Sheila and I have just returned from a wonderful 20th anniversary trip to the beautiful Island of Maui. We're glad to be home-- she, especially, in that she doesn't have to listen to me trying to sing traditional Hawaiian music in the car anymore-- but we do miss the scenery and the time together.
One day, we ventured to the 10,000 foot summit of Haleakala (pronounced "holly-OCK-ulla"), the now-dormant volcano on the East side of the island. You can imagine the spectacular views-- the air was so crisp and clear the day we went, and you can also easily imagine why the summit has become an important place for astrophysics installations and study: The top of Haleakala rises above about a third of earth's atmosphere making stargazing especially amazing.
As beautiful as the "way out there" views were (we could see the volcanic mountains of the Big Island to the East, and the misty ranges of Molokai to the West) it was the "way down there" view into the center of the crater at Haleakala that really took our breath away (photo above).
Distances deceive the eye: The far side of the crater is seven miles away, and the "youngest" cinder cone in the middle is 600 feet tall.
Anyway, I just couldn't help it. We sat there in awe and began to sing: "When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur...Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art."
Psalm 95 says, "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him."
What a privilege for us to be God's people. What an honor to a part of His story and to participate with our Creator God in His purposes for the world-- a world where all the depths and peaks belong to Him. To the Father, along with the Son and the Holy Spirit, we sing for joy and shout aloud.
Rejoicing in the Pentecost gift of the Spirit with you,
Pastor Chris
We've been gathering information about how Epiclesis might do some local outreach efforts about what it means to be "Ancient-Future". We're close to launching a multi-faceted approach that will include a variety of media. While we surely want to tell people about our fellowship-- we believe in what God is doing here-- our efforts aren't really about marketing in the traditional sense. Rather, our hope is to engage people in a continuing conversation, and also to share life-changing Good News along the way.
The main part of the project will be to launch a series of "spots" on local FM Radio 103.9, "The Fish", that will talk about what "Ancient-Future" means, plus encourage folks to learn more and continue the conversation by visiting our website. After a few weeks of those educational pieces, we're going to give the community a gift, also on "The Fish": A weekly series of encouraging Scripture and words from the Church Fathers. Our hope is to help believers learn about their rich Christian heritage and how the "road to the future runs through the past." The radio spots will begin around June 4.
No one is free from the risk of persecution.... But how serious it is for Christians who are unwilling to suffer for their own sins when He who had no sin suffered for us! The Son of God suffered in order to make us children of God, but people won't suffer to continue being children of God! If we suffer from the world's hatred, Christ first endured the world's hatred. If we suffer rebukes in this world, if exile or torture, the Maker and Lord of the world experienced harder things than these. He also warns us, "If the world hates you, remember that it hated Me before you. If ye were of the world, the world would love their own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, 'The servant is not greater than his lord: If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you." Whatever our Lord God taught, He did so that disciples who learn have no excuse not to do what they learn. -Cyprian
Want to check out a daily Scripture verse, artwork, and some words from the Church Fathers? 