I took my brother in law, Steve, to attend a men's retreat out in Hana this weekend. That's a 37 mile journey with 617 switchbacks that takes roughly two hours to drive. Do the math. You go there and back on the same day you have changed direction (north, south, north, south) on tight hairpin turns 1234 times. Hana is like Hawaii before it became a state with couple thousand people living in a seaside village who don't get alot of tourists or traffic. The majority of the town is employed by the local hotel (very nice turn of the century hotel) or else they fish and sell fruit. There's not much else to do there except just be in paradise which is not bad in itself. The retreat was very good with churches from all over the state in attendance. Very cool campsites with thatched roof hale's (huts) and outdoor showers in the midst of palm trees. The meeting was held at the very edge of lava cliffs that dropped about 20 feet down straight to the clear blue ocean. The waves pounding them would send spray up into the air making for a backdrop that was unlike anything I've ever seen for a worship service. The worship leader got up and sang "Every Move I Make" which has a line in it about "waves of mercy, waves of grace..." I just laughed at the sight of these waves pounding the rocks and splashing into the air right behind him as he sang. It reminded me of a dream I had years ago of worshipping God at the edge of the ocean and singing that very song. Apparently God hadn't forgotten that dream. Here's good news for you today. God remembers the dreams that you have forgotten. When I was little, I dreamt of being a diver. My folks bought me an action figure set with a little guy who had a scuba tank and a boat. I would set the boat on the edge of a chair and everything under the seat of the chair was the mysterious underwater world. If ever there was a diver on tv or a Mutual of Omaha special with Jacques Cousteau I was rivited. It was my superbowl. For a long time I completely forgot about that. When I started this job with the dive boat, I was thrilled. But never expected what would happen to me the first time I hooked up the regulator, strapped on the bc vest, adjusted my gear, and jumped off the boat into the ocean. I took a breath underwater and suddenly I was 10 years old all over again. I mean the same exact feeling, emotion, dream, everything. It was quite a moment. While remembering is the key to saying encouraged and strengthened, He will begin to fulfill your dreams that you have left behind, forgotten in yesterday and in doing so will bring you to a place of supernatural power for today and expectation for tomorrow. I wonder what other dreams I've forgotten that God remembers? It's like being a kid on Christmas morning.

I love a good story. Growing up in the midst of master storytellers, I could sit and listen to the accounts of fishing trips gone wrong, hunting trips gone right, and all manner of tales for hours and never get bored. Jesus encouraged us to share the family stories. Deut 6 gives some stern instruction from God for us to make sure that we pass down the record of what God has done and is doing from generation to generation. In doing this it gives opportunity for the next generation to make our ceiling their floor and expand upon the inheritance they are given by us. For this reason I share testimonies. It's not about entertainment. For one thing, being aware of the need to guard the integrity of what God is doing here has taken me to a place where I care less about exciting people and more about the presence of the living God. Deut 29:29 tells us that what has been revealed belongs to us forever. Revelation is never to be lost or forgotten or else we also lose the fire of expectation and awareness of the God who invades the impossible. It's that lack of ongoing experience that has been in the past a point of stumbling for me. I always dreamed of what the Christian life should look like and what may happen if I were to be completely dependent on the Holy Spirit. Signs, wonders, and miracles would be the norm as they were in the life of Jesus, yet for many years most of what I demonstrated was not power but theology. I hoped for things to take place that would remind us all that the living God still acknowledged our offering of worship and that the Spirit empowered what I had to say. No doubt there were individuals who were in a place of revival, but corporately I wasn't prepared to lead one. My dreams of how it was supposed to be were too fantastic to ever seem as though they could be realized. Yet now, things are taking place that go beyond what I have imagined.

It's easy to fall into the snare of hyping a move of God to provoke God and man to action. This is why baseless hype is so dangerous. It misrepresents what God is actually doing. This is why we need to repent and take the gospel of the kingdom outside of the church. We are kept honest by what we take out there. We are kept honest in what we claim to believe by meshing together the foundation of teaching with the practice of doing. If we are not doing what we're teaching, perhaps we ought not teach it. Jesus hung His entire ministry and mission of whether or not He did the works of the Father. He says in John 10:37 "If I do not do the works of my Father, don't believe Me." It's time for the church to declare, "If we don't do the works of our Father, don't believe us." It is this declaration that will be the dividing point that separates out the believers from the faithless apostate church of the last days for the Kingdom of God is not is word but in power.

To create a culture that sustains a movement of revival, it's actually more simple and wonderful and obvious than I would have ever thought. (Matt 10) Preach one message, repent (change the way you think) for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (within reach). Then demonstrate the reality of it. Heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead, freely you have received, freely give. The concept is simple. If we teach what Jesus said to teach, and do what Jesus said to do, we'll see what He said we would see. His Kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

At last night's service we had a number of great testimonies as God moved. Many words and prophecies were given which was fantastic. It was like a well of water that overflowed in the middle of the sanctuary. A couple brought their son Matthew (around 6 years old) who had torn some cartilage in his knee that day. Earlier they had to carry him into the doctor as he couldn't walk. He came to church, able to walk but with great difficulty and quite a limp. The children gathered around him and prayed and then he was brought into the sanctuary where some people gathered around and laid hands on him and began to pray. Not only did the swelling decrease, but he began to walk straight and upright. He literally ran outside and headed off to play with his friends. People next door working with the children said he came in leaping and jumping. It was a cool night. One lady who came to visit from the other side of the island, standing at her seat near the back, just got overcome by the presence of God and hit the floor right where she was. A young man, Jason, who is a new believer testified of the Holy Spirit giving him a word for a complete stranger that he was working with that day. He walked over and told him what God wanted him to say and the man listened and thanked Jason. For the rest of the day that man treated Jason with such respect and gratitude. Another man, Brad, testified of praying with a co-worker as they were working on the side of the highway. The man began to weep as he was overcome by the presence of God. Various other manifestations occurred as well. It was just an all around good evening of divine encounters. On Sunday we gave a call for salvation and many newcomers answered and were brought into Jesus one step program, out of darkness into His marvelous light. At the end of the service the altar was opened and many people came to just step into the river so to speak. One lady came forward and as she got close to the front she fell facedown and was still for over two hours in an encounter with the living God. Another lady testified to a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ as He began to reveal things to her regarding His desire to see the island of Maui awakened to welcome the outpouring of His Spirit. A woman on our worship team testified to witnessing to her boss who is an atheist. A young man who was a former drug user testified that he had some extra money on him and the first thing he thought to do was to buy drugs but then the Holy Spirit rose up in him and he thought, "That would be so disrespectful to my Lord, and after all He has done for me." He remains clean and sober and has been delivered from addiction. A Hospice company called us this week asking if we would go minister to the terminally ill cancer patients who are homebound. They had heard that we believe that God still does miracles. What an opportunity!

I write these things simply to remember and review them for myself. It's become a vital part of my life to celebrate what God has done and is doing. If you will celebrate what God is doing, you will find that you become the solution for what He hasn't done yet. When we celebrate the testimony of the Lord, more happens, the Gospel spreads, and the Kingdom advances. If you're searching for God's will for your life, the list is short. It's found in Matthew 10. As you go, preach, saying, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." Well, Bill, should I be a missionary or should I start a career in the marketplace? Pick one, either is fine, but as you go, preach, saying, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. That's nice, Bill, but should I live in a house or apartment and should I get married or stay single and..... Whatever, just pick a good one and as you go, preach, saying, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

Yeah, I know, (people say) but it's God who does the healing. It's up to Him if He chooses to use me to do it. Well, sure. That's good theology I guess. He just didn't exactly say that in Matthew 10. Look at it. He didn't take the time to explain the theology behind it. He told us to do it as if we could. Whatever you do, wherever you work, however you serve in your church, make sure that as you go, preach, saying, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

An outpouring of the Spirit of God continues in Maui. James, our sound-man is a chef at a local restaurant. He had a young man working for him who had suffered a heart attack at a young age. This man came to James last week saying he had chest pains and, knowing James was a Christian, asked him to pray for him. James laid hands on him and prayed and the pain (and fear) left. The man told James that he was feeling much better and gives the glory to God. Sunday morning, Chasity, a young lady in the church, came to the front row and began a beautiful dance during worship and as she did the Holy Spirit fell on her and she began to speak in tongues for the first time. She shared afterward that she realized that she had to go after it and when she did, God responded. How much are you missing because you're waiting for God to come to you? The God you know in the secret place is the God you'll represent in the public place.

The birthplace of bad theology is when leaders are pressured to give an explanation of a problem that God's not addressing. It's when people are facing disappointment and we provide an explanation to help people feel better about the moment instead of leaving them in discontentment so that they will actually wage a violent war against all that restrains them to find Kingdom solutions that do not dissipate. Let this be the cry of your heart. I don't want to compose answers that make me comfortable. I want to find things that take me into my destiny. I'm not going to lower the standard of Scripture to make me feel good about my present situation. I don't want to feel good about my present situation. To lower the standard of scripture to my level of experience is idolatry. It's to worship the pages of a book above the Spirit that breathes on the pages of the book.

Israel always seemed to end up in idolatry even though they SAW the manifest presence of God. How did this happen? The Bible is clear. They forgot the works of the Lord. When they forgot what they saw they lost the desire to see it again and the result was religious form without power which is idolatry. You cannot afford to lose awareness of the God who invades the impossible. You cannot afford to make decisions that represent the body of Christ based on human talent and resource alone. Much of what is called stewardship in the church today is simply fear disguised as wisdom. You will not do more with yourself than you will do with what you have. We had a young lady on outreach with us who I gave an assignment to. I handed her some money and told her to give it away. That was her only assignment that day. She looked for someone to give it to and couldn't find the right person. It couldn't just be anyone, she thought. It has to be someone who really needs it. Yet she couldn't ever seem to find the right one. Many people say, if only God would bless me with a large sum of money, I could do so much good with it. No you wouldn't. If you won't do good with the little you have, what makes you think you'll suddenly do good with much? Wasting resources is easy. Giving it away is difficult. Think about your life. Wasting time is easy. Giving time away is hard. But which holds the reward? Some of you reading this post have heard God calling to you a life of radical obedience that challenges your perceived notion of comfort. Your destiny is just on the other side of convenience. In other words, you'll have to step beyond convenience to find it.