Pastor Bill Stonebraker Always Ready To Listen

Sometimes the most reflective meetings happen in the oddest places. Take Pastor Bill Stonebraker of the Calvary Chapel of Honolulu. His moment happened out in the ocean.

"We have three services on Sunday, two in the morning and one at night," he explained. "So there's a five-hour gap between them. I took my surf board to relax. As I'm out there ready to go, a man paddles up to me. He tells me he was just released from jail and he listened to me while he was in there on the radio. You never know where and when you are going to reach someone and make an impact."

Pastor Stonebraker has been reaching people, many of whom are in prison, since the 1970s. Originally from Southern California, he moved to Hawaii in 1967. "I came here to build surf boards," he said. "What I found was that I was being irresponsible about the important things in my life -- about being a husband, a father. I was just about divorced. I was only thinking about 'me'."

Then the pastor found Jesus Christ. "It started with people coming to our house," he said. "It was in the early 1970s and then I was ordained in 1975."

Pastor Stonebraker said they don't keep track of the number of people who come to their church on a weekly basis. "We tell them if they want to drop by and visit, this is fine," he stated. "If they want to leave, then fine. We welcome everyone with open arms."

The Calvary Chapel features a radio and television show and a strong presence on the web. "It's amazing how technology has shrunk the world," he said. "We're getting letters from Africa, Afghanistan, Japan, all over the world. People can watch and listen to the services right on our website."

The pastor indicated that he spends quite a bit of time preparing the sermon. "I try to incorporate current events into it too," he said. "There is a lot of stress out there. Oil is near $80 a barrel, some predicting that it will go to $150 a barrel. Unemployment is high. People are trying to make it paycheck to paycheck. So I need to be positive and upbeat."

There are many programs that the Calvary Chapel participates in to help the community out too. "This Sunday we will be joining other churches to help and feed the homeless," Pastor Stonebraker said. "There are people that live in tents on the beaches and some who live under bridges. You can get a permit for that but occasionally they are moved and it lands in the papers. We're trying to do our best to reach out to those in need."

Education is important too. "We have a preschool through high school service for the children," he explained. "We have about 150 kids enrolled."

And there are the many missions the church is involved with in many parts of the country. "We're trying our best to reach out to as many people who need help," he said. "We're trying to be as proactive as we can."

I asked the pastor several questions about my recently released novel, Necessary Heartbreak, a story that incorporates time travel back to the last week of Christ's life.

Question:  If you had a chance to stop Judas, would you? Should you?

Pastor Stonebraker:  "I'm not sure anyone could have stopped Judas. I know there's a mindset out there that he was a needed part of this. I'm not so sure. I don't think Jesus could reach Judas. There is also a belief that Judas tried to force Jesus to show He was the Messiah and take on the Romans. But this is a great question.

Question: If you had a chance to ask Jesus one question, what would it be?

Pastor Stonebraker: "I don't know if I would ask one. I am a listener. I would like to see Jesus' facial expressions, hear the inflection in his voice when He spoke, how He reacted to hypocrites, what He preached to those in torment.  I would want to spend as much time following Him, hang out with Him, see how He reacted to people that tested Him, what His degree of anger was to certain situations.

Pastor Stonebraker does spend a lot of time listening. He has two daughters and one son, all grown. There are 13 grandchildren in his life. "I love to watch them interact with each other," he said. "It's one of my greatest joys."

For more information about Pastor Stonebraker and his church, visit here: http://www.calvarychapelofhonolulu.com/