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?