[a view from my morning walk]

So recently I’ve been excited about a few things.  They are pretty random but I wanted to share them with you.  I sat down to write them all in one blog post and it got really long so I broke them up into individual blog posts.

1.  As a birthday present to myself I bought myself a 9qt cast iron dutch oven.

As it’s been getting “cooler” here, (it’s 84 and there is a nice breeze, which means a light sweatshirt at night) I’ve been wanting some “wintery” meals.  I’m excited to be able to cook one meal and have it provide leftovers as well.  We share a kitchen with 2 other married couples, which means making meals is at times a traffic jam.

We got a slow cooker for our wedding, and we only used it once or twice.  I remember distinctly the meal tasting like the lining of the slow cooker which was a huge turn off that made me wonder what the heck kind of chemicals I was ingesting.    So since I really like the cast iron pan that we have, and cast iron is non toxic, I decided to go the dutch oven route.

I also am excited about it because I also have a turkey frier on the mainland, and Thanksgiving makes me want to fry a turkey.  I can’t justify bringing the giant turkey frier out here when we already have limited space.  I cant fit a whole turkey in my 9qt dutch oven, but I will definitely be frying up some cajun rubbed turkey breasts this Thanksgiving.

I got it in the mail and cleaned it and put a coat of oil on it and found a new home for it on one of our shelves.  It’s a lot wider than I thought it would be and not as deep, but I’m excited to cook some stuff up in it soon!  I think this Kalua Pig will be my maiden voyage with the dutch oven.  It looks easy enough and its in honor of my Hawaiian living

Do you have a dutch oven?  What are some of your go to dutch oven recipes?  Let us know in the comments

My friend Lauren messaged me today and asked me if I had ever heard the song Though You Slay Me.  I think I had heard the title but not the actually song, so I asked her for a link.  She sent me a link, I was surprised that Shane and Shane was still making music since I was listening to them like 10 years ago.

I then found this version of the song.  Listen the whole way through when John Piper starts preaching God’s presence filled the room.

I feel like this has to do with our conversation about Brittany Maynard and suffering.  And one of the examples that John used in his sermon clip really touched home.

This feels like a Psalm.  I wouldn’t suggest using it as a worship song on a Sunday morning for church, but it’s a beautiful song for personal devotion.

I’m not an expert at all, but I don’t believe that God causes or wills all of the horrible things that happen to us.  But I do believe that He can turn all things that are thrown at us by the enemy for good.

I’m praying right now for anyone that is living in constant pain that God would heal you in Jesus name.

Here are the lyrics.

I come, God, I come
I return to the Lord
The one who’s broken
The one who’s torn me apart
You struck down to bind me up
You say You do it all in love
That I might know You in Your suffering

Though You slay me
Yet I will praise You
Though You take from me
I will bless Your name
Though You ruin me
Still I will worship
Sing a song to the one who’s all I need

My heart and flesh may fail
The earth below give way
But with my eyes, with my eyes I’ll see the Lord
Lifted high on that day
Behold, the Lamb that was slain
And I’ll know every tear was worth it all

Though You slay me
Yet I will praise You
Though You take from me
I will bless Your name
Though You ruin me
Still I will worship
Sing a song to the one who’s all I need

Though tonight I’m crying out
Let this cup pass from me now
You’re still all that I need
You’re enough for me
You’re enough for me

Though You slay me
Yet I will praise You
Though You take from me
I will bless Your name
Though You ruin me
Still I will worship
Sing a song to the one who’s all I need
Sing a song to the one who’s all I need

If you haven’t read about it yet, there was a 29 year girl with terminal brain cancer who publicly said she would choose to die with dignity by taking a pill on November 1.  On November 1 she went through with it.

When I read the article recently, saying that she went through it, I got mad.  Not so much that she did it, but that so many people were applauding her and calling her a hero.

A friend posted this article by Benjamin L. Corey on facebook.   I don’t know him but I disagree with his points of view.

My question is: What would Jesus think of this situation?  Would he communicate what Benjamin is communicating?

Here is an expansion of the comment that I posted on my friends facebook post of this article.

Since this article is aimed at Christians I will respond as a Christian to other Christians. 

This article leaves no room for the last minute miracles of God. I think of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who, when faced with being thrown into the furnace, said God will deliver us and if He doesn’t then we will still not bow down and worship your Gods.  (Daniel 3)

God still does heal today.  I’ve heard testimonies of miracles of cancer completely leaving peoples bodies.  Do miracles happen to everyone with cancer?  No. That’s why I hate cancer.  

I have friends that have been persecuted in the Middle East for their faith with jail time and bombings. I know of someone that is in prison in Asia right now who has been forced to do hard labor.  Where do we draw the line of when life is over?  I believe life is over, when the Author of Life says it’s over.

It’s a slippery slope.  Is an undefined prison sentence in Iran’s worst prison and being tortured daily, a life that is over?  My friend will tell that the darkest hour of his life was when he tried to take his life in that prison, but TODAY he speaks and inspires so many with the testimony from that time.

Or how about deep dark depressions.  I’ve struggled with depression.  There are days when you feel like life is over, but it isn’t.

What about the awkward teenager who literally thinks his life is over because he did something embarrassing?

When we end our lives early we rob God of redeeming our situation.

What if all of the Apostles who died horrible deaths took their lives prematurely because a painful suffering death was eminent?  What if Jesus Himself, who suffered the greatest of any man, took His life before He went to the cross.  Jesus knew what level of suffering was coming, He asked the Father that the cup be taken from Him with such passion that He sweat blood.

Brittany was created in God’s image.  She had God given gifts.  Obviously she was an influencer.  What if God wanted to use her life even more?  What if her life was filled with beautiful hope until her dying day, how many more people could she have inspired?

The author writes in the article “It’s not a choice to die (suicide). It’s just a choice to pick the most painless way to die.  Christians should be the people who are the least judgmental and the most compassionate– the ones who recognize the truth that while the 9-11 jumpers didn’t commit suicide, Brittany Maynard didn’t, either.  She died because of terminal cancer, and that is very, very sad.”

We can’t obscure what is really happening here.  We can’t call taking your life something other than it is.  That would be like someone who killed someone in self defense saying “I had no other choice, it was my life or theirs, and so I didn’t really kill them”.  Yes they were acting in self defense, but at the end of the day they still killed another person.  All of these situations are horrible, and I pray that we are never faced with them.

I’m not being unsympathetic. I hate cancer. I hate terrorism. God hates cancer and terrorism too. I don’t know what it’s like to suffer great pain and fear of death, but I pray that I will hold on to the end with faith that God will do a miracle and if He does not, then I will be excited to join a cloud of witnesses that did not shrink back from death.

The scariest thing to me is that so many people consider Brittany a hero.  That scares me because we now only value life based on it’s quality.  And quality is very subjective.

The sanctity of life.  This rolls into the abortion issue as well.  Should we terminate a child’s life in the womb when he or she is 6 months old because they have Downs Syndrome?  Because their quality of life, or your quality of life will be changed?  I was honored to work with a student with downs syndrome and his family was so blessed by their son, and my life was greatly enriched by working with him as well.

Do the elderly have no value anymore because they cannot produce?  Are they taking up space and resources?  Should they be euthanized?

This is a slippery slope.  All people have value, which means life has value because we were created in God’s image.  God is a God that takes ashes and turns them into beauty.  I want to live out my life knowing that I lived to the full length that He had for me so that His beauty can be fully revealed.  God is amazing because He can take horrible situations, things that the devil throws at us for evil, and turn it into good.

I don’t usually post on controversial subjects, but I couldn’t keep quiet on this one.

Thoughts?

IMG 4638 from Jim and Jess Baker on Vimeo.

Hey everyone, here’s Novembers garden update.

I need to buy some more 5 gallon buckets.  And some more potting soil.  I’d love to have a plot of land that I knew was going to be mine so I could start a real garden but such is the mobile nomadic missionary life.

I also need to desperately take care of my compost pile.

I’m going to get some mint soon, and I just put in an order of seeds for cabbage (homemade kimchi here I come!) and baby tomatoes.  I’m excited about the baby tomatoes because nothing I’m growing has been bearing much fruit.  I’m hoping that the baby tomatoes will do the trick.  Gardening sure takes PATIENCE.  Bearing fruit is hard work and time consuming.  You’d think it’d be the natural progression of things over time, but if the circumstances aren’t real good than you’re not bearing much fruit.  (There’s a sermon in there somewhere)

I’m learning a lot, diagonal planting which has been much better than my just sow and let grow.  And hopefully one vining a tomato plant will pay off.  We’ll see what happens.

I’m excited that the basil and manoa lettuce are from seeds that I’ve kept.

Since it’s winter everything is getting a lot less sun.  I asked to cut back the hedges behind our house so that my garden could get more sun but it’s a no go because its a sound barrier between us and the neighbors.

I’m looking to expand my aquaponics systems with some raft beds, I’ll put them where everything is in pots right now so it will get more sun.  We’ll see what happens.

– Farmer Jim

Did you can anything from your garden that you’re enjoying now?

[photo by ben hanusa]

Every morning I’m blessed to go to Ala Moana beach park and walk around a beautiful park and watch the sunrise.  It is probably one of the best ways to get your blood flowing and start your day.

Up until recently I had also been jumping in the ocean after my walk.  However, it’s now starting to get “cold.”   And this weekend after the storm, there was a 5000 gallon, half treated sewage spill in the harbor.  So needless to say I’m staying out of the water.

My morning walks have become a part of my morning routine.  I actually walk with a different guy from base each morning.  This is a great way to get some one on one time with people.  My navigator roots still believe in the importance of one on one discipleship.

All of the guys I walk with are in Kona this week for YWAM’s cooperate week, where the Hawaiian islands get together.  So this morning Jess and her fellow SBS staff member Ana went with me and ran while I walked.  Jess and Ana are on week 2 of couch to 5k.  It’s been a year since Jess’ knee surgery and last week was the first week she tried running.

As I parked and was getting out of my car, an African American guy said good morning to me as he walked past my car.  I said “howzit” trying to give my best pidgn.  He said to me “you know your headlights are oxidized.”  I said I knew and then he launched into his sales spiel.  Something about how his car had gotten broken into recently, and how his wife was pregnant.

I listened.  I had bought a do it home kit for headlight restoration and it didn’t work.  I actually always am complaining that my headlights aren’t very bright.  I like bright lights, and clear windshields.

He got to the bottom line and said that he would clean each headlight for $5 a piece.  I asked him if I could pay him after I walked and checked to see if I had my emergency $20 with me.  I agreed to him cleaning them and he ran off to his van and I took my walk.

Hawaii 5-0 was shooting in the park.  They had a fake “Shrimp-A-Polooza” set up, with picnic tables and fake food at the vendor booths.  The crew was eating a catered breakfast.  (I was jealous, I love breakfast meat.)   I don’t think I saw anyone famous, they probably didn’t show up until much later, or were in the hair and makeup trailers.

As we all headed back to the car, the guy was wiping down my whole car.  (Waterless car washes are a big thing here, there are businesses that set up in parking lots and detail cars, is that a thing on the mainland too?)  Jess and Ana went and stretched and I talked with the guy, our conversation went something like this:

“Just practicing man, how long were you gone?  A half hour?  There are young guys that can’t do this.  I’m 51, you don’t need 5 Micronesians to do this for you and take hours.  Are you a teacher man?”

“Uh, no, my wife and I work with Youth With A Mission a Christian Missions Organization.”

“Oh, Jesus, yeah, Jesus.  Man I don’t worry about sh*t with Jesus man.  I mean, I worry for like 5 minutes and then I remember yeah, Jesus.”

“Uh, (nervous chuckle) awesome man, that’s right.”

“Alright man, let me just wipe this down and I’ll be done.  Did you run?”

“No I just walked, my wife ran though.”

“Yeah there is no better work out than this man, I get my squats in.  Alright, I’m almost done.”

“I’ve only got $20 since we agreed on $10 for the headlights.”

“No worries man, just advertise for me.  I usually post on craigslist, but you know Asians, they like to do what their friends do, so tell your friends.”

“Thanks man, the headlights look great, I appreciate the hustle.”

And that was that.

I got a clean car and headlights as I walked, and this guys hustle (albiet probably illegal solicitation) and hard work paid off.  He made $20 in a half hour.

I like a clean car, but haven’t been keeping it clean.  It’s been a year since I waxed the thing.  Shame on me.

So here’s my advertisement for the guy.  I don’t know his name.  Or how to contact him, and I looked him up on craigslist and nothing.  -Shrug-.. I tried.

[the last time I saw Jim was earlier this year, Feb 2014, photo from Chris Warrens instagram]

I got a text from RK on Sunday while I was running sound at church.  “Just found out Jim died”

My heart sank.  I knew exactly which Jim the text was referencing.

RK told me that he died of a heart attack sitting on the bench that I would always go and visit him on.

I found out later, that he had been in the hospital all week, and wanted to die looking at the ocean.  So I guess he checked himself out and passed while he was sitting on his bench still sitting in his hospital clothes.  We think it happened Friday night.

I’m kicking myself because I was in Waikiki on Friday with some friends.  And I remember distinctly thinking, I should go visit Jim.  But we got doing other things, and I didn’t listen to that still small voice.

The other thing I’m kicking myself about is, I’m not 100% sure if Jim had ever accepted Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.  I’m developing a real  hate for death, and I believe God hates it more.  But the assurance of eternal life with God makes it easier.  I remember talking with Jim often, praying for him often, and I’m pretty sure, that I remember asking him if he had accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior, and I think I remember him saying he had before, but I’m not 100% sure.

That gives me a real wake up call for my own personal evangelism.  Honestly, I’m like most people, and I like to be non confrontational when I’m doing street evangelism or “prayer evangelism” or “friendship evangelism.”  I think it’s Danny Lehmann that says you can friendship evangelism people right to hell if you’re not careful.

I’m challenged to be more bold when peoples souls hang in the balance.  Because people’s good deeds don’t atone for sin.  God’s gift to us, faith in Christ alone can reconcile us to God.

I’m challenged to listen and OBEY God’s still small voice that told me I should have gone and seen Jim Friday night.

Jim probably isn’t having a funeral, or a memorial service.  I’m not sure anyone will pick his body up from the morgue.  I don’t know if he has anyone to contact as next of kin.

Jim, I’m glad you got to pass looking at the ocean, I remember you saying that’s what you wanted to do.  I’ll always remember you smiling and saying Aloha to people, your one desire to brighten up peoples days.  I will remember our conversations.  I’m glad I got to tell you two years ago that I valued you.  I’m glad I got to see you again at the beginning of this year.  As I write this blog post out, its triggering memories of our conversation of you saying that Jesus was your Lord and Savior.  I’m now remembering giving you my large print NASB Bible, because it’s the only thing you said you wanted when I asked you if I could bring you anything.  I’m glad that you’re in a place that’s even more beautiful than Waikiki where there is no pain.  I’ll see you one day soon brother.

Value someone today.  Tell them that you value them because they were created in God’s image.  Share the good news of Jesus Christ with them and ask them if they want to have faith in Him as the atonement for their sins.

If you have never put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and want to follow Him and want to know how leave a comment or contact me and I’d be glad to walk with you through that process.

[interesting book placement barnes and noble…]

I’m pretty ticked off right now.  And I’m glad I am.  Because there are things that should make us seething mad.

KHON just reported that “A Honolulu police sergeant will not face charges after he was caught on surveillance video last month beating his ex-girlfriend.”  They then later quoted “The Honolulu Police Department previously said it did not have enough evidence to pursue a criminal case.”

I went and looked up the video which can be seen here.  (graphic content)

Here’s what I’m not doing.  I am not getting down on cops, which seems to be a real trend lately.

Yes there has been some horrible news of injustices at the hands of police, and there should be full investigations and accountability and discipline and reformation to department policies.  However, I honestly believe that the majority of cops are trying their best to do a very difficult job.  And obviously as we’ve seen, there are some cops out there that are not good people and are doing evil things.  Just like in any job or profession there are a few that can really mess things up for the larger group.  But to judge every cop based on a the mistakes of a few?  To make blanket statements like ALL cops are out of control?   Isn’t that just another form of discrimination?

Domestic violence is not okay.  I really believe that there is a stronghold of domestic violence on this island.  Since I’ve lived here I’ve called the cops on 3 public domestic disputes and witnessed another where the woman got safely away and I didn’t have to call the cops.  On two of those calls, I never saw the cops show up even though I waited around for a while.

I obviously don’t know the whole story of the investigation of the above story involving the off duty police officer, but it appears to me that from this video that the person in the video is assaulting that woman.  I don’t know if the department is covering for it’s own or what.  Pray for our government officials, pray for our first responders who have very stressful jobs.  That stress does not excuse that behavior at all, but we should still be praying for them.

I think what makes domestic abuse horrible is that it stays in the dark.  At first people think it was just a one time thing.  And then it becomes the norm, and a series of cover ups.

If you’re in an abusive relationship get help.  The abuse you are enduring is not good, it’s not okay.  You should not have to live in fear.  Bring it into the light.

If you are the abuser and have an anger and self control problems, get help!  Stop the cycle.

How can the church help end domestic violence?  Got ideas?  Leave a comment and let us know.

Last month I completed my CERT training.

CERT stands for Community Emergency Response Team.

I don’t remember how I first heard about this.  But I had looked into it before joining Be Ready Manoa.  I joined Be Ready Manoa which is a disaster preparedness group right in our area.  YWAM offered up the use of our young people in case of emergency.  Since attending we’ve been able to build stronger ties with our local community.

You sign up for the CERT course, which is free, you get some training, both classroom and hands on and then you get a bag of gear at the end, all for free and with no obligation.  If disaster comes, you can volunteer to help out on a CERT team, or you can stay at home with your family.  So why NOT do this course?

Anyway I had contacted Jeff ,the guy that runs it a few times, and finally decided that September was my month to bite the bullet and just do it.  No cost, just 3 classes on Saturdays.  Training was 16 hours of classroom and then 6 hours of hands on.

The first class was my favorite of the two.  We learned a lot of practical stuff.

Like how to use a fire extinguisher.  They told us that the majority of people will be gripping it so it will be impossible to pull the pin.  That was something I had never thought of.  They also told us that if there was an emergency you could change your voicemail to update family and friends as to your status incase they couldn’t get through.  That’s pretty brilliant too and not something I had thought of.  Also, they said if you were in costco and there was an earthquake that the safest place to be was under one of the shelves that was made to hold thousands of pounds of weight and was bolted to the floor.  I would not have thought of that either.

The statistics were sobering.  Out of the about 1 million people on Oahu, there are 20 ambulances, 1200 firefighters, 2000 police officers and 450 EMTs.  So if there was a major catastrophe that took out one or more of the large hotels in Waikiki those 20 ambulances would be used up pretty quickly.

The hands on portion was also pretty sobering.  We did a mock rescue with half of our class as victims in a building with 3 separate rooms and desks and chairs as obstacles.  The room was dark, and fog filled.  We had head lamps.  The first drill, I was the first one in the building with a team mate.  We were the triage team.  We entered the dark room with our hand on the right wall, my team mate Bernard had his left hand on my shoulder.  I had to call out any obstacles that I found.

We came upon mock victims who had various injuries.  Fake blood, and fake injuries were used.  I had to make contact with the victim, and quickly assess them and then mark them for triage by tying a green, yellow, red or black ribbon around them.  If they had life threatening injuries I had to quickly do first aid all while reporting to Bernard what room we were in, a description of the vicim, a description of their injuries and their triage marking, so that he could radio to Incident Command who would then send in extraction teams.  With the lights off and the fog, and the other half of our class doing a pretty good job of acting, it began to feel real.  Making split second decisions and the difficulty of not really being able to see, and constant radio chatter made it stressful.  It took us 35 minutes as a team to get everyone out of the building and we were only treating fake injuries.  There were only 3 rooms, and 9 people.  I can’t imagine if this was a real world situation.

We all walked away from the training realizing we needed more training in first aid.  I’d like to get my first aid/cpr/aed training before the year is out.  I also saw that Red Cross offers Wilderness First Aid, but the prereq is the basic course.  I think these skills will provide very useful as we continue to lead missions trips in at times remote areas.

I was so impressed with Trevor who first did Incident Command.  He’s a college student here at UH, and is a ham radio operator.  He handled 5 different teams, well, on the radio, keeping track of everything that was going on and prioritizing and directing his team.  I honestly don’t think I could have done that without getting overwhelmed and confused.

I got my ham radio license last spring, but haven’t been able to buy a radio yet.  After spending some time with Trevor and Bernard and seeing the importance of good radio communication during an emergency I’m going to prioritize getting one even if it’s cheap.   I’ll at least getting some time on the air.

It’s fun getting new certifications, especially when they cost next to nothing.  It’s a great way to meet new people, and learn a new skill and become a part of the community.

Living on an island in the middle of the Pacific has really changed the way I think about life.  A tsunami or a hurricane could greatly devastate us here, and we’re really far from any resupply.

They recommend having at least 3 days of food and water as a minimum.  Here in Hawaii they recommend having at least a week.

Have you taken any steps to prepare in case of a disaster?  Share with us in the comments.

IMG 4578 from Jim and Jess Baker on Vimeo.

I recently planted a zucchini plant in a 5 gallon bucket and am sprouting some jalapeño plants too.

How did your garden do this year?  Let us know in the comments!

Here is another installment in the Beauty In Jamestown series.  It has been 2 months since our trip.  I think after this post I will have one more and then will be done.

One afternoon our team went to Tanglewood Manor.  When we arrived they had us down for another day, but luckily it didn’t matter.  That seems common of missions trips.  Your have to remain flexible on missions trips, because despite your best laid plans, something isn’t going to go how you thought it would.

We went out to the patio and there was a group of about 25 elderly people playing bingo.  We all sat at different tables, and then people on the team took turns calling the letters and numbers.

After we finished playing a few rounds of bingo, we had them encourage the staff member that was working with them.  Then we had them encourage one another.  It was great to see them light up as they spoke encouraging positive words about one another.  After that we spent some time mingling with them.

I asked the staff worker if there was anyone in particular that I should go visit.  She immediately told me Goldie doesn’t get many visitors.  So Hannah one of the team members and I headed to Goldie’s room.  Goldie was sleeping in her recliner when we got there but I knocked on her door and said hello.  Goldie was having a hard time hearing us, so we spoke loudly.  She was using oxygen to breathe.  She told us she was 103!  She said that all of her family and friends had passed away and no one comes and visits her anymore and that it’s like living in a different world because no one she knew is alive.  She began to tear up and said she didn’t want to be here anymore and didn’t know why God still had her on the earth.

We asked her if we could pray for her, she said yes, and we did.  We asked God to speak to Goldie about what God’s purpose was for her still.

Then I asked her if she had any words of wisdom for us younger folk.  She did.  She said one word.  Moderation.

That’s a good one.  Especially for our generation.

I think out of all the ministry we did and I’ve done, I always enjoy visiting old folks homes.  I remember visiting an old folks home with a team in Latvia.  Amazing people, who have done amazing things, who have been faithful, and worked hard, and are now forgotten by society.  One guy that I talked to kept telling me that he was only going to be in here for a little while because his son said he’d be back to get him.  I didn’t tell him that I didn’t think that was true.

I need to schedule some visits to the old folks homes out here.  At least once a month.  Keep me accountable to that.