I was asked several times and in several ways during a few of our leadership sessions about the “success” of our church (however that is defined) and what is the key. I answered that by saying, “Jesus didn’t call us to be successful…He calls us to be faithful (however that us defined). But I know for sure that one thing faithfulness is not; that would be just showing up. Do you notice that sometimes people feel they should be rewarded for showing up? Showing up is the lowest expectation in my book. To me, faithfulness is wrapped up in the Jesus’ Parable of the Talents. And if you noticed, it was a whole lot more than the just showing up. Talk to you soon!

Blessings,

Mike Kai

I’m on my way to Osaka tonight and as I reflect on my time in Bangkok, I really believe that this was one of the most fruitful and personally rewarding trips I’ve ever been on.

The Our Home Chapel people were amazing and Pastors Kelly and Angie Hilderbrand have done an incredible job in their first ten years in Thailand.

Blessings,
Mike Kai

(I’m sitting in a cafe in my hotel in Bangkok, Thailand. I’m waiting for my brunch to arrive.)

Last night I had the honor of teaching some leadership and church growth stuff to the leaders of Our Home Chapel. I met up with our team from HCWO who just left for Honolulu this morning.  By the way, we met at their brand new eight story facility that cost about a million dollars to build. Absolutely amaZing!

As a sidenote, I’m tyring to get their pastor and his wife to come to our HNL 09 later this month but he is having trouble obtaining a visa from the U.S. Embassy. Anybody got any connections?

Please pray for me. I have to teach/preach three more times by Sunday.

Our church hit a major milestone this past weekend. It’s a goal that I never set out to conquer but knew that if we continued to take serious Jesus’ command to “make disciples” that it would be inevitable that we would make it to that point. You see, this past weekend our church, Hope Chapel West O’ahu (www.hcwo.com) had over 1,000 people in attendance at our weekend services (including HS, College, cockroaches). Honestly? It was a big relief. A total exhale. Yet, I know that all Glory goes to Jesus and without Him we would not be open or worse yet, we’d be a country club selling rotten kool aid to any who would drink it. 

At today’s staff meeting we celebrated. Yep, I bought a cake and Lisa bought the balloons and we ate, rejoiced, cried (me), and prayed. It was a memorable moment. Altar building is what it really was. Yet, I told them, “today and tonight, we build an altar. Someday we’ll come back and visit this holy place but there is still more to reach.” The “praise Jesus’s” and the “atta-boys” were passed around liberally today and we savored the moment and will do so for another five days or so. But this was never the destination nor ever the goal. The real goal is to be what Jesus called “salt and light” not matter what that looks like. 

Ed Silvoso once said that “we will reach the multitudes when we go from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth.” I think he meant that if we go to the “ends of the earth,” we’d naturally have to travel through our Jerusalem’s and Judea’s and Samaria’s. So, we’ll focus on taking the gospel to the ends of the earth. 

So, yes, a thousand is great. Several hundred have been saved in the last seven years. I wish we could’ve kept them all. This one thing I’m sure of: if we continue to have a heart for the harvest as the primary thing we do, everything else comes naturally. Lastly, I’ve learned that a church that is focused on the harvest doesn’t doesn’t worry if the Spirit is moving or not; can you think of a great move of God than salvation resulting in the regeneration of man?  I’m not sure one exists.

This morning, I was talking to Pastor Rob Gross from Mountain View Community Church about our fast. I told him that there was a “buzz” in our church about what we’re doing and particularly on Sunday morning. Everyone seemed so excited. What are we going to eat, etc…

Then he told me something worth noting. Fasting is about Love Sickness. Huh? Yep. Love sick. Ever been there? When was the last time? Junior high? HS? Last week?

Good Morning!
Last night my friend Steve and I were talking about our fast and the particulars of such an ambitious endeavor for two local boys who love their sushi, Zippy’s fried chicken and sweet and sour spareribs with macaroni salad (doesn’t it sound like I’m an inmate on death row planning his last meal request?).

So we gave our Daniel fast a name. We’re calling it the Danny-Boy or the Kaniala (which in Hawaiian means….Daniel. Ta-da!).

All kidding aside, I’m really looking forward to hearing God’s voice during this fast. How’s it going for you so far?

Also, if you’ve ordered or would like to purchase a One Year Chronological Bible to track with us (offer limited to O’ahu-ans), they are now available and may be picked up at our new offices at the Waikele Shopping Center between 9AM-6PM, Tuesday ’til Friday.