With friends Eliot Kang (brother of Peter), Bill Hwang, Rich Halvorson, Kirk Leavy with Abraham Lincoln....uh...looking over me...my head that is.

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I'm back home after a week in London with Pam and the First Prez worship team. We attended the "WorshipCentral Conference 2011," an annual training conference hosted by WorshipCentral (a school out of Holy Trinity Brompton Church) for worship leaders and their teams, and anyone who loves to worship the Lord. This year's conference was held on Oct 28 and 29 at Holy Trinity Brompton's London sites. We felt refreshed and equipped through practical workshops, inspired teachings and the amazing performances of guests like Matt Redman, Martin Smith and Nikki Fletcher. God showed up at that conference, and I'm so thankful that we did, too.

Pam and I traveled with the First Prez Honolulu worship team: Roslyn Catracchia, Mary Hicks, Chevas Wong, Cory and Loke Oliveros, Adj Larioza and staff member Gary Toh and his wife Selina Chen. We got to London two days before the conference so we had some time to catch a couple of shows and visit London's famed "Abbey Road" recording studios, made famous by the Beatles. We didn't actually go inside the studios but we did cross the road in front of it in an attempt to capture the scene depicted on the 1969 Beatles album also called Abbey Road.

We had a great and memorable time in London. And we're back refreshed an inspired to lead our church is worshiping our Lord in spirit and in truth.

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I just appeared on this show Grow My Church last Wednesday. I gave an interview about FPC through Skype.

Watch the interview and read about it here:  http://www.growmychurch.com/2011/09/dan-chun-humility-is-key-to-church.html

You can also download the mp3:

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It was weird. My Life Long Friend whom I have known longer than Pam has a new relationship with me. He has been with me for every meaningful event in my life – Sports. Concerts. My conversion. My ordination. Was at my wedding and at all the births of my children. In fact, he was at MY birth! Long time friend, indeed.

I'm talking about my right eye.

The change in our relationship started just a week ago.

I'm driving along and I keep thinking I have some hair in front of my eye. Black thing  floating in the air in front of me. Then I would see the letter "C" in black always before me, bouncing around like those images on your TV/Computer screen when it is asleep. When I wore glasses I kept cleaning them because I would see a smudge. But then I noticed I would see a spot of smudge, (like a small cobweb) even when I wore contacts. I would see flashes of light so I kept adjusting my car shade visor.

Call me starry-eyed.

So I go to get my eyes dilated and examined yesterday and the doc says I have Posterior Vitreous Detachment  (PVD) in my right eye.

No danger to my sight which didn't change from last year's exam, but it's a hassle for the rest of my life to have these symptoms. Nothing I can do about it.  The optometrist said it happens as we get older and since I once had an elbow smack my right eye and a ball hit my right eye  both due to sports when I was younger that probably didn't help, he said. I even remember my high school classmate, Dennis, throwing a magazine at me when I wasn't looking and it hit my right eye so hard that I saw stars. (Yeah, Punahou is a rough neck school. They don't use knives but magazines....but big, heavy ones, I tell you!).

In case you want to know more about PVD -here's a cool link.

http://www.rnib.org.uk/eyehealth/eyeconditions/eyeconditionsoz/Pages/posterior_vitreous_detachment.aspx

So if you think I am staring at you....I'm really just looking at the wonderful light show inside my eye.

God has your back. But I don't have my eye on you.

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Well, the Chuns are in New York this week! One of our stops was "Ippudo NY," a ramen shop on Fourth Avenue, and allegedly has the best ramen in the world.

What Dan ate.

What Pam ate.

Hamachi Carpaccio

Fantastic porkbuns.

Where they deliciously put it all together.

Ramen under the glass counter.

Bowls lining the walls behind the bar.

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Eating at the allegedly best Ramen in the world!!

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I had the all-time, very best beef lentil soup! It's from a restaurant called Il Cane Rosso (meaning "the red dog") at the Ferry Building on the wharf in San Francisco. I also had strawberry bread pudding. Incredible!

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Spent the day with family visiting the Yahoo! office in San Francisco where my daughter Noelle works.

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At Calafia in Palo Alto, CA with my brother Tom, niece Punky, who just graduated from Stanford, sister-in-law Judi, Pam, Quinn, and Dylan. 

Punky will be starting a new job in Washington DC working for Avascent, a block away from the White House. Dylan heads to Los Angeles to work for US Trust, subsidiary of Bank of America in wealth management. 

I wish I had some wealth for him to manage. But if you have $5 million or more, he would be happy to manage your assets.

My soy, quinoa and avocado burger.

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One Christian animator’s rendition on the story of Ananias and Sapphira—in the style of Tim Burton. Such a creative way to bring the Bible text to life!

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Ah, more questions from the readers:

Q: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VEGETARIANISM? WHAT ARE YOUR REASONS FOR EATING OR NOT EATING MEAT? WHAT ARE YOU PRACTICING RIGHT NOW?

Our church did a 21-day Daniel Fast, which is primarily a vegan diet – no eggs, dairy, sugar and white rice. Many of our members said that because of the fast, they felt better, looked better, weighed less and could think more clearly. So there definitely are benefits to eating more fruits and vegetables, and less meat. And there are other foods from which we can get our protein other than meat.

Contrary to what many may think, I am not a vegetarian. I am just compassionate towards animals and conscientious about what I eating.

My wife Pam cooks mostly vegetarian dishes. Though I will eat meat, we lean more toward non-meat foods. For me it's for three reasons: for good stewardship of the earth that the Lord has given us, for better health, and compassion for animals.

In Genesis 1:26, the Bible says we have dominion over animals, but I don't believe “dominion” means it’s okay to be cruel to them. By definition, “dominion” means “sovereignty” and “controI.” However, it means something bigger in the Genesis passage. We were created in God’s image, which makes us representatives of Him. God will not do cruel things to animals He created, so neither should we. Some define “dominion” (from the Hebrew word) as “an invitation to be like God.” Hence, for us to have dominion over animas is to try to be good and responsible representatives of the King.

When God made a COVENANT between Himself and the people, it is a promise to protect, save and nurture them, as He did with Noah and the rest of humanity. But did you know that He made that covenant with all living things?

“I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’ ” (Genesis 9:13-15)

God made a promise with all creatures, including animals, to protect and save them when needed.  In that light, I don't support the practice of raising calves in very small cages just so they can be served as tender veal. Nor do I like the method of forcing food down the throats of geese or ducks to make their livers burst just so we can have what is needed to make foie gras. To me forced-feeding, or gavage, is very cruel.

I think I got more compassionate about animals after reading the book, "Dominion: the Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals and the Call to Mercy" (Matthew Scully, 2002). Because of his Christian faith, Scully challenged people to find out if dominion over all things meant, for example, killing elephants for their tusks, or capturing and breeding them (or other animals) for circus entertainment when they are meant to be free. Scully doesn't say that animals have "equal rights" with people, but he believes that there should be "animal rights" for their protection. They do have feelings and some species have mates for life.

I don't think it's good to hunt for sport if one doesn't eat what was hunted, or if only one part of the animal is used and the rest are discarded. It's not much of a sport, is it, to have a high-powered rifle with a long scope that finishes off a duck, a deer or an elephant? Not much of a contest at all between the hunter and the hunted.

My wife’s forest ranger cousin told me he eats everything he shoots, and he only goes after animals whose population cannot be handled by the land. I get that. Like me, he is against cruelty to animals and hunters who shoot mainly for sport.

I tend to not want to eat smart animals, like pigs, because with greater intelligence means greater feelings. We normally do not eat dogs because they are cute. Pigs are as or even more intelligent than dogs, but they since pigs aren’t as cuddly, they’re the ones that get eaten. Ah, this world always favors the beautiful ones! 

For personal reasons, I tend to not eat shrimp because I know that the shrimp nets the trawlers use inadvertently trap and cause the death of turtles and dolphins, too. Greenpeace says that 80% of what shrimp trawlers catch in the sea, dead or alive, is thrown back. It’s called “bycatch.”

Greenpeace says that 300,000 cetaceans (dolphins, whales and porpoises) die as bycatch every year. They are caught in the nets and can’t escape. They literally drown since, like us, they’re mammals and they need to breathe air.

I tend to lean towards soy products, beans, fruits and vegetables because these promote good health. There's a plus in this for the environment, too. If our diets, for example, consisted more of beans than meat and chicken, there would be more food to go around to help the poor of the world. It takes an inordinate amount of land and water to sustain livestock just so we can have meat. Raising these animals also cause 18%-plus of greenhouse gas emissions, which is more that emissions from motor transportations.

If we believe a 2006 United Nations report that projects out to 2050, we might want to change our diet to make this a safe planet for our children.

“Cattle-rearing generates more global warming greenhouse gases, as measured in CO2 equivalent, than transportation, and smarter production methods, including improved animal diets to reduce enteric fermentation and consequent methane emissions, are urgently needed.

“Livestock are one of the most significant contributors to today’s most serious environmental problems,” senior UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) official Henning Steinfeld said. “Urgent action is required to remedy the situation.”

Cattle-rearing is also a major source of land and water degradation, according to the FAO report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow–Environmental Issues and Options” of which Mr. Steinfeld is the senior author.

“The environmental costs per unit of livestock production must be cut by one half, just to avoid the level of damage worsening beyond its present level,” it warns.

When emissions from land use and land use change are included, the livestock sector accounts for 9 per cent of CO2 deriving from human-related activities, but produces a much larger share of even more harmful greenhouse gases. It generates 65 per cent of human-related nitrous oxide, which has 296 times the Global Warming Potential (GWP) of CO2. Most of this comes from manure.

And it accounts for respectively 37 per cent of all human-induced methane (23 times as warming as CO2), which is largely produced by the digestive system of ruminants, and 64 per cent of ammonia, which contributes significantly to acid rain.

With increased prosperity, people are consuming more meat and dairy products every year, the report notes. Global meat production is projected to more than double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 million tonnes in 2050, while milk output is set to climb from 580 to 1043 million tonnes. 

So, if our diets leaned more towards fruit and vegetables, we would be better stewards of the land. If you have watched the movie “Food Inc.” like I have, you know how the fast food industry has changed the way we eat. And it’s not toward more health, but less.

I have seen "The Cove," an Oscar Award-winning film that exposes the cruel slaughter of dolphins for food in a small seaside village in Japan. The film also exposes how eating those dolphins pose a serious threat to human health. I've always liked dolphins (very smart mammals) so this documentary struck a chord with me. 

The movie also contends that it is highly cruel for whales and dolphins to be held in captivity for entertainment, like how they do it at Sea Life Park, the Kahala Hotel and the Hilton Hawaiian Village here in Hawaii. These mammals were meant to be free and would hate to be trapped, just as us humans would. (Now I'm sounding like the producer of "Free Willy"!). In fact, “The Cove” is about the man who used to train the dolphins for the old TV Show, “Flipper.”

Elephants mate for life, yet we tear apart their families so we can have elephants in circuses for our entertainment. And we say, “But they’re just animals. They don’t have feelings like humans.” Granted, I don’t think animal have the same feelings as humans, but I do believe they have feelings, and we are to be like a kind King or Queen over them as part of our stewardship from God.

Before the fall of man in the book of Genesis, God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of the plants in the Garden of Eden, and He never said to eat the animals; they were just to name them.

Genesis 1:29 "God said, 'See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food."

Genesis 2:16 "And the Lord commanded the man, 'You may freely eat of every tree in the garden.'"

It's interesting how specific the Lord was. He told Adam and Eve to eat of every tree of the garden. There was no mention of eating the animals. That is certainly not text proving that we should all go vegetarian or be an advocate for endangered species, but that certainly would make an interesting discussion with your friends or with your small group, wouldn't it? The animals were only killed for food after the Fall of Adam and Eve. Imagine if Noah had a hearty appetite to eat all of the meat on the ark! Oh well, there goes some species. Today if we are not careful we will make some species go extinct, and, of course, thousands already have.

Some might ask, "What about the animal sacrifices in Israel during biblical times?" Chances are Jesus participated in animal sacrifices, as was the custom of all Israelites at that time. But then again those were sacrifices directed by God for His people for the atonement of their sins. Sacrifices were not supposed to be nice as they involved the purest and most innocent of animal to be chosen and killed. So it was an exceptional act, not to be done daily. Kill the purest little lamb. That’s why it was called a “sacrifice “– it was a horrible death of the innocent. 

I also read a book called, "The China Study" (by T. Collin Campbell, Thomas Campbell II, Howard Lyman and John Robbins), which presented the results of the authors' study of the health of different groups of people in China based on what they eat. They found that the people in the more primitive western China who have a high-vegetable/low-meat diet hardly had any cases of cancer or diabetes. But those in more progressive cities, like Shanghai and Beijing, where the people have adopted American/European ways and eating practices, have more cases of cancer and diabetes. This book really made Pam and me look at our own eating habits. It was a pivotal reading.

So, yes, I do eat meat, and I do enjoy steak now and then. I also have found that free-range chicken and cattle do taste better and perhaps it's because I know they've been treated more humanely than chickens and cows raised in factory farms. But I do try the majority of time not to eat animals. But if a church member asks me over for dinner and they are serving meat, I will eat it with thankfulness to my host.

Am I a hypocrite? No, I never said I was a vegetarian.  I am a “flexitarian.” I flex. I do eat different things. If I eat meat I would go for fish more than beef. But I use the iPhone app called “Seafood Watch” from Monterrey Bay Aquarium, which allows me to know which fish and which sushi (really I am not kidding!) to eat or to avoid it they are endangered. Waiters love it when I read the menu and pull out my app.

A friend of mine says he is a “conscientious omnivore.” Maybe that is what I am. Maybe as Christians we should all be.

For me, it’s all part of being a Christ-follower and striving to love all – humans, animals and the earth. Many Chinese restaurants serve vegetarian meals with substitutes that look and taste like beef, chicken, pork or fish. Praise the Lord!

I like the first scene of the movie, "The Last of the Mohicans" where after the North American Indians killed a deer, they thanked "brother deer" for giving up his life so they can eat him. I like that because it portrays sensitivity to life and they are aware of its origin. We are in this together, inter-related, as St. Francis would say. 

So I eat meat, but I am always grateful for the life given. And if I eat less meat, more fruits and vegetables and still be able to get my protein through beans, eggs, nuts, quinoa, and tofu, then I think I'm doing my share in protecting and preserving the land the Lord has given us.

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In case you haven’t seen it yet, Conan O’Brien’s commencement speech at Dartmouth is worth watching. The first 85% is his wonderfully witty and self-deprecating comedy, leading up to the good stuff at the very end. He gives his heartfelt philosophy on success, failure and disappointment...it’s so authentic and life-giving. A must-view.

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It was a great family day. My eldest son, Dylan, graduated from USC’s Marshall School of Business. He’ll be living in Los Angeles working for US Trust. It was great that my daughter Noelle could join me and Pam at the graduation ceremony.

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1) “Seven Samurai” (1954)

 Director: Akira Kurosawa

 Storyline: 16th century Japanese villagers hired 7 Samurai to defend their village from attacking bandits.

 Why I like it: Great acting led by the superb actors Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. Thought-provoking issues of what it means to be courageous or to be a coward both for a farmer and a samurai. Great battle scenes and superb cinematography. It’s a beautiful but long 160-minute black-and-white film. The use of slow-motion, riders on a stark horizon, and intercutting techniques has been copied by many great directors but it started with Akira Kurosawa. It was voted onto Sight & Sound's <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sight_%26_Sound>  list of the ten greatest films of all time in 1982, and to the directors' all-time top ten films in the 1992 and 2002 polls. 

Click here for a preview: 

2) “It’s A Wonderful Life” (1946) 

Director: Frank Capra 

 Storyline:  An angel helps a suicidal man by showing him what life would be like if he never existed.

Why I like it: Is there a Frank Capra film I don’t like? (Meet John Doe, It Happened One Night, You Can’t Take It with You) The story grips me because I think we all think at some point that we don’t make a difference in the world. Capra goes deeply into the characters with whom we strongly identify. The dialogue, the humor, the pathos, the spirit of Christmas, God, it’s all there.  Clearly a classic.  Nominated for five Oscars but didn’t win a single one!! But redemption was found when the American Film Institute named it as one of the top all-time 100 films, and was put #1 on their list of Most Inspirational Films of All Time! Surely that should make my top 10 list!

Click here for a preview: 

3) “Train Man” (2005)

 Director: Shosuke Murakami

Storyline: A young computer engineer saves a pretty woman on the Japanese subway from a drunk. That one event intertwines their life into a first date in which the engineer must ask his friends (whom he has never met) on an internet chat room what to do.

Why I like it: There is a transparency and a vulnerability of the engineer and his computer geek friends that I find so endearing. The film captures the fun, humor and anxiety of dating and perhaps, gives a message that awkward, insecure people can find hope. Has English subtitles.

Click here for a preview: 

4) “Schindler’s List” (1993)

 Director: Steven Spielberg

Storyline: In Poland in World War II comes the story of German Oskar Schindler who rescues his Jewish workforce from the Nazi death camps.

Why I like it: It’s a difficult subject, the Holocaust, but Spielberg captures the horror and the heroism of Oskar Schindler in a moving way. The Oscar-winning cinematography by Janusz Kaminski (Saving Private Ryan), the editing of Michael Kahn (who is tied with winning the most Oscars for editing for this movie, Saving Private Ryan and Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark), the haunting music of John Williams (Jaws, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter) combined with Spielberg’s direction make a masterpiece of a film. Plus, it features two of my favorite actors – Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes.

Click here for a preview: 

5) “The Ten Commandments” (1956) 

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Storyline: The incredible story of Moses, played by Charlton Heston, who saves the Hebrew people and leads them to the Promised Land.

Why I like it: When you think of big movies, you have to think of this movie and Cecil B. Demille. For its time, the movie had fantastic special effects of the parting of the Red Sea, the ten plagues, the building of Egypt’s monuments. Got an Oscar for special effects. Nominated for six other Oscars but didn’t get any of the rest. Should have won Best Picture. It’s a faith-building film for me on a huge, grand scale.

Click here for a preview: 

 
6) “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (2001)

Director: Peter Jackson

Storyline: The wonderful cinematic translation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book of the same name where Frodo saves his world by taking a journey from the safety of his shire to the fires of Mordor.

Why I like it: I saw the film at a time we were moving our church to a 242-acre golf club. It seemed impossible. Somehow I felt a kinship with Frodo in that I had a calling to deliver the church to a new land. I might die in the attempt. There were others smarter than I who would save me and the project, but I just had to have the faith to keep going to try to save the Shire. Peter Jackson opened up a whole new cinematic world for me in seeing his set designs and use of slow motion, the character study, the editing and mainly the progression of a compelling story.

Click here for a preview: 

 
7) “Star Wars  IV– A New Hope” (1977)

Director: George Lucas

Storyline: Luke Skywalker leads the Rebel Alliance against the Darth Vader and the Evil Empire

Why I like it: When Star Wars opened, I was going to the USC film school and taking courses from the same teachers that taught George Lucas. When this film came out, it was like a rocket out of nowhere. The story captured a lot of the old mythological stories of heroes. The technology was groundbreaking at the time. Loved the characters and the music by John Williams. And the final dog fight was fantastic (even though the dialogue was strangely familiar to the 1955 British film The Dam Busters). Star Wars - A New Hope was like a new world for me. The Academy Award for Editing was won by Richard Chew, Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas (George’s wife at the time) for their work on this film and it really showed.

Click here for a preview: 

 
8) “The Sound of Music” (1965)

Director: Robert Wise

Storyline: Maria leaves a convent to become a governess to the children of widower Captain Von Trapp. She learns to love them and helps lead them on an escape from the Nazi’s in Austria.

Why I like it: This is my only musical, but how often do you get a musical that uses humor, dance and romance and a dangerous theme of Nazism in Austria before World War II? Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer and a great Rogers and Hammerstein score could not be beat with the backdrop of the beautiful Swiss Alps. Saw it as a teen, but I can still hum the melodies and know the lyrics of the songs in the movie. It makes me feel there is hope in the world to fight evil.

Click here for a preview: 

http://www.traileraddict.com/trailer/the-sound-of-music/trailer

9) “The Passion of the Christ” (2004)

Director: Mel Gibson

Storyline: The final hours of Jesus Christ on earth.

Why I like it: I can’t think of any film that captures the horror and the authenticity of our Lord’s last hours on earth. The crucifixion was so realistic that it felt like I was there. And after watching it, I felt like I was punched in the stomach. It was a privilege for our church to sponsor the only early screening of it (pre-final version) in Hawaii.

Click here for a preview: 

 
10) “Chariots of Fire” (1981)
Director: Hugh Hudson

Storyline: Two British athletes, one a Jew and the other a devout Christian, compete in the 1924 Olympics.

Why I like it: Nominated for seven Academy Awards and won four – Best Picture, Original Music Score, Costumes, and Original Screenplay. Who can forget the dramatic music of Vangelis? Was risky to use synthesized music for a 1924 story but it worked. So beautifully shot by the late David Watkin (Jesus of Nazareth, Out of Africa, Moonstruck). Was inspiring, faith-building, and was a great example of integrity and character under fire.

Click here for a preview: 

Summary: Out of the 10 movies I’ve chosen, two won Best Picture, three are foreign films, and all were nominated for or won an Academy Award (except for the one kooky Japanese comedy I chose. Just shows I am a pretty eclectic guy.)

I think Slumdog Millionaire would probably be my #11.  

If I could do another ten, maybe I would add Hurricane (the film in which Denzel Washington won a Best Actor Award) and another crazy Korean comedy called 200 Pound Baby. Or an American comedy like City Slickers. Or maybe the epics Ben-Hur or Braveheart, or the recent Social Network, or the piercing drama of Ordinary People (Best Picture directed by Robert Redford!!) or the courtroom drama of 12 Angry Men.  

  Gee, then there are the Godfather movies. Actually depending on the day I would probably juggle the list but for the sake of this edition of my blog I had to put something together.

Or maybe I should just throw onto the list all of the Denzel Washington, Liam Neeson, Harrison Ford films I can think of. Perhaps I need to pray and fast to come up with my next Top Ten list! Stay tuned. In the meantime, I challenge you and your friends to name their top ten films and then have a party and over a meal fight over who is right!

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It was a fun Saturday morning with Perry and Price today! The HIM (Hawaiian Islands Ministries) Band did a couple of numbers at the Perry and Price (radio) show at Jimmy Buffet to promote the upcoming "Honolulu 2011" conference. Cory, Adj, Loke, Wendell, Tanner and Cherie performed, while I was interviewed about the conference. "Honolulu 2011" is from March 24-26 at the Hawaii Convention Center. I hope you can come and be spiritually refreshed.

The HIM Band: (L-R) Adj, Cory, Loke, Wendell and Cherie

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We went to the newly opened (4 months new) "Yogur Story" restaurant in Honolulu this past weekend to celebrate friend/colleague David Kusumoto’s birthday. I really like the place (decent prices, too!). It has a full yogurt bar, plus unique and interesting items on the menu, like Fat Pig Fried Rice, Prime Rib Loco Moco, Oreo Waffles with white chocolate, Red Velvet Waffles with taro crème, chocolate drizzle and red velvet croutons, Dolce de Leche (pecan pretzel crunch served with caramel, whipped crème and caramelized banana)!  Whatever! I had the Belgian Waffles with Frozen Yogurt, strawberries and blueberries (yum!). 

I also like Yogur Story's interior design. They have a tree in there, a cool second floor, free wi-fi, and big TV projector for those who just can't eat without the TV on. "Yogur Story" is open till 10 pm. Next time I have got to try their other meals. Nice to see new restaurants opening on the tail end of recession.

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Pam and I checked out the Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant (Honolulu), a popular chain in Hong Kong. It felt like a restaurant in China rather than a Chinese restaurant in America (strange). I tried the Black Mushroom and Braised Tofu and gluten (very tasty). Also had the Emein with vegetables (not bad). What made the experience nicer was that our waiter was a friend of ours who had moved from another Chinese restaurant. All the waiters and cashiers were very friendly, in fact.

Date night with Pam.

Emein with black mushroom and tofu.

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Pastor Brian Houston of Hillsong Church Australia was in town recently to speak at the "Equip and Inspire Conference" at Hope Chapel West Oahu. I got to listen to his talk, and a special highlight for me that evening was when he presented me with Hillsong United's newly-released CD entitled "Aftermath." What a treat!

Me, Brian Houston, Pam and Mike Kai (pastor of Hope Chapel West Oahu)

Hillsong United's latest album

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