Getting a little greener

I have never been much of an environmentalist, frankly. I don't toss rubbish out the car window or pour motor oil in the storm drains, but I have never been very proactively green. But I'm trying.

I just took notice of how many plastic bottles we go through in a week at our home, and it started bothering me. We are not a large family but between the water, juice and soda we discard dozens weekly.

"The most reliable statistics from the 

Pacific Institute put America’s love affair with water bottles at 31.2 billion liters of water in 2006. Due to negative press on the possible health effects of the use, most people are aware water bottles are sold in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. In order to manufacture these bottles over 900,000 tons of plastic is needed. The mainstream manufacturing process that produces PET bottles requires a combination of natural gas and petroleum. The petroleum requirement is where the statistics show that America’s obsession could be hurting their wallets at the gas pump.

Bottom line, the production of 31.2 billion liters of water for the U.S. bottled water market took roughly 17.6 million barrels of oil. The calculation is explained in more detail at the Pacific Institute’s information page under the energy requirements for plastic bottles. The simple break down is 3.4 megajoules of energy to produce a water bottle, cap and packaging with a barrel of oil producing about 6 thousand megajoules. Taking those numbers into account you arrive at 17.6 million barrels of oil, enough oil to run 1.5 million cars on U.S. roadways for an entire year." 

Source: http://i.treehugger.com

It adds up, and adds up fast.

So I am taking one small personal step toward reducing my use and disposal of plastic bottles. I went out to Costco and bought a 3-pack of Contigo 24-ounce reusable water bottle and use my black one constantly instead of grabbing a bottled water and disposing of the bottle. It's not that inconvenient, holds more water (increasing my water consumption) and is spill-proof, had a handle that hooks onto a backpack and is dishwasher safe. 

If more people would take that simple step...

 

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Week 1 weigh-in

Total weight-loss on for the first week: 6.1 pounds.

SIX POINT ONE POUNDS in one week. Not "Biggest-Loser" loss, but a great start.

Posted via email from Formerly Fat

Week 1 weigh-in

Total weight-loss on for the first week: 6.1 pounds.

SIX POINT ONE POUNDS in one week. Not "Biggest-Loser" loss, but a great start.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Honolulu 2010 • The HIM Conference

One of the highlights of my year, every year, is the Hawaiian Islands Ministries Christian equipping conference. In a lot of ways it is like a big family reunion for the Christian community in Hawaii. There's a real sense of unity and excitement when we all get together, worship together and learn together. I have attended for years and have built up a list of favorite speakers… Francis Chan, Tony Campolo, Dan Chun. Don Cousins, Nick Vujicic… did I mention Francis Chan? Every year I hear a new speaker I have never heard — often never even heard of — and discover new treasures.

This year, for the first time, I have been invited to teach a breakout session. My subject is more practical than spiritual, but is badly needed. I am going to show churches and ministries how to increase their visibility and impact through the use of social media and (mostly) FREE technologies. The session will be really fun, I think, and people will leave with ideas they can implement the following week, along with step-by-step how to do it instructions, web links and examples. The very fact that you are reading this right now demonstrates the effectiveness of social media; you are either my Facebook friend, follow me on Twitter, or subscribe to my Posterous blog.

Am I excited? Sure. I have done similar break-out sessions at two international conferences and they have been well-recieved, but being recognized as an "expert" at home means more, somehow. That's the good news.

The bad news? Today I learned my time slot: the dreaded Saturday, March 6 at 10:30-11:45 am. Why is that time bad? The conference hotel is across the street; the Ala Moana Hotel and they are not always able to accommodate late check outs on Saturday, near the end of the conference. Most of the regulars go to the early Saturday Plenary Session and then, of necessity, skip the 10:30 breakout so they can rush across the street, clear their hotel room, load their suitcases in the car, eat lunch and make the last Plenary Session. It's just the way it is. I have done it, and my friends have done it. Sometimes the lobby of the Ala Moana Hotel is jammed and the break-outs are pretty sparse.

A moment of honesty and transparency: because this is my first time as a presenter at HIM, I am certain I will be evaluated to determine whether I am worthy of a repeat performance, and there are two ways presenters are evaluated: of course the paper session evaluations count, but the number of people who select that break-out as an option matters, too. I have sat in sessions with a handful of people and those in overflowing rooms. Guess who gets invited back?

So the pressure is on, and I need to round up a room full! All of my Facebook friends who will be at Honolulu 2010, please come to my breakout session and bring a friend along with you! I'll make the 75 minutes worth it.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Untitled

Posted via email from Formerly Fat

Pleasantly plump isn't so pleasant

Feeling fat? Yeah… I can relate. I have a genetic propensity to pudge. I come from a family of fatties. I always attributed it to being raised in the south, with a pretty bad diet. If you have lived in the deep south, you know of what I speak. If you have never spent time below the Mason-Dixon Line, let me explain southern cuisine and cooking for you: get a cast iron skillet, dump in a generous helping of Crisco and start throwing stuff in. Fried pork chops, fried chicken, fried okra, fried squash, fried potatoes, fried green tomatoes… you get the idea — southerners like fried foods! (Hey, even their SNACK foods are fried; deep fried Twinkies and deep fried Snickers bars are actually available.

As I grew older, and ate a little bit better, I stopped the massive weight gain common to other family members, but still found myself teetering around 200 pounds all the time at just over 5'10". That's when I decided it was not going to be easy -- beyond the issue of decades of disastrous diet, there was a genetic aspect that would affect my tendency to retain weight in my abdomen. Not insurmountable, but just another issue to be aware of.

A couple of years ago I had a huge wake-up call when I felt fatigued, lacked energy and just had that something's-not-right-here knowing. The doctor referred me to a Cardiologist, and in the cath lab they informed me that I had 2 major heart blockages: one was 90% and the other 95%. Two stents later and with some ongoing meds, I felt like a new man, but still had a very sedentary lifestyle and a big gut.
A couple of months ago I bought a treadmill and was horrified when the programmed workout for beginners was way too difficult for me! I was determined, so I kept at it, working up from a few short minutes of slow walking to the point where I can handle the beginners series of programmed workouts without having to slow the machine down or decrease the incline. I am not running yet, but my endurance, strength and general fitness is greatly improved. Alas, I still hovered around the 200 pound mark, despite the increased exercise.

My friend Ron, meanwhile, had lost a lot of weight. He started out with more weight than me, and was a little shorter in height, and I was hearing weight loss numbers like 40, 50 and 60 pounds! I learned that he was being coached by our mutual friend, Jan, so I asked for her help. She has started to assist me with my efforts to lose weight and I have been documenting it at http://kahugary.posterous.com/ When I weigh in next week, I'll post an actual, not-Photoshopped photo of the number on the scales. You and I will see whether the plan has resulted in any weight loss.

Ron and I will be hoping to offer encouragement, advice and inspiration for those of you who choose to join us on this journey to eat healthier, feel better, fit into your skinny clothes and live longer. We'll try to get Jan to add her experience and wisdom along the way. Get started and join us as we become the FORMERLY FAT!

Posted via email from Formerly Fat

Day 3 breakfast • 2 eggs & ham

Not green eggs... boiled eggs. Treadmill goes better with some Francis Chan audio book inspiration and motivation. "Serving God leftovers..." never fails to get to me.

I will avoid the scales til next Monday, but I actually feel like I am starting to lose weight on day 3. Is that even possible?

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Day 3 breakfast • 2 eggs & ham

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Day 2 • Healthy dinner

Grilled salmon, fresh green beans and squash.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Salad for lunch! (Day 2)

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Another healthy snack

Organic peanut butter on celery.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Day 2 • Weight Loss

Day 2 will be a little more difficult, because I am really struggling with allergy symptoms… itchy eyes, runny nose… as a result of the lingering VOG. VOG is a haze from volcanic gasses we get several times a year when the wind conditions are right. Or wrong.

Further complication: a badly needed dental appointment in an hour may make the snacking process messy. But we will persevere! Breakfast was 3 boiled eggs and 2 slices of ham, and black coffee. Lots of water.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Healthy dinner • Day 1

Green salad with boiled egg and 3-oz white tuna in spring water.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Healthy lunch

We were out when meal time came so I chose Costco Chicken Salad as the healthiest available alternative.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Healthy snack between meals

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Weight-loss weigh in • Day 1

Well, here's the starting point. 199.8 is the official weight on the morning of day 1. In two weeks I will weigh in again and post the photo so I can see if I have actually lost weight and, if so, how much… and you'll see it right along with me!

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Let the weight loss begin

Day One of the cleansing phase of losing weight will begin Monday, January 25, 2010, if I can ever make it to bed from Sunday so I can start my Monday with rest!

Since so many people today expressed an interest in how I plan to do it, I am posting a summary. It is a modified South Beach plan.

The first 2 weeks is designed to break the addiction to a diet filled with sugar and carbs. Eat nothing from a box, bag, or can. (If it wasn't a food a hundred year ago, it's not a food today!) Fresh, or fresh frozen veggies and lean meats are the key.

You will probably actually eat MORE than usual and stay full all day, but lose weight. You will eat breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner.

1. Eat breakfast within 30 minutes of rising to kickstart your metabolism. Do not skip breakfast!

2. Eat lean meats, fresh or fresh frozen vegetables, and salads.

3. For this first 2 weeks, it’s pretty much NO WHITE FOOD. No flour (bread, pasta, pancakes, etc.), no sugar (no soda, no FRUITS, no carrots, corn or milk products), no rice, no potatoes.

4. Double your daily water intake.

Do weights, or any kind of resistance exercise along with cardio.

For breakfast, eat eggs and lean breakfast meat. Water/coffee/tea (no cream and sugar!)/V-8 juice are okay, but no sweet fruit juices!

Snacks: Handful of unsalted almonds, peanut butter on celery, piece of ham or turkey rolled with some low-fat cheese are typical.

Lunch: Fresh salad can include lean meat (like a chicken or tuna salad). NO croutons! Or lean meat (like a boneless, skinless chicken breast on the George Forman grill) and fresh veggies.

Afternoon snack – same options as mid-morning.

Dinner: similar to lunch.

Portion control, points and calorie counting are not the issue with this… the idea is to eat every two hours or so, before you get hungry, and keep your metabolism high. Your body will adjust to never being hungry by starting to burn instead of store fat.

Don’t eat after dinner! Night snacking is a diet-killer.

I will weigh in Monday morning to get a baseline weight, and will not get back on the scales for 14 days, at which time I will report honestly whether I have, in fact, lost weight, and, if so, how much.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Why abortion is a deal-breaker

One of the major points of controversy in the proposed national healthcare upheaval is the matter of abortion. Liberals ultimately demand abortion on demand, at any time, for any reason. Conservatives -(REAL conservatives, not Republicans who work the electorate to the right and then vote left)- see abortion as a non-negotiable moral issue, and can't understand how anyone could entertain compromise on such a matter.

This article says that "Twice now, abortion was almost a dealbreaker." http://apnews.myway.com/article/20091222/D9CO403G0.html

Since I have a very eclectic collection of friends, including liberals, Democrats, and a smattering of atheists and agnostics, I have been asked "Why is abortion such a deal-breaker for you?" I'll try to explain it.

Abortion opponents like to show pictures of unborn/pre-born babies in utero to show the humanness... little fingers and toes and beating hearts, and that is a major issue. If one believes that life begins at conception, rather than at birth, there's little difference between ending the life of a fetus at 5 months or a 5 month-old baby. 

But I think there's a huge elephant in the room that nobody likes to mention. My liberal friends refer to abortion as a "women's issue," but it's not an issue for any of the women in my immediate circle of friends. It's an issue for liberal women; dare I say, it's an issue for promiscuous women. 

Women who remain virgins until marriage, and then remain faithful to their husband for life are not out campaigning in favor of abortion on demand. It is women who are sexually active before marriage, and outside of marriage, who are the vocal advocates of abortion. (Let me pause while some of you regain your composure and pick your jaw up off the floor; believe it or not, there are, indeed, women who walk down the aisle in a well-deserved white bridal gown, have their first sexual experience on their honeymoon, and live in faithful commitment to one man for life. There are men who are equally innocent and faithful.)

The availability of abortion reduces the imperative to remain sexually innocent, because the consequences of pre- and extra-marital sex are provided a failsafe. For those of us who believe in a God who demands that we live within parameters of conduct he has clearly defined, we also believe that their are laws governing our behavior. Just as surely as Newton's Third Law of Motion demands that "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction," God's Law demands that sin has consequences. There are natural, human consequences that we suffer in our bodies, and eternal consequences if the sin is not covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. \

Abortion is an attempt to by-pass one consequence of sin by burying the evidence.

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Before you jump on the advocacy science bandwagon

With age comes some perspective. Although it's trendy and fashionable to buy into the current hysteria about "Global Warming," within my lifetime I can remember scientists arguing (hysterically) the exact opposite view. There has been no substantial warming of the environment for the past 12 years. Period.

Want a dose of realism and perspective? Check out these links:

http://www.denisdutton.com/cooling_world.htm

http://www.geocraft.com/WVFossils/ice_ages.html

http://iaindale.blogspot.com/2009/12/back-when-global-cooling-was-rage.html

http://geology.geoscienceworld.org/cgi/content/abstract/33/6/437

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Cornwall Alliance releases An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming

Cornwall Alliance releases An Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming

Add your name--click here!

PREAMBLE

As governments consider policies to fight alleged man-made global warming, evangelical leaders have a responsibility to be well informed, and then to speak out. A Renewed Call to Truth, Prudence, and Protection of the Poor: An Evangelical Examination of the Theology, Science, and Economics of Global Warming demonstrates that many of these proposed policies would destroy jobs and impose trillions of dollars in costs to achieve no net benefits. They could be implemented only by enormous and dangerous expansion of government control over private life. Worst of all, by raising energy prices and hindering economic development, they would slow or stop the rise of the world’s poor out of poverty and so condemn millions to premature death.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

1. We believe Earth and its ecosystems—created by God’s intelligent design and infinite power and sustained by His faithful providence —are robust, resilient, self-regulating, and self-correcting, admirably suited for human flourishing, and displaying His glory.  Earth’s climate system is no exception. Recent global warming is one of many natural cycles of warming and cooling in geologic history.
2. We believe abundant, affordable energy is indispensable to human flourishing, particularly to societies which are rising out of abject poverty and the high rates of disease and premature death that accompany it. With present technologies, fossil and nuclear fuels are indispensable if energy is to be abundant and affordable.
3. We believe mandatory reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, achievable mainly by greatly reduced use of fossil fuels, will greatly increase the price of energy and harm economies.
4. We believe such policies will harm the poor more than others because the poor spend a higher percentage of their income on energy and desperately need economic growth to rise out of poverty and overcome its miseries.

WHAT WE DENY

1. We deny that Earth and its ecosystems are the fragile and unstable products of chance, and particularly that Earth’s climate system is vulnerable to dangerous alteration because of minuscule changes in atmospheric chemistry. Recent warming was neither abnormally large nor abnormally rapid. There is no convincing scientific evidence that human contribution to greenhouse gases is causing dangerous global warming.
2. We deny that alternative, renewable fuels can, with present or near-term technology, replace fossil and nuclear fuels, either wholly or in significant part, to provide the abundant, affordable energy necessary to sustain prosperous economies or overcome poverty.
3. We deny that carbon dioxide—essential to all plant growth—is a pollutant. Reducing greenhouse gases cannot achieve significant reductions in future global temperatures, and the costs of the policies would far exceed the benefits.
4. We deny that such policies, which amount to a regressive tax, comply with the Biblical requirement of protecting the poor from harm and oppression.

A CALL TO ACTION

In light of these facts,

1. We call on our fellow Christians to practice creation stewardship out of Biblical conviction, adoration for our Creator, and love for our fellow man—especially the poor.
2. We call on Christian leaders to understand the truth about climate change and embrace Biblical thinking, sound science, and careful economic analysis in creation stewardship.
3. We call on political leaders to adopt policies that protect human liberty, make energy more affordable, and free the poor to rise out of poverty, while abandoning fruitless, indeed harmful policies to control global temperature.

ENDORSEMENT

While our signatures express our endorsement only of this Declaration and do not imply agreement with every point in A Renewed Call to Truth, we believe that document provides ample justification for it. We call on scholars and experts to join us in signing this Evangelical Declaration on Global Warming.Any content

* Organization and title are listed for identification only, and do not imply organizational endorsement.

class="posterous_quote_citation">via cornwallalliance.org

Posted via web from Kahu Gary's posterous

Chaining technologies?

I love exploring technologies and figuring out how to leverage the free (or very cheap) ones. 

SHAMELESS PLUG: At the Hawaiian Islands Ministries Honolulu 2010 Conference, March 4-6, I will be leading a breakout session on the use of technology and social media for churches. Be there!

My latest quest is trying to figure out how to chain and combine a few telecom systems. 

Google Voice provides an inbound telephone number you can pass out to everyone. That number can be configured to ring your cell phone, your office phone, your home phone, or any combination of those... it can ring all three at the same time, if you'd like, and much more. http://www.google.com/googlevoice/about.html

Skype is another, different, communications system that I like and use. It is a computer-to-computer voice & video connection, but adds the option to place phone calls to landline or cell phones. 

So here's the scenario: next April I will be in Korea for a couple of weeks taking some classes and participating in a leaders' meeting. Using my iPhone in Korea presents some technical issues, not to mention the possibility of a whopping ATT bill from downloading the hundreds of spam emails I get each day. What I would love is the ability to chain my Google Voice number to my Skype account, which would allow people to reach me in Korea any time my computer was on by calling my Google Voice number (which has a North Alabama 256 area code), and the call would seamlessly transfer to my Skype account, and "ring" wherever I was. Good idea, isn't it?

Except that the two services operate on different protocols, and don't play well together. If there is a way to make it work, I will find it, and I will post step-by-step instructions. (If you have a work-around, let me know!)

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

The complicity of the media perpetuates evil

via mrc.org

"The record compiled over 22 years by the Media Research Center demonstrates how some liberal journalists utterly failed to accurately depict communism as one of the worst evils of the 20th century, and often aimed their fire at those who were fighting communism rather than those who were perpetuating it."

Posted via web from Kahu Gary's posterous

Black Friday madness

Back when our children were young we planned our shopping excursion on the day after Thanksgiving like a military maneuver. We strategized the likelihood of which stores would have sufficient stock and the smallest crowds, drove all over the island of Oahu from sale, starting in the wee hours of the morning and ending at sundown... or way past sundown.

With no children in the home it is different. Our son, Josh, is married and living in Alabama and our daughter, Tori is 21. She lives at home with us, if you can call showering, changing clothes and sleeping here "living at home." Regardless, there are no desperate searches for the toy-of-the-moment, so shopping is far different now.

We look for one or two items we hope to find deals on, and hit one or two stores. Period. The early leakage of all the major ads for Black Friday make it so much easier. I'll save you the time: I GOOGLED so you won't have to!

Here are links to most of the major sites featuring Black Friday Ads in advance, along with some pre-BF sales and deals.

http://www.black-friday.net/

http://bfads.net/

http://www.2009blackfridayads.com/

http://www.dealtaker.com/blackfriday.html

http://www.blackfriday.info/

http://www.blackfriday.fm/

http://black-friday-sale-specials.com/coupons/

http://www.bfreedom.com/

http://blackfriday.gottadeal.com/

Posted via email from Kahu Gary's posterous

Turning points in life

For a week this February I experienced one of those eye-opening, paradigm-shifting, life-changing pivotal events that alter everything that follows in life.

I was among 29 pastors from Hawaii who traveled to the Philippines with Compassion International to see, up close and in real life, the effectiveness of the work of that organization. We went to Davao, in Mindinao, in the far south, where we visited the homes of some of the poorest of the poor... and I use the word "home" very loosely. One such home was barely bigger than the area rug in my living room, about 6' x 8'. That was not a room, it was the entire home, and it had a very low ceiling, no windows, and was pretty much a tiny, shabby box to house the family of five. They were crowded in among perhaps 100 such homes in a desperately poor community where, just feet from their doorway open ditch ran with raw sewage and huge rats scurried about.

The families 18-month-old girl was enrolled in a Compassion Child Survival Project, because infant mortality rates there are exceptionally high due to disease and poor sanitation. The family has no kitchen and no bathroom. They sleep on mats on the floor; and their doorway has a huge gap at the top and bottom for air circulation -- we saw rats running under other such doorways while we stood there.

I was a supporter of the mission and ministry of Compassion International before the trip, but now I am a passionate advocate not only for the organization, but for the people they serve.

The photo? I had the rare privilege of meeting face-to-face with Felma, the 9-year-old girl my wife and I sponsor through Compassion. She's a great kid, with a great heart and an awesome smile, and I want to help Compassion release her from poverty in Jesus' name. You can sponsor a child, too. Look at the Compassion.com website and do it today.

The only good rat...

...is a dead rat.
The recent wet weather has caused a rodent problem in the church
kitchen adjacent to our home.
Did I mention I hate rodents?
I have caught several mice with glue traps, but these are RATS.
Apparently the latest round of poison is working.

Christmas display concept

No agenda. Of course not.

I am concerned with the camel's nose in the tent argument. 

In my lifetime I have watched as... 
• The gay-rights advocates begged for nothing more than to be left alone to live their lives in peace. 
• They progressed to asking for tolerance and understanding. 
• The moved from asking for tolerance to demanding acceptance and respect. 
• Acceptance proved to be insufficient, and they moved forward to demanding total equality. 
• Along with that equality, they moved to demanding legal protections. 
• Given legal protections, they started to demand that their lifestyle and relationships be treated as the same as, and morally equivalent to heterosexual, traditional marriage. 

• And -- today -- the Christian owner of eHarmony.com, who started a company to serve as a Christian match-making service was forced to capitulate to the demands and lawsuits of homosexuals claiming discrimination by initiating a gay-match equivalent to eHarmony, even though it violates the owner's deeply held religious beliefs. I remain unconvinced that allowing gay marriages will have little or no impact upon the church, as is claimed.

But, we are assured that there's no gay agenda. Of course not.

Unique conference

Hawaii's Lt. Governor addressed a unique conference designed to connect State Agencies, social service agencies and churches for the betterment of our community. (This photo was some of the participants at the lunch break.) This is the first time, in my memory, that the church has invited the government and social-service agencies to come, sit together and dialog about how we can cooperate to make life in Hawaii better for everyone.

Today's blessing

In a storm back in the late Spring, our church steeple was damaged. The strong winds ripped two of the plywood sides off. It looked bad, but got put on a list of "things we really need to take care of" -- and it was not nearly as urgent as many of the other things on that list. I had a health issue, we made that extended trip to the mainland that got extended with Amy's health emergency, and the damaged steeple became an annoyance, but could not be my priority.

I was in the yard last week talking to a neighbor who owns a construction company. He noticed the damaged cross, and I bemoaned the fact that it had taken way too long to repair it. He said, "When my guys complete a job they are on, I'll get them to take a look at it for you." I thanked him profusely and filed it in the "He's-being-nice-but-I-won't-hold-my-breath" file.

This morning I took our little chihuahua outside, as I usually do, and heard noises... I looked up and there were two guys with tools and plywood on the church roof repairing the cross! I brought them some bottled water, thanked them, and then went over and thanked the boss, my neighbor.

Just wanted to share that nice blessing and publicly thank Mr. Guy Hicks and his workers.

The great delusion

Obligatory disclaimers:
This is a completely personal and unofficial post to a personal blog. In my official capacity as a Pastor/Overseer I don't discuss politics and don't endorse candidates. As an individual American voter, I have opinions, and I express them here to keep them out of the pulpit.

So, having prefaced this, here are my questions... the things with which I struggle for answers that never seem to come.

• After the United States of America lost tens of thousands of lives fighting and defeating the very ideology represented by Senator Obama, why would any sane person with a sense of history vote to hand the reins over to him, essentially rendering the sacrifice of our brave patriots of no effect? Communism, and it's younger sibling Socialism, is a failed economic system. It led to the collapse of the Soviet Union, the collapse of the Berlin Wall, and keeps millions of Cubans and North Koreans living in abject poverty and misery. When Senator Obama says he wants to "spread the wealth around" -- make no mistake, it is code for "redistribution of wealth" which is the core of socialist economics. Redistribution of wealth is sold as "fairness." How is it fair for the government to force you to surrender the fruits of your hard work, initiative and investment risk and have them give your bounty away to people, many of whom have no worked as hard, shown the same initiative or taken your risks?

• I will not question Senator Obama's commitment to Christ or his salvation, but I can not reconcile his stated proposals with my understanding of Biblical Christianity -- so why are some Christians closing their eyes to the facts and voting Obama? He will appoint federal judges and possibly change the make-up of the Supreme Court in ways that will impact the nation for decades to come. No, I am not just talking about Roe v Wade, though that is an issue for me; I am talking about the nature of marriage, private property rights, Second Amendment rights, Education Policy and pretty much every kind of liberal social engineering one might imagine.

• If you are, like me, the parent of a daughter, listen carefully: Senator Obama is in favor of your girl registering for draft... signing up for Selective Service, and he is also in favor of opening all combat positions to women. I served in Vietnam and can tell you that men, by nature, will protect females in danger at the risk of their own lives and to the detriment of the mission at hand. It is another step in the emasculation of our military. I am for women serving in the military, should they choose to do so, but am firmly against drafting women and also against women in front-lines, direct-combat positions.

• Obama is black, or at least HALF black. That's no reason to vote AGAINST him or to vote FOR him. It is just one of many characteristics about the man. I believe we are seeing a reverse Bradley Effect; some people are voting for Obama for no other reason than that he is black. There's a clip on Breitbart.tv in which Howard Stern plays a clip from on the street interviews in Harlem. The interviewer asked people who they were likely to vote for, and all said OBAMA. He then presented John McCain positions to them as if they were Obama's and asked if they agreed with them -- to which they all said "YES!" He even asked if they agreed with Obama's selection of Sarah Palin and they said "YES!" I know there are ignorant McCain voters, too -- I have the SPAM email rumors to prove it -- but those interviews scared me.

No divisions

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.

1 Corinthians 1:10

Amazing Cell Phone Video

Apple a little confused?

Apple did a small recall of iPhone power adapters because of a
potential breakage hazard. The deal was, they send a free replacement
and the consumer sends the "bad" adapter back in the provided box,
using the provided label. The enclosed letter (top of image) says to
take the box to the nearest DHL (formerly Airborne) office. The label
enclosed, however, was a prepaid FedEx label that said to call FedEx
for pickup.

A bit of confusion uncharacteristic for Apple.

Hey, Congress - bring these guys in to explain it

These two comedians from the UK explained the reasons for the current financial mess better than any of the talking heads on cable news, and they nailed it absolutely. Perhaps the U.S. Congress should bring them in to explain things. (The video is from 2007)

The worship of "THE ONE" is scary.

This video is chilling. If this doesn't make America stop and think about the utter adulation and worship of "THE ONE" and the potential for danger, I am not sure there is any -- if I may borrow the word from THE ONE -- hope left or us as a nation.


Idolatry is an abomination... new spelling: OBAMAnation.
(Anybody but me see the scary parallel to THIS video?)

Undecided and Obama voters?

If you are really an undecided voter, or you are believing the very well-oiled media machine of "THE ONE" you should take the time to watch this video that explains and documents how Congressional DEMOCRATS got this country into the current financial mess, and how they blocked every attempt of McCain and conservatives to sound the alarm and bring it to a halt.

The tree

Blogging from the iPhone

Blogging from the iPhone... who'd have thought it possible? The technology is so advanced and sophisticated that virtually anything is possible now and it's difficult to keep up.

If all goes well, I hope to blog live from the floor of the COGOP International Assembly in Nashville, using my iPhone and any wireless network open to my use.

(Sent from my iPhone.)

Matters of the Heart

For some time I have been experiencing unexplained fatigue during/after any exertion. Thinking back, it seems I may have had some early indications as far back as the '06 Assembly in Nashville, but I attributed it to southern heat, humidity, and lack of adequate rest. 

Upon visiting the doctor at my HMO, he did blood tests, X-Rays and put me on a low daily dosage of Atenolol + Simvastatin to control slightly elevated blood pressure and cholesterol. The symptoms -- uncharacteristic fatigue, reduced physical stamina, shortness of breath -- persisted, and the doctor ordered a Nuclear Cardiolite Stress Test. 

They were unable to do the treadmill version of the test because I have a just-discovered Left Branch Bundle Block. Instead, they did an IV Chemically induced stress-test, infusing a chemical (Thallium) that immediately put the heart into heavy stress mode, while they monitored my physiological responses. That was a very long six minute chemistry lesson. That was followed by 20 minutes laying perfectly still, flat on my back, with my arms extended over my head (you know... that relaxation position we all love.) while they imaged my heart in action. Those pictures were pretty amazing... like something from an episode of "House." But they revealed an area of my heart that caused the doctor (and me!) some concern, so they scheduled me for a diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Big fun! 

This had, obviously, put a serious crimp into my lifestyle. I had been forced to slow way down, and my wife had to take up the slack. (I couldn't even lift and carry the groceries from the car.) My professors have been very understanding and have extended some deadline grace on assignment submissions, as I could only work for brief periods without rest. I am supposed to leave for Korea next week, health permitting. 

They discovered 3 blockages: one 90%, one 95 and one 100% -- They actually stopped and called in the Cardiologist to see if they should transfer me for a by-pass! The blockages were scary and much more extreme than they anticipated. 

A praise report: Of course I was a little concerned over the costs of the procedure.... at $4,000/stent, and my HMO covering HALF. While I was in the prep room before the cath lab, a guy from the Cardio department walked up with a clipboard and said my pre-tests qualified me to participate in a clinical trial. If I signed off allowing them use a new stent in the final stages of FDA APPROVAL, that stent would be free, and the Plavix I would need to take daily for a year would also be provided. 

I signed. 

$2000 out-of-pocket saved + Plavix --  --not a cheap med. 

I give God all the glory for allowing me to stay alive and continue to function with such extreme blockages, and for it being detected and treated BEFORE I had a serious or fatal heart attack. The 100% blockage was left untreated, as the Dr. said the heart had spontaneously rerouted the blood flow around it. I believe that happened the night I was prayed for at a conference and felt incredible strength flow into my body.

Langley on Leadership - Part 2

There's difference between a good leader and a GREAT leader. Do you know what it is?

Webcasting 101

This weekend we did a primitive first attempt at a live streaming webcast of our Sunday Morning service. It went okay... some learning curve and things to improve, but great feedback from the 39 people who logged in to watch our beta test.

It's available at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/windward-worship-live if you are interested.

Since the webcast I have had several people ask how hard it was to do. It is pretty simple, actually: 

• You'll need a digital video camera: what we did for our beta test was done with a small, simple, consumer mini-DV camera, like the kind used to shoot pictures of the kids playing sports. 

• A FireWire (Digital Video) cable connection to a computer. 

• A computer. (That seems obvious, but then again...) This is the place where I would I would normally inject a fanboy argument for the superiority of Mac OSX and Apple products in general, but since that also seems so obvious...

• A reliable broadband connection to the internet at the church or meeting venue. 

• A FREE account with ustream.tv or another similar service... if you can find another free one. 

• A carbon-based life form with intelligence above a rutabega. (Our tech guys set up the camera and logged in, and then my dear old dependable Deacon launched the live webcast and archive recording and monitored the whole thing. It's not rocket science.) 

• We patched the sound directly from the sound board to the laptop mic input instead of using the built in mic on the camera to avoid picking up extraneous noise and conversational noise by the tech guys. 

That's about it: plug it all in, turn on the camera, log in to ustream.tv and hit the "GO LIVE" button and you're webcasting live.

Langley on Leadership - Part 1

A one-minute leadership insight from Pastor Gary Langley of Windward Worship Center in Kaneohe, Hawaii. (Okay, it's actually 01:32 with intro and exit tags…)

Using all the FREE stuff

This Sunday we will experiment with yet another free, web-based technology to expand the reach of our church when we video stream our 10:00 AM (Hawaiian Standard Time) worship service at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/windward-worship-live

We live in an amazing time with access to innovative, creative, accessible technologies that are free or very affordable. In addition to ustream, we utilize YouTube, email, Skype, iChat, MySpace, FaceBook and cell phone text messaging to contact, connect and reach out to our constituency -- all free technologies! We also maintain a constantly updated website with a very affordable web-hosting company, on which we inform about coming events, display weekly photos from around the church and related activities, and allow people to listen to each week's sermon online, download it as an Mp3 to share, or subscribe on iTunes.

Even a small to medium-sized local church has the ability to exponentially multiply their impact and expand their footprint without a huge staff, massive budget or lots of expensive equipment; a computer, a consumer model video camera, a digital camera and a broadband internet connection can give your local church an international outreach.

Why Windward?

We asked some people on a typical Sunday morning what they liked about Windward Worship Center and selected some of the best responses.

Leadership Advice: Get Real

It is very easy for pastors and leaders to fall into the expectation trap: because of past experience, erroneous teaching or cultural tradition constituents might place a burden of unrealistic expectations upon their leaders. Don't buy into that!

I am not arguing for rudeness or a lack of tact and diplomacy in dealing with people, but I am suggesting that we all need to get real, and stay real.  A few years ago our local church was very involved in an annual event called "March for Jesus!" We could debate about the appropriateness and effectiveness of such mass public testimony events, but one T-Shirt from March for Jesus made a lasting impression upon me. It read, "A choir of millions for an audience of one." The message for me, for all of us, is that all we do is done for Him, and if we are subject to any performance expectations, we should keep in mind that we don't perform for our church board, membership or community; we perform for an audience of ONE.

The simplest solution I have found is just to be, as much as possible, completely yourself. Drop the pretension, lose the attitude, and refuse to play a role. Don't wear any religious masks or put on airs. Get real. Be real. 

Wheah you wen Grad?

That is the defining cultural question in Hawaii; "Wheah you wen Grad?" (Translation? "Would you mind telling me which High School you attended?") It matters not what you might have accomplished since high school, or what lofty heights you have attained... the defining question remains "Wheah you wen Grad?"

Senator Barak Obama is a presidential candidate who studied at Occidental College, Los Angeles, Calif., and Columbia University, New York City; studied law at Harvard University, where he became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, and received J.D. in 1992; lecturer on constitutional law, University of Chicago; member, Illinois State senate 1997-2004; elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 2004 -- but in Hawaii he will forevermore be "Punahou Grad Barry Obama." Harvard Law is a great accomplishment, but not as defining to local people in Hawaii as his high school, Punahou.

Punahou is the elite, private school of the wealthy and privileged. Kids who go to Punahou wear designer clothing and are dropped off in BMW's. Kids who go to public school wear clothing from ROSS and ride the bus. Punahou kids are "townies". Punahou kids are all on track to attend major universities, not community college. The Punahou label says more than quality education... it reflects socio-economic status and future expectations. 

When a local person in Hawaii asks "Wheah you wen Grad?" what they are really asking is:

In what community did you grow up?

Who was in your circle of friends?

Who might you be related to that I know?

Where do you fit in the social strata of Hawaii?

So, "Wheah you wen Grad?" 

Got a spare $53,760 I can have?

I have been accepted in the Master of Arts in Global Leadership program at Fuller Theological Seminary, and I did the math today. That degree will end up costing more that $53,760 and that doesn't factor in books and several trips to the Pasadena campus.

It will be worth it.

One of my dreams and desires of my heart has been to complete the education that got interrupted by a little vacation in sunny Vietnam. It would have remained only an unrequieted dream had it not been for a wonderful man who has been an example of leadership excellence, an informal mentor, a friend and great encourager:



Dr. Dan Chun, Senior Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu and, with his wife, Pam, founder of Hawaiian Island Ministries. Dan is a Fuller Trustee, and has been responsible for encouraging and equipping so many Pastors and leaders in the churches of Hawaii.

Thanks, Dan. (I hope to make you proud!)

Blessed at SEARS

If you're reading this in a place covered with snow and ice now, you may find it hard to believe, but many of us in Hawaii have such small houses that we have our laundry area OUTSIDE. Yep. It's true. With a wonderfully temperate climate you can have your washer and dryer on a lanai, porch or patio. They tend to rust out from the salt air (we are very close to the ocean) before they wear out.

We have had a GE Washer (outside) for 16 years. I have patched it up a time or two, replacing some parts, but it did a great job -- until last week. The timer mechanism started messing up and my wife would have to go and press/pull the knob to kick it into the next cycle. I went to an appliance parts dealer for a replacement, and they back-ordered one to the tune of $98. (OUCH.)

Last night it started making a LOUD noise that I finally determined was a failing clutch mechanism. Expecting the replacement clutch to cost even more than the $98 timer, plus it looked like a repair process beyond my limited mechanical skills. It just abruptly died in mid-cycle and refused to cooperate any more, so off we went today to see how much a replacement washer would cost. SEARS had a sale, with a pretty decent simple model for just under $500 -- not bad compared to the higher end models that cost $1,200 - $1,400. (A bit out of our price range AND we just couldn't see a $1,000+ washer sitting outside under a roof overhang rusting out. On the way out to Costco to comparison price, we noticed a washer off to the side. It was similar to our recently deceased one, with a few updates, and it was tagged "USED - $150."

After we made the Costco trip and discovered that the prices there were close to the SEARS sale prices, we returned to SEARS and found the salesman who was helping us.

"What does 'USED' mean exactly?"
"It was purchased, and taken from the store, but the buyer figured out how to fix their old machine and returned this one."

It had never even been plugged in; it had never had water lines connected, but they couldn't sell it as new, so they clearance priced it to move it out quickly, still with a 1 year full warranty!

We saved hundreds of dollars, got a 'new' full-featured washer that we won't feel bad about leaving outdoors, and did it all for $150. What a blessing!

Is my plate getting FULLER?

It seems that I operate with a pretty full plate most of the time. I have often referred to it as "juggling chainsaws." So it is with fear and trepidation that I watch my email and snail-mail boxes for a decision from Fuller Seminary. The applications and recommendations have been submitted for the Master of Arts in Global Leadership program at Fuller, and the Admissions Committee meets before the end of February.

Having been out of the classroom and academic environment for decades, it is a bit intimidating, but I exemplify the Peter Principle -- ("In a hierarchy every employee tends to rise to his level of incompetence.") -- since my recent selection as Presiding Bishop (Overseer) for my denomination in Hawaii, I have come to a renewed realization of my level of inability! These people deserve a better leader, and I hope to become one.

Podcasts piling up

Do you hate the sound of your own speaking voice when you hear it recorded? It seems that most people do... including me. But we Pastors are professional public speakers, and our vocal presentations are key to our effectiveness. So I am learning to love -- or at least tolerate -- the sound of my own voice.

My weekly sermons are (barely) edited and posted as podcasts at www.windwardworship.com and are available free via iTunes as "The Word from Windward." I have subscribed to my OWN podcast! How egocentric is THAT? It has helped my delivery a lot. Each week, alone in my office, I download and review my own sermon podcast listening carefully for awkward "uh's" and "um's" and other annoying verbal habits. Often I groan and make a mental note to eliminate a phrase from my vocabulary or never use a failed illustration again.

It has certainly helped me become more concise and get to the point faster, and I hope it has helped me refine and polish my preaching skills and made me a better communicator of Biblical truth. You be the judge. Listen to an older one and a more recent one and give me some feedback.

A matter of style

When you hear some of those TV preachers on a roll do you ever wonder where that style comes from? It is often credited to "being anointed." Nobody has ever been more anointed that Jesus, yet somehow I can't imagine him preaching in that revivalist style. Can you?

Jesus said this...

"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall"

I doubt -- seriously doubt -- that he said...

"EVERYone... did ya hear me? I said EVERYone! Not a few people. Not some people. Not ALMOST everyone. I said EVERYONE. IF YOU BELIEVE THAT TURN TO YOUR NEIGHBOR AND SAY EVERYONE! Now that oughta make you shout HALLELUUUUUUJAAAAHHHH!"

Can you imagine Jesus preaching like that? Me neither.

Pride, in the best sense of the word

My focus as a pastor has been local. Almost entirely local. I have often felt disconnected from my denominational roots because my approach to ministry has not fit our traditional mold and there were doctrinal positions I could not totally embrace. And, yet, it is my heritage, and all I have ever known. I love it.

Having just returned from the International General Assembly of the Church of God of Prophecy in Nashville, I left filled with pride, in the best since of that word. Our church has been an aging movement in transition for the past couple of decades, struggling with divisive issues of doctrine and polity, and this year it seems we may have finally moved beyond indecision and resistance to needed change.

It was such an encouraging, refreshing week that I left proud, for the first time in years, to be part of this church.

Growing pains are the best kind

The church I pastor has outgrown our facilities. With 130 members and a "total population" of about 152+/- in a building designed for maybe 80, we are starting to notice a slight growth plateau. We have been experiencing a sense of Divine discontent ---- kind of "Thank You Lord for all you are doing, and yet we know there is so much more You WANT to do!"

I outline sermon subjects well in advance and preach through the scriptures, but Saturday I experienced such turmoil and disquiet I knew God had other plans. Saturday I deviated from my outlined subjects and wrote a completely different message about the challenge of stepping out by faith when God says move, despite all the negatives and logical reasons why it won't work.

Late Saturday night my daughter and her boyfriend came in from an event and I was still in my office, prepping. They said "There's a big old van we don't recognize in the church parking lot." BF and I grabbed flashlights and went to investigate. A lady we sort of know from homeschooling events pops up... she was sleeping in that van. I asked if she was okay, and she said "Long story, but yes -- is it okay if I sleep here tonight and I'll be in church tomorrow morning?" Sure. We unlocked a restroom for her, said goodnight, and went back in.

She was in service, front row. In the sermon I spoke of how the Lord had been dealing with us-- with me -- about taking the next big step of faith and moving from the comfort zone of our cozy building to a place where He could send us more people. After the service, that lady approached me and said she knew the place for us. She told me that she and her husband manage party/banquet facilities at several City & County golf courses, one of which is just about one mile from the church, on the same street! We have attended events there before -- wedding receptions, parties -- and it is large (maybe 2.5 or 3 times the size of our church), air conditioned, big nice restrooms, ample (even generous) parking. It's on the second floor, and has an elevator for handicap access, and the view over the golf course and adjacent mountains is spectacular. The even have some sound and lighting equipment available, and we can probably get the place for what is, in Hawaii, an reasonable price.

So we have a (potential) opportunity before us, but there are some logistical challenges. There is no logical, workable place for Children's ministries at the proposed new site. Anybody have experience with split-sites? One suggestion that came from a brainstorming session was to maintain our children's groups at the original site (our building) as a "drop off/pick up" place, while the parents continue down the road a mile to the Golf Course.

Any feedback? Good, bad. or ugly?

Hawaii Graduations

Graduations in Hawaii are unlike anything anywhere else. My daughter, Tori, just graduated from high school. We have a home schooling network ministry that issues diploma, provides transcripts and produces a huge cap and gown ceremony. We had 13 grads this year, and a crowd of about 800 packed out Hope Chapel Kaneohe Bay for the event. Each of the grads had a 4 minute block of time to perform, and the talent displayed was awesome. After the ceremony there was a huge catered outdoor reception with lots of food, and the grads get heaps of beautiful flower lei and cards full of cash. In this picture Tori has only about 1/3 of the flowers she ended up with. The count was over 80, I think. It was an amazing night, and we were blessed with perfect weather, the nice folks at Hope Chapel were wonderful to us, and it was such a wonderful testimony to hear these 13 young adults honoring their parents, speaking well of their siblings and making the name of their Lord famous.

An early Birthday Gift of the best kind.

I received an email tonight from a young family in my congregation. The man grew up in a very traditional Baptist church and his young wife grew up Lutheran. They are now members of my church and He is really gifted and called to be in some form of Pastoral ministry. After our service this weekend, with an emphasis upon the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, Ryan & Julie sent this note. It took me a long time to read, since the tears kept blurring the words!

Gary,

I just wanted to email about this past Sunday, and just in general. First, to thank you for the message you gave this past Sunday. You know that I have heard messages about the gifts of the Holy Spirit in many places, and your message was the more Biblical than any I have heard from any Pentecostal, Baptist or whatever. I truly appreciate what it meant for you to say what you did, knowing the responses of some of those that heard it.

I more generally wanted to thank you for your dedication to my and my families souls and lives. If you only knew the amount of times I have said "I hope that I am like that when I am a pastor" in reference to you. I have learned so much in the last 2 years, that I am afraid I will forget it! Gary, I know that the Lord has a calling on my life, and I know even more that I have soooo much to learn between now and then. I would especially ask that you pray for my boldness. I know I don't seem like the kind of person that needs help with boldness, but there are so many times that I have backed down and not proudly said the name of Jesus when I should have. Lets just say that the cock has crowed more than 3 times for me. I also struggle daily with arrogance, though I think that the Lord has been helping me with that. I honestly believe in the power of prayer, though I have no clue how to pray, and still feel weird when I do. I have not even begun to be faithful with my devotions and the failures keep adding, but I know that the Lord will still guide me and help me.

I have hated being so distant from the church compared to the way we were, but I have so many responsibilities now that I sometimes feel overwhelmed. I need to become much better at balancing my time.

With that said Gary, having grown up in the baptist community, singing out of a psalter hymnal with a piano for every song, being able to smile, laugh, dance, clap or just listen and enjoy the worship of our creator is something to be appreciated and longed for. After traveling recently, and visiting several churches whose form of "worship" was more like gregorian chant then a "getting back to the heart of worship", Julie and I missed it so much. It is like having your feet nailed to the ground when all you want to do is run. There were no butterflies in our stomachs afterwards like we get when we hear brothers and sisters around us crying as they sing because they don't know any other way to express the emotions inside them. Gary, I honestly believe that it doesn't matter it every little detail is right or not, it is the heart, or the love behind the worship that counts. It is like a star struck lover. When you are madly, deeply, truly in love, you find yourself saying and doing things you never thought you would. You look back and think "I can;t believe I did that, or "I can't believe I said that". The wonderful thing is, that no matter how many "left feet" you have when you dance with them, or how many times your voice cracks as you try to whispers those sweet things in their ear, they love every moment of it because it the love behind the act, not the act that touches the heart. God almighty "bends down his ear" to his children, because it is the love behind our worship that touches His heart, not the mode of delivery. If, by how loud, long or weird I worship my Lord is done so because I am so madly, deeply, truly I am in love with him that I am all left feet, cracked voiced, too loud, to soft, dancing in the aisles, or simply bowing my head and raising my hands, then I don't care. My Lord will hear the love behind my voice or the steps in my hula.

Thank you for everything that you have meant to our ohana Gary. We will truly miss WWC, and your family, scratch that, our family. Good night Gary, and if there is ever more that I can do, please don't hesitate to ask.

Love Ryan, Julie and Aiden Hobson

Blessed with favor, twice in one day!

God blesses people with favor. Favor with Him, and favor before men. Now and then things happen that reveal God's favor in my life in ways that just amaze me. Today it happened. Twice.

Hawaii has endured rain of Biblical proportions -- it has literally rained for forty days and forty nights with only brief hours of respite. I had a small, annoying leak in my office ceiling, with plans to repair it after the rains stopped. While I was away in Singapore that small leak was overwhelmed by the volume of the rain water, and I called home to learn that the ceiling had caved in destroying my desk, carpet and some paperwork. One of the young men in my congregation took upon himself the task of repairing the office. He ripped out the ruined carpet and sheetrock, and started the repairs. Often alone. He goes to college in the daytime and delivers pizzas at night. He has shown up night after night at ten or eleven o'clock and worked until the wee hours. A local construction man who doesn't attend my church showed up last week to volunteer to work on the floors. Today he came back to help tape and sand the walls. While he was here, volunteering his time and skills, he came over and handed me a check for $200. "The Lord laid it on my heart to bless you!" he said. Well, he had already been blessing me.

Today was also my daughter's 18th birthday, a very big deal in our house. We invited a group of her friends to join us at Dave and Buster's for dinner, birthday cake, and some games. We had a total of 14 people there, and had a great time. When it came time to pay the bill the manager told us "Someone in the restaurant has already paid your entire bill, and asked to remain anonymous." $300. Paid. Wow! (It's so awesome I'll say it again backward - !woW)

In one day, God gave me favor with a construction tradesman and his skills, with a $200 gift from that man, and a free birthday party for my daughter that saved me $300. Favor. It's a wonderful thing.

Conflicting views of China and the Church

At a recent Christian conference in Honolulu I met a group of representatives from Christian (read: protestant) churches in China. They were not from the unregistered, or underground, church we usually hear about. My friend, Dan Chun, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Honolulu took at trip to China a year or so ago, and preached in a 4,000 members church in Shanghai. He told me "they sang the same hymns we use, in Chinese, and raised their hands in worship and prayed fervently and spoke passionately about their love for Christ."

These representatives were from the "Three Self" movement, a uniquely Asian way of expressing the concept of an Indigenous Church. Three self... 'self-governance, self-support, and self-propagation' is intended to remove foreign influences from the Chinese churches, theoretically removing most of the government's objections to religious groups in China. It is also a post-denominational system, in which no differences can be promoted, so you will find staff members from varying denominational traditions serving together in a single congregation. This, of course, does not go over very well with most church organizations since they can have no control and can't even send in outside leadership. In the Three Self view, the Bible calls us to be both good Christians AND (to the extent that there's no conflict) good citizens also. That is why the group's formal name is "China Christian Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee."

So I find myself torn.

I met these folks, spoke directly with them, listened as they talked of their love for Christ and their desire to see more Chinese people reached with the message of the gospel. I believe they are the real deal. And yet there's this:

I have friends -- dear friends -- who serve in China among the unregistered church movement. They avoid using the name of Jesus in communication, and seem cautious and covert in their approach. Could this because they violate the Chinese government-preferred concept of self-propagation? I am aware of people smuggling Bibles in China, when the Three Self representatives avow that Bibles (NIV in Chinese) can be purchased openly in Beijing bookstores for $2-$3 U.S. and are being printed and distributed, with government knowledge and approval, by the hundreds of thousands.

It is difficult for me to reconcile these two perspectives, and I am sure I have an incomplete understanding of the situation. For now I will praise God for my friends who work outside the system AND those who work with the system.

Prophylactic paradox

(Sounds a little more spiritual than "condom conundrum" I suppose.)

I have boundary issues. Admitting that helps me deal with it
constructively. The church I pastor is a fairly tight-knit community
of about 150 people. My family has attended this church for more than
20 years and it is the only congregation my kids have ever known.
These people are our friends, our extended ohana, and our support
system. Coming up through the ranks from layman, to Associate Pastor,
to Senior Pastor and District Overseer I have felt it necessary to
reinvent myself more than once. As the titles and roles change, the
relationships inevitably shift and change, too.

For the past five years we have lived in the church parsonage...
small but adequate housing provided by the church, located on the
church property. "On the church property" is not really accurate.
Because of the way this facility has grown and evolved, often without
a master plan, the church, office and parsonage are interconnected.
The front door of our residence is accessed by going THROUGH the
outer office! That leads to a lack of family privacy and a sense of
living in the fishbowl, on display at all times. If there's any kind
of meeting or activity going on in the office and we come home with
bags from WalMart we feel that people are checking out our purchases
as we walk past. As you might imagine, there are few secrets here and
it can be stressful being on display as the model family at all times.

Hence the title -- Prophylactic paradox (or condom conundrum).

Prophylactics are designed to encourage and facilitate intimacy,
while they prevent the kind of real physical contact that is the
intimate ideal. They are a barrier that consumers of the product
accept as an acceptable trade-off -- in exchange for the 'benefits'
of the barrier, they are able to achieve a measure of intimacy,
albeit incomplete. (I am getting there... stay with me.)

What we have tried to nurture is a kind of prophylactic intimacy
among our church family. We want to be close, but need a barrier to
preserve our own family life and privacy. It is a tightrope. Let that
barrier become too thick, too obvious, and the warmth and intimacy we
need to be effective is lost. Remove the barrier, and intimacy can be
dangerous. In practical terms, how do we keep our home as open as it
would be if we lived elsewhere, while keeping a workable boundary to
preserve our family life? How do we invite in those who have been
long-time friends and make them part of our life, while not allowing
our home to be simply an extension of the church facility?

A word to church boards everywhere. Do yourselves and your Pastor a
favor. When planning to provide a home for your Pastor, do NOT make
it on the church property. Give that Pastor's family the distance and
privacy you enjoy in your home, and you will be rewarded with better
leadership.

A meaningful mantra.

Guy Kawasaki had a tough job in the early days of Apple Computer. I use Macs and love them, but back in the late 80's, when the first Macs were developed, they were pretty primitive; tiny monochromatic screens, no hard drive and hardly any software. Guy's title was Macintosh Evangelist. He went out spreading the good news of this crazy new kind of computer. He went to software developers with a mission -- he was to convince them that the Mac was the future of computing, and they should get on board and write software for this new machine. One result was Aldus PageMaker, which was the primitive beginning of the desktop publishing revolution. The rest, as they say, is history.

In his book, The Art of the Start, Kawasaki gives real world practical advice to start-up entrepreneurs. I recently went to hear him speak on that subject and one of his points really registered with me.

He explained the futility of writing a complex mission statement that few read and even fewer understand. Instead, he suggests that companies and organizations develop a mantra. In this context a mantra refers to "a statement or slogan repeated often." Kawasaki used the example of Wendy's. Like most companies, Wendy's has a formal mission statement: To deliver superior-quality products and services to customers and communities through leadership, innovation, and partnership.

According to Kawasaki, Wendy's would do better with a mantra: Healthy fast food.

I have been giving that some thought. My church has a mission statement, because everyone else had one. I dare say if a first-timer asked anyone at the church for our mission statement few, if any, would have a clue what to tell them -- including our staff members! What we should have is a mantra. We need a simple, brief, memorable way to identify what we are all about to those who ask. It is still a work in progress, but at this point I have arrived at a 3 word mantra:

Real. Relevant. Relational.

What do you think?

Quiet Christmas in a ghost town

It has started already. The island exodus that we experience each December. The upside to ministering to a lot of University students and young military people (and military families) is that the church is lively, vital, and exciting. The downside is that many of them leave the island mid-December to go "home for the holidays," and we are left with a lot of empty seats and extra parking slots.

This year we are being hit harder than I can ever remember.

We will have our Christmas Service on December 25th with a skeleton crew of volunteers and an anticipation of minimal attendance. A pastor friend at a local mega-church has two services scheduled that morning, at 8 and 10. The building seats more than 1,000 -- last year they had about 25 in the first service and 100 in the second. Such is the nature of life in a place with a large transient population.

So, for me, the period between Thanksgiving and New Years is less busy than usual, and has become a contemplative time of introspection and seeking direction for the coming year. In my next post, I hope to deal with what has developed so far. Think "mantra."