imagine if every member did a practicum where they learned hands-on ministry?”
 
A lot of churches go door to door on an isolated Sabbath every once in a while. A lot of churches don’t ever do ministry outside of their church building. We did it every day for two weeks. And there were so many awesome stories.
 
Every single day God gave opportunities.

• One time I grabbed a Frisbee, walked outside, and a kid said “Frisbee!!!” I ended up playing Frisbee with his uncle and his family. A game of Frisbee turned into a prayer session. The uncle was so impressed he filmed the prayer with his phone and posted it on Instagram telling people about our church.

 

• In one instance, me and one of the guys from my church saw a pullup bar and decided to do some calisthenics (fancy pullups). Someone from the community saw and it became an entire conversation. That person told us “We need more of this. We need to see people and have that human interaction.” Then he proceeded to invite himself to my church. I didn’t invite him. He asked. That Sabbath he showed up and was excited to come again and get involved.

 
These are just two of many experiences where God opened up opportunities to be a witness. Every single day was another cool story.
 
I truly believe that when you pray for it and seek it, opportunities arise.
 
When Jesus walked this earth, he took a group of people and had these daily experiences with them. No wonder by the end of 3 years these guys were transformed and proceeded to turn the world upside down. Too bad nowadays we are content with simply a one-day-meet-up at a church service. And now not even that. Now, some just watch online. Christianity is so much more than what churches are doing right now. For the apostles, it was a daily adventure.
 
Imagine if church was like that. Imagine if after getting baptized, rather than just sitting on the pew or at a computer, we actually got active. Imagine rather than just running a nice church program or conducting a Zoom meeting we started connecting with people. I’m not saying that what our churches are doing online and the in person meetings don’t connect with people or don’t serve a purpose. I’m just saying when the disciples were with Jesus, you don’t read about all this programing and formality. You read about an adventure of ministry.
 
So…

• Imagine if people went out in teams of two like Jesus’ 70 disciples.
• Imagine if people went out solo-vigilante-style like Philip, the deacon.
• Imagine if people started treating the supermarket as a mission trip like Paul.
• Imagine preaching in a place that has different religious beliefs than you like Peter did.
• Imagine having group meetings in homes like the apostles.
• Imagine preaching outside like Jesus.
• Imagine being part of a crew that had three years of daily hands-on-training, like the 12 disciples.
• Imagine being part of a team, where everyone had to be active and a hundred percent committed.
• Imagine?!

To imagine that, you would have to imagine something very different than what church is today.
 
In 2021 I am assembling a team to attempt to be an Acts Model church. I don’t know what the results will be, but I want to try. I want to step out in faith and see what happens. With God’s leading and power something epic can occur.
 
If you are interested in being part of this movement send me a message.
If you don’t live in NY, but you want to pray for us and follow the story, subscribe to this Ministry blog and I will notify you whenever I update my blog and you will be able to keep up  with stuff that is happening with this endeavor. 

I think about the adventures in ministries and how gung-ho I was. People tried to curb my enthusiasm or change my way of doing things. I kept pushing forward. I felt many times early on like it was me and God versus the world. No one seemed to understand my mentality. This drove me closer to Him. We built a bond of friendship. I felt like Jesus was ‘my boy’ and I was His.

I arrived in college and God and I were determined to take it over for Him. I started all these Bible Studies and coordinated others to do so too. I was a guy with fire inside of me and so I needed to move. I wasn’t the typical theology major. I didn’t want to be. They were viewed as Bible-thumpers. They were viewed as legalistic or lame. I was determined to change people’s perspective of the pastor. I was totally dedicated to God while hanging out with people being the fun guy. Whether it was doing stunts in the cafeteria, running through campus, or riding on the roof of a car… I wanted people to know, just because you follow God doesn’t mean that your life is boring. I saw people giving their lives to God, people start doing Bible studies, people started preaching… all without getting any chapel credit. It was so much fun doing ministry there. I felt like a vigilante.

Then there were moments were my time with God was being cut short, but I had to keep reminding myself of where the core of my spiritual life comes from and get back to the basics of time spent with God.

When I graduated I thought I would go straight into official pastoral ministry. I got picked up, but then curve ball happened and I ended up being sent to seminary for my graduate studies. I was heartbroken. I didn’t want to be stuck behind a desk. I wanted to be in the field. The harvest is ready, and I’m here having to read a textbook. After sulking for a semester, I remembered one of my mantras that I had so long ago. “Don’t wait to become a pastor, just be a pastor.” In other words, you don’t need a job or a title or even a church. You were called to do ministry, so simply do ministry. So I took out a church directory and started calling pastors to find a place to volunteer. One pastor answered the phone and we worked together for the next two years. He gave me the opportunity to get involved and serve. I had a blast.

Then I graduate with my masters and came back to NY where I was able to work as a full time official pastor. When I was introduced as their pastor someone laughed out loud in my face, because I was so young. But that was okay. I was glad to be different and unexpected.
Oh boy did people not like different. People got on my case and kept asking when the real pastor would arrive. It was annoying. It was frustrating. Then I remembered why I got into ministry. It wasn’t for a title. It wasn’t for a job. It was to reach souls. So I buckled down and focused on authentic ministry. I preached the way I believed God wanted to use me. I did my Bible Studies with the people who were willing. I started ministries with people who were interested in discipleship. I built connections with people who I saw that I could take under my wing.

Then I got the opportunity to pastor in a new district. It was going to be a challenge, because I never expected to get a district with 3 churches. Most pastors have 1 or 2. But I accepted the challenge. I made a decision that I would just follow God regardless of the consequences. And wow there were consequences. Week 2 there were consequences. It got to the point where stepping into church felt like I was walking into a boxing match. I know that sounds terrible, but it was good. It made sure that I was in prayer and connection to God. I have had days where people called the conference on me, yelled at me on the phone, shouted at me in church. Man was their opposition. But what was worse than opposition was to see lukewarmness from some. Those content with the status quo. That drove me crazy. I have had to stop and ask myself, why do I care so much? Why does this bother me? But shouldn’t it? In the Bible didn’t it bother God’s people when they saw these type of things? Didn’t it bother Jesus to the point where He flipped over tables? Doesn’t the Bible say that when one is lukewarm, He wants to spit them out of His mouth?

There were times when I started losing my priority in time spent with God. I mean I still spent time with God almost every day, but there were days were it was so short, but I knew I had to do it. Better to do something than nothing. But that something wasn’t enough. I knew if I was to spiritually survive I needed this to once again be the most important part of the day. Those were bad times when it wasn’t.

My Christian journey has not been perfect. Far from it. There have been plenty of times I have been straight up ashamed of myself. But the focus can’t be me. My focus needs to be on God. It’s that trust in God that has gotten me through these 16 years. And as I look to new horizons in my life with God, I don’t know all that God has planned for me, but I trust that He knows what He is doing. Like any great adventure, it is filled with unpredictability. That’s what makes it exciting. It has obstacles. There is a lot that is unknown, but something that I always know, is that the God want to take this journey with me. What I always know is that He is always with me.

After I got baptized on October 2, 2004 I picked out this book from my dad’s library to read while I rode on the train to school. It was a book called “How to Make Christianity Real” by Morris Venden. I saw truths I had learned from the Bible now explained in a structured way. That’s what I wanted, real Christianity. That’s what I still want, real authentic Christianity. It is what I found in God. It is what I want for His church. It is what I want for others.

I look forward to the adventure. I look forward to having more fun with Him. I look forward to spending more time with Him. I look forward to continuing to build my friendship with Him.

Some people can use it as an excuse, but overall I am glad that some of my sermons have been recorded. In Jackson Heights I saw one person come and visit the church through seeing the Livestream. From my conversation with her I get the impression that Livestream allows people to essentially window shop. They can see what things are like inside without having to step inside. This allows them to decide whether they want to visit. If that is the main purpose you just need a few service recorded and put on the website so people can see what the service is like.
 
When church members at Jackson Heights started telling me 'why do they need to come when they could just watch online', I stopped Livestreaming the series I would do. I would  just record it and upload it afterwards. However, the most highly attended series were the ones that weren’t recorded at all. I recognize that there were some other reasons that those series were higher in attendance than just the fact it wasn’t being recorded, but I can’t help but feel that when things are online it does affect attendance.
 
But why does it matter? As long as they watch the message right? No. Church is more than just hearing a message. It is connecting with others. For instance, if an evangelistic series is going on, chances are if you have been in church for a while you probably already heard multiple sermons on those topics. So why even show up? Because your presence can be an encouragement towards a visitor. That conversation that you have with someone after the message can help them make the decision that they are struggling with.
 
So why did I start my online ministry 4 years ago? 4 years ago, exactly to this day, my first YouTube video was uploaded. I uploaded sermons not for church people. I uploaded them for people outside of church who may be searching for Adventist messages. Today I uploaded my 100th sermon.  The internet is an amazing tool to spread the word to all around the world. I have gotten to speak to people who I would have never gotten connected to if I only preached inside the building. My church members have gotten the chance to share my sermons with others. Some of my friends have gotten to watch my messages online although they are in different states. People who are unable to come to church because of health conditions or because of coronavirus lockdown are able to have access to these messages.
 
It’s important to realize that in-person ministry cannot do what online ministry can, and online ministry cannot do what in-person ministry can. Therefore we need both ministries to exist and cannot neglect either one in this day and age.
 
So I have 100 sermons on my YouTube channel, and there is more to come. Feel free to subscribe to my channel so you can watch and share with others.