2:45 in the morning

04.27.09

I closed the door ever so carefully. The last thing I needed was my wife’s wrath for waking our children at 2:45am! The plan was to meet at the freeway at 3. Paul drove the whole way and just as the sun slipped up over the Florida peninsula we paddled into the Gulf of Mexico. Later that night we stumbled into small group for church; sunburnt, exhausted, surfed out and smiling. What a great day!

8 hours in the truck with four guys, sleep deprived, needing food, wore out and we’d do it again in a heartbeat!

Matthew 13:44 (NIV)
“The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his JOY went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

Sometimes we focus on the sacrifices that come with following Christ. We get bummed about the hurts and struggles that come with the territory. Yes, following Jesus is not the easy road but the point is – WE GET TO FOLLOW JESUS!

The guy sold everything with JOY because he got the treasure. I awake in the middle of the night STOKED because I get to surf.

WE GET TO BE WITH JESUS!

…sacrifices, what sacrifices?

Is good enough, Enough?

04.20.09

Recently, a man in our area ran a 9 mile race in 43 minutes. As we all know, top athletes, Olympians and some surfers train with intense focus. In life there are things that hold us back, things that push us ahead and the gray, middle of the road things that don’t hurt or help us. Many great people got where they are by not only avoiding the things that hold them back (that’s a no-brainer), but by committing to only the things that catapult them ahead. This is the idea of, “Good being the enemy of Great”.

In our Christian lives are we content to just avoid the things that pull us away from the Lord or are we compelled to ONLY allow into our lives the things that catapult us toward Jesus? Are we radically committed to pursue glorifying God thru intimacy with HIM at any cost?

Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off EVERYTHING that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2) Let us fix our eyes on JESUS…

Who do you surf for?

Fellowship of the Believers

04.13.09

They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. Acts 2:42-47 (NIV)

Rich's paraphrase

The Christian Surfers deeply committed themselves to the Bible's teachings and to loving and supporting one another. They also deeply committed themselves to worshiping God and prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many amazing things occurred among these Christian Surfers. All the Christian Surfers were together and had everything in common. They sold off all the excess things they had and even made sacrifices to give to anyone in need. They also got together and gave their time to serve at local board riding events. Every Sunday they committed to going to church and they regularly met together in each other's homes to eat together and worship God with rejoicing and thankfulness, praising God and enjoying the good reputation they had amongst their local board riding community. And God used them powerfully every day to be a part of surfers getting saved and entering into a relationship with Him!!!

Every day surfers getting saved and entering into a relationship with Him!!!

Is this just something that happened in the early church a long time ago or can it really happen today?

Who do you surf for?

Richard Leonard, National Director of CS South Africa

http://www.sonsurf.co.za/

Making Christians out of Surfers

04.06.09

We were headed south towards Sebastian Inlet unsure what the winds would do. We stopped at the first place that looked good. When it got blown out we made the call to head home because we knew it was at least as good as everywhere else. We never made it to Sebastian. We stopped 20 minutes shy of being there. That night we read the quotes about how the Inlet was the best it had been in ten years, maybe ever! The photos confirmed it.

We must not let the good things distract us from the mission.

In Christian Surfers there are a few realities that drive us.

1. GOD is so great that HE deserves to be worshipped everywhere.
2. Man was made to worship
3. The vast majority of surfers worship something other than God and will spend eternity separated from HIM.

In Mark 1:35-39 Jesus teaches this idea. There is a crowd of people, wanting to be healed, wanting to hear HIS teaching, just wanting to be near HIM. But, HE walks away. Not that it wasn’t a good thing, but it wasn’t the mission.

In Christian Surfers we often get distracted and seek to make Surfers out of Christians rather than making Christians out of Surfers. One is good and if it occurs that’s great, but one is essential and if it doesn’t occur people’s eternal destinies are lost and God’s glory is missed.

Who do you surf for?

Coffee Without Lipstick

03.30.09

I was sitting at a table on the sidewalk outside McDonald’s in Honolulu. The homeless man walked up and began taking cups of coffee out of the trash can next to me and pouring the remnants into one cup until he had a full cup of coffee. On the bench next to the trashcan sat a middle aged business man with a tube of masquera and a mirror touching up the gray on the corners of his hair. Our world has gone mad.

Of course, I ask the man to allow me to buy him a fresh, hot cup of coffee. His eyes were filled with fear as he rejected my offer and asked me to leave him alone.

Standing on the North Shore yesterday I spoke with a man that refuses to give the Lord the opportunity to give him an abundant life. Instead he very carefully fills his cup of sin (avoiding the “big” ones) and then slurps it down. Afraid that God might hold out on him and convinced that what he has is good or good enough.

Oh, how we have settled for this world and pushed away the offers of God. We have bought the lies of the surfing world that say by focusing on my needs I will find joy, while God says DYING to self leads to joy. In Eternity we will see who is correct. I just pray that at that moment, we don’t look back with the sad realization that we have followed a lie and wasted our lives on surfing and fun and self. Let Jesus get you a fresh cup with no lipstick on the rim. Live for Jesus today.

“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” -1 John 2:15

Who do you surf for?