Aloha and Hosanna on this Busy Holy Week!
We pray this letter finds you well and grateful as we
again rejoice in the Scriptures, songs, and ceremonies to welcome our Risen
King Jesus!
I get a bit misty reflecting on that Easter Week camp
where an unsuspecting high school kid was called by Good News applied by the
Holy Spirit to a Heavenly Father through the sacrifice of His Son. I did not sail
to that camp on Catalina Island to get to heaven. I never planned on repenting
of my sins – starting with not consuming the stuff packed in my duffle bag. I
had no plan to trust my future to a God I cannot see. But that was His
sovereign plan. Never has He failed or forsaken me…and my family!
We hope you make time this Holy Week to reflect and
rejoice in God’s grace for you.
Last month we attended the Hawaiian Islands Ministries
conference in Honolulu. We had a great time sharing what the Lord is doing
around the world through IDEAS. Our organization is not yet widely known in our
state. It was encouraging to meet people who were happy to learn about our vision
for people and communities to experience abundant life.
That is also our prayer for the mission field where we
now live. When we met the Hawaii State Director of Child Evangelism Fellowship
two years ago, we had no idea it was possible to host Gospel-outreach right on a
school campus after school hours. We rejoice in this opportunity in our state –
perhaps in yours too? This is very
needed. Many kids are now cut-off from Gospel-opportunity – no contact with
anyone to tell them God’s good news – hidden in plain sight from salvation.
We love the vision of CEF Hawaii, “that every child on
every island can hear the Gospel by the age of twelve.” After two years of
trying, we finally launched a ‘Good News Club’ on the campus of Kohala
Elementary School. https://www.cefhawaii.com/kohala
Our hope was stymied by the refusal of the school to
allow our Good News Club – not just in Kohala, but throughout the state. Very
fortunately Liberty Counsel committed to file a federal lawsuit – CEF Hawaii
vs. Hawaii State Board of Education. It did not take long for the court to
decide for the constitutional right of children to hear the Gospel. Now we are
praying for Bible-believers to establish a witness on all of Hawaii’s 210
elementary schools! Pray!!
Tomorrow, Good Friday, we plan to again “Walk the
Cross” along the main road through our two adjacent little towns – Kapa’au and
Hawi. Christians from several churches take turns to shoulder the wood – on
wheels, thankfully! – as we reflect, repent, and rejoice in the finished work
of our Savior.
Then we will celebrate twice on Resurrection morning.
First we will gather with believers from several
churches for our community sunrise service – followed by breakfast 😉! Then we will have our Easter
service at Kalahikiola Church.
The Gospel message is great, good, and glorious!
This news is great because it is true! The shores of
history are lined with wrecks of broken promises and dashed hopes. But the
claims of Jesus stand, because He stands. The New Testament unfolds the horror
of Jesus’ abandonment. Crosses were designed to make death as long and
agonizing as possible. He was broken by the cross, but He burst the bonds of
sin, death, and hell. He lives. His resurrection is one of the best established
facts in all history.
This is amazingly good news…almost hard to believe.
How can the very God we offend give His best to bring us back? Why should the
God we reject be rejected for us? For some reason we will never understand, God
loves those who will not love Him. God in His goodness has made bad people like
us good. This is the purpose of the cross. God’s justice demands sin’s penalty
be paid. God’s mercy declares He has paid it through the gift of His Son.
Romans hung thousands of people on crosses. Yet there was something unique
about Jesus death. An officer at the foot of His cross said, “Truly, this was
the Son of God!” (Mark 15:39).
No other victim
of Rome was without sin. Yet the enormity of sin was seen in His suffering and
death for the sins of the world. Jesus was also a Victor over Rome. His Kingdom
is more enduring, His Lordship is eternal. Through this very bad event God
brought great good – forgiveness for sin – life from death – heaven, because He
endured our hell.
This news is glorious! Paul, a man of considerable
intellect and experience, said, “God forbid that I should glory, except in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Galatians 6:14). Of all the world’s wonders,
Paul found just one thing ultimately glorious. It seems the cross was a place
of gory, not glory! Surely the misery was unimaginable. But His incalculable
suffering achieved an eternal redemption. Paul gloried in the cross because it
changed him. And as he lifted high the word of the cross, he witnessed more
change – deep within human hearts, through all spheres of ancient cities, and
beyond the realm of established empires. Throughout eternity multitudes from
every nation, culture, tribe, and language will give glory to their Lord Jesus
Christ.
As Glen Scrivner compellingly argues, the resurrection
makes so much sense! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_kyK3PowWc
We are very grateful for your friendship, prayers, and
support as we walk together with our Risen Lord.
