This temporary life

Chris and I recently listened to an excellent sermon by our favorite Bible teacher, Jack Crabtree, in which he discussed this parable from the 12th chapter of Luke:

     "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.' Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'
     But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'
     "This is how it will be with those who store up things for themselves but are not rich toward God."

Jack's sermon said the man's mistake was not in storing up grain, but in making the things of this world important instead on focusing on God and life in His eternal kingdom. When the man's life ends unexpectedly, he is prepared to live many years on earth in comfort, but he is not ready for heaven. Scripture also reminds us to be ready to meet our maker because he will come unexpectedly, "like a thief in the night."

Last week, Chris and I sat behind Willy at church. This week we attended his memorial service. No one knew he would die suddenly from a heart attack, but we all know he believed in the promises of God and was sold out for Jesus. He was ready to die at any time. Chris also lost his aunt, Mary, this week. She died after a short battle with cancer. And yesterday, we rode our dirtbikes up Mauna Kea and explored wreckage of a military fighter jet that, years ago, crashed into the mountain. I doubt the pilot expected the plane to crash before take off. We need to be ready. Everyone dies so this seems pretty obvious, yet it's easy, at least for me, to get distracted by the here and now instead of laying up treasure in heaven. The Bible says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. God has so many awesome things in store for those who belong to Christ, I hope this post encourages you to chase after God and His kingdom.

Chris inspects wreckage of some sort of military fighter jet we found at approx. 11,500 feet elevation on Mauna Kea.

Chris and Christoph examine the evidence and try to piece together what happened when the plane went down.

Eli Eli Kau Mai

Let awe possess me. That's what the sign said at the edge of Kilauea Crater. As the sun set and the sky darkened, a towering steam plume and the walls of Halemaumau Crater took on a bright orange glow, reflecting the lake of lava that pooled inside. It's hard not to be in awe of the Creator when you see such a sight. He makes stuff like this. The sign at the overlook went on to talk about the significance of this site to Hawaiians who still come to pay homage to Pele, and it compared the spot to significant religious sites like Mount Sinai, which got me thinking. Seeing the glory and fanfare and firey fury of God revealing his presence on Mount Sinai must have paled in comparison to the melted rock that thousands of visitors flock to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to see. When I think about the one true God, may my prayer be, "Let awe possess me."

Christmas Comes to Kona

The Nazarene Church held a walk-through nativity where travelers witnessed an angel announcing some big news to Mary, angels proclaimed the birth of the Messiah to shepherds while they watched their flocks, and finally Mary, Joseph and wise men worshipped a baby in a manger. They did a great job of putting it all together, the sheep were hilarious, and it was a welcomed break from all the Santa Clauses, snowmen and "happy holidays" greetings that try their best to compete with the true meaning of Christmas.

December 5, 1993

Seventeen years ago today I gave my life to Christ and was baptised. I was riding in the car the other day when it occurred to me that I have now been a Christian for half my life because I was 17 at the time and now I am 34. I'm not sure why that thought popped into my head because I don't think it is particularly significant. However, I can say this was by far the best decision I have ever made or will ever make.

When December rolls around I find myself reflecting on what it felt like the first time I realized not only that God is real but also that he loves me and forgives me. It is just as true today as it was then, and taking time over the past 17 years to seek God has really been incredible.

Besides worshiping a God of mercy, ours is also a God of justice who demands payment for wrongdoing. As a sinner, there was no way I could pay the debt I owed. That's why Christ gave his life on the cross. Instead of sending me to hell, Jesus paid my penalty. One of the most familiar passages in the Bible promises this forgiveness to all who believe:

For God so loved the world he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

He is Risen Indeed

Kona's community Easter sunrise service never dissapoints. Each year Hawaiian chanting calls the crowd to worship, a band joyfully belts out peppy praise songs, a hula halau celebrates with dance and, of course, a preacher preaches. The thrill for me is seeing such a large group of believers from more than 20 area churches come together to celebrate a risen Savior. This annual event serves as a refreshing reminder that the church is alive and thriving. This diverse mix of people and cultures bringing their worship to the throne of Christ is just a glimmer of what's to come.

I'm feeling thankful

As I reflect on the goodness in my life it's obvious there's lot more to Thanksgiving than good company and a plate full of turkey. What I have I owe to God, he has really blessed me.

I could go on about my family and the friends I have and how much they add to my life. I could tell you about the joys of exploring the island every weekend in my shiny, jacked-up Jeep. I could be, and I am, thankful for my ability to hold down a good job that supplies all the gas, steak, Brew Pub trips, scuba gear rentals and ipods I could ever want.

I'm grateful for all of these things. But they seem minor when compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. It blows my mind, a God bigger and more holy than anything I can ever understand, is also more loving than I'll ever comprehend. I'm amazed that he makes himself known to those who seek him, and that he offers us salvation. When I realize our magnificent God chose to make himself known to me, I'm completely blown away. I'm not sure the words thanksgiving, gratefulness or gratitude fully grasp what I feel.

What I've been reading Part I

I previously posted my intention of reading through the Bible in the next year, and Chris has asked how that's going. I thought, "Why not blog about it?"

Well, I doubt I'll finish in a year, but who cares? At least it's a goal that keeps me reading everyday. Since June I've read Genesis- Numbers and Job.

In Genesis, God creates the heavens and the earth, plants, animals and people. Adam and Eve live in paradise and walk and talk with God in the Garden of Eden. Everything is going great until they eat the forbidden fruit and introduce sin into the world. Humans have been cursed to live in this fallen world ever since. Now we see all kinds of bickering, murder, adultery, etc. When it gets really out of hand God wipes out the sinners in a flood. Only Noah and his family survive. Noah's descendants repopulate the earth and the rest of Genesis is filled with the type of stories your typical grocery store tabloid will pay big bucks for. A man is tricked into marrying the wrong woman, jealous siblings sell their brother into slavery, two particularly sin-ridden cities, Sodom and Gomorrah, are destroyed.

In Exodus, the Israelites are slaves in Egypt- descendants of family that sold their brother to be a slave there. God selects Moses to lead his people out of Egypt and into a promised land. God brings nasty plagues on Egypt until Pharaoh finally lets them go. God leads the people through the desert by a pillar of fire, feeding them with bread that falls out of the sky. In an awesome display of smoke and fire He leads Moses up a mountain and gives him the ten commandments. Despite the display of God's mighty power, the Israelites grumble about the food and start worshiping idols. So God lets them roam around in the desert for 40 years until a new generation rises up to take over the promised land.

The books are full of wild stories and weird regulations meant to set the Israelites apart from the rest of the nations. Sin has made a mess of things. The sacrifices required of Israel prove there is now a huge chasm between God and man. This holy and righteous God is "untouchable" to the filthy, sin-ridden humans. From the very first pages of the Bible the need for a Savior is evident.

What school you wen grad, brah?

It was graduation weekend here in Kona, and that's quite the event. You've never attended a graduation until you've been to a Hawaiian high school ceremony. The whole town turns out to support the graduates, and the lei are piled on so high it's a miracle the students can even see through the flowers.

We had our own graduation ceremony in church today for our Theology 301 class. Pastor even made everyone hum Pomp & Circumstance, it's just like him to try to embarrass us. We even got lei- all 12 of the lei they handed out were Kirstina's leftovers from her high school graduation the night before! I'm pretty bummed the class is over- but it was an awesome 9 months. I learned so much! I considered bombing the final so I could take the class again next year. Instead I worked hard and got a 98%! I ended up with the highest grade in the class, and that's not a familiar position for me to be in.

Now that the class is over I need a new project. I'm going to make an attempt at reading the Bible in its entirety within the next year. Maybe I'll even post updates to let folks know how that's going. Don't count on success. Last time I tried to read the Bible in a year I did finish- but it took me a bit over two years to do it.

An official document:

Extravagance

A bunch of us who play in the worship band at church went over to Oahu this past weekend for a worship conference lead by Bob Fitts. We learned about focusing on God and bringing glory to Him, instead of focusing on exterior factors like whether we had enough practice time, whether the sound is mixed properly, whether that guy in the third row likes our music, etc.

Part of the teaching that really stood out in my mind was on extravagance. God didn't just make a paper box for us to live in- he crafted the amazing detail of every flower and placed every rock on the mountain just so, just for our pleasure. He loves extravagantly- enough to give His Son for us. Therefore, we shouldn't be afraid to express our love to Him in worship, and we should be looking to Him instead of looking at others, wondering what they think of us. I was thinking about this as I left the church and this tree commanded my attention. It shone in all its golden glory with a backdrop of bright blue sky and poofy, white clouds. When I looked at it I saw a picture of God's extravagance towards us.

Happy Easter!

Yeah, so I'm a little late with that greeting. I've been busy, OK?

Above is a picture of the sun rising over Hualalai during the Easter sunrise service at Old A's. I love that all the local churches get together. It's like a big family reunion each spring to celebrate Christ's resurrection.

I have to agree with Brian about Passion of the Christ. Violence in movies doesn't bother me, I saw Saving Private Ryan three times on the big screen. But the Passion is particularly difficult for me to watch. Part of that lies in the fact that I know Jesus; it's not just a depiction of a stranger hanging on that cross.

It's important to remember the sacrifice Christ made for us. But Brian's right. The movie should have touched on Jesus' teachings and made the Gospel message clear. In His life and death Jesus teaches us how to obey the most important commandments: Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself. Jesus demonstrated that message through a life of perfect obedience to the Father, and he gave up His life willingly on the cross because of His great love for us.

The Bible teaches that all people are sinners. We have all rebelled against God and deserve to be eternally separated from Him. Christ loves us so much, He took God's wrath upon Himself. He took the punishment we deserve so that anyone who believes in Him and turns from their sin will be seen as righteous in God's sight. That's the message I wish Mel Gibson would have presented more clearly.

Back to School

I wasn't going to brag, but I changed my mind. I am taking a theology class at church, Pastor Bruce calls it Theology 301. We just had our midterm exam and I scored a 95%. Not only was it the highest grade in the class, I am told it's the highest score anyone has ever had on a Theology 301 midterm. It's probably stupid idea to trash talk about my high score. (this is God's word, not a volleyball game) But I'm not used to being the smart kid in the class so I'm gonna enjoy this victory by hanging the test on the fridge and posting a photo online for those of you who don't spend much time looking at my refrigerator.

Pretty Music

Sorry for the lack of updates on the blog, I've just been too dang busy to mess with it. This photo is from last weekend. Sonicflood played the YWAM Kona campus, it was a great time of worship, and it felt like half the town was down there. I have to admit, I don't have the whole Christian concert thing figured out yet. Is it a concert or a church service? I'm all about expressive behavior and loud music at church. But in a concert setting, I am more apt to focus on the music and the guys on stage, at church it's all about Jesus. So I guess the atmosphere confused me. Maybe I've just been to too many Metallica concerts and I am more used to the crowd yelling "Die! Die! Die!" than "Praise Jesus!" There were definite benefits to the Christian venue: I could rest assured that guy face down on the floor next to me was not passed out or puking on my slippers, he was simply worshiping the Lord.

Johnny Lang

Another good time was had at the Johnny Lang concert the next night at the brew pub. Every musician on that stage was phenomenal. These incredible performers would take off on a song and jam. They really took it to the next level, way beyond the realm of the simple organized sound and silence that makes up most music. The show was top notch!

Ever attend a stoning?

Televangelist Pat Robertson is at it again. Apparently, he spends the last few days of the year in prayer, then he shares with the world what he claims God has shown him. Aren't we lucky? This year he predicts terrorism aimed at the United States will result in ''mass killing'' during the second half of 2007. News sources quote Robertson,''The Lord didn't say nuclear, but I do believe it'll be something like that — that'll be a mass killing, possibly millions of people, major cities injured.''

Given his track record, I'm not going to loose any sleep over it. Last year he prophesied storms would devastate America's coastline and the Pacific Northwest would be hit by a tsunami. He also predicted Bush would win his second presidential election by a landslide.

"I have a relatively good track record," Robertson said. "Sometimes I miss."

Let's take a minute to review what the Bible says about prophets who miss. "A prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." Deuteronomy 18:20

We've all seen that entertaining scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian. They sure make attending a stoning look like fun, and we've got plenty of rocks around here. Well, before I get too carried away maybe I should also remember the scripture that says he who is without sin should cast the first stone. And I also need to remember that freedom of speech is one of our country's greatest privileges. This Robertson guy just gets under my skin. I think what bothers me most about it is there are people who hang on his every word, they watch his 700 Club Show religiously, and are quick to mail in their checks- probably so he can buy more Armani suits and fuel up his jet. People who are so easily led make Christians look gullible and stupid. I find American Christian's steadfast support of President Bush disturbing for the same reason. It's time to wise up, read the scriptures for ourselves, and pray and listen to God for ourselves, instead of taking any idiot's word for it.

When I Get to Heaven

There are lots of things I want to do when I get to heaven, here's one of the stupid ones. I want to drive cars off cliffs. I have always wanted to do that. Often times, I come down steep Wikolia Street and wish I could just floor it and see how far I can launch my Jeep when I get to the road's end. In heaven, I imagine we'll get to do stuff like that.


This cliff by Beach 69 would be a great place to try it:

Here's what it would look like, just before the Jeep's wheels leave the ground. Sail away, baby!

Fool for Jesus

I certainly felt silly tonight. I went over to Calvary Community Church, which was my church until I started going somewhere else about 8 months ago. I was in the mood to worship Jesus, and figured I'd just sit in the back and slip out when the music was over. God had a different idea. When I got there Tsuneo asked me to lead worship because there was no one else to do it. I just started laughing. "I can't do that!" "Well you can sing, can't you?" "We'll I DO sing, that doesn't mean I CAN sing." But it made me sad to think this service would take place without any worship so I reluctantly went home to get my guitar. Tsuneo made me leave my Bible behind at the church. I asked her, "are you afraid I won't come back?" "Yes," she said.

I pulled out my dusty guitar, rusty strings and all and just started playing whatever songs I could find that have easy chords. I had to stop playing one song because I forgot how to make an 'E' chord. It was also a bit shocking to be singing into a microphone. The only time I have done that is at the Parott's Lounge after a few Kona brews. But I guess it was a neat experience. It amazes me that God wants to be a part of our lives, and will use us for his purposes, even if we really don't know what we are doing. I doubt the music sounded very pretty tonight, but if it caused someone to think about how good God is, or if it caused someone to sing praise about him, then I suppose it got the job done. I am really stoked that God could have a use for me, and that he wants to be a part of my life. Is that cool or what? I am used to making myself look ridiculous, anyway, so I figure I might was well be a fool for Jesus.

Easter Sunrise

The sun rises over Hualalai during the Easter Sunrise Service at Old Airport.

Off the Beaten Path

I went out looking for the elusive black sand beach that's somewhere between Mahaiula's and the airport. I set out on my mountain bike down an extremely bumpy road and across pahoehoe lava. When I got hot and tired I continued the search in the Jeep. Where the heck is that beach? I went 1.4 miles which is all the way to the airport fence. No beach.

The Passion of the Christ
Friday night I watched the Passion of the Christ on the lawn of Living Stones Church. I promised never to watch that movie again, but I was flattered by the invitation and I didn't know of anything else going on for Good Friday. I was impressed by their sound system and two clever church members who took the back seat out of their Jeep to use as a couch. I can't say the movie impressed me, however. It's just a bloodbath- half the Roman Army beating on a guy until he finally dies. Most Christian movies are low budget, cheesy and in my opinion an embarrassment to Christians everywhere. This movie actually had a budget and talent, but it failed to tell a story. Who is Jesus? Why did he die? This movie doesn't explain the Gospel message, and that's disappointing. (For an explanation of why Jesus died, click here.)

I can't be too disappointed, however, in any experience, movie or otherwise, that reminds me of my Lord. Here was a guy who truly traveled off the beaten path. Here's a God who willingly left his heavenly home to walk planet Earth for 33 years where he experienced every possible pain and hardship of the human condition. He did this out of his great love for us. And he teaches us to have that same unselfish love toward others- even our worst enemies. These ideals seem so foreign and impossible for us to attain. Yet I know the same Spirit that raised a dead body from a tomb on that first Easter morning dwells in us today, urging us to also live a different kind of life and to travel off the beaten path.

Weekend Events

311
Friday 311 played the Kona Brew Pub. I was fairly impressed with the performance, the concert was even more fun than I expected. I love their distorted rock guitar sound, and their island style and rhythm made for some good dancing music. Throw in a bunch of great friends and a few ice cold Fire Rock Pale Ales and you've got yourself a great evening.

End of the World
Saturday we had breakfast at Aloha Angel Cafe before going to End of the World. Sarah spearfished, Nate and I cliff jumped and Nadia worked on her tan.

Pine Stumps
Sunday I went to church and surfed Pine Trees. (or Pine Stumps as Ken now calls it) It's one of the best places in the whole world and seeing bulldozers clear the land for 500 luxury homes and a golf course makes me sick. To add insult to injury they put wood chips down over the worst parts of the road, so driving my Jeep down there isn't even fun anymore. I saw a Pontiac Sunbird down there for crying out loud! It's even more disgusting to think that when I drive over those woodchips I am running over what used to be the famed Pine Trees that were recently cut down and mulched. Kinda like chopping up a good friend and throwing his body parts out in the street for public display. Trust me, this won't be the last I write about the tragic devastation of Kohanaiki.

Can a baptism get rained out?
My other Sunday excitement came when I went to a baptism/ pot luck at Old A's. I have been attending a different church lately (Grace Community Church, which I find to be totally awesome) The weather held out but it looked like it would start pouring buckets any minute which made me wonder, "Can a baptism get rained out?"

24-hour Prayer

6:30 PM tonight concluded 48 hours of prayer and worship at Calvary Community Church. We passed the torch to Waimea, who will pray for 24 hours, and the constant prayer will contine through the islands for two solid weeks. A lot of people here in Kona want to see constant prayer and worship like they have at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City where a prayer meeting started more than six years ago and has not stopped. http://ihop.org