Go to the End of the Road

“Go to the End of the Road”

For a Christmas present this past December I bought myself a TomTom GPS unit which Carol and I used on our recent trip to Hawaii. A number of the roads in Kauai and Maui are a dead end. Several times the GPS’s electronic voice would state, “Go the end of the road.” Or, “At the end of the road, you have reached your destination.”

A go to the end of the road moment was the road to Kauai’s Waimea Canyon. Mark Twain called it the Grand Canyon of the Pacific. I would describe it as the Grand Canyon covered with moss.

Leaving the town of Waimea, you zigzag your way up a mountain. As you do, you have an ever-increasing panorama of the coastline of Kauai and the Pacific Ocean.

There are numerous places to pull over and take a look at what is behind you. Then... Choices: do we go on? Do we abandon the rest of the trip? Perhaps staying at the vista point. Or, making the decision to go back?

We came to a place, where there was a lookout—the main lookout. We got out trudged up the stairs, were blown away by what we saw. It was a “wow” moment. Waimea Canyon spread out before us! For more than a few minutes, we stood there drinking it in. God’s creation in full splendor.

Finally, we turned to walk back to our car. Walking down the steps, we passed a couple. The husband, obviously bored, trailed his wife. This was the last place he wanted to be. I smiled to myself, knowing what I’d just seen. He reached the summit of the stairs. He reached the summit and exclaimed, “Oh WOW!” I chuckled aloud.

Back in our car we drove to the end of the parking lot, where there was a sign: Kokee State Park to the right. Waimea left. We went right heading toward the end of the road.

We came to what seemed to be the end. There was a humble lodge, a museum, and a place to obtain a wilderness permit for hiking and camping and a lot of chickens! Feral chickens are everywhere in Kauai.

To my surprise, beyond the expansive grass area in front of the lodge was a single, pothole-filled lane of asphalt with a sign in Hawaiian: Kalalau Lookout. We took it, pulling over more than once to let those returning down from what was ever up there go by.

At the end of the road we came to a lookout with a view looking beyond the Waimea Canyon towards the ocean. Depending on where you stood, there was either sunshine, mist or full on ran. Such is Kauai. The debate was whether we would get out of the car. We did, and were ever glad. It was one of the greatest of “aha moments” of our trip to Hawaii.

Stretching out before us was a sloping valley flowing all the way to the ocean and above it was a full rainbow. It was worth the ride to the end of the road!
Isaiah writes in Isaiah 56:1—3, 6—7, “1This is what the LORD says, ‘Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. 2Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil.’”

In other words, “Keep going to the end of the road! Keep doing what is right. You may be tempted to stop and campout at your present vista, maybe even turn back. But don’t do it. Go to the end of the road.

Here’s the payoff. Isaiah continues writing the words of God, “6 I will also bless the foreigners [Gentiles] who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. 7 I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer.”

When we follow to the end of the road, what is promised us is an AHA MOMENT like none we’ve ever thought or imagined! My friends keep going to the end of the road for he will bring us to the holy mountain and we will be filled with eternal joy!

Go to the end of the road!

S.O.A.P. God's Word

Since the challenge on Sunday to gain Godly wisdom, many have shared what God has already shown you through His Word. One grandmother told me her daughter-in-law is taking her 6yr. old twin girls through it, asking their mom to not stop reading.

I linked Pastor Wayne Cordeiro's (New Hope Community Fellowship, Honolulu Hawaii) S.O.A.P method with the parable of ten virgins (5 wise and 5 foolish). The gathering of wisdom causes our light to shine brighter and gives a never ending reservoir of wisdom's oil.

Here's the short of the message:
1. We must know the difference between planning and preparation (God plans, man prepares)
2. Preparation positions us to fulfill God's plans
3. The gathering of wisdom is a part of God's preparation for us.
4. Enter the S.O.A.P method for attaining wisdom in our lives.
Bring a Bible (devotionals, while good, are not a substitute for our reading the Word of God)
Bring a Pen
Bring a Reading Program (systematically read through the Bible)
Bring a Journal
S = Scripture: Choose a verse or two through which God is speaking to you
O = Observation: what God is saying here?
A = Application: What is God saying to you?
P = Prayer: write a prayer solidifying it in your heart.

Please share with me your stories as a result of taking this 30 day challenge through this blog, or by emailing me: daholck@peopleschurch.org

Proverbs 18:4 reads, "A wise man's words express deep streams of thought." (LB)

Be blessed! Be in God's Word. Drill deep. Be filled with God's wisdom!
Doug

It's Not about Me

For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 2 Corinthians 4:5

Two Days from Here

Yesterday I had an experience that’s rocked my boat.

Carol and I were taking our friends Pastors Luiz Carlos Pinto and Fabio Leonardo Pinto to the airport for their return flight to Brazil. We stopped for a left turn signal at Cedar and Shields.

Coincidently, the center median is the stake out of a homeless American Vet.

I rolled the window down to give the guy a couple of dollars. The homeless man looked at me dressed in a coat and tie and asked, “Are you going to church?”

“No, but I work at a church.”

“Which one?”

“Peoples Church.”

“Hell! Where’s that?” (using his language, not mine)

“Back up the street at Cedar and Herndon.”

“That’s two days from here,” he replied as he took the money. Then before walking away he added. “Thank you sir, have a nice day.”

The light turned green and my mind raced forward. Wow! What a word picture. Here I am working at a church five minutes from a guy who’s two days away. No wonder Jesus said, “Go into all the world.”

It’s less of a journey for me to go and get him, than it is for him to come and get it.

Five minutes from here is two days for him!

Three Questions

Three questions:

1. Do you know how hard it is to embrace your grandchildren (or anyone else for that matter) when your arms are full of groceries?

2. Do you know how hard it is to worship God when your mind is full of other things?

3. Do you know how hard it is to have compassion for the world when your arms are clutching all you own?

Okay, question #4: What would happen if you put down all those things and with open arms embraced the one (The One) in front of you?

Unfullfilled Expectations

Before going to bed last night, I took a look out the front window. Granville Avenue was dark. Completely dark. Six to eight non-working street lights, victims of thieves who stole the prized copper wire. Now the lights stand as daytime symbols of unfulfilled night-time expectations to fill darkness with light.

After a few minutes in bed it hit me: if we're not careful (individually and corporately) thieves could steal our power leaving us as only a symbol of an unfulfilled expectation God has for His Church—to be light in the dark. Prayfully, when people look at the church they will not see us as lights out, an unfulfilled expectation.

God's Blogs

Okay, I just finished Lanny Donoho's book, "God's Blogs." I've had this book since receiving it at Catalyst in October. I started yesterday and finished it today. It's a must read. I'll not give it away but it's very creatively written. Favorite blogs: Money, Time, Preachers, Weddings, Olympics, Tsunamis. Read it all. I've not done it justice to pick these over the others.

Thanks Lanny for an awesome book and making it available, like blogs, for free (at Catalyst).