Facing Forward – Chad Taylor
Image by HawaiianVirtualTours
UNLESS A SEED FALLS AND DIES: THE VOICE OF HAWAII (E ALA E)- IS RISING AGAIN
by Chad Taylor
Remember that cryptic scripture in the Bible that states, "Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies?" As you read some of the facts below you will be as amazed as I was and your vision for Hawaii will take on an entirely different perspective. Whether you are a native of Hawaii, have visited her unforgettable shores before or are a stranger to the Islands I am certain this will enlighten you. In a day when kingdoms seem to rise and fall almost over night and the news of such places as Egypt grip our attention – this story of one of our great states and it’s imminent future is sure to encourage you.
ISRAEL KAMAKAWIWO’LE: A SEED
"Iz" (Israel Kamakawiwo’ole) left this earth on June 26th, 1997, this "voice" of Hawaii began a meteoric rise all over the world capturing the hearts of millions – even being heard in outer-space. You may remember Israel Kamakawiwo’ole from songs such as "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" featured as a sound track in the movies Meet Joe Black and Finding Forrester, and in "50 First Dates" & The 2010 IMAX: Hubble 3D feature.
There is no other explanation except God’s hand that can catapult someone from virtual obscurity on a far away Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, raise them up to such a stature to reach the world a million times over and this is after they have died. Not only has Israel’s songs been heard all over the world and continue to rise on the charts every year since his untimely death in 1997- they have been heard in outer-space on NASA missions and have become a proverbial sound to millions. Israel Kamakwiwo’le is a seed in the soil of Hawaii’s posterity and future.
HAWAII: FACING FUTURE
Iz’s first album has now went platinum multiple times since it’s release in 1993. The cover-art and its title carries the cryptic and prophetic message for Hawaii, "FACING FUTURE". The day I arrived in Kona, HI. last week Jan. 26th Iz’s song had hit #1 in Germany for the second time in 5 years. Hawaii’s role in the nations has only just begun and Germany is simply one of them. God is about to ratify Hawaii to such an extent that She will be honored and needed more than any other time in its rich and illustrious history. As Hawaii faces her future the winds of change are beginning to blow in gale force.
GOD’S ALOHA TO THE NATIONS
Aloha in the Hawaiian language means affection, love, peace, compassion and mercy. The inherent anointing on Hawaii is going to be a crucial part in breaking the spirit of death and tyranny in many volatile parts of the world such as The Middle East and North Korea. Hawaii will be a critical "ground zero" in world missions eclipsing any of her previous efforts. The sons and daughters of Hawaii will be one the world’s last great missionary campaigns. They will carry the "Balm of Gilead" and their "Aloha" will impact the hardest and most resistant nations in the world. They will certainly be God’s fire to melt hearts of stone.
HAWAII’S FORECAST: HISTORIC BREAKTHROUGH
Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole is a prophetic picture of Hawaii as a whole. Not since the days of Hawaai’s monarchy has their been a voice from the Islands that has been heard on such a world-wide scale. Israel is only a "seed"; a voice coming from Hawaii that will shape future world-events rivaling any other nation before it. Hawaii’s future forecast is historic breakthrough on a scale never seen aforetime. Iz became a "voice of Hawaii" and his death and consequential seed is about to multiply and impact the world in more ways than ever imaginable. "However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" – 2st Cor. 2:9
HAWAII’S PROPHECIES OF THE PAST AT LAST
When the last living Queen of Hawaii Liliʻuokalani was circumvented and lost the Islands to the U.S. in 1893, she prayed in her appellant letter to the world, "God will listen to the voice of His Hawaiian children lamenting for their homes…" And indeed He is. Like those biblical characters mentioned above, Hawaii is indeed "getting back Her voice" on a global scale. Liliʻuokalani’s prophecy of Hawaii’s voice is coming to pass now.
In her book "Hawaii’s Story" her prophetic letter to the world is being fulfilled. She writes, "My great-grandaunt Queen Kapiloani plucked the sacred berries from the borders of the volcano, descended to the boiling lava, and there, while singing Christian hymns, threw them into the lake of fire breaking forever the power of Pele the fire goddess…" The breaker anointing is going to foreshadow all of Hawaii’s future events and endeavors.
THE VOICE OF HAWAII
On my recent trip to Hawaii God told me to tell the Hawaiian people that "THE VOICE OF HAWAII WILL BE HEARD AGAIN." There are many examples in the Bible when people had lost their voice or thier impact such as Zechariah after he heard the declaration of the angel regarding the birth of his son John or Hannah when she prayed for a son. Jesus was silent before His accusers as well and dumbfouned his enemies because of it. Jeremiah is much like Hawaii now when he wrote in chapter 20:9, "But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not…" God’s prophetic word and destiny for the entire world in Hawaii is about to erupt. It cannot be held back any longer.
E ALA E: ARISE!
I played Iz’s music in every church I visited with that very message in Kona, Kapaau, Hilo, and Pahoa – I prophesied the greatest days of Hawaii’s future lie ahead. The song from Israel "Iz", "E Ala E", became our anthem and the lyrics are as prophetic today as when they were written on the Album with the same title in 1995: "We, the voices behind the face, Of the Hawaiian nation, the Hawaiian race – Rise for justice the day has come For all our people to stand as one- E Ala E!"
E Ala E means: ARISE or WAKE UP. God is calling the Hawaiian people to Arise and "wake up" to the call of God and begin to blaze a trail of reformation and revival around the world. God said this last week during my visit, "As the star led Kings to the manger – so will Hawaii be like a star leading Kingdoms to Me now". Hawaii is the epicenter. It is the "Hokulea" which means, "the Star of Happiness". He also reminded me of the mysterious oil that continues to glisten on the waters at Pearl Harbor as a haunting reminder of that fateful day in 1941. God said to me,"My anointing on Hawaii and its people is like that oil on the waters of Pearl Harbor, it will never leave and My purposes for Hawaii and the nations."
THE RING OF FIRE AND WORLD MISSIONS
42 nations surround Hawaii in what is called the "Pacific Rim" or "Ring of Fire". Hawaii is "Ground Zero" for much of the world’s evangelization and is taking on a much larger role in the coming days. Some of the cities of influence and social economic power in the Pacific Rim as listed in Wikipedia are: Auckland, Busan, Brisbane, Guangzhou, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Kobe, Lima, Los Angeles, Manila, Melbourne, Nagoya, Osaka, Panama City, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco, Santiago, Seattle, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, and Vancouver. It has begun.
A short video clip of Iz shortly before he died was sent to me after I arrived in Kona, HI. capturing a live concert sharing his faith in Jesus and appealing to the youth on drugs. Many people are unaware that Israel was saved later in his life and that he had such strong convictions. His heart’s cry to the parents and youth alike is a taste of what’s to come as thousands of similar voices arise and "WAKE UP" Hawaii. (See the link to video below)
I watched another video when they cast Israel’s ashes into Mākua Beach, thousands lined the shoreline and fiiled the water with boats and bodies, the Lord spoke to me and said, "This is the closest Hawaii as come to revival in over 100 years and this seed is about to break out on her shores again…" The voice of Hawaii is only beginning to be heard and her music, culture, faith and influence is going to quantum-leap in the coming moments, weeks and years. I am honored to be a witness of it. Believe with me… Chad Taylor
"I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains [just one grain; it never becomes more but lives] by itself alone. But if it dies, it produces many others and yields a rich harvest…" – John 12:24 Amp.
In the year 1998, Kamakawiwo’ole’s recording of "Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" featured as a sound track in the movies Meet Joe Black and Finding Forrester, and in "50 First Dates"
IZ’s Facing Future, with Over The Rainbow sung by Iz, is the first album of Hawaiian music, by any Hawaiian artist, or group, to be certified Platinum (1,000.000 copies) by RIAA the RECORDING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION of AMERICA after his death…The Wonderful World was ready to be released and debuted at #1 on the Billboard World Chart and remained in the top 5 slots of that chart for 2 years.
"Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" reached #12 on Billboard’s Hot Digital Tracks chart the week of January 31, 2004 (for the survey week ending January 18, 2004), and passed the 2 million paid downloads mark in the USA as of September 27, 2009.
On July 4, 2007, Kamakawiwoʻole debuted at No. 44 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart with "Wonderful World," selling 17,000 units.
In April 2007, "Over the Rainbow" entered the UK charts at #68, and eventually climbed to #46, spending 10 weeks in the Top 100 over a 2 year period.
"Over the Rainbow" previously played during the Atlantis STS-122 mission on Feb. 7, 2008.
In October 2010, following its use on a TV advertisement it hit #1 on the German singles chart, selling 300,000 copies.
The 2010 IMAX: Hubble 3D feature uses both "What a Wonderful World" and "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with the latter playing over the ending credits.
As of November 1, 2010, "Over the Rainbow" peaked at No. 6 on the OE3 Austria charts, which largely reflect airplay on Austria’s government-operated Top 40 radio network. It also peaked at No.1 in France and Switzerland in late December 2010.
On December 6, 2010, "Iz" was named one of the 50 great voices on National Public Radio. It is also used in the 2009 BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Series "South Pacific" as the intro track.
The week of December 20th, IZ’ single “Over the Rainbow” was released in France and also hit number 1. In more Europe news, the Single for “Over the Rainbow” was also released in the United Kingdom and is swiftly climbing the charts.
If you were watching the ball drop in Times Square in person or on TV this past New Years Eve, you may have noticed that once again New Yorkers celebrated this New Years with many songs, including IZ’s “Over the Rainbow”
The Hawaiʻi State Flag flew at half-staff on July 10, 1997, the day of Kamakawiwoʻole’s funeral. His koa wood coffin lay in state at the Capitol building in Honolulu. He was the third person in Hawaiian history to be awarded this honor, and the only one who was not a government official. Approximately ten thousand people attended the funeral. Thousands of fans gathered as his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean at Mākua Beach on July 12, 1997.
One of Israel’s last concerts before he died that includes his faith and a call to AWAKE the Hawaain people:
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