Leaving Honolulu

Accessing the internet from our hotel is quite expensive ($20 an hour) so I'm typing as fast as I can! The conference was great but I'll write more about it when I get home.

The cruise on Tuesday night was very pleasant. It had been a bit windy so it was a little choppy but not too bad. Wednesday we went to the pre-conference session in the morning and to the opening sessions in the evening. Thursday morning we caught a trolley (like a tram on wheels) into Waikiki and checked out the beach and shops before going to the conference later in the day. Friday morning we caught a couple of local buses around the south-east corner of the island. It was very scenic. Afternoon and evening we were at the final sessions of the conference. Saturday we went on an organized tour of Pearl Harbour, Punchbowl and down town Honolulu. They have been doing some improvements to the harbour area and the memorial had been closed during the week. Consequently it was extremely busy and what should have been a morning tour ended up being a 3pm tour. Nevertheless it was a fascinating insight into history.

This morning (Sunday) we again went to New Hope Church. We head home tomorrow morning.

Arriving in Honolulu

We arrived in Honolulu at 6:30am on Saturday feeling rather exhausted as we left home at 5:30am also on Saturday, though it was 22 hours earlier. Anyway we managed to find our hotel and get our bearings. We went for a walk which was somewhat dangerous - being jet lagged and looking in the wrong direction every time we crossed a road! We also managed to find the shopping centre and something to eat.

Sunday morning we went to New Hope Church which was great. It just so happened they were having some baptisms that afternoon so we went to that too. Probably over 100 people were baptised.

Monday we went on a tour of the island. The guide was very informative and we saw many sights and learnt a lot about Hawaii. The tour went as far as the north shore and we saw some pretty impressive waves.

I have figured out the bus system in Honolulu. It is very cheap ($2.25 anywhere) and very efficient so today we caught a bus up the Manoa Valley. Unfortunately it rained most of the morning but we found a nice place to have lunch and the rain had mostly cleared by the time we had finished.

If we were at home it would now be our wedding anniversary so tonight we are going on a dinner cruise.

The conference starts tomorrow.

Up, up and away

Today I'm leaving to catch a plane in order to attend the Doing Church as a Team conference which I posted about last year.

Hopefully I will get the chance to update my blog while I'm away. If not, I'll be back in about 10 days.

Devotional Thought : James 3:1

Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. James 3:1

This sentence introduces James’ teaching on the need to control our tongues and the important word here is "presume". It is an easy trap to fall into since we presume so many things in life. In fact in order for us to make sense of life we make assumptions. We assume day follows night, weeks flow into months, year follows year. We assume people will turn up for work; we assume people will relate to us in the way they always have; we assume life will continue in much the same way as it has. When a crisis occurs we go into shock because it disrupts our assumptions. So we slip into the habit of thinking we can make assumptions about each other.

However this is not the case, God is doing an individual work in each of us. Philippians 1:6 tell us, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. God is doing a good work in each of our lives but we can’t presume that we know what God is doing in someone else’s life. When Peter asked Jesus about John, someone he had been in close contact with for three years, Jesus replied "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me" (John 21:22).

Sometimes we feel like we have the perfect solution to someone’s problem but unless it is God-given we haven’t a clue. James tells us not to presume to teach. It requires us to be humble and acknowledge only God really knows what is best for each us.

We are not of those who shrink back

Most years I like to post at least once about the Australian Open Tennis Tournament. This year I watched on television as Justine Henin played in the fourth round. She was down break points and saved them by hitting winners. I’ve also watched other players who, when they are down break points, play conservatively in the hope that their opposition will make an error. I would love to know what goes through Henin’s mind when she faces break points because at such times, she has the confidence to hit the ball with her full force.

Spiritually, it makes me think that when we face difficult circumstances we need to play our best shots; and we can only play our best shots if our confidence is in God. Difficult circumstances should not make us shrink back but rather they present us with an opportunity to express our faith in God. As the writer of Hebrew writes: But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved (Hebrews 10:38-39).