Scott Cain is having an awesome ministry day in May called Walk on Water.  The gist of this day is wakeboarders that love Jesus sharing what they love with others as an act of worship.  The end of the day will consist of a presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ and hopefully will give attenders a plain picture of what a life lived for Jesus can look like for them.  

I put a request for Wakeboard Churcher's to bring their boats out and pull the potentially 350-400 people that could be in attendance.  It paints a really cool picture in my mind.  Usually we're flustered for a set.  We rush to get to the lake for our own pull.  Not this day.  This day we give our own gas, our own time, our own potential sets to pull those who would never have a chance to go out without us.  

In my favorite video game Halo, one of the characters says to some soldiers, "we're gonna need your help on a rescue mission...".  

Now I'm going to need your help on a rescue mission.  

In World War 2 there was a time when the British Expeditionary Forces were trapped by the Germans.  The Belgians had surrendered to Hitler and the French were overpowered.  The British forces were land locked...at the oceans edge with nowhere to run.  There weren't enough naval vessels to hold all the soldiers.  A call was put out to anybody in England the had a vessel 30'-100' that was self propelled.  The military didn't have enough boats to rescue the entire BEF, and they needed help on a rescue mission.  Churchill expected to save 20,000-30,000 men through this operation.  Instead close to 385,000 were rescued.  Because people brought their boats.  Because people were willing to sacrifice their time.  Because people believed that evil could be overcome through sacrifice.  

I believe evil can be overcome by sacrifice.  Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was the only thing that and the best thing to destroy evil once and for all.  

On May 22nd we'll be bringing our boats to lake Cleburne for our own little Resuce at Dunkirk.  In the words of the song by David Crowder..."Rescue is Coming", and we'll be brining the name of Jesus on the fiberglass hulls of Wakeboard boats.   

The enemy might seem strong, and the fight will not be pretty, but we will fight to get every last soul off the beach of Dunkirk and back home.  Regardless of the cost.  

Now who has a boat we can use for the rescue? 

It's difficult to actually live this life out for Christ isn't it?  Well, wait a minute.  Maybe it isn't.  Yesterday I was caught off guard when a gentleman came to our front door looking for a church.  He was asking for some help with some bills.  This isn't at all uncommon in the church world.  It's just uncommon in the Wakeboard Church world because we don't have a building so to speak.  When I worked on staff at the church in St. Louis, we had this happen quite often.  As a matter of fact, it happened so much that it caused us to set up a benevolence fund, and policy.  So, yesterday at Wakeboard Church the church I found myself unprepared and caught off guard when I invited this genuinely hurting individual in my home and went to the pantry to give him what we had.  I felt so conflicted in that moment.  On one hand I was feeling, "we hardly have food as it is with this house so full", on the other hand, "Jesus told me to give him my all, so I should just let him walk through and take what he needed."  "What if I was getting scammed?"  "What if he used money for drugs?"  "What if?"  "What if?"  "What if?".

Do you remember that time Jesus said, "think very hard about how you should serve others, and try to calculate their motives and reasons for why they are in the situation they are in."?  

Yeah...me neither.  

I found myself going into fix it mode.  I found myself wishing I had a plan for action.  I started asking questions.  I'm not sure why, but I did.  I was secretly wishing that I could serve in a way that I could do some good.  Somewhere in the back of my mind I was hoping that I could work on his car.  

After some talking and after Kelly giving him a gift card and a gatorade, I learned that his car needed brakes.  Sweet!  Something I can help with, plus Robby and I will be having a brake day very soon.  It all lined up.  God brought somebody along that taught me a ton about really living out my salvation for Christ, while at the same time allowing me to "feel" like I'm not a complete loser and can actually "do" somethings for Christ.  I don't know if you feel like I do sometimes, but I "feel" like I don't really have anything to offer much of the time.  I know in the grand scheme of things we really don't, but every once in a while it's really nice to feel utilized.  

So, today I bought some brake pads for this car that I'm going to fix the brakes on.  I understand the verses talking about telling men about things that you do and you have your reward in full there...I'm good with that.  I'm telling you this to encourage you to get out there and trust that God is going to bring you the exact thing you need to do, right then, and you'll be the right tool for the job.  Trust Him.  Don't think.  Just do.  

So leaving Cambodia I asked God if he would let me get dirty.  Cambodia was dirty ministry.  Not just physically dirty, but it was spiritually dirty.  It was draining.  Emotionally, physically, spiritually.  It even had a financial drain on it.  So I asked God to let me get dirty when I got home.  I wasn't sure if I knew what I was asking for.  All of a sudden God kept throwing crazy spiritual issues at us.  Within a couple of weeks we were somehow involved in 7-10 couples lives and were getting dirty.  It was weird.  And as it went on it felt like the dirt just kept getting dirtier.  At first it felt like a cute little dust of dirt that was easily wiped off.  Then it was mud.  Harder to get off of you, but not impossible.  Then we went to grease and grime, the types of dirt that stick around you for a while.  It takes a special soap, and time to rid your self of.  Then it got down to microbial dirt.  The kind of dirt that is just plain viral.  You can't see it, you can't wipe it off, you can't shake it unless you have something to cure it.  Kelly and I got tired.  Worn out.  I'm still feeling the effects of it.  I find myself trying to put a happy face on to fake it.  I don't type all of this to seek pity, or to look for encouragement.  I want you to pray the same thing.  "God let me get dirty."  It's tiring.  It's exhausting.  It's hard work.  However, I'm learning that I have to be dependent on my savior.  I can't do anything without Him.  Neither can You.  God thank you for letting me get to the end of me so that I have to rely on you to get me through what you brought me.  Thank you for loving me enough to spend time on me.  

 His is a clean that cannot get dirty.  He is Holy.  He is perfect.  Hebrews 11:11 says - All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.   

So John Douris and I have been working on the new site.  (Several people have been helping in the new site...Thank You!)  I've been uploading pictures and I keep looking through them consistently dumbfounded at what God has done in our midst.  I almost say to myself, "Wow, Wakeboard Church!  That's the kind of ministry that I'd want to be a part of!"  God has been so gracious to us and has blessed us so incredibly.  Who are we that we would be allowed to know Him, get to wakeboard as part of what we do within our ministry, and that we are here in this amazing country.  God is and continues to be so amazing to us.  He has done great things!!!  If you thumb through the pictures you'll see some amazing pictures.  Erik Lutgert...yes the legend Erik Lutgert going through videos that we had in a box at the raffle last year.  That's just a cool moment that not every wakeboarder gets to participate in.  We got to be a part of that.  God continues to allow us to be a part of Erik's life and the life of other amazing people within this great sport.  The camp picture is so cool to me because of what it represents.  What does it represent?  Lots of lives being changed at one time by a great God during an amazing week.  That's a moment in time I'll not soon forget.  The night where we got to have a church service on the party barge out at Lake Lavon.  Not only did Lavon Powersports supply the party barge, but Emily Copeland, Kevin Durham, and AJ Racienelli came out and gave their testimonies.  What an amazing night of hearing God at work in people around us.  I love the picture of Jenn giving her testimony at the Wakeboard Church Banquet.  There are so many reasons why that picture moves me, but here are a few.  Jenn is so on fire for God.  He is really doing an amazing work in her.  Really.  I have the unique pleasure of baptizing her tomorrow.  She wants to tell the world what Christ has done in her life.  He has done great things!  

Thanks for being a part of what God is doing on the water.  He continues to stretch us out of where we thought we would be.  He continues to draw people into his presence.  Sometimes he uses Wakeboard Church to do that.  Thanks for praying for us.  Thanks for supporting us.  Thanks for sharing the love of Jesus Christ in your life and out on the water.  

 He has done great things!  Psalm 126