Chocolate Overload

I'm having some trouble remembering what I did this past week. Must mean I'm getting old or something, or that I just have to start writing everything down so that I can remember at least some of the things I have done. Oh well. I do remember earlier in the week my one roommate that is currently in the house (the other 2 are off island), we had a fun killing spree of flies. Yes, you heard me correctly flies. I think we killed at least 50 flies in the house. We think it was due to standing water in the back yard that was the tarp coving the chairs and the table. Who really knows, it was an exciting time smacking flies all over the walls and the floor. Some of the flies got really smart and started playing dead. It only worked until we started vacuuming the floor. They could not stand the vacuum. Hahahaha.

Friday night I went out with friends from work to Ryan's bar and restaurant down in the Ward Center to celebrate a coworkers birthday. It's actually a pretty nice place and their happy hour is decently priced and all. Sweet potato fries are definitely becoming the rage. Whenever I order a Blue Moon out here, I also have to specify to have an orange slice in the beer. One place I went, they didn't put an orange slice in the beer. For some reason the bar didn't have orange slices and I even think the waitress that we had didn't know you put orange slices in a Blue Moon. The other interesting thing about Blue Moon was that on another menu (I forget where), I saw Blue Moon as in Import beer.

Saturday, at first, I didn't have any major plans. Again, my plans to have a movie night with friends got spoiled by them because they were "moving" although she moved like on Wednesday. I also found out that when they asked me if I wanted to go surfing, they were planning on going surfing in an hour or two from that point, not actually clarifying the time or the plan. Needless to say, I decided to go humpback whale watching on the Windward (west) coast. I got distracted though when I went to Costco to get some lunch (just because it is cheap). I was possibly thinking of going to the Hawaiian Chocolate Festival, which I found out Friday night from a friend, but wasn't 100% sure on it. I decided to go to the festival while I was eating lunch at Costco. What could it hurt, it was right across the street.

Now, I didn't know that Hawaii grew cacao on the islands. I did learn though that Hawaii is the "north pole" for growing cacao, since the tree likes humid, hot, little to zero wind, and it needs lots of water to grow. Basically, the best zone for cacao to grow is +20 degrees and -20 degrees latitude. Now you are probably asking what cacao is, or at least the pod/seed what is grown. It comes in many different colors and can be seen below. The seeds are in the white protective film seen in the yellow open pod and then the roasted final seeds are in the basket at the top. This is the first ingredient and step in making chocolate. 

The Hawaii Chocolate Festival is actually a really big deal as I found out on Saturday, in that the event even got its own special events Hawaii proclamation from the governor. The proclamation reminds me too much about ASCSM and the wonderful legal jargon that goes with writing something that could just be said much easier, as in, "I, Gov. Abercrombie, proclaim February as Hawaiian Grown Cacao Month." Instead, you try to read the seven "whereas" statements that lead up to the grand saying at the bottom.

If you have chocolate, you are soon come across a chocolate fountain of some sort. I believe I saw only three fountains, but this one was the best decorated and displayed. Although, this one was just for show, the other fountains, you could actually use. So, you probably are wondering what chocolates I tried. I can't honestly remember them all, but I did have a "chocolate passport" telling me what companies I tried chocolate from. I know it is hard to read the list, so I will list them. 

• Choco le'a
• Hawaiian Vanilla Fudge Sauce
• Hilo Sharks Chocolate (only one that did not add cocoa butter)
• Macadamia Nut Hawaiian Fudge Sauce
• Madre Chocolate
• Manoa Chocolate
• Ono Pops
• Original Hawaiian Fudge Sauce
• Padovani Chocolate
• Premium Hawaiian Fudge Sauce
• Private Reserve Hawaiian Fudge Sauce
• Ricard Chocolat
• Sweet Paradise Chocolatier Co. 
• Tiki's Grill and Bar
• Waialua Estate 
• 360 Vodka
• 100% Kona Coffee Hawaiian Fudge Sauce
• 9th Aunnual Emanuel Episcopal Chocolate Extravaganza

Along with these, I tried 14 different chocolates in three flats (like a wine tasting) in one of the seminars that was hosted by Madre Chocolate. I also learned that UH Manoa and their agricultural degree is educating most growers in cacao and that professors are experimenting with different species and varieties of cacao here in Hawaii. It is not known yet, which variety gives the greatest yield. Now you might be able to understand my chocolate overload this weekend. The festival had two "official" mascots. One is pictured below. 

I did end up making it later in the day to whale watch. I saw some humpback whales jumping and spouting, but I couldn't get any good pictures (yet) of them. They were off the coast past the range of the zoom on my camera. On the way back, I decided to take a hike and watch the sunset from the Windward side of the island. I hiked up Hanauma Bay park (the rise above the bay) which I got some pretty spectacular vies of Koko Head and the bay before the sun started setting. 

There was a storm that was coming in from the north which cooled off the air before it made it extremely humid. It also gave some nice pictures and the color contrasts. I think it also gives some color definition to the area and you just don't see a "blue" sky all the time. I do also have to note that everything is much greener since the last time I was over on the Windward side of the island. It is the rainy season and that side definitely gets more rain that the other parts of the island. Early in the week, that side of the island had flash flood warnings. The entire island also had an amazing lightning show. The next morning, I heard on the radio as I was going to work, that we had 21,000+ lightning strikes the day before. That's just amazing!

Hanauma Bay is a fantastic snorkeling (and also very crowded later in the day) spot. Tourists come everyday that it is open (closed on Tuesdays) and crowd the beach. The coral life is in pretty good shape despite the high traffic volume and the people that can't read (or listen) by standing on the "rocks". If you ever go to a reef, never stand on the coral, you are killing the coral by doing so. I was personally wishing that a whale (or whales) would come into the bay to just swim around when I was there, but it didn't happen. Oh well, it still made for a nice hike with a great view. I did end up seen the sunset like I planned on. I even had company while I was up there. I think the bird in the foreground took a break as well to watch the sun set. 

Where is all the Money going?

This was taken from this a website. It's just copied and pasted excerpts of some interesting details.
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

How Rich are the Superrich?

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.

Your Loss, Their Gain

How much income have you given up for the top 1 percent?
 

Out of Balance 

A Harvard business prof and a behavioral economist recently asked more than 5,000 Americans how they thought wealth is distributed in the United States. Most thought that it’s more balanced than it actually is. Asked to choose their ideal distribution of wealth, 92% picked one that was even more equitable. 

Free Fall into Something New

Last week, I guess actually a lot happened last week. First of, covering of Single Awareness day. Yes, it was nice not doing anything or spending lots of money or worrying about getting a reservation at a restaurant. I just spent it at home with my housemate that is here and watched TV. Quite spectacular in the end if I do say. I think I would celebrate Valentine's day not actually on valentines day, just so that it is easier to get a reservation, roses are cheaper, and yeah everything pink, red, and white is on sale. Best time to buy candy, right after a holiday. But that is besides the point.

I also turned the big 25 this past week. It was on a work day, so I didn't do anything till the weekend, but I did go to the beach and meet some friends there. This weekend though (Saturday), I went skydiving with some friends and then out to dinner on Friday. So skydiving, this was my second time going skydiving and I would have to say that it was much better than my first time skydiving. We jumped out at 14,000 ft which was about 4,000 ft more than what I jumped out at last time. This gives approximately 60+ sec of free fall time. Now if you want to calculate the terminal velocity, you can do that if you want, but I prefer not to at the moment. You have to go tandem until you get certified to jump. The guy I went with was pretty awesome. His name was Greg and he was pretty laid back and chill. I also think that all the jumpers were getting tired since there were so many groups on Saturday (we were group 17 to go). We ended up doing somersaults out of the plane. Now normally, you would just fall out or do one flip out of the plane and then just go to the free fall position with your arms out and all. Instead, we went for 6 flips in a row and then went to the free fall position. It was also cool at our parachute altitude, there were clouds, so we ended up pulling the chute in the clouds after falling about half way though them. It was pretty sweet. Greg ended up letting me take control of the parachute for a while while we were floating down to the landing area. Only downside to the skydiving was being there at 1130 and not jumping till 1630. Dinner afterwards was at Paesano Ristorante Italiano. The food was alright, not as good as Uncle Bos for sure, but not too horrible. The only thing was that the service was not so good, or what you expected from the "fancy" look of the restaurant. I still enjoyed the food and the company of friends.

Now going backwards, Friday night, I went to a small group from church that pretty much covers prophecy, end times stuff, and current events and how they fit in with prophecy. I do have to make an observation note that a lot of the people that went to this study are somewhat crazy it seems, and quite possibly could see conspiracy in everything that happens in the world. I don't want to say that prophecy is a bad thing to study and get into, granted the Bible is what over half prophecy, so it is an important thing to study and take head to. It's just that some of the things said at the study were viewed I would say from one vantage point so giving a natural bias. The website of the leader of the group is www.creationrevelation.org if you want to look more into it. The host (Robert) and his wife (Mary) are very knowledgable in current world events and prophecy. I do have to disagree with some of the things that Robert thinks though, in that one being that the King James version is the best version because it comes from the greek text that isn't limited. Now using just the KJV is in today's world "antiquated" to a degree and hard to understand. I don't know for certain if it can justly be the "correct" version to use because of the greek wording it comes from. Now about other versions that he talks about in one of his new articles ("Why I choose the King James Version"), some of the new versions definitely change the meaning of verses from say the KJV or the NKJV (New King James Version) and would give a different picture on things. That could go into a bigger debate and all. I ended up staying till about midnight there talking afterwards and have received many DVDs to watch in the mean time. I will get to them, but in short, I think one of them shows that 9/11 was a setup and the airplanes actually didn't take down the buildings, but instead it was an internal demolition of the building because of how fast it fell (approx the speed of gravity) as it pancaked down. I do have to honestly say that I do not remember how the buildings fell since it was so long ago. I will have to watch these DVDs and then think about what they show.

Lastly, there seems to have been a theme that I have been reading in devotions and in a book that I was reading and then ultimately concluded with the Sunday message this past weekend. So one of the devotions covered mostly topics of Love because the week of valentines, with the topic titles of "Love Brings Obedience", "Sin is Lawlessness", "Love assumes the Best", "Restless Love", "Learning to Love", " Forgive to be Forgiven", " Deny Yourself", and " Take up Your Cross". Now why did I bring this up? Well I think the reason comes down to one guy at work that I have been having problems getting a long with. It was just pressed upon me that I need to forgive him for what he has done and change my attitude towards him to love. One of the verses with the topics was John 14:21 " He who keeps my commandments, it is he who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father and I will love him and manifest myself to him". Wow, right? What was Jesus' answer to the greatest command and the second greatest commandment? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul" and "Love your neighbor as yourself". Now I would say a lot of us say we do the first one and with ease, it would be the second commandment that is the more difficult. Needless to say, I killed the pride and talked with him and it seem so far that things are going better. I think he was really surprised at what I did and hopefully that will be a good thing and we can continue to change the attitude towards each other 180 degrees. Sunday's message tied in since the pastor talked about James 1:19-20 "So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath, for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God." How often do we just say something with out actually listening or thinking of what we are saying. I know I have to change that attitude and learn to hold my tongue more and listen to everything before opening my mouth to speak.

Ashley, I hope you get better so you will have a voice when you have to talk at IVCF in a couple of weeks and that was a lot less of "woohoo"

Make Your Case

I think the largest thing that happened this last week besides just working was the Hawaii Apologetic conference that I went to at my church on the weekend. Before I get into that though, small uneventful things that have happened at work and just in the week in general.

It rained pretty much everyday last week for some part of the day. I think it was on Tuesday that it rained for about 7 hours and Wednesday when I was leaving work, definitely was pouring. Needless to say, I got soaked at points last week and also all the grasses and the trees are growing again. Very interesting side note, the laws normally are only mowed say like every few weeks, recently, they have been getting mowed weekly because of all the rain we have gotten. At least this rain fall didn't overflow the landfill on the west side of the island, breaking the containment wall and allowing biological waste go into the ocean. Now why was there biological waste in a landfill is beyond me. That in itself should be a question. 

I also found out why my books that were sent media mail at the end of last year and the beginning of this year haven't arrived. Wrong address......Somehow my mom got the wrong address and sent the boxes to the wrong address. Well, it should get to me this time since the address problem is fixed and also it has shipping confirmation. Random note, if you ready Ashley Young's (Begley) first post on her blog, she writes "Woohoo" a lot. End random note. One of my housemates also left on Thursday for Guam. He'll be gone for about five weeks I believe. 

The Grammy's last night, if you watched them, well they were interesting to watch at least. The whole arrival red carpet, I guess Lady Gaga was the most interesting arrival. The broadcasting of the grammy's here in Hawaii also lied, since when it was airing, there was sunlight in the red carpet arrival stretch, when it was was 1900 here, making it 2100 in LA, obviously dark. After watching the Grammy's though, a lot of Facebook updates made much more sense. Now, only if they had showed it "live" here. Haha, I just got the early warning updates from everyone. I will probably get the same for the Oscars.

Now to the Apologetic Conference. The title was "Make Your Case: Evidence for God", hence where I got the title for this post. I sorta stole part of conference title. The conference had two main speakers and then one session from our senior pastor. It was hosted at Calvary Chapel Pearl Harbor www.calvarychapelpearlharbor.com. The two main speakers were Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Pat Zukeran. The schedule is below. 

Dr. Pat Zukeran, he is based here in Hawaii and works at www.probe.com where he gets to interview and talk with Christian scholars and pastors from all over the country about their beliefs. He also has another website, www.evidenceandanswer.org. Dr. Zukerman's first talk about "New Atheism and their Case Against God" was pretty interesting. The most prevalent new atheist is probably Richard Dawkins. Now I would say that most people have heard of Richard Dawkins, although few have read his books. One of Dr. Zukeran's points was that Christianity is being seen as an "evil" instead of just a "wrong" in the world today. The "evil" of Christianity needs to be exterminated from influencing society according to a lot of the new atheists. Dr. Zukeran also pointed out that the early church as written in Acts 2 could transform the mind and the heart, not just the heart. In a sense Dr. Zukeran stated, "The heart does not commit to what the mind is not convinced of." I would say that this is very true in that most people have to rationalize things before they can truly accept something. This is seen in much higher percentages for science and engineering oriented people. Science and religion was also had a strong interaction back in the early science days. Faith helped sustain the science that was going on and many of the famous scientists could bring themselves to see that creation every day is pointing to God. In today's culture though, Christians need to know our faith well enough to dispel false myths that are being brought up about the Bible and Christianity that keep people away from the church. Christians also need to have courage to go out and share their faith. 

Dr. Zukeran's three arguments are listed below

1. Argument 1: Belief in God is Irrational
2. Argument 2: Science and Faith in God are Irreconcilable
3. Argument 3: Belief in God is Dangerous

Dr. William Lane Craig talked about "5 Evidences for the existence of God" in his nightcap talk on Friday evening. Some background on Dr. Craig, he is known a lot for debates around the country and the world with local atheists. He has gone toe to toe with some of the big name atheists at organized debates and also have debated with many professors on college campuses that he has been invited to to speak at. He also stated that he has never "won"a debate according to the "losing" side, but instead that side (the atheists) didn't do well enough to "win" the debate. He is a very knowledgable individual and can present his case in a step by step and very logical presentation. I think the biggest thing I got out of his talk with out going into too much detail was the three reasons that he gave for God to exist.

1. If God does not exist, there is no reason to live and we are doomed to perish with the earth. Basically we are living a meaningless life. 
2. If God does not exist, ultimately there is no hope for existence. 
3. If God does exist, hope and meaning exist, and there is a chance for you and I to know Him. 

Dr. Craig also went into five different arguments which are listed below: 

1. The Cosmological Argument
1. Whatever begins to exist has a cause
2. The universe began to exist
3. Therefore, the universe has a cause
2. The Teleological Argument
1. The fine-tuning of the universe is due to either physical necessity, chance, or design
2. It is not due to physical necessity or chance
3. Therefore, it is due to design
3. The Moral Argument
1. If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist
2. Objective moral values do exist
3. Therefore, God exists.
4. The Resurrection of Jesus
1. There are four established facts concerning the fate of Jesus of Nazareth:
1. His honorable burial by Joseph of Arimathea
2. The discovery of His empty tomb
3. His post-mortem appearances
4. The origin of his disciples' belief in his resurrection
2. The hypothesis" God raised Jesus from the dead" is the best explanation of these facts
3. The hypothesis "God raised Jesus from the dead" entails that the God revealed by Jesus of Nazareth exists
4. Therefore, God revealed by Jesus of Nazareth exists
5. The Immediate Experience of God
1. Beliefs which are appropriately grounded may be rationally accepted as basic beliefs not grounded on argument
2. Belief that the biblical God exists is appropriately grounded
3. Therefore, belief that the biblical God exists may be rationally accepted as a basic belief not grounded on argument. 

The last section on friday night was a Q&A session with Dr. William Crag, Dr. Pat Zukeran and Paster Derald Skinner. 

The morning session started out with Dr. Craig, on the topic that I found the most interesting "Science and Religion: Friend or Foe?" I think most that know me, will understand why this topic is of more interest to me. It appeals to the more science nature that I have. The topics that Dr. Craig covered are below: 

1. The Myth of a war between science and religion
1. Science and religion are mutually exclusive
1. The alleged conflict between science and religion arose in the 19th century
2. Science and religion since 1500-1800 had an alliance
2. Science and Religion are mutually irrelevant
1. As science explores the universe, it deals with philosophical and religious questions
2. All religions make claims about the world around us. 
2. How Science and Religion are Allies in the Quest for Truth
1. Religion furnishes the conceptual framework in which science can flourish
2. Science an both falsify and verify the claims of religion
3. Science encounters metaphysical problems which religion can help to solve
4. Religion can help to adjudicate between science theories
5. Religion can augment the explanatory power of science
6. Science can establish a premise in an argument for a conclusion having religious significance. 

 In short, science and religion work together to show God's design of the universe.

Dr. Zukeran followed the first session with trying to answer the hard question of "Did God create evil?" His title of his talk was "God and the problem of Evil."

1. Non Theistic approach
1. Naturalism denies God but acknowledges evil
2. Pantheism acknowledges God (divine essence) but denies evil
3. Modified Theism: changes the concept of God
4. Only Christian theism brings the two together (believes in God and evil)
2. Problem of Evil Clarified
1. Two aspects of the problem that must be addressed
1. Philosophical: The Mind
2. Personal problem: The Heart
2. Defining evil as a deprivation of some particular good that should be there. 
3. The Nature of Evil: Did God create Evil? 
1. The problem
1. God Created all things. 
2. Evil is something
3. Therefore, God created evil
2. Answer
1. False: #3 is wrong. Evil is not a thing. It is a corruption to what is good. Evil is a parasite. Therefore, God did not create evil
4. The Origin of Evil: Is God the source of Evil?
1. The argument: How can evil arise in a perfect world? 
1. God is absolutely perfect
2. God cannot create anything imperfect
3. And a perfect creature cannot do evil
4. Therefore, evil cannot arise in such a world. 
5. But evil did arise in this world
6. Hence, either 1) or 2) (or both) are false
2. Answer in the Free Will defense
1. #3 in incorrect. God created us to be in a relationship with Him. Love is the greatest good. Love requires the exercise of free will. Free will makes evil possible since it is the power to do otherwise. Hence a perfect FREE creature can do evil. Free creatures made evil come into actuality. 
5. The Persistence of Evil: WHy Does God Allow Evil to persist? 
1. The Problem: 
1. If God is all good, He would defeat evil
2. If God is all powerful, He could defeat evil
3. But Evil is not defeated
4. Therefore, no such God Exists
2. The Response: 
1. #3 is incorrect. It implies that evil will never be defeated. The nature of a theistic God guarantees evil's defeat. God is all powerful, He is all good, so He will do it. Matt 25:31-41 separates good from evil; Col 2:14-15 defeats evil officially at Christ's first coming; Rev 19-22 actually defeats evil at Christ's second coming
6. Religious Problem
1. The opposing worldviews
1. Naturalism
2. Pantheism
3. Christian theism offers the only message of meaning of hope in the midst of suffering
2. Principles to remember in the midst of suffering
1. Eliminate false belief (1 Peter 4:12, Heb 5:8)
2. There is a source of strength (God) to draw upon in our time of suffering (Psalm 23)
3. There is a purpose to our suffering even when we cannot see or understand it (Job 13:15)
4. There is Hope! (1 Thess 4:13)

Remember attachment to the world draws you away from God and having a false hope in something is more dangerous than reality. We need to look past the suffering of today to the joy at the end which will be in God. The power of evil can be a powerful boomerang for the presentation of the gospel.

Dr. Craig finished up with his last topic entitled "Can we be good without God? The Indispensability of Theological Foundations for Morality" Dr. Craig started out with a quote from Paul Kurtz from the Forbidden Fruit "The central question about moral and ethical principles concerns their ontological foundation. If they are neither derived from God nor anchored in some transcendent ground, are they purely ephemeral?" That is a very good question that could be brought up as a topic of discussion for a group session. Some definitions

• Theism: moral values are grounded in God
• Humanism: moral values are grounded in human beings
• Nihilism: moral values have no ground at all and are therefore ultimately illusory and non-binding

The topics that were discussed are as follows:

1. If God exists, then we have a sound foundation for morality
1. If God exists, objective moral values exist
2. If God exists, objective moral duties exist
3. If God exists, there is moral accountability
2. If God does not exist, then morality is just a human invention
1. If God does not exist, objective moral values do not exist. 
1. We are byproducts of evolution and socialist situations
2. Humans have an awareness of morality because of the biological imprint in us
3. Morality is a tool for survival and reproductivity
4. If you take God out of the picture, we are just dumb apes
2. If God does not exist, objective moral duties doe not exist
1. Atheists view-humans are just animals and have no ties to each other
2. Who or what would impose moral implications? 
3. If no moral law giver, then no moral law must be followed
4. You can't condemn war and crime or even praise valor and commitment
3. If God does not exist, there is no moral accountability
1. All things are permitted if there is no moral accountability (the genocide by the Nazis would have been fine)
2. Finality of death does not matter on how you live your life--you could live your life for no reason
3. Morality runs smack into self interest--we would live in self indulgence

Conclusion in short is God is necessary for Morality. We can't be truly good without God.

In closing of the conference Pastor Derald Skinner talked about "What difference does God make?" He came up with the acronym GOD

• G: Who is GOD? 
• He is eternal in comparison to time, He is infinite in relation to knowledge
• Scriptures to look at
• Ex 3:14
• Ps. 46:1
• Jn 4:24
• Gen 1:1
• Rom 1:20
• Ps 14:1
• Jn 3:16
• 1 Jn 4:7-10
• Works of Josephus (Roman Historian)
• Antiquities, Bk 18, Ch 3, Paragraph 3
• O: What happens when I OBEY my God? 
• Natural man vs spiritual man (1 Cor 2: 14-16)
• Atheist needs to really learn and know where his/her soul is going after death
• Jesus voiced and validated the spiritual relationship with God
• Jesus fulfilled 456 prophesies
• Scriptures to look at
• 1 Cor 1:18-25
• Jn 4:21-24
• Jn 14:15-26
• Jn 15:26-27
• Jn 16:1-15
• Acts 9:1-18
• Acts 26:12-32
• Heb 12:5-13
• Gal 5:16-22
• 2 Tim 3:1-4:7
• Heb 4:12-13
• Rev 3:20
• Rev 3
• God makes all the difference in the world because he changes us
• D: What is God's eternal DESTINY for me? 
• heaven is mentioned 540 times in the Bible
• Scriptures to look at
• Jn 14: 1-3
• Acts 1-3
• 2 Cor 12:2-5
• Phil 3:20-21
• Rev 21:8

So the conference was pretty packed with some amazing talks. It definitely leaves a lot to think about and go back and look at. If anyone has a question or wants to know more, I will try to answer the questions. 

 

Simply Jesus

The last week was somewhat interesting I would say. So I didn't even know that on Feb 3, it was the National Prayer Breakfast. I only found out that it was a special day listening to the radio and them remarking how President Obama made an uncharacteristic speech at the breakfast. Granted he didn't speak last year so they might have been comparing the speech to that as well. One of the interesting statements that President Obama stated

"And let me tell you, these past two years, they have deepened my faith" and "My Christian faith then has been a sustaining force for me over these last few years" and finally "When I wake in the morning, I wait on the Lord, and I ask Him to give me the strength to do right by our country and its people.  And when I go to bed at night I wait on the Lord, and I ask Him to forgive me my sins, and look after my family and the American people, and make me an instrument of His will." pulled from the White House website HERE


Now I find it interesting due to fact that President Obama professes his faith on this day, but in the past he hasn't been outspoken about his faith or has set the record straight on some of the countries views on his religion. It is interesting that at this point in his Presidential career that he brings it up. Granted, I am not one to judge he is truly in fact a follower of Christ and a Christian, but I also believe that actions that are outwardly done should reflect what you believe in. I honestly haven't seen actions done by the President over the past 2 years align with a Biblical perspective. 


Aside from that, the Lunar New year was celebrated last Thursday, Feb 4th. It's weird that we don't get day off as a holiday, I mean compared with some of the other holidays we get off, we should get this one as well, but I guess the government is bias towards certain holidays. This year is the year of the Rabbit. I got to celebrate the new year with family out here, although we didn't celebrate it till Sunday night. We had lots of food, eleven courses of food. Yes, you heard right 11 courses of food. Chinese meals are pretty much always an odd number of courses. It went from seven courses, to nine, and finally eleven courses. All the food was amazing. The only bad thing was that it rained pretty hard Sunday evening and we were planning on having dinner outside, so we had to move it inside. 

I volunteered to work on Saturday and ended up working for 9 hours. I got to help with some procedures and tests that we were running on a project on Saturday and got to be on the boat most of that time. Working on the weekend was pretty nice, although I do have to say, I don't want to do it every weekend if I can help it. I did get paid OT though for coming in on Saturday. I also saw the New Queen Elizabeth  while it was in Honolulu for its maiden port of call here (and her maiden voyage around the world I believe). It is a pretty sweet looking cruise ship. I have also decided that I would like to go on a cruise sometime, I would like to take the world cruise if possible. 107 days on a cruise boat going to different countries and ports, that would be pretty amazing. 

This past week, New Hope of Honolulu hosted their conference entitled "Simply Jesus" I actually didn't go to the conference part, but I did attend the Unite Worship night on Friday and then also went and listened to Pastor Francis Chan, author of  Crazy Love, on Saturday night at the church's 5pm service. Now I wanted to listen to Francis Chan preach since I read his book Crazy Love. I do have to say I didn't know what he was getting at during his sermon at church that night. He did bring up a few times that we, Christians, should be more courages when it comes to sharing our faith. I agree with this wholeheartedly.  He also gave many verses throughout the sermon, but I didn't get what his theme was or the overall picture of the sermon. I might have just been oblivious to it or just have plain missed it, but I will have to listen to it again. If you would like to watch the sermon, it is located on New Hope of Honolulu's webpage, or just click HERE. One other observation that I saw with this church is that, besides that the church is large (has 5 services), they are heavily into technology and "show and jazz" during the church service. They do incorporate dancing and other forms of worship in their service. They also have high tech video recording capabilities. It's hard to tell from just going once to the church on how Biblically sound pastor is, but again, I can't be the ultimate judge. I do like one story from Francis Chan when he asks leaders in India, "Everyone so intense here, is there there anyone here that just calls them self Christian here? "And the leaders' response was"Why would you do that? You lose everything when you become a Christian, it's only ones that do it that are serious about it." How true is that though, in many countries that there is persecution, there is a "crazy intense" nature to Christians compared to "Christians" in the United States. It is just amazing how easy we have it here and how we take God's grace for granted.