GPBC Blog

By Joyce Wachsmuth --

Aloha GPBC Ohana! (ohana means “family” in Hawaiian),

In general “Aloha” means love. I send my love to each one of you. I must admit that I have taken for granted the opportunity to gather in groups and be a part of worship gatherings every Sunday morning. In other words, I really miss you as my family! I have appreciated the worship team and pastors, Wayne and Greg, preaching via the internet, but I miss being with people. Some of us have been getting together virtually, and it’s been great to hear and see people on a screen and sometimes in little boxes! In times like these, technology is our friend, and we are grateful for the connection we can have with our family and friends.

No doubt our horizontal connection with others have been tested. But what about our vertical connection with the Lord? Are you discouraged and sometimes feel a distance from the Lord because of the crisis? If you’re like me, it has been up and down. Watching the news can leave you with hope or despair. After two weeks, we are faced with seeing our situation as a new “normal.” The worst time for me is when I put my head on the pillow. I’m pretty good during the day, and then I start to worry at night! Listening to hymns and praise songs uplifts my spirit, and so, recently, I have been listening to scripture on my pillow before bed. For many of us, our prayer life has been revved up to be consistent and fervent:

“Call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and might things which we do not know.” - Jeremiah 33:3

Sometimes I use my pidgin translation of the Bible, Da Jesus Book, to get more insight into a verse. (Pidgin English is the language I spoke while I lived in Hawaii. It is the common and ordinary language people speak today. The translation of the Da Jesus Book was written with 26 Hawaiians and assisted by Wycliffe Bible Translators.) In I Corinthians 16:19 the phrase “stay tight wit da boss, Jesus” caught my attention. I have never used the word “boss” for Jesus. Just saying Jesus is my boss took on a whole new meaning of how I live my life with the choices and decisions I make every day. In my past professional life, I have had excellent bosses, but to think Jesus is my eternal and perfect boss makes me wonder what it would be like to have a “review” with Jesus as my boss. I know that I am accepted just as I am and that I am made perfect in my weakness. But as my boss, do I follow and obey Him? Do I listen to him? Staying tight with the da boss means that I recognize and give Him thanks for being tight with me first and then humbling myself and loving Him with my whole heart.

If you and I were to have a time together and I asked you , “How are you “staying tight with the da boss, Jesus?,” how would you answer that? How are you loving Jesus with your whole heart? If Jesus sat down with you, what would your review be like? What changes do you need to make in your life to stay tight with da boss?

Let’s do this together and ask each other, “How are you staying tight with da boss?”

Blessings on you, Ohana!

Joyce