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Today’s reading: Proverbs 17, Psalm 17.

Today is January 17, 2012. Happy Anniversary Unified … ! Today marks the second anniversary of our church and the beginning of my third year as senior pastor. So many changes have occurred in such a very short time.

I realize that my leadership in the last season was mainly to set a new course and lay the foundation on which our church culture is now being built. When I look back, I am grateful to the Lord for the grace he gave me to navigate the challenges of that season. Since being installed as the senior pastor of the church on Sunday January 10, 2010, my mandate from the Lord came with the awareness that my final accountability was to God. Since then I have done my best to discern and obey His voice, whatever the cost.

Like any construction project, there are times when we need the input of consultants depending on the needs of the project. I have been amazed at how the Lord has been directing key people to help us, and I sense we are in another of those seasons.

Prov. 24.3-4

A house is built by wisdom and becomes strong through good sense.
Through knowledge its rooms are filled with all sorts of precious riches and valuables.

I’ve recently asked myself, do I want to be known as a good leader, or do I want to be known as a leader who developed great teams? I function by a golden rule, that I can only impart what I first possess. I believe people will always follow a good leader. Like anyone else a leader will have his own strengths and weaknesses. As a result the kind of team a leader builds can also be prone to the same strengths and weaknesses of that leader.

My goal is not to be known only as a good leader, but to be remembered as someone who developed great teams. I believe an important key that distinguishes a great leader from good leaders is in the way he learns to manage his strengths and his weaknesses. Not that he has to be the best at everything, but he needs to know his limits and how to overcome his weaknesses through the strength of others. To do this a leader must be open to recruit people on his team who may be more qualified than himself and not feel threatened to do this. That is one way a leader can avoid becoming the lid of limitation which stunts the growth of those he leads.

In this new season, we will face many new challenges. I am grateful to the Lord for sending us Danny Silk. In a nut shell, Danny is more than qualified to help us with what Unified… needs at this moment in time. I admire Danny’s gifting in developing pastors and training leaders, so I have asked him if he would act as a coach and consultant to Kerry and I. We developed a wonderful trusting relationship with Danny over the years. Danny also has a special fondness in his heart for our Unified … ohana, so he agreed to help us develop in our leadership and as a pastoral team so we can better serve all of you.

The timing of this occurring is vintage God. Kerry and I were also invited by Pastor Bill Johnson to attend a week long Apostolic training school in Bethel. It was a personal invitation to 20 couples from around the world and a chance to be mentored by Pastor Bill himself while connecting with other world leaders. It is an honor to be invited to sit under Bill’s wisdom and teaching. Kerry and I would appreciate your prayers that we would receive all that the Lord has to pour out on us while we are there.

God is up to something bigger than any one of us! It will involve all of us working as a Unified … family and a Unified … team to complete it! I do anticipate more changes to come as we further position ourselves to align with God’s plans. Are you ready?

I also realized just a few days ago, that when the Lord set the date to kick off the new church, it was on the same day 117 years ago when the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown on January 17, 1893. Coincidence or what? It seems we are destined for a head on collision down the road with Heaven, and I don’t want any of you to be left behind.

What an exciting year we are facing before us! Yes, Jesus is building His church!

Our love,
Pastors Dean and Kerry

I trust you are being blessed in your daily reading of the Word of God. You should be reading Proverbs 12, Psalm 12. If you are already behind on your reading, start afresh today!

There are new mercies every morning!

This is an appropriate word by Pastor John.

Blessings,

Pastor Dean

…

The Seed that Cuts

When we look at the parable of the seed and the sower (Luke 8:10-15, Matthew 13:18-23, Mark 4:13-20), we naturally look at the external pressures or the soil that causes the seed not to sprout and grow. This is only right because the soil or the heart of man must hear the Word with an honest and good heart in order for it to bear fruit. If the heart is not right, the enemy, temptation, and the cares of this life will abort the growth of the seed. They will prevent it from growing into full maturation.

As I pondered this passage, I realized the other reason why people do not move into fruitfulness: they can’t handle the seed. The seed represents the word (Lk 8:11). Jeremiah 23:29 states, “Is not My word like fire?” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” Fires and hammers cause pain. It is also like a double-edged sword that pierces the heart (Heb 4:12). “Ouch!”

Jesus preached challenging words to people and many left (Jn 6:60, 66). He told them to eat his flesh and drink his blood. They couldn’t handle the seed coming from his mouth. It was like a hammer. The fair weather followers left and packed up their bags to listen to someone else who would pamper their bruised hearts and sensitive sentimentalities. They even said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”

I always used to wonder why 2 Timothy 3:16 emphasized the muscle side of the word of God; things like teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. Why didn’t Paul through the Holy Spirit write this verse this way? All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for encouraging, edifying, ministering, and comforting those in need. I have the sneaky suspicion that the word of God Paul was referring to was a lot more spiritually volatile than the bland, tepid, lukewarm stuff being preached from the consumer conscious pulpits of today.

The seed goes forth and has effect. Isaiah 55:10-11 states, “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from my mouth. It will not return to me empty without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.” Another version states that it does not come back void. It always has effect.

I would like to make bold and assert that the seed cuts. John 15:2 states “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it that it may bear more fruit.” The seed, like a sword (Heb 4:12) in the hand of the vinedresser, cuts into our spiritually diseased hearts and transforms us into the image of Christ; that is, if we let it do its good work over time. It takes perseverance and a good and honest heart to hold onto the seed until fruition.

Temptation, trial, and the Devil try to tell us the seed is too heavy, toilsome, offensive, and difficult to bear. Have you ever been offended by the Word of God spoken by a man or woman of God? Could it just be the incendiary quality of the Word? Could it be that one is offended needlessly? It is a fire. It is a hammer.

The soil or heart that can receive the pure seed of God without any sugar-coated additives will eventually produce fruit. Too many fall away because of offense. Too many teachers or preachers scatter poor grade seed and wonder why their parishioners are not growing.

I guess its time to receive and give out good seed. It’s time for our hearts to burn because we heard the Words of Christ (Luke 24:32). His challenging word will cause growth.

The seed cuts. It will eventually grow into a fruitful head of grain if we hold onto it, if we accept it, if we allow it time to do its good work.

Pastor John

Isn’t it such a wonderful and full new year already? Pastor Aaron and I are praying for your time spent together as a family reading the precious word of our Lord! Don’t you just love the Psalms and Proverbs? Daily prescriptions for a living a healthy, Godly life!

Just a reminder… there is NO youth service this Friday night 1/13/12 on the Unified…campus so don’t drop off your kiddos! We will start up again on the 20th at 6:30pm.

Allow us continue to encourage you, to get to know your family and each other in deeper ways. Spend some time just talking stories about this or that. As your children grow in age, conversations with them may require more effort and time to develop than it did when they were 6 or 8. Don’t worry. all relationships shift over time and every relationship requires effort to forge it into greatness! Find out what’s in their hearts and what they think about. May we also say the same for you moms and dads. Remember that you were husband and wife first, before the kids landed on the scene. Proverbs 5:15-19 Spend time discovering one another, again! Ask each other the same questions and get ready for the answer. Ha Ha Ha!

The Lord keep you and bless you, may He cause His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, may the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace. Num 6:24-26

Blessings and love,
–
Pastor Aaron and Michelle Abergas
Unified…
1419 10th Avenue
Honolulu, HI 96816
(808) 734-2655
www.unifiedhawaii.org

Today’s Bible Reading: Proverbs 7, Psalm 7

Tomorrow we will be having a guest minister. His name is David Lin. Pastor David is a revivalist originally from Taiwan. I have included his testimony for you to read. Enjoy!

Pastor Dean

Pastor David Lin’s Testimony

I was born in a family that did not believe in Jesus. When I was 10, I began to go to meetings at a Presbyterian church in Taipei, Taiwan, with my uncle who is an elder in the church. I joined the youth fellowship and the church choir. I enjoyed listening to Pastor Chen’s strong preaching more than the children’s Sunday school. I was baptized on Christmas Eve when I was 12 years old. Before my water baptism, I kept weeping uncontrollably with deep conviction that I was such a sinner that I could only be saved if I cry out to Jesus. When Pastor Ko laid his hand on my head to baptize me, I felt a surge of power and numbness all over my body.Next few years following my new-birth were full of joy and peace. There were many “rich and prominent” people in the church, but I rarely saw those “lower-class” people there. John 3:16 told me that God loves the world so much. Who is going to tell those people the “good news”? At 14, I dedicated myself to God and made a vow that I will preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. I began to make contact with some young people outside the church. Because of ignorance and immaturity of my spiritual life, I was not able to bring them to church. Ironically, I became one of them. I began to smoke, drink, gamble, party, and game fight, etc. Eventually I grew further and further away from God and the church.

When I was 16, I passed the examination and was admitted to Jian-Chung High School, the number-one high school in Taiwan. Nevertheless, I became one of the few rebellious youngsters on campus. I acquired a bad temper and I was treating my home like a hotel. In two separate occasions, just before the gangs started fighting, by the mercy of God, He used total strangers to pull me off the scene, so I could avoid being charged and thrown into jail. Yet later I caused some trouble and was about to be expelled from the school. Then I suddenly realized that I was at the edge of a bottomless pit, yet I could not help myself. I was full of rebellion and would not listen to anyone. One night, when I was alone and helpless, I remembered Lord Jesus whom I believed since youth. So I prayed to God to change my heart. The God who keeps covenants of love, heard my cry and changed my heart. Although wanting to do good, I failed time after time because I was depending on my own strength. I would still do some of those bad things even though I did not like doing them. I began to study hard and really wanted to make up all the foolishness in the past. I was deeply disappointed because I was not able to pass the exam to enter college. That was when I was 18 years old. So I began to help out with my family’s retail business. After working over 10 hours everyday, I would go to the pubs and have many drinks with some friends well past midnight. I was totally lost with no goals. Finally I asked my dad to allow me to study and prepare to retake the exam in the next three months. The night before the exam I was suddenly awakened and realized that I have not reviewed a few course materials. In a rush, I read them over roughly. Because of that studying, I was able to be qualified for the college admission. It was again the mercy of God, because otherwise I would have been drafted into the army without another chance for entering college.

When I was 20 years old, I was admitted to Tan-Jian University as a computer science major, to the department with the highest dropout rates in the country. I made a decision to study diligently to redeem my wasted years. I was able to do really good in schoolwork and graduated as the number-one student in the class. I began to feel that nothing is impossible for me if I work hard enough for it. Before I knew it, I became very proud and arrogant. There were some bad habits of mine that never changed. Again God’s hand of discipline came upon me. I worked my way to pass the test for an officer position yet ended up being drawn into the Marines. I realized that my life is not in my own hands but in God’s hand. I have not been reading my Bible for a long time. I took it out and then finished reading the Book of Romans that night. I was injured in a motorcycle accident and almost died. Again it was God’s mercy to spare my life from total destruction.

Leaving the familiar environment and to the US, while looking back over my entire life and many crises and hard lessons, I knew it was time for me, the prodigal son, to come back home. I joined the Bible study fellowship at Penn State University. At every Friday night, I was comforted from my pressure of schoolwork and daily life by studying the Word of God. Yet I still set my goals as getting straight A and a Ph.D. degree to become a professor in Taiwan. God was still not the number-one in my priorities. After I graduated, God led me to California and I found a high-paying job as a computer software engineer. My parents were able to come to live in the US. It looked like everything was fine and I should be satisfied, yet I felt so empty. I, being a Christian attending church regularly, was not different from people in the world, as I was chasing after worldly desires, weak with no testimony, and still serving the Lord in my own flesh in the church.

Although I had a burden for China and admired what Dr. Sun Yet-San has done for China. I remembered what I said even when I was total drunk in my young age: “We are the lost generation of China”. I knew that God had led me to the US for the sake of China’s future. When I was 30, I was deeply disappointed with the church and also with myself. Just I was feeling that there’s no point in life and about to commit suicide, God did not forget His child. He has been molding me since birth. When I was so frustrated and about to join the Over-sea Chinese Revolution Political Organization to fulfill my vision by another way, God sent his servant Rev. Edward Miller to speak on the revival fire at San Jose Chinese Alliance Church. After some thoughts, I decided to give God one last chance and see if He can rekindle the spiritual fire in me. To my surprise that at this meeting, I met this man of God who walks so close to the Lord. After all these years of drought, it was like light shining into my darkness. It made me want to meet God and know Him in a higher degree. I finally admitted my sinfulness and uselessness. My life in the past has been ruined because I was letting myself be the lord of my life. The hardest part for me was to change the sinfulness of my heart. At the end I surrendered and gave up the lordship to Jesus. Although the battle raged in my heart and the devil would not give up on me, as I truly said to God in my heart: “I give you all of my life and everything I have”, the Spirit of God fell upon me. He washed away every sin and broke every fetter in me. I had been set completely free. I received the baptism of Holy Spirit and personal revival. I, the prodigal son, finally came home to wander no more.Finally I indeed repented and my old-self died with Christ, now He is the Lord of my whole life.

I began making mission trips to China since 1992. I received the vision of the revival fire being spread over entire China. God also promised that the Cross and the Blood of Jesus Christ would save China. In 1996, I began serving full time and founded Tabernacle of David Ministries International. I started to preach gospel in prisons and leading prisoners to Christ in Taiwan. In 1997, I began to travel to other nations of the world and spoke at various meetings and churches. Miracles followed to confirm the words that had been preached. In 1998, our daily short-wave radio program – “Revival Sound”, began to broadcast to China and Asia. God continue to lead me to build up the body of Christ and to reach the lost for His glory.

Congratulations!! You made it! Our three day fast ends today. How was it? If you have a testimony you would like to share, I would love to hear it! Write it down and send it to me at Pastordean@unifiedhawaii.com. Now that wasn’t too bad, was it?

It was a great start for many of you doing it for the first time! Thank you for joining us! We will be doing more fasts in the future, so don’t feel condemn if you struggled and did not make it through the three day fast. Remember, the fast can teach you a lot about God’s grace!

Today’s bible reading is Proverbs 5, Psalm 5. Continue on reading, one chapter, each day, for the rest of the January.

Blessings,
Pastor Dean

Rom. 8.37

No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

Please keep the Nakamura family in prayer. Today at 1:30 pm, Pastor Wayne’s dad peacefully went home to be with the Lord. I talked with Pastor Wayne a few minutes ago and he shared that it was unexpected, as his dad seemed to have been doing fine.

No plans have been made yet about the funeral.

Blessings,

Pastor Dean

Today’s Bible reading is Proverbs 3, Psalm 3.

If you are joining us it is the second day of our three day fast. There has been many inquiries and I was surprised by the number of people who never did a fast before. To help you better understand fasting, I asked our resident “teacher”, Pastor John Vierra to put together an article on fasting to help you. I have included it entitled “Fasting 101″ with this letter. Enjoy and may you find feasting on the Word as enjoyable as a good steak dinner. Ops! Sorry about that!

Blessings,

Pastor Dean

Fasting 101

John Vierra

Hello all you fasting people out there. How are you doing? How is your head feeling? Don’t think about food during this special time even though your refrigerator is chock full of all those awesome leftovers from Christmas and New Years, especially the rib roast and ham; not to mention the nishime and sashimi. You can do it! Remember: all the cloud of witnesses and Jesus are cheering you on (Hebrews 12:1-3). Fasting helped them get into the hall of faith in Hebrews 11 by fortifying just that, their faith (Lk 4:1-13, 5:1). He will do the same for you.

May the Lord bless you and the people around you richly because of your obedience to humble yourself and fast. When you boil it down to its bare essentials, this is the basic meaning of fasting: it’s a time to humble yourself and realize your utter dependence on God. It’s an act of obedience. It’s an act of faith! God is pleased with faith (Hebrews 11:6).

During the time of Jesus, people fasted on a regular basis. Matthew 5,6,7 (the sermon on the mount) talks about three spiritual responsibilities or disciplines of the Christian: prayer, tithing, and fasting. It was a given that believers practiced all three on a regular basis, especially fasting. The three activated together made for a powerful and deep lifestyle of continual dependence on the Lord, not to mention a continual stream of favor and blessing (Matt 6:33, 6:4, 6:18, 6:6). You could call it the three-chord strand of blessing.

Why does God honor fasting?  Is God impressed that we abstained from a Big Mac and fries? No. Is it a way of twisting God’s arm to achieve our purposes? No. Is it a way of shedding those extra pounds from eating too much butter mochi? No. Yes, there are some definite physical benefits, but the primary focus of fasting is spiritual. It is a time to connect back with our Abba Father to tell him, “I love you and can do nothing apart from you. I want you more than food” (Psalm 42:7). Humble obedience always catches God’s eye (Isaiah 66:1-2, Psalm 147:10-11).

When done with the right heart attitude, our God achieves dramatic breakthroughs for us and for those around us. These are just a few of the awesome results from dethroning the stomach god and praying to the real God: freedom from addictive sins and demonic strongholds (Isa, 58:6, Matt 17:21); overcoming barriers that stop us and loved ones from walking joyfully with the Lord (Isa 58:6, Ezra 8:23); releasing revival on the land (Isa 58:6, 1 Sam 7:6); conquering emotional and mental problems (Isa 58:6, 1 Kings 9:4, 8); bringing about social reformation, especially for the poor and hungry (Isa 58:7, 1 Kgs 17:16); releasing clarity and insight on difficult decisions (Isa 58:8, Acts 9:9); gaining a healthier life or healing for various ailments (Isa 58:8, Dan 1:8); strengthening your personal testimony for the glory of God (Isa 58:8, Luke 1:15);  protection against the evil one and the spirit of death (Isa 58:8, Esther 4:16, 5:2).

You may have noticed that I used Isaiah 58:6-8 to support my points in the last paragraph. These verses do not promote the extension of God’s kingdom through social reformation apart from fasting, but through both. Isaiah exhorted them and us to go beyond just the personal blessing of fasting, but to impact the world around us through sacrificial acts of love. It was a given that the Israelites would fast (Joel 2:12). Actually, they were going through the motions of fasting without living a life of love; hence, the rebuke and challenge from Isaiah. Our prayer at Unified… is that our time of fasting would result in a deep life of intimacy with our God and a powerful life of loving service to those around us. We need both.

There are many types and durations of fasts. The most common is to fast from solid food and to drink only liquids. Some fast from meat or even sweets – anything that would humble the fleshly life and exalt the spiritual. That’s the ultimate goal: dethrone king stomach and enthrone King Jesus.

You could do a one, three, seven, twenty-one, or even a forty-day fast. Please seek the Lord on what he would want you to do beyond our corporate fast of three days. If you have a medical condition that would put you at a health risk during a liquid only fast, please seek the advice of your doctor on what would be appropriate. Again, it’s ultimately not what you fast from or the duration of the fast, but your heart attitude during the fast.

Our three-day fast at the beginning of 2012 fits right into the vision of Unified…: Jesus is King! We gave our Lord the first fruits of our tithes, offerings, prayers, and worship on Sunday morning, the first day of the year. By continuing to forsake food and focusing on him at the front end of 2012, we complete the circle of obedience to our King of Kings and Lord of Lords. In essence, we are seeking first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness to release the overflow of blessings (Matthew 6:33). Who knows what type of blessings the Lord will unleash on our personal and corporate life? Who really knows? However, I do know this: it’s gonna be great! it’s gonna be wild! it’s gonna be full of him! Love you church!!!! Keep it up!!!! You are doing awesome!!!!!

Happy 1st Day after the New Year 2012!

You are invited to join our staff for a three day fast beginning today! It is a “no solid food fast” which means liquids like natural juices and water is okay. This is a time set aside for the Lord.

Today is also the day of our second reading, Proverbs 2 and Psalms 2. Through the month of January, we will be reading a Proverb chapter and a Psalm chapter each day. This fits perfectly as there is also 31 days in January.

Enjoy your time with Jesus!

Pastor Dean

Happy New Year’s Eve! As we draw to the close of 2011, I think we would all agree so much has happened in a year. I remember when I first heard of the fireworks ban which is now in effect. I went to Costco, and bought a ton of fireworks to gorge one last time, knowing that my childhood enjoyment would soon be a thing of the past.

This morning I woke up feeling this New Year’s eve is somehow really different this year.

I can’t blame my feelings on the fireworks ban. Neither can I attribute it to the March 11th disaster in Japan. It’s not the hiring of our new UH football coach, Norm Chow. Neither is it the places I visited which I had never been to before like Malaysia, Singapore, and Mongolia. Nor do I think it was walking the grounds of my ancestors in Miyagi and Fukushima, Japan.

So why does this New Year’s eve feel so different? One word, Mom! Oh, how our family miss her. I don’t think you can ever be prepared enough for the lost of a loved one. But having gone through the experience, I am grateful that I can now share this testimony, “Jesus holds tomorrow in His hands.”

Because of Jesus, we don’t have to fear the unexpected but we can fully embrace the new year and all it has to offer!

As we close 2011 and enter 2012, Kerry and I wish you and your family a Happy New Year’s eve and a blessed and prosperous 2012! We are grateful to the Lord for each of you. Thank you for your support and for walking this journey with us.

As a reminder, we will not be having our morning prayer time tomorrow, but we will be having an extended refreshment time from 9 am. Our Celebration New Year’s Day Sunday will start at 10 am. We will be taking a special first of the year offering. Please pray as to what the Lord would have you to seed into this coming new year.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou!

All our love,

Pastors Dean and Kerry