Our Staff just completed a 2 day Staff Advance (Elevation Church never retreats). We prayed and planned through our goals and plans for the fall. God is about to do awesome things. I asked my staff, “What was the greatest thing God impressed on your heart at staff advance?” Today you can read their answers all day long in the twitter section on this side bar of this blog.

I think I’m schizophrenic:

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Elijah and I had a great time playing Wave Jumper at the beach last week.
Here’s a brief description of this sensational new game:
I stand behind Elijah, hold on to both of his wrists high above his head, and take him out to the place where the water hits his chest.  When the wave comes, I jerk him up high enough that the water doesn’t cover his face or get in his ears.  He then laughs uncontrollably, and proudly screams at the top of his lungs:
“I’m the Wave Jumper!  Let’s jump another wave Daddy!”
And we jump another one, and another one, and another one…

I didn’t have the heart or feel the need to explain to my almost 3 year old son that technically, he’s not the wave jumper.  Daddy is the wave jumper.  He should probably scream something more like:
“I’m the Hand Holder”.  I’m the one doing the heavy lifting here!
In actuality, here’s his only job in this partnership: to keep his hands in my hands, and trust that when the wave comes, I’ll lift him up high above it.

That’ll preach, won’t it?

When Israel was approaching the deep waters of the Red Sea, Moses reminded them:
“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
God will do the heavy lifting as the high tide closes in.  He only requires that we have the faith to go out as deep as He dares to lead us.

If life has got you in some deep water right now, one of the worst things you can do is thrash around and try to jump the waves yourself.  The only thing worse than that is to sit around on the shore and miss out on the action because you don’t want to get in over your head.

Grab on to God with all you’ve got.  Have faith that He can lift you high above your circumstances and fears.  He usually doesn’t do it until the wave is just about to wash over you.   And that’s the best part…

I haven’t told too many people about this yet, so let’s keep it quiet, please…just between us.
This Sunday marked the first time in 2 and a half years that I have been gone from Elevation 2 Sundays in a row.  I knew I was in full fledged preaching withdrawal last Wednesday morning at the beach when I woke up at 3:30 AM.  I couldn’t go back to sleep for some reason, and after a sufficient attempt to fight it, I gave up and walked out to the beach.

I know a lot of people go to the mountains to hear from God.  For me, the beach is a superior setting.  The size of ocean makes a good backdrop for me to think about how big God is compared to whatever I’m praying about.  And since I have a hard time with silence and stillness, the noise and motion of the waves creates the perfect soundtrack for me to reflect.
I also like how, presumably, no one can hear me praying out loud over the volume of the waves.
And there I was, praying out loud way too early Wednesday morning on the beach, and at some point, I crossed over and realized I wasn’t praying anymore.  I was actually preaching a sermon.  To myself and the waves, and the shells, because there wasn’t another soul in sight.
The altar call must have been powerful, because the waves just kept coming forward.

I don’t know if I’ve fully experienced Jeremiah 20:9 yet in my short ministry:
But if I say, “I will not mention him
or speak any more in his name,”
his word is in my heart like a fire,
a fire shut up in my bones.
I am weary of holding it in;
indeed, I cannot.
But I can say now that I love my job so much, I’ve preached a sermon out loud, to nobody, on the beach, before 5 am, because I physically miss my pulpit at Elevation just that much.
Does this make me crazy?