BE STILL AND KNOWTHAT I AM GOD Psalms 46:10

We have all been there at one time or another, or imagine this if you will: the kids are screaming, the dog is barking, the phone is ringing, the alarm on the microwave is going off, the tv is blaring and your security system is saying that you have an intruder.....you get the picture...pure CHAOS.

Sometimes, it can just be the hustle and bustle of your daily routine, wake up, shower, brush your teeth, get the kids up, get them breakfast, get them ready, pack their lunch, fix their hair, sign their homework, check your schedule, remember your briefcase, drive the kids to school, drop them off, give your son your last $20 for his class project, your daughter reminding you about hula class, your cel phone ringing and your boss telling you that your 10 am meeting is now a 8 am.......CHAOS, PURE CHAOS.

Where was our time for God, where was the peace we need to stay focused, where was the joy of the Lord. Just as we yell at our kids to 'JUST BE QUIET, BE STILL', is the same way our Heavenly Father is looking down upon us.....just be still, and know that I am God

My prayer today is that all of us may find some time in our day to talk with God, in the quiet time, not inbetween the expresso and scone, but before the manifestations of this world begin, let us begin with the orchestration from God.

Be blessed so you may bless others

AS THE WORLD HATES, WE SHALL SHOW LOVE

If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you John 15:18-19

We live in turbulent times, troubled times, challenging times to say the very least. The news is filled with stories of violent deaths, broken families, financial tragedies, everything pointing to the erosion of our society as we know it. So much hatred in the world from the most obvious such as racism and genocide, to the subtleties of 'off color' humor, or distasteful jokes. All of these actions contribute to the demise of our human race.

For Christians, it seems as if the microscope of scrutiny is placed over us as soon as we announce our faith. Our lives did not get easier once we came to the Lord, it became more apparent that we were going to have to make some tough decisions along the path we had chosen to follow. Despite all of the murmurings, all of the insults, the insinuations, we still have to honor our Lord and Savior and follow his commands.

This is my command: Love each other John 15:17

There is no separation on who we can love; it doesn't say only 'our friends', only 'Christians', only 'our good neighbors', only 'the people we like'. No, it says 'love each other'. Maybe that is why we have prayer, so we can pray to God to give us the strength to love on those that we cannot love, for whatever reason.

Until we can begin to truly love everyone, we are truly being hypocritical. As Jesse Duplantis says, 'the Lord says we have to love everyone, but we don't have to like'em...' I can appreciate that. Let us all hope and pray that we are filled with the same compassion that Jesus had for us, for we were and still are all sinners. He paid the price on the cross for all of us, and we can never repay him.

But then again, maybe if were to follow his commandments, his instructions, his laws...that would be a greater demonstration of our love for Him, than to just say, 'I love Jesus'. To love me is to obey me He said....maybe we should do more of that.

Blessings to all so we may continue to bless others....Aloha ke Akua

It Was By Faith...

'Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation.' Heb 11:1-2

It was by faith that Noah built the ark. It was by faith that Abraham obeyed God to leave his home and go to another land. It was by faith that Sara was able to have a child. It was by faith that Abraham offered Issac as a sacrifice. It was by faith that Issac offered blessings to his sons Jacob and Esau. It was by faith that Moses left Egypt. It was by faith that the people of Israel walked the riverbed of the the Red Sea. It was by faith that the people of Israel walked around Jericho for seven days. The list is endless of those that have lived not only for their faith, but because of their faith.

I am ashamed, actually embarrassed....I ask myself, what have I done in faith or by faith lately? Really, we all talk about faith, we sing about faith, we 'act' in faith...but do we really LIVE in faith? Be honest....when I think of living by faith, I envision all of our missionaries because they are truly living by and in faith. I am humbled by their dedication and commitment.

I pray today not only for myself, but for all my brothers and sisters both known and unknown, that we shall live more BY FAITH, and IN FAITH in trusting our Heavenly Father. We don't have to live perfect lives, just live HOLY. Let us all be slow to speak, quick to repent, and even quicker to forgive...then, and only then will we all be on a better path in pleasing our God. Let us live more by faith so we too may earn a good reputation.

Now be blessed so you may be a blessing to others, random acts of aloha or kindness will never go unseen by God. As God has reached out and touched your heart, may you find the compassion and boldness to help someone less fortunate than you this week.

Aloha ke Akua

Do You Remember Joshua.....

Joshua prepared to cross the river Jordan, and the Lord instructed him to gather 12 men from the 12 tribes of Israel to cross the river before the ark of the Lord. The waters would be rescinded and the 12 stones would mark a memorial for all of Israel.

Our challenge today is we forget too many things. What memorials do we have...I can’t even remember what I had for lunch most of the time. With computers, Blackberrys, Crackberrys, PDA’s, Treo’s, laptops, cel phones…we ALLOW OURSELVES to forget things. We don’t have to think because we have all of this ‘time saving’ technological gadgets to help us ‘remember’.

So what is my point…my point is God wanted Joshua and the people of Israel to REMEMBER the events that had taken place and to NOT FORGET what had happened. We as the children of God act like children more often than naught, and we should be ashamed of ourselves. We forget, we fail to remember, we become distracted on all of the WONDERFUL things that God has done for us. How many of you have been delivered by the grace of God in a financial struggle? How many of you have been delivered from a sickness or health problem by the grace of God? How many of you have been delivered from a challenging situation by the grace of God? Did you tell your kids about it? Did you tell them how they need to be faithful to the Creator of Heaven an Earth? Did you tell your friends, not your church friends, but your work friends, your soccer mom friends, your little league friends, your AYSO friends…did you tell them how Great our God is? And you sit there and ask yourself why our children do not know God? Remember this if nothing else today, Know God Know Peace, No God No Peace. That is one of my all time favorite bumper stickers……all time.

So what happens during a drought and the river Jordan begins to rescind and dry up; what do the people see? They see the memorial that God had instructed Joshua to build at the river bed...to remind them of God's awesome power. Those stones symbolized that God will never forsake us, even when the outlook is bleak, He will once again do mighty things for His people. We forget how great and awesome our God is too quickly.

We All Need Somebody....

Check this link out....

http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=92498347764&h=wGU10&u=I7MZw

I LOVE THIS CLIP....SO AWESOME....One song, one voice, one prayer. We all need somebody, sometime, somewhere...we are not just islands floating in the ocean of life...we are all connected....through the one and only JESUS CHRIST, and the sooner we get it, the sooner we'll get it.

No matter who you are, now matter where you go, you'll need somebody to stand by you. We were not created to walk this Earth by ourselves, God gave us a companion, he gave us someone that we would have by our side. In our society today, it seems more and more the norm that you have to 'act' to be 'somebody'....it's 'all about me' runs rampant with our teenagers today. Kids today all want to 'grow up' as fast as they can, at the sacrifice of losing the innocence of their youth. Why is it we can't wait to get older, and then when we get older, we spend our time chasing the fountain of youth....makes you think.

As Jesus surrounded himself with his disciples, to love on, to teach and then to send out to preach the Good Word, they were His family. Firm discipline combined with compassionate love helped each of them grow as men of God, and go forth to spread the Gospel. Like our family, we too should take the lead and do the same. Make the time to be with your kids, go to the park, watch the sun set or count the clouds in the sky. It's OK to be bored, to let your mind wander, so you can dream....how many of us still know how to dream, or is that just too childish?

There will come a time, maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but there will come a time in your life that we will all need somebody, and may we be there to support each other. God is always with us, but sometimes a BIG ANGEL HUG can make a world of difference. Go in peace with the blessing of our Lord

Daddy, You're The Greatest

What sweet music to my ears, when I hear my daughter Isabella say those words.....'daddy, you're the greatest'.... That is all we as men, as fathers need to hear from their children, an acknowledgement of who we are, what we are, and what we stand for.

"Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her" Ephesians 5:25

The greatest and most important thing that any father can do for his children is to love their mother. As in the scripture above, Christ gave the ultimate sacrifice for the church, and ultimately for us. How many of us love our wives wholeheartedly that we would do the same...don't answer that, just think about it. This is the same woman that honored you with giving her life to you, for better or for worse; the same woman that has put up with all of your antics over the years; the same woman that has birthed your children and raised them with you; the same woman that has believed in you from day one; the same woman that would go without, so that your children may have; the same woman that manages the household 365 days a year, a tireless and thankless task; the same woman that still looks at you with eyes filled with love and happiness...the same woman that made a vow to be your wife.

Men, when did we get so arrogant, when did we forget all of the shared struggles and battles we had, when did we begin to think it was all about 'me', and not about HIM? Men, when did we begin to take our wives for granted and forget to wake up with a joyful heart and to go to sleep with a grateful heart because the Lord blessed us with an angel? Men, when did we think that we became 'PLAYERS' and forgot about our Daily 'PRAYERS'?

Funny, as I get older, it seems that the Lord has not gotten weary of constantly repeating himself to me, and has not given up on banging my head with his ever so Holy 2' x 4'. As men we are such creatures of habit, and yet even when we know that what we are doing is not the best choice....we continue to do it. Why is that? I implore all men who are married.....do the right thing....Love on your wife, so that your children may see you as 'the greatest daddy. One day every man will answer to God for his actions, all of his actions, and that frightens me. True, we cannot make up for the past, but we can ask for forgiveness and make the future better, with God, by God and for God. I will continue to pray for all of the husbands and fathers out there, that by God's grace, you can come into alignment for your assignment, and that God will have favor over you.

A Fatherless Society

We Live In a Fatherless World

There are many factors that create a sense of fatherlessness in our society. Over 50% of children in North America will grow up at some point in a single parent home. 1/3 of live births are to unmarried women. Over one million men with children under 18 are in prison. And every year, thousands of children lose their fathers prematurely due to untimely accidents and illnesses

The end result is that millions of children do not a have father living in their home. The absence of a father's love impacts every area of the life of our communities. Fatherless children are 2-5 times more likely to drop out of school. 75% of people in drug abuse centers come from fatherless homes. And the statistics continue to mount daily.

Most gang members do not have a father in the home. 90% of homeless and run away teens come from fatherless homes. 71% of teen pregnancies are of children of single parents. 75% of all teen suicides are to children of single parents. Children of single parent homes are 2-3 times more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems. And 85% of all youth in prisons grew up in a fatherless home.

Statistics do not lie:

Statistics clearly state that the absence of a father's love in a home, dramatically increases the chance for the children to drop out of school, to have emotional and behavioral problems, abuse drugs, run away from home and commit crimes that lead to prison. While it would be ideal if all of the hurting fathers would return to their homes and take their rightful God given place, the reality of this happening is remote, if not impossible.

FATHERLESS CHILDREN GROW UP TO BE FATHERLESS ADULTS

IT IS A GENERATIONAL CURSE, THAT WE HAVE TO REVERSE