I'm moving to Word Press

So I’ve decided to move to word press. I recently got this new blog software that should make created blogs a little easier (so maybe I can blog more often...) but it doesn’t do pictures really well. It does however seem to work well with word press so I’m making the change.

Please go to http://pastorscottsthoughts.wordpress.com for further reading pleasure.

New Blogs I'm Excited About

So I’ve been a church employee now for the past 7 years or so and during that time I’ve worn several different hats. When I first started I was an intern in charge of the college ministry. Then after two years of that I did the college ministry and I also worked on the maintenance crew outside with Uncle Augie (20 hours each). Then, they moved me to the Singles ministry (where I met my wife Keao). Then in addition to the Singles ministry I also took the job of operations manager. But they gave that portion of my job away so I picked up the Sports ministry (still following?). Finally in the last year I did the Singles (and expanded it to include Couples too), the Sport ministry, Community Service and now my fourth hat IT. I did this all in the span of 7 years.

Of all the things I’ve done, I think I may be least qualified to do the IT. I mean, I like computers and everything but I really have very little formal training on all things related to computers. Maybe it’s because I spend so much time online. Who knows?

One of the first things I’ve been doing recently is trying to get our staff more in tuned with technology and keeping their webpages fresh and with new content. I’m also encouraging them to use more social media like Facebook, Twitter and blogging.

Every once in awhile, I’ll say something good and you know what? People are listening. We now have two more staff members starting blogs. I hope they keep it up (I’m subscribing with my Google reader). So without further ado, if you’re interested, here are our two latest staff blogs.

http://carlmoore.posterous.com/

http://alcolleenkalama.posterous.com/

http://stanton808.posterous.com/

Starting March Off Right

Here's the latest installment of our Ignite monthly newsletter. So far so good. Two months and two newsletters (I started in February, not January). If I can keep up this pace we'll be in good shape.

Avatar v. Pocahontas

So after everyone told me how good Avatar was Keao and I finally caved in and saw it. Don't get me wrong, I did want to see it and we probably would have seen it anyway regardless of whether it was recommended or not. It's just that everyone was recommending it so much I got a little wary (similar to how everyone raved about the first Pirates of the Caribbean).

After seeing it in 3-D (or at least I think it was 3-D, hard to tell with double vision) I can honestly say I thought the story was okay, but the graphics were amazing. I mean, the world of Pandora that they created was visually stunning. The story though I thought was a little cliche and a little new-agey.

With that said, I stumbled on a paper written by Matt Bateman that sums up my thoughts about the story of Avatar (and I'm sure most of you have already seen this little gem as it did make its way around the internet).

Matt's now famous paper

So there you have it. Avatar is a futuristic copy of Pocahontas (and I'm sure a ton of other stories as well). This paper made me laugh out loud, but today I stumbled upon something even more funny than this paper. Somebody had taken the audio of the Avatar trailer and superimposed scenes from Pocahontas over it. Guess what? It matches up perfectly. Don't believe me? Take a look for yourself!

Video Newsletters

So I've decided I'd like to commit to making video newsletters every month this year. Partly to inform people what's happening with Ignite, but also to just fool around with a camera and to see if I can do it. I read somewhere that if you consistently change your website (or keep it somewhat fresh I suppose) then people will tend to look at it on a more regular basis. I don't know about you, but since I haven't received many comments lately, I would have to conclude that either my content isn't fresh enough for anyone to comment on anything or simply, no one looks at this blog anymore. Not that it matters though, I write mainly for me and for posterity's sake.

This month I employed Matt as a camera man and we shot this video in one take right after boot camp (well after I rested and got my heart rate back to normal). I then took about 3 hours to edit it down to 1:40. I can't believe it took that long! Hopefully in the future I can get the editing time down a bit so I don't spend so much time on it.

Anyway, without further ado, here's my very first video newsletter:

What Could Have Been...

A few years ago Kess Wilson got married. Now it's not that big of a deal that he got married, I mean people get married all the time right? Well, Kess is a member of our church and naturally he got married at our church campus. Now, I'm not that close with Kess so I wasn't really invited to his wedding (nor was I expecting one) but Kess' brother is none other than Dean. If you don't know Dean Wilson, he is a Castle High School graduate and one of the most successful professional golfers from Hawaii.

So where am I going with all of this? Well my wife, Keao, is the wedding coordinator at our church and she told me about the wedding. She also mentioned that Dean would be Kess' best man. On Kess' wedding day, I was on the Big Island and so my only request to Keao was to get me an autograph from Dean. Did it happen? Alas, no. She said Dean was a rather imposing figure and she was too intimidated to ask him for an autograph. The most she told him was, "my husband's a big fan!"

Well at least he knows I'm a fan (although I'm sure he doesn't know who I am). So no autograph, no golf ball, nothing.

Fast forward to this year. The Golf Channel did a nice segment on Dean Wilson's home. I wasn't invited to that party either, but Kess is sporting a nice Hope Chapel shirt. Anyway, take a look:

Dim Sum Day!

Last week I got an invitation in my Facebook mailbox inviting me to an event called "Dim Sum Day". Now if you know me, you know that I absolutely love Chinese food and of all the Chinese food there is Dim Sum is probably at the very top of the list. So after accepting the invitation as fast as I could, all that remained was the countdown to the big day.

Well, today was that day and here are some pictures.

Chinese New Year is less than a month away so the Chinese Cultural Plaza was gearing up for the big holiday

Our restaurant of choice, Won Kee

Matt Kudo was the event organizer. We know each other from church and he's a great guy. Whenever he invites me to anything I always try to accept because he normally does really fun and exciting things. I've never eaten at Won Kee, but have passed it many times on the way to Legends (right next door). Was it as good as Legends? Take a look at some of the pictures.

Richard and Leah sample some of the wares

There were fourteen of us split over two tables

This was a first for me, chicken feet

More food including my favorite, deep fried taro puffs. We also had a sesame roll (the black thing on the bottom) and some sort of look fun wrapped pastry (top left)

Table 1: Irene, Matt, Kacie, Bryon, Grant, Caelly and Mel

Table 2: Matt, Art, Richard, Leah, Steve and Rachel

Overall, it was a great meal. I definitely tried things I never tried before thanks to Art who took over the ordering duties (he did a great job). I didn't realize how many varieties of dessert dim sum were. Congratulations to Steve too. For someone living on this island for 33 years, it was his very first time trying dim sum in a Chinese restaurant. Of course a special thanks to Matt who said he organized this get together because he "wanted to eat dim sum and [he] wanted to eat it with friends". I'm stoked he considers me a friend. Lastly, we all ate until our hearts content and the meal came out to $8 a person. Not bad, not bad at all.

...And Adios Means Good-Bye

The sign that welcomes patrons on Kapahulu Ave.

Well, it's official. The La Bamba era of Mexican food in Honolulu is over. For the past few years La Bambas has been a favorite spot for Keao and I. It's a place where we can get authentic Mexican food prepared by authentic Mexican cooks. A place where the service is friendly, the portions are generous and of course where take out is their specialty (mmm, that's sounds good, I'll have a take out please).

Of course since we heard the place was closing we had to have one final meal there. It was kind of sad knowing that we wouldn't be able to get the best guacamole on the island anymore along with such favorites as the nachos or lamb butaquitos. But I guess at some point all good things must come to an end.

This was truly a sad sight to see...

Apparently we weren't the only ones who heard about La Bamba closing, the line outside was huge!

Some of the other lucky patrons who already had a seat

The restaurant itself is quite small, it probably seats less than fifty, but when you only have one waitress named Dina, I'm sure fifty is quite enough. That night we brought a group of eleven and we took up two tables. We felt a little bad bypassing the line but hey, we had reservations so and we were about to eat some crazy good food so I guess in hindsight we didn't feel that bad at all (plus I had the super-VIP parking too!)

That's Dina in the brown shirt yelling something into the kitchen

Either everyone is really pleased (notice the thumbs up) or they're fighting to see who prays

Some of the authentic Mexican cuisine

Maybe it was the fact that they were closing or maybe it was just hunger, it seemed that everyone didn't hold back when it came to ordering. The popular orders for the night were the chimichanga plate (dos) with beans and rice and La Bamba's oversized burritos.

That's a burrito on the left covered with melted cheese

Ocha-san (Ted) seemed really excited about his burrito (but then again he's always excited about oversized burritos)

Notice how clean Ocha-san's plate is! No need even wash

Uncle David in the kitchen working his magic

By the time we left we were stuffed and a little sad. We're really going to miss this place. Keao and I loved it so much we even had our appreciation dinner here for everyone who volunteered at our wedding. We'll definitely miss the food, the charm and of course the excellent service. Good luck in the future La Bamba ohana and God bless

High School Rivalries

Rivalries. They are everywhere. From sibling rivalries to sports you can't escape that there is just something special about beating your most hated rivals. Most rivalries are born when two competitors (whether intentional or not) meet or compete time and time again. For a rivalry to really be good, both sides should be competitive. If it's too lopsided (one team wins all the time), it becomes a boring rivalry. If you think about all famous rivalries (Yankees/Red Sox, Ohio State/Michigan or USC/UCLA to name a few) they all have a great fan base and a bitter hatred toward each other.

When it comes to high schools, we didn't have a rival. I went to a small, Baptist high school that didn't seem to think that anyone could compete with them so we didn't have a rival in the traditional sense (plus we had to play the large group sports by combining with other small schools).

But then I saw how two schools on the mainland took their rivalry to a new level. One school made a lip-dub video and basically told their rival to top it. Whether they did or not is up to debate (I think you can vote on which video you like more) but either way I thought it was great. There wasn't any trash talking or viciousness. It was simply this is what we did so see if you can do better.

This first video is the challenge and the second one is the response. Got a favorite rival that you want to challenge? I'd like to see what you can do!

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore

One of the great parts of my job as a pastor is being able to travel to Japan once a year. I have now gone to Japan maybe 9 times or so, but this year for the first time, I had a chance to go to a Japanese Costco. Big deal you may be saying to yourself. Costco? We have a Costco here.

And while it is true that we do indeed have a Costco here there are a few subtle differences between our Costco and the Japanese version. For one, the Japanese Costco takes yen and ours uses the more standard American dollar. But seriously, there were some pretty cool things at the Japanese Costco.

It's so Americanized that even the word 'entrance' is in English



Difference #1: I've never seen snow blowers at our Costco

Actually the biggest difference was in the foods. Our Costco just seems to have regular sized items that are just packaged in larger quantities. The Japanese Costco had larger sized fruits and vegetables that came in larger quantities.

Look at the size of those pears!

Here's Sharon giving new meaning to the phrase 'daikon legs'

The largest green onions I have ever seen in my life

Now if you're honest with yourself you know that one of the biggest reasons Costco is so enjoyable is the samples they give away. In Japan they don't mess around. They don't give away burrito samples or a few pita chips like we do. They give away freshly fried steak, raw salmon and even seasoned seaweed!

Some steak coming off the fryer



This was an soy bean tofu that I didn't particularly care for



But it was relatively inexpensive



Mmm, salmon (notice the small bottle of shoyu on the side)



Those salmon fillets look delicious



No samples of these, but the octopus and squid did look good



She didn't want to be in my picture, but she did open her cooler so we could see the samples



Yup, a big box of seaweed

And of course after a hard morning of shopping we did have to eat lunch somewhere. Again, it's like our Costco except with a few minor differences.

Can you spot the differences?



If you said Clam Chowder and Bulgogi Bake give yourself 100 points



Inside the Bulgogi Bake



The Clam Chowder was surprisingly good



And of course, one last reminder that we're truly in Japan is their birthday cake

We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.

Sometimes I am at a complete loss for words. The Bible tells us that sometimes we don't even know what to pray for, but the Holy Spirit will intercede on our behalf and pray with words that cannot be expressed (Romans 8:26). This is one of those times.

Yesterday I found out that while on their way to a conference in Oregon, a group of Bible college students from Colorado lost control of their van on the icy road and spun out of control. 13 of the 16 aboard were ejected. Two of them didn't make it.

Of course this is tragic in any case. Anytime there is such a loss of life it is sad. What brings this closer to home is the fact that one of the two people who passed away is the brother of one of our MiniChurch shepherds, Joy Pishcura.

So many times heard stories of tragic events all over the world and it seems so far away and so distant. It rarely hits this close to home. Not only was Joshua young (he was only 20) but he was on his way to doing great things in the Kingdom of God. He had his whole life ahead of him. He was taken away much too soon.

Please continue to pray for Joy and the whole Pishcura family. In addition to Josh passing away, his sister Katy was also a passenger in the van and she is in the ICU in Boise, Idaho. Pray for God's peace, pray for healing, pray for their families and friends and pray for all the love and support they will need in the upcoming weeks.

You can read the Denver Post's coverage of the accident here.

A Funny Story from the Road

So it's been a while since I've last blogged. A real long while. It's not for a lack of things to blog about as much as just laziness. So sorry. I'll try not to be this lazy in the future.

The last few months have been a blur. At one point I spent 21 out of 22 nights sleeping away from home because I went on a missions trip to Japan followed by a wedding in New York and a vacation in Boston. Needless to say, I came back exhausted.

But Japan was great. I really feel like we're making great progress there and I can't wait to go back next year. There are many great stories from Japan and rather than try to write all of them now, I'll give you a funny one to start out with.

One of the great things that Pastor Ohigashi is doing in Sapporo is encouraging the house church movement. So one day during the middle of the week we drove out to Yoichi to visit them and stopped along the way in Otaru town.

Because there were a bunch of us going out to the country, we took two cars. In our car we took along a man named Mr. Honma. I love Mr. Honma. He is a man after my own heart. I guy loves to eat (all the omiyage he gives us is food). He has even been known to leave church (while it's still in session) to go and find something to eat. Needless to say, the man is hungry!

That's Honma-san on the bottom

So anyway, we stopped in Otaru town and did a little sightseeing. Otaru is an old town with many little shops selling trinkets and little knick-knacks. Of course, like many places in Hokkaido, they also have soft-cream.

Cruising the streets of Otaru

Now in Otaru they take their soft cream very seriously. There's not just your standard chocolate or vanilla. That would be way too amateur. They don't even do the twist where they mix two flavors together. Rather, in Otaru they stack up the different flavors that you order (like a little soft serve snowman).

Here's the exciting menu board

There are seven flavors you can choose from including milk, melon, green tea and even lavender. But like I mentioned earlier, you can get some stacked. They have a "flavors of Hokkaido" with five flavors or for those not as adventurous you can choose the one with three flavors.

Dural wasn't playing any games and got the five flavors



Akane opted for a more modest three

So anyway, Akane (the girl in the picture above) was one of our translators and because she speaks both Japanese and English, she was our designated orderer. Of course we all fired our orders to her and she had the unenviable task of relaying to the girl behind the counter making our soft creams. But in all the hustle and bustle, she forgot to order Mr. Homna's soft cream (you know, the one who loves to eat). I'm not going to lie, I have never seen a sadder looking man in my life. He looked positively crestfallen. We were in a rush and the line was long, so we weren't even sure if he would have enough time to stand in line again.

But as luck would have it (because I'm sure some of you are feeling really sorry for him right now) David, another team member, was already in line and Mr. Honma got to have a soft cream like the rest of us.

Once we got on the road again, Mr. Honma shared his feelings toward almost being left out of the soft cream party. Through our translator Akane, he said his spirit became sad when he saw all of us happily eating our soft creams. He asked God, "Why? Why can't I have a soft cream too?".

Then, he said, when he say David come with a soft cream for him, he was overjoyed. He said he wanted to jump up and down but he was afraid that he might drop his soft cream and become saddened again.

So I told Mr. Honma, "Well you know, we did order for you the soft cream the first time, but the person who failed to get it for you is sitting right next to you." To which Akane, who was sitting right next to Mr. Honma sheepish looked at me and said, "I'm not going to interpret that."

And she didn't. Poor Mr. Honma will never know why he didn't get to eat soft cream with the early crew.

The Man, the Myth, the Legend

A few weeks ago we had a smoking class at church. No, not that kind of smoking silly. We learned how to make smoked meats and cheeses. It was a great class because all class long you could smell the smell of brisket, pork, ribs, salmon and cheese smoking away. Even now, my stomach is rumbling at the thought of how good the food was.

Anyway, the week before the class I got a random call from a woman named Iris. She heard about the class and was interested in doing a similar class at her work place. She's recreational specialist for the City and County of Honolulu and she works at Kualoa Regional Park.

I don't know if you know this, but for five fun-filled summers, I worked at Kualoa as a camp counselor. I didn't have the privilege of working with Iris, but we definitely worked with some of the same people. So while she was on the phone, I told her that I worked there from '97-'01 and we exchanged the usual pleasantries.

Summer camp 1999

Kualoa was one of the best experiences of my life. I mean, what other job pays you to go camping every summer? Not only that, but we did 3-day camps so if you had wonderful kids you looked forward to the next camp and if your kids were rotten you were only stuck with them for three days. What a beautiful system!

Not only that, but we got to dress up, plan skits, play games and basically be kids all over again. I learned how to steer a canoe, honed my puppetry skills and learned how to sleep on tables (because someone once told me that centipedes couldn't climb up table legs).

Man, I wish I still knew where my Bruce Lee costume was!

It was also at Kualoa where I learned the joys of tempera paint. For some reason almost every costume at Kualoa used generous amounts of paint. Of course, many of the activities involved costumes so we must have gone through gallons of the stuff. I'm amazed that no one developed any sort of skin problems over the years based on the amount of paint that regularly covered our bodies.

I'm not sure who I'm supposed to be, but judging by the picture I was some Polynesian member of KISS

So anyway, back to the smoking class. Iris shows up and I walk over to her to introduce myself. The first thing that comes out of her mouth and I swear I'm not making this up is "you're Scott? I asked about you when we got off the phone. You're a legend at Kualoa." The last line she whispered, almost reverently. At first my only reaction was one of surprise. "Legend?" I responded. "I'm no legend. Mr. Bryce, now he's a legend. Compared to him I'm more of a folktale."

Right before we took the canoes out (that's Mr. Bryce on the far left)

Of course over time some things get blown out of proportion and stories get more embellished. Still I would hardly consider myself a legend. There were many great people that I got to work with that had been there as long as I had (and even longer). Oddly enough, there were many of us that worked there at least five years considering the job was really for college students.

But I don't think I have ever worked with a more talented and dedicated group of people. They amazed me every week with their costumes and creativity. Every week we had to do skits, come up with new dances and songs and keep each other entertained. And I can say with confidence that over those five years I hardly saw anyone repeat a song or skit. Not to say that everything was original, but even the recycled material had tons of new variants added to it.

So a legend? Nah. The only thing I ever did there that even garnered any attention was one costume that I wore at final assembly. I was inspired by my people, the ancient Hawaiians and it consisted of a single piece of fabric.

Look Mom, I tied it all by myself!