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Christian Surfers International
That every surfers and every surfing community has opportunity to know and follow Jesus
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Day 3 - Full Evening Session - Americas

VideoAaron Hughes1 November 2018Comment
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La Bible des Surfeurs

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Day 2 - Full Evening Session - EMEA

VideoAaron Hughes1 November 2018
Christian Surfers International
21 Tecoma Street,
Jeffreys Bay, EC, 6330,
South Africa
info@christiansurfers.net

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Join us this week in praying for @christiansurferschile: “As surfing continues to grow in our country so does the need for our growth as a Christian presence and witness in the midst of the Chilean surf culture. As Christian Surfers Chile we have been here for a number of years now, connecting both nationally and locally in different locations, sharing the gospel with many surfers. Our goal is to bring the gospel to the new surf communities that are popping up all over the country and continue to be a faithful witness to the surfers that we have befriended over the years.” #everysurfer
This week’s Living Water from @christiansurfers_us ・・・ The Variables and The Constant by JW Kaiser Our interpretation of reality drives us and defines how we think, feel and act. If you are in a bad mood while surfing, no matter how good the waves are, there is a good chance your session will be dictated by your attitude. Likewise, if you are in a great mood and really stoked, the waves can be not so great and you can have the session of the year! The reason is that both the waves and our mindsets are variables in the equations of everyday life. The same principle can be applied to your job, your school, your relationships, your financial situation…all these things are variables that change and are open to our interpretations. Therefore our reality is driven by variables that toss us around like a ship on high seas. However, faith is different. There are two sides to the equation. Our side is again the variable. The same attitudes that we can carry into our surfing, job, school, etc., are at play with our faith. Sometimes we can just not “feel” like we are growing in our faith. Our ability to trust is limited to how we respond to our emotions and so many other variables that influence our side of the faith equation daily. If we are the variable in the equation of faith and life, then God is the constant. We first hear God refer to himself as “I am” to Moses in the Exodus story. When Moses realized his inadequacies, God again reminded Moses, “I am that I am”, meaning roughly, “I’ve got you! I’m in control. I’m the constant.” Later, in the incarnation of God on Earth, Jesus continues the theme. Seven times he gives us “I am…” statements. “I am the bread of Life…” John 6:35 “I am the light of the world…” John 8:12 “I am the door…” John 10:9 “I am the true vine…” John 15:1 “I am the good shepherd” John 10:11 “I am the resurrection and the life…” John 11:25 “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” John 14:6 In light of our analogy, I think it is safe to suggest that Jesus could also say, “I am the constant”. It is HIS reality that we, most of the time, struggle to understand, which exactly why we have to fix our eyes on Jesus, who is the constant in our lives!
Join with us this week in praying for Brazil, a nation with more than 7,000km of coastline and 8 million surfers and fans. They are one of the greatest powers in competitive surfing, however along with this they suffer from a lifestyle of rebellion. @mscbra is active on the main beaches with more than 100 leaders preaching the good news of Jesus. They disciple through smaller meetings and develop partnerships with local surfing federations. Pray for the Lord to send more workers, that they are more intentional in the work and that SC Brazil continues to grow. #everysurfer 📸 @motaury_
This week’s Living Water from @christiansurfers_us ・・・ Inclusive Exclusion by JW Kaiser The surf brand Billabong reminded in me in my teen years that “Only a surfer knows the feeling.” I had a huge poster of that iconic tag line accompanying a surfer in a standup backside barrel. Only a surfer will know all the “feelings” that come with our great passion of riding waves together. Surfing by its nature is somehow exclusive. Localism is the extreme of this exclusive community, but most surfers don’t want more surfers at our favorite breaks. We don’t want kooky folks throwing shakas and trying to rock their best version of so-called “surfer lingo” in the tribe. However, maybe deep down, we still want others to “know the feeling”. Let’s just agree that surfing is an exercise in inclusive exclusion. We don’t want you in the water, but we can’t help to wish you the same stoke we are feeling. As Christ followers, are we also practicing inclusive exclusion? Some of us only want people that fit our version of a “Christian” claiming to also be Christ followers. Yes, we want others to experience and follow Jesus, but we just want to define “who” gets into the club so to speak. No kooky Christians, right? Keep your messiness away from my Jesus! Truthfully, I’m ashamed to say I am guilty of this sentiment at times. When Jesus befriends and heals the prostitute, the corrupt tax collector, the demon-possessed, or the “dirty” leper, we feel safe reading these stories in the Bible. But when those people get near us, we draw back and secretly wish they’d get their act together first. What if a criminal (like the one whom Jesus invites into paradise) or a complete wild man like John (the beloved disciple), or even one who has denied Jesus (like Peter) sits next to us at church and claim Christ? Billy Graham once said when asked about the perfect church, “If you find a perfect church, join it and it will cease to be perfect.” The Kingdom of God is messy. The Kingdom of God is inclusive. But, the Kingdom of God is also exclusive. The Kingdom of God excludes those who do not embrace the messy, down and out, broken people that Jesus himself embraced and in fact built the church on
Join us this week in praying for @surfistasdecristovenezuela, who are still facing giants; due to the economy many surfers have left and it is very difficult to get surfboards or accessories. They are working with poor communities to teach surfing and share Biblical principles. They are also looking to multiply surfers’ Bible studies across the country and serve at contests, as well as the wider surf community. Please pray for Luis Gutierrez as he goes full-time in ministry. Pray also for more workers for the harvest and that they will be faithful witnesses of Jesus in the midst of the crisis. #everysurfer
This week’s Living Water from @christiansurfers_us ・・・ LIVING WATER Prayer by JW Kaiser What is the shortest and most meaningful prayer you’ve ever uttered? Chances are they’re one and the same. Maybe you were about to take a large set wave on the head and you thought, “Lord, help!” That’s the kind of prayer I’m talking about. Short and quick, but meaningful. That kind of prayer certainly comes from the right place in your heart…survival. I’ve been praying lots of those types of prayers lately. No, I haven’t been surfing big waves (I wish). Life has just been challenging in different ways and I’ve had a few conversations with God that were the “Lord, help!” type of prayers. Remember the story from Matthew’s Gospel when Peter actually walked on water with Jesus (Read Matthew 14:22-23)? Most of us remember that because being surfers, we all think it must have been a little like surfing to walk on water. But, do you remember what happened when Peter panicked? He begins to sink and then prayed a similar prayer that you would when you are stuck in the impact zone… or worse, “Lord, save me!” Life can throw situations at us that make our worst days of surfing seem like a pleasant experience and at those times, “Lord save me” is maybe all we can muster. Jesus grabbed Peter as he was sinking. He saved him. He is near to you now too… right where you need him to be, and he is mighty to save! From SACRED RHYTHMS by Ruth Haley Burton: From prayers that are more formal & structured to those that are informal & spontaneous, from prayer w/ words to prayer that’s beyond words, from the most intimate expressions of love offered privately to God to words spoken in unison by God’s people when they’re together, from the eloquently written prayers of the church to the breath prayer that’s nothing more than a gasp of need or a sigh of love or a groan of longing, from the prayers uttered in beautiful cathedrals to prayers offered on the side of a mountain— every breath we take can be a prayer, uniting our heart to God & harnessing the energy of our life to God’s great purposes.
This week’s Living Water from @christiansurfers_us ・・・ Knowing... by JW Kaiser Do you know any legendary surfers? Let me brag for a moment. I know many. I know Kelly Slater, Tom Curran, Occy, Gerry Lopez, Filipe Toledo, Joel Tudor, Stephanie Gilmore, and many others! Actually, I might have misspoken. I don’t actually know any of those surfers personally. It is more accurate to say I know OF them rather than actually KNOW them. I’m a big fan of all those I listed. They are essentially my favorite surfers, but there is a difference between “knowing them” and “knowing of them”. Do you know of Jesus (things about Jesus) or have you had an encounter with Jesus that changed you? I actually have met all of the surfers on that list. But meeting them once and being transformed by an ongoing relationship with them is very different. In the same way, we can have one or even many run-ins with Jesus, which, to be clear, is just not the same as having an ongoing relationship with God. Maybe that is why Jesus was consistently asking people to “come follow me”. He could have said, “listen to me once in a while” or “take what you want from me and leave the rest to yourself”. No, he commanded dedicated followers who came to know him, and not just know of him. Once, Jesus asked his disciples (his closest friends who had committed their lives to follow him) who others say he was. The conversation ended with Jesus asking Peter who he personally says he is. In other words, do you know about me or know me personally? When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:13-16 When Peter answers Jesus he was able to confidently answer based on the many experiences they had shared together. Peter had first-hand knowledge that Jesus was indeed God because he had committed to know him and not just know about him. He committed to follow him and give his life over to Jesus fully!
We’re starting a new monthly series on our website called “Who is Christian Surfers?” which might seem like a grammatical error as you read it, but the way we see it Christian Surfers isn’t a collective entity sitting off by itself, it is a growing organism made up of individuals as diverse as the surfing communities we belong to. Rather than focusing on ‘what’ Christian Surfers is we decided to explore this year ‘who’ it is that makes up Christian Surfers. Each month we will have a conversation with someone who is a part of Christian Surfers in a distinct capacity. From an unchurched grommet through to a full-time staff member like Phil Williams (@philsurfboy) here, we will talk to surfers from wildly different nations, with wildly different backgrounds, to discover who Christian Surfers is! First up is a man who is widely known throughout CS internationally. An exuberant, perennially optimistic Englishman whose level of surf froth is almost unmatched. If there’s surfable waves in a 100-mile radius he will sniff them out and make sure he participates, all the while carrying a workload that most would buckle under. On staff with CSUK full-time for over 18 years now Phil is no stranger to CS, but some of his story was unknown even to those of us who have worked alongside him for over a decade. Read on via link in bio to learn more about Phil and look out in the months to come as we find out together who Christian Surfers is…
 

Christian Surfers International, 21 Tecoma St, Jeffreys Bay, EC, 6330, South Africa   Info@christiansurfers.net