A few words with RJ Prestwich

New Video

RJ Prestwich — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 20:05:50 +0000

Hey, I’m going to post a article here soon regarding where I feel God is leading me. Here is a hint:

Wait on the Lord

RJ Prestwich — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 07:03:49 +0000

Waiting, no one likes to wait. Our culture is so fast, everything is instant; oatmeal, coffee even instant hot water. If your hungry and want food, you can go to a restaurant and have someone “wait” on you cook and serve the food, if you’re in a hurry you can go to the drive through or dig through you freezer and pull out a frozen meal, pop it in the microwave and 1:30 seconds later, dinner. We hate the DMV, we go to Dr. appointments ten minutes late (because we know we will just be waiting in the office anyway), we do all kinds of things to avoid waiting in our culture.

Psalm 5:3 says “In the morning, Oh LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation” Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” we are told numerous times to wait for the Lord throughout the Psalms and Proverbs, and I find this hard. I want to instant message God, I want to be able to pick up a phone call Him and have an immediate response. This is what we are used to. God is fully capable of setting up a Gmail account and answering everyone’s requests and questions sending them directly and instantaneously to their Cell Phone or Computer. But this is not God has chosen to interact and respond to us. This can be so difficult for me, sometimes I have big important decisions to make decisions with great consequences and I want more than anything to follow God’s will but I am not sure what is best. So I pray and seek God I petition him and plead with Him to give me clarity and direction that I may go in the direction that He desires… and I get no clarity, no answer as to which direction to go… so we wait, so we pray.

God’s timing is something magnificent. And I think I rarely consider the scope of eternity and the world as a whole when I consider my own decisions. There are so many people living their lives making decision and doing different things all the time, yet it is not chaos, it is more like a symphony. There are so many instruments doing so many things all at once… and left to their own direction there would be wretched noise, however with the lead of a skilled conductor, beautiful music can be brought forth. How much more so is this world? God has everything under control, although I may think I am ready to move forward to take another step or play another note, if the time has not come then I cannot. I am not a world unto myself but I am part of God’s plan for this world and as such I must Wait On The Lord. He will direct me when to move and where to move, in His perfect time, in His perfect will. I must wait patiently as the Psalmist writes knowing God hears me and will answer. I must wait and continue to do the will of God.

Mexico… let down?

RJ Prestwich — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 23:07:59 +0000

We here at DVBC are now only 4 days away from going down to Ensenada Mexico to do a home building mission trip. I have such mixed emotions about this trip: excitement, disappointment, encouragement and antisipation…

A year ago when I started talking with Dennis Hollenbeck (my missionary contact in Esenada that we will be working with) I was so excited and willing to sign DVBC up for a week-long trip to Mexico to serve the locals down there and build a house for some very poor people. I was so excited, I’m at a church that teaches the Word faithfully and I was sure that people would jump on the opportunity to serve Christ given the opportunity. I see and know that the majority of Church Goers in America, do nothing but warm a seat on Sunday Morning… So as I prayed and worked with Dennis we secured a week to go down to Mexico, I was so excited we only need 15 people to build one house… “if we get 25 we may be able to build two houses in one week” I think to myself.

As of today, including myself, there are 7 people from DV that are signed up to go to Mexico. Not even half the minimum (15) required to build a house. I’m shocked, and disappointed, I was sure that the reason people were not serving was due to the lack of opportunity provided by leadership. I hear the messages that are presented to the congregation week in and week out, calling us to obedience to God… the messages are clear and motivational, I was sure 15 would be SO easy, I was quite wrong… I have promoted begged and pleaded people to join us, I have heard a myriad of excuses why “the time is not right for them.” It’s dangerous, I’m busy, I don’t have the money (even though I have scholarships available), I don’t want to go to Mexico…. while some people legitimately cannot go, and I understand that, I do not think that everyone should be doing the same thing all the time, I cannot believe that only getting 7 people from the whole church is anything but a lack of peoples dedication or obeideance to Christ. The last thing Christ told us to do was to go and make disciples of all nations, but we want the time to be right, we want to go to the nation that is “safe” we want to go when it is totally convenient…

So with sadness and frustration, I put a phone call into the last church I served at, one week before I am due to leave, (because there is a family in Mexico that I have communicated to that DVBC will come build a house for them and I intend on doing whatever I have to to fulfill that commitment) and I asked if they could scrounge up a few people to meet us there. Their church is smaller than ours, I’m only giving them one week notice, oh and they are going through a major church split-rather sad and distracting from ministry… they didn’t need to meet about it, they simply asked how many more people I needed. I let them know I needed something like 8-10 people, they called me the next day and already had 8 people signed up and willing to go, they had also secured the funds to pay for themselves.

The Church encouraged me that day, I felt so loved and honored by my home church that they were willing to help without question and so quickly. I am so looking forward to serving with some old friends that I miss dearly, while at the same time am somewhat disappointed in the turn out from my own church. I strive to remind myself that this mission trip is not for me, nor is it about me… I should not feel personally hurt, I work on taking captive my thoughts and reminding myself of the sovereignty of God. God will send those He wants to on this mission trip, I just fear that the American Church uses that logic as an excuse not to go, they think that if God wanted them to go that God would make it clear to them… you know, drag them there kicking and screaming…. maybe we will try that next time…

Tubing the Salt River

RJ Prestwich — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:34:41 +0000

We will leave tomorrow at 8:30am from the church, bring sun block, water, sun block, $15 CASH (there is a coupon at Taco Bell for $5 off)

I, Cathy and Marielle will all be going. See you tomorrow!

Need additional Medical rel. form

RJ Prestwich — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:46:00 +0000

there is a additional medical rel. form required by the camp for all students who wish to participate in anything at camp… they will be available Sunday to fill out, however if you wish to fill it out now and bring it with you I have added it to the forms and such page! Thanks!

Some Updates

RJ Prestwich — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:22:03 +0000

Just a reminder, I have updated the “forms and Such” link above, it now includes a packing list for camp! It’s not perfect but should be close…. I forgot to tell you to bring a Camera… you should… if you want… you know, so you can take pictures, how else could we remember why you should NEVER steal Brian Stienes’ pillow???

Looking forward to camp guys! See you Sunday!

Why Backstage?

RJ Prestwich — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:13:45 +0000

Well there has been a change in the Youth Ministry at Desert View, and many of you may be wondering why?

The youth expressed a desire to change the name of the youth room/ministry so we began to explore options and decided on Backstage. Here is why:

So many people in our culture today see “going to church” or “doing church” as their spiritual life. They think that they have to please God and that by “going to church” every week, and maybe if they are really committed, serving in the nursery will appease God. Many think that they are a Christian because they go to church and “do” the right things. This is nothing new to this generation or our culture. The Pharisees where very concerned with “doing church” and appearing to be holy and work hard for the Lord, and they did, much of what they did was good. However we remember Christ’s interactions with them and His displeasure with the condition of their hearts.

The Bible passage that comes to mind for me is after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba which led to him having her husband murdered. We know the story of how Nathan then brings this to light for David the king of Israel. In Psalm 51 you can hear David’s remorse and repentance for the sin he had committed, and it is there that we are reminded of what God desires. David does not offer to make things right by burnt offerings or praying a special prayer, he makes no “deal” with God that he will never miss another Sunday morning service. David acknowledges that all these external things (although good) are not what God truly desires from us!For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it verse 16-17 tell us: “you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Yes God does want us to “do” our religious duties going to church, reading our Bible, praying telling others about the love of God and so on… but that’s not what it’s all about! That should be the RESULT of our love for God, we should do those things because we have a broken and contrite heart! Unless we are doing those things with pure motives, resulting from our love for God, then they are useless. We can and will quickly find ourselves to be the same as the Pharisees and defining our “spirituality” by what we do, how much of it we do and how often we do it! That’s not what it’s about! We are to do those things, but not in an effort to earn God’s favor, we cannot do that… because we already have it, it is done, in Christ’s words “it is finished.”

So what in the world has this to do with the name for the youth ministry!? Well, there is the obvious fact that the youth room is located behind the stage in the main auditorium… but that is a peripheral reason for the name. If life were a production or a play (which sadly for many it is), we know that in a play all the hard work is done backstage it is done before the show. That is what we are doing in the youth ministry, is preparing youth to go out into the world (the stage) and live their lives. Youth Ministry is NOT where their spiritual identity is to be found, but it IS to help encourage and build up their spiritual life, when they leave the youth room, that is when they are to live their faith. They need to be living their faith when they are not at “church” when they are at school, home, with the sports team or hanging out at the mall, this is their time on stage, when all the hard work and preparation that they have put in Backstage will pay off…

This night 2,000 years ago

RJ Prestwich — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 05:44:33 +0000

I cannot stop thinking tonight what it must have felt like on this night nearly 2,000 years ago for the 11 disciples… they had followed Christ Jesus for 3 and a half years became close friends learned from Him how to think and act. Two nights ago, they watched Him be beaten nearly to death then crucified on a cross, Peter denied him three times and they were all so frightened that they scattered. Forced into hiding afraid for their own lives now, what sickness and heavy hearts they must have had. Just two nights ago, during the Passover meal they would have sung Psalm 116 together:

“I love the LORD, for he heard my voice;

he heard my cry for mercy.

Because he turned his ear to me,

I will call on him as long as I live.

The cords of death entangled me,

the anguish of the grave came upon me;

I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

Then I called on the name of the LORD:

“O LORD, save me!”

The LORD is gracious and righteous;

our God is full of compassion.

The LORD protects the simplehearted;

when I was in great need, he saved me.

Be at rest once more, O my soul,

for the LORD has been good to you.” (Psalm 116:1-7)

What joy and a surprise the morning must have brought. The hope, joy and passion that must have been brought into their lives when they saw the resurrected lord!

Updated

RJ Prestwich — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:10:59 +0000

I have updated the “upcoming events” page you can now check it to reference dates and costs of upcoming events, I will continue to update it this week until it is 100% accurate.

It’s been a while

RJ Prestwich — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:52:35 +0000

As I have been super busy booking events and planning/preparing for camps blogging has fallen to the proverbial wayside. I hope the recent additions to the Blog have been helpful I.E. the down-loadable flyers/forms, much thanks to Lee Kirkham, without his help I never would have been able to do that.

Well I would like to offer up a prayer for now with more blogs to come in the following weeks

O Lover to the uttermost,

May I read the meltings of thy heart to me

in the manger of thy birth

in the garden of thy agony,

in the cross of thy suffering,

in the tomb of thy resurrection,

in the heaven of thy intercession.

Bold in this thought I defy my advrsary,

tread down his temptations,

resist his schemings,

renounce the world,

am valiant for truth.

Deepen in me a sense of my holy relationship to thee,

as spiritual Bridegroom,

as Jehovah’s Fellow,

as sinners’ Friend.

I think of thy glory and my vileness,

thy majesty and my meanness,

thy beauty and my deformity,

thy purity and my filth,

thy righteousness and my iniquity.

Thou hast loved me everlastingly, unchangeably,

may I love thee as I am loved;

Thou hast given thyself for me,

may I give myself to thee;

Thou hast died for me,

may I live to thee,

in every moment of my time,

in every movement of my mind,

in every pulse of my heart.

May I never dally with the world

and its allurements,

but walk by thy side,

listen to thy voice,

be clothed with thy graces,

and adorned with thy righteousness.