Participants:
Series Code: LTBW
Program Code: LTBW190043S
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00:36 Hi, I'm Dr. Kim Logan-Nowlan and welcome to Live to be Well. 00:40 What is Live to be Well? It's about mind, body and soul but 00:46 without God we are nothing. So we need full complete wellness 00:51 in him. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens 00:55 me. Today I'm so excited. Do you see this big smile on my face? 00:59 I love all my guests but today I am so blessed to have my new 01:04 pastor with me, Pastor Dwayne Duncombe. Welcome Pastor. 01:08 Thank you Dr. Kim. It's good to be with you. 01:10 Oh thank you. I'm so excited. How have you been? 01:14 I've been doing very well. The Lord's been good to me and to 01:16 my family. 01:18 Yes. Tell us about your family. 01:19 Well I have been married now for about 16 years. [16 years?] 01:27 My wife and I, 01:29 Eunice, have been blessed with five wonderful sons. The oldest 01:34 has just turned 11, the youngest is two. [My, my] Yeah. 01:38 And then? 01:40 And the Lord's blessed us with another baby on the way. 01:42 You're going to have you own star basketball team you know. 01:47 Ah, are you hoping for that little girl? 01:49 You know, whatever the Lord sends we'll be happy but if 01:51 it's a girl we'll be especially thrilled. 01:54 I know. And I think your oldest D.J.? [D.A.] He is so protective 02:00 over the children. I see him when he comes down for 02:03 children's story. Well let's talk about climate of change. 02:06 The reason I asked you to consider then the topic because 02:09 I have known you since you were a young man at Peterson Warren 02:14 Academy, a student going to school with my oldest daughter 02:17 Micah and then working along side my husband at the Motor 02:23 City Federation, Youth Federation, as his chaplain 02:25 as he was president. You did a phenomenal, phenomenal job. 02:30 Then from there you went on to Oakwood University [that's 02:33 right], earned your degree in what? 02:35 Bachelors of Arts in Ministerial Theology. 02:38 Ministerial Theology. Pastor, when did you know that this is 02:42 what God was calling you to do? 02:44 You know, an interesting story. I was born on the Island of 02:49 Jamaica and when I was younger than four, I don't know exactly, 02:56 but at least before I was four I just knew from that time in 03:01 life the Lord had called me to preach the gospel. [What?] Yeah 03:04 At four? 03:05 At four at least. 03:07 At least. All right then from Oakwood University you went on 03:09 to Andrews University and you earned what degree? 03:12 I earned my Masters of Divinity degree at Andrews University 03:16 at the seminary there. 03:19 That takes a lot of stamina and commitment, you know. 03:22 Did you like Greek? 03:23 I did, actually [You did?] Actually I did. I loved Greek 03:26 and Hebrew. I actually took a minor in Biblical languages 03:29 undergrad. So I thought it was fun and still something that I'm 03:33 interested in. 03:34 Do you think you would ever like to go on the side of becoming 03:36 a professor to teach also? 03:38 I love God's word and I would love to be able to teach it in 03:42 that environment. That is something I'm interested in. 03:46 You know the Lord put that on my heart just to ask you that 03:48 because I see that in you as your leadership, your leadership 03:51 skills. Let me talk about your transition. Now tell us about 03:56 your journey out of the seminary then where did it lead you all 04:00 the way to City Temple? 04:01 Okay. I started pastoral ministry in 2003. We were 04:05 sponsored out of Oakwood and at the time the president of the 04:10 conference asked me to wait a year before going straight to 04:13 the seminary. So I pastored in Elkhart, Indiana at the Bethany 04:17 Chapel Church. That was our first church and after a year I 04:21 went into the in-ministry program. So I was going to 04:24 school at Andrews from a distance. It was a distance 04:26 learning program. [Oh] And so after a while, I ended up on 04:30 campus full time for the last 18 months and Eunice and I both 04:35 actually finished out Masters Degrees at the time I did and 04:39 M. Div (Masters of Divinity) she did curriculum and 04:41 instruction, a degree in that. And then after that, we were at 04:45 the Bethany Chapel Church for about five years, just shy of 04:48 five years. We went down to southern Illinois which was east 04:53 St. Louis and we also had the church in Springfield, Illinois, 04:57 Bible Chapel. See Bible Chapel and New Jerusalem. We were there 05:01 for about two years. Then after that we moved back up to 05:04 northwest Indiana to Gary, Indiana at the Mizpah Church. 05:08 We were at Mizpah for three years. Then after that we were 05:13 Hyde Park Church in Chicago. We were there for a little over 05:17 four years, four-and-a-half years and then unexpectedly we 05:21 got the call to return back to Detroit, to my hometown, 05:24 at City Temple. 05:26 Isn't it something when you see a classmate and they are your 05:29 members of your congregation? 05:30 Yes, classmates and teachers. 05:32 And teachers? 05:34 My principal is actually in the congregation so that's something 05:38 I never expected would happen. 05:39 I know. What do you enjoy about being a pastor? 05:42 I love connecting with people. I love leading people to Christ 05:46 and I especially love leading people in discipleship to grow 05:51 in their relationship with Christ and to not only be 05:54 strengthened individually but families to be strengthened, for 05:57 the church as a community to be strengthened. That's something 06:00 that really brings me joy. 06:02 I remember as soon as you arrived, shortly later, we had 06:07 some members who passed away. And I saw you in that modality 06:12 and to come into a new environment and start losing 06:17 your members, and it happens everywhere. How do you relate 06:22 to your families when you have to go and minister to them? 06:26 Yes, we have had quite a bit of loss in our congregation lately 06:30 and it has been difficult on all of us. When I meet with 06:35 families who have lost loved ones I seek to really be a part of 06:40 the family, to be a presence, to offer comfort, to remind them 06:44 that Christ is with them, that we have hope in Jesus and it's 06:49 actually been a pleasure to be able to walk alongside families 06:53 as they have been in that experience. Not that the 06:57 grieving the pleasure but being able to get to know people and 07:01 to have them to gain strength from actually being able to find 07:05 hope in Christ. 07:07 Pastor, you're in your 30s and you have members at different 07:12 churches who are in their, even their 40s, 50s, 60s on up and 07:17 here's the young man stands in front of us as our pastor. What 07:21 are some of the challenges that you face because you're so, 07:25 you're young and we're used to having someone in their 60s, 70s 07:30 be our pastor or even their 50s. Here someone comes and says, 07:35 Who are we getting. And I remember when the word came down 07:38 we were like who, what? But he's only 20. No way. Pastor Duncombe 07:45 in not 20. Well he's close to it. And you could just hear 07:49 people panic because they didn't feel that you had enough 07:52 expertise or experience. And now it's like we had to see. So what 07:59 have been the challenges of you being young coming into such, we 08:03 are the mother church [Right] in our area. That's big. [Yeah] 08:07 So what has it been like for you? 08:09 You know that was actually one of my concerns when I first got 08:12 the call. I said, I grew up there, everyone there knows me 08:15 as a kid. How is that going to work for me to be the pastor? 08:19 Of course, we know we know the saying, A prophet has no honor 08:23 in his hometown. But I really felt strongly convicted this was 08:27 a move that Christ was making, that Christ was calling me home 08:30 and so that gave me comfort. Then when I came I actually 08:34 discovered that the people of God were responsive to the word 08:38 of God, that in spite of my age that what brought credibility 08:42 and authority was not me or how old I was, but actually being 08:47 able to hear the word of Christ, to be convicted by it, to 08:50 respond to it and that has really gone a long way. 08:53 Incidentally, however, I'm much older than it seems I am, 08:58 I'll be 40 next year. 09:00 Oh, okay, okay. He'll be 40 he'll be okay 40. All right. 09:05 Listen. You always open your messages with... I love stories 09:10 because that's what I do for counseling, storytelling. Now 09:14 you always start with a story. Why? 09:16 When I was a kid that's what I loved the most in preaching. 09:20 Any pastor that 09:21 told a story had my attention. And I think that as people we 09:25 connect with stories. And so in order to gain the attention of 09:30 people that's what Jesus did. He used stories. That's why I 09:32 start with a story because I think it's relatable and it 09:35 opens the mind and the heart to hear the message that God has. 09:38 I too. Pastor could you share the story about your son and 09:41 what happened on that particular trip. Can you share that with 09:44 our audience? That was so funny. 09:47 I still get a lot of flak for that story when I tell it. 09:50 One day we were headed out from the house and we packed up every 09:57 one. Our older children were at school. We were home with three 10:01 the three youngest children. We had the youngest one still 10:04 in the baby carrier, Douglas. He had not long ago been born. 10:09 And it just so happened that as we left the house, we were 10:13 driving down the street, rushing to get to where we were going 10:17 and about a mile down the road my second to youngest child said 10:22 Papa, where's Douglas? And we turned around and as we realized 10:27 that we ran out of the house in our haste we left the baby by 10:30 the door. So we turned that van around as quickly as possible. 10:34 Got home and there he was just sleeping, had no idea that he 10:39 had been left at home. 10:40 And I like the way you brought it together it your word that 10:43 God covered your child as he covers us. [That's right] And I 10:47 love it. I noticed too that the first time I saw you kneel down 10:53 during the altar prayer or at the end when we open the door to 10:58 the church and you bow down to the Lord and I was videotaping. 11:03 And I'm like well where did he go? And there you were kneeling. 11:07 You know, really prostrating yourself before the Lord. 11:11 I've never seen that. And you're such a humble, you always have 11:17 been, very humble and never haughty. You've always been very 11:21 mild mannered, not boisterous at all from the moment we met you. 11:26 How can a person who does not understand the word of God begin 11:34 to understand how to study the Bible? 11:36 Actually I think it's connected to what you just said about 11:40 humility. The word of God says that God opposes the proud 11:43 but he gives grace to the humble I think that when we come to the 11:47 Lord with open hearts and we say Lord we're just little children 11:49 we don't know and we want you to show us. When our hearts are 11:52 open before him we can expect that that's when he is going to 11:56 reveal himself and reveal his word. And that's the attitude 11:59 that we need when we come to his word and he will speak to us and 12:03 he will make his word clear because we're willing to follow 12:07 and be obedient. 12:09 Is there a certain pattern that we have to read the word in the 12:12 morning or you know we're awful, we wait till the end of the day. 12:16 I know, Early shall I seek thee or Seek ye first the kingdom of 12:20 God. But in your opinion as a pastor is there any set regimen 12:25 that you know we have to follow or what works for us as an 12:28 individual? 12:29 Well I think we all have different schedules and modes of 12:31 life, but I think as a general pattern the best thing to do is 12:35 to seek the Lord the first thing So when we're waking up our 12:39 hearts should be turning towards the Lord immediately in praise 12:43 and thanksgiving and prayer. And I think just like you need 12:47 breakfast in the morning you need a good dose of God's word 12:51 [yeah] to give you strength first thing in the morning. 12:53 And I think it's good when we try to carry that word with us 12:56 throughout the day to meditate on it, to think on it, to pray 12:59 about it and to return as the case may be. If we're able to 13:04 stop and pray again in the day I think that helps. And then 13:08 again in the evening to come back and to reconnect with the 13:11 Lord in prayer and Bible study. I think that it just strengthens 13:14 the Christian's life. The more prayer that we can get, the more 13:18 Bible study the stronger we're going to be. I remember that 13:21 song we used to sing as kids, Read your Bible, pray every day 13:24 and you'll grow, grow, grow. (Reciting together) 13:27 Definitely. Let me tell you what I remember when you were 13:32 introduced to the church. You got up to do your sermon and you 13:37 said, I am not Lake Region's man I am not City Temple's man, I'm 13:44 not even my own man. I belong to God and once I take care of my 13:51 wife, my children, I'm all yours City Temple. I mean folk went to 13:57 Amen, did you hear what he just said. And I'd never heard it put 14:01 that way. So you honor and respect the responsibility to 14:05 your wife and your children. Tell us why. 14:08 I believe that that's my first congregation. I believe that 14:11 that's the first calling that the Lord has is for me to be 14:15 a faithful and loving husband and to be a faithful and loving 14:19 father. And so I believe that the responsibilities for 14:23 ministry are sacred and important and they're always 14:27 there but I think that if I'm going to be an authentic 14:30 minister that I have to begin by really ministering in my family 14:35 and having healthy, whole, Christ-centered relationships 14:38 first with my wife Eunice and then the two of us with our 14:43 children, our boys. 14:44 You know when your sons came up on the pulpit to receive the 14:48 gift from Sister Ganes they were so obedient. They did not move. 14:54 I said, Are they breathing? They said thank you. And they see me 14:58 because I'm still trying to you know get D.A. and have him pray. 15:02 When and how do you implement that with all your duties, again 15:09 being a father, balancing all of that? 15:11 First of all, I've got to praise God for my wife, Eunice. The 15:16 Lord has just given me an awesome wife. He put us together 15:20 and I think that that's really where it began because Eunice 15:22 and I, by the grace of God, are fundamentally on the same page 15:26 about raising our children in the fear and the admonition of 15:30 the Lord. And I think that that unity helps us to start early. 15:34 When our children are babies we try to train them and really 15:44 listening and not being excessive for instance when they 15:48 are crying or whatever their moods may be. Giving them 15:51 boundaries, appropriate boundaries, and helping to 15:53 enforce those boundaries. I think them to feel safe and 15:56 secure and loved. And we both do that together. We work on that 16:01 together. 16:02 Together. How do you get you me time. What do you do for me time 16:04 Pastor? 16:06 Well that is a challenge as you can imagine with five children 16:09 and a baby on the way and a congregation. It's always a work 16:12 in progress. But we really try to put that in the calendar, put 16:17 that in the schedule so that it's something that's separate 16:21 and put aside. Um sometimes what has worked for us has been to 16:25 have a date night and in the early days we'd be able to have 16:29 a date night and go and do a date night. These days we have a 16:32 lot of at home date nights. [Date night] And so when we're 16:36 able to get the kids to bed and so forth, then we may do 16:39 something but it's always something that we're working on 16:43 and tweaking and as life changes then how we take care of that 16:47 changes but we seek to make it a priority. 16:51 Do the older children know that they're having another sibling? 16:55 They do. 16:56 Are they excited? 16:57 They're very excited and everybody is putting in their 17:00 bid for a girl. So we have enough brothers. We hope for 17:04 that this is a sister? 17:05 We'll be praying with you for that little girl. We were just 17:09 talking to some of the members. You know, we want to be there 17:13 for Sister Eunice. She's so sweet and so kind. And we want 17:18 to do a shower for her (keep it a secret) [okay] 17:20 because this is our first 17:22 Duncombe baby so we get to just spoil, spoil, spoil. You are 17:28 bringing back our fellowship dinners, bowling. Why are you 17:32 doing all of this? 17:33 Well, first of all, I thank God for my church family. What you 17:37 just said reminds me of just how loving and caring our church 17:40 family has been. Our church has really just embraced us as a 17:45 part as though we're their children. [Yes] But yet at the 17:48 same time still being respectful of the word and so forth. That's 17:52 been a blessing. But the reason why we have really talked a lot 17:55 about fellowship and time together and meals and so forth 18:01 is because I believe that the core of a Christian church is 18:05 first of all the fellowship we have with God and his Son 18:09 through his Spirit and then the fellowship that we have with 18:11 each other. I think we don't have an authentic witness until 18:15 we have authentic fellowship. I think that comes around the 18:18 word of God, responding to that in prayer but also spending time 18:22 with each other, building real relationships that go beyond 18:26 just Happy Sabbath, how are you? But actually relationships that 18:30 are deep where we're able to experience the life of Christ 18:35 together, enjoy that together. I think when that's strong it 18:39 enables us to be able to strengthen our witness to the 18:42 world to be able when people come they're able to say these 18:45 are people that really love each other and care about each other 18:48 and I want to be a part of this fellowship. So that's why we do 18:51 intentional things to encourage fellowship in the congregation. 18:54 Let me just say publicly, my pastor can preach too. My pastor 18:59 is articulate, he uses stories, he engages, he comes off the 19:05 pulpit and one thing that I really love is the time for 19:09 fellowship. I like to get up and go hug everyone. Pastor will 19:13 give us as... he gives us time to greet each other. And then he 19:17 comes down and greets. And I know other pastors do that but 19:20 this is my pastor. What about the importance of child care in 19:27 the church. We have you know our program for children. We need a 19:32 youth choir Pastor. We have Hands of Praise. Thank you for 19:35 being so supportive of God's Hands of Praise and the ministry 19:39 of sign language. But there are certain ministries that we need. 19:44 We need a program... I talked earlier to Felicia Hunter about 19:48 this. We need a domestic violence program Pastor. We need 19:52 a grief program. Do you know I can start my own grief program. 19:56 Live to be Well. Because there's nothing. I checked with all the 20:00 churches. Is there anything for grief. And no there isn't. So I 20:05 said, okay. But I still need to have someone pour into my 20:08 spirit to help me. [That's right] I think God for my cousin 20:13 Karen. She pours into me, she checks me, she says this is what 20:16 we need to do, this is what we have to do. You know, she was 20:20 with me when... And let me say my pastor when I told 20:24 him that I was 20:26 diagnosed with breast cancer the first thing he said to me 20:30 was you need to get a support group. He prayed with me right 20:33 then and there. He was hurt. And then we prayed and I told him I 20:38 would let him know what was going to be going on and my 20:42 sister Rene and my cousin Karen went with me for the surgery. 20:45 And I kept him abreast of everything and that prayer line 20:49 is still going 6:30 a.m. Amen. [Praise God] And also I want to 20:54 publically thank you for your beautiful card when I lost... 20:58 Brother Nowlan passed away. You send me such a beautiful card. 21:01 And so how do we implement these programs, Pastor. We need them. 21:08 We have people in our church who may not be physically being 21:11 abused, but they are verbally, mentally and emotionally being 21:14 abuse by their spouses, children So Pastor, what can we do 21:19 because I'm hungry for this? 21:20 That's right. Well first of all I just want to make mention your 21:24 husband, Brother Nowlan. He's someone who loved and nurtured 21:28 and mentored me and he meant so much to me and we were just 21:32 devastated when he passed and we're sorry for your loss. Um 21:39 I just wanted to say that. [Thank you] but as it relates to 21:42 the things that are needed in the church there really are many 21:44 things that are needed for the church and many things that are 21:46 needed for the community. Right now we're trying to build that 21:50 core foundation so that we can start to add to it the 21:55 the building blocks of ministries that will be able to 21:57 specifically address the needs of children and of families and 22:02 of women and of men and those that are grieving. Um so that is 22:06 something that is coming. I believe though that those types 22:10 of things are stronger the more our foundation is stronger in 22:15 Christ. When we have authentic fellowship with each other then 22:19 out of that flows authentic ministry, powerful, transforming 22:24 ministry. And so those are things that are coming up. 22:28 Pretty soon, very shortly in our church we are in the process now 22:31 of preparing to have fellowship groups, small groups, where 22:36 people can get together around the word of God and spend time 22:40 together with eating and recreation and ministering 22:43 together. Some of those can be specialized to meet specific 22:47 needs of different demographics. That's the very next thing 22:50 that's on the docket that we've been talking about as elders 22:53 and we'll bring it shortly to the church. 22:54 And that'll be at the church? 22:56 At the church. (Indistinct) 22:57 That's beautiful Pastor. Pastor do you enjoy... you know because 23:00 ministers enjoy pastoring but they don't enjoy preaching. 23:03 Do you enjoy preaching? 23:05 Oh, I love preaching. I love preaching. Probably though to be 23:08 honest the thing I love the most is teaching. [Teaching] That's 23:12 really where my greatest interest lies. Matter of fact, 23:15 probably a lot of the time when I'm preaching a lot of my 23:19 preaching is teaching because I think that that's really what 23:22 builds up and edifies the congregation. But I think 23:26 preaching is important. The gospel has to be declared, 23:29 proclaimed, heralded. And I love to do that. So preaching and 23:33 teaching but especially teaching (indistinct) yeah. 23:35 You know what I did when you came? I've always had a Bible 23:38 Bible, Bible, Bible, highlighter highlighter, highlighter, but I 23:42 went and got me a notepad with paper [Wonderful] and I have 23:46 little stickums pack 'em. I'll show you my Bible Sabbath. 23:48 And then I had my little yellow stickums and you will take us 23:55 from Joshua to Genesis. I say where is he now? And when I get 24:00 home I go back and review that and now I have two or three of 24:05 these, I have my Bible. I have two or three pens. I have my 24:08 phone when I record. Because people use their phones and 24:11 things, okay, but I like to really get into turning those 24:15 pages. And I like to write. Someone said, You're writing in 24:18 your Bible. [So do I] I love to write in the column and 24:21 you should see 24:22 in my pages right now here, Pastor Duncombe, Pastor Duncombe 24:24 Because when I get 90 years old if Jesus has not come I'll be 24:29 like Pastor Duncombe preached that day and you know Pastor 24:32 Duncombe preached that day. My grandmother used to do that. 24:35 My mother used to do that. And so my mother she said because 24:38 I want to remember who did that and that date that was in there. 24:42 [Right] So I really appreciate the fact that you are teaching 24:46 and you are helping us to study and you're challenging us. See I 24:51 think it's important that we are challenged as a congregation. 24:54 Now Pastor let me ask you a question. Now do you enjoy 24:58 gospel music? [I do] You enjoy gospel music? [I do yes]. 25:03 You enjoy the hymns? [I do] You enjoy the ah, you know during 25:06 the Black History Month we have the spirituals. So you're well 25:10 rounded. 25:11 I love a range. [You do?] I love a range. 25:13 So you... because like I said you're very supportive of Hands 25:16 of Praise and types of music that I bring both... I bring 25:19 all types of genre to the church because we got to meet the needs 25:22 of the congregation. So Pastor let me ask you this. You know, 25:27 when it comes to housekeeping and chores do you help 25:31 the first lady. 25:33 Yes I have my chores and my duties and responsibilities. 25:37 Okay, okay. All right [Absolutely] You do the changing 25:40 of the diapers, you do all of that? [Absolutely] You will stay 25:44 home with the boys when she goes out? [Absolutely] That's so 25:47 beautiful. [Absolutely] Yes, you do love your wife. (I do] 25:51 I see you looking over at her on Sabbath and she's looks at you 25:55 and she really listens to you. And the children are sitting 25:59 right there with her and when they go down for children's 26:02 story... See, train up a child in the way he should go, when 26:04 he's not old. Pastor, we have a minute and 54 seconds tell us 26:08 how or guide us to Jesus. 26:11 Well, as we said earlier the thing that really opens up the 26:17 pathway for us to come to Christ is that humility. When we come 26:21 before him and we're able to say Lord I need you. Lord I don't 26:26 have the answers but my heart is open. That's when we can be 26:30 assured that he's going to show up. He says, Whoever comes to me 26:33 I will in no wise cast him out. And so I would encourage anyone 26:37 that's listening today that if they're in need of a closer 26:41 relationship with Jesus if they would go to him, that they would 26:44 get on their knees, if they would open their hearts and as 26:47 they turn to him as their Lord and their Savior they can be 26:50 assured that he's going to respond, he's going to come into 26:53 their heart by his Spirit. He will take away the old heart, 26:56 and give them a new heart and then live inside of them to 27:00 cause them to grow to become his children. 27:02 It is beautiful. I cannot thank my pastor enough. Thank you so 27:07 much Pastor. I want to grow more I want to learn more and God has 27:12 blessed me with a loving, compassionate, teaching pastor. 27:16 A pastor who's full of life, an pastor who enjoys living, 27:20 a pastor who loves his wife and children. And we're praying for 27:24 that little girl. Amen. But most importantly we must have a 27:29 closer walk with Christ. [That's right] We must have a closer 27:32 walk with him because he's coming soon and he wants to 27:35 leave not one lost. He wants to save you and I. So find a church 27:42 home, find a place that's for you that will be a place, a 27:46 happy place. And I feel so good about being in the City Temple 27:49 Seventh-day Adventist Church. Until next time this has been 27:53 the best time. Live to be Well. 27:55 I'm Dr. Kim Logan-Nowlan. God bless! 27:58 ♪ ♪ |
Revised 2021-09-16