RIDING THE WAVE OF FAITH

I am really learning...more and more each and every day... how our " believer family" is so very much, also " real family" in most every applicable translation.

God is also teaching me alot about "transformational faith" and how...as our hearts grow for both the local and global mission-field, it's so very akin to one of my favorite sports .... surfing.
A little on my beginning topic, first:

TONIGHT was special ... and happy ... and sad. It marked about the 5th year that our little band of Christiansurfers have been meeting. The relationships,closeness and friendships that God has grown over the years holds a special place in my heart. I've learned alot just watching them, loving up on them, and being open to them doing the same, for me. We said " goodbye" to two...Kylle and Haley, tonight. They move to Hawaii, to spread the vision, love and hope that is Christ Jesus. True...we'll see them again this summer...but their empty chairs in our group will never be filled. What a blessing they've been to our group!
On the way home tonight, i reflected on the special relationships that God has brought me...in many different circles of believers: New Wine Gathering in Bacliff, the Starbucks Men's Fellowship(that has been going on for 2+years now), My Clear Creek Jnr High Adult Volunteers Group, super close family friends in Becky and Jeff Gray and..finally... the (now) high school guys that God has given me the chance to "pour into" these last 6 years. How blessed i am, and thankful to God...everyday!

As for TRANSFORMATIONAL FAITH:

I continue to be amazed at the path God has taken me on. How..through so much "relational loss", he just keeps on bringing into my life "relational gain"...in profound ways. How...beyond that...he grows our faith not vertically, but horizontaly, as well. Mission minded, if you will.
Being on mission for Christ is SO MUCH akin to surfing...seriously! If our beach is the foundation of which our surf experience begins, so too is our local church. We grow there, we thirst there, and we begin to "seek out" there. Yes..we even begin to be pushed out.
Then..there is the "paddle out"! It's not always easy, and there are peaks and valleys of whitewater to fight through...just like in our faith...when we have to go through the "low points" before we can "Go Local" or "Go global" and spread the gospel to others.
It's that glorious desitination we search for, and seek. The place where we begin to TRULY make an impact for Jesus, and teach and bring others to Him. It's the "line-up"..or "mission-field". It's the "perfect wave"...or the "perfect opportunity" to share the gospel with another. We're in the lineup...in the mission field, and God really starts to use us...to give us opportunities to share. He gives us that PERFECT WAVE. We ride it in, and praise Him, and serve Him...all the way to the beach. Then we rest gain...renourish...resupply...and paddle out...again!
I love this analogy. This parable, if you will.
Let's all seek HIM. Let's not sit on the beach and watch from afar. Let's grab the board(the cross) and paddle out...and do it all over again...for HIM.
In HIM, always....

Jerry :O)

"INKED" -SurrenderedMans Testimony

I got my tattoo when i was getting my divorce. A heartbreaking event, symbolizing the end of my 10 year marraige. My original motivation..sheer rebellion, and a way to thumb my nose at my (now) ex wife, and just "do" something...anything, to get her goat.

After my divorce, i sought refuge from my pain..in the form of constant partying, chasing women to feed some emerging rejective seed and ... i see now..to hide, from myself, God and others.

Here's where it gets weird.... You see, my tattoo was of a red surfboard,with white trim. My actual surfboard was white, with red trim. This is significant, because...in a way..God took that tattoo, made "it" right, and made me right in HIS timing, not mine.

Back to my story... After my divorce, and two years of parting and racking up alot of debt, i was empty. I started attending CLear Creek Community Church in the fall of 2001. The more i went, the more i wanted to be there ! God had seen to it that i was at the end of my rope ...or was it the beginning ?
One day ...on the steps of church, i asked the Pastor if he would come over and talk to me.I was broken, troubled and asking him ( and myself) questions about how i was doing life, and why i felt so freak'n empty. Suprisingly, he agreed, came over that very night..and we talked for 2 hours !!!

Did i immedietly turn to him and accept Christ?? No, i was stubborn.

Fast forward..a year later. God was breaking me ..hard ! I went to work one day, crying and even more broken ... and called the church. I spoke to the community pastor and , 30 minutes later, i was on my knees, accepting Christ as my Lord and Savior. Afterwards, the Pastor asked me "now what are you going to do"...my answer was the following Sunday, when i joined my first small group ( Bible Study for Dummies...a name i thought was appropriate).

I always thought..when i accepted Christ, that the story ended there. What i've discovered is that our testimony is never ending. Since that time, God has been at work in my life ...bigtime ! He's brought people into my life, for the sheer purpose of helping define HIS purpose for me. He brought me broken ...again..to Exchanged Life Ministries, and John and Joyce Stanley. He brought me there to show me who i really am "in Christ", and real, honest to goodness applications for life-transformation and the ability to live out this new found faith...daily. He brought Becky Gray into my life, to lead me to serving in junior high ...which i have now for 5 years. He brought Godly men into my life, which helped me understand i have a gift for discipling to, and helping other lost or broken men. He brought an organization called Christiansurfer into my life, which showed me that there are good christian guys who raise their families right, surf and share God's word with the lost.

So..that's where i'll close my story..back at the beginning. That tattoo...the one that was the opposite color as my real surfboard. God made that right,too. He had me stumble onto a (sight unseen) surfobard for sale on a surfers messageboard..but a year after i had crossed the line of faith. As i approached the garage where it was stored..i had no idea. As the garage door opened, i looked inside..and what did i see. A red longboard..with white trim. Identical to the one on my ankle.

I smile when i recal this story. God made the surfboard allign with the one on the outside of my skin. He also took that surfboard..and through his working in my life, made it a part of my purpose for him...to disciple to the local surf community, troubled teens and broken men. Now..when i occasionally look down at it..or someone asks me about it..it makes me smile. It makes me get goosebumps just thinking about it. God's amazing, and sometimes..when he's at work in us..we can't see it at the time. But it IS undeniable..and amazing...and and so cool, too !

There is another way to fullfill ourselves , and it doesn't start or end with with us ...rather ....HIM.

New Years Resolutions

My New Years Resolutions........... WOW...it's a new year ! We all get the chance to "wipe the slate clean" and begin again. I'm thinking about my goals,dreams and purposes for '08.

Generally speaking, i want to surrender more to God, and make HIS, for me, my own. To fully trust HIS plan for me. To be "sealed" in the idea that He DOES want me glorifying HIM, and by me doing so..will have a fantastic plan for me. Soooo...on to the specifics...

1. RELATIONALLY - For the past many months, i've thought God was speaking to me, and saying i WILL be getting married in '08. I'm beginning to think he wasn't specificaly speaking "marraige"(allthough this still might be the case), rather just bringing into my life( or manifesting it with someone i already know) the woman who will eventually become my bride. Mostly, HE knows that as my hearts desire, so "i" don't have to "do" anything. HE will do it for me...when HE is ready. That's cool!

2. PREPARATION - God is growing me, and praparing me... to accomplish great things for HIM, this year. I'm being given the chance to give 5 sermons in junior high in '08 ( and am already preparing for that). I'll be evaluated after each one, and am asking God to speak into my heart, if he wants me pursuing a vision of becoming a pastor. I hope so, but only if it is what HE wants for my life. I am committed to becoming an ardent follower, a humble servant, and more Godly, obedient man and, again, let HIM take care of the rest.

3. SANCTIFICATION - I am human, and still have so many faults and "fleshiness" for HIM to work on. I interrupt too much, tend to drift into "me-ness" too frequently, have remnants of lust in my heart, and am lonely, too much. These all speak to spiritual "softness"...and i'm asking God to continue HIS work in me, in this regard. I want to fully trust,rely on, and have faith in HIM to work in (and on) me. I want my believer friends to hold me accountable in all these areas. I want to be "all about" HIM, and not "all about" me.

4. LOVE,LOVE,LOVE - I love "love". I want to love God more, my daughters more, and my family and friends,more. I'm asking God to completely seal me in my love for HIM, so i'm not so quick to incorrectly "fall in love" again with another. To not just use "emotion" when i interpret the woman i fall for as being sent "from" God, rather ask God to give me powers of reason and spiritual discernment in making a decision to do so. I pray that God has taught me powerful lessons as to how to better go about it, the next time. Sooo ...in '08 ...i'm asking God to speak clearly,hold me close, and not let me confuse my "wants", with HIS "needs", for me.

5. APPLICATION - This is where i get to give up '08 to HIM. All of my items no.'s 1 through 4 are HIS, not mine. I need to remember this, and continue to press inward in my relationship with HIM. Read my Bible more often, pray more specificaly. Name what i desire "in Christ" and claim what i want "in Christ".

Thank you Jesus, for giving me the experiences you did in '07, so that it will make me better serve you...in '08 !!In HIM,Jerry :O)